Tuesday 31 January 2017

Wild Whisper Guest Designer: Not Your Ordinary Valentines Day Card

Happy Tuesday!
I am absolutely thrilled to be a guest designer on the
  Wild Whisper Designs blog today.

For those of you who haven't heard of Wild Whisper, they are a Canadian manufacturer
of 12x12 paper collections & 3x4 and 4x6 card packs. They also carry a lovely collection of boutique embellishments that include cork, chipboard, charms, embossing powder, wood veneers & sequins.
For my guest design project, I created a pop-up slider card using the Adventure paper collection, card pack & cork hearts .


To see more details, photos and a list of the products I used to make this card,
head over to Wild Whisper Designs.




Friday 27 January 2017

Wanderlust 2017 - Week3

Greetings, crafty people!
Wow! Week 3 of Wanderlust 2017 really pushed me out of my comfort zone.
Like waaaaaaaay outside of my comfort zone.

Wilna Furstenberg was the teacher for Week 3 class & her art
journaling style is so amazing!


I don't freehand sketch. I like to stamp images and colour them in.
It's what I'm comfortable doing but I am committed to my statement
of Being Fearless when it comes to art journaling.


So I took a deep breath and put brush to paper. Overall I was quite pleased 
with how this turned out. In fact I was kind of surprised at how much I loved it.


Wednesday 25 January 2017

Art Journal Page for Bell Lets Talk Day.

Hi everyone!
I'm here to share a very personal art journal layout.
Today is Bell Let's Talk Day in Canada & I felt I needed to
join the conversation to help end the stigma about mental health.


I've been diagnosed & treated for depression & anxiety.
Mental illness is a part of who I am but it doesn't define me.

It can make my life messy & weird and sometimes & I am paralyzed
 by fear, self-doubt & sadness.

The darkness can be consuming and over-whelming.

I am more than my darkness.


I am so much more......

If you are in crisis please call a friend, go to your local hospital or call 911.


Monday 23 January 2017

Pop-Up Slider Card ---- Enjoy A Glass Of White

Happy Monday, everyone!
I am here to share a a pop-up slider card that I've made for a friends upcoming birthday.
I was inspired by a YouTube video by the talented Einat Kessler.

You check out Einat's video tutorial below:

I designed my card around this fabulous paper pack - The Winery Kit - by Reminisce.
I picked it up from The Scrap Shack in Ponoka & I'm so glad I did! It sold out very quickly.
Isn't it gorgeous?

Here is my finished card - laying flat.

My main embellishment was made using 3" circle of brown leather paper that I 
embossed with a wood-grain embossing folder; a 2.5" circle die cut from a sheet of pattern
paper from the kit; a circle sicker from the coordinating sticker sheet included in the pack.

The exposed area is perfect for a small sentiment.

Here is the finished card - popped up.



Tuesday 17 January 2017

Wanderlust 2017 - Week 2

It's week 2 of my Wanderlust adventure. 
This weeks instructor was the insanely talented Mary Wangerin.
Check out her blog The Turquoise Paintbrush for lots of mixed media inspiration


I created my mixed media layout on a 12x12 sheet of chipboard & taking inspiration from a quote I found ~ "Advice from a Tree: Stand tall & Proud, Sink Your Roots Deep Into The Earth, Drink Plenty Of Water, Go Out On A Limb, Be Content With Your Natural Beauty, Remember Your Roots, Enjoy The View"

I really enjoyed building up layers of paint, gesso, paper scraps, stamping & stenciling.

I just love all the layers of paint.

I created my focal point with a stencil, some doodling & stamping. 
Don't look to close or you'll see my typo. Oops. 

Here is my finished mixed media project.


Products Used:

Acrylic Paint
Distress Paint
Dylusions Paint
Gesso
Stencils
Paper Scraps



Friday 13 January 2017

Distraction Journal

Hello, crafty friends! 
I'm going to share a little secret with you....I'm an over-thinker.
I over-think lots of stuff in my life but I do it a lot when I'm creating.
I can over-think myself into a virtual paralysis when it come to 
creating. So in order to help myself and to help embrace art journaling I have made myself a distraction journal. It's small enough to take with me, I can doodle in it, write down thoughts or memories, basically distract my brain when I begin to feel overwhelmed.


I started by grabbing a stack of 12x12 pattern paper from my stash.
I dry brushed acrylic paint in several different colours across the paper. 
It was so messy & so much fun! I think I did about 50 sheets of double-sided paper
by the time I was all done.

For the cover of my journal I used a Worn Cover from Tim Holtz Idea-ology.
I stamped some plain tissue paper and stamped on it with some of my fave background
 stamps and Jet Black Archival Ink.
I then used matte medium to adhere the tissue paper to the journal.
After the matte medium was completely dry I dry brush some Distress Paint over
 the entire journal, inside & outside. (sorry, I didn't take photos).

To finish off the outside I applied some Remnant Rubs and used some 
ribbon to attach the binder rings.


I filled my new little journal with pages made from my painted 
pattern papers.

Here is my first page in my new distraction journal.



Monday 9 January 2017

Wanderlust 2017 - Week 1

I decided that in 2017 I needed to start art journaling more. To express myself in new ways
while learning new things about myself and my art journey.

So I searched for and without overthinking it, I signed up for Wanderlust 2017 from Everything Art.

Week one was for discovering my statement for 2017.
After sitting down, with a cup of tea and thinking about what I wanted to accomplish, I noticed 2 statements that I kept writing over and over in my journal.


There it is. Out in the open for all to see.



If you are looking for a wonderful way to explore your journey into art journal & mixed media arts, I highly recommend Wanderlust 2017. Go to Everything Art  to find out more.



Thursday 5 January 2017

Northern Lights Card

Happy New Year, my crafty friends!

Resolutions. Love 'em? Hate 'em?
I'm kind of indifferent, I guess. 
However, I decided that to really ramp up my creative juices in 2017
that I need to make an effort to enter more challenges. 

So this blog is a project for  Creative Carte Blanche and their 
January Art Challenge - Baby, It's Cold Outside.

I decided to make a card using a 'new to me' technique - salt!
I wanted to create a wintery Northern Lights feel.

I started with a 6"x 4" piece of 140lb watercolour paper, Turquoise Color Burst,
large watercolor brush, a salt shaker and clean water.

First, I took my brush and brushed some clean water in a square on the
watercolor paper. I gave the water a few seconds to sit then I sprinkled the
Colorburst over the wet area.
I used the brush to push the color around the wet area.

After sprinkling on some salt I let the card dry. 

After the card dried I brushed away the salt. I loved the effect!

I used my Misti to stamp a tree line image over the ColorBurst. I love the Misti for stamping
on watercolor paper since I can stamp it multiple times and get a nice image.

While the ink was still wet I embossed the image with fine black embossing powder.

To add a snowy effect I stamped with the halftone stamp and clear emboss-it.
I sprinkled Soft Fallen Snow embossing powder from Emerald Creek & then heat set.

~Finished Card~



Challenge Submitted: