Monday, September 16, 2013

Beauty

My friend Kim send me an e-mail asking about the updates on my blog. Thank you for reminding me, Kim! I'm awfully sorry I didn't update for such a long time. This doesn't mean that I haven't been creative for this long time though. I'v just been busy with other things too. Things that make me happy. :)
But, I do want to show you what I have been creating. First up is my last art journal page. I decided to paint the entire page black(ish) with some watercolour paint to make it look like a kind of chalkboard. It took two layers to make it look like this. Then I used white watercolour paint to write most of the words. For the smaller words I used a white gel pen. The quote is one I found on Pinterest and I think a lot of women can relate to. Everybody who loves you will see your beauty.



The same night I made this art journal page, I made another. This one was even more simple. But I really needed to get it off my chest. ;) All I used was some acrylic paint, watercolour paint, three punched butterflies and a pen. Life can be so simple sometimes. ;)



A few weeks ago one of my friends gave birth to a very beautiful girl named Tessa. As a gift I pimped an infant bodysuit with some flock foil. One of my friends taught me how to do this. I really loved it and I wanted to buy some of this stuff myself, but I haven't done that yet. I should though, 'cause it's really fun to work with.



Of course I also made them a card to celebrate this special occasion. It was based on a card I pinned. I cut a few hearts out of some grungeboard and painted them with acrylic paint. Together with some string and and a few letter stickers to spell the name the card was finished.



When I went through my photo's, I just realised that I didn't show you the birthday card I made for my sister a couple of months ago. It was a quite simple one, but I do want to share it too. Did I already mention that i love my lattice mask by Prima? ;)



Well, I think that was all for now. Do remember to see the beauty in everyone around you!

Love,
Marjan

Sunday, August 4, 2013

if it is meant to be, it will be

My next art journal page has been finished as well. I had a clear image of this one in my mind, so it was finished quite quickly. The only thing slowing me down was the drying time needed for the modeling paste. ;)
The quote I saw on Pinterest and it really inspired me. It's my motto for now. :)



For this page I started smearing modeling paste through a Prima mask. Next, I watered down some acrylic paint and made a heart shaped blot in the middle of the page. I sprayed some water on it to let it spray out.
I stamped some butterflies with Stazon ink and coloured them in with water colour pencils. I glued them on the page and also used some dimensional tape for the big butterfly.
I stamped some random text stamps all of the page to give some more texture to it all. Then, I printed the words and cut them in strips. I drew a line around them to make them pop. I did the same thing to the edge of the page.
Then I still thought something was missing. I've put many things onto the page, but it just didn't complement the page. After a million tries, I grabbed some 'drops'. That was it! I glued them down and felt it was done.
I might transfer this page onto canvas, 'cause I really like it. If I do, I'll show you of course.

I wish you all an inspiring Sunday. And remember: if it's meant to be, it will be. :D

Love,
Marjan

Wednesday, July 31, 2013

shattered pieces

I've got some new things to share with you all. I'm going to start off with a page in my art journal that I started quite a while ago, but never finished. I have finished it now and I like it. It's a look back at a period of time in my life. In retrospect, it is easier to see what has happened.



For this page I sprayed some Tattered Angels mist for the base. I also used a chevron mask by Mister Huey's. I put some gesso on a foam dragonfly stamp and stamped it twice. To give it more definition I ripped some dictionary paper to fit the shape of the outer line of the dragonflies. In between the dragonflies I stamped a quote I saw on Pinterest which expresses my feelings.
I cut a heart out of some cardstock and then cut it into pieces, matching the quote. Then, I painted it metallic pink. I used that same paint to give some definition to the edges of the page as well. After the heart had dried, I put a thick layer of distress crackle paint on i. Then I reassembled it and glued it on together with some other pieces.

I'll be back this week to show you more! Have a good week and if you're having a few days/weeks off, just like me: Enjoy!

Love,
Marjan

Sunday, June 2, 2013

tags with dylusions

I recently bought Dylusions spray inks. I saw such wonderful creations with these spray inks, so I had to have them. ;) I decided to buy three colors: vibrant turquoise, cherry pie and pure sunshine. That turned out to be a great choice, 'cause they mix very well and I can create so many colors with them.
I love these inks, 'cause they react well with water, which creates a nice tone on tone effect. This enables me to use my masks in a new way. So, I'm in love. :)



On this tag I used Dylusions ink, a chevron mask, a hexagon mask, my handcarved stamp, a Kaisercraft stamp, liquid pearls, perfect pearls mist, mini alpha stickers, embossing powder and wood veneer butterflies.



On this one I also used the Dylsions ink as a basis. Sprayed water through a hexagon mask, smeared structure paste throught a mask with dots, used some stamps and put on some stickers and wood veneer stars.

And the quote for this week is: Do small things with great love!

Love,
Marjan

Tuesday, May 14, 2013

one year

My sister has been married for a year now. Since I made the wedding cake last year and we unfortunately had to use the upper tier (instead of deepfreezing it so they could eat it now), I had to make a new cake to celebrate their one year anniversary. It became a simple cake in the colors of the original cake.



And of course I also made a card for them. It's not my favourite, but I like that I could use a page from a dictionary with the word 'gelukkig' (happy) on it.



I'm reorganizing and redecorating my scrapbook room. It's not done yet... I just can't decide what should go where and which new things I should buy... Life is difficult. ;)
Have good week and don't stress out!

Love,
Marjan

Sunday, May 5, 2013

never stop dreaming

I've bought some kind of puffy paint about a year ago and I realised I never used it. So, I thought it was time to do so.
To create some texture on this page, I started off with putting on some masking tape. Just the regular type you use for painting. Next I smeared some pearlescent paint on top of it to give it some shimmer.
Then I grabbed a mask and sprayed some teal glimmer mist through it. I got another mask and smeared some structure paste through that one to give the edges some interest. I love how that turned out.
After that I got some of my stamps out (mostly Prima stamps) and stamped in random spots without reinking. Then I took the puffy paint and wrote the word 'dreaming' with it. The last thing I did was putting some mini alphabet stickers down to spell 'never stop'.



My tulips looked very nice in front of it. ;)
I have more to share with you soon. But this is all for now, because I'm off to a festival (bevrijdingsfestival for the Dutch readers). Have a great day!

Love,
Marjan

Monday, April 1, 2013

foolish

Currently, I'm working on several projects (my bedroom being the biggest one ;)). But I really wanted to create a scrapbook layout again, 'cause it's been quite a while since my last one.
Last week I was in Paris and I wanted to buy the magazine Histoires de Pages. But unfortunately this one was sold out. They did have another magazine called EntreARTistes. So I bought that. And I love that one too. I think I'm going to subscribe to one of them... Now I have to decide which one. Tough job...
But anyway, I was so inspired by this magazine that I finished a page rather quickly. I used two crazy photo's of myself. ;) The basis is a lovely piece of paper by My Mind's Eye. I first splattered some Mister Huey's white mist on it. But it just disappeared... Then I decided to try some water colour paint. And that really worked! Yay!
Next I punced some butterflies out of a piece of vellum. I used both the punched butterflies and the piece of vellum out of which I punced them.
Then I smeared some gesso onto two tags. I cut out two ticket from another MME paper and tore a piece of dictionary paper with the word gek on it (which is the Dutch word for crazy/foolish).
I placed all these things including some wood veneer stars and a button on the page. I used some more gesso on the sides of the paper and added a few staples here and there. Then I wrote a quote I found on Pinterest underneath the photo's. Unfortunately I wrote the word unimportant the wrong way... I do hate it when that happens. But fortunately the quote says failure is unimportant. ;)




Have a wonderful Easter Monday and a good week!

Love,
Marjan

Sunday, March 3, 2013

art journal cover

After quite some time, I'm back. I did do some creative things in the past weeks. For example, I've totally changed my living room and bedroom. I'm already in love with it, but it is not done yet. So, I won't show you just yet.

What I do want to share with you is the cover of my art journal. I got inspired by the video by Drew. He made this awesome album cover. My art journals (I have two; a small one and a medium one) were still bare. I decided to start with the small one (this is the one I don't use that often), 'cause I didn't know how it would turn out to be.
In retrospect I'm totally in love with it and I can't wait to do my medium journal as well. :D Most of all, I love that I finally was able to use a lot of stuff I have but never use. And of course the dimension is amazing!
To create this cover I used Multi medium matte by Ranger, gesso and several bottles of Glimmer mist. The materials I put on it are: paper flowers, jute, lace, twine, a doily, wood veneer stars, lots of bling and thickers.



Have a great week and remember to enjoy the little things!

Love,
Marjan

Sunday, January 27, 2013

water colour painting

When I was browsing through my folder of inspirational pictures, I found a great painting. I was so in love with it, that I decided to recreate it. I don't know whose work it is, but I want to thank this person for the upportunity to explore the possibilities of water colour paint without having to think about what to create. I'm sorry that I can't really give credit to the creator. Without further ado, here is the painting.



I know it's not perfect at all, but I do like it. Next time I'll try to make my very own painting instead of have an existing painting as a basis.
I've also made a canvas out of the last page of my art journal. I liked it so much, that I recreated it on a canvas. I didn't photograph it yet, so you'll see it next time.
Have a good week and count your blessings.

Love,
Marjan

Sunday, January 20, 2013

stay positive, stay strong

A week ago, after I posted my last blog post, I created another page in my art journal. I couldn't make a good picture of it then because it was dark. But now I did make some pictures of it.
I've got it displayed in my living room, 'cause I love the quote that's on it and it helps me to stay positive.



And I also made a card for mother. She wanted to send a woman who is in the hospital a handmade card and asked me to make it. So, I did. It's not very original, but it's okay.


I wish you all a lovely, relaxed week!

Love,
Marjan

Sunday, January 6, 2013

Happy new year!

First of all I wish you all a very happy new year. I hope you'll have a lovely year with a lot of love, health and creativity.
After quite a long period I'm back with some creations I made in the last few weeks. Although things got even worse in the last couple of weeks, I still made a few things to clear my head.
The first thing I want to show you are these balls. I had some styropor balls and wanted to make something with it. Because I'm changing my living room, I wanted to introduce the colour grey into it. That's because I love grey! It's my new favourite colour!
It is very easy to make these balls. All you have to do is put some glue on them and cover them with thread. I made two for decoration and also one to put in the Christmas tree.


Next up is a page in my art journal. I love it 'cause it reflects my feelings at that time. I used a TCW mask for it and sprayed some glimmer mist on it. I painted the border with acrylic paint and used several stamps. Finally I cut some rain drops and glued them beneath the clouds. The quote I got from Pinterest.


Then I've got two cards to share with. One of them is for friends who bought a new house and the other one is for a friend who had her birthday.


I saw this great concept on Pinterest. When you put non-sanded grout in your paint, you get chalkboard paint. Since I was going to paint the wall in my living room grey, I thought it would give a nice effect to do that. But first I tried to draw with some chalk on my wall as it was. And you know what? It worked anyway, 'cause the wall is structured. So, no need for grout. ;)


Hopefully I'll be having more time to get creative and I'll show you again once I have done so. Have a lovely week!

Love,
Marjan