ReSketch COLOR Journal Collaboration

Hello, my friends! I've been silent around here, but I've been busy creating! I'm part of an exciting collaboration, so today, that's what I'm here to share with you!

ReSketch COLOR Journal Collaboration 

A few of us are sharing our art journals today in a blog hop. Be sure to scroll down to the bottom to see all the other beautiful journals. This collaboration is between ReSketch and StencilGirl. Our challenge was to use one colour only. 

I chose my favourite colour ever EVER. I call it aubergine. It is a blend of deep violet dark, black and quinacridone magenta. Using only this colour was harder than I thought! I tried to use as much black and white to get that coveted depth that we all try to achieve. Not sure how successful I was - I still have much to learn - but this artist life is a journey, and being vulnerable is helpful, I think. :)

I received a cute little 3.5x5"journal to work in. You can purchase them here: https://resketchbook.com/products/resketch-journal-3-5-x-5-inch

I have a theme for this book. It's all about beautiful womanhood and being a mother, taken from a little devotional book called You Are Captivating: Celebrating a Mother's Heart by Stasi Eldredge.

I painted each page in this little re-purposed journal black, and roughed and crinkled up some of the pages. I pulled out the staples in the binding, poked two holes into the spine, and threaded this acrylic yarn through to bind it. I added some fun-looking beads to add interest.

I had a great time in creating this velvet aubergine color, and added the juicy and rich colour to the top edge of the pages. Yum. 

For the cover's small marks, I used this fabulous StencilClub stencil by Mary Beth Shaw October 2016.

The roses are from my go-to Deconstructed Floral Bouquet Stencil by Traci Bautista. For this look, I stenciled with white and the aubergine in a random manner.

"Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." - Proverbs 4:23

Here, I stenciled with white paint on the black painted pages, then rubbed in the blend of aubergine, then stenciled white again in a random fashion, building the layers until I was happy with the look. Loving these funky roses on top of each other. This stencil has such a great design, as it features many versions of roses, and they go so great together. June 2018 Rosie 'O by Desiree Habicht from the StencilGirl Club Collection.

"God knows that our heart is core to who we are. It is the source of all creativity, courage and conviction."

Here, in it's simple splendor, are circles arranged in a grid all happy, made with the Circles Layer Me by Carolyn Dube, with the sponge loaded with varying shades and tints of the auberine paint. 

Love me some pockets and tag. I stitched two of the pages together to create a pocket.

The floral design is from the April 2017 Serendipity Floral by Jennifer Evans, from the StencilClub collection. I use this one over and over over, I like it so much! Well, I used all these featured over and over. LOL

I also used the little circles from the StencilClub stencil from June 2016, mentioned earlier. I adore that stencil for so many reasons. It's full of fun, small art marks, making it very versatile.

"This fierce abandoned, protective, devoted love was wholly new and profound. 

I had become a mother."

This page holds a new meaning for me today. We went to a Good Friday city-wide church service. I think of this somber time in history when Jesus' followers experienced such anguish, seeing their friend suffer and die, but I especially thought of Jesus' mother this time. I cried big crocodile tears thinking of her. She was a mother too. Jesus cared deeply about the women surrounding him. He was no misogynist! I have, over the years, heard this same story over and over, especially during the Easter season, but this time it just resonated with me more.

I used the smaller, matching stencil that comes in this set as used on the previous layout. I also used the Morse code stencil from the StencilClub set, Julie Snidle September 2015 - Lost Languages.

"My heart had expanded to the point that it no longer fit inside me."

I layered the background with the grid stencils (which can be slight seen in the photo below), then added the leaf design on top.

Cuba Libre! by Jane Lafazio, October 2017 StencilClub set

Grid Outline 8x8 by MaryBeth Shaw 

October 2015 MaryBeth's Private Collection 15.4

And there you have it! Please visit these other blogs to check out their beautiful work in these lovely journals by ReSketch. 

Scroll further down to see how you can win!

Marsha Valk

Cynthia Silveri

Lisa Dobry

Jenni Petricek

Erin Decoste

Josephine Fouarge

Michele Kosciolek

Tina Walker (A Dog's Life) 

Amie Ruth (her project is pictured on the StencilGirl blog HERE.

We can't let you leave without saying THANK YOU for stopping by and for sharing in our color journal story. And, as a special Thank You, we also have a GIVEAWAY!

We are giving away a random selection of ReSketch journals AND a $25 StencilGirl® gift certificate to ONE LUCKY PERSON!

Make sure to comment below to let us know you've visited and let us know what color your journal would be. Visit each artist(s) blog for more chances to win! (comments due no later than April 28th midnight EST).

We will pick ONE winner on April 29th, 2019 so watch this space to see if you are a winner!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

REDEEMED Mixed Media Scrapbook Layout with a Time-Lapse Video

Hello, peeps! Today I've got a time lapse video for you! Tap/click HERE. It will take you toYouTube. 

This layout's home is in my 2018 unPlanner. To see more of my unPlanner - this year and the years previously, see the tabs at the top of my blog.

Scroll down past the video to see the supplies used and tips and tricks, and observations I made in the process of watching back the video. I hope you enjoy! :)

See my time-lapse video HERE!

Supplies Used (In the order I use them in the video, mostly) 

- Mixed media paper

- pencil

- A fat round paint brush (I like the ones that hold lots of paint and water for this technique.) Using fingers to paint might work fine too.)

- water

- heat gun (optional)

- acrylic paint (Permanent Violet Dark by Golden, Bahama Blue by Deco Art, Americana line, Deco Art Phthalo Turquoise and Phthalo Green-Blue, Artist's Loft Neon Pink and white)

- Various doodled-style stamps (I used Paperbag Studios rubber stamps Doodles and Daters and others.)

- Distress Oxide Inks by Ranger (Use inks that show up well on dark paper and paint.)

- Staz-On black ink

black cardstock

- sewing machine (or hand stitch some touches? Or have you seen the Sew Easy tool? So fun - comes in lots of different designs, too!)

- metallic pink thread

- double-sided scotch tape

- photo

- acrylic block

- dictionary paper

- scissors

- word art (I made my own) Scrapbooking 3d letters would look great too. Love THESE.

- glue stick

- black Sharpie (or some other permanent black marker) - extra fine tip 

- Scrapbook paper for the tag, or make your own paper, or use those delectable artPOPS by Kristin Peterson of AlteredStatesStudio.

- reinforcement stickers

- sari ribbon 

- paper clip with fabric ribbon: you can get my Roses Dreaming Planner Clips  from my Etsy shop HERE.

- flower diecut (Purple Roses Printable 8.5x11" sheet HERE!)

- glue dots (or other strong glue)

- washi tapes (Roses Dreaming Washi Tape - 20mm wide HERE)

- paint pens or opaque gel pens

- Last, but not the least, my journaling bible.

Tips and observations about my project: 

- When applying colour, add dimension by creating darker shades and lighter ones of the same base colour. (For this layout, I chose dark purple as my main colour, adding water or white paint to lighten up the colour.)  

- Using black elements or other contrasting colours is always an easy trick when creating a focal point. Having a focus point helps our eyes to zoom in on one thing first, then to the secondary and further elements. Our brain likes the order it brings.

- Stamp clusters of detail in three spots (triangular formation) over the two-page layout. If you're creating a similar design just on one square sheet of paper, you can still apply this rule of thirds and clustering trick. 

- I use double-sided scotch tape to easily attach unmounted rubber stamps to an acrylic block.

- Apply white paint or bright colours in areas where it feels too dark or muddy. It brightens things up.

- To choose stamps, think what you want to portray, but also the scale and pattern of each, I like to use some intricate designs, paired with bolder and larger. Also think stripes, circles, triangles. Opposites.

- Baby wipes are a fast and easy way to quickly clean your stamps, or smudge areas you want blended in more, or to pick up too much colour in places.

- I had trouble with the neon pink not popping enough on those finger-painted circles, so I should have put down a white paint first. My experience with neon paints is that they are quite transparent. If you know of a paint that is opaque, message me. I'd love to find some! 

***Warning ahead: reading further might cause you to go down a rabbit hole. Yep. Classic Alice. 

As I typed my tip above, I googled "opaque flourescent acrylic paint", and discovered an amazing article about some tricks to create an opaque look! See HERE! It does seem like a lot of work, haha, so, let's just get a product that does everything for us, correct? ;)

- Use an apron or old clothes when you do the splattering. I got my favorite summer dress full of paint, and my glasses as well...lol

- I got my bible out, finger-painted around the bible verse I'm meditating on, and then copied the words to the back of the journaling spot that sits under the photo.

And that is that! What enormous fun I've had in creating the project, the video, this blog post, everything. Now back to my house, which has suffered a little in the past few days...Please leave a comment if you enjoyed the project, or if you have any questions. I welcome all feedback. Or just comment to say hi! :) 

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

unPlanner Play Video Tutorial

Hi all! 

My blog has been on the back burner for a long while, and my excuse? I opened up an Etsy Shoppe. I do love blogging so I'm not stopping altogether, it'll just be less. You know, unfortunately our days only have 24 hours...

 That said, here I am to give you a quick update on the artsy things I've been working on.

I have a video demonstrating how I work in my unPlanner. As I am on Roben-Marie Smith's design team, the video is on herYoutube channel. I used her gorgeous mixed-media art cards and stamps.

See HERE!

I hope to complete the second part to my process, but I am having issues with some of the programs on my laptop since I updated Windows. GRRR. Sorry to anyone that is waiting for the second part. :(

Now, back to Etsy. I have some more listings, including a new washi design! Do check it out here: Artful Stories Etsy Shop.

And three different-sized pouches!

My favourite? These one-of-a-kind original pieces of art. I keep using that scripty stamp from PaperBag Studios over and over again!

And of course, the cabbage roses. They are my safe place. :)

I also made another Artsydori, which I had a hard time parting with!

Traci Bautista stencils are always a good thing, right? Added some handmade doodles as well, annnnnnndddd...other yummy stenciling. Can't get enough of the floral one by Stencil Girl. See the pink flowers at the top of the dori cover?

Decided to add pockets to the inside. I just adore the polka dots!

Grungy looking edges and funky pen loop.

Here it is lain flat.

I have done a few other things too, but I also share lots of Instagram, so come visit me there if you like.

Back to summer vibes, design team work, and working in my unPlanner! See you another time! :)

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

P.S. If you're interested in making YOUR own Artsydori, take a class from Cindy of Junque Art Studios to learn how! ♥♥♥

iCreate Collective Guest Post - Being Intentional

Intentional 

is my word for 2017. 

Hello friends! I am privileged to be a guest designer in an art group of ladies of Christian faith called iCreate Collective. Do check out my post HERE!

I share a little of my journey of living intentionally.

♥♥♥  Happy Creating!  ♥♥♥

Anna

Pop-Up Journal Challenge Day 1/10 and Day 2/10

I have started the prompts for the Pop-Up Journal Challenge by Roben-Marie Smith.

Prompt 1/10: We ______what we want. 

While I was decorating this page, I contemplated what we as frail human beings often want. The thing that came to my mind is how we might not always really know what we want, and other times, we do, but later find out that is not what we really needed. Our heart can be deceiving sometimes. We all want to be happy, but we need to use our brains to determine the right path, and as a Christian, I want to really listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit.

His way is always right for me. It takes faith; tenacity and intentionality to hold onto that truth.

So, here is the first page in my journal. To make one yourself, check out the class, 

Pop-Up Fringe Journal by Roben-Marie Smith HERE.

If you do purchase the class, you get the bonus of Roben-Marie's videos on how she completed each of the ten challenges. Whoot! They're amazing.

So here is my after photo of the completed prompt:

Before: 

The right side is a kraft paper bag sewn into a pocket,

round Pop-Art stickers from Roben-Marie,

petal-like pencil scribbles around each circle sticker,

outlined with a green gel pen.

I really loved the look of the page as is, but I wanted to add more, as of course, that is what this journaling challenge is about. So I just decided to let loose and start playing with paint. 

I used the new Pam Carriker StencilClub stencils I received in the mail and simply placed it in one of my favorite spots on the page, and sponged in. I was happy with that!

Added some swipes of aqua and pink, 

add some whiteness to the eye, 

stenciled in some texture further below, 

cut out a flower that my daughter had painted, 

glued to page, 

smudged some color, 

made orange dots, 

add the quote, 

edge with some black paint and white dots, 

and all was done.

Oh, and pretty washi tape on the lower edge... :)

I also added pretty washi on the left side of the white spine in middle. See first photo.

Prompt 2/10: Hello, I am _____.

Before pic: I forgot to take one of the whole spread. Grrr...but I did take a peek shot:

After:

I had put in a page of a magazine with lots of purple flowers and of a gorgeous colourful skirt. I painted over the areas I didn't want shown, swiping paint with fingers.

For the right side of the layout, I have a gorgeous gelliprint. I added stenciling, dots, and swipes of paint.

Travel by Color: I figure this title fit in perfectly with the prompt. 

"Hello, I'm in a colourful world."

To see my post of my handmade journal I premade for this challenge, see HERE.

Have a great day!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥