Read all about it

It's Stamptember over at Simon Says Stamp and Shows blog.  One of the challenge themes is reading, words, books, etc.  I chose to alter a fuschia composition book that can be found at most office supply stores for about $1.  In my journal I'll be logging in all the winning moments I can remember...in and outside the art world.  Some of my friends were teasing me about how lucky I was last month, so this prompted me to really think about this.  And yes, I really do seem to be pretty darned lucky, especially when it comes to random drawings. 

The following items were used:

Studio 490:  For The Arts (gentleman); Brick Wall (stencil)

Ranger:  Brushed Pewter d. stain; Sunshine Yellow, Lemonade alc. inks; Tattered Rose, Antique Linen, Old Paper, Vintage Photo, Gathered Twigs, Walnut Stain, Seedless Preserves, Dusty Concord, Mowed Lawn, Iced Spruce, Frayed Burlap, Brushed Corduroy, Peeled Paint, Broken China, Rusty Hinge d. inks; Purple Twilight pigment ink; Pale Ochre, Venetian Orange, Olive, Jet Black archival inks

Tim Holtz:  tissue tape, grungeboard, Idea-ology

Dyan Reaveley:  Around The Edge stamp; stencils

Sizzix:  Leaf stem, shamrock, Holiday Lamppost (TH), Mini Bird (TH)

Misc.:  Lasting Impressions stencil, Dreamweavers embossing paste, watercolor paper, Yes glue, cellophane, Micron pens, olive Sharpie, paint chips, washi tape

By the way, in honor of the blog hop the randomly chosen winner gets a $100 gift certificate to Simon Says Stamp!!!!!   Even if you're not able to meet the challenge deadline (09-09-12 at midnight EST), just by leaving a comment on the blogs within the hop might find you winning a $25 shopping spree!

Find your style

Every well-established artist will tell you to find your own style.  I never envisioned myself doing grungy stuff yet I look back at my work and it's full of that influence.  Brights aren't my style either, but seeing Dyan Reaveley's work makes me want to at least try them out.  I can see them popping up in my work every now and again so maybe they're not so bad after all.

I'll share my version of grungy brights with you in this art journaling page I created for the 45th MakingArt challenge on the EverythingWendyVecchi Yahoo group.  Looking at Wendy's 3rd book, page 17, Lori (our uber-talented list owner) challenged participants to use the color blue and some green dots in our art.

My journal page was blank except for the Dyan Reaveley alphabet stencil in the middle.  I believe I smeared translucent Dreamweaver's stencil paste on it.  When dry it was shiny and raised.

I used the direct-to-paper approach around the edges with the new Salty Ocean summer distress ink.  Shaded Lilac (spring distress ink) was applied in the same manner to the center of the page.  I lightly misted the page to make the colors more blended.  I smooshed Chipped Sapphire distress ink onto my craft sheet and picked up the color with a dry sea sponge, dabbing it lightly on the corners.  Heat set the page.

Mowed Lawn, another summer distress ink, was applied to Wendy's bubble background.  The stamp wasn't on a block so I was able to roll it on the page haphazardly.  I like the random look of this.  A black Pigma Micron pen (Sakura) was used to draw half circles around some of the bubbles/dots.

I stamped Wendy's leafy branch in Ripe Persimmon (fall distress ink) then stamped again, slightly off-set, with Monarch Orange archival ink.  I used a waterbrush to wash the color across some of the leaves and stems.  The stamped images weren't perfect which is the look I wanted.

A page was torn from my journal so that I could stamp the flowers, leaves and text on it.  The large flowers were stamped in Deep Purple archival ink; the smaller ones were stamped in Chrome Yellow archival ink.  I smooshed Picked Raspberry (summer distress ink) on my craft sheet, spritzed the ink with water and placed the flowers in it, swirling them every so slightly.  Again I was going for a random color pattern.  I highlighted the dots with White Enamel Acccents, edged the outside edge of the flowers with the black pen and the inside border with a white Gelly Roll pen (Sakura).  The smaller flowers were swirled into Squeezed Lemonade (spring distress ink) and outlined with the black pen.  The dots were colored with Black Enamel Accents.  The leaves were stamped in Sap Green archival ink and colored with more Mowed Lawn distress ink.  I used the black pen to draw around the leaves.  The edges of the flowers and leaves were aged with Antique Linen distress ink.

The grass and flower stems were painted on the page using Claudine Hellmuth's Studio Paint in Landscape Green and Sable Brown.  I curled the edges of the flowers and leaves and applied them to the page using Claudine's Multi Medium (matte). 

The text was stamped in Jet Black archival ink and cut apart.  I rubbed the edges on the Ripe Persimmon pad and spritzed the blocks with water.  Heat set.  Inked around the edges with the black pen; more Antique Linen distressed the edges.  Again, Multi Medium was used to adhere the blocks to the page.

Studio 490 stamp sets:  Dreams of Art, Fashion Style and Art, Ticket To Art

Take the time to experiment; you never know when you'll find your style.

Anything can be altered

It simply amazes me to see other people's visions of ordinary items turned into extraordinary creations.  Not long ago, Shelly Hickox posted her version of Suzy's mousetraps.  Good golly, what a lot of inspiration going on with these 2 artists. 

As you know, some 'local' (aka IL) buddies and I got together over the weekend and went nuts playing with inks, sprays, stamps, stencils, etc.  Deb doesn't have a blog but you can see Lori's art here.  I'll try to post Deb's pics here in my next post (it may take me that long to figure out how to retrieve/save them from her email).

Here are my versions of this normally nasty household item after they met up with a few art supplies.  The first one uses a Cuttlebug star embossing folder (I know, it should have been blue, not red), a Tim Holtz sticker, ticket stamp, grungeboard Sizzix star, Ranger Jet Black archival ink and Faded Jeans distress stain.  The metal is from Ten Seconds Studio. 

The second trap features Studio 490 stamps (ah, yes, Wendy's rose...the first class I took from her!), Kraft Core'dinations and Peeled Paint distress stain. 

 What about that tag?  It has lots of stains, sprays, an embossing folder from a UK company, and stamps by Studio 490 and Dyan Reaveley.  Some days you just have to be ridiculous!  His neck and arms are coiled wire (Christmas tree hooks that are dirt cheap after the holidays) so they sproing with any movement.  You might not be able to see it but he's also sporting blue eyeshadow!  Wish my legs were as shapely as his!  lol

Making art is so much fun!  And even more so with good friends!