Isn't She Lovely

I'm not very good at drawing, but I really enjoyed making this page.  I drew her in graphite pencil, then added some color with derwent inktense markers.  The background was created with acrylics, stamps, stencils, and bubble wrap.  

Mixed Media: Basic Supplies

My most used products: the mixed media paper pad I work in, matt medium, gesso, acrylic paints, and my heat tool.  Matt medium is good for adhering items to the page.  Gesso is used to give you a good surface to work on, so that paints set on top of the page instead of soaking in.  Also to give a more opaque look to the page or item.  Acrylic paints are my favorite because they are cheap and cover well.  I use my heat tool for drying because I'm impatient.  Seriously, it dries like magic.

Stamps.  My favorite stamp ever, and the most expensive stamp I've purchased is the unreadable writing stamp.  I took it off the wood block so that it doesn't leave corner edges. It was still only $5 because I use coupons. I made the small circle stamp with kids crafting foam and another piece if foam. The green stamp came with my gelatos.  I get alpha stamps from Walmart for $1. I also use alpha stencils.  I really like pattern stamps and stencils because they don't have a theme and can be used anytime.

Stencils.  I made the butterfly stamp with my moms cricut and a hot chocolate box. I use chipboard negatives for stamps as well, which is what the circles are. Heidi Swapp makes stencil sets, which is where the chevron stencil came from.

I have ruined many of pens trying to write on acrylic and modge podge.  The painters pens are my favorite.  They are priced differently.  At one Walmart they were 3$ and at another they were $1.  There are also other brands at craft stores.

Ink.  My favorite ink ever is StazOn because it dries quick and does not come off....ever!!! Ha.  Other inks may smear or reactivate with other products. But for the price I like to pick up other inks as well.  I use makeup sponges, other sponges, and an old card for applying ink and gesso.

I hope you have enjoyed this post, comment if you have any questions or tips! :)

Love

 Hello!  I'm back with another process in pictures post.  This one is one of my favorites because of the pretty colors and grunge look.  I started by laying down torn book pages using matt medium.  

I set chipboard letters on my page and sprayed over them with "berry" alcohol ink.  I added black acrylic paint to the right edge and dry brushed over the rest of the page to make the book page edges stand out.  

I made puddles of blue alcohol ink, made splatters by hitting my paint brush in it, and added some on other places on the page to make some purple.  I prayed a piece of burlap with "butterscotch" alcohol ink and adhered it with matte medium.  I went over the black on the page with sandpaper to give it more of a grudge look.  

I added a peice of washi, random clump of thread, and a button.  I wish I wouldn't have but I added gold acrylic to the burlap.  I also added some more black acrylic to the washi.  

I added butterflies with a stencil and StaZon metallic silver ink.  The circles are a stamp that I made.  I also added unreadable writing stamp with blue StaZon.  I went around the edges of the letter and butterflies with a super fine painters pen.  

I added gesso over the entire page with a card and added a black stamp to the top butterfly.  I went around all the edges with the painters pen, smearing as I went.  The smaller letters are stamps that I went over again with the painters pen.  

I hope you enjoyed this post :)  Leave a comment!!!

Not Sure What to Call This One

Oh how I love this page.  Its by no means realistic or perfect, but that's wonderful!  This is my first time drawing anything.  I watched a tutorial on how to do this face and working with the spray inks and I love it! 

 What do you think I should call it though?

Be Intentional Today

This is my first blog post on my art journaling.  I took pictures throughout the process so that I could make this post showing what I used and how.  I found a free book at the library about raising adolescent children, and since I have two young girls I decided to use it in my creative process.  I modge podged all of the ripped book pages down.  I then spread gesso all over the page.  I used a diamond stencil to help create the kite. 

I used gelatos for the background because they are transparent.  I put down the red first, then orange around the red, and yellow everywhere else.  I left the kite alone.  

Using a stencil and baby wipe, I wiped off some of the gelatos.  After this step I added modge podge over the entire page to keep the gelatos in place.  I had to add a pretty thick layer so that they wouldn't smear with my brush.  

Using a stencil and "Bleu Turquoise" acrylic paint I added the blue swirls randomly, again leaving the kite alone.  

I used H2O's shimmer watercolor to paint the kite.  The dragonflies were made with a stencil, a make-up sponge, and StaZon Jet black ink (my favorite ink ever).  I added two pieced of ephemera from the Maggie Holmes ephemera packs after distressing the edges.  I added gelatos around the edges of the camera to smear them in.  

I painted strips of book pages and cut them out with an xacto knife.  After adding them I added shading to the bottom of them.  

This is the final product.  I am happy with everything except the writing on the kite strings.  I either need to change from using modge podge or find a good pen to use for writing.  I went around the tree branch and edges of the page with a charcoal pencil.  

I hope you enjoyed this process post.  Please leave me comments!! :)