Hope

It is Friday again and today I am here to show you my project for the challenge between myself and BożenA. I chose the theme for this one and with all that the world is going through, I felt a good topic would be "Hope" - what inspires us with hope. I really did not know myself at the time how I was going to depict that.

One day at a time

It is time for BożenA and I to show you our latest challenge. But "latest" is definitely a stretch of the imagination. It was my turn to choose a topic and I chose "Create an art journal page". But shortly after the suggestion, my world sort of started looking quite different and so I was out of inspiration. And when it returned, you are seeing a very different page to what I had in mind when I suggested the challenge.

My flower book

I recently invested in a Dylusions Creative Journal as I wanted to start a flower book. I was inspired by Vicki's "A Year in Flowers". My first double spread needed to be dedicated to the Rose - one of my favorite flowers.

Travel

It is time for another challenge between myself and BożenA and our theme is "Travel". It could be any form of travel, both physical or metaphorical. Although I chose the theme this time and I did know what route I wanted to take with it, it took me a while to find some inspiration for how I was going to show what I had in my mind. But it was year end and such times come with many other distractions and so in general, my crafting table was not busy.

Anyway, back to our project. I decided to create another page in my art journal for this one.

Progressive Transformation

Today is the 1 October. I cannot believe that we have started the last quarter of 2020 already. But it is also time for a new Progressive Challenge at Outlawz and our sponsor this month is Oddball Art. The image is called Sugar the Zombie.

Behind the Curtain

Today I am sharing the results of the next challenge with my crafty friend, BożenA. It was her turn to name the challenge theme and she chose "Behind the curtain" We were to depict something about ourselves that we don't reveal easily or talk about much. I thus decided that this was a topic for my art journal as I was going to portrait my take on feminism.

Look for the magic

Scrappers Delights returned last month with the progressive challenge in the Scrappers Delights Facebook group. Today we start a new challenge for March and you will receive the new freebie if you participated in February. You can also participate on the new Challenge Blog.

I decided that my art journal needed some love and this was the right image to head there with. I created a page for my disc bound journal out of Canson XL Watercolor paper. I smooshed some Memento Tuxedo black ink onto my glass mat and sprayed it with water. I masked off the side of the page with the hole in it and then pulled it through the black ink. I did multiple passes and in various directions to get the visual texture I was after. Once it was dry, I applied the star through a stencil using Picked Raspberry Distress Oxide ink. I love how the oxide ink's chalky quality makes it sit on top of the background.

A journal page with Oddball Art

It is time for a new challenge over at Crafts Galore Encore Challenge Blog and this month our sponsor is  Oddball Art. The challenge winner will receive $10 coupon to spend at the store.

The design team was provided 3 images to work with and I got Christmas Holiday Alex. I was not really sure how to use her, being that she looked so sad in her Christmas outfit. But then an important point came to mind and so I set about working in my art journal. 

National Coffee Day

September 29 was National Coffee Day. Well, what is better than some of that smooth, hot brew in the morning (or any other time of the day, for that matter). I used the freebie stamp from Limited Runs Stamps for my coffee project.

I decided that I was going to do an entry in my art journal for this project. My art journal is a disc bound one. I particularly love this style as I can take the pages out while I am working on them and then pop them back in when I have completed the page.

I printed 3 of the images onto Strathmore Paint Pad paper - one bigger one and two smaller ones. I colored the images with my Prismacolor pencils, making sure to make the bright, interesting and unusual for coffee cup colors. I then fussy cut each cup out.

The background of my page is painted with black acrylic paint. I had to apply 2 coats to get it really black. I then stamped some different options on the page using my Concord and 9th Perfectly Penned stampset and silver ink. I sponged some Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink onto a piece of white cardstock and cut the C O F F E E out of it and then placed the letters over the background so that it adds focus, but do not cover the background words.

I printed the sentiment out in size 12 Arial font on my computer and cut it into two sentiment strips which I added to the bottom corner of my page. Lastly I added a few highlights and details with my white gel pen.

Coffee can come in various containers which come in different shapes, sizes or colors. It is the contents of the container that is important. So it is with us as humans. It matters not what we are like on the outside. That our inside is kind and respectful of others is what matters.

General supplies:

Strathmore Paint Pad paper

Canson XL Watercolor paper

Limited Runs Coffee Cup digital stamp

Prismacolor pencils

Black Acrylic Paint

Vintage Photo Distress Oxide ink

Concord and 9th Perfectly Penned stampset

Encore Metallic Silver ink

Alphabet dies from my stash

White gel pen

Entered into the Limited Runs Facebook General Challenge

Entered into the QKR Stampede Challenge #315 - Anything Goes

Entered into the Lil Patch of Crafty Friends Anything Goes Challenge #90

Entered into the Stempelsonne Anything Goes Challenge #206

Entered into the Crafting from the Heart Anything Goes Challenge #222

Entered into the 613 Avenue Create Anything Goes w/Optional Twist: Clean and Simple #213

Entered into the Little Miss Muffet Challenge Anything Goes Challenge #198

Entered into the Artistic Inspirations Anything Goes Challenge #208

Entered into the World Wide Open Design Team Anything Goes Challenge #09

Entered into the Kreative-Tanten Alles Geht challenge #22

Starting off with a challenge

What a better way to start out a new venture than with a challenge. I am a member of the Kit and Clowder Facebook group and challenges happen there from time to time - well actually quite often.

This one is to use the digital stamp Gentle as Breeze by Ching Chou Kuik. Any medium could be used to color the image and so of course I was in it with my Prismacolors. I decided to add another page to my long neglected art journal as the key in the girl's hand just popped off the page at me.

The image is colored with Prismacolors and the background is done with a light blue soft pastel that I rubbed with my finger. I added a bit of sparkle with a silver metallic gel pen for her jewelry and a gold metallic gel pen for the key. Highlights in her eyes were added with a white gel pen.

I framed the image with pink glitter washi tape and then covered the join with a black cardstock frame that I had whipped up in my Silhouette software.

I printed the sentiment out and cut the single words out to be able to position them in a haphazard manner at the top and bottom of the image.

General supplies:
Canson XL Drawing 70 lb for the image
Light blue soft pastel for background
Pink glitter washi tape
Black cardstock cut with Silhouette for frame
White cardstock with printed sentiment
Prismacolor pencils
Gel pens