A Journaling We Go and a sad farewell

Hi Everyone!

Welcome to the final E-TEAM blog hop.  I’m going to be honest, I wasn’t quite sure how to start as this blog hop is so very bittersweet.  It is the final ride for this awesome, talented and so inspiring design team.  And the eP E-TEAM is pulling into that final train station loaded with prizes.  Daisy has assembled different prize packages for EACH DT blog.  And wait til you see what you can win by commenting on my blog post:

How awesome is this?  But first let me get to my project and then I will give you all the details, alright?  (and remember, I’m pretty emotional so I may make even less sense than normal).

For our farewell blog hop, Daisy challenged the E-TEAM to use any Disney quote to inspire a journal entry.  So very fitting, and the quote I immediately thought of since it’s one of my favorite is:

“The way to get started is to quit talking and begin doing.” – Walt Disney

So I pulled out my Dylusions Ink Sprays, Dylusions Stamps and Stencils and went to town.  Which sounds a lot easier than it was, like I said…… heavy heart and all.

I started out by applying a layer of gesso on the book page:

Just one layer, I kinda like that the print shows through.   Next I grabbed my Dylusions Ink Sprays and I’ll warn you now, I used every single color. 

Randomly spritzed the inks onto the gesso’d page, semi dried the ink with the heat tool and then used a roll of paper towels to blot any remaining ink. 

Because of the white gesso, and the use of the roll of paper towels which picks some of the color back up, the effect is really light.  And I got some texture from the paper towel.  Cool, huh?  Ok, so that was the first round of spritzing.

Here’s my next layer of inks:

And then I closed my book while everything was still wet:

The masking tape handle allowed me to quickly open to the correct page.  And because the opposite page in my art journal was plain, not gesso’d (I know I’m butching the english language), I got a 2 for 1:

 

With gesso, the inks are still bright but lighter.  Without the gesso layer, these inks are so vibrant.  So for my next journal entry I’ve got a page all ready colored.

Once I was happy with the color results, I made sure page was completely dry and pulled out my stencil and stamps.

 

I stamped Tallulah onto some watercolor paper colored with Distress Inks and a water brush and then cut her out:

It took me a whole weekend but I labeled my Tim Holtz Ink Palette following Mel Stampz instructions – only mine doesn’t look as neat as hers. You can find her instructions HERE.  It’s been a while since I colored using a water brush and Distress Inks and I almost ruined the image (now that is not a surprise!)

The quote was created with my Dymo Label Maker. 

I used my black Pitt pen to create a bottom “border” for the border stamp and that is about the best doodling I can do, sad but true:

Now for my “accidents”, cuz you knew I’d have them, I mean when do I NOT have any “oops” ups, right?

Well, my eye fell on my red Poster Paint marker which I thought would be perfect for the scalloped border, right?  Only it seems that my marker is quite old and the ink quite runny.  Now the best part about this little mistake?  The picture doesn’t show it but I kid you not, it looks like I did an encaustic wax treatment on that scalloped border.  And Micki’s “Faux Encaustic Wax” technique is born…… lol.

I haven’t checked if such a technique is already out there, probably should.

And my final almost-had-me-starting-over-again mistake?  Trying to hand write and doodle…. thank goodness for left over leaves and embellishments:

Colored the grungeboard circle with Dylusions Ink Spray, applied Black Soot around the edges with a blending tool and adhered the watch face with a pop up glue dot.  And with that I decided I had better stop before I really messed it up.

Actually the watch face works out since it’s kinda symbolic about the time to start “doing”, right?  That’s what I’m sticking to .

Ok now be sure to leave a comment on each DT members blog.  You have until Sunday, July 1st to visit and leave some blog love on each E-TEAM members blog:

The E-TEAM:

Daisy eP blog

Broni Holcombe

Micki (me)

Sherry Cheever

Starla Nelson

Linda Ledbetter

All winners from each blog will be announced on Tuesday, July 3rd on the eP blog.

And with that one of the best rides has pulled into the station and has come to rest.   Daisy has gifted me with so much more than her friendship, she has believed in me and my artsy abilities.  And that my friends could not have been easy since Daisy met me when I first started stamping and had absolutely no clue what I was doing. Daisy has introduced me to wonderful people that I now call friends and when she asked me to join the E-TEAM, she helped me step outside my comfort zone and stretch my creative style.   I remember after Daisy asked me to join the E-TEAM, I was speechless, then on cloud 9 and then I was trembling in my boots once I found out who I was joining on the team.  To me each E-TEAM member was a legend and here I was…. little ole me and yet, each of these talented artists was there for me, challenged me to try new things.  And for that and so much more, telling Daisy “Thank You” just is not enough.  Daisy, Sherry, Broni, Linda, Starla….. LOVE you guys!

Thank YOU, eP Nation for all your wonderful, encouraging comments, like the E-TEAM, you guys totally, 100% rock!!!!!!

Supplies Used: