Rae's Art Marks Challenge

Hi, all you creatives! I've been having fun with a new challenge by Rae Missigman. It's a 30 day challenge, which started Jan 15th.

Check out the Art Marks 30 Day Challenge HERE! :)

Here's my sweet little book I've made using a plethora of old gelliprints and art journal fodder, including a page or two from an old thrifted Calvin Hobbes comic book. 

I tore all the edges haphazardly to add to the junque feel of it. I saw the cutest beads at Michaels once, and had to add them to my cart. Finally found use for them!

Raw wool in my aubergine colour I had sitting around from an old project...

StencilGirl stencils designed by Traci Bautista 

and paint dots, made in all quick-like.

I am sharing the first four layouts I've done. I'm a little behind, but it's okay. I am not able to do one every day, and I'm okay with that!

I've been leaning heavily on my favourite colour scheme which I've named #auberginemadlove. :) 

I mention aubergine (or eggplant) a lot on my blog and Insta, and I don't wanna stop!

Check out my Pinterest board COLOUR: AUBERGINE and my Insta hashtag!

1/30 Prompt: petal-like

For my first day, I didn't go with that colour scheme, instead I went crazy with petals. I had a hard time not reaching for stencils, but I needed to challenge myself in making marks without stencils this time. haha!

I turned the page, and I liked what I saw with the other pages peeping out from the sides.

2/30 Prompt: needlework

When I think needlework, I think cross-stitch. Old sticky-backed mesh from my art supply stash served as my stencil and now I have "aida-cloth" background for some "stitches". 

Next page, which sadly, I covered up. 

3/30 Prompt: cocentric

Filled both pages with my Golden brand paints in Permanent Violet Dark, Carbon Black, Paynes Grey, and High-Flow Flourescent Pink.

4/40 Prompt: Just Three

I don't have three marks, if I want to take it literally, instead, I divided the page into three parts.

StencilGirl stencils for the bottom left rectangle: Travel Note 6x6.

And there are my first four days in my cute journal.

Thanks for stopping by!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

May Weeks 3 and 4 in my unPlanner

Back again with more unPlanner pages. I'm starting to think these should all just be art journal pages, instead of a calendar. Not sure I want to write on these!

Go HERE if you want more information or to register for The Documented Life Project 2016: The unPlanner!

Been working like mad on a special project, so my blogging has fallen a bit behind. I'll give you a quick run down of these May pages.

May 15-21

These started as gelliprints. I sat, looking at the designs on the page, wondering how I could add more detail before making journaling spots. Then my mind went to the simplistic artsy flowers I have seen lately on Pinterest and Instagram. Like these designs: Country Flowers by Mia Charro.

I started painting some, and I found that I actually kinda knew how to do this! LOL! 

Lots of accents added with stencils from StencilGirl, namely this amazing set by Mary Beth Shaw!

I added some blending with paint and my fingers too.

Added lots of doodles with black sharpie and white gel pen as well.

May 22-28

1. I started with two Gelliprints. I used a few stencils for the gelliprinting. Mainly Circles Layer Me by Carolyn Dube and DNA Strands by Mary Beth Shaw.

2. I cut down the papers to fit my binder.

3. To unify the two pages, I pieced a part of the print of the left side to the right page. 

4. I used a handmade flower mask to outline the flower with a black Stabilo All. 

5. I activated the pencil to get a messy look. 

6. I took purple, pink, white and aqua paint and brushed the flower petals and center to add color and layers. 

7. Added some stenciling with a StencilGirl mini stencil to the petals. 

8. Made green circles for "leaves" stemming out from the flower. 

9. Messily scribbled around the flower and doodled circles all over. 

10. Added lines for the days with a black Stabilo All. 

11. Sewed around edges and the lines with black thread. 

12. Added circle days from a printable. 

13. Outlined them with the Stabilo too. 

14. Wrote in the days of the week with a black Pitt pen.

I have a similar tutorial for flowers like these HERE.

And there are two weeks in my unPlanner. I'm a little behind with the challenge part of this project, which I hope to complete next time I post here on the blog. :)\

Thanks so much for visiting!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

May Week Two unPlanner Pages

I'm back again with my unPlanner pages, this time with week two. I just might blog every week if I keep this up! ;)

For more info about this unPlanner project, check out the Art5 website HERE! 

I kept it simpler this time. Still using the same colors like last week. Same idea as well.

I started with two Gelliprints again, same as last week. My Gelliplate is 8"x10", and I used 8.5"x11" cardstock for the printing, creating a white frame around the print. I took advantage of this and used it as part of my design. I sewed around the edge, following the natural "frame".

I used the same stencils for the gelliprinting as I did in the previous week: the Circles Layer Me and Puddles by StencilGirl.

Next, I added the numbers by Right Brain Planner and days of the week from the Art5 unPlanner Kit.

I outlined and created squares with a black Stabilo All pencil, activating the pencil lines with wet brush. I let it dry. Well, semi-dry. You know how impatient we get...

I painted each date circle with my five colors of paint.

I added stencilling all over the place with StencilGirl stencils.

Layers of stenciling, then added more detail with white gel pen. I first stencilled with gesso, then layered color over the gesso, which helps to make the colors pop more.Makes a big difference, especially for the yellow, as yellow tends to be quite transparent. The purple too.

Left side:

Added gel pen to the black lines and scribbled around the circle dates too.

I painted the white reinforcements with purple, then stencilled with white, purple, white, then purple again.

In the photo below, bottom left corner, there is this fun white design in the background, right? That's the coolest stencil ever. It's called Shattered, designed by Lizzie Mayne.

Here's the right side of the layout:

In top left corner in photo below, is the cool Shattered stencil again.

Had to include a picture of some of the stencils I used. :)

And there it is: Week Two.

For more info about this unPlanner project, check out the Art5 website HERE! 

In other news, I now have the calendar I use for my unPlanner available to you as a free download. Check that out HERE.

Thanks for stopping by!

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥

May, Week One in my unPlanner

Hi, artsy friends! Thanks for stopping by. :)

A new post about my unPlanner, featuring the first few pages.

May has come, and that means a new color scheme in my unPlanner. 

Go HERE if you want more information or to register for The Documented Life Project 2016: The unPlanner!

This Gelliprint is the foundation of all of my pages this month:

The colors I chose came from this inspiration: Lindy's May 2016 Color Challenge. I didn't use any of her products, but I did use the colors in acrylic paint. You can get inspiration anywhere! (I did add pink, as I couldn't leave it out!)  

I went crazy with StencilGirl stencils for the Gelliprint: 

Carolyn Dube Circle Layer Me 

Rae Missigman Puddles

I made about ten different prints in this color scheme, and I used them for my weekly pages.

So here's my calendar. UPDATE: I now have this calendar available to you as a download. Check it out HERE.

A little secret tip: The reason the squiggly squares have thick and thin lines is because after I had drawn in the squares, I painted in the "gutters", and I couldn't stay in the lines. So, to hide the "mistakes" I blacked the areas out with my Sharpie marker. This "OOPS" turned out nice, I think!! :)

For the first week's doodles on my calendar, I used StencilGirl stencils again. Sorry for always mentioning these stencils.....naw...#sorrynotsorry. ;)

Traci Bautista Floral Bouquet

April club stencils

The tag? Mmmm...an oldie that needed a home, and it's finally not orphaned any longer. I brushed a Rae Missigman stamp with Zig Clean Color watercolor markers, spritzed the stamp with water, then stamped on watercolor paper. 

For the weekly view, I cut down the Gelliprints and sewed around the edges. 

For this print, I used these stencils:

Carolyn Dube Circles Layer Me

Rae Missigman Puddles

Mary Beth Shaw DNA #1

Next, I printed out the weekly view download from the unPlanner downloads. Then I cut out the day of the week names.

For the circle dates, I used a combination of designs. For the white numbers, I used my own design, I scanned in that first Gelliprint I showed you in this post. (see the first one above). Then I made these cute Gelli dots with a font on my computer in my digital scrapbooking program and created circles, printed them off, and voila! Circle dates! 

To download my circle dates design for your own use, click HERE which is a link to the file in my DropBox. Please be sure to credit me if you use them and share on social media, k? :)

For the square numbers within the book text circle, I downloaded this great art journaling/gluebook resource from Right Brain Planner by Teresa Robinson. Check it out HERE.

Here is the left side. After I glued on all the numbers and dates, I stenciled and smooshed paint around, and added frames for the journaling spots with a black Stabilo All pencil.

 I also added more depth with some outlining of some of the shapes I made with stencils.

The stencils I used are mostly from the April StencilGirl club stencils. They came in a 9x12 sheet, which I cut down. 12 cute little designs on this sheet. I love them all!

I added paint through stencils, added white, then more color. Lots of layers.

Add white gel pen scribbles in areas to add more dimension again. 

Around the stencilled shapes.

Around edges of the journaling strips.

Over the black outlined areas of the circle dates, the reinforcements, etc.

Keep adding details, and you'll be amazed at the depth and interested in brings to your project!

See the white lines around the "diamond" shapes?

And here's the two-page spread.

And I call it done! Next week I hope to make my PAC.

Go HERE if you want more information or to register for The Documented Life Project 2016: The unPlanner!

Thanks for visiting. I appreciate comments and questions, letting me know you've been here. :)

♥♥♥  Anna  ♥♥♥