ART JOURNAL PAGE #1: Dreamer

I have kept journals for years--until college that is. I would write anything under the sun. Even on an ordinary day, I would still have something to write about. It may be a little thing I did or how boring and routinary the day was. Sometimes I would rant how unfair the universe is or how difficult a person is. I go on and on until I get to go past some baggage. 

Another thing I love (which I have abandoned for over a year now or is it more than two years already?) is reading books especially classic novels. I would take note of quotes that have caught my eye as I read through the pages and write what I feel and think about them on my journal. I would include a character map of the story and while I'm at it, I would also make a list of the characters with a short description of each. Man, how I miss doing this. 

I remember reading Charlotte Bronte's Jane Eyre twice and associating myself with the heroine. I had that special connection with the lead character in that I, too, am plain and vain at times. We share similarities in perspectives and complaints about life in general. Through her eyes, I get to see myself more.

I start several journals but I could never stick with one for long ever since I became a slave of the corporate world. I would discontinue after a few entries. I would miss a day, a day would turn into a week and then a month and that would be the end of it. I just put my pretty notebooks into waste because of slacking. 

It is almost the end of the year, but I thought it is not yet too late to begin an art journal. I need to express myself more and get rid of the stress of daily life. I'll try hard to commit myself to finish at least a page each week and at the same time write something or anything everyday. I must get back to journaling! It feels like I haven't looked at myself deeper in the past few months (and years!)--who am I at this moment, who was I yesterday, who will I be tomorrow. The long absence of journaling feels like I abandoned a way of finding and revealing my true self. It is time to continue the discovery, of recovering pieces of myself.

I have made five pages so far since the other week. I'll be posting them one by one. Here's the first page.

IMAGINE. ESCAPE. DISCOVER.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Black and white photo, Rosie's Studio Sticker Book of Phrases, paper tape, Graphic 45 Staples Flowers, Eno Greeting 3D Stickers, metal charms, buttons, diecuts, lace trimmings, cotton tapes, Kaisercraft Clear Stamps Wanderlust, Film Edges, Edges and Boutique, Prima Marketing Clear Stamps Vintage Vanity and Checkered, Bo Bunny Clear Stamps Dreamer, MultiCraft Clear Stamps Let's Travel, Heidi Swapp Clear Stamps Mixed Media, rubber stamps, Golden Molding Paste, The Crafter's Workshop Stencil Mini Brocade and Tile Texture,  Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Ranger Distress Ink Mini Dried Marigold and Spiced Marmalade, Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist Jack O'Lantern and Butterscotch

CARD# HPJ-2016-16: Live Laugh Love

Hello there! Here is the third box card in the set. This was for Ate Jolly. She loves orange so I made something with elements of orange and of course some black and gold.

This is the most embellished of the three. Since I used black for the main die cut, I added a patterned paper for the background. I used bits of scrap from previous projects to build the background. Also, I added a resin embellishment. I adhered a couple of paper and silk flowers. I put in several metal charms and stamped on the paper. I then brushed some micro pearls over the embellishments. After drying, I adhered the sentiment and added the crystals as a final touch.

Since the die cut for the belly band is already ornate, I did not bother to add a punched border on the flaps of the box.

So that was that. I am so glad how the cards turned out. I was totally in the zone when I made them. Heh. My creative juices oozed out freely after weeks of not making anything. Watch out for my next post-it's a mixed media canvas. Thanks for looking!

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Rives Board Paper Tradition Black, Best of Studio Calico 12"x12" paper pad, Eno Greeting 8"x8" paper pad Romantic, printed text, Eno Greeting Resin Embellishments, paper flowers, metal charms, lace trimming, self-adhesive crystals, micro pearls, Mod Podge Matte, Prima Marketing Clear Stamps Vintage Vanity, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Spellbinders Nestabilities Captivating Squares, Cuttlebug Machine V2

CARD# HPJ-2016-14: Take Wing

Hi! My internet is still as crappy as ever, but at least I could upload some photos right now.

I think I've said in my earlier post that I'll be showing my recent box cards next. I made three box cards for my colleagues who celebrated their birthdays this month. Here is the first one. This was for Jeff.

It is always a challenge for me to make masculine cards. This was not what I originally started with. I made a mess on the first one. I didn't quite like it so it was junked. I thought of another way to make it. Voila! My fascination for steampunk and the sight of one of my overused clear stamps prompted me to the right direction. Here is what I came up with. I rummaged through my box of ever growing number of clear stamps to look for my Kaisercraft Diamonds Clear Stamp and my Multicraft Vintage Tool set and stamped away!

 I inked the surface of the diecut after stamping the images and worked on the hot air balloon. Like what I usually do, I stamped the image on piece of patterned paper (left over from some previous project) and adhered metal wings and crystals to make it more interesting. I love dimension so I adhered a piece of chipboard at the back of the image before affixing it onto the diecut. I added the sentiments and then the jump rings and spacers. I just love how it turned out! I wanted to keep it for myself, but oh well, I must give it to the birthday boy. I don't really know of he liked it, but I feel that he appreciated it. That's the good thing.
 This is what the card looks like, the box still closed and the belly band removed.

I made several die cuts for the messages. It was a little difficult to do so since my Cuttlebug is acting up. It's hard to turn the crank again. Anyway, I was still able to cut fine after exhausting a lot of energy. Haha. The hardship is nothing when I looked at the finished project. I'm so happy with it. 

I have decided to make box cards for the birthday celebrants for the remaining part of the year. It would be more consistent given the fact that it's for the team. Yay! The next celebration will be on September and I would need to make another set of three. I am thrilled since I already have an idea on what to make for the two ladies. It would be so much fun! As for the gentleman, I think he would like anything. Yehey for that!

The post ends here. Please do check out the next one for the second box card. Thanks for looking!


MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel Board Paper Ivory, Rives Board Paper Tradition Black, Best of Studio Calico 12"x12" paper pad, Graphic 45 12"x12" Steampunk Debutante Collection Eclectic Emporium and Mechanical Mind, Tim Holtz Paper Stash 12"x12" French Industrial Revolution, Kaisercraft Clear Stamps Diamonds, Multicrafts Clear Stamps Vintage Tools, Inkadinkado Clear Stamps Inspirational Lift, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black, Ranger Distress Ink Mini Spiced Marmalade and Black Soot, metal charms, jump rings, Martha Stewart Edge Punch Daisy, Spellbinders Dies Nestabilities Labels 35, Cuttlebug Machine V2

CARD# HPJ-2016-11: Life's Journey

Hello! Here's the third card I made for colleagues who transferred to other teams.

It is a vertical Criss Cross Card.

I stamped stitches on the designer papers. I also stamped the main image and fussy cut it and adhered it onto a diecut with a chipboard underneath for added dimension. I made a small tag using one of the Nellie's Choice straight tags dies and stamped the sentiment on it.

I made inserts for the card. We wrote our messages here. It isn't easy to pull them out without a pull tab so I made two for each insert. They are diecuts using the Die-namics Mini Doilies die.

At the back of the inserts, I stamped some images and sentiments instead of adhering patterned paper. I love the dream catcher! It's from Rosie's Studio.

That was that. The card was easy and fun to make. By the way, if you would like to make one yourself, you can find a photo tutorial by Beate Johns of Splitcoaststampers here or a video tutorial here. Have fun creating! Thanks for stopping by today! Have a great week!


MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Bevania Splendorgel Board Paper White, Rives Board Paper Tradition Black, Moods Board Paper Storm Grey, Elit Board Paper Vellum White, Best of Studio Calico 12x12 paper pad, self-adhesive crystals, Inkadinkado Clear Stamps Inspirational Lift, Rosie's Studio Clear Stamps, Bo Bunny Clear Stamps Stitches, Ranger Archival Ink Jet Black and Yellow Ochre, Spellbinders Nestabilities Pierced Circles, Die-namics Mini Doily Circles, Cuttlebug Machine V2

DT PROJECT FOR BEE HAPPY CRAFTS: Mixed Media Tags

Hello! It's me again. I am going to show you the third set of tags that I made for the Design Team. I have experimented a bit on this project and I like how it turned out. See for yourself.

This is what the back looks like. I could write a short message there for the recipient.

I made two color variations. The first set had orange for the highlight while the other set had white and dark green.

The components of the tags are the same-shimmer, molding paste, embossed image, metal charms, buttons, phrase, paper flowers, etc. I just varied the design and the layouts.

I found an amazing thing or two while making these tags. The base is chalkboard paper and I discovered that it works well with watered down metallic acrylic paint. See the whitish shimmer in the background? That's the watered down acrylic paint. It does not look this great with other board papers. That was cool!

So how did I make these pretty tags? The steps are simple, but it takes some time to complete them since there is a lot of layering of different mediums involved.

First, I cut out the tags from the chalkboard stack. I used the tag template from the Graphic 45 8"x8" paper pad. Then I punched the holes where the string would go in. I mixed a little bit of water to the FolkArt metallic acrylic paint and brushed it on the front of the tags. After drying, I proceeded with the stencils. I used light molding paste for this. I dabbed gold poster paint on some of the tags before ink embossing. Then I adhered the embellishments. In some of the tags, I brushed micro pearls to add more flair to them.

Since I do not have a sticker sheet of phrases, I typed the phrases in MS Word using the Plastique font and highlighted the words in black. I printed the sheet with my HP Inkjet printer (I need a laser one!). After cutting out the appropriate phrases, I coated them with Distress crackle paint and adhered them onto the tags with foam tape for dimension. Oh, and lastly, I tied white strings on them.

Gah. I adore these tags. I don't want to part with them. TT.TT. But I will have to give them to my friends for the holidays. I hope they like them because I really love them. I am going to tie them onto Kit Kat bars. Yum!

If I may say, that was an awesome project! Thanks for looking.

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: DCWV Chalkboard Stack 12"x12", FolkArt Metallic Acrylic Colour Pearl White, Golden Light Molding Paste, The Crafter's Workshop Stencils Mini Art Is, Mini Punchinella, Mini Chicken Wire Reversed and Mini Brocade, Reeves Poster Color Gold, micro pearls, Ranger Distress Embossing Ink, Ranger Embossing Powder Super Fine Black, Ranger Heat It Tool, Prima Marketing Clear Stamps Vintage Vanity and Bubbles, metal charms, paper flowers, beads, buttons, crystals, Eno Greeting 3D stickers, stamens, HP Inkjet Printer, Ranger Distress Crackle Paint Rock Candy, ticket punch, string

DT PROJECT FOR BEE HAPPY CRAFTS: Victoria

 

Hi! What I am going to share today is the first project I made for Bee Happy’s DT. For the first project, I decided to make a mixed media canvas. I was supposed to work on the cover of an art journal, but one thing led to another and I came up with this. Just to warn you though, this post would be a bit long. 

Alright. Now that you are forewarned about the impending lengthy read, let’s start from the beginning of how I put together this piece. I used an 8”x10” primed canvas for the base. I added some texture onto the surface of the canvas by applying molding paste on a couple of The Crafter’s Workshop mini stencils and coated everything with gesso. After drying, I sprayed several layers of glimmer mist. I began with Tattered Angels Butternut Scotch followed by Jack O’Lantern and Coral Reef. I used Black Magic at the corners as well as the sides.

Remember the items I received from Bee Happy? I used several of them to make the embellishments and the background of the image. I don't know if you can recognize all of them, but I included the buttons, a tag, a paper doily, some of the papers from the sampler pack and die cuts made from the mini doily dies.

I altered the color of most of the supplies except for the metal charms. Similar to what I did with the canvas, I gessoed the pieces then sprayed them with glimmer mist. I painted some with gold poster color (the die cuts, wooden embellishments and some of the buttons) and coated a thicker  with liquid pearl.

Before affixing the embellishments, I adhered a paper doily over the mini brocade that I stenciled on the left side of the canvas. I then layered pieces of patterned papers whose edges I distressed after which I coated with watered-down gesso. I also inked the edges. I adhered them using Modge Podge. It is the first time that I used this medium and I really like how strong it adheres the papers onto the canvas. Anyway, I wanted to coat the stamped image as well as the sentiment with crackle paint, but unfortunately I ran out of it. Sad. So what I did was spray the image with glimmer mist (Black Magic) and fussy cut it when it dried. I affixed the image onto the canvas with foam tape. I added metal wings to make 'Victoria' more interesting.

A few months ago, I splurged on some clear stamps. I just love Bee Happy Crafts for carrying clear stamp brands especially Kaisercraft and Prima Marketing! I posted about it here. I utilized some of the stamps from that craft haul on the canvas. The main image also came with them.

Now for the fun part--decorating! I kept changing my mind as to how I would be putting the embellishments as I worked on the canvas. But even so, I am quite happy with the outcome. It is a huge improvement. If you have seen the first four canvases that I made from the previous year, there is such a great difference that you would surely notice. If you're interested to see what I mean, you can check my IG (@paperaddict28). I was just so stupid to have accidentally deleted my tumblog. It is where I posted about all of them. Tsk.

I wanted to use shrink plastic as an embellishment. They were supposed to dangle down with the tag, but the whole idea failed. Ha. I'll tell you more about it on the next project that I make using them successfully.

I am really happy on how the canvas turned out. I think you would see more altered projects in the near future. So that was that. I have to end it here for now. I just hope our internet connection gets better tomorrow so I can upload more stuff. Thank you for looking today!

MATERIALS AND TOOLS USED: Conda 8”x10” Canvas, Moods Board Paper Storm Gray, Studio Calico Sampler Pack, paper doily, American Crafts Thickers, tag, paper flowers, metal charms, self-adhesive crystals, pearls, beads, jump rings, polymer clay flowers, bottle caps, wooden flower, lace trimming, vintage paper clip, buttons, brad, Eno Greeting Wooden Embellishment, The Crafter’s Workshop Stencil Mini Art Is and Chicken Wire Reverse, Golden Molding Paste, Reeves Gesso, Modge Podge Classic Matte, Elmer's White Glue, Stanley Glue Gun, Kaisercraft Clear Stamps Victoria, Hexagon, Flutter, Film Strip Edge and Confidence, Prima Marketing Clear Stamps Vintage Vanity, My Favorite Things Doily Mini Circles, Cuttlebug Machine V2