Embrace Your Journey – Art Journal Page

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Welcome all you bad girlies, to another Junque It Up, Tuesday! This is Dale Ann back with you, bringing you some inspiration from the pages of my very own Haute Mess Paper Doll Palace art journal!  Have you been drooling over these gorgeous journals yet?  They are absolutely stunning, and you can go check them out and BUILD YOUR OWN in the store right now!

These beautiful journals can be totally customized, which means YOU get to create your journal exactly the way you want!!  They are truly unique to each artist and how they would use it!  It doesn’t get any better than that! Just look at some of the page options you have . . .

That is an actual page made of WOOD!! How cool is that??  There are different cover options, vintage papers, you can choose to have stitched edges on your pages, pages with tabs and the cutest little jewelry you can even adorn it with!!!  Eeeek!!  I totally geek out every time I look at them!!  And guess what, you can even order different sizes!!

My Latest Project

Now, that you are totally ready to go build your journal, let me show you just what you can do in that art journal!  I would love to show you my latest project, and show you exactly how I did it!  First, I chose to work on one of the plain cardboard pages.

I decided to lay down some paper scraps first, with some Matte Gel medium, to get some texture going and to break the blank page.  Once I had them down, I put another layer of the Matte Gel medium over the top of it to seal and protect the surface.

The next step was to spread some white gesso around the page to connect the pieces of paper, to give more cohesiveness to the page.  I  just used my fingers and rubbed it around the paper edges to get rid of hard lines.

My first color choice was to scrape some Haute Mess Grunge over the page, which is a great gray color. I love it with everything!  There were some paper window panes I had laying around that I cut with my Cricut, that I wanted to use on this page.  So I tried them out after putting the Grunge down.  I also auditioned some sweet flowers, that I thought would give the impression of a window box under the windows.

Those pretty little flowers informed my next color choice, and I grabbed the color, Oops! My Bad, which is a lovely coral shade that matched those flowers perfectly!

At this point, I was totally loving all that texture and grunge going on!  A romantic garden theme was starting to emerge in my imagination . . . and that called for a cobblestone path!  To create that effect I used a stencil and some spackling compound I picked up at the Dollar Tree for $1.00!  I used my palette knife to scrape it over the stencil.  It worked like a charm!

Just look at those cute little stone like patterns! (This could have also been achieved with the Haute Mess Molding Paste, but I have used mine all up!)

The Window Panes

While I let the spackle dry, I pulled out those window panes. I had decided I wanted to paint them and give them some character and patinta.  The color I used was C-Note, which is a soft green.  I also used some Distress Ink in Peacock Feather and a black ink pad to grunge up the edges and help them pop off the page a little.

Here’s how they turned out . . .  (Do you notice that blue behind the window?  I had a piece of canvas paper that I had stenciled a blue damask pattern on.  I glued it to the back of the window pane, and it gave the appearance of a blue sky and clouds.)

Well, we are almost done with this page!  I stuck everything down on the page with either hot glue or glue stick and  I layered two sizes of that flower bunch on, raising the smaller one slightly on top of some small sponge pieces for more depth and dimension.  Next I added a sentiment I thought was appropriate.  You can see here that I also added some paint in the color Distortion, which is a warm brown color, to the stone pathway.  It’s just what it needed.

My Final Piece

All in all, I think I was able to bring my vision to life and put it in my art journal forever!  Here is a look at the final piece, I love it! I hope you enjoyed watching me create it, and that it inspires you to get out your paints and do some art journaling today!  Go on and express your bad self, girl!

Here is another list of the Haute Mess acrylic paints and mediums I used on this project:

Grunge (gray)  Oops! My Bad (coral) C-Note (green) Distortion (brown)

White Gesso, Matte Gel medium

Thanks so much for stopping by today, don’t forget to head to the shop and order some of these beautiful paints and mediums and check out the Haute Mess Art journals while you’re there!

Till Next Time, Dale Ann

Handpainted Patches with Cristin

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Oh hello! For today’s project I’m using pieces of canvas drop cloth and Haute Mess Gesso to create patches!

 

You can use any gesso to prep the surface. I ended up using more than one layer (with drying in between) before the canvas dropcloth was ready for more layers.

Next I’m using Haute Mess paints to add details and color!! You can get super creative here!

 

Once the patches are dry you can seal it with a varnish and then sew it onto purses, bags, jackets and more!

You Are Coming Home To Yourself with Cristin

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Hello again!

Today I’m working on the canvas page in my Haute Mess journal! I also used Java Walnut Ink, Strumpet Stencils, and Haute Mess paints in Naked, Bad & Tatted, Torrid and Bad Girl Gaudy.

Sometimes I’m most inspired to create when I quickly “break that blank page” with stencils and sprays and then allow that to lead the direction of my project.

This process is especially fun to adopt as a part of a daily creative practice because I have found that this form of intuitive painting really helps me to explore new techniques, supplies, colors and fully create with reckless abandon.

I hope you enjoy this process video I created:

 

His Grace Is Enough For Me – Mixed Media Canvas

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Hidey ho, neighbor! Welcome to the Bad Girls Couture blog!  Today I am, “Bringing Sexy Back,” with some cool bad girls vibes and a collaged mixed media canvas!

This was the first time I tried a collaged canvas like this, and let me tell ya, I STRUGGLED!

You can watch me wrestle with this project over and over again in my process video below.  I tried all sorts of things that I didn’t like, and had to paint over stuff and start over a few times.  But that’s how it goes with art sometimes.  You keep at it till you love it!  And that’s what I did, after several changes in my plan, I finally came up with a piece I truly love! I hope you enjoy it too.

Supplies Used

I used of the couple of the Haute Mess Mediums on this project.  I prepared my canvas with a layer of the Haute Mess Gesso.  Then I adhered most everything down with the Matte Gel medium, and sometimes a simple glue stick. I also use the Matte Medium as a protective layer over the elements I glue down to protect them. That way if I accidentally paint over something I don’t want to cover up, I can just remove it with a simple baby wipe!

The paint colors used from the Haute Mess Collection are as follows:

Bye Felicia

C-Note

Broken Doll

Last Sin

Hippie in High Heels

Couture Pink

Oops! My Bad

Grunge

The paper elements were all cut out of scrapbook paper or card stock cut with my Cricut machine. Toward the end of the video, my camera shut off, so I didn’t get the final steps on film.  However, you can see how turned out here . . .

Watch the Video

Enjoy the video here, and I hope it inspires you to not worry about making “mistakes.”  Making mistakes is how we learn and grow as artists!  Go for it, no fear! If you decide you don’t like it, paint over that sucker!

Until Next Time,

Dale Ann

Be True to Yourself Art Journal Page with Lisa Amiet

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Hello all!
It’s Lisa here today to share an Art Journal page with you.

This page is from my Park Ave Penthouse Journal

I have started by using a thick cardboard page from my journal.
I have then used Haute Mess Acrylic Paint in ‘Bye Felicia’ to coat my page.

I then used a stencil and my Haute Mess Acrylic Paint in ‘Last Sin’,
to stencil some flowers onto my page.

I have then used another stencil and my Haute Mess Acrylic Paint in ‘Broken Doll’,
to lightly sponge through my stencil.

I have then added some paper embellishments and chipboard to finish the page.
I hope you like what I have created!

 

Lisa xo

I have used the following products:

Haute Mess Acrylic Paint – Bye Felicia
Haute Mess Acrylic Paint – Last Sin 
Haute Mess Acrylic Paint – Broken Doll

She Blooms – Mixed Media in Repurposed Art Journal

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Welcome to the Bad Girls Couture blog, you’ve landed here on a Girl With a Repurpose Thursday!  And I have a project I’ve done in a vintage children’s book that I have repurposed as an art journal!  I’m really excited about this spread, and I hope it inspires you to make some art today!  I went a little snap happy with the camera, so I’m gonna let the pictures do the talking for me!

I started my first layer with some pretty scrapbook paper and the Haute Mess Matte Gel medium to adhere it!

I used several of the luscious Haute Mess paints with various stencils to get some texture and color going on the background. I also attached a face that I drew on plain paper, glued it on with the Gel Matte medium and put another layer on top of it to protect it.

I hand painted (watercolor) and cut out some little pansies that I wanted to use on this page to give the girl I drew a flower fro.  So I arranged them on the page at this point to get an idea of what to do next.

It didn’t make my heart sing yet.  So I took them off, and actually added another flower  to the top of each flower to give them some dimension.  I also thought the background was too colorful and it kind of took away from the flowers. So I decided to tone it down a bit with some more paint.

At this point, my creative juices started flowing so quickly, I forgot to take more process photos! So, I guess I’ll show you some peeks at some of the elements of the page before I unveil the whole thing.  Here are some of those darling pansies I mentioned . . .

I used a cutout of a leaf I made with my cricut on black cardstock. I left it black, because I liked how it brought out her eye and some other details I had painted on with the Bad & Tatted Haute Mess paint throughout the page.

How about a shot of some of the delicious texture I created with the Haute Mess Molding Paste, Haute Mess White Gesso and stencils . . .

Are you ready to see the whole page yet?

Ok, ok, I’ll show you!

This lovely lady was inspired by Mother’s Day, and the celebration of all mothers!  Being a mother is one of the most rewarding and difficult jobs there is.  It’s hard when your kids are little, and hard when they are school age, and then SOOO hard the day you realize you’ve just been raising them so they can grow up and leave you.  It doesn’t seem fair, does it?

Even though it’s hard watching them grow up and prepare to leave you, the ups and downs of motherhood do make us more resilient, don’t you think?

But even as difficult as it is, it is very rewarding. It’s a blessing to be a mother, even when it hurts.

Even in the midst of teething, temper tantrums, potty training, trials and tears, we mothers do what we do best in the midst of trouble. We bloom.

The colors used in this project are as follows:  Bad & Tatted, Bye Felicia, Oops! My Bad, First Crush, X-Rated, Drop Dead Gorgeous, Distortion, C-Note, Fallen Angel, Last Sin, Guilt Trip, and Mannequin.

I hope you were inspired to repurpose and recycle something into a magnificent piece of art today!  And if you haven’t gotten your Haute Mess Acrylic Paint set yet, what in the world are you waiting for! Go now, do it! You’ll be so glad you did!

Till next time, Dale Ann

Art-journal page Follow your dreams by Elena Martynova

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Hello dear friends!
Today I’m with a new Mixed Media project – and it’s again Art-journal page.
 I chose the pink canvas page to create my project.

Hope you like and I have video for you to watch if you would like to see my process.

I painted background using Haute Mess Acrylic colors:

I applied the Molding Paste through a stencil, and then another Glass Bead Gel.

After drying, it gives an interesting texture and beautifully shimmers in the light!

   I took photos from different angles, so it was better to see how to lay this gel

Thank you so much for joining us today. I hope you enjoyed your time here on the blog.

Till next time, have fun and enjoy your creative time.

Don’t forget to check out my Blog   and   Instagram

Love Life – Art Journal Page

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Good morning, all you bad girlies! It’s a wonderful Wednesday, and this is Dale Ann back in the blogosphere to share a Color Splash Wednesday project with you, and showing you a couple different ways you can use gesso in your projects!

What is gesso? I’m so glad you asked! Acrylic gesso is a product used by artists that adds flexibility and increases the archival life of your pieces. It can also be used for sizing and priming panels and flexible canvas for painting. It is a great tool for preparing any substrate you choose to accept paint better.  The Haute Mess Gesso is no exception! It works great for priming your surfaces, but it can also be used in other ways. Read on to find two other ways I have used it in today’s project!

I chose to work on a page in my Haute Mess Paper Doll Palace art journal that is covered in vintage sheet music! It’s so pretty, I almost hated painting on it!

I also picked out some pretty scrapbook paper with pink and green in it, and then picked out coordinating paint colors from the Haute Mess Collection. (Colors used: C-Note, Sweet Candy Kisses, and Naked )

I started out by tearing the scrap paper into strips and gluing it around my page with a glue stick. Since the sheet music and the scrap paper are both a little busy, I pulled out my gesso, and used it to tone it down a bit. All I did was use a pallette knife and spread it around the page a little. I did not cover up all the sheet music or the scrap paper. The gesso just quieted down the patterns, so you would be able to see the rest of the page.

I pulled out the C-note and a stencil and spread some of that great yellowy-green around the page in a flourish design. I also added some Drop Dead Gorgeous on the page through the stencil as well.

Now, since it’s Color Splash! Wednesday, I had to have a big pop of color on this page, right?  I had this black paper cut out frame that I had been trying to use on several different projects, and just couldn’t find a good fit.  Then suddenly, inspiration struck! I used the Sweet Candy Kisses pink and painted the same shape as the frame in the middle of the page, then framed it with the cutout.  How’s that for a splash of color?

I then decided to add some texture and pattern to that space. I used my handy dandy gesso through a stencil to create this lovely design.

Now that we’re starting to get a focal point, and I decided to use some cut out words I had cut with my Cricut.

To finish up the page, I added some stenciled butterflies in Bad & Tatted around the page edges as well as more of the Sweet Candy Kisses through an arrow stencil.  I added a couple of doodles here and there with an ink pen and my Uni-Ball Roller white gel pen.

Here’s a look at the final page, and I hope the message speaks to your heart! Love the life you’re living! If you don’t love it, then change it!  Life is too short to not be loving the journey!

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you’ve found some inspiration today to create your own colorful page, and that you learned something about gesso and why you need it in your life!!  Get yours in the store today!!  Until next time, have a lovely day!

Love, Dale Ann

 

Preserving Treasures!

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Oh hello! Today I wanted to experiment with Haute Mess mediums and create something a little different! I’m using repurposed materials to create a sculpture. <3

 

My base is a phrenology head from Relics & Artifacts. I prepped it with a nice even coat of Haute Mess clear gesso.  This makes it the perfect surface to build upon! I also really love this gesso because it dries fast!

 

Next I added in some acrylic paint. Haute Mess “Bad & Tatted” around the base adds a lot of drama.

Haute Mess Matte Gel makes the perfect medium for collage… like this “Bad Witch”

To finish it off, I glued on some added fun with dried herbs from my garden, crystals, marbles and bones. I really hope that this inspires you to gather some fun supplies and create something fun.

 

Wander – Mixed Media Page in Haute Mess Art Journal

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Happy Tuesday!  This is Dale Ann back with you, sharing a Junque It Up, Tuesday project with you!  I’m working in my Paperdoll Palace Haute Mess Art Journal on one of the card stock pages.  Let me tell you, it held up to all the “junk,” I threw at this project!  I can’t wait to show you!

This page is so different than anything I’ve ever created before. So, honestly, I’m feeling a little insecure about it! But, I believe that art is about taking risks, pushing yourself and having NO FEAR!  If you want to try it, try it! If it doesn’t turn out, paint over it!  That’s my philosophy!  So, here we go.

I started out by prepping the page with the Haute Mess Clear Gesso.  Next I grabbed a stencil and scraped some Haute Mess Molding Paste through it for texture in a damask pattern.  Then I started adhering some plastic beads in different shapes and sizes, some of which I used the Haute Mess Matte Medium to stick them on.  (Some of the heavier stuff, I had to use hot glue)  I pulled out all kinds of things I had gotten in art swaps, some stuff was just junk laying around my desk and in my drawers!  There are jewelry pieces, paper flowers, gems and an actual washer in this piece!

Now it was time to start throwing some paint at it!  I started with our Bad & Tatted from the Haute Mess paint collection across everything I had put on the page so far.

  

It took a couple layers of paint to color up the crazy colors of the beads I used!  I added some of our magical Glass Bead Gel around the whole structure I had created.  This page was starting to get an “underwater treasure,” kind of vibe and it was calling for a mermaid!  To add to the underwater theme of the page, I grabbed some of my Dylusions Shimmer Mist in a shimmery blue color and sprayed it all around the page. It made the page absolutely sparkle!

   

For my mermaid, I found an image in a magazine and cut her out, then I put a paper frame I cut out with my Cricut, around her.  I wanted to give some depth to the page, so I used pieces of a makeup sponge that I had cut off under her, to create a shadow and separate her from the page a bit. I had painted the frame in the Bad & Tatted as well, and then inked it up with the shimmer mist in blue and black.

She needed some doodling on her, to give her a more magical mermaid makeover!  The sentiment reads, “Wander.  The Journey is the Destination.” I just loved that, because I felt like I definitely went on a journey with this page!  After letting her sit for a few days, I decided she needed some more color in her life.  So I pulled out a couple more colors of my Shimmer Mist and sprayed around the page letting it get drippy and messy.  Here’s how she ended up.

 I hope my artistic journey today inspired you to try something new, that you’ve never done before! Don’t be afraid to get messy and take chances! I’m really interested in what you think of this page. Please feel free to leave me a comment! And always, thanks so much for stopping by for a visit today!

 

Love, Dale Ann