Nathalie's Studio

Definitely not Germany’s Next Top Model or…Photoshoot

April 22, 2013 By Nathalie Kalbach 44 Comments

About a month ago, I had a photo shoot with Andreas Muhme, a great photographer from Hamburg. I wanted to have some new photos for my website since the one that is staring at you right now at the right hand side is a bit outdated and it also feels as if I am the most serious person in the world…which I am not …;) I picked Andreas because I loved his portraits of artists and also his apparent liking in 50s style photos, which as some of you know is something that appeals to me as well. Andreas took a lot of time talking with me ahead of time to get to know me better and I also showed him my studio since we were going to shoot some photos here.

Then we had a whole day where he shot some photos first in my studio and later in his studio. We had a lot of fun! I also learned a lot about me this day.

First of all…since I never really do make up…well at least not a lot…it is actually not a good idea trying to change that on the day of a photo shoot. I am no exception with minimalistic makeup in Germany…but I might be an exception that even putting on foundation is a big task for me After the shoot I actually plunged in and took a little make up course…but I wanted a natural look…which strikes me in retrospective weird..because why all this effort to look natural instead of just being natural…LOL. We women are funny creatures

Second, kudos to Andreas who did an awesome job with that.: I had this weird thing in my head going on between what I wanted the photo show of me… but also I wanted the photo to be me. Well…you know…that is sometimes not easy to get – hahahahaha. Because I am no Germany’s Next Top Model with a natural posing flow in her favorite 50s dress, looking smashing hot without make up but still looking fun and approachable and just like her

Third, what my friends and I would say is typically me…is not what you my readers and students say is me I posted the above picture – which is of course an outtake but I actually really like this picture just as a snapshot and it made Andreas and me laugh a lot. It was a look I gave him after a lot of shots and commands like : “smile but don’t squint your eyes”, turn your head a bit”, “can you change your expression?”… – LOL – yes I can! . I showed this picture on facebook jokingly and my friends that know me very well were saying, “This is so you !” and they were laughing with me. But some of my students and readers were saying, what a terrible picture this is and that this is so not me. Maybe because you never saw me frown…also known as Nat’s Thinking-Wrinkle Face…and come one Dudes…you gotta be able to make fun of yourself and laugh a bit too!

Besides my studio shot which is on the top of this post- these are my three favorite photos from that day. I know of course already which one is going to be my new professional headshot…but let me know…which one of the three do you think portraits me the way I am the best?

Thank you again to Andreas for a wonderful day and awesome photos and all your patience – LOL- looking forward to our outside photo shoot

Hugs

Nat

Filed Under: Photos

Family Moments with the Circuit Stencil

April 20, 2013 By Nathalie Kalbach 7 Comments

Hold your horses I show you a Scrapbooking Layout today which is using my new Circuit Stencil with Stencil Girl Products. Thank you all for your amazing and wonderful comments – they mean a lot to me

Still laughing about this photo which shows the three of us doing a Facetime call when I was teaching in Stockholm. I used some Liquitex Heavy Body Acrylic Paint and swiped it with a Palette Knife over the Circuit Stencil onto a white sheet of Cardstock. I love the texture the Heavy Body Acrylic Paint gives when used with a stencil.

I used Tim Holtz Distress Inks with a Blending Tool and colored in the background over the stenciled area and then applied the Papers. I love how you can also use the Circuit Lines as a guideline for the journaling.

Several of you asked where to buy the stencil – you can either buy it directly from Stencil Girl Products but I also know that there are a couple of stores interested in stocking them. I am sure once there are more designs revealed I can provide you with links of stores that carry them. I am working on a page for my Stencils on the blog. Sooooonnn – LOL -the back and forth with the testing takes a bit longer when you sit over the pond

Circuit Stencil L161	Liquitex Heavy Body Artist Acrylic Paint	Prima Lyric Stamps	Teresa Collins Vintage Finds	Teresa Collins Vintage Finds	Teresa Collins Vintage Finds
Distress Ink Pad Old Paper	Distress Ink Pad Mustard Seed	Distress Ink Pad Spiced Marmelade	Ink Blending Tool	Palette Knife	Signo White Uniball Pen
MyStik Permanent Adhesive by SAby3L

InLinkz.com

Have a wonderful day!
huge hugs
Nat

I am soooo excited…and I just can’t hide it or Stencil Girl Products (nathaliesstudio.com)

Filed Under: Scrapbooking Layouts, Stencils and Masks Tagged With: Acrylic paint, Distress Inks, Papercrafts, Scrapbooking, Stencil, Stencil Girl Products

I am soooo excited…and I just can’t hide it or Stencil Girl Products

April 18, 2013 By Nathalie Kalbach 46 Comments

Today I can reveal a big secret- and boy have I been excited to finally do this …I am so happy to join Stencil Girl Products as a stencil designer. Stencil Girl Products is a wonderful company by the Mixed Media Artist Mary Beth Shaw and I am thrilled to be alongside her, Pam Carriker, Michelle Ward, Sue Pelletier , Joanne Sharpe, Jessica Sporn and many more amazing artists.

I have a couple different stencils coming out and I am so stoked- but here is the first one that I can finally share with you

My Circuit Stencil

I love it so much- you can use it for so many different projects and with so many different media. I will show you more coming up. Here is an art journal page I created with it

I wanted to have a stencil that you can use like a frame but where you can also use different parts of the stencils to highlight and add interest to your backgrounds. I am a bit geeky- can you tell – LOL

I used the Circuit Stencil with Liquitex Professional Spray paints – Liquitex Professional Spray Paint 12-oz, Quinacridone Magenta and Liquitex Professional Spray Paint 12-oz, Neutral Grey 3

You can purchase the stencil directly at Stencil Girl Products. The size is 9×12 inches. I will post updates as soon as I know about certain stores that carry my designs. If you are a store owner who will carry them- let me know

I cannot wait to show you my other designs soon too Thank you so much for letting me share

Huge hugs

Nat

Filed Under: Art Journal, Spraypaint, Stencils and Masks Tagged With: Art Journal, Circuit Stencil, Liquitex Professional Spray Paints, Mixed Media, Stencil, Stencil Girl Products

Quicksand…or…touched my heart

April 17, 2013 By Nathalie Kalbach 9 Comments

I am at my great-aunt today. I am looking forward seeing her and hug her big time. It is always also an emotionally sad time. Each day we talk on the phone is showing me the progress, of her forgetting. She starts thinking I am my mother, or forgets who visited her just half an hour ago. But she is happy that someone comes – and that is all that counts

I just saw this amazing video a couple of weeks ago and it touched my heart a lot – it made me cry and reminded me on my great-aunt and her reactions, the pictures of wrapping up the home, the photos, the reactions that remain characteristic ..even when they forgot. But foremost….it is such a wonderful and beautiful tribute to a grandfather by Lance Oppenheim.

Keep on playing! What a wonderful advice!

Huge hugs to you …Hope I didn’t make you teary…hope you see the beauty in this video too !

Nat

Does she know that she forgot what she once knew? (nathaliesstudio.com)
Wouldn’t it be Wonderful…or Inspired by Paper (nathaliesstudio.com)

Filed Under: General Announcements

Whatevers #10 or The Herblady

April 15, 2013 By Nathalie Kalbach 9 Comments

Are you ready for the 9th Whatevers? If you missed what the Whatevers is all about…check it out here.

Click here to see what Cat made out of this photo and which story she tells

Click here to see what Vicki made out of this photo and which story she tells

Here is my twinkling eye- take on it – I think my Whatevers all have a bit of a dark twist to them LOL

The Herblady

There was no doubt, without Hermaline nothing would work in this family. Daughter, grand-daughter and great grand-daughter, all living in her house. The remains of the three husbands…unknown. Behind the glasses were the knowingly eyes. “They are, where they belong!” The herblady she was called by some, Mama by others.

Her Name: Hermaline – Mama (what else ) to Margariete

I played with some Liquitex Professional Spray Paints and Paint Markers and with some Luminarte Silks I just received. Love the way you can add layers.

And here is the photo of this month’s Whatever for you:

Here is how it works if you want to play along:

Vicki, Cat and I have made a one-year commitment to each other and picked twelve photos with Whatevers whom we will give a story.
Every month – if possible always on the 15th – each of us will do a post with an individual story that goes along for us with the same photo.
If you want you can play along and we will have the photo for you – just right-click on it to safe it to download and show us your version of The Whatevers.
There is no rules to the story itself- it can be funny, sad, uplifting, breathtaking WHATEVER
There is no rules on the length or the form of the story- it can be a short sentence, an essay, a poem or a soap opera – WHATEVER
There is no rules on the artwork you choose – it can be a scrapbook layout, an altered art project, an art journal page – WHATEVER
Here is a rule though: if you take the photo you have to link back to us andshow us your story.
These pictures are from our personal stash and are for personal use for you only! If you want to use them for a publication whether a book or magazine in print or digital form please ask for permission!
If you want to participate post in the comment section .
You can also join our The Whatevers -Facebook Page

You can grab the blinkie here if you want to add it to your sidebar

Nat

Whatevers #9 or Having a Ball (nathaliesstudio.com)
The Whatevers #8 or …Take That (nathaliesstudio.com)

Filed Under: Art Journal, The Whatevers - Creative Storytelling Tagged With: Art Journal, Creative Storytelling, Liquitex Professional Paint Markers, Liquitex Professional Spraypaints, Luminarte Silks, Whatevers

Wouldn’t it be Wonderful…or Inspired by Paper

April 13, 2013 By Nathalie Kalbach 11 Comments

As mentioned in my post about my workshops in Sweden, I found K-Designs who creates some beautiful papers. So I was looking forward to start playing with them and I was actually inspired to create this layout by the design of the paper.

The photo shows my grandmother who I never had the chance to meet. She suffered from depressions and she committed suicide when my mother was only 10 years old. I often think “Wouldn’t it be wonderful if we could spent time together?” as to what my great-aunt Margot, her sister, tells me she was a wonderful person.

I loved the black and grey paper which gives so much possibility to add paint to it. I used a couple different LuminArte Silks on the background as well as Twinkling H2Os. The Silks are Acrylic Glazes with a wonderful shine and they create a gorgeous resist . I also used the Silks on the window frame. The vase that you see on the right hand corner, is actually one of the molds that I created in this video about How To Create Your Own Molds. The bottle was actually white resin and so I added some Embossing Ink and used Stampendious Embossing Powder to make it work with the layout. I love the result.

I loved creating this – even thought the topic made me feel a bit blue…well at least I spent some time with her, right?

Luminarte – Twinkling H2O’s	Prima Old Church Window	Prima Industrial Lamps	Prima Cabachon	Prima Printery Alphabet
Signo White Uniball Pen	Crafty Power Tape	MyStik Permanent Adhesive by SAby3L	Ranger Heating Gun	LuminArte Silks
K-Designs Journey	K-Designs – Tea Cup	K-Designs Little Bit of Wall