Bling and String on My Hearts

A couple of weeks ago I pinned this idea for making paper mache hearts. http://www.craftycupid.com/index.php/cc/entry/mache-mixed-media-heart-tutorial/

It looked pretty easy and fun so I decided to give it a try. I found a heart cookie cutter buried in a kitchen drawer. Those who know me know I would never be accused of being a baker, so I was surprised I had one. It was larger than the one in the tutorial but it worked for me. I traced and cut out my hearts. Instead of the glue used in the tutorial I used hot glue, I'm not a patient person. I was able to quickly make my heart paper sandwich. I used the same brown craft paper torn into strips for my paper mache part as well. I had a lot of it because I save everything from packages I get from online orders. That brown paper comes in handy! Instead of making the flour mixture I just mixed some white glue with warm water. Wrapping the paper was probably the hardest part of the project because of the odd shape. Getting around the point and around the curve were a little tricky but I got the hang of it by the third heart.

Remember what I said about not being a patient person, it took two days for them to dry! Argh! I just wanted to get painty and creative and the little suckers wouldn't dry. I used a space heater to speed up the process. I guess they would have taken even more days to dry if I hadn't done that.

So finally I got to paint and embellish. Mine are a bit more simple than the ones in the tutorial but I really love the way they came out.

The blue/green one has a coat of Martha Stewart glitter paint and several buttons attached with jewelry adhesive. You can't see it at all in this picture but it really sparkles.

On the red/purple one I used a red Prismacolor marker to deepen the red in some areas. Then I highlighted the wrinkles made by the paper with a gold metallic crayon. I love the way that came out. The gold with the red and purple is really rich looking. I glued on three heart shaped jewels with jewelry glue.

The orange one I stamped with red Stazon using a Stampendous stamp. Then I wrapped it with cotton thread and three orange beads. This one is going in as part of a contest on the Creative Jumpstart I'm doing this month.

This was a fun project. I would definitely do this again with different shapes. I'm thinking birds and sea stars maybe. I just need to remember to leave enough time for several days of drying!

How to be Creative

This short film by Off Book PBS has some really interesting concepts on what creativity is and how we become creative people. I especially love the concept of the remix. I know many of my ideas come from a combination of things meshed together to make something new. Very interesting stuff.

Stencil Girl Stencils

I have become a stencil addict. This is not a good thing when you are getting ready to have two kids in college! Stencils are so much fun because the possibilities for how you use them in your art are limitless. You can use them for backgrounds, adding texture with modeling paste, use parts of them as other things...okay I'll stop the Bubba Gump stencil list.

Along the way I discovered a great stencil store called Stencil Girl. They have fabulous designs, a nice variety of sized and good prices. But the REALLY cool thing is you can join their club. When you join you get a special set of stencils sent to you each month, not for sale to anyone else. You get access to a special Facebook page and tutorials done by the artist who created the stencil. It's lots of fun and there is a really nice community of artists on the Facebook page. Check them out at http://www.stencilgirlproducts.com/ and consider joining the club!

For Creative Jump Start 2014 http://www.nathaliesstudio.com/ I created this journal spread using my December stencil club stencil 4x4 by Mary Beth Shaw to add the breeze blowing by the birds in the background. The bird is a stamp I made and I used the method of stamping on my Gelli Plate from my last post on them. I used something I don't normally use...glitter paint. But it added a nice layer of dimension I think. The paint was from Martha Stewart. I do like her paints and this was an accidental glitter buy, but I've liked using it.

My Gelli Plate Has an Alter Ego

Once again I feel the need to start with the fact that I LOVE my Gelli plate. It is more artsy fun than should be legal and on several occasions has gotten me into commitment trouble. The ones where you show up 20 minutes late for a meeting with a lame excuse because, "I completely lost track of time playing on my Gelli plate:" isn't going to fly in a group of people who don't understand what a Gelli plate is much less the magnetic properties it possesses.

This very thing happened yesterday after work. I got home and wanted to make a quick video on a technique I discovered over Christmas holiday. But instead I played and ended up late for a meeting. But as soon as I got home I was back out in the studio to make the tutorial. A very frustrating attempt at making a tutorial because my camera kept disconnecting. But I was finally able to get it done.

The video includes a foam stamp that I made myself. It's such a simple stamp but I'm silly proud of it. I love paintings and mixed media that feature birds on a wire. I'm not sure why I just do. But for some reason when I try to draw them they never look right. I can't ever get the proportions right. So as one of my goals I want to get better at sketching stuff. I plan to take a few online classes to help with that. I thought for now I'll start simple I will learn to draw birds on a wire. DETERMINATION. So I found this photo online and have been using the birds in it to practice. Practice makes perfect...and I'm not there yet but I am getting better and I think that stamp I made is pretty good.

I hope that you enjoy the technique in the video and give it a try. The possiblities are endless! Have fun getting painty!





Creative Jumpstart 2014

I'm participating in a really fun online learning experience called Creative Jumpstart 2014 (www.nathaliesstudio.com). Different artists contribute video tutorials for different techniques and several big art companies are doing give aways. On top of all that goodness there is a very nice community of artist on the forum. So it's a great opportunity to connect with other people who enjoy the same things I do.

One of the things I like about the contest...besides the obvious FREE STUFF... is that is pushes me to make more art and put it out there. In order to enter you have to post an example containing a product from that company or a household object (this year's theme). So it gives me a reason to get some art done, though I never really need a reason.

So here is my piece for the Luminartes contest. I used Radiant Rain sprays for the background and the heart. The background has Ginger Peach, Fern and Snap Dragon using circles cut from plastic as a mask. The heart was printed on my Gelli Plate with read acrylic paint on deli paper. I cut the heart out and then over sprayed with Ginger Flower Radiant Rain spray.

I'm never sure I'm done with pages and I still feel this one is missing something. But I'm calling it done for now. I do try to learn something from every experience. This time I learned that I should never try to stamp words after 10pm, some of those are really crooked. Since letting go of perfection is another thing I'm trying to work on, I'm posting the pages anyway!

2013: An Artful Summary

I have sadly neglected this blog, but have not been neglecting my art which is a very good thing. I'm going to try to sum up a years worth of art adventures in a short paragraph or two and then I hope to use this blog as part of a new resolution to make art a more important, more in focus part of my life. For so long it has been something I do when I can and when I'm done with the real work of living. I realized recently that just isn't good enough for me. I want art to be a bigger part of my life because it is what I truly love. So here's to taking chances and moving to the edge and being a part of the chaos of invention!

In the last year I've continued to teach and practice Zentangle both at my school and occasionally in the area. I haven't pursued it as heatedly as I have in the past, but this is going to change.

I once again spent the month of July in Manteo. After a year of collecting found objects and creating useful and lovely things I sold them at the market each Saturday. I made over twice as much this year as last! Progress and encouragment go hand in hand. The atmosphere of artful community that surrounds me when I'm there feeds my soul and spurs me on through out the year. I only wish I could find that same feeling here at home. Some new things I had this year were dog beds made from suitcases, tile necklaces, and mason jars with Beach Memories 2013 etched on the glass. Meghan was able to come down with me this year and we had a great time. It's a wonderful balance of beach and art...aahhhh.

Coming home and going back to work was tough but my discovery of the Gelli plate helped a lot. If you haven't heard of this new craze that is sweeping the mixed media nation you must check it out and you must get one! http://www.gelliarts.com/  I saw a video online, fell in love and bought one on the spot. I haven't stopped printing since.

I have also made a new artsy friend, Joan Mills, who owns a scrapbooking store in Hilton. I contacted her out of the blue to see if she would like me to do a Zentangle class and she said sure! Since then I've done demos with my Gelli plate and a class is in the works. She helped me to get a class set of 8 plates so I could start teaching people how to make prints and how to have fun making stuff with the prints. Did I mention I love my Gelli plate?

My fantastic friends at Dutrow let me do a class with them so I could try my teaching skills out, it went well and they really seemed to enjoy printing stuff. It allowed me to learn a few things that I needed to adjust. 

I tried to create something every day. I worked in my art journal or made stand alone pieces on paper. I made a big canvas on the Boston Red Sox for my husband for his birthday. Similar to the notebook collages I do for friends but on a much bigger scale. It challenged me. He really liked it I think.Then as October rolled around I made the huge decision to hand make all the Christmas gifts for all the extended family members. Yikes! It took a lot of work but I will say I truly enjoyed the process. It's what I do...create. The most fun was watching everyone open the gifts. I love that part.

So here I am at the edge of the start of a new year with a resolution in my heart. I feel it's time to start moving my art more into the center of the focus of my life. I can't take a full on do or die kind of step because I will have two kiddos in college next year. So I gotta keep that full time gig going. But in the evenings and on weekends I will work at making money teaching art. I've made a list of how I plan to make it happen. I have goals written out, a list of ideas and a list of contacts. This blog needs a once over, but it will become an important part of the process as well, so you'll see some changes here over the next couple of months...and you'll see more regular posts.

I used to say the worst that could happen is they would turn me down or say no. But really the worst that could happen is that I don't even try.

So here's to 2014! The start of yet another art adventure!

Here are just a few pictures from my art filled 2013:

A card for my wonderful neighbors...

A recently family health emergency landed my husband Steve in the hospital for 4 days and resulted in back surgery.  As you can imagine this type of event can quickly change the dynamics of your household. As usual my next door neighbors stepped right up to help. They took care of my daughter and took care of my yard/house and made sure I didn't have any of those things to worry about. Seriously, I have the best neighbors.  

Tonight I made an original piece of art for them on a card as a thank you for their generousity. The flower in the center I painted on my iPad while I was sitting with Steve in the emergency room.  I used ArtRage and my wonderful Sensu paint brush stylus. Love that brush!  The rest is mixed media with acrylic, Neocolor II, washi tape, Mister Huey and white out pen.