ARTFUL JOURNEYS - WEEK #25 Fun with Beauty Aids!

Howdy, y'all!  Betty here this week!  Did we get your attention with that catchy title?

This week we have a fun adventure for you to help bring out your sense of fun and adventure!  Our prompt for you is to use shaving foam and any coloring agent to create at least one background for your art journal or other art projects you might have planned.  Of course you can go wild with this prompt if you like.  You aren't just limited to the "backgrounds" and if you want to paint with the shaving foam, go for it!  We're all about creating, experimenting and having F.U.N.!!

WARNING!!!  This activity is highly addictive and may cause total and complete excitement, amazement, joy and creativity!!  You have been warned!

I fretted all week about this prompt.  First, the hubs does not shave with shaving foam, so this is not anything I had at home.  I have never ever used this technique so I called upon our creative friend, Mr. Pinterest, and watched a bunch of videos, looked at several photo tutorials and knew this was going to be a blast.  Who doesn't like playing with gooey, messy stuff??

Please come have a look at all the great fun I had.  I had to stop after 10 pieces.  I could have kept on and on and on.  It was a blast!  You will definitely be seeing my efforts on future journal pages, even perhaps in a swap or two.  Come visit me here

MELODY couldn't stop either and made some outstanding backgrounds that you are just going to LOVE! Check it out here

SHANA has blown the doors off this prompt and will wow! you with her spectacular creation!  Check it out here

 

LYNN created these awesome pages, and here's what she had to say:

Ok girls--this was so much fun to do with the inks and the shaving cream. The two top ones I just used one color of the Niji Splash Ink in Magenta.

The bottom picture I use Dylusions ink spray on top of the splash ink in crushed grape. I only had a little bit of the shaving cream but a little seem to go a long way.

I put the cream in a pan and added the inks and cut my paper down to 4x4 and just put it on top and pressed down and then picked it up and took a credit card and scrap away the excess until it was smooth. I plan on doing more of this prompt and making backgrounds and tags with it.

Give it a try. This was the most fun I have had with a prompt since we started. P.S. It is a little messy but well worth the end results. Thanks for looking.

We hope that you get inspired and have as much fun and all of us did creating something for you this week.

Artfully yours,
ARTFUL CHICKS

~~Betty, Melody, Tamie, Lynn & Shana

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY #13

DIFFERENT.  We like that -- being different.  Artists are different. Our ideas are different on how we interpret things, represent them and our approaches to creativity. Differences in who we are as human beings, our backgrounds, our relationships and our life experiences all affect how we create and what we create.  Our differences make us unique. Our differences can bind us together through our love of art and creativity, and loving one another.

Today, we want to be different.

Our prompt today is to create with METALLIC HEARTS

Maybe your hearts are created with metallic paints, or metallic embossed papers.  Maybe you use something really metallic -- tin foil, aluminum cans, copper sheeting, sheet metal, silver wire, jewelry wire.  If you can dream it, you can do it.  So be different today and think outside the box.

Here's what we prepared in response to this prompt.  We hope you enjoy what we created and perhaps take some level of inspiration from our different approaches.  Enjoy!

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LYNN JACKSON - 

This time I selected a tag for use in my journal or maybe to include on another piece of artwork. I used Tim Holtz distress ink in Raspberry then stamped some dots on it and stamped baby hearts and colored them in with Sakura glaze pen in 6 different colors. It's hard to see all the shiny but it turned out really bright metallic looking.

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TAMIE RODRIGUEZ WILSON - You know, I don't have much of a selection of metallics of any kind.  But the one thing I do have is some blue metallic paint.  I created this on a 4x6 index card with blue metallic craft paint, that I stamped some light ink hearts on and applied some yellow-gold hearts that were generously shared with me by Lynn Jackson.  Embellished with some dots around the hearts and some simple journaling with a marker.

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MELODY ELZY -

Amsterdam turquoise blue and Liquitex Basics Titanium White applied in wide brushstrokes on the background in my small Dylusions journal. Gold Uniball Signo pen for the hearts.  You know, I don't create all that many busy pages because I actually use my journal for journaling.  By creating background pages, I have plenty of room to journal about my day or events or whatever I am in the mood to write about.

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BETTY RICHARDSON - I had fun with this page, created on 9x12" 140 lb cold press watercolor paper by Artist Loft.  Back during Christmas, I saved a bunch of foil wrappers off some Cherry Cordial Hershey Kisses (and boy they are good!).  I knew those wrappers would be good for something, and you know how we are about saving stuff for journal fodder, right??

The entire background was created with Dylusions spray inks in Bubblegum Pink, Pure Sunshine, Squeezed Orange, Cherry Pie, After Midnight and White Linen.  I used a laser cut stencil I got from free from some wedding invitation samples I wrote away for and cut off a card.  I also used a small heart stencil I got from Rose Cafe Art.  Inks were blotted with a paper towel between each layer, tamped with a stencil brush and then blasted with a heat gun.

The 'central' heart heart was "carved" on a sheet of copper salvaged from my glass art supplies.  I made the swirls with the end of a #4 paint brush and a dental pick. (ha).

I covered assorted sized punch cut hearts (some of which were sent to me by Lynn Jackson), some with the outside of the Kisses wrapper, some with the shiny outside.

I 'aged" one of the silver hearts with black acrylic, and wiped most of it off with a baby wipe, leaving bits in the foil creases.  One silver heart was "colored" with Copic marker, and the 3rd silver one was colored, repeatedly, with Cherry Pie Dylusions and dried between each layer with a heat gun. (not that happy with this, but I had to experiment, right?)

The cherry cordial papers have kind of a zebra stripe in them that I think adds a lot of interest to the hearts.  Basically, I just used some Elmers glue and glued them down, wrapping thinly cut edges over the sides of each heart, and trimming.

Lettering done with some nifty alpha stamps and Adirondack stamp ink in Stained Glass, applied to 1/2" strips of watercolor paper that I colored with Deep Red Copic marker and edged with Special Black.

And here's the finished piece that will be going in the mail to a special friend.  Hope you like it and thanks for looking!

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Thanks for visiting our blog and looking at our interpretations of today's prompt.  Be sure and share your creations with us on the group feed at Artful Journeys!

We're keeping it artful!
~~Betty, Melody, Tamie & Lynn

"your" ARTFUL CHICKS

14 DAYS OF LOVE - DAY #11 PROMPT

Time is really going along fast these days, isn't it?  3 more days until Valentine's Day.  Love is in the air, spring is just around the corner and today we have something fun swirling around in our heads.


TODAY'S PROMPT: 
Favorite Love Song/Lyrics


Nothing says Valentine's Day and expresses love better than a great love song. Hearing a particular song can evoke wonderful memories.  We want you to express that song in your journal today, whether you recount the lyrics in full, express the title, or the meaning behind the song that is important to you.  However you say it, sing it or express it, we know it will be wonderful.

Here are our interpretations of today's prompt.  Be sure and share your journal pages created in response to this and our other 14 Days of Love prompts in the February photo album on the group feed at Artful Journeys!

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BETTY RICHARDSON - I knew weeks ago what song I wanted to depict, and I knew something vintage or ethereal would do it.  My song selection for today's prompt is "Remember When" by Alan Jackson.  I love that song, and I love, love, love me some Alan Jackson. <swoon>.

This page is in my Canson Mixed Media journal. I started by finding a saved image from the front of a Victorian Trading Company catalog.  Isn't she lovely?  She was applied to the page with fluid Gel Matte Medium.  I tore up some Bach sheet music that was sent to me by Lynn Jackson and applied all around the edges of the page with matte medium, smoothing with a plastic card to prevent bubbles or warping. 

Next, I applied a thin coat of white gesso over all the music and partially into the image. Blast with heat gun.  Then, using acrylic craft paints in Taupe, Khaki and Burnt Umber I applied each individually all over the page and around the central image with a cosmetic sponge to create a softer "framing".  Lastly, a little more white gesso to further soften the edges and the image.  I applied some fancy lace decorative tape around the edges, and lettered the song title and artist with a black Signo Uniball pen and highlighted with a white Signo Uniball.   Start to finish: 1 hour.   I hope you get this song stuck in your head.  It's a great one.

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MELODY ELZY - As you can see I couldn't decide. And yes, they ARE all 80s songs. Background was made for day 1 of the 14 days. Lyrics were were written in bits and pieces on good old fashioned notebook paper just like when I was in school. This prompt was soooo much fun!!!!!!

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TAMIE RODRIGUEZ WILSON - Today's song was easy for me.  "Faithfully" by Journey.  "Our" song.  An easy choice for me as it means something special to me and the hubs.  Created on a lined 4x6 index card with red and black pens.  I can add it into my journal easily and will be a constant reminder to me of how much my man means to me.

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We hope you enjoyed our impressions and interpretations of today's prompt.  We can't wait to see the genius that you create!  Don't forget to share your pictures on the Artful Journeys group feed!

We are keeping it artful!

"Your" ARTFUL CHICKS
~~Betty, Melody, Tamie & Lynn