Seth Apter's ARTifacts 2017 Book

Hello Blogland, here is a long overdue post on Seth Apter's ARTifacts project. It is an awesome idea and you can jump in and play anytime. To find out more about this project check out the link above. To see Seth's first pages go here.

My ARTifacts Book Alive & in Color!

ARTifacts (plural noun): a collaborative project for 2017 documenting adventures in art.

I immediately got started working on a book to showcase my favorite pieces every month. I decided as Seth was the originator of this idea I would use his products for my cover. As tends to happen to me sometimes, I got over excited and created a fabulous, multi layered, extravaganza. Yes, that is what I feel I did! I hammered it with Seth's stencils, dies & stamps. Totally love that he has so many clever words in his stencils especially. The dies were cut out of card stock and layered repeatedly to give them more depth. Texture was created with modeling paste. Painted, painted and painted again. The project needed something. I couldn't figure out what but just a little something. So it sat, & sat for a few months "and then, one not-so-very special day"  I was walking and found a rusty nail lying on the road. That was it! The finishing embellishment I was looking for. Funny how inspiration works. 

Yes It Is A Removable Cover!

How About A Tour?

I decided I wanted to make a book using kraft pages so that would leave me a lot of options for the inside pages. My book measures 10.5"x8.5". When it came time to attach the cover I realized I had a problem. There was so much texture on the cover that I was a) worried it would get damaged while working on the inside of the book & b)that texture would make it difficult to create inside the book. To solve this I made a removable cover!! Using Tombo hook & loop tabs was the obvious answer. They attach on the hinges of the book making removal easy. 

Lot's of layers of Glazed Paint.

It's A Colorful Life

You will get a better idea of the true color of the project in these close-ups. There is a copper glaze that covers the piece that did not want to show up in photos! I had to shoot it in lower light so the quality might not be so great. You can kind of see the copper but in real life this book has serious shine! On the circles above I actually pounced black acrylic paint through a few of Seth's stencils.

Add One Rusty Nail!

You Never Know What You Will Find on Your Adventures.

For my nail embellishment I added a bit of Seth technique by wrapping it. I used copper wire and simply added some beads plus eyelets to hold it strongly in place. The Alphabet which came from some old cardboard letters in my stash were embossed with one of Seth's folders.

Proof of Layers & Layers

Love all the texture in this project- can you have too much? I don't think so! This pic is in progress before I added the stamping. The multiple layers of paint just add so much dimension to the die cuts.

Seth Apter Dies by Spellbinders

Stamping on the die images was a perfect way to break up this piece a bit. It adds, not just more dimension, but kind of grounds it. 

Seth's stencils by Stencil Girl- lots of nummy words!

 Perfect sentiment for this project. Especially as I will be working on my January art documentation next! I hope you get a chance to look at some of the work that has been shown so far. You can find the works Seth has shown below so far.
January
February

Now I need to go & work on my inside pages- what to do, what to do? I do plan on using product that I have been hoarding for years- I mean my stash! I hope you join in the fun!

Seth Apter Supplies: 

• Dies by Spellbinders-Splatter Proof, Drip Drop, Fly, Robo Ring    
• Embossing folder by Spellbinders -Lazer Beams
• Stamps by Impression Obsession -ConText, Pattern Play
• Stencils by Stencil Girl- like all of them.

 DecoArt Supplies:

• Fluid Acrylics: Cobalt Turquoise & Teal Hue, Quin.Magenta, Payne's Grey, Titanium White, Hansa Yellow Medium.
• Ice Crystal Glamour Dust, 
• Metallic Lustre in Copper Kettle. 

Other Supplies:

• Tombo Mono Aqua Glue, Hook & Loop tabs
• wire, beads, eyelets from my stash. 
• rusty nail-from an adventurous walk.

Blog Post on 7gypsies Travel Journal

I am excited to have a blog post on the Canvas Corp Brands site today sharing a tutorial on my Travel Journal. This is again using Eileen Hull's amazing journal die. If you scroll down you will see I have made quite a few projects using this die, it is soooooo versatile! 

Ready For a Trip!!

 I can't wait to take this on vacation & fill it as I go with a glass of wine in the evenings! I have you have a chance to pop over & check it out!

Playing at the Beach Art Journal Page

I have a post over on the Southern Ridge Trading Co. blog today. I am playing with Prima Tropicals watercolors on an art journal beach page. You can hop over there for a bit of a mini tutorial & more photos.

This is #99 of 100 in the 100 days challenge. Only 1 left to go! Of course this years 100 days has already started but I am determined to finish. I will have a blog post or 2 on this project when it is finished! I hope you have the chance to get inky today!

A Gardeners Journal With Eileen Hull Diecuts

Playing with the Eileen Hull Journal die is just way too much fun. *this post is from 2017 & has been updated with new supplies as some of the supplies listed have been discontinued- see supply list at end of post*           

This month the design team are focusing on it & the new Heart Felt collection that is shipping to stores now. Today I am back with a Gardeners Journal. I am also happy to be playing with Eileen's Color Blends inks using the Utee emboss technique. I am loving this technique & trying to work it out of my system!

*Affiliate- some of these companies have given me product to use, play & experiment with. The ideas are my own but I tend to work with companies whose products I like so enjoy the inspiration.  **some of these links are affiliate, I receive a small percentage from the company at no cost to you. This helps me deliver free content!

A Gardner's Journal Covered in Color Blends Ink

You Can Never Have Too Many Journals.

I am learning this is very true as I just can't stop making them!!! My Flower journal is for my garden. I have a bad habit of planting things, forgetting where I planted them & then weeding my new flowers the following spring. Last spring, for example I weeded 3 beautiful phlox plants. Most sad & annoying.  To prevent that I started taking pictures of my flower beds at various stages during the growing season so I know where things are planted. All I need is a book to put the info in. Of course the book needs to be pretty & filled with tags, beautiful scrapbook paper & inky. This is definitely just the base of the book, one of the great things about making these books is they can be added to as needed. 

 

 

It's a Challenge. 

Well as the original "black thumb of doom" I was a killer of all things green. Could not keep plants alive but the weeds would thrive. In my book which will contain this quote I will put a pic of me weeding, or maybe put a picture of my garden full of lush, healthy flowers! I refuse to let the weeds, squirrels or slugs win!!!

Embossing Folders work great on mat board.

Let's Make A Journal!

 Start with Eileen's Journal die which should be hitting stores in the next few weeks. Add mat board & make 2 cuts. Using Eileen's embossing folders emboss the mat board. The cover is larger than the folder so run it through 2x aligning the pattern as closely as possible. You will end up with a line where the folders overlap which can't be avoided. In retrospect this line wouldn't be noticeable by the time all the inking is done. I opted to emboss tags to cover the overlap. 

Use Color Blends to ink up the covers, so many pretty colors!

 How About Some Color?

Using Color Blends simply color the cover. I first tested the colors on a piece of paper, mixing a few of the blends until I got the colors I wanted. You can also add a bit of water & blend with a paint brush. Remember to do the inside spine & inside edges. For more info on how to use color blends go here.

Emboss your tags & color them with shimmery Glimmer Mist.

 I wanted some shimmer on the tags, using Glimmer Mists made this quick & easy.

Use metal acrylic paint to add hits of color to the embossed images, makes it pop.

Next was to add in the lavender color for the challenge. I wanted to use a heavier medium so I went with acrylic paint. Started with a metallic purple, adding in pearl to get a lighter lavender color. Keeping with the shimmer idea blending in ice crystal turns the paint glittery. With a small amount of paint on the hard foam dabber, swipe paint just hitting the high points. 
  

Close up of the UTEE & Charred Gold embossing.

Time For The UTEE Emboss Technique.  

Add the tags to the journal lining up the emboss pattern, adhere with a strong glue. Instead of emboss dabber I used a colorless mica spray. This makes it much easier to work on a large area & adds wonderful shimmer. I did half a cover at a time to prevent the mica spray drying & UTEE flying off. I just did a post on how to do this technique so you can get the directions here. I did jazz this up a bit by sprinkling some Charred Gold emboss powder in spots to add a little grunge. Once the UTEE is hot & melting just sprinkle another color of emboss & continue to heat until powders are melted. Continue until both covers are nice & embossed. If you miss spots go back in with the emboss dabber & UTEE until nice coverage is achieved. 

Look at all the pretty beads!

Assembly Could Be The Best Part!

Add a good strong glue to the inside of the front cover piece on the outer edge. Take the 2 pieces and put the spine together so the center hole matches up, you can see how my front cover lies on top of the back cover in the center of the spine. For this book I ran hemp down each section tying my thread off at the outside top of my book. I added beads and charms cause I can't stop doing my spines like this.  

Let's make a cool grungy, patina flower with emboss.

I cut a couple of flower pieces from Eileen's new "Stitchy Flowers & Leaf" Thinlets die. I used book paper but ended up covering it completely. Heat emboss the 2 flower pieces, everything but the edges, with Weathered Gold. Once the powder was set I distressed it with the Color Blends that were used on the cover. It ended up looking like a patina, was kind of a lucky accident. The middle part or stamens could be embossed with a color like Raspberry Ice Cream to add some fun. 

Some close ups for you!

 
 Here is my flower assembled for the front cover. Simply layered it & added a brad on burlap with a few eyelets. Simple but looks pretty cool. On the right another pic of the spine  of the book. I decided to add a brad in the center hole to cover it up. This hole can be used to thread an elastic or ribbon through it to create a tie for the book. That's it for now, this post has gotten long so I will do another one on the inside of the book. Stay tuned!! 

To check out my team mates fabulous creations you can check out the blog post here. 

Supplies:

• Eileen Hull dies by Sizzix- Journal, Stitchy Flowers & Leaf is discontinued but you might like this set Funky Foliage plus bonus there are mushrooms!! 
  
•        "      embossing folders are discontinued but there are so many options here.
  
•                - mat board
  
• Eileen's Colorblends have been discontinue but you can use the re-inkers & a foamie - Bay, Beach, Hydrangea, Leaf or substitute Distress Ink for the same results.
  
•  Seth Apter has an awesome Embossing Powder Trio that will do the job. 
• Raspberry Ice Cream Emboss has white with red & blue crystals.
  
• Canvas Corp- Glimmer Mist in Key Lime Pie & Peacock Chalk- if still available
  
•  or you can sub   Distress Spray in Cracked Pistachio & Twisted Citron
  
• Canvas Corp Brands- Burlap
• DecoArt- Metallic in Pearl, Purple Pearl, Ice Crystal Glamour Dust
• Ranger- UTEE (ultra thick embossing powder) Tags
• Thermoweb- Sticky tape runner, Ultra Bond Glue
  
• Blue Moon Beads, Hemp, letters from stash.
  

Learn More About Me!

Hi Blogland, recently I got to be the featured crew member over on Canvas Corp Blog, so if you would like you can pop over there & learn more about me! I would love to know what you think of my writing & my favorite project which is showcased along with why it is my favorite. 

 Have an inky day!!

Haida Sun Inspired Art Journal Page

Hello inky friends I am here today with a Haida Sun Art Journal page. This post will have some step out pics, the story of the tattoo & challenge info. Part B of this post includes a full tutorial & a bit about the history of the Haida which you can find in my Design team post on the Southern Ridge Trading Co. blog.

Haida Sun the Story Of My Husbands Tattoo

Why A Haida Sun Tattoo?

I am Canadian & after spending time out West in Vancouver my husband decided to get this tattoo. He liked the idea of the sun as a symbol of protection, healing & peace. It also sits atop the tallest totem in the world in Alert Bay, BC, Canada.

Tribal Art Stamps from Emerald Creek

What Was The Inspiration for This Art Journal Page? 

What came first the tattoo or the stamp of the tattoo? So after working with Kim Evans from Emerald Creek at Creativation 2017 I fell in love with a lot of her products but especially the Tribal Art Stamps. I am a Canadian who grew up in Montreal but visited the West a few times & even lived in Vancouver for 15 glorious months. I fell in love with Haida Art. Apparently so did my husband. He has 2 Haida Tattoos and is planning a 3rd to create a sort of totem. We even had our wedding bands made by a Haida artist.  Kim gave me a generous sample of her emboss powder & these wonderful stamps. I am so excited to be able to put them to such good use! The Sun Mask Stamp was the inspiration for this page. Conveniently SRTC has a cool Dream-catcher chippie which added to the fun. So in this case the stamp & product inspired the art. 

Why the Number 4?

As far as inspiration goes I got some more for this page at a few challenge sites. I am entering this art journal page in the Frilly & Funky contest (join in you can win $$) which you can find here. The awesome Jenny Marples is the host & the theme is numbers. Part of the story of this page is this is the 4th tattoo my husband got! Also highly convenient F&F just did a fabulous blog post on Emerald Creek Embossing Powders & Gemstones, which you can find here. Their store site Funky Junky Boutique is having a fabulous sale on these products until April 13th. For the colors I used see below under supplies. To add to that I also got inspiration for the techniques or items used on this page from 4 sources sounds like destiny to me...

Emerald Creek Embossing powder & Gemstones, Southern Ridge Trading Dream-Catcher

Dream A Little Dream 

You can see the Gemstones I used in the center of my dream-catcher as well as all the cool embossing powders. I have to say it was fun to research this page & learn more about Haida art. I am also entering this in the Emerald Creek Dare Contest (join in you can win $$). Their current challenge is called Double Duty, a multi choice challenge. I chose take 1 product & use it 2 ways. The Sun Mask stamp was used in the background as a pattern & also as a focal image with Onyx Frost embossing powder. Technically I also embossed the Dream Catcher & clear embossed the entire tag as a clear coating. Well then there is the multiple ways I used the Scribble Sticks... ok so challenge- check! 

Love swooshing Distress Oxide on a Ranger Mix Media Tag!

  

How About a Little Distress Oxide with Your Tag! 

I have never put 1 project in 3 challenges before but again the 4th part of the inspiration I got was on A Vintage Journey. They are doing Tag Friday over there. Not sure this qualifies but I did get the inspiration to add the tag from them so I will give credit where credit is due! You can find their challenge which ends in a quick 3 days here. However not to fear they already have another one started as well & it looks pretty cool. 

I hope you take the plunge & jump into one or all of the above challenges. If you don't feel ready for that I also encourage you to take a look at the amazing inspiration on these challenge sites. The design teams must work super hard cause their projects are really incredible. Happy inky arting!

Supplies Used:

• Southern Ridge Trading Co Chipboard.- Dream Catcher, Wood Feathers, Fall Leaves.
  
• Emerald Creek Emboss Powder- Northern Lights, Onyx Frost, Silvester-Kracher, Charred Gold, Salted Navy.
• Emerald Creek Gemstones & Sun Mask Stamp
• Eileen Hull Sunburst emboss folder by Sizzix 
• Ranger- Distress Oxides, UTEE, Embossing Dabber, Distress Mica Spray-antique bronze, Glossy Accents, Mix Media Tag, Archival Ink in Jet Black
• Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks by Ranger