homemade stencil

i am going to share how i made my woman stencil. to demonstrate the process i made a bird (which turned out cute!).....i first simply grabbed some scrapbook paper and cut out my shape. if you are not comfortable drawing and cutting your shape- journal girl had a great idea of how to get that shape you want- check this out!

 and if you look close on my stencil- you will notice some tape on his back....i did not like my first shape. he was too skinny- i like a little plumper bird- so i added a little fatness and taped that into place. and his one leg was a bit skinny; so i added just a bit to the leg to reenforce just a bit, i added some tape there too.

 you may ask why i used it before i was completely done with the process?....i wanted to verify that the shape i had cut, looked good on paper. so i did  paint around him just to verify that i did like his shape. once i knew the shape was good- i added playing cards to him to provide strength and durability.

 to add my playing cards, i used a gloss gel, but, you could use a heavier matte medium to do this step as well. it just needs to bind the cards to your paper shape. this is what i had on hand.

 once i have applied the gel, i put the cards onto the shape completely covering the shape and placing the cards as closely together as possible. i did brayer my cards once on to verify good contact and if you are worried about a sensitive area- use a clip to hold while drying.

 once dried, cut around the shape with your scissors....

some areas may be a little tight to use your scissors so i did use an exacto knife to cut out the area between his legs and to clean up the space by his beak.

 once he was completely cut out- i flipped him over and did use that same gloss gel on the back to provide a barrier on that side as well. i did not cover both sides in cards because i felt like otherwise, the stencil gets too thick- but, if you like that, feel free.....

 this was the bird painting i made then using my new stencil. he is looking very dapper!

 the background is from my gelli plate and a few layers then in between. if you give this a try- let me know! what can you make?

one more woman- gelli plate background

here is one more woman i painted with my own woman-stencil i made on friday. the background is from friday too, when my mom and i used the gelli plate......

i really liked the bright colors peeking through the dark. did you get a chance to play this weekend? leave me a comment so i can come and visit.

gelli plate printed backgrounds

yesterday, my mom and i got to hang out and play for a bit.

she had not seen a gelli plate before, and i am still trying to figure mine out. we played and dripped paint many times. it is amazing to me how many prints you can make from one plate- we printed so many before lunch that we had boxed us in my studio space basically to the counter we were working at with papers of wet paint on the floor.

 

i started with this background of purple, iridescent, and white. i added the book paper, ink and the orange ink around the circle. my mom had brought her sketch book and we used the duds to print on- which was perfect. the book was watercolor sheets that were 6"x12".

 i made my own stencil of a woman. i had used paper circles and some heavy gel and a stencil to add to the background. i used black spray paint to outline her. i took this first pic before i outlined the girl with an ink pen. with the spray paint it was a bit more difficult to get crisp edges and i felt i needed to outline her for a better finish.

this was my second woman yesterday. again, the main back ground is from our gelli plate printing. i added a few paper circles; the red is a scrapbooking paper circle i made. this one i used acrylic paint to outline my stencil. the edges were crisper and i could control the "dark" myself a little better. 

if you are interested in how i made woman stencil- stop back. i will take pics and explain my process.

more love letters

in my paintings this past weekend, i created another set of "love letters." these are small, and easy to whip up in no time..... i used a heavy gel medium and a stencil to make the shapes on the gesso'd watercolor paper. then a few layers of paint for some color, a little ink, and some stamping....

 oh, and a few book words....the first love letter says- they.....

 and the next, years....

 and the last one, every time.....

when you think of a relationship, or maybe your own- what words come to your mind? please share!

a woman with a plan....

i was a woman with a plan- and it actually turned out relatively close to how i envisioned it! do you understand how rare that is?....let me tell you- usually somewhere in the midst of my painting what i think is my plan- it usually takes a hard left turn and finishes nothing quite like what i had envisioned...... i will still like it, but, it will not be what i had originally envisioned.....

this was my plan.... and i had drawn a woman's figure off to the side. the only piece i veered off on was that originally- i was going to paint 3- 30x30 canvases, but, i had only gesso'd 2 for some reason when i went to start- so 2 it was..... and 2 was good.

 i did the black/ grey wash first and allowed that to dry. i knew what i wanted for words- as i was taking those from a previous collage of mine- almost as much as words imagining all sorts of beautiful.....

 i used quinacrodone magenta and yellow and used those for a wash as well.....i had already added the words.

 i drew my shape onto the canvas with pencil....i like that you can still see the sketch.

 i love the shoulder- the mix of the colors, the light and dark, and the drips and runs....

 i love how the words are there but, that overall the painting is distressed and textured

here is a little bit closer view of the colors and washes at work....i know i am close to being done with this one, but, need to let it cook for a bit, just to be sure.....

gelli plate and mini mailart

last week i finally could not take it any more, and had to order a gelli plate. it arrived safe and sound at my home, and i immediately ripped it open with gusto! it barely survived!

down to my studio i went,....eager to see just what this plate was capable of. i picked some of my favorite colors and went to work.....i was not prepared for the amount of paper that i would need to have close at hand because i didn't want to waste any paint- i could roll off the brayer, and then, there was the stencil that i was using to put texture and shape onto my gelli plate- that had paint on it and who wants to waste that- this girl did not! so i quickly grabbed book paper to "wipe" off my stencil making this cool paper below that can now be used for something else.

 then, there was actually still the paint and pattern on my actual gelli plate.....don't forget about that. i used RobenMarie's idea of a file folder and printed my plate onto my folder. then, for some interest- added a little more paint with another stencil, some stamps (you can find the stamps here), washi tape, and a few paper circles. oh, and i added that small strip of a security envelope along the right edge. and poof! mailart! i did cut this one down to a smaller size so i could get 2 out of one file folder. then stitched it up to mail.

one little word....

over at ronda palazzari's she had posted a call to expand their team for olw- one little word....

this mixed media artist/ art journaler is up for the challenge! so i got to work today and whipped a little something up....

she is on a 4x6 sheet of watercolor paper. i added some gauze for texture and acrylic paint, then added some more paint and a few drops of ink, some stamping and a crown of scrap-paper,... oh and then some rummaging through old catalogs to find this perfect specimen gal! add a few gems and some tint....viola! crazy?!

i'm not saying she is crazy, but......some may just think so. here's to an opportunity to play at olw.

painting an adironack chair for hotdog night

my big girl job is hosting a fundraiser this week during hotdog night by doing a silent auction of painted adirondack chairs. the chairs will be available for viewing this week at work with bidding beginning tomorrow and final sale on thursday night. are you asking yourself what in the heck is hotdog night? well, check this out. if you are in the area- it is worth the free meal to come and check this out!

in my typical late-start fashion, i did not start the chair until yesterday- but, i did have great fun getting the chair painted.....here is my smurfy hand after wiping some of the blue off once on for extra texture....

 a few  layers later,.... some help from stencils and ink- poof chair done! well almost....my dear husband and i will need to put the chair together today :).

and my theme was this- "whispered dreams, listen to your heart" so simple but, how many of us really do this? i hope someone likes my chair as much as i do.

love letters

i painted on sunday and not only had a ton of fun but, created these small painting which i love! i used an acrylic base and matte medium gel for texture to begin with. i also used ink and my new glimmer mists. oh, and of course, book words....to create my lovely thoughts of these love letters.

i got mailart!!!

yes-yesterday was a monday and typically i would say- monday's are not my favorite day of the week. except for yesterday because, when i got home i saw that our mailbox seemed to be a little fuller.

and so unsuspecting i checked the mailbox and quickly realized that this stuffed mailbox was holding some very special mail with my name on it! i waited until i was in the house before doing my "happy dance!" all the way to find some scissors to carefully open my mailart.

check out my mailart from Roben-Marie! i am such a sucker for circles- there was instant love for this mailart!

thank you so very much Roben-Marie! Love, love, love......

darks and lights

i had gotten a commission for 4 pieces of my artwork for a home. my customer had given me a color palette and had allowed me to see the space before hand so i would know where the pieces were going.

so this eager beaver got started.... and worked myself to the usual point where i like the painting enough, because they had past their ugly phase, but, now i liked them too much because i was almost afraid of  ruining them....

i waited patiently knowing that what these paintings needed would come to me after allowing the pieces to "cook" for a bit. after listening at my most recent art class i attended, our last day was about color; and although i was not sure i picked up anything that day after a long week- apparently something soaked in because what my current pieces were missing....were the darks and lights.

 i added the darks between the gold diamonds along with a few lights at the very top to provide additional contrast. sorry about those bright yellow edges- those are the next step....to "kill" the edges and blend those in......

but, these commissioned pieces are almost done and i am very excited to provide them to my customer.

friday fill-ins

and ....here we go.....

1. staying active is the key to feeling better- gotta move (at least a little...).
2. art well, that would be nice!
3. the very thought of a spider sends me running (with hands waving and that strange skip/ hop- you know what i am talking about....).
4. a sunset is so beautiful.
5. i grew up in the 70's and northeast south dakota- no, you don't have to feel bad- it was all good!
6. "my favorite hotdish" was my most memorable meal as a kid- it is macaroni, velveeta cheese, cream of mushroom soup and spam (my mom thought for sure this is all i would feed my husband when we got married).
7. and as for the weekend, tonight i'm looking forward to a movie (i gotta go see despicable me 2), tomorrow my plans include painting with my mom, and sunday, i want to get ready for this next week!

instagram love- an ode to....

are you on instagram? this is one of my newest addictions! you can find me here.

one of my favorites on instagram is junkerjane. she hand makes these unusual dolls which i love...you can't help but love them! she had a new post and her doll was so adorable i had to paint an ode to this doll- or something close to her....

here is my version on yupo paper with tyvec, collage and acrylic paint...