First Glimpse of my first official Art Journal

In the Spirit of Tim Holtz Tags of 2012, here is my version of the April 2012 Tag. BUT...since I don't really know what to do with the completed tags, I decided to covert the tag to something I could use in my first official Art journal.

(Please keep on reading after this first picture to see what I did with this tag.)

Now I say, first official, because I have always been a journaler of sorts. Or...someone who collected a bunch of little nicknacks/papers/ and stuck them in a book with an occasional thought written or expressed with magazine letters. Now I am using real art supplies in a real moleskine journal! So to me that makes it official lol! I have already created an AWESOME cover which I'll share at a later date. I decided to use my April 2012 Tag for the inside cover.

Over the past couple of months, I have found so many artists that overwhelm me with their creative genuis. One of these individuals is Sarah Engels-Greer. I am constantly visiting her blog to stare at all of her creations. Plus it's fun to read about her house decorating escapades. I wasn't ready to submit any of my "I'm new to mixed media pieces" to her My Monthly Mojo Challenge for March. And I'm probably not ready to submit to the My Monthly Mojo for April-Tagology, but I wanted to acknowledge how she has inspired me. I found myself wandering through my local hardware store looking for electrical boxes to use in a future project because of this piece she created!  I know my use of the Tag theme isn't that creative, but it is going in a very important creative piece.

The front of my journal says "Enjoy the Journey". Tim used a Word Band on his April Tag "The Journey Awakens the Soul". I thought this was perfect for the inside cover. I have been through a lot in the past few years, I feel I am at some sort of precipice to truly discovering and understanding myself and my role in this massive Universe (I think I've been watching too much Science/Discovery Channel television). Anyhoo...

The magenta background was a layer of acyrlic paint spread on with a credit card. I topped it with a layer of semi crinkled Idea-Ology Tissue paper. I took a peice of 12x12 Manilla Card and experimented with my new Dylusion Sprays using stencils, water, and kitchen roll. I took that completed cool looking inked piece and cut out letters using my new Word Play die. I also cut out a set of black letters. I glued them to the tag pieces and added Glossy Accents. I added my bird and branch topped with silver crown. I added a smaller tag embossed and stamped using the same technique as the big tag. I added April 2012 as the date of the start of the journal/journey.

Here is the list of challenges that I am entering my "tag turned into inside cover of journal"

Simon Says Stamp and Show: Show a Tim Holtz Technique

Frilly and Funkie: I'll Take Your Word For It

Tim Holtz Tags 2012 April

My Mojo Monthly April Tagology

Thanks for visiting!

Heidi

Breaking out the Art Parts

This weeks challenge at Simon Says Stamp and Show is Studio 490!

and over at Frilly and Funkie it's I'll Take Your Word For It

 I purchased a bunch of Art Parts and have been hording them! The good news is that I love them, the bad news is I love them! At least it's bad news for my bank account. I have also learned that I really need to sketch out my idea and decide on colours before I dive into getting messy. UGH....I am not too fond of my final piece. It finally looked presentable after a bunch of tear aparts and cover overs!

For the background I used a marblized technique with distress stains. I then stamped over it with picket fence DS. Finally I stamped the sentiment in Black Archival Ink.

Inspiration for the flower came from Sarah's Blog Post. Using the Clearly for Art White Out, I cut out 10 leaves with the Tim Holtz Small small mover and shapers leave die, painted them with rasberry and cranberry acrylic paints, then heated them to be able to shape them. Plonked them together to look like a flower. I need some heat resistant gloves and more practise! (I have been spending lots of time on youtube watching tutorials)

Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Stamps: Botanical Art & Be Happy...Make Art
Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Art Parts Sample Pack
Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi Clearly for Art-Whiteout
Acrylic Paint:Rasberry, Cranberry, Olive green and Forest Green
Distress Stain: various for Background and frame art parts
Tim Holtz Idea-ology: Token, Screw Eyes, lace chain
Tim Holtz Sizzix Movers and Shapers Leaf
Rock Candy Crackle Paint

I've probably left something out. I would love to know how to do the linking thing with showing all of the products used, can someone be kind enough a clue me in.

Thanks for visiting!

Heidi

Spreading My Wings

It has been an exciting past week getting very inky with the Tim Holtz Creative Chemistry 101 online classes. I feel like a kid in a candy store discovering new blends of my favourite chocolate! I have fallen in love with several of the techniques Tim has shown during the courses. I do not think any of these techniques are new but they are new to me. I wanted to see how many I could fit onto one tag for the Simon Say Stamp and Show Tag Challenge. I also created this tag for the first challenge for the Frilly and Funkie Challenge. The first challenge is What's Your Vintage Style. My Vintage Style is definately more Funkie than Frilly. But I am sure I will manage to throw in some lacey frills occassionally.  I love metal, gears, machinery, trains, vintage race cars (I am an engineer in real life) and bright colours, a reflection of my bright, chirpy, quirky possibly bordering on annoying personality.   You can read all the details on how I made this tag after all of the pictures.

I created a background with the Marbled Stains Technique (1) using Distress Stains

Used the Stamping with Stains technique(2) by stamping a background image from Papillon Set with Picket Fence Distress Stain over the marbeled layer

Stamped Tim Holtz Eiffel Tower from I See Paris Set and Artistic Outpost postmark from the Artistic Outpost Charles and Amelia Plate with Black Archival Ink.

I created a tag using the Rusted Enamel technique(3). I used that tag and the Sewing Room Die to cut out the model dress form.

I cut a little rectangle of sticky back canvas, stamped the gears image from the Artistic Outpost Industrial Backgrounds plate with Snow Cap White Acrylic paint then added various colours of distress stains to make the gears visable. This is the Paint Dauber Resist Technique. (4) I cut out the body of the dress from using the sewing room die and stuck it to the rusted enamel piece.

I altered the flutterby grunge wings using the Shattered Stains technique (5) 

That's it for the techniques. And now onto the other neat things I like about this tag:

The stained seam binding at the top spruced up with a idea-ology word key, pearl and pin.

Corregated cardboard from the Funkie Junkie Zibbit Shop die cut with large and smaller Tim Holtz sizzix gear dies then aged with distress inks and embellished with Large and Small Gears and sprockets. I added some washers and hammered brads on the right side.

I added an appropriate inspirational quote from Dyan Reaveley's Quintessential Quotes set

Finally, I LUUUUUUUUUURRRVE the bling I added to the dress form. I added some very small round watch bits to the neckline and front. I used two swival clasps for the belt and added a compass from The Funkie Junkie.

Woosh, that was a lot of informationfor such a small creation! I had a lot of fun making this tag! And this is what it is all about!!!!!!!!

Thanks for visiting!

Heidi

With a little.... make that a lot of practice

I am over the moon that for the second week in a row, the Simon Says Stamp and Show Design Team selected my entry as one of the Top Three! My Springpunk in Light Red earned itself a little ribbon! This week's Simon Says Stamp and Show is a VERY different story.

With a little lot of practise, my handmade backgrounds hopefully will get better. I'm participating in Tim Holtz's Creative Chemistry online class. At the same time, I have been starting my art journaling efforts. So far the class has been good fun. I'm entering two of my tags from one of the lessons in the Simon Says Stamp and Show Your Handmade Background Challenge.

Just to show you my art journaling escapades. Here is a picture of me practising while I have the first of Kate Crane's Art Journaling DVDs playing on my computer.

Learning that there are no mistakes in art...

But there is ugly mess! LOL!

So far I have learned....

My pages are probably too large for me.  I would probably have a better time with the paints with a smaller surface area to cover.  I need to clip my pages down even after I have finished painting a gesso layer. I need way more practise with using stencils. I need more practise using sprays. I am having a WONDERFUL time getting mucky!

Thanks for visiting!

If you have any tips or any good links/books/magazines etc. on Art Journaling, please feel free to pass your knowledge onto a willing learner (ME)

Heidi

Spring Punk...in Light Red

I have fallen in love with Artistic Outpost Stamps. They are so great for using in my new Mixed Media Ventures. I have been thinking about the March Referal Program Challenge for a few days, it's Springpunk, but with the challenge of shades of red. Red is a vibrant colour if you ask me, so doing a Springpunk project (using softer tones) is somewhat challenging. So I decided that I would use light red (aka pink) for my creation. I did order some new Artistic Outpost stamps so I might have a second go at the Spring Punk challenge with Red after they arrive. I stamped the Gears from the Industrial Backgrounds Set with white acrylic paint. Sponged Iced Spruce, Antique Linen and Milled Lavender over the image. I then stamped a quote from the Typography Plate with Black Archival Ink (I stamped it once on scrap paper to tone it down a bit). I cut out the frame using the Vintage Cabinet Card and inked it up with Pink Sherbet Acrylic paint dauber, then covered that with rock candy crackle. It wiped on and then wiped off a layer of weathered wood distress stain to try and age it a bit, or at least add some more character to the frame. Finally I stuck the frame onto a small easel I also cut out of cardboard using the small easel die.

The Grungy Monday Challenge #39 is being sponsored by Simon Says Stamp and is 12 Tags of Christmas 2009 Day 3. A little Plaid Action.  I love this technique. I used light springy colours to match the Springpunk theme!  I created my plaid pieces using lemonade, pink sherbet and stonewashed alcohol inks and stuck it to a piece of cardboard. I then cut out the butterflies borders, mini tattered florals, gears, and arrow using Tim Holtz Dies. Finally I Added lots of Idea-Ology to punk it up a bit!A cute springpunk inspirational piece of art! Which lastly fits it perfectly with the Simon Say Stamp and Show "Anything Goes" Challenge for this week. 

Finally, remember my Lucky Penny Jar?...It won a Top Three Award last week over at the Simon Says Stamp and Show Bottle it Challenge! How cool is that!

Thanks for visiting!
Hugs
Heidi