lara

Haven't posted 365 Photo a Day photos in awhile - here is, omg, 6 weeks worth! That really is awhile!!!!! I'm cooking up a project to do with the first 120 days of the year... hopefully i won't lose steam halfway through :)

Layout prompted by the new challenge #8 at Dirty Scraps - Compassion.

To create this I took 4 sheets of patterned 6"x6" paper and journalled about my compassion, or lack of, for myself and all the shit I've been through over the last two years. Felt good to get it out of my head and onto paper. Felt better to then cut those sheets up into smaller rectangles then tape back together to create the 12"x12" paper canvas.



I then sprayed Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist over it and stamped and stenciled the paper before adding on the packing tape image transfer photo, dictionary page and other embellishments.

For the new Gauche Alchemy Challenge - to use this vintage ad as inspiration:


The image is from an Adobe Photo Library I found at work. The background is some old Basic Grey papers i cut and put back together. I used that Punchinella which is behind the girl also for the stencil of the dots. The text at the bottom is from some super old old old book i got at an estate sale a couple of weeks ago.
The paper lace I misted with my new Coffee Shop Glimmer Mist to match the paper better.

i gave it to a friend who needed some cheering up - one of her favorite quotes is "have you heard? the bird is the word" - so that's where that comes from :)
Check out the GA blog to see how others interpreted the ad - it's so interesting and fun!

"Not a Secret" layout inspired by the latest prompt at guttergirlz.blogspot.com.
Lyrics from "The Fly" by U2.

The background is scrapbook paper i never thought I'd use because they were "too pretty" but i've discovered doing this layout that pretty can also become pretty grungy - which i find delicious! Soooooooo .... i cut and re-pieced together two sheets of paper and some sheet music, sprayed on some glimmer mist and stamped and dripped gesso AND white ink.



I like how the back of the duck tape that I used to re-piece the paper shows through - that was a pleasant surprise :)

The photo is heavily processed in Photoshop - darn that Rachel at One Year in the Life of an Art Journal that recently issued a prompt involving photo effects :-p Now I can't stop!!!

Framing the photo I used two Pantone swatches. These are used in printing to specify ink colors. When both me and my friend April worked as graphic designers we would occassionally email each other and be like "today is a PMS (Pantone Matching System) 201 day" or "i'm feeling really PMS 2747 today" and we soooooooo knew what each other was talking about!!! hahahahahaha



Lastly I made this little flower with some ribbon scraps and a brad - I put some wire between the layers (cleverly hidden) to make the flower poofy!

For Challenge #7 at dirtyscraps.blogspot.com.
The prompt is: No More Drama - it immediately made me think of one of my favorite all time songs from Mary J Blige, No More Drama, and the line "I don't wanna cry no more" just encompasses my entire life at this moment in time.

Kind of a hybrid piece - the photo I made in Photoshop using two lovely texture backgrounds from webtreats

The background is paper i started to do stamping and stenciling and dripping on and then thought it look kind of boring so i cut it all up into small pieces and taped it back together. The Plastic canvas and punchinella are from gauchealchemy.wordpress.com. To finish it off i sewed buttons on.

Valencia! You are the winner of my Gauche Alchemy Blog Hop RAK!!!!!!!!
Email me your snail mail so I can get some goodies out to you :)

1lara1 at gmail dot com

YAY!!!!!!!
Thanks everyone for the amazing comments you left - you all brightened my day, week, month! For real!!!! xoxo

art journal page for Year in the Life of An Art Journal.

The prompt is the word "Un" and the
technique is using digital layers and textures on photos.

Since I use Photoshop for my day job I try to separate the "paper and glue" art I generally do from the digital art, but I have to admit it was cathartic to work on this photo (or photos). The filters and textures came from the stock site Deviant Art and the photos are courtesy of the 365 Photo a Day Challenge I am doing. They were taken on my iphone one night.



The background is acrylic paint with duct tape and newspaper for texture and then I used punchinella (from Gauche Alchemy) as stencil for the dots and some new stamps i got for the circles. The letters are also from some old stamps I took out of storage.

My 2nd complete art journal is done! I guess, really it's my third counting the "year in the life" journal from last year, however it has been in progress for like 8 months.


The three that are complete in their full glory:



And just a gratuitious painty macro shot of the cover :)

Extra, extra, read all about it!! The Gauche Girls Open Up!...

If you've stopped by the Gauche Alchemy blog today, you'll see that a brand-spanking new team has been announced, and in honor of that, all the Gauche Girls are Opening Up. How easy are we...to figure out that is! If you haven't started at the beginning of our hop, hop on back to the Gauche Blog and start in the fun there. There are RAKs up for grabs along the hop, so make sure you comment on each Gauche Girls blog for a chance to win some serious yumminess.

Now for the fun part: Each of us Gauche Girls have chosen a word that best describes why we're so Gauche! Honey, this is where you need to work it a little! Here's what you do: Find all the words and which hoppin' hunny they belong to, head back to the GA Blog & post a comment with your answers - if you get it right, you get a shot at a kick-ass prize pack from The Head Honchettes themselves! See, it's EASY. If you have already started on the hop you should have come from Nicole's Bloggity Blog.



I love the sauce ... but some would say I'm also a bit saucy ...moi? (pssst saucy is the secret word, yo....)

I used a file folder as the background, painted the front with acrylic, threw on a coffee filter and screen from the Wholey Sheets kit and used some Punchinella as stencil all from the ArtFire Store. Put on some lovely Muse lyrics and a photo from a Steampunk "Mechanical Masquerade" party ... and there you have it!

Leave a comment on my blog and I'll pick a winner by random and send you a little mixed media kit of some of my favorite things :)

Now shake your tail feathers all the way to Amy's Blog and stare at some more Gauchy Goodness and get to know the rest of the team, since I've OPENED UP to you already *wink*