Art Journal: There is a universe inside you

It's been a little quiet on my blog, due to some things happening on the personal front. My dad has been in the hospital for a week and the fact is he's not going to recover, this time, from the heart attack he had. He's getting palliative nursing care at his home so he's being well taken care of until that moment arises that he is no longer with us. Acceptance is the only way to move forward, things are settling down and there is some peace and calm again, within and around me.

So last weekend I finally sat down in my art room and started to create again. It felt SOOOO GOOD! What a relief it was for me to pour it all out on blank pages. Creation is definitely good for the soul. There is like this whole universe inside you that wants to be seen and heard and can be awakened if you let yourself be immersed in it. I finished the journal pages over the last few days.

This is the end result of the art journal pages and creating this page really was very soothing and freeing. I used some of my fave products from my fave companies:

Liquitex gesso, paints and gel medium  specimen stencil from TCW, Succulents stencil from StencilGirl, Alice (by Janet Klein) stamp from Stampotique Originals, The large rose stamp from Octopode Factory and several mixed media stamps from VLVS! as well as "dreamer's only" and "there is a universe inside you" stamps by Cat Kerr. I also used paint over pens, wink of luna metallic brushes, distress crayons and pearl rubs. 

Let us all find that universe inside us and pour it out on blank pages. 

Sharing the above desk shot with WOYWW #460 at Julia's wonderful blog. Sorry I've been a bit out of touch, now you know why, but hope to connect with you all again this week. 

I also would like to add this journal page to the following challenges: 

Try it on Tuesday: Call for Spring

The mood board was wonderful and I am absolutely longing for spring to arrive. 

The sky blue, magenta/pink colors and flowers inspired me with this page.

Spring theme at Art Journal Journey 

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #46

I used a couple of stencils, liquitex paints, gesso and gel medium as well as alcohol markers, staz on ink, paint over markers, distress crayons and more. 

Ans lastly Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge with "Inside the box" theme.

I interpreted this as I myself being the "box" in which there is a whole other universe inside to discover. As we all do, I believe :) 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Mail Art Monday: Dorothy Rose

The mail delivery of this one had a bit of a hick-up, but it finally arrived so I can share it with you here. I sent this to my friend Tera a.k.a. the Crafty Sugar Addict for a personal mail art swap. She posts amazing Mail Art tutorials on her blog as well as on the Viva Las Vegas Stamps DT blog. I was in love with the Northeren Lights Mail Art she made for MAM and it is more stunning in person.

This is what I received from her. Look at the color tones and the card is fantastic too :) I love it!

I am glad she was happy to receive the envie I made for her too (even though it took quite some time to arrive...) This is how it looked pre-addressing. How I made it: I used Pilot Iroshizuku Kon Peki fountain pen ink to color the envelope blue (I added a few drops with a pipette on the envie then sprayed with water and dried it with my heat tool). Then placed Succulents Stencil from Stencil Girl Products over the envie and dabbed some copper paint with a round brush on the sides, fading out to the middle. Placed an address sticker a little to the right off the middle and colored the edges of the lable and the envelope with a Red Promarker. The Dorothy and Rose stamp are from the Octopode Factory (founded by late lily Chilvers). I stamped them on separate papers, colored them with promarkers and cut them with a small scissors then adhered them to the envelope.

I enjoyed coloring these images. The dress has so much detail and with the Letraset Tria Promarker super Fine tip, you can color in details like this without much trouble. I prefer those markers most when it comes to detail work. 

When I was done with the envie I sealed it with a bit of matte Modge Podge so the colors would hopefully not bleed through during transit. 

I definitely love doing Mail Art swaps and if you would like to do a swap with me you can find me on Swap-Bot (my preferred swap place). Or you can contact me through my Facebook page or just leave a comment on this blog post. 

Hope this inspires you to create some mail art :) Thanks for stopping by!

Namasté

An hommage to Lily Chilvers from the Octopode Factory

This past monday sad news was announced; Lily Chilvers, the talented girl behind the Octopode Factory, passed away from a battle with cancer. She was so young and life can be so unfair. My deepest sympathies goes out to the family, Mandy and Amber. The world lost a wonderful talent person. We share this great loss with you.

When I heard the news of Lily's condition about 6 weeks ago I made the art pieces below using her rose flower rubberstamp.

Like so many others I was hoping/praying for her to battle this through... That's why I put hope in the middle of the rose. And now I hope she can rest in peace as she is no longer in pain. Thank you Lily for giving us a peek into your imagination. I cherish all the work you've done and it inspired me like so many others to adapt your creations into my own work. Sharing things I made with few of my fave images she created:

Dorothy and the flower rubber stamp

Audrey Hepburn digi Stamp

Steampunk Girl stamp

Mad hatter and Alice stamp

and these themed Oz and Alice mailboxes I still use every day

Thank you for your inspiration Lily. 

You will be missed and always be cherished.

namaste

Printemps Lily - Lost Coast Designs Monthly Challenge

The sun is starting to give some warmth, the skies are clearer, the flowers are blooming and birds are sounding happier... could it be that spring is finally here? 

It is just in time for the monthly challenge at Lost Coasters Reviewers blog, as this month's theme is spring.  I made a card which I called 'Printemps Lily'.

Printemps is the French word for spring. 

The stamp I used here is Lily from the art nouveau / art deco section at Lost Coast Designs. This theme just really fits her, I think. I colored her in with pro-markers and matted the piece a while back (you can see that whole process here). Recently I was cleaning up a section of my craft room, I found this piece again and felt I should really make something with it. The result is the card you see here. Things I added are prima flowers with pearl drop accents, negative butterfly in green scrapbook paper, accented the sided of the matted piece with green pearl rub and added the sentiment stamp 

'The nature of this flower is to BLOOM' 

which is by the Octopode Factory. 

This sentiment fits right with the feel of Lily I was going for here.

Show is your springtime zest and join us with this Monthly Challenge at Lost Coasters Reviewers. Read the rules on how you can win a 10$ gift certificate to spend on Lost Coast Designs or Carmen's Veranda by participating in the challenge.

Thanks for stopping by!

namaste