Creating a Colorful Background

I was inspired by class with Joanne Sharpe to create these art journal pages. I think I have flying turtles instead of butterflies, I made them so chubby, LOL! 

Would you like to learn how I made the colorful background for these pages? I made a video of the process to share with you. 

Let me know what you think!

Maura

Simon Says: Use Your Favorite Tool!

Hello Monday! Our challenge for you this week at Simon Says Stamp is to use your favorite tool! Now, I thought about my scissors, which I did use, that I reach for all the time...but one of my favorite tools is my water brush, or should I say, my collection of them! 

I was inspired by one of my favorite whimsical artists, Joanne Sharpe, to create my own whimsical heartfelt bookmarks. This is the month of love, right? I love making these and giving them away as gifts. I have one myself that I've been using for a couple of years, and honestly, it looks as good as when I made it. 

So, here we go! On my first bookmark, I used the water brush to paint the heart with my Peerless Watercolors which I love, dripped water into the heart, and then stood it up to drip down. I like it! 

On my second, I painted my hearts, dripped water into them to create a soft watercolor effect, and blotted them with a paper towel.

I use my heat gun in-between adding colors to be sure they are dry, if I want to minimize color bleeding.

These are fun and easy to make, and don't need a lot of materials. I like to keep a small scrap of watercolor paper nearby to check colors, my paper towel for blotting (you can bet I will dry that and keep it for future use!), water brushes, watercolor paper, and pens for doodling.

This is what they look like once I finished adding all of my watercolors. You could easily decide to stop here if you like the way they look.

But, I also like to doodle these, using different pen sizes, black, white, colors...I do try to be sure to use a permanent pen. Once everything is dry, I went in with a bit of Wink Of Stella to add in some glitter, and punched a hole and added the bright, cheerful fibers.

Finished Bookmarks:

So, I am curious - what is your favorite tool? Let us know and share something you have created using it. Remember, Simon Says Stamp offers a $50 shopping voucher each week! 

SUPPLIES:

                                       

                                       

Simon is on Instagram! Use #sssmchallenge to share.

Curious about the DT's favorite tools? Be sure to head on over to the challenge to find out! 

 A great place to shop!!

My Artfully Inspired Life: June

I've gotten a little behind working in my art journal for my online class with Joanne Sharpe. But, I did just catch up with June, for which I am grateful, and wanted to share those pages with you. It is such a fun class and you can join in the fun anytime! Two things I have learned about myself, is I LOVE color, and I LOVE to doodle!!

I am so grateful to each of you who stop by to visit. If you haven't joined the blog yet, I would love to have you, and a big thank you to all who follow twocraftingsisters! 

There you have it! Now, on to July...will I finish before the month ends? That is the question!

Have a wonderful crafty day, my friends!

Artfully Inspired April, Part 2

April is all about colored pencils! I wanted to share my final two journal pages for April with you. I am just loving is class by Joanne Sharpe, it is pushing my creative boundaries!

 

I am loving my final page for April. The bright colors have me in the mood for spring, and it is finally here!

Enjoy your spring, and pull out your color pencils to play!

Artful Journey into April

I love my online class with Joanne Sharpe..."My Artfully Inspired Life" and even though it is early in the month, I wanted to share the colored pencil fun I have been having. It also ties in perfectly with my goal to draw something everyday for 100 days.

A bit of my first page for April, playing with paisley...

My page I've been working on today...

Our April theme is all about Faith, perfect for this time of year.

This is so much fun to just draw and color, I feel like a kid :)

These are part of my 100 days of drawing, plus this one...I just felt like drawing gears, and practicing a little doodling.

 

 

My Artfully Inspired Life: March, Take 2

I've been having so much fun with the March techñique in my online class with Joanne Sharpe, that I find myself playing with this more and more! I love it!

Happy Spring! To celebrate, my next swap is all about flowers, so I wanted to share the ones I made.

 

 

Let me know if you have a favorite, I would love to hear from you! Also, if you haven't checked out my fun giveaway to celebrate spring, be sure to scroll down :)

 

My Artfully Inspired Life "B"ookmarks

Ok, I will admit when I first started these, I thought they looked pretty ugly....

But, WOW! It's amazing how some pen doodling can totally transform them! I LOVE them!

I made them as part of my March Artfully Inspired online class, so thought I would show you how the pages came together.

My first two pages with the hope quotes before anything is written.

This pages shows what it looks like with the word boxes I made and journaling. The "B"ookmarks will have journaling on the backs also.

 

Having fun with color. Of course, I had to get some green in for March!

These three pages have the quotes and word boxes ready. I am totally loving my March art journal pages! I had so much fun making my bookmarks!

Well, since the challenge at Simon Says Stamp is "B is for..." I am going to enter my Bookmarks!

 

Faith, Bloom and Glitter

There's a lot of inspiration loaded into this collage from hand lettering and cutting out the word "faith" (Joanne Sharpe - My Artfully Inspired Life), to the background with acrylic paints and doodles (Nathalie Kahlbach) to the big bloom (Carmen Sanchez) (both with Creative Jumpstart 2015 which just ended...so good!)

Had so much fun layering and painting the background, with acrylic paints, and using found objects to make marks. I free cut the flower petals, stamped the words over the paper and doodled the edges. I popped these just a bit with cardboard to give some dimension.

Over at Compendium of Curiosities challenge #21 - Rock Candy Distress Glitter - is posted here. Be sure to check out volume 3 of Tim Holtz's book on page 55 for all the details! If you haven't joined in the fun yet, this is a good one! And yes, there are prizes, from Tim and Mario, and Inspiration Emporium...a big thanks to the sponsors! This seemed like a good technique to try on the canvas to add some glittery accents.

Did I really create this? I can proudly say yes! I am feeling like the classes I've been taking, the practice I've been putting in, and the time I now have to devote to this is taking me to new levels, and I am loving it!

Have a wonderful week!

Colorburst Part 2

I am loving this online class I am taking...Artfully Inspired Life! My book is prepped for the year, my January pages are done. All I have left to do this month is add my personal journaling to the pages. Woohoo!

Made up my own dedication page, adding the Washi! I learned to add some medium to the Washi to hold it down better...I used Ranger Glue and Seal.

Here are the rest of the pages...

I think I am looking ahead to Valentines Day!

Notice on my side by side pages, I am trying to carry over some of the same elements, so there is a connection between them...in this case, the blue used on both pages.

I had fun blending the colors on these pages, and the dripping down.

I notice when I don't use my ruler, I write uphill.

Now, it is time to go back in and work with these pages, work on my vision board, sparks, etc. honestly, I can't wait to see what February will bring.