I believe in Angels

I read a few quotes about Angels and although I don't believe in the spiritual angel I do believe that people do angelic things that makes them angels in our eyes. I got a print from my last order from Shawn Petite's shop. I bought an original painting during the Black Friday sale and with it came a print of one of her recent mixed media paintings of Angels. It was a 5x7 ready for framing, but pink is not a color that finds a place in my home, nor do pictures of angels for that matter; like I said spiritual is not my thing. But it is my friend's thing and she believes in angels. Her colors are not pink either though, so I put the print to excellent use and used it in my own blue mixed media painting.

I used a repurposed plaque that I had taken the engravings off and covered with gesso. It was the perfect size. I am going to give it as a Christmas gift. I hope Shawn doesn't mind that I cut up her print. But it looks quite lovely in it's new surroundings.

and the video of course:
Mixed Media Angels 12-20-18

Product List:
Shawn Petite eucalyptus and butterfly Stencils
Liquitex Matte Medium, Gesso, Glazing Medium, Gloss Varnish
Deco Art Acrylics
Ranger Archival Inks
Stampset by Studio Calico
Uniball white gel pen
Archival Marker
General Charcoal Pencil
Blick soft Pastels and Pan Pastels
Final Fixative

Keep Imagination in Focus

It is nearly impossible to create art if your imagination if out of focus. Unless you are a REALLY good artist who can do portraits that look like real people and paint scenes that look like real scenes. For my art, I need imagination. I need to step outside the comfort of reality and get some good grunge on.. You know?

Here is a perfect example. The picture outside my front window does not look like this. We have no huge flowers, no forest and no mountains. We are at sea level, in a residential area; cars, driveways, streets and even trash cans.

I prefer not to focus on the trash cans, but instead on the colors of those gorgeous crete myrtles in my neighbor's yard. Those are the colors of December in the Low Country. We finally have fall. While all of our friends and relatives up north are looking at snow, we are enjoying the fruits of autumn. That was my inspiration for this project. And this was my video:

Mixed Media - Focus

Product List:
Shawn Petite flower silhouette and trees Stencils
Liquitex Matte Medium, Gesso, Glazing Medium, satin Varnish
Dreamweavers Embossing paste
Deco Art Acrylics
Uniball white gel pen
General Charcoal Pencil
Blick soft Pastels
Grumbacher Final Fixative

Turn Mistakes Into Beauty

Truth is, I did not make mistakes on this, not many anyway, maybe should have stayed away from the Sepia Ink, it always make mud. I just liked the saying, so I built the canvas around it.

This is an 8x8, new size for me. When Michaels had a BOGO and free shipping, I went in! I also used some ephemera pieces from my scrapbooking stash which is rare for me: clay, brads, fabric, metal and string. Lots of good 3D.

I do like how water color paper gives my art and extra dimension too. The bird would have otherwise faded into the background.

The YouTube Video, only 12 minutes, good music, enjoy

Mixed Media Turn Mistakes into Beauty

Product List:
Shawn Petite flower silhouette and numbers Stencils
TCW Bird stencil
Liquitex Matte Medium, Gesso, Glazing Medium, Gloss Varnish
Deco Art Acrylics
Marabu Art Spray
Ranger Archival Inks
Stampset by One Little Bird
Canson Watercolor paper
Uniball white gel pen
Inktense Pencil
General Charcoal Pencil
Blick soft Pastels
Grumbacher Final Fixative

Appreciate Everything

I came upon a mixed media project in Shawn Petite's gallery that caught my eye. I sought out the video and found it was made 18 months ago. As much as I tried to make it my own, the end result resembles the original so much, it is almost like looking at its twin. For that apologize.

The Original

They do say that emulation is the greatest compliment.

The video: Mixed Media Everything

Product List:
Shawn Petite Collage Papers and Stencils
Liquitex Matte Medium, Gesso, Glazing Medium, Satin Varnish
Deco Art Fluid Acrylics
Marabu Art Crayons
Ranger Archival and Distress Inks
Uniball white gel pen
Zig marker
Blick soft Pastels
Grumbacher Final Fixative

Broadside of a Barn

I have always loved Barns. I grew up with a barn in my backyard. As kids we spent a lot of time playing in that old barn behind our house. It had an upstairs, lots of doors and a couple of work benches. It was only a few years ago it was demolished before it collapsed under its own weight. I also remember the barn at my grandparents house when they lived on the hill, my grandfather had his workshop in there. He was quite the carpenter. I still have a wooden box he made, way back when.

This photo does not resemble the barn in our backyard, but I found it comforting just the same. I like the quote, so a painted the weather vane on top. It is fitting.

Mixed Media Broadside (of a Barn)

Product List:
Shawn Petite Trees Stencils
L1quitex Matte Medium, Modeling Paste, Matte Gel, Gesso, Satin Varnish
Deco Art Acrylics and Fluid Acrylics
Arteza acrylic
General Charcoal Pencil and stick
Ranger Archival
Uniball white gel pen
Blick soft Pastels
Spetrafix Fixative
Grumbacher Final Fixative

mixed media techniques for card making

When it was my turn to "crash my stash" I found mostly card making supplies. So I used my mixed media techniques and combined them with card making techniques and came out with some great, colorful cards. It is something I enjoyed doing and want to share on birthdays and other occasions.

And the video: Mixed Media Card Making

Product list:
Canson 9x12 140lb watercolor paper, Neenah cardstock
WeR Memory keepers glass craft mat and brad setter,
Ranger Distress Oxides, Archival Inks,
Tsukineko versafine ink, versamark ink and Glue Pad
Cosmic Shimmer Guilding flakes, EK tools powder tool,
usArtQuest PPA Matte adhesive, Aleene’s Tacky glue, double-sided adhesive,
Judikins clear and wow earthtone embossing powder, Dreamweaver embossing paste
Shawn Petite Stencils: Background Words, Trees, Garden2, Bicycle, wildflower & wildflower2
MISTI stamping tool, Kuretake zig clean color brush pens and waterbrush
Stampsets: Wendy Vecchi Script, Unity Post Card, Impression Obsession Scratched, square,
Cocoa Vanilla Bohemian Dream, Jasmine Jones grow, grateful, symppathy and bicycle,
Lawn Fawn on the mend, MSE sympathy, Flora and Fauna woodland birthday,
Fiskars paper cutters, embellishments by: color theory, studio g and zing,
Martha Stewart bone folder and scoring board
Heidi Swapp reactive paint, foil and Minc

Happiness comes from our Actions

I bought a stencil and thought it would make a great tree for some birds. I also imagined an autumn with color. So this 12x12 canvas took shape.

And the YouTube video:
Mixed Media Happiness

Music by: Epidemic Sound
A Taste Of Summer - Johan Hynynen
Mr Oakbranch - Anders Ekengren
Written In Stone – Dayon
Wings To Fly - Josef Bel Habib
Product List: Stencils by Shawn Petite and TCW
LIquitex Matte Medium, Gesso, Satin Varnish, Heavy Acrylic
Arteza Acrylics

Dreamweaver Black embossing paste
Ranger Archival
Uniball white gel pen
Blick soft Pastels
Grumbacher Final Fixative

The Lone Cypress

This is one of the most photographed trees in the world. Mine is no exception. We traveled the PCH and took 17 mile drive most just to see this. When I started working on the video I did not know that it would be my Creative Team Piece, but I was so pleased with the result, it had to be my reveal for November. I sold it at a craft fair to a friend who wanted to give it to her son. I hope it is loved.

And the Video: Mixed Media Landscape "The Lone Cypress"

Product List:
Shawn Petite Collage Papers and Stencils: Bricks and Bubbles Doodle Stacked Stones Old World Minis Postage 1 Pine Cones Numbers 1
LIquitex Matte Medium, Gesso, Satin Varnish
Deco Art Acrylics and Fluid Acrylics
Dina Wakley Clear Gesso and Collage Words
Aleene’s Tacky Glue
General Charcoal Pencil and stick
Ranger Archival and Distress Inks
Hero Arts Block stamp
Uniball white gel pen
Blick soft Pastels
Krylon Workable Fixative
Grumbacher Final Fixative

Music by Epidemic sound
Tennessee Skyline - Mikael Rosman
Drama Expressive Trailer - Magnus Ringblom
Good Mood Guitar - Bo Järpehag
Beautiful Modern Piano - Johan Hynynen
My Tongue Is Tied 4 - Bo Järpehag
Morning Sun - Sven Karlsson

Change Takes Courage

One thing I learned at my recent craft fair is that flowery mixed media paintings don't sell unless they contain a bold message. It is always a difficult thing to know what customers want. I had thought that because it was a church craft fair they would want religious type stuff. But no. That is not what sold.

What does sell is texture and quotes that people relate to. So for my next craft fair, which may or may not happen I will concentrate on doing more of those types of art.

In this particular piece, I used instruction I got in Shawn Petite's "Yummy Layered Backgrounds" workshop, specifically the decollage lesson. I looked up decollage and found out is a French term that means to "take away". In this technique you stick your papers down and peel them back up. It seems kind of wasteful until you see the texture you get from ripped papers especially when you emphasis the layers.

I really had no idea what I was going to do with the background until it was done. I got this Owl stencil a while back and I really love it. I did not have a lot of confidence I could get a good image directly on the board so I created it on watercolor paper then popped it up to stand out. I am really happy with this project.

Enjoy the Video. I am really getting into all types of music.

Mixed Media Change

Product List:
Shawn Petite Stencils: Owl & Flowers Silhouette
Liquitex Matte Medium, Gesso, Gloss Gel, Satin Varnish
Deco Art Acrylics and Fluid Acrylics
Judikins Microglaze and embossing powder
Ranger Archival and Versafine Inks
Canson 9x12 140lb watercolor paper
Zig Clean color markers
Dreamweavers Embossing paste
Impression Obsession, stampers anonymous & Unity Stamps
Uniball white gel pen
Blick soft Pastels
Grumbacher Final Fixative

Blessings

I have finally completed all my October commitments and welcome November with open arms. I created my first mixed media project for this month. Actually it began at 3a.m. on 10/31 when the inspiration struck. I finished the first two layers then went back to bed resuming the project later in the day.

I attended a "yummy" background layers course and used a lot of the techniques on this canvas. My plan was to give it to a friend for her birthday if it turned out well. I think it is marvelous, and hope it fits with her décor.

The video footage was over two hours, but I was able to cut it back to under 15 minutes. A lot of speed work, but like always, no one wants to watch paint dry.



And of course the video:

Mixed Media Blessings
The Music was so appropriate for Halloween!

Mixed Media 12x12 Canvas “Blessings”
Product List:
Shawn Petite Stencils: Bricks and Bubbles, Doors, windows, Numbers 1
Ranger Archival Ink, Crackle Paste and Stencil: Splatters
DCW Stencil: Brick
LIquitex Matte Medium, Gesso, Satin Varnish, Heavy Acrylic
Arteza Acrylics
Textured Sand
Dreamweaver White & Black embossing paste
PPA Matte Adhesive
General Charcoal Pencil and stick
Uniball white gel pen
Blick soft Pastels
Grumbacher Final Fixative

Life in Pawleys

Been a while since I posted. I have not been idle, I have been preparing my videos for Shawn Petite's creative team and I cannot reveal them until next month. I have also been getting ready for my first exhibit at a craft fair here in town. I hope people like my work, I am keeping the prices low because I am not a known artist (yet) and I would rather have someone who enjoys my work have a piece of art rather than drag them all home and have to find wall space in my house.

I am very short on canvases, I had to order more. I did have a couple of 5x5s so I used them today.

These are both very recognizable to locals. Caledonia is a gorgeous golf course on the Waccamaw and our beach is always beautiful, especially at sunrise.

Here is the Video: Mixed Media Life in Pawleys

Product list: Liquitex Matte medium, gesso, Deco Art acrylics, Uniball gel pen, General Charcoal

Boykin Love

It is my friend's birthday this coming week. She is a lover of Boykins. Since I have known her she has had 4 of them. She currently has two, Dixie and Sadie. I searched for a Boykin photo and printed a few on tissue paper because I could not decide which one I wanted to use.

Since the canvas I was using was 5X7 I decided to wrap the paper around the edges, which I rarely do. I also used a cut up spatula to apply the matte medium. That did not work well for me. I think I will pick up a silicone brush.

The Boykin I chose the first time was too dark. The one I chose second got muddied when I applied the medium so the face was lost. I was ready to give up, because it was not working at all. One more try with the last photo and I swore not to touch it. But instead just worked around the outsides.

Finally it was done. She REALLY loved the painting. Tears and all. Wow. I never expected that. Art is such a personal thing, I never know if someone is going to like something I create just because I do.

Here is the Video: Mixed Media Boykin Love

Product list: Liquitex Matte medium, gesso, Deco Art acrylics, Uniball gel pen, Micron 02, Archival Ink, zig writer, Heavy Acrylic, General Charcoal, stencils by Shawn Petite

Mixed Media BFF

I created this 12X12 canvas for my friend, Mom to Daffodil and Aunt to Andy, for her birthday. It is one of my favorite photos of the two dogs running on the beach. Actually Daffodil was running and Andy was walking. She has shorter legs and needs to run to keep up with her brother. They have been together since birth. Andy was the only Male and Daffodil had 11 sisters. They turned 10 this year, but still have a lot of puppy in them.

I created a video and finally got it edited today. It is on YouTube. You can watch it here:
Mixed Media BFFF 10-10-18


Product list: Liquitex Matte medium, gesso, Deco Art acrylics, Uniball gel pen, zig pen, Archival Ink, Dreamweaver embossing paste, Blick Soft Pastels, stencils by Shawn Petite

Gratitude

So incredibly happy to be back to normal. The stress of the last three weeks is over and I am so grateful to be unharmed. I wanted to create a project that showed my relief. I chose a photo of an Iowa Sunset in my sister's back yard that I took 4 years ago in the summer when I visited. The dead tree overlooking the soy and corn fields was truly amazing. Granted, I took some liberties with the fence and birds but the rest is quite accurate.

I really need to learn to bring a lot more light into my projects. Since most of my photos tend to be sunrise or sunsets, it is what it is.

The video shows the process I went through to create this 12x16 canvas.

Mixed Media - Gratitude Product list: Liquitex Matte medium, gesso, Deco Art acrylics, Uniball gel pen, Micron 02, Archival Ink, zig writer, Dreamweaver embossing paste, Blick Soft Pastels, stencil by Tim Holtz, trees stencil by Shawn Petite

leave me a comment if you stop by so I know you were here.

Autumn Splendor

Even here in the low country we are sensing a change of seasons. Granted the temperatures during the day reach the mid 80's still but the air is not quite so heavy as it has been. The mornings too, are so much more tolerable. Does not hit you in the face when you walk out to get the paper. In fact it is quite pleasant.

Now that the hurricane threat and flooding threat are over, I can get back to what I do best. Play and Sleep. My sleeping habits were pretty much destroyed during the last few weeks on the west coast and evacuated. Nice to get into my own home and into my own bed

So I decided it was time to create an Autumnesque mixed media project and since I was doing one, why not do two?

These started with a picture then I added paint and others medium to create the canvas. I created a video of the process.

Since most of the work was paint, I sped it up 1000%. Hope you enjoy.

Mixed Media Autumn Splendor

Product list: Liquitex Matte medium, gesso, Deco Art acrylics, Uniball gel pen, Micron 02, Archival Ink, Blick Soft Pastels, trees stencil by Shawn Petite

Mixed Media Hidden Treasures

Had a scare for the second time this month. Not only did we evacuate because of the possibility of a Cat 4 hurricane on 9/11 but we had to cut our vacation short because the rain waters that devastated North Carolina were coming our way. Our home was in danger of flooding and we had to get home to prepare the house.

We moved in with neighbors for 5 days and luckily our house was spared. The flood waters never even made it to my yard. While at friends I set up a temporary studio on their porch and created this 12x12 mixed media canvas.

My inspiration was a calendar I saw at a store in Temecula CA. It had pictures of "she sheds" on every page. This old cottage made me think of those sheds, so I painted it.

Here is the video on YouTube
Mixed Media Hidden Treasures 9-28-18

Product list:
Liquitex matte medium, modeling paste, gesso, glazing medium
Deco Art Acrylics
Uniball gel pen
General Charcoal Pencil
Marabu Art Crayons
Blick Soft Pastels
Dreamweaver Embossing paste
Shawn Petite stencils
Inktense Pencil

Have paints will travel

When I travel I like to bring some form of art with me. Before we left on our 2 week trip to the west coast I stamped several Christmas card stamps on watercolor paper and packed them with my handy dandy Koi paint set.

While visiting with the grand daughters we spent an afternoon painting. Then the next leg of the trip we were so busy I rarely had downtime except in the evenings. Evenings are NOT my creative time so it was a while before I took it up again.

On one of our last days we decided to just stay in. We had a beautiful Airbnb in a gated community just outside of San Diego, it was Sunday and football was on. This is a relax day so I took out my paints and got busy

I am very happy with how the water color has progressed with more and more practice. When I get home, providing my house is not flooded, I will mount the paintings and add sentiments. It will give me more Christmas cards ready for the season.

Thanks for stopping by, leave me a comment so I know you were here.

Mixed Media - Lakeside

I love taking my bike out in the early mornings. The sunrises are so beautiful. We live next to a good size lake that crosses the main access road. It is probably one of the few bridges in the entire county. The bike path runs along this road and I often stop on the bridge to photograph the lake. On this one particular day the sunrise was pink and it reflected in the water. It was so pretty.

I printed this photo on tissue paper and used it on this 12x16 canvas. I took some liberties by adding wildflowers (instead of alligators) they are more appealing.

Here is the video on YouTube
Mixed Media Lakeside 9-9-18

Product list:
Liquitex matte medium, modeling paste, gesso, glazing medium, heavy acrylic
Deco Art Acrylics
Uniball gel pen
General Charcoal Pencil
Daler & Rowney Sepia Ink

Card Making- Spindly Birds

I often shop in the craft section at Tuesday Morning because they have some really great finds for excellent prices. This bird stamp was one. It was only 4.99 and then marked down another 20%. I rarely pass up Christmas stamps because I make about 65 Christmas cards every year I like them to be diverse.

I have not video taped many of my card making adventures. When video taping I feel I need to have my ducks lined up in row before I begin so I am not turning the camera on and off all the time and searching my studio for what I might want to use. Which is normally my mode of operando when making cards.

I decided not to stamp on a blank page but instead to create a background with distress oxides. I love the looks of the smoosh affect. The first one was a little heavy handed so I opted for the lighter one. After I stamped I wondered if I would even be able to watercolor on top of the oxides so I tested and then used some water to dilute them, luckily it worked so I used that method.

The watercolor painting is a little messy, but that is the nature of watercolor, you cannot expect to be a perfectionist. After I mounted the card I created a second card (off camera) I stamped, colored with copics and then cut out the birds and mounted on top of the heavy handed background. That worked too. It was a productive afternoon. 2 more Christmas cards are done. Bravo to that.

Watch on YouTube: Card Making - Spindly Birds 9-6-18

Product List:
Canson 140 pound watercolor paper
Versafine Ink
Ranger Archival Ink>
Judikins Clear Embossing powder
Zig Clean Color real brush
Copic ciao
Distress Oxides
KaiserKraft clear stamp
Stampendous Spindly Bird stamp
Perlen pen
Ranger Stickles
Neenah White Cardstock
Reminisce Pattern Paper

The Journey Begins Here

For me and many of my neighbors we fully understand what this means. Our home on the beach at Litchfield By the Sea is where we commenced our journey through our golden years. We found so much happiness here, so many friends, lots of activities, fabulous weather and the spectacular beach that compares to no other.

Sunrise walks on the beach are so peaceful. Such a joy to hear the waves and feel the gentle ocean breezes. My happy place indeed.

In this mixed media painting, I used a lot of different mediums to make texture. It took a couple of days start to finish because of drying time. But the result was worth it.

Here is the video: Mixed Media Journey 9-5-18 Products:
Deco Art Acrylic Paints
Liquitex Gesso, Matte Medium, Matte Super Heavy Gel, Gloss Gel, Heavy Body Acrylic, Modeling Paste and Glazing medium
Stencils by Shawn Petite
Charcoal Pencil
black and white uniball pen
Blick soft pastels
Zig Writer

please leave a comment and let me know you stopped by

Praise Interference

I created a black 5X5 canvas with Black Gesso with the intention of using a window stencil and make it look like stained glass from the outside looking in. I first painted the glass with paint, but then later decided it would look better with the Deco Art Interference paints because they are designed to work on black. I also used several types of texture including modeling paste, glass beads and embossing paste.

The window came out pretty good in the end. Love how the interference paints shimmer in the light. I created a YouTube Video showing my process start to finish. I thought since I am going to a craft show at a Catholic Church in October, something like this might actually sell.

here is my video, short and sweet:
Mixed Media - Praise

Product List:

Window stencil by Shawn Petite
Liquitex professional Matte Medium, Gesso, gloss medium, glass beads, modeling paste
Dreamerweaver embossing paste white & transluscent
Deco Art acrylic paints and fluid acrylics interference paints

Thanks for stopping by, leave me a comment so I knew you were here.

Welcome Friend

Yesterday's message of the day was about how important friends are.

"if you have nothing in life but a good friend, you are rich"

For me, a true friend is one who can keep me grounded, and I have one of those.

I knew I wanted to work on a painting and decided to use one of the printed vintage doors that I have been holding onto. I wanted to alter it some, because I don't want to copy someone else's work, but perhaps just use some techniques. So I made this 12x12 canvas with lots of beach sand and crackle paste.

Here is my video on YouTube:

Mixed Media Welcome Friends

Thanks for stopping by, leave me a note, so I know you were here.

As promised, my products list.
Deco Art Acrylic Paints
Liquitex Gesso, Matte Medium and Glazing medium
Stencils by Shawn Petite
Charcoal Pencil
white uniball pen
Blick soft pastels
Daler & Rowney Artist Ink
Spellbinders embossing folder
Dreamweaver embossing paste
Ranger crackle paste

A little color in my life

The last few days I have looked at my work and wondered why everything is so very dark.. Was I in a dark place? Or is the grungy, brown and black colorless paintings just my style? As I was taking a pan pastels class with Donna Downey I starting making abstract poppies. I love poppies, they are so colorful, in fact, I love wild flowers. Why not do a painting of wild flowers? That would be bright and cheery and bring some color in to my drab existence. As I look down at my brown clothing? What?

The other morning after I finished cleaning my house and doing laundry I sat down to watch a Sunday Inspiration Video by Shawn Petite. It was a calm painting, also in browns and whites and blacks, but it was not the painting but the message that followed. She said she has an app that gives her daily inspirational quotes. I just started my words journal yesterday, so I thought I would search for an app that could help me with that.

Another topic she talked about was that the best way to become good at being a mixed media artist is to practice every day, every minute. I have felt somewhat guilty about the amount of time I spend doing art, even though I love it. So this message reaffirmed my art and gave me permission to live and breathe it without guilt.

When I sat down to breakfast I found an app that I wanted and installed in on my new phone. Then I looked at current quotes they had on the app and what to my wandering eyes does appear? A quote about dreams in a field of wildflowers. Fortuitous. I knew what I had to do.

And of course, I video taped it I had a lot of other activities going on so I did not get it posted for a few days. But here she is in living color:

YOUTUBE: Mixed Media - Dreams

As promised, my products list.
Deco Art Acrylic Paints
Liquitex Gesso, Matte Medium and Glazing medium
Stencils by Shawn Petite
Charcoal Pencil
White China pen, white uniball pen
Blick soft pastels

Word Journal - Page 1

There are only so many hours in a day and I find that those hours continue to zoom by like minutes. I don't understand how people who have jobs or raise kids or both, find the time to do any of this. I am a stay-at-home grandma without responsibilities. I try to get through on-line classes and videos, document my daily, check in on Facebook groups, create mixed media, make and edit videos and update my blog. That pretty much eats up all my hours, which, like I said, seems more like minutes.

Today I decided to create a little art journal. I have so many little notebooks that I bought for travelers notebook documentation, but that has, like most of my previous passions, gone by the way-side; not really gone, just back-burnered. Not a nicher, never have been, probably never will. Too much life, so little time.

I have watched a lot of "crash the stash" and other types of art journal videos and decided I really need to get into my own stash of both stuff and product. Lately I have been using basically the same products and my water colors, oxides, alphas, stamps, inks and other media has been overlooked. Scrapbook paper, journal cards, die cuts and tons of ephemera are everywhere, and I really need to use it somehow.

My little Words Journal is intended to be some encouragement every time I create in it. It should be a collection of words of wisdom or quotes that I find that inspire me to enjoy myself, feel productive, content and happy.

here is the video on YouTube:
Word Journal - Be Happy

So many ideas spinning in my head, maybe I do need a plan afterall…

Product List:

Distress Oxides
Zig Real Color pens
Micron Pen
Versafine Onyx Black
Archival Jet Black
Stencil by Shawn Petite
Wooden stamp blocks by Stampabilities and studio G.

Owls In The Dark

I created a fun canvas today using black gesso and a moon mask. I also stamped two Art Impressions owls, colored with copic markers and cut them out. The tree also was fussy cut.

I have been craving cooler temperatures lately and these types of projects help get me there. I did see we may get as low as 70 degrees on Thursday Night. That will be glorious if it happens.

The video is on YouTube.
Mixed Media Owls in the Dark 8-20-18

I was able to get this all done in the same day. I am improving.

This quote, for me, would be morning dark, not night dark. My creativity starts before the sun rises and dies way before it sets.

Product List:

Liquitex professional Matte Medium, black Gesso
Deco Art acrylic paints and fluid acrylics
Charcoal Pencil - General
Art Impressions stamp - owls
Copic Markers - assorted colors
Aleene's Tack it over & over
Zig writer by Kuretake

Paper Napkin Christmas Cards

Recently at one of my Art Journal/Mixed Media club meetings we used colorful paper napkins on our art. This inspired me to try the technique using holiday prints on Christmas Cards. I started my Christmas cards really early this year. I have already made 45 cards on my way to 65. Now that is a head start!

The process for making these cards is pretty simple.

I cut my card stock to a standard A2 5 1/2 x 4 1/4 then covered it with glue stick. The paper napkin needs to be separated down to a single layer. All napkins have at least one extra layer, while others have two. Lay the paper on the back side of the napkins and burnish it in.

You can stop there if you want or you can add a layer of shimmer with some clear pigment ink and embossing powder. I remembered I had bought an Archival Opalite ink pad years ago and had put away in a drawer. It is a reflective interference ink, coincidently, I just purchased an entire line of the interference acrylics because I love their reactive properties.

For some added texture I ran the card through my cuttlebug in an embossing folder too. So many options.

You can watch the video on YouTube here: Paper Napkin Christmas Cards

and listen to a little Christmas music too.
Product List:
Opalite Pigment Ink by Tsukineko
Judikins Clear embossing powder
Cricut Cuttlebug die cutter and embossing folders
Nicole Heat Tool

Live Simply

I was reminded by a couple of Facebook posts that Autumn is on the horizon. I do love the fall season; here in the low country it starts when the kids go back to school and most of the tourists go home. That is when we get our beaches and roads back. Although the weather still says "summer" it is the beginning of autumn.

My younger sister lives in Florida, for her autumn never really comes. It is hot and hot and flat and boring. Adding insult to injury when the official summer season ends in Florida all the millions of snowbirds come back and crowd her beaches and roads. It is a lose-lose situation for full time Floridians. My older sister lives in Iowa. She has no tourists, except the ones who get lost on their way to the middle of nowhere. The summers can be unbearably hot there too without any sea breezes, that and a constant threat of tornadoes, no thanks. When autumn comes, so does winter; and winters are BAD. They are both happy with their choice of homes and that is all that matters. Me? I gladly tolerate my few months of hot and humid in order to enjoy the wonderful autumn, winter and spring in Pawleys Island.

In honor of the upcoming season I took out my box of Halloween and Thanksgiving goodies. I was thinking pumpkins. I might be having my first art exhibition the end of October. Actually, it is a craft fair, but still the first time I put my work out in public, therefore it is an exhibit. Because it will be the end of October, I know people will be in the mood for the Holidays, so I created a small canvas (5x7) with pumpkins as the focal point. I paid a pretty penny to get a booth at this craft fair, so I need to make sure I sell something to fund my coming-out party.

I stamped this Penny Black cling on watercolor paper with Ranger Archival, heat set with clear embossing powder and colored it with copic markers. I don't own a lot of copic markers, because they are very expensive, but I had the right colors to make the pumpkins. Then I fussy cut them.

For my background I adhered some colorful, autumnesque patterned papers to my canvas with matte medium. The canvas was very pretty with all the paper, but as one of my instructors says "you must be willing to let go of your background", I knew it would be short-lived.

I proceeded to cover it with brown and cream acrylic paint diluted with a gloss medium, I painted a tree trunk, branches, fence and filled in the background with trees, leaves, sky and grass. Then I adhered the pumpkins and worked them in with more paint; lastly I added a piece of dress pattern that had been stamped with a hymn music. A little shading here and there, a word sticker, some white pen highlights and it was done.

I like it. Thanks for stopping by. If you liked this write-up follow me by email, so you don't miss an episode of this life in the Back 30.

Pick a Stick Challenge

I saw a YouTube Video a few weeks ago where a friend of mine created an art journal page using a cup full of tong depressor sticks. On each stick was written a mixed media technique or medium. The objective was to use that technique/medium on your page. The sticks are drawn one at a time, 10 times. The resulting page is a masterpiece (or mess-terpiece) depending upon how everything works together (or not).

Now I love a challenge and this sounded like so much fun. Yesterday I was browsing Facebook and stumbled upon a group called "Art It Out" from there I found a YouTube Video by Crystal doing the same thing. I was unaware there were so many Pick a Stick challenges on YouTube. This particular one was done a few days ago, so I gave it a try.

The way I worked it was I would stop the video immediately after she read the stick, that would permit me to make my own creative selections without being influenced by her choices.

I video taped my process and created a 10 minute video (to music, of course) showing my steps using the 10 techniques. here is my video:
youtu.be/od8ZrrS4Uag

My Project Result:

It would have looked so much better without a final "white wash". But that is the name of the game.

For Crystal's Video: youtube.com/watch?v=m2XvnKHtWXA&t=5s

Product List:
Liquitex professional Matte Medium, Gesso and Gloss fluid
Deco Art acrylic paints
Dreamweaver embossing paste white
Liquitex heavy body Acrylic, black
Stencils: wildflower, splatters and letters
Zig writer and clean color real brush by Kuretake
Uniball white gel pen

Be Brave

I often see mixed media projects that use a woman's face as the focal point. Sometimes it is a girlish face or a cartoon-like face.

Today, I thought I would try a project with a face. But, rather than use one I found or one that I made up, I decided to use my own. This sketch was created while I looked at my own image using the computer camera. Once I had drawn it, I scanned it; I figured I could use it over and over should I ever have the desire to use a face on a project again.

This painting is on an 11X14 stretched canvas. The background was created with torn patterned paper, magnolia flowers and vines then grunged with black postmarks, numbers and words.

I used the title of "be brave" because I am not one to put my face out there or any facsimile there of. The last time I had done a self portrait was when I was a sophomore in college taking a drawing and painting class at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute. As I recall it was not very good.

I am getting much better at editing videos. This one only took one compile. Bravo.

View on YouTube: Mixed Media Be Brave 8-9-2018

Product List:

Fine line marker - White
Liquitex professional Matte Medium, Gesso and Glazing medium
Ranger Archival Ink - jet black
Deco Art acrylic paints
Dreamweaver embossing paste white
Blick & Artist's Loft Soft Pastels
Charcoal Pencil - General
Daler & Rowney Sap Green Acrylic
Liquitex heavy body Acrylic, black
Stencils by Shawn Petite: magnolia, background words, postage 1 and vines
Zig writer by Kuretake

Family of Textures

Inspiration comes in all forms.
This particular mixed media project came from a couple sources.

First it was this photo I took of a shower curtain; yes that is what it was.

When we visited my step-daughter at her new home I admired her shower curtain in the downstairs bath. I thought at that time it would make a great subject for a mixed media art project. This weekend we are traveling back up to New England and staying with her. So I thought it was high time I acted on my inspiration.

About the same time, Shawn Petite (one of my favorite mixed media artists) posted a project using a lot of texture and grunge in very subtle earth tones. How much inspiration does one really need?

I knew I had to record it because if I don't keep practicing my video editing skills I will never get the hang of it. Recording is the easy part. Putting it all together is the challenge. The project gave me a lot of grief, it started out good, got very muddy and undefined. But then finally took shape. Looking back at the piece I can see layer upon layer of texture and "yumminess".

As I began editing each of the frames, I caught sight of an AARP card on my table. What? in EVERY frame! I wish I knew how to blur out a portion of my screen, but I don't, I tried a few options, then settled on a rectangle on the right side to block it. I use old credit cards to smooth out surfaces and move paint. But I did not want it in my video.

Alas, I will find a way to blur out portions over time. I did find editing tools for my tips, giving it background colors and different fonts. As I get more comfortable with the application, I will branch out further, but at this juncture, it takes me a long time to get what I get. Letting go of perfection..? maybe a little. The music is not perfect and I missed one tip about the modeling paste. But I did not want to go through the compile process again for something so miniscule.

Here it is on YouTube: https://youtu.be/wocGIsN_bRc (Mixed Media - Family)
Enjoy!
Product List:

Fine line marker - White
Liquitex professional Matte Medium, Gloss Gel, Glass Beads, Light Modeling Paste, Gesso and Glazing medium
Ranger Archival Ink - jet black
Deco Art acrylic paints
Dreamweaver embossing paste black
Blick & Artist's Loft Soft Pastels
Charcoal Pencil - General
McCalls Dress Pattern
Drywall tape and heavy crepe paper courtesy of my Art Journal Club

Tranquility

"the quality or state of being calm and peaceful"

I have it in my life. Do you?

I decided several years ago that I did not want to be indebted to anyone for my time, my energy or my talents. I spent so much of my life "having" to do stuff, that I don't want to "have" to do anything anymore. I no longer wear a wrist watch or set an alarm (unless I need to catch a plane)

This is a large canvas I developed yesterday: 18X24. These mixed media paintings of mine often take shape over the course of several hours. Rarely is the result exactly what I imagined before beginning. In the video there is a quick view of a very large butterfly; that was supposed to be the star of the show, but it never made it. During my video-taping I stopped several times to look closely at the painting and decide where to go next before resuming. The entire process was 10 takes. Luckily for the viewer, I sped the process up by 500%. No one wants to watch paint dry.

The final video is about 20 minutes. I am happy with it. Hope you like it, you can always fast forward.


View On YouTube:
https://youtu.be/0nAS5i1TKbE
Product List:
stencils by Shawn Petite
Fine line marker - White
Liquitex professional Matte Medium, Matte Super Heavy Gel, Gesso and Glazing medium
Ranger Archival Ink - jet black
Marabu Art Spray - black
Deco Art acrylic paints
Dreamweaver embossing paste black
Blick Soft Pastels
Charcoal Pencil - General

Thanks for stopping by. Leave me a comment so I know you visited.

Unbreakable

Let's face it, now and again we all hit a few bumps in the road on this life's journey. We experience loss, hardships and many disappointments. But we pick ourselves up and get back in the game. Not broken, just bent.

This mixed media project came to me the other morning. I thought about doing an art journal page, but decided a 12x12 canvas would have so much more impact. I had intended for the heart to be a colorful mosaic, but the colors ended up being so wrong with the background. So I changed them. During the video taping, my battery died, so I did not get the final changes. But alas, the final project is there.

View On YouTube:
https://youtu.be/VoXY4MQsAws
Product List:
stencil by dylusions and Tim Holtz
Fine line marker - White
Liquitex professional Matte Medium, Gesso and Glazing medium
Ranger Archival Ink - jet black
Daler Rowney Acrylic Ink - sepia
Deco Art acrylic paints
Dreamweaver embossing paste translucent
Blick Soft Pastels

Thanks for stopping by. Leave me a comment so I know you visited.

Sunday Stamp Challenge

Happy to get back to this challenge I found a few weeks ago. There are times when I just want to make a card and it is always nice to have some inspiration. This week it was a color challenge. I went through all my inks to find the colors that resembled the tranquil cottage colors.

The mauve-ish color was similar to a versamagic chalk ink I had in stash called spring pansy.
The subtle pink resembled the Ali Edward's Astoria, a pigment.
The dark sea blue I had to create using a combo of Hero Arts Pool and Studio Calico Mojito.
The last color, I think was black, so that was my versafine
For my neutral, I used a white card base.

here is my card. I love those crazy birds.

Thanks for stopping by.

Stamp Obsession

I have had an obsession with stamps for five years. Prior to that, I did not even know what they were for short of address labels, dates and other work-related purposes. I started my collection with a couple of wooden stamps and over the years my collection has grown to hundreds. That is not bad enough, I still keep buying.

Yesterday I went to Tuesday Morning. It is a great place to pick up craft items really cheap. It is hit or miss, sometimes they have stuff, other times they don't. Yesterday I found a fabulous "self healing" craft mat for 50% less than I would have paid retail. I also found large wrapped canvas boards way cheaper than Michaels (even on BOGO days). But it was stamps that got me, again.

Often I buy stamps and put them away and forget I have them. It has gotten that bad. This week before I put my purchases out of sight, I decided to use them in my art journal.

My first page

I bought this stamp at Scrapbooks by the Sea on the clearance table. I thought mixed media when I saw it. I used a water soluble dye ink because my Archival is lost and my new one doesn't come until tomorrow. then I spread an aged mahogany distress oxide on my work table and mooshed it all over my page. I also used some gelatos, textured crackle and clear gesso then splattered with sepia ink.

The next page is just a lot of backgrounds, again, I thought mixed media

The 6x6 background stamp looks like tree bark and those numbers and letters! OMG. I also picked up Ranger words--I thought they were stickers -- rub ons. I am not fond of rub ons, they never want to rub off. On top of my page I used some shimmerz dimensional paste. It gave me a shimmer and made it sticky.

Lastly I used two other stamp sets, one was Ranger vintage things. The stamps are card size, but I thought they were so cool, also there was another set that came with dies, that one I could not pass up. I used Oil Pastels for color on this page, then used a baby wipe to spread them out.

So there you have it. I used my new stamp sets rather than just filing them away. Maybe some night I will dream about how I want to use them. That happens to me often, but it is a story for another day. Thanks for stopping by.