letter of recommendation

as i wrote this letter of recommendation about the high school student that i worked with this past spring i found it slightly ironic because, although i was the teacher, and considered "professional" because i sell my art work in galleries.....i still very much feel like an art student myself.

 i remember worrying that i would not have enough information or knowledge to share with her- but, that was not a problem. in fact, i found that i wanted to try and share all that i knew...and probably talked the whole time (the poor thing....). so, one maybe with a little more experience under her belt, but,......still a student.

 with this all said, this art student is ready for the exciting things that are being planned for 2014. i cannot wait to share with you the many things i am hoping to make.... 

i am very thankful for each and every follower that stops, even for just a moment, to see what i have been up to- thank you very much! happy new year to you!

inspiration and alteration

have you ever seen something and been so inspired? i happened to stop by our insurance agent on friday and while i was waiting for a moment, noticed the small calendar that he was giving away for 2014.....

it only took my mind a moment to see the great potential of this small calendar with its' bound paper edges and stiff back cover to be something so much better than a desk calendar with a little alteration.

i snagged a calendar full of potential and am hoping to altered this small cutie.....

have you spied some ordinary everything item and thought- holy cow this could be so cool if....... what inspires you?

looking ahead- Documented Life Project

After seeing Roben-Marie's altered moleskin journal for "The Documented Life Project"- I had to go and purchase my own from Lorraine Bell. Are you going to play? Those creative ladies are cooking up good things for this project and the project is all FREE!! Anyone can play....and did I tell you it was FREE? The project is set to start in January.

 When my journal arrived  I was so excited- check out the cool tag that was attached....the journal looks amazing! I cannot wait to see what they have up their sleeves for us to do with these journals for 2014. So excited....

weekends work

we had a busy weekend preparing for the holiday this week. we made cookies and goodies until they were coming out of our ears.....but, my husband and i had a great time.

although, have you ever had a time when you thought you had picked up everything from the store? saturday it was almost getting ridiculous.....i must have gone to our grocery store 3 times.....the last time i was hoping that staff had changed shifts so no one would know i had already been there....but, low and behold, there was one older gentleman who was still there- busted!

on sunday, i did manage to sneak down to the studio for just a bit.....i cleaned for a bit so i can actually see my counter- which had not seen light in a while; but, slowly putting things away, my fingers and brain could not simply put stuff away- i had to make something and i did need a thank you card.....and i could just whip one up.

i also wrapped the last of the gifts that were waiting. and almost had forgotten, that when i had purchased an art supply gift for my mom, the journals were on sale....and since i was already ordering and shipping- i thought i should add those on to the order.

i am getting ready for 2014.....i bought a couple different sizes and one has black paper.....

TGIF

#projectlife #cantwait #2014

It takes a village

On Monday I played hooky from work because I was invited to play at a friends studio. We had a wonderful brunch and then headed to the studio. Her studio was filled with unusual and interesting things. As I looked around trying to determine what I was going to do for the day I spied a box of wooden parts and pieces. I knew immediately what I was going to do.....make a house. Or several houses- a little village.

I used acrylics and nails and hammered the wooden pieces to create character. Here is my village.....

One little word- magic

Our word this month was magic....check out our post here: http://rondapalazzari.typepad.com/one_little_word/2013/12/word-up-78-magic.html

I used some of Roben-Marie's Artpops in my project and then painted and added my own details to my canvas. I had showed you a couple of sneak peeks earlier and here is my final version. Stop by the link above to what the other team members had made -there is some magic things there!

Procrastination

Here is the current view in my studio..... I have been sewing up a storm with the occasional painting/ mixed media session fit in between sewing sessions. But with all this working going on in my studio- I have not been putting anything away.

And when I say I have not put anything away- I mean it. There are layers of stuff. You can almost tell what I was doing by the layers of stuff piled on the counter. Holiday magazines for inspiration, fabric, art journals, paper scraps, gelli plate, stencils, and more fabric...

I am playing hooky tomorrow from work- So I should be cleaning up my studio tomorrow with a day off, but I was invited to go play at another artist's studio for the day. And who am I to pass up an invite like that? This girl will be ready to go in the morning with bells on! No cleaning tomorrow!

TGIF

#cigarboxpainting #tgif #homemadestencil #gelliplate

Son of a beehive....

 

Hi mom. .. This is the message I got after giving my I-pad to my youngest son. He graciously figured out how to post and pull pics on my ipad in less time than it takes me to brush my teeth. Yestereday I used his computer to post to my blog- which he was NOT excited about; so he wanted to make sure I had another option....bless his heart!

So my lesson learned here, is if there is any doubt about my technological skills- I seriously need to check with my kids....it is crazy how I can hand them any device and it is so intuitive to them. But for now.... I am just so happy to be able to post to my blog again! On my own device!

This is one more sneak peek at my mixed media painting for one little word. Happy Thursday!

a bribe and a sneak peak

i have had some technical difficulties lately, but, managed to bribe our youngest son to allow me to use his computer this morning! i was given very strict instructions "not to go to anywhere weird...." because he thinks i have the black kiss of death for electronics....

so, without any further delay and before he decides i have been on the computer too long here is my sneak peek for one little word....i used some of the scraps from Roben-Marie's Artpops that i had left over. very good to the absolute last scrap!

christmas gift bags and a winner

i will actually start with my winner for the fabric house.....and that was Gill! Congratulations!! i used randompicker to determine a random winner with this link.when you have a chance- send me a email message (found under "my complete profile") with your address information and i will drop your house into the mail for you! thank you all who participated! i had painted on a cupboard door from a salvage store to answer the question.



now....onto christmas bags.! Roben-Marie had shown how to make these cute mailart bags and i decided to give mine a christmas twist. i actually sewed my pages onto to my bag first and then i used my gelli plate to print onto the bags.

my gelli plate is a little "seasoned" but the arrow shows the reddish-pink that i used on the bags. so here are all my bags sitting all in a row- waiting for their tags.

i will be finishing up the tags today for the bags. i made the full size bags and then, i decide to make smaller ones to be used for gift cards and such. but, here is a finished bag.

so thankful....(doing a give away)

my list of things i am thankful for this season could go on and on and on....i hope that you are feeling that way as well.

i made this last year, but, love it so much that i leave it out all year long as a reminder to be thankful for what we have.

can you guess what i painted on? if you leave a guess, i will choose at random and give someone one of my little soft houses. you have until Friday at midnight to leave your guess and get in on the give away. not sure what my little soft houses look like? check here! happy thanksgiving to you and your family! and good luck!

making a village

the holiday season is clearly upon us....and my already somewhat limited studio time becomes more compressed at this time of the year until after the holidays. do you find this to be true? how do you manage this time of the year?

on saturday, i needed to make more of my little houses....and so the process began.....

 i think the "be merry" house is my favorite- i love the button i found in my stash.....

 here is my stack of words and fabric house parts....

and here is my village waiting to be stuffed. are you making "stuff" for the holidays? leave me a note so i can come and visit and see what else is being made for the holidays.

tgif

#tgif #artpops #roben-marie #mixedmedia #collage

honesty and mailart

my honesty comes with a very pleasant surprise of a sale in my etsy store.....here is my scoop...i am only techy enough to be dangerous and especially when i first started my store, the resizing of pics, and all the steps required to get something posting was almost more than i wanted to do. so, my store sat empty for long periods of time. i did not give it the time and patience that it deserved. i did not do my part and work harder to do the research and learning to get my store up and going.

but, this year one of my goals for my artsy self was to work harder on my etsy store. so, i gave it a bit of a facelift and freshened the pics and updated the wording; and i pledged to myself that i would post current work to my store and if i had a sale- perfect....and, if not, at least i was giving myself a fair chance.

i have been making "softie" ornaments that i of course, think are so darn cute, and decided to post those in my etsy store for sale. on monday when i got home from work and checked my email....i had a SALE!! from my etsy store!! i have sold paintings in the galleries, done commission and private requests; but, nothing from etsy.

a little squeak came out with pure joy and then, i did the happy weird momma dance in the living room! this continued throughout the evening and every half hour or so, i would tell anyone close to me at home that i had an etsy sale. my family was tired of me by the end of the night....

but, with this sale, i wanted to make sure that the package was shipped appropriately and in some proper mailart fashion. so i went straight to the studio to whip up a package.

 i started with a file folder that i had gelli printed and worked on building my layers from there. this is one of Roben-Marie's famous mailart preferences for paper and i would agree. love printing with my gelli plate on file folders. the other thing i used was Roben-Marie's Art Pops for my address label. her Art Pops line of cards has been a main staple of supplies in my recent mixed media pieces- the cards have been easy to slip into use.

i loved how this piece of mailart turned out, but, with all my packing to ensure that my ornament's vintage dangles would not break- my package would not safely hold together during shipping. so, next best thing, i placed the mailart and ornaments into a boring plain shipping folder that will arrive safety- but, when she opens it....poof- mailart and ornaments happiness will come out!

anyway- if my buyer stops today....thank you so very much for your purchase! you made my night and week!

feeling sew sew....

it is true!! i have been in a sew sew mood and felt the need to create little houses. i had stopped at the fabric store (always a dangerous place) on saturday to pick up thread; which of course caused lead me to have to look around a little more while i waited to pay for my stuff.....and, of course i found some adorable fabric i had to have and used to make the roofs. the houses measure 2" x 4 1/2".

 i hand stamped the "house" portion of each of the homes and the words. then, i rummaged through my vintage buttons looking for the perfect one for each of the homes....and stitched the houses together with love. i made a blocks worth :) and have some available in my etsy store. if you have a word and/ or a color that you would like specifically- please feel free to send me a message or leave me a comment and i will be happy to whip up another little house.

also for sale are some of my other fabric ornaments i made recently-

one little word- grace

for the month of november the word for one little word is grace.....

in the past months, the idea for my projects have come early and quickly; but, this month, i was quickly approaching the deadline and had no idea. sometimes i feel like i work better under pressure and so, i went to the studio to work up something.

and something is what it is....i made an ornament using the word- grace.

i used canvas circles as my starting point. then, pulled out the used cotton rags and ripped those into strips- sewing onto the circle. the colorful circle paper under the zig-zag stitching is cut from Roben-Marie's Art Pops cards (want some of your own? get your own cards here!) and then, found my word in a book and then, stitched around the word. i used a little acrylic paint on the canvas circle to add some color to the background.

tgif....

 

#artpops #mixedmedia #thankfulness #tgif

still "popping"- now into Christmas ornaments

here are two of my new Christmas ornaments and i am still creating and using Roben-Marie's Art Pop cards in my Christmas projects. and these cards are goooood, to the very last little scrap!!

 can you see the zig-zag stitching in the center portion? the stitching is holding a piece of a card i had cut out. i then blended the card piece into with my background by using a little bit of acrylic paint. 

the outer green edges are cotton scraps that i had used while painting to soak up some of my mess. sometimes i paint so wet that i end up with puddles- so, i use my cotton rags to soak up the mess and let the rags dry to use in other projects such as this. glue on a little red sparkle and add a vintage chandelier dangle.....and poof! Christmas ornament! i used another slim piece of cotton rag as the hangar.

another Art Pops project

i have been thoroughly enjoying Roben-Marie's Art Pop cards! the cards are super versatile and can easily be worked into any of your mixed media projects....art journals, mail art, or into mixed media paintings.....this is another piece i made below.

i punched out circles from one of Roben-Marie's cards and again, because of the non-glossy finish- the cards are easy to incorporate into my own mixed media projects. here is a closer shot to more easily see how i incorporated the cards....

 and, while working on this piece, i came across the words below, "Coming across a Sea of Dreams." loved the words, and they were so perfect for this project.

sneak peek....

 yesterday morning i awoke with idea in my head (love it when this happens!!)....clearly my imagination had been working the overnight (thank goodness!) as i have a deadline looming on monday- and had not really even had an idea of what i wanted to make for OLW. we will be posting on november 15 for this month, so stop back to see what we all made.

but, i had gone shopping at hobby-lobby on friday and picked up a few new supplies which included those cute small canvas circles. and, i had a package of Roben-Marie's Art Pops cards (do you have your set yet?- you can get them here!) and some scraps of used cotton fabric- so i gathered my supplies......

above is just a sneak peek at what my mind had come up with for me.....

yesterday also kicked off the local holiday shopping with our community hosting a "holiday studio tour." i had paintings down at the gallery but did not open my studio space because it is really too small; although, there was another artist's space that was pretty small and she seemed to do just fine- so, maybe i will need to reconsider for next year.....anyway, i mostly did christmas shopping, however, there was a ring that was calling my name....especially after i had tried it on and it fit- then, it was more like screaming at me- so, i had to get it....check this out-

now who could pass that up? yesterday- i just could not.

Check out my other projects using Roben-Marie's Art Pops here, and here.

art pops collage painting

thanks to Roben-Marie i got to play with her wonderful new mixed media product that she created called- Art Pops. these are two sets of cards- each set contains different sizes and different cards that you can use and integrate into your own mixed media projects.

i just love Roben-Marie's work and decided to use the whole card and integrate into a painting. i had done this technique previously with other collage/ paint projects. check this out.....

one of the tricks is to paint onto the card and try to camouflage the card in....you can clearly see the edge of the card at the bottom of this close up pic....

another trick is to use complimentary colors to paint onto the card- i have similar, but, probably not identical colors in my paint palette as Roben-Marie; so, i used those colors that were close and would look good with what she had on the original card. the other very nice thing about these cards is that they do not have a glossy finish. this is important because it allowed me to draw and paint onto the card itself and help blend the edges and put my circles onto both the card and my paper as shown above.

 in this view- i tried again, to pull complimentary colors from my paper down through the card again. the blue that you see is close to what Roben-Marie's card had on it, but, i added more to the card to help pull the whole piece all together. i also painted the bright pink onto the flower- same color that i used in the dots on the edge and again- used my pencil to re-draw over the flower to pull it back into the painting and give more definition. there was also the numbers on this card from a piece of collage that Roben-Marie had used in her original painting- i very lightly went back over the numbers on the card and then wrote additional numbers onto the edge of my paper....Roben-Marie talks about the finish on the cards here.

and here is my whole painting. grab your own sets here!

have you heard the buzz about Art Pops?....

well let me tell you about it......Art Pops was created and designed by Roben-Marie Smith. Now, if you are into mixed media, art journaling and just creating......boy, do i have a treat for you! Roben-Marie has made these super cool postcard-like cards.

Check these out.....

 

these cards can be used for whatever your creative imagination can think up! i was so blessed to have been asked to help create items with these cards, so yesterday i was in the studio working hard. ;)

here is a sneak peak at what i have up my sleeve.....

stop back this week- i will show the whole piece of work and do a little explaining of how i used Roben-Marie's cards into each of these pieces! if you would like to see other examples from other very talented women be sure to click on Roben-Marie's name at the top of this post- there are some great ideas.