Isn't she cute? She's a Gorjuss stamp and her name is Ruby. There are so many cute stamps out there, and try as you might, you're going to get hooked on one of them! I have four Gorjuss stamps and I'm pretty sure there will be more.

Ruby helped save a page that I hated. I don't remember what was on the page before, but I'm pretty sure it was done with Ranger Color Wash, and I covered it up with Pan Pastels. I really like the pan pastels, haven't learned how to use them very well but they sure do cover a multitude of sins. The only problem is when you mix two mediums together like that, you sometimes end up with a funky color. I did this a while ago so I don't remember what colors I used exactly, but when I sprayed the hearts/flowers stencil (color wash on pan pastel)...they came out green. Ew. So I took some gesso and painted over the green...they turned blue. Oh. But it was okay! I was totally "good with it". Even after I put the border down the center of the page, I was good with it.

Inspired by...Donna Downey

Donna Downey has this thing that she does on Wednesdays and I'm pretty much addicted to it. She calls it Inspiration Wednesday. Each week, on Wednesday, (just in case you didn't pick that up the first two times), she produces a YouTube video while creating in her journal. You know what? It's fun!

I love to watch as Donna talks to herself us and describes what she intends to do, or not. Sometimes she has a plan, sometimes she just wings it, but she always makes an outstanding journal page! She's down to earth and honest about what she's doing, even admitting it when she doesn't have a clue. She's very entertaining and I love her thought process.

But more than that, I find Donna to be very inspiring. As accomplished as she is, there are days that she just doesn't "feel it". I've watched her talk herself through these times, quite often putting the brush down and stepping away to think about it. What she always ends up with though, is a piece that she's "good with". OMG, what a concept!! Video after video I've heard her say "I'm good with that" or "Yeah, I like that", or even "I think it's done now". OMG! I really don't think I've ever heard words like "awesome", "beautiful", "gorgeous", or even "brilliant", (although there are times that Donna Downey is extremely brilliant).

I know that every time I open a journal, I don't have to create a Rembrandt. I don't have to try and please someone else, I just need to please myself. But it's hard to practice that when you expect too much of yourself. I think we all do that to some degree because we want to push ourselves and accomplish more. But for me, being 'good with it' is good enough.

Visit Donna's blog: Simply Me. Watch Donna's videos: Donna Downey Videos

This is the first article in my own version of Inspiration Wednesday. Check back each Wednesday as I share some of my favorite people with you.

Serendipity

At times I'm astounded by the creations I make. I seldom have a plan in my head of what I'm going to do and I just start making a background. When that's done I don't always know where I'm going next, but the pieces come together...slowly. This is one of those pieces. I wanted to use my Dyan Reavely border stencils so I went ahead and inked it with Forest Moss Distress Ink. That was it....the brain had nothing more to add. I was stuck with some pretty color that kind of looked like water, and a mossy green leaf border.

Don't EVER let anyone stop you from clipping pictures and saving them! Just do it, and don't throw them out! You never know when you'll need help to spark an idea, and that pile of clippings that's been sitting there for a year? It just may have the answer!

I knew she was perfect for this page as soon as I saw her. She looked like she could walk on water and I just happened to have some! Then I was stumped again until I found my birdcage stencil. Mind you, this all took about a week to come together. In the meantime, I was working on other pages, doing other things, while this page put itself together.

And that, my friends, is called serendipity. "The accident of finding something good or useful while not specifically searching for it".

Background done with Dylusions Ink Spray and Luscious Leaves stencil border. Miscellaneous stamps.

A new beginning...

Happy September to you and happy art journaling day to me! Today, I plan on playing with some Dylusional Ink and making a fun two page spread in my composition book- turned journal. I've found that my comp books don't scare me like the hard cover journals...I'm not afraid to just let go and let the paint (or ink) fly! I normally use Strathmore spiral bound journals, but I bought a couple hard cover books and everytime I open one of them, I freeze up. Using the comp book was a quick fix because it was "there", and now I'm having some fun. I'm hoping I'll get so relaxed that I can move on to the hard cover journals without bursting into tears. :-)

Before I start playing with something new, I want to share this page with you that was totally inspired by Kathy at the Paper Pumpkin.

When working with a comp book, I like to first glue a couple pages together to give them a bit more body, and then apply a coat of gesso to the top of the page. Comp book paper is smooth and doesn't have any "teeth" for the ink/paint to hold onto. Without it, Dylusional Inks just sink into the paper rather than mix together and blend as you want them to. You can watch Dyan Reavely's videos for some great demonstrations on how to use her ink sprays. She's fabulous and so much fun!

The background is a combination of stamps and stencils that I use most often, and then I stenciled the flowers in the foreground with a black Micron. Once I filled in the color with Prisma pencils, I outlined them again with ink and black marker to make them pop. My beautiful vintage lady is a print that I picked up at Pringle Hill. I outlined her with black marker as well so she wouldn't just blend into the background.

All in all, I was really quite pleased with the end result, and very happy with the inspiration from the Paper Pumpkin!

Thank you, Julie Fei-Fan Balzer - (cont'd)

Julie wrote an article in the Sept/Oct 2012 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors about blogging that hit a chord with me. I've had my blog for a long time, started out as a scrappy blog and eventually turned into a semi art journal, altered items, scrap-whenever, blog-whenever type blog. B O R I N G. And I know B O R I N G. I read a lot of blogs, especially art journal blogs, and I like them. Really like them. I don't like mine. That must be why I don't pay much attention to it.

So I'm taking Julie's advice and making some changes. I'm going to post more often and show more of what I'm doing. I'm committing my blog to art journaling because that's what I care about now, not scrapping. I've learned enough in the past two years to start sharing some knowledge instead of just posting a picture and saying "look what I did." I think at long last that I can give a bit more information about what I've done and what I've used. I'm learning from some of the best people out there, and I want to share that with you. All of it. You ready?

Altered Canvas

Finally! After making a mess out of a beautiful background, I started over and ended up scrapbooking the canvas. I'm pretty satisfied with it now. I love the vintage look and this will fit in nicely.
 
I actually started with Prima Printery paper as a background that I intended to journal on. Scrapbooking wasn't really what I'd planned, but nothing was coming out right. Enter Gesso! I gessoed the canvas thoroughly and let it sit to dry....for a month! This time I used a vintage tag I made for a swap and an image I picked up from Roxycar's site. The grandfather clock in the upper left corner, and the stamped lady in the lower right are from Roxy also. Little gifts she added to a purchase I made, and so perfect for me!
 
The background is Dylusions Ink Spray over gessoed Prima Printery, I added some Webster's paper and the large 12x12 sheet is from K and Co that I bought about 6 years ago! I was saving it for something special and I'm glad I did! I'm so happy with this piece!

Digistamp Fun

Found these adorable digistamps at The Octopode Factory thanks to The Norsu Girl on YouTube. Of course, I'm seeing them everywhere now and I'm beginning to look at other digi sites as well, but I won't go full digital...ever.

Steampunk people from The Octopode Factory Etsy site.

I have no idea how I'm going to finish this one, but I used my clear stamps here, not digital.