My Azalea Bush

The most amazing things about this art journal page is that the flower grew in my yard and I took the photo.  

I am a plant killer. I don't mean to kill them but I forget to water them or I sit something on top of them or they see me coming and just keel over. You get the idea, right?

When I bought my house it had lovely plants out front. Now all I have is spring buttercups that live through snow and drought,    two pitiful tulips and one Azalea bush. This year the Azalea bush is beautiful. I took picture with my Iphone 5. The camera on the phone is wonderful!!

This is a 90% digital page. The flower & words I edited in MS Publisher. The background is craft paint and a WalMart stencil. The yellow lines are made with the edge of a credit card.

I am linking to Journal 52.  The theme this week is Observation and I thought the fact that I noticed my Azelea bush blooming counted as observing.  I'm also linking to The Rubber Dance Color Challenge. The colors this month are pink, purple and yellow.... some of my favorite colors.

Link to: Journal 52 , Rubber Dance Color Challenge, Paint Party Friday

Treasure

Many times I have an idea for a page in my head but I can't get it to go to my fingers and the paper. I'm very happy to say that this time my page turned out very much like my head saw it. 

I started by using yellow spray ink I made by adding a little water to PH Martin acrylic ink. I also used more my Ann's homemade Salty Ocean Spray ink she made from a Distressed Reinker.

The ink was thick so I folded the paper onto itself to get extra texture. I love how the yellow and blue made that lovely green.

I use a set of Plaid stencils that I bought at Walmart to give the background even more texture. The small squares are gesso with a stencil and the flowers are several colors of Gelatoes rubbed through the stencil with my finger. I made so many of those that my finger was sore this morning.

The treasure chest is a color book image I found on KidsPlayColor.com   It is colored with Gelatoes.  The coins are pieces of color paper with things I treasure typed on them and then colored with gold Gelatoes and gold Brilliance Ink.  I also use a Just For Fun crackle background stamp and copper Brilliance Ink on the coins and background. 

Please note: The quote on the right by Karen Kain. I cut if off the bottom by mistake. 

 

Link to:  Journal 52, The Documented Life Project, Art Journal Everyday and Paint Party Friday.

Unconditional Love Mixed Media Style

The prompt for Journal 52 is Valentines.  I decided I'd rather do a page about unconditional love.  The love of a dog for his person is one the purest forms of unconditional love. 

My dog is great.  He is always happy to see me. He's willing to cuddle most anytime. He forgives if I trip over him by mistake. He never gives me an evil look if I'm late getting home from work.  In a nut shell he accepts me exactly the way I am.  That's unconditional love.

One of my favorite quotes is, I hope to be the kind of person my dog thinks I am.  He is much more loving and less judgmental than I'll ever be.  So, I'd like to say, thanks for the love and companionship.  I do hope that some day I'll be the kind of person you think I am, Scoots.

This page has lots of layers. I started with the black and white deli paper that I saved from my sandwich. It was just too cool to throw away. The big heart frame started out as book paper that had left over red paint on it.  Scooter and the star under him were punched with an old punch I've had for years.

Under the frame is some neon purple paint that I bought at Michaels. The pink at the bottom is also neon from Michaels.

I used my finger to add a bit of yellow here and there.  The three tiny hearts are leftover from the Big Spill. (I spilled a large quantity of pink paint a few weeks back. They are from one of many towels and baby wipes I use to clean up the Big Spill).  Their string was made with a dark blue Montana paint pen. 

The big heart in the lower right is a gelli print.  The butterflies are made from from top to bottom: a baby wipe, a Carolyn Dude Stencil print and a book page. All three were punched with a Stampin Up punch.

I finished off with black and white dots because it just needed one more thing. The black dots were made with a Molotow paint pen and the white are made with gesso and a credit card cut with pinking shears.  

Link to:  Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Everyday, Journal 52, Colorful Gelli Party

Layers and Layers and More Layers

I began by gluing pieces of leftover projects onto the substrate (which is an old Word Perfect Manual).  Gluing is sometimes a Zen like experience for me. I don't have to think about it. I can just randomly glue paper.  Next I stenciled the bird using Golden Anthraquinone Blue and a Stencil Girl stencil.

I drew the window with navy blue Stabilo All pencil. I used a water brush to lightly paint the blue.  The green is acrylic paint I bought at Tuesday Morning. I used pieces of waxed paper on the windows so the colors would be a little muted.  Next I used a Crafter's Workshop wood grain stencil and Artist Loft's burnt sienna paint to stencil some wood grain.  That stood out a little too much for me so I went over it with a bit more green paint.  It still needed something so I added the cream lines using Golden Titan Buff and a credit card.  I mixed more of the green acrylic with some embossing paste and then use a piece of drywall tape for a stencil to get the little squares of texture.

I added Titan Buff to the bird and then stenciled again with the dark blue.  The Buff was too bright so I dry brushed a bit of the blue over it to give the bird a two tone blue look.


Link to: Journal 52, The Documented Life Project, Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Every day and T Stands for Tuesday.

What Lies Underneath...

I decided to combine the prompts for Journal 52 (TV) and DLP (Under paper.. What lies beneath?) for this week's journal page.

The background is the paper I use under my work space. It has ink, paint and glue from many of my previous pages. The five parallel pieces of paper are scraps left from other projects that I used for the embellishments on the page.


The TV is made from the packaging for a Mr. Huey Stencil and the antenna base is from an encyclopedia page. The antenna is made of craft wire I bought at the beach years ago. I'm old so I remember when we put tin foil on the antenna to get better reception so I had to add that.  The TV is attached to the page with Scotch Expressions Masking Tape.  The TV screen is a piece of book paper that I used to clean off a stencil I was using with embossing paste.

I used paint pens (Sharpies, Liquitex and Molotow) to doodle on the page and the write the words.

I didn't really care for the TV prompt. I haven't watched TV in about 3 years. Cable got to be very expensive and I realized that I was reading way more than I was watching. When I gave up my cable I thought I'd really miss it. I don't.  The only thing I miss is the Weather Channel because I live in an area where we have tornadoes from time to time.

I have found that I love the quiet in my home now.  There is not incessant chatter in the background like there was at one time in my life.  

As I thought about years past and all the hours and hours of TV I watched, I realized that what started out as a companionable time for a little entertainment became a way to avoid communication. I didn't realize it at the time but TV shows kept us from having to talk about the important stuff. We were always so busy being entertained that we lost our ability to communicate.  

I sure wish I'd know this all those years ago.  But I didn't. I didn't know it until last night when I started working on this page. People ask me why I art journal.  Today the answer is, "When I art journal, I learn something new about myself."  I hope that what I discover about myself will help me become a better person and that in the future I will make different choices.

Link to:  Journal 52, DLP, Express Your Creativty, Art Journal Everyday, The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge

Being Me Is Enough

The prompt for DLP this week was use gesso and the one for Journal 52 was Just Be... This is what I ended up with after playing for a large party of Saturday. I started with a thick layer of gesso. I carved lines in it with an old paint brush that was very stiff with paint.                                      

I thought I'd try a gesso/newspaper transfer. I was told to let the gesso almost dry and my impatience got the best of me and I didn't follow those instructions.  My gesso was too wet and I kind of made a mess as you can see above. I decided I'd go with it and see what happened.  

Next I tried some yellow spray ink. I have no clue what kind it is. It was in a bottle I've had on my shelf for months.  Next I added some pink Radiant Rain.  I ended up spilling the pink spray and as I type I still have pink fingers even have a shower, many hand washing and even cleaning brushes.  I'll go to work with pink tinged fingers... Oh well they are use to it by now I hope.

I love this next photo because it shows the texture I got from using the thick gesso. After it was dry and I'd cleaned up my pink table I added more pink and yellow creating a bit of orange in the background. I also used some Golden High Flow Acrylic Purple paint with a homemade mark maker (aka a credit card cut with pinking shears) and a Catalyst tool to add additional texture to the background.  I also used whatever else was sitting on my table to make additional marks. The truth is I just played until I liked how it looked.  I added bits of green and orange craft paint and a few stamped images.  

The flower is made of gelli prints and a Sizzix die.

I found the quote on facebook and have been saving it for the right page.  I love the idea that it's ok not to be perfect. The quote was perfect after the mess I made with the transfer.

The large words were done with a paint pen from WalMart. It's something I tell myself often. Being Me is Enough.

If you are art journaling I hope you are playing and having fun. Whatever you create is enough because it's yours.  There are so many things in life that are difficult... art journaling is not one of them. It's a place to play, have fun and let go of the anxiety of life.

 

 Link to: Documented Life Project 2015, Journal 52, Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Everyday, 

Napkins Make Quick Journal Page

Journal 52's prompt this week was Sparkle and Shine. I thought those berries were perfect for that idea.

I really like working with napkins in my art journal. I could never paint a bird as pretty as this one.  I love that I can take a paper napkin and collage it into a really nice page.

When working with napkins the first  thing I do is separate the layers. Most napkins are 2 or 3 ply. The top layer is the only one with a design on it.  If I don't separate the top layer from the others when I begin to glue, the top layer will peel off leaving just the white layers on my page.

Jean Parker taught me a neat treat for separating the layers.  Put a small piece of masking tape on one corner on the back side.  It will hold the white layer so you can peel the other layer off.... It works like a dream.

If you want to cut out an element from your napkin the easiest way to do that is to glue that element to a piece of paper. The paper gives the napkin enough stiffness that it's easy to trim.  

I used glitter glue on the berries and the bird's tail to give it a little shine.

Link to:  Journal 52, Art Journal Every Day

Snowman

Journal 52's prompt this week was make a snowman.

This page is done in my altered Recipe book. The background has blue, magenta and pink paint on it.

I wanted him to be a little 3D so I used embossing paste and a palette knife to make him.

I love how he's not completely round. Using a palette knife was not so easy for me but I think it gave him the look of a real snowman. 

My embossing paste was a odd blue color because it was left over from another project. I painted over the paste with gesso and while it was wet I pressed black round disks into him for his buttons. Then I let it dry for 24 hours.  I put a coat of Artist Loft iridescent paint on him to give him a little shine.

His hat is a piece of fabric that I cut with pinking shears. The ball and fluff on his hat are made from a cotton ball.  His arms are the branch from the Sizzix Bird Branch die painted with gold paint.  The little bird is a stamp from a set I purchased at Tuesday Morning. This face is black sharpie paint pen and a orange paint pen.

I made the background snow by mixing a bit of metallic white paint with water and splattered it with a paint brush.

My friend Bibi at Rubber Dance is having a blue, pink and purple challenge on her blog. I thought I'd link to it too.  She is also having a sale on her stamps because December is her birthday month. Check it out. She has wonderful stamps.

Link: Journal 52, Paint Party Friday, Artist Play Room, Rubber Dance Challenge

Stencils and Leaves

The Documented Life Project's prompt this week is leaves and the prompt for Journal 52 is stencil It. 

I made the stencils for the fern & birds from a dies a friend loaned me. I cut them from plastic packaging that I recycled.

The background was painted with purple and hot pink paint. Then I stenciled the half circles using gesso and a Michael's stencil.  After it was dry I put a light coating of blue paint over the gesso.  

Next I stenciled the ferns and branches with green paint.  

I stenciled the birds in purple paint on the journal page. Then I moved the stencil to the right a tiny bit and stenciled again so the birds would have a shadow.  Then I stenciled them again on book text. I cut out the book text ones and glued them on top of the shadows.  I love how distressed the page looks. I really like how parts of the purple peeks out through the blue.

Link to: The Documented Life Project,  Journal 52, Paint Party Friday

Newspaper House

This is my newspaper house for this week's Journal 52 challenge. I began by putting a light coat of gesso on a piece of newspaper. Then I stenciled this Carolyn Dube stencil over it.  I used a small journal so the darling steps to this house don't show. You will see it again in all it's glory I'm sure.

I stenciled a few branches using a Club Scrap stencil and then added fall leaves by using the tip of a small stencil brush and craft paint.  I added a bit of yellow with my finger so it would appear the lights were on in the house.

Link to: Journal 52, Paint Party Friday

Friendship

    The theme this week for Journal 52 is Friendship.  I am very blessed to have several good friends. Two of them is Theresa and Mike. They stood by me during the hardest time of my life. They have helped me and loved me through thick and thin. I can't tell you how many times they have come to my aide. 

The flower in the photo was a gift from Theresa... just because.  It wasn't my birthday. I wasn't sad or needy. She gave it to me just because she loves me and we are friends.

I did this page in purple paint over a book page because it's T's favorite color. I used a variety of friend stamps made by The Angel Company and Stampin Up. The tiny tag is a gelli print. The page needed something more so I got out my Rub Ons that I've been hoarding and added  few of them.

Link to: Journal 52

I Love Cotton!

I grew up in the south. I remember seeing fields of cotton growing when we left the city for vacation. I still see cotton fields from time to time when I visit my home town.  A cotton field is beautiful. It looks like a field of snow in the middle of the summer. This page is done for the Journal 52 Fashion Challenge. I didn't want to do clothing... instead I wanted to do fabric.  Cotton is my favorite fabric. 95% of my clothes are made of cotton. I love the soft, smooth feel of cotton. It is not scratchy against my skin. I own a ton of cotton knit items... T Shirts, capri pants, sweats and of course cotton jammies of all kinds.  What could be better than a comfortable pair of blue jeans and a flannel shirt on a cold day?  I could go on and on but I think you get the point... I love cotton.

This page is done in my recycled WordPerfect manual. The background is painted with green craft paint and then I journaled in huge scribbly writing with a green/red crayola colored pencil. (I called this type of writing my Carolyn Dube Scribble writing.)  I went through my dust cloths to find a pieces of plaid flannel and denim. I glued the fabric to discarded pieces of card stock to give them a little stiffness. I used a Sizzix die to cut the flowers. I found green brads in my stash for the centers of the flowers.  

Next I used one of the pieces left from cutting the flowers as a stencil and stenciled matching flowers in blue on the background of my page. The word Cotton was cut from a 1.5 inch set of dies from Sizzix compliments of my neighbor who bought that alphabet last winter.  The letters are cut from chip board and painted with watered down red craft paint. I used a small piece of a credit card to make the designs on the letters as well as the marks on the background. The letters are glued down with heavy duty double stick tape.

Link: Journal 52, Carolyn Dube, Artist Play Room

Courage is Fear That Said Its Prayers

I used a Google Image search to find the background flowers. The door is also from a Google search for Teal Doors.

The solid paper inside is Tim Holtz paper. The words are on more of the flower background paper. I used a Teal Sharpie to print the words.



Link to:  Summer of Color,  Journal 52, Artist Play Room 

Abstract Art..... Who Knew I Could Do That?

I have done very little abstract art.  It never occurred to me to try it until I joined Journal 52, a free art journal workshop.  Abstract was one of the challenges and I kind of ignored that one because I didn't know how to do it.

This piece was totally intuitive. I really didn't think about what I was going to do or how I would do it.  I just started picking up paint and other things on my desk and this is what I created.  It was very soothing to be in the zone.  (disclaimer: I did not know I was creating an abstract work of art until after it was completed)

I found light grey paint and that is where I started...... The pieces with the holes are dry wall tape I bought online at Lowes. I love that stuff.  It's paper and sticky back and takes paint so well.  I cut it in strips and painted the strips different colors.  My only thought was bright.... I wanted bright colors.  The stenciled circles were made using the part of the dry wall tape that was peeled off the back of the strips.

The orange and and green circles were made with a piece of a bath tub mat. It has those little section cups on it and I painted them and then stamped them on the page.  

The blue squares were made with the plastic insert from some kind of packaging.  It had 12 little wells that must have held candy or some doo dad.  It's just another of the odd things I've saved because I thought it would make a cool mark on a page or the gelli plate.

The big white circles were made with a piece of pvc plumbing pipe.  Someone gave it to me and it's been sitting around waiting to be used too.

The green circles were a leftover from another piece I was working on that I found under a pile of papers on my desk.  I used my Creative memories punches to different size circles. I really like the way using the negative and the positive of the pieces worked out.

All the straight lines on this piece were made with the edge of a credit card.  I'm amazed at how many ways I can use a credit card besides for spending money. 

Do you create abstract art?  I would love to see your work... please leave your link in the comment section.  Someday I'll learn how to use Mr. Linky and you can link your work here but not today.   Happy Creating!!!

Link:  Journal 52, Artist Play Room

Perhaps They Are Not Stars in the Sky

Perhaps they are not stars in the sky but rather openings where our loved ones shine down to let us know they are happy......

This page is in memory of some very special people who are no longer with me.  Some are people I knew my whole life.  Some were friends and some were people I never met but were very important to people I love today.  

I've got what I call the creeping crud... that respiratory thing that starts in my head and then goes to my chest and while it creeps through my body I feel as if I'll cough a lung up any minute. Whenever I get this I want my mama.  I'm a grown woman but when I'm sick I want my mama.  My mom was the greatest when someone was sick. She would hover around me just enough to make sure I had whatever I needed to feel better. She would bring me Sprite and toast.  She would tuck me in and she would smooth the hair back from my forehead.  None of those things would cure me but they gave so much comfort.  I'll never ever forget how great she was at giving comfort.  

My mom died four years ago this month.  It's hard to believe it's been that long. I still want to pick up the phone and tell her something or ask her a question. This page is for my mom.  

The stars are and Art Impressions stamp and the quote is a River City Rubber Works stamp. 

Link to: Journal 52, Artist Play Room and Art Journal Everyday