So, it has been over a year since I posted here. Time seems to be flying faster and faster. So many projects......that I am working on a day planner. Pictures will come later, right now I thought I would post some pictures of what I have been doing lately.
I joined
Your Paper Pantry ning site this year. Mainly because of the swaps, but I have to say there is so much more to YPP. Challenges, friends and a lot of lovely, lovely people. Of coarse the swaps are awesome! So many to choose from each month. It's hard not to join them all.
I am totally in love with the AF Ticket swap. This month was Spooktacular September which was Halloween themed. I am a Halloween girl all the way!
The requirement was 3 bags (or envelopes) of 5 different tickets to swap. There was a choice of two sizes of tickets, small 1.25"X2" or large 2.5"X4". I chose the larger size this month for all of my tickets.
Here are pictures of my tickets, well four of my tickets. I became aware when formatting my pictures that I did not have a picture of my fifth ticket. I did a "Hocus Pocus" book. I have some before pictures, but that's all right now.
First ticket: Vampire Theme
Front view
Stamps:
Martha Stewart Elegant Witch; Sweet Pea Stamps Ballerina
Cardstock:
Stampin Up Real Red; Authentique Glowing; 98# Watercolor Paper
Misc:
Koi Watercolors; Faber Castell Black Brush Marker; Martha Stewart Black Glitter; Sakura Glue Pen; Scraperfect Best Glue Ever; Sakura Stardust Clear Pen; Distress Ink Black Soot; Archival jet Black
Back view
Second ticket: Trick or Treat
Front view
Stamps:
Inkadinkado Cat & Friends; SU! Harlequin (unsure which retired set); Tim Holtz Apothecary
Cardstock:
Stampin Up Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie; Authentique Glowing; 98# Watercolor Paper
Misc:
Tattered Angels Monster Mash & Candy Corn; Martha Stewart Orange Glitter & Craft Clay; Pumpkin Candy Silicone Mold; Diamond Glaze; Sakura Glue Pen; Scraperfect Best Glue Ever; Distress Ink Black Soot & Peeled Paint; Archival Jet Black; Green floral wire
Back view
Third ticket: Bewitchin' Kitten
Front View
Stamps:
Inkadinkado Cat & Friends;
Cardstock:
Stampin Up Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie; Authentique Glowing; 98# Watercolor Paper; Pink Paisley Hocus Pocus
Misc:
SU! Markers Old Olive & Pumpkin Pie; Koi Watercolors; Faber Castell Black Brush Marker; Martha Stewart Green Glitter; Glossy Accents; Sakura Glue Pen & Stardust Clear Pen; Scraperfect Best Glue Ever; Distress Ink Black Soot & Peeled Paint; Archival Jet Black; Green floral wire
Back view
Fourth ticket: Beware!
Front View
Stamps:
Martha Stewart Elegant Witch
Punch:
Scalloped Circle 1.75"
Cardstock:
Stampin Up Vintage Violet; Authentique Glowing; White Cardstock; Martha Stewart Halloween Borders
Misc:
Tattered Angels True Blood; Martha Stewart Craft Clay; Art Glitter Moulon Rouge; Diamond Glaze; Scraperfect Best Glue Ever; SU! Classic ink Vintage Violet; Archival Jet Black; Folk Art Acrylic Paint Black & Whicker White
Back view
Fifth ticket: Hocus Pocus
I penciled in the lines where I wanted the raised areas on the cover. I then placed hot glue over the lines on the cover. I used colored pencils to draw the eye. I made a dot of hot glue on a non-stick mat. Then glued the dot over the penciled eye.
I dipped a paper towel in Folk Art Acrylic paint in Asphaltum. The paint was watered down. Once dry I used Studio Matte Medium and molded the paper towel over the glue lines and around the eye.
I also stitched thread over the raised
areas of the cover, which made it look as pieces were sewn
together. You can see the outline of the watercolor paper underneath the paper towel, which was glued to the cover of the mini book. The paper towel was then wrapped around the cover. I covered the whole book with Studio Matte Medium. The very last thing I covered the eye with Glossy Accents to make the eye shine. The inside of the book was pages cut from a used book that I hand sewed into the spine. If I find a picture of the final ticket I will post it here and all will become clear.
Ticket background stamped images.
Stamps:
Inkadinkado Candelabra Mini; Tim Holtz Apothecary
Cardstock:
Stampin Up Kraft; Authentique Glowing; 98# Watercolor paper
Misc:
Studio Matte Medium; Glossy Accents; Crayola Colored Pencils; Paper towel; Scraperfect Best Glue Ever; Distress Gathered Twigs; Archival Jet Black; Folk Art Acrylic Asphaltum; Old book pages
The finished ticket I wrapped black
lace over the script area that held the book in place on the ticket.
Back view
I hope you enjoyed your time here on my blog and I hope you come back soon! Thank you for stopping by..........
Stamps: Inkadinkado Cat & Friends; SU! Harlequin (unsure which retired set); Tim Holtz Apothecary
Stamps: Inkadinkado Cat & Friends; 
Stamps: Martha Stewart Elegant Witch 
I started with creating the floral image on the right of the page and penning it with the Artist Pens XS. I then went around the page with an outline to give me a border.
Next, I just started to watercolor. I tried my new watercolors and even though I still have a lot of practicing to do, I really like them. The only thing I did not like was the paper. I used Mixed Media 98# paper. Although, it is smooth for the pen work, the pilling was immediate. I did a water wash for the sky and I could not get my color on the page before the pilling started. I will definitely need to find a smooth 140# watercolor paper for my future work.
So, not wanting to start over on a heavier paper, I worked around the paper and continued to paint. All the watercolor was done without the use of masking medium, so you will see some slight bleeding here and there. I left it over night to dry. Then I went back and added some stamped butterflies and a bird. I colored the butterflies with distress ink Peacock Feathers and some more watercolor. The white on the butterfly wings is gesso.
I decided that I wanted to add a tag with a stamped sentiment on the left of the page. So I colored the tag with distress inks Spiced Marmalade and Peacock Feathers. Then I stamped a Tim Holtz sentiment. I used one of my stencils with the Artist Pens Brush to create the flowers on the edge. Really cool effect. I will definitely be using the pens with my stencils in the future.
I hope you have enjoyed my walk through for my page. I really loved the way the Artist Pens work with watercolor. I will be exploring more of this in my daily journal. As I said previously, I will also be experimenting with the Artist Pens with some pen & ink rouging. 
To be honest I have always been skeptical of digital files. I have printed some freebies out that have not been very "clean" digitally and I have an inkjet printer. So when thinking about printing out 12+ pages of digital imagery, you want everything perfect so you're not printing over and over to get a "good" print. Well, Prima has freebies on their facebook page every week. Marion had a file for her new Romance Novel paper line with Prima, so I decided to print it out. I was so impressed with the file that I knew I had to get the Cottage Chic Mini Book even with my inkjet printer.
I cannot say enough good things about Marion's digital files. Every one is beautiful, digitally clean and easy to print. The best part is you can print as many copies as you want. Say you have 10 friends that you want to make journals for as gifts, you can print 10 copies. There is not a limit on how many you can print. When you purchase the paper pads at the store, you only get (at the most) 3 sheets of each print. So you would need 4 paper pads! Ouch! Now you say what about the card and ink that you use with your printer? So much cheaper than the paper pads. I just purchased index card weight cardstock, 250 count, for less than $8. Printer ink is expensive, but I printed my whole Cottage Chic Mini on the color ink cartridge low ink warning and I am still printing in color. 
In the journal I did a lot of stamping. I painted this dress form with black acrylic, Martha Stewart black glitter, and Liquid pearls. The dress form is a two piece form from Mini Album Scraps ning site. I then made a number of different pockets to handle all of the tags from Marion and multiple freebie websites. The two butterfly tags are stamped images that I stamped in Stazon Black and then colored with colored pencils. 
I used a shipping tag which I inked, sprayed and stamped. I then used a piece of Tim Holtz paper on the back and stamped with the large owl clock LaBlanche stamp. I love these stamps by the way! I then sealed the whole tag with a satin varnish. Which I do not like the satin and I need to purchase the matte varnish for future use. In person the bookmark is really dark and cool, but for pictures, the satin reflects the light.
