EXPERIMENTING WITH PAINTS

Sometimes, it's good to set aside time to just play with one's art supplies, and today was that day for me.  I feel pretty confident creating with paper and glue and gesso and scissors and inks.  But, paints, well, that is quite the different story.  Paint just seems so permanent!  Even unforgiving.

I have an artist friend who began her career by taking a figure from a magazine and painting over it--she swears that that is how she learned to paint!  If it worked for her, why not me?  Today, I found a rather simple ad in a magazine and immediately tore it out and adhered it to a loose journal page.  I have yet to learn about shading, shadows and space, so what you see is just three colors of paint rubbing up against each other--but happily so.

I love using my word stamps to express myself, and think the one I used here is perfect since this lady appears to have an attitude, while at the same time appearing naked.  

All this said, I can't take credit for the underlying element of the piece of art, but I can take credit for painting it!

Thanks for coming by today!  I hope you will take a moment to leave a comment so that I will know you were here!

Joy to you!

SDC91: STAMPOTIQUE SKETCH CHALLENGE

By now, you must know I am a big fan of the Stampotique stamp images, and I am here to introduce yet another one, Spykee.  The Stampotique Designers Challenge this week has been to use a great sketch by Design Team member Maria to create an art project.  Although Stampotique stamps are not a requirement, I use them every chance I get!  You can find the details and enter the challenge here.  

Here is Maria's sketch:

And here is the tag that I created using this sketch for inspiration:

Thanks for stopping by today.  Please take a moment to join as a follower if you have not already done so.  Then, follow by e-mail if you wish to receive an e-mail notification when I update my blog.  

Joy to you!

MIXED MEDIA MONDAY'S MARCH "DARE"

I continue to follow mixed media artist Tracy Weinzapfel, whose artful YouTube videos each Monday night inspire her followers to be creative each and every week, if not each and every day!  Her March "Dare" challenges us to use music for inspiration and to toss in a few buttons for good measure.  You can find the challenge details here.

If you are following my blog, and I hope you are, you will remember that the Stampotique Designers also challenged us earlier this month to use music as our jumping off point for a project.  While there are those artists who create one layout or art journaling page for 10 different challenges (and I commend them for their creativity!), I have a need to be a bit more focused on a single challenge.  It is for this reason that I am creating a second music-themed project now.

Dylusions inks again have provided a colorful base for my project, but the intensity has been toned down by first flooding the watercolor paper with White Linen.  All three subsequent inks are then muted as they blend with the White Linen for a softer (sleepier) effect.  

The song I chose is the classic "Beautiful Dreamer."  Specifically, the lines . . . 

Beautiful dreamer,

wake unto me,

starlight and dewdrops

are waiting for thee.

These lyrics remind me of my husband Russ entering my life and waking me from a life without romance, without a partner, without direction.  

Thank you for visiting today.  If you will leave a comment, I will know you were here!

Joy to you!

UPCYCLING YOUR TRASH

You may remember the adage that says, "One man's trash is another man's treasure," right?  Well, I am suggesting we put an artistic spin on this, making the adage read more like, "One man's trash can be the same man's treasure"--or in this case woman's treasure.   My daughter encouraged me to begin recycling a few years ago, and I have been doing pretty well at that.  A recent blog post by an artsy friend talked about reusing artistically what we might normally recycle, so I have been thinking a bit about this. 

Today, when I used the last page of a refrigerator magnet pad for making lists, rather than recycling the pad, I took it to my studio.  Here's what I used to repurpose the pad:

• gesso to seal the cardboard
• 3 Dylusions spray inks to create the background
• a Dylusions mask for the female form
• a leftover piece of scrapbooking paper for the dress
• Tim Holtz number rub-on
• archival black ink pad
• 3 stamps (script, handprint, smudges)
• toilet paper roll insert to create circles

And, here's the result (now back on the refrigerator as art):

I appreciate that you came by today.  Please take a moment to leave a comment so that I will know you were here--and because it makes me happy!  ;-)

Joy to you!

I HAVE RECEIVED THE LIEBSTER BLOG AWARD

The Liebster Blog Award

This morning, I received an e-mail from Patricia Basson announcing that she had honored me by presenting to my blog The Liebster Award!!!  As much as being thrilled with the award, I am honored that it is Patricia who has presented it to me.  I consider Patricia's artful projects to be of such amazing caliber!  She is currently on the Design Teams of Imaginarium and Scrap Africa, but her list of accomplishments is far longer than that!  So, thank you, Patricia, from the bottom of my heart for this great honor.  I will display this on my blog with great pride:

The Liebster Award was designed to be a blog award in the pay-it-forward fashion. It is awarded to blogs which have fewer than 200 followers to encourage new visitors to these blogs. Once you have been nominated, you award it to five other blogs.

The rules are:

• Thank the person who gave you this award
• Post the award on your blog
• Give the award to 5 bloggers whom you appreciate and have fewer than 200 followers
• Leave a comment on their blogs to let them know you have given them this award

There are so many newer bloggers to whom I would love to present The Liebster Award, but am limited to only five. So, here are my nominations!  Please take a moment to visit their blogs and to become followers.  I hope this small act of kindness will push these bloggers to greater numbers!

SARAH SPINDELL:  Think, Believe, Create

http://thinkcreatesarah.blogspot.com

Sarah is a college student who is studying psychology, but is in love with art!  Sarah's blog is full of inspiration, as well as tips and tricks of the trade.

LORI BATRONIS:  Lori's Happy Place

http://lorishappyplace.blogspot.com

Lori is a true artist whether she has a paintbrush, pen or pair of scissors in her hand.  Her projects will motivate you!

INGRID GOOYER:  Ingrid's Place

http://ingridgooyer.blogspot.com

Ingrid is a mixed media artist, who continues her love of scrapbooking. Her ability to always think outside of the box has earned her a place on the Imaginarium Design Team!

SARINDA JONES:  Aggregate Memories

http://aggregatememories.blogspot.com

Sarinda can turn into art anything from glass to paper to stamps!  Her projects on the Design Team of Stampotique Originals never fail to inspire.

SAMANTHA READ:  Me and My Stamps

http://crafty-sam.blogspot.com

Sam and her canine assistant Poppy inspire us from England to try anything--from cards to clothes pins, from canvas to glitter!  Her creativity on the Design Team at Stampotique Originals seems boundless!

Thank you for visiting today and sharing this great honor with me!  Please take a moment to JOIN my blog as a follower if you have not already done so.  You can also subscribe to my blog by e-mail to receive a reminder when I update my blog.

Joy to you!

ART JOURNALING WITH PHOTOGRAPHS

Artists generally use photos when they are creating a scrapbook layout.  Art journalists generally use images when creating a journal page.  But, the two techniques are not mutually exclusive!  In the case of today's post, I have taken a "sepia" photo and further aged it by applying distress ink (Antique Linen) to the torn edges, then "pushing" the color onto the photo itself.  

Although I am 100% pleased with the finished page, the fun in creating this particular journal page was working with a photo of my daughter's friend Lorie and her son Maddox, and in the process of collecting elements and arranging them on my page, while allowing this beautiful photograph to command center stage.  Take a look:

Thanks for stopping by today.  That, in addition to your comments, makes me happy!

Joy to you!

SDC 90: USING MUSIC FOR INSPIRATION

This week's Stampotique Design Challenge is all about music...using a song, it's title, or even its lyrics to inspire an artful project.  Details here.  

If I'm honest, and I generally tend to be, I have to say the real inspiration for my journal page today is the movie The Notebook.  I love the soundtrack in general, but, specifically, I love both the music and lyrics to Feels Like Home.  This song pretty much sums up how I feel about my husband Russ.  At the age of 69, you might suspect that Russ and I would be celebrating our 50th wedding anniversary soon, but that's not the case.  Russ and I were married in 2005.  While we both had significant relationships along the way to finding each other, once we met, it certainly has felt like the love, comfort and security of home.  I am blessed!

Thanks for stopping by today.  I appreciate both your visit and your comments!

Joy to you!

SDC 89: TRIANGLE CHALLENGE/BLOG HOP

Two things came to my attention today!

The first was the roll-out of Stampotique's new stamps for 2013!  There was a blog hop through the blogs of the Design Team  (DT) members and even some of the stamp designers.  Impressive work, and such an inspiration...not to mention the yummy stamps (for which I have already placed an order!)  If you are interested, here's the link for the hop.  It does take a bit of time to "hop" through all the blogs, but at each stop you have a chance to win some of the newly-released stamps!

Now, to the triangle challenge.  Nellie, one of the very talented DT members has challenged us to incorporate triangles into our art, be it in a layout, a card, an ATC, an art journal page, or even mixed media!  Your choice.  Simple challenge, but the results have been amazing.  Check out the DT members' art here.

Now, in the midst of planning a long weekend, I had to scramble to submit a piece for the triangle challenge.  I was already working on an art journal page--not in my "good" journal, but in my "try- new-ideas-and-techniques-here" journal.  I have been wanting to do an art journal page about friends, so I picked out three of my new Stampotique "friends" and used them on my page!  I have also been toying with a title (or sentiment) along the lines of "get it together," so that went on my page, too!  So my friends are balancing on three triangles trying to get it together!  Check it out!

Thanks for stopping by.  I hope you will check out the links above for both the Stampotique blog hop and the triangle challenge.  Remember, you can use any of your stamps--but think about adding one of my "friends" to your stash!

Joy to you!