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: Washi Tape

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 can't believe I had to wait all the way to the last week to talk about one of my favorite craft supplies: Washi Tape!!  Now to some this may seem like an overpriced roll of tape, but to me I see it as instant happiness added to just about any project, surface, letter or envelope.  I may have a few rolls of the stuff...

But I use it a lot! I love to make cards with it...

And I have been known to use it in my art, both alone;

 and as an accent;

 or main theme on Artist Trading Cards;

I have found it to be one of those addictive pleasures, but as I said, I use it a lot. Even if I just collected it, though, it would be a fun hobby! :)

Thanks for stopping by today.  I hope you were inspired!

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!