Tuesday Art Journaling Fun!

Art Journaling FUN on Tuesday!

On Monday nights Tracey Weinzapfel hosts a live web show on mixed media.  I only just recently "discovered" her blog and videos.  Last night I checked into her show to see what it was about and it was fun.  You can check out that video as well as her others on her youtube channel.  Last night she made a page based on what will be her May challenge.  As her background she used gelatos!  That is where my inspiration came from.  I decided to pull out my gelatos and play so I created a colorful background which lead to this spread:

Once I had a colorful background I took a stencil by Delta to add the flowers and butterflies.  I used Archival and Distress Inks.  The sentiment "fly free" is from Unity Stamp Co. The journal I used is an old book I altered to journal in which measures about 5 1/4 x 8.

The supplies I used:

This Friday May 3rd is the blog hop I've been talking about!  We have 9 folks - Mixed Up Media Chix creating and sharing, with prizes along the way!  Be sure to come back and check it out the fun will start here!

That's all for now!

Maria

Creative Dare - Art Journal Challenge

Happy Monday!  So as you all know I've been into art journaling lately and loving it!  I still make cards but this is a refreshing change.  Sometimes you just need to switch it up a bit.

So I came across this fabulous artist sit Tracy Weinzapfel.  She does amazing work, has a live webshow every Monday, fun stuff!

She also hosts a monthly journal challenge and this month it has to do with 5 words that mean something to you right now in your life.  Being the stamper that I am I decided to search for stamps of words that would fit and of course I used Unity Stamp Co Stamps.

I had a 2 page spread in my journal started.  It had blobs of acrylic paints, shiny kind actually.  I wanted to at least still use these pages so I just went at it with inks, distress paints, stencils to finish off a background.

This is how it looked before I even picked out words.

Then I picked out words and since they are some what small words I decided to stamp them repeatedly on paper sort of creating a background effect on paper.  I used Different Dreams, Imagine, Create, Inspire and the Happiness one is from an old Unity kit and I think it may be retired now.

Then I cut circles using my big shot and circle scalloped nestablities from these sheets of words and came up with this:

I cut out each word and adhered it over the circles to make the words pop a little in a different color.  I used Matte Gel by Liquitex to adhere into my journal.

Then I pulled out Stylin Stars and stamped those in some neon and archival inks, cut them out, distressed the edges with inks and adhered those into my journal.

My edge was finished just by drawing scallops using black ink and white dots in the middle of each scallop.

Here is my finished spread:

Close ups of each side:

Stay tuned because this FRIDAY MAY 3 is my ART JOURNAL BLOG HOP!  I coordinated with a few other art journaler's.  I hope you'll swing by and check it out there will be some prizes!

Well that's all for today!


Thanks for stopping by!


Maria

Just Us Girls Challenge

This week is photo inspiration week with Just Us Girls!  Check out those patterns and colors!  I decided to go with the colors and I used a flower.

Here is what I came up with:

I used the Unity kits called Bloom & Simplify and Favorite Sentiments.  

Be sure to swing on by the JUGS DT as well!

Nancy

Vicki

Marisa

Maria

How to play: Please copy and use our graphic on your post. You need to upload your project for this week's challenge to your online blog or to a public photo gallery. Leave a link that goes directly to your project in the Linky Tools form at the bottom of the JUGS post. If you upload to online galleries, please use the keyword or tag, JUGS185. After you post to Linky Tools you may also leave a comment here.

Deadline to be considered for the "Chic of the Week" is 9:00 PM EST on Thursday, April 25th. The  Linky Tools form will close at that time. Our top pick, "Chic of the Week", will be announced on the following Friday morning. Thanks for playing with us this week!

That's all for now!

Till next week!

Maria

FWF / Art Journal Friday!

ART JOURNAL FRIDAY!

It's Friday and time for Friends with Flair!  And oh yes I'm back with another journal layout!  I have been LOVING it and it's become my Friday thing using my Unity stamps!  

Before we get to today's project I have to share something I did last weekend!  I took 2 classes with THE TIM HOLTZ!  It was amazing!  So very cool to meet him and Mario in person.  They are the two nicest, down to earth people!  He is just as assume teaching in person as you see in the videos.

So this week I played along with Tim's April tag.  You know this year he's doing the 12 tags of 2013, one tag each month instead of the 12 tags of Christmas!  Cool idea, although I think I will miss those 12 days in December when he posted a new tag.  I love making tags since they are small like making cards ( I started as a cardmaker)  but then I end up with all these tags and just make a pile of them somewhere.  So this time I made my tag and wanted to do something with it.  

First off here is my tag based on Tim's April Tag:

I wanted to share this view with you to show how the wings pop up.  I used basic acetate for my butterfly embossed with black soot distress embossing powder.  I distressed using distress paints on the metal pieces and the letter M is a plastic piece.  My background is using distress paints. 

So then I decided to take the tag and use it in my journal.  

I think it came out pretty good, I was happy with it.  The lettering on the right is from the lost and found Tim Holtz paper stash and the small letters around in circles is from Tim's new Remant Rubs, which are fabulous!  They rub on so easy it's amazing! 

The butterfly is from the Unity itty bitty called Journey Like No other and the script is called SHE Script.  The background is filled using distress paints and even some Dylusions sprays.  As I was creating the tag and then the journal I took a few pictures of the products and colors I used and put them in a little slide show.  In the beginning you will see I show 2 distressed tags, that's what I started with and picked one to use.

If you have any questions just let me know.  I love all the kind comments I get regarding my journal pages it's so wonderful and encouraging so I thank you!

Next Friday is the day of my Art Journal Blog Hop! We have some fun folks lined up and it's gong to be a blast!  I will still post for FWF but it will be part of a blog hop which I hope you will hop along with. It's going to be awesome with PRIZES to be had!!!

That's all for this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Maria

Ranger April Color Palette Challenge!

This month I'm participating in the Ranger Color Palette challenge.  With it being Earth Day the color palette is Earthy tones.  So I pulled out some greens, yellows, browns and got going on a 6 x 12. canvas.

I took a few pictures of some of my steps to share.

1. I took some paper from Tim Holtz Lost and Found 12 x 12 paper stash and adhered it to the canvas for my background.

2. I used Distress Inks in rusty hinge and peeled paint.  I distressed the edges and the paper a bit using blending foam.  I used a Dylusions stencil - Luscious Leaves for the leaves on the edges.

3. Next I took the stencil I created from the Caged Bird die and did some stenciling using distress inks.   I used some spiced marmalade and mowed lawn.

I created the stencil using stencil sheets I picked up at Michael's made by Plaid.   These are great because it is a heavy plastic like a stencil should be and now I can use it over and over again.

4. I used stamps from the stamp set Boundless Flight in my background with some distress inks.

5. Using paper from the Lost & Found paper stash I used the caged bird die to cut the cage and bird out. .  To them I stained them a bit with Aged Mahogany stain.  Stamped on it with some black soot and stamps.

6.  I used the Sizzlits Decorative Strip die called Stacked Artful Words to cut out the saying "enjoy the journey" again I used Lost & Found paper.  I then distressed the words a bit with inks.

7. Now I pulled out my Tattered Florals die to cut some flowers.  I cut some using the Melange Tissue Wrap and Lost & Found papers.  Once cut I distressed all of them with distress inks.

8. I arranged all the flowers using the cardstock into an arrangement, used a brad to hold together and hot glued them in the corner.

9.  I used the inked tissue paper florals "inside" the birdcage.  I hot glued the birdcage to the canvas and added the bird.

10.  Finally I trimmed the edges using Black Soot distress ink.


Here is my finished product:

Close up of the top part:

Close up of the flowers:

I really enjoyed making this canvas and I'm totally going to hang it up.  Thanks Ranger for a great challenge!!

Till later!

Maria

Just Us Girls Challenge

 

This week is color challenge week at Just Us Girls!  Before I share my card with you help me in wishing our very own LISA a very HAPPY BIRTHDAY who celebrated her birthday yesterday!!

Here is a card I made trying to come close to the actual SU colors as I could:

I used the Unity fashionista called Claire  and the sentiment is from the kit called Sassy Pants.

Just Us Girls Design Team

Marisa 

Tangii 

Vicki 

Lisa 

Nancy 

Elise

How to play: Please copy and use our graphic on your post. You need to upload your project for this week's challenge to your online blog or to a public photo gallery. Leave a link that goes directly to your project in the Linky Tools form at the bottom of this post. If you upload to online galleries, please use the keyword or tag, JUGS185. After you post to Linky Tools you may also leave a comment here.

Deadline: to be considered for the "Chic of the Week" is 9:00 PM EST on Thursday, April 25th. The Linky Tools form will close at that time. Our top pick, "Chic of the Week", will be announced on the following Friday morning. Thanks for playing with us this week!

Thanks for stopping by!

Maria

FWF Friday - Art Journaling with Washi Tape Flowers

Art Journal Friday

It's Friday and time for a little Unity FWF and Art Journal Friday!  This week in my journal I decided to play with washi tape!  You know you have some in your stash, it's getting to be a bigger and bigger trend.  Love the stuff, so much fun to just play around with.

Here is my two page spread for this week:

Taking a picture of this one was an adventure as I tried and tried, but for some reason this seriously looks so much better in real life!  Well anyhow, I used lots and lots of Unity stamps and washi tape!

The flowers is a big stamp by Unity called Donnas Poppy Background.

Some of the other stamps I used include:  Hearts of Old, She script,  moment by moment .  The "spiral" butterfly is old Unity but I couldn't locate it to link it, perhaps that one is retired.  On the flowers I used the words from Bloom and Simplify.

This week I also did a video sharing how I made the washi tape flowers.




Well that's all for this week!  Swing on by tomorrow for a card I made for this week's Just Us Girls Challenge using one of the Unity Fashionistas!

Till later!

Maria

Ombre Fun

This week is technique week with JUST US GIRLS!    This week we are doing the Ombre Effect.  Ok I have to admit I had no idea at all what this was.  I looked it up and it's pretty cool.  Bascially it's using 3 (maybe more I suppose) shades of the same color starting with the lightest to darkest, kind of creating a fade look.

I wanted to try and use my Dylusions sprays for this, so I played a little and here is a tag I came up with:

I know it doesnt' seem to show very well but in person it does fade show that "fade" better.  I started on the bottom with: Lemon Zest, Pure Sunshine, Squeezed Orange.  I know the first two are more yellow and then an orange but I thought it worked and look pretty good.

Be sure to stop by the Just Us Girls team to see their amazing creations:

 Elise

Lisa

Marisa

Tangii

Vicki

Nancy

This week we also have wonderful prize from a sponsor this week: Dare 2B Artzy!  This week's winner will get to choose a stamp set!

Dare 2B Artzy is an unique, inspiring, and contemporary line of clear stamps for the use of card making and scrapbooking. Along with the many stamp designs already created, customizable stamps are also available upon request.

How to play: Please copy and use our graphic on your post. You need to upload your project for this week's challenge to your online blog or to a public photo gallery. Leave a link that goes directly to your project in the Linky Tools form at the bottom of this post. If you upload to online galleries, please use the keyword or tag, JUGS182. After you post to Linky Tools you may also leave a comment here.

Deadline to be considered for the "Chic of the Week" is 9:00 PM EST on Thursday, April 18th. The Linky Tools form will close at that time. Our top pick, "Chic of the Week", will be announced on the following Friday morning. Thanks for playing with us this week!

  

Thanks!

Maria

FWF and Art Journal Friday and a Video

TGIF!!  I'm on a roll folks with the art journaling!  I am loving it though, it's a fun change from making cards.

This week I have another spread in my journal to share with you and a video!

My background is filled using many stencils and Dylusions sprays.  I mixed in some Unity background stamps and the Dream collage you see on the right is a Unity background stamp, as is the border stamped in blue.

The one stamp you can see on this page, the girls head is not a Unity stamp but is a stamp.  I decided the other day I wanted a funky/wierd sort of stamp of a girl.  Sooo, I tried it myself by drawing and carving my own stamp and that is what I came up with.

Here is a close up including the actual stamp on the left.

On this one I also decided to use pages from a magazine and that is how I made her dress and the butterflies on the right.

This was a fun one to do!

I also wanted to share with you a picture of all the stamps I have carved in the past.  A while back maybe last fall, I got into carving stamps for fun.  Here is my collection:

So I guess it would be ok to use these stamps for FWF along with Unity Stamps :-)

I also created a video I call Intro to Art Journaling.  It is just my ideas and views on how I art journal.  And I think I mentioned inexpensive many times over! But I was trying to explain how easy it really is to get started and how it doesn't have to cost alot.    Again I apologize for the grainy picture I still haven't figured that out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Maria

Just Us Girls Sketch Challenge

This week is sketch week with JUST US GIRLS!  Check out this great sketch:

So I've been into alot of art journalling lately!  I love the Dylusions Sprays by Ranger and have been using them like made.  SOOO, I decided today I get a little artsy with my card.

I took a piece of white card stock and started spraying like I do in my journal, took out some stencils and had fun.

This is what I did and the products I used:

I used stencils, inks, sprays and Stamps by Unity Stamp Co.

Here is my card:

I had a blast going with fun bright colors!  The sentiment on the front is from a Tim Holtz set.

Be sure to swing on by the Just Us Girls Design Team and say hi!

 Elise

Lisa

Marisa

Tangii

Vicki

Nancy

How to play: Please copy and use our graphic on your post. You need to upload your project for thisweek's challenge to your online blog or to a public photo gallery. Leave a link that goes directly to your project in the Linky Tools form at the bottom of the JUGS post. If you upload to online galleries, please use the keyword or tag, JUGS183. After you post to Linky Tools you may also leave a comment here.

Deadline to be considered for the "Chic of the Week" is 9:00 PM EST on Thursday, April 11th. The Linky Tools form will close at that time. Our top pick, "Chic of the Week", will be announced on the following Friday morning. Thanks for playing with us this week!

  

Thanks!

Maria

Friends WIth Flair and Art Journal Friday!

TGIF!  It's Friday and time for a little UNITY Friends With Flair and my Art Journal Friday (it's becoming a thing:-))!

Today I have the rest of the journal layout I shared last week as well as a card!

First up here is the complete 2 page layout:

This has loads of stencils and Unity Stamps all over the place.

Each page:

This was so much fun to play with.  That is what I love about this art journaling stuff, just fun no stress.  NO rules etc...  And if I don't like it close the book! LOL!

Last week I mentioned I'm organizing an ART JOURNAL BLOG HOP and it's in the works.  We are hopping on FRIDAY MAY 3.  There is still time to join if you are interested!  Come and request to join my facebook group HERE!  I created this group to get organized for the hop but it's turning out to be a little fun place to share as well!

So now let me share with you a card I made yesterday using one of the new Fashionistas by Unity!  This one is called ALEXIS.

Well that's all for now!

Thanks for stopping by!

Maria

Gypsy Fortune Teller

There was a fun new release last night at Queen Kat Designs.  This fun image by Maigan Lynn is called Gypsy Fortune Teller.

You can now get these great images in digital format at Queen Kat Designs so be sure to check it out.

Thanks for stopping by!

Maria