The next letter in The Craft Barn Alpha/ Dictionary Challenge  is the letter Z. As this letter isn't hard enough already we also have to have a pearl in it!

As I always try to use a word others might not have used I choose zenith. I used the definition meaning at the highest point and showed her on a rock in a mountain range above the sun. The pearl is in her hand. Lots of Distress Inks and a ton of masking off.

I looked through my journal to see what letters are left and looks like its the more difficult ones. Yikes!

Until next time. And as always comments are always appreciated.

C is for Choice

This time the letter on The Craft Barn Alpha/ Dictionary Challenge
is the letter C. Now I had figured out what I was going to do with this letter a long time ago as I had first thought of doing it for another letter and word. I choose CHOICE.

I first colored the pages using 4 different Distress Inks in yellows, orange and pink. I then made rectangular masks to reflect portals or doors and the girl is a mask from a stencil set I have.  I also made a circle mask for the corner. I sprayed my journal pages in Dylusions Midnight Blue  ink spray. I rubbed some of it off under each portal and then used a stamp I have that is supposed to look like I flicked white paint all over. I wanted more control of the dots so using the stamp with  white paint was much easier.

I put the symbols on the portals to reflect the choices  we make during our path through life. We can pursue  fame, happiness (love), or money. There are of course many others to choose from but I have a small journal!

I really like the effect of this picture.

As usual I had a great time with this. Can't wait until the next letter!

N is for note

Here we are again with a new letter for The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge. This time is the letter N. I had a tough time with this letter as I kept coming up with naughty words, strange ideas  for words, etc. I wanted to use the word nincompoop and put pictures of a couple of well known candidates for President. Figured that would get kicked out so I thought of using the word  Nothing and just have a blank page. Between these silly thoughts and the horrible heat here in New York (94+), I just couldn't get my act together.

So I decided on night. Made a great background with a moon, fairies, etc. Problem was I used  Distress inks and in this humidity they were extra juicy and they came on way too heavy and they spread. I hated it.

I ended up changing my word to  NOTE.

I covered the night picture by using  some very thin decorative paper with notes and used distress inks on it. Ended up putting Gesso over parts of it and putting more ink through a stencil. I drew some musical notes on paper, used Distress inks and used a punch to make it look like it was from a notebook. The definition is also on a paper that I used that punch from. Note is from a stamp set I have.

Looking forward to the next letter. Hope its a fun one!

W is for Wine

2 weeks ago I bought a really cool wine stamp as I felt that the next letter in the challenge would be W.  On that Sunday when I checked the next letter it was W!!!!. So excited. I had a very busy week what with my birthday and the 4th of July weekend so I didn't get to complete my entry until last night. It's been so hot here the past few days. Mid 90's with killer humidity. Not much better at night. I don't feel like doing all that much when it's like this.

I used Distress inks (what else?), dusty concords, shaded lilac, peeled paint and tea dye. The stencil is from Dina Wakley.  The main stamp was colored in with watercolor pencils and the little stamp in regular colored pencils. The quote is from Billy Joel. I used some letter stickers to print out wine. And of course the dictionary meaning from my big old Webster's Dictionary.

As always this will be submitted to The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge. Thanks for looking and comments are always appreciated!

Art Impressions Card

I made this card for a friends Birthday.

I was playing around with some new paper pads I bought and used these as the backgrounds. The stamped image is from Arts Impression and I used my Spectrum Noir Markers to color it. I used some glitter glue for the icing.  I added a row of light blue rhinestones for some bling.

I'm entering this into the Simon Says Wednesday Challenge. They have an Anything Goes with the option of using an Arts Impression

image.

K for Kite

It's that time again to post my page for the The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge. This time it is K. I decided to do Kite.

With Distress Inks I made a hazy landscape in the background and stamped some trees on the bottom to help give the kite height. I used one of my gelli plate creations to cut out the kite. I loved how the color stands out with the subtle design in it. It reminds me of the wonder of seeing a kite up in the air!

  The definition is from the computer as the one from my dictionary is way too small and mostly about the bird.

I rushed on this as I had only 2 weeks to go before I moved and needed to pack everything up. I was very depressed as I still hadn't secured an apartment. My Landlord did call the other night and told us that my neighbor is moving out and he will be moving in there so we no longer had to move!!!!

So things turned out for the best. Now I'm unpacking and having the chance to rearrange things, etc. Now if only this heat would go away, things would be perfect!

Until next time.

T for Thread

A new Letter was announced on The Craft Barn Alpha/ Dictionary
the letter T.  Having been sewing since I was 10 and have had sold many of my Doll creations I came up with thread pretty quickly!

I noticed that the background on most of my pages have a lot of the same colors so I decided to shake it up a bit and  make it look a bit vintage by using some blue distress inks and stains.  I used vintage photo for the edges.

The card with the thread on it is one of Tim Holt's Salvage Stickers. The vintage spool of thread is from a collection of sewing theme collage pictures.

I used a few sewing stamps from Tim Holtz, the stitch  border stamp and the spool label stamp. I used a French script stamp with a tea dye ink. 

I thought an actual threaded needle would be fun and it does describe the second set of meaning for thread!

I appreciate all of the comments everyone leaves me. Still really busy packing and looking at places to live. Will try to comment when I can. 

The new letter on The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is the letter A. I had so many words in my head. I just didn't seem to have a way to show them or I just didn't want to do them.

Finally I decided on Arrow. I used gelatos as the background. I just did a challenge where we had to use gelatos and I really enjoyed playing with them. I used a Dylusion stamp on the corners. The big arrow I drew and then used a black paint pen.

A simple one this time. I've been busy looking at apartments and packing. Looks like I may be moving real soon! Of course my art supplies will be the one of the last things I pack up.

J is for Jam

The new letter over at The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge is J. The twist on this one is to use a dragonfly. The second I read it I knew I wanted to do either Jam or Jar. The Dragonfly to me was no big deal as I would just have some flying around.

I used some paper , stamps and distress inks to make this. I found an image of a vintage jam label which I love. The definition is on the recipe card and I used a sticker for the J.. The little jam jar I drew.

Been a strange couple of weeks. Got hit in the head 2 different times. Suffering from a concussion and have been a bit dazed and confused! I'm on the mend and look forward to the next letter!

The Nut

The April Challenge in The Dylusions Facebook Challenge  is to use the color Yellow and Trees. I used Lemon Zest ink spray for the background and drew the tree myself. I used several shades of brown to paint it. The tree is the only part of the piece that is not Dylusions. The leaves, heads, etc are Dylusions.

This was inspired by looking at all of my Dylusion Stamps and noticing all of the stamps that are basically just heads. The phrase popped into my head and I went with it.

Looking forward to May and a whole new crop of Challenges!

The Letter S.

When the  The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge  announced the next letter would be S, I was excited. I had picked out my words a long time ago for this so I sort of knew what I was going to do for this. They did add a twist; you had to have a shell in it.

Now my two words I wanted to use was Steampunk and Shoes. No sea shore pictures for me.  It took me a long time to figure out how to incorporate that into my page.

I had the steampunk shoe stamps from Stampendous! which I used watercolor pencils on. I inked the background with Distress inks and some stencils. I decide to use a dress dummy stamp by Tim Holtz and got the idea on how I was going to use shells. These are die cuts made by Jolee's and was the perfect size as cups for a bra. The wings are charms for jewelry which I used Alcohol inks on to color them. The head is a gear die cut which I used Perfect Pearls on it to give it the look of metal.

The dictionary definition is from the computer as the Webster's I am using is too old to have the word Steampunk in it.

I've been trying to comment on most peoples entries, but my landlord told us we have to move so he can move in so I've been a bit bummed out not to mention busy deciding what to get rid of and I haven't had the energy to do so. Sorry.

Waiting in anticipation for the next letter!

On the  Mission Inspiration Facebook Challenge we were given the April Mission. Every month we are given 10 prompts on how to create  our Art Journal page. I love these as it helps me to jump start my creativity.
As I read the prompts for this month I saw it as a travel page; probably due to the fact we had to add some travel ephemera on it.

As I was creating this, I first hated it! I ripped it out of my journal it was so ugly. I had to glue patterned paper cut into squares on my page and it was too heavy and would not stay down I has painted it a vile color and so painted blue over it, then used molding paste thru a stencil. When I came back to it I put orange in the cracks, and green on it. Both colors I pushed back with a wipe.  After adding washi tape I felt better about and starting adding the ephemera to it. The picture is my mother and my uncle when they were children with their mother and grandmother .

 The paper had raised gears on them so I sanded it and the paint down on them so they you can see them. Some of the stamps were stamped on tissue paper and then adhered to the page.

I'm happy with the way this came out and I already got a commission to make something like this for a friend!

D is Doll

The new letter for The Craft Barn Alpha/ Dictionary Challenge is D. Being a long time collector of Dolls, I had to go with that. At one point I made nice money selling clothes for the collector dolls and went to Doll Conventions, etc. I have a ton of magazines about dolls so I decided to go with more of a collage theme for this letter.

I used my distress inks for the background and actually used 2 pinks (the color is required) as well as some yellows and oranges. I probably could have done more but this has been one of those weeks where I'm surprised I can still talk and not sound like a blithering idiot! This is when something like this can really de-stress you and my joy of dolls and art really helped!

Thanks for looking. Hope you enjoyed!

The Letter G

The Letter this time for The Craft Alpha/Challenge is G. I picked the word Gnome. I love Gnomes! When I was a teenager my mother bought me this beautiful book about Gnomes. It has the most beautiful pictures in it. I spent many a happy day drawing  pictures of the Gnomes. I believe my birthday cards that I made that year had these happy creatures on it.

After 40 years I attempted to recreate a Gnome. I  had fun doing it and it brought back memories I had forgotten. I also included a Gnome home which is  in a tree. This was all freehand and  maybe not the best but who cares. I was a kid again for a while.

I used Spectrum Noir markers, acrylic paints through a stencil, watercolor pencils, and stamps with inks.  Also some pencil, pens, gel pen and a paint pen.  Sheesh, I think I wanted to use everything I had!!!!!!!!!

This has been fun and I can't wait to find out what the next letter is!

Being Unique

The March Challenge on The Dylusions Challenge Facebook page is to use blue and swirls.
This is what I came up with:

Almost everything I used is Dylusions. I used the ink sprays, London Blue and Midnight Blue as well as assorted colors on the stamped swirls and creature. I used a waterbrush to color with the ink sprays. I put molding spray through a Dylusion stencil. I used the ghosting technique through  another Dylusion stencil. I used a stamp with white Dylusion white ink, but had to go over it with a white gel pen. I can never find a white ink that shows! I did use some assorted Sizzex diecuts along with dylusion stamps to make up the turtle/lobster/octopus guy.

The phrase I got off the internet.

Had fun with this and so glad I got it done early.

R is for Ruff

New  Craft Barn Challenge this week...the letter R. 

I decided to use the word Ruff; for collar, not the bird. I've always been interested in historical clothing and have sewn for collector dolls as well as people so this was  a natural selection for me.

I used Distress inks, a lace doily stencil and a baroque style stamp. I also used a stamp with French text on it for the background. I included a picture of a 16th century ruff collar as well as an image from a painting. My favorite is the cat! The dictionary meaning is on top of some antique lace I had lying around and the dots are actually my masks from the L challenge. I thought they really worked on this. This is probably why I have such a hard time throwing stuff out!  The sticker is from an old sticker set I have.

 

Thanks for looking and I love reading all of your comments.

Recently I joined an Art Journaling Facebook Group called Mission Inspiration.  Every month we receive 10 constraints  on creating a  canvas or Art Journal page. I like things like that so I dove right into it. 
 As usual I had a totally different vision then what it ended up to be.  I was playing around with a different collage picture when I spotted this one on the cover of some free magazine that I brought home. As soon as I changed my plans everything seemed to fall into place. 

The new Letter on the The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge
 is L. I didn't want to do the obvious and after skimming through my dictionary I decided to do...Lattice! 

I decided with this challenge I would use some watercolor pencils I recently purchased. Although for the  lattice wall, and the ground I used Distress inks.  I did use a stencil to make the lattice on the wall. Everything else I drew and colored with the pencils.

I made the L and made the traditional lattice design on it. I colored this with traditional colored pencils.

I put the dictionary definition in the doorway as I thought it was a fun place to put it. With a Sharpie Pen I drew some birds as the sky looked too empty.

I had fun doing this and trying some new things. Can't wait to find out what the next letter will be!


The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge

For the past few months I've been trying to enter the Dylusions Facebook Challenge. I would miss the deadline although I still completed it. This month I got it done much earlier. This month's challenge required the color orange and arrows! You must use at least one Dylusion product on it as well as the required themes.

I used Dylusion ink sprays for the background as well as to color the  stamps and arrows.  I used Pure Sunshine and Lemon Zest. These 2 combined together to get me that more orange color. I used Fresh Lime as the accent color.

The stamped figure and corner arrows are also Dylusions. The arrows are die cuts and I used a Sharpie pen to give them designs. I put Molding Paste through the Dylusions  Staggered Bricks stencil to give it some nice texture.

Pondering Petunia's hair is made from some polyfil which I sprayed London Blue Dylusion ink on it. I sprayed that at least 4 times. It just didn't react well with the polyfil.

Finally I printed the quote out from my computer.

No challenges for me for at least a week so as its gotten really cold here and its snowing I think I'll knit me a hat.

Thanks for looking.

The new letter on the The Craft Barn: Alpha/ Dictionary Challenge is F with the twist of a heart some where in the piece.

 So many wonderful words went through my mind: Fearless, Future, Fantastic, Fabulous; as well as ways to portray it. I started going through my stamps and found Tim Holtz's Crazy Birds Stamps. These always make me smile and I abandoned the other words and decided to do Flock !

I used Distress inks and stencils to make the background. I stamped the birds and colored them with my Spectrum Noir Markers. I reversed the image of one of the birds on my computer so they could face each other and placed the hearts around them.  Cute, eh?

I stamped the other page in a light brown distress ink with some of the birds to give it more of a flock feeling. Then I placed the birds in different ways as they are crazy.

I'm looking forward to the next letter as I already have so many ideas on what to do. Of course as I've learned others ideas take their place!

Thanks for looking!