Creative Squad

Say Yes to New Adventures – Michelle Rydell

CS August Say Yes

It’s Tuesday and time for my Creative Squad to share a project with you with this month’s theme: “Say Yes to New Adventures”. Throughout the month of August, the team has been using any of my n*Studio Stamps and Stencils they would like to use to interpret the theme. Here in the northern hemisphere, summer is coming to a close and it’s about time to seize the days and go on a little adventure before hibernation! With this in mind, the team has created something that celebrates the spirit of adventure.

This week we bring you Michelle Rydell and an art journal page all about her adventures with love!

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Michelle August Headshot

As soon as I heard that the theme for this month was “Say Yes to New Adventures,” I knew I wanted to do a colorful, many-layered page, to represent the many adventures I’ve had with my hubby Michael! I also thought it would be a great opportunity to make the creation of the page an adventure in itself, by letting it develop organically, instead of having a set plan before beginning…

Here’s how it went…  I opened to a page in my journal that already had the background painted, and a few random collage elements pasted on. I set up my table with a bunch of Dylusions acrylic paints, and foam tools, and got to work…

Rydell Adventure 1

The first stencil I used was the one from the Fashion Dame set, which I applied randomly around the page with turquoise paint…

Rydell Adventure 2

And then added some white doodling with a paint pen.

Rydell Adventure 3

Next I used the Batik Stencil, with Pomegranate paint for contrast. I applied random bits of it in the “empty” spaces…

Rydell Adventure 4

I kept up the same process, adding the stencils from the following foam stamp sets: Bird (in pink), Elephant (in yellow) and then Urban Scribble (in orange), adding doodling here and there along the way…

Rydell Adventure 5

Rydell Adventure 6

At this point, I printed out a 5 x 7” photo from our wedding, and gently set it where I thought I wanted it to go, outlining with a Stabilo all pencil.

Rydell Adventure 7

I removed the photo (so as to not get it dirty) and activated the water-soluble pencil with matte medium to make a nice black frame for contrast. After that I realized the page was needing some drippage! Over to the spray station it went, and high flow paint was added along the top edge, spraying with water to increase the dripping effect.

Rydell Adventure 8

Looking at the page without the photo gave me an idea – that frame would be a perfect place to put the quote I had in mind! Busting out the stabilo pencil again, I created the journaling lines, and then used a paint pen to create the background and lettering. I stepped back and took a look… I felt like it was complete! No photo needed! Here’s how the final page turned out…

Rydell Adventure 9

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Michelle’s art journal page was an adventure in creation and I love the outcome with all those layers and that quote.

She used the supplies listed below (some are affiliate links):

SuppliesCJS


Maybe you will even play along with us -I would love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

See you next Tuesday for another project from the Creative Squad with a brand new theme for September!

Nat

Comments (4)

  • Marit

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    That photo is so cute but I too love the page with the quote… just ‘knowing’ that it represents that particular photo makes it complete. Great page Michelle!

    Reply

  • Joi @RR

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    Well, Michelle – I just have to say that I adored your page before you added the drippings. However… I like the end result because it is unique and it makes you happy too! Love how you added the sentiment. FUN and FUNKY!!! j.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Lovely page Michelle.
    Thanks for sharing your techniques.

    Reply

  • Julie Tucker

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    This is gorgeous! LOVING the colors and that quote!!!!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

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Creative Ice Breaker – Morning Art Journal Play Video #5

In the mornings I play in my art journal to get myself into the creative groove and break the ice – so to speak- and get ready to paint. I recorded and fast forwarded my morning ritual for this video – and hope you enjoy it. Take it as what it is – a morning art journal play- not a tutorial.

Creative Ice Breaker V Aug 27, 2016 from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.

Here are the supplies I have used in my Creative Ice Breaker video above – some links are affiliate links.

SuppliesCJS


I hope you enjoyed the little glimpse into my morning warm up play! Have a wonderful and creative day!

Nat

Comments (4)

  • kimnstudio

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    Oooo that hand carved stamp is really cool! I want to learn how to make one of those!

    Reply

  • Joi@RR

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    Just adored watching this Nat. So free and fun – just creating to create. And it turned out just SUPER too. Love how you used your gals in such a diffferent way. Thanks bunches for such amazing inspiration. XXXj.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Thank you for sharing this Nat, I tend to think too much about what I’m doing and my “art” suffers for it. I am so controlled at times that I really need to “let go” more. Watching videos like this one are a good reminder for me. Have a terrific week!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hi Sue, glad to hear the video is a little nudge to let go :) don’t overthink the not overthinking either – just have fun!!!! Wishing you a terrific weekend as well!!!

      Reply

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Halfway There or… In My Art Journal Today

ArtJournalHalfwayThere01

“Believe you can and you’re halfway there”

I do believe ;) big time …so bring it on- LOL

ArtJournalHalfwayThere02

This is actually a page I made teaching my art journaling class at Pratt- it was so much fun. Lot’s of stamping, scraping paints and stenciling.

ArtJournalHalfwayThere03

Here are some of the materials I used – some of the links are affiliate links.

SuppliesCJS


Hope you are halfway there too :) Have a wonderful day

Nat

Comments (2)

  • Joi @RR

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    Wow – just SUPER creativity Nat. What a glorious background! Love the sentiment – need to do a bit of that believing myself!!! Have a happy weekend. Xj.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thank you so much Joi! Hope you have a happy weekend as well :) nat

      Reply

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Say Yes to New Adventures – Marsha Valk

CS August Say Yes

It’s Tuesday and time for my Creative Squad to share a project with you with this month’s theme: “Say Yes to New Adventures”. Throughout the month of August, the team will use any of my n*Studio Stamps and Stencils they would like to use to interpret the theme. Here in the northern hemisphere, summer is coming to a close and it’s about time to seize the days and go on a little adventure before hibernation! With this in mind, the team will create something that celebrates the spirit of adventure.

This week we bring you Marsha Valk and her adventure with a new tool and the gorgeous accordion book that resulted from her journey!

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Marsha August Headshot

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-1

I go on new adventures all the time. I’m on new adventures as we speak. But the problem with new adventures is that it’s not always easy to talk about them. Because they’re new… and I’m only just getting used to the idea… and I don’t yet know how I feel and what I think about it.

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-7

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-6

So for this month’s theme I took a simpler approach: I wanted to use something from my stash that I hadn’t used before. I decided to go with the round mini gel printing plate. And I just started printing on a A4 sized sheets of paper: adding paint to the little plate, making marks with my n*Studio Cling Stamps and using some stencils too. The outcome was sometimes unpredictable and messier than I had hoped, but that’s what happens when you go on an adventure!

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-5

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-4

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-3

Once I had a couple of prints, I thought about what I wanted to do with them. I didn’t know. So I thought about how sometimes things get better when you cut them up and I started to cut each print in half.

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-2

Then I thought: these prints would make nice simple cards. But once I had folded them into cards I thought: or maybe this could be a mini book or mini art journal. So I decided to fold the cards up like accordions and I glued each far left panel behind the far right panel of the previous accordion card.

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-10

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-9

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-8

I haven’t decided if I want to keep it like this or to glue the backs together to make an actual little book. I figure that it will be easier to work on it in this state, so I decided to just embellish the front a bit more and leave the rest blank (and unglued) for now. It’s small and light, so it’s ideal to just doodle in whilst watching TV or to take with me when I have to go on a long train ride. I’m ready to take it on another new adventure!

MarshaValk_nSCS_SayYesToNewAdventures-11

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Marsha’s accordion book is stunning.  I love the super fresh color palette she chose and her bold move to cut the prints in half and reimagine the whole thing.  And of course, look at all those stamps!

Marsha used the supplies listed below (some are affiliate links) as well as Toga Alphabet Stickers:

SuppliesCJS

Maybe you will even play along with us -I would love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

See you next Tuesday for another project from the Creative Squad!

Nat

Comments (2)

  • Joi@RR

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    Your new adventure is sooooo FUN Marsha. Love all the white space, all the wonderful stamps/stencils and the colors. What a great idea to put them together in such a fun way. I hope you will share your doodles when you get them finished. j.

    Reply

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Say Yes to New Adventures – Cheiron Brandon

CS August Say Yes

It’s Tuesday and time for my Creative Squad to share a project with you with this month’s theme: “Say Yes to New Adventures”. Throughout the month of August, the team will use any of my n*Studio Stamps and Stencils they would like to use to interpret the theme. Here in the northern hemisphere, summer is coming to a close and it’s about time to seize the days and go on a little adventure before hibernation! With this in mind, the team will create something that celebrates the spirit of adventure.

This week we bring you Cheiron Brandon and the adventure she went on to create a beautiful art journal page!

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Cheiron August Headshot

Hi there, Cheiron here with my August project for the n*Studio Creative Squad. This month, I tried a new adventure in my art journal, and it did not come out as I planned at all, but I will show you how I got it back to something I could use :)  Here is my finished art journal page with a fold out in the center for journaling:

cheiron- august n_studio 1

It did not always look like this, I started with a much brighter page and I did not like how the writing came out at all, so I painted over it with black:

cheiron- august n_studio 5

cheiron- august n_studio 6

I added many layers to the page with lots of different stamps using Distress Paints that I applied to the stamp with a foam blending tool:

cheiron- august n_studio 7

I also had a page from another project that was an adventure gone wrong, so I cut it up and added it to the page so I could use the back for journaling:

cheiron- august n_studio 8

cheiron- august n_studio 4

cheiron- august n*studio 9

The lesson for me this month, is that every adventure whether it be small or big does not always work out, but you should just keep taking new adventures!

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Cheiron’s art journal spread turned out beautifully with all those layers, and the adventure it took to get there was definitely worth it.

Cheiron used the supplies listed below (some are affiliate links):

SuppliesCJS

Maybe you will even play along with us -I would love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

See you next Tuesday for another project from the Creative Squad!

Nat

Comments (1)

  • Miriam Prantner

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    Love how it turned out and how you were able to fix what you didn’t like. Loving the contrast between the background and the insert too!

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Don’t Allow or… In My Art Journal Today

Photo1

“Don’t allow your wounds to turn you into a person you are not.”

I loved creating this page!

Photo6

I used acrylic paints, stencils and stamps for the background and found a magazine image that fit to my quote and painted over with markers and charcoal stick.

Photo7

I love that with art journaling you can tell a story but without revealing the whole story- that is the way how I prefer it. Everyone one does it differently- and if you want to write a lot- than that is the right way too – I just happen to rather hide it a bit more :)

Here are all the supplies I used – some of the links are affiliate links.

SuppliesCJS


Hope you have a wonderful day!!!!

Nat

Comments (3)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Art journaling is my therapy when needed.
    Nice page and message Nat.

    Reply

  • Joi @RR

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    Wow – probably just what I needed to hear Nat. Lately I have had a few bumps in the art world and it has made me step back a bit. I need to remember your journal page today. Great background and your gal looks perfect for the sentiment! Thanks bunches. XXj.

    Reply

  • Rae

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    Good advice Nat! Love your art journal pages so much! xx

    Reply

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Say Yes to New Adventures – Gwen Lafleur

CS August Say Yes

It’s Tuesday and time for my Creative Squad to share a project with you with this month’s theme: “Say Yes to New Adventures”. Throughout the month of August, the team will use any of my n*Studio Stamps and Stencils they would like to use to interpret the theme. Here in the northern hemisphere, summer is coming to a close and it’s about time to seize the days and go on a little adventure before hibernation! With this in mind, the team will create something that celebrates the spirit of adventure.  Maybe they took a trip recently that included some unexpected twists and turns, maybe they like to live the adventurous life every day, or maybe their idea of adventure is as simple as trying a new brand of tea. Whatever they do to “live on the edge” is appropriate fodder for this one.

This week we bring you Gwen Lafleur‘s gorgeous art journal spread that might inspire you to journey to far-off places!

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Gwen August Headshot

This month’s theme around new adventures might as well have been tailor made for me! For most of my life I’ve never really considered myself an adventurous person… I’m not interested in thrill seeking or eating really bizarre foods, but in the last few years I’ve realized that I’m much more adventurous than I ever thought; I love to travel and see new places, try new food, and explore new cultures. I try and take a trip every year, and pretty soon I’m taking a really big, slightly off the beaten path kind of trip that’s been in the works for about two years! Thinking about that, I really wanted to make an art journal page that would demonstrate my love of travel adventures.

Adventure Art Journal Spread - Close-up 1 - Gwen Lafleur

To start, I gesso’d the pages of my 9×12 handmade journal with black gesso and when that was dry, I took Nat’s What’s the Point? stencil and some gold spray ink and added lots of gold dots all over the background.
Adventure Art Journal Spread - Steps 1-2 - Gwen Lafleur
I had already chosen my photo for this spread – I used a picture I took in Cambodia two years ago that I altered and tinted in a class with Seth Apter. I used matte medium to adhere that firmly to the page. When that was dry, I used the Lily Wallpaper stencil along with some gold embossing paste to create a frame all around my photo. I did this in two shifts so that I didn’t mess things up trying to stencil with wet paste on the page. I love the effect I got from that! I also glued in some travel and adventure words and phrases I’d cut from a magazine to really reinforce the theme.
Adventure Art Journal Spread - Steps 3-4 - Gwen Lafleur
When all of the embossing paste was dry, I used an irRESISTible Pico Embellisher in Morocco to color in the open areas in the stenciled frame. This was a fun way to pull another color out of my photo and add some visual interest. Of course, that was followed up with dots made with dimensional fabric paint (I can’t resist the dots!) Just a side note, when I use dimensional paints (or really anything glossy,) I lightly wax the finished spread so the pages don’t stick together.
Adventure Art Journal Spread - Steps 5-6 - Gwen Lafleur
I wanted to add a few more finishing touches before doing my journaling. I used some white ink with an image from Nathalie’s Marks rubber stamp set and stamped in a few places around the page. Then I took a baby wipe and knocked the ink back a bit so that it wasn’t quite so strong and competing with the photo. I threw some clear embossing powder over it and heated since I still wanted to work on top (you need to heat set or emboss pigment inks on top of acrylic, otherwise they’ll wipe off with mediums, baby wipes, etc…) Finally, some splatters of white paint to kind of unify the whole thing. Then I just added my journaling with a white pen, glued on a few scraps of sequined fabric, and edged the page with gold ink. Voila! Finished art journal spread!
Adventure Art Journal Spread - Close-up 2 - Gwen Lafleur
I hope you enjoyed today’s project… I know I did! Now I’m off to begin my countdown for my next adventure!
Adventure Art Journal Spread - Gwen Lafleur
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Gwen’s art journal spread is so dreamy and exotic – it really reminds me why I love traveling to new places and seeing different cultures.

Gwen used the supplies listed below (some are affiliate links) as well as a Stampin’ Up white craft ink pad:

SuppliesCJS

Maybe you will even play along with us -I would love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

See you next Tuesday for another project from the Creative Squad!

Nat

Comments (3)

  • Anna Friesen

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    Gwen, amazing techniques!! You amp everything up to a new level! Does this gold embossing paste keep its sheen? I find many gold mediums are lackluster once dry.

    Reply

  • Denise Spillane

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    Oh Gwen, this is so wonderful. I am so enamoured with your style, so exotic and lovely! I love these stencils by Nathalie too! I bought them the mini ute I saw them in a class with Nat.

    Reply

    • gwenlafleur

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      Thanks Denise – I really appreciate that! Nathalie definitely has some awesome stencils, doesn’t she?

      Reply

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Creative Ice Breaker – Morning Art Journal Play Video #4

In the mornings I play in my art journal to get myself into the creative groove and break the ice – so to speak- and get ready to paint. I recorded and fast forwarded my morning ritual for this video – and hope you enjoy it. Take it as what it is – a morning art journal play- not a tutorial ? – BTW- I had to buy a new camera and as you might see, I am still trying to get used to it. I learned a lot about it during the video- so bear with me on the bit of a weirdo-focus-color-format journey in this video – I promise it will be better next time.

Creative Ice Breaker VIDEO IV July 31, 2016 from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.

Here are the supplies I have used in my Creative Ice Breaker video above – some links are affiliate links.

SuppliesCJS

Don’t forget that this is the last day of the Blogiversary SALE with 20% off of online workshops (like Creative Jumpstart 2016), DVDs, and select items (including all the stampsandstencils) from the n*Store online.  The sale prices are reflected in the store now.

Happy Blogiversary sale

I hope you enjoyed the video ? Have a wonderful and creative day

Nat

Nat

Comments (2)

  • Kathy Gledsdale

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    I could not believe it when you started putting gesso over that lovely background, I was almost shouting at the screen, but what a lovely page you created and how wrong I was, gorgeous.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      LOL- Kathy-I didn’t know I could make you almost shout at the screen ;) glad you still liked the page. Honestly I liked the background too but I was thinking- ah let’s roll with it :)

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Letter to My Future Self – Cheiron Brandon

CS July Letter

It’s Tuesday again and time for my Creative Squad to share a project with you with this month’s theme: “Letter to my Future Self”. Throughout the month of July, the team will use any of my n*Studio Stamps and Stencils they would like to use to interpret the theme. This month’s theme is in honor of my recent 10 year (!) blog anniversary- which we will celebrate later this month!  I asked the team to create something that they’d like to tell themselves in 10 years. Like a mixed media time capsule. This theme flips the “If only I knew then what I know now” sentiment up-side-down.

This week Cheiron Brandon shows you her amazing and colorful layered art journal page with a pretty good advice :)

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Cheiron June Headshot

Hi everyone, Cheiron here with my monthly post. When I got the theme for this month “Letter to My Future Self” I got nervous. Was I going to have to write an actual letter? What AM I going to write that will be important to know in the next 10 years. Will this have to go in my journal for everyone to see it? Writing in a journal is not for me, I don’t like to share my thoughts in writing. For me my art journal represents a place to play and experiment with color, texture, new stamps and stencils.

cheiron- 10 years art journal 2

When I started out on this page, I decided instead to not get nervous about writing a letter and just play with some new paint colors and layers. I did think about some personal plans for the next 10 years, and what I would like to tell myself whether I achieve these things or not. I have included some imagery that represents some of the things in my plan, including starting off my page with a piece of a house blueprint. When I do think of plans for the long term like health, finances and career there is no better advice I can give myself than to get started now. So I added the quote “10 YEARS FROM NOW YOU’D WISH YOU HAD STARTED TODAY”. I think that advice rings true at any point in our lives, and I am sure it will be just as relevant if I pull this journal out again in 10 years.

cheiron- 10 years art journal_

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I love love love the color combination in Cheiron’s art journal spread and the way how she layered and combined all stamps and stencils!

Cheiron used the supplies listed below (some are affiliate links):

SuppliesCJS


Maybe you will even play along with us -I would love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

See you next Tuesday for another project from the Creative Squad!

Nat

Comments (2)

  • Joi@RR

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    Oh sooo vivid and splendid Cheiron. What a great idea to use part of a house plan in the background. Your work is so INTRICATELY STUNNING and my eyes loved roaming over it to see all the different ‘Nat toys’ you incorporated! Perfect sentiment. Thank you for the inspiration. j.

    Reply

  • Michelle Rydell

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    Those layers and colors are gorgeous Cheiron! I love your page!

    Reply

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