Getting Messy with Leah and the Kids!

Leah Farquharson shares her messy technique with us today which can actually involve children!

I had so much fun stepping into the studio space with our boys to play around a bit and make this piece. It reminded me of some of the fun things I did when I was in grade school - and also took me to a place where I was having fun and experimenting with my artwork - something that I've been working on doing in the classes I'm taking. I also added a bit of free motion stitching on top of the bubbles, but ended up covering all but just a bit of that with my layout pieces...

Here's how we made the bubbles:

Add water and concentrated ink (reinker for ink pads) or paint to a plate, and then add just a drop of dish detergent.

Using a straw, blow bubbles until you get a whole pile of them.

Once you have a whole bunch, gently lay your paper on top. It may take a few tries to get the right amount of ink bubbles on your paper.

Either allow your paper to dry on it's own, or apply a heat gun to dry out the ink.

This created a random, soft and subtle background for my layout piece. If you use paint, the effect will be must stronger...

I then added my random free motion stitching on top of my ink bubbles.

I finished by adding my embellishments on top...

Have fun getting messy!

supplies:
Sequins - Bloom
Sequins - Triangles
Flatbacks - True Vintage II
Alterable Alphas - Micro Dot
Printed Chipboard Pieces - Watch Faces
Magpie Paper Collection - Stash
Ranger JBS Re-Inker - Speckled Egg

~ Leah

Art Journaling with Leah : Doilies, Stencils, and Ink

In the midst of juggling the hustle and bustle of life, it was good to take a few moments this morning to just breathe. I've been learning more about mixed media and art journaling techniques, and Jenni's new products are the perfect fit for exploration. They are amazing for creating layers on your pages! From the stencils for backgrounds, to the rubons, washi and sequins -they work so well to build texture and depth into your projects.

One quick tip to create this watercolor style background. The chicken feed reinker creates a beautiful shade of gold when you drip several drops into a cup or on a tray, then add just a few drops of water on a wet broad, flat brush. Using broad strokes, gently brush over the graphic feather stencil. Remove the stencil, and either allow to dry a bit, or hit it with a heat gun. After I had finished places my feathers on the background, I added a few drops of cough syrup reinker to the leftover ink to create a blend. Using a slightly wet brush, I gently went over my entire background. The bleed from the feathers turned out beautifully.

After my background dried, I was free to start layering.

And finish with a bit of doodling.

As I have embraced allowing imperfections in my life {yes, I'm a perfectionist - especially in all things business related}, I've found that I have embraced the freedom of art journaling more and more. Hope you're inspired to try some of it, too!

~ Leah

Supplies:

Stencil - Feathers

Stencil - Pointed Star

Vintage Mini Deck - Flashcards - Fun Times

Sequins - Doily Assortment

Sequins - Classic Assortment

Rub-Ons - Doilies - Gold

Flatbacks - Reader - 40% off

Skinny Alpha Stickers - Red

Flag Banner Stickers - Red/Black

Mini Chipboard Pieces - Flag

Scrapping Vintage!

During the month of October, the design team will be scrapping all things vintage.  The word vintage can mean and inspire so many things:  vintage photos, vintage memories, vintage ephemera, and gorgeous vintage Jenni Bowlin Studio product.  Vintage isn't just one style of scrapbooking either!  I'm sure we'll be seeing a lot of different interpretations of this Jenni Bowlin appropriate theme from our design team!

Jenni Bowlin Studio Product is beautiful vintage.  This month we'll see how the design team combines JBS with vintage bits and pieces.

Betsy scrapped a favorite vintage family photo and used a lot of vintage product along with it:

supplies:

Die-Cut Journaling Card

Wired Feather

Clear Stamp

JBS for Ranger Speckled Egg Dye Stamp Pad and Speckled Egg Re-Inker 

Skinny Alphabet - Black

other: vintage lace and trim, buttons

Have fun scrapping your own version of vintage!

JBS Summer Games - Swimming

When summer hits in South Florida, the heat makes any activity outside that doesn't involve water - well, impossible. That means we spend lots of days hanging in our pool! This year in particular, our youngest has really taken his swimming to another level. He's becoming a little fish! And I must add, when the swimming events were being held for the Olympics, he was pretty rapt. This photo documents the first day he was able to work up the courage to start jumping into the pool on his own. Of course, once he did it, that's how he spent the rest of the day!

This was my first attempt at using the re-inkers and mini misters to create my own inks! To create the inks, just fill the mister 3/4 full, and add enough drops to make the color you'd like. I wanted mine a bit darker, so I added about 12 drops per mister. Perfect for a few spritzes, and I loved the look with a stencil as well...


~ Leah

It's Summer Camp Time!

Pack your backpack and your sleeping bag! Come join the Design Team Counselors during the month of July over on our blog as we settle you into your bunk at Summer Camp! The month will be filled with amazing ideas to help you scrap your summer events and vacations. The first week, you are off to Arts & Crafts as the Design Team shares fun projects that you can create with your children. The second week is Camper's Choice. We'll help you scrap loads of summer photos as we share multi-photo layout ideas. For week three, Swim Lessons! You'll want to bring your swimsuit as the design team turns up the heat on vacation journaling. The final week is our Campfire! We'll gather round the fire and our talented designers will share their summer stories in vacation minis! A month not to be missed! 

Are you ready? Here's our first kid friendly idea from Wilna!

Paper and Ink: Kids Crafts

Hello! Wilna here! So, for most of us that have kids, the summer holidays need to be more than hours of video games or watching TV. Here is a cool idea to get the creative juices flowing for the young at heart. I saw this cool idea on pinterest and thought it the perfect craft.

You will need:
*The tree template printed out on the background paper. You can also just have the kids draw it in pencil.
*Patterned papers
*Ink pads
*Glue
*Scissors
*Kids willing to be creative (I got 2 out of 3 for this one)

Click on this tree to open it big and then you can right click the image and select save as. Or just drag it to your desktop. The format is 8.5 x 11.

 How to:
*Print the tree on paper. I had some 13x19 papers so i printed it big.
*Now ask the children to cover the tree with patterned paper cut in little strips so that you can't see any of the outlines except the top branches.
*Once that is complete, the can print the leaves using ink pads and their fingers.

Time:
* it took my girls about an hour to complete it.

More ideas:
* We were on a schedule, but if you have more time use some water colors and add some grass/clouds. You can also make some birds from patterned paper and add it to the tree.

Here's a few pictures of the process:

love and a kiss 

Wilna Furstenberg

Paint and Stickers on Canvas

Betsy Sammarco shows us how Jenni Bowlin stickers, Rub-ons, Paint Dabbers, and Dye Ink make a great combination on canvas.

Supplies used:
Jenni Bowlin for Ranger Dabber in Lemon Drops and Stick Candy.
Jenni Bowlin for Ranger Dye Ink in Fountain Pen.
Yellow and Black Butterfly Banner Stickers and Butterfly Chipboard.
Yellow Butterfly Rub-on Single
Mini Chalkboard Alpha Black
Gesso, Gel Medium, Mod Podge

The canvas was first covered with gesso.  Then gel medium was applied and silk flowers and container tops pushed into the medium to form texture.  After this was dry, the Paint Dabbers and Dye Ink were worked in to add color.

Butterfly stickers were applied on butterfly chipboard pieces and also directly onto the canvas.

The title was easy and fun to do with Chalkboard alpha stickers and the Butterfly Rubon Single applied easily to the canvas.  After everything was placed where she wanted it, Mod Podge was applied to seal the entire project.

Creating a work of art on a canvas doesn't have to be intimidating!  When you combine Jenni Bowlin for Ranger Paint Dabbers and Dye Inks with JBS stickers and rubons, the results are beautiful and easy to come by!

Getting Colorful!

Has it been a long winter in your part of the world?  Are you in the need for some bright colorful inspiration?  Check out these layouts using Jenni Bowlin for Ranger products.

In Rainbow Girl, Kerry Lynn Yeary uses five different Jenni Bowlin for Ranger Paint Dabber colors to cover JBS Chipboard Butterflies and create a rainbow.  Little pieces of Journaling Cards and Printed Tickets are sewn onto the border creating a sweet frame for the colorful display.

Dina Wakley made this striking layout and let us know just how she did it:

"I put a good squirt of Lemon Drops reinker into a Mini Mister, and then filled it up the rest of the way with water. I used my custom spray ink and a stencil to create the sunburst motif on the cardstock. The motif was very bold, so I didn't need to add too many other embellishments (I always say that ink is the ultimate embellishment!). Some JBS letters, Bingo Cards, and Star Banner Stickers complete my layout, which is a tribute to how much I love to travel."

These two layouts can be found in the Printing Press above - for downloading and printing as inspiration for your customers!


Stop by more this month as we share more colorful inspiration using Jenni Bowlin for Ranger products!