Prompt: Wacky

This past weekend at our smashing Smash* crop

Holly gave us a prompt for the evening... it was Wacky...

I had literally smashed the background of this page prior, using my new 

Acrylic Dabbers using this technique and had added the Starburst wrappers 

thinking I would do a candy page!

But the colors just screamed WACKY

and so I went to work... Hoping that my toils would win me a small smash* book prize

The pics I happened to have taken with my Ipad on our recent Grand Canyon

trip with mom and dad... they are in "infrared"

I had stamped and painted the kites earlier in the day

using of course my ranger distress inks after stamping and embossing the outline I 

used my paintbrush with a little water and the ink I filled 

in the kites... it gives a cool water color effect

Next I added some of my smash* pad top 10 notecards

I added the washi, made some "Wacky" "Color" tags

Voila! While I don't think it won me a new smash* book (I left before the drawing,) 

it was very satisfying to finish a page

and to use the funky pictures that I thought would never make it into any

book! 

Do you have that funky picture that you don't think will fit anywhere??  Are you bold enough

to just go for it??

Smash* Challenge #1

This weekend I am participating in the Three 24 hour smash* aholics challenge.  It's 3 challenges for 

each of the three days of the weekend.

The first challenge was to make a page about someone or something special..

So I flipped thru my pictures and this one stood out t me...

It's of my parents from their last visit.  And in honor of my mom finally starting to follow this blog I thought 

I'd include her!!

Some close ups of the details... The pretty butterfly with Ranger acrylic paints, and home made 

glitter spray (I used an old container of eyeshadow)

The little glassine envelope was left over from my wedding, and I added a little bit of twine

At the top of the pic is the xoxo glittery ribbon, some coups I got at a raffle a while back..

The king and queen are from the cover of a book of stamps, and I made the mom and 

dad sign from scratch...

It's a cute little page, and much more smash* like than I usually do!  I hope you enjoy!

Another Birthday Card

As promised I have some eye candy for today!!! 

This little beauty was a little bit of some left overs that I found in my studio.

The picture is from saturated canary's talented artist Krista Smith.  I colored it with copic and prismacolor markers.

The card I got on clearance in Hobby lobby, and the papers I've had for literally years!!!  

The little 3 and 5 are stamped with embossing ink, and then clear embossed, and then I distressed the paper with Ranger inks. and attached a brad.

It was a pretty quick card since I had already colored the digi stamp! 

I made this pretty little girl for my sister Tanya... so if your reading, sorry to spoil your card... but it's obviously MUCH better in person!!!  Enjoy!!

What is your favorite card making technique??  Are you like me, helter skelter??  Or do you plan everything out to the last detail??

Please feel free to follow my blog, I can't wait to meet all of you out there in blogland!! 

Happy Wednesday!

10 tips to get past the blank art journal page

10 Tips

to get past the blank art journal page!

1. Put down a wash of color... Use watercolors, or acrylics.

2. Tear out a page of a magazine and modge podge or glue it down on the page.   Any magazine page will do... after all, you're probably going to cover it up again!

3. Distress just the edges and corners of the page.

4. Stamp your page directly from the ink pad and then quickly spritz with water.

or my favorite.......

This seems to work very best with the ranger distress inks as they stay wet longer.

5. Glue or modge podge a ripped up dress pattern to the page.

6. Haphazardly stamp with any of the rubber stamps you have not yet used, or haven't used in a long time!

7. Glue or paste that old calendar right onto your page!

8. Use something unexpected... try rubbing with charcoal, or how about some of those retread tires we see on the side of the highway? (Please be careful!!!  Don't get hit!!!)

9. Stick all your drink wrappers on a page... think the green tea bottle you just threw away, or the cup of joe you drank this morning.


10. Use that punchinella!  Abuse it!  Use all the ink pads you have!

After I put down a background on a page I usually shut my journal and leave it... Then when I'm ready to do a page I already have a bunch of backgrounds ready to choose from.

Translating a hobby!

#5 Hobby

My list of journal prompts from Mary

includes this beauty...
When I was at a recent meet up one of lovely ladies triggered an idea for this page. 

You see art journaling was not my first love... In fact, I had a whole life as a sewer and quilter prior to this adventure.  I even tried to sew a pair of pants once... that was a MAJOR fail!  

I am a lover of all things sewing though...
 I would love to have a dress form just for the inspiration it might lend to me!

I was super excited to use a leftover apron pattern in my art journal. 

I modge podge'd up the page and slapped that bad boy down!

Then it tore... and it didn't fit quite right... 

So I added some more pieces, and I stamped it up some using my Ranger distress inks!

It was starting to look better.... Then it hit me... since I was already going for a little sewing theme, why not actually sew on the pages??? 

So I pulled out my embroidery threads that mom had given me last time she was here.. and I went to work on the edges! 

Then I added a little sewing in the middle of the page with a piece out of my scrap dictionary about a "pattern." 

On the opposite side I used some glitter glue to write "Sewing Machine" 

and some ribbon that looks like a tape measure.  

Finally I added a quick sewn paper flower that I adapted from this tutorial.

I hope you enjoy!
What is a hobby that you would journal about?? 

Orange

Create an orange page!

It's such a bright and happy color... but how do you make a whole page of orange???

This page is similar to one that I saw online, and while I should have written down the site, I didn't, and then of course I couldn't find the site... Luckily for me I did however write down some of the things on the page... This is my version of that page.  

I journaled exactly what I was doing at the time I was doing it.... 

The background is orange watercolors mixed with wild honey Ranger ink, and orange glitter watercolors.  The lettering is stamped using black soot Ranger ink.  And the white writing is a jelly roll.  

This page was super easy to make, and I love that it went together so quickly!

Journaling your favorite book

I woke up super early... Super excited about Mom and Dad coming to visit!! And it's also Mom's birthday... I will post about her present later...  What an adventure that was!  The house is all cleaned (or hidden!) Except for the studio that I just don't have the patience to clean now!  And since I was up so early I decided 

to tackled another prompt....

13. Favorite Book.... 

 I first read Gone with The Wind when I was 10 or 11 years old. Most likely I didn't understand parts of it, but I remember that I had gone on vacation with my family (I don't remember where) and I stayed up all night sitting on the bathroom floor, in the hotel, reading this amazing book. 

 

 I was simply mesmerized by all the flowing dresses, and the romance! I have read it quite a few times since, but that first time was the clencher, of all the hundreds of books I've read since, this has remained the most precious to my heart.

 I had some fun doing this page in my journal. I even copied the beginning of the book onto the background. I used Distress Inks to make the "weathered" look 

and the library card is from a pack of colorbok Antique Paperie die cuts. I added the info about the book that I found in Wikipedia. 

What is your favorite book? How would you journal it?

Smash Book..... a work in progress

I seem to have lots and lots of Works in Progress.........

Hubby always makes fun that I never seem to finish anything, maybe it's the little bit of a perfectionist that lives inside me, but I want things to be just right.......

When I started Art Journaling earlier this year I promised myself that I wouldn't do this with the art journal, that I would just turn the page and move on....

For the most part I have been able to do this, but I have one page that has been very slow to progress, and that I seem to always want to tweak!

This is that page for me.....

It just doesn't seem to have enough "stuff" on it! 

First I did the background and added the bird... then it sat for a while...

Last week I added the lettering, and then it sat for a few more days

Finally I started writing... Just whatever I needed to get out.

I love that I got to use my punchinella for the very first time on this page, but it still doesn't feel quite right.

Maybe I should add a tree next to the bird? 

Or some glitter or fun stickers??  Maybe I should let it simmer for a while longer??

What do you do when your pages aren't just right??

Hand made Hello Card

Just a quick card that I made a few weeks back when I first started playing around with my new Ranger Distress Inks (link here!) 

This was the little beauty that I created!  It was lots of fun, and so amazing to see a plain piece of paper turn into a tie died funness (is that even a word??)  It was of course the precursor to my current work in my art journal. 

I also stamped up the envelope some and shipped it off to ma in North Carolina.  Since her Christmas present (gift certificate to Joann's) was the reason I went out and bought the Inks to begin with.

Quick and easy peasy! What fun card handmade items have you made lately?? and do you ship them off or keep them for only yourself??