read all about it...

or maybe the title should be...

read all about me!

yikes...

I'm honored to be interviewed today,
 by Susan from 

irreversibly Moi...

I answered some fun questions and I also shared some of my MOST favorite art journal pages...

for this large 
specialty stamping paper 
art journal page,
 I used lots of my stencils and stamps...
and...
I used my white embossing paste 
to add texture with 
the add a stencil, in 3 areas...

did you know we released a LARGE jar of my white embossing paste?
it's a HUGE 8 ounce jar for just $14.95!
double the quantity to
 double your fun...

you asked...
we listened!

now we have enough white paste to use reinkers to create custom colors of embossing paste...
just mix a drop or 2 of your chosen reinker color into the paste, mix right in the jar & it's ready to go...

 the mix & store jars...
are AWESOME...

mix right in the jar...
no waste...
no cleanup...

these jars were chosen because they will keep the custom paste fresh & soft for at least a year!

ok...back to the interview...

you can read about my modern day
"fairytale"
 and how this 
wonderful "art adventure"
 all began for me...

I hope you have time to click the link &

pop over & visit...

thanks so much for the invite Susan! 

THANKS too, my friends, for stopping by!

as always...

I hope you can 
take some time and...

make art!
wendy

an art journal page...

today's post was prompted by these 2 questions...

#1...will you share more of your art journal pages?

I NEED to be inspired...

#2...what remedies do you have to jumpstart a mojo that has vanished?

yes...I am still creating art journal pages...

I was really focusing mainly on cards for CHA...

and to answer #2...

I go back to my comfort zone...

I'll start with color combos that I KNOW will work & make me happy...

I'll also go back to favorite stamps, but combine them with new stamps/stencils, 

for a new look...

the page below is a "comfy" color palette for me...

2 of my favorite distress colors...

I used scattered straw & brushed corduroy,

 combined with 

leaf green & sky blue archivals...

the older stamps are the lamp post & the house...

the mini berry tree is new, as is the lines border that you see under the house...

look closely at the background to see some random lines from this stamp 

that look like worn corduroy...

and I LOVE the "cracks stamp"...

it's perfect when combined with

 the brick stencil...

 I used the new oval spotlight frame stencil...

to set the stage for the focal point...

it is one of 4 stencils/masks included in this set...

I'm thrilled to have these...

having a stencil & the perfectly sized mask is really useful...

Ted gave us a great price 

on this 8 piece set...

in the background you'll see...

the checkmate & basics bricks stencils...

2 great stencils for everyday use...

both great starting points or background fillers...

to accent the flame, 

I added a tiny bit of 

the gold foil sheet...

it was rubbed on with 

tim's new remnant rub tool...

the slanted end is perfect!

that gold line under the lines border stamp is also done with the gold foil sheet...

here's a better look at the flame & 

the cracks stamp...

I darkened the glass area with

 the wild honey distress marker...

I like watering can archival for background stamping & I save jet black archival for my main images & things that I want to be front & center...

I am LOVING these foil sheets...

what took me so long to figure this out?

that thin metallic line is a very cool detail...

now...

going back to the very beginning...

the background for this page was created with 

tree branch & sky blue archival inks, using them with the rubbing alcohol technique...

the journal page above is the front...

after I dried the page,

 I turned it over...

and I got this...

DO YOU SEE IT?

YIKES! 

sure looks like  face with sun glasses to me!

sometimes you get a surprise when you...

make art!

wendy

WAIT...one more thing...

just a reminder...

there's only13 hours left to visit 

the Ranger blog 

& submit your entries for a chance to win one of the three sets of my new archival inks & embossing powders...

there are several ways for you to enter...

check it out here...

GOOD LUCK friends!

catching up...

yikes...long time no blog...

I spent last weekend at Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights, Illinois...

THANKS to Carol & Brian...your store is just AWESOME...

so comfy...so convenient...so organized...

there was wonderful food...wonderful shopping...

and even a surprise birthday cake...

THANKS to everyone who spent the weekend...making art!

you ALL did a great job!

we spent 2 FULL days making a fun mixed media art journal...

my crackled texture paste was a HUGE hit!

here's the art parts back cover...

and a closer peek at how cool the cracks look...

this photo doesn't show it...

but we added the translucent embossing paste thru the tree stencil to accent just the leaves...

love love love that raised effect...

the NEW "mix & store jars" are now back in stock...

yippee!

wow...you liked them as much as I do...

I LOVE the convenience & I love that there's no clean up or wasted paste & that the jars keep custom colored paste fresh...

hmmm...what else?

in my spare time, we've been making kits for classes...LOTS of kits...and shipping them & reordering supplies & reorganizing our basement class supply area...

and working on NEW things & testing out ideas...

more to come on that later...

I shared this art journal page earlier this week on

my Facebook page...

please stop by & hit the LIKE button & then share with your friends...

here it is again for friends who don't happen to visit Facebook...

and now it's time to pack some clothes & SANDALS...hmmm...which ones...decisions...decisions...

9 days...how many pairs can I squeeze in?

I'm off to The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, Texas to teach the same 2 day mixed media art journal...

after that Ill be demoing for 3 FULL days at GASC (Great American Scrapbook Convention) in Arlington, Texas...

I LOVE this convention...the southern hospitality is awesome...

and it's nice & warm there!

come visit us! our booth will be LOADED with everything you need to...make art!

have a wonderful weekend...

I hope YOU have time to make art!

wendy

and I'm off...

to spend the weekend at Craft Fancy in Arlington Heights, Illinois...

sorry to my friends at Southwest airlines & Midway airport...Rick will chauffeur me this time!

but I WILL see you next weekend and you can fly me to The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, Tx...

after that I'll spend 3 days demoing at GASC...The Great American Scrap Convention in Arlington, Texas...

at both Craft Fancy & The Crafty Scrapper, I'll be teaching a 2 FULL day mixed media art journal workshop...

we completely construct the journal & focus on technique pages using LOTS of mixed media products like...

embossing pastes, archival inks & reinkers, lots of distress, stamps, stencils, SiSi's and more...

to make pages like this...

my most favorite flower in the whole wide world is the red geranium...

poor Rick...I buy (LOTS)...he plants...

they are looking so beautiful now...

the geraniums were the inspiration behind

this wonderful archival color...

but... that perfect peony SiSi I used for the art journal page is quickly becoming a favorite flower...

and inspired me to buy some peony's...for you know who to plant...

photos...next year!

thanks for sharing so many fun suggestions for repurposing leftover art packaging...

sharing is good... really good...

especially if you are the random winner...

CONGRATS to...

 Jess M said...

I have run them through an embossing folder and then 

used crackle paste on them. Pretty cool effect. 

Jess

May 27, 2014 at 6:10 PM

 

please email me at wbv1213@me.com & we'll get a little gift off to you...

I hope your weekend is fun...

I know mine will be, because I get to...

make art!

wendy

stamped spotlight frames...

actually the title should be...

another reason to LOVE giant background stamps...

here's a fun trick...

use typing paper to cut out a circle...

I used the 4 inch circle die from Sizzix...

it's the perfect size for larger art journal pages...

lay the paper circle in the center of the background stamp and add ink, by tapping the pad on the stamp...some ink will go onto the paper circle...

REMOVE the paper circle & stamp onto an art journal page...

below is the herringbone background stamp...

and the starting point of the page...

with a circle spotlight...

& a bold frame...

same process with the ledger background stamp...

for a more subtle background...

and here's a finished spotlight frame art journal page...

this time I used the stripes background stamp...

the page below actually started with the archival reinker/alcohol (surgical spirits) background...
(tree branch & forget-me-not)...

then the stamped stripes/circle frame was added over the dry background...

the vintage floral stencil is a favorite...

tree branch archival is an awesome background color...

it pretty much coordinates with everything...

that's my tip for today...

a fun way to change the look of your background stamps...

there are so many options...

think about this...

for every background stamp you have...

you can use any large shape...

or use several smaller shapes...

or...use a mask...

or use the idea on a smaller project like a card front, to spotlight your main image or sentiment...

it's an easy way to send a single layer card that looks dimensional...

and this works on tags too...

altering background stamps to create stamped spotlight frames is simple & quick!

background stamps are essential tools when you...

make art!

wendy

custom background stamps & ruler stamping...

but first...

I wanted to follow up the "paste over glass" story...

you can read about it on this post...

here's the summary...

it you want to apply crackled texture paste over GLASS...use either the gold or silver metallic paste as a base...

either will work perfectly...

I'll show you that below...

the black embossing paste sticks to glass perfectly, UNTIL you add the crackled on top...

they are not compatible on glass,plastic or NON-porous surfaces...

my thought is since the black & white embossing pastes are more "fluffy", they are more porous & allow the moisture from the crackled texture paste to penetrate the paste & loosen it from the glass...

so...if you want a black textured (pasted) bottle, you could add Perfect Pearls powder or Perfect Pearls mist to give it shimmer...

or...randomly paint over the dry black paste with distress paints for a cool effect...

you CAN use black embossing paste as your base before adding the crackled texture paste on other surfaces...

the photo below shows an art parts art journal cover...

with a black embossing paste base, then crackled texture paste added over the top...

perfect combo for paper based surfaces...

the metallic pastes work great as a base too...

here's another glass bottle...

gold metallic paste base...

then crackled texture paste applied over the dry base...

I mixed in a drop of the potting soil archival reinker before applying the paste...

that's why it's a tan color...

then inked over the dry paste with several archival ink colors...

I used leaf green, forget-me-not, cornflower blue & tree branch...

not sure what I want to add to this bottle...

I'm thinking a gold metallic FLOWER?...

one more thing before moving on...

if you're wondering if the glass is painted with Glue N Seal, before adding the black paste...

would that hold the paste on the glass?

the answer is no...it doesn't make a difference...

the black paste sticks just fine, UNTIL the crackled is added over it...

****************

now to share a fun art journal page, with a few twists...

once again...

I played yesterday, using my Ranger specialty stamping paper, large art journal page...

if you've been a recent visitor, you'll know I recently became obsessed crazy about circles...specifically, spotlight circle frames...

you'll see them in lots of previous posts...

I had this idea, to use my new vintage doily background stamp in another way...

I've used the whole stamp as the background of this art journal page...

and just a portion of it here...

as a tag topper & bottomer?? here...

and here's how we can use it as a spotlight frame...

I cut a circle from tim's mask material & laid it over the center of the stamp...

then inked the stamp with watering can archival ink...

removed the mask, stamped it in the center of my page, then embossed it with super fine detail embossing powder...

I LOVE it...it doesn't even look like the same stamp!

it makes a fancy spotlight frame...and it's another way to change up the stamp...

which reminds my why I LOVE background STAMPS...

versatile...

 next I added my inky background using rubbing alcohol, tree branch & hydrangea archival inks...

then,  I stenciled the vintage floral with fern green, leaf green, forget-me-not & a bit of hydrangea over the blue, to create a custom color...

you'll see I didn't use the whole stencil...I only wanted it outside the circle on the right...

I used the new handy dandy mini blending tool ...

it's great for stenciling...

next, some dandelion archival stripes using the "yikes, stripes" stencil...

I wanted lines in the background, but not perfectly drawn lines...

I didn't want to use a lined stamp either...

thinking...thinking...

I've stamped with the edge of gridblocks before & they work GREAT, but this time I wanted thinner lines, to coordinate better with my main image...

solution!

if you don't have tim's magic ruler, grab it before it's gone...

they are discontinued...

but I found them in stock (for now) here...

I pressed the metal edge side of the ruler onto my watering can archival pad & stamped away...

                                           

it's PERFECT! you can make the lines as long or as short as you want & fill in any areas than need interest very easily...

and you can quickly create a REALLY fun linen-ish look!

below is my finished page, with lots more ruler stamping!

I didn't take photos for every step, but you'll see some polka dotty tree branch archival stenciled dots, some stenciled numbers & word...

the postage (LCS051 art gone postal) is stamped with tree branch...it helped to fill in the circle...

the tiny text is this train schedule stamp...

the sentiment is from LCS049 tools for art...

some stenciled stars...and some green striped stenciled borders...

I hope you enjoyed seeing a way to alter your background stamps...

and how to stamp with a ruler!

Sunday was a FUNday to...

make art!

wendy

a favorite art journal page...

but first…

from the bottom of my heart…

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all the birthday wishes…

I sincerely appreciate each & every one of them…

Rick said…"I didn't know that you knew so many people"…

lol…LOTS of my art friends live in my computer!

again…

THANK YOU ALL…I got well over 400 wishes, emails, cards & texts…made my day!

now speaking of hearts…

here's a fun art journal page…

I was actually sad when it was finished…

I really enjoyed creating this one & didn't want it to end...

it's the large size page that I've been doing…

8 ½ x 6 inches…so it's BIG!

I've gotten LOTS of requests for a tutorial for this new technique…

and also questions about making this a class for stores…

YES…that's my plan for 2014…a full 2 day art journal weekend marathon, where we'll make the journal covers & then fill the journal with this style of pages...

I'll be demoing this technique in the Ranger booth at CHA, so if you're attending, please stop by & visit us…

if you're not attending CHA, I plan to do a video of this technique with Christine from Scraptime…she & her hubby Mark do an awesome job… and she posts these videos right after CHA…so no long wait to get started with the fun…

if you want to be ready with the ingredients, so you can play along…

my archival reinkers & Ranger's specialty stamping paper are the 2 key MUST HAVES…

after that it's just adding stamping & stenciling…

remnant rubs, clearly for art, embossing pastes & embossing powders are great add ons…

so if you have these ingredients, you'll be ready to go…

and speaking of going…

I'm off to the studio to

make CHA art!

wendy

ps…YES there is a Ranger designer challenge for this CHA…

gotta get my thinking cap on for this one!