Upgrading the Walls

We have the newly painted canvases hung in the kitchen.  The first photo shows a few things in front of them, but I still would like to add more to the orange, and contrasting pieces in front of the other three as well.  I am pleased with the overall effect.  It's always nice when a vision comes to fruition!

You can barely see the edge of one arm of the mobile in the photo below, but the colors are very close to those that are on the canvases, and from the dining room looking into the kitchen, it is a very colorful fun look.

Here is the finished 'hood in the dining room.  I am so in love with this little grouping!  I had Ornery cut a few more wooden shapes for me, and I hope to eventually fill more of the wall with additions. It makes me smile every time I look at it.

And, since we painted the guest room and there is absolutely NOTHING to break up the very lilac color on the walls,

I decided to make a foray into painting flowers. Here is my first one, it is on a 12x20 canvas done in acrylic.

The accent colors in the room are to be limey green and icy blue. The guest bed will be a trundle type affair built by none other than Ornery himself.  We designed it, purchased two XL Twin mattresses and now we just have to build it.  Stay tuned for updates. :)

Blogging A to Z: Zentangle

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

You have probably done a fair bit of doodling in your life, but have you ever seen Zentangle designs? Wow! They require way more patience than I usually exhibit, but I can completely enjoy looking at them.  Since I don't do them myself I don't have photos to share with you since I don't want to post other people's work without their consent.  However, if you do a Google search for Zentangle, you should prepare to get lost in the beauty for a long while.  All you need is a pen and some paper to create these fabulous drawings, so in fact anyone can do them.

Thank you for joining me this month on this A to Z blogging challenge.  It has been such great fun, and I hope you have been inspired or learned something you didn't know about in reading my posts.  Let's stay friends, shall we?

Blogging A to Z: Yupo

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

One product that I have recently discovered in my foray into the art supply jungle is Yupo paper.  Yupo is an incredibly durable, waterproof synthetic paper that is 100% polypropylene, has a smooth finish and is awesome to use with alcohol inks and (I am told) watercolor. It comes in loose sheets or pads, and a variety of sizes.


So far I have used it for alcohol ink because the surface tension allows the ink to sit on top and do its thing with brilliance, but I intend to try it with watercolor as well.

Thank you for dropping by today!  I hope you learned something new or were inspired in some way. Tomorrow is the last A to Z post!  Wow, this month went by fast!  I am so happy to have made so many new friends.

Blogging A to Z: X's and O's

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

The letters X and O are often used to signify kisses and hugs.  But they are also very popular marks in mixed media art.

The green marks on the right side in the middle of the page are stylized X's and O's on a Crafter's Workshop stencil.

Circles are especially popular right now, but one of my favorite mixed media artists, Roben Marie Smith uses them both a lot in her work. One of my favorite art tutorial videos is the scalloped flap mail art and was my first introduction to adding x's to my work. Now they show up quite often. :)

Thank you for dropping by today.  I appreciate all your comments and follows.  We're almost to the end of the month, but I hope to enjoy your company beyond April!

Blogging A to Z: Variety

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

I often say I have crafter's ADD (attention deficit disorder) because I bounce around from one style, theme or medium to another, but variety is the spice of life, right?  I think so! That is the essence of art for me--to reach inside my soul and pull out some little nugget of creativity and explore it in some new way. That's why I hate to reproduce my work or I have always avoided it if I could, but lately I have been thinking about having some prints made, possibly some stationary or note cards using some of my favorite designs. At any rate, I am sure I will continue to switch things up a lot.  It's just the way I roll.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Blogging A to Z: U is for Unexpected

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

There are a few things I like to use in my art that are unexpected. Upcycling is sort of a buzzword in the art field, and many people like to bring new life to old objects.  Here is one project I did for my daughter using a favorite shirt she wore out and hated to part with.  Some of the fabric was still in good shape, and the colors fit her house, so I made a mixed media piece for her using the shirt as the background.

I would call it a collaboration with the fabric designer, whoever that might have been.  The design was pretty awesome to start with, so all I added to it were the flowers, but it is pretty rare other than in quilts, to see old clothing get new life in a frame!

I have used pockets from old worn out jeans to decorate the fronts of journals.

Underpaper, which is one term for the newsprint or file folders I put under my work while I am working, catches a lot of excess media and can turn into pretty awesome art by accident.  I have used this underpaper for art journal backgrounds and mail art. It's a nice way to use up the dabs of mixed color and excess ink that doesn't absorb into the original art. In fact, some of the underpaper pieces are my favorites!

Thank you for stopping by today!  I hope you learned something or were inspired.  Please let me know of your visit by leaving a comment.  I would love to hear from you!

Blogging A to Z: Texture, Trading Cards and Twinks

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

As mentioned in my E post, one of the elements of art is texture.  I love texture!!  I add it in a variety of ways: layers of paper or tape; textured papers such as hand-made or other textured scrapbook papers; mediums like super heavy gesso, modeling paste or glass bead gel; glue, glossy accents or texture spray such as "Goosebumps"; a variety of non-art related products such as drywall tape which comes in a variety of styles, corrugated paper, mesh bags, etc.; fabric such as burlap or other loose weave; fibers such as yarn, string, hemp, thread... You can imagine that just about anything can be used!

One of the first things that captured my interest in mixed media art was Trading Cards, commonly known as ATC's (Artist Trading Cards).  These are 2.5 x 3.5" little miniature works of art.  They can be made with any style or form, the only hard and fast rule is the size.  I have a nice collection that I keep in two large binders filled with sleeves like those used for sports card collections.

Twinkling H2O watercolors, (twinks) are little pots of watercolor infused with minerals to create a shimmer effect.  They were my first real art supply after I left the world of scrapbooking. They come in so many colors, and every single one makes me happy! :)

Thank you for coming by today!  I hope you learned something or were inspired.  I'd love to hear what you have to say in the comments!

Blogging A to Z: Stencils, Stamps and Shimmer

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

A few favorite things I use in my art show up in today's line-up: Stencils, Stamps and Shimmer.

I have talked about stencils here a bit, because I use them for modeling paste and glass bead gel a lot.  I also use them with spray inks, and have quite a large collection of these little plastic jewels.

Stamps are another popular tool with mixed media artists, and while I used to think a stamped image must be perfect, squared, and colored exactly, I have certainly changed my tune!  I no longer look for elaborate design stamps, but instead prefer stamps that either say something or give impressions rather than exact images. Here is an example of some I have been lusting for...Actually the site I had hoped to feature apparently sold out of the sets I had been eyeing, but they will probably come back again later.

I do have a smallish (comparatively speaking) collection of stamps.  My favorite are the clear stamps, but the images are (supposedly) better with red rubber stamps.  Those can be purchased mounted or unmounted.  I am a big fan of unmounted stamps because they take up less space.

My last S word for today is shimmer.  Oooh. I love shimmery goodness!  In fact I have a rather large array of products that provide shimmer and sparkle in my art.

Thank you for stopping by today!  I hope you enjoyed your visit!

Blogging A to Z: Rolos

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

I have mentioned these in at least one other post during this monthly blog hop, but Rolos deserve a full post all to themselves.  Rolos are Altered Rolodex Cards and are one of my favorite little art venues because they are easy to make and can be displayed on a Rolodex spinner on my table. I have only been making them for a few months, but I already have a nice collection.

These are standard 2-1/4" x 4" size, but there are other sizes as well.  Here are a few favorites from the ones I have made.

The back side is usually also lightly decorated, and I prefer to have the holes in the bottom on the front and the design so the holes are at the top on the back so when I flip through I don't have to turn the Rolodex around to read the back. They are pretty cute little bits of art, and I have enjoyed swapping them!

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you have been inspired or learned something new.

Blogging A to Z: Quinacridone

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

1. Quinacridone is an organic molecule utilized in the formation of organic pigments. It is an organic compound with the molecular formula C₂₀H₁₂N₂O₂. Wikipedia

What? Say, WHAT? Well, besides being a word I always stumble over, quinacridone is one part of the name of some of my favorite colors.  Other than that, I couldn't tell you anything about why this does what it does. But it shore is purdy. :)

Thank you for dropping by today.  Hope you learned something new or were inspired in some way.  :)

Blogging A to Z: Paint, Pens and Pencils

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

Today's letter is P, and I have to say, it will be really difficult to top my last P entry in the A to Z challenge. If you want to see it, you can click here.  But, for today, since my theme is art and not poetry or punnery, I will stick with paint, pens and pencils. Because those are certainly artistic mediums!

Paint: I prefer acrylic. I use a variety of brands and styles, from cheap craft paints to luxurious Golden brand paints and a variety of others in-between.  I also enjoy using watercolors, but I will save those for a later post.


Pens: Paint pens, gel pens, fountain pens- they all have their own uses, and one can never really have too many, can they? (don't tell me if it's so.  I don't want to hear it.)


Pencils: Besides just the standard No. 2, there are Prismacolor (wax based and my daughter's personal favorite medium); Watercolor pencils including Aquarelle, Inktense, and Stabilo All; Charcoal and other graphite pencils; and my personal favorite, mechanical pencils.


Thank you for dropping by today.  I'm so happy you are here. It would be so nice if you left a comment to say hi!

Blogging A to Z: Neutral

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

Many people enjoy soft NEUTRAL colors, and that is really obvious if you look at Pinterest and focus on decorating ideas.  The current obsession with white walls, white furnishings, white accents holds absolutely no appeal to me.

BUT... they have their place in art, just like any other color.  White, brown and black are all amazing accents and when done well, a piece that uses only neutral colors can be very peaceful. It is not my preference, but then without the addition of black or white to colors there would be no variety either.

Here are a few Artist Trading Cards I have made using all or mostly neutral colors.

Thank you for dropping by today!  I hope you enjoyed your visit and I'd love to hear from you in the comments.

Blogging A to Z: M for Mail Art

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

Oh, my.  I had so many choices for M--modern, mixed media, modeling paste... but I'll settle on one today that makes me oh, so happy; Mail Art.  The post office doesn't even have to have the correct address on my mail (although I'm sure it helps!) to deliver it to me.  My incoming and outgoing mail is almost all highly decorated--or at least sports a strip or two of washi tape...

I'll Share a few photos with you and leave it at that for today. They speak for themselves. :)

Recycled Chiptole take-out bag.  Yes, I mailed it with the handles still on it. :)

Black and white...

This postcard was made mostly from junk-mail pieces. 

Phone book map envelopes.

Another postcard from junk mail pieces. 

Altered file folder filled with goodies and enclosed in a clear bag for mailing.  

Thank you for dropping by today.  I'd love to read your comments if you care to leave any.

Blogging A to Z: L is for Layers

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

One thing I love about mixed media is the use of layers.  It's not about just drawing a picture or slapping down some paint.  It's about adding ephemera, stamped designs, paint, ink, and anything else that comes to mind or fingertip!  Layers can add texture or other dimension that you just can't get without them.

In one piece I might start out with some crumpled tissue paper glued down to a paper.  By the time the piece is finished you might not see any of the original paper, but because of its presence there is a rich texture that resonates throughout the piece.

Here is an example of texture made with layers.  This has modeling paste, paint, ink, watercolor, wire and tape. Of course not all the layers need to add texture.  Below is an example of layers of tape...

Layering is a great way to create, whether it is with different colors of paint, or a variety of media.

Thank you for stopping by to visit me today!  I hope you'll leave a comment to let me know you were here!

Blogging A to Z: K is for Knife

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

There are two types of knives I use in my art: an Xacto or other variety of a razor knife, and a palette knife.

While there is only one real use for a razor knife, cutting, there is nothing like the precision you get with a sharp point.  Mostly I use it to cut text out of books for use in mixed media, but sometimes I cut a stencil or need it for fine detail work.  I'll confess it is not my favorite way of cutting, as I don't seem to have very good control and often cut things I hadn't intended to cut.

The palette knife is one of the more useful tools I have on my table.  It can be used for mixing or applying paint or other media either on a palette or directly to the work itself.  My favorite use is for spreading modeling paste or glass bead gel onto the art through a stencil.  The smooth flat edge makes it easy to press the media into the stencil while controlling the surface and depth. It is one of the tools I reach for quite frequently, especially when I am journaling.

There are several shapes and sizes available, but I find I mostly reach for the same diamond shaped plastic one.  I invested in a metal one with a longer thinner blade, but I don't seem to have as much control, so I keep going back to the old cheap one.  At any rate, I'm glad there are options. :)  Below are a couple of examples where I used a palette knife to apply modeling paste.  The flowers on the top card, the feathers on the left side of the page below.

Thank you for stopping by today.  I hope you'll leave me a comment to say hi!

Blogging A to Z: J is for Journal

April is here!! It's time for daily blogging, lots of visitors and meeting new friends.  In other words, time for the Blogging A to Z challenge hosted by Arlee Bird and his team of minions.  Thousands of other bloggers from all over the world participate in this blog hop each year, and anyone may join in as long as they blog each day during the month of April, (except Sundays) the blog posts correspond to the appropriate letter for that day, and they sign up on the link list. Simple!

One of the things a lot of artists use as a learning tool is a Journal. This can take many different forms, and in fact I have several journals, each with a different theme or purpose.  These journals can be made by hand or purchased, and can have special paper inside, or just plain white. A lot depends on what you are planning to put inside as to what the paper should be made of.

Over the past sixteen months I have been involved in traveling art journal projects with friends I met through social media--primarily Instagram. Each artist creates her own journal (we have so far all been women) and decorates the cover, outside and inside.  Some people also add a sign-in page for the artists to log their name and contact information, but some just rely on the artist to sign their pages.  The blank journal travels around to each participating artist, who then creates two pages of their own style of art inside before passing it on to the next one.  The end results of these treasures have been fantastic! None of the artists that have been in these round-robins are professional artists, but the work is inspiring, nonetheless!

Here are a few photos of some of the pages I have done in other people's journals:

Usually artists keep at least one journal to draw or practice or record ideas.  I have not been very good at keeping up with the habit, but eventually I would like to add something to my journal every day.  Just like any skill, the more you practice it, the better you become.  It would certainly stretch my creative muscles a bit!

Another form of journal that has gained a bit of popularity in the last few years is called a Junk Journal.  Paper crafters often have a lot of bits and pieces left over from various projects, whether scrapbooking, making cards, or whatever.  A great place to put these things that are too pretty to throw away is inside a junk journal; also called smash books and glue books. The main thing I keep in my Junk Journals is mail art.  Sometimes you can recycle an old book to use as the base pages for the journal, just gluing things onto the pages that are already there.  My junk journal is completely comprised of items I received in the mail, and I repurpose the envelopes I especially like into pockets to hold other bits of mail such as post cards and small inclusions.  I keep it all in 8" 3-ring binders.  Here is a video (my first ever YouTube!) of one of my junk journals.  I have three volumes now. :)

I am still becoming friendly with art journaling. It isn't that I don't enjoy it, because I really do, but I haven't yet made it a priority.  At any rate, I love the journals I do have, and hope to get more consistent through the months to come.  Thanks for dropping by, today!  I'd love to read your comments! :)