Playful Fairies

Art Journal pages have become a favorite past time for me.  Somewhat therapeutic as well. Here is one I worked on over several days.  It isn't finished yet because I want to put words on it but I am not sure what yet, and so it sits.

I hope you enjoy looking at it as much as I do.

Wet, wash, repeat

I was working on an art journal page that I was really enjoying.  It was turning out the way I had envisioned it, and I took a picture of it before I continued.  Well...... I tried to write something on it and that's when it turned ugly.  I couldn't salvage it at all, I mean it turned to mud, so I threw it out. I am so glad that I took a picture of it before I ruined it.  I started over but was having a difficult time getting the desired result.  I was trying to copy the original and it wasn't going well.  When I finally finished I think the idea will come across but still not entirely pleased with the end result. 

Here was the first one that I really liked.  Explanation of the three rings to come....

So here is the finished product.  As you can see the rings are in different places now.  I wish I would have put the "B" in there where I put 'Cause.  I wasn't sure I was going to be able to fit all the words in.  Now the explanation of the rings.  My sister and I love to chat over a cup of coffee and do crafts together.  So the big rings represent me and her.  The faded ring at the bottom represents our other sister, Beth.  She died about 30 years ago and is never far from out thoughts.  This is dedicated to my sisters, Anne and Beth. 

Learning Curve

Another attempt at an art journal page.  We shall see how this journey goes for me.  I am trying new techniques on this black paper.  I tried to use pens that said "Stands Out on Dark surfaces!"  It should then say: NOT!!!  I had several different types of pens to try so I am glad that some of them worked.  I don't know if it was the type of paper I used or not.  I will try them again on different dark paper and see how it goes.  The ones that worked well, were "Reminisce" gel pens and "American Craft" metalic marker.  The flowers I did with metalic gelatos and a stencil.

The large flower in the circle I did using "dylusions ink"  and the gesso technique I did in my previous post.

Art journal

Well it's a start.  I have "finished" my first art journal page and I can't say I am really that happy with it.  Oh well, just like everything else practice makes perfect. I have some that I've started and then I don't know what else to do with them.  I have been on Pintrest getting ideas but then I sit down with my supplies and my brain freezes.  I've even read tons of prompts and things to get you started.  I have been able to get started but then I stall, get frustrated and walk around in circles (literally).  So here is what I have so far.  I will start with the stalled page first.

I started this by putting different templates on this black page and spraying them with Dylusions ink.  I then took other templates and used gesso to add them hoping the colors would come through from the first design.  It worked with the large circle but not very well with the others.  I took my brush and painted gesso on some other areas and you can see the pink circles that bleed through.  This was what I was going for.  I will know better next time to stick with solid or less detailed stencils to get the result I want.  Since I wasn't really happy with how this went I just "played".

So here is my "finished" page. 

 Oops I spelled Rhyme wrong..Spelling was never my strong suit.

Dreaming of a new kitchen

I am going to post something I think is really fun.  We have been shopping for tile for our kids bathroom and when we went in one store we were overwhelmed by the selection.  We quickly found what we wanted (compared to the other stores we went to, this store was like comparing FAO Schwarz to Toys R Us).  We thought we would look around at some of the new products that are out and dream about fixing up our 70's home.  I had to post this backsplash tile that I am now obsessed over.  I thought it was "FUN" and different.  Who knows what will be out when we finally have money to re-do our kitchen.  But in the mean time I can look at this picture and imagine it in my kitchen.  Maybe I should print a bunch of pictures of it and paste them to my wall.  Just kidding.

We stopped by a granite place to so we could continue to torture ourselves and found a slab that we really liked. 

As you can see it looks a bit different.  The top two pictures are taken of a slab in the shade and the last picture was taken in direct sunlight.  The finish is called leather.  It is really cool.  The guy showed us a slab of the same material but with a high gloss finish and it was so different from this.  Some day...