Banksy takes over the post again!

Hello Again!
Welcome back to another Mail Art Monday!

Today I want to share the Envelopes I made for the VLVS Banksy Mail Art swap on the

  Viva Las VegaStamps Groupies Facebook page! 

(I hope some of you joined in!)

To start I created a pair of A2 sized envelopes using my Envelope punch board and some blue watercolor looking scrapbook paper.  

Next I stamped all 3 of my Banksy stamps in black Stazon ink. (stamps listed below)

I masked off my address block, with an business card that I often use as a mask. 

(Hence the ink all already all over it...lol)

I traced around this with a black Micron pen.

Now to enhance the blue color, I used Distress inks in salty ocean and tumbled glass. 

The stencil I used was by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous (THMS055)

Next, I added a few flicks of picket fence and black soot distress stains. 

After I removed the mask I added a few doodles around the inside of the address lock with my white gel pen and a black Micron. 

I hope you all enjoy these fun envelopes, and I hope you feel inspired to get inky!

Art Journal Page By Jenn Engle

I have an art journal page to share with you today.

STAMPS USED:

MeshTexture

Writing Triangles

Whimsical Lettered Man

Have the Courage

Thanks for looking!

~Jenn

She flies with her own wings

Hello everybody,

Today I am sharing a mini art journal spread. It took some time to make this because I started with totally different colours, decided I didn't like it and had to paint it over ! Oh well, happens sometimes doesn't it.

I painted the pages with 2 shades of green, a blue and a purple acrylic paint. I used Amsterdam but you could of course use whatever you have. I did mix in a little white here and there to get a gradient. 

I stamped the circles with white paint. Normally I would use VersaMark ink and white embossing powder but I didn't want to heat up the left page too much as I was afraid for the paint on the other side to bubble... 

Next I stamped the typewriter keys with black ink. I always think you have to have black and white on your pages. The face was stamped on photo paper with StaZon; I don't know why I did that because card stock and Archival would have worked just as well. 

I also stamped the sentiment several times on a piece of paper which I then punched circles off. I was going to use it as it was but decided to colour them the same as the background because they stood out to much. 

I adhered everything else to the page and added some thread under the face and that was it ! 

Here's a detail of the stamped image with white paint. It looks totally different to when you use ink or embossing powder. 

Here's a detail of this lovely face. 

I used the following stamps for these pages:

20024 Typewriter keys

20035 Wire rings

20022 Girl's face

20033 Alis Volat Propriis

Thank you so much for stopping by today ! 

Don't Waste Time Being Normal - Art Journal Page by Fiona

Hello VLVS peeps! Fiona here with you today to share a little art journal spread I have created. I also have a little step through picture process for you.

I had no idea what I was creating when I started this and I'll teach you the value of gesso at about step Five!

 To begin with, I knew I wanted to use the UmWOW Studio star stencil as I wanted to create a sky effect. I masked the pages off so I didn't get a sharp edge line from the edge of the stencil when I sprayed. It sort of worked LOL

 I also flipped the stencil over and used up the extra spray that had accumulated on the top and pressed out down to make a revers pattern of the stars across the middle of the page. So you can see that my "star sky" was now all over my page .... Oh well ....

I rectified this slightly by adding some different pigment ink colours through the stencil. I made sure I chose a darker color too so it would stand out just in the sky area. Again there was so much ink left on top of the stencil that I just couldn't bear to waste so I got out my baby wipe and wiped it across the stencil and created another layer of stars.

I applied some gesso lightly to the areas I wanted to stamp on. This helps the stamped image stand out but also gives the ink some tooth to grip onto. This is where I stuffed up...... I stamped an image of the boy in the boat no worries but the glider .... well let's just say this is the point where gesso is your friend! Now I have clouds in my sky!!

I emphasised the "ocen" part of my page with some more spray but rather than spraying it, I simply added it via the dip stick.

Some more stamping .... of course ..... because once you start you just can't stop. I used my title or quote stamp to create not just a title but also a part of the ocean. I love doing this with stamps.

Then I got all fancy and added some texture! This is a mixture of 1 part Glossy Accents and 1 part water. It makes a really runny sticky glue. Then I add some micro beads and mix it all up. This allows them to be added to the page easily with my brush..... the hard part is leaving it all to dry!

While I waited .... I did some more stencilling with some heavy gesso to add some textured stars to the top of my page. When it was all dry I traced around some of the stars and added some black gesso lightly over the top (now it was night time!) and I drew in some waves in the ocean with a graphite pencil ... a 4B I think .. nice and soft.

And then it was pretty much all done.

 A few black ink splatters to finish it off and I had made something LOL!

VLVStamps used:

Don't Waste A Moment

Vintage Man in Bi-Glider

Boy In Tub Boat

Postcard ATC

I hope you enjoyed my little creation. See you all again soon xx

Mail Art Monday; Banksy Mailart Inspiration by Cheetarah

Hi all, welcome to another Mail Art Monday here at Viva Las VegaStamps! inspiration blog. I'm excited to share this envelope I made for our February Mailart Group Swap over at our Facebook VLVS! Groupies hangout.

And here it is, a Frida centered piece of Mailart. It's very easy and fun to make with just a few stamps needed. Let me share the process with you.

So this month's swap theme is Banksy which means you have to use at least one of VLVS! Banksy inspired stamps. There are so many great images to choose from but I decided to go with Frida for these envelopes. Started off by stamping her on the envelopes with memento tuxedo black and masking her off together with an address space next to her.

When the masks were on the envelope, I stamped Wildflower silhouette in 3 different Staz-on colors Hydrangea blue, Azure and Midnight blue.  Start with the lightest and then the darkest one on top. I made a busy bush but it's going to be pushed to the background in a later step.

I put the masks back on and added some brighter colors with my distress tool and mustard seed and ripe persimmon distress inks. Now it's time to color the face.

My choice of alcohol markers are the old style Letraset Promarkers. They are now distributed by Windsor and Newton. I chose to trace over the memento black stamped image with a mauve black color to give more warmth and accentuate that stenciled Banksy look. I also doodled around the address section with a Fabert Castell Pitt Artist Pen. And now to make it pop from the back ground.

Before I used my white gel pen I stamped She was... and an artists stamps with colorbox midnight blue and embossed with WOW indigo. My fave white gel pen to use is the Uniball Signo Hybrid, it rolls smoothly, has a great stark white gel liquid that stays wet enough to use in other ways. Love to use it as a high lighter! I just trace along the edge of the image in parts then rub the liquid out while it's still wet. You can get a nice blurry white halo around your image that way. And it definitely pops the image to the foreground.

In the end I also spattered some Liquitex INKS! in white and gold for a sparkle effect (I put the masks back on when I did this) and created a vignette by rubbing some black metallic rubs around the edges of the envelope.

Hope you're inspired to create something for the swap and join the fun! If you do, please don't forget to upload your made envies to the swap events page before february 17th and then PM our awesome swap coordinator Michelle with your address. And who knows, we might get partnered up and you might be getting one of these from me in your mailbox soon!

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day!

Stamps used:

Banksy Frida Kahlo

Wildflower silhouette

She was...

an artists

Others:

Uniball signo hybrid white gel pen

alcoholmarkers

liquitex INKS!

faber castell artist pitt marker

Staz-On Hydrangea blue, Azure and Midnight blue

Memento Tuxedo Black

Distress tool round

Distress inks mustard seed and ripe persimmon

Black metallic pearl rub

she spread her wings...

Hi everyone!!  Michele here today with a vision of spring...
Where I am it is cold and dreary and I am having visions of spring already!  I am longing for the sun to shine and the flowers to bloom.
With that in mind I created a small canvas inspired by those visions.

I started with a 5" square piece of chipboard, painted a thin coat of white gesso and then added a heavy layer of art basics light paste.

I let the paste set and dry a bit and then stamped the Clockface right in the paste.  The background color is created with Distress Stain and Ink

I stamped Fairy Girl by Cat Kerr and 2 sets of Pair of Butterfly Wings on heavy white cardstock. These are colored with Distress Crayons, cut out and layered.

The double wings bring so much texture to the canvas.

The sentiment, She Spread Her Wings, is stamped on a strip of metal and attached with some Ideology Hitch Fasteners.

I finished up with Prima flowers, art bascis glass glitter and some black thread.
Are you dreaming of spring now too??

Until next time...get inky!

Art Journal Challenge Inspiration and Video with Shanna

Hey everyone. Shanna here with some new challenge inspiration for you! In case you missed it check out the new challenge inspiration board! Aren't these bright colors awesome.

Well I couldn't resist and am super happy to share with you all my take on the challenge. Sit back and watch this video I made for you all to enjoy! 

Here are some photos of my finished art journal page.

Stamps Used:

Feed Your Soul - 18926

Bansky Rain Under Umbrella Girl - 19486

Other Items:

Distress Paints - Cracked Pistachio and Wild Honey

Distress Inks - Abandoned Coral and Black Soot

Distress Strain - Abandoned Coral

Stabilo Black Pencil 

Monthly Challenge - February

Time for February's Challenge:

Think of reds, oranges, greens, blues, pinks, purples... ALL the colors! Spray paint, art, graffiti, artists, surrealism, banksy, stripes, splatters, drips, dots and more. 

Don't forget the rules:

-Create a new project based on our inspiration board (it has to be posted this month, but you can certainly link up to other challenges as well!)

-Use at least one (but certainly more if you want) Viva Las VegaStamps! rubber stamps

(We are now allowing competitors stamps to be on your work, but please make VLVS! the focus of the project, thank you.)

-Post it to your blog with a link back to us

-Upload to our linky using your direct blog post link (You may also upload via facebook, flickr or other gallery)

You could win a Project Spotlight post on our blog + some new rubber of course.

And visit us back here for inspiration!

An InLinkz Link-up