Tuesday, January 28, 2014

Snow in the South!

Whoohoo, I would never have guessed that the 50% chance of less than an inch of snow here in Atlanta, would lead to over 2 inches of snow with slushy, icy roads and 20 degree weather! It is a mess, southern style. So, what to do on a messy day,  I worked on my Journal52. This week's prompt is to: create your own character for your art journal. Your character could be a reflection of yourself or someone you admire or even a completely made-up person. 


 My journal entry this week is a character of how I feel a lot of the time, like a stacking Russian doll. I have so many different parts of me that work together all at the same time. I am a wife, a mom, a daughter, a sister, an artist, a teacher, an organizer, a cook, a driver, a referee . . . so, this little lady is a character of my daily layers!! 

I took a couple pics of the background because I used pan pastels.  I don't usually use them because I haven't always had good luck.  But it was snowing and I thought, why not!  And I actually really liked how they worked . . . I used workable fixative and then used paint and stamps on top.  Love the way it turned out!!





 

The colors were a little bright here, so I mixed together some white paint and acrylic glazing to tone down the colors a little!  And then I made my Russian doll and doodled . . . finished!











These were my dolls that were sitting on the cabinet.  They were definitely my inspiration and models!


Friday, January 24, 2014

Love Owls

Have you ever started a project or a layout and not been happy with the finished project? That happened to me this week.  I made a long canvas with 5 owls on it but it didn't work for me and I just wanted to paint over it.  However, when I looked at the canvas there were certain elements that I liked . . . the background and two owls.  So I started over.  I took the pieces that I liked and remade them.   And now I LOVE my little Love Owls!! So I really encourage you, if you are working on something that just isn't going right, pick out what works and keep those elements!  You don't have to get it right the first time!  Keep trying!


I started by randomly stamping directly onto the blank canvas.


I used my gelli plate and white tissue paper to create another part of the background. First, I made a print of chevron and then a second layer of hearts on top. 

I used matte medium to put the tissue paper down onto the stamped canvas.  The transparency of the tissue paper lets you see the stamped layer . . .  favorite technique!

Next I cut out my Love Owls from Fancy Pants, Be. Loved. paper pack. If you get any Valentine's Day papers this year, THIS is the one you need!! The patterns, the colors the shapes . . . perfect!!  I LOVE it! And honestly, this paper could be used all year!! I am tempted to get a second pad of paper, just so I can have extras to use again! 

I laid out my pieces, used matte medium to glue them down. (I really like using matte medium, if you didn't know that by now.  I like that matte medium isn't as sticky or gloopy as glue or decoupage).  After the matte medium dries, I used pens and Pitt Pens to highlight and finish off the canvas!! 



 Thank you all for stopping by today!! Run as fast as you can and grab the Fancy Pants Be.Loved. Paper - I just can't tell you how much I love it!!  And I hope you all enjoyed my Love Owls and are inspired to keep trying when a page or a project isn't going as planned!!   (In fact, if you want to see the 5 owl canvas, I will bravely put it up just to show you ... leave me a comment though to tell me about a project you gave up on just to make me feel better though!) 
 

Thursday, January 23, 2014

Winter Night and Summer Day

Hi Linnie Bloom Fans!!  Today I have two different canvases.  I  made the summer day canvas last week, but when I saw Debbie's wonderful long blank, I thought, great minds think alike!! I took out my Linnie Shapes and amazingly, 8 shapes later, I saw the Winter night come to life. I hope you enjoy my Winter night and Summer Day!


The first thing I do is lay out my shapes and the papers I want to use for the background.  This time I used a map of Georgia, some book paper and a couple of children's poems.  (I also added a gelli printed paper for the snow, but it is not pictured here!)


I got out my supplies - I love art supplies!!


I painted up my little house on a canvas arrow with acrylic paint, a brown paint and mixed it with Golden's titan buff to create dimension.



  I used three different gelato colors and a Faber Castell Pitt pen to create the color on the trees! The stars, were sprayed with Dylusions spray through a star shaped stencil.  I just LOVE how the spay keeps its shape on Linnie shapes through stencils.

And here are some close-ups of the the finished canvas!! I think I might like to be on vacation at this winter cabin right now!!  Even though it has been cold here (for Atlanta) I would love some snow and true winter weather!




And then, in contrast here is my summer day canvas!! This is a little 5x7 canvas that I had in my stash.  I thought it fit my Linnie Tree perfectly!


For the tree, I used acyrlics.  I painted on a thin layer of a lighter green.  I used stencils and a 'spouncer' to keep the paint from bleeding under the stencil.  I layered on a couple of different stencils for a more textured look.


I used a brown gelato and a brown Faber Castell Pitt Pen for the trunk.  I put the gelato directly onto the canvas piece and then smeared it around with my finger.  I used the pen to outline the shape and add a little detail!


Thank you all so much for stopping by today!!  You can keep up with Linnie Blooms on the Linnie Blooms Blog, the Linnie Blooms facebook page and the Linnie Blooms Pintrest page!!

Wednesday, January 22, 2014

What makes me Smile??

Welcome to my blog!! If you are just finding my little corner of the world for the first time, WELCOME!!  I am SO glad to have you visit!  I am always amazed how mixed media, scrapbooking and art can use the same materials but be so different from artist to artist!  I love meeting new people and seeing what they create - so please say HI!!

 Today, my journal is from the prompt, What Makes You Smile!!  And you know, Garden gnomes make me smile.  I love them. I think they are cute, whimsical and friendly!! I actually have one in my yard . . . but just one . . . he might need  a friend soon!!    

So here is my gnome for today.  Just simple and fun!! 


The background is a gelli printed tissue paper.  I used matte medium to glue it down and covered it with clear gesso to create a 'canvas!'


 I sketched on my design and then painted them in!




I wanted some texture on the page, so I used a Linnie Blooms Canvas Sunshine shape.  I put a stencil on top of it and used two different sprays to create my sun!












Some doodling, some stamping and a quote for the tag and DONE! 






Friday, January 17, 2014

Hope

http://eclecticpaperie.blogspot.com/2014/01/january-eteam-picks-challenge-hope.html
So today I have my project for the ePaperie Team Picks Challenge!!  I really hope that you will all join us and make scrapbook page, art journal, canvas, altered item...the sky is the limit. Use the word hope, or make a piece of art that represents a hope that you have for 2014. Anyway that you interpret hope.

The last two challenges from ePaperie, the Altered and Team picks have really hit close to home.  My husband's wonderful cousin is in the hospital waiting for a heart transplant. She is very brave and strong but I know that the time that she has spent in the hospital must be becoming very difficult.  So with the hearts challenge and this Hope challenge, I just couldn't keep keep myself from creating this.  This is just a little reminder, how strong just a small bit of hope can be. And my hope for 2014, is for Jana to get a wonderful, new, strong heart. (The earlier in 2014, the better!!)


I started with a sketch.  Then  I watercolored with neocolors.  I really tried SO hard to keep white space on the page because I just wanted this little canvas to be simple and not too busy.


I painted some felt with white gesso and then painted it with one of my favorite colors, Quinacridone Magenta by Golden. The felt keeps it's shape so well and provides an excellent pop of texture!

I painted around the edges of the cavas with my other favorite paint colors!  I glued the watercolored picture down to the canvas.







What is your hope for 2014?  Make something and share with us at Eclectic Paperie!

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

No, I haven't done the laundry or cleaned the floor . . .

because I have been enjoying having time to myself at my desk!!  The house isn't really falling down around me, but it might pretty soon if I don't start getting a couple of chores done around here!!  

This week's prompt from Journal 52, is 'Somewhere, a Simple Place.'  Here is my dream, a simple treehouse in the trees.  Long before the show Treehouse Masters, I have wanted to live in or have a real grown-up treehouse!  I had a great one when I was a kid, with a window and a sandbox underneath. And I have even created a treehouse picture before because I love them so much. (but that project is long gone.) Someday, maybe I will find this simple place in the trees!


And I took a few pics along the way . . .

When I ran out of my favorite gel medium getting the background down . . .


Mixing the paint with glazing medium to make it more transparent . . .


Painting the background . . .


Wetting the cardboard so that I can pull off the top layer! (Thank you Becky G. for showing me this!)


Planning the pic and the size of the paper piecing . . .


The real pieces ...


The finished project . . .




The quote, "It is the sweet, simple things of life which are the real ones after all."  - Laura Ingalls Wilder