My FAVORITE Art Journal -- Dylusions!

Have you tried the Dylusions Art Journal? By far my favorite journal of all time!

I love everything about this journal. The size is perfect for either single pages or spreads, the paper is very heavy, high quality card stock and watercolor papers interspersed with alternating signatures of each, love the hard plain cover that begs to be customized, and the large envelope on the inside cover. Dyan really thought of everything when she designed this journal. The papers are perfect for the Dylusions Spray Inks. No gesso needed! In fact, I think you'll agree that you'll get better results without it. I use a dab here and there as I develop my layers, but there is no need at all to gesso the whole page before you start. 

I got my first one from The Queen's Ink when they first arrived, then quickly bought my second one. Then I bought two more. Then when Dyan was teaching at the Queen's Ink in early November, she mentioned that there were only 71 left in stock at Ranger -- I had no choice but to buy two more! (Yes, I need a 12 step program for art supplies!). Dyan mentioned that the next time the journal is produced, the price point will go up a bit to maintain the level of quality, and the paper will be one single type of paper rather than both. Personally, I thought the original $19.99 price point was a bit on the low side, especially after I held the first one in my hands and could feel the quality. YOU NEED ONE OF THESE JOURNALS -- (or 6, just sayin'!)

Once I started playing in the journal with making backgrounds and doing Dyan's ghosting technique (LOVE!), I couldn't stop! I've only completed a few pages, I'll get to finishing the rest at some point, but in the meantime, I've having a ball just making backgrounds. Here are some of the pages I've been playing with:

My favorite finished page so far. I love turquoise and orange together. You'll notice that I use washi tape down the center of each of my spreads. I do this not only because I love the look of washi tape, but I use it to try to keep the puddle of ink and water from seeping thru to the other pages of my journal. Yes, I'm one of those people that like to keep the pages cleaner if possible. 

 Again with the turquoise and orange! And I love this washi tape pattern.

 My butterfly page. 

And again with the turquoise and orange, but see what I mean? It just reallly pops. And that ghosted stencil, Aboriginal by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer of Balzer Designs, is really a favorite of mine as I'm sure you can tell by how often you have seen it and will see it in my work. 

 The large circles on this one has various colors of Viva Inka Gold on them. 

This pic isn't really great, but in person this spread looks really cool with the zipper washi tape down the middle. 

I love this paper I used to collage down the sides of the pages. It really speaks to me. And the wash tape? Yum!

 Got this really funky stencil on Etsy. Love the SouthWest theme of it. 

And a finished page in the Dylusions style I love. 

This spread has some Lindy's Stamp Gang Starbursts added.

I was playing with my Stamp Zia Spray Inks on this spread. 

 Colbalt Teal - does it get any better than Cobalt Teal by Golden Fluid Acrylics. 

I LOVE CIRCLES!!! And this page really shows how vibrant the Dylusions Inks are. My favorites! There's some black and white fabric tape on this page as well.

Another Etsy stencil with that SouthWest theme that I used to ghost the image. And really like this washi tape pattern too. 

And even more circles! This page has this really cool adhesive fabric tape I found on Etsy.

I'll post more pages when I can. I have a very busy weekend coming up at the Queen's Ink -- Donna Downey is in town! I'm in all four of her classes starting tonight! I'll be sure to post about some of the fun!

Thanks for stopping by! 

My latest obsession -- My Gelli Plate!!!

I was first introduced to the Gelli Plate by my dear friend Terry Quinn with The Queen's Ink. She was teaching a class in Gelli Plate techniques and I volunteered to help her. We played one evening in her home studio so I could get accustomed to it. Then I was invited to join a very fun group of ladies for a long weekend at Stamp Camp. We decided to pull out the Gelli Plates that Saturday and went crazy pulling all sorts of gorgeous prints right and left. There were papers strewn all over the place, one prettier than the next. I was hooked! 

I was playing in my own 'studio' of sorts this past weekend and spotted my Gelli Plate, minding its own business, laying nice and clean in its nicely fitted clamshell package on my bookshelf. Not for long. I pulled that bad boy out along with a brand new ream of crisp white card stock, and the fun began. Before I knew it, I was running upstairs to find combs and various kitchen tools I could use to make more and more new marks and designs in my freshly brayered layer of acrylic paints. Here are some of the prints that I ended up with: 

I really liked the way this one came out. It was a ghost pull through a stencil of small circles and captured a lot of the previously used images. I love all the little flecks of the metallic paints I used. (Can you tell I like circles??? Just sayin'!)

This one ended up being one of my favorites, and I almost chucked it. It was that last layer of the flourish stencil that really made it pop with depth and layers. 

 

Another favorite - hence the background and header of my blog! I LOVE turquoise and really loved the crackle pattern I got. The flourish kind of pulled it together. 

The background of this one that looks like a chain link fence was actually an inner piece of corrugated cardboard that someone at stamp camp was going to throw away, until the sharp eye of Ellen Vargo saw its worth on the Gelli Plate. 

So here's the stack of prints I had at the end of last weekend, many of these pages are printed on both sides. That was the my original plan, make a handful of double sided prints to make into a small journal, however, I got just a tad carried away into Gelli Plate euphoria. HELP - I've fallen on my Gelli Plate and I can't get up!!! 

The scene of the crime! 

If you haven't tried a Gelli Plate, you don't know what fun you're missing! Its one of the most inexpensive tools in my art arsenal, and quickly becoming my favorite. The Queen's Ink in Savage, MD carries them. If you're not a local, you can always find them online at the Gelli Arts Website. 

I saw a recent YouTube video about some brand new tools especially made for the Gelli Plate, The Catalyst Wedge Tools for use in wipe out mono printing. Check out the video here. I ordered mine (shocker!) and received them the other day. I've been too busy this week to give them a test run, but that will be what I reach for the next time I get to play in my studio. They are very high quality, sturdy, and a great price. They feel great in your hand, they have a nice weight to them. I was pleasantly surprised at what I got for my money. I'll be sure to post some pics of what I come up with using them.  

OK, let's give this a whirl! A little about me...

Since i was a child, I've always wanted to be an 'artist'. But what is an artist? An artist draws...I could never draw a crooked line. An artist paints still life...I couldn't paint still life. But I kept trying different things, different mediums, searching for my inner artist. I loved glass jewelry and glass art, so I became a Lampworker. But I wanted something more...something I could really sink my teeth into. I was watching some videos on YouTube last year and stumbled across a video of Dyan Reaveley using her Dylusions spray inks at a CHA demo. The next day, I got an email from my local mixed media shop, The Queen's Ink in Savage, MD about upcoming classes with ... guess who ... Dyan Reaveley. I was in Atlanta on a business trip and called the Queen to sign up for all of Dyan's classes right away. During my first class I was talking with Dyan about being a Lampworker. She said "sell your torch, once you play with this stuff you'll be addicted". Well, I didn't sell my torch, but her addiction prediction was spot on. And so my journey into the land of inky fingers began. I hope you enjoy the fun and joy I hope to share in my blog. I AM AN ARTIST!!!

My dear friend Ellen Vargo encouraged me to start my own blog, so here I am! Check out Ellen's blog at ten thirty-six arts and crafts.

I plan to share some of the projects I've been working on, some of my favorite products (I'm a sucker for new toys!), and show you how I get to my end results. So please be patient as I learn to blog as I go and I'll be posting again very soon!

Thanks for stopping by!

Hello out there in blog-land!

Please bear with me as I teach myself how to blog! More to follow very soon.