Proudly Canadian

Proudly Canadian

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Let things go...

I think I found my muse this afternoon and sat down to finish my page that has left me so unsure last week.  A challenging page this one turned out to be, but I'm feeling a bit blue today so the page seemed to make more sense to me and I used my emotions to guide me thru it.  

I did use the Dina Wakley pebble heart stencil to create my hearts.  I used Wendy Vecchi white embossing paste to create the texture.  Once the paste was thoroughly dry, I sprayed the hearts with Prima color bloom spray in Ginger Coral.  I held the nozzle very close to the page as I stood the page up on end so that the color would puddle and run.  I didn't want to get a lot of over spray which is why I held it super close to the page to get direct spray to the spot I wanted.  The very top left heart I did the book upside down because I didn't want the color to run over top of the eye.  I dried the color with my heat tool and then took my pan pastel in the Turquoise extra dark and shaded around each heart and softly blended that color outwards onto the page.  I then used pan pastel in Permanent Red extra dark and a larger sponge to create the variegated brick look and to add more depth to the hearts.  I added my lashes to the eye, which I almost forgot to do, Oops!  The sentiment stamp is from Artistic Outpost Chalkboard Wisdom set.

Here is my page from my last blog post that left me staring at it for a week... I liked where I was at with this but had no clue where to take it.  LOL  I'm glad I had the patience to just wait it out until my inspiration or case of the blues hit.




The stamps says, You will find that it is necessary to let things go; simply for the reason that they are Heavy.   And, those words are so true.  Sometimes I think we find, I find, that we expect someone to react in a certain way, to be supportive when asked to be supportive, and when they aren't it hurts, because deep down I know that I would be that supportive person if asked.  But can I expect someone to be supportive if they don't feel it in their hearts to do so?  No.  And so, that is where this saying rings so true.  Let it go...because that burden we put on ourselves to carry that hurt only hurts us and it is not in my rights to ask someone or make them feel bad for not doing something they do not want to do.  Let it go...let it go.


And with that, my page is complete and my emotions are left on the page.  This process really is therapy and I am so glad that I found this outlet in which I can express myself in good times and in sad.  :)   This page really is putting it out there and wearing my heart on my sleeve.  I think this page is probably one of my most vulnerable moments that I am sharing on here, since most of my pages are pretty carefree.   Thanks for stopping in and sharing this moment with me.  I love to hear from you, so please feel free to leave me a comment so I know you stopped by.  :)  Hugs.  xoxo


  photo HSSignature-1.png

Saturday, April 25, 2015

Stumped...

Hi.  I think I hit an artistically mental roadblock on this next page.  I thought I had an idea in my mind and it started off ok but I'm now perplexed as to what to do next.  I'm not sure why I'm having such a hard time with this one.  I've been sitting with the page open looking at me for about a week now.  Do you ever get like that?  What works for you?   I'm seriously considering starting another page and leaving this one until the right feel comes to me.   So far, this is as far as I have gone with this page....



I am kind of thinking of using my Dina Wakely stencil with the heart/stone and using some sort of caption that says something about... When will the walls come down?  I've got the concept behind what I want to do but I'm not envisioning exactly how to go about getting the look or feel I want.  Ideas are welcome.  :)  

And as a side note, I am walking for the Juvenile Diabetes foundation again this year and am actively looking for sponsors to donate to the cause.  I have a link posted on my page that will allow anyone who believes in helping find a cure for Diabetes to sponsor me in the walk.  This cause means the world to me as I have lost both of my parents to this horrible disease.  My Mom passed on in 2000 and my Dad just a short year and half ago, which was so hard as I was there when he took his last breathe.  I have seen first hand how debilitating this disease is.  So, for those with future needs to help them, myself included, I am actively taking part in this fund raising cause and asking for anyone who feels in their hearts that this is a worthy cause too please help me reach my fundraising goals and donate on my JDRF page.  I am wearing my heart on my sleeve and ask for your generosity in helping me raise money for diabetes.

Thanks for stopping by and I look forward to any comments and suggestions you may have with helping me get over my page fright!  ;)   Gotta love mental blocks.   Hope to hear from you!  Hugs, xoxo


  photo HSSignature-1.png

Wednesday, April 22, 2015

What's better than playtime?

Time to defrag again and get in touch with my inner Nika Rouss.  I watch her tutorials faithfully and love her style.  So, this page is inspired by her video's and her talent.   Thanks Nika for the inspiration and sharing your video's with us all to learn from.

I used my Gelato's and my Neocolors predominantly on this page.  I also used various washi tape and some Wendy Vecchi embossing paste and stencils.   I didn't take photos as I went cause I just sat down and whipped this up and before I new it, I was done and in love with the softness of this page.  I hope you like it too!





Have a wonderful day and would love to hear what you think.  xoxo

      photo HSSignature-1.png

Sunday, April 12, 2015

Poppies and bubbles

Gosh, it's been almost 2 weeks since I've been able to sit down and work on some art.  Where does the time go?   So today was my day to take a time out and do a bit of playing.  I only had two more double pages to do in my book and then I'll have completed my very first art journal book!  I'm so proud of myself, for this has been the first time in a very long time that I have committed to myself to do something that is just for me!  The past couple of years have been a real growing period for me and my inner self.  And honestly, when I started this book last year I really wasn't sure if I would ever do it long enough to finish it.  I did!!!  And I'm ready to start on my new book.  :)

My first page is so simple!  LOL  Honestly, it really was an easy page.  Have you ever been into a dollar store and see all of those gorgeous cheap napkins?  Yup, I love them napkins.  Multi purposed, because I save some for my art and I use the rest.  :)  So, I buy up bunches of packs of napkins.  It really has become somewhat of an addiction.  How can they not though?  They are so cheap!  ;)


This is the package of poppies that I got.  I love poppies.  I love the colors of these napkins but I decided to change it up a bit by coloring over top of them.  First of though, I seperate the very top tissue from the other layers and I seal it down onto the journal pages using a multi matte medium.  


Since there is a gap at the top and bottom of the page I needed to color in that space.  So I grabbed my Dylusions paints and a sponge and painted in those spaces.  


 Next, I grabbed my Stabilio Woody crayones to color over top of the images and change them a bit.  I wanted red poppies on my page so I made the yellow and the green ones red.  




I used my charcoal pencil to add some shading below a few of the flowers.  I then took my Inktense pencils to color the stems and softly color in the background a bit as well.  



The bottom portion of the page needed something, a quote, a stamp.  I googled poppy sayings and found a quote from a poem by John Keats that I really liked.  I used my sketch and wash pencil to hand write it in and then my Fuseball gel pen over top.  


I felt it still needed a little some else on the page.  I decided to add a bit more blue into the background along the sky line and painted in some rain and dew drops onto the page.



The rest of my afternoon was a mix of my phone ringing off the hook and my trying so hard to finish this last page in my book.  I really wanted to get this last page done so I can be onto a new book.  It was a huge deal for me to accomplish finishing this one.  :)

There really is nothing super special about this page.  It is simply a page of bubbles.  LOL  However, it did take me several different layers and changing directions before I called it done.   The first thing I did was cut out a bunch of circles out of a page I tore from a novel.  I gesso'd the page and then took some of my Izinks to create a background using my finger tips like I had learnt in a previous class.


Let's color around them circles...


No clue what to do next.  It was like I hit a brick wall and couldn't think of what to do next.  All those darn phones call was getting in the way of my creativity.  So, I grabbed some white acrylic paint to finger paint over top of the neocolors and blend them together.  


Oh boy... now what?  More circles?  Why not... let's just run with it.


 Still not feeling it.   I really don't like how the yellow and reds from the Izinks are showing.  OyVey... Ok, lets mix some water, Neocolors and acrylic white together and do a wash over the background.

 Better.  Still needs more circles.  Purple... why not!  I also then added some charcoal pencil for shading around the circles.

    
Alrighty then... have you ever had one of those pages that you just weren't feeling until the very end.  Yup... that's this one.  So, I decided that since I have outlined the circles in black I would do the same with the page and smudge black around the edges with a black Gelato and bring that shading down into the page.


I was about to walk away and call it a day with this page when I spotted my gold Gelato looking at me and it gave me that wink and said... hey,,, how about me?  Sure why not... it couldn't make it any worse could it?  LOL



My battery was about to die and so it came out a bit blurry.  And the lighting was getting darker in the house and so you can't really see the gold but I think I kind of like it.  Not my favorite page by any stretch but it might grow on me.  LOL

Well..... I'm done!!!!!  Whoohoo.... now I can start on my next book at my next opportunity!  I hope you have enjoyed my experimenting and growth over the past year.  I look forward to growing some more and my art is really the perfect outlet for me to release and express myself.  Thank you to all of you who have taken the time to follow me and leave me some love along the way!  xoxo


 photo HSSignature-1.png