The Tag Journal Project – No. 4

Posted by Coral under The Tag Journal Project

Not all the tags I’m making are detailed or planned out. Some of them are just experiments that actually turn out instead of being thrown in the bin before the ink is even dry.

This one was some red Ranger spray ink for the tag. Then I used picket fence distress stain on a stamp over the top. Super quick. Super simple. I really like the picket fence distress stain. It’s the only stain I have. It has a beautiful milky look to it – very different to white paint dabber.

I tore the bottom of the tag. I seem to be doing that a lot lately. Sometimes what I add to the tag looks out of proportion with the tag at full length, so I just tear a bit off. Other times, I think it just makes the tag look a little more interesting. Especially if the tag is really simple like this one.

I wasn’t sure if I should include this one on the blog because it was so simple. It was like it didn’t count. But it’s part of the Tag Journal Project and I really like it. Sometimes you want a 3 course gourmet dinner. And sometimes you just want a toasted sandwhich, you know?

Sometimes we think we have to make something that is Somerset Studio worthy every time we sit at our art desk. And when we don’t, it can feel like we’ve failed. Like our artwork isn’t good enough. But sometimes it’s the quiet, easy play that can be the most fun. Where we just play to see what happens. It’s where we learn new things, how inks and paints work together. What happens if I do this, if I use this, if I put that there. Not everything has to be an elaborate master piece.

The back of this tag was used to journal about an Etsy workshop I went to. The journaling was like the tag – short and sweet. Kinda like me – hehehe.

Mini Journal

Posted by Coral under Altered, Art Journal

Altered art journal with torn magazine pages, scrapbook paper, Finding Firelight stamps, ephemera and hand sewing

My friend April from Blacksburg Belle has a great DIY tutorial on very quick and easy mini journals. I’ve had it book marked for a while and finally decided to make one.

April uses old magazines as part of her journals and I loved this idea. She uses pages torn out of Stampington magazines which should be illegal. Love my Somerset Studio and Art Journalling magazines waaaay too much to do that to them. But I had some pages torn out of another magazine I didn’t like that much that were perfect. I’ve just bought a new magazine just for the tear out factor. I’m pretty sure the editors didn’t have that in mind when they put it all together….. But the layout is perfect, the quality of the paper is even more perfect. And the photos and typography…. oh yes, perfect.

I also bought some scrapbook paper especially for the person I was making it for. Her colours. Quotes that I thought would be her cup of green tea. Styling that made me think of her as soon as I saw them. You know that feeling you get when you see stuff that is just a perfect fit?

Aprils journals have all different size pages. The torn edges are left as they are. Traci Bautista does the same with her journals. I love the extra interest this adds. Some of the scrapbook pages I bought had perfect sections for cutting into smaller sizes. The magazine pages had sections where the fold worked pretty well too.

April sews her pages. Alas, the relationship between me and my sewing machine is not a harmonious one. Despite playing with tension and different paper etc, she keeps jambing up part way through sewing. I am going to resort to a different, thinner thread to see if that helps. In the mean time, I was not going to risk this journal with that damn sewing machine. So I pierced each page with a gigantic push pin that I got in a Tim Holtz class about 7 years ago. I positioned the pages how I thought they would fit together, then pierced the pages in a way that every page had at least two sewing holes in them, using the journal cover as a template for the positioning.

I used some waxed linen thread for the sewing. It was a bit fiddly with so many pages in different sizes. But once the first two holes were sewn, it seemed to hold together tight enough to make the rest of the sewing easier.

I used some of my Finding Firelight stamps on the magazine pages. I am in love with the Stronger Than You Know page. I have even saved this one as the screen saver on my phone. So every time I open my phone (which is a lot!) I get that reminder. The photo’s a bit odd – not really sure what’s going on there…..

I also used shipping tags, scrapbook journalling cards, washi tape, old envelopes from the junk mail, left over ephemera from my Finn class. Basically just about everything in my art room!

This was my first attempt at following April’s tutorial and I was so happy with how it turned out. I think it might be my new addiction – including buying magazines just for their suitability for ripping up for art journal pages…..

Finnabair Class

Posted by Coral under Altered, Personal

I was sooo lucky to do 2 workshops with Finnabair a couple of weeks ago. I did a shadow box on the first day. I have a thing for Carousel Horses so to have a rocking horse as the thing for us to alter was very cool.

I wasn’t too sure how I was going to like it when I accidentally put in what I thought was brown metallic powder, only to have it turn bright red when I added water. Aahhh!!! Nooooooo!!!! That was NOT what I meant to do. Thankfully, with the final layer of metallic paint, the red softened down and I actually fell in love with the final result.

The second day, I made some layered front and back covers for one of Finn’s new journals. They are kind of delicious – with envelopes and pockets and papers. I’m terrified of being able to make a whole journal look gorgeous – I’m such a ‘tear it out and chuck it in the bin if you don’t like it’ kinda girl and that’s not really the point with those journals.

It would appear I made the mistake of not having lunch before I did this workshop (unlike the day before when I brought along some sushi – my new food obsession). And it showed. Blood sugar went everywhere and I just could not get my covers to work. They looked nothing like Finn’s. And the more I tried to fix it, the worse it got. I was devastated after the high of the day before. And everyone else’s looked amazing. I was in a right royal mood at the end of it! But my gorgeous friend Robyn made me feel much better about it all (bless her beautiful heart) and I wasn’t feeling too bad by the time I walked out the door.

On the plus side, I was chuffed with how I had layered the hardware and embellishments. I was really unsure about being able to do that part. I’ve tried before with less than spectacular results. One of the awesome things about the workshops was how many bits and pieces were left over for us to take home. I’ve made another tag using some of the leftovers as well as using some on a mini journal and still have LOTS left over. Love that!

Finn is a great teacher, her English is fantastic and she has a gorgeous accent. And it was so nice to do her workshops – I haven’t done a class like this for ages plus I got to share it with a new friend which made it even more special. I really needed that. After doing so many business type courses and learning technical computery stuff, to just get inky and painty and have some fun was awesome.

Bring on the next one!

Dream, Joy, Bliss

Posted by Coral under Art Journal

I’ve been a little obsessed with tags lately as you know. And I’m not afraid to throw stuff in the bin. Which often means my 50 page journals turn into 10 pages. Hmmmm.

I’ve been playing in my practice journal a lot and it is kind of turning into my proper journal. I’m loving some of the pages I’m making in it. It’s a teeny weeny A6 size. And it’s such a good size – it’s not hard to fill a page which is something I really struggle with in my A4 journal.

I’m really loving The Crafters Workshop stencils. I just got 6 new ones from Christy Tomlinson’s online store. Some of them work great with the spray inks, others seem to let too much ink in and it smears. I’m thinking of doing a video on how I am working around that. I have the same issue with paint. If you are too enthusiastic with the paint, it leaks in under the stencil. And you know me, I’m over enthusiastic with my paints and sprays on a grand scale. You gotta go lightly and dab the paint on. Some work great with a palette knife. It really seems to depend on the design.

I used the circle stamps from one of my wallpaper plates and a journal frame from the small frames plate of my Finding Firelight stamps. I wanted to use them more – I’ve kind of tucked them to the side a little because of my obsession with the stencils. This was a nice way to bring them into the pages. I think they work really well together.

This started as just a play page. I laid down some gesso and then sprayed inks on to see what the resist would look like. I used gel medium over some scrapbook paper to try to highlight parts of the text. I rubbed some watercolour crayon in between the chevron stencil to see how it would look. All just to see what happened. It was an experiment page which was very unlike me. I usually plan it out in my head a bit, deciding on elements and layers before I even start. And if I try stuff out, it’s usually on scrap bits of stuff so I don’t have to rip out the page when I don’t like it – I told you I’m a throw it out girl! This page was a ‘make it up as you go along’ page and I’m pretty happy with how it turned out.

Stencils, spray inks, Finding Firelight stamps, scrapbook paper and an index card.

The Crafters Workshop stencils, Ranger spray inks, Finding Firelight stamps, scrapbook paper, washi tape and an index card.

The Tag Journal Project – No. 3

Posted by Coral under The Tag Journal Project

The Tag Journal Project
No. 3 – Scrapbook paper by Rhonna Farrer, Ranger paint dabbers, Studio paint, Ranger spray ink.

The Tag Journal Project – No. 3

I’m not normally an antique or distress type person. It’s not a style I do for myself really,but I do love what other people make with it. This tag is probably as close to antique/distress as I get. I bought a few scrapbook papers over the holidays, more for a bit of new inspiration to play with than anything else. This is a Christmas one from Rhonna Farrer for My Minds Eye. It is full of antique looking documents all collaged together.

This tag started off as a jump start tag. (see Dina Wakley’s video). It just had some swiped spray ink on it. I pulled it out of the pile to use as my starting point. I was ending up with too many jumpstart tags that weren’t going any further. I kind of got stuck playing in the jump start phase because it was so much fun, so I decided to start pulling out some of the tags to use as a base.

I finger painted on some Studio paints by Claudine Hellmuth which brightened up the spray inks. The paints seem to add a richer feel to the spray inks. I glued on some of the scrapbook paper and added more Studio paint, this time using a palette knife for the scrape look (although you could use a credit card if you didn’t have a palette knife). When I did a class with Michael DeMeng, he called this a ‘visual bridge’. It helps join parts of an artwork together. Once the paint was dry, I did more spray ink. This time, I just spritzed the spray ink onto a plastic filing pocket. (I’m waiting for my Ranger craft mat – I finally caved and ordered one). I didn’t spritz water on the tag or the ink. I just dabbed the tag in the ink, rather than swipe it. The trick is to hold the spray bottle far enough away that it comes out as a splatter on the plastic, not a big puddle.

For some reason, I love tearing the bottom of my tags. I did it on Tag No. 2 as well. I think it gives it a little somethin’ somethin’. And often, the artwork I do on them is a little smaller than the tag I’m using, so I just rip off the end to make it fit. Oh yeah, it’s technical around here.

I love this tag. – even if I do say so myself. It’s one of my favourites so far. I’ve been doing this look on envelopes and art journal pages. So now, instead of being obsessed with jumpstart tags, I’m obsessed with doing this.

Modelling Paste Shipping Tags

Posted by Coral under Tutorial

Shipping tag, The Crafters Workshop stencil, modelling paste, Studio paint and Brilliance copper inkpad

This has been one of my new obsessions – modelling paste. I first bought the jar after seeing Christy Tomlinson (love her!) use it on one of her canvases. She mixed paint in with it then scraped it through the stencil. I tried it and didn’t get the look Christy did so I put it to the side. Then a couple of weeks ago, I started adding just the modelling paste onto some tags using the stencils I had. I have since bought lots more stencils which are on their way, so I’ve got more to play with.

I found the trick was to not press too hard with your scraper. If you press too hard, you don’t get a very high impression. I used a palette knife but you could use a credit card too. Make sure you get an even scrape and it fills in all the space of the stencil. And be gentle with pulling it off. I tend to be a bit of a bull at a gate with that kind of stuff, but you’ll smear the paste if you get too enthusiastic with it. It took about 1/2 an hour to dry, but leave it a bit more if you can. I did some that hadn’t quite dried and as I rubbed in the paint, it started to go flat and smudge.

I put on the paint with my fingers – loving using my fingers to apply paint at the moment. It’s such a different look to using a paint brush – the paint blends sooo nicely when you use your fingers.

I put on the first colour over most of the tag. Then I use the same colour and do another layer in spots – it gives a tonal effect to the one colour. Then I add a second colour in the sections that are still blank, blending it into the first colour. Leave that to dry a bit. If you are using acrylic paint, it drys pretty quick – luckily. I’m the Queen of Impatience and I hate waiting for stuff to set or dry. How do you think I found out the paste smudges if it isn’t dry enough hehehe.

Wipe over just the raised sections with what ever you have on hand. I swiped an inkpad over the green one and paint on my fingers over the orange one. You could probably use glitter stickles, perfect pearls or any of those types of things too. I’ve been making lots of these with all sorts of colours. But I don’t know if I want to put anything on top of them though because I like them so much just the way they are.

I’ve made a video if you want to see the process. And if you give it a try, I’d love to see what you make.

The Tag Journal Project – No. 2

Posted by Coral under The Tag Journal Project

The Tag Journal Project
No. 2 – Manilla shipping tag, scrapbook papers, Distress ink, Ranger paint dabbers.

The Tag Journal Project – No. 2

This is the second tag in the project and the first for an event with journalling on the back. I think I actually made this one by covering up a big mess that I had originally put on the tag. Ah, scrapbook paper – oh how you save me.

I layered the torn scrapbook papers on the tag and aged them with some Frayed Burlap Distress ink. They just didn’t look like they tied in together and like it was missing a little somethin’ somethin’. So I added some of the Ranger Jenni Bowlin Chilli Pepper paint dabber which seemed to do the trick.

I like this tag because it was a saved one. Like I said in the first post for the Tag Journal Project, I am NOT an ‘anything can be saved’ kinda girl. If it sucks and it’s not working, I throw it in the bin. But this one, I saved. And it was a quick and easy tag. I didn’t over think it. I didn’t plan it out before hand. And it is all scrapbook paper which is very not me too. I usually add more stamping and paint. And I try to make things look more complex and advanced. I like how simple this one feels.

The journaling for this one was going to see the movie James Bond Skyfall. I just did the journalling in pencil because I was worried using a black ink might seep through and wreck the tag. But I’m wondering if pencil is going to be too light a year from now if I go back to read it. Maybe I just need to get darker lead and cross my fingers it doesn’t rub off too much. I played with a little bit of journaling – experimenting with letters. In pencil, you can rub it out if it didn’t work. And because it’s on a tag, it doesn’t feel like it has to be perfect. When it is on an art journal page that you just spent an hour on, it’s a whole different story.

The Tag Journal Project

Posted by Coral under The Tag Journal Project

The Tag Journal Project -
No. 1. Shipping tag, Ranger spray inks, scrapbook paper, Studio paint, Finding Firelight rubber stamps, alphabet rubber stamps, 7 Gypsies rub ons, Making Memories stickers.

Every year, you see people starting year long projects. Project Life. One Little Word. And this one on my DIY Pinterest board from Design Sponge. I always find out about these things in the middle of the year, which means I don’t feel like I can start. Like I can only start on January 1st, which of course is ridiculous.

I started my Tag Journal Project by accident. I was playing around with lots of manilla shipping tags, experimenting with different things. I throw out a lot of stuff. I am NOT one of those ‘you can save everything’ kinda people. If it looks sucky, I throw it in the bin. Which means a 50 page journal is gonna end up about 10 pages by the time I’m finished. Yeah, it’s not great, is it?

But I don’t feel bad throwing out a tag. Or tearing it up. Or flipping it over and trying out something on the back. So I had all these tags, some I loved, some only partly done and was wondering what the hell I was gonna do with them all. One of the ones I made had the word ‘Adventure’ stamped on it. I added the numbers 2013 with some stickers. My husbands had the idea of recording everything new we do this year – since we’ve gotten a little boring. Combined with all those tags and this and an idea was born.

The Tag Journal Project

Each tag I make will have journalling on the back. Not everything I journal will be something new that I do. They will be things that mean I at least got out of the house. Business-y milestones. Movies I see. Dates with my husband. All that kinda stuff. They will hang in the art room, on some faux leather strung across my bookshelf. Then at the end of the year, I’ll just untie the string, tie it in a circle and start again next year.

I’ll be sharing the various tags throughout the year here on the blog. But it won’t just be about making the tags and journalling. I hope my artwork will grow and change over the year too. That I will be more likely to say yes to doing new and fun stuff because it will give me another tag to add. A pretty project is fun. But having a reason and meaning behind it is even better. And I think I’m more likely to stick to it this way.

Are doing a year long project too?

The tag

This tag is one I had partly started before. I had sprayed a manilla shipping tag with Adirondak spray inks – loving those at the moment. I’ve discovered they work over paint too – I’ll share that in a later post. I also had a stamp over the top of it but I wasn’t that fussed with it. So I pulled it out of my stash of half done stuff and started to play and see if I could turn it into something.

I glued some torn scrapbook paper over the top, which hid the stamping originally on the tag. Using Dina Wakley’s idea of a creative jumpstart, I spread some blue Claudine Hellmuth Studio Paint with a palette knife. Using the same paint, I stamped the Finding Firelight small circles stamp (which is part of the Wallpaper 5 plate). I got a bit of a halo mark on it which I’m a bit bummed about. That’s what happens when you rush – typical me, can’t help myself. When I’m on a roll, I’m on a roll. I stamped the word adventure using an alphabet set. Making memories stickers were used for the 2013. I outlined then numbers in black pen to tie it together a bit more and to help the numbers stand out. They were looking a bit out of place just on their own. The other black elements are all from a 7 Gypsies rub ons sheet. I’m really happy with this tag and I’m even using a photo of it as the wallpaper for my phone.

I can’t wait to share the rest of the tags with you. And if you want to play along, I’d love to see what you make.

Coral xo

Steal like an artist journal

Posted by Coral under Art Journal

For years I’ve talked about getting my artwork ‘there’. You know where ‘there’ is, don’t you? It’s also called “as good as”. As good as this artist, that artwork. And I’ve been jealous of all the classes and workshops that are available in the USA. So I’ve decided to kind of teach myself and to learn from my favourite artists.

If you haven’t heard about Steal Like An Artist, you can read about it HERE. Basically, there are no original ideas. You take bits and pieces of everything you see and turn them into something original. So I’m going to try and copy their techniques in a special journal. Kind of like a training book. A practice book. I don’t want to do art like them as my new style. I want to try out their techniques and ideas to learn from them. And to take the things I really like and use them in my main journals, in my own way.

Some of my favourite artists have You Tube videos or tutorials on their blogs or I have a book with their artwork in it that I think I can figure out. The people on my list so far – Dina Wakley, Teesha Moore, Kelly Rae Roberts and Mae Chevrette. It will all depend on how I feel on the day. What I feel like playing with and trying out. I don’t want it to feel likeit’s ‘have to’ or homework. That’s gonna take all the fun out of it.

This first page is inspired by Dina Wakley and her silhouettes. I found a fashion style photo and cut it out. Kinda over cut it in parts (like her elbows – oops) but managed to make it look okay. I used a Crafters Workshop stencil and Adirondak spray ink in butterscotch as the first layer. I added a spray of red spray ink on it ‘s own as well. Then I laid down the fashion stencil and used a Ranger paint dabber in dark red, swiping very carefully. I didn’t want to tear the stencil. I’ve seen Julie Fei-Fan Balzer use packing tape over her stencils. But I’m not that patient, so I just did it over the magazine paper. Be very, very careful with it. It lifts a bit and I can see it would tear super duper easy.

I think the red spray ink and the red paint weren’t a strong enough contrast. But that is why you do these things isn’t it? To learn what works and what doesn’t. I tried it out again on a tag. And am much happier with the result.

I used Ranger paint dabbers and Claudine Helmuth Studio paints (and some Finding Firelight stamps, of course). I took a tag I had previously started. I’d used some light blue paint and a palette knife (inspired by Dina Wakley’s creative jumpstart video). I took that out of my stash to use as a starting pint. I stamped the large circles with the pink Ranger paint dabber. Then I folded some paper in half and cut out a couple of heart shapes. I cut out quite a few actually, but these were the only two that actually looked like hearts. The others were kind of circular blobs… hmmm – note to self, practice cutting out hearts. I laid the two hearts that actually looked like hearts over the pink and blue. Then I carefully dabbed on blue paint. Well, not quite so carefully – the mask slipped on the top one as you can see. I was going like a bull at a gate as usual and had already dabbed again before I realized the heart had come up with the sponge and moved. Again – you learn doing these things, don’t you?

Art shelf

Posted by Coral under Altered

I will let you in on a secret – I will never be featured in Where Women Create. My art table always looks like a bomb has hit it. Even if I do a mega tidy up, once I start playing, tidy goes out the window. My husband got sick of watching me try and work in a 30cm workspace, so he made me a shelf.

Rather than just put up a plain old white shelf, I decided to paint the back section. I used some of Claudine Hellmuth’s Studio paints which I love – they are so creamy. I was going to do some collage of a leaf/lotus flower shape using dictionary pages like Donna Downey’s paintings. But when I went to add them on, it looked sucky. I decided to add a quote in white which was easier said than done, let me tell you. Damn white, it’s so see through. The quote has like 3 layers of paint on. And I do not have a steady hand so the edges of the letters are all wobbly. I decided to use a white pen for the rest of the wording. Yep, that didn’t really go any better. The pen kept stopping because it was writing on paint. Then I had the genius idea to heat the tip of the pen to get the ink flowing a bit better. But apparently all that did was cook the ink so the pen didn’t work on the shelf or anything else any more. At this point, I was starting to think I should have persevered with the collage idea. I hacked open the pen and then used one of my husbands super fine model paint brushes to dip into the ink and paint on the words. Said pen is now in the bin.

Altered art shelf now hanging in my art room.

It’s a big shelf. And it was friggin heavy. I was all hunched over, trying to balance the damn thing on my lap. Trying to keep a steady hand with the ink…. As you can imagine, I was over it by this stage. It looks pretty good, as long as you don’t look too close

I do love the way the “Danielle LaPorte” part came out. Of course, all the hard work is now covered up by spray inks, manilla tags (my current obsession), paint dabbers, water spray bottles, glue sticks and mod podge. But I know it’s there – it’s like a quiet reminder.