Art Journal Page Using Authentique "Playful" Collection on LBH blog today

You may remember this art journal page spread I did for Documented Life Week 25 (June 20). I have a post about it on the Little Blue House blog today! You can read more about it here.

Documented Life - Week 29!

July Theme - Ephemera

July 19 - Week 29

Art Challenge - Photographs and Memories

Journal Prompt - "All That I Have to Remember You" ~ Jim Croce

It seems that I have been using photographs and memories for the last few weeks' spreads, so I wasn't sure where to go with this week's prompt. In the end I was inspired by Rae Missigman's interpretation of the theme using a black and white photocopy of family members and then using ephemera, paints, stencils, mists, collaged painted paper circles for the background.

My father died in 1987 and I have always loved this photo of him. He was a painting contractor and carpenter and really knew his craft. We lived in a small ski resort town and he was well known for his impeccable skills. Many wealthy tourists built expensive vacation homes there and he was the contractor everyone demanded. Long before the days of Loews and Home Depot custom-mixing paint colors with a formula, he could do it by eye - tell him the color you wanted and he would mix it! I feel blessed that I inherited some of his color sense.

This is how the page started. I glued down ephemera - book text and strips of paint chips (a nod to his painting career) and some of Rae's painted paper circles I'd bought from her etsy shop.  Once that was all dry I started adding layer upon layer of paints, mists, stencils, stamps and doodles.  

It's a little hard to see, but I handwrote the title "remembering Dad" at the bottom of the right page. Around the photo I wrote adjectives that described the man he was (i.e. quiet, humble, loving, talented etc.). I also wrote his name at the top and along the left side his date of birth and death. He died just a few weeks after his 64th birthday - way too young - and I miss him every day. This is just a small tribute to this wonderful man in my life.

Documented Life Planner - Week 28

July Theme - Ephemera

July 11 - Week 28

Art Challenge - Focal Point vs Layers

Journal Prompt - Time keeps on Ticking

I had finished this week's spread early as I was scheduled to go on a retreat with an online group this weekend. The best laid plans... I came down with a sore throat, bad cough and pink eye! Instead of traveling to the retreat on Thursday, I was at the doctor's office!  And this has really set me back - I have felt like doing absolutely nothing except laying on the couch surfing the internet or napping all day! And today is the first time I've made it into my art room since Wednesday!

Anyway, here is the spread for this week. For the layers/ephemera part of the challenge, I collaged a torn book page, a Bingo card, assorted leftover letter paper tiles, an old coupon, a receipt and a reference chart for screw threads on the background. 

Then I applied heavy gesso with a palette knife to obscure the different pieces before using Ken Oliver's Color Burst pigment (violet) all over. (Sorry, I just got into the flow then and forgot to take some process photos!)

Color Burst is a very concentrated powdered pigment which activates with water and acts much like watercolor. The violet is a beautiful color with specks of blue and turquoise as well as violet. I manipulated this over the page and added more gesso until I was satisfied with the look. I challenged myself with this color choice as I am NOT a purple person! It is very hard to work with colors you don't favor.

The journal prompt of "time keeps on ticking" made me think of how time is flying by with our little grandchildren. It's been only three years since the first was born, but oh, so much has happened since then (three additional grand boys!) and they are growing up so fast. I decided to print out tiny photos of them at birth and then a photo of all four of them from last weekend when we were in Albuquerque celebrating #2's third birthday. I changed the photos to black and white because all the colors were not working with the background. 

The focal point is the title stamped with two different-sized alphabets surrounded with a chipboard clock die-cut. I painted the die-cut black and then added Glossy Accents to highlight it. I also used a few clock stamps and a "time" definition stamp on the background along with a few wooden clock pieces.

Before calling it finished, I had to change some of my documenting on the days of the week to reflect that I was not able to attend my retreat. I was very disappointed in that, but there is always next year!

Documented Life Planner - Week 27

July Theme - Ephemera

July 4 - Week 27

Art Challenge: Using Old Maps, Letters, Tickets and More

Journal Prompt: Life...with a History

This week started the second half of the year and the month of July will be devoted to ephemera.

I CASEd the journal page of Lorraine Bell, one of the Art to the 5th originators. She did a timeline of her life using ephemera and old Crafty Secrets images. I loved her page and, since I had been hoarding saving the very same Crafty Secrets images, I decided to create a page similar to hers.

First I collaged old handwriting pages, a few receipts, a scrap of textured wallpaper, and a few pieces of an old map to the background. That took care of the art challenge! I covered this with a thin layer of off-white paint and then a very little pink paint.

Then I arranged cut up images, copies of a few photos of my very young self, and bits and pieces to document my story. I used rectangles cut from old wallpaper for the planner section.  It was fun to reflect on what has happened in my life so far and feature some of the important events.

LBH Clear Pillow Box Challenge

"Owl" Treat Container

This month the LBH Media Team was given a clear pillow box and challenged to create something with the paper collections we received. I made this cute little owl treat container using all my scraps from the other projects for this month. I used the Authentique "Playful" Paper Collection which includes fun, bright papers and is available at The Little Blue House.

Here is a brief tutorial on how I made this little guy.

You will need:

clear pillow box

scraps of "Playful" paper collection

small scraps of white, black and orange cardstock

1 3/4" circle punch

3/4" circle punch

1 1/4" circle punch

small heart punch (about 1")

scalloped or plain oval punch or die approximately 2 3/4" long x 1 1/2" wide

6" dark orange thin twine

Scor Tape

blue, coral and black inks for edges if desired (I used Quick Quotes Blue Moon and Coal Miner and Abandoned Coral Distress Ink)

Glossy Accents

1. Punch 20 - 1 1/4" circles from five different patterned papers.

2. Punch 2 - 1 3/4" circles from white cardstock.

3. Punch 2 - 3/4" circles from black cardstock.

4. Punch small heart from orange cardstock (for beak).

5. Handcut one larger heart from orange cardstock (for feet).

6. Ink edges of punched pieces.

7. Start at bottom of pillow box and lay a piece of Scor tape across the width of the box. (Easiest to do if you keep the box flat while assembling.) Adhere feet first and then four circles across the width.

8. Continue adding tape and circles approximately one-inch apart so they overlap slightly. Note that for every other row you will cut one circle in half for the edges.

9. Cut one of your papers for the "ears" (measure on box) and adhere.

10. Tape ovals in place for the wings and the heart (point facing down) for the beak.

11. Layer black circles on top of larger white circles for eyes and tape in place.

12. Make a few loops with the twine and glue or tape in place between eyes.

13. Add Glossy Accents to the black circles if desired.

14. Open box and fill with your choice of treats!

All the pillow boxes created by the LBH Media Team are being featured on today's post over on The Little Blue House blog. Click here to see the amazing projects create by this talented team!

Documented Life Planner - Week 26

June Theme - Travel Journaling

June 27 - Week 26

Art Challenge: Photos and Words

Journal Prompt: A Picture is Worth a Thousand Words

It's been a week since I last posted! Where does the time go? We did spend most of last week in Austin with my daughter's family.  Baby Mitchell just turned 2 months old and went into the hospital on Monday for out-patient hernia surgery. He was a little trooper and I think it bothered his parents and grandparents far more than him! Other than being drowsy the rest of Monday and all Tuesday, he seemed to have no pain or side effects? Whew!

I spent the weekend catching up on this week's DLP spread. Originally I was inspired by one of the coordinator's pages where she made image transfers of some photos and cut them into Polaroid shapes. But while perusing my stash, I found these mini watercolor postcards that one of my daughters brought me from a Paris trip and decided this was a good place to showcase them and get them out of the cupboard!

On the background I collaged old scrapbook paper featuring a Paris street map over which I added a thin wash of off-white paint. Then I added bits of some Paris-themed tissue paper, the trimmed postcards and a few embellishments. I computer-generated the title. Two different Paris washi tapes separate the dates.

The year is half over! 26 more weeks to go! I am so happy I am able to stay up-to-date, despite the frequent trips to visit grandkiddos!