Inspired by Michelle Ward: CJS 2018

I'm sharing a quick look at my art journal pages inspired by Michelle Ward's lesson at Creative Jumpstart. If you haven't signed up yet, be sure to check it out, there is still plenty of time to join in the fun! (link at bottom of page)

I decided to do a page on my love of coffee and some of my favorite coffee houses. I can usually be found crafting with a cup of coffee at my side, always being careful not to dip the brush into the coffee instead of the water!

I used several different stencils from Stencil Girl, Heidi Swap, and The Crafter's Workshop to get the fun mix of designs. 

Coffee browns are compliments of my DecoArt heavy body acrylics - Burnt Umber, Yellow Oxide and Burnt Sienna.

Next I pulled out some coffee cup holders and cut bits out to add, then went around them with a graphite pencil and water brush. 

Final touch - I inserted these coffee cards that I'd been saving. This seemed like the perfect time to use them!

Oh yes, I bet you can tell from this I love my coffee! 

I've enjoyed sharing a bit of inspiration with you, and would love to hear what you think. 

Thanks, 

Maura

Simon Says Nautical

Happy Monday, my crafting friends! Our challenge for you this week is NAUTICAL at Simon Says Stamp Monday Challenge. 

Don't forget our Summer Vacation Kids Challenge this month!

I thought of the ocean when I saw Nautical and headed to my big art journal. I was thinking about the deep ocean and the creatures that live there, that we sometimes find kind of scary. I wanted to make the bottom in dark colors to reflect that, while making it bright and happy closer to the surface.

"Who knows what lurks in the depths?"

I used the same colors to paint my backgrounds, both on the watercolor paper and in the journal. I stenciled in some texture by removing some of the paint with a baby wipe. 

I remembered this great fish fossil stencil and thought it would make a great border, as well as incorporating it into my piece. (Perhaps I remembered it because my son and I had a fossil hunting adventure yesterday...) I mixed the Inky Pool paint and the Texture Paste together to get the dark blue.

Time to pull out the MISTI to get great stamped images.

I used Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks to color. I wanted my deep sea creatures in dark (and kind of ugly) colors.

Time for some fussy cutting...and the octopus was a challenge! 

Laying the papers together...

I added the deep sea creatures with 3D Matte Gel to hold the heavy watercolor paper onto the background. 

Then I added the bright surface mermaid and critters and added some sparkle.

Life can be very different on the ocean's surface than in its depths, I imagine!

I hope you've enjoyed my Nautical take on this week's challenge and are ready to join us in the fun! 

Simon Says Stamp has a $50 gift voucher to share with one of you!

SUPPLIES:

                                       

                                       

A great place to shop!!

Simon is on Instagram, use #sssmchallenge.

Let's head on over to the challenge to see how the rest of the team has interpreted this week's challenge!

It's all about the Flora and Fauna!

Hello Monday, my friends! We have a brand new challenge for you this week and it's all about the flora and fauna - fun, right? I decided to work in a non-traditional color palette - normally I am sure I would have gone for a lot of greens with this challenge for the flora. I find this quite playful!

Ok, time for some messy fun!! I started by gessoing the pages of my art journal, then brushing on fuchsia and blackberry paint. Next, I started spraying water at the top of the pages and let it drip down into my trusty flour sack rag. Oh yes, I like this!

Now look at all the fun you can have by laying some stencils into the somewhat wet paint and going over the stencil with a baby wipe.

Stencil in a few butterflies...

I die cut a mix of vegetation in canvas, book paper and watercolor paper and did a bit of coloring with the paint. On these I just dipped my brush in the paint and dabbed down.

Stamped the birds and colored them in, one set muted and the other vibrant.

details, details...

A bit of mica spray, some doodling around the light butterflies, and a shadow around my word.  (pencil and water brush)

I love this word stamp by Seth Apter and it really got me thinking about choices. I knew I was already thinking of choices when I was deciding how to do my flora and fauna, but I kept thinking about this as I worked. One thought was about camouflage and how some animals blend in and others stand out in their environment. Then, I started thinking on a deeper level about the choices we make in our own lives,  and we can choose to hide or blend in to the background or we can choose to be vibrant and noticeable in our lives. In all honesty, I find both apply to my own life.

I'm glad you stopped by for a visit and I hope you will get creative with us this week in our flora and fauna challenge! I look forward to seeing what you make. 

You could win a $50 voucher to shop at Simon Says Stamp!

SUPPLIES:

                                       

                                       

A great place to shop!

Simon is on Instagram!

Let's head back over and check out what my teamies are creating this week with flora and fauna - they always come up with awesome ideas!

SaveSave