Cherry Blossoms

Hello everyone and welcome to my blog.

Well, here I am again and with yet another Art Journal page.  For someone who really only does these once in a blue moon, I've been quite prolific lately.  I've been experimenting because I could not get the hang of using gesso to seal the pages  and stop everything from seeping through the paper.  Every time I tried coating my page with gesso first I seemed to lose all the colour once I started spraying.  Used a few different brands but all I would be left with is the shimmer and not much colour at all. Well, this time I coated the page with watered down gesso and, when dry, sprayed with watered down acrylic paint and the colour actually stayed on the page.  Woo!! Hoo!!

Once the paint dried I was able to spray with Distress Inks as well, and it all worked.  I haven't quite got the effect I was after, but I'm hoping that will come with experience.

As stated before, I coated the page with watered down gesso and while doing that I added in a few cotton threads for a bit of texture. The orange  colour is the acrylic paint.  I simply mixed some Vermillion with Ochre Yellow  until I achieved the shade I wanted.  Then, when that was dry I also sprayed with watered down Broken China and Mustard Seed Distress Inks.  You can just see the watercolour type blotches on the side.  That was the effect I was trying for.  Hopefully, one day I will get it all over. 

 Used Urban Artist  'Mt. Fuji Blossom' Stencil with some homemade texture paste, coloured it with watercolour pencils and highlighted with a white gel pen and a black sharpie.  Then went around the blossoms with a black watercolour pencil and a wet paint brush so they would stand out a bit more.  Not sure if I should have done that actually as it turned out a bit messy.

Unfortunately I forgot to do the stamping before I did the stenciling so the surface wasn't exactly smooth and the stamps didn't work too well but, I'm just going to say it adds character to the piece. LOL.  The stamps used are Kaisercraft's Tiny Dots and a Chinese or maybe a Japanese Script stamp.  It is also a Kaisercraft stamp but I haven't got the name of it I'm afraid.

 I searched the net for a Confuscius quote, but they were mostly quite rude except for this one which I quite liked.  'Wherever you go ... go with all your heart.'
So, there you go, I finally managed to do an Art Journal page that didn't seep into the back of the paper and make a mess of the next page.  Yay!!
This will actually be the last of my Journal pages for a while.  I have also been making cards as usual, but I can't show any of them here just yet as they are mostly DT projects although I've also been working on a project I purchased from Marion Smith Designs and I will be showing that in the next few days so do please come back and take a look at that.
I thank you so much for visiting and enjoy the rest of your day.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

 

'Happiness' Art Journal Page

Hello lovely people and welcome to my blog.  

Here I am again to share another Art Journal page with you.  Wow!!  This is a first for me ... two journal pages in a row.   My Journal pages usually take quite a long time for me to finish because I never really know what I'm going to do.  I am still experimenting with this medium and I very rarely have a design in my head when I start.  I do usually know the colours I want to use but once I've got that on the paper I don't always know where to go from there so it sits on my desk until I decide what to do next.  This page was a bit different.  I started with the basic colours and it all came together quite quickly from there.  It still took most of a day but when you consider that they usually take me a few weeks to complete, this one came together very quickly indeed.

 After posting my last page, I was in the mood for getting a bit messy so started creating the background colour.  I tried laying down some gesso but still don't seem to have the knack.  I watered it down a bit thinking that might make the difference but for some reason, when I coat the page with gesso the colour just seems to disappear.  I've seen other people's work using gesso and theirs is fabulous, but I just can't seem to make it work. Consequently my first page ended up in the bin.  It was an awful mess.  So then I started this page without the gesso and it worked!!  I'm really happy with this background ... I love the dark, richness of it!!  I used watered down Distress Inks in Brushed Corduroy, Broken China and Walnut Stain and also used watered down Viva Precious Metal Colour in Olive.  You can't really see it in these photos but the green has a lovely golden sheen to it.

 Brushed on some 'Clear Rock Candy' Distress Crackle Paint in a couple of places and used 'Walnut Stain' through a  Crackle Stencil by Scrapbookncraft.  Used a music stamp by Prima with Memento Tuxedo Black and the top from one of my spray bottles dipped in gesso and then in Black Soot Distress Stain for the circles.

 The hearts were cut from some plain cardstock with a Fiskars Shape Cutter and then coloured with Fired Brick and Mustard Seed Distress Ink.  Glued them onto the page and then outlined them with a black watercolour pencil and also highlighted them with a white gel pen.

 Here you can see the other patch of the crackle.

I had actually intended to put flowers on this page, hence the washi tape which was meant to be the ground.  When I changed my mind and used the hearts instead I tried to remove the tape but it started tearing the paper beneath it so I simply left it there.   

The quote stamp is from Kaisercraft.  Stamped it with Memento Tuxedo Black and then clear embossed it.  I was very pleased with myself that I finished this page so quickly and I must say, I am really happy with the result, it really represents how I feel about my life right now.  I am very, very blessed to have a wonderful, loving family and some amazing and treasured friends, so my heart really does bubble over with happiness right now and happiness is so much better when it's shared isn't it??
Even in the tough times we really do need to sit back and count our blessings.

Thank you so much for visiting, I am really pleased you came to have a look.  Please do come again.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Art Journal - 'Bird House'

Hello everyone and welcome to my little blog.  

It has not been a nice day today weather wise.  We're suffering through another heat wave in Adelaide and it is not pleasant at all, although perhaps I'd rather have the heat than the masses of snow they are getting in other parts of the world.  I guess extreme weather is something we will always complain about, no matter which extreme we get.  Have to make the best of it I guess.

Anyway, I thought I'd share my next Art Journal page. 

 My background was, again, created with Distress Inks.  Some watered down 'Brushed Corduroy' and 'Broken China' were sprayed on and then flicked around the page, and then I dabbed 'Shabby Shutters' through some sequin waste.  

Then did the stamping using Kaisercraft's 'Arty', 'Crackle', 'Tic Toc' and 'Grafiti' stamps in Memento's 'Tuxedo Black'.    

 Stamped the Bird on some tissue paper and coloured it with water colour pencils.  It was then glued on with Multi-Medium and did the same with the Bird House in the picture below. 

Both of these stamps came with a magazine I bought quite a while ago and have no idea of who produced them. 

 The words I've used here are part of a quote ...

... by Albert Einstein.  Unfortunately, I can't give you the rest of it because I forgot to write it down and this was all I remembered.

I printed it on some tissue paper and then also glued it on with the Multi-Medium.  Then I just edged the page with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and it was done!!

I usually work on this Journal in between other projects so it takes me quite a while to do a page but I really love it.  I find it very therapeutic and soothing.  

Once again, I'd like to thank you for visiting.  I really appreciate you taking the time.

Please take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

  

Art Journal - 'Bubbles'

Hi everyone and a very warm welcome to my blog!!

I have been procrastinating over this post all day, trying to make up my mind as to what to share with you.  I have a few projects on the go at the moment and couldn't decide as to which one to do first but, finally, the decision has been made. 

I would like to share another Art Journal page.

 I've called it 'Bubbles' for obvious reasons but haven't yet found a quote to put on it.  Not even sure if I want one for this page.  I just enjoyed the process and am not really fussed about any words for it but, you never know, I may come across something someday that will fit.

 The background was created by putting  different Distress Inks on my non-stick mat and then just placing the page on the top.  This seems to be the best process for me.  I have tried so many times coating the page with gesso and then using sprays for the colour but it just never works, so I think Distress Inks are going to be my 'thing' as far as my Journal pages are concerned anyway.  The colours I used are Fired Brick, Mustard Seed and Walnut Stain.

 The large circles or 'bubbles' were stamped with BoBunny's Stained Texture stamps on a separate piece of paper the smaller ones were hand drawn.  They were then cut out and coloured and then glued onto the page and edged with a black and a white pen.  The smaller ones were also stamped with another BoBunny Texture Stamp.  I also place some washi tape in two of the corners.

 Used TCW's 'Mini Grandma's Doily' template in opposite corners and went around some of the edges of the design with a white gel pen.  Did some stamping with Kaisercraft's Crackle stamp and used TCW's Mini Circle Explosion template as well.  The floral stamp around the edge is also from Kaisercraft but I don't know the name of it. 

 And that's about it!!  A fairly simple page although it did take a while to do, mainly because I'm never sure which direction these pages of mine are going to go.  As I said at the beginning, I procrastinate, in all manner of ways (sigh).  

Thank you so much for visiting.

Take care and God Bless.

oxox Marg

Art Journal page - Just Breathe

Hello everyone, thank you so much for visiting.

I have another Art Journal page to share with you.  I wasn't actually going to post this one because so many things just didn't go right with it and I almost tossed it in the bin.  It was my lovely friend Heather Jacob who persuaded me that it wasn't a total loss, mind you she hasn't seen the finished product so maybe she'll change her mind ... LOL.  

She actually loved the background and I must say I do too.   The base colour was laid down using Walnut Stain and Faded Jeans Distress Inks.  I used the Walnut Stain again to randomly stamp around the page with the Arty stamp and  script stamp from Kaisercraft.    It was the texture paste that was the first thing to go wrong.  I used the Crafters Workshop Mini Ledger Stencil and it looked great but as it was drying the paste started to bleed into the paper.   Not happy Jan!!!!  Won't tell you which brand texture paste I used but I just wanted to throw the whole thing out.  This was the stage Heather saw it and persuaded me to do some more and see what happened.  

I was going to cover up the script but then decided to leave it as is.  After looking at it for a while I decided it wasn't a big issue and I could live with it.  So I said to myself  'just breathe' and think of what to do next.

So I added some flowers.

 Cut out some random flower shapes, stamped them with a KC stamp and coloured them with a mix  of Distress Inks and Reeves Water Soluble Wax Pastels.  Must say, I do like how they turned out.

 I originally had some paper flowers glued to the bottom of the page but again, didn't like it, so took them off again and added the hearts which were also stamped with a KC stamp and coloured with Distress Inks.

I went around the edges of the flowers and the hearts with the Wax Pastels in black and went around the edge again with a wet paintbrush to blend it a little and that went wrong too.  I made a mess.  Tried to fix it but it didn't work too well so, again, I left it.  Take a deep breath I said to myself and keep going.
There really wasn't much more I wanted to do except perhaps add a few words.  Thought about it and decided to add what I had been saying to myself all along.  'Just Breathe'.

Coloured some paper with the Faded Jeans, wrote the words and cut them out.  I then edged the pieces with Walnut Stain and glued them to the page.  And, of course, when I outlined it with the wax pastels and tried to blend it, I did it again ...  made a mess.  But, you know what, I figure this page is just for me.  I haven't made it to give to someone, it is just for me to have a little bit of creative time for myself.  So, what the heck!!  Doesn't matter if I made a mess and, funny enough, I actually do like it.  Probably because it was a pain to put together, but now it's done I can look back at it and say 'so what' if it didn't turn out the way I imagined and 'so what' if no-one else likes it.  It's mine and I can look back at it and laugh at myself for taking it all so seriously!!!!

Done!!!  Finished!!!!
"Just Breathe' !!!

Thank you so much for visiting, hope you enjoyed it a little bit.
Take care and God Bless.
oxox Marg

... and More Art Journalling!!

Hello everyone.  Hope the weather where you are is as lovely as the weather we've got at the moment.  After days of wild winds and stormy conditions we have got the most glorious sunshine  out there at the moment.  I had every intention of getting into the garden and putting in some new plants but  fate conspired against me because someone lost my garden gloves!!  Cannot find them anywhere and I cannot work in the garden without them. 

So here I am to show you my latest effort at Art Journalling.  I made a double page spread this time.  I had intended this to be quite minimallist but got carried away a bit I think. 

 I used watercolour paper as my base this time.  For both sides I just glued on some random strips of paper and a piece of burlap to start off with, gessoed over the top of that and then coloured where I wanted with Distress Inks.  Colours used are Mustard Seed, Spiced Marmalade and Walnut Stain.  I splattered a bit of the Walnut Stain randomly and let it drip.  Unfortunately it did bleed a bit but I'm just telling myself that it adds to the 'Arty-ness' of it. LOL!

The chipboard clock is from Imaginarium and was coloured with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and randomly brushed with a bit of gesso.  The chipboard stickers are from Cheap as Chips were also lightly brushed with gesso.  The bulb is a small typo bulb from Prima.

Stamping was done with Versafine  Vintage Sepia and the stamps used are one of the Stained Texture stamps from BoBunny but I have no idea where the diamond shape stamp is from.

The printed clock is a free image from the net and the wording was simply written on plain paper, glued to some pasteboard and inked with Mustard Seed and Spiced Marmalade.

The page below is basically the same but of course with different elements.

The ruler is from Prima's Engraver Collection and I believe the postcards are from Prima as well but I'm not 1oo% sure.  The flourish is from Little Birdie, the small chipboard clock is Imaginarium and the printed clock is another free image from the net.  The flourish and the little clock were both coloured with Walnut Stain Distress Ink and lightly brushed with gesso.

The wording was done in the same way as the previous page and the chipboard stickers are also from Cheap as Chips.

  I thoroughly enjoyed working on these pages.  Got into a heck of a mess but loved every minute of it but now I really need to get back to making my cards and have to leave the Art Journal alone for a while.  
Thank you so much to all the lovely people who share their gorgeous works out there so that people like me can be inspired.  Love you all!!!!
I also want to thank all the lovely people who leave me such heart warming comments.  I love to know what you think and you have all been very generous.  Thank you so much!!
Please take care my friends.  God Bless!!
oxox Marg

 

My Art Journal

Hi everyone and welcome to my blog.

I have an Art Journal page to share with you today.  Actually, this is my very first Art Journal page so  I must admit it's fairly simple but hopefully, as I get a bit more experienced at it, they will get better.

The background was created by just pressing a Distress Ink Pad in Faded Jeans onto my non-stick craft mat and then spraying with water and pressing the page onto that.

 

 I didn't realize at the time that there was also some Walnut Stain left on the mat so, of course, that also ended up on the page.  I really loved how it looked so I knew I had to do something with it.  Well, it sat on the edge of my craft desk for weeks because I had no idea how I was going to decorate it.  Until one day, I was looking through the few rolls of Washi Tape that I have and came across the birds and the music.  So a couple of strips of each went onto the page ...

 and then it sat for another week at least.  

The next step was the texture which was done with TCW's Mini Grandma's Doily in the bottom left corner and along the right side.

 Then came the sprays ... Sugar Plum Fairy Glimmer Mist and two I made up myself from some Distress Ink mixed with water.  One was Walnut Stain and the other was Mustard Seed.  It turned out a bit dark so I dry brushed over it with a bit of Gesso.   

Stamped the tea cup ring using a BoBunny texture stamp and found some Kaisercraft labels which were placed down the right hand side ...

and then the quote.  This is one I've used before but I thought it was fitting because I'm sort of spreading my wings out into the world of Art Journalling!!  I think??  Anyway, printed the quote onto some plain paper, cut out the strips and inked the edges with Tea Dye Distress Ink.

The bottom left corner looked a bit empty so I filled it with a couple of white Prima flowers.   Used Tea Dye Distress Ink on the flowers and around the edge of the page as well.

So, there it is ... my first Art Journal page but, hopefully, not my last.  Hope you like it.

Thank you so much for visiting I really do appreciate you stopping by. 

Hope you enjoy the rest of your day and I would be so pleased if you left me a little comment.  Thank you.

Take care and God bless.

oxox Marg