Natural Beauty

Art journaling can be one of the most rewarding forms of art. This journal page was created with a DIY foam stamp.  Making your own unique foam stamps from craft foam is easier than you might think! All that is required is to transfer or draw a design on the craft foam. Any bold design will work well.

Directions:

1. Create a tag template from a piece of scrap paper.  Trace and cut the template out of craft foam.  Mount the craft foam tag to a piece of cardboard.

2. Stamp the butterfly, flowers, and tag with Rich Cocoa Memento ink onto scrap paper. Set aside the butterfly and flower images. 

3. Ink the edges of the craft foam tag stamp with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and stamp in the center of the journal page.  Place the tag template over the stamped image and stamp again slightly to the left of the original image.  Ink the word background stamp with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and randomly stamp the background.

4. Press the Kaleidacolor ink pads in Autumn Leaves (used green, brown and orange) and Bouquet (used pink, yellow and blue) onto a craft mat. Dilute the ink with water and apply the colors with a wet paint brush as indicated in the layout.  Let dry. Use a palette knife and mini tile texture stencil with molding paste on the journal page.

5. Press the Rich Cocoa Memento ink onto a craft mat and dilute with water. Apply the diluted ink over the molding paste. Let dry. White wash three pieces of cardboard with diluted Gesso and mount two strips to the journal layout.

6. Press the Kaleidacolor Bouquet ink pad onto a craft mat and dilute with water. With a wet paint brush color the butterfly and flower images.  I used pink and blue colors on the images. Let dry. Cut out the images and set them aside.

7. Staple the ribbon onto the tag. Add the tag, twine, butterfly and flowers with dimensional foam tape. Apply Crystal Effects to the center of the flowers and add gold beads. Add the last piece of white wash cardboard and words to the journal page. Then shade the edges of the journal page and words with the Big Pitt pen in brown. 

Time: 1 ½ hour + dry time.

Level: Beginner to Intermediate 

Supply List

Imagine Crafts featuring Tsukineko:

Kaleidacolor Ink Pads: Autumn Leaves, Bouquet

Memento Ink Pad: Rich Cocoa

Imagine Craft Mat:

 

Other: Stampin Up Natural Beauty stamp set, Crystal Effects and Big Pitt Brown and TCW Mini Tile Texture stencil. Miscellaneous: Paint brush, craft mat, water, heat tool, twine, dimensional tape, gold beads, cardboard, Gesso and craft foam.  

Directions with photos available on Imagine Crafts blog here.

I created this page for the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge - inspirational photo (below).

I was inspired by the colors in the inspirational photo.  To give the impression of glitter I added gold beads to the center of the flowers. 

Creative Artiste Mixed Media - Anything Goes, March - I added a stencil to create texture to the background.

Altered Eclectics - Anything Goes, March.

5 M.P.H

Hey crafty pals! I would love to share another mixed media journal page I created for Imagine Crafts.  As with many techniques and layouts this project could be converted to an A5 (4.5 x 6.25) card. Some trivia before we get started  some fast-flying skippers can fly 30 miles per hour or faster. Slow flying butterflies probably fly five miles per hour or a little faster.

Directions:

1. On a craft mat spray Walnut Ink in Java.  Place a stencil with arrows on the journal page and sponge with Java ink. Set aside to dry.

2. On the craft mat apply StazOn Studio Glaze Orange Zest, irRESISTible Teal Zeal and yellow acrylic paint and dilute with water. Then apply the diluted colors as indicated in the layout. Let dry. Apply another layer of color over the journal page. This technique will create various hues of a color. 

3. Ink a script stamp with Memento Rich Cocoa ink and randomly stamp the background. Draw four various size circles with the largest circle in the upper right hand corner. Apply irRESTible Morocco ink to the craft mat and dilute with water.  Apply the diluted mixture to the inside of the circles (right side). Apply yellow and white acrylic paint to the craft mat and dilute with water. Apply the diluted yellow acrylic paint to the inside circles (left side). While the paint is wet, apply the white acrylic paint to the center of the circles. You should notice a blended appearance. Let dry.

4. Apply white acrylic paint to a craft mat. Using a paint brush apply the paint to the top side of the bubble wrap. Stamp on the background in random places as indicated in the photo above. 

5. Draw around the largest circle with the irRESISTible Tuxedo Black Pico Embellisher and spritz with water (drips). Let dry.  Apply the irRESISTible Tuxedo Black Pico Embellisher ink to the other circles and blend with a wet finger.  This will give the smaller circles a smudged look. Let dry.

6. Apply Stazon Studio Glaze Citrus Orange to the craft mat.  Make hash marks on the journal page by dragging the edge of an old gift card through the Stazon Studio Glaze.  Let dry.

7. Diecut a butterfly in black cardstock and mount the back of the diecut with white cardstock.  Color the center of the butterfly with a mixture of irRESISTible Morocco Pico Embellisher and water.  With the left over diluted irRESISTible Morocco Pico Embellisher mixture add a touch of Teal Zeal and mix together. Apply this mixture to the outside edges of the butterfly wings.  Apply clear glitter brush to the surface of the butterfly.  Mount the body of the butterfly to the left side of the largest circle.  Note: The wings will not be glued down. Apply glitter brush to the butterfly.

8. Apply the rub-ons [numbers/ruler] to the background as indicated in the above photo. Then shade the edges of the journal page with the Big Pitt pen in black. 

Directions with photos available on Imagine Crafts blog here.

Time: 1 hour + dry time.

Level: Beginner to Intermediate 
Supply List

Imagine Crafts featuring Tsukineko:

StazOn Studio Glaze: Orange Zest
irRESISTible Pico Embellisher: Morocco, Teal Zeal, Tuxedo Black
Memento Ink Pad: Rich Cocoa
Walnut Ink Spray: Java
Craft Mat:

Other: Other: 7Gypsies Steampunk Collection Rub Ons – Numbers, Black Big Brush Pitt pen, KaiserKraft – Script stamp, Stampin Up Butterflies Thinlits Die, Arrow Stencil, Wink of Stella Clear and Recollection Script stamp. Miscellaneous: Paint brush, craft mat, water, heat tool, yellow & white acrylic paint, old gift card, bubble wrap, sponge brush. 

Challenges: A Colorful Journey - March, Altered Eclectics - March,Just Keep On Creating - March.

ABC's

Today I thought I'd share a art journal page which was very easy to create with acrylic paint (red, pink, teal, orange, deep purple) a alphabet stencil. What is art journaling? 

"Art journaling is about the creative process of pulling together color, words and images as you wish on a page. Unlike many other forms of art, it is not about the outcome." ~ Tammy Garcia

Art journaling is simply doing art in a bound journal, on loose paper, even on a cardboard box. You do not need a kit, a coach, a lesson or a guidebook. But you do need to discover {or rediscover} your sense of fun. Art journaling is play, exploration & experimentation wrapped into one. It's not magic, really. It's about loosening up and going in the direction you choose. I know that can be a little scary. In the type of art known as "art journaling," imperfection {or perhaps a lack of concern about perfection} is part of the process.