Monday, June 30, 2014

Time to Change My Ways



I am turning 55. You know what that means, right? SIXTY is right around the corner!
Now that I am going to be OLD, officially, I figure it's time I change my ways. I need to act like a grown-up. One thing that I want to work on is staying focused. I tend to jump around from idea to idea...did you happen to notice that? Hahaha

So to start I decided to begin with a daily ritual. Now it isn't going to be exercise related, nothing crazy like that

After watching Dianne from honest heART studio I was inspired. I decided that to celebrate my birthday month I wanted to create ICADs (Index Card a Day)for  each day in the month of July. An index card's worth of art. EVERY. DAY.

So now that I said it...let me walk the walk!

See you tomorrow for my first ICAD (I am good for atleast a day or so, no?! LOL)



Sunday, June 29, 2014

June 2014 Swaps & Challenges



Here's a quick visual recap of the Swaps and Challenges I created for the month. 

Swap-Bot Craft Quote Binder Trading Card:


Cutout on my Silhouette Portrait, gelli plate,
seam binding




Swap-Bot Easy Notecard Swap:




Lots of texture with heat embossing powders
and machine stitching

(see video at http://youtu.be/J2bN1uA9ftk)






Made mainly with my own gelli prints



Swap-Bot: Altered Shipping Envie:


Front: Acrylics, stamps, gel sticks,
Dylusion sprays  and pens



Back of envelope: Stamps, acrylics and pens

Closeup of front




Swap-Bot VC: 12 Months of Altered Tags #5:



(see video at http://youtu.be/B9YVbTSIBzQ)





Swap-Bot Friendship Quote Binder Trading Card:








MMSA: Artstamps:






Your Paper Pantry: Christmas Cards All Year Long:











*** MONTHLY GIVEAWAY ***

This month's giveaway is your CHOICE of one of the following:

1. Three rolls of Scrappy Tape
 (1/8", 1/4" and 1/2")

-OR-


2. A set of handmade notecards 

(choice of color)




a Rafflecopter giveaway





















Friday, June 27, 2014

Binder Trading Cards: "Friendship Quote"


For a swap over on Swap-Bot.com, I made these binder trading cards (BTC).






BTCs are like ATC but are smaller, measuring 1.75 x 3.5 inches. They are decorated on both sides and made to hang on a ring (hole in upper left-hand corner).


This swap was hosted by Sharon Mackie (SMackie) of Australia. It's my second BTC swap - hope there will be more to follow. 


My first BTC swap, also hosted by Sharon, was the "Craft Quote Binder Trading Card" swap. Here is a photo of the BTC I created -




And here are the fabulous ones I received -








Created by

(BeeMGee) 














Created by

Wendy Turner-Frey (Wenturner71) 


Be sure to visit these talented ladies by clicking on the links above.






Here's the video of the making of the Friendship Quote BTCs:








Sunday, June 22, 2014

"Love Within"

I tried my hand at the photo transfer process using gel medium. It didn't work the way it was supposed to and I know it's because I didn't wait long enough for it to process. I am so impatient!


What I ended up with was a very faint photo but I hate to waste anything so I decided to make it into a very special piece for my daughter, Jackie. I owed her something for her new place.










This is the picture I tried to transfer. It a picture of my sister, Jill.



Here is a video of the making of the canvas.




                            LOVE WITHIN  http://youtu.be/thBv6osaw9o   

I know people might think it's wrong to cover the photo but I decided I wanted to make a mixed media piece about Jill but put our love and emotions WITHIN the art. Almost hidden.

When people looked at the piece they would see an abstract - but those of us who loved her and knew how it was made would FEEL the LOVE within it.


























Monday, June 9, 2014

Making an Art Journal - PART 3

Here is PART 3 in my video series "Making an Art Journal". It's starting to become something. Love watching it evolve, never sure just where I am going next.


This one stars my younger grandson, Amare. I cut him out like 3 times but he just decided he was GOING to get into the act ...and I got tired of editing. LOL

Enjoy!




  

(Read about Part 2 HERE)


  
          Gegi working in her journal


Saturday, June 7, 2014

Making an Art Journal - Part 2


Jordyn               Gegi              Quaddy


After creating the art journals for my granddaughters, Jordyn and Gegi (Egypt) I got the word from my grandson, Quaddy (Quadir), that I HAD to make him one too. Since he saw theirs he has been leaving subtle reminders - he has been ripping blank pages out of my sketch journal, borrowing my Uni-ball pens and leaving his creations all over my place!

So I started his...

First step is preparing the canvas I use for the cover. Some people like to use chipboard or cardboard for the cover, I like the feel of the canvas. Its flexible and feels like ART!

So I get some 8oz canvas. Now here's a tip for you. FORGET the canvas you buy on a bolt. TOO pricey! I bought mine at Home Depot. 


Yup, it's a canvas drop cloth. You get a canvas dropcloth, aka rectangle of canvas, in size 6' by 9' ...so for $10.98 you get approx. 50.3 sq. feet of canvas (or about $.20/sq. ft.) 

I compared that to some other places:

   JoAnn's Fabric:  One yard of 54" wide for $10.19 PLUS shipping - over $.75/sq ft.

   ebay: One yard of 60" wide for $6.25 plus $4.95 shipping - over $.75/sq.ft.

   Amazon: One yard (width?) for $7.99 plus shipping - definitely more, even if the piece is 60" wide


Crazy huh? Got to love Home Depot! Yeah, I love getting something of equal value at a cheaper price. I am always on the lookout for these kind of deals.


So, once I have purchased the canvas and got it home, the next step is to give the canvas a bath. It softens up the canvas. I tend to like the look it has when you give it a hot tea bath. AND before you get excited,  that's the extent of any cooking you will find on this here blog! I boil the water, drop in a bunch of tea bags and then throw in the canvas (usually cut up into smaller pieces). I let it soak a couple hours and then rinse in cold water and let the pieces air dry. 

After the canvas is dry I prepare for the art! 
NOTE: Remember in my last post I admitted to hating to write, well I do. And right now I have reached my daily limit so to continue the story, here is a video of the next steps:




Did you like it? Haha...when I edit my videos I play the same clips over and over to get the timing, captions and music just to my liking. Well when I played the part where I tell my grandson that there is nothing to help me with, I crack up. EVERY time! I mean, I don't even recognize myself. WHO is that calm, patient woman?!

Any who...tune in for my next part in the process, coming soon.




Friday, June 6, 2014

Well, it's official...


It's official! 



My OFFICIAL middle name is TEXTURE! 


I always knew I was a visual being...I can NOT express myself very well with words, but visually, YES! THEN I am in my happy place! You add in TEXTURE, and hell, I am over.the. moon. (!!!)

I always thought TEXTURE meant 3D, something which could be actually touched and felt, but NO -


According to wikipedia,
 "In the visual arts, texture is the perceived surface quality of a work of art. It is an element of two-dimensional and three-dimensional design and is distinguished by its perceived visual and physical properties. Use of texture, along with other elements of design, can convey a variety of messages and emotions."                             http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Texture_(visual_arts)


I am ALL about emotion, but you knew that.(My use of million exclamation marks in my writing might be a dead giveaway!) As an artist I definitely want to express that emotion in my art, whatever the medium.



Did you know you didn't need layers of different mediums to achieve a great textured background? Check out how artist Dyan Reaveley adds texture to her backgrounds -





Texture adds interest. 
       Texture adds dimension. 
                  Texture adds life!


Wednesday, June 4, 2014

A winner and a QUIK CLIP TIP!


The other day I had a little giveaway...and the winner is -






Yup, that's right, 

it's JENNIFER RENO!!

(Jennifer - I will be contacting you soon to find out what is your all-time FAVORITE color palette. I will be creating a set of CUSTOM notecards, JUST FOR YOU!)


And if you have 2 minutes to spare, check out this QUIK CLIP TIP: "Creating Texture with Machine Stitching" -






Thanks for tuning in!




Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...