Secretive: An Art Journal Page with Image Transfer

Hi everyone, and happy Friday! Happy November, too, since this is my first post this month. The darkest time of the year is falling upon us but I have a pretty bright journal spread here to cheer it up.



Inspired by the October Challenge at Wanderlust Class 2017, I tried image transfer with acrylic medium for the first time. I have previously tried packing tape transfer and found it fun. Here, I was excited to see the image lifting directly onto the page, whereas in the tape method the tape remains visible and you need to glue it down.

The images I have used here are inkjet printed and my medium was Liquitex acrylic matte medium.



You can see I have used two different sized transfers of the same vintage image, showing a mysterious woman with daisies and a veil.



I had prepared a background on my square Dylusions Creative Journal collaging bits of gelli printed and die cut book pages, and then added acrylic paint.

What happened with the transfer was that it seemed easy at first but then I did rub too hard and lost quite a few pieces. This was my first try, directly onto the journal background. Luckily, I had printed a smaller version of the same image and tried it on a separate painted paper, and it worked better!



I didn't want to give up my background and taking a second look at it, I came to think that the smaller image on the orange piece of paper might look cool mounted on the side of the more broken image, so this is what I did.



At the same time I was trying to learn from a recent lesson by Kasia Avery at Wanderlust 2017, about the use of Black and White as Contrasts, and how they can work to calm down or unify a page with many colors. I think the final spread is still slightly too busy/colorful for my mood at the moment, but I didn't have time to work it any longer, wanting to make the challenge deadline.



I also used some lace and machine stitching as effects. The (originally white) lace had been used as a stencil in Gelli printing, so it already had those cool darker and lighter areas. Then some Gelatos around the edges, plus some black stamping, marker and white paint pen. I love the image, she reminds me of a good fairy with a secret that makes her smile!



The image, by the way, is printed from The Graphics Fairy, who offers thousands of good quality copyright-free vintage images for free. (There is also a paid Premium membership option, but I haven't felt the need for it so far. It would especially benefit someone working digitally, since it offers a lot of special effects for editing programs).

This site is a great resource for finding images for transfer techniques, and its search engine helps to find images in the theme that you want.



I am also linking my project to this week's challenge at Take a Word. The theme is Family Albums, meaning the use of old photos to create some altered art. Photos from other sources are ok, if you don't have family photos, says the challenge guideline.

Happy weekend everyone and thanks for taking a look!

Memuaris: Back to the USSR / Work & Love

Hello there! This month, I've been inspired by art shows and one of them went really well to combine with the unusual theme of the Memuaris Challenge: Back to the USSR.



The exhibition was featuring art from the Soviet Union, and this delightful women at work scene that I scrapped is called Weavers by Vladimir Myagkov.



For us in Finland, the Soviet Union was of course our neighbor like Russia is now. I was nearly grown up at the transition time so I have plenty of memories from that time. I also read Russian at school since age 13 through High School. That wasn't something we had to do, but I'm very attracted to the language and have always been.



I used the May Week 4 Sketch by Brenshevia Baker at Lets' Get Sketchy (rotating it to the left) and was also inspired by the challenge at Our Creative Corner: Hit the Books.





I was really happy with the background I made splashing with different paints: tube watercolours, acrylic inks and mists. I meant to keep the layout really simple and in the end, I wish I had left a little more empty space. That said, I'm mostly happy with my layout, anyway! It was really inspiring to work on a very different theme than usually.

I like how I used mainly just the buttons for embellishments, and just a few wood veneer ones. My favourite things in the layout are the long title (from a song lyrics) and how I used the Russian alphabet and dressmaking stencils in a less usual way: tracing with pencil.



Thank you for coming and especially for commenting, as always!

Storm: An Art Journal Page

Hello there!

We're getting near the end of January, and though I've had less art time than I would like lately, I'm enjoying the Documented Life Project 2016: the UnPlanner online workshop and community. This is the first time I've signed up for a full year's online course, so let's see how well I can keep up!

I know already that I won't have time to join all the challenges, but the most important thing for me is to create and journal regularly, even if it's in my own pace.



The UnPlanner prompt for the second week of January was: Start with a quote and paint over all but one word.



"The greater the storm, the brighter the rainbow." I got the quote and the idea for this page from the January challenge at Viva Las VegaStamps!

I'm not saying that the quote goes for people in the face of truly great adversity: war, exile and poverty, to name but a few. It can be insensitive to just cheer someone to be optimistic in a situation where concrete help is all they need.

But the way I saw it, describing a certain kind of personality, I quite like the quote. My eldest and I are both sort of quick tempered and can have very strong reactions in our times of distress, but equally in our times of happiness and gratitude. So that's the way I interpreted the storm and the rainbow this time.



The inspiration board (above) was accompanied by this list of words: resolutions, one little words, pacts and more.../and also/... words like femininity, women, exploration, rainbow, neutral and nature, storm, maps, vintage, writing, script, yellows, tans, black and white, stripes, bold, rainbows, storms and more!

I chose to highlight women (girls), exploration, storm, script, stripes (the "One Way" arrows represent these), and for the colours, a combination of neutrals and some black and white.



I built my journal page on a previously Gelli printed paper, and machine stiched it onto a kraft cardstock cut to the size of my binder page. All but the script stamp are from Viva Las VegaStamps!

I stenciled the clouds with black acrylic paint through a DIY stencil I made with my Fiskars Squeeze Punch. Once the paint had dried, I put the stencil back in place stamped the script with white ink.

As for the anchor stamp, I was just experimenting patterns with it, thinking of a naval theme in connection to the storm, when I saw that from a distance the little anchors looked like birds flying away. So I stamped them around the girl as if she was releasing them from her hand.



The view where I photographed my page is from Kaapelitehdas in Helsinki, an old cable factory turned to a huge center of arts and culture. I'm lucky to take two weekly courses there this spring. This gorgeous view is from the art class where I study experimental techniques in acrylic painting, and the other course is painting with toddlers. I'm sure you'll hear more about these in my later posts!

The view doesn't show very clearly on a cloudy/snowy day like this, but right next to the building there's the sea, now covered with ice. And behind that, the city continues on an island. You can see the bridge on the bottom right corner.



I am also joining the Artistic Stamper Challenge, where it's an Anything Goes theme this month, and Words & Paintery challenge, with this prompt:



Speaking of art classes, if you're able to take some, that is one great way to improve one's life, both today and tomorrow!

Thank you for your visit and I hope to see you again on Monday, with my interpretation of the Scrap Africa February Sketch Challenge #68!

Chunkies Again: Little Black Hen, Paris and a Ballerina

Good morning! I made some chunky 4x4 pages again. These are for a Pick-a-Theme Swap, meaning the recipients chose the themes. It's fun to make cards for this kind of swaps because you get to try themes you wouldn't have thought of otherwise. My partners asked for Chicken, Ballerina and Paris.

The images of Chicken and Ballerina are from Graphics Fairy. In the Paris page, the image is in the background, cut from a Vintage Paris calendar. The flowers are cut from napkins and collaged with beeswax on top.



Huomenta! Tein taas muutaman chunky-sivun. Pieni musta kananen, ballerina ja Pariisi -sivut menevät vaihtoon, jossa vastaanottajat ovat valinneet aiheet. Tällaisiin on hauska osallistua, sillä tulee laajennettua aihepiiriä siitä, mitä itselle olisi juolahtanut mieleen!

Kanan ja ballerinan kuvat ovat ilmaiseksi tulostettavissa Graphics Fairyn sivuilta. Pariisi-sivun pääkuva on taustapaperissa. Se on kalenterista, jossa on 1950-luvun näkymiä Pariisista. Kukat on leikattu serveteistä ja liitetty päälle sulatetulla mehiläisvahalla. Tuo kiehtova tapa käyttää servettejä on kuvailtu tarkemmin täällä.





Have a nice Sunday! // Hyvää sunnuntaipäivää kaikille!

Black & White Chunky Pages

Here are some more chunky 4x4 pages created for a swap at ATCs for All, with the charming theme of Black and White!

The images in the first two cards are stamped and heat embossed on collaged backgrounds. The vintage lady's face stamp is from Viva Las VegaStamps and the dress stamp is from Hot Off the Press.





Tein taas näitä chunky-sivuja vaihtoon ATCs for All -sivustolla. Chunky-sivuista kerron tarkemmin aiemmassa postauksessa täällä! Aiheena oli tällä kertaa kiehtova mustavalkoinen.

Kahden ensimmäisen kortin kuvat on leimattu kohojauheilla kollaasitaustoille. Naiset kasvot on tehty Viva Las VegaStampsin leimasimella , mekkoleimasin on Hot Off the Pressin.

The vintage garden urn is a free printable image from the lovely Graphics Fairy. I really recommend checking out her great selection if you are ever in need of vintage clipart!



Vanhan puutarharuukun kuva on Graphics Fairylta, jolla on mahtava valikoima vanhoja kuvia kollaasintekijöille! Niitä saa tulostaa maksutta omaan käyttöön. Kannattaa käydä kurkkaamassa, jos tykkäät tehdä kollaaseja!

Second Hand Finds // Kirppislöytöjä

I love making flea market finds and using recycled material in my crafts. In May there was a little flea market at a school next to our home, and I was really excited to finds these two papercraft books. It was actually a crafting friend from the neighbourhood who was selling them, so I have her to thank!

Kirppiksillä kiertely on yksi lempipuuhani, ja niiltä löytyy usein myös kaikenlaista askarteluun. Nämä löydöt ovat helatorstain kirppikseltä naapurikoululla. Myyjä oli itse asiassa yksi askartelututtavani näiltä kulmilta - kiitos kaupoista!

The first book is called Paper: Making, Decorating, Designing. Thackeray, Beata (text) and Hurst, Jacqui (special photography). Conran Octopus, 1997.



This book has both a technique part and galleries part, where Thackeray presents the works of different paper artists. // Kirja jakautuu tekniikkaosioon ja galleriaan, jossa esitellään paperitaiteilijoita eri maista.



Tie dying // Solmuvärjäys



Collage // Kollaasi



Gallery: Paper pulp artwork // Galleria: Taidetta paperimassasta
Mildred Fischer, USA



Gallery: Metallic finishes //Galleria: Metallikoristeltu paperi
Merete Zacho, Denmark



The next book is // Seuraava kirja on 30 Paper Creations. Fantastic Papercraft Projects to Make. Ed. by Fiona Eaton. Anness & Ultimate Editions, 1996. First shops I find who sell it are Amazon Canada and Amazon UK.

Cutting paper: circles mobile, place names... // Mobile ja paikkakortit paperista leikaten





Wrapping a round object beautifully // Miten pakataan kauniisti pyöreä paketti



And antique marbling technique, among others. // Ja tekniikoita kuten marmorointi.



The third book is from our equivalent of Ebay (huuto.net) and it cost a tad more than the others. It's a book on fabric printing and though it dates from xxxx, the contents don't seem outdated at all. The patterns actually look quite fashionable again today!

Kolmas löytöni on ajaton kankaanpainanta-aiheinen kirja Huutonetistä. Kuvat ja kuosit kertovat omasta ajastaan, mutta mukana on ihan nykypäivän makuunkin sopivaa! Kirjaa löytyy ainakin täältä, ja usein sitä on kaupan myös Huutonetissä.

Kankaanpainanta ja batiikki. Oerngreen, Jutta (text) and Achim Deimling-Ostrensky (photo). Otava, 1981. Translated from the German original (Brigitte Batik und Stoffdruck, 1979) to Finnish by Pirjo-Riitta Laajava.



Fashion for women // Muotia naisille



Timeless 1970's patterns for the home // Ajatonta 1970-lukua kotiin





And fun prints for the little ones! // Ja hauskoja printtejä perheen pienimmille!

Viva Las VegaStamps! DT Tryout

With this post, I'm applying to the Design Team at Viva Las VegaStamps! I like their funky and versatile stamps a lot so I'd really love to be a part of that team.

Here are three of my recent favourite stamped projects. The call is on until May 30th, in case someone else is interested!

Last Days of Disco Hand

At my favourite site ATCs for All, we’re also trading Hand Art, where you make your art on hand shaped pieces of cardboard. This one is for a trading friend who requested a Pink and Sparkly Hand.

The neon pink of my acrylic paint reminded me of the 1980’s fashion, and the combination of black lace and bright pink in particular. You know what I mean, if you remember Madonna in Desperately Seeking Susan!



I wanted there to be a ring chained to a bracelet and knew I had exactly the stamp for that: Record Face On 1 1/2 x 1 1/2 I just got in the mail from VLVS! I stamped and heat embossed the row of vinyls on top of the lace glove I had printed with a stamp from Stampendous. The bracelet and attached ring are cut from star shaped punchinella ribbon, and the other rings are circle shaped die cuts from sparkly papers.

Mixed Media Medusa ATC

My favourite style in ATC cards is mixed media collage, and here’s a card I’m particularly happy with! She’s a Medusa, the Greek mythical character with a female face and snakes in place of her hair. Medusa’s look could turn the lookers to stone, and she can also be seen as a symbol of mistreated women’s anger. In the designer Versace’s logo, on the other hand, she is said to represent beauty, art and philosophy. A many faced figure, then!



The face stamp I used is from Lost Coast Designs. I stamped her on a piece of a map to add a bit of an edge to it. She comes from the dark underwater, after all! The background is painted with acrylics on a music sheet. For the snake skin pattern of the hair, I used punchinella as a stencil to spread Golden Modeling Paste from the German supplies brand Lukas.

Lady with a Snow Globe: Mixed Media Wall Art

This wall hanging is actually an altered book cover. I knew I wanted the focal image to be my new Lady with a Snow Globe from VLVS! But first of all, I wanted to make lots of layers.



This will be a present to a friend across the ocean, with whom we first became pen pals as young girls. With the postal theme in mind, I picked some used postage stamps and borders from airmail envelopes.

I also pasted a lace border at the bottom of the piece and small sun or star punch-outs here and there. The doodled flowers are patterned tissue paper decoupaged onto the background. Apart from them, the collage background does not show through much in the end, but I like how it gives depth to the piece anyway!



I gave the piece some gesso and several layers of acrylic paint and stamped a bit here and there before stamping and heat embossing the Lady.



Though she's actually looking at a snow globe, I think her face is so kind and knowing that she might also be a good fairy or fortune-teller visioning happy years for my friend on her birthday!

Lyhyesti suomeksi

Tällä kertaa tuli aika pitkä postaus ja pelkästään englanniksi. Uskaltauduin hakemaan Viva Las VegaStamps! -merkin Design Teamiin ja toivottu hakemusmuoto oli blogipostaus kolmesta parhaasta tai parhaiten tyyliään kuvaavasta leimailuprojektista. Seuraavalla kertaa kirjoittelen taas suomeksikin!

Hand Art

Do you remember, as a child, tracing your hands on paper and then coloring and cutting them out? This seems quite popular, as are all kinds of little keepsakes with children's handprints. Why are we so attracted to hand art, I wondered. With children, it's probably because handprints are such concrete memories of that particular moment. But we grown ups can enjoy leaving our handprints, too, so why not try hand art! These are also being traded like ATCs.



The background for both hands is napkins glued with white gesso, and the Christmas hand has some more layers of paper scraps and stenciling. I got myself the embossing heat tool for Christmas, and used that on the poinsettia. Young Frida Kahlo has a background of one single napkin that looks like patchwork, and frames made of a rub-on.



Kädenjälkiä

Muistatko, piirrettiinkö sinun lapsuudessasi käden ääriviivoista kuvioita, jotka sitten väritettiin ja leikattiin? Moni on tehnyt tätä, ja vielä tutumpaa on lasten kädenjälkien painaminen kortteihin ja pikku lahjoihin. Mietin, mikähän niissä käsissä niin viehättää − lasten kohdalla kai ainakin se, että kädenjälki on konkreettinen muisto ohimenevästä hetkestä, jolloin se on tehty. Mutta näitä on kiva tehdä ja tallentaa oma kädenjälkensä aikuisenakin, huomasin! Opin äskettäin, että näitä myös vaihdellaan ATC-korttien tavoin, ja innostuin kokeilemaan.

Molempien käsien taustakerroksena on gesson päälle liimattuja servettejä. Joulukädessä on kerroksia enemmänkin, sabluunapainantaa sekä erilaisia papereita revittyinä ja ympyräleikkurilla leikattuina. Ostin itselleni kuumailmapuhaltimen joululahjaksi etukäteen, ja sitä testailin joulutähtileimasimella. Frida Kahlon nuoruudenkuvan taustana on tilkkutäkkikuvioista servettiä, josta tuli gessolla aika pastelli kontrastiksi mustavalkokuvalle. Kuvan kehykset on leikattu siirtokuvasta.