an art class weekend {Dina Wakley}

this past weekend my mom and i attended several art classes in missouri by the very talented Dina Wakley! we drove on thursday to missouri to get to our location. we took a quick stop in omaha for some lunch before continuing on.

our classes started on friday afternoon with a color class which Dina broke down and explained and had a small worksheet for us to complete to help with the lesson. the sheet was an excellent tool so you don't end up with mud- or at least explaining....if you do end up with mud,so you would understand how you got there.

our next class was on layering....we layered 25 layers onto our watercolor paper. as a mixed media artist, i was thinking, "holy cow....our paper is going to weigh 25 pounds" but Dina explained what constitutes layers for her and how to make all those layers work together on your page.

on saturday we did an all day art journaling class where we were able to make 6 pages with various tecnhiques and at the end, we made into a book. here are some of the pages i made that were my favorite.

Dina was so very kind letting us use all of her line of paints and having a table of her stamps, masks, and stencils set out for us to use in any and all of our projects.

sunday was the day for the faces classes in the morning, and gelli plate printing in the afternoon to finish out the classes. if you get the chance to take any class from Dina, i highly recommend taking the class!! she was so knowledgeable and just an excellent teacher! i would take any class that she is teaching!

and, if you have not tried her line of paints or stamps and stencils- those are of excellent quality and super fun to use!

happy tuesday!

tgif...

happy friday...

thinking of hearts

moving through this cold, wintery month of january and thinking ahead to february and valentine's day.

i love making valentines and my kids are too old now, but, i still found myself making valentines.... so i am selling valentines in my etsy store. each valentine is original- similar to its' friends, but, different all the same.

so do you need a few personal handmade valentines? maybe special ones to give to the grandparents or an aunt or uncle? or maybe you are tired of those mass produced cartoonish valentines?

i have just what you need then. yep- got 'em all stacked up!

i even kept it simple on the backs....just a "to and from" so you still have a small space to put your message to this very special someone.

the valentine's measure 3" x 3.5" and currently do not come with envelopes, but, if you need envelopes- be sure to message me and i will whip some up for you.

happy wednesday!

#DLP {first challenge}

i finally got to play in the studio this weekend after a busy week. so i started with my Documented Life first challenge that was "book paper."

book paper.....mmmm....i don't like book paper at all {NOT}. i was super excited to see this challenge, but, almost had a hard time not using everything i could lay my hands on; but, i love the mix of paper that i did use.

i used some book paper and pieces of map that had been painted and cut into circles- those are running across the top of my pages. let's take a peek....

i used a variety of products on these pages and had started with gesso as my base and i am using the recommended Dylusions art journal book.

happy monday!

Art to the 5th/ Documented Life- {news}

last year i played along with the Documented Life Project 2014 that was put together and prompted by Art to the 5th. Did you know that same group of talented ladies is again hosting the Documented Life Project 2015?.....

they are!! and, they have added some products use (like Rae Missigman's new stamps) and workshops for any skill level, and featured artists.

and, so excited to announce i will be one of their featured artists in the month of february!! i feel so blessed to be have been asked and able to do this! i can't share details of what my project will be- but,.....i can tell you....you are gonna like it!

here are some of my favorite weekly challenges from last year....

One Little Word {Sing}

the word for january's one little word is sing.

for my project i choose a vintage postcard and re-purposed it into a mixed media creation. i layered washi tape, book paper and layers of acrylic paint, ink and stamping. i also used something called Anglina's fibers and film that is stitched across the upper portion. the fibers and film are available at Blue Twig Studio.

i loved re-purposing the postcard. the postcard was embossed and had built in texture which lent itself to the piece well.

ATCs {persevere}

this past weekend i found some time in the studio. i had ATCs that were due to go out. i was swapping with a friend and our theme was whatever our word is for 2015. her word is persevere.

i had been wanting to use one of my vintage girls and this was the perfect opportunity for that. the image of the woman is from a turn of the century magazine. i made copies so i could keep the original paper.

and even though my swapping friend said her word is persevere, it is still really a choice- one that she will need to choose through out the year. the ATCs were supposed to use their word and be inspirational. i hope that i have done that for her.

what would you choose?.....happy monday.

#tbt {throw back thursday- just for you}

a throw back look at things i have made....

happy thursday!

starting the year with homemade stamps

looking around on social media i have been so inspired by the many pics and posts of others making stamps. i couldn't take it any longer and had to break out my own carving utensils and make a few for my myself.

and now that Christmas and New Year's is over, i am getting ready for valentine's day! how can you resist some hearts? and maybe a little "be mine"?

only thing was, i was thinking that i had remembered to reverse the words before putting the "be mine" onto my rubber....but, sadly to say, my first attempt resulted in a backwards print.....so, i did try again- only to discover that my "n" was still backwards (OMG...really.); but, no one is perfect and maybe it will be more quaint. right?.....

after my two attempts with letters and words....i needed something way less complicated apparently and moved to hearts; creating two small hearts. i used a large $1 eraser from the dollar store for my "be mine" stamp. these work great because usually you can do two different stamps on each side- or, like me, if you make a mistake on your first attempt, you can flip the eraser over and start again.

you will see in the pic above, i again, used a small eraser that my kids no longer use and just broke in half to allow for two stamps. the small erasers are not thick enough to allow for two stamps on one like the big erasers.

the one thing i will warn against when using erasers is that i cannot guarantee how the stamps will hold up long term- so, the erasers work great if you are just starting out with carving and do not want to invest a bunch once you purchase your carving tools; or if you like making many stamps this option is good for many.

so, will you all still be mine?.....

2015 {the year to engage}

i have been trying to figure out what my word for 2015 should be. my process for this has been to think of a word, or if i see a word, think about how it relates to me, my art work and my process; which has usually ended with me discarding the word.

i have been toying with the word "engage" for 2015. to be more engaged with my art. to submit information to more magazines or places- you cannot be published or share your work or ideas- if you do not even submit the information anywhere. i can't sell anything in my etsy store if i never put items there.....

i do feel like this is my word for 2015 and somehow now seeing this article come together for you, makes it even more right.

i have a funny story to share- on New Year's Eve there was a post on instagram where you had to tell them about something for 2015....so, trying out my word- i said, to be engaged- all in. well, i few short hours later i got this reply back saying how excited they were and looking forward to seeing my wedding plans?!.....and it took me a moment to figure out what in the heck they were talking about- hahaha.....! so no wedding plans, but, plenty of engagement of art- post, list, submit, share, engage.......