Final Creative Jumpstart Sharing

Just finished up the final Creative Jumpstart video and I can't say enough about what a great class it is.  All 25+ talented artists are so inspiring and passionate about what they teach. Some of the artists I'd never heard of, and some are longtime favorites. I've taken many online classes and sometimes don't even finish them because I either get bored or it's information overload.  I found myself anxious to see what was coming up next with CJ.  The class itself is easy to maneuver through and the artists respond to question and comments in a timely manner.  Although there is a link-type show and tell sharing section and comment area for each artist's video, the only thing I would add is a Facebook group for more interaction and ease of sharing.  I always like those groups because it creates a sense of community.  Thank you Nathalie Kalbach for putting the whole thing together!

For my own creative jumpstart I love to make backgrounds in one of my art journals, usually using a stencil. I have dozens of them and love to combine interesting color combinations by adding and subtracting and repeating the design.  Sometimes I look at them and ask myself, "How did I do that?!" They turn out so cool that I don't want to add anything on top! I thought I would share some of them with you.

Here are a few pages with added elements.

Thanks for visiting today!
Kathy

Altering An Old Dictionary

Happy holidays everyone! I have a project that took two videos to make! I love making art journals and have made lots of them.  What makes this one different is that I use the old book paper for the inside of the journal.  In the first video, I make book cloth using lots of stencils and a few different sizes of Gel Press® Plates to create a colorful cover.  In the second video, see how the book cloth is attached to an old dictionary book and how I prepare the book to become an art journal.

Video 1:

Video 2:

Front Cover

Back Cover

Inside Cover

Front Cover

Here are some other creative uses for book cloth:

• Die-cut into flowers and layer to use as 3-D embellishments
• Cover a lampshade
• Sew into a brush or pencil holder
• Cover a box 
• Make a cloth journal
• See more ideas on Pinterest HERE (I especially love the "quiet book" idea for children)

I would love to hear your ideas for using book cloth. Please leave a comment below.

Thanks for visiting today!

Kathy 

Shiny Happy Little Canvases

Remember that 90's song by REM, Shiny Happy People?  Here's a reminder.

Can it get happier than that? Yes. It can.

I think about that song when I look at these bright fun doodly little canvases! 

And how I made them is equally as fun! I shared the video a few days ago and thought I would give you a closer look at the canvases themselves.  Here is the video in case you missed it.

I sometimes doodle during meetings, church (don't tell) or when I am on the phone, but usually not in my art. I really got into it with these colorful prints. It was very relaxing!

And I have to admit, that cutting them up after all of that work was scary and a bit risky. I kept second-guessing myself.  But in the end, I listened to my intuition. 

These little canvases were screaming for some positive words.  So that's what I gave them. They are perfect sitting on a shelf because of the deep edge and are sure to brighten any space. I plan on doing more of this type of art because it makes me happy to create AND to look at!

Here they are individually.

 Wonderful Things

Wonderful Things

Impossible Things

Impossible Things

Never Give Up

Never Give Up

What Comes Next

What Comes Next

BE

BE

Imperfection

Imperfection

Timing

Timing

So there is my shiny happy blog post! Hope I have brightened your day a little bit! If you are interested in purchasing any of these canvases, I will be posting them on my facebook page, but you can also let me know below.  

4" x 4" Deep Edge Canvases

$15 each plus shipping

Till next time,

Kathy

Art Journal Mixed Up Manic Monday

Thought I would share some of my latest art journal pages.

First, my latest Inspiration Wednesday pages.

July 6

Ribbon Page

I used hand painted fabric from my stash mixed with a few pieces of ribbon and denim. 

June 22

I found the leaf rub-ons that I had didn't work well over all of the texture so I used gold paint and a stencil.  The word rub-ons worked well though. Love the colors in this one.

The next two pages I experimented with image transfers using photocopies of artist, Frida Kahlo on pages in my art journal that I had cleaned off paint brushes and brayers.

I used a beautiful gift bag that I bought a few years ago at World Market as inspiration for the next pages.  I really love the way it turned out!

Gift Bag

The reason I love art journaling so much is that I can do a "test run" of something I want to do on canvas and incorporate what I learned into a final project.  I will probably do that with the last page,  so stay tuned!

What are you working on this summer?

Mixed Up Manic Memorial Monday

Hi creatives! Hope you are having a fun-filled extra long weekend! I had a marathon Gel Press printing session on Friday night where I used lots of my favorite stencils and some rubbing plates that I bought a while back but never used.  I shared some of my prints on Instagram and you can check it out HERE. While you are there, how about following me?  I am planning on using it more and more so stay tuned for some sneak peaks of future projects, and up-to-the-moment snapshots of my art-in-progress. Well, maybe a few dog pics thrown in once in a while too!

I pulled out my 6"x6" Gel Press and a stack of cheap white card stock, 8 1/2" x 11, from Office Depot. I used lots of different paints, including heavy body, fluids, cheap and expensive.

These are prints using Stencil Girl Stencils designed by Gwen Lafleur.

I used rubbing plates for these prints. 

I think the first three would look better using the round Gel Press. 

The next few prints I used Art Anthology mediums.

The elephants are Natalie Kalbach's foam/rubber stamp set.

Used Gemstones and Retro Stencil from Art Anthology

I love the bright orange, Art Anthology Juicy Colorations Spray, against the purple Art Anthology Velvet medium.  The spray resists the medium.  So cool!

**Do you notice anything interesting about the last two elephants?  If you do, you might want to know how I did that. I'll be doing a blog post on this technique for my next Gel Press blog post. (see the ** at bottom of this post for the answer)

Here is a sneak peek of my project for Art Anthology's blog on June 3 that will include a tutorial. 

And here is a sneak peek of my project for the Gel Press blog on June 8th.  I used Natalie Kalbach's bird foam/rubber stamp set for this project.

** Did you notice that the elephants are facing in different directions?  I used Natalie's stamp for them, so how did I get one of them facing the opposite direction?  I will show you how I did it in my tutorial on the Gel Press blog on June 8th. 

Please comment below about your favorite creative ways to use gel prints.  I have so many and I need some inspiration!!  

Thank you for visiting! 

Kathy