Art Journal: Be happy - AALL & Create

Hi Everyone, another week has flown by and winter season is breaking through here. As the cold is arriving more fully (as well as my Seasonal Affect Disorder) , I thought I'd share a HAPPY and Bright art journal page made with AALL & Create stamps and Lindy's Magical Shakers for some visual warmness.

First I created some watercolors with Lindy's Magical Shakers the 2017 set by sprinkling the powder on my mixing palette and adding water to it. I then stirred the colors thoroughly with the brush to get the pigment & shimmer dissolved in the water. They are such bright and beautiful shimmery colors! Really amazing! 

Now on to the coloring part. I stamped part of Tracy's large stamp from set 109 with Memento Tuxedo Black ink on watercolor paper. Made sure that the imprint was dry completely before I added color to avoid bleeding. And then I started to add the lush color onto the image until I felt it was done.

Which was around this point. I added different colors in the petals to have a nice mix from blue to purple going and greens in the bottom. Adding a bit of Black Forest Black at the bottom and stem you'll get a beautiful subtle grey mix that grounds the image. Tip: when you add spatters if your page isn't completely dry, you'll get some soft blending of the colors as you see here in the background.

Then it was time for some doodling and more stamping. I took a white sakura get pen and doodled in the flower petals & defined the core & stem a bit more. In my collection of AALL & Create stamps I have set 23 from Bipasha Bk which has some lovely text texture stamps and I have used in the background here. From Tracy's set 123 from the recent release I have used the sentiment Be happy and stamped it on the bottom a few times. And in the heart of the flower I just stamped Happy.

After trimming it down I added a border with gelato's and adhered it to my art journal page. These bright and beautiful colors sure do make me very happy!!

Hope you liked seeing this project with gorgeous AALL & Create stamps. Please visit their boutique to shop online or to see where you can get these stamps from their many stockists world wide. 

Products used:

Thanks so much for stopping by and have a wonderful weekend!

 

The Dream Queen - AALL & Create

Hi all, the weeks go by so quickly! Today I'm sharing my 4th project as guest designer for AALL & Create and I've used a bunch of stamps from the new release and one stencil from the first release ever to create this whimsical looking dream queen in my art journal. Let me tell you a bit how I created her.

The base is Windsor an Newton 300lbs watercolor paper because I'm going to use a lot of mediums on this project. I stamped the face by Katy Paltridge of set 129 with Versamark onyx black ink and the large stamp sets 109 and 110 by Tracy Evans with Kalaeidacolor ink pads in autumn colors over the face in the background for texture.

At a recent shopping spree I bought the stencil #6 by Autour de Mwa which is from the first AALL & Create release ever. I really wanted to use it for this project to create some grungy texture. I made a mask for the face & then applied gesso & then added the modeling paste through the stencil. I  let it dry really well because am going to use some color sprays over it next.

A close up of the grungy texture around the face.

I left the mask on when I applied the Lindy's magical home made sprays - I have used colors from the Autumn leaves set, Autumn Maple Crimson and Ponderosa Pines Olive and Shabby Turbine Teal from the Industrial Chic set. After I dried the color sprays I took off the masks and applied gesso to the face. I love how you can see the background texture here.

Then I went to work with acrylics from Dina Wakley & Thalens Amsterdam. I just applied layers of flesh tones colors mixed with blush colors until I was happy with the result. The lips are covered with a layer of shimmer from the Spectrum Noir Sparkle pen.

So at this point I left the project on my desk for a few days because I didn't quite know how to continue. And then I decided I wanted to create some hair for her and grabbed some more acrylic paints.

I added some dark blue acrylics to give her hair and completely transformed the way she looked as the tones turned into a deep purple to violet where it mixed with the red from Lindy's. I applied gesso over some bits to soften the colors and she looks so different now! It was time for some embellishments and I sprayed some paper flowers with the before mentioned Lindy's colors.

In the center of those flowers I applied a bit of yellow acrylic paint and placed a see through domed sticker over it to give the flowers some dimension. Some gold splatter for finishing touches and the little flower crown I made with Tracy's grungy flower stamp from set 123.

 Some gold splatter for finishing touches and I made the little flower with a part of Tracy's grungy flower stamp from set 123. I also stamped the work dream on there from the same set.

I had a lot of fun experimenting with color & texture on this one & watch "the Dream Queen" come to life.

Hope you liked seeing this project with gorgeous AALL & Create stamps. Please visit their boutique to shop online or to see where you can get these stamps from their many stockists world wide. 

Products used: 

  

 

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome weekend!

Blossom Bloom Grow - AALL & Create

Hi all, today I am sharing a simple yet effective card made primarily with one stamp and stencil from AALL& Create and autumn colors. 

The stamp I am using is Growth in numbers #120 by Tracy Evans of which I have stamped the top part where I'll focus on the flower and words. Then I took some distress oxides in autumn colors and stencil #45 digital bubbles by Autour deMwa for background texture created with my blending tool. 

I stamped the flower part again on a separate piece of cardstock and colored them in & cut them out & popped them up with foam squares. I chose a co-coordinating colors for the words and the flower: Flower petals & Bloom, Stem & Blossom and the background (=soil) & Grow. I've added water spatters to activate the oxide ink and also splattered some Lindy's Turbine Teal home made spray onto the card & gave some accents to the flower & words with it. 

Close up of the Lindy's Turbine Teal accents on the flower. And I really love the numbers in the flower petals, it's such a lovely detail!

To finish the card I have used a dark blue color to frame the card, more water spatters and some texture stamping with the grungy flower from set 123 also by Tracy Evans. I love how the subtle texture of the stencil still shines through. This card was quite easy and simple to make so when you're pressed for time and need a positive & encouraging card to send to someone, perhaps you can give this a go. 

The AALL & Create Products used: 

Hope you liked seeing this project with gorgeous AALL & Create stamps. Please visit their boutique to shop online or to see where you can get these stamps from their many stockists world wide. 

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome weekend!

MT's Teeny Halloweeny - That's a wrap!

If you have been following me over on my Facebook page, you might have seen my micro journaling project in october coming by. I've posted a daily process video on my Teeny Halloweeny makings through the whole month. This is a collage of the end result of that project.  I am honestly amazed that I've made it through another month of daily micro journaling because at some point it was a struggle to keep finding new ways for the theme. This is also the reason why I have switched to a slightly larger size (the Jot Tiny Key-Per) for the last week. You can see all the close up pictures on my Instagram feed and see the process video's on my YouTube channel and I've made a playlist of all the video's which you can watch below;

For more info on the project you can check out my post here where I fist started the journey in august. 

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome day!

Follow your heart - AALL & Create

Today I wanted to share a card I made using wonderful stamps and stencils from AALL & Create. I've used stamp sets number 127 & 128 designed by Katy Paltridge and the sentiment is from set 138 by Olga Heldwein. 

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The sketch type stamps by Katy Paltridge has such a wonderful whimsical feel to it. I love using watercolors with them. Above you see the process of getting the color in this young lady done. I'm using Jane Davenport Glitz sea set on Caran d'ache mixed media paper. When The colors were blended to my liking I drew in the hair in the same sketchy feel as the stamp. I trimmed the piece to 6x4 inches and made the card out of it.

I masked the woman and took stencil #39 - lotz of dotz and a blending tool & sponged distress oxide fossilized amber through it. It created the background pattern with beautiful golden tones & makes the front image pop. 

On the bottom I stamped the foliage in set 127 in lavender tones & added the banner and sentiment from set 138 to finish the card. I had to cut the sentiment apart to fit into the banner how I wanted it, but I personally do not have an issue with that. Just goes to show how versatile clear stamps are. 

This could be the type of card you can send to a young woman entering adulthood, reminding her to follow their heart amidst the turmoil of growing up.

AALL & Create Products used 

Hope you liked seeing this project with gorgeous AALL & Create stamps. Please visit their boutique to shop online or to see where you can get these stamps from their many stockists world wide. 

Thanks for stopping by and have an awesome weekend!