Small Red Art Journal - where it all began

My art journaling adventures began in this little 4.5"x 5.5" journal. I had bought this book to make a scrapbook album for a friend and I had ended up using a different one for her album. When I discovered art journaling, this little book fit the bill. I've had a great time playing and experimenting with techniques in this journal. I decorated the front cover with some stickers and flowers I had in my stash.

This is the first page in the journal. I had such fun using a stencil, homemade spray inks, stamps and inks and doodling to create this page. It is so freeing to just create and not worry about being as precise as you need to be when stamping cards. There are no rules in art journaling. Your journal is your own and you can experiment and create anything you want.

I love all things Halloween, but I don't send Halloween cards. I have collected a few Halloween stamps and I love to create scenes with them. So my journal is a perfect place to do this. I love this page. Can you see the ghosts and mummy? Click on the photo to make it bigger and check out the tombstone and ghosts, and mummy. The little Frankenstein just makes me laugh!

Sometimes I do a scene across two pages in the journal.I had the idea for this page in my head for a while and then searched for just the right magazine pictures to create it. I painted the background and collaged the pictures in place and painted the rest. Then I used some stickles to make the water sparkle.
I have 6 different art journals on the go as well as a junk journal that I'm having a blast doing.
Creating art is such great therapy for the soul!

Stampscapes - Tropical Tri Fold Shutter Card

To make this tri fold card I first made the black cardstock base and then cut out all the pieces of white glossy cardstock to fit each section. Then I stamped the scene with the pieces of white glossy cardstock laid out in the formation they would be on the card. I added the colour with stipple brushes and dye inks. I added highlights with a white gel pen.
Click on the photo to see a bigger picture.
Happy Stamping!

Probus Art Show

The program for our Probus group in August was an Art Show. We were asked to show the members what we create. The following photos show my table all set up for the show at the Brantford Golf and Country Club. I showed my Stampscapes scenic art, my Zentangle art and my Art Journals. It was fun to get to tell about my art and  listen to all the reactions and interest.

I'd love to know what you create. Leave me a message and tell me about your artistic adventures!

Stampscapes - Northern Lights

I did most of this scene when I went to Green Bay, Wisconsin where we have family and my great stamping friend Pat A. I loved one of her scenes that showed the northern lights and I wanted to give it a try. This was done on glossy cardstock and stippled with dye inks. Highlights were added with gel pens. What a fun time I always have with Pat! It is great to get together with stamping friends and play.
Enjoy your day! :D

Zentangles Inspired Art - Circle Flowers

For this piece I lightly traced some circle shapes in pencil and then drew in the tangle flower patterns with my Micron 01 pen. I added shading with a regular pencil and a blending stump.Then I decided that I wanted to colour it, so I made a copy of it and coloured it in with markers. Below is the finished coloured piece.

I kept the original drawing so that I could copy it again if I needed to.
Have a wonderful day and try a Zentangle! It's fun and relaxing.
Take care! :D

Zentangle Inspired Art-Title Page, Bird and Flower

I drew this tangle to use as the front cover for the photo album I'm using to fill with Zentangle drawings. The album cover has an oval opening and you can see the word Zentangle through it when the album is closed. When you open the front cover, this is the first page of my album.

For this tangle, I traced the outline of the bird from a stencil and then I drew in the patterns and leaves and branch. I prefer doing the tangles in a picture rather than just the Zentangle square.

I drew this flower as a tangle starting at the center of the flower and growing out from there. It's fun to draw things that are just pure fantasy. :D

Zentangle is a calming exercise for everyone. You do not need any artistic talent. You just draw the patterns one stroke at a time. It was developed by Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas.  Many of you have already done this type of drawing and just called it doodling which is basically what it is. Why don't you give it a try?
Have a great day and create something!

Stampscapes - Forest Falls

This scene, measuring 8.5"x11", is much bigger than my card sized scenes. For this scene I followed a tutorial by Kevin Nakagawa on the Stampscapes website. I didn't have all of the same stamps that he used so I had to use what I had for my version of his scene. To make all the elements of the composition I had to use a  lot of masking to get images to look like they were behind other images.
It was fun to try such a big project. My friend Linda and I each did this scene at her house one day last spring. I had most of it stamped and inked with colour, but got it back out recently to finish it to display at an art show in which I participated.
Did you get creative lately? It's good to stretch your abilities with something out of your comfort range now and again.
I'd love to hear from you. Leave me a comment and let me know what you think.

Zentangle Inspired Art - Art Journal page

This is a page in one of my Art Journals that started out as an experiment with a new technique. I was trying the technique of colouring with a tombow marker onto plastic and then using a blender pen to pick up the ink and apply it to the image and having the colour fade to a lighter colour as you keep colouring. I had one long slim image in the center of the page for several weeks and decided to keep drawing around it with some tangles. I used one fairy stamp in the top right corner. I used the new technique to add the colour to the rest of the page. It was fun to create this fantasy page.

Take care and let your creative side loose!!!