Art Journal Share: Bright Spots

I have another art journal spread to share with you today, this time in my Dylusions mini journal. Apologies for the somewhat dodgy first pic :/

Materials: Dylusions mini journal, SEI tumble dye fabric spray inks, Liquitex acrylic ink, Crafters Workshop ‘Fish Scale’ stencil, October Afternoon mini market stickers, Bo Bunny ‘It Is Written’ texture stamps, Archival ink, Stampin Up ‘Splatter’ roller stamp

Happy arting!

Melita xo

Art Journal Share: Not Ok

I’ve made no secret of the fact that I suffer from depression and anxiety. As much as I may not like it, it is a part of who I am, and I believe the biggest key to breaking down the stigma surrounding mental illness is to be open and honest about our experiences with it. To that end, I want to share a journal spread I created yesterday, on Australia’s national R U Ok Day. 

The R U OK? Foundation is a not-for-profit organisation dedicated to encouraging all people to regularly and meaningfully ask 'are you ok?' to support those struggling with life. Simply taking the time to ask someone if they are ok and really listening to their answer, can make a world of difference.

Materials: Moleskine sketchbook, Montana paint pens, Liquitex gesso, Faber Castell big brush pen, Archival ink, alpha roller stamp, alpha stencil

R U Ok Day landed during a particularly rough time for me, so I chose to art it out using the theme and colours associated with the day. Art is a therapy for me, and I often use it as a release. Some days it is enough, some days it’s not. If art helps you in this way, by all means, get creative, get messy, and art it out. But please, if you feel you need more than that, reach out to someone. A friend, a neighbour, a doctor – find a way to make it through the day. If you need anonymity, I am amore than happy to be an ear at the end of an email. You can get in touch via the contact tab at the top of the page.

Thank you for taking the time to read todays post. It is a subject that hits as close to home as any can, and I think we all need to do what we can to create awareness and build a supportive community.

Melita xo

Art Journal Share: Just Let Go

Today was one of those days. You know, the sort that just makes you want to crawl into bed and hide. So I did lol But when I managed to pull myself out of it, I realised what I really needed was the therapy of getting covered in paint and goo, so I headed out to my studio to get good and messy.

Materials: Dylusions mini journal, ‘Circle Explosion’ and ‘3/4’ stencils by Balzer Designs, ‘Grungy Chevron’ stencil by Donna Downey, vintage plastic doily, Dina Wakely ‘Create With Abandon’ stamp, Golden open acrylic, Decoart crafters acrylic, Liquitex acrylic ink, Archival black ink, Liquitex flexible modeling paste, Prima letter stickers

Have you had a little art therapy time lately? I’d love to see your creations, so be sure to hook me up in the comments below.

Happy arting!

Melita xo

Art Journal Share - Try

It’s been so long since I had the chance to play in my studio, but I managed to carve out some time yesterday and feel all the better for it.

I’ve started working on a big canvas for mine & Cameron’s bedroom, and whilst waiting for layers to dry, I grabbed my new mini Dylusions journal and had a little fun. I have to admit, I didn’t like how it was looking at first, but I’m happy with the end result, and the resulting message that I definitely needed to hear yesterday.

Materials used – Dylsions mni journal, Liquitex gesso, Liquitex basics acrylic paint, Liquitex flexible modelling paste, Golden fluid acrylic paint, Archival black ink, Heidi Swapp sunburst stencil, Lil Davis foam stamps, mini rubber alpha stamps, Signo white pen

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek. I’m hoping to share more often here, so if you see me slacking, holler at me!

Happy arting,

Melita xo

Art Journal Share: Off Key

It seems like forever since I actually played in my journal. I’ve been working mostly with canvases lately, so it feels really good to have gotten a spread finished. This particular journal is A4, so it’s also a lot bigger than I usually work with. A challenge – but fun!

It’s a big messy spread, with wonky text, but perfect for me : )

Supplies: Adirondack colour wash, craft acrylic, india ink, Pilot Permaball pen, Neocolor watercolour crayons, dictionary text, gesso, stencils.

Have you created lately? I’d love to see!

Til next time, happy arting!

Melita xo

Inspired Deck Swap

Earlier this year, I took part in an awesome mixed media project called the Inspiration Deck Swap. It was hosted by Jess of In Search Of Dessert, and it was awesome. Quick summary – decorate a deck of cards, including inspirational quotes, and send them off to Jess. You will then get a full deck back, made up of creations from different artists. I love what I received, so when I saw that Jess was doing it again, I couldn’t resist the chance to jump in.

Here’s a peek at just the first stage of my deck this time round – I’ve adhered book text, and gotten rather ink happy lol Next stage will be some stamping…not sure what else, but I’m having fun!

If you want to join in, please do! Head over to Jess’s blog for full info and sign up details.

Til next time,

Lita xo

Art Squared

Hello lovelies! The next Art Squared prompt is now up! I wanted to share my creation here with you guys too, so here it is

For the full supply list, aswell as the prompt itself, and Jaimie’s awesome example, be sure to head to the Art2 blog.

Happy arting!

Melita

Shabby journal peek

I've seen so many pics floating around the net of shabby journals and I knew I had to give it a go. I made the cover a couple of months ago and I'm finally finishing off the pages for inside. It's been a lot if trial and error and messy stitching from a wonky machine (& wonky owner ) but I'm loving it so far.

Here's s little peek - I'll be back in a few days for a look at the finished journal.

Happy arting!

Lita xo

It feels good to create

For the last few weeks I have been in a serious creative funk. I’ve rally struggled to get started on anything, to finish anything, or even just to have an idea of what I wanted to know. And since art is my therapy, it has been a rough time to be in my head! But, this weekend, I finally did it – I started AND finished a project! Yay me! Big shout out to my hubs – he went out and bought me an easel for my studio, and it made me itch to get out there and play. The result? a huge canvas for my wall, with a message I really need to see at the moment.

I decided to take step by step pics to share with you guys, since the creative juices had all but dried up here on the blog. So enjoy!

Ooh, and before I forget, I also incorporated a NEW Art Squared prompt, so be sure to head over to check out our poor neglected project. My mojo has not been kind to Art2 :/

I started with an old 20x40 canvas that I’ve been wanting to rework for awhile, collaging a mixture of vintage maps and book text.

 

I used a lot of DecoArt decoupage medium, and I mean ALOT. Purely because as it dries, it will really warp the paper and give lots of wrinkles, bubble, TEXTURE.

I then added Liquitex gesso, by scraping it on with an old rewards card. I kept it very messy and random.

Next I used a Crafters Workshop stencil to create a random design, using a sponge and Golden open acrylic paint in Nickel Azo Gold.

After drying it really well, I used a round brush and some black acrylic to add my quote. I then finished if off with just a bit more of the golden acrylic around the edges.

It’s far from perfect – my script painting skills leave a lot to be admired – but it’s a finished piece that I am really happy with. It’s taking pride of place in my studio, in the hopes that when I get a case of the “what if’s”, the message on the canvas will give me the boost to keep on going anyway.

Til next time,'

Happy arting!

Lita xo

Doubt kills

I made this super quick little piece today. It's messy, perfectly imperfect, and making me happy perched atop my desk.

Started by collaging some book tex, then scraping gesso very roughly over the top. Finshed it off with some smeared oil pastel and a messily stamped quote. Framed it and, voila!

Have you created anything lately? I'd love to hear about it!

Happy arting,
Lita xo

Whatnots & Such

Well, I finally finished the cover of my latest art journal/smash book style journal - I showed you the in progress pic here - so I thought I'd come back and share the result! Click on the pic to take a closer look :)

I've used a ton of different supplies here, some of which are: Sassafras papers, Amy Tangerine diecut shapes, Pink Paislee diecuts, washi tape, vintage flash cards, Kaisercraft alpha stickers, Amy Tangerine woodgrain thickers, Crafters Workshop bricj stencil, Vintage photo distress ink, handmade crochet trim flower, aswell as a vintage tape measure and pom pom trim.

I've still no clue exactly what this book will be used for, but I sure had fun making it! When I do actually start using it, I'll be sure to share the progress lol

For now, I'm off to spend some quality time with my paints.

Happy arting!

Lita xo

A new journal

Yes, that's right. I'm working on yet another new journal. I'm currently working in around a dozen different journals, but hey, you can never have too many, right?
This one is made from a composition notebook, and is still in the early stages. I've glued in some scrapbook papers, crumpled and inked up the others and am still working on the cover.
It's the cover I've got a little peek of for you all today. It's a work in progress at the moment as I still want to embellish it a bit more and add a title when I figure out what on earth I'll be using the journal for lol At this point I'm thinking it will be a smash book/junque journal kinda thing lol
Anyway, enough jabbering. Here's the pic, and now I'm off to play around with it a little more.

Happy arting,
Lita xo

Mixed Media: She had colourful dreams

A She Art girl I did a little while back and never got around to sharing lol

Happy arting!

Lita xo

Travel Art Kit

For awhile now, I've been wanting to put together an art journal kit that I can take out and about with me. Sounds easy right? Just throw in some paints and pens and you're good to go, right? Um, wrong. For me anyway lol
I wanted my kit to have a bit of everything - colour, texture, collagey stuff etc. And of course I wanted a cute bag to keep it all in lol It took me awhile to narrow down exactly what I wanted and what was essential, but I'm happy to say I finally have it sorted and ready to go! Wanna take a look? Be warned, this is a verrry long and image heavy post lol

** Click on the pics for a closer look **

I picked up this make-up bag from my local thrift store for a teensy $1.99 - bargain right? It's the perfect size, can easily be wiped down when it gets a little messy and I quite like the pattern too. It has three zippered compartments, and is roomy enough that I can pop a couple of journals inside aswell.

Now, lets take a closer look at the goodies inside!

The pic below shows the contents of the smaller outer pocket. These are what I consider the essentials, so having them in the front pocket means I can access them super fast.

Glue - I use a small glue stick by Bostik, called BluStik. It's small, cheap, and works great for my needs.
India Ink Pen - this is a Big Brush pen from Faber Castell. It's actually india ink, which means it's permanent when dry, but blends well when still wet. Great for titles, borders etc, and also for stamping.
Pencil - just an average mechanical pencil, my preference because I hate dealing with pencil sharpening mess lol
Scissors - No clue on the brand of these. I picked them up at my local craft store for around $7 and I love that they have a safety cover (I'm a total klutz so safety is a good thing!)
Pilot Permaball - this is my go to pen for all mixed media. It's permanent, fade resistant and writes on just about every surface. The only time I have issues is if I try to write over oil pastel, or watercolour crayons that haven't been blended with water.
Washi tape -my current obsession (though I tend to collect more than I use ... hmm...) I bought the masking tape set in the tin, and also added some of my favourites by wrapping them around shipping tags and popping them into the tin. Much easier than carrying all those full rolls!
I also carry a basic eraser (for obvious reasons) along with a note book. I use my notebook to jot down ideas and also often rip pages out to use as super simple journal cards.

These goodies below all fit into one of the inside pockets.

Gesso - Just some of my regular gesso (Art Spectrum brand) in a little container.
Paintbrushes - pretty self explanatory lol I also threw in a waterbrush to use with my Neocolours
Watercolour crayons - Caran Dache Neocolour II crayons. Blend them with water for easy, no fuss colour.
Ink - A few basic colours of Versa Colour inks. I prefer to use Stazon or Archival, but these are small and were already in my stash lol
Rewards card - this is my favourite tool. I use it like a pallette knife to scrape on gesso and colour. Compact, lightweight and it was free! lol
Paper towel - For clean ups
Baking paper - to protect the surface I'm working on, and as a great disposable pallette
Punchinella - cheap and easy stencils!
I also have a date stamp, foam stamps, stapler, a spray bottle of water adn a couple of tiny rubber stamps. All pretty self explanatory really.

And now for the other pocket - colour! This pocket will change often, depending on what my go to colours are at the time.

Paint dabbers - these are perfect for art on the go! They are acrylic paints with a sponge dabber tip so there is no need for paintbrushes at all! These ones are from Ranger.
Acrylic paints - these are little tubes of acrylic by Eraldo dePaolo. Great travel size, affordable and available in a huge range of colours.
Distress stain - Love this! Made by Ranger, this is a liquid form of Tim Holtz's distress inks, with a sponge tip so you can easily apply a wash of colour over your page. These aren't permanent, so you need to keep that in mind when layering - anything wet will activate again.
Pens - just some cheapie fine tip pens form my local discount store.

In the main part of the bag, I have popped in two journals, a baggie of stamps and a small folio filled with goodies. These last few pics give you a look at those. No description for these pics though, as I think it's pretty self explanatory lol

So, there it is. My travel art kit...and a very long winded description of it lol Pretty sure I covered everything, but if you have any questions at all, don't hesitate to ask! If you have a travel kit or similar, I would love a peek - be sure to link me up in the comments!

Til next time, happy arting,

Lita xo

Grow your wings

A Brave Girls Club inspired canvas :) For those who haven't heard of Brave Girls, be sure to check our the link in the sidebar - they are amazing!

I'm headed out for a girly day with one of my bff's now, so til next time, happy arting!
Lita co

Mixed media: How does your garden grow?

I worked on this little canvas last night and my word it tested me lol I seem to gravitate toward the same collies over and over, so this was a test for me, trying to brighten things up a bit. Not ashamed to admit I had a little hissy fit when things didn't go quite as planned lol
But I persevered and in the end, I actually really love it. The photo doesn't do the colours justice unfortunately.
I'm itching to get back in the studio to play with more paint, but tonight I'm babysitting and will have to settle for digiscrap instead. What are your grand plans this weekend?
Til next time, happy creating!
Lita xo

Messy Monday – Favourite Things

Another page to share today, this time, it’s the very first page in the book, where I decided to get a little poetic and do my own version of Favourite Things ala Sound Of Music. I’m a dork, I know this lol

 
Just a simple page, not much to say about it, so I’ll leave it at this. I’m off to my craft desk to play with paint and stuff!

Happy crafting!

Lita xo

Messy Monday – Timspiration

Life here has been crazy the last few days! We all have horrid colds, Cam started a new job, the inlaws have been visiting for the last week and we also had Haylee’s birthday yesterday. I need a holiday just to recover from everything lol But it’s been a good few days too I guess. Cam is loving his job, Haylee had a wonderful day yesterday, and it’s been great to see the inlaws…or outlaws as I prefer to call them.

Anyhoo, because of the crazies I totally forgot to blog a bunch of fun stuff that I want to share with you all. So I’m now sitting on the couch, tapping away on my NEW laptop to share some craftyness with you. Think I’ll even get all organised and schedule some posts for the coming days lol

Let’s pretend it’s Monday….I have another Messy Book page to share with you today, this time featuring the amazing Tim Holtz. If you haven’t seen his work yet, you really need to. He is amazing! When I decided to create an album of my favourite things, I knew I’d have to include the awesome that is Tim Holtz. I absolutely love his products and style of art and as a result he has been a huge influence in my ‘creative life’

 
Again, I’ve used a bunch of upcycled goodies – cardboard box, jeans, shopping bag, book text, measuring tape, and lots more. I’ve used many Tim Techniques/goodies here too, such as masking, blending, grungeboard and stamping. I’ve even used his awesome distress stickles.

If you haven’t checked out Tim Holtz yet, what are you waiting for? And if you’re looking for a great supply of Tim products, be sure to check out Simon Says Stamp – they have pretty much everything Tim lol

Happy crafting!

Lita xo

Messy Monday – Grandma’s Bowl

Oops, nearly missed it! It’s Messy Monday again, and this time around I have a pretty page featuring one of my absolute favourite things – a bowl that is over 100yrs old, and has been handed down through 5 generations of my family. I have digi-scrapped this before, but really wanted it in my messy book.
I haven’t really recycled much with this page, but the backing doily was made by my great grandmother. It was slightly damaged so I decided to put it to use here instead.

That’s it for me tonight – I’m busily working on some digiscrap collab kits, and chair dancing to you tube vids lol

Don’t forget, link me up to YOUR projects! Happy crafting!

Lita xo

Messy Monday – My Man

Yes, I’m back to my Messy Monday posts! And this week I have a TON of pics to share from a double page spread I did about my fella, Cam. You’ll notice blank spaces – that’s for journalling that I’m putting off because i hate my handwriting lol
I’m particularly happy with these pages, because I have used quite a lot of upcycled items. I’ll make a note under each pic with details on what was upcycled :)

The base of the page here is made from a cardboard box we had here at home. I just tore it up, distressed it with some ink, and then added a handle from a paper shopping bag I had in my stash.  Also upcycled are the buckle, denim strip playing card and bottle cap. I filled the bottle cap with glossy accents, then pressed in a bunch of broken watch pieces.

This uses a dog tag from an old key ring, that I crackle painted, the twine is from a parcel I received, and the little film strip is actually from the outer packaging from a Tim Holtz product – waste not, want not, right? ;)

  The pocket is one I saved from an old pair of Emily’s jeans. I have had it in my stash for over 3 yrs now…knew I’d use it eventually lol

And the tag below will actually sit between the two pages. Upcycled items here include the denim, the watch parts, and twine from a parcel I arrived.

So there you have it, another Messy Monday. Are you working on an album like this, or have you created one in the past? I’d love to see it so link us up!

Be sure to come back Wednesday for another peek at my inspiration journal, and drop in tomorrow for a cool tute I stumbled across recently!

Happy crafting!

Lita xo