Starting a new Art Journal
Recently I was talking to one of my clients about what I call my ideas/inspiration note and sketch pads. He laughed and said I was art journaling and didn’t even know it. I thought I wasn’t since most of my pages seemed a mess and wasn’t what I would call pretty but I was reminded that is how all creative processes start! So while I still have my beat up notebooks and pads around here I started one a little more artistic in nature by re-purposing a old sketch pad of mine.I had to start with the front cover, adding a new layer of card stock and pulling out all of my paper crafting supplies! I started with stamps and kept going!
I stamped gears, a clock and words to remind me to take the time to create and let go. I used one of my favorite embossing powder recipes, added stickers, paper and doodled across the cover.
It is rather enjoyable to create a book for myself and not anyone else, a great way to relax and to highlight things I enjoy. After I worked on the front cover I wanted some of my art journal pages contain little snips of stories or themes that inspire me. Using one of my favorite quotes by Lewis Carroll from Alice in Wonderland I came up with the idea of doing a Cheshire cat page. I have always seen the cat as philosophical in nature, a reminder of how things are or could be.Hop on over to the Globecraft and Piccolo Blog for my Cheshire Cat journal page tutorial with Globecraft and Piccolo products!
If you would like to read Lewis Carroll’s Alice in Wonderland the Project Gutenberg Literary Archive Foundation has a free EBook of Alice in Wonderland.The Project Gutenberg website preserves literary and other intellectual works, and make copies of or products based on those works available free of charge or at the lowest possible cost to the people of the United States and the rest of the world. Many of the books are free because their copyright has expired.
Until next time, safe travels!
Antique treasures inspire new art
A few months back I found a box full of mementos of my grandmother’s on my father’s side of the family. It was full of vintage family photos, many I had never seen, of my grandparents, father and many other family members. Sadly since many of them are now passed these items are my window, not only into my family’s past but snippets of history. So many of the photos are in good condition and I went about scanning them in to be able to send to family members who might be able to help me finding out who is in the photos. Through this treasure trove of letters, photos and mementos I found out my grandmother Luella Ann was into fashion, jewelry and crafts. I even found a vintage rhinestone and pearl setter for fabric and jewelry of her’s!
So here comes the Globecraft and Piccolo Design Team June Challenge to create a a scrapbook layout using G&P products. This was a bit of a true challenge to me since I do a lot of papercrafts but rarely do scrapbook layouts. So this sent me scrambling to find something to inspire me. My little light bulb of inspiration lit up and I thought of all of the lovely old photos of my family!
I went searching through the photos trying to find the best. Some photos had names and dates on them and after a while I was able to find photos of my grandmother from when she was a child (born in 1905) all the way into the 1980s!
I picked some of my favorite photos of my grandmother Luella Ann and printed them out on photopaper (I didn’t want to use the originals in my art, they are too precious to alter). Then started to work up a layout showing her as a teenager, getting married and spending time with family as an adult. Keeping in mind her love for sunshine yellow, gold and rhinestones, I created a layout using Globecraft and Piccolo products.Hop on over to the Globecraft and Piccolo Blog for my scrapbook layout tutorial, honoring my grandmother using these vintage photos, with Globecraft and Piccolo products!
What type of inspiration might you find in old photos and memento boxes? 🙂
Until next time, safe travels!Moments and a card to remember
Lately I have been reminded how important it is to enjoy the good things in life. A quote by Italian poet and novelist Cesare Pavese “We do not remember days, we remember moments” has haunted my mind as of late. I have been ill lately but thankfully I can still do my artwork. I am so grateful for my family and their never ending support. So I thought why not put that quote on a card to give to those that matter the most. I went with a Tuscan style theme in remembrance of my Italian side of my family. 🙂
Supplies:
G&P Vintage Grape Vine Flourishes
G&P Floral Whimsy Accents
G&P Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze
G&P Glastique Matte Finishing Glaze
G&P Micro Gold Embossing Powder
G&P Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive
G&P Leafy Green 3D Enamel Gel
G&P Purple Mist 3D Enamel Gel
G&P Yellow Ochre 3D Enamel Gel
Piccolo Easy Grip Tweezers
Art Glitter Ultra Fine Glitter Hydragnea and Angel Dust
DCWV The Mariposa Matstack
Blank card
Cosmetic Sponge
Foam squares
Carefully remove all of the Piccolos from the chipboard frames. You will be using all of the Vintage Grape Vine Flourishes and two of the swirls from the Floral Whimsy Accents. Place the remaining pieces to the side for the Flight of Butterflies Pendant, check out the Globecraft & Piccolo blog for that tutorial.
Pick a piece of cardstock to be the front of your card and cut to fit on the front of your card. Blot on G&P Yellow Ochre 3D Enamel Gel with a cosmetic sponge to the piece of card stock. This will give it an aged, Tuscan wall look.
Blot on G&P Yellow Ochre 3D Enamel Gel to the front of your blank card with a cosmetic sponge. Repeating the Tuscan wall look.
Print a sentiment on regular printer paper and cut to size. Using the tweezers grip the edges of the papers and very carefully scorch the edges with a small candle flame.
*Ignore this step if you rather use a sentiment sticker.
Blot on G&P Yellow Ochre 3D Enamel Gel to the front of your sentiment strips. Let dry.
Apply Piccolo Enamel Adhesive to the frame.
Apply two coats of the G&P Micro Gold Embossing Powder and heat to set.
Apply G&P Leafy Green 3D Enamel Gel to all of the swirls and the leaf portions of the grape vines. Apply G&P Purple Mist 3D Enamel Gel to the grapes and let dry.
Carefully adhere the frame to the card stock with G&P Glastique Matte Finishing Glaze. Put foam squares on the first portion of the sentiment and place in the middle of the frame.
Carefully glue the swirl Piccolos to the front of the card using the G&P Glastique Matte Finishing Glaze. Using foam squares place the second portion of the sentiment to the right of the frame, overlapping a bit.
Carefully glue the grape vine Piccolos to the front of the card using the G&P Glastique Matte Finishing Glaze, let dry.
Coat all of the Piccolos with G&P Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze and sprinkle Art Glitter Ultra Fine Hydragnea glitter on the grapes and Angel Dust glitter on the greenery. Let dry.
Attach the card stock with all of the Piccolos to the front of the card with foam squares. Stamp or write your favorite sentiment inside. 🙂Hop on over to the Globecraft and Piccolo Blog for my Flight of Butterflies Pendant tutorial using the new Piccolo Instant UV Resin!
Until next time, safe travels!Vintage Copper Tag
Recently I have been noticing the paper crafting boards I follow on Pinterest are pinning new types of tag art. From fun and funky to just beautiful, I am loving the variety of art being shown on these little “mini” canvases. I felt inspired to start working on more tags to build up a collection for gifts, paper embellishments and jewelry.
This tutorial is for a simple but lovely Vintage Copper Tag.Supplies:
G&P Butterfly Charm Set
G&P Vintage Dress Forms Accents
G&P Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze
G&P Copper Kettle Embossing Powder
G&P Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive
G&P Yellow Ochre 3D Enamel Gel
G&P Oval Bezel with 1-Loop
Piccolo Easy Grip Tweezers
Brown ink stamp pad
Mini Adhesive Foam squares
Crystal stickers
Heat gun
Vine and sentiment stamps
Small piece of cardstock
Ribbon
Smear G&P Yellow Ochre 3D Enamel Gel both on the front and back of the bezel. Let dry.
Take the brown dye ink pad, rub it on the edges and sides of the bezel.
Ink the vine stamp with the brown ink and stamp around the edges of the tag.
Carefully remove the two small butterflies from the G&P Butterfly Charm Set. Remove the loops on both butterflies with a craft knife.
Carefully remove the swirl dress form G&P Vintage Dress Forms Accents set. Using a craft knife remove the stand from the dress form. Save the stand piece and all of the other kit pieces for A time for Nature tutorial; check out the Globecraft & Piccolo blog for instructions. 🙂
Apply Piccolo Enamel Adhesive to the dress form and butterflies. Apply G&P Copper Kettle to the butterflies and dress form. Heat to set.
Use Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze to attach the butterflies and dress from to the tag. Let dry.
Stamp a sentiment on the small piece of card and cut to fit the tag. Rub the brown ink on the edges of the card stock to give it an aged look.
Use Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze to glue on the sticker gems to the tag as shown. Let dry.
Thread the ribbon through the loop on the top of the tag and tie.
Now you have an embellishment to add to a gift or paper craft.
Hop on over to the Globecraft and Piccolo Blog for my A Time for Nature tutorial!
Until next time, safe travels!
Inspire Art lapel pins
Positive affirmations, inspirational art and things that make one smile can really help with the creative process. Why not make and wear a little bit of inspiration? Today I want to show how to make your own Inspire Art lapel pins, such as the blue above with the copper butterfly.
Supplies:
G&P Assorted Bookboard Charm Bezel Shapes
G&P Bookboard Birds & Butterflies Accents
G&P Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze
G&P Burnt Umber 3D Enamel Gel
G&P Yellow Ochre 3D Enamel Gel
G&P Metallic Copper 3D Enamel Gel
G&P Turquoise Lagoon Enamel Powder
G&P Copper Kettle Enamel Powder
G&P Siam Silver Enamel Powder
G&P Piccolo Embossing Powder Adhesive
Piccolo Easy Grip Tweezers
Heat Gun
2 Connie Crystal 10mm Crystal beads
2 Silver jumprings
1 Charm Brooch Pin
Crystal sticker gems
Small foam squares
2 Flat nose pliers
1 round nose plier
1 headpin
1 eyepin
Sentiment stamps or sticker
For this project we are using the large round flower bezel from the Charm Bezel Shapes set. Carefully remove one butterfly and swirl from the bookboard Accents set.
Apply Piccolo Enamel Adhesive to all of the bookboard pieces. Apply G&P Copper Kettle to the butterfly, G&P Siam Silver to the swirl and G&P Turquoise Lagoon Enamel Powder to the flower bezel. Heat set.
Stamp a sentiment on a 1inch by 2inch piece of paper. Apply G&P Burnt Umber. G&P Yellow Ochre, and G&P Metallic Copper 3D Enamel Gel with a cotton swap to the paper front and back to give an aged look.
*Ignore this step if you rather use a sentiment sticker.
Using the tweezers grip the edge of the stamped paper and very carefully scorch the edges with a small candle flame.
*Ignore this step if you rather use a sentiment sticker.
Use Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze coat the flower bezel with a thin layer. Let dry. Adhere foam squares to the back of the butterfly and the sentiment, press onto the bezel. Attach the swirl Piccolo with Glastique Gloss and coat the assembled pieces with a thin coat of Glastique Gloss.
Use Glastique Gloss Finishing Glaze to glue on the sticker gems to the bezel as shown. Let dry.
Thread one crystal bead onto the jewelry eyepin and one on the headpin. Using the round nose pliers curl over the remaining wire to form a loop on both jewelry pins.
Open up jump rings with the flat nose pliers and put one jumpring through the loop on the headpin and eyepin, close jumpring. Use the other open jumpring to connect the crystals to the bezel as shown, close jump ring.
Glue charm brooch pin to the back of the bezel with jewelry glue. Let dry.
The inspire art pin is now ready to wear or give as a gift!
Until next time, safe travels!
Ancient and Contemporary Inspired Artistry