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The Artistic 3 R’s

In some circles the 3 R’s are reading, writing, and arithmetic- but not in my world.  It’s ribbon, rub-ons, and rubber stamps. That’s the latest Artsy Fartsy Friendly Fun challenge with my creative friend,  Maria McGuire.  The rules are simple.  Use the 3 things in anything and in any way.  Be sure to check out Maria’s take on the 3 R’s!

 

 

This background was made while stamping on ribbon.  You can see how this came about in the video I made last week.

 

 

 

 

Trouble seeing the video? You can go directly to my youtube channel and view it there.

 

The rub-on I chose is a definition of inspire since that is how I feel because of my friendships.  My friends freely give sparks of inspiration that continue to fuel my creative spirit.

 

 

 

 

 

I have these wonderful full page polymer stamps from The Back Porch Artessa.  Their size and designs work so perfectly for layering color on an art journal page!

 

 

 

 

 

I had the idea to put the title at the bottom but the background was way too busy- so I pushed it back with some acrylic paint.  Used my fingers, of course.

 

 

 

 

 

A wrinkled and colored piece of notebook paper gave me a place to journal.  I ended up journaling all about triumphs and defeats from Fall Fearless and Fly’s latest challenge. Friends are such a part of inspiring the triumphs and getting past my defeats!

The title was cut from deli paper I had painted (and didn’t like it at all) and stamped.  Die cutting it up  made it look completely different- and suddenly what I didn’t like became a favorite.

 

 

I needed ribbon still – so I took a piece of it and wadded it up and glued it down.

 

 

 

 

The pink flowers and pinks in the title needed a bit more balance on the journal page so I smeared bits of pink along the top and sides.

Want to see more creativity?  Stop on by Mandarin Orange Monday, Creative Every Day Month, Inspire Me Monday, Show and Tell Saturday, Show Me What You Got, and Fall Fearless and Fly.

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  • Rinda ,

    I love your layers!
    Rinda

  • Love your friends, so lucky to be one! I think your three R’s are perfect…..and your ribbon tutorial too. Gotta try this….xox

  • Just beautiful how this all came together. Loving the die-cut lettering. xo

  • Fabulous! Love the layers here and especially that very complicated technique of ‘wadding’…. have a great day, friend! Off to see Maria’s…

  • artmusedog and Carol ,

    Wonderfully creative and expressive ~ great texture and color ~ (A Creative Harbor) ^_^

  • Thanks for sharing the videos, wonderful idea on how to create that.

    Visiting from mandarin Orange Monday. Your comment on my Orange entry will be much appreciated.
    Have a great week!

  • And if I ever get a die cut machine, I will make painted deli paper letters. What a clever concept and great way to use deli paper. Love this page!!

  • Hilary ,

    gah … it’ such a pleasure to bounce around and see everyone’s creative spark!! Your work is not only fantastic, it’s inspiring…

  • cat @ sea.sky.stone. ,

    I really enjoy watching your pages progress–and that wrinkled and colored notebook paper to journal on…so simple, but I love it! Happy AEDM!

  • Really lovely. Consider yourself Pinned girlfriend.

  • I just love seeing all this activity in your studio. This just became so neat looking. I would never sat down and said I’m putting all these colors together, but man, that really worked. Thank you, friend.

  • Claudette ,

    So happy and inspiring, every time I come here! Beautiful work!

  • Faye ,

    Carolyn, you are amazing how you make such beauty out of deli paper, ribbon, and such. Great job.

  • Lori ,

    It was interesting to see your processes and great to see the result. I like the orange pattern repeated in the background, the textures – and the arrangement of the orange shapes and words. Thank you for taking part in Mandarin Orange Monday:)

  • Maria McGuire ,

    I just knew you would do something fabulous with that background from last week but never imagined it would be for our challenge!!!! I just love color combo and how you added the ribbon a the end. BUT…. My favorite part is the letters. Putting aside the word–which I think you know how I feel about you….I can’t imagine that you didn’t like the print. The cutout letters are amazing and have so much depth to them! We did it again–two totally different projects born from a friendship that means the world to me!

  • Love, love, love. The colors, the whole shebang!
    xo
    lynn

  • Super cool page! I love how everything flows visually down the page to point to FRIENDS. Gorgeous colors too!

  • I love that look…the colors, texture, the graphics. Thanks for the tutorial!

  • oh what a wonderful post!!! love the way you work….lovely layers and pure magic in the end!!

  • annie! ,

    I think I’ve finally figured out that Safari is my video-viewing problem…so I didn’t see the video…but love the results.

  • Hi Carolyn, I always enjoy seeing what you come up with for your pages. I especially like the pink ribbons and matching paint smears! Also, I am think of buying some sort of “cutting” machine. I see you mention die cutting your lettering. Is there somewhere on one of your sites that you recommend a particular machine that is especially good for letters?

  • Carolyn, I love everything about this page, thanks for sharing
    Big love
    AJ 🙂

  • Enjoy looking through your blog. Found you through Marit’s Artists in Blogland icon!!
    Loved looking at how you were using your ribbon and stamping! Best- Jill

  • I’m a huge fan of your use of pink and orange on this page. It’s fun to see the process pictures thanks for making the extra effort. Thanks for linking up with SMWYG see you next Wednesday!

  • I really liked this! And the stamped ribbon idea. I am actually planning to try to decorate some cloth hockey tape. 🙂