SDC286 - Nature

It's another Wednesday and that means a new challenge is live on the Stampotique Designer's challenge blog. This time the theme is nature and I've made an art journal page with a magic ink technique and a mushroom stencil and some wonderful Stampotique stamps; Alice by Janet Klein and a wonderful quote from phrases cube 3 by Terri Richardson.

I used a few flower die cuts from Tim Holtz and DieNamics to create the psychedelic magical forest she is in. Also I just love the amount of snark this quote gives Alice, also she isn't lying, she actually was down a rabbit hole visiting the center of the universe ;) 

Hope this inspires you to play along with the challenge this week. You and link up your project HERE, but please do read the rules before doing so, and if you enter you have the chance to win some cool rubber stamps :) 

Thanks for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Art Journal: Supernova Bear

Today I wanted to share with you a fun and quirky art journal page I made using watercolors and the "magic ink" technique combined with stencils. It's a fairly simple process but you have to work quickly like I have described in that blogpost. I used india ink and red and orange fountain pen inks. Sadly memory fails me which fountain pen inks I used, but it were samples I needed to use up, I'm sure!

The sentiment is remixed from this Viva las VegaStamps! sentiment stamp and I have made it say "Shine like the FREAKING AWESOME SPARKLY RIDICULOUS SUPERNOVA-SELF you are meant to be"  which I lined with Stabilo marks-all pencils in black and white. 

This page definitely fits the theme "Poetry in motion" over at Art Journal Journey wouldn't you agree?  Every time I look at this page it just makes me giggle :)  Hope it does the same for you! 

I am also entering this in the HLS august watercolor challenge with optional twist Bloom -

and it's a play on words as I see this as "blooming into what you are meant to be" :)

Thanks so much for stopping by and have an awesome weekend!

Art Journal: Road trip to Paris

Summer is here and obviously summer vacation has been the topic of discussion. While do we don't have any definite plans to go somewhere this summer, I have been feeling nostalgic for Paris. We've been there several times over the years and my sister in law recently went with her family, it made me want to pack up the car and have a road trip to Paris and driving until sunset... Made a little art journal page reflecting those emotions. It's made with watercolors (ecoline) and masking technique and I have this great Eiffel tower mask I used for the negative space. Texture stamps from Studio Light (love the effect it has on the negative space in the tower), some clippings from scrap papers and the car is from a vintage magazine. The sentiment "One's destination is never a place but a new way of seeing things" is from Technique Tuesday.

What is your wander luster within you telling you to drive off to at this moment? 

I would like to share this journal page with the following challenge:

Moo Mania - Wheels

Art Journal Journey - Summer Time Love 

HLS july watercolor challenge

Simon Says Stamp Monday challenge - Distress it 

Thanks so much for stopping by and I hope you are having a wonderful day!

Thank you card with magic INK technique

A great scours of inspiration has been watching these great little (10 min max) video tutorials on various art techniques over at YouTube. I'm following this awesome illustrator Mary Doodles and she creates fantastic illustrations using india ink combined with water colors. Check this Wolf in INK video out, isn't it MAGIC? The thank you card I am sharing has been done with that technique. Super fun and easy to do! You just have to move quickly and accept serendipity!

If you can't really draw, or are stumped on idea's what to draw, you can also use stencils. I have taken a feather stencil (by Viva Decor) and placed it on top of watercolor paper (maruman zuan) and brushed water over the stencil onto the paper. Removed the stencil, got my brush loaded with india ink and tapped the water on various places to make the feather appear. SO FUN to watch! The outcome is not perfect or as sharp as the stencil is, but I love the airy "feathery" feel they have. Once dry the india ink is water proof. I wet my paper a little in various places and tapped a bit of fountain pen ink in Diamine Magenta and Havasu Turquoise on the water to spread and mix. I mopped up some excess water and spattered more inda ink and a bit of water to get some more texture. The Thank You sentiment is a stamp from Studio Light, a nice hand written font adds to the whimsy of the card. Matted onto black card stock and then onto a blue card. I chose a violet envelop for it to keep the color scheme going. 

Check out more of Mary's awesome How To tutorial video's HERE. Hope this inspired you to get out some india ink and various water color ink and play with them. Once you get going, you can make a whole stack, trust me!

Entering this card in the

  HLS February Watercolor challenge



And because of the layers of colors Rubber Dance Layers Challenge


And over at Stamplorations CAS card challenge for February

This card was sent to P.W. Akkerman in the Hague for organizing such a great welcome for the first ever fountain pen meet up which was this past weekend :)

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend!