Creative Blog Hop!

 I was to be asked by Donna from Donna's Crafty Place to participate in this fun hop. Donna is the creator of the Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Blog and a DT member at the Christmas Card Challenge Blog.

The Creative Blog Hop works in a rather interesting way.  You are nominated to join the blog hop and the only requirement are to nominate two others to follow you on the next Monday and to answer four questions about yourself and your creative process.  Nothing to it!

Here is my project for the hop!! My little white church on pallet wood! This project has gone through several phases ... I knew I wanted to make a church since I haven't made one in a long time.  I also really wanted to make one that I had in my sketch book ... so I glued the pallet wood together and got creating! I don't know if this project is completely done ... so I have it sitting up on my wall waiting for me to figure out what to do with that window ....

Sing your song, dream your dream, hope your hope and pray your prayer. 

- P. Beatty

There are the four questions those of us who participate are asked as part of the Creative Blog Hop.

1.  What are you working on now?  This Church!  And also I am taking Saturday Morning Blocks class from Junelle Jacobsen so I am working on my sheep and cupcake stand blocks!! LOVE this class!! 

2.  How does your work differ from others in your genre?  I usually have pretty simple paper piecing and backgrounds. When I try to make too much - I end up creating mud!!  I just find myself pulled to the simple!

3.  Why do you create what you do? I have never taken a really formal art class other than art class in school. I was never good at the drawing or staying in the lines kind of art, so I figured art wasn't for me! But one day I was at my BFF's house and she had made a mixed media project for the teachers at her kids' school and I LOVED it! So I came home and watched every single video on mixed media that I could find on YouTube until I dove into the art supplies.  I create because I just LOVE the feeling of creating and the final thrill of finishing off a piece of work!

4.  How does your creative process work? Well, I sketch a lot in my little sketch book.  I look at pictures in magazines and on pinterest and sketch them down.  Then I take the little sketches and turn them into projects!  I cut out a lot of paper pieces, I use a lot of paint and doodle at the end!  I think that about describes my whole creative process! 

And, now it's time to share with  you the two people I've nominated to participate in the Creative Blog Hop next Monday, March 2nd!!
 
First, is Linda Barutha from Linnie Blooms!  She is an extremely creative artist that started her own mixed-stitch company!!  I love using her canvas pieces!

 I've also nominated Cathy Parlitsis, from her blog Stamps and Scrapbooks.
Cathy is super talented and just I love her cards and designs!!

And here is a little bit more about my process from the in-process church! 

Sketching onto the pallet wood that I glued together!

 Paper pieced church with some paint ...

First layer for the stained glass window ... hummm....

 So I highlighted the window ... hummm...

 I toned it down with some whitewash ... hummm.

 I broke out the watercolors ... I mean watercolors make great stained glass windows, right?

 Lots of tries ... lots of oops and aaggh and ugh.  But I picked one for now ...

 

 

So, next Monday, hop on over to Linda and Cathy's blogs to see what they have to say!!

Happy Valentines!!

Well, the weekend slipped away from me, but the family is home today (Monday) ... so it kinda still feels like Sunday.  In fact, I really thought it was and totally lost track of days!!  I meant to stop by here yesterday and let you all know that The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge Blog has two new Design Team Members!!  They are amazing and I can't wait to work alongside with them .  So please, hop on over to the challenge blog and say HI to these amazing new ladies and PLAY in the challenge with us!! Remember the theme this month is Think Pink - so as you are putting away Valentines Day decorations and cards - see what you can do with them for a Mixed Media Challenge!!

And I am still loving playing in Junelle's Saturday Mornings 2 class!! In fact, on Valentine's Day I made this little block for my sweet hubby!!  So I hope you all had a wonderful Valentines Day and managed to stay warm on this wintry day!! I am off back to my art room to get a little messy!

Junelle Jacobsen's Saturday Morning Blocks Class ....

Seriously .... makes my heart sing!! I just adore Junelle, her teaching, her love for art and of course, her own amazing art!! I have been fortunate enough to attend a couple of weekends of her classes but I sure do love her online classes too!!  This month is her Saturday Morning Blocks Class.  If you have never taken a class from Junelle, then please jump right into one - I guarantee you will learn a ton and laugh a ton too!!  I have taken quite a few online classes ... and hers are my #1 - learn the most and walk away with new ideas classes!!  http://yesandamenblog.blogspot.com/2015/01/open-house-saturday-mornings-2.html

These are just two projects that I did this week - the great thing about the class is that you can really work along with her.  Of course, you might have to pause for drying time (or perhaps, the child that is home sick.) So go now, run to her webpage and take a class!!  

Yarn Bombed Trees - Who would have thought of this .... just amazing Junelle! 

And of course she does a lot of sketching ... and she sketched her mom's art space - and suggested we sketch what is around us.  So I did my art space on a block.  You know, at first I thought that it would be crazy hard to piece together everything in my room.  But honestly, it was so fun to break it down into shapes and colors - 

And then the real space - but know - we had just recarpeted this room.  So EVERYTHING was out and then when I put everything back in it looked this neat!!  So I took a picture to capture the moment of calm and clean .... 

Okay, so enough gushing about Junelle - but do let me know if you take a class from her!!!

Hot Air Balloons - I love them!

Who doesn't love seeing a hot air balloon floating in the air and watching it until it disappears?  In the fall, we see several hot air balloons floating around here and I just love them!!  I love to watch them come and go behind trees and buildings.  And in the end wonder where they finally land?!  I find myself drawing them in my sketchbook all the time!  But honestly, I don't think I could ever ride in one ... so I just enjoy watching them floating through the air and making them out of paper!

While I was experimenting with pallet wood, I was seeing what ink spray would do on the wood and had this leftover piece left sitting on my desk. I just love the way the ink sinks into the dry, rough wood grain of the pallet wood. 

But then I added some map paper and liked it more for hot air balloons.  So I pretty much covered up the pretty stencil pattern on the front ... whoops!

Then I got to work on my balloon pieces.  I covered some burlap in gel medium to make it stiffer.  I also love gel coated burlap because it doesn't fray.  I love that it gives me burlap options!!

And finally I finished up the background ....

Glued down my pieces, doodled, highlighted and finished up!!

And this is how the back ended up!

And some close-ups!!

 

Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #8

It is time for another challenge .... this month's challenge over at The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge is to use PINK!! I love pink!!  So please, come on over to the challenge and try it out with us ... it will be so much fun!!!!  I love to see everyone's work - such an amazing community of talent!!

And of course, there is a prize this month .... hold on .... one of my favorite online papercraft stores .... Ellen Hutson!!!  One lucky winner will win a $25 Gift Certificate to Ellen Hutson!! Woohoo!!!

And now, my Think Pink Project .... 

And some close-ups ...

First, I started off with a wood scrap! Thank goodness everyone in my family knows to keep wood scraps for me!! This one is awesome because it has a section of the piece that still has a bark section on it!!  I just used the flat surface as my canvas and then left the rough section!

I put tissue paper onto the wood and then painted over it through a chevron stencil.  Then I used a heart punch to punch out a ton of different pink hearts. Gel medium is the glue that sticks them together in layers to create the flowers for the canvas.  I also cut out some green paper for grass and leaves. 

The middle of the 'flowers' were a little bit harder to figure out what do because the centers where all the hearts came together just weren't pretty.  I covered some burlap leftovers with gel medium and let it dry.  Then after the burlap was dry and rigid, it was easier to cut out heart shapes without the burlap fraying everywhere!

 I put all the parts together, doodled, highlighted and then I was done!! 

I tried it out by my owl and it did look cute there...

I tried it out on my bookshelf, but it was too white and I even had to enhance the color of the pic so that it stood out ...

And then I put it on my front hallway table where it just looks perfect!!

And she ended up here in the front hallway!! Perfect for spring, which hopefully will come soon here in Atlanta!!