DLP Week 16 -- A Lot on My Plate

Hey everyone!  It's been fairly quiet on my blog over the last couple of weeks.  I've definitely been creating, but I haven't taken a lot of pictures ;)  The spread I'm showing you today is from the Documented Life Project week 16.  It was all about Gelli Plates.  Since the previous week was about acrylic paints, I had already done a spread using torn up Gelli Plate pages, so I wanted to do something a bit different.  My original thought was to cover the back with different Gelli Plate stamps, but that failed miserably!  Thank goodness for Gesso!  I tried again, but this time I went super simple and just used the red and yellow on my Gelli Plate and stamped that all over the background.  After that, it was 'now what?'.  

I really wanted to try another face, but this time I went much more whimsical.  I really, really like how she turned out.  I have lots of work to do on coloring faces, but otherwise, I'm super happy with how she turned out.  The journal prompt for the week was 'a lot on my plate', so I wrote all of the things that I have on my plate onto strands of her hair.

I'm going to link this to Kim Dellow's blog for the Show Your Face party!

Thanks for stopping in!  If you didn't see a previous post of mine, I have a LOT of stamps and various stuff for sale.  Just go to my 'Stamps for Sale' at the top of my blog, and check it out.  There are some great deals!  I'm hoping to buy something special for my husband with the proceeds :)

Documented Life Project Weeks 13-15

Happy Monday, friends!  I wanted to update you on my Documented Life Project.  It's my weekly art journal using prompts from the talented ladies over at Art 5 Academy.   Every Saturday, those lovely ladies offer up a journal prompt and show us what they've created, and it's free to join in.  Who doesn't love a free challenge?

I'm doing these a bit out of order, because my picture for week 13 is pretty bad/fuzzy, but I'm IN LOVE with my week 14 page!  Week 14s challenge was watercolor with the prompt being 'it's water under the bridge'.  I started out by gessoing the pages, then using my Dylusions sprays I put dots of color on the pages and then blew those around with a straw.  I drew in the bridge with a Stabilo pencil, and finished it off with by writing in the prompt.  I LOVE how it turned out, and it was fun.

Here is week 13.  I'm keeping the picture small, because the quality is pretty bad.  The challenge was to create your own element, so I made the boat out of washi tape.  The background was colored with my PanPastels over book text as the river banks.

Week 15 had me stumped for several days.  The challenge was acrylic paints.  I started out by putting tearing some under paper into tears, since the prompt was 'cry me a river'.  I tried doing some drips of acrylic paint, but it was just too much, so I toned it down with gesso.  I used a baby wipe to clean up the tear drops.  After tearing up more under paper, I made a river.  The edges needed something, so I used some modeling paste and smeared it over the edges and used a glaze.  The Stabilo pencil rounded it all out, and I ended up being pretty happy with the end result.

One of these days, I will film my process.  Thanks for stopping in!

Documented Life Project Weeks 10-12

Hey Crafty friends!  I hope y'all are having a wonderful Wednesday!  Productive day for me. . .coffee with a friend, homeschool (naturally), grocery shopping, and now posting.  I have a couple of new projects to show you from the Documented Life Project 2015.  I've done a great job (so far) with keeping up with the challenges, so I'm going to show you weeks 10-12.

Week 10s challenge was Doodles and Marks as a Layer Element.  I doodled some rain/snow all over the background and covered it in gel medium.  I love the look it gave when I wiped off the distress paint with a baby wipe.  That was a rough week for me, so this picture says it all, and the prompt was a perfect one.

Week 11s challenge was doodling a border, with the prompt being Madonna's song Borderline. . .once again perfect.  I ended up using some underpaper, because I just had nothing.  Once I doodled the border, I just went with the face. . .it's basically part of the background, which is how I was feeling that week.

 Once again, the following week's challenge was simply perfect for my mood.  Week 12s challenge was to use doodling as a focal point. . .hence the flower.  I found this amazing quote, which was exactly what I was needing.  'Find what you were made to do, and life will come into focus'.  After the previous 2 weeks I had had, God was pointing me in the right direction (as He always does).

I do have Week 13 done, but I'll blog that one later.  Thanks for stopping in!  I think I'll go play now ;)

Documented Life Project Weeks 7-9

Hey everyone!  I told you I would be more intentional about sharing my art journal pages, no matter how bad I may think they are.  I actually happen to like the three I'm going to show you.  Now that all of my design team contracts are up, and I'm a free agent, I plan to focus on some personal growth in the area of art.  I've always loved art. . .everything about it and all facets, so I plan on taking some classes this year.  My husband has given me the green light.  You have to jump on board when the other gives you the green light ;)

These pages today are for the Documented Life Project 2015.  If you haven't heard of it, and are at all interested in art journaling head on over and sign up because it's free!

This first picture is from week 7, where we were challenged to 'Cover Up Good Stuff'.  I felt like I added so much to this page, and ended up covering up some flowers that I had drawn and a few other elements that might actually be poking out if I look close enough.  Trusting the process it a bit hard at times, but you can really up come with some great stuff if you do.  I really love how this page turned out.  It's so vibrant.

Week 8s challenge was 'Repeating Elements', and I had fun doing that with stencils.  Do you see my big purple mess in the middle?  Well, my distress paint blew up in the middle there, but I ended up working with it, and I even made some pretty underpaper with it as well.  I love the quote I found, 'all things are difficult before they are easy'.  I don't know who said it, but it makes perfect sense.  I've only really dabbled in art journaling now for a few weeks, but it just gets easier and even more fun with each page.

This last week, week 9s challenge, was to 'Use at Least Five Layers'.  Because I finished this just a couple of days ago, I can tell you the layers:  Donna Downey Stencil with Dylusions Spray, gesso, tissue & gel medium, acrylic paint, Gelli Plate print cut out and adhered with Gel Medium, painted around with acrylic paint, stamping, stencils with gesso, Stabilo marks, and finally a die cut word.  How's that for using at least five layers?!

These challenges are something I look so forward to every Saturday morning.  I don't always get around to them on Saturdays, but they are definitely a highlight for my week.  Having a creative outlet is vital to me being human, lol.

Thanks for stopping in.  If you have any questions about my pages or my process, please feel free to email me:  cassandratrask@yahoo.com

Documented Life Project 2015 -- Week 6

Hey everyone!  In the effort to be more transparent with my art, I'm showing you a layout in the art journal for the Documented Life Project 2015 week 6.

February Theme:  Layers You Will Love!

February 7 Art Challenge:  When Not to Stop

Journal Prompt:  "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough!" (Ooh)

I love that there really aren't any rules to our pages, although that is usually a foreign concept to me.  Because this is still a super new journey for me, I'm not sure that I really accomplished the 'When Not to Stop' challenge.  These Dyan Reavely journals are HUGE when you're staring at a blank page, so you really just have to start.

I started by using Gesso (as I usually do), then by writing a quote on layers all over my page in a messy cursive.  The layers go as follows:  ledger paper, Distress Paints, Gelli Prints, stamping, paints, doodles, Gesso through a stencil, more doodles, stabilo pencil.

This definitely could have used more layers, especially since layers are the theme, but I'm happy.  I could be happier ;)

As always, I'm looking forward to next weeks prompt!  Thanks for stopping in!

Documented Life 2015: January 1, 2015

Happy New Year, everyone!  I hope your year is off to a great start!  We are fighting some sort of sinus bug in our house after traveling to California, but thankfully we are mostly on the mend. 

With a new year comes newness all around.  I'm going to be more intentional about sharing my mixed media projects, in the hopes that it will make me more accountable.  I started the Documented Life Project 2014 in the middle of the year, because that's just when I happened to find it.  I love trying new art mediums, but like with all things there have been some growing pains.  Most of my stuff is just 'unsharable' in my opinion, however, I love the process and like all things it will hopefully get better with time.  Once again, I am doing the Documented Life Project 2015 with the lovely ladies from Art to the 5th.  It's a great way to art journal your way through the year, and I encourage you to check it out!

Our first challenge was book paper and the January theme is the blank page and how to tackle it.  The journal prompt was 'Your own goal Keeper', and since I'm usually pretty private about that, I chose to hide mine under a black tag that I decorated.  

My main mediums were acrylic paints, although I did use some perfect pearls and water, which as you can see can make ink smear.  I don't care, because I like the look of it here.

Thanks for stopping in!

The Documented Life Week 34: Numbers

I told you I've been dabbling in the art of Mixed Media, and I just recently made a Art Journal/Planner that posted about the other day.  I'm sure I won't be brave enough to share all of my pages, but this is the first one I did from a Documented Life Project challenge.  We were to fill our page with numbers that related to our week.  I was actually able to go in numerical order with mine.  I didn't go too crazy with the Mixed Media bit obviously, but hey, I'm just starting out here.  I did, however, use my Distress Inks to create this fun background on my watercolor paper.  I used some stickers from my stash and doodled around just a bit.

I'm truly using this planner as a way to keep track of my week, but also as a journal, which has proven to be so fun.  I took it to church and wrote down the sermon notes.  For me, I tend to pay more attention when I'm doodling for whatever reason.  I don't get mad at my kids anymore when I see them doing it, because I know they get it from me.  I'm not the best doodler, because I suppressed it for so long. . .good students don't doodle, they pay attention.  Being a homeschool mom for going on 8 years has taught me that doing things outside of the norm is absolutely okay, especially if it gives you great results.

Ink:  Ripe Persimmon, Wild Honey, & Mustard Seed Distress Inks

Paper:  90 lb watercolor paper

Accessories:  Pilot pen, water mister, Kelly Purvey Alphabet stickers

Thanks for dropping in and indulging me ;)

Plan.Journal.Play - a Planner made for Art Journaling

Hey there!  Did you have a productive weekend?  I feel like we really did.  We were finally able to empty the last of the boxes, and my craft studio is pretty much how I want it.  It could use some better organization of some of my stash, but at least it's all out of boxes and within arms reach.  Now to find what I need when I need it ;)

I also had an opportunity to work on a project that I've been excited about for quite a while.  I've been dabbling in Mixed Media for a little bit now; building up my stash, and working with and playing with it.  It's a fun thing to do, and a thing that will take lots of time to master.  I've watched lots of videos and played quite a bit.  Lots of things I've made I hate and a few things I love.  This planner goes in the 'things I love' category.  

I love reading Patter's blog, which is where I originally learned about the planner.  I took Lorraine Bell's Plan.Journal.Play class, and am so excited by what I feel I learned.  I definitely have a lot to learn, and and certainly used a lot of her techniques, but the more I play, the more I will learn and develop my own style.

 I really love how my tabs turned out.  I used some canvas paper along with an old labeler.  The planner is a Moleskine, and I used an old stamp from one of my past favorite companies (Clear Dollar Stamps).

The back is even pretty cool.  More than anything, I had fun making it.  So much so, that I want to make more, hehe.  The inside is just as cool, and I'll show a page in the next couple of days.

Stamps:  John 3:16 (CDS)

Ink:  Stazon

Accessories:  Moleskine planner, various acrylic paints, brick stencil from TCP, dots stencil from Tim Holtz, gesso, various pens, various ink misters

Thanks for stopping in!