Mind Wanderings

March 10, 2014May 29, 2015 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

I’ve been dreaming a lot lately of moving to France. I guess that explains this spread in my art journal…

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Photo Collage Birthday Art

March 6, 2014May 29, 2015 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

Uncle Peter celebrated turning 80 years young on Monday. I started out making him a card and ended up channeling Mr. Darcy and was inspired to include Auntie Marion and Charlie in the piece. This is how it turned out:

Keep Calm and Have a Coffee

February 5, 2014May 29, 2015 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

Apologies for not taking a series of pictures when I created this. I got into the flow of things and the next thing I knew it was complete! I was experimenting with gesso and wasn’t happy with the finish. I now know I should have used matte medium… that’s the secret to shadowing; matte medium slows down ink drying time so blending with markers is a snap.

I was inspired by the very talented Vicki Papaioannou, who posted her process on YouTube doing a similar page called Take Life One Cup at a Time. Sometimes if you don’t know where to start, being inspired by someone is a good place to begin. There’s nothing worse than feeling paralyzed by a blank page. Vicki’s blog, Clips-n-Cuts, is a great resource if you’re interested in paper crafting. Check it out by clicking here.

Be The Heroine

January 30, 2014May 29, 2015 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

I recently completed this art journal page. Although when I say “completed” I am fairly sure I’ll find something else to add at some point. Is anything ever really finished? Nah.

I was inspired by a Nora Ephron quote I read in the Toronto Star:

That background isn’t sheet music (although I’d have used that if I’d had any) but a roll of paper by Tim Holtz. It dispenses like plastic wrap. A weird combination of art and utility. Neat!

Harvest

January 10, 2014May 29, 2015 | Christina Lorraine Young (a.k.a. seena)

I’ve been rediscovering my artistic side of late. I have several different types of journals/books/sketchpads. This new one from Ranger Ink’s Dylusions line is a new favourite. The pages are thick, like bristol board, and the elastic holds the covers closed as the pages get thick with art.

I have a number of old children’s books that I like to cut up for cards and paper crafts. This image kept calling to me, so I used matte medium to make a textured “field” background.

I added Ranger distress inks to mute the paper squares. The edges were lined with a brown marker and smudged for a shadowed effect. (Everything got a coating of matte medium.) Other coloured markers were used to enhance the illustration’s colours. The two large flowers were created using a Stampin’ Up stamp & brown ink, then coloured with Faber-Castell’s Gelatos.

Thinking the background looked a little bland, a dollar store stencil was used with Ranger Ink’s ‘old paper’ distress ink for a tone on tone finish. This is a picture of the ink while still wet. (I quite like the glazed effect.)