Old Timer Stencil Blog Hop and Tutorial

I was honored when Nathalie Kalbach asked me to try out one of her new stencils for Stencil Girl.  It is called "Old Timer," and is a wonderful illustration of an old car.

Nathalie introduced the stencil in May, and recently asked several artists to try it out.   Here's what it looks like:

http://stencilgirlproducts.com/stencils-6x6/view/892

The other artists trying it out today are: Jamie Dougherty, Maria McGuire, Stephanie Schütze and   Nathalie Kalbach, of course!

I started with a print made with my Gelli Plate, and Wendy Vecchi Embossing paste in black.  I spread the paste through the stencil with a palette knife and set it aside to dry.

The book I altered was an old primary school reading book called "The Progressive Road to Reading."  I really liked the fact that the book had the word "Road" in the title. 

 I taped the spine on the inside of the front cover to reinforce it, and then proceeded to cut out the middle of nearly all of the pages to create a framed inset on the inside of the book.

I used matte medium to adhere a lot of the pages on the front and inside front cover, and adhered some corrugated cardboard and photo transfers of children driving to the front cover.

I used yellow ochre, burnt sienna and magenta fluid acrylics to "age" the cover and integrate the photographs.  I then used my dots and dashes stencil from Stencil Girl to mimic road lines.  

I set the book aside to dry, and turned back to the Old Timer Car.  I cut it out, adjusted the colors with a mix of paint and glazing medium, and added some shading on the windows, wheels, and hubcaps of the car.  Then I heat embossed it with clear embossing powder.

Once the front of the book was dry, I used some Ranger Remnant Rubs.  Then I adhered the car to the front of the book using PVA glue.  I found words from the removed book pages that related to travel, and arranged them into a phrase.

In the interior inset, I glued a photo from our travels and service work in Guatemala.  I took it early in the morning after a tropical storm.  The streets were deserted, except for me and this lone traveler.   I also added a quote I found recently on Pinterest.  It related perfectly to the "found poem" I had created on the front cover.

I used Glitz letters to add the word "journey" to the spine.

 

My cat approves!

Thank you Nathalie for creating such an inspiring and fun stencil!  I really enjoyed playing with it.  I can't wait to see what Nathalie Kalbach, Jamie Dougherty, Maria McGuire, and Stephanie Schütze did!

And guess what?  Nathalie is giving away one Old Timer Stencil!  You have four chances to win.  Leave a comment on each of the listed blogs and on Nathalie's blog and let us know how you like the projects.  Nathalie will pick randomly one lucky winner. You have until July 30th, 2013 - midnight EST to comment.

Linking also to City Crafter Challenge (on the road),  Paint Party Friday, and Art Journal Every Day.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

One Little Word: Fierce!

Posting to you from Israel, with the word up at One Little Word today, which is FIERCE!

In law school, a friend said to me, "I'm always so surprised when you stand to see how small you are.  I forget, because you're so fierce."   I've heard similar comments since then...

In a Midsummer's Night Dream, Helena describes Hermia as follows:

She was a vixen when she went to school.

And though she be but little, she is fierce.

I like being described as fierce!  Certainly, I am fierce in my beliefs, fierce in my instinct to protect those I love, and fierce my passion to live life creatively and to the fullest.

I get some of my fierceness from my mom, who likes to say "Hell hath no fury than a Sporn scorned,"  which is her own take on the words of William Congreve (1670-1729), an English playwright and poet:

 "Heaven has no rage like love to hatred turned, Nor hell a fury like a woman scorned." Act 3, Scene 2, The Mourning Bride (1697).

Fierce is passionate.  Being fierce means you care.  What are you fierce about?

This is a page in my art journal.  I drew the face and doodled the flowers with a Pitt Pen, then colored them with Neocolor II crayons and a water brush.  Around the edges, I stenciled borders from my Border Stencil from Stencil Girl with white gesso and acrylic paint.  I added the text digitally.

I hope you are inspired to create something around the word "FIERCE," and link it up to One Little Word!  

Need more inspiration?  Check out all of the work by the amazing Design Team! 

And here's another great "FIERCE" quote, by former Prime Minister Winston Churchill:

You will make all kinds of mistakes; but as long as you are generous and true and also fierce you cannot hurt the world or even seriously distress her.

Linking to all my favorite Monday blog hops:  Make It Monday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Creative Every Day, Inspire Me Monday, and Be Inspired.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Mixed Media Wall Hanging

As you read this, I am en route to Israel.  My dad is being inducted into the International Jewish Sports Hall of Fame for tennis, and I am meeting up with my daughter who is there on Birthright.  Here's a little video of my dad being interviewed during the 2009 Maccabiah games:

Yesterday, instead of packing, I had to create art, because I was so jazzed by Corrine Gilman's tutorial over at Artists in Blogland.

It's not often that I see a tutorial and have to try it immediately.  But I was so inspired -- I couldn't wait!

Corrine's tutorial showed us how to make a mixed media wall hanging from an old book.   It just so happened that I had a very old book that was losing its pages, so I didn't mind following Corrine's instructions to gut the book and give it a makeover.

This month's Cloth Paper Scissors magazine had a great tutorial by Serena Wilson Stubson about creating seascape ornaments.

I had a picture of my grandparents in a rowboat, that I've been wanting to use in a project, and the Captured Memories challenge at Our Creative Corner was the perfect motivation:

I received some beautiful sea glass in a mail swap from Kathy Oakland.  Plus Pia Rom's July challenge at Mix it Monthly is "Go to the Beach."

All these came together for me as I followed Corrine's instructions.

The broken circles are from my Bubble Girl stencil from Stencil Girl.  The boats and water are collaged from gelli prints.   The poem, At the Seaside, is from "A Child's Garden of Verses" by Robert Louis Stevenson.  The "sand" is made of corrugated cardboard, another nod to Corrine Gilman, who often uses it in her work.  And I added some rub-ons from Ranger.  Thank you Corrine for the wonderful inspiration!

Linking also to Mix it Monthly,  Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Everyday.  

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Summer of Color Week 5

Hard to believe that there is only one more week left to Kristin's fun Summer of Color Challenge!  This week's colors are Apple Red and Yellow.

I created a skyline, following the steps in this post.  

I was inspired by the moody skyline in this pin:

Here's how my skyline looked after gelli print collage and free hand sketching:

And here's how it ended up after glazing and adding text:

I never would have thought to have apple red and yellow in the sky - thank you Kristin!  If you're inspired to create your own skyline, I hope you'll let me know!

I wanted to share some exciting news with you.  I was recently featured on the Create Mixed Media blog in a feature called "Living the Creative Life."  You can read part one here, and part two here! 

Thank you to Rice Freeman-Zachary for inviting me to tell my story!

Also, I was honored to be in the designer spotlight at Simon Says Stamp and Show for this flag, inspired by Sue Pelletier and Jasper Johns:

I am leaving for Israel for 10 days, and have a few posts scheduled for while I'm away.  I hope to be able to share some pictures of my trip while I'm there!  

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Miracles and Magic - A Tutorial

Magic is the subject of Artists in Blogland's "Color This Quote" challenge this month, so I've been thinking about what magic is, and where it is...

There's something magical about creating art.  When I have a lot of left over gelli prints, I like to cut them into strips and collage them onto whatever substrates I have available...

One will "speak" to me (that in itself is magic!), and I will take my super skinny brush, and some black fluid acrylic paint...

and sketch the outline of buildings, a skyline, or a citiscape.  I am leaving for Israel on Wednesday - one of the most magical destinations on earth - and plan to visit Jordan as well, so "exotic" architecture is on my mind. 

http://www.artsonia.com/museum/art.asp?id=11821936&exhibit=358767&gallery=y

I recently pinned this charming illustration, and it inspired me to create this:

I mix up glazing medium and acrylic paint...

and using a brush and my fingers, I rub this glazing mixture into my buildings until I'm happy.  When the glazing mixture subtly transforms the colors of the gelli prints underneath (but you can still see the texture and patterns from the prints), it feels like magic!

Some embellishing with pearl pens, glitter, and a sentiment, and voila:  my collage has magically become an enchanted place!

I hope this little tutorial inspires you to envision your own magical destination.  For more free tutorials and videos, click here or on the specific projects below.

   

Linking to the challenges at Faber Castell (favorite destination),  Dreamheart (color or colorful), and Art Journal Journeys (architecture).  Linking also to the fabulous blog hops at Make It Monday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Creative Every Day, Inspire Me Monday, Glue It Tuesday, Be Inspired, and Create Daily.  If you want to be inspired, visit these links - you won't be disappointed!

Speaking of magic, check out this post by Carolyn Dube.  She shows the alchemy that results from "mistakes," which she calls "OOPS," or Outstanding Opportunities Presenting Suddenly! 

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Summer of Color Week 4 and a Free Download

Happy Summer of Color Week 4!  Thank you Kristin for hosting such a fun blog hop!  The theme this week is pink and charcoal grey.  I'm departing from drawing faces with this watercolor of calla lilies.

which of course bring to mind this famous scene from the movie "Stage Door,"

Ah, the marvelous Katharine Hepburn...

I'll be taking a break from blogging to celebrate the long weekend with my family and friends.  Hope you have a wonderful first weekend of July!  As a 4th of July gift, here's a patriotic little fellow which you are free to download for your personal use!

With his stripedy top hat, he's going to make a visit over to Journal Journeys.

See you next week!

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.

Believe in Your Magic - Tutorial!

I am directing The Secret Garden this fall for my local community theater, Gas Lamp Players.  If you don't know the story, here's a clip from the 45th Annual Tony Awards.  The music is so glorious!

In preparation, I am re-reading the novel by Francis Hodgeson Burnett.  One of the big themes in the book is the inherent magic we all possess -- the magic of believing, of positive thinking, of creating -- as well as the magical powers of nature.

Here's how I created a canvas to explore this theme:

1.  I started with a 6 x 6 canvas, which I covered with "unintentional collage."  This means collage simply to create depth, interest and texture -- most of it will not be seen in the end.

2.  While it was drying, I gathered a bunch of gelli prints (you could easily use patterned paper, or paint or stencil your own paper), and cut out circles of different sizes using my crazy scissors.  (Corrine Gilman's post inspired me!) Then I layered them in ways that were pleasing to me.

3.  I used my awl to poke holes through the layers, where I was going to sew the circles together.  If you don't have an awl, a thin nail would do.

  

4.   Using waxed linen thread (but any strong thread would do), I sewed the circles together, using a few found buttons.  (You could also glue these together and forgo the sewing...)

 

5.  I set the circles aside and picked up my canvas again.  I put a light wash of blue on the top, and a light wash of green on the bottom, to create the feeling of a garden and horizon.

7.  

6.  While this was drying, I took a piece of green painted cardstock and made some different stitching with my sewing machine, and cut out some stems.  (You could just draw these stitches on as well.) 

7.  Previously, I had woven together some gelli prints and book pages.  (You do this by cutting slits in the book pages -- keeping the tops and bottoms intact, and then weaving strips of gelli prints through them.)  I used this to cut out leaves.

8.  I inked the sides of my stems with Ranger Walnut Stain:

9.  And then assembled my flowers, leaves and stems onto my canvas.  I used black fluid acrylics and a skinny brush to outline the flowers and the bottom of the canvas, and Pearl Pens in white, gold and silver to embellish the flowers.

10.  I wrote the phrase "Believe in your Magic" on some scraps, cut the words out and adhered them.  I used a graphite pencil to add definition to the edges of the canvas.  Done!

We do acts of magic every day!  BELIEVE!

Linking to A Colorful Gelli Party, Paint Party Friday, and Art Journal Every Day.

Happy Independence Day to anyone celebrating on July 4th!  Here's a glimpse of the flag I'll be waving.  You can see it in full in this post.

Thank you for visiting! I hope you will leave me a comment to let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will answer any questions as quickly as I can.