Art Journal- with Hope

This is one of those pages that happened, not that I planned. I am not usually a huge hot air balloon fan, but for some reason, the print on this paper spoke to me for this page. I don't know if it is my hope that things are looking up, or the Richard Branson documentary I watched over the weekend. Apparently, Richard Branson took a hot air balloon across the ocean or the world or something. I suppose I wasn't paying that much attention.  There was a balloon, I am sure of that. Where inspiration started is hard to tell, but apparently, balloons stuck. They sure look pretty and light don't they? The thing with sketching, or journaling is that sometimes the flow can reveal what the mind is processing.

I've been pretty open in sharing the last little bit of time has been a little challenging for my family. I think that darkness shows through on the background. However, the lightness of the foreground pieces reflects where I am at today. I was a little surprised by the outcome, because I let my whim guide the page.

 ~Venetia

Product Review: Staedtler Watercolor Crayons

I have been really interested in picking up some watercolor crayons since I have looked at other art journals, and saw the amazing work done with watercolor crayons.

I was thrilled when my local craft store, Artco, had the Staedtler Karat Aquarell Premium Watercolor Crayons. I grabbed the pack and happily made my way home to play with my new treasure. I am a huge fan of Staedtler products, so I figured this was a sure bet.

The Staedtler Crayons are very firm, and do not melt in water, so they are quite durable for wet applications. They may be used plain, or colored and then washed with water, or on a wet surface.

I was hoping for buildable, bright, vibrant colors. The Staedtler did not deliver. The dry application was difficult due to the firmness of the crayon. Blending with a water brush took a lot of water, and put more fragile applications at risk of warping, such as coloring in stamps. At best, the application seemed scratchy, and the water dilution was mediocre.
The red and the white on this swatch are the Staedtler crayons. It took a lot of pressure and some reworking to get the color as it is.

The red on the picture to the right shows the diluted application, and a watercolor pan or acrylics would have given a more vibrant outcome.

Overall, buy something else. I'm sorry. I will play with them some more, and if I figure out the right technique, I will re-share. For now, save your money.

Rating 1/5

~Venetia

Scrapbook Steals Mid Week Mojo- Melodee's first back!!

I used to play along with the Mid-Week Mojos at Scrapbook Steals.com religiously. Then, I decided to start doing my own thing. Well, Melodee is a dear friend, and I can't help but play along, because I adore her, and she is extremely talented. Here is my interpretation of this week's sketch:

My anniversary was last week, 4 whole years. Greg and I have had a rough go of stuff lately, and it just reminds me how much I adore him. Despite everything, we've kept our humor, our love, and the fun in our relationship. That is precious to me. I wanted to scrap a happy memory of ours, and commemorate this anniversary. And they said it wouldn't last... well they probably said way worse than that. In any case, happy anniversary love.

Here is the sketch from scrabooksteals.com.

~Venetia

What I am up to..

This week is spring break, and I had many notions of doing a ton of crafty things, however life had other things in mind.  Some good, some not, but I thought I'd share.

First, there was this:
Rebuilding the engine on the Honda. Super fun stuff. Hard work, let me tell you. As you can see, I have been an instrumental part of the rebuild. My technical skills are nothing less than astounding. I am great with wrenches or whatever that is that I am holding.

Well, maybe not. However, I am awesome comic relief, although my husband gets kind of scared when I dance around the car waving wrenches, posing, and poking stuff.  He'd disown me but I found the piston set he needed. I may be non-technical, but I can talk the game to the parts department. I can also find the right place to buy them, in the event a part is incorrect, like one piece in the set we bought. The place got it all squared away right away. *THANKS* Lincoln Auto Parts. Seriously, great guys there. Buy your bulbs, washer fluid, and whatever else there. They'll treat you right, especially if you tell them you know the crazy redhead chick with the Honda pistons.

Then, there was this. The easter bunny came, and I had to instruct my daughters in the ways of eating robins eggs. The correct way, if you are unschooled, is to lick the blue until it is a little wet, and then use it as lipstick. Robins egg blue is a very flattering color. Seriously, MAC should make some lipstick in this color. I'd wear the heck out of it.



Then, I made some more lovely pendants, which I am modeling here. Seriously, I love me some lomo filter. It smooths out my rosacea somethign awesome. I will specifiy that those are my real eyes. No color boost. Yes, my babies got those beauties from me, but they wear them better. Everything looks better on a youngster, except trashy clothes. Those don't look good on anyone. Seriously, be classy, it always looks better. Watch fashion police. It will teach you how to hover the line of trashy/classy.

Then, there was a little of this. It was nice and sunny this week, so there was a good excuse to remember the Colorado Rockies. Also, look at my manicure. So very pretty. I'll spare you the foot pics, because a lot of people get icked out by that. But hey, mani-pedi is always the right choice. Especially with a best friend and a coffee. Seriously, can I do that again?

There was some of this. A chef's tasting at a locally owned restaurant I love. The food was to die for. If you are by Tacoma Mall, eat at the Adriatic Grill. Ask Chef Bill what to order. If it is nice, sit on the western exposure patio. You won't know you aren't by the water.

 

Coming up soon, a layout, new supplies (inks, seriously cool!!)

 

~Venetia