Bring on the twinks

 

Do you mixed media artists remember when Twinkling H2Os were the rage a few years ago?  Did you indulge in buying a few?  I got mine on clearance and I used them a lot.  Then I put them away and forgot them.  Today I am pulling them out in order to create another background.  

Supplies from left to right, top to bottom

Twinkling H2Os

110 lb cardstock

Brushes (I used a flat 3/4 brush)

Dressmaker's tissues

Before I began the technique, I added distilled water to these H2Os so they would have a chance to go from solids to watery shimmers.  Be sure to use distilled water in case the H2Os aren't completely dry when you put them away.

I'm sure many of us know seamstresses who have old dressmaker's patterns they are willing to give away for the sake of art.

I added the three H2Os to the page using the flat brush.  I tried to allow the various H2Os to blend with each other in places, thus creating a new color. 

 

I color corrected this in PhotoShop.  I think it's a bit closer to the correct colors.  Too bad you can't see the mica that makes these so beautiful.  Allow your gorgeous piece to dry completely!

When completely dry, I drug out my matte gel medium and the dressmaker's tissues.

It's obviously still wet, but I love the results.  I will trim the edges when it's dry and scan it.

I fear the colors aren't as true as in the photo above, but it is still beautiful.

Ruminations:

1. I didn't get enough gel medium on the back of each tissue.  I found that out when I used what I thought was too much gel medium on the purple at the top.  I actually should have been adding more to all the tissues.

2.  I love how some of the lines of the tissues in back show through to the tissue on top.

 

This is Day 14 of 22 and I recycled some old dressmaker's tissues and got to play with my long forgotten Twinkling H2Os.

A single flower

 

Today we welcome a new host at Art Journal Journey.  It is a first time host, and my internet friend Sheila, who many of you know as Orange Esmeralda.  Her theme this month is A Single Flower.

This is my take on a single flower.

I got a little carried away on the photos.

My little flower is potted.

It is aptly named Songflower.

I even remembered to use the date stamp (and correctly for a change).

I created the background in my watercolor journal by swiping green watercolor on the page.  I was going for the mottled look so it didn't compete with the focal flower.  I cut the focal flower petals, leaves, and stem from various pages in an old song book.  Even the title was written on part of one of the pages.

For the flower petals, leaves, and stem, I got out my Twinkling H2Os and went to town laying down bits of color on several song book pages.  When dry, I cut them and adhered them to the page using a glue stick.   I wrote the title using two metallic gel pens, then added the date stamp.

Thank you ever so much for visiting today.   Sheila, Chris, Erika, Valerie, Yvonne, Bleubeard, and I are delighted you joined us and hope to see you this month at Art Journal Journey with your own take on A Single Flower.  

 

We welcome art journal pages that meet the size requirements, altered book pages, canvases, loose or stand alone pages, fabric pages, and digital art.  We do not allow cards, tags, index cards, ATCs, or ATCoins, and as much as we don't want to, will be forced to delete your entry.  

Making the impossible possible

Who doesn't love butterflies?  I certainly do.

But since I'm hosting Art Journal Journey this month, my theme is not

butterflies,

but Hearts. 

And because Try it on Tuesday's theme is Share the Love, I'll be joining them, too.

In retrospect, I should have called it "Butterfly Love," but instead chose Love makes the impossible, possible.

This started out as a sheet of 110 lb card stock.  I suspect some of you are shaking your head and asking why I didn't chose watercolor paper instead.  I bought a package of 200 sheets of card stock and only have 14 sheets of watercolor paper left. I'm saving the watercolor paper for art I make for friends.  I don't mind that the card stock is wrinkled, bent, and wonky from the handmade shimmering mists I used to create the butterfly that was misted through a stencil.

I originally wanted the heart white, then realized it was lost on the nearly white background.  I got out my Twinkling H2Os and colored in the heart.  Still not enough, I sewed variegated thread twice around the heart.

For the computer generated sentiment, sewn to the page, I colored it also using one of my mists.

I'm really pleased you stopped by today.  Your visits mean the world to me.  I hope to also see you at Art Journal Journey and Try it on Tuesday.

Love in color

I have to begin by saying how happy I am that the Chiefs won last night in the Superbowl.  It made me proud.

Since Bleubeard and I are hosting Art Journal Journey this month, with our theme Hearts,

Bleubeard thought it would be fun to dig out my nearly forgotten Twinkling H20s.  Unfortunately, these had never been opened and I wasn't able to get a single one open.  And, no, Bleubeard was NO help whatsoever when it came to opening these pots of watercolor mica pigments.

On the other hand, the larger pots that I've used in the past were easier to open.  If you've never used these before, they are shimmery and live up to their expectations.  Two thoughts, though.  You MUST add water to these, so be sure to use distilled water ONLY when you hydrate them.  Otherwise, if you close them with water still in them, they can mold.  They will not mold if you use distilled water.  The other thought is, add water, then walk away.  Seriously!  Walk away so the water can "do its thing."

Once water has hydrated the watercolors, the fun can begin.  If you like to watercolor, the shimmer these give is out of this world.  Too bad my camera can't pick the shimmer up better.  I'd like to mention that I've had mine for ages and mine are all branded under the Luminarte name.  They are now sold exclusively by the inventor, Leslie Ohnstad.

As you can read, I'm calling this Love in color.

However,

once I had it photographed and on my blog, it looked rather pathetic.  It was off to the drawing board again.

Out came postage stamps and rubber stamps.   I got a little carried away, so I will let you peruse these photos I took around the perimeter of the page.

For this journal entry, I began with 110 lb card stock and various Twinkling H20s.  Some of the H20s spread better than others, possibly because I got more water in some than in others.  Once the heart was dry and photographed, I got out several stamps and placed them around the perimeter of the heart.

Bleubeard and I are thrilled that you visited today and also hope to see you and your own Heart inspired art at Art Journal Journey. 

Off to the airport for Friday Smiles 328

Today I'm joining Chris at Pear Shaped Crafting, our host this month at Art Journal Journey with her theme We're all/going. I'm also joining Annie (at A Stitch in Time) and the ladies at Friday Smiles.  There will be no museum visit today, because I want to share a journal page I created and explain the process I went through to get these children at the airport.

It's hard to write the words "we're all" when I am a single person headed to the airport.  This is a true story, not one made up in order just to create art. 

This is the Arrivals area of my local airport.  This is my photo and printed on my laser printer that only has black toner.  It's not very exciting, but this is not an exciting airport in black and white.

In case you can't read the sentiment:

I am heading to the airport.
I am picking up 3 young travelers.
I need documentation to claim them.
I must meet them at the gate.

You are possibly asking why I called them "3 young travelers."  This is how the airlines designate them.  Children under the age of 12 (ages 5-11) are considered "unaccompanied minors" and must pay a fee (Southwest charges $50.00 USD each way, while Delta and American charge $150 USD one way) for the unaccompanied minor to fly unless accompanied by another person aged 12 and older.

Because the children are all flying together, they are not considered unaccompanied, but young travelers.  However, there are certain rules that must be followed.  For example, and I learned this last year before I picked them up at the airport,

I must first go to the Southwest ticket counter (the airline they were flying to and from Wichita) and get an escort pass that will allow me to go through airport security so I can meet the children at the gate.  I have to show my I.D. and give the names of the children.  Their aunt is so good and extremely thorough. She  sent copies of all the identification papers and copies of their birth certificates last year, which made it a breeze.  I am not sure I needed these, but they sure helped, since I was going to be responsible for three "young travelers."  I was so glad I had saved all this paperwork, because I didn't have to ask their aunt for it again.

When I got to the gate, I showed the papers again, making it easy for me.  We did this last year, too, but that time was scary because I didn't know what to expect.  This time, we all knew what to expect.  The oldest had been given a copy of my driver's license I had sent to their aunt last year.  Again, it may have been overkill, but we were all quite well prepared and there was absolutely no problems when they arrived.

Today (in my art journal because the children are already here) I am headed to the airport.  Then, following Chris's artistic guidelines, we'll be heading to my house.

On the way home, one of the siblings took this shot.
They got all excited and asked if I knew what kind of a car it was (make, model, year).  Sadly, I didn't.  Maybe one of my readers will, though.

Thank you for joining me today.  I hope you learned something about young travelers.  I also hope you will join me at Art Journal Journey and Friday Smiles.

And because you have come to expect a few funnies:

An optimist is someone who goes after Moby Dick in a rowboat and takes the tartar sauce with him.


And for all you cat lovers out there

LAW OF CAT INERTIA – A cat at rest will tend to remain at rest, unless acted upon by some outside force, such as the opening of cat food.

LAW OF CAT MOTION – A cat will move in a straight line, unless there is a really good reason to change direction.

FIRST LAW OF CAT ENERGY CONSERVATION – Cats know that energy can neither be created nor destroyed and will, therefore, use as little energy as possible.

LAW OF BAG/BOX OCCUPANCY – All bags and boxes in a given room must contain a cat within the earliest possible nanosecond.

LAW OF FURNITURE REPLACEMENT – A cat’s desire to scratch furniture is directly proportional to the cost of the furniture.

LAW OF CAT COMPOSITION – A cat is composed of Matter + Anti-matter + It Doesn’t Matter.

LAW OF CAT OBEDIENCE – As yet undiscovered.

Hope this has started your weekend off with a smile.