Meh

Sometimes you just feel like you want to step back from everything.  I know I have that feeling at times.  To just take a break and not have to care about anything.  Or sometimes you're just having an off day.  We all have them.  Could be the weather, could be stress from life, could be just not wanting to worry about anything.

So I felt "Meh" summed up quite well the feeling.

There's quite a bit of doodling on this ATC, along with gelli prints.  I used a Uni Posca Paint Marker in Emerald Green and a white water-based Sharpie paint marker for most of the doodles.  I also used a blue watercolor crayon from a set I have to used around the circles cut from gelli prints, and outlining the details with a Sharpie pen.  I also used the pen and paint markers around the edges as well.

 

I'm entering my ATC into the following challenges:

Lil Patch of Crafty Friends

The Crafty Addicts

 

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.

 

When do you feel not so fantastic?  Do you take time out for yourself?  Please feel free to let me know in the comments!

Find Your Fire

Welcome everyone!  I feel like I really stepped outside the box on this one and I'm so glad I did!  Have you ever pushed yourself?  Challenged yourself more than you thought you might, and it worked out really well?

 

I'm entering my ATC into the following challenges:

Creative Fingers Challenge

Crazy is Our Fame Challenge

I used a bunch of stuff from my stash for this ATC.  Washi tape, doodled up deli paper, stickers, a dried out leftover wipe (the heart shape), the phrase sticker, and the ribbon.  The background is a Dina Wakely stamp made with a tinted Embossing Ink pad and Clear Embossing powder.  Then came the paint and spray with Dylusions London Blue spray.  There's also a bit of Liquitex Gesso that I put through a punchinella stencil.  I used Alene's Tacky Glue to attach everything. 

 

I also added a bit of ribbon trim that I think works so well with this ATC.

 

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.

 

Can you find your fire?   What else would you like to see from me?  Please feel free to let me know in the comments!

Thank You

Hey everyone, I hope you're enjoying the rest of your weekend.  Weekends can be tough.  It's a terrific break from regular life, but they can also go by really quickly, right?

Simon Says Stamp has a new challenge, with is Thankful.  I do my best to be thankful, for all the things in my life.  Even the challenges are good because those are opportunities to discover new ways of thinking or come up with new ideas.  And of course, Thanksgiving is coming up, which reminds us all to be thankful for not only the good things, but the challenges.

Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge

I made an art journal page for this theme, and it's kinda funny.  My art journal has a lot of mop up pages.  Sometimes that helps me, sometimes it can block me.  Other times it can inspire me, but I add back in detail I really like.  In this case, I was going to keep part of it, then changed my mind and covered it up, but added back in details.  I had stenciled some red stars from a Dylusions stencil, but covered it up with more paint to make my spread.  I added it back in after composing my page and I think I really like the results.

 

The numbers in the purple are leftovers from the mop up, but I covered everything else, though I hadn't planned to.  I combined Liquitex Titanium White with Liquitex Bright Aqua Green, and covered the left area with just the white.  Then I added Artist's Loft Neon Green and some Artist's Loft Orange mixed with white to add some more interest.

 

I added a strip of washi tape, spots of Heidi Swapp Number Rub-ons, and traced a Viewfinder stencil with a red Tombow marker.  The TO is Heidi Swapp Alpha Stickers with Dylusions Calypso Teal Color Spray.  I used a journaling card from my stash, swiped some orange paint on the edges, then used Archival black ink with a small stamp set from my stash for WEEK.  I used an alphabet stamp set with Distress Ink Festive Berries for SAY and the "thank you" is from an American Crafts Thickers set called Wild.  The star is from a gelli printing session complete with doodles from both a Sharpie pen and a water-based white Sharpie paint marker.

 

 

 

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 my art journal page as much as I did making it.  Are there any challenges you're thankful for this year?  What else are you grateful for this year?

Batch Work as a Starting Point

I wanted to share what the paper ended up looking like after I had my play.  As I mentioned before, working in batches is good when you're short on time.  We all have lots of responsibilities that we have to deal with.  So carving out time for creating can be hard.  Maybe you craft after the kids go to bed.  Maybe you craft while watching television.  Maybe when the house is empty, you take some time to craft.  Whenever you you grab the time, making a base of pieces to pull from to spatter with paint, add some stamping, or just do some doodling.

As you can see, I did already cut up the base paper into a bunch of ATCs, and still have a strip that I'm not sure what I'm going to do with.  I also had the spare pieces across the top.  I'm also going to mention something very important.  It's okay to throw things out.  Yes, you read that right.  It's okay to throw things out.

It happens.  You're gelli printing and you end up with a print you don't love.  Maybe you're playing and what you're trying just isn't working.  I don't get rid of stuff willy nilly, but I used to be someone who kept everything.  And I mean everything.  If I cut out a piece of gelli print and has a tiny piece left, I kept it.  I finally had to just say, it's okay to get rid of a tiny piece of whatever if it's not going to get used.  Now that could mean actually tossing the little leftovers in the trash or donating items you're not going to use.  However, you do it, don't think you're being a horrible person if you toss out little leftovers that don't work for you.  If it doesn't inspire you, don't keep it.

As you can see, I did a lot.  I do enter challenges, so I wanted to add bits of different techniques to cover a few bases. 

First I added some embossed images.  I so want to grow my embossing powder collection but at this point I use clear.  Though I have to say I really like it because it takes on whatever color I'm working with.  I used a couple different Dina Wakley stamps, as well as a couple Dyusions pattern stamps 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.

Then I added some Apple Barrel Bright Yellow, Craft Smart Grape Taffy, and Blickrylic Violet Medium among other colors, and I also added 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.   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 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. 

Batch Work

I've mentioned working in batches before.  And it bears repeating, especially with all of us being so busy.

How often have you wanted to start a project, only to freeze up because you may not know where to start?

Or started a project, changed directions, or had the project morph and wasn't what you expected?  And maybe you feel your time was wasted because you don't love what happened?

Maybe you were impatient and you think you ruined the project because of your impatience?

Ooooohhh, let me tell you, so been there and done that.  I've watched videos, and they always look so perfect, right?  And doesn't that mean that whatever project you start should end up perfect as well?  Nope, nope, nopity nope.  Not in any way.

I have been there.  My ATC with feathers?  Not how I saw the project going.  And I'm still not sure I love it, or at least parts of it.  And that's okay.  More than okay.  No matter how much time you have under your belt making art, whether you're a newbie or you've been doing it for years, it doesn't matter.  Everyone, when they play, has unexpected things happen.

That exact thing happened to me when I was doing my batch work.  I had grabbed a piece of single-sided patterned paper that I wasn't a fan of and flipped it over to the white side.  I grabbed some supplies and started playing.

This time, instead of going for my big tubes of paint, I went with my little bottles.  Apple Barrel Bright Yellow, Craft Smart Grape Taffy, and Blickrylic Violet Medium are among the colors I grabbed.  Now Grape Taffy may be hard to find, but Lavender is not.  I also used some Dylusions color sprays, including Fresh Lime and Postbox Red.

Part of working in batches, or with any project, is letting go of expectations.  It's not easy, for sure.  You want this amazing project in your mind, and sometimes it doesn't quite work out.  However, that's part of the beauty of playing.

So absolutely, play, and expect the unexpected.  Enjoy creating!

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!