Art Journal Pages.

One of my very favorite things to do as an artist is to build layers. It takes time, and i love every second! Sometimes i get so carried away that there's nothing left of some of the previous layers. i really love the look of painting/smudging white on the final layer to soften and conceal some areas.

Thanks for looking! Hope everyone has a wonderful day!

Art=Freedom.

Just a reminder that when you sit down to create, don't be afraid. Your art can be anything you want it to be. And if you don't like what you've made, it can always be cut up and pasted into a collage. Or recycled. Or hidden away, never to be seen again. No matter what, you'll learn something from your mistakes, and often mistakes turn into happy accidents or the discovery of a new technique. Just relax and play and you can't go wrong. Time spent making art is never time wasted.

Not your average Halloween card...

i make cards for all kinds of occasions, but for some reason i rarely make any for Halloween. Recently, though, i've been inspired by non-traditional and vintage Halloween images from back issues of Somerset Studio and RubberStampMadness. i'm realizing that Halloween cards don't always need to be cute or covered with pumpkins and ghosts. This card came from that recent revelation.
i love playing with Distress Inks, so this card was a blast to make.

Ingredients: CS/paper-Colorbok, stash, watercolor paper; stamps-Square Face Frame HamptonArt, sun unknown, swirls/star from "Chocolate Chalet" Cloud 9 Design, star "Loves Me, Loves Me Not" Technique Tuesday, text "Distress Background" Limited Edition, Be Magical unknown; ink-Tim Holtz Distress Ink, Ranger Archival; star brad-Jo-Ann Scrap Essentials; Stickles; pop-dots.

Have a magical and inspiring day!

A peek inside my current art journal.

First off, thanks to anyone who still visits my blog despite my sporadic posting habits. We're still without high speed internet at home, though apparently the phone company's working on that...ahem. i can't believe we moved from the boonies to a more populated area and still don't have high speed available, aside from satellite, and i am NOT paying those prices.

Anyway, i hope everyone's doing ok! We're good, though the economy is really hurting the tattoo business. Looks like this stay-at-home mom might be looking for work soon after many years of only working at home. That will be a big change! Wish me luck!

With my son back in school, i have more time to work in my studio, between laundry, cooking and cleaning house, ofcourse. i still make lots of cards, but have lately focused more on my lifelong passion for mixed media and collage. The blank book i got in February for art journaling is now about halfway to completion. Today i'm sharing a few snippets of it.


These pages were inspired by an issue of Somerset Studio (or maybe it was one of their other publications...?) that focused on black and white. It's not visible in the photo, but there's a lot of texture here, with embossing and paint. In the bottom photo, the top reads "art saves my life".

Thanks for stopping by, and i hope y'all have a wonderful day!

Spell Book

At my son's request, i made a spell book for his birthday this year (back in February). He loves to pretend he's a medieval sorcerer. i struggled over ideas for months, but then a few weeks before his birthday it all came together. He was very happy with it, even said it was the best gift he'd ever received (that was a serious heart-warmer!).

The above photo shows the book with 2 little boxes filled with dried leaves, 2 potion bottles filled with colored water (a name on one bottle comes from the video game "Oblivion") and a handmade pouch containing stones and "crystals". i also added a decorative pen, not shown.


i aged all the pages to give a very weathered and time-worn feel. Thank goodness for Ranger Distress Ink!




You can't tell from the photos, but every page had some kind of embossing or dimensional adhesive for texture.

i managed to make up one pretend spell!


i used clear envelopes to hold these pressed flowers and leaves.



In the pocket is a piece of aged paper for him to write/draw on.

As you can imagine, i used a ton of different supplies putting this together, so i'm going to opt out of listing them all here. If you have any questions, feel free to ask!

And even though i haven't been on here much for months, i still make some kind of art almost daily...almost. i've been working quite a bit in my art journal, so maybe next post will reflect that.

Hope everyone is well! And have a fantastic day!

Quick update...

Hi, everyone! i know it's been awhile, but i'm still here. We've had a lot going on, really since the beginning of this year. Too much to tell for now, but we've moved into a new home and P.'s working on opening a new shop. Amid all the chaos i've still been making art (only way to stay sane) and will have some new stuff to show soon.

i see i have a few new subscribers! Welcome! And thanks for signing up.
i hope everyone is doing well, and i look forward to catching up on everyone's blogs soon!

Happy day!

Rainy Friday...

Happy Friday everyone! i plan to spend tonight in my craft room; my son is going to Grandma's house for an overnight visit. This will give me a chance to work on my art journal in solitude.

So today i have one card to show. This card came together quickly (a rarity for me) and i was very pleased with the outcome.

Above is a close-up where you can see the shiny cardstock i used. i don't know what company makes this - my DC (darling companion) brought a loose stack of this home to me from work. i just love it!

Ingredients: CS - stash, Bazzill; PP - ?; stamps - Inkadinkado Gem Stone Birds, Hero Arts Friendship Messages; ink - Pallette Hybrid; felt flower - American Crafts; ribbon - Michael's; brads - MM; Prismacolor pencils and OMS; Stickles; button - stash; pop-dots.

Have a great day everyone! And enjoy your weekend!