I is for INK

Well it's been 2 weeks since my last post and of course it's that time again for The Craft Barn's Alpha/Dictionary Challenge. This time the letter is I.
After much thought I came up with INK.  I used Distress Inks as the background and used different inks throughout my journal page.

I used Dylusion inks in a water brush to color the flower. I put Alcohol inks on my mat and soaked them up with photo paper and then used a Tim Holtz Butterfly die and stamp on them. I also stamped with pigment, dye and solvent inks. I used gel pens, and art pens.

I had fun with this page and learned a lot about ink.

Can't  wait until the next letter to start this all over again.

Thanks for looking and for all the comments. They really helped me through out the past few months.

Whew! What a 2 weeks this has been! It took us over a week to move out of our old place. We had people who we thought were going to help, but most were no shows,  some had a very limited amount of time or attention spans. Did get help from unexpected sources and have to thank those who lent a hand. I never want to move again! The apartment has nice storage and decent size rooms. The kitchen is very old and some features are not too workable and some are just odd. I'm working on making this more manageable as I love to cook and I'm finding it hard.

Amongst all this The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge came up. This time the letter is U. My first thought was uterus and just couldn't get past that for a while. Keep in mind I was very stressed out with the move and the events taking place in the country. This actually led me to come up with UNITED STATES OF AMERICA!!!!!!!! 

Now I had my pages half way done and than the election  results came in while standing in a misty rain, packing up our truck at 3:30 in the morning. The next few days I was extremely tired, sick, depressed and secretly trying to figure out which country to move to. Took a while to finish.

While working on this I was still moving and most of my supplies were packed somewhere and hard to find. I did make sure I had my book that I've been using and some distress inks handy. Luckly I am a manager at a Craft Store and was able to find a map of the US and some stickers to depict the meaning of this country. A real quick collage.

Looking forward to a calm 2 weeks and more time and resources to make up the next letter challenge. Until then...

V is for ...

Got this one done quickly this time as I need to pack as I think I'm moving next weekend Yeah!!!

This weeks Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge  is the letter V. Decided to do Vase. I have no real stamps with this and all my magazines and collage stuff are packed, I decided to draw them myself. I went on the internet to find images and tried to replicate the ones that I liked.

The background was done with Distressed Inks. Can you tell I love them? I used a  bunch of different stencils. I have one little stamp by Inkadoo with flowers and  a vase. The colors on this is so much more vibrant in person. All of these were done on white cardstock and I used watercolors, stencils, distress inks, Perfect Pearls as well as a paint pen on them.
I had a lot of fun doing this and hopefully will have my art stuff unpacked before the next one ends.

E is for Elephant

Getting this in just under the wire!  The letter at the The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictonary Challenge is the letter E. I decided to go with elephant as I'm in the mist of getting ready to move so my supplies are packed.

I used watercolor pencils to create the backgrounds. The elephants are wonderful dimensional stickers from Jolee.

I just noticed in the picture my Dictionary definition is starting to come off a bit. OOps.

I am hoping I can keep up with of this while moving. Thank goodness it's every 2 weeks.

Hoping this post comes through as Microsoft did an update and now nothing really works on my computer.

The next letter for The Craft Barn Alpha/Dictionary Challenge isi X!  What a tough one. Decided on X-ray as my friend was a Dental Assistant and lent me an old textbook with pictures of X-rays of mouths and teeth.
I painted the background with Squeeze Orange paint from Dylusions. I put Black Soot Distressed inks through a stencil and stamped Vintage Photo on it.

The Pictures were mounted on brown paper and thenone mounted on silver foil paper to give it that look of the stencil being on the old fashioned machine where they read the x-rays.  I couldn't resist stamping a skull wearing a hat. I diecut a square in silver foil paper to put around him to make it loo like he is in a machine.
Used white foam letters for the x-ray word and of course the dictionary definition in the middle.
This was rushed as I'm still packing and I can't find all of my supplies anymore. Got this done under the wire and praying this will post with the picture.
Fingers crossed

O is for Owl

So here we go again with a new letter for  The Craft Barn Alpha/ Dictionary Challenge! This time it is the letter O. I thought of some interesting words but in the end I decided on Owl. Now I know there are going to be a ton of entries with  Owls but I have a coloring book just on owls so I decided to use a section of a page on my entry.

I loved the Owl and the Pussycat one so colored that one in pencils and cut it out. I first painted the pages in  blue that I mixed together with white. I wanted a color that could be sky or water. Where the cut outs are on the bottom of the boat I used a white gel pen to give the feeling of foam on waves. I used a foam letter O sticker and the dictionary cut out for owl.

I could have done more to the background but alas I am packing again as the landlord wants to rent the apartment to someone else and raise the rent a lot!

As always I really appreciate all the comments.

H is for Hat

The next letter on The Craft Barn Alpha/ Dictionary Challenge  is the letter H. I decided to do the word Hat.  I've been dying to use the stamp set I won from a prior letter and pulled out my Lynne Perrella stamps by PaperArtsy. The woman with the teacup HAD to be the focus of my project.

I used violet blue paint as the background, and used a few blues through some stencils. I used a written stamp from the set. I used a Tim Holtz stamp of men in hats and used a stamp set of women from the 20's or 30's in hats. The Letters are from an old sticker set I had. I then stamped a top hat and placed it on top of the H.

Got this one in just under the wire. Next letter announced tomorrow!!!!

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!