Birthday Milkshake - Art Journal Page

In a previous post, I told you about the tin of opaque watercolors I got at an estate sale.  On that same day we stopped at a couple of garage sales and I found a 2014 Barnes and Noble hardbound desk diary for a buck.  At that price I figured I'd get some use out of it even if it's May already.  So I gessoed a few pages and after much internal debate, decided to make this mainly a painting and drawing journal, not a collage journal.  That way the pages will stay relatively thin and the book will close even as it fills up.

On the left side is a rendition of my new tin of watercolors!  It's not quite to scale but I don't care.  I'm not going for perfection here, and I *love* how freeing that is!  The inside of the paint lid turned out great--it looks like the original which is slightly stained from having paints mixed on it.  I also added a paintbrush.  On the right side is the chocolate milkshake I had at dinner Friday night.  We wanted to go out for ice cream on my birthday, but there aren't any old-fashioned diners in our town anymore where you can get a real milkshake.  So the next night we drove 60 miles round trip to eat dinner at a Steak and Shake, just so we could get milkshakes!  I ordered their Hersey's Special Dark shake which comes with whipped cream, mini chocolate chips, and of course a cherry on top.  It was thick and VERY delicious.

I still need to add my journaling to this spread before I call it finished.  It was a busy week so I'll focus on just the highlights, so my writing doesn't overpower the painting.

I hope you're enjoying your weekend.  Thanks for 
popping by!

Supplies:
Barnes and Noble 2014  Desk Diary (hardboard); Golden white gesso; Grumbacher opaque watercolors.

Lily of the Valley - Flower of the Month

Today is my birthday, and truth be told I don't feel much like celebrating.  But I thought I'd share with you the gift I got from my mom.  We were in an antique shop together recently and spotted it at the same time.  This three piece set of bone china is from the Royal Albert Flower of the Month Series.  It's not old (from 1970, so younger than I am--ha!) but it's lovely and I do like lily of the valley.

We actually have lily of the valley in three different flower beds in our backyard, and they are thick and full of blooms right now.

I wish I had a high-powered camera!  Wouldn't this last shot be fabulous with the right kind of lens?  The ferns are also very lush right now and such a vibrant color of green. 

Thanks for dropping in!  Have a fabulous day.

Opaque Watercolors and Red Tulip ATC

My mom and I decided to go to an estate sale last weekend.  We didn't go until Saturday and they still had plenty of nice items, including this old but little used set of Grumbacher opaque watercolors in a metal tin.  I paid a mere $2.50 for it!  Dick Blick is currently selling this set, in a plastic holder, for $22.25.  Even though the brush is missing and the tube of white is dried out, I think I got a great deal.  I love the large, round pans.

To test the colors I created a color swatch; the pigments are beautiful and intense.  Then I just messed around on some scrap pieces of watercolor paper and ended up with this tulip that I decided was good enough to turn into an ATC.  It may get added to an art journal page this week.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Grumbacher Opaque Watercolors; Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper; scattered straw distress ink; peat charcoal pencil; black Pitt artist pen; Adirondack black acrylic paint dabber.

25 26 Penny Farthing - ATC

I created this card for an ATC swap.  The theme is still life and I considered doing something more traditional (a group of pears, a vase on a table, etc.), but I just wasn't feeling it.  So I dug through my stamps and supplies looking for other inanimate objects to inspire me, and eventually settled on this vintage bicycle. 

The background started with a faux vintage postcard from a DCWV paper stack.  I added the red patterned paper and stamped on the handwriting before using an old credit card to swipe on some white acrylic paint.

The vintage bicycle (called a penny farthing, I just learned tonight) and the yard stick images are rub-ons.  I used distress inks and black acrylic paint around the edges for additional color and aging.

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a  wonderful day.

Supplies:
Cardstock ATC base; faux vintage postcard from DCWV Timeless Type Stack; red patterned paper from my scrap bin; French Post stamp by Hero Arts; splatter pattern stamp by All Night Media; Ranger Archival black ink; frayed burlap and crushed olive distress ink; bicycle rub-on from Michaels; yard stick rub-on by 7 Gypsies; Adirondack black acrylic paint dabber.

Have a Beautiful Day - Altered Envelope Mail Art

It's that time again!  Time to send off this month's mail art envelope to my partner. 

I started with a handmade envelope of watercolor paper that I loosely brushed with a variety of colors ranging from yellow to red violet and purple.  By laying a piece of plastic wrap on top of the wet paint and holding it there for a couple of minutes, I ended up with a fabulous patterned background.

The flowers and sentiment were stamped and heat-embossed in black to give them shine and definition.  The French script and postal cancellations were added using permanent ink.  I stenciled on distress inks through punchinella, and used the end of an old-fashioned hair curler and silver acrylic paint to stamp the large circles. 

Have a fabulous weekend!

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper; Schmincke Horadam watercolor paints; plastic wrap; frame stamp by Hampton Art Stamps; flower stamp by Penny Black; sentiment by Printworks; French script stamp by Tim Holtz; splatter pattern stamp by All Night Media; postal cancellation stamps by 7 Gypsies; letter stamps by Lawn Fawn; letter stencil by Tim  Holtz; Versamark ink; black soot, dusty concord and fired brick distress inks; black embossing powder; Ranger Archival black ink; punchinella (sequin waste); Stazon royal purple ink; silver acrylic paint; Sakura Pen-touch silver pen; Pitt black artist pen; Adirondack black and silver acrylic paint dabber.

Nutty! Art Journal Page

This journal page was inspired by the week 16 challenge on The Documented Life Project:  add a cardboard food box in a creative way.

I started by adhering some paper scraps from recent projects (which killed two birds with one stone: cleaning up my craft table AND hiding some obnoxious orange paint already on the page.  I had such high hopes for that orange background, as you can tell from this post.  But it's been over a year and it still wasn't speaking to me, so the orange had to go!).  I added a layer of white gesso over the paper scraps, then went to the recycling bin and pulled out a Little Debbie Nutty Bars box I had thrown in earlier.  You can probably figure out which rabbit hole I fell down after that.

Thanks for popping by!  Have a fabulous day.

Supplies:
Strathmore 5.5 x 8 Visual Journal (Mixed Media); Liquitex Basics acrylic paint; gesso; paper scraps; Sharpie Paint Pens; letter stickers; stencil; vintage dictionary page; punchinella; Nutty Bars box.

Crocus: First Sign of Spring

We have four distinct seasons where I live and spring is definitely my favorite; especially after a harsh winter like the one that just ended.  We had snow on the ground for over 90 consecutive days.  Once the snow finally melted, the yard and gardens were brown and really beat down.  But then...CROCUS!  A true harbinger of spring, these tiny lilac-colored gems were a welcome sight.

This picture was taken April 10.  You can see the brown grass in the foreground (and last year's leaves that I hadn't cleared off the flower bed yet--haha!).

Using my real crocus as inspiration, I created this card for my mom using stamps from Artistic Outpost.  To give the paper crocuses added dimension, I stamped the focal image a second time and colored just the petals.  After trimming them, I used a Q-tip and the palm of my hand to bend the paper into petal shapes, then glued them on top of the card.  Since I didn't have to mail this card, I wasn't concerned about the petals getting smashed.

Thanks for stopping by!  Enjoy your day.

Supplies:
Lavender and black cardstock by Bazzill; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by Teresa Collins; rubber stamps from Artistic Outpost; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; vintage photo distress ink; small oval and scalloped oval punches from Stampin' Up; border punch by EK Success; pop-dots; Glossy Accents.

Happy Mother's Day!

Bloom Part Deux with Poppy Magnet

Hi Everyone!  TGIF!  I liked this poppy birthday card so much that I decided to make another one.  I simply selected different patterned papers (and used one of my favorite color combinations: red, black, and cream).

I also created an altered domino magnet to coordinate with the card.  Here are the two together.  There's some glare on the card at this angle because the poppy is coated with Glossy Accents.  Not only does that give the poppy added dimension, but it intensifies the colors.

I'm thinking I really need to find some place in the yard to plant a few poppies.  I've been reading up on them!   

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

Supplies:
Card:  Black cardstock by Bazzill; soft suede and very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; seed packet and sentiment stamp from Artistic Outpost; poppy from Oxford Impressions; Ranger Archival black ink; gathered twigs distress ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; patterned papers by My Mind's Eye and DCWV; Swiss dot embossing folder; Cuttlebug; small oval and scalloped oval punches from Stampin' Up; Glossy Accents; pop-dots.
Domino: plastic domino (1x2 inch); scrap from an old Czech book page; dusty concord and vintage photo distress ink; poppy from Oxford Impressions; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; sentiment rub-on by Tim Holtz; Krylon 18K gold-leaf pen; glossy acrylic spray sealant; Glossy Accents; magnets.

Sketch Practice - Tulip, Day 1

Long story short:  I've determined that in order to progress in my art, I need to learn how to draw again.  So I sat down late last night and started a simple sketch of a tulip based on a photo I found on the internet.  My goal is to draw a little each day, because I will learn and get better only through practice.  I think I worked on this sketch for about 30 minutes.  (You know how easy it is to lose track of time when you're arting.)  This is still a work in progress.

Happy May Day!  Thanks for stopping by.