Traveling with my art supplies

For Mother's Day I treated myself to a trip to see my daughter. When I travel I always bring a bag with a couple of art journals, watercolors, stamps and a few other supplies.  This time around I had a small plastic sleeve for photographs that I decided used paper scraps to bring with me.  I went through all the scraps I keep and decided to throw out what I know I won't use.  You know the ugly paper.  Each day I had a little time to work on a page.  As a challenge I would dump out the paper scraps and close my eyes and pick a piece and that would be the color I would use.  For this page it was purple.

The quote reads:

in my world the books would be nothing but pictures.

Alice in Wonderland

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Art Journal Every Day

I have a journal page to share for Julie's Art Journal Every Day challenge.  I brought this journal on a recent trip and decided to only use a few items but mostly paper.  I really love collages but still haven't mastered it yet. I keep trying but I end up painting over it. This time I decided to make a city out of paper.  I was in Chicago so that was my inspiration. 

Quote:

read the directions and directly you will

be directed in the right direction

I actually love the way this page came out. The paper is all scraps. The background was done with watercolors and I always bring a set up alphabet stamps for quotes. I am now using this page as inspriration for a canvas for my daughter. 

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Childhood memories: paper bags, markers and tape

When I was little my mother would help us make cards and gifts out whatever she found in the house. She always said it was better to give then receive.  But when you're little that saying doesn't go over very well.  Of course once we really understood it, we loved making gifts and couldn't wait to see the recipients face when they opened it.  I remember one time we made cards (I think it was cards) out of paper bags.  She always saved them so there was a never ending supply.  I remember coloring a picture on it and using scotch tape and Elmer's glue to stick stuff on it like macaroni!  When I use brown craft paper to make a card I always think of that memory. I actually found one package of brown craft cards in a sale bin at Joanne's for $1. 

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Favorite colors. How many do you have?

Someone asked me what my favorite color is and I couldn't tell them just one. Right now it all depends on my mood and what I creating.  If I'm not in my art room and roaming around stores I will gravitate towards anything purple, all shades.  That is my favorite color but I hardly use it making art lately. I decided to make a background paper with purple.  I didn't think about it I just created it. I used it to make this card for my sister-in-law for Mother's Day.

I do love the color combo of purple and bright green.

Lately I've been using yellow, orange and dark blue.

Or blue and green in all different shades.

What are your favorite color combos?

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My Favorite Paper

I have made many background papers and keep all the little scraps to use again. There are some that I have not used because I love the way they came out.  It's like that favorite scrapbook paper you buy and keep saving it for something special.  Well, I'm trying to stop that habit.  This is one of my favorites that I made.  I think I love it because of the colors.  It was started by accident because I picked up the wrong bottle of acrylic ink.

I have to tell you about the ribbon that was a mistake too. I measured the ribbon for the card and cut it but it frayed a little and a piece got stuck in the scissors and when I pulled it, it made this curly ribbon.  I don't know if I will ever be able to do it again but I'm going to try.   The flowers were made with a Sizzix die and the butterfly is from a Stampin Up die.

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Today I have a baby shower and I made this card to go along with the gift. Yes, its a boy! She's not due until July but they wanted to do the shower early so everything would be ready just in case he arrives early.

The background paper I made with inks, acrylic pains and crafter workshop templates. The background stamp and the baby shoe stamp are very old and both from PSX.  I only have about four baby stamps and they are all old stamps from PSX. 

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Happy Thoughts

Hi. I have another notecard to show you that I made with leftover hand made background paper. I decided to use the circles on the paper to add a few more to the design.

The stamp (think happy thoughts) is one I use often. It sits on my table all the time. It reminds me when my mother use to tell us to always think positive.

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Art and Sanity

There are times that I'm so stressed out just sitting in my art room relieves my stress. I walk in close the door behind me sit behind my table and look around at everything on the walls, the furniture and the mess on the floor and some of the stress just melts away.  Picking up my art journals and just writing about the stress or just scribbling all over the page is a great stress relief.  The quote on this canvas is perfect and one of my favorites.

This is a 5x7 canvas that I had sitting around for a few weeks. I added the bricks with a crafters workshop template and modeling paste. I also used modeling paste here and there on the canvas for extra texture.  I already had the flower made sitting my table waiting to be used so I used those colors on the canvas.  The canvas is colored with Pan Pastels.

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HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY

HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!

I hope you are all having a wonderful day.

Here are two tags I made for Mother's Day.

Same quote but different colors.

 

I'm heading to see my daughter in Chicago.

We are going to have some much need mother and daughter bonding.

I haven't seen her since Christmas.

It's hard when they grow up and move away from home.

I hope you all get to spend time with your kids!

HAVE A GREAT DAY!

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Be Weird, Be Random, Be Who You Are

I love this quote and I had the perfect photograph for it. The photograph is an ad for sunglasses that was at a bus stop in Chicago. It was so full of color I had to have it.

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No one writes anymore!

I remember when I was in elementary school learning to write. I was one of the kids who had to practice over and over because the teacher didn't like my writing.  Then learning to write in cursive that was a nightmare for me. I remember my mother making me sit at the kitchen table and practice writing in cursive. She would be going through the piles of old mail and pull something out make me copy it in cursive. It is amazing how your writing changes of the years. The letters I had a hard time writing in cursive (Q, Z upper and lowercase) I just print in my words.  Do you write in cursive (script) anymore?

Well, I decided that I'm going to write more by sending out little notes to say hello. I'm going to try to do it at least twice a month.  So I decided with all the handmade background paper I made I'm going to make note cards. Just something simple.  Here is my first set. There are 6 all together. The background paper I make on watercolor paper with water and Dylusions sprays.  In the morning I sprayed the paper with water and used a paint brush to moved the water to make sure it was coated then sprayed the inks. I walked away went to work and came home to see what it looked like. I just added some little white circles.

As you can see no card will look alike once the background paper is all cut up. I added dry wall tape to the bottom.  If I want to add anything before I mail it I can or just send it out as it is.

Do you write letters to friends and family?

Do you only email and text?

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Art Journal Every Day - Balzer Designs

This week I just received my order from Robin-Marie's Art Goods Shop full of Dylusions spray inks and Crafters Workshop Templates.  Although her site gives you a time line on when you will receive your order, I received my order in record time. I never received an order so fast before. It was amazing! Thank you Robin-Marie! 

Let me tell you the new Dylusions spray inks are wonderful; the colors are so bright. I love them. What a way to try them out than in my art journal.  Today's journal for Art Journal Every Day I used Julie's Mini Burst Stencil, spray inks, Julie's If you Believe Stencil, acrylic paints, Dylusions Rubber Stamps and modeling paste.  

I first added water to the page then sprayed Pure Sunshine and Lemon Zest Dylusions Spray Inks then used the mini burst stencil with Pure Sunshine and Postbox Red.  Added the poppy from the If You Believe Stencil with modeling paste; waited for it to dry then painted it with acrylic paints. I also added a few numbers with a stamp and added the words Be True which is also from the poppy stencil.

Once I spray ink on a stencil I take the stencil and put it on tags to use up the inks. Don't want to waste any of that ink.  These tags were made with the same stencils and modeling paste as above.

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Kate Crane's 2012 Calendar Challenge

I'm a little late with my May calendar for 2012 Calendar Challenge but better late than never. My calendar today was an easy one this month.  My father's birthday in May and Mother's Day so this calendar I dedicate to my parents who are no longer with with us but still in our hearts.  My father loved the color blue, both my parents loved nature and my mother loved to paint nature scenes (see my post here). 

The leaves around the edge are Dylusions Rubber Stamps, the other nature stamps are from Stampin Up, and shape for each day I used a Sizzix die and traced it in black pen and outlined it in gray.

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Love Makes a House a Home

This canvas is a gift for my neice and her boyfriend who just bought a house. She doesn't read my blog that much so hopefully she won't see it before she gets it.  I made this with her favorite colors blue and green. The heart is from some hand made paper I have had for a long time. I used a Crafters Workshop template, modeling paste and lime green acrylic paint to make the bricks to represent a house.  This is a 12x12 canvas that I started something else on it but didn't like it and 12x12 just seemed so big to me. I just felt challenged trying to do anything with it. I have had this canvas for three months now picking it up and putting it down; trying this and trying that; with no results.  For some reason something clicked when she told me they closed on the house.

It has so much wonderful texture. Here is a close up.

I hope they like it.

If you two read my blog before it reaches you, don't tell me!

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Solitude

I have been making art by my moods lately. Do you do that?  This week for some reason has been frustrating.  Not sure why.  It could be that in work I have a lot to do; my never ending to do list; changes, changes and more changes; who knows!  When I am in a mood I love to be by myself; to hear myself think.  Lets face it I'm alone taking to myself trying to figure things out.  BUT I love it. Solitude gives me so much including answers.

Here is a 5x5 stretched canvas that started with blue acrylic paint and black trees made with modeling paste, black acrylic paint and a Crafters Workshop Template.  Do you ever have those moments when your brain and hands don't work well together?  That's what happened with this canvas.  But an accidental spilling of paint and knocking over a pile of pictures on the floor is when this canvas came together.  I found the solitary bird in a tree and spilled a little white paint on my canvas.  With extra paint; baby wipes and the picture my hands and brain were finally working together.

I wanted to portray solitude and I think it worked. 

How would Solitude look to you?

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Dry Wall Tape and My Art Journal

Donna Downey has me hooked on dry wall tape. She uses it in her art journals. You should check out her blog Simply Me and see her journals.

Here is a double page in my big journal that I started and has been sitting like this for months.

I used a credit card and applied gesso and paints. The black and white dots is tape.  I decided to use whatever was on my desk and that happened to be dry wall tape. I had strips of all sizes piled in a corner.  This is the final page.

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