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