ARTFUL JOURNEYS - WEEK #39 "TEA TIME"

Hi, Betty back this week to bring you our prompt for the coming week. 

Do you ever get a song stuck in your head?  Well, ever since we decided to do this particular prompt, each time I would start thinking about it, I got that "Tea for Two, and Two for Tea" song stuck.   Over and over and over.  And it's still playing.  Please...... someone make a catchy little tune about COFFEE...just for me, puh-leez!!!!!

We were all enthused about this prompt.  It can go so many different ways, and as usual, we all took different approaches this week.

SHANA apparently was feeling a little spunky this week with her journal spread. Here's what she had to say...

I was feeling sassy and wanted to play with watercolors with this weeks post, I did a google search for inspiration using the words "tea time" and saw a card with the phrase on my page. It made me giggle so I started playing and with it working on one of my many nemesis, hands! I decided to go against sketching and just laid down the color in the general shape of the hand, I was pleasantly surprised by how it turned out! I continued by adding the sassy pants girls face with more watercolor and wrote the phrase. The tea cup is cut from an envelope I received from a Artful Mail groupies swap! I hope you enjoy my sassy pants journal entry and it gave you a giggle! ~~Big hugs and mushy stuff! - Shana

MELODY is full of bright colors again this week and put her creative talents to making me WANT to try some tea......  Better go check it out, and be sure and leave her some blog love while you're there.... HERE







 

 
LYNN has hit yet another home run this week!  Here's what she had to say about it!  "I really enjoyed doing this prompt. I mixed painting with stencils and die cuts. The base of the spread is used with my new paper soft paint that I won in a contest in soft orange. And ladies, I have to say if you don't know this paint you have to try it. Made by Viva. Then I cut out the tea cups from the Tim Holtz line and with my Cricut, cut out my "time for tea" letters. The lady having the tea is from a old calendar. Finally, I used a circle stencil and added them all over the page. I hope you enjoy this spread and make sure you go look what the other girls did this week. Thanks for looking."

BETTY - Okay, so I am a coffee-aholic, and tea really isn't my "thang" -- but I did manage to try a new technique I had been wanting to experiment with, and had a lot of fun doing it.  You can see the full spread HERE

 


We hope that in some small way that we have inspired you to create something fun in your journal, experiment and think outside the box or just get down and dirty with it and create with wild abandon. No matter how you proceed, you're keeping it artful...just how we like!

Have a fantastic week!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn and Shana

Artful Journeys Week 38: Leaves!!!

Hey, y'all!!!  Melody here bringing you the prompt for this week over at Artful Journeys!  Man, let me tell you, I got up one morning last week, and actually had to grab a sweatshirt!  No lie!  It was 64!!!  In North Texas!!  In September!!!!!  If you know anything about North Texas, you know we don't usually hit the 60's till late October!  It was a wonderful and welcome change, that's for sure! 

And of course, with the changing of the weather, there are other changes.  One of those changes is the leaves.  Everywhere you look, the leaves are changing colors already, especially in the northern states, but even here they're changing.  So our prompt for this week is none other than "Leaves".  Use them any way you see fit.  Big leaves.  Little leaves.  Green leaves.  Make a wreath.  Make a pile.  Make a tree.  But use them.  Lots of them.  Let's see what the girls created for your viewing pleasure and inspiration.

First up is LYNN, and HOLY FREAKIN' COW!!!!!!  Lynn really knocked it out of the park this week with her spread.  Here's what she had to say about her spread and process:  "Welcome to this week's prompt!  This was a fun and fairly easy prompt to do.  I started off by painting the entire page with Adirondack acrylic paint in Hazelnut.  Over that I stenciled using my favorite color, Indian Turquoise by American Crafts.

I  used a new stamp I got yesterday, and stamped 3 leaves, fussy cut them and painted them Grass Green, before gluing them down and stamping extra leaves in black all around the page.  I added a few stickers and called it done.  It was fun and easy, and I was very pleased with how it turned out!

Make sure you go visit the girls' blogs and see what they came up with for this week.  They always do a wonderful job!  Thanks for reading!" -Lynn

Next up we have SHANA's spread, and I have to tell you - it's SUPER cute!  Be sure to go see the WHOLE picture on her blog, HERE!!!

Next up we have Melody's take on the prompt, and it's definitely fun and "her", lol.  Hop on over to her blog, HERE, and see what she came up with!

And last, but not least, we have Betty's spread.  As always, she's supplied us with quite a treat!  Hurry on over to her blog, HERE, to see what she created! 

That's it for this week.  Be sure to leave everyone some blog-love so they know you stopped by, and don't forget to share your amazing creations with us on our Facebook page in ARTFUL JOURNEYS.

Happy arting, y'all!!!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana

Pop Up Art Challenge #22

Pop-Up time!!!  Betty here this week, bringing you another little art challenge to keep you stimulated and using your art supplies in new and creative ways!  We never want you to run out of mojo or ideas, and having a pop-up challenge keeps you involved with your journal AND your art supplies.  We all have those supplies that we just HAD to have, and often they just sit there, looking all pretty and tantalizing, but they aren't getting used.  I definitely have this problem with some of my supplies, reaching always for the tried and true, go-to supplies.  I don't challenge myself as much as I should, and want to.  So this week, put on your thinking cap!


CHALLENGE:  Use washi or decorative tape prominently in a creative spread in your journal. 

Washi and decorative tape have a myriad of uses.  If you've ever spent any time at all on Pinterest, you know it can be used for many, many things...  Mosaics, covering everything from clothespins to tin cans, as labels, as creative art.  So that's where we are today:  making creative art.


For my spread, I used a background page created in my Canson mixed media journal with some new acrylic paints I picked up at Target a couple weeks ago, making different paint combinations with the same 4 pots of colors. This time I used the Azalea Pink and Lime.  It is really bright!

The background was applied with a credit card, with several different layers of each color.  The finish is satin smooth, and I love, love how it feels.  I began by layering 5-6 rows of different patterns of washi tape onto some stiff card stock.  I then individually cut out the pieces, and affixed with Alene's Tacky Glue (it was handy).  After it was fully dry, each pinwheel flower was outlined with black china marker and smudged. I wanted to give that "blowing in the wind" effect with the lettering, so I used the china marker again and smudged it all.  I rather like how it turned out, but I did have to go over some of the letters several times because the background is so slick-smooth, I would rub off the marker.  I added some additional embellishment to the center of the flowers and the leaves with a bold Signo Uniball pen.   Anyway, this is what I came up with......and that song is still stuck in my head!  It was fun playing with my big hoard of washi tape and deciding which ones to use.

MELODY made this beautiful spread in her usual bright style, but straying from her usual bright pinks.  She still managed to get that favorite turquoise on the page, and brightened it all up some more with some lovely washi embellishments.  Using some plain white cardstock, she drew hearts on one side of the page, then laid out her washi tape on the opposite side, making it super easy to cut those hearts out.   Don't you just love the shadowed stenciling?  Remember that Melody actually "journals" in her journal, so she always leaves plenty of room for her writing.  Another fabulous and beautiful spread, Mel!

And here's a couple of close up views of those lovely corner hearts!

What kind of fun can you create?  Think outside the box, think inside the box, use that washi and decorative tape and wow us!

As always, we're keeping it artful!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana

ARTFUL JOURNEYS - WEEK #37 - Let's Go to the Fair

Since September is the beginning of regional and state fair season, let's take a trip to the fair!  Perhaps you want to go down memory lane to a time of innocence and fascination.  Maybe there's one thing about attending a fair that really stands out in your memory.

Are you a fair-food junkie?  Must see the baby animals?  Are the thrill rides something you're always drawn to or do you have to go see all the new exhibits and special attractions?  Whatever it is, let's go there!

This week Betty is on a nostalgic trip to the Texas State Fair.  She used some vintage photographs, some new ones and made some magic.  You can see her full spread HERE

Shana got out her  e-paintbrushes and created some delightful fair magic for us this week. Check out her spread HERE and don't forget to leave her some blog love!

Melody had a little creative fun this week as well.  Check out her work HERE!  Be sure and leave her a little blog love while you're there!

Lynn wasn't able to play in her journal this week with us, but I'm sure we'll see some more of her creative work in the weeks to come.

Enjoy your week, and remember to always keep your life artful!

ARFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana

ARTFUL JOURNEYS - WEEK #36 "Dream Destination"

Where are you really Jones'n to go?  A tropical paradise?  The painted desert?  A trip back to ancient times in Egypt?  Paris?  Rome?  China?  Another specific place hiding out there on your bucket list?

WEEK #36 PROMPT:
This week at Artful Journeys we want you to create a TRAVEL AD for your DREAM DESTINATION in your journal or for your journal.

We all have at least one place we really want to go before we pass from this life.  Some of us have lots of places on that travel agenda.  Your dream destination can be anywhere, or perhaps you want to think outside the box and create a travel ad to an imaginary destination, filled with all manner and sort of dreams, inspirations and creativity.  Let that imagination soar and create something wonderful!

MELODY is going green this week, so hop on over to her blog and check out her beautiful spread, HERE ... and don't forget to leave her some blog love while you're there!

BETTY has a magical destination in mind that she missed in her European travels.  Check it out HERE

LYNN - I have lived in many different states so not like I haven't traveled but one place I haven't been is almost in my backyard Mount Rushmore, South Dakota. I will be making this trip next year plus Wall Drug which is near by.

I cut up a state map for the base and of course have many postcards of Rushmore so glued that down and just happened to find travel stickers that I didn't even remember I had and I thought it went great with the spead.

Maybe not a dream destination but I can't wait to see it. That's it for this week. Please check the other girls blogs and see where their destination is. Thanks for looking.

SHANA is dreaming of exotic and tropical places and is again impressing us with her creative artwork!  Check out here blog, HERE

Dream your dream and show us your dream destination this week.  If nothing else, we'll all be taking some stay-cations enjoying each other's dreams.

Have an artful and expressive week!

ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Lynn & Shana