2015 handmade calendar covers

Every year at the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group, we do a handmade calendar swap.  I'm doing the covers again this year.  Here are two of them! Very different, but both very me!  Thanks for coming by my blog!  Leave a comment if you would please!

I can shine art journal spread

Here's an art journal spread I made using the fabric paper or crazy paper from my last post.  I cut some strips of vintage book pages and pasted them around the edges of the pages.  Then I applied my crazy or fabric paper.  I used a Dylusions mask to make the women images.  I added sequin stars on the left-hand page.  I printed the words off from my computer for the right hand page.  I used a white stamper's big brush pen to highlight the black woman silhouette on the right-hand page.  With such a busy background paper, I don't need to put  a lot on the pages.  Thanks for coming by my blog!

Fabric Paper

I made more of the crazy paper, but this time I found some fabric to include.  I found a pack of different colors of netting in my stash.  There's more paper than fabric though.  This stuff is fun to make and it's also very quick to make. 

In Color Art Journal Pages

Here are the journal pages I created using my "crazy paper".  The paper is so busy that it doesn't need much.  I added some letter chipboard that I painted black, covered with glossy accents, and then added a tiny bit of gold German glass glitter.  Around the edges of the pages, I used my favorite washi tape.  Thanks for taking the time to come by my blog!

Stenciled Crazy Paper

One of the October projects at the Stencil Girl Club on Facebook is to make Fabric Paper.  I don't have any fabric around and didn't use fabric in this, so it's technically not fabric paper - more like Crazy Paper, I guess.  Get out your non-stick craft sheet and find all sorts of little leftovers.  Everything I put in this crazy paper, it's stuff that was laying on my craft table that was leftover from other projects.  You can arrange it all before you start, but I didn't.  I started at one corner and added things as I went.  Bascically, I glued everything together on my non-stick craft sheet with Glue n' Seal glossy.  I coated the backs of the bits, laid them down and covered the top with more glue n seal.  Then you just let it dry on the craft sheet.  When it's dry, peel it off.  I used clean up papers from making gelli prints, clean-up paper towels, leftover leaves, bits of book pages, you get the idea!  When it was dry, I stenciled with the Stencil Girl Club October stencils and acrylic paints.  This was fun!  I will cut this "paper" up and use it in my art journals.  Try it! 

Just Me art journal spread

I received my shipment of stencils from the Stencil Girl Stencil Club.  I used all 3 in this art journal spread.  The background colors were made using oil pastels.  I sealed the oil pastels with workable fixative and then started stenciling with acrylic paints. The circles were stamped with green Archival Ink using new Ellen Hutson stamps.  I used a The Crafter's Workshop woman mask with black acrylic paint.  I outlined the woman image and made some white dots in the black dots using a Stamper's Big Brush Pen.  I used a Dina Wakely stencil and modeling paste  to add the white text. Thanks for coming by my blog!

Transform art journal page

 

I love it when I sit down to do a new journal page and everything just flows!  I am happiest with my art when it is effortless, like this journal spread was for me.  I started by painting the edges gold.  My friend, Lin, sent me some handmade papers that had some gold in them.  I used 2 different hand made papers in the background.  I used an art comb to apply gesso next.  I tore up a vintage fruit receipt (Collage Stuff) and glued it down next.  Then a couple of vocabulary cards (Collage Stuff).  I used a scroll stamp and stamped randomly.  That finished off the background.  I applied black paint around the woman mask from The Crafter's Workshop.  Then on the left-hand side of the page at the edge I applied black paint with a Dylusions stencil and I didn't like it, so I covered the whole thing up with black paint like a wide border.  I used a Dina Wakely stencil (Collage Stuff) and modeling paste to apply the word "transform".  The last stencil I used was from Stencil Girl to kind of fill in a little bit.  Lastly I cut out a little heart from some of the papers Lin sent me, colored it red/pink with some paint and glued this down. I used a white Stamper's Big Brush pen for the white accents. I like using real vintage ephemera in my art when I can.  I find it gives my art authenticity.  At least, I think so!   I also like that the handmade papers added some more texture even though they are painted over. Thanks for coming by my blog!  Comments are always welcome!

Wish my hair.... art journal page

 

Here's an art journal spread that I finished today.  I absolutely love to put flowers for women's hair.  Dali painted women with heads that composed entirely of flower blooms. I would love to hair that was made out of flowers.  The background is made out of stenciled circles using a The Crafter's Workshop template.  The stamped circles are from a fabulous new stamp set from Ellen Hutson.  I love it.  It'll all just circles and dots that you can arrange any way that you like.  I also used a Tim Holtz layering stencil for the letters and numbers.  The woman stamped image is from a Tim Holtz Stamper's Anonymous classic stamp set.  The words were made from Tim Holtz chit chat stickers and label letters.  I colored the paper flowers with paints and used glue dots to attach them.  I found some dimensional tiny yellow roses in my stash and added them to flower hair.  I had fun making this.  Thanks for coming by my blog!

Autumn Art Journal Page

I love autumn!  This art journal spread uses lots of Tim Holtz products - 2 leaf dies, 2 layering stencils and an image from the Found Relatives Occasions pack.  A Stencil Girl stencil and a Balzer's Bits stencil are used in the background.  The harlequin stencil was used with gold embossing paste. Happy autumn and thanks for coming by my blog!

A Halloween Card

Here is a Halloween card that I made this afternoon.  I used a Dylusions stamp and two Tim Holtz stamps.  The images are colored with various markers.  I added a little bling to each of the spiders.  Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!