This is a technique that I saw a while ago on this link (http://kayskreativekorner.blogspot.com/2011/04/brick-texture-chipboard-tutorial.html) and I wanted to try it myself.  I finally found the materials and the time and here are my results.

I used more Stickles than it called for, as I covered the whole thing and the directions said to add it randomly.  I find that I'm not good at random.  It never seems to be enough.  As I dabbed it here and there, I kept thinking that it didn't look evenly random. LOL. So before I knew it, the whole thing was covered.  I took two pictures at slightly different angles, because I wasn't sure how well it would show up using a flash.  In the end, I really like it. It has the rustic, leathery look that I wanted and I can't wait to think of how I'm going to use this??????

A Bit Of This And That

A few journal pages I have worked on.....

 When I was finished with this page I was covered in gold embossing powder and pearlex.  I don't think the page is impressive at all but I had fun doing it. I stamped the page with embossing ink and covered it in gold embossing powder, then  heated it with the heat tool.  I stamped more feathers with perfect medium and then covered it with blue and green Pearlex.  I went back to the gold embossed feathers and colored the centers with colored pencils. Lastly, I wrote a border around with my Signo pen.

This was my attempt at using color pencils on black paper.  All the images were stamped using various stamps and a white ink pad.  Then I used colored pencils to color everything.  Then my intention was to add highlights using my Signo pen.  However, once I started  I realized, I don't know how to do that and rather than totally mess the page up, I decided to outline everything in white. When I was finished I glued the page into my journal.  As I was gluing it, I noticed some air bubbles were forming.  So I got my credit card and decided to smooth the bubbles out by scraping the card across the paper.  A method I have seen on several tutorials.  What I didn't realize is the ink from the white pen was not completely dry and it spread across the image, which sort of dulled the colors.  However, using the theory that there are no mistakes in art journaling, I continued the process by adding a doodled frame around it.  The blue green in the bottom right corner is the ink that bled through from the page below.

 I love the way this background turned out.  This was done by spraying Dylusions "Cut Grass" and "Vibrant Turquoise" directly on the page (no water).  Then I used Crafter's Workshop stencil "chicken wire" and a leaf stencil (not sure who makes it) and randomly stenciled the page.  I used Freyed Burlap Distress Ink and a blending tool.  Then I stenciled using Crafter's Workshop "The Cubist" and Faded Blue Jean Distress ink.  I added the large circles by using a plastic lid that I inked with a white ink pad.  The smaller circles were stamped with a toothpaste cap and Frayed Burlap Distress Ink. I put Washi tape on in various spots.  Then I used a black Micron pen and outlined the squares from the stencil. (Just the bigger ones.  Some were too small to worry about)  I went back with a white Signo pen and drew a square on the inside of the squares and the Washi Tape.  I also used the white pen to outline the "chicken wire" stencil, and the veins of some of the leaves.  The final step was to stamp an old handwriting stamp over the page using Sepia Archival Ink.

  In the spirit of the holidays!  I stamped the image on the page but when I tried to color it, I didn't like how it looked.  So I stamped it again on another sheet of paper and tried coloring it in again using water color pencils.  I was happy with the results so I cut the image out an glued it on top of the original stamp, which is why the yellow doesn't extend down through the hay.  I drew the main star using a trick that I was taught when I was little.  (You draw a big pus sign, the a small X in the middle and connect the lines as shown above.)  I drew asterisks for the other stars.  I wrote the saying and when it dried....I outlined it with a black Micron pen.  I finished the page with silver glimmer mist.

 I put two pictures of this one because I think you can see the picture better in one and the other shows the glimmer of the glimmer mist on the page.

 

This is my sweet baby granddaughter Bella.  All dressed up and ready to go.  It was inspired by my daughter who called to tell me about Bella's latest events.  She put on her sunglasses, grabbed her purse and went up to her daddy and said "See ya later"

The first step was drawing lil' Bella.  I colored her in using watercolor pencils.  Then I used my water brush and went over everything.  I added the border, which is a stamp from Dylusions.  I totally blew it putting the border on.  I started out thinking that I would use the edge of the stamp as my frame.  If you look at the left edge of the picture you can see what I was planning.  Then I had an interruption and when I came back to finish, I didn't even think about how I was stamping it.  I didn't even realize my mistake until I was coloring the border.  I used Distress markers to color the border.  I used "Victorian Velvet" Distress ink with a blending tool to go over the outside of the border and "Tumbled Glass to blend the inside background.  I wrote the quote with a pink metallic pen

This is Bella's watercolor artwork.  I thought it deserved a page in my journal. I'm not sure what inspired her or what methods she used but it is beautiful!  I see a budding artist.