Art gives me wings

Putting stencils on paper and spraying vibrant colours sometimes is all I need to get my mojo going and pour out my feelings onto paper. Today I woke up feeling rather down, for no apparent reason, but I decided not to waste my day in negativity.

I put Crafter's Workshop stencils and Dylusion stencils down on watercolour paper. I sprayed with some vibrant Dylusions sprays, and then my muse came out to play. I layered more stencils, sprays, strips of Basic Grey Plumeria papers I had from my Scrap'n with Flair July kit, down on the page. Texture paste ... and of course my trademark canvas and inked paper towels. Add some Prima resist canvas pieces, sprayed lace and I was well on my way. Christy Tomlinson stamp for some texture, dew drops and Prima gems and crystals. I dove in head first into my art journal. Grabbed a coordinating paint swatch and stamped my journalling down.

The complete spread in my Prima mixed media art journal

Left page

Right page

Inked paper towel ribbon and resist canvas stamp

Art gives me wings

Inked lace and gems on Plumeria papers

Inked paper towel flower on Prima resist canvas flower

Inked canvas and texture paste, Basic Grey papers and stamps. Heaven.

Negativity does not live in this mind today, not any more. I cut my paper in half and glued it down into my Prima mixed media art journal. And I am happy once again.

A gift to yourself

Sometimes you just have to make something pretty for yourself. Something you can gaze at that brings you a sense of beauty and peace.

Be beautiful and have a wonderful weekend!

A highlight in my art journal hobby!

Tuesday was definitely one of the best days I've ever had art journaling. I drove over an hour and 15 minutes to get to Alfred Ontario to participate in a Prima workshop given by the amazing Anna Dabrowska, aka Finnabair. Here are some photos of my time there and the completed project.

Finn was a joy to learn from!

 Anna has an amazing gift of creativity and patience. Her enthusiasm for art journaling and mixed media in general was absolutely contagious! Spend five minutes with her in a room with art supplies, and you'll learn very quickly why she is one of the best instructors and mixed media artists out there. She's completely down to earth and fun, helpful and encouraging!

The first half day was spent working on our Prima mixed media art journal covers. We used all sorts of elements, mediums and paints to get her signature effect on our covers. I used quite a bit of the Luminarte Silks, so I had to buy some at the store because I just can't find them here.

My front cover of my art journal

The back cover

Some of the amazing textures Anna taught us to make

After lunch, we played with sprays, stamps, tea and created our first art journal spread to go into the art journal.

Our first art journal spread we made. 

Then Anna taught us a quick and easy way to make a colourful page using scraps and Ranger's Distress Stains. I love them. Going to have to get a few more colours I think, after playing with the pinks and oranges.

I finished my homework. So much fun to make

I really hope I have the opportunity to learn from Anna at another workshop again in the near future. I love her style and to watch her work through her process was sheer joy!

Beauty without colour

I'm finally feeling more like myself today. The toothache has subsided for now, and I decided to celebrate by playing in my art journal. This time around, I used the July kit from Scrap'n with Flair and the add-on kit to create the base for my page. I used various papers from the 6X6 paper pad, and distressed them. The Plumeria line by Basic Grey is just wonderfully rich for the summer. Not your usual cute summertime papers. More mature and complex.

I started the page with a pre-painted bubblegum pink watercolour page, and then layered on Dylusions sprays with stencils, then sprayed more Lindy's Starburst spray and Glimmer Mist. Then I layered the rest. The stickers from the kit were the finishing touch, and I layered them on the bottom and top of the page. 

I've loved every minute working with this kit and add-on. With all the delicious papers and lace, it's right up my alley. Make sure you pick up both kits before they are all gone. They are too luscious to miss!

I'm glad I had some time this weekend to dedicate to my art journal and art making. It really gives me a sense of accomplishment and renewed creativity that I need to get through my work week.

I hope that you'll spend some time this weekend to art journal as well. Link me up to your work if you do!

Have a great weekend!

Inspiration Saturday

I've survived my first week of work after vacation. I don't remember it being that hard, but at least it went by quickly. While I'm fighting with a miserable toothache, which is killing my creative mojo, I thought I'd share with you what has been inspiring me lately. I hope that you'll link me up to your inspiration in the comments so that I can get a creative boost from you as well.

From Craft Attack

By Czekoczyna

From 2gypsygirls

What I want for my next manicure

I am also trying to complete a mini album using the Scrap'n with Flair July kit and add-on. I'm so inspired by what the design team has done so far. Take a look at these blogs to see their awesome projects:

• Stephanie Stanton's art journal canvases
• Yvonne Gebauer's art journal page
• Jessie Bank's layout
• Elysia Lebedoff's ATC swap
• Tamara Renneberg's altered jar

I know that they inspire me to try new things, so I hope that you'll take the same inspiration from them.

Link me up with what's been inspiring you lately. I'd love to see what may challenge me in the near future!

Scrap'n with Flair's July kit and add-on: video

Check out this fun new July kit and add-on, and how I used all of it on this Graphics 45 altered art box and mini, using the Basic Grey Plumeria collection.

Enjoy!

Here's a picture of July's Scrap'n with Flair kit:

The textured papers are gorgeous, and double-sided. And you get two of the inks I used on my box and mini. The ephemera pack is also loads of fun to play with, as well as tons of stickers and two alphas!

And here's the add-on kit. It's a must-have as well:

I used these papers for the most part. And I couldn't resist the flowers!

Have a great week, and please let me know if you liked my video. Leave me a comment with ideas for what you'd like to see in the near future. Thanks again!

Follow your heart

I often will build an art journal page and then decide later to add some journaling to it, or add a little something more to it. I read something on Facebook where someone said that it's hard to know when to stop. I find for myself, I often stop too soon. 

For example, I stopped before I added the tissue paper. And then I stopped again after tinting the ribbon. There was just something missing, and the muse just kept pushing to load up the page, but I wanted something with lots of white space. So I stopped. Again.

And then I decided to put drops of a contrasting colour, some of the new Ranger Distress Ink in the Salty Ocean colour. And then I was happy. It was just enough.

The title cluster with the doily layer

Texture paste on book paper, then layered with lace

Layers to love

Do you follow the same type of process? Do you stop, then start again, over and over until you are happy? Do you leave artwork for a while and come back to it later to complete?

Do what you love & do it often

Now into my second week of summer vacation, and I've decided to play in my art journal. Just the feeling of trying something and seeing how it works out, working through a process, and seeing what the muse gives me for today.

I started on a background that I wasn't thrilled with, and put gesso over top, adding a new layer. Then just played with paint through stencils, on bubble wrap, on paper towel, added distressed scraps of paper, cardboard and lace. And of course a few final touches.

I needed a bright vibrant page today.

Do what you love & do it often

I hope you'll get to do more of what you love this week! What is your muse telling you? Mine is telling me to get arting!