Something completely different for Retrosketches

Hi Everyone.  Happy Friday.

Very quick post for you tonight – and a rather unusual card for me!

I was very… and I mean very… recently introduced to Art Journaling.  Last Friday actually.  I watched a couple of videos on the mixed media and mixed techniques and decided this was something that I wanted to explore as it seems like a great new way to use my stamps, paper and ink.  I'll be taking some time this weekend to really explore this new (to me) art form.

In the meantime, I saw this fabulous sketch across at retrosketches 

I was intrigued by the three separate areas of the card, the placement of the sentiment, plus the addition of the extra element.

Here's some of the things that I did to make this card:

• I took out a card base and pulled out three different stencils.  I used each of the three stencils on a different area of the card and used different techniques.  
• For the right hand vertical side of the card I used a stripes stencil  with gold paint.  For the bottom left, I used embossed resist.  
• For the top right, I used embossing paste colored with ink and then topped with matt gel medium to give a hard raised, texture.
• I went over the whole card with three different colors of ink using a blending tool to bring the colors together.
• I then took one of the SU wooden elements – in this case the arrow, and colored it with a Copic marker and adhered it to the card with Crystal Effects.
• I then took the retired color spritzer, loaded it up with my Early Espresso marker and added some splatter.
• Lastly, I added the sentiment

All of that.. and I still managed to create a single layer card!  I made this card for Lou, and when you read the sentiment, I think you will know why!

Cand you see the three distinct areas of the card?  I hope so.   I really worked hard with the different colors of ink and my blending tool to bring all of the areas together.  I also went around the outside edges with a slightly darker ink to frame the card.   I know it's very different for me, but I had so much fun playing with the different techniques and being inspired by the sentiment.   

I thought of the "part of my day" and interpreted that to be time… hence the clock image created from a stencil and clear embossing powder.   The heart was used to reflect my affection and the stripes seemed to anchor the two images.   Anyway… that was my logic.  What do you think about the card?  Depending on how things go with practicing art journaling this weekend, I might have a page to share with you next week.

Art journaling is pretty scary for me….. it means I have to start with a totally blank page and get my fingers really inky and dirty!  Not something that comes naturally to someone who is a clean and simple stamper.  I am constantly cleaning my hands and my surface for fear of getting even a little bit of stray ink anywhere on my card.  

Lou took me shopping today for some new art goodies and tells me that he thinks this will be very good for me – and will force me out of my comfort zone and force me to comfront my OCD clean obsession!

On top of that… I got some wonderful new goodies in a little brown box dropped off by a little man in a brown uniform, driving a brown truck!  Yes!   My pre-order goodies arrived from SU today and I am dying to get my hands on them.  So, I am settling down for a weekend of playing!

On a personal note:

Still cold…. but… the sun did come out for a little while today.  It felt wonderful to have a little sun on my face.  

Our wetland is still very wet, but the waters are starting to recede.  I cannot tell you how distracting it has been looking out of the window trying to see what else might have popped in for a visit during this time of transformation in the wetlands.  I'm going to be a little disappointed when all the water has drained and we go back to normal!   I promise I will have some photos of some new visitors to share with you tomorrow.

Now… many of you have not been getting my blog updates.  I checked in with typepad and it seems to be an issue with feedburner.  It seems that many bloggers have been having the same problem.  I changed my feed across to feedblitz today, and am hoping that this will fix the problem.  It might take a couple of days to get everything right…. but thank you to those of you who have stuck with me and continue to visit even though you are not getting the updates!

As always… thank you for your visit – and for your comments.  They really do mean a great deal to me.  Warm hugs and prayers for those of you who need a little lift tonight.

Hugs

Jaydee

Card recipe:

• Card stock:  Naturals Ivory (SU)
• Inks:  Early Espresso, Cherry Cobbler, Pumpkin Pie (SU).  Vintage Photo, Frayed Burlap , Spiced Marmalade, Pumice Stone, Black Archival Ink (Ranger)
• Accessories:  Basic Wooden Elements (SU)
• Tools:  Stripes, clocks stencils (ranger).  Heart stencil (SSS)