Art Journal, Art Journal Challenge, Darkroom Door, Dina Wakley Media, Quotes

Dina Wakley Show Us Your Media – January Challenge

For the last few months, Dina Wakley has been running a creative challenge based around encouraging us to get our fingers painty to fuel our creative spirit. The challenges are pretty open, with the main requirement being to use Dina Wakley branded products somewhere in the project. Dina provides inspiration in the form of a journaling prompt, quote etc.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

For January, we were encouraged to create a project about being unstoppable…

I’ve had a little love-not quite like relationship with the Dina Wakley journal, the different textures seem to upset my process somehow, but over the past few months I decided I needed to just get in and use it without worrying how the pages turned out.  I’m beginning to really love it! Might even splurge on the new large size one Dina has released at Creativation.

I’ve created a page in my Dina Wakley journal and used the following –

  • Dina Wakley paints – umber, cheddar, fuchsia, black
  • Distress Oxide inks – various
  • Darkroom Door stamps – Compass Eclectic, Paris Postcard & Bold Arrows
  • Prima – imagery

You can find challenge entries via the hashtags of #showusyourMEdia & #rangerink Perhaps you would like to play along next month? Let me know if you do!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Art Journal, Art Journal Challenge, Darkroom Door, Quotes

Challenge – Our Mixed Media Moods – Permission to Play

Sometimes you just need permission to play…I’ve been working on a bunch of projects lately and they seemed to take up a lot of spare time so play time has been a bit thin. Planning things like card kits and classes isn’t the quickest of processes for me, not helped by a healthy amount of Facebook procrastination 🙂

A couple of my arty friends have been playing along with a cool creative challenge run by DeeDee Catron & Jenn Engle called Our Mixed Media Moods. The idea is to create a piece inspired by the monthly mood board and link up to the relevant post on DeeDee’s blog. Turns out this month is a huge one to celebrate 12months of the challenge so even more reason to play along! Here is the mood board for this month –

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There is so much to love about this collage and I was inspired by the pops of teal and pink and the storm clouds from the second row. The challenge is supported by a great Facebook community – you can find them here. Why don’t you join us?

 

The page I created was worked over an old Gelli printed image in my journal – I suspect it was a plate wipe off. A quick sketch using a black Stabilo over the top, some colour with Prima Impasto paint and the painted edges stencilled with my brand new Darkroom Door Mesh stencil and she was almost done. The page was finished off with Christy Tomlinson rubbons and a few words from Tim Holtz.

What began as a page that I kept flicking past in my journal, ended up being something I was quite happy with and it reinforced the lesson of just letting myself play – with no endgame in mind. Open challenges like this one are great for that. Side benefit is that it has given me an idea for a future art journal class – bonus!

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Art Journal Challenge, Darkroom Door, Mixed media, Quotes, Tutorials

Spread Your Wings…

Until you spread your wings,
you’ll never know how far you can fly.

Wings - Robyn Wood - Purple Salt 4.jpg

The last few months seem to have been full of activity in our house so I’ve been sharing bits & pieces on my Instagram feed. If you aren’t sure where to find me – look here. I’d love you to pop by and say hello.

Every year I start with great plans for participating in various challenges and online classes only to peter off after a few weeks/months. I decided to be a bit gentler on myself this year – I will intend to participate but if it doesn’t happen then all is good & I’ll go back to them if/when I can or feel like it.

Robyn Wood Purple Salt www.purplesalt.net

Today I’d like to share a page I did for week 12 of the LuLu Art Colour Me Positive challenge. I’ve loved watching this challenge group evolve and grow, there is currently over 2500 positive art journalers in the Facebook group – isn’t that fabulous? I am sure it will grow from strength to strength.

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This time around the extra journaling prompt was to add wings so that is where I started – butterfly wings and a corset from Darkroom Door stamps. Of course you can’t have a torso without a skirt of some kind, so I created a textured & collaged one using dictionary paper, handmade paper and a paper doyley. Layers of colour and texture gave it some form.

I wish I had photographed the background before I started but it was one of those pages that I use for scrapes of left over paint and spray. I’d kept them to greens and blues so that the page would match the opposite side. I added some stencilling and collage (Kaisercraft have some great collage papers!) before I started so that the page had an interesting base.

Wings - Robyn Wood - Purple Salt 2.jpg

The corset and wings were fun to layer with some pretty lace – it was well stuck down with gel medium! Once everything was stuck down and coloured with the new Ranger Distress Crayons, I painted just the wings with some clear crackle paste. I decided to experiment with colour a little and dripped Dylusions spray ink over the wings to give a mottled effect. It was so hard to just let it dry so I could check how well the effect worked.

Wings - Robyn Wood - Purple Salt 1JPG.jpg

While that was drying I carefully added some gold touches with gold Texture paste – I love to smear this stuff around a page a little to give a swipe of gold.

Wings - Robyn Wood - Purple Salt quote.jpg

As a final step I added the quote, gradually thickening the lettering until I was happy with how it stood out from the background.

Wings - Robyn Wood - Purple Salt 5.jpg

A flutter of sequins finished off the page and added a nice touch of bling to the skirt.

Supplies:

  • Darkroom Door stamps – Collage Butterfly, Corsetry set
  • Stencil Girl stencils – Rembrant’s words, Honeycomb, Transform
  • Ranger Distress Crayons
  • Dina Wakley paints – Ocean, Lemon, Turquoise
  • Golden Gel Medium
  • Faber Castel – Whipped Spackle, Texture Luxe gold
  • Prima Crackle Paste – clear
  • Ranger Dylusions spray – Pink Bubblegum
  • Ranger Liquid Pearls
  • Kaisercraft paper
  • Black permanent pen
  • Sequins, lace, dictionary paper, handmade paper, paper doyley

Robyn Wood Purple Salt www.purplesalt.net

One tip that I’d like to share is about texture paste – too much of it will weigh a page down but I have found that if you use the Faber Castell Whipped Spackle there isn’t a lot of extra weight. Which means I can stencil away with texture to my hearts content! Don’t forget to clean the texture paste out of your stencils right away – it can set hard and ruin them if you aren’t careful.

Have you been playing along with the challenge? I’d love to see if you would like to post me a link in the comments.

Art Journal, Art Journal Challenge, Darkroom Door, Mixed media, Quotes

Today is the Day!

Hi, Happy New Year! I hope the year has started well for you. Today I’m sharing an art journal page as part of the new  Colour Me Positive art journal challenge run by LuLu Art. The theme for the first week of the year is gratitude and I’ve created this page while reflecting on and celebrating the things I’m grateful for.

Robyn Wood Purple Salt www.purplesalt.net

There is something about the first week of the year. A chance to start fresh, a time to get started on that project, plan a holiday, tackle the completion of a long overdue assignment and any number of things. Don’t waste that time, those minutes of each new day, as you never get ‘today’ back!

Robyn Wood Purple Salt www.purplesalt.net

For me this time is a chance to celebrate my multiple sclerosis diagnosis. Time to reflect on the changes and blessings that came into my life 11 years ago which culminated in a dreaded, life changing diagnosis, one that forever altered the path of my family and I. It is a time for celebration because having MS has meant staying at home with my sons instead of returning to full time work. I’ve continued to volunteer in my community and participate in all types of groups and events and I firmly believe that my life is better for it. So far I’ve been lucky – only a few minor issues and one pretty major attack 18 months ago that I’m mostly recovered from. I realise that could change any day, I could wake up tomorrow and some part of my body might not work quite as well as today.

Long ago, an MS researcher mentioned that studies were showing that each year that passed without significant disability could mean another two of the same. If that holds, and so far it has, then I might get to the magic ‘three score & ten’ without a lot of neurological damage or noticeable disability. Here is hoping anyway!

A few years ago, increasing fatigue meant reducing my part time working hours. But having MS meant that I had to go searching for something else to give me a challenge, to help my brain retain some level of neuroplasticity. This is the magical bit of our brains that helps us grow new thinking pathways – important when you have a disease that affects cognitive function! I am a long time paper crafter, creating cards, scrapbooking, bookmaking and such but I needed something a little ‘more’. Thankfully I discovered the world of mixed media. It was pretty new and there was a whole gamut of new techniques to discover, learn and practice. Many years later, I’m still firmly in the grip of this wonderful form of art and I couldn’t be happier!

Robyn Wood Purple Salt www.purplesalt.net

Today is the Day!

Supplies:

  • Darkroom Door stamps – Poppies & Butterflies sets, French Script Texture, Bingo Numbers Eclectic, French Script Background
  • Dina Wakley stencils – Essentials, Halves, Spinners
  • Faber-Castell Whipped Spackle
  • Acrylic paint, paper napkin, washi tape, tissue paper
  • Liquitex – matte medium, gesso
  • Words – Ali Edwards Old + New Story Kit

Edited to add: if you wish to read another perspective on living with a chronic illness, check out my friend Bree Hogan and her article ‘Who knew I would ever feel grateful for having a chronic illness