Inktober wrap up

Some of the last things I made in Inktober and what I accomplished.

 I cut out scallop shapes that came with my Scan n cut. I used watercolor paper on the top one, and distressed scrapbook paper on the bottom.

I drew in a circle and followed it with doodled leaves

I had a strip of black scrapbook paper on my table and used it to doodle with a white gel pen. This layout with the scallops looks like a future project.

 

My absolute favorite thing to do is cut out dress shapes, watercolor them, then doodle freehand. I want to create a look book of these.

Learning from Inktober

• I really challenged myself to get into the studio . So many obstacles, so much resistance. Most of the month I didn't feel well (arthritis flairs), scanner problems, feeling left behind, car problems that have yet to be worked out, and numerous other difficulties.
• I learned how to make my markers flow. Instead of scrubbing them into the water colored paper, I allow the ink to make contact with the paper. This realization helped me with all the chores and things I didn't want to do. I just showed up where I could and opened to whatever joy I could find in the task. I made contact with my presence and then allowed the thing to do itself, (housework I'm looking at you ; )  ).
• I love the process of "inking".  I will get better quality supplies and do more of it.
• I really want to get better at sharing and documenting my work. Not sure what that looks like yet.

I read the Manifesto of Encouragement almost everyday, and everyday I feel it coming more alive in my life.

"Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they’ll be thriving like never before. They just can’t see it from where they’re at."Danielle Laporte

 

This line gives me life.

 

coming soon

Just a few of the paper-dolls I am working on. Sign up on my mailing list, or follow me on bloglovin to be notified.

New Printable and .svg file

 This printable is available at my Etsy shop.

Birds and Berries

Svg file to cut birds and berries available

at my Etsy shop.

Mermaid

I re-cut the mermaid smaller, painted and inked the pieces.

I glued some of the basic pieces together

a close up

more close ups

I'm going to collage her onto hand-painted paste paper.

Mermaid experiment

I was playing with a drawing I did a while back and decided to see what it would look like as a mermaid.

Then I turned the drawing into simple shapes adding an arm and a rock, and picking out some flowers.

I cut the shapes out of watercolor paper and did some doodles and sloppy washes. The shapes were pretty odd, so I wasn't sure what would happen.

I did a trial put together:

She still needs some work.

I'm going to re-cut it smaller to fit into my journal.

Faces and flourishes

More inking and cut files. This time faces.

I cut .svg files from my fancy faces collection. They are actually silhouettes from this paper doll set. The set includes the hair, faces and necks so that they can be cut in different colors or layered for a printing plate. 

 I printed this with Versatex inks using a Gelli pad. I doodled embellishment when it was dry. I will be exploring this technique again.

The parts were layered and glues to produce a plate which was placed on the pad. While I plan to do more experimenting with this,I really love the way the paint dried on the plates. I embellished them with markers.

Antique cabinet again

This is one of my favorite cutting files. After I finish testing it I hope to make it available as a down load.

I painted the cabinet pieces after I cut them out.

I started auditions for  cut outs and pieces I had
been doodling on.

I glued and taped everything down while trying to
decide what to put inside.

This was so much fun to make.

More cabinet art here:

Birds

Antique cabinet 

Dollhouse

The cutting files and printables will be available in my Etsy shop.

Birds

I created some bird cutting files, which I cut with the scan n cut, then I painted and embellished with watercolor. I'm still trying to decide how I will use these.

 Maybe as a stand alone art piece that will go in my journal.

Maybe as an actual page spread for the mini books I like to create.

witch dress color page freebie

free witch dress coloring page
limited time only
sign up for mailing list for more freebies.

Witch Coloring Page

More witchery

I finished the witch ornaments and decided to make them into a printable.
Here is the finished witch dress project:

I cut the witch dress pieces from my witch dress svg file. I painted the pieces with watercolor.  Then I used a black inking felt pen to doodle a pattern on the pieces.


I glued the cuff to the sleeves, then punched holes in the shoulders and attached the ribbon and the sleeves to the dress. The ragged hem was attached with copper mini brads.

I liked the effect so much I wanted to share. I made it into a printable for you.

The witch ornament printable is available here at Etsy.

Paper -doll dress doodles

More doodling on paper-doll dresses.

I cut the images with my scan n cut. Then I water colored them. I used my favorite pen, Sakura graphic pen in sepia.

 The edges are "aged" with an old brown stamp pad.

 

One of my favorite affirmations. quotes from Affirmations by Stuart Wilde. Total self acceptance.

inktober witch dress

For this project, I took the dress pattern from my witch paper doll, turned it into an .svg file, and cut it out in watercolor  paper with my scan n cut machine.

I then took my watercolor brush and black ink pen and began to doodle patterns and lines over the watercolor on to the pieces.

I removed some of the smaller pieces I knew I would not use in this project.

I put the pieces together by punching holes and attaching the parts with copper mini brads, some black ribbon and some shrink plastic charms I made a while back.

I'll show the finished project when I process/crop the pictures.

A printer/scanner for Linux

One of my biggest obstacles of late has been trying to find a replacement for my old HP scanner.

I had this scanner for a long time, and it made excellent scans. It worked right out of the box with Ubuntu and Sane, and I feel I got my money's worth. I even considered replacing it with another.

This scanner was cheap when I purchased it, and I found that between the price gouging, buying it used and other issues, I would try to find a different scanner.

After several false leads, different brands and misleading information, I decided on this model, and purchased this softwear. It works beautifully, wireless and all the features.

Now I can get back to inktober.

SVG files for cutting machines

These are from my .svg files for cutting machines. 

These are banner and antique cabinet collections.

The bowl butterfly and hand are available in different collections.

The pieces are cut from my scan n cut, but you could use the .png files and cut them from silhouette cameo.

I made the banners larger.
I cut the shapes from 145lb watercolor paper.
I did a background wash of color and when it dried I embellished with simple hand painted doodles.

The cabinet is great put together as a small journal, or to embellish an existing journal page.

inktober

My first project is doodling white gel pen over painted 

watercolor doodles. Taking a few scrap ends of 145lb 

watercolor paper I created some watercolor shapes.

 Then I took a gel pen and made some marks

Before long I had a few of these

I also did some with a brush and paint

I am going to revisit this

Inktober

These are the supplies I am using for inktober.

brushes, some glue watercolor ink markers,black ink marker white gel pen

tube watercolor, most water color, palettes

more watercolor mixtures

I will be adding more pens and paper substrates.
My goal is to play with contrast and pattern.