#PASC116 Art Journaling ... a challenge... I am there!!

I am totally loving working in my art journal. Are you an art journaler?? It is so popular right now. There have been people who have art journaled before it was even called that. They are wonderful inspirations and examples to us all.
What I personally LOVE about art journaling is that I am not afraid to make mistakes and take chances. If I mess it up no problem. It is only a piece of paper in a book, right??  I definatly try and attempt new techniques and crazy ideas in mine. Some of them do not work out so well, others however find their way into my go to technique mental tool box. :)
I usually art journal just what ever pops into my crazy brain box. Some times I roam the lonely internet looking for an art journal idea fix. :) There are tons of amazing prompts out there. In fact, there are entire pinterest  boards devoted to them. One such prompt group that I recently joined on Face book is called The Pic a Stick Challenge group HERE .  This month's prompts were:

• Create a title in YOUR OWN font
• use gears
• add a verse from a song
• build texture with a palette knife using any medium you choose
• create boarders/elements with scrapbook paper
• use sparkles
• add paint with a palette knife or card
• journal so that no-one can read it
• add a picture
• write on masking tape in a pen or pencil and add it to the page

Use the hashtag : #PASC116  if you make an art journal page or project using the prompts.
I actually made two projects using the prompts.  The first project, I will honest, I really am not sure how I feel about it. I like parts of it and other parts I really dislike.  The second project I used the same prompts, but I used them slightly out of order.

Project one:

Here is the complete two page spread. I am pretty pleased with the iceberg, but the other side, blech.

Here is a close up of the iceberg. I used the prompt about adding texture with a palette knife.

not really happy with this .

Here is the wet crackle paste. I just had such a hard time trying to incorporate scrapbook paper into my journal.

I was so much happier with the iceberg one it dried.

Now for project 2:  I unashamedly totally like this one better. It is so much more me.

I am so much happier. I even used a black backround!! Pretty new for me.

started out with a gesso(ed) page.

Guess who got the set of Dylusions paints for Christmas??

Sorry about the glare. That there is a seriously black page. GULP, I have never worked on such a dark background.

Yuppers, those are in fact the lyrics to There's a light at the Frankenstein place.

Drawing my focal image on scrapbook paper. I had thought about painting over the paper, but it just seemed to take on a life of its own.

Here is where I used the card to apply paint. I love the way the drag made the light glow.

I used the MT tape, my bestie got me when she was living in Japan. I wanted to blend it into the page.

I love these paints. Here up close the base of the lightbulb really looks copper or metallic.

Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glaze  in chestnut brown.

Prima color blooms  Empress gold. Oh yeah look at the sparkle.

Sparkle you say, here lets add more.

Adding the dreaded picture. HMMMM how can I hide this??

tada!! Hidden.

I added a little doodling at this point AAAAAAANNNNNDDDDD done. :)  I am happy that I did the challenge, I really am. I think this will work best for me to follow the integrity of the Challenge each month on one page and then do a second page  right next to it in my own order. Then write about what the challenge made me find out about my self and my creativity.

Mixed media fun

Hi Everyone!!

Here is another mixed media project. I tried to take pictures while I was working on it. I hope you try this project or one similar.

Here is the project when it was finished. The words in the center say " see the beauty in every day things

I used a 8x10 canvas. I actually recycled one that I had glued some music note paper to.  It was rather hideous and I was so happy when inspiration hit.  I honestly hated the original piece so much I did not take a pic of it. :)
I then painted a layer of crackle medium onto the canvas. You can use Elmers clear/gel glue if you do not have crackle medium. there is even a tutorial HERE if you would like to know how.
I then painted the canvas with Apple barrel brand paint in the color Cloudless. I added black India Ink splatters. I let it all dry while I dipped the paint brush tips into paint and set them aside to dry. I also gathered materials from all my stash piles. Metal pieces, scraps of crochet doilies, chipboard pieces, and Flowers. The words are from past Maya Road ware house boxes!!

I got some artist pallets for another project and they came with a full set of (ehhh) paint brushes. Not wanting to throw them away I decided to recycle them and use them on this project.

Before I added gesso. I hate wasting anything so, I used the bottoms of the paint brushes that I cut to fit in the bottom corner.

Still needs to be lighter

Needs a bit more gesso

hmmm, now it seems to fade into the back round too much.

I recently got some 13 arts glass beads, I totally love them. I use them every chance I get.

I love the way the piece of doily peeks out from beneath the chipboard daydream word. If you look really closely you can see the mess that hides underneath.

Here is another close up of the grouping of items covered in gesso and sprayed with white sprays. I thought about going all out and using all my Lindy's and Prima sprays, but I really liked the simplicity of this piece. In the final piece way back up there at the top of the post, I solved the problem of the  groupings fading into the backround by adding a "Halo" or "brightning" effect with some white gesso.

I really hope you enjoyed this piece . Let me know what you think or if you would like to see a more detailed tutorial or even a video.
Have a wonderfully crafty day!!
Haley

Expressions of the heart.

Happy Thursday Everyone!!  I am so happy that Friday is right around the corner. I love getting to spend time with my family on the weekends, but this weekend is when Flying Unicorn will be revealing this months kits. *SQUEEEEE*  I have already ordered mine during the sneak peak pre-orders and I am (very un-) patiently waiting for it to arrive in the mail. :)  In the mean time I have been on an art journaling kick lately. I wanted to share a page that I created recently. 
    I came across a quote by Georgia O'Keefe recently that has really spoken to my heart.  "I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn't say any other way".  Have you ever felt that way?

Challenging myself to use my sticker hoard, my gem hoard, my doily hoard, awesome paper clip hoard, and lace hoard. Oh my I am beginning to see a hoarding issue. LOL

Here is an over view of the entire page.  I am really loving this mica flakes that came in my February kit. I really love how soft and pretty my Lindy's sprays turned out. 

I really love the way this butterfly tucks so perfectly into the fold of the book pages. I am NOT good at rub ons. I love watching people use them on their projects. However, when I try oh my goodness you should see the fail. This time they came out amazing. Maybe I it was because I slowed down and took my time and really relaxed while making this page.

Here is a close up of the mica flakes, I love this heart vines lace, I found it at a local flea market here. How awesome do the Lindy's sprays look? I find that I am happier with the results of using them when I use a paint brush the move them around the page. I am really thinking this page may have been a page about craft supply hoarding. :)

I love this tulle flower that I received in a swap. 

I usually LOVE the stickers I buy when I am in the store buying them. I get them home and put them in their nice organized drawer and then, wham I never use them. Well, no more I say.  I have come the conclusion that if I don't use them I can buy more. 

This was the first time I have ever tried to stamp with liquid India ink. I think the harlequin stamp came out awesome. Esp for not using an ink pad. I am really loving using found objects such as caps.

I am so happy and grateful that I have begun expressing myself in my art journal. There really are things that are best not seen by others. This way I can get my feeling (good or bad) out and onto the paper. 
I hope you all have a wonderful day!!
Haley

More fun "Catching" up.

For Christmas this year I got several stencils. I must say that I am really loving playing with them.  I has seen video after video where fellow artists were creating the most wonderful master pieces by incorporating them into the pieces. Itchy to give it a try myself. I came up with this:
                                                       

Here is the final project.

 I wanted to make an underwater scene, nice and inky and wavy.  I started by thinking about how in heck I was gonna find and print off the Koi fish that would be just perfect. I went to google images, then headed over to youtube. I watched and looked about a bazillion (4 to be exact, but bazillion is fun to type) videos. I finally came across one that gave me a basic sketch and encouraged me to personalize it from the basic sketch. I am really proud of my drawn Koi fish. I really wanted it to be much more fluid than the one showed in the video. I wanted it to look like the fins were moving with the flow of the water. Once I had the fish drawn I totally freaked out about adding color to it. So, I set it to the side and began working on my backround.
I used  some music paper from an old music book someone gave us ages ago. I gessoed the paper so, that it would be able to take all the product I planned on using. Now that the Gesso was dry I sprayed Lindy's Stamp gang flat fabio sprays in the colors Ocean breeze blue and Caribbean blue with just a few splatters here and there of Tim Holtz distress stains Broken China. This step is where I went just crazy and buck wild (well, for me anyway). I dropped Black India ink unto the paper in large globs and using a straw I blew the ink around. I am really am happy with the way it came out.  Next, I took one of my Crafter's Workshop stencils (Art is) and used some Gloss medium thru the stencil just like you would modeling paste, paint or ink. I really love that it smudged the words just enough for them to not be completely legible. Once that dried I used my Crafter's workshop stencil that has cup rings and spatters to add some modeling paste and back India ink.
Gulp, it was back to the best picture I had drawn from scratch in ages. Well, I pulled up my big girl panties and broke out the water colors and just started moving them around on the image as I held my breath and hoped beyond hope that I would like it in the end. :)  I walked away for night. The next morning I broke out my markers and began outlining and adding in small details like the spots on the fish and his mustache. I cut the image out from the paper that I drew it on, leaving just a small border. I was so happy with it. I used gel medium to decoupage it to my background.  When I added it to my art journal I decided to add a black border. I am glad I did it really makes it pop for me. The last step was to add the "bubbles" and go around them with black ink to help them stand out more.

I hope you enjoyed looking at and reading about the process.
Have a great day,
Haley