Ronda Palazzari Designs

If i Could Art Journal & GIVEAWAY

So pleased to be this month's guest designer over at Frog Dog Studio.  Frog Dog Studio is a monthly Mixed Media kit club.  They have a talented team of designers who share video & photo tutorials on how to make kit projects using the kit supplies.

I am using their Limited Edition Kit which has sold out.  I have a way for you to get your hands on a few parts and pieces but that's later.  You can still purchase the September Main kit!  I used the Limited Edition kit which is full of yummy texture to create an art journal page.  I love the Gelli Arts Gel Printing plate.  There are so many different ways to create with it. 

And that's exactly how i started my art journal page, layering gelatin prints on the background.  I used lots of the textures in the kit included the cutting the foam into pieces to mask off areas.

and here's what the first of many prints looked like.  I kept layering and layering more prints in different colors, digging into the kit to create more texture. 

Until i ended up with this "If i could" art journal page.  You can see all the textures around the page. I even printed on some deli paper and then cut that up to use on this page.  i wish you could run your fingers across the page. 

The Limited Edition kit is sold out but i do have an 8 x 10 Gelli Arts Gel Printing Plate & Brayer to give away generously sponsored by Frog Dog Studio.  So how you do enter to win this AWESOME giveaway?  Go show Frog Dog Studio some love by liking their Facebook Page and then come back and tell me you did by leaving a comment.  Already liked their page?  Then leave them a comment on their page telling them Ronda sent you!  Again come back & leave a comment here so i can enter you to win. Deadline to enter is 10 pm Mountain time, Sunday, September 29th.  One random winner will receive an 8x10 Gelli Arts Gel Printing plate & Speedball brayer.  International entries are welcomed!

 

CK Mixed Media 2 Blog Hop

Creating Keepsakes magazine recently published their special edition titled Mixed Media Volume 2.  It is available in print and you can get your hands on it now.  There are so many talented artist in this special edition that will fill you with inspiration.  I feel very blessed to have three layouts in this magazine including the cover layout.

In celebration of this awesome special edition, some of the artists in the magazine are hosting a blog hop. (Thank you Liz for putting this together). We are showing sneaks of our projects as well as sharing our thoughts on the other artist in the magazine.  You can see my sneak of the cover layout.  Inside the magazine, you will find a step by step on how to create the mixed media linen heart you see on the layout on page 130. 

Here's a sneak of my "Change" layout.  You can find it on page 51 of the magazine.  It's one of my current favorite layouts.  You will find a recipe on how i created the background of this layout. 

"Oh Snap" can be found on page 29.  So many layers of patterned paper, gesso, paint, etc.  There are step by step photos with this layout, showing you how to jazz up your layouts with gesso.   

The magazine is filled with tips, techniques, and step by steps from so many talented artist.  I really like how Marion Smith used drywall tape & embossing enamel to create some super cool embellishments.  I seriously want to break out my melting pot right now!

Today's Blog Hop includes:

• Liz Hicks 
• Courtney Walsh 
• Noel Culbertson 
• Ronda Palazzari <------ YOU ARE HERE 
• Angela Magnuson
• Marion Smith
• Sharon Laakkonen
• Terri Anderson
• Candy Rosenberg

Tomorrow's Blog Hop includes:

• Liz Hicks
• Stacy Cohen
• Kim Watson
• Agnieszka Bellaidea
• Susan Weckesser
• Layle Konkar
• Stephanie Ackerman
• Sherry Mendoza
• Ashley Harris
• Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

My Life in a Dinghy

When the incredible Lisa Pace asked me to participate in her "My Life in a Dinghy" blog feature, i immediately said yes.  Her blog feature has so many talented artist including Suze Wein­berg, Candy Rosen­berg, Stephe­nie Hamen, Tammy Tut­terow, Donna Salazar, Hels Sheri­dan, Richele Chris­tensen, and Paula Cheney.

Lisa provided all of us the template using a toliet paper roll, or in my case a paper towel roll as it was sitting on my desk.  I have to admit it was a challenge for me but i love that it pushed me out of my comfort zone.  I created my colorful boat using my stencils and Gelli Arts Gelatin Prints. 

She also wanted to know what our "Life in a Dinghy" would look like.  Well, I have wandering toes that explore this wonderful world of ours, seeing the art of life.  I always want to find the beauty and passions surrounding me and add them to my soul, just like this colorful patchwork dinghy.  I have a deep thirst for knowledge of life so the inside of my dinghy is filled with pages from books which have taken me to so many different worlds and walks of life.  In my Dinghy I would go where the winds would take me, not knowing where I would end up but just enjoying the journey.  My sail might not be perfect, in fact it has weathered some storms that have left the canvas forever changed.   But it is full of stories and can always be patched for another journey. 

Make sure you check Lisa's blog daily not only to see all the other artists' inspiring pieces but at the end of the journey, she's going to share the template with you. 

Days of the Week: A Citrus Twist Blog Hop

Citrus Twist Kits is teaming with The Crafter's Workshop this month for a blog hop and giveaways. Together, we are celebrating the launch of Citrus Twist Kit's Design Girl, Jen Boumis' Life Bits stencils. Today's post is using Julie Fei-Fan Balzer "Days of the Week Bit" which unfortunately i don't have in my possession.  However i do have her other life bits like the "Number Bits" and the "Two Leaves Bits".  In addition i also used Jen Boumis' Note to Self Life Bits. 

The blog hop began September 9th, and continued on Mondays and Wednesdays in September with today being the last day.  Each day of the blog hop when you leave a comment or love for the participating designers on their individual blogs and end your hop by leaving a comment on the Citrus Twist Kits blog, you'll be entered into a drawing for a free Life Bits stencil. 

i wanted to show how these bits can be used on anything so i used the "Number Bits" as my focal point on my art journal page.  I love the way the color surrounds this bit with the white gesso page showing through the numbers.  I didn't want it perfect and love how it has that grunginess to it. After adding a bit more color on the page, i used the "Two Leaves Bit" and traced around the shape.  The hallowed out look really appeals to me. After tracing the "Note to Self," i added my journaling and a bit of black spatter around the page.  I hope you have been inspired by these hops and found lots of ways to use them in your work. 

Now it's time to hop on over to....

• Jaime Echt/TCW Blog
• Jen Boumis
• April Joy Hill
• WaiSam Ho
• Citrus Twist Blog

Stencil Round Up: August/Sept Edition Vol. 2

The new stencils have hit the stores, both online and brick & mortar.  Have you picked up yours yet?  i love seeing all the different types of projects & uses of something i design.  i am always happy when someone shares with me their designs.  Feel free to tag me on twitter, instagram, or facebook, or add it to the Ronda Palazzari Designs Flickr group.  Here are a few of the latest i spotted & pulled from flicker, scrapbook.com, instagram and twitter.  There were so many i decided to break them up into a couple posts.  Thank you for sharing with me!

Maggie Alvarez tagged me on instagram, sharing her beautiful art journal page using both the honeycomb and urban landscape stencil.  She was feeling a bit upside down and took her emotions to the art journal letting them flow across the page.  It proved to be a good release for her and now the world is right side up again!

Maryse Borne This is the Good Life & You are the Sun of my life

Maryse created some beautiful layouts using my Urban Landscape stencil & Picture Perfect stencil.  I love the white embossed skyline on the patterned paper.  The travel words look so great nestle into the layers of embellishments.  On the other layout, the cameras look so cool on the painted transparency background.  I love how some of them are incomplete and outlined.  Quite ingenious!

Cheiron Brandon - Oh Happy Day

Cheiron creates so many beautiful cards.  I love how she can take a stencil, like my kaleidoscope one, and make it into such a cool eye-catching card.  You know i adore the rainbow colors and how they fall across the page.  The script title is just perfect. 

Sharmaine Kruijver - Four & One and International Connection

Sharmaine knows how to work a stencil onto her layouts.  To me the Subway stencil screamed her name.  Her August Cocoa Daisy kit with the subway stencil complementing this collection landed on her door and Sharmaine finally proved me right.  i just love how she used it on her layouts. 

Denise Morrison - Are we There yet?

Denise got the same kit and came up with a totally different look using the same color for the stencil.  Gosh i love the way she uses texture on her layouts.  I would like to just crawl inside her mind as she creates.

Karen Grunberg - Mommy I have an Idea

Karen always amazes me with her layouts.  Imagine my surprise as i opened up the DT boxes at the summer CHA tradeshow to see this beautiful layout using my picture perfect stencil.  I just completely adore her approach to color and embellishment moments that happen around her pages. 

Tami Sanders - Cork Memo Board

Tami heard my plead for photos of her other projects and kindly obliged by emailing me them.  The above Cork Memo board is so beautiful.  She used my Moroccan Tiles stencil to create this colorful piece.  She will also be sharing tutorials soon on her pieces so make sure you check her blog. 

I will share her other pieces on the next stencil me in blog post along with some more creations from others soon.  Prepared to be amazed!  In the meantime, feel free to grab the above badge and show me how you want to be stenciled in with my designs!

Remember This: A Citrus Twist Blog Hop

Citrus Twist Kits is teaming with The Crafter's Workshop this month for a blog hop and giveaways. Together, we are celebrating the launch of Citrus Twist Kit's Design Girl, Jen Boumis's Life Bits stencils.

The blog hop began September 9th, and continued on Mondays and Wednesdays in September through the 23rd. Each day of the blog hop when you leave a comment or love for the participating designers on their individual blogs and end your hop by leaving a comment on the Citrus Twist Kits blog, you'll be entered into a drawing for a free Life Bits stencil. 

i wanted to show how these life bits can be used in other ways outside of "Project Life" so i used the "Remember" on my art journal page.  I started by creating the background using gesso & a catalyst contour.  After laying down the acrylic color, i added te butterfly.  Next using black acrylic paint & a cosmetic sponge, i stenciled the words "remember this" three times on the bottom of the page.  I added some journal and doodles using india ink.  I really love the repetition of the word.  I love how Jen combines script with print. 

Now it's time to hop on over to....

• Jaime Echt/TCW Blog
• Jen Boumis
• April Joy Hill
• WaiSam Ho
• Citrus Twist Blog

Create Daily: A Challenge

In creating daily, sometimes we need a bit of a push to get us out of a rut.  I encourage you to take on a challenge to give you that nudge you need.  It can be a self-imposed challenge or one of the many challenge blogs found on the web.  One Little Word, affectionately called OLW, gives the push i need.  I love how it makes me think differently on how to incorporate the single word into an art journal, layout, or altered piece. 

Upon reading the OLW word, i let it sit in my brain for awhile before creating.  What does this word mean to me in my life right now?  From there the vision isn't always clear how that message will take shape.  Lately it's been art journals.  With Word Up #75: DO, a song immediately popped into my head from The Flaming Lips, "Do you realize?"  I suppose it had to do with my Mom's upcoming 70th birthday.  My brothers & sisters were flying into town to surprise her.  All 6 of us would be together, something that hasn't happened since my sister Chrissi's funeral.   Something we were painfully aware of but couldn't really speak about it.  4 years later and it's all too raw & real for us.  Hence this song popping into my head and the need to tell everyone important in my life that i love & treasure them. 

i started working on the right side of the journal for some reason and then decided to make it into a two page art journal piece.  I used gesso, catalyst blades, and acrylic paint in building the background.  I also used some hand carved stamps on the page before the moody figure flowed out onto the page.  I challenged myself to keep it in greys, blacks, & whites. 

The minute my sister Sandra saw the figure on the page, she somehow knew this was about Chrissi even though she doesn't look like me or her.  The figure just represents my mood.  i kept the left side fairly blank to allow for heavy journaling, another challenge for me.  i usually have layers of colors & items but I could feel the journaling ready to pour out of me so i wanted it to be the focal point.  I had cut the heart out of the fabric for another art journal page and kept the negative because it was beautiful too.  it fit perfectly on my page.  The final touches were some more hand carved stamps, including the title "do," and the arrows using my Hearts & Arrows stencil. 

Here are some ways to challenge yourself:

• challenge blogs: OLW, the Dares, The Whatevers, The Color Room, etc
• go Monochromatic
• build a kit and only use the pieces in it
• try something completely new
• use only what is found on your desk right now

Favorite: A Citrus Twist Blog Hop

Citrus Twist Kits is teaming with The Crafter's Workshop this month for a blog hop and giveaways. Together, we are celebrating the launch of Citrus Twist Kit's Design Girl, Jen Boumis's Life Bits stencils.

The blog hop began September 9th, and continues on Mondays and Wednesdays in September through the 23rd. Each day of the blog hop when you leave a comment or love for the participating designers on their individual blogs and end your hop by leaving a comment on the Citrus Twist Kits blog, you'll be entered into a drawing for a free Life Bits stencil. 

Today's blog hop is using the "favorite" stencil but when i went searching in my stash, i couldn't find mine.  Boo Hiss.  But where there is a stumbling block, there is an opportunity.  So i used the "Right Now" stencil instead.  i created the background for my art journal page using Dylusions spray ink & some NeoPastels.  I then added the "right now" stencil with some Viva Color Ferro Special Effects Paste.  I love the little titles on these Life Bits stencils.   After it dried i added some splatters of Maya Road charcoal spray ink.  Using my "capture" stencil & a pen, i drew an instant frame and painted it in using the dylusions spray.  i added the heart using my "confetti stencil" and some acrylic paint.  The journaling was printed out on cardstock and glued to the page. 

Now it's time to hop on over to....

• Jaime Echt/TCW Blog
• Jen Boumis
• April Joy Hill
• WaiSam Ho
• Citrus Twist Blog

The Good Life: A Citrus Twist Blog Hop

Citrus Twist Kits is teaming with The Crafter's Workshop this month for a blog hop and giveaways. Together, we are celebrating the launch of Citrus Twist Kit's Design Girl, Jen Boumis's Life Bits stencils.

The blog hop begins today, September 9th, and continues on Mondays and Wednesdays in September through the 23rd. Each day of the blog hop when you leave a comment or love for the participating designers on their individual blogs and end your hop by leaving a comment on the Citrus Twist Kits blog, you'll be entered into a drawing for a free Life Bits stencil. 

i wanted to show how these life bits can be used in other ways outside of "Project Life" so i used the "the Good Life" on my art journal page.  It is a great focal point for this page, and it provides the perfect space for my journaling. I started with a 3x4 piece of watercolor paper and used my quatrefoil stencils & distress inks to cover the background.  I scraped gesso over the entire card and let it dry.  I used black acrylic paint through the Life Bits: The Good Life stencil on top of the gesso.  I layered that card on top of my already painted art journal page.  You can also see my Moroccan Tiles stencil on the background and on the canvas trim.  I love how this page came together. 

Now it's time to hop on over to....

• Jaime Echt/TCW Blog
• Jen Boumis
• April Joy Hill
• WaiSam Ho
• Citrus Twist Blog

Create Daily: Building a Habit

Creating Daily is a habit you have to develop.  If you don't make it a priority, it won't happen.  Sometimes building that habit is hard to do.  There are so many things on our list which we deem more important so "our time" gets put on the back burner.  There are ways, though, to incorporate daily creativity into our schedule. 

Art journals are great ways to create daily.  But how do we do create time successfully?  Here are some tips & tricks to help build that habit. 

1. Start small so you can succeed.  instead of saying you are going to complete pages, maybe you spend your time building some background layers.  After you have say 5 background layers, then maybe you can say, i am going to finish one page today.  Have small goals & bigger goals.
2. Write it on your schedule.  There is something about putting it in a daily planner or even just as a sticky note that correlates to actually do it. 
3. This goes with the above tip, make it a consistent time.  I find early morning works best for me, before i jump into anything else.  If i try to do it in the middle of the day, I will push it aside in lieu of other deadlines.  You have to find the time that works best for you. 
4. Limit your supplies.  This can be so overwhelming when you first start art journaling, so much so that you don't even start.  Instead try building a schedule with "today i am just going to use _______________."  You can even build yourself little kits.
5. Reward yourself.  For meeting those small & bigger goals and for staying consistent.  Maybe it's a new supply or tool to add to your stash.  Maybe it's a class you wanted to take.  This helps keep you on task to reach those goals!

Here are a few of my current art journal pages.  I started a new smaller journal using the new Ranger Ink/Dylusions Creative Journal.  I have about three five different journals going but this one is a topical journal.  I am working in it daily to deal with some emotional things so everything in this journal revolves around it.  I am also trying on a more minimalistic style and just enjoying the process.

Things - Gesso with Catalyst Contour to create texture.  Watercolors splashed around the page.  A smaller older photo that just seem to fit the page.  India Ink doodles & writings along with printed words. 

Hello My Old Heart - Mostly monochromatic page using TCW/Julie Fei-Fan Balzer Stencil, Tiny Circles, to create texture.  Stamped framed over the small white envelope.  Kraft & Fabric heart with hand carved stamped heart in the center of the frame.  Lots of journaling tucked into the envelope. 

Protected - Gesso page with my Fancy Feather stencil in light modeling paste.  Lots of watercolors through the center of the page.  Wooden bird stamped image with a sticky back canvas remnant from my Layered Canvas class.  Journaling & pen marks along with splatters of Maya Road charcoal (probably my #1 favorite color).  Metallic rub on top of the feather.