serendipity {studio table- tgif}

a little serendipitous pile of colorlust scraps on my studio countertop 

tgif. merry friday.

xo. kristin

thread houses.... {a series}

everyone loves a house; and i am no exception. i feel like i am always trying to come up with a new way to make a house....a new variation. 

i love these little houses on sweater scraps. the doors are vintage linens with cotton fabric toppers. i sewed the house sweater onto various sized acrylic painted watercolor paper. 

i then sewed again onto the watercolor paper with no thread- i just wanted the holes. (that detail is hard to see in my pics but, there are holes along the left edge just off the sweater.) then, i hand threaded the roof lines. 

now, if i had some frames....i am betting these will be super cute in a mat and frame; hope my frame order is quick! 

happy tuesday!

cardboard book {collage and personal insight}

still slowly working through this little cardboard book i had purchased when the inspiration strikes. my challenge for this page was to only use scraps i could find around my work area.

as a collage/ mixed media artist i find it incredibly difficult to throw anything away.....let me be clear....i cannot hardly throw anything away. which is probably fine if you are an organized, neat artist. but, i am not.

nope. not neat in the least.

in fact, my studio is normally in a state of what i would call organized chaos. i tend to work and paint wet which means i normally have several projects "cooking" all at once. i will work on one thing and then have to set it aside and will grab something else. there are normally 2 or 3 art journals open, drying and in various stages of doneness.

sometimes though the project is not wet...sometimes i come to a point and i feel like i am not done with it, or i am not sure i like it, but, i do not know what to do next. i like to leave those around in unexpected places. sometimes it is easier to "see" what i don't like about it if i am not staring directly at it. i will come around a corner, and be like, "oh holy cow, i have no focal spot and this is a hot mess..." then, i can go back into the piece and fix what it needs.

do you have any tips or tricks? how do you work?

happy saturday!

stacking up the thank yous

i had have a few thank yous that were due and carved out a little time to create some cards to send.

the cards are a pleasant combination of stencils and spray ink with a dab of acrylic paint, some paper scraps on my counter....then, stitched up with some love.

check out my foam crown stamp i made- love it! and really like using it for my signature especially on cards.

 thank you for stopping by! happy tuesday!

art journal- inspiration from 21 Secrets

i am participating in the 21 Secrets this year and watched three talented women paint this past Wednesday. i was trying to figure out if i should be painting along with them, but, found it more interesting to simply watch and see how their journal pages progressed in the 90 minutes.

i found time to play this past weekend in a new journal my mom had picked up when she was in Germany visiting my brother. i believe the journal is meant for writing because the paper is relatively thin and lined- but, it worked just fine for my art journaling- i just cannot be too aggressive with it.

i used my gelli plate to print the background first- layering several colors and one of my favorite shapes- the sunburst. then, added some paper scraps and doodles.

tgif...

 

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

pieces for collage

i find myself saving anything paper. i love overpainted paper and seem to have found myself trying to use every scrap that i have. some of those saved papers wait on my counter for a while and find themselves victims of throwing paint and ink.....i found the scrap of book paper pleasantly tainted with color and knew i would have to create something special for that one piece....

the words i found...."carried by sweetest whispering voices" -this is the key for me on my creative work process....must listen to them...

back in the saddle

i finally had time on sunday to play in my art journal.

a little ink, stencil, watercolor pen, stickers, sewing, scraps....makes me happy!

the purple blob under the little purple flower is a used papertowel- nothing is garbage in my studio sometime. i like the simplicity of this page.

not completely sure this page is finished, but, i am happy so far with what i have....we will see.

and this is a new art journal i purchased. it came all the way from poland hand-made by czekoczyna! she is an amazing mixed media artist! my journal is filled with a variety of paper- book paper, envelopes, postcards--it is so cool! if you have not visited her blog, you can click on the banner in the right hand corner of my blog or click here.