A little more art journaling

It seems as though I am taking a small pause from quilting.  Not very long I assure you but I wanted to get some art journaling in. I also bought a few new supplies, (I had not done this in a while).  Here is one of the layouts I did over the weekend. I don't know if it is really complete but I will post it anyway.

The base is distress stains on a journal. I then doodled everything with a Pitt Big Brush white pen and micron pens.  The image is from Some Odd Girl.

I met someone this weekend that suggested I take pictures at different stages of my work and explain the process. I may try that one day. My process is normally to make the backgrounds first.

Oh well
Until later

SS

100th post

Yes

This is officially my 100th post. It took me a while to get here. Absentee blogging, changing hobbies, and then just that thing called life.  I have committed to myself that I will blog more. I really do like to share ideas and thoughts with like minded people. Most of my entries are centered around my crafting. Occasionally I include my family, most frequently my son.  

I will have to be off work for a few weeks. In which case I need to get my house together before that happens. I will clean out my craft room if it kills me. So that once I can move I won't have to do that stuff. I figure if I really put my mind to it and do a little every day I can have it done in 3 weeks, perhaps 2 1/2. I just came from NSD at DCM. That would represent National Scrapbook Day at Dallas Crafters Marathon. As usual, I met tons of great people. It was awesome to hang out with fellow crafters. I even managed to art journal. I got roughly 6 layouts pretty much complete and several backgrounds.  Once I get the craft room together I will focus on doing backgrounds and texture at home and then when I go to DCM I can bring a minimal amount of "junk" (I mean supplies). : )

There were a couple of people interested in Art Journaling. I know it can be addicting.  I love going back in my books and seeing what my thoughts were in years past. The visual method for me seems to work better. Hopefully over the next few weeks some of us can meet up and enjoy crafting again.

Here is one of the layouts that I did over the last 2 days. As you can tell I am still into the big focal images. Both girls were colored with Copic Markers. I did use my Eclips by Sizzix to do Print to Cut. I love the feature. Sometimes it can be a little fickle with getting cut lines but for the most part it gets it done.


The layout was made with distress stains for the background, I doodled in the signo white gel pen, micron marker and some of the metallic gelly roll pens.  The image on the left is definitely from Kenny K.  I honestly don't remember where I got the image on the right.

Until Later
SS

One more art journal post

Hi Everyone

Here is another blog post for you. I was crafting over last weekend and had a little time to play. This one is in my "Comet" journal. It holds all types of media well and has a great price point.

I did this one with Distress stains. Which are absolutely one of my favorites to work with. I wanted to just play so I did some dots with the blotter top and it was like magic. The page just appeared. I am sorry, I don't remember which exact ones I used.  They were part of my cousins stash.

I used a Micron 08 pen to draw the circles and a Micron 02 pen to write the words. The words are inspirational thoughts for me to embrace. All of the doodling was done with a Micron as well. I used some of the small block stamps for accents. Wink of stella brush markers are the metallic coloring.  It was a very quick and easy page to display some creativity.

Until next time
SS

I have started again

Hey Blogger world

I started art journaling again. I was in Chicago with family over the weekend and we decided to do a day of crafting. I just happened to bring my set of Pan Pastels with me for this trip. I only had one day to play but we had fun.

This was a page from one of my favorite "Comet"art journals.  I look high and low for these and buy them up every chance I get. They handle wet background techniques well. They even stand up to my Copic markers.  

Here is a page I did with Versamark and pan pastels. I still can't get over how easy this covers a page. And a little fixative afterwards to seal and you are on your way. I am still looking for a good pen to use on these pages that won't cost me a fortune. In the meantime I am using my Pitt Faber Castel pens and I used the Big White Pitt pen for the lettering. All of the doodling was done by me. Not a lot but I enjoy it.  The metallic accents were done with Sakura gel pens. I have a ton and decided it was time to use them.

The stamp was something my cousin had laying around. (literally)  I should have taken a picture of the page she did while playing with the pan pastels. The purple and yellow flower was absolutely gorgeous.

As you can see I started signing all of my work. My cousin encouraged me a couple of years ago to start.

I am crafting this weekend so these babies will definitely be put to use.  In any case. I hope you like it. Please feel free to comment. I would love the feedback.

Until later
SS

A New Creation

Most of the time the art I create is either an ATC, Crochet or art journaling. I wanted to branch out a little. Here you will find my art on Canvas. I actually went to a retreat (Crafty Creations)  and created 6 (yep that is correct) 6 canvas creations. So, Here is the first one and my favorite. I gave this to the retreat owner. I liked my time so much. Hopefully they like it as part of the decor even more.

I made this with my Julie Fei Fan Balzar stencils. I really loved how it turned out. I also love the color combination.  I like most of her work. It's not exactly my style but she has some really good techniques.

Oh well

Until later

SS

Have no clue what to say

I know that is entirely odd for me but I am here this morning wondering how I approach a blog post. For the first time, I am a little speechless.  Oh well, I do have a layout for you so I supposed I should get started on that.

Here is another one I did with my Cricuit Cartridge ladies as the focal point. You may not be able to tell but the dresses are glitter paper. You can never have enough bling. I added the washi tape. (Because let's face it. I could stand to have a little less washi tape on hand.)  Background is dylusions and I did all of the doodling myself. I have really tried to focus on this and get better.

Alright
That is enough for today.

Until later

SS

Another Art Journal Layout

As you know, I am fascinated with art journaling. I like the freedom it allows me to be creative while not having to follow rules or lines or anything else. (Yep, you guessed it. I am not really a rule follower)

What's up Bloggerland?

Here is another entry I did at least 7 months ago. I had put down the creativity for a little while but luckily I have picked it back up. 

This one was done with dylusion sprays and stamps as well. I added some embellishments and there you have it, a bonafide layout. I also used some washi tape. When I realized just how many I have I just knew I had to start getting rid of it. I actually enjoy the purchasing of these items. Just to let you know how much I have, I need to use 75 rolls before I can even think about buying one more inch, much less roll of washi tape.

The guy is HOT, right?  I am still thinking about adding a little something to the white jeans. I just think I would feel better if they had a little black accent. (No pun intended). 

Oh well, it' time for me to say good night.

Until Later

SS

Past pieces

Well howdy, I wanted to get this post in while I had a minute of time. 

This is actually a layout I did almost 9 months ago. I had just come off of my classes with Dyan Reavely and was really into just spray back grounds. I of course had to use some of her famous magazine pictures and accent those with white paint pen, white gel pen and then some pitt pens and microns.
Amazingly, I am up at almost 2:30 am. I am tired and sleepy but not enough to just fall asleep. Now imagine that. In anycase, I hope you like the layout.
I am going to link this to the web blog A creative Romance. They have an anything goes theme. I hope you all like the layout.  I am linking as well to Simon Says Stamp Blog Wednesday Challenge. This one is create your own background. Clearly I have done that!!!

Until later
SS

Just one more new hobby

Yes,

It's me again. My life has gotten pretty busy again. I am happy about it though. I can't stand being bored. So, I get to be home for 2 weeks straight. Ya, gotta love sleeping in your own bed. So, I have taken up quilting. Yes, I know.  Me, quilting??? I can barely sew a button on but I am giving it a go. I bought a new sewing machine. One that is pretty simple but I really want to try doing rag quilts. Of course. I am not going to give up my other hobbies. In fact, I had a wonderful creative weekend that I still have a lot of stuff to share but I will get to that in a minute. 

So here is the share for today.

I am still in love with my Kenny K images.  I have pulled out the stops with the Copics again. I had to hold off on adding to the collection until next month. But I definitely will be doing that soon.  This page was done with a background of Tim Holtz Distress stains. They are always good for a quick background.  I have been trying to figure out how to get more depth in the background on this. But I think when I do my cruise this year this will definitely be in my supplies list. I have been trying to figure out something that is a little less messy to take but will still allow me to have some freedom for creation.  I actually chose to post this one on the Kenny K Crew's challenge blog. It's anything goes this time.  I also want to link this to Crafting from the heart. They also have a theme of anything goes this week.

One thing I want to try as well is journaling. I actually bought a book that has 642 things to write a about. Not sure why but I really wanted the items in here. I think it would be a really cool thing to do as a round robin type journal. Someday.. The first one i looked at it is " Write a witch's spell"

"round and round, spin today. Look to the North and start to say..  I am beautiful, I am great. Now cover your face so that you cannot see.. Because the person inside is what you really want to be."

Ok, Enough of being corny, until later.

SS

The Other Woman

So, I have had this movie for about 3 weeks and have not watched "The Other Woman". I have to say that this is pretty funny. Not "Bridesmaids" funny, but pretty damn funny.  Not to mention that the main male character is Jaime, from Game of Thrones. LOVE HIM!!!  And the secondary male character is the hot guy from "Chicago Fire".  He is definitely "do-able".

I have continued to create this weekend. Still focusing on the main objects for the page layouts.  I really didn't paint at all this session. I did some sprays and I started playing with my Wendi Vecchi embossing paste.

Hope you like this page and have a blessed Sunday.

Again, I love my digital images, wink of stella and Copic Markers.  Who needs more??

Until later

SS

Crafty Creations

So, I am at a retreat this weekend. I got an e-mail from a friend telling me about it. So I had no plans and figured I would try it.  It is pretty cool. The owner is really nice and overall I like the place. I absolutely love that I didn't have to bring anything. Everything that I would need pretty much is here. I did a little shopping with the group but of course I don't need anything.
I have been creating. I actually brought my copic markers.  I have been coloring up a storm. I found a blog a couple of nights ago that has copic color of the day. This blogger uses different copic color combinations and comes up with a new color name. I am trying to recreate what she has on the cards by creating my own samples. So far I am in "need" of a lot of copic markers. LMAO

Here is one of the pages I created this weekend. I did some backgrounds but I really wanted to focus on getting pages done.  Hopefully you like it. I used mostly sprays for this background and then I focused on the main image.

Oh well, I hope you like the page.

Not a morning person

So, I have definitely come to terms with the fact that I am just not a "morning person". I mean, there are times where I can be downright mean if my sleep is broken. I don't get much to begin with but if you wake me up before 7am it is on. I am not afternoon sleep in person. I guess you really can't be when you have a career but I would much rather work from 8 to whenever and then if needed work later. I don't mind putting in the hours but can we make it after 8am. LOL

So my next creation is from a few months ago. I am a fan of magazine articles so I try to take advantage of the tons of them I have from friends.  This one was done with Dylusions sprays and I was in my washi tape mode as well. I can't begin to tell you how much of this stuff I have. I absolutely refuse to buy one more roll until I have used up almost all of this. I believe I will have to start doing some Christmas cards and make my decoration a washi tape tree. But just how many of those can you do?  I don't have that many addresses. (LMAO)

I am definitely into the warm backgrounds.  I am going to start putting more on my pages for backgrounds. I find that while I don't like a lot of texture I do like depth.

In any case, I hope you like this one. As you can see, i also did a little journalling on the page. I plan to do a little more of that where I see feasible.  Until later.

SS

Ok, I know I am on a roll now

Yes,

I love Blogging. I don't think it's because I really want to share every little thing in my life but it is definitely an outlet for my emotions.  I consider myself a pretty happy person.  Overall I have accomplished almost everything I thought valuable to me over the last forty something years of my life. Don't get me wrong, there is much still to come but so far so good. 
 I fell into art journaling about 2 years ago. I absolutely love it. I am pretty obsessed actually. My goal is to try and get at least a couple of pages done a week. I normally spend 4-5 hours on a page. That would include backgrounds. My new favorite Youtube artist is the lady on jogglesllc. I love her work. She is so quick and really inspires my own personal style. If you have never seen it you should take a look sometime. Oh well, enough of the blabbering. Here is the art journal page for the day. This one was done with dylusions and then I just did some doodling. The figures are from the Cricut "forever friends" cartridge. You can't get it anymore at regular stores. It is one of the few cartridges that I have and love. One day, I was at DCM and started cutting these and a friend gave me some of her paper scraps that she was going to throw away. Well, I ended up making these into a bunch of these girls. Now, I use them in a bunch of my page layouts.

I am a doodler, I am trying to practice so that I get better I don't exactly have the expertise of someone that has done it all her life but each day I get better. I am working on pages that do just that so I can perfect the art.  The one thing that is not on this page is extra background art. You can tell that it leaves a little something to be desired. I think this layout needs depth.You never know, I might go in a couple of weeks and see what stamps I can add to help bring out the color scheme,

Until then,

SS

Back in the saddle

Here is the coordinating page to my post on 8/25. So I have to admit, I am a Twilight fan. Not the books but the movies. Someday I will explain why without sounding so self righteous. However I am a triangle love theme junkie. Now, I like Jacob. I am definitely team wolf but I could not pass up this image of Kristin. She is not exactly Bella here but close enough.  She has the same background as Michonne has and I did the hand embellishing as well. The only difference is that I used some washi tape on this layout. But since I have over 100 rolls I figure that was a good way to start getting rid of it.
I recently asked a friend of mine how many pages a month she gets done in her journals. She was estimating 5 or 6. I think some months I am on that but if I would have to average it out I am more like 3 or 4. So ask me why do I continue to by journals? I am clearly a collector. My new commitment it to use the stuff I have and believe me I have a LOT of stuff. I was successful this weekend. I did not go to Michael's, Joann's, or Hobby Lobby once. I think I will be at least 50 before I go through the craft room I have.  Needless to say, here is the journal page. I hope that you like it.

Alright, until later. 

SS

It's been a while

I know I have slacked but I went to DCM this weekend and I thought this would be a good opportunity to show you a few things I have been working on.  I have recently found my love of "create a color" paint now. I got it from Close to my heart. They no longer make it so I had my consultant hunt me down every tube that she could find. Luckily I am in possession of 15.  I have gone through 3 so far which means I will have to find a new method to showcase my love of iridescent backgrounds.
Let me just say that I actually finished this layout a while ago but I wanted to show you something that I am pretty proud of. This was actually done with the inexpensive metallic paints you get from any hobby store. I put a few colors together and spread them around with a hotel room key. I have a few of them to say the least. This is done in my large journal. The picture is of my favorite character from "The Walking Dead", Michonne.

I used some sharpie markers and pens to do the accents. I am kind of a fan of doodling which you will see a lot in my work. I am not as die hard as Dyan Reavely but I do love to see the accents in most cases.  You can't really see the great color but it has green, gold and rust as the background and they are all metallic.  The actual picture is black and white. I found it in one of my favorite magazines for clipping art, W.  Alright, enough for now. I will try to get this posted.  

Until later

SS

I have been a little remiss

Yes, I know it has been a month and a half since you heard from me. However I assure you I have not just been sitting on my butt. I was actually working on a lot of projects. I finally got to take some pictures. I have been on a retreat at one of my favorite places. Memory Lane Inn. I love the owner, Jennifer. She is really awesome and has such a great atmosphere to be creative.  
I have worked on sketching faces as well. I keep telling myself not to be scared. The more I do it the better I will become. So I try to do at least one a day.  Once I think I am finally good enough to share even my amateur sketches I will share.

So here is a page that was started. Basically I have the background and images. Now I just need to spend sometime with a few pens and embellish, doodle, etc.

I used one of my Prima girls for this spread. I realized that I had not really used them so I spent some time stamping them up and fussy cutting. They are on quite a few of my pages. The background is Tim Holtz distress stains, which I absolutely love for a quick background of color.

The cut outs are from a Cricket machine with the close to my heart cartridge. I did find out that I would definitely like to do more stem and leaves this way.  I will make sure to post a pic once it is done.

Take care, until later

SS

A little more Inky-Painty

So, I have been working away in my art journals.  Gesso, paint, ink and some background work. I haven't finished another page so I thought I would show an old one that I am pretty drawn to the color scheme and layout.

This is one of my favorite Dylusion backgrounds. I added some leaf stamps and faces for back ground. The image is from Kenny K.  And then there is some doodling of hearts and used glitter washi tape and cut out hearts from scrapbook paper. 

Well, it is TV time. I didn't get an opportunity to watch a few new episodes of my favorite shows and I don't want to be up all night. Until next time.

SS

Another Great Day

In case you could not tell, I absolutely love crafting. I mean it is my stress reliever.  I have a great career but as everyone knows there are those days.
As today is Halloween I thought it would be appropriate to have a page that had at least something remotely spooky.  This one has an image of Dark Shadows the movie which I got from the American Way magazine.

This particular lay out still needs some work. I had not yet added borders but it has a lot of accents. Another one done with Tim Holtz Distress stains.  I have some pretty decent magazine images that I wanted to try out so this is my way of incorporating them. Some of the accents were done with some die cuts I did from a friend's quik cutz stash, loving them. The stamps you probably recognize as being from Dylusions. I just love the leaves and accenting them.

This is my last post for the month of October. I am so proud of myself. I managed to blog at least 3/4 of the time this month. I had only hoped for a couple of times a week. I have to tell you, I have felt better about it.

Oh well, I will go for now and hope to hear from you soon. As always please don't hesitate to comment on my blog with questions or words of praise (hint-hint).

Until Later

SS

Just keep working away

I absolutely love working in my art journals. I need to reorganize my room still so my desk is not as messy but I am having so much fun. I managed to finish inking the rest of my layout pages tonight and even get a couple of layouts inked in one of my Canson XL journal I purchased on sale. I wanted to make sure it would take the ink and water. It absolutely will. So now I am happy I purchased 7 of them at WalMart for dirt cheap.  OK, you caught me, I have issues with journals.  I just love them. But Dyan Reavely says that she has at least 6 or 7 journals started at any given time. So right now I have 4 that I am working in. One Dylusions, a Canson XL, my altered atlas and finally my "Ross for Less" journal that has turned out to be simply awesome.  I found out that I the "Ross" journal is really a Carnet journal. They normally run $20 but I got it for $4 because it was missing a pen. I am now looking for others at each Ross I go to.  : ). I told you I had issues.

So here is the background start to part of my Ross journal.  I did the background with distress stains that I had.  I added some glitter washi tape that matched.  I added some borders from my Prima Doll stamp collection. I think I will just add a little distress ink through stencils and then journal on this page.  But as you can see I love the Kenny K images.

Oh well, until later

SS

Another great day of crafting

So I made it home safe an sound and now I have been spending a couple hours a day on my art journal. Sometimes just creating backgrounds and other times adding all of the focal points.  And when I don't feel like getting off my ass then I will just use pens to accent.  I can't complain because at least I get a chance to be creative and let off steam.

I am not quite finished with this page yet. But I don't really know what it needs.  Definitely a border but I think I need to actually journal on this page to give it more fullness. I will try it with a colored pen that might pull out some color but not overwhelm the page. The background is claudine Helmuth paint.

I found these images in a magazine and decided they recognized the thought of being faceless or invisible. And as you can see I can't spell because I used an "A" instead of "I" in the word. I never claimed I could. : )

Oh well,

Until later

SS