sewing stuff: inking & stitching

My stack of dye catcher sheets is growing again so I started playing with a few of them the other day. A few stencils, some inks and a little stitching and some pretty gift card envelopes are in the works!

Can't wait to see how these turn out!

art stuff: gelli plate play

I like to use a colorful background as a starting point in most of my journal work and Gelli Plates are an awesome way to work with color and texture. For basic colored backgrounds just squeeze on a few different colored paints and roll them around with your brayer. Lay your page down and pick up the color. Repeat until most or all of the color has been picked up. It is cool to see what your next print will look like when it picks up some of the previous prints color.

Here are a few backgrounds I created this week.

Making these backgrounds is repetitive in nature and therefore soothing to me. I could do this all day. The bonus? I have pages at the ready when I go to work in my journal. Win win.

the process: recycled binder turned art journal

Let's recycle something else this week!

I took this old clear binder and turned it into a pretty art journal cover. It was super easy and took just under an hour to create, including drying time, which I sped up by using my heat embosser.

Next, grab one of these re-purposed scrapers and scratch off a little gesso- letting your favorite words shine through. Ink the gesso using a dry brush or sponge.

Mix a little gesso with some ink or paint and rub it over your favorite stencil. Chunky goodness happens here.

Add a stamp or two along the edges.

Use a black paint pen to add more journaling.

Stitch some fabric to the front cover to add some texture.

Punch holes along the edges of your solitary pages or add in those you have removed from a spiral bound journal.

My favorite part is seeing my journaling, in reverse, on the inside of the cover.

art stuff: watercolor pencils. a blast from the past

I was doing some purging recently and came across these watercolor pencils.

Talk about a blast from the past. It has been YEARS since I snapped these up at some home stamping party. I decided to mess around with them in my art journal with my water brush. I admit - they weren't moving around as I would like to see,  but I wasn't working on water color paper either.

But I didn't dislike working with them. I don't think I will add these to the donate box after all. Maybe tomorrow I will give them another go on watercolor paper. Or maybe photo paper.

I think with the addition of some gesso, paint and inks, I can live with this. Do you have a "dated" art tool that you like to use? I would love to hear about it.

instagram: a peek at summer thru an iPhone

This is the first summer in years that our family has not been able to take a vacation- big or small. This was also the first summer I would be without my big girl camera. I dropped it. I was sure we would be bored, that time would crawl and I would never have another photograph. Boy was I wrong. June 6th was the official start of our summer break and our plate has been full since that day. We have run the gammit from the saddest of days- losing a loved one, to the happiest of the year- the birth of my first granddaughter, and a summer full of everything else in between. Here is what filled the weeks of a good old fashioned "Stay at Home Summer."

DAILY EXCURSIONS. sea world. brevard zoo. universal studios. mini golf. harmony golf course.

BEDROOM MAKEOVER. painting. sanding. figuring. gathering. sewing. re-purposing.

IN THE STUDIO. stamping. dyeing. journaling. stitching. recycling. sketching.

JUGGLING JULY. time with dad. rainstorms. fireworks. working out. big top baby-q.

THE BIG DAY. on our way. waiting with our girl. meeting lincoln. thankful for miracles. making memories.

ROCKIN THIS STUFF.  hairdos. mannequin moves. Gavotte. iTunes. shades.

THIS STUFF HAPPENED. dirt road detours. pit stops. jewelry making. beach days. together. sunsets.

LEARNING TO LIVE WITH (2) LENSES: this route every 2 weeks. the day i couldn't see at all. trying out some glasses. i can see this now. getting there. these over sclera lenses might just be the ticket.

LOVING OUR LINCOLN. with aunt liv. with mama. pretty pink toes. with gram. resting. with pop.

SWEET SURPRISES FROM BIG SISTER AND HER FRIEND. harry potter world and islands of adventure.So you see, we survived a "stay at home summer." We probably garnered more memories than twenty beach vacations, and we didn't even document all of it. We played games, ran at the lake, went to the movies and out to dinner with dad. We had company from Pennsylvania twice and visits from nieces and nephews. We made pancakes and cupcakes and ate fast food too many times. We watched a tree fall on our roof and then helped dad cut it down. We felt loss and the blessing of a miracle. We laughed until we cried and then laughed some more. It was one of the most companionable summers we have had in years. It was memorable. It was perfect. And I didn't even have a big girl camera.

art stuff: recycled art combs- in thirty seconds

There are just certain things I can't throw away. Used gift cards are one of those things. No matter how many I seem to collect I just can't toss them. They seem too RE-USABLE.

I am tinkering with a few cool projects ideas that will incorporate much of the mass, but until then I found a great way to re-purpose a few of them. RECYLCED ART COMBS - how cool are these?

And you can make them in about THIRTY SECONDS! All you need are a few old gift cards and a good pair of heavy duty scissors.

A thrifty way to recycle that used gift card, these combs are a neat addition to your art journaling tool box.

I used a few of these while working on some backgrounds in my art journal. Pretty cool.

Here are a few of the other recycled tools that I have in my Art Journaling Toolbox.

studio stuff: and on day 5 i failed

Five days. That is all I could do. I tried to put my life in perspective and leave the mess each night. I called it therapy. For those of you who know me you will know that leaving my work area like this at the close of each day is actual torture. I lay awake thinking about it and have, in the past, dragged myself out of bed to make it right. I tried. Really I did.

DAY ONE ----->

DAY TWO ----->

DAY THREE ----->

DAY FOUR ----->

DAY 5  ----->

Sigh. I love order. I still won't be able to leave it all out before leaving the studio, but it will do for now.

art stuff: re-purposed tools

When you make a habit of "taking a look before you toss" you find yourself collecting some pretty odd stuff. It just takes a second look in the right light to know that you can re-purpose something. Art journaling tools are some of my favorite re-purposed items.

RE-PURPOSED ART JOURNALING SCRAPERS AND DISTRESSERS:

1. old gift cards  2. small ring of wood  3. water bottle cap  4. plastic button template  5. plastic crochet needle  6. contact solution cap  7. cut plastic bottle  8. making memories paint comb

I loved my ancient, but trusty, making memories paint comb. It came in some kind of distressing kit that I picked up years ago when I first got into mixed media. They had me at PAINT COMB. What an awesome set of words. Because I am a big re-cycler I started collecting bits of things I could use for the same purpose- adding to the looks I could create when I used them in my art journal. Like this --->

Be creative. Be inventive. Use what you have and enjoy the process!

on the worktable: art journaling

Working on this ----->

art stuff: carving some stamps

A talented and sweet friend of mine showed me how to do this at her lovely retreat a few years ago and I have been hooked ever since. Have I perfected it? Hek no! But I love them and their bold imperfections.

I think it's time for a new ink pad, but you get the idea. NOT perfect, but perfectly chunky.

I love using them in my art journal and on pretty mail art. Like this ----->

Funky and chunky. I love it!