Splashes of Tea: A Vibrant Mixed Media Art Journal

The Cover

Last but not least, I am sharing the cover of my tea themed art journal. I have named it ‘Splashes of Tea’ due to the many paint splashes throughout. I found this old arc welding manual at a yard sale for a few cents. The cover has lots of cool texture not to mention it is leather bound. Such a great find! When I first made this journal cover I didn’t have a theme in mind. But afterwards when I decided to make a ‘Tea’ themed journal, I thought this cover would fit perfectly. It happens to be the only part of the journal that does not contain the word ‘tea’ or have a tea related picture.

The Inside

If you haven’t seen the inside of this journal here are the links:

Tea With the White Rabbit

The Chinese Tea House

Afternoon Tea

Keep Calm and Put the Kettle On

Too Much Tea

Tea in the Garden

You & Me the Perfect Blend

Spectacular Tea for Me and You

Tea Cups in My Bonnet

Calming Tea with My Girlfriend

The Details

As I already said, I made this cover before deciding on a theme. It was a design team project for PaperArtsy. You can view the step by step tutorial and products used for this cover HERE.

What themes or topics interest you? Have you created a themed art journal?

Thank you for taking the time out of your day to stop.

Kate

 

 

“Tea, Madam?”

Mixed Media Lynne Perrella Card

Lynne Perrella just happens to be my most favorite stamp designer over at PaperArtsy. Her stamps are vintage, unique and very fun to color. I color all my images using Tim Holtz Distress Markers.

All I do is use the marker on a non-stick mat, add some water to the  Distress Markers and my paint brush and then I paint my image. Just make sure you are using a Archival Ink Pad as this keeps your image from bleeding as you paint. These  Ink Pads by Ranger are my absolute favorite!

I used embossing, stamping and spray inks in my background. A few of the embellishments are vintage trinkets that I received from a friend.

Don’t you just love that tea cup on her head? If only I could get away with wearing a hat like that!

Art Journal Spread

Guest Posting

Just a sneak peek to let you know I am over at the PaperArsty Blog today sharing a Art Journal spread from my new ‘Tea’ themed art journal. I think you are going to like it so pop over and have a look HERE!

Art Journal Cover

Playing around with journal covers is one of my favorite things to do. This chipboard cover cost me .99 cents! What a steal! Totally unplanned but the background turned out with a watercolor effect and I LOVE it along with all the texture from the stencils and grunge paste. If you want to check out the full picture tutorial, you can find it HERE. The inside page I made for this journal is HERE.

 

Industrial Human: Art Journal Layout

Tags

Steampunk

Steampunk Art Journal Page

I am sharing another project that I did for PaperArsty some time ago. I made this page to go inside a altered journal. As you can see, the majority of my page is embellished with stamps from PA and a ephemera style photo. I really loved working with this masculine color scheme and adding a splash of color. You can find the step by step tutorial to this page HERE.

Steampunk Inspiration

I thought I would include a few steampunk themed Projects that I love!

Tim’s February Tag

Gentleman’s Choice

Steampunk Altered Book

Steampunk Adventures

 

 

Mysterious Lady: Mixed Media Tag

 

PaperArtsy Tag

I really enjoy making tags as they are fast and small. It has been a while since I made one but I thought I would share this one today. You can view my step by step tutorial HERE over on the PaperArtsy blog. The Hot Picks stamps over at PA are really fun for anyone that loves vintage style stamps. My favorite part of any project is usually making the background and for this tag I enjoyed adding the tag to the bottom with ribbon.

Me + You = Crabby: Altered Box and Pinterest Picks

The Box

I used a recycled box that previously held a collection of small baby books. PA Hot Pick stamps embellish the lid along with lots of texture. You can see the whole process on the PaperArtsy Blog at Part 1 and Part 2.

Pinterest Picks

I thought I would share a few inspirational boxes. Links to the original artwork are below the photo.

Jack & Cat Curio for Ice Resin

Linda Cain Designs

Stephanie Rubiano

Kindred Chemistry by Rod Lathim

Old Curiosity Shop By Melanie Forbes

Time Travelers Apothecary Kit By Azirca

Butterflies and Swirls

Netflix and Blogging

My little’s are all in bed sleeping soundly while I sit here on the couch blogging and watching Netflix. We live in the mountains so there is not a lot of choices for TV. In fact, to get any channels at all we have to have basic cable. We are literally in the middle of nowhere! Since hubby and I are trying to become Debt Free via Dave Ramsey’s The Total Money Makeover, we don’t have any money to waste on cable packages. Netflix is cheap and there are no commercials! Right now we are in the middle of watching the TV series Arrow and Hawaii Five-O. We are also waiting for the new seasons of Reign, Person of Interest, Supernatural, Leverage and Once Upon a Time. What TV series are you watching?

Altered Photo Frame

I didn’t place a photo in this frame box but I had a lot of fun decorating it. Beautiful stamps, watercolors and texture paste made this a fun make. My step-by-step tutorial is here.Thank for having a look.

Kate

Textured Bloom: Mixed Media Card & Some Current Reads

The Card

I am not a card maker but to date this is one of my favorite. I made this for Paper Artsy and you can find the step-by-step process HERE.

Current Reads

Here are a few books that I am currently reading.

Boundaries by Henry Cloud and John Townsend. It is so relevant as everyone has a boundary issue somewhere or with someone in their life. I would highly recommend this book if you have children or problems with friends or family members taking advantage of you.

Life Creative by Wendy Speake and Kelli Stuart. This book is for creative moms that are having to put their creative endeavors aside for a season while raising a family or while dealing with other time consuming issues.

The Big Book of Kombucha by Hannah Krum and Alex LaGory.  I have enjoyed flipping through this book until I have the time to dedicate to reading.

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Lynne Perrella Tag

 

Just Chit Chat…

I forgot how much I missed blogging. Football season is the perfect excuse to hop on the computer while hubby is busy. I don’t much prefer football so I find it the best time for crafting or catching up on other things.

This week I am focusing on making personal lists. Since I am all about lists I am working on creating a bunch of ‘TO DO’ lists for my art goals. I love the new year because it gives me the chance to start over on all those uncompleted projects. Of course that means I am a year older this time around but that can’t be helped.

The Tag

So, on to the project. Lynne Perrella is one of my favorite stamp artists. She never disappoints when it comes to her new releases over at PA. I made this tag for PaperArtsy using a beautiful Lynne Perrella stamp and a few other goodies from PA. I have a step by step Tutorial over on the PA blog.

If you didn’t answer my topic poll. I would love to hear your opinion. It is in my last post. Take a sec to fill it out so I can start implementing a few more interesting topics into my posts.

Kate

A Journal Page and a Poll

Lynne Perrella Art Journal Page

My art journal page today is one that has been a favorite because I went out of my comfort zone and cut an image in half. I know, really? How lame is it that cutting a stamped image in half is uncomfortable. I guess “comfort” is a different place for all of us. Again, you can view the step by step Tutorial for this page over at the PaperArtsy Blog. Stop by and have a look.

I Made a Poll!

I have been thinking a lot lately about the direction of my blog.  I frequently find my time limited when it comes to paper crafting. On the days I don’t have time to sit at my table and make a project, I spend a lot of time doing other “crafty” things. I am contemplating sharing them here on the blog and am curious if any of you have interest in these topics. So please take a minute to answer the poll. Feel free to leave a comment with suggestions not in the poll but of interest to you. Who knows, I may decide to take up a new hobby based on your suggestions.

Kate

 

Paper Doll Shadowbox

Hello! I can’t believe it has been 6 months since my last post. Time just seems to get away from me. My little one is almost 1 year! She consumes so many hours of my day but I wouldn’t have it any other way. Being a mommy is the greatest job! I am so thankful to God for the opportunity. How about a picture of my cutie. This is her a month ago. She is still adorable but just has a little more hair.

So, as many of you know I am a Guest Designer for PaperArtsy.I write for them a few times a year. At the moment that fits my busy schedule as wife and mommy have to come first. I figured I needed a boost to get back into blogging mode so I am going to share my PA projects from a few years ago. I was only able to share sneak peeks at the time but I think it is ok to share the full project now that a lot of time has lapsed.I will still link to the complete tutorial over on the PA Blog.

So, here is my first project. A paper doll style shadowbox. My favorite details of this project are the texture on the frame and the doll dress. I had a lot of fun dressing her up. Of course, now i have a real doll to dress up and let me tell you…I am having a blast.

Take a peek over at my tutorial over on the PaperArtsy blog and I would love to hear any comments you may have. I have some great pictures of details to get you inspired.

Here is to a new year of projects and consistent blogging(well, maybe)

Kate

 

Delight in Play

   Today I am sharing a tutorial using Sprays over at the PaperArtsy Blog. Here is just a sneak peek of one of the elements used in my journal page. I hope you will check it out here.
Happy Monday!

PaperArtsy Post

   Today I have a tutorial on Grunge Paste over at the PaperArtsy Blog. I hope you will go over and check it out.

A Lynne Perrella Card

      A card I made using stamps from PaperArtsy. I had a lot of leftovers lying about so I thought I would put them to good use. Have a great weekend.