The secret to success

A fun play with one of the couture stamps from Dylusions.

Today I wanted to show you an Art Journal about self confidence - "You have to belive in yourself. That's the secret to success."  Remember that! :)

I started this page by misting with three blue/green shades of Dylusions mists and water. I also misted with water over some masks and "took away" some color.

On top of that I smeared pink acrylic paint over a dotted Dylusions mask, and modeling paste over a mask from TCW. I like the look of white on top of the colorful mists. 

When all that was dry, I stamped a girl with a hat over the page. I filled in the outlines of her with a black big brush pen from Faber Castell, to make her stand out more. I colored the edges with a red stamp pad for a difference. Kind of cool, right? :)

And then I just need to show you a yummy close up of all the layers on the background. Love! :)

Her Story workshop

Last night I started watching a workshop that I'm taking online with Danielle Daniel - Her story.

It's about learning to draw girls, something I need to practice doing. I really would like to draw more girls on my Art Journals... so I have started practicing. :)

This is one of my first attempts from my sketch book. It's a start. :)

I like the workshop - the first week is about sketching, the second week is about building a mixed media background for the girls. And hopefully today after work I'll start with the third week, which is about drawing the girls on the background. Fun fun fun! :)

The Rubiks cube

Have you ever tried solving the Rubiks Cube? I have tried, but never learned how to...

... look at this guy. He's pretty amazing - solving the Rubiks cube while juggling. :)

A couple of questions: What do you think of my Sundays with YouTube? Like 'em? Should I continue with them? Do you have any tip on what to show you?

Man about town

I find lots of inspiration on YouTube. This time it's a tutorial with Dyan Reavely that got my inspiration flying.

She is working with her silhouette stencils and her journal block. I think it's fun that she shows different ways to use her products.

This is such a fun technique and I think its kind of calming to just sit and doodle. :) This is my first attempt, that I blogged about a while ago.

I have seen a couple of these pages that Dyan made, and it's fun to see how she does them. I tried it her way, and now I wanted to try it in a different way. It's really a cool effect with the black and white togehter, but I wanted to try it with a different color - silver and black. :)

It just hit me... wouldn't dark teal and a white pen be cool?!

I stamped with one of Dyans Coutor stamps - the Guy - Man about town, and it turned out really cool. :) He is flanked by the stencil Bert. 

He also got a hat. :)

This time I did the doodling with a black pen, but I also added some details with a white pen.

Thanks for the inspiration, Dyan! :)

Inspiration Journal - Layered Composition with Donna D

So then let me tell you about my third day at Stockholm Scrap & Mixed Media Class.

The store that was there was Skaparlusten, and look at this Steampunk Barbie that one of their DTmembers has made. Isn't it cooool?!

I want to make one! :)

The class that I took on Sunday evening was Inspiration Journal - Layered Composition with Donna Downey.

It's like watching an Inspiration Wednesday live. Amazing! :)

We worked with different techniques and mediums. I learned a lot, and watching Donna created is so inspiring. :)

When there was about 30 minutes left of the class, Donna wanted to give us a real challenge. She handed out photos of abstract paintings that she'd found on Pinterest, and we got 10 minutes to interpret that painting. The photo of the painting is on the right, and my interpretation is at the bottom. A bit stressful and fun! :) 

Then she gathered up the photos, and handed them out again... and we got 10 more minutes with a different abstract painting. Then we went around the room trying to find the other interpretation of the same painting. It was so much fun seeing how different they got. My interpretation is the one on top - a man leaning against a tree, and then at the bottom is the other girls interpretation - a mountain top... Fun! :)

"Look at this. This is how you do it."

Thank you so much, Donna, for coming to Sweden! You are such a big inspiration for me. :)

This is one of the pages that I did during the class - a Donna inspired lotus flower. I like it, but it feels like I need to put some finishing touches on it.

This is what my nails looked like when I got home... I had to use nail polish remover to make them ready for work...

I'll say as Donna - LIVE INSPIRED! :)

Niel Patrick Harris

I love musicals! :)

And so does Niel Patrick Harris, here as the host at the Tony Awards 2013. Enjoy! :)

Big 40 with Donna Downey

So the D-day is upon us! The day with Donna D! :)

When I arrived there the queue was long...

... and we couldn't wait to get started. :)

Let's get messy! Yummy! :)

Since we worked with 40 different mixed media techniques, and almost all of them included drying time.... so the heating gun worked overtime. And the fuse went off a couple of times, hmm.... oops. :/

Donna is a great source of inspiration, and the workshop was so packed with information. :) I loved it, and need to try the techniques all over again... this time in layer on layer. Fun fun fun! :)

.... and then we did some more drying...

Two amazing ladies in one photo - Donna and Fia! Thank you Fia for making this happen! :)

... by the way, love that you two have the same color on your glasses. :)

This is the WOW factor of the workshop. Such a cool technique with Pan Pastels. :)

Pan Pastel are soft dry pastel colors packed in a cake-like form... almost like eye shadow. I haven't worked with them before, and didn't plan to either... but boy, was I wrong. They were so fun to work with, and I probably need to buy me some.... 

This particular technique was a mistake by Donna that turned into something WOW! :)

Reminds me of this quote: 

The most exciting phrase to hear in science, 

the one that heralds new discoveries, 

is not "Eureka!" but 

"That's funny..."

- Issac Asimov (1920 - 1992)

 

Pan Pastels don't dry permanent, so you have to use a fixative on them when you want to layer them....

Can you imagine the look on the people on the sidewalk and at bus stop outside the place for the workshop, when 42 women storm out and start spraying like crazy on a pad of paper? Tihi! ;)

After the Pan Pastels, it was time to get messy again... a lot more messy...

This is my table neighbor Karin with not so clean hands and a toilet paper roll.  Having fun? :)

I got a little messy too... FUN! :)

A photo with me and Donna. :) Starstruck much? At first yes, but Donna was so nice to talk to and "just" a fellow creative artist. Thanks for coming to Sweden Donna! :)

I have watched Donnas "Inspiraion Wednesday" every week for a couple of years now, so yeah! It is kind of big for me to meet her in person and take two of her classes.

She wanted to be creative too, so she sat down with us for a while.... and did some talking. :)

I had to take a photo of Donnas husband, Bill, with his masterpiece and contribution to "the World of  Inspiration Wednesday". You've got to love teal! :D

A group photo of all the 42 happy ladies at the workshop, with Donna at the back behind the pillar. ;)

Thank you, Donna (and Bill) for this workshop! :) I'm full of inspiration and still have messy hands. And I am so happy that I will meet her again tomorrow afternoon, for a second class. I need to grab the chance when she's in Sweden. :D

Some final word from Donna... Live Inspired! :)

Splash! with Finnabair

This weekend has finally arrived! The Stockholm Scrap & Mixed Media classes! Yeah! :D

I feels like ages ago that I signed up for these workshops, and this night was the first one - Splash! with Finnabair aka Anna Dabrowska. Soo much fun! :)

Here we are patently, and sooo quietly accoring to Donna Downey, waiting for Fia so we can sign in and start playing.

Everyone is all ready to go. Anna - Start spreading you inspiration! :)

Hmmm, this was what was on the table when we started to get messy.... ???? Looks kind of wierd. :/ Can anyone see what it is? A beef stew?

As I mentioned before, this was so much fun. :D ... when we were creating the background, lots of happy squeals and laughter were heard around the table. Some of the happy sounds came from me. :) Maybe even a happy dance...

This is how my background turned out... lots and lots of happy splashes. Looove it! :)

Anna in action - creating something amazing. Thank you so much for this workshop and all the happiness and creativity you spread! :)

Me and Anna - The mandatory photo at the end of a workshop.

This is how my layout turned out... but it's not done yet, I need to add some more embellishments and stamping. 

A group shot of all the nice ladies at the workshop. Thanks for spreading inspiration! :)

Now I need to go to bed, so that I'm alert at Donna Downeys workshop tomorrow. Iiiiii! Can hardly wait! :)

A Hug

Today I would like to show you an Art Journal that is about a very important thing...

... to remember to do. Don't forget to give the people close to you a hug now and then. Everyone needs a hug sometime. 

This "hug", with the two hand on each side, is a hug I usually give on all my birthdays and holiday cards. I often get a comment about it and a smile in return. :)

I found a tutorial, on the Faber Castell blog, about mixing Gelatos with Gel Medium. I wanted to try that, cause I have been thinking about how to use my Gelatos more and in combination with my stencils too. Fun! :)

In the tool kit, that comes with the Gelatos, are a lot of smart tool. A spatula is included, and a mixer, a brush to splatter with, two polka dot tools and a pipett. First I added some Multi Medium on my "palett", then I scraped off some Gelatos and mixed it together with the medium. It took a while before the Gelatos dissolved, but then you got a creamy colorful paste.

I did three different pastes and used three different masks. In that I mixed the Gelatos with something, it gets permanent when dry. I let the different colors dry before adding the next one, just to not mix them up.

When everything was dry I mixed yellow Gelatos with water and did some lovely dots with the polka dot tool. Love it! :) I also added Crackle Accents over the dots. Cool, ha? :)

With the brush in the tool kit I did some splatter with black Gelatos, mixed with water, over my page. I also misted some water over the page, letting the splatter run some. The grey "fog" on the photo, is where the gelatos wasn't totally mixed with water... I used my fingers and smudged it out. Kind of a cool effect. :) On the photo above this, on the honey comb pattern, you can see that the Multi Medium acted kind of like a resist for the Gelatos. Another fun technique that I need to try some more. :)

A close up of all the loverly layers - and A HUG!