Summer by Tracy Blackwolf

 Hello everyone!

For my blog project today, I did a page in my art journal-enjoy.

I started by doing the blue corners first. I sprayed several spray stains and then sprayed water and kept alternating until I was happy.. Then I did the yellow and red. again using water to thin and move around the colors.

Next I used my pearl ex watercolor pallet and painted several colors on here and there until I was happy. I love the shimmer of the pearl ex.

While that dried, I stamped and fussy cut the swimsuit lady out and painted her. Next I stamped the various images where I wanted them- making an l shape on the page. I added the seahorse washi tape. I used two layers of foam tape behind the girl since I wanted her to stand out nicely. Added a die cut green sprig and then done! I used the chain link fence stamp as fish net- it works pretty good but then it mostly got covered up.

Stamps:

Lady swimsuit back       2411

Jagged chain link fence     19140

Grunge circles            19563

Grunge Thermometer    20691

Writing and scribble collage     20695

Other supplies:

Distress spray stains

Pearl ex watercolor pallet

Versa claire inks- Warm breeze, morning mist, nocturne

Alexandra renke washi tape seahorses

July Challenge!

I say this all year long, but I honestly can't believe it's JULY.

Time to BEAT THE HEAT with a new challenge!

It's SUMMER time and nothing says SUMMER like ice cream, candies, desserts and melty goodness. Hear that music? GET IN LINE! Sunshine, warmer temperatures, polka dot bikinis and more! We have the WHOLE rainbow on this image so let your heart go wild and celebrate SUMMER!

Don't forget the rules:

-Create a new project based on our inspiration board (it has to be posted this month, but you can certainly link up to other challenges as well!)

-Use at least one (but certainly more if you want) Viva Las VegaStamps! rubber stamps

(We are now allowing competitors stamps to be on your work, but please make VLVS! the focus of the project, thank you.)

-Post it to your blog with a link back to us

-Upload to our linky using your direct blog post link (You may also upload via facebook, flickr or other gallery)

You could win a Project Spotlight post on our blog + some new rubber of course.

And visit us back here for inspiration!

An InLinkz Link-up

Sm;)e.

Hello!!  Mary here with some fun inspiration for this month's challenge.

I decided to create a fun summertime journal!  It's perfect for scrapping a few summer photos, jotting down my musings and holding all those bits and bobs of goodness I just need to keep.

As you can see, I took the color palette quite literally!  I sprayed a bright yellow and also a teal Lindy's Stamp Gang spray mist  and a whole lotta water onto some watercolor paper.  When it was completely dry, I finger painted white paint here and there to give the illusion of clouds and soften it up a bit.

Then, I stamped the 3 Women in Tubes image in StazOn jet black ink as a focal image.  I then stamped the sm;)e image repeatedly in the same ink.  I love that it serves as my title and adds such lovely texture, as well.

Finally, I stitched a vellum sun, a border and some pretty blue seam binding down.  The seam binding started it's life in white.  I cut three lengths and gradually added more of the same Lindy's teal spray to achieve a pretty ombre water effect.  A few sequins for some sparkle and I'm ready to play!

Needless to say, I was super inspired by this months mood board!  I LOVE my book and can't wait to spend the summer filling her up :-)  I hope you've found a little inspiration today, as well.

Thanks for stopping by!

xx Mary

Mail Art Give-Away!!!

Hello Again!!!

Today I thought I would share the Mail Art Love with all of you so, I have made a Variety of envelopes in different themes and styles. I will be drawing on the winners using Random.org one the 18th, and all 10...YES 10 WINNERS!!! (what can I say, I do LOVE mail Art and Sharing!) will be announced on my next post on the 20th of this month. You will then have 48 hours to respond, and accept your prize! :) 

What do you have to do to be entered?? 

Well it's easy, just leave a comment below letting me know what envelope you like best and why, or let me know what you'd like to see more of... It's that easy!! : )  

(anyone can play along even if you are not in the US, so don't hesitate to try!!)

Now, Take a look around and I hope you find something cheerful and  inspirational!

 As Always thank you for stopping to see us, We Love hearing from you!!  

Stamps Used:

The Usual Suspects 3/4 x 3

Window Fish 2 1/2 x 3 1/2

Fish On Box 1 1/2 x 2 1/4

Goldfish In Disguise 2 1/2 x 2 1/4

Pair of Boots 2 1/2 x 2 1/2

Big Girl Panties? 1 1/2 x 2 1/4

Beware Of The Pink Flamingos 1 x 2 1/2

Flamingo 1 1/4 x 2 3/4

Striped Swimsuit Lady 2 x 3

Parrot With Umbrella Drink 3 1/4 x 2 1/2

Polaroid Print Standard Size 4 x 4

Polaroid Print Small 3 x 3 1/4

Destination Unknown 1 x 2

Decorative Frame 1 3/4 x 2 3/4

Grandville Chicken 2 x 3 3/4

Grandville Bug 1 3/4 x 4 1/2

Grandville Hawk 2 1/4 x 3 3/4

Coffee Ring Stain 2 3/4 x 2 1/4

In The Pale Moonlight 3/4 x 1 1/2

Man With Telescope 2 1/2 x 2 3/4

Building Roof With Statue 3 3/4 x 2 3/4

Fleur-De-Lis 3/4 x 3/4

Boston Terrier Pair 3 1/4 x 2 1/4

Boston Terrier One Paw Up 1 1/2 x 3 1/4

Bone Silhouette 1 x 1 3/4

Pawprint Small 3/4 x 3/4

Pen Tips 2 3/4 x 2

Paris Address 1 1/2 x 3 1/4

Chicken Wire 3 3/4 x 4 1/2

Feed Your Soul 3/4 x 4 1/4

Film Strip 1 1/2 x 6 1/2

Dictionary Page 4 x 2 1/2

Diver In Suit 1 1/2 x 3

Triple Mast Sailing Ship 3 1/4 x 2 1/4

Sunken Anchor 2 x 1 1/2

Graphometre 2 3/4 x 3 3/4

Mollusk Shell 1 x 1

Discover 3/4 x 2 1/4

Long Shell 3/4 x 2 1/4

Plate 890

art journaling and summer distress inks

Last month each of theViva LasVegastamps! Design team were each giving a Clairefontaine journals. For the month of August you seen what my fellow Design team members did with their journals. Today is my turn. 

-All month long, twice a week, the VLVS! DT is featuring sketch journals by Clairefontaine.

You can see their products here : http://www.exaclair.com/

brands_clairefontaine.shtml

And check up on all things journal related @ the Rhodia Drive blog:http://rhodiadrive.com/

and on their facebook : http://www.facebook.com/pages/



http://www.facebook.com/pages/Rhodia-Drive/98458096197---

 As part of this month long event...Viva Las Vegastamps! and Clairefontaine are hosting a contest this month--comment on all the Clairefontaine posts throughout the month to get a chance at a free journal and a $15 coupon to the VLVS! online store! Great prize!! Good luck!! Remember, you can't win if you don't enter!!!  So be sure to check out everyone on the DT's journal pages!

The journal is about 12  long by 8 1/2 wide. The cover is clear.It does have a band closure. The paper in the  journal is a drawing paper with a 85lb weight to it. The paper has a good thickness to it, so I was wondering how it will hold up with what I do. I've worked in journals of all sizes. And each one takes a bit to get use to. I'm getting use to this one too.I did 3 pages of the journal. I'm going to show 2 that I completed.

I just got my Summer Distress ink pads when I got the journal. So I took each of the 3 colors and swiped it on a different page. I then took some water and a brushed and applied water on the page to spread the ink.

The last color I did was the Salty Ocean. And that was the first page I worked on. Right after I put water on the page I put some rock salt down on the page. I let it air dried a bit before I used the heat gun to speed up the drying process. I shook the salt off, and got a cool effect. I stamped the Water Drop Background using the same ink pad. I stamped too much of it, to my liking. so I took out the brush with water and brushed the page. And tried it again with the rock salt. I then stamped the Water Drop Background again. and like it much better.

I then stamped some of the 2 of the kayak stamps I have and the 2 girls on boat stamp. Colored them with Prismas color pencils. I wanted a vacation quote, I looked at brainery.com and found one. Went into word and type the quote 3 different fonts. Cut the words out and glued them on the page. I added some more of the blue color to the word to blend in the page. The page needed something else, I used some punchinella as a stencil and some white paint on the page.

Items used:

Salty Ocean Distress ink

white cardstock

prisma color pencils

white craft paint

punchenilla

rock salt

water

Stamps used:

Water drop background

Top view kayak

Man kayaking

two girls on boat

This is the second page I did. This page I used the Picked Raspberry distress ink. I then spritz some sprays on to the page and let it drip down. I then used some of the punchinella from the Gauche Alchemy kit in pink, white and black craft paints. The woman was from the vintage sears catalog that was in my kit. I did color her up a bit with color pencils. I took a piece of Kromecote and brayered  the same ink color that was on the page. I spritz it with some water  for some texture. The stamp I used is I read recpies the same  on black memento inkpad. I cut the words apart and glued them on the page with glossy accents. I did go around the edges with marker.

Items used:

Picked Raspberry distress ink

Black, Pink, and white Craft paints

Various punchinella

pink and black spray

ephermra

Kromecote

water

Stamp used:

I read recipes the same

Route 66

I have been wanting to use my VivaLasVegaStamps! Roue 66 stamp for the LONGEST time and since the Swimsuit Lady looked like she was ready for a summer road trip, I thought it was a great combination.

 I have this great book of maps from Turkey so I cut out a page and attached it to the front of an upcycled card with gel medium. Next I stamped my Swimsuit lady onto a piece of watercolor paper using Distress Ink in Black Soot and cut her out with an Xactto. I painted my lady with Neocolor II water color crayons and Prismacolor Colored Pencils. I colored all of her accessories using glitter gel pens, then finished off her lips and eyes with Prismacolor markers.

 

 I stamped my Route 66 stamp onto watercolor paper using Fired Brick Distress Ink, cut it out, then colored in the sign with blue and silver glitter gel pen. I printed my quote then aged the paper with Distress Ink in Tea Dye. I attached my text and images to the map using gel medium. Even though I now have a great card to use whenever I need it, I like it so much I may just glue it closed and attach a ribbon to the back and hang it up as a reminder to myself :D

See more of my work on my blog.