In my Imagination

Hello everyone! I can’t believe that we’re at the end of January already. Where does the time go??????????

Today I’m playing in my A5 loose page art journal. This is the first journal I ever made, and the reason its loose leaf is because I can add pages whenever I want.  In other words if the page is a mess it can disappear into obscurity into the wastepaper basket.  Well, that was my thought process a long time ago.  Every now and then I get it out look through the pages and add another one.

Back to today’s page.  Firstly I must apologise for the quality of the images.  The turquoise is really a beautiful shade of turquoise and the lime green is bright.  For some reason the turquoise looks blue ad the lime green looks yellowy.  I think it could be the overcast day??????????

The inspiration is definitely the image.  As soon as I saw it I knew I had to make a page with it.  I took the easy way out and printed the image directly onto my loose A4 page.  My intention here was to use Gelatos so I gesso’d the whole page except for the image. BIG mistake. Water colour does not like gesso!

Add a few torn strips of tissue page and glue down with Gel Medium.

Use a text stamp to stamp text here and there using black Archival ink pad.

Use a little white Gesso to the page to knock back the tissue paper and stamped text a little.

For some reason I changed my mind about the Gelatos and used my water colour palette instead. 

Spray quite a lot of water onto the palette and pick up the colour using a waterbrush and fill in all areas.

Use a stencil and white texture paste to apply a little texture to the page.

Colour her lips with a coloured pencil.

Add sentiments. Mine are: "in my IMAGINATION " [Tim Holtz rub ons and words.  I added two more sentiments. "Truth be told" and "creativity takes courage".

In the end I went back and used Gelatos in lime green and turquoise on several places.

Last but not least, I went over the edges of the page with a broken china distress ink pad.

Supplies:

Image

Mixed media paper A4
Black Archival Ink
Text stamp
Stamped Tissue paper
Broken China distress ink pad
Water brush
Stencil
Texture paste
Gelatos: lime green and turquoise
Daler Rowney Water Colour paints in lime green and turquoise [I mixed yellow and green for the lime green]

Purple Rain

 

Hello! I hope you all had a wonderful break over the holidays.  Holidays for some but not for all I’m sad to say. I’m so glad to be back on the blog.

Today’s play is in my 6 x 6” midori type handmade journal.  What I really like about this journal is that the signatures are made up using different types of paper. Some of the signatures are already stitched but not all.  In this case I used a double page of water colour paper that wasn’t stitched yet only because I wanted a double page spread and couldn't find an unused one.  I’m also a bit of a messy crafter and didn’t want to spoil the other papers in the signature.  When the signature is filled I will stitch it and add to my journal. In the meantime it lives in my journal but remains unstitched.

 

There are many ways one can work with Brushos. They are such a versatile product. Here's how I created this spread.

 

 

Spray an acrylic block with water. Shake Brushos then sprinkle over the acrylic block adding colour where you want it. Just like adding salt or pepper. Remember a little goes a long way. Be patient and watch the colour spread.  I don’t have purple Brusho’s for some reason so used Pop Rock purple magicals instead.  You can add more water or more Brushos if you need to.  Spray the water colour paper lightly and lay it down onto the acrylic block. Apply a little pressure to the paper then lift off the bock. Repeat for the second half. If you’ve got a really big acrylic block you can do the whole background at once, I did the two pages separately. There's no way of knowing or even replicating how the crystals fall so the result will always be a surprise, even if you have an idea of how you want it to come out.

You can dry with a heat gun if you’re impatient, but I left mine to dry naturally. I added a little more sea green to  the page but this time I gave it a light spritz with a fine mister then sprinkled a little of the powder over the area and waited for the magic to happen. I love the little bursts of colour here and there.

 

For the next layer, add a little water to a small mister. I’ve got this really amazing straw with a little scoop at the end.  I used this to add a little Pop Rock purple magicals to the mister. Lay a stencil over the paper and spray a little colour. Lift the stencil and use it like a stamp on another part of the stencil. Leave it to dry.  It adds a little more interest to the piece.

 

Apply Wilted Violet Distress ink to the rain stamp {this is the only purple ink I’ve got} and stamp the rain across the top of the page. You can see that I’ve varied where I placed the stamp. Stamp the puddles and the girl with black Archival Ink. 

Water down a little white paint and splatter here and there being careful to avoid rain girl. I got a little white paint splattered on her and used my black Pitt Artist Pen to cover it up when it was dry.

The words come from the song Purple Rain by Prince. I used a White paint pen to write them but they didn’t show very well so I outlined with a fine black pen.

 

Last but not least, I like to go over the edges of the page with a black Pitt Artist Pen.

 

 

I hope you will try this.

 

Supplies:

Daler Rowney 300gsm hot pressed water colour paper

Stamps: Visible Image Sparkle in the rain
Stencils: Blowing Bubbles  and Rainy Days both A5,
Black Archival Ink
Wilted Violet distress ink
Black Faber Castel Pitt Artist Pen, White paint pen
Brushos : Ultra Marine, Sea Green, Turquoise and a touch of Cobalt Blue
Fine mister and water and a small mini mister
Acrylic block

 

Get Creative with DIY gift bags

 Hi Everyone, Sometimes you just don't have a nice gift bag to use when wrapping a present, or maybe you just want to give a gift with a specially handmade bag, but regardless of your reasons, knowing how to make a professional looking gift bag is a great skill to have. I’ve mentioned before that I either decorate plain white or craft gift bags, or I make them myself, and today I have a DIY Christmas gift bag to share

To start use a Ranger applicator and sponge to apply Dylusions After Midnight paint to 2 x A4 size 160 gsm white cardstock.

Apply a little paint to the sponge and use a circular motion so that the application is pretty smooth [the same motion Dyan Reaverly and Tim Holtz use].

Lay a small amount of Dylusions White Linen to the craft mat and add a little water until it’s quite a runny consistency.  Pick up some paint on a thin paint brush and tap the paint brush to “flick” the paint onto the surface.

Scoring:
Score the one long side at ½” and the other long side at 2” [this side will be the gusset] . Repeat this for both sheets. Score the short side at 1 ¼ “[this is going to be the bottom of the gift bag] and the other short side at 1” [this is going to be the top of the gift bag]. Repeat this for both sheets. Fold the score lines and use a bone folder to make sure they are crisp.

 Apply double sided tape on both the ½” strips. Make sure the score lines at the top and bottom of both pieces of cardstock are aligned. Remove the double sided tape from one piece of cardstock and carefully lay the 2” strip from the other piece of cardstock over it making sure you keep it straight.

The base of the bag:

Use a pencil to mark about ¼” on each side of the score lines over both pieces of cardstock. Use scissors to cut a line from the ¼” mark to the score line. See pic below.



To create the Gelli print, place a little paint onto a craft mat, brayer over the paint [you need a very light layer] and brayer very lightly onto the Gelli plate and pull a print.  [Do not cover the whole Gelli plate with paint] Repeat the process a number of times. This technique requires that you build many layers with co-ordinating colours until you are happy with the outcome.

Draw or trace some houses onto the Gelli print using a thin black pen and cut them out quite close to the edge. Use a glue stick to stick them down to the bottom of the bag [just above the score line]. Use a silver Posca pen and draw some lines and stars from the score line at the top of the bag above the houses.

 Assembling:

Apply double sided tape or a strong glue to the outside of gusset flaps and fold them in. Remove the top layer of the double sided tape, lay the back bag flap over. Stand the bag on its base and tap down inside the bag with a ruler to make sure the gusset flaps and back flap are adhered. Apply double sided tape or a strong glue to the inside front flap, and stick it over the other flaps. Stand the bag on its base and tap down inside the bag with a ruler to make sure the front flap is adhered. Fold the top flap inside. On the top of the bag punch holes on the front and back and thread through ribbons string and tie a knot to secure.

For this gift bag follow the above instructions except use Distress Ink Spray, Dylusions or Brushos to create the background and the Stencil-Art Snowflake stencil and Dina Wakely silver paint.

Supplies:

160 gsm cardstock
Dylusions After Midnight and White Linen paint
Ranger round applicator and sponge
Brayer
Gelli plate
Scoreboard [optional]
Bonefolder and ruler
Scissors
Thin paint brush
Black pen and Silver pens
Double sided tape or strong adhesive
Stencil-Art Snowflakes Stencil
Scraps ribbon and a small hole punch
Dina Wakely Silver paint

Get Creative – Christmas Crackers and Coasters

Hello …………….. Christmas is getting closer and I’ve been busy, busy, busy getting my Christmas Crackers and Coasters done. It’s something my sisters and I have done for years. I have to give credit to my sister for the measurements because I lost mine and she kindly let me use the coasters idea which was hers.

If you want to have a go, the step by step is below.

There’s a bit of prep but it’s worth it in the end.

Cut a sheet of white cardstock to 7¹/₂” x 9”, and 3 smaller pieces at 2 ¾” x 7 ½” and about 4” x 4”.  

On the 7½” x 9” and 2 ¾” x 7 ½” and 4” x 4” white cardstock either brayer a light coat of Dylusions Pure Sunshine, then a layer of Cherry Pie and lastly a layer of Postbox Red and leave to dry. OR brayer a light coat of Dylusions Pure Sunshine onto a Gelli Plate and pull a print, then a layer of Cherry Pie and pull a print. Lastly a layer of Postbox Red but before you pull the print lay a stencil onto the Postbox red layer, pull a print with a spare piece of paper, lift the stencil then pull your last print.  It gives a lovely effect. Don’t clean your Gelli plate in between each layer.

For the embellishments

On the other 2 ¾” x 7 ½” piece of cardstock draw some black lines using a Faber Castell Pitt artist pen big brush. I used a stencil and sorry I forgot to take a pic, but here’s pic of the left over paper.

Cut two thin strips [about ¹/₈” and two wider strips [about ½’].  

Use the Stencil-Art star stencil, Dylusions Fresh Lime paint and a sponge to stencil stars onto the red 2 ¾” x 7 ½” piece of cardstock. Remove the stencil and leave the paint to dry. Line the stencil up again and outline all the stars with a white gel pen.

Cut a star shape on the other coloured 4” x 4” piece of cardstock and stamp with Black Archival Ink. I found a scrap of white cardstock and cut the star shape then stamped with Twisted Citron Distress ink.

 Now to assemble

Score the 7 ½”x 9” cardstock [on the 7 ½” side] at 1 ¾, 3 ½”, 5 ¼” and 7. Score the 9” side at 1 ½”, 2” and 2 ½” at the top and the bottom.   Fold all scorelines with a bone folder. Make sure that the  1 ½”, 2” and 2 ½” score lines are folded : mountain, valley, mountain. see pic below.

Use a punch or decorative scissors to decorate both the top and bottom of the 7 ½” side.  Glue a narrow strip of black and white paper just before the first score line on the top and bottom.

On both sides of the 7 ½” side of the 2 ¾” x 7 ½” coloured cardstock glue a piece of the ½” striped paper behind leaving a small bit showing. On the long side, score at 1 ¾, 3 ½”, 5 ¼” and 7”. Glue this down the middle of the cracker; make sure you line it up so that cracker and embellishment score lines are aligned. Use a bone folder on each score line to make sure you get a proper fold.

If you’re using cracker snaps now is the time to glue them to the inside of the cracker. Don’t use a strong adhesive as you’ll never pull them apart.

You can use an envelope punch board or cut triangles for the next step. On the 9” side fold the first score line over. Punch with the envelope punchboard in the middle of the 1 ½”, 2” and 2 ½”score lines [in other words at the 2” score line]. Do the same at the opposite end.  Fold the next score line over and repeat. Do the same for all the score lines on both sides including the ½” strip. If you don't have an envelope punchboard, cut small triangles.  

Use glue or double sided tape on the ½” strip [on the long side] and carefully lay this side beneath the other to make a tube.

Tie each side of the cracker with a double piece of string and glue the stars down. Whew you’re done”.

Traditional Cracker

Instructions are identical as above, except for the embellishments.  Splatter some brushed pewter and iced spruce distress spray stain over white cardstock. [I took the lids off and tapped the black part of the lid that screws on until I was happy with the coverage] decorate the 7 ½’ edges with decorative scissors or a paper punch and add some trim.

Embellishments

Spray some Brushed Pewter distress spray stain onto the craft mat and smoosh a piece of 2 ¾” x 7 ½” paper into it until you are happy with the coverage and leave to dry. Use a sponge or Distress Ink Applicator to apply Pine Needles and Festive Berries Distress ink onto a slightly smaller piece of paper but here spray with the Ranger Distress sprayer here and there but only pulling the trigger halfway. Use decorative scissors or a paper punch to decorate the edges. Colour small tag the same way.

Colour the roses using Festive Berries Distress Spray Stain and ink the edges of a tiny little bought tag with Pine Needles Distress ink.

When the cracker is glued together put the embellishments together and add a tiny father Christmas cut out to the tag. [I adhered the roses using Ranger glossy accents.]

Ideas for inside the crackers are: crystal key rings, lip balm, nail polish, mascara, small compass small sharpie pen.

Use some shredded paper in each side of the cracker to keep the little gifts inside.

For the coasters I simply cut circles then stamped them. Make sure you use waterproof paint and/or inks otherwise if the bottom of the glass is wet it might stain your table cloth.

A bit of a job but so worthwhile.

Supplies

160 gm cardstock

Dylusions Pure Sunshine, Cherry Pie, Postbox Red and Fresh Lime

Brushed Pewter and Iced Spruce distress spray stain

Brayer, bone folder, [Gelli plate, envelope punch board and stencil are optional]

Faber Castell Pitt artist pen big brush

Adhesive and narrow double sided tape

Border punch or decorative scissors

Black and Watering Can Archival ink

Ink Applicator and Pine Needles and Festive Berries Distress Ink

Ranger Distress sprayer

String and White organza ribbon

Scissors

Shredded paper

Silver trim

Christmas Gift Wrapping : Pillow Boxes

According to my calendar Christmas is a month away and its time to get my gifts organised and wrapped.  I love, love, love to make my own gift wrapping, so today’s project is about Christmas Pillow Boxes. They really are easy to make and you can make them almost any size you like.  I also like to add a tag to my gift wrapping so that they can be recycled to somebody else.

To make the pillow box that holds a gift card [2 x 4” when finished].
Trim your cardstock to 5¹/₂ x 4¹/₂”. On the side measuring 5¹/₂ inches long score lines at the 2¹/₂ and 5 inch mark using either a score board or an embossing tool. You should have a flap on the end of the paper that measures ½”. 

Turn the cardstock over to the inside and on the side measuring 4¹/₂” draw two lines, each a ¼” wide one below the other at the top and bottom.

 

Use something round, [I used a saucer on the small box and a side plate on the larger one] and line it up with the edge of the pillow box. Draw around it with a pencil. Do the same on the other end and cut along your traced lines with a pair of scissors and trim off the pointy ends of the 1/2” flap.

Place the pillow box on a mouse pad or something similar; line your saucer up facing the other way [towards the inside]. You want to make an eye shape. The edge of the saucer needs to touch both corners of the paper you've just cut. Hold the saucer firmly, [you don't want it to slip] and use an embossing tool to score around the saucer. Do this on both ends.

 
Leave plain or decorate.

 

Stamp the bird from the Tim Holtz Bird Crazy Cling Rubber Stamp and the Christmas hat from the Tim Holtz Crazy things stamp set onto a piece of scrap using Black Archival Ink.  I cut them out using the matching dies. 

 Colour them by scribbling a bit of the colour from Distress markers onto a craft mat and pick up with your water brush and colour as you like. When the bird and Christmas hat are dry glue the hat onto the bird and attached to the gift card pillow box.

 Glue some trim at the top and bottom of the pillow box.  Open the pillow box out and apply a strip of double-sided tape to the outside of the flap. Stick the flap down to make a tube. Gently press and fold in your scored eye shapes at each end of your pillow box.

Bigger Pillow Box
Trim your cardstock to 8¹/₈ x 8¹/₂”.
On the side measuring 8¹/_2" long score lines at the 4 and 8" mark using either a score board or an embossing tool and a steel ruler. You should have a flap on the end of the cardstock that measures ½”.

On the inside of the pillow box draw two lines, each a  ½” wide one below the other at the top and bottom. Remember that the first pillow box holds a gift card so it doesn’t need too much space inside. This pillow box will take something quite a lot bigger and bulkier than a gift card. 

For the next steps follow the above instructions but don’t close the pillow box yet.

To decorate
Secure the Stencil-Art A6 stars stencil onto the pillow box using masking tape. Squeeze a little Dina Wakely lime acrylic paint onto your craft mat Pick up the paint using a sponge. Pounce it few times on the craft mat to make sure there isn’t too much paint on the sponge and then pounce the sponge over the stencil until all the stars have been stencilled. Carefully lift the stencil and leave the paint to dry. When the paint is dry replace the stencil matching the stars as best as you can and trace around all the stars using a white gel pen.

Draw a bauble shape onto card stock and cut it out, using it as a template to trace and cut out three baubles from a left over piece of background paper. [The paper was made by spraying Dylusions Cherry Pie and Bubblgum sprays onto my craft mat and swishing the paper around and drying. Ink around the edges of the baubles with black Archival ink then draw two corresponding circular lines near the top and glue on bits of music paper and attach all three to the front of the pillow box.

Open your pillow box out and apply a strip of double-sided tape to the flap. Stick the flap down to make a tube.

Gently press and fold in your scored eye shapes at each end of your pillow box.

Supplies I used:

Kraft cardstock
Glue and double sided tape
Scissors / craft knife
Pencil, Ruler and Bone folder
Tim Holtz Bird Crazy and Crazy Things Cling Rubber Stamps and Sizzix Thinlits Dies
Black Archival Ink, Ground Espresso Distress ink and a blender tool
Distress Markers
Water brush
A little trim
Candied Apple, card pumpkin and Hickory Smoke Distress Markers
Stencil-Art Stars stencil
White Gel pen
Dina Wakely Lime Acrylic paint
Dylusions Cherry Pie and Bubblgum sprays
Sponge
Scrap of left over background paper
Scrap of left over music paper
 
Experiment with two A4 pieces of cardstock to make quite a large pillow box.

Trust your Intuition

Hi everyone, Angie back again with an intuitive art journal page. Sometimes its good to just let go without a real plan in mind and trust your intuition, hence the title.

I used a combination of Ranger Dylusions and Adirondack acrylic paints for my background, applying them with different sponges, adding a bit of white right at the end.  [these Adirondacks, I must confess have been in my stash for ever], then I used a pencil to write some words onto the page.

I didn’t have the Stencil Art Stendala Stencils then, but I do now and they’re gorgeous, and so I used a round stencil from my stash on the bottom left and right top, using different colours on different parts of the stencil.  You will notice that later I went over the stencil in some places with a bit of white.

I pulled out some more stencils that I thought I might use, including a homemade stencil cut from the Tim Holtz mixed media dies, and without much thought began layering different stencils and colours onto the page.

I knew I wanted something big and bold for my title, so out came my PaperArsy Everything-art alphabet stamps and surprize, surprize my clear embossing ink and Ultra thick black embossing powder.

You will notice that I also used the Dina Wakely media tools and some Wild Plum Adirondack acrylic paint and Dylusions Lemon Zest to do some mark making.

 I stamped the word “trust” then embossed with shiny black embossing powder and my heat gun. However, it really seemed a bit lost on the page so I painted a black strip just below it using Dylusions black paint. When the paint was dry I stamped the words “your intuition” with clear embossing ink and embossed with White embossing powder, and heated with my heat gun, only to find that I had spelt “intuition wrong”.  I used a piece of newsprint and the iron [not set on steam] intending to only iron off the misspelt word, but I managed to iron off both words, so started again. 



I ended off by scraping some black Dylusions paint around the edges of the pages.

In retrospect I should have used White Ultra thick embossing powder on “your intuition” but for some reason I didn’t and I’m sorry now, but this page is about just going with the flow. I still like it; it’s bright and cheerful and the title certainly makes one think.

See you next time.

Supplies:

Ranger Dylusions and Adirondack acrylic paints

Small sponges

Assortment stencils

Tim Holtz mixed media dies

Dina Wakely media tools

PaperArsy Everything-art alphabet stamps

Clear embossing ink

Black and white embossing powder

Heat gun