Crumpled Aluminium Foil

Hello,

Last month I saw Donna Downey used aluminium foils on her journal pages. How funky is that??. Check out her post & video here to see how she did it. So I tried it, crumpled and glued some aluminium foils on my pages just as I would with crumpled tissue papers. The TEXTURE is just crazy, my pages felt like the roughest sand papers!. 

First glued aluminium foils on journal pages with gel medium I applied gesso all over the aluminium foiled pages, so I could color on them. Over these, I colored with gelato sticks in pink/red/purple/fuschia and smudged with wet finger. Gelato colors are quite transparent, so I added some red & yellow water-soluble crayons over it.

Inspired by Marjie's funky art journal, I made a stencil out of a model's silhouette from a magazine clipping!. I need a contrasting background, so I stamped all over the stencil some black gesso. See the wrinkles?. Superb. Lastly, doodle with black india ink and added words from Collection Elements. I'm so happy to use my newly carved eraser stamp for the background. Lastly, added tiny beads on the floral stamp image for fun :).

I had so much fun with these pages. If you have any cool materials you think I should try use in my journal, just let me know. I'll be happy to play :).

Hugs,

Shahrul

A peek inside my inspiration notebook :)

Hello!

I have bought some re-issued magazines last week (Lucky, Elle, Red to name a few). I went crazy flipping through pages upon pages full of colors!. Next thing, they were all ended up in my notebook! LOL.

Take a peek inside my inspiration notebook. Here are some pages of the 'color galore' I was talking about;

I find inspiration (colors & designs) mostly from what the models were wearing. Secretly hoping I could design my own fabric. LOVE the composition, so much fun!. Doodle around your focal point/image. I think it works for layout too. And that little inset showing my humble sketchbook :).

It's an A5 re-cycled scout book, made of 250 gsm palm paper. I have painted mine with some gesso & yellow ink, doodled, added some washi tapes and a skeleton key ... you name it. "Bells of New York City" is a Josh Groban song and I just thought it is perfect for the cover :). 

I hope you'll keep one yourself. If you like to keep magazine clippings in shoe boxes, that's fun too. Just splash some paint on it.

Hugs,

Shahrul

LESSology Challenge #16 : Bubble Boy or Girl (Full Reveal)

Dear friends,
Here is to share what I made for LESSology Challenge #16: Bubble Boy or Girl. 

It's a simple recycled door-knob sign for a baby boy's room!. How fun it is to use simple everyday items like bubble wraps, a circle binder, fabric scraps, ribbons, crochet flowers and a funky metal owl clip (flea market find) in this project.

I used a circle binder that is big enough to go through door knobs. For this project, I chose not to use bubble wraps as a medium for stamping but paint the letters 'SHH' on the bubble wrap instead. I used blue thread to better outline the letters. So, just put the sign up on the door when the baby is sleeping :). LOVE how the metal owl clock shows baby's sleeping time :).

Our sponsor for this month's challenge is the most talented Heidi Myers and she is offering a seat to a winner to the second part of her "Words & Text" class!. You can read all about it here.

Can't wait to see how this challenge inspires you!. 

Hugs,
Shahrul

Candy Nail Colors

Dear friends,

I've been keeping a small inspiration notebook to help me do better art. It's a messy cheap notebook full of scribbles, odd magazine clippings, newspapers snippets, notes of future mini album designs, interesting quotes, etc. I would quickly flip the notebook pages before I do art journal for ideas and such. Today, I saw the photo of such happy nail colors (clipping from CLEO magazine) and knew what I had to paint.

Inspiration: Happy nail colors

The finished art journal pages:

I used different hues of red & pink soft pastel colors, smudged with wet finger to create circles. I sprayed some water on the circles, let them dripped. LOVE the fuzzy tiny splashes they create against the white gesso background when soft pastels spritzed with some water.

Added buttons, circles from pattern papers for some dimensions. A fussy-cut little Alice getting lost in a dreamy poppy fields.

These pages really make me happy. If you're feeling down, give yourself some color therapy :). Works like magic.

Hugs,

Shahrul

Summer of Colors - Week 4

It's been four weeks, already??. Time flies when you are having fun :). This week, Kristin of Twinkle Twinkle teased us with another ice-cream color/flavor; Strawberry Lemonade Punch!.

I was inspired by these photos;

Art journal pages I made for this week's inspiration:

I played woith crumpled papers, water-soluble crayons, purple & yellow artist acrylic ink and stamps. I did some collage with fabric tapes & chipboard flourishes and doodling with black india ink. Sprinkled a few drops of purple artist acrylic ink on the yellow pages while spritzing with some water (my strawberry is a little bit purplish here). I let the wet ink dripped across the pages by turning the journal upside down and left to right to create the 'cable wires'. 

I spotted pigeons sitting on cable wire when I took a leisure walkabout downtown earlier this year (see the first photo). I had hoped to use images of birds in my journal one day. I was glad I did it.

So, look around. Spot the little things. They are gifts from nature. Till then, happy journaling!.

Hugs,

Shahrul

LESSology Challenge #16: Bubble Boy or Girl

Hi all,
It's Monday and the LESSology Challenge #16: Bubble Boy or Girl starts today!.

 Our giveaway for this challenge is the second part of Heidi Myers class "Words & Text". Heidi is an amazing artist who is teaching classes at The Art Studio through Scrapbook News & Review. She is giving away an admission to her second class starting on August 3rd!. Part 2 class is valued at $29.99.

" You'll explore the use of words and text to create art just as you would use acrylic paints, ink, paper mache or any other mediums. Words will become both background and focal point. You'll text to create and enhance embellishments and you'll identify 10 ways to mold words into foundations for your art. You'll also create your own word art and you'll begin to view everyday props as vehicles to exhibit and enhance your stories. "

Sounds like a super-exciting class, not to be missed!. 

Here is a sneak peek of what I created for this month's challenge. Come back Thursday for the full review :).

Don't forget to check out our challenge blog @ LESSology for amazing inspirations from the design team members. The challenge ends Sunday, Aug 15th 11.59 pm EST. See you there!.

Hugs,
Shahrul

Old Rubons Make Great Background!

Hello,

Yesterday, I discovered the most beautiful RED masking tapes!. Yup, the humble masking tapes now come in bright red color and I can't be happier. Wonder if I'm the last one who knew about this. LOL. 

I like to use masking tapes a lot in my art journal and the beige-yellowish color is becoming so plain lately. And these red tapes are making me so excited!. Life's simple pleasures.

Here are some pages I made this morning using these lovely tapes and my handmade stamps;

I adhered some newsprint tissue papers on one side and on the opposite page I made use of the old (not-so-sticky) rubons as background. Colored over these busy background with red water-soluble crayon and finger-smudged with some water. After that finger-painted the whole pages with aqua acrylic paint, left a few spots just to show patches of tissue papers and rubons. 

Then (adventurously) stamped in a row, skeleton key images using my hand-carved stamps on top of page. Added the red masking tapes across the pages and some labels with words 'BE YOU, MAKE YOUR OWN' on them. Lastly, finger-smudge left over aqua paint on the edges of the red tapes. 

Loved that tissue papers and old rubons peeking underneath the aqua background.

So, don't throw away the bad rubons just yet, they make a great journal page background. See you next, Happy Sunday!.

Hugs,

Shahrul