mini art journal |Go off the grid

Hello everyone!

Today I'm hosting the Finnabair blog with a new page in my super mini art journal

and comes with a VIDEO showing the whole process :)

Here in Greece we are in the middle of the Summertime and I'm really in a relaxed summery 'fishy' bluish mood! ;) You can tell from all my last art journal pages... :)

Today I want to share with you my last art journal page I created with lots of textures, blue shades and doodling.

I had so much fun creating this page, I hope you will enjoy the process in my video below :)

To create an interesting background I glued with the Soft Matte Gel some pieces from the Ephemera Melangepackage and other scraps I had in my stash.

Then I painted the whole surface with a thin coat of Heavy White Gesso as I didn't want to cover the patterns completely.

I used the 3D Gloss Gel to glue the embellishments I wanted to use, like the chipboard pieces, thread and Art Stones.

I also used the Mechanicals Screws and Stars Brads to secure the chipboard gear and the tag with the quote I wrote by hand.

I think they look so cute, especially the tag as thanks to the brad, you can turn it upwords every time you want to read the quote and then you can turn it downwards to store the mini journal.

To create more texture I used the blue shades of the Impasto Paints with the 'Cobblestone' Stencil and one of the Double Sided Texture Brushes.

I simply applied the Impasto Paints with the Silicone Brush and then with the silicone texture tool from the other side of the brush, I created the waves.

You will see how easy and fun this technique is in my video below.

To add some more color and interest, I spread some Mica Powders here and there; I used Rust, Gold and Bluefrom the Mica Powder Set.

Here is my video, I hope you will feel inspired and get into a summer mood just like I did!

***For more inspiration you can visit these blog posts to find more pages of my Mini Journal with VIDEO tutorials :)

click click!

click click!

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I hope you got inspired by my art journal page and got the summery feeling and my little message written on the tag...

'Sometimes you just need to go off the grid and get your soul right'... Right? ;)

Hugs,

Athanasia

As Free as the Ocean

Hello dear friends!

Our June Recipe with Finnabair's Team is here for you to inspire and hopefully put everyone into a summertime-seaside-holiday mood!! 

You can see the rest of the girls created in Prima 's blog post.

We picked out a seaside theme, with a little bit of a sentimental feel to it. Our product heroes this month are: Art Stones (all sizes: mega, regular and mini) + Impasto Paints (mainly blues palette) = amazing mixed-media!!

I really love the heavy, creamy consistency and the rich colors of the Impasto Paints! I picked some blue shades to create the ocean feel. It's so easy to create textures with the Impasto Paints because of their thick consistency. I just used a paintbrush to apply them to the page and created a beautiful, textured circle in no time! I also used the Snow Whitepaint here and there and the Pitch Black to write the quote with a thin applicator.

The Mega Art Stones are also perfect for all kinds of summer themed projects - they look so real, as if you picked them from the beach. :) I used 3D Gloss Gel to glue them down. Finally, I used the Bubbles Stencil to add more interest to the background. As usual, I primed my page with Modeling Paste and Clear Gesso.

Prima Products: Art Ingredients: Mega Art Stones 964672, Mini Art Stones 963712; Art Alchemy - Impasto Paints: Cobalt 964641, Azure 964634, Jade 964627, Bottle Green 964610, Pitch Black 964528, Snow White 964511, Art Basics: Gesso - Clear 961466, Modeling Paste - 962975, 3D Gloss Gel 961381, Double Sided Texture Brush Set 2 963866, Elementals - 6,5x10,25 Stencil "Bubbles" 961299

Don't forget to visit Prima 's blog post to see what the rest of the Finnabair Team created!

 Have a lovely crafty summer!

xxx

Athanasia

Memory - junk album

Hello dear friends!

I' m hosting the Finnabair blog with my new project, a Junk Album, 

with a video on how I made it.

Last week my good friend Helen visited me to hang around and play with the new products Finnabair released a few weeks ago.

We ended up making a junk journal each and painting the cover with the new Impasto Paints.

I really love their heavy creamy consistency and the rich colors that make them the perfect choice for any kind of project!

And...psssst.... they are matte!!! The main reason for me to put them in the first place of my Favorite  Paints list. :)

The base of my cover was a simple paper bag so I had to seal it and protect it from the paints.

I used the Clear Gesso because I wanted to keep the natural colors of the envelope.

Then I used a roller to paint with the Impasto Paints. I painted here and there with Dark Chocolate, Jade, Bottle Green, Crimpson and Lemon Peel - you will find all the links below.

Then I used the Snow White paint to blend the colors with the white background.

Next step was to create texture to the background.

I used the 3D Gloss Gel with the Bubbles stencil. I used a heat gun to dry it all and as I wanted even more texture, I didn't stop heating it until I saw some real bubbles which were created by the high temperature. :)

To embellish the cover I used a photo from the Ephemera Vintage Collectibles collection which I cut out with my scissors and glued it down with the Soft Matte Gel.

Then I used the new Mega Art Stones. I glued with the 3D Gloss Gel only a few of them because they are really mega! I abolutely adore them!

I also used some thread and a chipboard word 'Memory' which I painted white with the Snow White Impasto Paint.

As some final touches, I used a graphite pencil to doodle around and the Pitch Black Impasto Paint to make some splashes like I usually do. :)

You will see in my video below how me and my craft buddy played with the Impasto paints and had lots of fun.

I hope you felt inspired to make your own junk album with your friends!

It is always so nice and fun to spend time with good friends and create together, don't you think?

Until next time -

have fun and create in good company!

xxx

Athanasia

Break Out in Song - art journal page

Hello dear friends!

I'm back with a new art journal page I created for Finnabair CT.

My last art journal page is already placed in my Denim Journal and makes me really happy when I open it and the first thing I see are these beautiful colors.I always love to incorporate a variety of colors on my pages. It just cheers me up and makes my day every time. :)
The Art Alchemy acrylic paints come in such yummy shades and I can't resist to use almost all of them in my projects.
So, after I used the Heavy White Gesso to prime the page, I started by painting with my favorite colors using a paint roller.
When they were dry I used the 'Bubbles' stencil to create some round shapes here and there with the Rich Turquoise paint.

Then I grabed a black permanent pen and wrote the lyrics of my favorite song 'Other People' by LP.

I used Clear Gesso to seal the text, just to be sure that it won't come off in the next steps.

After that, I painted with some White Gesso here and there to blend the colors and the text with the white background.

I also used the black pen to add some doodling here and there...

Then I dealed with the bubbles. I wanted some spark in there and the Sparks Acrylic Paints were perfect for this effect.

I used three of my favorite shades: Raven Black, Iris Potion and Mermaid Sparkle.

I also used the Mystic Turquoise and Amethyst Magic Antique Brilliance Waxes to achieve an even more shiny result. I realy love how they turned out.

I used a small tag to write down a quote I found on Pinterest and decorated it with these cute Mechanicals Wings, a button I had in my stash and thread in different colors.

Last thing to do was to make some splashes with the Black Gesso to add a bit of contrast.

You can see in my video below how I played with all these delicious colors and how I build this page.

***visit this post for full list of supplies.

Thank you for visiting and I hope my music inspired project will give you some creative ideas :)!

I wish you all a happy crafty day!

xxx

Athanasia

my black journal - Hearts (Hurts) To Remember

Hello dear friends!

Today it is my turn to host the Finnabair blog :)

I love making pages in my black journal and today I want to share my newest one.

I think this is my first page themed with hearts in this journal. I usually enjoy making and painting butterflies and dragonflies...

I'm not really a 'hearts' or 'flowers' person and that's why I think I didn't like this page at first.

But I really wanted to try to save the page, so my good friend Heavy Black Gesso helped me to fix everything and turned this page to be one of my favorites.

I started by covering the page with Black Gesso as I always do in my black journal.

I used a plastic sheet to cut some hearts and glued them on the page as masks. Then I started working on my page.

I picked the Cobblestone stencil and one of the Stone Effect Pastes to create texture on the background. I love that it dries very quickly and you can work on it immediately after that.

You can still see the amazing texture these pastes give to the project, even that now they are covered with Black Gesso!

My idea was to paint inside the pattern of the stencil with different colors of the Sparks acrylic paints. I took my favorite shades and used a heatgun to dry them.

When the page was dry, I removed the mask hearts and... then was the point I started to not like the page so much... I tried to work a little bit more with white pens but nothing happened. I still didn't like it.

So, without a second thought I grabbed the Black Gesso and painted everything black.

I had nothing on my page but the texture of the Stone Effect Pastes and that was good enough to start creating a new page.

I also had aside the hearts I had removed off the page before. Thank God I didn't put them in the trash. ;)

They had on them all the beautiful colors of the Sparks I used before, so I glued them down and voila! The half of the work was done!

To decorate the page a little more, I added Art Stones and Mini Art Stones with the 3D Gloss Gel, some thread and made splashes with the Sparks here and there. 

I also used two chipboard words I had in my stash to title the project.

You can see in my video below how I built two pages into one. :)

I really love how this page turned out even if I had to make it twice.

I think the most important thing is to trust yourself and not to give up even when you think that you have reached a very dissapointing point.

There is always a way to fix things in life, especially a page in your journal - this is the easy part, right? :)

I wish you all a happy crafty day!

xxx

Athanasia

My Black Journal - textured background for Donna Downey Artist Gang

Hello everyone!

I'm so excited to share my first project for Donna Downey Artist Gang!!!

Here is my new page in my black journal.

I hope you will like it and you will enjoy the process in my video below :)

Don't forget to leave me a comment, 

as well give me thumbs up and subscribe on my You Tube channel  :)

Supplies from the Donna Downey store:

https://www.donnadowney.com/collections/daniel-smith-watercolors/products/daniel-smith-extra-fine-watercolor-15ml-tube-quinacridone-pink

https://www.donnadowney.com/collections/daniel-smith-watercolors/products/daniel-smith-transparent-pyrrol-orange

https://www.donnadowney.com/collections/daniel-smith-watercolors/products/daniel-smith-extra-fine-watercolor-15ml-tube-amazonite-genuine

https://www.donnadowney.com/collections/daniel-smith-watercolors/products/daniel-smith-extra-fine-watercolor-15ml-tube-buff-titanium

https://www.donnadowney.com/collections/stamps/products/you-are-important-stamp-set

Thank you for visiting!

Have a lovely crafty day!

xxx

Athanasia

My black journal |cover

Hello dear friends and Happy New Year!!!

My first post for this year is for Finnabair CT...

The dragonfly, in almost every part of the world symbolizes change and change in the perspective of self realization. It is that kind of change that has its source in mental and emotional maturity and the understanding of the deeper meaning of life.

So, what do I expect from 2017? Lots of changes and lots of dragonflies in my life.

I wish all of you dear friends to have this year lots and lots amazing artful moments to fulfill your life and why not: lots of dragonflies :)

My first project for this year is making the cover of my black journal and what would be more perfect to impress a dragonfly, so to remind me this year's expectations every time I hold it in my hands.

and psssst! I also have a little secret to share... after I was done with the cover I decided to get my first tattoo: a dragonfly on the side of the wrist of my right hand! 

So....let's get started with the project!

As my journal was already black, I started with a nice coat of  Heavy Black Gesso to prime the cover.

After it was dry, I glued the Mechanicals parts I used for the body of the dragonfly with Heavy Body Gel and covered them with Black Gesso.

Then I placed a sketch I made on a piece of paper on the cover to shape the dragonfly, but here is the trick: I used a pin to scratch the canvas cover, than a pencil to draw the lines. This way I created an interesting texture, a 'destroyed' base all mixed media artists would love to work on ;)

Next step was to choose my paints. Well, with no second thought I grabbed my Art Alchemy Opal Magic Paints, the perfect acrylics for any black surface. They dry permanent and I loooove the amazing two-tone iridescent effect they give on dark and light backgrounds. Ιn order to reinforce this effect, I painted some spots of the wings white with the  Heavy White Gesso. You will see the whole process in my video below.

After the Opal Magic Paints where dry, I used again the White Gesso to make lots of splashes.

To give even more interest on the background of the wings, I used the Clear Crackle Paste as my final touch. I let it dry overnight to get the best results.

For the tittle I wanted something simple and small, not to distract the attention from the dragonfly, so I wrote by hand the word ART with Heavy White Gesso and a black permanent pen.

Now it is time for my video. I hope you will enjoy it and get inspired. :)

*Scroll down on this post to find a full products list

Thank you for visiting

have a lovely crafty YEAR!

xxx

Athanasia