Painted Doodles or How I Relax...

I do create everyday...something, even if it's only 15 min. It's one way I relax and at the same time quiet those inner thoughts of "do I have creative talent or not". I'm sure everyone can relate to that inner dialogue...this is a way for me to banish them...doodling & zentangles.  These are what I lovingly call EXPERIMENTS...new techniques, new product, new color...no pressure...no stress!

The 1st EXPERIMENT is this finished doodle. After the drawing was completed using Faber-Castell Artist Pitt Pens I painted the circles with Dylusions Spray Inks.  I have the ink sprays in the fabulous Tim Holtz Detail Water Brushes and they are perfect to paint with. I love the look of the dryed Dylusions...a very rich, matte look. With that in mind I pulled out my Luminarte Acrylic Silk Glazes and created the background, wanting the contrast of the different product finishes. I loved seeing how the different colors worked on 9x12" Strathmore Watercolor Paper, series 400. The backgrounds of each circle were also painted with the silks.

The more I looked at my finished EXPERIMENT I realized that I really loved the smaller circle and what looks like peacock feathers. That wasn't my intention but I do agree that it does. So onto the next EXPERIMENT. I enlarged that one circle, offset from center and created the same image. I wasn't sure about the background but when I saw this Marrakech stencil designed by Michelle Ward, Stencil Girl Products, I knew I had to use it...lately I have been drawn to anything using a quatrefoil shape as evidence in my work.

Painted with several colors of Dylusions Ink Spray

Background painted with Luminarte Acrylic Silks in Spiced Pumpkin

 The next question in my creative process was what colors to use for the background and whether I wanted just one of the 2 shapes painted of the background. I have this vision in my head...I don't think it is quite this but I will save that idea for another EXPERIMENT. The background was painted with African Jade and Olive Vine Acrylic Silks. I wish you could really see the contrast from the Dylusions & the Acrylic Silks...very dramatic. 

I'm not sure I am done...I will let it percolate in my mind's eye...again NO STRESS, NO PRESSURE...it is my EXPERIMENT!

Thanks for stopping by...what do you do for creative relaxation?

Dylusions Ink Spray and Tim Holtz Distress Re-Inkers

I love to DOODLE and ZENTANGLE...it helps me to quiet an over-active brain and relax. I love using Strathmore Watercolor Paper {300 Series} and Faber-Castell Pitt Artist Pens because I love to paint the finished piece with Dylusions Ink Spray and Tim Holtz Re-Inkers. After discovering the Tim Holtz Water Brush it made the process so much easier plus it's so easy to travel with. Let me show you what I've been working on.

Work in progress

Dylusions Ink Spray

Dyslusions Ink Spray

Dylusions Ink Spray & Tim Holtz Re-Inkers

Dylusions Ink Spray

Tim-Holtz Re-inkers

Well I'm off to do some CHA work, get myself organized because this time next week I will on a plane heading to Anaheim, CA. Looking so forward to this trip and being able to catch up with all my artsy friends! 

Tattered Angels and Stencils = LOVE

It's no secret that I love working with stencils to create background paper to use in other projects. In this instance I used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist & Chalkboard Glimmer Mist to create these on Strathmore Series Water Color Paper. I love to use watercolor paper because of the texture of it..after it grabs the color the glimmer really pops..of course we don't have GLIMMER VISION!

I don't worry about colors I just grab and COMMIT TO THE MIST! Here are the 4 papers I created last week.

Here are a few examples of one way to use these background papers. I have been working on decorating them to use as gift tags for Christmas gifts. 

Stop back later this week for completed tags. Thanks for stopping by today. Have a great day and don't forget to BREATHE!!!

More Stencil Storage Ideas! Update :)

Yesterday a blog post by the incredible Ronda Palazzari on her stencil storage ideas was just the push I needed to finish what I had started.  I was originally influenced to share my idea by a post the talented Alissa Fast  had on how she stores her stencils…and the same goes for Ronda! Funny how great minds think alike….

I he{ART} stencils. I love using them and use them OFTEN, in fact I started a series on this blog but life somehow got in the way and I never finished it. My favorite stencils are from The Crafters Workshop, although I have others I find them to be the BEST!!!

Here is the original post where I shared a tutorial on making your own background papers.

Yesterday a blog post by the incredible Ronda Palazzari on her stencil storage ideas was just the push I needed to finish what I had started.  I was originally influenced to share my idea by a post the talented Alissa Fast  had on how she stores her stencils…and the same goes for Ronda! Funny how great minds think alike….

I took a 12x12 album that I wasn't using and decorated the cover with various stencils. 

I love how my 12x12 stencils fit perfectly in the 12x12 protectors.

I have been very pleased with this method but I was running into trouble of how I would store my 6x6 stencils and was using 8x10 protectors but that meant I had to go through several stencils before I might find the one I wanted to use. Thank your Ronda for the suggestion of using 6x6 sheet protectors…problem solved!

So now I'm off to find some 6x6 sheet protectors. How do you store your stencils? Thanks for stopping by. I found a great source at Amazon.com and I will show you how great they are in my next blog post ;)

The Whatever's #1 or Secret in the Attic

By now you may have heard about this new challenge called The Whatever's, an idea created by 3 friends who love to collect old photographs. It's a genius idea to incorporate old photos, paper crafting and creative storytelling. Here are the stories from the creators Catherine Matthews-Scanlon, Nathalie Kalbach & Vickie Chrisman. 


I've decided to create mine in a 9x12" format utilizing watercolor paper. I will bind the pages and create a cover as I work through the 12 months of this challenge. Here is how I interpreted Challenge #1 and the 1st photo:

The Whatever's or Secret in the Attic

Materials Used:

Balzer Designs Stencils ~ Peacock Feathers

Tattered Angels Paint Products: Chalk Chalkboard, Nougat, Partridge in A Pear Tree, Woven Burlap & Cinder Glimmer Mist

HELMAR Professional Acid Free Glue

Misc. Kraft Envelope

Strathmore Series 300 Watercolor Paper

Here is the story that goes with this journal page:

This will be the summer I will never forget…see I spend all summer at my Grandma’s beach house at Nags Head, NC. Usually days are filled with sand, sun and surf…some fishing and reading and just being lazy…the perfect thing for a 12 year old. But this summer would be different and let me tell you why.

I had just finished reading my favorite Nancy Drew mystery, The Secret in the Old Attic, and was getting ready to go find another to delve into but I couldn’t find one. Grandma wasn’t home but I knew where she hid the key to the attic. Now I know that I’m not suppose to go up there but I was hot on the trail to find another mystery…little did I know what awaited for me.

The attic was dark and you could see cracks in the roof, probably from all the wear and tear from seawater, rain and the tropical storms that would pass over the island called the Outer Banks. I quickly got busy looking for the box of books that I knew was kept up there but for some odd reason my eyes fell upon an old trunk that I don’t remember ever seeing before. I was drawn to it like a moth to a flame. It was covered with dust and cobwebs and I almost turned away but I noticed that it wasn’t locked…in fact it was slightly ajar.

Now being a Nancy Drew fan, wanting to grow up to solve mysteries like her, my curiosity got the better of me. The top looked heavy as I tried opening it…to my surprise it was quite light. I was disappointed to find that it was empty or at least I thought it was empty. I noticed what looked like an old piece of wallpaper at the bottom and as I turned it over, to my surprise was a picture of two children with a tattered envelope.

Who were these children, what were there names, where did they come from, why did they look so sad?

So starts the summer I will never forget...

I would love for you to join in! Here are the details for the challenge along with the 1st photo for the challenge & a video describing the concept.

I really enjoyed creating this page and can't wait to see what photo we will get to work with next month. 

Thanks for stopping by!