Inspiration Wednesday 2017

First IW2017 spread Jan 4th

A new year, a new Inspiration Wednesday journal. This will be the last year Donna Downey is doing this class, which makes me sad. I do understand after so many years, she is probably tired of it.

Thankfully for me, I had the 2 Donna stencils that she used for this first IW. We first applied gesso to seal the pages, then used the jar holding the paint brushes with Golden Light Molding Paste. We also used the paste to wrap the words from the "art is" stencil around the inclusion. I love this idea and will undoubtedly use it again. I let that dry, then did a light wash of Golden Teal in fluid acrylic. Let that dry, applied more gesso where the teal paint had grabbed a bit too heavy, and waited again. The glaze is Raw Umber, as always. Donna had adhered an old paint brush to the jar full of brushes. I didn't want to start the year with so much bulk, so I pulled out a new stamp. Ordered this a few weeks ago. It's small (about 2 inch long) images of various paint brushes, pens, artist tools. There are 12 on the stamp, so I made 2 tags, using all of the images. Distressed the tags and attached with the date.

Made me happy.
Linda

Inspiration Wednesday

These are the last two Inspiration Wednesday projects from Donna Downey's year long class. The top photos are the most recent. Donna used wrapping paper to create a collage in her journal. I didn't have any pretty wrapping paper on hand, but there is one thing I still have in abundance, and that's scrap book papers. Tons. Shelves full. So mine is done with some very old but still gorgeous Fancy Pants (that was the company) scrap paper. I then painted over it on the inclusion, waited for it to dry, and added the words. "TRY" was done with some equally old Making Memories Rub-Ons. The word "fearlessly" was stamped with Archival black ink.

The bottom spread was more complicated, and because I did it over a month ago, not sure what all the steps are at this point. I stenciled the numbers with black paint, let that dry, then did a light wash of white mixed with Titian Buff over that. I used Golden's molding paste thru a script stencil to create some texture.  Then did a light wash of magenta over that. The circles were drawn with a Stabilo All pencil, and if you haven't tried these, please do. The colors are vibrant and water soluble, so once down you can very lightly touch it with a brush dipped in water, and the color spreads. The more water, the more it runs. Love using those. I only have about 4 or 5 colors, and black seems to be my go to.

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Inspiration Wednesday

April 13, 2016 IW

From February

From February

The first 2016 IW

A new thing to collect

Donna Downey is an amazing artist, and seems to be a very nice person. She is also one of us. Uh huh. By that, I mean she buys supplies to make art, and hoards them. It's the reason we all have rooms devoted to this insane hobby.

This past Wednesday the Inspiration Wednesday video involved a beautiful napkin with poppies. We were to use any napkin, but of course Donna's project turned out so freaking awesome, the nationwide search was on for THAT same napkin. I found it at Party City in Avon. By the way, they are called "guest towels". Really?

Basically, you separate the layers of napkin, pulling (gently) the top printed layer out. You then affix it to your journal page using a Matte Medium. I have Liquitex on hand, so I used that. You could try Mod Podge, but it probably would be tricky. The napkin absorbs the medium, and Mod Podge contains a higher level of water. There is also the sticky factor to consider.

For mine, I then added some Vintage Photo distress ink around the edges, made the ART tag, and called it done. But. But, yeah, I also found the cool black and white graphic napkin in the above photo. Going to fool around with that this weekend in another journal.

Go play. It's fun. It's relaxing. And you never know what you'll get.
Linda

Inspiration Wednesday

Close up of second page

Entire spread open

First page with inclusion

As I have mentioned before, I signed up for the year long Inspiration Wednesday class from Donna Downey. A new journaling project and video are posted every other Wednesday throughout the year. The cost for this class is a mere $35, and if you are interested at all in mixed media or art journaling, it is well worth the price.

The above was the March 30th class, and I really enjoyed this one. Some I don't, or struggle with the colors, balance, whatever. That's cool. But the grungy, collage features of this week's project spoke to me.

All of the pages were first covered with Liquitex Gesso and allowed to dry. I then tore up a plain brown paper lunch bag and adhered that to the bottom half of the pages with Liquitex Gel Matte Medium. I have been using this for years, and the original price may give you pause, but trust me. A little goes a long way and it never fails. Nothing will peel up. Ever.

I adhered torn old book page pieces here and there, then some art tissue I had on hand that reminded me of spring. It was bright, so to subdue it a bit I stenciled over that with Dylusions Dirty Martini paint. Added some dress pattern pieces here and there, then glazed over everything with Golden Raw Umber, and Golden Glazing medium. I mix mine about 60% glazing to the paint. Wait a minute and wipe off with baby wipes. You can get some really interesting textures by using the lunch bags instead of a heavier craft brown paper. The "404" tag was purchased in a buncle from Donna Downey. I stamped an old Tim Holtz eye image on that with black ink, and adhered it with gel medium.

Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Inspiration Wednesday

From the Donna Downey Inspiration Wednesday online class

March 2nd. A favorite quote.

Art journaling on water color paper

If you are interested, you can sign up for the Inspiration Wednesday online class here. It is $35 for the entire year, and you receive an email link to a video every other Wednesday. I think the total for the year is 23 or 24. Well worth the money. This is the second year I have done this, and it forces me to think outside my comfort zone and explore new materials. As Cathy and I have discovered, crafting and mixed media art are all about buying new tools and paints, organizing everything you have bought, and trying the new stuff, constantly. And maybe, just maybe, you might make something after all of that is done.

Yes, we are crazy. Why do you ask??
Linda

Inspiration Wednesday for 02/04/15

Entire spread

Right side

Left side

The Inspiration Wednesday videos are every other week. This week Donna Downey pulled out some joint compound tape, and applied it to her pages. Hmmmm. I didn't have any on hand, nor did Cathy. In case you are wondering, joint compound tape is the tape used in putting up dry wall, to join two pieces of dry wall together prior to the application of the mud. The tape has evenly spaced holes and is sticky. I did have punchinella in my stash. Punchinella is a thin metal with evenly spaced holes, left by the removal of sequins. In the fabric world, it's called sequin waste. Aren't you glad you stopped by today?

The punchinella is the color of the sequin that was manufactured. Mine happens to be red, so I had to put a thin coat of gesso over it, after applying the metal with matte gel medium. If you look closely at the photos, you can see where the punchinella was applied. Love the texture, and how it grabs the paint. The plan is now to try this in the larger art journal with another spread.

Have a great weekend.
Linda

Inspiration Wednesday

I am suddenly obsessed. I now have 4 art journals going. Well, there are 2 more on the shelf but I haven't done anything in them for quite some time, so I am not going to count them. This is a smaller Dylusions journal, approximately 6x9 inches.

Starting the first Wednesday of this year, I joined Donna Downey's Inspiration Wednesday online class. It was only $35 for the year, and she is posting whatever she is doing in her journal every other Wednesday. This week was collage, with added paint and molding paste. I used molding paste, Donna used heavy gesso, which I don't own. Here is MY deal: I am trying, really trying to use whatever I have on hand, and not get into the madness of buying. Buying art and craft supplies is kind of like being addicted to some strange drug. Once is never satisfying, you must have more. And then more, and it isn't pretty. Soon you are in the aisles at Hobby Lobby, drool dripping off your chin.

The whole point of Inspiration Wednesday is to experiment with products, thoughts, combinations on paper so you can see what works and what doesn't. This spread could easily be translated onto a larger canvas, and I am thinking of doing exactly that this coming week. Ms. Downey is opening up my thinking on color combinations, and it's always fun to discover something new and exciting.

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by.
Linda