In my Inspiration Journal

I am trying to make a habit of working in my Inspiration Journal.  I decided to do one of my She Art girls there, not knowing how much I would like it in the end.  Now I kinda wish it was on a canvas.  I guess I can always make another one, right?


The background is sewing pattern and spray ink with stencils. I used rub ons from American Crafts, Basic Grey and Stampin' Up! I actually cut the paisley rub ons apart to make them work on the blouse. I also used various flourishes including Rhonna and Stampin' Up!  I was able to use the butterfly punch from Martha Stewart and add some stickles to give the upper right corner some interest.  Love the buttons on her dress and the white gel pen accents on the sleeves and scalloped bottom. :)



I like how the sewing pattern gives the whole piece a warm glow. I used the word flourish because it is my OLW.  I'll have to add this picture to my album later.



Here is a close up of the words, and some of the Basic Grey white rub ons on the left.  I love that little dragonfly brad too.  The bird is a Stampin' Up! punch and I hand cut the bird house. 



Here is a close up of the garden area.  I used flowers from my stash and various gems and buttons.  I painted stems and leaves and doodled a little.  The white flowers were rubons just cut apart and placed in between.  The garden made a good filler.

 I'm really proud of this one.  Hope you like it too!
Julie

Cards for Sharon

I worked on some cards recently for my Mother-in-law.  Her birthday was very close to Mother's Day, and I had not been making many cards lately.  I was excited to get to work on this but needed a little inspiration.  One card layout came from a Nichole Heady card, and the other came from a mixture of several ideas I saw on Splitcoast. 

I used the Banner Builder stamps and dies from Papertrey Ink that I got from my friend Shay, and added a little birdie to the line.  There are some flourishes (tone on tone) in the background.  This card is very similar to a card by Nichole Heady in this post and here.



On this card, I used nestabilities dies, Martha Stewart butterfly punch and scallop edge punch, Stampin' Up large butterfly die, and jolee's stickers.  I hand drew the inside line on the labels die for some detail since the word stamp was a little small for the space. Clear gemstones on the butterflies.

 I also love the card I made for my mom, but as usual, I neglected to take a photo.  I'll have to get her to take one and send it. 

Enjoy!
Julie

My She Art - Part 2

I have been working on several different pieces of She Art and I am finally posting them here.  I am still trying out techniques and looking for my own style with this type of art.  I like these pieces but not sure yet if I LOVE them.  But, I'm ok with that.  The process was awesome and that's what I enjoyed the most.

This first picture is the first attempt at the process.  The background started with spray ink and stencils, and then I used a dotted circle and molding paste to add some texture.  I later used a brayer and other texture tools to add paint to the background.  The top layer includes stamps and rub ons.  I was pretty proud of the painting and shading on the girl too.

I worked on this canvas at my Mom's house while showing her a few techniques.  I did a messy bun on her (sort of like my sister's hair- hey Mandy :) ).  My friend Liz was there and she suggested to make the arms in go in front of the dress instead of behind.  I like how this one turned out too. [Swirl rolling stamp on left, and some rub ons from Stampin' Up! and Basic Grey]

I decided to try something different this time and instead of a person, I added a butterfly and used rub-ons for the tail.  I added a quote from Nathanial Hawthorne in place of the cut out text.  I was unsure of this canvas background when I began, but think it turned out pretty well. [Basic Grey paper, rub-ons from Stampin' Up!]

Thanks for looking!

Julie



I had fun with this...

I needed to make a card for a friend of mine at work that is moving.  I found the Time Well Spent set in my stash that HAD NEVER BEEN USED!  Can you believe it?  I have a habit of that, unfortunately, but I'm working on it :)  Anyway, I used the sentiment and was completely inspired by Pam Varnell's card here. This is my version.


Time Well Spent by Stampin' Up!

I water colored all of the pieces with my watercolor pencils from Stampin' Up! and Caran d'Ache Artists Crayons.  I didn't find a ribbon at home that made me happy, so I used gems.  My friend Pam loved it and it got great reviews.  I like the bright colors on the black mat and the kraft cardstock.  Lots of fun :)

Thanks for looking!
Julie