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Welcome! I’m Carolyn Dube – This colorful journey is all about the freedom of play!

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The Fine Print

Some of the links on this blog are affiliate links and I receive a small percentage. It doesn't cost you anything extra and helps keep all the free tutorials and videos coming! It's a win-win! The website is copyright Carolyn Dube, and that is kinda common sense since this is my site. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Print it. Make it. Love it. A Weekend Retreat

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Imagine an artful weekend of gel printing loaded with techniques and projects all while being pampered…a private room,scrumptious homemade meals and freedom to work at your own pace! Cozing up by the fire laughing and playing, pouring a glass of wine and having a quiet conversation, or enjoy the walking trails and labyrinth. That is Print it! Make it! Love it!

2 and 1/2 days of gel printing play in the most wonderful retreat setting-St. Mary’s at Transfiguration Spirituality Center in Cincinnati, OH. We’ll be gel printing then making 4 different projects with your prints. With this retreat being in November it is a great opportunity to get a head start making gifts for the holidays.

I’m there to help you by sharing techniques I’ve learned through years of printing, by answering your questions as they pop up, and guiding you through the building up of layers. I’m delighted to be co-teaching with the talented Kari McKnight Holbrook, frequently seen in Cloth Paper Scissors.

This is limited to only 20 students (at the time of writing this post it is over half sold  there is only one spot left)  so we’ll have a chance to get to know each other. Since we have the entire building to ourselves, you can create in your pajamas all weekend if you want! Saturday night, the evening kicks off with ridiculously awesome artsy gifts, all provided, with a side of silly at the White Elephant Event. Plus FREE goodies from Gel Press + StencilGirl + Deco Art!

Join me and Kari McKnight Holbrook for a weekend of gel printing hosted by the heartful Glenda Miles this November. The all inclusive fee of $545 includes (early bird price and bonus $25 StencilGirl gift certificate) all your meals, light snacks, private room and ensuite bathroom, a goodie bag and so much more! But the early bird price flies away on Saturday, May 27th.  You can find all the details and registration info here.

Hope to see you this November for a weekend of play!

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How Disco Helped Me Deal with an Ugly Art Journal Page

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Playing in a cardboard art journal with color and pattern video tutorial by Carolyn Dube

What do I do with a hideous start to an art journal page? Call it an OOPS and add more layers!  An O.O.P.S. is an Outstanding Opportunity Presenting Suddenly and little did I know that the word discover would take me to the 70’s and disco.

Watch How I dealt with an ugly art journal page on YouTube.

How do I build the cardboard journals?  It’s all covered in the free workshop Permission to Play – join the fun and let yourself play.

The early layers on this page were hideously blah.  They just looked like a mess and not even in colors I like! Since this is mixed media, when a layer looks that way, it just means it is time for more layers.

Playing in a cardboard art journal with color and pattern video tutorial by Carolyn Dube

In the process of adding color that discover became disco.  And yes, I started hearing the Bee Gee’s and Donna Summer in my head.  Don’t worry, I didn’t sing on the video- autotune couldn’t help me hit a note.

Playing in a cardboard art journal with color and pattern video tutorial by Carolyn Dube

A bit of orange pattern was added by using 1 of the 4 patterns on my Rectangular Patterns for Play stencil from StencilGirl.  One of the many things I adore about stencils is that you can use just part of it to get different looks.  There is an irregularly shaped patch of the little squares in the center, then a line of them at the bottom, and just a few in the upper corner. All from just one of the patterns.

Playing in a cardboard art journal with color and pattern video tutorial by Carolyn Dube

Perhaps this is a bit of a controversial statement for all those kids of the 80’s who were raised that disco just wasn’t cool but…Disco should stand out, so I traced over the word with a black pen to make it pop a bit more.

Playing in a cardboard art journal with color and pattern video tutorial by Carolyn Dube

Then it was disco dot fever time as I added splots of acrylic ink on top of some of the squares.  The plan was to do just a few dots but it was too much fun, so I just kept on adding more and more.  And yes, Donna Summer was still playing in my head… New to fineliners? Here’s a video that explains them in detail.

Playing in a cardboard art journal with color and pattern video tutorial by Carolyn Dube

If you ever happen to have an ugly art journal page, try saying O.O.P.S. and adding more layers. That’s what I do!

If you’d like to see how to make a cardboard art journal as well as specific ways to let yourself play, check out my free workshop, Permission to Play.

Here are the supplies I used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and it helps keep the free tutorials coming!

Here’s a bit of what was (and still is) playing in my head thanks to that word discover becoming disco…

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Coloring Pages for the Impatient Inspired by Matisse

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Coloring in Cutouts Inspired by Matisse with Fantastix creating colorful patterned paper by Carolyn Dube

Patience is a virtue that I have not mastered, especially when coloring and pattern making. However, I really enjoy exploring colors and patterns. The solution  for me is to use a crayon rubbing and an extremely juicy “pen” that can cover a lot of area quickly hence minimal patience is required.

What are stencil crayon rubbings?  You might have done leaf rubbings in elementary school and this is the same idea only using a stencil instead of the leaf.  Cut Outs Inspired by Matisse stencil was the stencil used to make these pages.

Watch Coloring with Fantastix on YouTube.

New to stencil crayon rubbings?  You can see how I made a crayon rubbing with a different stencil directly on book text here.

What was the juicy “pen” used for coloring?  Fantastix dipped in the colorful inks.  The juicy tips allow me to cover a lot of area quickly since I am an impatient colorist.  Okay, I’m impatient with almost everything.  Just ask my kids.

The plan was to to color with only blues.  It didn’t take me long to abandon that plan and bring in the green.

Coloring in Cutouts Inspired by Matisse with Fantastix creating colorful patterned paper by Carolyn Dube

After all the blues and greens were filled in, I decided the background should pop so out came the orange. As large a space as it was to color, it went quickly thanks to being able to dip the Fantastix in the ink to keep is juicy.

Coloring in Cutouts Inspired by Matisse with Fantastix creating colorful patterned paper by Carolyn Dube

Now I have colorful patterned papers to use next time I am art journaling, collaging, and making a card.  If you had an eagle eye, near the beginning of the video when I show a couple of papers already colored in, you might have noticed the O.O.P.S., there is one shape on the colorful one that was left blank.  I’d like to tell you that was an artistic statement, but it wasn’t.  I just missed that one!

Here are the supplies I used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and it helps keep the free tutorials coming!


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