WOYWW - 02-01-12: ..one of the greatest pleasures...!'

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes


Howdy and Welcome,

For WOYWW today, I'm showing a tiny corner of my workstation, where I've been playing in my art journal #4 (no title yet).

These 2 pix show the full '..CREATE page' - and a corner of the same page with me in the bottom right corner. In the full page picture, you can also see a few strips of my custom designer masking tape, on the upper left. Love it! Upper right shows a roll of TH tape and a roll of 7 Gypsies tape.

I doodled a bunch of bubbles inside the giant letters. The background shows my initial handwritten journaling using colored pencil. Love the way the handwriting adds a hint of texture underneath the glaze.

Playing in my journals has become addictive! Just have the most fun time creating backgrounds and textures. Can my scrapbooking addiction be falling by the wayside - eek!

unfinished CREATE ANYTHING page WIP

 "...to create anything is one of the

greatest pleasures of all.'

- paul wilson

Supplies used - so far: Pentel pen,

gel pens, marker,

embossed metal tape, acrylic paint,

colored pencil, custom acrylic glaze,

gesso, soft gel medium (gloss),

vintage image inkjet printed on deli paper

that's me spying out of the

right corner of this journal page

Supplies: B and W image

inkjet printed on transparency

What about you? Have you discovered art journals yet? Have you tried the new SMASH journals? I got both sizes and started playing in them a tad. Not sure I like them too much - I find it sort of hard to turn the pages...but we'll see how they turn out. Verdict's not in yet...

Thanks for stopping by! Would love for you to comment on this post - or any of my other posts - and become a Folllower too while you're here.

Go see more inspiring  WOYWW artist studios here!

Peace,
LuLu

WOYWW - 01/26/11 "Cut 'em, Stick 'em, Bind 'em, Test 'em, Rock 'em!"

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes

Howdy and Welcome,

I've been super busy - cutting, gluing, assembling, testing and experimenting. In addition to going to physical therapy for my sprained ankle - which is not healing as fast as would be expected. Darn it!

I also re-organized my workstation - again. Trying to get non-essentials off the table - it was getting too cluttered again...and my workspace was shrinking...Here's what is on my workstation for WOYWW.

1) Cutting and gluing fancy patterned scrap booking card stock and recycled cardboard. Sizes are 2.5" x 3", 4" x 4", 6" x 6" and more . The glued pieces of card stock and cardboard will be used as pages for some of my art journals. They will be very sturdy substrates with patterns in the bottom layer. I'm using a lot of glue sticks and do this step while watching a DVD movie!

2) Assembling fancy patterned scrap booking card stock pages interleaved with vellum pages and patterned transparencies. These pages are 3" x 6" and are almost ready for punching and binding. I really enjoy how the vellum and transparencies obscure the patterned card stock - just a tad... 


3) Testing how wax paper, deli paper and freezer paper behave when heated with a craft iron. Wondering if they will act as an adhesive when melted. Guess what? They don't really. Only the freezer paper adhered permanently when it was ironed to another piece of freezer paper. The wax paper and deli paper adhered temporarily.


4) Experimenting with my binding machine (ZUTTER Bind It All) to practice punching holes and attaching wire for my art journals. I've had a cute little Bind IT All machine for 2 years - and just now am learning how to use it! There was an instructional DVD in the box (I bought it used from a scrap booking buddy - thanks, Marisa!) It was pretty easy, I practiced on scraps first. The punching was foolproof. The first journal I bound had squished wires instead of circular. Operator error! After I tweaked the machine for the proper size of wire, the binding worked great on the next journal. It was nice and circular. Then I punched and bound a couple more before hitting the hay last night. #4 is displaying a length of wire that I cut to bind the pages assembled in #2 above.

5) Rocking - almost! My invitiation to the GRAMMY AWARDS in Los Angeles, California just arrived a few days ago! Wish I could afford to go next month. Almost made it to the GRAMMY AWARDS show in New York City at radio City Music Hall several years ago. It would be so exciting to go next month. Wouldn't it be fantastic to see all those musicians singing and dancing live onstage?! Maybe I'll get to go in 2012...

6) Cutting - finally bought a pair of T.H. Tonic scissors! They work great. I  used them to cut the binding wires, instead of wire cutters. Bought the scissors with my 40% off discount coupon at Michaels!

Well that's what's on my workstation for now for now. Click here to take a peak at other artists' digs.

Would love for you to be a Follower if you're not already. And comments are encouraged. What do you think of this post - or any of my other posts? Did you see the post about the Altered Book I made for my hubby's Christmas gift? Check it out - there's a link to photobucket.com with lots of photos of this Altered Book.

Thanks for stopping by - hope you can come back soon.

Peace,
LuLu

LIT- List It Tuesday 11/16!

by Mary Lou 'LuLu' Haynes

Howdy and Welcome,
Here's this week's entry for LIT- List IT Tuesday. See the contents of this list on my Give-A-Way post.

'News Flash!'

Digital

c   mlh1  2010

TECHNIQUE:
This piece started with a scan of one of my original collages - made from a cut up workstation desk blotter. It had lots of random media, colors and organic shapes. Using PSE and DIE, I tweaked saturation, lighting, and added transparent shapes. Finally, I inverted a handwritten list and pasted it on top of 'frame'.

I really enjoy the texture of handwriting used in mixed media pieces. Here I'm going for the texture more than for legibility - although if you look closely, you can make out a few words!

I'd love your comments on this piece. What do you think of all the layers?

Check out all the other neat lists here at LIT.

Thanks for stopping by - and don't forget to check out my Give-A-Way!

Peace,
LuLu

Mina - Waiting

Please click image to enlarge - the detail is luscious!
"Waiting for my Ship to Come In - Mina"

Digital Collage for Challenge

3.5" x 5"

Howdy and Welcome,

My entry for a challenge from Art Creations Friday.

This image was created using Microsoft Digital Image Editor, PSE (Photoshop Elements), masking, layers, gradients, transparencies. 5 original photos and scans + the most lovely lady, whom I named, 'Mina' (component provided from challenge). Approx 2 hours.

Seems like Mina is a daydreamer, waiting for her ship to arrive from far off ports - loaded with exotic spices, luxurious textiles of silks and brocades, and ancient caskets overflowing with jewels the colors of the rainbow.

What do you think of the colors? Doesn't she have the most intriguing eyes?

Here's an overview of how I created 'Mina'.

Original image - 1 (from challenge)

 masking selected using 'magic wand'

Layers added of my original artwork into selected areas and background, with many levels of transparency

c copyright 2010 mlh1

Then I added a found frame, more backgrounds of found ephemera, added gradients and more levels of tranparencies. Final image ready for text

Thanks for stopping by - and don't forget to comment.

Peace,

LuLu

Atlas - carrying the weight of the world

"Carrying the weight of The World"

Original Digital Collage

3.5" x 5"

This digital collage was entered in Three Muses challenge. It was created using two image editing software products - Microsoft Digital Image Editor and PSE (Photoshop Elements). Created going back and forth between the 2 programs using 5 images (scans of vintage photo frame, vintage map, sheet music, animation registration grid, an old earring), lots of layers, masking, transparency settings, contrast, saturation, lighting effects, and gradient transparent colors. (approx. 2 hours)