Art journal cover - Soul of a mermaid

 Hi everyone,

Recently, I was invited to a letter journal round robin - actually the first time I'm participating in something like that. Today I'm sharing my cover for this letter journal. 

If you're not familiar with this form of art journal swaps, I'll give you a short explanation: Everyone who participates creates a journal that fits into a standard envelope. The journals are sent around in a circle, the recipient creates a spread in it and sends it to the next person and so on. Once the journal returns to the owner, it is filled with lots of pretty pages by the other artists.

I created a quick blue background base with acrylic paints applied with a baby wipe. On top, I added some stenciling with the same colors, just introducing a light grey shade as a new one. I dried the paints very well and then doodled around one of the stencil patterns with a fine black pen to accent the design. Also, I added some spatters with watered down acrylic paint.

Next I added some background stamping with the dictionary page as well as the invoice/waybill stamp, both stamped with teal and only partly to create just a subtle background element.

Because of the aqua tone of the cover I thought of the mermaid stamp and chose it as a focal image for the front. I stamped the mermaids onto watercolor paper, colored them with ZIG markers, cut them out and inked the edges with a black marker. As they screamed for something to be placed onto, I combined that with the title. I die cut the words into some black cardstock, tore the edges with the help of a ruler and placed a nice shimmery paper from my scrap collection under it.

I glued the elements down and stamped the mermaid and sailor quote on the back. After making the the fold, I inked the edges (as well as the fold) with a blending tool.

 

Stamps used:
Dictionary Page (19015) 
Waybill/Invoice Background (19416)
Mermaid Trio (18187)
Soul Of A Mermaid Mouth Of A Sailor (20639)

Other material:
- Canson watercolor paper
- black cardstock
- shimmer or glitter paper
- acrylic paints (Lukas: arctic, turquoise, prussian blue, light grey || Liquidex: bright aqua green)
- Archival Ink (paradise teal, seafarer)
- Versafine Claire Ink (nocturne)
- ZIG real brush markers
- stencils (Lemon Creation: broken circle || A.B. studio: arches || Dina Wakley: fractured circles)
- alphabet dies (Tim Holtz: gift card bag with alpha)
- black fineliner


See you soon!

Not every witch lives in Salem

Hey everyone,

it's my favorite crafting time of the year: Halloween! Well, I don't limit the use of all my monstrous, spooky and weird stamps to that one season. But however, here's a little Halloween based inspiration for you.

For this art journal page I'm working in an old book from the 50's. Two tips for you: As the pages are quite fragile, it's better to glue two or three together. And to avoid the book becoming too bulky, just seperate a few pages from time to time. Keep those pages for future projects.
I primed my spread with some heavy gesso and a brayer, leaving enogh "white space" for some of the text to shine through.

Then I tried to figure out how to place my chosen images and stamped them directly on the page. While I got a good impression from the moon in the background, the spooky house didn't look as good as expected and the details got totally lost. Guess my ink pad got a little too dry. But I wasn't too worried about that. I simply stamped the image on a plain white napkin and cut it out (not too neatly). I kept that piece aside and glued it on top of the unsuccessfully stamped image after I added color to the background. 

And coloring the background is already the next step. I used two Lindy's Gang sprays: moonshadow mist in buccaneer bay blue (a brown with a blue touch) and a blazing black flat fabio spray which gets a greyish blue tone when it's dyluted with water. I tried to get as little color as possible onto my stamped images which worked pretty well even if I had been to lazy to mask them.

After that I adhered my napkin piece and added a stamped tree next to the house and some texture to the background. The new mark making stamps do work well, don't you agree?

I staped a witch hat on watercolor paper, colored it with ZIG brush pens and cut it out. As I wasn't sure about which color of the hat would work best, I just did two versions and kept the other one (which is green) for a future project. Then I added some washi tape to the lower right corner, placed the witch hat on top and stamped a quote: Not every witch lives in Salem.

Here are some more photos of my finished project. Hope you like it.

 

 

Stamps used:
Haunted Mansion/Bridge (17883)
The Moon (20157)
Striped Witch Hat (19204)
Assemic Stripes (20576)
Plus Sign Background (20571) 
Fir Trees Silhouette (19723)

Other material:
- old book
- watercolor paper
- heavy gesso
- brayer
- Archival Ink (jet black, watering can, seafarer)
- Versafine Ink (onyx black
- Lindy's Gang sprays (moon shadow mist "buccaneer bay blue"; flat fabio "blazing black")
- ZIG real brush watercolor marker
- washi tape


See you soon!

 

Trust your own wings

Hello everybody,

there is still some time left to join the STRENGTH themed challenge over in the VLVS Facebook group. You need a little creative kickstart? Here we go! I went for an art journal page about self-confidence.

I started my page by applying water with a big watercolor brush in the shape of a big circle. Then I added some Starburst sprays from Lindy's. I used the sprays more as a watercolor.
To create more depth I worked with various layers - adding water (by spraying or flicking or with a brush), adding the spray paint, drying, continuing with another layer. It was so much fun!
As a final touch I drew a few scribbely lines around the circle.

For some background texture I chose two stamps, a nature collage and the waybill/invoice, which I stamped with black Versafine ink.

As a focal image I used the flying bird. I stamped it and got out my watercolors. Somehow I was able to blend the red from the bird's body into the turquoise of its wings without getting a muddy shade. After it had dried, I did some fussy cutting and inked the cutting edges with a black marker. This way the image blends better into the background.
I also cut the sentiment from a sheet of scrapbooking paper, glued it down and added some thin black lines around it.

Here are some more photos:

Stamps used:
Nature Collage by Cat Kerr (20036)
Waybill/Invoice Background (19416)
Large Bird Flying Left (19001) 


Other materials:
- art journal (mine is a handbound one, 7.5 x 7.5 inch)
- Lindy's Gang Starburst Sprays (Tibetan Poppy Teal, Sea Mint Green, Sea Grass Green and Whale Watch Blue)
- watercolor
- Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
- marker (fine tip and brush nib)
- scrapbooking paper ("Letters to you" from ABstudio)


Hope to see your entry to the challenge! 

See you soon,

Hello Sweet Evil | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

Sue Plumb here to share my latest design team project with you. Today I am sharing a mixed media scrapbook layout I created with some of the creepy stamps from the most recent release and a photo of my sister and I dressed up for a "bad taste" theme night. 

I began my layout with a sheet of white heavyweight cardstock, and created a watercolour style background using Distress Oxides. I did this by swiping the ink pads on my craft mat then spritzing with water, before laying the cardstock over the top to absorb the ink. I did this first with 'Iced Spruce' then dried it off and repeated the process with 'Carved Pumpkin'.

Once I had my background colour in place, it was time to add some stamping! I started with the Palmistry Palm, which I stamped over the top of the Distress Oxides.

I then stamped the Pirassoipi Bicorn and the Poison Caution stamps onto my background as well, using black StazOn ink again.

Once I had the stamping done, it was time to add my focal image, which was the photo of my sister and I that I had cut out. I mounted the image onto some scrap cardboard to help pop it up from the page.

To embellish my page, I stamped out the Cross Statue stamp three times onto some black cardstock using embossing ink, then heat embossed the images using gold embossing powder.

I then fussy cut around the crosses and added them to my page around the base of my photo.

Next, it was time for my title. I love a mixed font title, so I used a Kinder Kreations chipboard word hello, which I also embossed with gold embossing powder; then the wood veneer word sweet from Corbett Creations; and then some Cocoa Vanilla Studio alpha stickers.

To add a little extra detail to finish off my page, I used the Sky of Stars Background stamp to add a few little stamped stars, then added a some wood veneer stars that I had coloured black with a Sharpie. I also added some small gold mist splatters.

And with that, my page was complete! Thanks so much for stopping by today so I could share this with you. I hope I have inspired you to get inky too!

VLVS stamps used: 

- Palmistry Palm

- Pirassoipi Bicorn

- Poison Caution

- Cross Statue

- Sky of Stars Background

Other materials:

- Bazzill cardstock

- Ranger Distress Oxides

- Tsukineko StazOn ink

- Colour Blast 'Bling' Embossing Powder

- Kinder Kreations chipboard word

- Corbett Creations wood veneer word and stars

- Cocoa Vanilla Studio alphabet stickers

- Heidi Swapp gold Color Shine

Art Journal Spread by Preeti D.

Hi friends :)

Hope you are doing well.

Preeti Datta (Dutt Preety) here from the VLVS! Design Team. 

For today's post, I've created a Whimsical Art Journal Spread.  

I've used some gorgeous VLVS! Rubber Stamps here.

First, I applied heavy white gesso to the pages, to prepare them for mixed media work. Then applied distress paints in muted tones to the background, to add texture and for some subtle colour.

Stamped all the images and the sentiment using VLVS! rubber stamps onto Tim Holtz collage paper using archival ink. Then adhered these to the pages using gel medium.

Added colour around the adhered images using distress inks and distress paints. 

Created ink splatter to add interest to the background and tie everything together. Did background stamping using a VLVS! text stamp to add more texture to the background. 

For the finishing touches, doodled on a border and scribbled on some writing using a thin black permanent pen. 

VLVS! Supplies:

Whimsical Beetle Man : SKU #19525

You are Here : SKU #19178

Cats Know Everything : SKU #10961

Doodle Frame : SKU #19825

Writing Triangles : SKU #19571

Other Supplies:

Finnabair's Heavy White Gesso, Heavy Black Gesso, Soft Matte Gel

Ranger's Archival Inkpad- Jet Black

Tim Holtz Distress Inks and Paints 

Tim Holtz Idea-ology Plain Collage Paper 

Sakura Pigma Micron Black Pen

Thanks a lot for your precious time :)

Stay Blessed!

Preeti

Your Jealousy is Showing | Sue Plumb

Hi everyone!

It's Sue Plumb here today to share my latest design team project with you. Today I am sharing a mixed media scrapbook layout that I created whilst I was away at a craft retreat last weekend. It was actually created for a challenge that was on offer, which was to be inspired by a canvas created by my fellow Aussie VLVS teammate (and friend) Fiona Paltridge. I decided to design a scrapbook layout so I could document these fun photos of my brother and I as we shared a giant margarita.

To create my page, I began with a sheet of Bazzill Marshmallow cardstock. This is my preferred cardstock to use when I create mixed media pages, as with its heavy weight (240gsm) it takes a variety of media well with minimal warping. 

I started by applying some Micador watercolour paints randomly to my background, drawing on the colours from Fiona's piece for inspiration. Once the watercolours had dried, I then added some contrast colours using Dina Wakley acrylic paints which I applied with my fingertips.

To add texture to my page, I also added some torn strips of old book and music paper, and some pieces of tissue paper before adding yet more acrylic paint to help blend the papers in a bit.

Once the colour and texture was down on the page, it was time to add some stamping to help give the page some structure. (Unfortunately, as I had flown to retreat and was weight restricted for my luggage, I only had a small selection of my favourite stamps with me.)

The first stamp I reached for was the Typeset Scallop, which I stamped twice horizontally over the paint on my background using black StazOn ink. This gave my page a horizontal line that I could then anchor my photos to.

Next, I wanted to add some vertical structure to my page, so I used the Rows of Numbers stamp and stamped it near the top and bottom of my painted section. I also added a few scribbles with my Stabilo All pencil to further enhance the horizontal and vertical lines I had created.

Once I had the structural stamping in place it was time to add some layers of texture. I used a variety of materials for my layers - striped tissue paper; punchinella; paper doily and frayed gauze before adding my photos on top.

Once the photos were in place I also added some pieces of twisted coloured wire and some staples; as well as some small snarky phrase stickers.

At this point I thought the background needed some extra black detail, so I used the Waybill/Invoice Background stamp to add a little random text and lines around the edges of the focal area.

To finish off my page, I used the Cross Marks Background stamp to add three small patches of crosses to form a "visual triangle" around my photos. I further enhanced the crosses by using some yellow embroidery thread to hand stitch over a few of them. 

Then it was a few tiny watercolour splatters and I was done!

That's all from me today, I hope I have inspired you to pull out some of your favourite stamps and get inky too!

Stamps used:

- Typeset Scallop

- Rows of Numbers

- Waybill/Invoice Background

- Cross Marks Background

Other materials:

- Bazzill Marshmallow cardstock

- Micador watercolour paints

- Dina Wakley acrylic paints

- Tsukineko StazOn ink

- Book, music and tissue paper

- Paper doily, punchinella, gauze

- Small phrase stickers

- Coloured wire, staples

- Embroidery thread

- Stabilo All pencil

Trio of Cards by Preeti D.

Hi friends :)

Hope you are doing well.

Preeti Datta (Dutt Preety) here from the Guest Inspiration Team. 

For today's post, I've created a Trio of Cards using some gorgeous VLVS! rubber stamps. I always need greeting cards to give to friends & relatives, so it is a great idea to have a stack of them ready for whenever the occasion calls for it :) 

I stamped the beautiful focal images (using VLVS! awesome stamps) onto watercolour paper panels & did watercoloring within the focal images. Then, loosely watercolored in greys around the focal images to create depth.

I created a grungy background by second & third generation stamping with VLVS! sentiment stamps around the focal images. And to create an artsy look & frame the pieces, I loosely stamped the Sawtooth Stitching Lines Stamp around the panels.

 In the end, the watercolour panels were adhered to A2 sized grey card bases & I added a sentiment sticker to each card. 

VLVS! Supplies:

Squiggly Star Collage: SKU #19822

Squiggle Heart: SKU #19644

Circle Pattern Circle by Tera Callihan: SKU #20000

Sawtooth Stitching lines: SKU #19643

Until Further Notice: SKU #19172

Here I am : SKU #11214

Don’t Waste A Moment: SKU #19786

Other Supplies: 

Kuretake: Zig Clean Color Real Brush Markers

Canson: XL Watercolour Paper

Tsukineko: Versafine Onyx Black Inkpad

Winnie & Walter Dies

Lawn Fawn Dies 

Thanks a lot for your precious time :)

Stay Blessed!

Preeti