Card Challenges and Journal Pages

  Before I get to the art I just wanted to share two photos of a very special occasion. I mentioned I had a busy weekend last week. That's because hubby and I went to a destination wedding! The service and reception was held at The Cork Factory Hotel in Lancaster, PA-just over 1 1/2 hrs. drive from us. We had a great time, and Lynn and Andrew thought of everything-from having tote bags filled with goodies and drinks for all the guests upon arrival to the sumptuous Sunday brunch before check out! The renovated hotel was positively charming and rustic with exposed beams and displays of the materials and tools used when in fact it was a cork factory.

 

  Lynn loves the twenties era, thus the poster her mother had custom made, and Lynn's elegant lace dress and hairstyle. They were positively radiant! Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Andrew Greenspan, a beautiful young couple we are blessed to have met and become friends with.

  Simon  Monday Challenge theme is "Got Ink?" I decided to play with some spray ink and a "stencil".

 The "stencil" is actually a 12" x 12" card stock pattern usually used for scrapbooking. Ever since I first tried this some months ago I have been looking for more of these to play with. They hold up very well and I haven't had one tear yet after multiple uses! I simply set a piece of white cardstock under the patterned paper and sprayed with a combination of my own custom made spray ink and  Lilac spray ink.

  Products: white 5" x 7" notecard (Canvas Corp); black, white, purple cardstock (Paper Studio); Black Stars Lace cardstock (ki memories); Turquoise Pthalo Fluid Acrylic ink (Golden); Lilac spray ink (Inkadinkado); die cut star shape; clear stamp (Waltzingmous Stamps-Season Of Love Set); Onyx Black Versafine ink (Tsukineko); Pearlescent Sky Blue ink (Brilliance-Tsukineko); Blue Lagoon Bakers Twine (We R Memory Keepers); metallic floss; gemstone stars.

  For the Simon Wednesday challenge theme of "Thanks/Thanksgiving" I made a card which will be my Thanksgiving cards this year.

  Products: black, white and ochre cardstock (Paper Studio); patterned paper (Provo Craft); Onyx Black Versafine ink (Tsukineko); rubber stamp (Inkadinkado); paper flower (Recollections); 2 3/4" circle punch (Paper Shapers); Grand Calibur die cut machine and Big Scalloped Circles Large dies (Spellbinders); rhinestone (Recollections).

 

  This journal spread is in my moleskine journal and was made for the 52 Weeks of Creative Abundance online course. Each month we have a word/theme to focus on and create a tag around it. For October (yes, I got a bit behind) the word was "DARE". The challenge was to dare ourselves to do something we've been longing to do, to "engage the youthful rebel inside yourself that desires to be set free". I thought about this often throughout the month and realized that I needed to push away/push past the fears and that inner voice of negative thoughts... to rise above it and DARE to succeed in filling my hearts desires.

  The silhouette was created from a magazine image I cut out, resized and printed onto cardstock. And since I had the cut out portion and another silhouette I decided to create another journal page:

 The background is a page in my watercolor journal next to the page I used for one of the  projects in this post. I simply sponged some black paint around the cut out  then painted the silhouette and glued it to the page. The quote was added digitally.

  Besides the Simon Monday challenge and Simon Wednesday challenge I am linking to Art Journal Every Day, Creative Every Day, Mandarin Orange Monday, Glue It Tuesday and my favorite party place- Paint Party Friday!

  "We cannot escape fear. We can only transform it into a companion that accompanies us on all our exciting adventures."  Susan Jeffers