Get Distracted & Celebrate

Today was the first day in almost a week that I felt like getting creative. I have been fighting off a nasty cold/flu and it was a doozy. To get myself back into a creative groove I decided grab my Distraction Journal.

Click on the photo below to see how I created this journal.

I flipped through my journal, chose these 2 pages and gathered up some materials: Dylusions paints & mini layering stencils.

I applied some stenciled images randomly over both pages. At this point I had no idea where this was going - I was just enjoying the process.

I am really enjoying using mask & silhouette stencils at the moment but I only one set and it was too big to use for these 7"x 5" pages so I decided to make my own. I used a piece of acetate packaging that I had been saving and my Butterfly Duo die from Sizzix.

I used Black Marble Dylusions Paint & a foam applicator with my die cut stencils. I then used some bright Distress Crayons to apply a bit colour to the edges of the butterflies.

I chose the Celebrate Life sentiment from a Dina Wakely Stamp Set to use and the Picket Fence Distress Ink worked great over the black paint. 

To finish off my page I used extra fine point Sharpies in pink & purple to trace the outline of the butterflies and add some splatters.

Creative juices restored! I'm back and ready to get crafty.

Submitted to:

SSS Monday Challenge: Things With Wings

Creativity......an art journal page

Welcome back! 

I am still on a roll with creating pages in my calculus textbook art journal.

This page is full of colours and layers. I created while away at a 4-day retreat and the 

Silhouette Script stencil from Crafters Workshop and the Tim Holtz Motivation stamp from Stampers Anonymous I used were borrowed from another crafter.

I started by dry brushing some gesso over the pages and letting it dry. The first 3 paint colours were applied with a brayer. I then added some contrasting colours with a few different stencils & some random stamping with archival ink.

I stamped the sentiment on some tissue paper with black Archival Ink before applying with some matte medium. I used paint to stencil a chevron pattern over the edges of the tissue paper to help it blend into the background.

I used black Dylusions paint for the 6x6 Silhouette Script stencil.

This was pretty fun to create and I love all the bright colours and how they layered together.

Rooted Love

Hello friends!

Have you heard about Wild Whisper? They are Canadian company that designs paper collections for crafters. They also carry coordinating boutique items for their collections including stamps sets, wood veneer, sequins, chipboard, cork & embossing powders. 

I recently bought the Rooted Love paper collection and journal cards from the lovely ladies at Wild Whisper and could NOT wait before I got creative with it.

I chose a medium Etcetera thickboard tag from Stampers Anonymous & the large bride & groom from the Tim Holtz Idea-ology Paper Dolls collection.

I started by painting some gesso over the tag then applying some molding paste through the Heartstruck Layering Stencil from Stampers Anonymous.

Next I began applying Distress Oxides in Fossilized Amber, Peeled Paint, Faded Jeans & Worn Lipstick with a water pen & Distress Stain in Aged Mahogany.

 I gathered up a few journal cards from the Rooted Love collection and grunged them up with Distress inks & oxides.

I trimmed up some of the journal cards so that the images were isolated before I grunged them up.

Lastly I added the happy couple from the paper dolls. 

Here is a close up of the tag showing the Distress Oxides & Stains.

Here's another close-up of the stenciled image and the Oxides & Stains.

The finished tag - Rooted Love: Two People, Two Lifetimes, One Love.

Lucky Is A State Of Mind

Happy St Paddy's Day!

What better way to celebrate the day then with an wee Irish  hipster monkey.

I stamped my image on watercolor paper and colored it with Distress Oxides. The hat and 'shamrock' were made with stamps from the Tim Holtz Crazy Things stamp set.

The background was made with Scattered Straw, Cracked Pistachio, Peeled Paint & Faded Jeans Distress Oxides and gold Perfect Pearls. I used the smooshing technique to get this lovely background.

Be The Rainbow....art journal

Welcome to my blog! You came on a great day - I have an art journal entry to share.

This one started with a quote - Be The Rainbow In Someone Else's Cloud.

This is my mantra every day.

I started by directly applying the ink by running the Distress Oxide ink pads horizontally across both pages. I spritzed with some water while drying with my heat tool. Pretty simple and really fast.

Next I took a brand new to me Silhouette & Mask Stencil from Dyan Reaveley & Ranger. I love these! They are so versatile and so much fun.
I used the stencil on the left page and layered the images. Then I used the largest sized mask on the right page and applied black Dylusions paint over the entire page.

I stamped my sentiment on the right hand page by using Versamark black ink over the image and Distress Oxide ink over the black paint. I absolutely love how these inks show up over the the dark background.

I finished off my pages by using my Dylusions white paint pen to outline the figures and drawing some lines around the page on the right side.

You're How Old? Birthday Card

Happy Friday, my crafty friends!

I love the new Tim Holtz Hipster stamp set from Stampers Anonymous.

They are hilarious!

I stamped my image on to watercolour paper with Versafine Ink & coloured it with Distress Oxide Ink & my water brush then fussy cutting it out. The card background was made by splattering Distress Oxide ink on to a piece of 4"x 5.25" watercolor paper.

I stamped  "CRAY" on to a scrap of watercolor paper then watercolored it
with some Distress Oxide Ink. I cut it out and inked the edges up with Vintage Photo Distress Ink.
The sentiment is layered of an image from the Dina Wakely Circle Patterns stamp set
from Stampers Anonymous.

I just love how bright & cherry this cards looks even with the very serious Hipster cat.

Distress Oxide + Art Journal

Welcome to my blog! 

Today I have an art journal page to share with you - using Distress Oxide Inks.

These pages are in an old Calculus Textbook from the 1950's that I made into a journal.

I first prepped my pages by  applying  a light layer of gesso.

Next I used molding paste with a Carabelle Studio stencil.

Once the molding paste was completely dry I started to apply my Distress Oxides.
I first put some Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink on my craft sheet then used my water brush to loosely and liberally apply the colour over parts of the stenciled image.

I sprayed the ink while at the same time drying it with my heat tool. I did the same technique again but this time with Faded Jeans Distress Oxide Ink.

I used up the leftover ink from my craft sheet by splattering it over the pages.

Lastly I added the Creativity Quote stamp from Darkroom Door.

This was a pretty quick and fun journal page to do and I love the way the Distress Oxides turned out.

More Distress Oxide + Perfect Pearl

Hi there! Welcome to my blog. I'm so glad you are.

I am sharing another card that is similar to another card I shared last week,

You can take a look at that card here.

This card uses the same Carabelle Studio stamp, Wilted Violet & Cracked Pistachio
Distress Oxides and Perfect Pearls.

I used the smoosh & drag technique to apply the ink to my watercolour base.

To get a nice crisp, dark stamped image I used my Misti. I find its the perfect way to get a great image especially on watercolour paper. I added a sentiment from the Occasions Small Talk book from Tim Holtz Idea-ology.

Distress Oxide + Perfect Pearls = Follow Your Heart Card

Hello & welcome to March!

It's time to start thinking about spring - gardening, listening to the birds,

 warm days. I can't wait!

I created this card while thinking warm spring thoughts...

I am really loving the new Distess Oxides from Ranger Ink and thought it would be fabulous to pair them up with Perfect Pearls. A little shimmer is always nice.

I started with a 4.25"x 5.5|" piece of cold-pressed watercolour paper.
I decided to use a small piece of acetate to apply my inks to the paper.
I pressed my stamp pad to the acetate then gave it a couple spritzes of water.

After applying the Spiced Marmalade I added the Fossilized Amber & Perfect Pearls.

The stamped image is from Carabelle Studio and to get a sharp stamped image I used my Misti. I think I stamped it 3 times in total. The words are from the Chit Chat stickers book from Tim Holtz Idea-ology. I added some Hickory Smoke Distress Marker around the words to add a bit of dimension.

Check out that fabulous shimmer. I will definitely be using my Perfect Pearls with the Distress Oxides again.