Mixed Media Art Journal: Persistence by Cheetarah

Hi all, it's Cheetarah here today and I would like to show you this art journal page I made recently with by now my fave stamps from the new releases at VLVS! The Leaf Lady is just so gorgeous, I've absolutely fallen in love with this stamp!! I had made an art postcard which I showed you last time and based on that design I made a bigger journal layout you see above. The size is about to fit an A5 journal. I used a lot of different media for this page and as usual a full list of stamps and media used is at the bottom of this post. First let me tell you how I created this journal page. 

To get the texture you see on the background, I used a bunch of left over pieces from Tim Holtz Mixed Media dies. I just stuck them on with matte medium and then used white gesso to create a starting base. To create the first layer of color, I sprinkled some Lindy's Magical Shakers in Guten Tag Teal, Bavarian Blue, Polka Purle and Yodeling yellow over the page and spritzed it with water. It gave a beautiful shimmering base. Then I went to dry brush some Deco Art Media antiquing green patina and metallic gold over the textured aria's to create some dimension. The specimen butterflies were stamped with Staz-On Royal purple on a piece of gelli printed deli paper which I adhered with liquitex gloss varnish. The Gelli paper gets a nice gloss and turns transparent so you get the design visible over your background. I stuck a few pieces of the gelli paper randomly on the page with the gloss varnish. I also stamped the butterflies randomly on the page with a darker blue color. The sentiment "Nevertheless, she persisted" was stamped on a trim of the background and I colored the edges with chipped sapphire distress crayon and antique bronze distress stain. It's popped up with foam tape. 

A close up on the texture of the background. I colored the leaf lady and doodle leaf the same way I did with the Art postcard, so with alcohol markers, but I also spattered the DecoArts Media patina Green and gold metallic over her hair to create more interest and texture. 

Before I adhered the page to my journal I added pops of color with Caran d'Ache neopastels (oil pastels) in turquoise and yellow.  A mixed media tip for you; if you have sealed your piece (like I did) with a varnish (I used the Liquitex gloss varnish) and you use oil pastels over it, you can use your heat gun to slightly heat up the oil pastels. The varnish protects the layers below it and the oil pastels turn a bit more liquid and you can easily smooth out the colors over your page with your fingers and not have streaky lines. 

Lastly I rubbed some distress stain antique bronze on the edges to frame the piece and called the page done! 

Hope this inspired you to create some texture with your left over pieces from your die cuts :) 

VLVS! used:

Whimsical Leaf Lady 

Nevertheless, she persisted 

Whimsical leaf 

Butterfly Specimens 

Others: 

Lindy's Magical Shakers in Guten Tag Teal, Bavarian Blue, Polka Purle and Yodeling yellow

Alcohol markers (Letraset promarkers) 

Die cut left overs & gelli printed paper

Distress stain antique bronze 

Distress crayon chipped Sapphire

Staz-on midnight blue, teal, jet black, royal purple

Caran d'Ache Neopastels 

DecoArt Media paints; Antiquing green Patina, Metallic Gold 

Foam Tape

Liquitex Gloss Varnish

Thank you for stopping by and have a wonderful day!

Haunted Seas

I started with one idea, switched to another and then went back to my original idea.

Together, they add up to Haunted Seas! Jack Sparrow would be right at home.

(Click to see larger! such gorgeous detail!)

Supplies
VLVS Stamps Used:
Skeleton Mermaid - Item 19257 Plate 940
Lighthouse Scene  - Item 19125 Plate 923
Cray-Pas® Expressionist® - Orange , Pale Blue, Yellow, White
Gellyroll Stardust-Lime-Star, Golden Star; Metallic Green, Purple; Standard-White

Masonite Panel
Silk Tissue Paper
Ranger Archival InkPad: Jet Black
StazOn Inkpad: Jet Black
Golden Fluid Acrylic paint: Micaceous Iron Oxide
Golden Soft Gel medium
Golden Self-Leveling Gel
Ranger White Enamel Accents
Clay-shaping tool
Plastic eraser
Hairspray

I prepared my wooden panel by priming it with Micaceous Iron Oxide, an acrylic paint with particles that produce a dark surface with a fine tooth, and sparkle.  It's a good surface for pastels, and light on dark painting.

I used the oil pastels to paint a moonlit ocean.

I sprayed the piece with hairspray to set the pastels, and left it to cure overnight.  Hairspray is not a permanent fixative, but it will help keep the oil pastels from smearing when you put on gel medium for a more permanent seal.

At this point, I started working on another project.  A few days before I had poured some Golden self-leveling gel onto a craft mat and left it to dry into a 'skin'. 

This medium takes quite a while to dry--a good 48 hours here, with the weather we're having.  Others times it dries faster, but I usually plan on at least 24 hours.  The medium dries clear, and peels right off the mat.

I poured out a fairly large amount and stamped several images onto the dried skin.  Including one of a lighthouse.  As I was cutting the images out, I had the thought that the lighthouse would look pretty good on my moonlight ocean.

It did--but the shading was wrong.  Now the skin is clear and I could flip the piece using either side.  That's one of the reasons for stamping onto the dried gel.  You also get some depth.  But when I flipped the image to get the shadows right, it didn't fit properly.  I compromised.  I just placed the lighthouse skin onto my scanner and lay the oil pastel painting on top.  Now I have a scan, incorrect shading and all, but I still have the painting free for my original project, as well as the lighthouse skin for yet another project.

I stamped my skeletal mermaid onto silk tissue paper, colored it with the gel ink pens.  Then I cut it out and used soft gel medium to glue it down onto the oil pastel painting.  I let that dry and then coated the whole piece with more soft gel.

For a last touch I added the seafoam with white enamel accents.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you've enjoyed sailing on Haunted Seas!For more of my work with Viva Las VegaStamps!, Amazing Mold Putty, zentangle-inspired art, and daily links to tangles, tutorials, and giveaways please visit my "Life Imitates Doodles" blog.   ~ Sandra Strait

Helpful Links: VLVS! Store for all your stamping needs; the  VLVS! Blog for new projects; VLVS! on  FaceBook,  Pinterest and Twitter

Bees Singing in Lavender

This summer I went to a lavender farm.  

There were bees everywhere.  Their humming a song in the air.  Their energy--bursts of flight, wings sparkling with light.  

I wanted to capture some of that in a painting.

Supplies
VLVS Stamps Used:
Large Bee Item 19013 Plate 893

Small Bee Item 19012 Plate 893 

Bee/Small Item 1896 Plate 472

Genuinely Jane Studios Wood Book page (Picket Fence)
Cray-Pas® Specialist® Oil Pastels: Sakura Of America-Dioxane Violet, Mauve, Cobalt Blue, Titanium White/ Cray-Pas® Expressionist® - Sakura Of America: Purple, Yellow-Green, Yellow, White

Clairefontaine Rouge Mer 300 lb Cold Press Watercolor paper
Faber-Castell Gelatos:Tangerine, Mango, Butter Cream
StazOn Inkpad: Jet Black
Golden Fluid Acrylic paint: Micaceous Iron Oxide
Golden Soft Gel medium
Clay-shaping tool
Plastic eraser

I prepared my wooden panel by priming it with Micaceous Iron Oxide, an acrylic paint with particles that produce a dark surface with a fine tooth, and sparkle.  It's a good surface for pastels, and light on dark painting.

I blocked out the areas where I wanted lavender. Layering purples and blues, I moved and blended the color with a clay-shaping tool and a plastic eraser.   Long strokes of yellow and green were added for grass.  I made sure to leave areas of the Micaceous Iron Oxide showing for contrast.  I just kept layering the colors, blending and pulling out details with the shaper until I was happy.

In the upper right, where I used mostly yellows and whites, I ran the plastic eraser over the color, blurring most of the detail, and then, lightly, laid in long strokes of yellow and white to get a strong impression of sunlight.

I sprayed the complete piece with hair spray and let it set overnight (this sets it so you can layer on a medium without disturbing the pastel, but it isn't enough to be permanent on it's own).

The bee images were stamped onto the watercolor paper that I had colored in yellows and oranges using gelatos. I added strokes of yellow and white oil pastel.  I cut the images out, and folded the legs and wings downward to get some dimension.

To seal the piece, and to glue down the bees, I used soft gel medium, covering the bees completely on both sides, and layering it heavily on the oil pastel.

I couldn't catch it as well as I hoped, but the Micaceous Iron Oxide glitters in the light giving the impression of dust motes sparkling in the sun.

Thank you for stopping by, and I hope you've enjoyed my oil pastel painting.

There are still a few days left for you to enter the Viva Las VegaStamps! August challenge. It's great fun and a chance to share your projects with the world!

For more of my work with Viva Las VegaStamps!, Amazing Mold Putty, zentangle-inspired art, and daily links to tangles, tutorials, and giveaways please visit my "Life Imitates Doodles" blog.   ~ Sandra Strait

Helpful Links: VLVS! Store for all your stamping needs; the  VLVS! Blog for new projects; VLVS! on  FaceBook,  Pinterest and Twitter

Time 2 Stamp {Fussy Cut + Cray-pas}

DeeDee here today with a Time 2 Stamp video!

You'll notice we've been doing a lot of work with Sakura of America products lately on the VLVS! blog. That's because they were kind enough to donate some beautiful supplies to the design team in return for some stamping samples with them. Check out this pinterest board for a complete collection of all we've done.

Today I'm sharing another technique: laying down cray-pas, stamping on top, and then fussy cutting to create this tag:

For the technique I used Dancing Lady and Don't Let Anyone stamps with the Expressionist set of Cray-pas from Sakura of America. Watch the details in the video here for info on laying down Cray-pas, blending them and stamping on top!

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After I did the fussy cutting and had my girl ready in the background I finished the tag with some UmWowStudio supplies (Circle Confetti mask, Star Confetti chipboard, Layered clouds) Prima Flowers, May Arts eyelet lace, seed beads, Sakura of America Micron Pigma Pen, white cardstock, gesso and a pearl brad. The paper is from 7 Dots Studio.

Wanderlust

I have to admit I was never a wild child.  
I always envied those who were.

So I decided to celebrate the spirit of Wanderlust!

VLVS! Stamps used: 
Children Playing on Toy Car-19187 Plate 927
Wanderlust-19170 Plate 927

Sakura of America:
Cray-Pas® Expressionist® Oil Pastels-Red, Orange, Yellow, Pale Blue, Black, Yellow, Green
Gelly Roll® Stardust® Glitter Pens-Rose, Sky Blue, Gold, Red
Gelly Roll 1.0 Metallic: - Gold, Blue 

Other Supplies:

Heavy 5" x 5" Chipboard or Masonite tile

UmWow Studio Chipboard-Hexagon Background

Silk Tissue Paper (aka very thin rice paper/mulberry paper.  White tissue paper would also work, but would harder to color)
Faber-Castell Stampers Big Brush pen-Ivory 103, Light Flesh 132
Miracle Tape
StazOn Inkpad-Jet Black
Hair Spray
Golden Regular Gel Medium
Golden Acrylic Ground
Plastic Eraser
Stylus
E6000 adhesive
Scissors
Bone Folder

The Tile-Using Cray-Pas® as Scratchboard (Sgraffito)

1. Seal the tile with two coats of regular gel medium and 1 coat of Acrylic ground, letting each layer dry in between.
2. Color the tile with the Cray-Pas®, adding each color at random applying the color heavily. DO NOT USE BLACK AT THIS TIME.
3. Blend the colors together with the plastic eraser.
4. Lay down a heavy coat of black, completely covering the other colors.  Don't worry--the other colors won't smudge.
5. Use the stylus to carve designs into the oil pastel, allowing the first layer of colors to show through. 
6. Spray with cheap hair spray and let set overnight to set color..
7. Seal with regular gel medium. Let dry.

(NOTE:  Julie Fei-Fan Balzer has a video showing this technique )

The Chipboard Hexagon

1. Seal the chipboard with two coats of regular gel medium and 1 coat of Acrylic ground, letting each layer dry in between.
2. Lay down stripes of yellow-green Cray-Pas®, alternating with sky blue stripes.
3. Spray with cheap hair spray and let set overnight to set color.
4. Seal with regular gel medium. Let dry.
5. Attach chipboard to tile with E6000.

The Stamped Images

1. Stamp the ''Children Playing on Toy Car' and the 'Wanderlust images onto the silk tissue paper with StazOn ink.
2. Cut around each image, leaving a generous border around each.
3. Flip over and add layers of Miracle tape onto the paper to stiffen it. Leave the backing on the tape for now.
4. Flip right side up, and color the children using the Gellyroll and Big Brush pens.
5. Trim the Wanderlust image so it has a white border all around,
6. Pull off backing and stick to the bottom corner of the tile.  Burnish with bone folder or spoon, taking care not to tear the tissue.
7. Fussy cut the Children's image so no border is left.
8. Pull off backing and stick to the bottom corner of the tile.  Burnish with bone folder or spoon, taking care not to tear the tissue.

Check out the VLVS! Store for all your stamping needs and the  VLVS! Blog for new projects. VLVS! FB - VLVS! Pinterest - VLVS! Twitter

For more of my work with Viva Las VegaStamps!, Amazing Mold Putty, zentangle-inspired art, and daily links to tangles, tutorials, and giveaways please visit my "Life Imitates Doodles" blog.   ~ Sandra Strait

Time Flies!

 

Hello Everyone! Judy here, this is my first blog post as a
Viva Las Vegastamps DT member!
I hope this project inspires you to get out your stamping supplies and play along.  

I had a lot of fun creating this tutorial to share with you, the
stamps I used:
“Flying bird”
“Time Flies”

I love all the stamps on this plate: #893 
 
My finished tags, 3 1/4" x 4 3/4."

 

 

 

 

To begin; you will need Kromecote glossy cardstock, a tag die and die cutting tool. It’s hard to stop making these once you see how beautiful they look! While you have the supplies out die-cut a few more tags.

Place tag down glossy side up on non stick craft sheet; apply no more than three colors of oil pastels crayons to cover the tag. I used blue, purple, and white.

 

tag with oil pastel crayons

 

After the tag is covered with oil pastel crayons, use a 1" foam brush to add one layer of gesso over the tag. If your gesso is thick, spray the tag with a little water. (You will need a thin coat of gesso to cover tag.) Let dry to touch. Very important, place you tag on a scrap piece of paper and not on your craft sheet. Then use fine sandpaper to remove some of the gesso. Some of oil pastel might be removed down to the Kromecote with just a little blue color, that's OK. Clean residue from tag with soft dry cloth.

 

Place your sanded tag back on craft sheet, apply distress inks using Ranger foam ink applicator, stamp bird and quote images with black archival ink, while distress ink and black ink is still wet, place tag on scrap paper and immediately pour Viva Las Vegastamps Ultra High-Gloss Clear Embossing Powder over the tag. Pour off excess and then heat set with embossing tool. Portions of the tag and images will have a high gloss finish, other portions of tag will be matte finish.  

 

Die cut a tag with chipboard. Adhere Miracle Tape on back of finished tag and adhere to chipboard tag. Attach May Arts Ribbon to the top with a mini stapler to finish.

 

close-up

 

The results; Amazing! I love the finish using the ultra high gloss embossing powder.

 

VLVS Supplies:

Plate #893

Ultra High Gloss embossing powder

Inkssential foam applicator

Miracle Tape

Heat tool

 

 

Other supplies:

Mays Arts Ribbon

Oil Pastel Crayons; Caran d'Ache

Sizzix; Scallop tag die

Ranger distress inks; frayed burlap, stormy sky
Ranger Craft sheet

Ranger mini-stapler

Ranger archival black ink

Die cutting machine

Fine grade sandpaper

1" foam brush

Gesso (liquid)

Chipboard


Tag # 2
After I finished making the first tag,
I was playing around with different paints and came up with this technique.
The supplies are the same as above with the change of one product.
Instead of gesso, I used Pearl Dabber paint by Ranger over the oil pastels.  

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you for viewing my first tutorial!