Art is anything you can get away with.

Hello everyone,

Today I have a tiny little book to show you. Sometimes I just fancy doing something different and one day I made a little booklet from one sheet of 12' x 12' paper. It was lying on my desk when I  thought to cover the outside of it in fabric and next to add gesso to the cover and the pages too. Before I knew it I had stencilled, stamped and doodled on the pages and this little book was born ! I love it and will make more !

Here is the outside. If you want to make one of these books; there are lots of tutorials on the internet and youtube. Just look for 'book from one sheet of 12 x 12 paper'. 

There are 8 double spread mini art journals in this book and here are the photos. 

Spread no. 1

I used an UmWow Studio stencil and Distress Oxides for this. 

Spread 2. Stencil used is by UmWow Studio and I used Distress Oxide Ink.

Spread 3. Stencil by UmWow Studio, used with Distress Oxide Ink.

Spread 4. Stencil by UmWow Studio, used with Distress Oxide Ink. 

Spread 5. Stencil by PaperArtsy used with Distress Oxide ink.

Spread 6. Stencil by UmWow Studio, used with Distress Oxide Ink.

Spread 7. Stencil by UmWow Studio, used with Distress Oxide Ink. 

Spread 9. Stencil by UmWow Studio, used with Distress Oxide Ink. 

Another view of the book. 

And the back. 

I have used a lot of stamps for this book. 

20077 - Banksy you have no friends kid

20066 - This was not my dream

19995 - Overlapping circles

19415 - Butterfly specimen

20165 - Crossmarks background

20170 - Rows of numbers

20169 - art is anything you can get away with

19939 - Banksy Child fishing in paper boat

20163 - Typeset scallop

19580 - Wonderland

19679 Whimsical lettered man

19986 - Find your tribe

19536 - Girl in princess costume

20006 - I believe in

20161 - Punchinella Sequin Waste border

19979 - Yes I can

4213 - Back again

10526 - Tweedle Dum and Tweedle Dee

19413 - Not all who wander are lost

19656 - kids in futuristic hats

19650 - Caution  - safety glasses

19953 - Queen Elizabeth

19949 - Fortune favours the bold

Thank you so much for stopping by today ! 

A Little Christmas Journaling With Fiona

Hello VLVS peeps! Fiona here with you today with an art journal spread inspired by CHRISTMAS!!

 One of my favourite colour combinations at Christmas time is red and turquoise. I love the two together. Then I top it off white crisp clean white.... and a touch of black!

 And it's not Christmas anything without a star!

Viva Las Vegastamps! used:

Squiggly Star

Christmas Collage

Grunge 2

Grunge 5

Plate 1444

Plate 1471

See you all again soon xx

Sweater Weather

Hello everyone! Shanna here and I have a quick altered tag to give you some December Challenge inspiration.

Is this not a fabulous inspiration board for December! So much fun and it has my favorite color!!!! I do hope you take some time to play with us this month!

So I altered a quick tag and had fun with some paints and textured materials. 

So I had a total different plan for my tag and it DID NOT WORK! I originally wanted to use some gold foil paper with the background stamp but the glue was not working with me :(. So I changed gears fast.

Let's start with the base of the tag. I used two colors of Distress Paint to make the background. I sprayed with water and ran it through the paint and then heat set the paint. I love the messy look.

Then after my background stamp not working for the gold foil technique I stamped with black ink and then ran through some ideas before settling on a clean and simple textured fix. 

I don't have any photos of the stamping on canvas but it was pretty much that simple and cutting it out. I added a thin cheesecloth piece, adhering them by using a Tim Holtz Tiny Attacher. I also grabbed some random trim I had in a bin to finish off the tag. 

Here are some photos and up close shots. Get in the spirit of holiday and HAVE FUN!

Thank you for taking the time to stop by today!

Stamps Used:
Sweater Weather - 19304
Winter Woods Scene - 19793

Other Items:
Distress Paints
StazOn Black Ink
Trim
Canvas
Cheesecloth

December Challenge!

It's getting super cold in Vegas --- in the winter the wind rolls in and everyone gets chilly. In other parts of the world the snow is falling and people are bundling up. Which brings us to our December Challenge!

We're partnering up an older stamp with a new one & inspiring with this covered bridge scene. Think Winter, cold, chilly, snow, the wilderness, trees, Christmas tree hunting, flurries, snow, ice, and anything that might go with it! Colors are tans, browns, wood tones, teals, yellows... black & white and anything else that inspires you for winter.

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

Art Journal Page with Jenn Engle

Hey everyone! Today I have a fun collage-y style art journal page to share. I love to layer up my stamps in backgrounds and foregrounds. It really stretches how you use your stamps when you think of using them in multiple ways!

STAMPS USED:

Nature Collage

Banksy Child Fishing in Paper Boat

I started out by applying some patterned tissue paper to just the middle section of my page and then using gesso to try to camouflage the edges.

Next, I applied some Lindy's Stamp Gang sprays and magicals for background color. I did a little background stamping with just a portion of Nature Collage to get a little interest.

Lastly, I worked on my focal collage. I started with some sheet music paper and some washi tape. Then, I stamped Banksy Child Fishing in Paper Boat with brown ink. I added a butterfly and a quote on top. I also scuffed a little gesso around the butterfly to grunge him up a bit.

As a final touch, I added some rub-ons that look like paint splotches and some scribbles all over the page with a regular pencil.

To see exactly how I made this page, you can check out the video tutorial.

STAMPS USED:

Nature Collage

Banksy Child Fishing in Paper Boat

OTHER PRODUCTS USED:

Tim Holtz Postale Tissue Paper

Lindy's Stamp Gang Starburst Spray

Lindy's Stamp Gang Magicals

Sheet Music

Glitter Washi Tape

Gesso

Jane Davenport Rub-Ons

Archival Ink

Butterfly Image from computer

No. 2 Pencil

Thanks so much for looking!

~Jenn

Exhaustipated! Art Journal page by Cheetarah

Hi VLVS! friends! It's Cheetarah here to share a creation with you today. It's almost december and all the year end holidays are coming up and for me it's always such a tough month. The business of the festivities, hustle and bustle to buy presents (buyer's stress) does not mix well with my Seasonal Affective Disorder, so I just feel sooo tired just thinking about all these busy days ahead, it sometimes just brings me down.

Anyhow, I didn't had a word for this feeling until the brilliant people at VLVS! came up with this awesome word stamp "Exhaustipated: too tired to give a shit." and OH MY what a relief it was to create this art journal page about what I am feeling! So cathartic and meditative! Let me share how I made it.


I started off with a failed index card, painted some gesso over it and added modeling paste though a circular script stamp from the crafter's workshop.


Then applied some color from Liquitex basics in magenta, yellow and mint with a cosmetic sponge, making sure I had a nice blend of the various colors coming through.


Highlighted the texture by lightly dry-brushing some liquitex golden acrylic over it.


Added more texture with these lush VLVS! mixed media stamps and Staz-On inks.


To finish it off I splattered liquitex INKS, wrote with a black posca pen in between the circle script, added a strip of gelli printed paper to ground the lady and sentiment on. Lastly created some shadows and border with a higgins black marker and matting it before I adhered it to my pocket journal.

Stamps used:
Exhaustipated 
Cross Mark background
Rows of numbers
Fed up Vintage Lady
Row of scribble circles

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

It's Time to BE MERRY!!

Now that Thanksgiving is over it is time to get into the Christmas spirit!!  This is truely my all time favorite holiday and I am so excited to get busy with my holiday crafting!

Michele here today with a start to my Christmas cards.  For this one I used some non traditional colors with one of my favorite ornamaent stamps!!

Viva Las VegaStamps! used:  Set of Three Ornaments, Eat Drink and Be Merry.

I love the pink and blue with the traditional red of Christmas!

The background is Distress Oxide ink in Worn Lipstick and I stamped with Archival Ink.

SO?  Are you ready to Eat Drink and Be MERRY???!!!!

I am!  Let the fesivities BEGIN!!

Until next time...get inky!

Girly Envelope with Distress Oxide Inks - Mail Art Monday with Susanne

Hi there!

Today I have to share a girly mail art envelope for a friend of my daughter. I am sure nearly every girl loves unicorns and glitter....

Here is what I did:
I picked a piece of watercolour card stock and inked it up with Distress Oxide Inks. I used: Picked Raspberry, Peacock Feathers and Spiced Marmalade.
After that I sprinkled water droplets onto the surface and dried it with my heat tool.

After building the envelope with the Envelope Punch Board, I used the "Chevron Banner" and the "Whimsical Thatched Heart" to stamp decorative borders to the top and bottom of my envelope.

I stamped the "Unicorn" onto white cardstock, cut it out and adhered it to my project.

As I wanted the word "Birthday" being very BIG and glittery, I masked the rest of the "Happy Mail Enclosed" stamp before inking it up. So I was able to stamp only the word "Happy" with different colours and different intensities onto the front.

Finally I cut out the Birthday sentiment from cardstock that was completely covered with Miracle Tape. This makes it really easy to cover it with glitter completely after cutting.

Thank you for stopping by today!
xx Susanne.

Supplies:
Viva Las VegaStamps!:
Whimsical Thatched Heart
Happy Mail Enclosed
Chevron Banner
Unicorn 
Others:
Distress Oxide Inks
STAMPlorations "Birthday" die
Archival Ink
WOW! Sparkles