Art is the Answer

 I'm still working on my final journal for my Letter Love 101 class.  Joanne wanted us to do a page with this particular quote, and I decided that since it summed up the class so well I'd put it on the back cover.

Because I love using recycled book pages to achieve that extra layer of text and texture, I wrote the quote on a piece of such paper which I had first painted using watercolours.

I'm especially excited about the flower petals on this piece. Months ago I had used round stickers (cut from a sheet of address labels, using a circle punch ) as masks on fabric when I was doing some surface design.  I loved the random colour that ended up on the paper circles so I stuck them to a piece of freezer paper to keep them for "some future project".  We'll, that day had come! I added a bit of sketching with a Pitt pen to draw in the leaves and stems.

This wonderful quote came from Pippa, one of my Letter Love classmates (and a new follower of my blog).  Thanks Pippa.  I love it.

Take a look at the second line of text on this page.    I had made a mistake so I covered it with another piece of that painted, recycled book and rewrote the words.  When an eraser won't work, figure something else out. There's always a way to 'fix' a problem!  And, because I can't let anything go, the grid lines on this page are the tiny bits of torn off paper left because I had wanted torn edges on the page in yesterday's post.

Thanks for your visit today.

Messy 'Play' Day

Today has been a wonderfully messy art day.  I was up in my studio playing with a variety of homemade spray inks to create some backgrounds for my journalling.  Joanne from Letter Love 101 gave us a fabulous assignment of playing with colour and texture to create some backgrounds.

She 'required' us to do 5 or more and laughed at herself because she knew once we got started we wouldn't be able to stop!  I've done this sort of thing before, but I really had fun trying a few different ideas that I hadn't done before, and the more I played the more I wanted to do!

I used bristol board, watercolour paper, mixed-media paper and some old pages that were left over from an altered book.  I did have two colours of Ranger 'Colour Wash', but I made other spray inks by mixing a variety of India inks with water (about 1 part ink to 10 parts water).  I also experimented with some silk paints (also 1 to 10 ratio) and Ranger alcohol inks.  I love the vibrant colours I got with the silk paints and the alcohol inks.  As you can see, I had a lot of fun letting the ink run down the page.  I imagine myself journaling on those grid lines later!

I also used some stencils and sequin waste in my play today.  Aren't the numbers wonderful?!

Do you see the heart.  Don't you just love happy accidents!

On this page I used some of the left over pages from my altered book to tear strips for a resist.  I think I'll play with this another day and create more jagged edges with the torn pages.

 These look like a whole bunch of helium balloons that have been released into the air.  Can't wait to journal on this page!!!

 The rest of these are the smaller pages in my mixed media journal.  These were drops of alcohol ink that were allowed to run.  Notice that they don't run as much as the other inks.  The alcohol evaporates so quickly that they're dry a lot faster.

I love this page.  I had put white gesso on the page first and there are some brush strokes that give it a really neat texture.  I spritzed on the ink while the gesso was still wet.  Love everything about this page!

Check out these wonderfully bright little drips.  I let the alcohol ink drip on the page and then dabbed them with a cloth to pick up the excess.

 And now for the bonuses that resulted from today.  Look at these wonderful bits of coloured papers I'll be able to incorporate in my journalling.  I had used these bits as resists by now I'll be able to up-cycle them into another piece of art.

 And then there are the wonderful wipe up clothes.  I can't wait to use these in some fibre art. I have an idea blooming already so check back soon to see the art quilts that are forming in my mind as I type this.  Maybe that's what I'll do tomorrow...

 Needless to say, no studio time can go by without Inspector Cat (aka Arbour) checking it out.

 

Did I mention it was a messy day in the studio today?  :0)

Quilted Vase

It seems I'm into making vessels these days.  This one started with the recycling piece of fabric I made using strips of pizza flyers, etc. that were put through a shredder.  This was a wonderful tip learned from Nancy Yule.  I alternated the paper strips with eyelash yarn and then covered it with a piece of shimmering turquoise organza before quilting it.

ATCs for this months swaps...

I decided to use some of the ideas from a recycling workshop I attended Saturday for my ATCs this month.  The background is shredded paper with organza layered over it and then stitched.  The centre of the flowers are mylar yogurt cup lids, cut into little circles.