Monday Moodboard

Hello there, lovelies!

We've had quite a grey and rainy autumn season so far (which is typical for my area I might add), so I've curated a mood board with cheerful colors to brighten the day! I, for one, would love to curl up on the sofa with a cozy blanket and a good book, a steaming mug of cocoa and some cookies right about now. Alas, it's Monday and I have errands to run. 😉

The featured shops are linked below.

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Geschenketipp - Personalisierbare Schmuckkästchen

[Werbung]

English-speaking readers: check out unique gift ideas at callie.com

Hallo ihr Lieben 😊

wie schnell doch wieder das Jahr zu Ende geht! In großen Schritten bewegen wir uns auf die Weihnachtszeit zu - eine Zeit, die von Kerzenschein, Plätzchenduft und Gemütlichkeit geprägt ist. Bestimmt macht ihr euch auch schon Gedanken darüber was man denn dieses Jahr seinen Lieben schenken könnte. Denn das Schenken gehört für viele Menschen zum Weihnachtsfest. Ich mag diese Tradition und überlege mir schon Wochen vorher was ich wem schenken werde. 🎁🎀

Da habe ich einen Tipp für euch. Vielleicht kennt ihr ja schon Callie? Dieser Online Shop bietet eine breite Auswahl an personalisierbaren Geschenken. Von Schmuck, Wohndeko bis hin zu Kleidung und Accessoires ist für jeden etwas dabei. Gut finde ich, dass die Geschenkempfehlungen nach Empfänger (für Sie / für Ihn / für Kinder / für Tierliebhaber etc.) geordnet sind und somit ein passendes Geschenk schnell gefunden ist. 

Besonders die personalisierbaren Schmuckkästchen sind mir ins Auge gefallen. Ein hübsche und auch praktische Geschenkidee für liebe Freundinnen oder weibliche Familienmitglieder. Hier zeige ich euch meine Favoriten. 💝

 

1. Dieses Schmuckkästchen mit Blumendesign kommt in vier verschiedenen Farben. Es ist aus hochwertigem Kunstleder gefertigt mit einer weichen, glatten Textur. Das durchdachte Design verfügt über spezielle Fächer für Ringe, Ohrringe und Halsketten, die dafür sorgen, dass der Inhalt geordnet bleibt. Das besondere Extra: ein Spiegel mit integrierter, dreistufig einstellbarer LED-Lichtleiste!

 

2. Schmückkästchen mit Sternzeichen Print. Dieses quadratische Schmuckkästchen kommt in drei Farben und lässt sich ebenfalls mit Sternbild und Namen personalisieren. So wie das obige, besteht es auch aus hochwertigem Kunstleder und ist mit einem weichen Innenfutter ausgestattet, welches die Schmuckstücke vor Kratzern schützt.

 

3. Dieses Schmuckkästchen kommt in vier Farben und lässt sich mit dem Anfangsbuchstaben eures Namens personalisieren. Für den Buchstaben gibt es zehn Farben zur Auswahl und - wenn gewünscht - lässt sich eine kleine, märchenhafte Figur seitlich daneben aufdrucken. Diese Schatulle kommt mit einem Spiegel und integrierter LED-Lichtleiste. Sehr praktisch, wenn man die Schatulle mit auf Reisen nimmt.

💕

Mir gefällt die große Auswahl an Schmuckkästchen bei Callie und insgesamt finde ich das Preis-Leistungs-Verhältnis völlig in Ordnung. Vielen Dank fürs Lesen und vielleicht ist ja bei dem Angebot für die oder den zu Beschenkende/n etwas dabei. Schaut einfach mal in den Online Shop rein. Es sind ja noch viele andere Kategorien passend zum Empfänger dabei. 

Ich wünsche euch eine schöne Woche und viel Spaß beim Stöbern.

Duni's Flohmarkt ♥ Lecien Stickgarne 10er Set

[Werbung]

Hallo ihr Lieben!

nach einer längeren Pause gibt es heute einen Blitzverkauf, insbesondere für alle Stickbegeisterten unter Euch 😊 Nur bis Sonntag, den 2. November!

Hier biete ich ein 10er Set Stickgarn von der japanischen Firma Lecien zu einem sehr guten Preis an.

Das Stickgarn ist in Japan hergestellt, besteht aus 100% glatter Premium-Baumwolle und kommt auf einer praktischen Kone (original verpackt). Dieses Garn ist geeignet zum Sticken, Knüpfen sowie andere Bastelarbeiten, wie z.B. Quasten selber machen oder Holzperlen überziehen.

► aktuell sind 4 Sets vorrätig.

30 m / Kone

#22/6 

Farben:

Weiß / Creme / Hellrosa / Pink / Rot / Hellgrün / Flieder / Hellblau / Mittelblau / Navy

• 10er Set: EURO 22,- zzgl. Paketversand EURO 6,20 mit Deutsche Post/DHL*

   *innerhalb DE

   Gesamtpreis: EURO 28,20 

• keine Rücknahme, da Privatverkauf. Wenn weg, dann weg, keine Garantie

► Bei Kaufinteresse bitte an folgende Email unter Angabe Eures Namens sowie Lieferadresse schreiben: duni.buesken(at)gmx.de 

Krima & Isa Bastelgarn Mini

Hier biete ich Garnrollen-Restbestände zu einem sehr guten Preis an:

• Buntes Bastelgarn mit einer Stärke von 1mm. Lauflänge pro Rolle ca. 35 m

   EURO 1,50 pro Rolle zzgl. Versandkosten Deutsche Post/DHL 

   (wird nach Größe / Gewicht berechnet)

• solange Vorrat reicht

• keine Rücknahme, da Privatverkauf

► Bei Kaufinteresse bitte Farbwahl sowie Anzahl, Euren Namen und Adresse angeben. Email: duni.buesken(at)gmx.de

Farben:

Rosa (noch 1 St.) / Hellblau (ausverkauft) / Blau / Schwarz (noch 2 St.) / Flieder / Hellgrün / Rot (noch 1 St.) / Grau / Pfirsich / Mint

€1,50 pro Rolle

Nur bis Sonntag, 2. November - jetzt schnell Email senden an: duni.buesken(at)gmx.de

Bis bald und ganz liebe Grüße,

Monday Moodboard

Hello everyone!

Longtime readers might remember that I used to curate themed moodboards on Monday's. If I recall correctly, they were quite popular among my fellow bloggers. I always had fun creating them plus I like supporting small businesses by featuring them - so, I've decided to revive my moodboards every other Monday starting with Pantone's color of the year 2025, which is Mocha Mousse, a warm, earthy brown. I hope you enjoy my picks! 

The featured shops are linked below.

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Colorful Collage Art with a painted Butterfly

Hi everyone!

Today I'm sharing another painting process in my art journal. Most of my journals are themed, for example "face sketching" or "abstract" etc. The square journal shown here is dedicated to collage art with a dreamy, vintage-y look with lots of layers. Once I've completed this journal I will share a flip-through. But for now, let me walk you through the layering process.

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts I love creating my own collage papers for my mixed media artwork. For this spread I have selected a few papers along with some torn bits of sheet music and grid paper. I adhered these with a glue stick and then added a thin layer of Mod Podge on the whole spread to seal and prepare it for the next layers. 

In the above photo I have stencilled on leaf motifs in random areas. The paint needs to dry before adding the next layer.

I gave the whole spread a wash of thinned down acrylic ink in burnt sienna. This gives the artwork a warm glow. Because it is thinned down with a lot of water, the layers are still visible. Once the ink has dried I went in with another stencil in a creamy yellow to add even more texture. I let this dry again. Then I stamped a tiny dot motif using a black stamp pad.

I contemplated adding another stamp, then decided against it, as I thought it would overwhelm the page. I did go in with a paint pen in raspberry pink to make tiny dashes.

Ages ago I painted this butterfly. It's been sitting in my collage fodder basket waiting for the perfect background. Well, the butterfly finally got its rightful place on this page! I added a little sentiment from my sticker book to the other side. I'm really happy with how it turned out.

Thank you for stopping by and have a beautiful day!

Why I make my own Painted Papers

Hello lovely, crafty people!

Painted papers or collage papers, as they are commonly known, are an integral part of mixed media art. When I first started out on my art journey I did buy a commercially printed collage pack and quickly found out what a mistake that was. Not only were the designs printed on cheap paper, on closer look the motifs seemed generic and uninspired. Worse still, on even closer inspection some of the printed text didn't make any sense at all and was simply horrible. I quickly discovered that I could actually make my own collage. Not only that, but I already had perfect papers at home - old book pages and sheet music - ready to be transformed. Once I got going I never looked back!

You, too, can make your own stack of painted papers and you don't require a lot of paints or tools. A block of regular white paper, a couple of your favorite acrylic paints, a few paint pens, maybe a stamp or two and if you are feeling very adventures you might try stencilling. An old wine cork dipped in paint is great for making big dots. The eraser on the end of a pencil makes small ones. While these dots aren't perfectly round or a line drawn without a ruler might turn out wonky, I find this adds a certain handmade charm and more importantly makes these papers uniquely your own.

For variation I paint or print on tissue paper, brown paper bags, that I have cut open, sketching sheets and old book pages that make interesting background effects. As shown above, I made a set of neutrals that are a good starting point in mixed media artwork.

A black stamp pad, paint pens in black in various sizes, text stamps all look good on a neutral background, while white or cream looks good on brown paper. I find simple motifs work best.

I later invested in a gel plate since I was planning to make a whole lot of painted papers!  Although it looks easy, working with a gel plate takes a bit of experimentation and you will eventually get nice prints through trial and error. In the above picture I used just a handful of colors and a couple of stamps. Mine seem to turn out best when I use less paint and choose simple stamping motifs. I'd like to point out that it is absolutely not necessary to own a gel plate to be able to create beautiful papers. In the below video I demonstrate just how easy it is to make a set of papers without one.

And did you know that my underpapers, e.g. usually printer paper, that I use to roll off the excess paint from my brayer or wipe off the ink from my stamps never get thrown away? I simply make more marks on them with paint pens! I think these look pretty amazing too.

Thank you for stopping by today and I hope you enjoyed reading my post. Have you ever made your own collage papers with or without a gel plate? What's your take on gel printing. I'd love to hear. Let me know in the comments! Have a beautiful day.

Grungy Art Journal Page with Watercolor Flowers

Hi everyone!

Although popular, I'm the first to admit that watercolors are actually my least favorite medium. However, I was intrigued by this small five pan set by Kuretake, which is relatively new here in Europe. Kuretake Gansai Tambi watercolors are an upper end brand, but I was lucky to get the set on sale. The set includes Aurora Red, Aurora Pink, Aurora Orange, Aurora Blue and Aurora Violet plus an empty pan for mixing.  At first I was sceptical, as the paint in the pans looked drab, but once activated with water they have a wonderful granulation and color dispersion. You can see this effect on my swatches in my watercolor sketchbook. It takes a bit of experimentation, but I feel the more water is added the better the color effects! It's best to not manipulate the water and just let it air dry. Once completely dry, the full two-tone color dispersion can be seen and admired. Side note: The colors are definitely not as bright as on the package.

Of course, now that I have them I will need to use them. I wanted to create something in my junky handmade art journal. So I grabbed some watercolor pencils, a few acrylic gouache paints, some crayons and some favorite stamps. I opened the journal and chose a random spread with pages that already had some colors and marks on them. I started by loosely putting down some colors with a flat brush. 

I continued brushing on paint. I used a sky blue, light turquoise, prussian blue and rose. I also used my fingers to blend in some white. I made some marks with a black crayon and added some splatters with white acrylic ink. This "playing" is just so relaxing, and since it's done in my junk journal there is no pressure to create a masterpiece.

Once satisfied with my background, I set the journal aside to focus on my focal images. I stamped some floral motifs on a white sheet of paper and colored them in using small round brushes in size 4 and size 6. While the images were still wet, I went in with my watercolor pencils to add some details and enhance the flowers. I set these aside to dry completely. 

Now that I've experimented with the Kuretake watercolors I must say, that while I appreciate the color dispersion and granulating effect, I find that it is not as pronounced on a small area. The colors are probably more effective as a background wash or when painting sky or seascapes. I felt the two-tone effect did not show up as well on a small and detailed image like those above.

Anyway, back to my background. I stamped some of my favorite grungy stamps in some areas. And once the flower motifs were dry I cut them out, but I wasn't too precise about it, as I was just going to stick them on my junk journal pages.

I adhered the floral images on the pages with a glue stick and also added a little sentiment. "Progress not Perfection." And indeed, I made some progress as far as painting with watercolors goes. Controlling the amount of water seems to be of paramount importance. I feel these granulating colors will be fun to use on larger areas. Good to know for future projects!

Thank you for reading along and I hope you enjoyed my little art journal demonstration. And if you missed it - a quick reminder that I launched my mini workshop last week. If you are interested you can click on the button in the side bar or follow this link.

[Mini Workshop] Memory Booklet ♥

Hello lovelies,

The secret is out. I have been working on something special behind the scenes...my very own mini workshop! I came up with the concept of this cute memory booklet after spending many evenings brainstorming beginner-friendly ideas that would appeal to anyone who loves mixed media art as well as art journaling, and who cherishes the idea of creating a mini photo album of a meaningful event, be it a trip, a special birthday or holiday! 

I truly enjoyed filming and editing this mini workshop from start to finish and since my booklet is filled with photos of one of my favorite city trips to Amsterdam, I often ended up walking down memory lane long after the camera stopped rolling 😀

Piqued your interest? Follow this link for more information.

And a quick reminder that I also offer over 20 absolutely FREE mixed media art tutorials over on my YouTube channel. Click on the button in the sidebar to view.

I'm sharing a few process photos below:

Create a tip-in page

Stencilling

Create the intro page

By the way, in my workshop we'll be making the booklet from scratch! Don't worry, it is super simple and only requires two A5 sheets of mixed media paper plus a cover paper. In the workshop I guide you through the binding process, which is also very easy. 

The watchtime for this mini workshop is around 30 minutes structured into five manageable video clips. Plus I've also included a bonus video, where I share how to create a color-coordinated stack of collage papers with and without a gel plate. Super fun and easy!

A note about my painting style. If you have been following me on Instagram and elsewhere, you will know that my style is loose and expressive. I lean into this style in my workshop to some degree. Mainly it's about showcasing your favorite photos using collage and paper embellishments with a bit of stamping, stencilling and, of course, journaling. 

The beauty of this workshop is that it is customizable to your own style. Feel free to choose your own color palette, collage papers, stickers and embellishments!

Click on the button in the sidebar for more info and please share with friends 😊

Fun & Easy Messy Art in my handmade Junk Journal

Hi lovelies!

It's been so grey and rainy these past few weeks, that I was craving some color. I wanted to make some easy art, that I could fit in between my chores :) That's where my handmade junk journal comes in handy. Since the pages are made with leftover papers, underpapers, junk papers etc. they mostly already have some color or marks on them. A good starting point. For this project I actually used my fingers to "paint". Basically, I chose a couple of my favorite paint colors and randomly smeared them on the page. I guarantee this is so much fun! To see the entire process, scroll down to view the video.

There are not many tools required for this art page. Any journal will do, if you don't have a handmade one. Then pick your favorite paint colors, a couple of wax crayons, and maybe a stamp or two. For my focal point I picked one of my pre-made collage leaf images. If you are interested, you can watch this short video on how I made these.

Fun "finger painting" process below.

Step One - Use your fingers to spread the paint on the page.

A pea-sized dollop of paint will do.

Step Two - I sometimes scratch into the still wet paint to reveal color beneath (optional).

Step Three - Making marks with a crayon.

Step Four - Stamping.

I simply adhered the focal image and a title to the page with a glue stick. Another finishing touch I like to make are splatters! I made some with white acrylic ink on this page and I think they add another layer of interest to the page. Thank you for reading along and I hope my art page has inspired you to try this yourself. Enjoy!

Please pin / share this project

Handmade Greeting Cards with Kraft paper

Hello everyone!

I am back with a new, fun tutorial. I love papercrafts of all kinds and therefore have quite the stash of various papers - among those some sheets of A4 size Kraft paper. I thought these would be perfect for this card making project. The process is easy with lots of mark making and using leftover bits of collage, junk paper, found objects, ephemera and anything else you would like to decorate the card with. 

I forgot to take a picture of the plain Kraft paper, but it's really self-explanatory. You take the sheet of Kraft paper and cut it in half. Then you take the two pieces and fold them in half. That's your card bases ready!

Below is a step-by-step instruction, however, feel free to substitute any colors or decorations as you please:

Step One

I stamped my text stamp in a few areas on the card front, then used blue paint to make a couple of random swipes with a big brush. I let this dry.

Step Two

Next I used a small dagger brush and black acrylic ink to make abstract swirly marks and let this dry again.

Step Three

With a fan brush I made some splatters all over the card front.

Step Four

I set aside the cards to dry and prepare the focal images, which in my case are various leaves. I used stamps and distress ink to create the images.

 I keep a basket with tiny paper scraps that I like using in my collage art and journals. These are leftover from bigger projects. These are also great for adding texture to cards. I did not want to overload my cards, so I just chose few neutral pieces. On a whim I cut out tiny hearts from this pink leftover paper. (see above)

I arranged and adhered the pieces with gel medium, which is best for thin tissue papers and a glue stick for the sturdier pieces.

Finally, I add the cut out leaf images and hearts!

Now, I have two unique handmade cards - ready to pop into an envelope and send to someone special! 

You can watch the process in the video below:

Do you or someone you know like making papercrafts with Kraft? Pin/Share this project!