Inspired by.....

Hello, it's Sue Lelli here today to show you how I was inspired by none other than Donna Downey!  I took a class from her not knowing we would be working with faces ~ NOT my thing!  I spent most of the class frustrated because I couldn't even do the first step which was a new technique (for me) called image transferring.  So what did I do?  I followed all of the rest of her steps, learned as much about technique as I could, ended up with something I was sort of pleased with - but only honestly because Donna was kind enough to help me plus give me encouragement.  That might have been the end of the story but I was determined to try it again.  My artist friend, Maria, drew a face for me to keep and use and I tried the image transfer again.

 

Tah!  Dah!  Here is my canvas ~ inspired by Donna Downey!

Isn't she Pretty?!

 

I used words from the TCW mini Art is stencil to create my message.  Wendy Vecchi's black embossing paste did the trick.  "Art is just color and shape, feelings and experiences"

 

 

At the bottom I added "release and surrender" to remind myself to just let go and try new things with my art, even if it's uncomfortable!

 

Some process photos:

This shows the image transfer with the face my friend drew.  You will probably be seeing this face again!

 

Next I used gelatos in several colors and sprayed it with water from a mini Mister, and then mixed it around with my fingers.    I used gelatos to color her face, neck and hair.  I then added definition with Prisma watercolor pencils.  Thanks, Donna, for literally showing me how to on my class piece!  I colored the eyes and lips with the Prisma pencils as well.

 

Next I made a background using my FAV TCW confetti stencil and Tim Holtz Distress paints in shades of pink, orange and yellow.

 

Then I used the Dina Wakely plastic canvas stencil ~ LOVE ~ to add some more color to the background.  I pounced  Tim Holtz distress ink in mustard seed with the mini ink blending tool.

I rubbed golden paint around the outside edges, added a Prima resin butterfly, a little lace, and considered it done!

I hope you like her!

 



Be Strong

Good morning ePeeps!  Micki here with a colorful art journal spread using those wonderful, bright and vivid Dylusions Spray Inks AND Dina Wakley's new stencils.

I've been neglecting my art journal lately but when I got my latest eP package, I decided that it was the perfect opportunity to pull it out and play.  And play I did!  Considering I had no clear idea for the end result, I am really happy how it turned out:

I simply started by spraying Dylusions Ink Sprays in Fresh Lime and London Blue onto the pages.  Letting the ink sit for a few minutes, then mopping up any excess with a paper towel roll.

Next I grabbed an arm load of stencils.  First I used my Water Mister spray bottle and squirted some water over the inky goodness on the pages.  Waited a minute and rolled the paper towel roll over it.  Then I laid down Dina Wakley's Tracks stencil and sprayed Dylusions Vibrant Turqoise and Polished Jade through it, making sure to clean the stencil on the same page I was working on, which gave me the 'negative' stencil image: 

Next I decided to add Dina Wakley Heavy Body Acrylic Paints through Dina's Mosaic Swirl and Spinners stencils.  I have to tell you guys that I absolutely LOVE Dina's brushes.  I used the 1" Stiff Bristle brush to pounce the paints through the stencils.  I usually use a sponge because I never had any good results using a brush, even a stencil brush.  But these brushes - awesome.

At this point I knew I wanted to use Dina's Stenciled Queenie stencil, I just needed to frame the pages.  I love Dina's Mod Mask and using the negative, created a border around the pages.  (Actually, I was too lazy to get up to walk across the room to get more stencils, :-) )  Again, using Dina's 1" Stiff Bristle brush and Lapis Heavy Body Acrylic, I painted through the stencil.  I did not worry about seepage and used paint strokes instead of pouncing the paint: 

By this time, I was in the "zone".  I grabbed bottle caps and started to add these to the border and randomly throughout the spread.  For some reason, adding those bottle cap circles was soooo therapeutic and fun.  Now it wouldn't be me if I didn't have a little goof-up, right?  Can you see it?

I do not know what I was thinking when I did the blob of paint. Definitely helped me decide where to place the Stenciled Queenie, right?

Before adding the Stenciled Queenie, I randomly stamped Dylusions Basic Backgrounds and Dina Wakley's Texture stamps using Wendy Vecchi's Archival Ink in Forget Me Not and Leaf Green on both pages:

Next came the Stenciled Queenie.  Using Dina's Black Gesso (love the thickness of it) and the 1" Stiff Bristle brush,  Queenie was added to the left page, making sure to cover my blue blob.  Once she was dry, I added journaling with a white gel pen.

Final step was to add my title on the right side using Dina's You Can stencil.  I stenciled the words first in Ruby acrylic paint, then offsetting the stencil a little, in Black Gesso.  I used the back of my paint brush to add red dots in each bottle cap circle around the edge to help tie in the red of the title.

It's so much fun to use a stencil and create different images.  Here I just turned the stencil upside down which created an overlapping X, perfect for bottle cap circles.

So much fun and I had a really, really hard time stopping.  I kept wanting to add more doodling with the white gel pen.

Inks, paints and stencils - a no fail end result, don't you think?  I hope you enjoyed my inky journey and most of all, I hope it inspired you to get inky!

Supplies used:

InLinkz.com