Papercrafts and Planners

Crafting a beautiful balance of creativity and productivity

Playing With the Gel Press

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A Fun New Mixed Media Tool

I was very excited when the new Fun Stampers Journey Catalog came out and there were so many things I had never used before. The Gel Press was one of the first things I was anxious to try. 

I opened up the package and drew a blank. I had no creative ideas pop into my head. Don’t you hate when that happens? 

Fortunately, I had lots of inks, stamps, and paints to play with. I decided not to worry about the results, but just start playing.

Below is a video of my first few prints. I’m sure I will get a lot more use out of this fun tool.

I have also enjoyed see how other people use their Gel Press. The Gel Press that I have is unique to Fun Stampers Journey because of its 8 1/2 by 11 size. It is a great size for art journal backgrounds. It is also a great size for making four card backgrounds at one time.

Another Look

If you would like to see another video of how to use this great product, follow the link below to watch one of the talented Fun Stampers Journey staff create a few prints.

Video – Gel Press

Please follow the link below if you want to learn all about how to care for the Gel Press.

Video- Caring for you Gel Press

A Mixed Media Sale!

This month lots of our mixed media products, including the Gel Press, are on sale for 20% off! mediamix_sept_sale_share.jpg

Ordering Info and What is on Sale

If you want to order any of these fun supplies to use in your art journal, scrapbook layouts, card making, etc, simply follow this link to see all of the items on sale.

Mixed media is new to me, but I’m really enjoying the messy fun of it all. If you have any questions, please let me know. 

Dedra

 

 

 

Learning to Art Journal – Distress Paints

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artjournaldistress

Trying Something New

I think the beauty of having an art journal is being adventurous. Stepping outside your comfort zone is never easy, but usually I am so happy I did. Today I pulled out a few supplies, and came up with an idea for a new page.

Distress Paint

I have had a few Tim Holtz distress paints in really fun dauber bottles just hanging around with my other mixed media supplies. The colors are darker, and not my usual preference. One of the colors I used still had the plastic packaging in tact. Really sad since I have owned these for years.

Beautiful Paper

I loved the floral print that was part of an Echo Park paper pack, but hadn’t gotten around to using it yet. Since it had a vintage, distressed feel, it seemed to be a perfect match for the distress paint.

A Gorgeous Stamp and Some Words

I have a Fun Stampers Journey stamp that looks like a vintage postal stamp. I love it, but again, hadn’t given it much attention.

I also had a package of sticker sayings by Tim Holtz that I thought would be lovely on an art journal page.

Putting it All Together

Now that I had all of my supplies, it was time to bite to create. Below is a video of my process.

 

Supply List with Links

Postage Stamps ATS

Blue Lagoon Fusion Ink

Reflections by Lori Whitlock Paper

Distress Pain in Tarnished Brash

Distress Paint in Walnut Stain

Tim Holtz Small Talk Stickers

I hope that you will take some time today, tomorrow, or at least this week to be creative. 

Dedra

Learning to Art Journal with Pan Pastels

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artjournalbutterflies

Be Bold

I’m definitely getting bolder as I play in my art journal. I purchased some pan pastels in gorgeous colors and decided that they would be fun to use with embossed images.

I have a few butterfly stamp sets that I love, and couldn’t wait to heat emboss them. While this page looks simple I used a few different techniques.

I heat embossed the butterflies, used pan pastels to make the images pop, stamped a saying, and came back later with some modeling paste and acrylic paint.

Below are the videos showing part one and two of this page.

 

Supply List with Links

Beautiful Wings Stamp Set

Bold Wings Stamp Set

Journey Modeling Paste

Rich Sorbet PanPastels

Craftsmart Acrylic Paint in Plum can be purchased at Michael’s

Enjoying the Journey

It is so easy to look at all of the artists on YouTube, Pinterest, Instagram, etc and be intimidated by their art journals. I’m trying to just enjoy the process, and not compare myself to them.

Art journaling is meant to be relaxing, not stressful. When I catch myself thinking “this doesn’t look very good”, or “wow, I wish I could do that”, I have to find that inner child who makes art because its fun.

If art journaling is outside your comfort zone, or you don’t think you have time for it, I hope you will give it a try anyway.

Dedra

 

Learning to Art Journal Series #1 Gathering My Supplies

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I have often admired the creative people who can put pencil, paint, ink, etc to paper and make something truly beautiful. Their work is an expression of themselves, and I imagine it is very satisfying to keep a journal full of ones art.

Lately I have been watching YouTube videos of artists creating gorgeous  art journals, and the urge to start my own journal hit me. As I watched James Burke,  Vicki Papineau, and others,  I realized that even if I didn’t consider myself an artist I would love to have a book full of my own creations.

First things first, I decided to go through all of my supplies and see if I had any that I could use for my future art work. I’m primarily a scrapbooking, cardmaking, planning papercrafter, so I thought I would need to go out and buy supplies.

I found an embarrassing amount of art supplies that were used once, or not at all. There were gellatos, distress inks, sponge daubers, acrylic paints, paint brushes, water colors, markers, paint pens, sprays, gel medium, mod podge, and stencils. All I needed was the journal!

As you can see I added a few things because I was so excited, but most of this was just hanging out in my craft room!

I am so excited to get started and see where this journey takes me. I hope you will follow along, and maybe create a journal of your own.

Dedra

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