tgif

gelli plate background, homemade girl stencil

possibilities

i had been reading Kelly Rae Roberts' blog earlier this week, and thinking about her call for kindness warriors.... leading me to wondering what i can do in my little community. today while allowing my thoughts to wander, my eyes came across a cup of coffee and i noticed the message on the side of the cup....(thank you caribou!)

i promptly grabbed my own cup and drew around the word "possibilities" for emphasis, and added my own word of kindness...and poof...let this message be. 

only lately my thoughts of possibilities keeps me wondering what other possibilities are out there....how can i lead a more artful, creative and kind life?....how can i be a kindness warrior?

rolodex file card art

i have seen many rolodex file card holders full of such cool, artful cards that i wanted to play and make my own.i managed to find an unused rolodex at a rummage sale for $0.25! SCORE! i have slowly been working through my files.check out my previous posts if you missed them here and here and here and here. the file cards are a wonderful way to do "warm-ups" when you are getting started in your studio or if you are feeling stuck. the size is perfect and easy to work on.

 

for this one i layered prints off of my gelli plate a couple of times for the background; then added the ruler washi tape, montgomery ward sticker and a circle of painted book paper. the pink polka-dots and the pink circle was made with watercolor crayons.

artist flea market and rummage sale

last night was the kick off of our flea market....and judging from the number of visitors and sales- it was a hit! my super best friend owns the gallery(HGS Gallery); she was the host and "imaginer" of the cool idea. as an artist of the gallery you could bring in art supplies that you did not want any longer and stuff you had made a while ago, but, maybe had not sold anywhere (and still liked). and, the other thing- you could also bring in vintage/ antique items.

so, last weekend when i was cleaning my studio space....that is what i was getting ready for. and the bonus?! when i took my stuff down, i got to snoop around!! so i could scope out what i wanted ahead of time. go ahead and say it....naughty, i know- but, check out my cool stuff i got-

 i made a trade for the salt and pepper shaker set above. i have been looking for a unique set for the dining room table. and this king and queen will fit the bill.

 then, there was a pottery artist who brought in incredible work! i picked up the pitcher and this footed bowl below. there was other incredible pottery that went out the door last night that i wished i would have snagged, but, i had to leave stuff for our shoppers!

 i also spied this round palette which i have been secretly coveting and wanting for a long time- so of course i grabbed that. so excited to fill this up with my absolute favorite watercolors!

 and....there is another artist whom i have admire for as long as i have known him. he is a print maker with incredible vision and detail and i managed to grab 3 of his prints. one i have never seen before- because during the process of making the prints and doing the etchings it destroyed the plate. so each of the 4 prints of the there were different- different tones and color and different details. i loved the roots of the bird on  this print.

to top off the night, i had a friend whom i have admired basically since i met her (so incredibly talented!!). she told me that she bought a gelli plate because of me and my blog! my gelli prints inspired her to purchase one!

night made!! thank you! every artist yearns to hear that they inspired someone else!

tgif.....

one little word- design team

back in july there was a open call for the one little word design team and i decided to throw my hat in the ring....i had made my "crazy?! girl for submission.

this last week i found out i had made the team!! i was so excited i did a little mom dance in the living room, and each time i thought about it for the rest of that evening...i did a quick little "happy" clapping burst; smiling from ear to ear.

their word for august is want- which had lead me to doing my last post. i was supposed to hold this information though until after monday.....but, now, i can yell it from the front porch if i wanted to.... 

want to play along? leave me a comment so i can come and see what you made!

playful want

i have been cleaning my studio and finally could not take it any more....i needed to just play a bit. i took one of my gelli plate prints to start and added additional layers with stencils,stamps, paint and ink.

i have been thinking about wants lately...and what i want; what you want, what people want.

i of course came up with several very generic, typical wants. but, what did i really want? and then, i saw a little statement on my counter top....and i thought- i need to check my magical book and see what i actually want....and so...besides the colors, and....

 besides the sewing and stamping.....

 what i want is this...

 power to understand, bigness of soul, illuminating insight, and infinite tenderness......

tgif...

 

anyone else have a long week?!....cannot wait to spend time in my studio with these happy scraps.

excuse logic

i like to "use" a vacation to purchase more art stuff. observe the following:

1. exhibit A- vintage carry-all bag used for taking art supplies with on vacation

2. example B- inspirational magazines and creative items able to easily be pack into said vintage carry-all; please do note the variety that is able to be packed into said bag.....almost enough, but, not complete.

now, this is where the excuse comes in.....the defendant will claim that she needs to go to the craft stores while on vacation. different stores= slightly different stuff at said store and the defendant will claim that she is being limited in her creative abilities by only being able to bring the carry-all. so, just a quick sweep through the craft stores at the vacation spot- especially for small items that will still easily fit into vintage carry-all....which leads us to:

3. example C- small crafty, creative items purchased at said craft stores, which totally made the defendant's heart go pitter-pat. 2 new 6x6 stencils, 2 new ink color circles, and 2 rolls of washi tape.  all of which would easily fit into carry-all- and all that could be used in art journal packed on said vacation.

all of this leads to the final point.....art journal pages....

black hills vacation

we left on wednesday to for rapid city, sd and the blackhills. we lived there when the kids were born and my in-laws still live there; so, the kids do not think that when we go there it is a vacation.....so, we tried to be better tourists this time....we went to Rushmore Cave with its' hour tour inside the cave and the girls did the zipline on thursday.

 

thursday evening found us eating at Sanford's for supper....the ambience in the place is excellent as walls and ceiling are almost completely covered in vintage, or at least interesting, junk. loved all the stuff.

friday, we ventured down to hot springs.....the town itself is so interesting and old- the buildings and architecture there are so cool. it is too bad that there isn't more interest there. this little town needs a "rich uncle" to come in and whip it into the coolest place it should be....but, until then, the town is cool but in need of a face lift. we did visit the Mammoth Site- which is totally cool! they have found 61 mammoths now in this sink hole. the excavation is slow and tedious, but, worth the efforts and very interesting. the other stop we made while in hot springs was Evans Plunge. it is a natural hot springs. the kids and i enjoyed swimming there.

saturday found us at the lake....with the tube and a jetski- which of course the kids thought were awesome! overall, we had a great little vacation and are now glad to be home and ready for the school year to start (or at least i am...the kids- maybe not....)

happy friday- gelli plate background

we are with any luck out in the black hills for a long weekend. so i just have one thought for you.....

new york girl

my mom reads the New Yorker magazine and recently there was an ad for a new hotel that will be opening this fall called the Quin. upon turning the page and viewing this ad- she promptly ripped the ad out of the magazine.....the ad in the magazine was this super, uber cool girl by daniel egneus.


the original version is this awesome mix of realism and abstract. i was thinking this girl was so cool, i needed to try my own version. so this is my version- i loved the mix of the sketch of her lips and the ink of her neck.....

watercolor turned into a pair of collages

playing this past weekend had good results....i took an old watercolor painting that was a dud and turned it into a pair of collage paintings....i used a washi tape and painted strips with some tissue paper to add interest and the contrasting color.

the yellow-orange underneath is the original painting of a flower. i used stencils with both acrylic paint and glimmer mist to add additional layers to the painting to disguise the flower.

here is the pair of mixed media collages......the colors look most wonderful with a mat around them to really make the colors pop!

'olive" my gelli plate!

i have one more painting to share with all of you that i made with a printed background from my gelli plate.....

all of the collaged papers- the 2 circles and the "stick," were also printed on different types of paper with the gelli plate and then cut down, or out, to fit with my plan.

a little more paint, a couple of stencils, and a few sprays with the glimmer mist for some sparkle.....and poof! some mixed media fun.....