Growth and Challenges

Hey there! It's time again for another Mix-Ability challenge over on Splitcoast, and I'm hosting this week! Here's a close-up detail:

This week we are all about the LAYERS! I love layers, almost as much as I love bacon!

I started with a little paint, and scraps of paper and bits of collage left over from previous projects. Then I added texture paste through stencils to get some texture. I colored the texture paste with Dylusions spray - using a small paintbrush to apply it just to the areas I wanted to accent.

I added bits of washi tape, some gold modeling cream, a little more bits of acrylic paint, some rubbed on with my finger, some put through a stencil. I added a photo of myself, and taped the edges with washi, added more texture paste over the edges to embed the photo into the background, added 2 word stickers. I die cut the letters and the banners (Tim Holtz - Sizzix), glued them down and accented them with my graphite pencil.

Once I was happy with it, I went around the edges with Distress Stains, added more shading with graphite, and some white accents. I used a gel Souffle pen (Sakura) for the white, but you can use a liquid paper corrector pen, too. Once I get it all done, I coat everything with Mod Podge to seal it all up.

This is a project in progress photo for another page I did not long ago.

You can see the raw texture paste through stencil in the corners, bits of paper, paint, stamped images and book text. I follow the same process, generally, just putting things on the page until I'm pleased with the effect.

And this is the final photo of that same project:

Can you pick out the details? The thing that pulls it all together, for me, is the shading. Don't forget to go around the edges of your pages - that really frames the page!

Here's another in-progress picture:

And this is where I'm at with that page. Not done yet! I still have a lot more layering to do, and I need to get some more items to pull the whole thing together. I was working on this at the hospital today, and the social activities director saw it. She wants me to come teach and play with her patients in the rehabilitation unit.

I know these last 2 in particular look odd - I took the in-progress picture with my phone camera, and the final with my Canon SLR, so the color and detail quality aren't the same. I think you can pick out bits and see where the layers have been added and changed as I went. It's very obvious how important shading is between these last 2 photos.

In case you can't read it, it says, "One day this pain will make sense to you." Caring for an elderly parent with ICU psychosis is very painful indeed, and I need to remind myself that while I'm going through a dark place right now, God can see beyond it. I just have to trust Him, and know that the sun will shine again.

I really wanted to give you a video, but my Dad had surgery and there have been complications, so I've been at the hospital all day every day. So, let me be in your debt and 'owe' you a video, ok? I love to share! Is there a product or technique you really would like to see me demonstrate? Leave a comment below!

Thanks so very much for stopping by, and play along! I want to see what you do with my challenge!

Ta!
~ky

Swap and Trade

Hey there folks! I've been very busy and spent a lot of time contemplating whether or not I should resurrect my blog. I've decided I should give it a try, despite the lack of comments and traffic. If you have any suggestions about my blog, please kindly leave me a message. I would greatly appreciate constructive ideas!

I am a proud member of the Splitcoaststampers' newest challenge site. It's all about mixed-media! I do hope you'll check it out, and play along. Share your work here on my blog - just add a link in the comments - because I want to give you some love! Here's an art journal page I did a few weeks ago. Our challenge by Tiffany (IHeartArt is her blog) was to use multiple surfaces in the creation of our project.

I pulled together a lot of surfaces because I love collages. I started with gesso over a layer of distress inks, then built more layers with tape, gesso and bits of papers. My surfaces include: cardstock, medical tape, corrugated cardboard, Styrofoam  twine, vellum, metallic paint, acrylic paint, tissue paper, gesso, wooden stir stick, and machine stitching. The text on the embossed vellum says: 

"As a son, a man receives love. As a husband, a man shares his love. And as a father, a man gives his love." 

This will have a good bit of journaling about my life with my Dad. He's an amazing man whom I am getting a chance to be with day in and day out.

These pieces are Artist Trading Cards (ATCs). I participated in an ATC swap on Tamara's Willowing website. My partner was Sherri Mash, and she sent me the ATCs on the right.

Our theme was summer travel, and I created the ATCs on the right. I used Tim Holtz's and BoBunny papers, Distress ink, miscellaneous brads, ribbon, spinner. The gold edging is Viva Modeling Cream (Love this stuff!). I used Prismacolor pencils on the truck, and the stamps are by Tim Holtz and Gina K Designs.

I hope you've enjoyed your visit here. Feel free to follow me, or 'like' my Facebook studio: the ArtLab. Head out into the land of art, inspired!

~ky

Painting with Snow!

We got snow, finally! I love winter, and snow is just like the icing on my frozen cupcake. I wanted to play in the snow, but I didn't want to make a snowman. I wanted something a little more, erm, permanent.

click any image to enlarge

 I pulled out my cheap watercolor paper, and my mini misters. I sprayed the papers liberally with my own concoction of Ranger distress inks and water. Water-based inks are the key in this technique.

I sprayed the papers liberally with plain water and tossed them out on the snow.

Then I buried them in snow! Caution, do not eat the ink-colored snow! LOL Yes, I know how corny I am...

The snow freezes the wet ink, and creates a unique pattern in the ink. Our temperature was around 18*F when I did this, and the snow was damp but not super wet. I dried the papers with my super quiet super hot heat gun - this took too long, so I switched to my trusty iron for the rest. There was no detectable difference between the ironed versus gunned papers.

You can see the texture the snow imparts in the ink in this close up. It acts a little bit like salting over wet ink, but yet it's different. I may try a different technique tomorrow with more ink and watercolor paper. If so, you can bet I'll let you know how it turned out.

I made 8 sheets of 9x12 inch watercolor paper using this method. I will use these as collage pieces or backgrounds for art journaling, cards and other paper crafts. You know, come summer, I will be petting this paper trying to reconnect with this cool day. Thanks for stopping by and sharing a bit of your time with me. See you soon!

Ta for now,
♥~ky

Home Sweet Home

A little canvas

Hello again - it is so nice to be able to bring you some new bits and pieces more often. I hope my muse stays content with this for awhile longer. I have two things to share with you today - starting with a neutral base and creating a miniature collage suitable for accenting a journal page.

I began with a manila tag, the kind Tim Holtz uses for his 12 tags of Christmas each year.

My first step was to cover the tag with torn pages from an old novel. I used to have such a hard time ripping text from a perfectly good book, but then I realized I have 2 copies of a novel. I was not selective of what phrases or words showed on the surface, and I made sure to use multiple layers in some areas.

Next, I gave the trimmed, text-covered tag a watery wash of ivory and white paints. I am using a very inexpensive acrylic paint from Apple Barrel by Plaid. The goal is to tone down the text, provide some unification across the tag, and provide a base for inks.

I used my blending tool and almost all the seasonal colors of distress inks to 'paint' the tag over the acrylic. Be sure the paint is thoroughly dry before adding the distress ink.

I love the randomness and how the layers of text create wonderful texture. I sprinkled blots of water over the tag to give the ink more variety. Now, with the addition of the ink, we have moved from neutral background to the beginning of a miniature canvas.

I have a stash of catalogs, flyers, packaging and left over bits and pieces of other projects.

I arranged them on the tag, sewed part of it to the tag, the added some ribbon, a bit of fluid acrylic circles, and a few staples. I like how it came out. I hope it inspires you to get creative! See you again soon.

Ta!
♥ ~ky

A Little Art

I have been working in the art journal a little more lately. I spent all of November writing my novel, and most of December recovering. I wore myself completely out attending write ins and traveling to relatives' houses. Since I am spending a little more time in the recliner than in the studio, I thought I would share what art I've made.

I sketched Lady Green Eyes in pencil, then colored over that with a wash of neocolor II's water soluble wax pastels. I love her - I hope you do too!

This page is a collection of the flotsam of November - bits and pieces from my travels and accomplishments during National Novel Writing Month. I applied watermark ink through a stencil, and rubbed pan pastels over it (right page). The left page is acrylic paint over grey gesso, then layered with a receipt from Chipotle. We did our write ins largely at Caribou coffee shops, and shared a lunch at Chipotle's after we were done. I made a couple of tags with distress inks which will hold my journaling about the experience.

This spread is about a song that means so much to me. I sprayed diluted distress ink in a variety of colors all over these two pages, then covered that in salt and let it dry. I used some fluid acrylics in gold around the edges, and to trace some random shapes.

Close up of the salted background and a little of the lyrics. I used Sumi-e ink with my nib pen. I haven't written with my nib pen in so long. I really enjoyed it and need to remember to do more of that.

So - that's what I've been up to lately. Thanks for taking a moment to visit!

Ta!
♥ ~ky

Hiatus!

Hello my crafty friends - I took a little break! I've been on a little adventure, and in a few more weeks I'll be able to share some details with you. Meanwhile...here's a little few somethings I've been working on.

{click to enlarge}

Every so often, I like to take a little step back, and look through my past journals. Sometimes I find little nuggets that didn't seem like much at the time. This little bit of journaling and doodling were done in 2008 when I was thinking about how much had changed since I became profoundly ill in 2007.

{click to enlarge}

I remember that day as I sketched our bearded dragon, Oscar, as he sat on his favorite high branch. I started out scrolling the word Life, then let it take a life of its own as life often does. It got creative, was occupied by a faerie, a snail, a frog and a butterfly. It sprouted new growth, flowers, leaves, even a faerie swing!

My life had been like that - topsy-turvy, carving its own path despite my best efforts to confine it. So, I figured I could either embrace it and go along for the ride, or watch it depart.

{click to enlarge}

When I discovered this little gem, I took another look at where this crazy, creative, nightmare of mine had taken me. I tore away the excess areas of the original work, and burned it (yes, like, put fire to it!) around the edges.

I created a base page using distress inks (to be taught later!), and positioned the original work over that. Then I journaled about the difference between the 2008 life (reflecting the 2007 version) and the 2011 condition. This is what I concluded:

{click to enlarge, please quote me if you use this - it's my own}

I hope you enjoyed this little bit of art. Now for something almost completely different.

And here are a few things I'm working toward!

By the way, November is almost upon us. It's a busy, busy, evil-busy month. I will be participating in National Novel Writing Month (NaNoWriMo) and *hopefully* able to interact more with our local Naperville, IL group. I am so excited about my story this year! I've been sitting, waiting for that bolt of inspiration, and it finally came. It happened to come just as I was laying down for bed, of course - but it came! Now I can get busy on prep work.

I plan to participate in Dawn Sokol's NaNoJouMo (National Non-Stop Journaling Month) activities - you work in your art journal DAILY. I neeeeeed to do that. NEEEEEED!

Plus the requisite family travel, obligatory doctor visits, physical therapy and crafting obligations. It's gonna be busy! Which could be a good thing since we're projected to have another whopper of a winter. You know I like it!

Do you have plans? Does your journalistic creativity stagnate during the push to the holidays? If so, is there something I could help with to keep you inspired? Do we need challenges? I look forward to publishing this blog a little more frequently, and having a dialogue with you, my dear reader.

Thank you for spending a little time with me!

Creatively yours,
♥ ~ky

IFJM Post #4 - Playing Around

Tessa finally went home from the rehab facility and was reunited with her own studio supplies. I think it made her happy!

{click to enlarge}

The text reads "Finally home with my supplies. I still get tired very easily. I have missed my things. Still going to therapy. They have a little van that picks me up. Next week, I will have a home-care specialist come over to show me some tools to help. 4-11-11"

This page was made using Tim Holtz letter masks, Distress Inks, spritzed it all with water & bleach.

Thanks for stopping by!
♥ky

IFJM Post #2 - Out of the Dark

Tessa worked on her sketching skills after preparing a background of watercolors and inks.

{click to enlarge}

The text is Out of the Dark, 4-7-11; {she is} waiting patiently for her therapy with pride. Pen and pencil over watercolor.

Thanks for visiting!
♥ky

P.S. yes - I'm still doing this only with my left (non-dominant) hand.

Bring a Friend!

Do you know about the Art Journaling Ning website? A lot of people mention that's the first place they met some of these fabulous artists and connect on a personal level with people walking a similar journey. Less Herger and crew work hard to make this Ning a great place to "grow" this form of art.

They have wonderful videos, paid and free tutorials and classes, positive encouragement, a great photo library of creations, and a listing of many Ustream artists' scheduled programs. It really is wonderful! The best thing? Membership is free!!

Recently, the people there created a big sekrit projikt (LOLspeak for those unfamiliar, it means secret project). It's a beautiful electronic magazine (an e-zine) with stories, art, tips, and links from your favorite artists all for only $5 USD. Are you kidding me?? WOW! Best of all? The profits from the e-zine (aptly named, It's All Good) are supporting a particular project each release. This release, the beneficiary is the Oasis Studio - a new studio being built in a small community that appreciates art!

I tell you that to tell you this - I just thought you needed to know that! Seriously - this week we have a two part challenge. First find a friend who's just starting, or whom you think would be interested, and invite them to play this challenge, join Art Journaling Ning, or otherwise get involved. Have them mention you when they visit/join/follow/tweet/stalk/etc. from wherever you encourage them to play.

Edited to add: please don't be afraid of this part. The point is to spread the word about art journaling, the Ning site, and my blog. Do your best to share the word, and if your friends respond or at least come check things out, just let it be known you sent them. I'm not gonna disqualify anyone, but I would love for you to spread the word about our Art. This is about fun, not a technicality so - Play on!

Second create your project using this challenge. Select your all-time favorite movie as your inspiration (use it's color, mood, image, anything). Use that as the theme for your page. PLUS, use a hidden element or pocket - something interactive where you can journal about why this movie is your favorite!

We're making art journals - I want you to put some effort into the journal part of the art, too, ok? Here's my sample page to give you an idea.

There's another page to this, but it's not finished. I didn't want to hold anyone up on getting started, so I'll finish it and post it here when I'm done.

Last week, you all really knocked my socks off with all the web mining goodness you shared. I learned some new tricks, and you may see these techniques coming in a future challenge! Please understand that the winner is selected at random, so it is in no way a reflection of the quality of your work. Everyone has produced amazing work!

I'm thrilled to tell you that our winner this week is Melissa - God's Mixed Media Girl! Congrats Melissa! Send me your mailing info and I'll get your prize out to you!

Happy creating!! ~ky