Art Journal: Amazing Diva

It's such an amazingly fun challenge to create pieces using project left overs aka 'tovers only. This piece was intended to be a postcard but I loved it so much I decided to adhere it to my art journal as I couldn't part with is. I used all sorts of scraps and left over pieces here but what started it off was the top. It's a color coded row of double ink sample swatches! I keep ink samples in trays and have it organized by what I have done already but for some reason I made an oopsie and made swatches of one row twice. Well of course it's too pretty to just throw out and if you see my scrap boxes you will know I have trouble to throw out anything!  I then looked for trims in the same color family to adhere to the page. Instead of vertically like I did with this journal page, I went with horizontal lines to see how that would go. And I absolutely love the outcome here! The Frida image is a left over print from this journal page and is a stamp from Lost Coast Designs - so are the words I used. I felt like I needed a POP of color and in my scraps I found that colored in whimsical seed pod from Viva Las VegaStamps! which I had used from this journal page almost a year ago! So very cathartic to use up all these scraps and seeing how all these elements come together as one :) The "frame" is just ripped out magazine pages from FLOW magazines. Yes, I have had a TON of them due to my 3 year subscription and those are all "free game" now - ripping stuff out feel SO GOOD! LOL! 

I would like to enter this journal page in the following challenges: 

The WaterCooler Wednesday #121 - Anything goes challenge   

Simon Says Stamp Wednesday Challenge - Anything goes 

Time Out Challenge #84 - Inspired by Words 

'Flowers and Friends make life a garden' 

The green and seed pod reminds me of a garden... it could be Frida's garden :)

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #37 - A year of choices

Wow, has it been a year I have been participating? 

I really loved this past year's themes esp. what's your super power and put a stamp on it. 

I feel like this journal page combines the two :) 

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

Always dream - SDC271 guest post

It's my third week as guest designer for Stampotique Originals and the 2nd week for their "bling it on" challenge. This time I chose to do a inspirational layout with Frida as focal point combined with these whimsical elements of Kassa's Bloom. This is done on a 6x6 inch piece of scrap book paper which was gelli printed and matted onto a 6,5 x 6,5 piece of scrapbook paper with a "Fleur de lis" Romantic Paris themed paper.

I stamped the flowers on my spray box excess paper's which had a ton of glitter on it through spraying glimmer mist over it. The flowers were embossed and then I colored the flowers with ecoline and ZIG wink of stella for more color and shimmer. The edges were colored with a black marker to give it some dimension. The white accents were done with a white gel marker. I spattered a lot of liquitex inks in gold over it (that is how I usually get my "bling"). The sentiment "always dream" was cut out with my Making Memories slice. Frida was stamped in sticker paper and colored with Letraset promarkers.

I have the piece framed and put up on my inspiration shelf next to my other inspiration pieces and Cheetara toy collection :) I added some seashells which we got at different beaches and that dragonfly pin I got as a gift from my husband. Really love how it looks on my self here :)

Hope this inspires you to join in the challenge this week at Stampotique Designer's Challenge and link up your project. 

I would love to enter this piece in the following challenges:

Moo mania- faces (thanks again for the invite Susi)
Craft Stamper Take it Make it April challenge
Happy Little Stampers - Mixed Media April Challenge


Simon says stamp Wednesday challenge - showers and or flowers

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

MailART Monday: Banksy Mailart Inspiration

I'm very excited to share this week's MailART Monday with you as it's made for VLVS! blog MailART Monday section. 

Please hop on over to the Viva Las VegaStamps! inspiration blog to see the whole image and a step by step tutorial as to how I made it. In my blogpost there is a complete list of which stamps and materials I used as well.

This month we have a wonderful mail art swap going on in the VLVS! Groupies page, please check it out :) The theme is Banksy, so use any of the wonderful Banksy stamps VLVS! has to offer. Go on and join and perhaps you will be one of the recipients of these envies I made  :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Art Journal: the Frida Blues

Last weekend I found some time to play around with my Lost Coast Designs stamps again and created this page in my pocket art journal. I feel like I really need some bright bursts of colors in my journals/life right now because it's so cold and winter is in full swing now (and to counterpart my SAD blues). For the background I used Brusho Ultramarine on watercolor paper. The effects are always mesmerizing and fun. I stamped the Frida Image directly onto the paper and colored her in with tombow markers. Chose the diamonds, circles and circle border stamps for the background. Lastly I added bright yellow tombow markers to contrast in color to the blue brusho. I stamped the circles with Memento Ladybug red and adhered it to my pocket journal. Added strips of color coordinated washi tape to the top and bottom and called it done.

This page is so different than the one I did before and I love how you can use the same stamps and yet create such a different style with them :)

Stamps used from Lost Coast Designs: 

Little Diamonds background 

Circle frame large  

Bubbles border
Frida 3 

Others: 

Maruman Zuan Watercolor paper 

Brusho Ultramarine 

Memento inks Ladybug, mango, danube blue

Stazon midnight blue

Various colors Tombow markers

Washi tape

The " #32 Anything Goes challenge"at Loast Coast Portal ofCcreativity, is still running until the 25th, so why not take a stab at it :) I am entering this one as well (you can enter multiple projects!). It's not even required to use LCD or CV stamps but would be fun if you do!

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

Mailart Monday: The Traveler In You

In a few weeks I'll be traveling abroad and I have the "travel bug" in me, counting the days until we hop on the plane and fly off to our destination. In this mailart monday I have made a card combining the Travel Quotes from Lost Coast Designs and that beautiful image of Frida Kahlo from Carmen's Veranda. I stamped those on a marbled bookpage with memento tuxedo black and cut them out. The base of the card is made with stamping the doodle circles background stamp with white pigmented ink from dovecraft on white Neenah Classic Crest paper and heat setting it. Then I took my blending tool and peacock feathers, tumbled glass and peeled paint distress ink pads colored the background. The heat setting of the white pigment ink acted as a resist and the circle doodles showed through nicely.

The background needed a bit more interest, so I took one of the grunge border stamps from Loast Coast Designs and stamped a part of the text with StazOn dove grey and stone grey. I cut the text into strips and then decided on the placement.

I adhered the text and Frida image to the background and outlined it with the faber castell pitt marker. With the grey distress crayon I made some shadows on the bottom near her feet and blended it, so she looks more grounded to the card.

Lastly I created a border with the stitching lines from VLV and adhered the piece to a double sided card and is ready to be mailed out. I can't wait for my next travels to unveil a new light within me :)

Have a great day and thank you for stopping by!

namasté

Mini Art Journal: Frida's Self Portrait

Today I played around with this beautiful Frida Kahlo stamp from Lost Coast Designs in my mini art journal. It's number 3 on the page and it's my personal fave of the bunch. Also because of the quote:

"I paint self portrait's because I am the person I know best"

A beautiful sentiment, because we should all strive to know ourselves better so you can be the best person you can be, right? Well, enough philosophical pondering, let me show you how I made the above spread in my mini art journal.

My desk was a wonderful mess this afternoon. I started off with an already colored piece of aquarel paper in orange and purple/pink tones and stamped on some fun background stamps. I stamped the large diamonds with Hero Neon Ombre in pink/reds and the spray webbing stamp with Staz-on Mustard on the page. It created some nice effects on the page and I went on to choose the right color for the Frida stamp.

I was thinking about using the one stamped with Staz-on Royal purple, but I went with the memento black one instead because I wanted to color her inwith promarkers.

After coloring her in I cut her out and adhered her to the page (I used sticker paper so no glue needed). I covered her eyes with a left over scrap piece and wrote "desires" on it with a white gel pen. I outlined the scrap first with Faber Castell Pitt artist pen in black and then with the white gel gelpen. I did the same with the quote on the right page.

I didn't do it neatly as you can see, but I thought that gives it some fun interest. Then I got some white Liquitex INK! fluid acrylic paint and a toothbrush andsparrted some paint on the page. 

Since the page was smaller than the pocket journal, I added some washi tape on top and bottom and doodled around the edges to finish it off. I love how the colors just pop out from the page. 

With this page I am entering the Craft Stamper's September Challenge, Take it, make it Anything goes. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend.

namasté