Little Dylusions Alcohol Ink Piece

Yes...I'm still into the flowers.  I've always loved watching Dyan Reaveley create her art.  First of all, I love the red hair and tattoos.  She's also really fast.   I picked up my first Dylusions Journal recently (had to use that 50% off Michaels coupon).  I bought the smaller one.  They are great because they have 48 pages of cardstock-like paper, a little envelope attached to the inside cover, and the exterior is sort of like hard craft paper that can be painted, ink sprayed, etc.

The, above, piece is what I created and this is how I did it.

Sprayed entire page with water

Sprayed Dylusions Ink in pools around the page.  I used Squeezed Orange, Bubblegum Pink, and a little Crushed Grape.  It's very, very wet.  I blotted it by rolling a roll of paper towels over it.  *I'll tell you later about the Bubblegum Pink

I placed stencils, one at a time on the page and sprayed water over them, then wiped with a roll of paper towels.  This creates a "ghosting effect.

Sprayed some more ink thru stencils around the page.  Blotted with paper towel roll.

Stamped flowers and leaves in various places.  I used Dyan Reaveley stamps.

Colored the leaves and flower petals with Copic Markers.  Dyan uses her ink in water brushes to do her coloring.  I only have two water brushes.  I was afraid of ruining  them because I like to use them for watercolor.  The Copics worked fine.  However, when I have some money to burn, I'd like to get a dozen, or so, water brushes and fill them with all of the ink colors.

I used a glitter gel pen for the tiny blue parts on the flower petals.  My favorite glitter pens are actually from the Dollar Store.  I can't believe it.  They don't even have a brand name on them, but they are very glittery.

Added some white around the leaves and petal centers using a Sakura pen.

Drew the stems with a, black, Faber-Castell pen.

Stamped the word "Grow" on a piece of cardstock, attached it with a glue stick, and scribbled some lines around it with my black pen.  I usually use gel medium to glue everything.....but, it occurred to me that because the alcohol inks are re-activated by just about anything, that I might end up with a smeary mess.

Here's a good Dyan Reaveley video to watch to see how she does it.https://youtu.be/EsMFW4rJ2QY

*Oh yes, about the Bubblegum Pink Ink Spray.  I was down to the very bottom of the bottle.  I couldn't get anything out, so I added about 1/8 inch of water, swirled it around, and Voila, I had spray.  It's not as bright as the un-diluted spray, but it works when you can't get to the store and just have to have some.


That's it.

Peace!

Cyndi

Inspired by Denise Alloca

Every Teusday, I get an email from Donna Downey with a new video by one of a group of artists that she has put together. It's called Artist Gang Teusday.  Yesterday's video was by Denise Alloca.  She creates a grouping of three paintings.  They always incorporate a Donna Downey Studios product (stencil, stamp, etc.).  I checked out Denise Alloca's site and found another video that she did with cute flowers.  I decided to do one. As you can see......I, basically, copied her.  Obviously, I would never use this design on anything that I planned to sell since it's not my own.  But, it's wonderful that there are artists out there that show us different techniques so that we can practice and learn new things.  I didn't have, exactly, the same supplies that she used ie:  different stencils, Derwent instead of Stabilo pencils, shorthand paper instead of music paper.  I also had to write the word "Truth" because I didn't have the stamp.....but I do plan to get these stamps because my handwriting isn't that great.

Here's mine.

Here's Denise's.

So, this is what I did this morning.  Thank you Denise.  Thank you Donna Downey.  And.....

Peace!

Cyndi

Collaged Boxes

When I become addicted to something, I really become addicted to it.......that is until the next shiny object grabs my attention.  For the past few weeks, it's been collaged boxes.  Cute little boxes that I cover with my hand-painted papers.

I have tons of hand-painted papers and gelli prints (another "addiction" phase).  I love to slap paint on a piece of paper, add stencils, stamps, little drawings with paint pens, etc.  These can really pile up!

I was waiting for a friend at a doctors appointment, looking at Pinterest on my phone, and came across a pix of beautiful boxes, picture frames, and other artwork that had been collaged with painted papers.  The artist's name is Diane Salter.  Her things were beautiful, so I had one of those "I can do that" moments.  Her's are much more intricate than mine, but she inspired me to try.  Thank you Diane Salter!

I already had several small wooden boxes in my huge stash of "stuff that I'm going to do something with" closet.  (this reminds of the saying "The woman who dies with the most art supplies WINS").

Here's my first box.

Then, I had to start adding little feet to them.

You might notice on this box that there are little, irregularly shaped, silver pieces on it.  There is, actually a funny story behind this.  I went to lunch with my friend.  As I was heading out the door to lunch, the strap on my purse broke.  I grabbed an old purse from my box of purses, only to realize on the way to the restaurant, that the faux leather was starting to peel in a little section.  During our lunch, my purse was actually disentegrating.  Everywhere I went, I was leaving a little trail of silver, faux leather, purse dandruff in my wake.  On the drive home I looked at my peeling purse and thought "that purse dandruff would be great collage material".....and it was!  So, the lesson here is - keep all of your crappy purses until they fall apart, or, maybe it's just that you never know what can be upcycled.

Then I had to Zentangle one.

My most recent box.  (I'm moving up into multiple compartments now)

This one is listed on ETSY.

Peace!

Cyndi

Remember Cash Registers?

I have quite a few talented people in my family.  My husband plays guitar, drums, and harmonica. (he also knows every song ever written).  My sister is a wonderful painter and has refinished some beautiful pieces of furniture.  My mother crochets adorable little blankets and hats.  This post, however, is about my father.  He's always had a knack for building and fixing things. This is probably why I've always had the belief, unrealistic as it may be, that all men can fix any problem, whether it's a clogged toilet, re-building a car engine, or constructing a house from the ground up.

When my Dad retired, he began a compulsive search for antiques that he could restore to their original beauty........and he's quite good at it!  Some of my favorites are his camera collection, typewriters, and telephones.

He also has some beautiful cash registers.  He buys them in terrible condition and creates works of art.  Here are a few of them.

This is my favorite.  He chose the Harley Davidson motif in honor of my husband's love of Harleys.

Obviously, not a cash register, but you have to admit, this is a very cool water fountain.

Keep up the good work Dad!

Peace!

Cyndi

PicMonkey - It's Free and So Easy

Lately, I've been playing around with digital art. I don't have (nor do I know how to use) Photoshop. I've been tempted to purchase it many, many times, but it seems so complicated. I hate to make the investment, just to find that I can't wrap my brain around it. So, I thought I would try PicMonkey. It's free and I read an article about it on TheGraphicsFairy.  They, of course, also have a "pay" version, but right now I'm sticking with FREE.

I just tried it out for the first time.  Here's my first masterpiece.  It took about 5 minutes to put my art into text.

Yep, that's my art behind those letters.  Okay, okay.....it's not that impressive, but it was easy and my first try.  I'll keep playing around with it and see what happens.  So far, I like it.  You don't have to download anything.  It's a completely online program.  Just go to PicMonkey.com.

Peace!

Cyndi