New life

Didn't you love it as a kid? A bonifide "do over"?

Well, in art, we can also re-think our art, and breathe in some new life to it!

Sometimes, it happens while working on a piece, maybe you sleep on it over night and wake up with a different plan. Sometimes you create something and just know it wasn't your best effort, and it sits there like a big white elephant in the room, staring at you every day, thinking, 

why did she abandon me? Doesn't she love me?

Sighs the artist, yes I love you but I didn't have the time...the direction...I was lost.
until now...

I totally love the redesign, just some simple touches with paper, paint and embossing powder and it has a new life breathed into it. I love the Art Deco Alphabet stencil, very cool lettering. I felt I need to jazz up the word "ART" a little so it could hold it's own next to the sophisticated "MATTERS".

I know you can easily see that I collaged the background with text paper, but did you notice that I also added assorted papers  to the paintbrushes and a few inspiring stamped words too!

The base was really easy to create with some Van Gogh Painting washi tape which I sealed with some Deco-page paste, added some Exotic Orient washi tape to the brush, a little bit of Dresden trim and some Mirror Gold embossing powder and I love it!

And speaking of embossing powder I covered the mug completely with all sorts of different Baked Textured powders designed by Seth Apter of The Altered Page and wow, it has a lot of dimension and depth now.

And some awesome products from DecoArt which helped me to pull it all together.

Now, guess who is also feeling a bit neglected now?

Linking up to Paint Party Friday where no one feels neglected!

Mistakes Happen

I learned something new, well, new to me anyway, 😜

I have to admit that I have never used embossing powder with paint before, only with ink and then only with stamps but now I learned that it works great with paint and that has opened up a whole new area with mixed media!  

I'm like a kid with my first box of crayons, sheer giddy with excitement! 

Still crushing on the Dresden trim, this time I used some Antiquing creams to knock some of the shine off the angel wing because the background is an explosion of glittery goodness between the gold embossing powder and metallic paints that I used.

I typed out word strips and glued them to the back of the wing for some hidden journaling. You can bend the Dresden trim but I don't think it would stand up to repeated opening and closing but then I'm pretty much the only person who looks at my journals anyway so I'm thinking it will be fine.

I'm trying hard to use up old supplies so I used some old vinyl letters, I had to use a gel medium to make them stick and then painted them black since they had polka dots on them. Somehow polka dots did not seem to work on this page, lol And yeah, added a sprinkling of embossing powder over them!

In hindsight, I'm not sure why I titled this page "mistakes happen" because I was really intending this to be another page to go along with my WOTY hope which is used in the writing on the back of the wing. 

A mistake?...maybe...but they do happen!

 Gwen's Supplies:
Khadi Papers Sketchbook
German Dresden Trim - Extra Large Wings

MT Washi Tape - Crystals 
Exotic Oriental Traditional Chinese Metal Wafer Dies - Round Chinese Screen 

Emerald Creek Embossing Powder - Mirror Gold

Art Deco Collection  - Alphabet stencil

DecoArt

Americana Lamp (Ebony Black)
Dazzling Metallics in Royal Ruby, Splendid Gold
Glamour Dust in Limelight, Copper
Media Antiquing Cream in Carbon Black,Patina Green

Linking up to Paint Party Friday

Sense of self

This post finds me in washi tape heaven!

In Japan, it's known as masking tape (マスキングテープ) and the most renowned brand of washi tape is simply called mt - which stands for "masking tape". The term "washi tape" refers to the fact that the tapes are made from Japanese rice paper and differentiates it from typical masking tape you might find in the hardware store.

Vintage Stamps, Ransom Numbers, Wide Black Calligraphy, Star Woodblock stamp, and Old Letters & DaVinci Writing

Washi tape is actually usually made from natural fibers (like bamboo or hemp) or the bark of trees native to Japan such as mulberry, mitsumata shrub or the gampi tree.

But let's start at the beginning, this is my art journal page that I created.

And this is how it began...

I had some backgrounds pre-made ages ago using the Decorative 6-Petal Flower Screen stencil by Gwen Lafleur. I loved the backgrounds so much that I could have left them as is.

But then the washi tape was whispering my name in my ear...and wow, does Gwen carry the most beautiful designs! And oh look, one of the Darn Good Sari Yarn Sample Packs jumped out to join in all the fun!

OK...so my typing skills still haven't improved but while I was pecking away I couldn't help but notice this little person hiding among the splattered paint and coaxed him/her out of hiding with a little pen work.

I then laminated the piece, punched in some holes and tied it into the journal with the Sari ribbon. Have I mentioned that silk yarn is sublime? 

I doodled with the Star stamp and some Rubbermoon stamps and used my Overstitch wheel/pricking wheel through the paint to create the star trails.

 Thanks for stopping by! I really do appreciate you and will return the favor.
I promise!

When you stop by it makes me feel like I've been crafting with friends versus being by myself and I love that sense of camaraderie between artists.

One of the Turkmen jewelry parts

See you soon, I can't wait to see what you've been up to this week!
linking up with
Paint Party Friday