The Business of Life Art Journal by Renae Davis

The beginning of a new year and the cold fronts that sweep the western part of the world, January feels like a very contemplative blue month. Maybe that’s just me! At any rate, I wanted to document a time of reflective thinking for new season that’s upon us.

Supplies:

• Donna Downey | Two Birds | Foam Stamps - Set of 2
• Balzer Designs | Writer's Block | Foam Stamp
• Donna Downey | Hollyhocks | Foam Stamp
• Red Tin Roof | Film Strip | Foam Stamp
Maxi Moon | Branch Out | Foam Stamps - Set of 2
• Acrylic Paints in: Metallic Silver, Blue Gray, Prussian Blue, Metallic Black
• Distress Ink Oxide Sprays (Weathered Wood, Chipped Sapphire, Hickory Smoke)
• Black Gesso

STEP 1: For the background, I sprayed a light amount of Distress Oxide Ink Sprays (Weathered Wood, Chipped Sapphire, Hickory Smoke) blended with water across the two page layout in my art journal. I sprayed the bottom and side edges with blue to frame the layout.

STEP 2: I applied a generous layer of metallic silver acrylic paint onto Writer’s Block Foam Stamp by Balzer Designs using a brayer and stamped over most of the entire layout.

 
STEP 3 AND 3.2: I applied a thin layer of black metallic acrylic paint onto Film Strip Foam Stamp by Red Tin Roof using a brayer and stamped over the entire left edge side of the layout as well as the bottom right corner in an angled direction.

 
STEP 4: I stamped across the entire bottom layout with Hollyhocks Foam Stamp by Donna Downey with a heavy body blue gray acrylic paint. This layer will serve as a shadow background for the next layer of flowers.

 
STEP 5: To add more flowers to the front of the layout, I stamped the same Hollyhocks Foam Stamp in a dark Prussian Blue by bringing down the stamp a few inches from the light blue layer in the back.

 
STEP 6: For the focal images, I applied a thick layer of black gesso with a brayer onto both of the Two Birds Foam Stamp set by Donna Downey and stamped them on the middle left side of the layout. I then drew a thin black line underneath them to ground them to the layout.

 
STEP 7: Using the same black gesso and brayer, I applied thin layers of gesso onto both of the leaves from Branch Out Foam Stamp Set by Maxi Moon and stamped them around the border of the entire layout.

STEP 8: To lighten up the page a bit from being so dark, I added a thick layer of heavy body silver acrylic as a border around the layout and filled in the circle ends of the brands from the branch stamps.
I finished the layout by adding a quote in the middle and adding splashes of black and silver acrylic paint over the layout.

YouTube Process Video Link: https://youtu.be/Pj9PsD1gRKw

Renae

My Blog: www.splendiferossity.com
Instagram: @redhedtm
Facebook: @splendiferossity
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Centered Soul Art Journal by Renae

GOOD MORNING FRIENDS! Galactial layouts are some of my favorite to make because they’re so calming yet so beautifully wondrous with so many possibilities of planets, colors, stars…. Some of the most beautiful designs have been the bright shining sun and the emotional moody planet we have learned to call the moon.

Today's project features:

• Kae Pea | Phases | Foam Stamps - Set of 5
• Balzer Designs | Ring Fling | Foam Stamp
• Large Mixed Media Art Journal
• Blue and Purple Ink Sprays
• Gold Modeling Paste
• Silver and Gold gesso
• Embossing Glitter

In my mixed media art journal (the Large Dylusions is my fave) I sprayed a generous layer of blue and purple spray inks onto the double page spread. The inks in soaked in the page fairly quickly so I layered in the different colors along with spritzes of water to help blend the colors.

I applied a layer of gold modeling paste through this 12x12 sun stencil (The Crafter’s Workshop) in the middle of the layout for the moon stamps to gravitate around.

To add some interest to the background, I scooped out some gold gesso with a palette knife onto my glass mat and brayered on layers of gesso onto the large Ring Fling foam stamp by Julie Balzer.

I stamped several times around the edges of the layout as well as lightly pressing over the top of the modeling paste image in the middle (you don’t want the paste sticking to the stamp). Adding this small layer of gold and circle imagery really brings the page together.

Here’s the magical part! I applied a thin layer of silver gesso with a palette knife onto the Moon Phases Stamp set by Kae Pea and placed them in matching phases around the sun image. The smallest crescent is at the left and right of the horizontal middle of the layout while the full moon (even though run of the edge of the layout) is at the top and bottom of the of the vertical layout of the sun. There are the other moon phases in the middle of the two mentioned.

Once the silver gesso was dry, I applied a thin layer of embossing ink over top of the stamped images and applied a lilac glitter embossing powder over the moon images. I know it’s hard to see from certain angles but we’ll make it pop in the next step.

To make these moon beauties pop onto the page, I outlined the edges of the stamped images with white pearl acrylic ink with a small brush. This was the perfect way to bring them to life without being too dramatic or different from the background.

Hope you enjoyed today's project! Thanks for stopping by!

Renae

Glimmer Moon Phases by Renae Davis

 

WELCOME BACK! I'm Renae Davis and I am this week's guest designer here on the Creative comMOONity blog. 

Moon phases and celestial themed pieces are quite trendy at the moment and making DIY crafts have never been easier. Kae Pea designed the perfect foam stamp set to make anyones moon phases dream decor come true. This project involves only a few simple tools to create a shiny but a little bit grungy home decor piece.

Project Materials:

• Kae Pea | Phases | Foam Stamps - Set of 5 by ArtFoamies
• 16.5 x 8” Mixed Media Board
• Tacky When Dry Gel Medium
• Black metallic paint
• Silver fluid acrylic ink
• palette knife
• baby wipes
• foil

I applied two generous layers of black metallic acrylic paint with a paint brush onto a 16.5 x 8” piece of white mixed media Crescent board.

I splashed a layer of silver acrylic ink on top of the painted board using both a toothbrush in a flicking motion as well as a small paint brush. I let this dry completely.

I drew both horizontal and vertical center lines across the board using a white charcoal pencil. This will ensure that my stamps will remain centered for the project.

I applied a layer of Tacky When Dry Gel Medium (The Crafter’s Workshop) with a palette knife onto the full moon circle foam stamp from the Moon Phases Stamp set by Kae Pea. I’m going for a grungy look for this project so I did not worry about the smoothness of the gel medium. I applied enough of the gel onto the stamp so I could see a fairly even amount of white layer of gel. (The gel will dry clear when dry).

I stamped the circle in the middle of the intersecting lines on the board pressing down firmly to ensure the gel made contact with the board on every edge of the stamp. Lifting the stamp from the board, I scraped off the excess gel with a palette knife and placed a little bit onto the stamped image where the gel layer was a little bit sparse. Once stamped, I cleaned off the remaining gel from the stamp with a baby wipe.

 

On both sides of the full moon circle stamp, I applied the gel on the stamp and stamped the next moon in the phase cycle- rotating the moon stamp to fit the direction of the cycle for each side.

I repeated the same process with the remaining moon stamps from this set, rotating the stamps for the appropriate direction of the moon phase cycle. Once finished stamping while allowing the gel to dry, I cleaned my stamps with warm soap and water to remove a remaining tacky gel from the foam.

Dry time for the gel is about 30 minutes depending on the thickness of the gel applied. Once dry, I placed a strip of holographic foil (from Heidi Swapp MINC collection) on top of the stamped images and firmly rubbed over the entire sheet with my fingers. You can use a burnishing tool if you like.

Carefully lifting the foil sheet from the gel mixture, you can now see the beautiful details left behind from the stamp. Since it is not a perfect impression, the gel created intricate little lines and pattern adding interest to each moon when stamped. I placed the foil sheet back over several times to make sure that there was no tackiness from the gel left.

With a palette knife, I spread a thin layer of the gel around the edge of the board and repeated the same process with the foil technique once dry.

The final results of the foil process is beautifully grungy. The true color of the foil is hard to capture with a lens but this picture is the closest I could get to.

I hope you give this technique a try in whatever you decide to create!

Renae Davis

My Blog: www.splendiferossity.com
Instagram: @redhedtm
Facebook: @splendiferossity
YouTube: @redhedtm
Pinterest: @redhedtm