A look at a work surface

 

 

Ever wonder where some artists and creatives get the weird looking paper with odd patterns and marks?  I know I did, and it's called underpaper.

I will share more tomorrow, but underpaper is any kind of paper that you put on your work surface that catches the drips, dabs, and splotches when you are working.  And it can e beauty in its own right.

Above if a peek at some of my underpaper.  And it includes leftover marks from TCW's Punchinella stencil and Liquitex gesso.

I've included some affiliate links for products I've used.  If you use the links and make a purchase, I get a small commission, with no price increase for you.

I really hope you enjoyed this peek and please join me again for more!  Have fun creating!

 

 

Working in batches

Do you ever work in batches?  Trying to do a bunch of work at once?  I find it's helpful when wanting to have several pieces ready to complete, or when you blocked when you have a blank slate to work on instead of some splashes of color or doodles ready to work on, especially given how busy our lives can get.  We can get pulled in many different directions: spouses/partners, kids, work, household, family and friends, and me time.  Everyone needs a little me time.  And sometimes the me time ends up being that working in batches time.  Because let's face it, making art is supposed to be fun and relaxing.  Now it can certainly be with people.  Lots of us have those craft friends that we get together with and have a craft, regardless of the crafting taking place.

 

So working in batches can fill both needs.  You get to be crafty and get a start on a bunch of projects while also making the most of the time you have to create.  Above is a peek at some batch work I was playing with awhile ago.  Now I don't clean my stencils after I use paint on them.  I do, however, always clean after using some kind of medium.  It could be gesso, matte medium; if it's not paint, I grab some baby wipes and clean off the stencil.  One detail I really like is the one that looks like chicken wire.  I grabbed TCW's Punchinella stencil and Liquitex gesso and added spots of all over my 12 x 12 page.  I didn't clean it in between, so the leftover gesso made a chicken wire look in spots as well.  I love when that happens.

I've included some affiliate links for products I've used.  If you use the links and make a purchase, I get a small commission, with no price increase for you.

I really hope you enjoyed this peek and it shows how you can combine all kinds of media to create amazing art.  Have fun creating!

 

Grunge it Up!

I've gone through phases in my crafting.  I've played with vintage, color, industrial, mixed media, feels like a lot more.  I don't know if I can say grunge was ever a technique I loves, but I don't mind it in small doses or if it has some good color along with the grunge.  I also will say I have a sailor's mouth, so I don't shy away from cursing, including in my art supplies.

The 12 x 12 patterned paper that I flipped over and just went to town with mixed media I then cut into a bunch of ATCs to continue playing with.  I took one for a new challenge at Simon Says Stamp.

I did a lot with this ATC, before it was actually an ATC.  I had stamped a pattern stamp from Dylusions with my tinted Ranger Embossing ink pad and Ranger Clear Embossing powder.  Then I added some paint and some Dylusions ink spray in London Blue, Lime Green, and Postbox Red.  I also took a stencil from a Polish company that's now defunct called 3rd Eye.  The stencil is block letters in all caps, that says "Foolishness and Fuckery."  I used black gesso on the stencil, but didn't try to make a completely clear impression with the stencil.  I thought adding the black and keeping the stencil a little cloudy, so to speak, would add to the grunge factor in that area.

 

After I cut it into ATC size, I added some stamped images from Badass Art, also a Polish company.  The "Blah, Blah, Blah" was stamped onto a ghost gelli print and cut out.  The "wtf" is a digi image that I added a little color to with my Tombow markers.  I used an orange paint marker from Uni Posca to fill in some of the stars I stamped, some doodle markings with both my water-based white Sharpie paint marker and my Fude Ball pen.  I absolutely adore my Fude Ball pen.  It writes on just about any surface.  I also added some dot stickers from Fancy Pants and some paint spatters using the same white Sharpie paint marker.

I really hope you enjoyed my attempt at grunge with my ATC.  I think it came out really well and I think I managed to keep the color vibe while going grunge.

You can find the challenge link below and see what everyone else has to offer as well.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

I have included affiliate links to many of the products I used to make this card.  If you use the link and make a purchase, I make a small commission, with no price increase for you.  I really appreciate your support and thank you for taking a look. 

A Feather in Your Cap

How is it the weekend already?  Sometime the week goes by in a flash, and sometimes it drags, but the weekend always seems to go fast.  I hope you're enjoying your weekend and doing something fun.  A big part of life is filling your tank.  I don't mean gas for your car, but kinda.  I'm talking your emotional tank.  Doing something fun, being with people you care about and who care about you, and maybe enjoying some outdoors.  Breathing fresh air, there's just nothing like it.

Now I don't know about you, but I like to play.  Paint, stamps, stencils, there's no end to the glory of art supplies.  They're all so awesome!  But sometimes I get stuck.  I want to just put everything together, but I don't always have the patience.  Sometimes I freeze up because it's not going the way I thought it should.  And I have to remember there's no should.  It's something I'm always practicing, because there's really no end to playing.

Case in point, this ATC.  It did not go as planned, but I was inspired by a video I saw on YouTube, only in the video it was a tag.  And while I didn't have everything in the video, I used what I had, including a stamp from a stamp set I had never used before this.

I have a bunch of ATCs and tags that have bits of paint and gesso and all kind of media on them.  This ATC is one of them.  I had put Liquitex Gesso through a TCW's Ledger stencil and it had some Liquitex Bright Aqua Green, neon yellow and neon orange paint.  I added more paint in a couple other colors, then used a Sharpie to trace ABC down the side.  After that I used Reeves Watercolor Crayons to add some color in the letters and used a waterbrush to spread the color around, going outside the outline on purpose.  It's not all about coloring inside the lines.  I have a few waterbrushes, all the same tip style.  You can get all the same or assorted tips.  Here's a set with different styles of tips, to allow for different effects.  If you want to dip your toe in, here's a single, fine tip waterbrush to play with.  I'm not sure if you can find Reeves crayons, but there are several other options, such as this set from Staedtler, a Faber-Castell set, and this set from Prang. 

 

There's a couple different stamp sets at play here.  I have a bunch of small ones in my stash, and I'll have to start using them, I guess, right?  Most I used my Archival black ink, but the "NO LIMITS" was stamped in Distress Ink Peacock Feathers.  I also used a dark purple marker to add dot doodles in a few spots, and a Uni Posca white paint marker to trace the triangles.  The sentiments are from my stash.  The feather I stamped on white cardstock with the same black ink pad as before.  Then I used the Reeves watercolor crayons and waterbrush to spread the color, and added some bits of darker color with markers.  I cut them out with Tonic scissors and used Alene's Tacky Glue to attach the feathers and thread that I bunched up for a little extra texture.

 

 

 

 

Addicted to Stamps and More Challenge 

 

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge

 

I've included affiliate links to many of the products I've used or similar products, which means if you use the links to make a purchase, I make a small commission with no price increase for you.  I really appreciate your support.  I hope you enjoyed your visit and enjoy the rest of your weekend

Peek at a WIP

Something I like to is prep a lot of work at one time.  A quick post today to show you a little in progress work.  Hopefully it will help you with whatever art you want to play with.

This is a piece of 12 x 12 patterned paper that I didn't like, so I flipped it and started playing.

I used a lot of different products, and I'll list them as best I can a little later, but I wanted to give you a taste at least.

I used Dylusions Fresh Lime spray ink, as well as a Dina Wakley stamp with a Ranger Embossing Ink Pad and Ranger Clear Embossing Powder.  If you want to get a really thick embossed image, you can use this Ranger Ultra Thick Clear Embossing Powder.  You can also use a tinted embossing ink pad, so you can see the actual stamped image before you cover it with embossing powder.  Mine is tinted blue.  There's also this Ranger Grey Tinted Embossing Ink Pad, which will do the same thing.

I hope you enjoy and I'll share some more later!  Enjoy!

A new page turns...

Welcome, welcome!  This seems too surreal, huh?  I'm really glad you're joining me. and I hope we have lots of fun together.  This is amazing...I'm really excited to do this, but a little nervous.  Can you tell?  You know those jitters you get?  The butterflies in your stomach, hoping you do a god job?  Yeah, right there with you.

 

I wanted to give you a little taste of what I can do, and hope you love it as much as I had making it.  I really hope you it helps brighten your day.

Please enjoy and I'll share the full project with you in the future.  I'm so excited for new things happening!  See you soon, crafty friends!

Join Me for Day 30!

Well hello!  It's time for the last page of my little Art Marks Challenge journal!  I also have some news, but we'll get to that later.  For now, I hope you enjoy this last page of my journal.  I feels like forever, but I'm glad.  Even art projects shouldn't go on forever.  You can make a few layers, leave it, come back, all that kinda stuff.  But it's good for projects to come to an end to move in to something new and exciting.

Today I'm sharing the next page in my mini art journal for the September Art Marks Challenge from Rae Missigman and Sandi Keene.

Day 30 -Joy

I'm also entering the following challenges:

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

For some Art Marks Challenge history, you can click here.  It was hosted by Rae Missigman and Sandi Keene.  Rae's Instagram account here shows what she made for each prompt.  My art journal was made from envelopes and baker's twine.  Art journals can be simple or elaborate.  Rae's journal, which she taped her pages into, is small and chunky and has a fabric cover.  It looks so gorgeous!

Joy is something really wonderful.  Everyone needs joy in their lives.  Without it, you're going through the motions.  Everyone find joy in different ways.  Some in a quiet night reading, some spending time with friends and/or family.  Some like going out.  And some would love all of those.  It can be hard to find joy, especially every day.  Sometimes you have to work at it.  It can be a struggle for sure, but so worth it in the end. 

I used a gelli print for my background, but definitely added to it.  I mixed some purple paint, and a touch of blue with gesso to lighten the paint color before putting it through a stencil by Traci Bautista.  Then I pounced black paint through two different stencils, both the words and half a heart from a Dina Wakley stencil.  I also added details using a Sharpie pen and a paint marker.  I grabbed a tag from my stash, used my palette knife to add some leftover paint to the tag, then added a word sticker and some punchinella.   finally added some phrase stamping.

Some people can be very particular about where they get certain supplies.  I try to keep my options open, and one option that works well for me is here, from Dick Blick.  Even the store brand is good quality.  Sometime you have to do a couple layers to get a good coat, but it all depends on how solid you want the paint layer.  I find that sometimes I like the thinner layer so the underneath layers peek through.  That gives my art texture and dimension, which I love.

I really liked making this page, and I hope you enjoyed me sharing it with you.  And now onto the news.  I'm not new to crafting, but I am new to this blogging thing.  I also have other respnsbilities, hubby, kids, regular 9-5, and my short foray into blogging has shown that while I really love the craft, keeping up the blogging as well is becoming more difficult than I anticipated.  But have no fear!  The blog will continue, just under new management.  A wonderful crafty friend of mine, Tracy, has graciously agreed to take things over.  Our styles are quite similar, we've been arting it up together for years.  We even have a lot of the same supplies because we loved them so much.  I'm also getting her into the affiliate side of things, so she can share with you all of her amazing talent and you can enjoy making art along with her!  I will say she can be a bit snarkier than me, but I love that about her.  And I know she'll take great care of this blog.  And who knows, I may make a guest appearance sometimes.

Please know I hate to give this up, but I also want you to have the best experience possible, and I cannot give that at this point.  So instead of ending this, I want it to continue.  I do want to say thank you for joining me on my short journey, and I so appreciate you coming along for the journey.  I really hope you continue to visit, and I know Tracy will do an amazing job, and create some seriously awesome art.

Thank you, Georgie, for that fantastic introduction, and I'm going to do my level best to live up to that high praise!  As she said, our style are quite similar, and yes, I think we can be accused of loving the same supplies so much that we both got one of different stencils, stamps, stickers...the sky was the limit! :)  Great minds think alike, right?  I do a lot of art journaling, mixed media, tags, ATCs, and I do like to experiment.  Gelli printing, embossing, die-cutting, oh yeah, I like to play.  I love texture!  And layers, and color.  I will be the first to admit I'm not a huge fan of brown, however, I have been known to art up some kraft paper like crazy.  I hope you enjoy the art as much as I love making it.  Thank you, truly, for coming along on this journey.  I can wait to play and show you what I make