Ronda Palazzari Designs

Rose Window Resist & Calm Art Journal Page

Yesterday i shared with you with my Rose Wheel Stencil (TCW 423).  Today i want to share with you a resist technique using the 12x12 stencil in my art journal.  i really love this stencil for the open areas and the elegance it brings to any project. 

Here's a look at the full page.  I love the colors peeking through the "stained glass window."  I could wipe away more of the black paint from the window but i kind of like the sooty look for this particular journal piece. 

In the video, i first collage the page using vintage papers, music sheets, and old book texts.  My paints i use are Golden heavy body acrylics and i also used soft gel from Golden.  The translucent embossing paste is from the talented Wendy Vecchi/Studio 490.  If you don't have this product in your stash, i highly recommend it!  All her colors are fantastic and now she has a crackle paste!  i hope you enjoy the video.  If you have any questions, feel free to leave them in the comments section.

Stencil Sneak Peak

i thought you might like a sneak video peak at the new stencils released at CHA.  Scrapbook.com took a tour of the booth and you can see all the wonderful different designs at the show.  I will be bringing you all my designs to the blog very soon.  I hope you are as excited by them as i am. 

Stenciled Backgrounds

i love starting my tags with a stellar background.  Sometimes i have no direction when i start them, just seeing where the creative play leads me.  Sometimes when i land on a technique i love, i create multiple tags so i can have these beauties in my stash ready for any project.  i freely admit once i get started it's kind of hard to stop.  i thought you might like to see the above background technique using my The Crafter's Workshop Stencils and distress paints. 

Try it out yourself on a tag or two or three!

Happy Friday!

Growing Art Journal Page + Video

i enjoy working in the smaller dylusions journal right now.  This pint sized journal is easy to carry with me to create on the go.  i like doing both single pages and two page spreads in it.  i have been trying out things i've learned in my abstract class.  this journal is a good place to try things and stretch myself.  i can see some small shifts and growth in my art and i totally love having a visual record of my journey.  i might have to start dating my journal entries.  Do you date your pages?

i started this two page spread with no destination in mind trusting my direction would appear.  and it did. i could see my mood, my emotions spilling onto the pages.  The colors aren't my typical ones but i like them a lot.  It fits with what i was feeling at that moment plus i always feel it's good to try something new.  You will see in the video how i kept changing the title to get it right.  i am so ok with seeing if something else works better. 

But in this case, the first way was best for this spread and even though the title got a little squished i am ok with not sacraficing the whole piece for it.  it actually fits the feelings i poured into this piece. 

Hello Goodby Art Journal + Video

i love beginning my day with art journal for many reasons.  It lets me clear my mind before beginning my day, in other words i start fresh by dumping my thoughts.  i get a creative warm up in a safe place.  And i get to experiment.  On this two page spread i was playing around with my Gelli Arts Gelatin Printing Plate.  I love the way these pages came together, including the beautiful colors that spand the journal.

i began these two pages by laying down some collage layers on the left side of the page using leftover deli paper and vintage ledger paper.  Next i broke out my Gelli Arts Plate and begin layering with paint.  You can see how it all came together in the fast forward video below.

As you can see i used many different objects with my Gelli arts plate including punchinella, catalyst contours, plastic canvas pieces, etc.  I masked the layers using homemade templates.  Each time i would pull a print, i would use leftover deli paper to "clean up" the plate.  I don't like letting paint go to waste and love leftover layers so these two go hand in hand.  I even used a bit of that deli paper on the left side of the journal.  I used both my large & small Spinning tops stencil along with my 12x12 hearts & arrows stencil and 6x6 abstract leaves stencil. 

Enjoy!

Fancy Feather Art Journal Page + Video

i love beginning my day with art journal for many reasons.  It lets me clear my mind before beginning my day, in other words i start fresh by dumping my thoughts.  i get a creative warm up in a safe place.  And i get to experiment.  On this art journal page, i was playing around with color choices and a minimalistic approach.  i kind of like love it. 

I began this page with gesso and scratches into the gesso using a catalyst contour.  I also wanted this page to complement the pne to the left.  Color is an easy way to do that so i pulled in the green/blue and yellow i used in the circles.  You can see all the details in the video below. 

On this page is another example of me pushing my handwriting and covering it up with a tag.  The feather is one found on my Fancy Feathers Stencil from the Crafter's Workshop.

Believe Art Journal Page + Video

i love beginning my day with art journal for many reasons.  It lets me clear my mind before beginning my day, in other words i start fresh by dumping my thoughts.  i get a creative warm up in a safe place.  And i get to experiment.  On this art journal page, i was playing around with color choices and a minimalistic approach.  i kind of like love it. 

Here's a look at the full page. I am digging the purple with green swipes.  The Swiss dot stamp is from Purple Onion.  Love me a good background stamp.  The number stamp is an old Glitz stamp that i just adore as well. 

Here's fast forward video of me creating the page!

Scrapbook Soup: Unique Embellishments

In June i traveled to Cleveland, Ohio to film Scrapbook Soup with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  It was the most thrilling experience and i absolutely loved doing it.  The full episode will air on PBS so check your local listing.  You can also find lots of inspiring videos at Scrapbook Soup/KSProductionstv Youtube channel.  Guess what i am sharing today?  One of my segments from the new season, showing you how to change patterned paper into all kinds of cool embellishments. 

EDIT: it's LIVE!

Don't you think Julie & I work well together?  I have to tell you it was so much fun on the set and in the green room.  KS Productions is a great team and i am blessed for this opportunity. 

Here's the layout you see me creating above. In the background you see my ceiling tile stencil peeking through the layers of patterned paper. 

I just love the way the leaves look with the text peeking through the gesso & watercolors.  You can also see the flowers cut from the patterned paper as well as the blue "label" piece i created using a circle punch.