White Kraft Envelopes with Long Flaps for Junk Journal Journalists

Happy New Year Friends!

I got a little me time over the  holidays 

to start working on a 

Reflections Junk Journal.

I so adore those White Kraft Envelopes

with Long Flaps for 

Junk Journalists.

These envelopes can be purchased at

A Tattered Dream on Etsy.

The journal pages are 4.5 by 6.5 inches and 

you can see that the

white kraft envelopes fit fine on this page size.

The paper quality of these envelopes worked well with

the coffee dying process.

I chose to use a moist coffee filter with the wet grounds still

in the filter.  I then punched the filter down on top of

each envelope until I arrived at the desired appearance. 

A Tim Holtz stencil and Vintage Photo Distressed Ink pad were used

to create more interest as well at some stamping too.

Of course, I had to alter them with some mixed media elements to 

make them shine. 

I hope I have inspired you to use these envelopes in a new way in

your junk journal. 

Unfortunately, I did not buy enough of these envelopes

so I will be purchasing more soon. 

Thank you for viewing with me!

22% Irish!

Hello Friends!

I am up on the Shimmerz Blog today

sharing my 22% Irish Art Journal entry.

Follow me here

and I'll share with you

the Shimmerz Paint products used

and some techniques too!

Gypsy Soul

Did you hear that gypsy Shimmerz Siren?

Yep, that was me, Joyce. 

I’m going to show you how to apply some gypsy/bohemian

style to your art today using Shimmerz Paints. 

I have been enthralled by Gypsy genre and bohemian art styles lately, 

 so I thought I’d take those  feelings and put them on paper.

 I adored the movement in the girls dance!

And, I thought I could create such movement with some Shimmer Paint products.

And what’s a gypsy girl without her baubles and chains? 

Visit Shimmerz Paints Blog and find out some of the details that created the movement in this 9 x 12 watercolor layout. 

Shimmerz Products found in their store:

Spritz – Chance of Rain, 4 Leaf Clover, Plum Pudding

Vibez – Plum Tuckered Out, Blushing Bride

Shimmerz – Celery, Berry-licious, Orchid-stra, Key lime

Inkglingz- Brass Knuckles

Texturez – Tidy Widy

We're All A Little Broken....and That's Okay

You wouldn’t think that pages this size would include so many Shimmerz products….but they did.
And, I was only too happy to work and include them in my art journal entry entitled, “We’re all a Little Broken.”  One of my favorite things to do when working in old thrift shop books is to create my own backgrounds.  The following Shimmerz products were used to age the book pages and work with the colors in the photo:

Shimmeringz- Heavy Metal

Vibez – Blushing Bride
Spritz – Treasured Hymm

The broken heart chipboard was created with the new Acritonez self-priming acrylic paint. After applying gesso on top of the chipboard, add light molding paste over a small pattern stencil and allow the product to dry. Then apply the Acritonez – Roses are Red paint on top of the chipboard and molding paste.  Then spritz on some Vibex- Blushing Bride to add some depth in the color. Using a small paint brush add Inklingz- Brass Knuckles, and Inklingz- I Love You Onyxly around the raised molding paste patterns to make the molding paste pattern stand out. Some rich Blingz – Gold Glimmer was lightly added around the circumference of the broken heart.

And finally, I used another new product, Paste-eez dimensional paint. This paint was spread over a small heart stencil. When the product dried, I shaded the three little dimensional hearts with Inklingz- I Love You Onyxly and a very small paint brush to make them stand out gloriously.

I hope I have inspired you to visit your local thrift shop and re-purpose an old book using the gorgeous Shimmerz paint line.

Products:

Acritonez – Roses are Red

Paste-eez –The “Cream” Team

Shimmeringz- Heavy Metal

Vibez – Blushing Bride

Spritz – Treasured Hymm

Blingz – Gold Glimmer

Inklingz- I Love You Onyxly

Inklingz – Brass Knuckles

Inklingz – Miner, Miner 49er

Scented Pages: Adding another Scented Page to my Art Journal

I'm sharing another Scented Page entry in my Art Journal with you today.

The idea of Scented Pages came to me when I received a

Soft Surroundings Catalog in the Mail. 

I have saved scented pages from magazines and catalogs for quite sometime.

I liked how they would add the fragrance to a little printed section in the catalog/magazine that read:

"Rub Wrist Here"

Some the scented pages would include some poetic prose that resonated with me.

Here's my Toujour Scented Page Entry

A close-up of the art journal page background using gesso, and some heat embossing elements:

A close-up of the section of "Rub Wrist Here" feature that holds the perfumed scent:

The "Scented Page" Title:

 Close-up of some of the pretty elements on the page and another fave Masked photo:

The journaling reads:

I never knew his name, but he brought me comfort and hope

through that long cold night in the air raid underground.

If the timing had been different, we might have had a future.

As he slept in the early hours, I slipped a note into his lapel pocked

and tipped toed back to my life.

It read:

"Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Toujours, J"

Thank you for stopping by and letting me share this Scented Page entry with you too.

More Than Words November Main Challenge is Here!

Hello Friends!

It's a new month and More Than Words is hosting a fun Main Challenge.

Again, I found myself working in my Art Journal.

Recently, I have been craving a SPECIAL moment where I can just stop, breathe and think.

For the More Than Words November creative challenge I have chosen new stamps, inks, and watercolors products; blue watery background; and old elements.

My Quote reads:

“You know those things you always wanted to do, You should do them now.”

 Some Close ups:

Some Finnabair Crackle Paste and Rust Mica Powder gussied up this Blue Fern Studios Anchor Chipboard.

More Than Words November Main Challenge can be found here.

More than Words - July Challenge: "Smile" and a "Sketch"

Hello everyone!

I'm excited to tell you that I'm on the More Than Words Design Team.

July, at More than Words,  challenges us with the word, "Smile" and an inspiring "Sketch."

With the new release of, “Alice through the Looking Glass,”

I can’t help but think of the Cheshire Cat.

When I was a kid,

his goofy smile would evoke a smile from me.

In the future, when I turn the pages in my art journal and find

this page, I’m sure he will make me smile then too.

July Challenge is here.

Have you thought of using fingernail charms in your art?  They're the perfect size for art journals, tags, and ATC work.  The fingernail charm chain was just the right size to add on the white rabbit's stop watch.

I'm breaking in my new art journal book with this challenge and the well-designed sketch. Some subtle stamping and diamond stencil work help me create a quasi-like Alice in Wonderland theme page in my style. 

Come on get your "Smile" on and join us this month at More Than Words.

Sketch Challenge at Creative Club Simple Pleasures

Welcome Friends!

The sketch challenge at Creative Club Simple Pleasures inspired me to create this work with this

beautiful Pinterest photograph of a gown.  As soon as I saw the sketch, I felt inspired to create with this particular photo that I have been holding on to for quite a while. Isn’t the bodice work gorgeous?  How could I not want to create with this kind of beauty ?  For those of you that have shared my journey on creating the Exquisite Gown Series, you know that I try to duplicate a feature of the gown with my arsenal of art products.  Here I have tried to duplicate some of the beaded work on the bodice and have placed it on the little postage stamp looking feature on the sketch, and on a little flower next to the photo on the left. Some Art Alchemy gesso, mica powder, and metallic yellow magic acrylic paint helped me to create just a little snip-it of that beaded masterpiece on the bodice. The paper I have used is Canson's Mixed Media 9 x 12 paper.

Thank you for letting me share with you this new gown to my Exquisite Gown collection.

Here are some close up's for you:

 

 

 

Simple Pleasures Sketch:

"You'll Turn Out Ordinary If You're Not Careful."

“You’ll turn out ordinary if you’re not careful.”

 I found this quote on Pinterest and knew I wanted to use it on an art journal project one day.

Coincidently, I found a Klimt greeting card of Emilie Floge from the early 1900's at Cost Plus and immediately knew how I was going to alter it and use that Pinterest quote.  I just didn’t know when I would find the time to get the project done.  The inspiration to work the Klimt/quote came to me when I opened a package from my generous art muse to find a little jar of  Prima Metallique Dark Velvet paint in the package. Ah ha! The time is now! So here I am today sharing with you the final results. Every time, I view this page, it makes me smile. I love, love that quote and how the altered body of the card came out. I altered the Klimt card by inserting an old photo of my face. It took me what seems like an eternity to find a photo of my head with the right angle to make it work on the body.  J

I hope you find some amusement with this piece also. ;)

 Thanks for dropping by. I currently have another art page in the works to add to this book and hope to share it with you soon.

 

 

 

 

Fiber, Stencil and some Bling

 

 

Scrap Club

has this lovely

mixed media sketch for their sketch challenge.

You can find the information for the sketch challenge here. 

 

Trying something new on

my new 

 Canson's 9 x 12

Mixed Media tablet.

I'm enjoying adding 

fibers instead of printed papers

to my recent projects, and there

are so many colors, and variety

of fibers out there in our 

fabric stores to choose from.

In this weeks mail, 

I received 

the wonderful gift of the

Kaisercraft "Arty" stamp

from my arty scrapping Muse.

This inspired me to 

create this page. I adore how the

texture stamp fills in the small spaces with

texture and interest. I'm already

thinking of other ways to use this stamp. 

Loving that Two Crafty Leaf chippy too. The surface

is the perfect size to add some crackle paste.

Close up of the wonderful fiber.

I wish I had some in every 

color of the 

rainbow.

Until next time.....

 

As I was organizing my stash of stamps,

I came across a little stash of odds and ends and

snips of fabric with metallic embroidery, beads and sequins.

The snips are small but are very inspiring.



Above is a close up of the inspiring fabric.

 

Oh, don't I wish a had a larger piece of the ornate fabric.

 

 

The above sketch from Scrap Club was the basis of my composition.  The sketch

challenge ended on May 19th.  Too late to enter this page, but never too late

to post on my blog.

Heaven Sent

 

The trilogy is complete with this last photo.

I love the control you get when using inks and a sponge applicator

over a stencil.  A layout can be completed quickly with just

some stamping and stencil work.

 

 

I used my new Fiskar feather punch to create the sweet little feathers above. I wanted something light and lacy to insert under the photo and achieved that with some velum paper, a flower punch, and some silver colored Liquid Pearls to trace around the shape of the petals.

 

 

 

I finally used my LaBlanche scissor stamp!  Here you can see it under the flowers on top of the stencil work placed on the photo. I adore the ornate portion of the scissors, and hope to use it in a different way on a future project.

 

All chipboard is from Blue Fern Studios.

Thank you for looking.