Dying Easter Eggs

I admit it.  I'm 42 years old and Allen and I still like to dye Easter eggs although we haven't done it in a while.  This year we did a dozen...used crayons...mixed the dyes together near the end.  It was fun.  You should do it.  You still have time to run to the store today and get a package of dye.  Heck, go do it now.

Happy Easter!

Tutorial: New Art Journal Cover Design

 It was time for a new journal and I wanted to try something bigger than I'm used to working in.  Allen and I went to the library and hit the book store.  I found this spiral bound book with great hard covers and the pages had pretty good weight to them too.  Not hugely excited about it being a pregnancy journal, but I'll live.

 The first step was to cover both the front and back covers with text pages.  I'm a junkie for Latin, but anything goes really.  I used an ordinary glue stick to attach the pages to the covers

 When the glue stick was dry, I scribbled with NeoColor II watersoluable crayons in green and blue.  I didn't really think about where the color was going...just scribbled...what fun!

 Then I applied water and the colors melded together...

 Next I used my soft brayer to roll on some watered down acrylic white paint.  When that was dry I started using stencils and spray on ink...sorry to say the pictures of these steps didn't turn out.

Next I made a title and added some inchies I made in the Every Inchie Monday Challenge from last year.  The green paper is again some text pages painted with green.

The last step was to add black acrylic paint with a credit card.

I'm enjoying working in this book.  The larger size was intimidating at first, but now I'm liking it.  The cover is a bit "cute" or "pretty" for me, but I love the colors and I'm glad these three inchies found homes.

Step-By-Step Journal Page - Positive Thoughts

I thought it would be fun to document making an art journal layout step-by-step so here is a page I worked on for a few days.  The fist step above was spreading acrylic paint with a credit card to create the background color.  Next I did some writing that I wanted to just get out of me and not read again.  Then I added some colored music collage bits to the sides.

 Next I added more paint on the edges and blended it it with a baby wipe.

I love stamps that are loaded with pattern so that came next.

Gotta love paper tape or washi tape...they came next.

More paint was stenciled through punchinella or sequin waste to create the little dots.  I also added some metallic paper strips and black ink with a wine cork I carved that makes squares.

Lastly I added some more uplifting words so the page would be a positive reminder with all the bad thoughts I was having buried underneath.  I love my Wite-Out correction pen for making white lines and lettering.

I hope you enjoyed seeing one of my layouts in a step-by-step process!