15 minutes of mixed media

Here you go - this week's take on my 15 minutes of mixed media - a lesson in art and time management!

I like this week's take. It is bright and bold! I am working in this art journal and love it! I started again this week with a blank page, an extra challenge for me. I prefer too, and usually start with a background, making the creative process that much easier. The blank page is teaching me to be bold and to not let the timer scare me!

SUPPLIES THIS WEEK-------> Golden Heavy Body Acrylic in Fluorescent Pink, Golden Fluid Acrylic in Diarylide Yellow  and Golden Fluid Acrylic inUltramarine Blue, Apple Barrel Craft Paints in White Gloss and Key West, Dylusions Spray Ink in Funky Fuchsia, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Ripe Persimmon, Painters Brand Paint Pens in White, Black, Red, Orange, and Hot Pink. I also used stencils, a heat embosser, a pencil, a medium point black Sharpie pen, one of my hand carved stamps, a TUL ultra fine permanent black marker, a paintbrush and an old gift card.

Here are a few other journal pages I created using this technique-------> Click on the images below to see how these journal pages were created using 15 minutes of mixed media.

*as an amazon affiliate, I receive a small incentive if you purchase a product through these links*

15 minutes of mixed media

Welcome to 15 minutes of mixed media. Because of the overwhelming and positive response to the film version of this exercise in time management, I thought I would share another process video for this weeks self imposed challenge.

I think it is important to create everyday. When I first made the committment to do this, I doubted it's ability to help me be creative. I was wrong. Making the time to put any medium, to any substrate, on a daily basis has done more to motivate and inspire me than I ever thought possible.

This week's supply list: Apple Barrel Acrylic craft paints in - Key West Bleu Turquoise and Sublime Lime Gloss, Craft Smart Acrylic craft paint in Neon Pink, Painters Brand paint pens in red, black white and hot pink and orange, Golden Fluid Acrylics in Van Dyke Brown Hue, UHU Glue Stick, Water Brushes filled with watered down Dylusions Inks, a few stencils, scissors, paintbrush, brayer and an old gift card.

I am working in this art journal and love it! I started this week with a blank page, as I have had a few requests to do so. I usually take a day and make backgrounds so that when I go to create I have a colorful substrate to jumpstart the creative process.

Here are a few other journal pages I created using this technique!

Click on the images below to see how these journal pages were created using 15 minutes of mixed media.

 

 

*as an amazon affiliate, I receive a small incentive if you purchase a product through these links*

the documented life project- weekly challenge 5

Welcome to Week 5 of the THE DOCUMENTED LIFE PROJECT.

January 25 - Add a Doodle Border to your page.

This week I chose a piece of vintage ledger paper as my tip in. I added large swipes of translucent watercolor and two large colorful collaged circles.

I doodled a large feather as my border, then decided it needed more.  I added lots of scallops and circles with a permanent pen. Then I began to fill in with color. I even added another piece of bright washi tape. I added some doodled circles and dots to my collage shapes.

Doodling is so fun, but truthfully it is not the easiest thing for me. I am better with a more sketchy approach and so my doodling always apprears a little shaky when I try to make it pretty and symmetrical. I try to compensate for this with color.

I filled in my scallops with dylusions inks. I knew the colors would bleed out on the old paper but wanted them to appear more fluid like and less like zentangle.  I love how the bright hues all popped together. Once the inks were dry I added little dots of white to make the bold colors stand out even more.

It is very difficult for me to confine a layout to one layer. This week was the perfect challenge for me for that reason. All of  the doodles helped make my tip in appear as if it were more than one dimension, so I was happy with my page in the end.

Looking forward to seeing your interpretations of this week's challenge and I can't wait to meet you back here next week for some more exciting fun!

Find out more about Art to the 5th and see a list of archived challenges here ----->

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  http://www.flickr.com/groups/thedocumentedlifeproject/

• Instagram: #documentedlife
• For a list of the archived challenges visit our Art to the 5th Blog 
  

*Our Blogs

• Roben-Marie Smith
• Lorraine Bell
• Rae Missigman
• Sandi Keene
• And our Life Photographer: Barbara Moore
  

Post your challenge response to your favorite social media and upload it to our Flickr group or Facebook group to share in the community of Life Documentors.

december daily: re-purposing & catching up

December Daily, with Ali Edwards. I decided to play along this year thanks to the friendly nudging of my pal Sandi. She has been playing for years and has the most awesome collection of memory books to prove it. There are a million different way artists, scrapbookers and journalers are interpreting this project. I chose to keep it real. No buying new pretty stuff. No staging photos. Just good ole' daily life in December and a whole lotta leftover papers and trims from projects past.

I didn't want anything too big either. In my mind I was thinking coffee table book. SMALL coffee table book. MINI coffee table book. Short, squat and chunky. I love the way this book feels so much I decided to create a quick mini workshop on how to make one. It will be available sometime after the New Year.

I stitched vintage style papers the base of each page of my book and added nature cut outs, stamped tags, fabric tabs and punched words. A little bit of doodling and paint plus some sparkle made it more "me" and less "scrapbooky."

I have to admit. I jumped on board for this project with more than a little skepticism. I just wasn't sure I would stick with it. What I should have been more worried about was actually STARTING the project. In all honesty I didn't start it on the 1st, but I DID start it and am now playing catch up.

I have enjoyed working in a small format, with everyday photos of "us" AND re-purposing the art supplies I had in the studio. As far as catching up- well I will be there soon! But the very best part of this project of all is the VIEW!

I will post more page peeks soon. Hopefully in December, wink wink! Have a very Happy Christmas and a Merry Merry New Year! Enjoy!

art stuff: 15 minutes of mixed media

- wait, make that 10. Ten minutes of mixed media. Today I chose to make the challenge a bit harder. I set the timer for ten minutes instead of 15. I am still working in my small Dylusion Creative Journal.

I began today on an un-prepped page. I did have a few supplies laid out.

My supplies for this shorter challenge included some paint, inks, pastels,  and a permanent pen. I dried layers with a heat embosser and finished the layout off with a sealer. Start to finish - ten minutes. This just keeps getting better and better!

This all started here! You can see a few other examples of 15 minutes of mixed media here.

the process: sometimes mini canvas

...because lately I love anything new and tiny. (If you follow my instagram you will know why) --->

Tiny and Pretty. Enjoy the process!

tutorials: plastic fused notebook

Today I have another tutorial for you using the same simple steps we used to make THIS PRETTY PLASTIC FUSED CANVAS AND COLLAGE PIECES.

If you had fun making your PLASTIC CANVAS COLLAGE PIECES I think you will enjoy making the easy pocket notebook. JUST GO HERE TO MAKE A PLASTIC FUSED CANVAS. Once you have your  CANVAS hop back over here and follow a few more easy steps to create this pretty, recycled pocket notebook.

STEP ONE:  Trim your plastic canvas to the desired size and shape, using your paper pad as a template. Be sure to allow for a half inch seam allowance around the edges of your paper pad. Stitch all the way around the edges of your canvas a few times with pretty thread. I added some zig zag stitching at the last minute too!

STEP TWO:  Grab some notebook paper or a small tablet- a sticky note pad works great. If you are using note book paper you will need to trim it to size, allowing for folding to create a signature.

STEP THREE:  Stack your trimmed paper, creating a signature. Fold in half and score. Now stitch down the score line with pretty thread. ( If you are using a ready made tablet you can skip this step! )

STEP FOUR: Once your signature is stitched, position it slightly off center on the wrong side of your PLASTIC FUSED CANVAS. Check that both sides will fold in toward center of notebook, overlapping. If positioned correctly, open to middle of signature and restitch down the center. Double back for added strength.

STEP FIVE:  Fold in your notebook flaps and mark both sides where you will need to punch a hole for your ribbon tie and button.

STEP SIX: Attach your ribbon and knot. Add a button or bauble on second flap. Fold & Wrap!

What a pretty little notebook to pull out of your bag for all those LITTLE NOTES AND LISTS. And the best part? It is recycled!

Enjoy!

tutorials: plastic fused canvas = pretty collage pieces

I make a lot of collage pieces to use in my art journals, but lately I am hooked on these pretty pieces. They are so full of wonderful texture and color. Since I have had so many questions about them I decided to do a little tutorial.

SUPPLIES YOU WILL NEED:

<--- plastic bags and wax paper
<--- towel to protect your surface
<--- iron and ironging board or flat surface
<--- inks paints and gesso 

STEP ONE:  Cut bottom seams and handles off of your plastic bags. Lay a towel on ironing surface to protect it, followed by a piece of wax paper that is larger than your plastic bag. Next, lay out one plastic bag ( print side in to protect your iron ) followed by another sheet of wax paper. Iron. Continue layering and ironing until you have a four to eight ply stack. Add a final piece of wax paper to your stack and iron one last time.

STEP TWO:  Apply a layer of gesso to your finished plastic canvas. Use an old credit card to move the gesso around. Let dry completely.

STEP THREE:  Start layering your canvas with inks and paints. Spray, brush or dab on your colors to create dimension and color, making sure to let each coat dry completely before adding another layer.

You can mix a little glossy mod podge with your favorite acrylic paints to create a beautiful color that dries with a shine.

STEP FOUR:  Add pops of white and black using a fine tipped brush or the end of a pencil. Add inspiring words or phrases.

STEP FIVE: After your PLASTIC FUSED CANVAS has dried completely, add a final coat of glossy gel medium or mod podge. Let dry. Now your canvas is ready to cut into shapes.

They look so pretty stitched to your favorite card or journal page.

Look for another cool way to use your PLASTIC FUSED CANVAS soon!

art journaling: journaling backgrounds

A little bit of creating going on here tonight ...

Art journal backgrounds in progress. Gelli Arts, doodling, water color pencils and book paper.

sneak peek: art journal page

Combining a little book paper, some sketching and inks, upcycled stencils and a white out pen.