Going Green...and Sparkly too!

Going Green...and Sparkly too!
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Aaaand, we're BACK! So glad Mr. Blogger and friends have figured out what went wrong and have fixed things so we can continue blogging! Gosh, I've missed all of you!!! =D


So here's the latest page in my art journal. As you may be able to see...the ink is still wet!

I'm back to experimenting with Tim Holtz's Distress Stains. This time I used Forest Moss and Peeled Paint.

For texture, I made a few scratches in the wet Gesso. (I deliberately left areas void of Gesso. This creates darker colored areas where the Stain seeps into the paper. It also tends to mess up the other side of the paper. Oh well.)

Then I swiped the Distress Stains over that, after the Gesso dried. I sprayed the pages with homemade spritz spray in green and Glimmer Mist in Dazzling Diamonds. This creates crazy-awesome textures as the water reacts with the Stains just like what happens with Distress Inks.

Then I pounced the Distress Stains on the paper, with a pretty big amount of force, to make the splats. The harder you slam them, the bigger the splat. Just wear clothes you don't care about. ;-)


Well, thanks for stopping by again today. Have a lovely weekend!!

~Cynthia

Re-do of an ugly page

Re-do of an ugly page
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I hope this page makes up for yesterday's weird art journal page post. =D

I started this page by playing around with my new water color crayons. So much fun! But the page was just sections of colors and it looked pretty bad, so last night I was determined to fix it.

I ripped up some vertically striped paper and adhered that to the pages. Then I went over everything with the bluest blue paint I've ever purchased. It was a bit shocking!

I toned the blue down with a layer of sage green. Then I stamped the cool swirls with Black Soot Distress Ink.

And then...and this is by far the coolest thing about this page!...I smooshed some bubble wrap into the Black Soot ink and used it as a stamp. Those are the little groups of round, crinkly circles you see. HOW COOL LOOKING IS THAT??? Free, repurposed and reusable!!

Anyway. I'm much happier with this page now. =D



Thanks for stopping over here today...I hope you have a great day of creating!!

~Cynthia

Monday's Art Journal Page

Monday's Art Journal Page
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

SO sorry for the ridiculously awful picture!

I started this page on Monday. And finished it today! ;-)

I wanted to use my new Distress Stain in Fired Brick, but the other colors I have don't go with it, so I just used that. And since everything was either painted red or stamped in red or stained red...I went with the "Monday is Red" title.

I didn't mean for it to be angry, it was just the color I wanted to use! :-)

It has some cool things going on, and overall I think it's OK. The Stain reacted with the Gesso and turned kind of pinkish. I used painter's tape to mask some areas, but the Stain bled underneath, giving a really cool effect. I also used some of my new Michael's Dollar Bin alpha stamps and my latest fun tool--an embossing label maker.

This was an experimental page for sure. I had fun playing!


Thanks for stopping by!

~Cynthia

Fun with Distress Stains!

Fun with Distress Stains!
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

I *finally* got some of Tim Holtz's Distress Stains! I had to order the darn things because no one around here carries them. Bah! I also ordered two rolls of his Tissue Tape.

And then I played.

This is another page from my art journal. I simply dragged two of the Distress Stains (Broken China and Faded Jeans) down the page, after I had covered the page loosely with Gesso.

The way cool thing about Distress Stains is that that work just like Distress Inks, just in a bottle like Ranger's paint daubers. That means, when you spray water on the Distress Stain, it reacts just like the Distress Inks.

So I did that too.

I also sprayed it with some blue homemade spritz spray.

Then I stuck a few pieces of the Tissue Tap on the page, distressed them with more Broken China, and then outlined the shapes in both a black Pro Pigment pen and water color crayons.

I also picked up a funky Inkadinkado rubber stamp set and stamped a few of those rounds shapes in Broken China and Black Soot.

For a final touch I stamped SKY, using my brand-new Michael's Dollar Bin stamps in Faded Jeans. I used a chunkier font for that and I think it would have come out clearer if I had used a skinnier font set.

The journaling is all about a verse from Psalm 2 in the Bible that says, "He Who sits in the Heavens laughs..."

Seriously, seriously love the way this came out!


~Cynthia
PS: Big thanks to Paula (aka Journal Artista), who showed this technique on her UStream show!

Happy Mother's Day...

...to all the Mothers out there! Thank you for all you do!!!!


~Cynthia

Thousand Miles

Thousand Miles
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Here's another page from my Mix Media art journal. I heard a song by Dwight Yoakum and the chorus really stuck out, so I did a whole page on it. :-)

The song goes like this:

I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
Time don't matter to me
Cause I'm a thousand miles from nowhere
And there's no place I want to be


I kind of turned the song around. I would RATHER BE a thousand miles from nowhere! =D

The page has lots of clocks--digital ones from a link on Ali Edwards' site and some strips from Tim Holtz's Lost and Found paper stash. I used dark paint and rubbed it off in places to give the layout an aged, distressed look. Most of the paint lines go up and down, giving the page a look of movement. My journaling is all about traveling and going places.


As a little side note...I was at Michael's yesterday and in the Dollar Bins they have these cute little alphabet stamp sets. I bought five, thinking, it's only a DOLLAR. BUT, I've been very impressed with them so far. It's a great size for art journaling and card making too. They have about ten or so different fonts. One font has separate sets for both lower and upper case letters. Another is a swirly, 50s kind of font. Very fun and cheap entertainment! ;-)


Have a wonderful weekend!!

~Cynthia

The Old Homestead

The Old Homestead
Originally uploaded by HikerCynthia

Sorry I haven't been on here much. Life has been busy lately. I've had really good intentions though. Does that count?? ;-)

This is another "I don't think this is quite me, but I rather like it" kind of card.

This is also another "I don't remember where I saw this card" kind of card.

I totally CASE'd it, but with my own twist.

That totally counts.

I stamped the covered bridge (not really an old homestead at all, not sure what I was thinking there) using Walnut Stain Distress Ink. Then I used a bit of the same ink with a bit of water to color in certain areas.

**Edited to add: I finally figured out where the HOMESTEAD thing came from! I went looking for the original card, so I could give credit, and discovered it was a card on Destination Art, entitled HOMESTEAD BIRDS. AHHAHAHAHA!! I'm not as crazy as I think I am!! =D

The stamp makes its own border, so I cut around it far enough away to make it seem like it was mounted on another piece of cardstock. I distressed the edges with Walnut Stain.

I adhered the image to a piece of Tim Holtz's Lost and Found stash. And the final layer is brown cardstock, which has been run through an embossing folder.

*That brown cardstock, run through the embossing folder, reminded me of Reese's Peanut Butter Cup paper, which is probably where my mind went, and probably why I named it The Old Homestead, when it's clearly an old covered bridge. When in doubt, blame the chocolate.*

All those layers are adhered to a kraft cardblank. And if you're still reading this, you are braver than I am.


Supplies:
Paper: The Paper Studio (kraft cardblank); GinaK (400 lb Pure Luxury white whatever); Tim Holtz (Lost and Found stash); Bazzill (brown cardstock)
Stamp: Impression Obsession (Covered Bridge Stamp)
Ink: Tim Holtz (Walnut Stain Distress Ink)
ETC: Cuttlebug (Distressed Stripes embossing folder)



Thanks for stopping by today! Have a wonderfully creative day!!!

~Cynthia =D