Creative Christmas Calendar...my project!

Hello you all! If you came here through Riikka's blog...welcome! And of course welcome to my 'allready-followers'!
For Riikka's Creative Christmas Calendar I altered a wooden box in the shape of a book. It was pretty boring the way it was and it really needed some color!
I tried to make pictures during the process so I could show you a step-by-step from start to finish. I often work on my projects and art journal pages late in the evening, so some pictures are made without daylight and there are some flash reflections. Sorry for that...
Step 1: This is the box at the beginning:

Step 2: I covered the wooden parts with a layer of gesso. I sprayed two colors of Dylusions sprayinks to color the canvas with the word 'Paris' on it.

Step 3: I collaged some bookpapers on top. I always use ModPodge for this.

Step 4: I painted the background with acrylic paint and added some circles and stripes in a different colors. I stamped some gesso through a stencil and I stamped a layer with my backgroundstamps (written text and music sheet) and Stazon ink.

I did step 1 till 4 also with the backside of the box.

Step 5: I created an image out of magazine cutouts. (As you read more on my blog you will see that I love to do this! I have a big collection of cutouts and I love to puzzle and create new images with these.)

Step 6: I collaged the image on top of my painted background ( with ModPodge).

Step 7: I doodled the image with black and white markers...

...and added some journaling. I love to use quotes...

Step 8: The backside! I collaged another image with my magazine cutouts and glued it on top.

Step 9: More doodling and journaling...

Step 10: I covered the inside of the box with scrapbooking paper. (I used a sheet of Prima Marketing here, made of watercolor paper (I'm sorry, I can't remember the name of this collection.)

and I painted the sides of the box in rainbow colors.
I also made some white dots on the canvas to cover up the word 'Paris'.
And here is the finished bookbox:

The box is now 'sitting pretty' on my desk, filled with my collection of washi tapes...
Of course, the techniques I described here can be used for any object or simply in your art journal....which I do most of the times...If you would like to see more, please take a closer look at my blog or watch my video's to see more about the proces.
Thanks for visiting my blog and I wish you all a merry Christmas and may 2013 be the best year ever, with lots of creative happiness!

Sandra

I'm taking a break!

I'm taking a blog break....till the end of December...
Just because I think I need it...
My head is full of things I wánt to do and things I háve to do...
I'm still feeling creative. I've started crocheting this week...I like it very much!
Right now, I feel like curling up on the couch with my crochetwork or a good book...
Watch some TV or just do nothing...

I will be back for one day this year....sharing my participation in Riikka's Christmas Calendar!
She has a great line up of participants for her calendar and I feel so honoured to be part of this.
So don't miss it!

Take good care of yourself!!
See you in 2013.

Sandra

Paint your dreams (+video!)

Last week I was completely inspired by Julie Balzer's blogpost for Art Journal Every Day. She wrote about cutting your own stencils. Not that I hadn't heard about this before, the idea wasn't new to me, but her blogpost just came at the right moment. I was a bit bored by the stencils I had and there was simply no budget to buy some new ones. So I started googling for some nice patterns. I made two stencils, one with several paintsplashes and one with a spiderweb. I simply printed the images on some printerpaper, traced these on a plastic sheet and cut the images. (Ok, the cutting needed a lot of patience...)

I made a video in which you see me creating this background with my new paintsplash stencil and some Dylusions sprayinks:

Of course, I added a collage to my background!
This is the final page:

And here is the video:

In case you are wondering, after seeing the video, how the different stages look (I mean the steps after collage, after the black marker, the white marker and the journaling.) I will show the the pictures here too:

The collage glued on the background:

The page after doodling with only a black marker (Faber Castell Pitt Pen small point):

The page after using a white opaque marker:

And again, the finished page with the journaling and some checkerboard squares added:

Of course, there are so many possibilities with my paintsplash stencil. I'm sure you will be seeing more of it in the near future!

TFL!

Sandra

Two pages...

I created two more pages in my new journal last week. I still call it my new journal...although I have made a few pages in it already....so it is not so new any more, huh? I always give my journals a name or a theme. This way it is easier to keep them apart, also with filing my pictures of the pages on Flickr and on my harddisk. I decided to name this journal: DbD&Me. Complicated? Not at all! It is a Ranger journal, by Dyan Reaveley as you might know by now. So this journal is 'Designed By Dyan & Me' ! A sort of collaboration..(lol)...
The first page is this one:

I made the background with one color of Dylusions sprayink..yes, the blue one...duh..
The light layer was created by spraying some ink on a craftsheet, picking it up with a baby whipe and spreading it over the page. The dark layer on top was sprayed directly on the page, through a stencil.
The green squares were first bleached with water and then colored with the green sprayink.
Some paintsplashes and stamps on top before I added my collage.
The word 'happiness' is made with alphabetstickers, the rest is stamped.

My second page this week:

I painted the background black with acrylic paint and put my collage on top. The white 'milk splash' at the bottom is also cut out from a magazine. It required a lot of patience cutting it out, but I'm very happy with the result!
I'm working on a new page right now and I filmed a big part of it...so hopefully my next blogpost will have a new video for you! Stay tuned!

TFL!

Sandra

Inside your head...

I'm so happy with my new journal! Finally back to A4 instead of A5 and all the sizes in between...Now I realized I have missed it so much!
I felt like playing with something else than acrylic paint or sprayinks so I grabbed my Neocolors this time.
I also collaged some pieces of pages from a children's book (great font!). The final layer was done with my new background stamps..which I had in my stash since spring...oops...and my new embossing powder.

A few days ago I was digging through my digital scrapbooking files and bumped into this kit: Wonderland my blue from Ptite Souris. I loved the little Madhatter in this kit, so I printed him and glued him on my page:

I also love this quote from Albus Dumbledore from the Harry Potter books so I added it to my page too.
It turned out completely different than my 'normal collage style' but I love it so much. I will definitely use my digital scrapbooking kits more on my pages and I think my collection of embossingpowders will grow in the next few months....although I hate the mess caused with all those shiny powders....(lol)..

TFL!

Sandra

Evolution of a collaged image (video!)

Often people ask me: what magazines do you use for your collages? And my answer is always: Anything! From cheap, weekly women's magazines (for my Dutch readers: Libelle en Margriet) to more expensive glossy's like Cosmopolitan and Elle. But also brochures, Tv-guides, magazines about gardening, flowers, animals, etc. Mostly I get those magazines from a small network of family and friends, who give them to me after having read them.
Most of the times, the next question is: But how on earth do you create those fabulous collaged images?
In the next video I tried to capture a part of this proces. As you will see, I started with something completely different than with the image I made at the end. This is what happens to me most of the times, when I'm creating collages! Which makes it so hard to film this part, because I'm constantly shuffling with the pieces, adding more from my stash of cutouts, cutting parts of the cutouts, replacing them, etc....
I hope this video shows you a peek inside my brain:

And here is the page I created with the image. I made it in my new 'Dyan's Journal'. I love this journal!!! The background is made with Dylusions sprayinks and Dyan's ghosting technique.

TFL!

Sandra

Completed: Pixiedust journal (+ video!)

Yesterday I finished the last pages in my Pixiedust Journal.
These pages:

Two small flaps were left over to fill with collages...but I managed to squeeze in some images.

Of course I made a video for you in which you can see a flip through the completed journal:

If you would like to see detailed pictures of all the pages in this journal, please click HERE.

So, it is time to start a new journal now! Normally I bind my own journals, like the one above. But since my favorite size to work on is A4 (8,5x11 inch) and I wanted to try something new, I ordered this one:

I have heard so many good things about this journal already and now it is on its way to me! Can't wait to start working in it!

TFL!

Sandra

The Sketchbook Project 2013: update!

In this blogpost from June I wrote about my participation in The Sketchbook Project 2013. I showed you some finished pages and some work in progress.
Here is an update, since I finished a few more pages lately:

Still four pages to work on and the cover before I can start binding my Sketchbook.

To be continued!

TFL!

Sandra

A journey of a thousand miles...

...must begin with one single step.
Last week was a school holiday for my kids. My hubby took some days off from work too, so we spent a lot of time together this week...which also means that I hardly spent time being creative.
On Wednesday I went to Madame Tussauds in Amsterdam, with my girls. We had so much fun there!

I managed to finish a page in my Pixiedust journal:

Tomorrow we will get back into normal daily life. Hopefully more time to create!

TFL!

Sandra

New portrait and some digital scrapbooking

I finished this portrait of my daughter Danique already a week ago but wasn't 100% satisfied. Somehow, just like with the previous portraits of my kids, something was missing...I got some advise from people who know how to draw on a forum I've started visiting more and more. I followed their advise and made some corrections to my drawing. Now I'm 99% satisfied!
This is the picture I used as an example:

And this was my drawing before I did the corrections:

And my drawing, after the corrections:

I did some digital scrapbooking last week. Simply, because I felt like doing this! I haven't done any scrapbooking (traditional or digital) for a long time but when I saw this scrapkit I really had to play with it.
I used a template as a base for my layout.

Template: My cookbook by Damayanti Studio
Scrapkit: Just a teenager by Damayanti Studio

It seems like I like too much crafty things at the moment....Working in several journals (collage, daily, Sketchbookproject), drawing portraits (in graphite and anxious to start with colorpencils again..) and now I have a small virus which makes me want to do digital scrapbooking again...
So much to do, so little time! Help me! (lol)

TFL!

Sandra

Some art journaling...

Although I have been drawing portraits a lot lately, I still try to do some art journaling every day.
Some days I work on collages in my Pixiedust journal (hope to show you another page soon!), some days I just make backgrounds, prepare pages with tape and gesso or cut out pieces from magazines.
I started journaling in an old book which I bought in Sweden during my last summer holiday. The book is about A5-size and over 150 years old! My intentions for this journal was to write more personal things on my pages, instead of the quotes I mostly use. Thoughts, dreams, little conversations etc.
Sometimes I still struggle to get some words on to my pages but I'm learning...
This is my journal:

And here are some pages. I assume you understand the fact that I blurred the text now and then...

Inspired by Dyan Reavely's leaves-stamps. I used an old stamp I found in my stash.

The image is from a collage-sheet 'Just so Bossy' from Hidden Vintage Studios.

Dylusions ink, acrylic paint, watercolorpencils, Neocolor II, markers. The title letters come from an old stickeralphabet, I believe it was from Doodlebug.

Title: alpabet-stickers.

Image: Hidden Vintage Studios.

This page was an experiment with a color I normally don't use: brown!

I experimented with Dylusions inks in brown, yellow and orange. Tried some dripping of the page...

Than I scraped some white and orange acrylic paint with an old creditcard through a stencil.

Somehow I saw some trees appaering..which reminded me of the autumn in Sweden, with all the bright colors in the trees. 

Experimenting with Neocolors II, stamps, bubblewrap and cut out hearts...

Trying to combine a painted background with random collage...

Another collage...more into my comfort zone...

And another one...

TFL!

Sandra