Round, and Round, and Round…

I've noticed I've been working with a lot of circular shapes lately - not sure why.  The above is Prompt #59 - Textured Stamp.  I took a retired Stampin'Up! stamp and chose pieces out of magazines that had a lot of texture.  Some were stamped in black and the others were embossing in white.  I'm a bit sorry that I made the circles so close in size to the medallion because the texture in the photograph is lost.

I saw a similar painting done with spheres, so I thought I'd give it a try.  Some of the circles have texture added to them with either molding paste, glass bead paste, fiber paste or crackling paste.  The crackling paste didn't work well at all - the surface wasn't hard enough for it to do it's thing.  It was fun to do and I found the painting very calming.

Create something everyday.

Collages

Wow!!!! I guess I've caught a bit of collage mojo the past number of days - I do actually enjoy creating them because they help use up those little bits and big bits that are hanging around.  They can have a theme, or not, it doesn't matter.  This one is a Prompt 60 - Mail Ephemera.  I created a background with the corners of the envelopes that I soaked stamps off of, added a variety of stamps and then used watercolour crayons in matching colours around the stamps to add a bit of extra colour.

Release is my word for the year  - so for Prompt #58 - definition or encyclopedia excerpt - I found the definition and centred the collage around that.  I created the background with watercolour crayons and the big flower on the left actually flips open and I have a list of the things I would like to be released from this year.  I find release in dance, music, nature, so those are depicted within the collage.

I found a fantastic antique market in Edmonton and decided if I'm going to spend money on buying ephemera - then I darn well better use it and not "horde" it.  I used to do a lot of sewing and I love vintage things - so this little booklet of 1945 patterns  was perfect.  The buttons are from Tim Holtz ideology called "Crowded Attic."

Have fun with stuff you have around the house and create something everyday.

Joan

Busy, Busy, Busy

I have been doing a number of pages or projects in the past little while and apologize for not having posted them in a timely fashion!

On the above piece I painted the background with  a variety of different colours.  After the paint was dry I drew circles all over the pages and then took Payne's Grey to cover the background except where the circles were drawn.  Because the background was drawn beforehand, I could choose where I wanted the circles to be based on how the paint looked; thus choosing my favourite spots to highlight.

               

I'm really not sure how I feel about this one - I like the process, just now how my bird turned out.  I created the background with yellows, pinks and greens.  The bird was created using a stencil, but only colouring in the sections that would create the birds wings and body.  You wouldn't be able to do this with a stamp - getting the reverse image for the two wings.  I then drew around the stencil to get the image of the bird, highlighting it with more paint.  The words were added with molding paste and a stencil.  A stencil was used for the white squares in the background, and I used the edge of an old gift card for the blue stripes.

These are the pages I did for my last "Inspiration Wednesday" with Donna Downey.  There is always a little "page" included in each spread which makes it interesting when building the spread. I used spray paint for the random numbers on the page - that was a first and sort of fun because you get the "faded" look to some of them.

This is not a page I'm completely pleased with.  I attached the little tags onto the pages a long time ago, then  I covered them with blue paint after highlighting some words on the adjacent page….which  then covered lightly with orange.  Finally I decided to do a zentangle in each of the tags and multi-crossthatching in the background.

Prompt 59 was mail ephemera so I covered the background with corners of envelopes I ended up with after soaking off stamps. I then covered the page with old postage stamps and added a bit of colour around each on in the end.

Prompt 56 - Fortune or Horoscope - well, I guess I actually opted out for using Zodiac since I'm an Aquarian.  I had fun using inks and alcohol inks on the left page  to create the different waves/drips of blue to write the characteristics of an Aquarian.

Prompt 60 was simply - Scribble.  Children scribble all the time as they learn to hold writing/drawing tools and before they learn to control the tool to create a straight line.  I think once we've learned to control the tools, it then becomes a bit difficult to let loose with the tools and just scribble.  It took me a while .  I kept doing "repeated designs" until I just let go and scribbled.  The circles were done on purpose with the different pen colours.

This is a mandala I did in a new little book.  It's a bit different than then other mandalas I've done because I alternated designs within a "round".  I like the way it turned out - except if I was to do it again, I would not add the swirls around the edge…..sort of took away the effect of the rest of the mandala.   Try and learn.

Well, back to work….

Create something everyday.

Joan

Rich Dark to Shiney

Prompt #55 for Prompt60 (I can't believe it's almost over) was Shine.  I did this last Thursday and it wasn't that great a day - so that's why I have a lot of faces with their eyes blacked out and the dark colours work down to the wonderful gold foil paper from Stampin'Up!  The pictures were also picked to go with the lyrics to the song "Disaster" by the Newsboys which are on the adjacent page.

I used Gelatos for colouring the top of the page and I really like how rich they turned out.  They're a little bit creamier than Neocolour Crayons.

Like I've said before - collages are easy - pick a theme and tear some magazines or catalogues apart.  If you don't have magazines yourself, you can find them easily at second hand stores, Value Village and such.

Create something everyday.

Joan

Three Prompts and a Mandala

This piece (prompt #52) of Prompt60 had three prompts that went with it….Tangerine, Dance, Synonyms.  I found this wonderful tangerine coloured flower as part of the background and covered the rest of the background in orange.  I cut this ballerina from a poster I had and did a gell transfer of the "Little Dancer" by Degas from a photo I took of her when I was in New York.  Then….I got out my humungous thesaurus and found as many words as I could for Dance.  I'm not happy with the way I wrote them on…..but we don't have to like all our work!

This mandala was completed over three sittings.  It's in a book I take with me when I know I'm going to be waiting.  I always carry some sort of doodle book with me and most of the people who know me are now expecting to see it and don't mind if I'm doodling during a conversation.  I'm still paying attention - it just keeps me a bit more relaxed.  The background on this page is a "second print" from a stencil that was being used with Dylusions Spray Inks.  I love the way it sort of melted into the page in a subtle sort of way.

Doodling is relaxing - that's why there's so many books out on it right now!

Create something everyday.

Joan

Reference Sketch

Prompt #53 for Prompt 60 was to find a picture to use as a reference for a sketch and to only focus on on portion of the picture.  I love old suitcases and this stack caught my eye.  The only complaint I have is when sketching, I didn't make the bottom suitcase deep enough - therefor the size proportion on the rest of them is a bit off.  They all look like little trunks rather than little suitcases.  But Tammy didn't want us to erase any lines - just to go over them, but by the time I realized  my lack of depth, it was too late and I had to continue going.  No problem - everything you create is not going to be perfect.  Practice, Practice!

Create something everyday.

Joan

Mandala Glow

Today I did a bit of catching up on my Prompt 60 pieces from DaisyYellow.  As you can see this is #51 - the prompt was Glow.   I used a heavy black gesso for the background and added some metallic paste. The mandala is done with gold, silver and white sharpies and Gelly Roll pens, with Stampin'Up! Rhinestones added for good measure.

Create something everyday.

Joan

Black and White

This is my collage for Prompt #40 of Prompt 60…. Black and White.  I love doing monochromatic pieces and I added a few silver hearts as accent.  Most of my materials for this page were printed tissue paper, washi tape and some left over bits from at Stamp'inUp! Kit….including the chalkboard letters for the "Ebony and Ivory.

Create something everyday - try something monochromatic!

Joan

Ocean Sunset Prompt

For Prompt #39 we were given a visual prompt of an ocean sunset with pastel colours.  I used my Stampin'Up! inkpades and sponges to lay down the initial colours and then used an aqua painter to blend the colours - or to add more.  One the page was dry I drew a mandala incorporating more of the colours.  There was a bird on a post in the initial photograph prompt - so I added a bird here.  I am really looking for a bird of my own - that I can use in my work.  He'll appear to me sometime.

create something everyday…..

and have funding so.

Joan

Route Map

Maps were the #38 prompt.  I decided to create a map of the route I take to walk to school.  It's a 30 minute walk and lots to notice along the way.  I cheated and took a true map of my area of my city and traced it into my book.  Then marked some important buildings and added some photos of things that I've taken on various days along the way and labeled them on the map.

The background was done with pencil crayon and I used sharpie to colour in the houses and label things.

Return Labels and Sand Castles

Prompt 36 was to write a "Return" tag for our prompt book.  I used an index card - created a border and then wrote in my words.

Prompt 37 had to do with Flash Fiction and an added Art prompt if wanted.  The art prompt was high tide, ocean, sun, sandcastles.  I did my castle in watercolour and I thought it would be kinda easy - it kinda wasn't…..but I'm learning.

The flash fiction could be a story or a poem.  I chose to do a poem…..written on acrylic paint with ocean, sandy colours.

Create something everyday.

Happy Mother's Day to all Mothers!

Joan

Limited Supplies

This was a limited supply challenge for Prompt 60.  I had: one tube acrylic paint, one magazine, one pan of watercolours, one brush, one jar of water, one jar distress ink, one marker and one jar of modge podge. My magazine was an old Vogue which I had picked up at our second hand store in town - it's amazing how many pairs of sunglasses there were.  I cut them out first and then went through the magazine again to cut out words that caught my eye and created a found poem.

I didn't doodle on the paint because I didn't want to lose the effects that the paint made.

Create something everyday.

Thanks for stopping by.

Joan

Topsy Turvy

This was an interesting prompt for Prompt60 #34 - to turn my book upside-down and create a page without referring to how it would like like right side up - Maybe I shouldn't have used "people" on this page - but I did have fun and I used up a few more scraps.

Hope your day is great

Create something everyday,

Joan

Tiny bubbles…...

Prompt #33 was bubbles - using bubble wrap.  I love using bubble wrap and have about 5 different sizes to use.  I do however, need a bit more practice putting the paint on so that it doesn't glob up in one area.  I started with the larges bubbles first and ended with the smallest I have.  My colours were chosen by closing my eyes and putting my  hand in my paint drawer - I think I was pretty lucky in that regard!  once things were dry, I added some Stampin'Up! Crystal Effects to get some clear raised bubbles off the paper, then I brainstormed things that have bubbles and finally drew some bubbles on the page - however, they just look like circles because you can't see the highlighting I tried to do.

Created something everyday - have a great one!

Joan

ps. Hmmmmm I just wrote the post title and I think I'm going to have to add champagne bubbles to the page!

Mandalas and Watercolour Mosaics

One more mandala from working at the Trade fair…It never ceases to amaze me how I (and many other people) can create each mandala completely different than any I've done before!

Prompt #32 for Prompt 60 was a mosaic.  I started out using my watercolour pencil crayons for this - after sketching it in pencil first.  I wasn't happy with the intensity of the colour, so I changed to my retired Stampin'Up! watercolour crayons.  However, for the black pieces, I did use my regular prang watercolour Black so it would be intense  and pop through the other colours.

Have a great day.

Create something everyday.

Joan

Dragonfly sketches and mandalas

Prompt #31 was to sketch a diagram of something.  I had no idea what to do - but then I thought I'd do a dragonfly because I just love dragonflies.  I copied a stamp that we used to have at Stampin'Up!, and then googled the different parts.  There was a wide piece of washi tape already on this page (part of hinging my garden gate) so I just tore where I needed space to draw and reattached the "scraps" to the page.

I've been painting some canvases and then drawing mandalas on them - in hopes of being able to sell them.  I took them to the Trade Fair I was at recently, but had no luck.  I'll have to try another venue.

Another mandala I had ready to sell.

Hope your day is going well,

Create something everyday,

Joan

Hinges and Repeated Words

I think I'm getting more comfortable at creating collages.  I'm not worrying about doodling over them anymore - I'm just creating them for themselves.  For Prompt#27, we had to create a page that had an extra little flap added to it.  So I delved into my little box that I stuff "desk debris" into….and finally attached a piece of gel printed paper, hinged in with washi tape. That piece I will eventually doodle on.

Prompt#28 was to draw a gate of some sort.  I began drawing mine, and eventually realized that my swirls were looking like Bass Clefs, so I made sure that the centre ones were Treble Clefs.  Then…… I cut down the middle of the gate so that it would open to the page below.

So when you opened the gate there was a field of flowers.  The paper wasn't watercolour, so I did my best to include a sky and a brick path leading to the gate and I used washi tape to reinforce the "hindges"

The next prompt was repeated words, so I used the flower garden as the theme and wrote Spring in on direction and Flowers in the other.  I spritzed it with a little water, but decided that would smear it too much so I left it.

Have a great creating day!

Joan

Greetings, Cards and Spices

Prompt #24 of Prompt60, was "Greeting" we had to include in a collage a postcard or something that sent greeting from someplace else - I of course rummaged through my Paris stuff to find I had one postcard left that had Paris written on it.

I used some of my french retired Stampin'Up stamps to fill in spaces, The circles are the result of paint showing through from the previous "circles" page.  

I took a lot of photos in Paris of the architecture and masonry - So I did a gel transfer of a building that intrigued me.  After that I just filled in the page with paint and doodles.

Prompt #25 was to use a playing or trading card.  I bought some Betty Boop cards a couple years ago, so she became the focus of the page.  There were words written on the back, so I included them on the page.  After that, I just kept a black and white theme  - wine labels, washi tape doodles, and the FANTASTIC tissue paper Ariztia has right now with huge feathers on it.  Love it!

Prompt #26 was to pick your favourite spice or herb, and you could draw the plant or write a poem about it - I decided to do both.  I'm a bit blown away by this page because of how the plant turned out.  I googled cinnamon and found a painted picture which I then did my best to copy.  The poem was fun to do!

Hope you're having a great day!

Create something everyday!

Joan

Circles, Circles, Circles.

Because I had to add an extra page for my washi tape - I have not got an extra page to work on for my circles prompt from Prompt 60.  Above shows the basic background and how things got started.  I used a circle stencil and outlined each circle with a sharpie.  I also used a very circular stencil - doily sort of - and one of my favourite circle stencils.

Here is how the page spread turned out.  I had a lot of fun adding circles punch from gelli print papers and using various things to stamp circles onto the paper - or writing different things that are circular in shape.  Fun, fun, fun!

You Can….

Prompt #21 of Prompt60 was "Found Poetry".  I now have a little box where my words are organized alphabetically, and I have a section for phrases and a section for random words that a big a ready for their letters to be cut apart.  So - I went through all my little envelopes and picked out words that caught my eye.  I prepped my page too with spray inks and did the word selection while it was drying.

Next I started forming statements or sentences…..and outlined the words in either black or white.  As you can see, I had an accident with my white paint pen, so I just encouraged the paint to dribble down the page.

Have a great day -

Create something everyday,

Joan