Flower Cluster Art Journal Page

 Hi Everybody,

Hope all are doing well and keeping sane in these tough times. Today I have a soft and serene looking layout page from my art journal for you. Here it is!

Here is how I went about doing this layout

• I prepped the base with clear gesso and then did a light wash of watercolors and let it dry.
• I then took a stampset of flowers and framed the layout with flowers on the borders
• I stamped a single rose in the center and stamped my focal point sentiment from a Kaisercraft stampset. 
• I colored in the focal point stamped image using watercolor pencils so that it stands out from the rest of the flowers on the border.
• Finished the page with a few gem drops.

Do let me know how you like it and how it has turned out. Your comments are what motivates me to keep making these!

Entering these to the below challenges:

1. Crabbie moments- Anything Goes
2. SplashyMix Challenge Moodboad: Inspiration is the flowers on the moodboard
3. Chocolate Baroque - Anything Goes
4. Butterfly reflections Ink - October Moodboard

Bloom where you are planted

 Hey there fellow friends,

I have a fun grunge layout page to share with you today. 

Here is how I went about it. I prepped the base with some gesso and added the main focal image which was a part of decoupage paper. I then blended it out with some acrylics, distress oxides and alcohol inks.

I have added some texture paste with some stencils and some stamps along the borders. I added a handwritten note for the sentiment which reads "Bloom where you are planted" on a coffee dyed paper. 

I really love all the shades of red-browns going on here. Such a warm and earthy tone to this page of mine!

Until next time!

Entering this to the below challenges. 

A bit more time to craft - Anything Goes

Love to scrap - Anything Goes

Stamping Sensations - The Great Outdoors (A take on outdoor spot )

Quick Art Journal Layout - Cactus!

 Hello everyone!

I am so happy coz it is my 200th post today! Had there not been a couple of years gap in this blog, this milestone would have happened long back! But still, time to move now and keep sharing the work consistently in this space!

Today I have for you all an easy art journal layout page. Here it is first!

You can create this with any small stamps that you have and make that into a focal point. To take the fear of backgrounds away, I have a easy fix. Whenever you are apprehensive of doing backgrounds for a journal, try this technique.

1. Take few pieces of cardstock or pattern paper in the shade you want your background. 
2. Stick them randomly one on top of the other varying the spacing and orientation. This will give you a look of lot of tiles piled on top of each other
3. Give a coat of white or clear gesso. 
4. Pick your main colors. Today I have picked lime green and yellow. You can use any medium you want here. I have used watercolors, distress crayons and markers. 
5. Keep the tile portions lighter and add shadows to the edges using black or brown so that it adds a lot of the depth to the layout. 
6. Pick out any small stamp and repeat the design on few tiles and color them accordingly. I have used Itsy Bitsy Cactus stamphere. Arent they just cute?
7. Add a sentiment or label that goes with your journal page theme
8. Tada! your quick page is ready! I love to add white splashes and highlights, but that is totally optional. Also if your journal pages seem sticky on closing them use a bit of wax on your finished layouts :) 

Wasn't it easy? 

Entering this journal page to the following challenges

• More time to craft - Anything Goes Challenge
• Stamping Sensations - Outdoors
• Color Hues - Green and Yellow Challenge
• Love to scrap: Anything Goes Challenge

The Gandiva Bow - Art Journal Layout

Hello crafty friends,

I am back with another art journal layout today.  I was so happy with my previous one which I made of Lord Krishna ( you can check it out here ) that I decided to pick inspiration from one of our epics, The Mahabharath. 

In Mahabharath, one of the central characters is Arjun ( my son is also named as Arjun :) ) and he is a highly skilled warrior. He is an are archer and his archery skills are highly detailed out in the epic. There was no one to better him ( set aside Karna and Ekalavya, who were tricked never to overshadow Arjun ). Setting aside all these, in his own merit he was a great warrior and he received the powerful Gandiva bow from Varuna and the sound of Gandiva is said to have sent fear to the enemies on the other side. 

So here is my take on the Gandiva bow, sketched and painted using pearl colors and fineliners. 

I have used Mudra's Arrow chipzeb to denote the array of arrows that came from the bow. 

I had this stamp from Itsy Bitsy which is a swirly pattern and almost looked like a bow, so did some shadow stamping using Ranger Archival Inks.

By the way, the background is done using Itsy Bitsy Color splashes , Distress oxide inks and some stenciling using icraft stencils. I did the background after painting the Gandiva bow. I thought i was going to ruin it, but somehow made it work by a bit of masking using copy paper.

 

I finished off the bow with some rhinestones and of course, you can't have a bow without the string!. It looks and feels so good in real life. This is what makes art journal so inviting to me. The look, feel, textural elements and connect you have with it, because you are making it for yourself is matchless. 

What is the Gandiva without Arjun's names! Some of his names are written in Hindi. They are Gandivadari Arjun , Partha, Dhananjaya, Vijaya. 

Let me know what you think of this project!

Entering this to the below challenges:

• Mudra Craft Challenge #34:
• My Time to craft
• Crabbie Moments of Craft
• Fusion Card Challenge
• Aud Sentiments

Products used:

• Mudra Chipzeb in Arrows
• Itsy Bitsy Color Splash - Hot Pink
• Itsy Bitsy Color Splash - Tangerine
• Itsy Bitsy Switly Stamp - I believe this set is retired
• Gelly Roll No 10 White
• Ranger Archival Bright Tangelo

Krishna Journal Page

 Hello there people!

Finally i am writing back on my blog after more than 2.5 years. My last post on blog was on Nov 2017! Whaaaaaaaaaaat ????? 

Even though I was very active on my Instagram profile and could not manage both, I always missed the long detail rants that I can have on my blog that I was unable to express on Instagram. 

During this lockdown I have started doing journal pages to start using up my supplies. There are so many artists who have super beautiful and complex journal page layouts, but my style always depends on the mood on the day that I am working. Some days it is grunge, some time it is fun and quirky and sometime it is a take on India, Hinduism, and deities, murals and related stuff. 

This page is a take on cute achukuttan or Krishna, Whenever i feel not in a great mood to craft or sketch, the best thing for me to do is sketch him out. Because however you sketch or whatever mistakes you make, he will always turn out beautiful and charm you and your day!

I prepped the base ( just couple of copy papers folded in 2 and glued together) with gesso and applied acrylic paints with a baby wipe. I did a few stenciling of brick patterns but I really did not like that look and blended over it with distress inks to try and mute it. 

I then free handed Krishna and painted him in yellow and blue. I was thinking what to do with the peacock feather. I did not have one and wasnot sure if would get it right by painting. That is when my eyes fell upon Mudra's chipzeb in paisley pattern which was waiting to be used on my desk. I grabbed a couple and embossed it with Wow Iridium Glitter and added it as his head gear. I love how this turned out!

I love adding sentiments on the my journal pages. So added Om Namo Narayana using a while gel pen on a black cardstock and added it. 

I felt it still lacked some border, so I reached out to the Peek-a-boo designs paisley stamps and picked the small shell stamp. I have had this stampset for a couple of years but never used this particular stamp. How was it so meant to be that Krishna's layout had to have a conch shell border!! Divine intervention or not, it was made for this project. 

Let me know what you think about this project. And hopefully i am more active and blogging again!

Linking this up to the below challenges. 

Mudra Craft Challenge #34:

Products used:

• Mudra Chipzeb - Paisley
• Peek-a-boo designs Motifs stampset
• Fevicryl Hobby Colors for the background
• Distress Inks
• Ranger Archival Black Ink
• Gelly Roll No 10 - White Pen

Cristmas Cards - Day 3 Organza Cards

Hello there friends!
Welcome to yet another post on Christmas Cards. Today I have a fun technique to share with you to bring in subtle shine to the cards and give a wonderful texture to it at the same time.

No Glitter, no texture paste, no shimmer sprays here, but the trick is to use some Organza ribbon with shimmery colors and variety in a width that can cover the entire card.
I am not sure where you get Organza strips that are about the size of a 4x6 card here, but I had got some from my brother on his travel to UK.

The cards as such are very simple. I stamped the tree from Craftyscrappers onto different card panels and blended some bright colors using both Distress as well as pigment inks. Then I placed the organza piece on top and taped the edges neatly behind the card panel.
Then I added it onto a top folding 4x6 card on matching shaded and stamped the insides with a simple Christmas sentiment from the same set.

Do let me know how you like this look guys! The subtle shine on the cards is very different from what you get using heat embossing or glitter or shimmer sprays.

Linking this to the following challenges.

MHK Designs - Anthing Goes
Love to scrap - Anything Goes
Bit more time to craft - Anything goes
Inspiration Destination
Crafting By Designs

Christmas Cards Day 2 - Color me trees from SSS!

Hey, fellas, It is day 2 of my Christmas Cheer card making this year and I plan to do as many as possible and share it with you guys until Christmas.

Today I have a card which is not the usual dimensions of an A2, but I went for a smaller squarish card.

I stamped the tree images using some embossing ink and heat set it with White embossing powder.
Then I blended in some cheerful colors on to the trees and fuzzy cut them. I was not very careful about the fuzzy cutting and kept in playful!

For the sentiment, I used the sentiment from the same SS COlor me Trees stamp set and added it as a banner on the top of the card.

Since the card is a simple and nondistracting one with mild color pop, I wanted to envelop to be bright and screen Christmas! What better than a Red polka dot envelope!
I used the WRM Envelope punch board to create the envelope.

Hope you liked the card fellas!!!

Linking it to the following challenges.
Crafting From Heart : Challenge 180
Crafting by Designs: October Christmas
A Snowflake Promise #45
The Holly and Ivy Christmas Challenge
Crafty Hazelnut's Christmas Challenge Extra
Christmas Challenge #24