Experimenting With Something New!

About a month ago I discovered the work of Robin Mead.  Her work is bright and vibrant and full of color.  She draws and paints flowers galore!  She just offered her first online workshop which is called Make Your Mark!  I almost always love the look when an artist uses dark lines to emphasize various shapes. I think that is why I liked this class.  Black lines encourage colors to pop and stand out more.

This is a piece of art that I created while taking Robin's class.  I used Sharpie pens to draw the flowers and leaves and Copic markers to color them in.  I used some square stamps in the background along with my Portfolio Series water-soluble oil pastels.

Robin also creates beautiful digital art on an iPad.  It sounds like she will be offering some sort of digital art class in the near future.  I will definitely be signing up for that class as well.

Have you done any digital art on an iPad or other tablet??

Thanks for reading!

Last Week's Documented Life Project Planner Page

 Write your name and embellish it !  This was last week's Documented Life Challenge.  I know it sounds like an art assignment we all had in 5th or 6th grade.  But do you remember the freedom and opportunity for expression this provided?  (I don't actually remember doing this but I know my daughters did!)  Here is what I came up with.

As usual I used a lot of green.  I really like the green fern and the fun feathers!  I hadn't had a chance to use this new black washi tape, so I decided this was the time.  The washi tape went on the page, around the edges, early on so that helped me decide that the rest of the page needed some black.  I had fun with the polka dots and lines for the letters of my name.  I also used one of my new Stampers Anonymous Distress Damask stamps and stamped it in black.  The feathers are die cut from My Favorite Things Feathers and Arrows die set.  I stamped an Alisa Burke feather stamp over the die cut feathers.

This week's Documented Life Project Challenge is Monochromatic:  use shades, tints, and hues of one color.  I think I will use blue.   If you were going to create something monochromatic what color would you choose?

Thanks for reading!

Time After Time Challenge at Frilly and Funkie

I recently stumbled upon a blog called Frilly and Funkie.  Every couple of weeks they sponsor a challenge of some sort.  Right now their challenge is to create a project using clocks and time as your theme.  After pondering the idea of creating something for a challenge, and wondering how many time and clock related stamps and stencils I have, I decided to go for it.  I really enjoyed this challenge!   As my card came together I began to like it more and more.

I used a lot of Tim Holtz products:  his Clockwork stencil, a metal clock face from his Idea-ology Timepieces set, his detailed clock face stamp from his Visual Artistry Collection and his Idea-ology mini gears.  The flowers were die cut from Tim Holtz' Tattered Flower garland.

This card is what I will be submitting for the challenge.  Frilly and Funkie also have an online store with all sorts of great products.  It is called The Funkie Junkie Boutique.

Thanks for reading!

Using Gelli Printed Deli Paper in My Art Journal

I am constantly finding new ways to use Gelli printed deli paper in my art journals.  Last week I came  up with the idea that I wanted to try creating some really big flowers out of gelli printed deli paper and collage them onto a canvas or into my art journal.  I decided to do this in my journal.  You may recognize that the deli paper flowers in this art journal spread are out of the same paper that I made these flowers with.  I also cut up another piece of gelli printed deli paper into strips and created a border with it.  I went through a stage where I was making gelli printed deli paper envelopes with my BigShot and then incorporating the little envelopes into my art journal spreads.

For the background of this spread I used dictionary paper.  After applying some teal/mint green paint I used some of my new Dina Wakley Media stamps from her Textures set.

The colors in this art journal spread are definitely making me smile.  I will never grow tired of flowers!

Thanks for reading!

Flowers In Her Hair!

I finally found some time to try out this Prima Bloom Collection Instachick cling stamp.  I love the flowers and various things that are stuck in her hair! For the background I used one of my Stampers Anonymous Distress Damask stamps stamped in a light green.  Then I used Wendy Vecchi's translucent  embossing paste with a polka dot stencil.  After that dried overnight, I sprayed some Dylusions spray inks.  With a baby wipe I then wiped away the ink that was on the raised, clear embossing paste.  When the spray ink was dry I stamped the instachick stamp with a black Archival ink pad.  Next, I went to work coloring in the flowers, paintbrushes, buttons, spool of thread, etc. with Copic markers.  I ended by using my new Wink of Stella brush in Glitter Dark Pink to color in her lips.  If you're not familiar with these brushes they have a nice shimmery sparkle to them.  I also bought a clear one.  Oh, one more thing . . .  I used a white pen to whiten up the white of her eyes.

She definitely has blue specks all over her face but overall I really like how she turned out.  It looks like she's been having a heck of a lot of fun painting and working in her flower garden.

Speaking of gardening, the weeds in my planting beds are out of control!  I keep avoiding them!  I am trying to convince myself that just an hour a day for maybe three days would make it look dramatically better.  I'd much rather play with paint, stencils and spray ink any day!

Thanks for reading!

Make Art Everyday!

Bright Colors, Gelli Print Circles, Stencils, and Birdhouses

I try to do some form of art everyday.  Maybe it's just trying out a new stencil or stamping an image and then coloring it in.  I find that even if I don't complete something, but rather just dabble for a few minutes, I get the satisfaction of playing in a creative way.

This is an art journal spread that I tried to put together rather quickly.  My small Dylusions art journal is the place I seem to go to when I feel limited on time.  Rae Missigman taught me the trick of using an old credit card to spread paint onto a page.  I like this technique because it's quick and the paint needs almost no time to dry.  After applying the paint I added more paint through some new stencils and then added washi tape around the edges.  On a whim I decided to stamp the branch with the tree houses.  I've found lately that I like to punch out large circles and adhere them to my page.  In this case I punched some Gelli printed deli paper circles.  I then outlined the circles with a black pen.

Since I was trying to make time for art on a busy day I decided to stick letters on the page spelling out 'Make Art Everyday'.  I really like the bright colors on these pages.  I can see that I can work on blending colors and trying to lesson the harsh lines moving from one color to the next.  But, hey, that's what an art journal is for!   An art journal is a place to explore new mediums, try out new techniques, and see how colors work (or don't work) together.  It's a place to dive in and have fun . . . no pressure.  It's also a place where we can freely express ourselves, with or without words.  Even well known and accomplished artists don't create masterpieces everyday.

Thanks for reading!

How To Turn Newspaper Into a Perfect Mixed Media Surface

Hello!  Do you ever wonder how you can reuse newspaper in a crafty way?  A little over a year ago Julie Balzer posted this great technique video showing how to apply gesso to newspaper and then go to town stenciling with acrylic paints.  As you can see below, I had a ton of fun with this technique.  You simply brush gesso onto both sides of a piece of newspaper, let it dry, and then start adding paint with a cosmetic sponge and stencils.   The gesso makes the newspaper feel tough and thicker - less likely to tear.

I also did a piece with reds, pinks and purples (not shown) that I cut up and used for Valentine's Day cards last year.  

Below is a fun Spring card I put together using a piece of this gessoed and painted newspaper for the background.  

 And a close up of the cotton lace, burlap type fabric, and paper flowers across the bottom.

Thanks for stopping by!