Altered Index Card by Cathy

 Hello, Today I have an Altered Index Card for you.

                                                                         Stamps Used:

                                                               19416 waybill/invoice 

                                                               19415 butterfly specimens

I started out by coffee dying some blank index cards.

Next, I stamped the waybill/invoice in distress oxide. I then smudged the ink. 

Stamp the butterfly specimens in black ink in the middle of the index card.

I added a little string and a label to the bottom of the card.

Art journal cover - Soul of a mermaid

 Hi everyone,

Recently, I was invited to a letter journal round robin - actually the first time I'm participating in something like that. Today I'm sharing my cover for this letter journal. 

If you're not familiar with this form of art journal swaps, I'll give you a short explanation: Everyone who participates creates a journal that fits into a standard envelope. The journals are sent around in a circle, the recipient creates a spread in it and sends it to the next person and so on. Once the journal returns to the owner, it is filled with lots of pretty pages by the other artists.

I created a quick blue background base with acrylic paints applied with a baby wipe. On top, I added some stenciling with the same colors, just introducing a light grey shade as a new one. I dried the paints very well and then doodled around one of the stencil patterns with a fine black pen to accent the design. Also, I added some spatters with watered down acrylic paint.

Next I added some background stamping with the dictionary page as well as the invoice/waybill stamp, both stamped with teal and only partly to create just a subtle background element.

Because of the aqua tone of the cover I thought of the mermaid stamp and chose it as a focal image for the front. I stamped the mermaids onto watercolor paper, colored them with ZIG markers, cut them out and inked the edges with a black marker. As they screamed for something to be placed onto, I combined that with the title. I die cut the words into some black cardstock, tore the edges with the help of a ruler and placed a nice shimmery paper from my scrap collection under it.

I glued the elements down and stamped the mermaid and sailor quote on the back. After making the the fold, I inked the edges (as well as the fold) with a blending tool.

 

Stamps used:
Dictionary Page (19015) 
Waybill/Invoice Background (19416)
Mermaid Trio (18187)
Soul Of A Mermaid Mouth Of A Sailor (20639)

Other material:
- Canson watercolor paper
- black cardstock
- shimmer or glitter paper
- acrylic paints (Lukas: arctic, turquoise, prussian blue, light grey || Liquidex: bright aqua green)
- Archival Ink (paradise teal, seafarer)
- Versafine Claire Ink (nocturne)
- ZIG real brush markers
- stencils (Lemon Creation: broken circle || A.B. studio: arches || Dina Wakley: fractured circles)
- alphabet dies (Tim Holtz: gift card bag with alpha)
- black fineliner


See you soon!

Trust your own wings

Hello everybody,

there is still some time left to join the STRENGTH themed challenge over in the VLVS Facebook group. You need a little creative kickstart? Here we go! I went for an art journal page about self-confidence.

I started my page by applying water with a big watercolor brush in the shape of a big circle. Then I added some Starburst sprays from Lindy's. I used the sprays more as a watercolor.
To create more depth I worked with various layers - adding water (by spraying or flicking or with a brush), adding the spray paint, drying, continuing with another layer. It was so much fun!
As a final touch I drew a few scribbely lines around the circle.

For some background texture I chose two stamps, a nature collage and the waybill/invoice, which I stamped with black Versafine ink.

As a focal image I used the flying bird. I stamped it and got out my watercolors. Somehow I was able to blend the red from the bird's body into the turquoise of its wings without getting a muddy shade. After it had dried, I did some fussy cutting and inked the cutting edges with a black marker. This way the image blends better into the background.
I also cut the sentiment from a sheet of scrapbooking paper, glued it down and added some thin black lines around it.

Here are some more photos:

Stamps used:
Nature Collage by Cat Kerr (20036)
Waybill/Invoice Background (19416)
Large Bird Flying Left (19001) 


Other materials:
- art journal (mine is a handbound one, 7.5 x 7.5 inch)
- Lindy's Gang Starburst Sprays (Tibetan Poppy Teal, Sea Mint Green, Sea Grass Green and Whale Watch Blue)
- watercolor
- Versafine Ink (Onyx Black)
- marker (fine tip and brush nib)
- scrapbooking paper ("Letters to you" from ABstudio)


Hope to see your entry to the challenge! 

See you soon,

Fortune favors the bold

Hello everyone,

I have a cool art journal page to share along with a little tutorial.

I created my spread in an old book - the same one that I used for my last project here on the blog. I prepped it by glueing a few pages together but didn't used gesso this time. Instead I chose three Distress Oxide Sprays and sprayed them over the whole spread directly. I dried between each color to avoid them fading into each other. 

Then I added some stamping. In the first layer I stamped the Twilight Zone Spiral with water instead of ink. It reacts with the sprays underneath, but not too much so you get a very subtle effect here. I also used the same stamp with Oxide Ink in Iced Spruce, so it matches with one of the colors from my background. And as I just felt like my page needed a little more contrasting element, I added the Waybill Invoice Background stamp with black ink.

To create my little scene, I stamped and watercolored the girl and the mouse. Then did a little fussy cutting and colored the edges with a black marker to make them blend better into the background.

I wanted some kind of table for the adorable mouse to run over and save its cheese, so I took a piece of design paper with that laths pattern, trimmed it to size (in fact I ripped it over the edge of a ruler to make the edge a little grungy) and blended some Oxide Inks over the edges. 

When I started to put everything together I found that my background was missing something, so I added a few stamped Chevrons and some white splatters and that helped a lot. 

I glued the girl and the "table" directly to the page and used foam tape behind the mouse. To make everything look a little more connected, I added a little shadow under my two protagonists.
For my quote I stamped both text stamps on the same design paper that I used earlier and also glued them in place. Behind the #FOODIE snippet I added some black thread as it was kinda floating in the middle of nowhere.

These are the stamps I used:
#Foodie (20010)
Surprise Girl (5544)
Waybill / invoice background (19416)
Writing Chevron (19824)
Twilight Zone Swirl (20506)
Fortune favors the bold (19949)
Mouse running with cheese (12653)

Other materials:
- Old book (or other journal) 
- Versafine Clair Ink (Nocturne)
- Distress Oxide Spray (Dried Marigold, Faded Jeans, Iced Spruce)
- Distress Oxide Inks (Iced Spruce, Ground Espresso, Black Soot)
- Watercolor
- White acrylic paint
- Design Paper with wood pattern
- Canson Watercolor Paper
- Black thread


That's it for my project. See you soon!

Not all who Wander

Hello everyone.... 

I’m back for another month. And I’m going to be straight up honest. 

This month’s challenge has me freaking stumped. 

Homecooked!!!....

(#noventry19)

So I digressed for this first post. But I won’t let the challenge defeat me. (Stay tuned for that!!).

Without further ado...

Not all who Wander!!

I started with a 4x4 piece of watercolour paper that I smeared a layer of texture paste and then let it dry a little then stamped into it with the Waybill/invoice stamp.

Then I added the stamped image of the Businessman Silhouette straight onto the textured background. I know it doesn't give a perfect image but I love it anyway... 

what are your thoughts? 

can you handle the not quite so crisp stamped image?

Then I added some colour washes so it looks like the man is standing on a mountain, a few random alphas. 

Then I stamped the sentiment onto a piece of resined book text. 

I just love that caramel coloured goodness!!!!

Lastly, just to finish some stitching around the piece to give the whole piece a super easy border.

All of the stamps featured here are from Plate 1440....

Viva Las VegaStamps used:

Waybill/invoice Background (sku: 19416)

https://vlvstamps.com/waybill-invoice-background-4-1-4-x-5-1-4.html

Businessman Silhouette (Sku: 19418)

https://vlvstamps.com/businessman-silhouette-1-1-4-x-3-1-4.html

https://vlvstamps.com/not-all-who-wander-3-4-x-2-1-2.html

Other materials used:
Liquitex modelling paste
Stazon Jet black ink
Dina Wakley Media paint: Ocean
Thickers alphabet
Art Alchemy wax, Bronze
Resin paper.

Don't forget to leave some love.

Live with Respect. 

Leanne xo

We all Eff Up sometimes...

Hi VLVS! fans! It's Cheetarah here today and I wanted to share a postcard with you I made inspired by a recent mishap. It does contain sensitive language but as you all know VLVS! does have a wonderful array of stamps to be very expressive in your artwork with. All the stamps I used are listed at the bottom of the post. 

My base is a 6x4 inch heavy stock watercolor paper by Winsor and Newton. I used ranger archival ink to stamp the Fed up Vintage Lady with because that works well with the watercolors I am going to use. The ink stays put and doesn't contaminate my brushes. I did choose to stamp the image lighter so that I can add in details with a fine liner after coloring as you can see below. 

I really love the process of watercolor, esp choosing the colors that play well together and create an effect of their own. Like the turquoise and violet blends in the background. 

In the background I wanted to convey a certain contained aura around the Fed up Lady - like she is in her own thought bubble. Like we usually tend to do when things consume us... Also wanted to give you a view of how my desk looks when I am at work with watercolors. I sorta have an addiction when it comes to them, meaning I have several sets. Like stamps, they multiply. 

After I finished coloring I stamped texture in the background with Memento inks in corresponding colors. Trimmed and rounded off the edges then lined it with Tuxedo black which I also used to stamp in the word Fuck. Poor girl, I hope she gets out of her thought loop soon and realize we all eff up sometimes... it's what we learn from it and continue on that matters most. 

Stamps used: 

Fed-Up Vintage Lady 

Fuck Head  

Waybill/Invoice background 

Rows of Numbers 

Hope this inspired you to create and see you all next time. Also be sure to check out the new releases this month! Have a lovely day!

Index Card Art by Jenn Engle - A Corner of Your Heart

 Hey everyone! I have a 4" x 6" index card made of watercolor paper to share with you today.

Stamps Used:

Young Lady

Cottage Scene

Waybill Invoice

I started out by spraying a few different kinds of spray ink thru stencils. I sprayed this with water to get a very soft look. 

I then stamped Cottage Scene in grey ink. 

I added a few more colors of ink on my background, centering them around the Cottage Scene. I then embossed Waybill Invoice with a shabby blue embossing powder. 

Then, I stamped out my Young Lady and colored her with copic markers. After that, it was just a matter of adding elements around my lady to finish of the card. 

I added some die cut wings, some vintage ledger paper die cuts and some word stickers. The finishing touch was some sparkling clear droplets and some white ink splatters.

Stamps Used:

Young Lady

Cottage Scene

Waybill Invoice

Other Supplies Used:

Lindy's Stamp Gang Spray

Distress Oxide Spray Stain

Tim Holtz Stencils

Archival Ink

Shabby Blue Stampendous Embossing Powder

Tim Holtz Geo Insect Die Cut

Clippings Word Stickers

Liquitex Acrylic Ink

Sparkling Clear Droplets

If you have any questions, let me know!

Thanks for looking!

~jenn

Let Fear Be Your Compass An Art Journal Page by Jenn Engle

Hello everyone!

Today I have an art journal page to share. It's relatively simple, but the VLVS stamps pack a punch!

Stamps Used: 

Let Fear Be by Cat Kerr

Deer Head by Cat Kerr

Waybill Invoice

Color Wheel Grid

I started out by covering my entire page with Tim Holtz collage paper. Then using some brown inks, randomly allowed it to move all over the background. Once that was dry, I used a palette knife to apply Teal Golden Fluid Acrylic Paint. Then, I added gesso to the spots where I was going to do my stamping. All that was left to do was to stamp my Deer and sentiment and it's done! Simple!

Other Supplies Used:
Tim Holtz Collage Paper
Daler-Rowney Acrylic Ink
Dr. PH Marten's Liquid Watercolor
Golden Fluid Acrylic Paint
Dina Wakley Media Gesso

Thanks so much for looking!
~Jenn