nathalie-kalbach

Cards Galore

I am a card making machine ;) For the Birthday Card above I used the Grove St. rubberstamp from the Large Circle Jumble Stamp set for the middle. Then I used the toper stamp from the same set and its smaller sibling from the Small Circle Jumble Set to create a border. I really love those toper stamps, I used them all the time for pattern and mark making as well as for borders.

Some easy note cards – with the Small Circle Jumble Set.

And I really love the black and white – kinda grungy but yet elegant …well …Nat Elegance ;)

Here are the supplies I used for making this cards


Nat

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Stroll Through the Hood – November 2018

Happy Thanksgiving my Friends in the U.S. What a better day for a Stroll Through the Hood post :) . Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and to get new ideas to create something. It is part of my philosophy about Artful Adventures in Mixed Media – which is the subject of my book. Here are some photos that I gathered in the last couple weeks.

Dramatic fall backdrop for this cute Pretzel :)

And a dramatic sun set with our city and Manhattan as a backdrop

House Hunting is a fun way to explore a wider range of hoods in my city- and I came across this amazing church – wow. I love the wood facade and the little tower!

See we have nature in our city …and apparently Mario Bros fans :)

A beautiful bathroom window in an open house we saw – love the pattern!

Brownstone galore n the rain – I love the little bits and pieces of orange on the stoops

One of my favorite floors in an open house – gosh – looooveeee!

A Lord of the Rings deck with a mural underneath – also big love!!! It is really fun to see all those backyards- it is a hidden world in the hood.

A very cute and for this area cheap house …but then upon entering you know it is totally overpriced. Totally dangerous inside as it falls apart. But it must have been gorgeous in his hay-days .

Fun wall paper in that house in the kitchen …I bet there were more fun details but I was like “get me out of here” – I am adventurous but not THAT adventurous LOL.

Hope you have a wonderful day and for those of you who are celebrating Thanksgiving today- I wish you beautiful day- filled with family, friends and good food. Thank you for being part of my Artful Adventures – lots of love

Nat

Comments (7)

  • Donna Davis

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    I grew up in Jersey City! on Nevins street around the corner from Bergen and Montgomery! My college was St.Peters…

    Reply

  • Donna DiCorcia

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    Is that Jersey City ???? I grew up in JC. I went to college at Saint Peters!!! Small world!!!!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hi Donna, yes it is :) How fun!!! I live in the old Dixon Mills factory :)

      Reply

  • ARHuelsenbeck

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    I forgot that Bobby Pretzel is YOUR cat. Thanks for sharing your photos–a pleasure, as always. I love your strolls through the ‘hood.

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    That sunset, that background for Pretzel, those brownstones…WOW, just gorgeous photos Nat!
    That house look like it needs a ton of work for sure and that wall paper is just scary.
    Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family and I am thankful for the inspiration which you deliver to my inbox on a daily basis.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hi Sue, hope you had a great Thanksgiving! Oh man yeah that house was really hoarder-squatted-scary …I am not brave enough to take on that work LOL

      Reply

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Let it Flow – Art Journal Spread

“Fall in Love with the pieces and the results will come. Let it flow!” – my creative mantra :)

Sketched and painted with some acrylic paints and acrylic inks – I just wanted to see how I liked painting with some thinner paints and acrylic inks- it is a bit challenging and I do like parts of it -the way it makes the colors really pop due to the translucency – but I do miss my texture.

Love how the Clam Hex Stamp provides a nice pattern – All in all I like the flow of this page :)

Here are some of the supplies I used:


Nat

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Inspired by: The New Cathedral in Coventry

At the beginning of the month I was teaching with my friend Julie in Coventry. I came in on Thursday morning and Thursday afternoon was the only time for some sightseeing – so off we went.

Coventry was devastatingly destroyed during the German Blitz in 1940 during World War II and many people died during the attacks and many lost their homes. Coventry Cathedral was destroyed as well and remains as a ruin in the middle of the city. I posted about the ruins last year – you can find the post here. This year I went also into the New Cathedral – wow!

What a beautiful building.

Above is the Baptistery window which you will see right after you go in. The New Cathedral was built next to the remains of the old cathedral. “Spence the architect insisted that instead of re-building the old cathedral it should be kept in ruins as a garden of remembrance and that the new cathedral should be built alongside, the two buildings together effectively forming one church.” The cathedral was consecrated on 25 May 1962.

The Christ in Glory tapestry by Graham Sutherland, which is maybe one of the worlds largest, is breath taking!

There were also hundreds of seat cushions- little pieces of art!

Below is the Chapel of Christ the Servant (also known as the Chapel of Industry). A giant glass building with  a cross and crown of thorns above the altar

Next to the Chapel of Christ the Servant is the Chapel of Christ in Gethsemane.

A mosaic of the angel who offers the cup of suffering to Christ as he prayed.

I am so glad I went back to see the New Cathedral as well. I think last year when I was there with Birgit it was closed.

St Michael’s Victory over the Devil, a sculpture by Jacob Epstein outside the Chapel.

 

I am glad I could share this little trip with Julie – although- boy was I tired after the red eye flight over the pond ;)

And I leave this post with this plague on the wall of the old cathedral.

Hope this little trip was inspiring for you!

 

Nat

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Jumble Cards

These are some cards I made using with Large Circle Jumble Stamp Set and my Small Circle Jumble Stamp Set.

I loved using the two “hanger” stamps from both sets for the border on the left. For the right card actually used a round gel plate and some inks and stamped the little circles onto it and then used the plate as a stamp.

I love playing with stamp sets and making cards, it is a great way to explore the possibilities of sets.

Which of the three cards is your favorite?


Nat

Comments (1)

  • Rosie Grey

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    Such beautiful cards! I love the “You rock”card on the right the most ?

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Mixed Media Circus Whimsical Collage – Photos

Ready for an epic photo capture of the 3 Day Collage Workshop my friend Julie Fei-Fan Balzer and I taught in Coventry, UK for Art Workshops last week?

We had a fabulous time with 32 students – and started Friday by creating lots of patterned paper.

Making marks

stamping

layering stencils

smiling :)

whistling

layered stamping and scratching

layering and splattering

just going going going

It was so much fun to watch everyone being in the zone :)

well…I hope they had as much fun watching us LOL

more layered stencils

look at my new Hex in action – Diane rocked this pattern!

Ally aka Piere aka Sam ;) (insider joke) agreed to spice up the photos a bit …there was a lot of that as you will see this weekend LOL

And then it was time for the next day and starting the first six collages and talking about Elements and Principles of Design.

We had some collaborative fun!

 

and some wand waving was included too (again ….insider joke sorry LOL)

I think it was a lot of fun to work on a big surface too for a change

and then we just looked at all the sheets that were created and were part of what we taught that day

On the third day Julie and I started with a demo of how we usually work in a series

while making fun of each other ;)

and then it was up to our amazing students to put everything they learned in the last 2 1/2 days into six collages.

we did our best to help …oh brother ;)

Look at happy Abs – such a contagious smile :)

Beautiful messes were made

 

 

lots of wonderful transfers

and of course lots of photos were taken in between

 

 

And then for the final everyone displayed their 12 collages on a piece of paper and we had a good look at all of them.

The leap between the first six and the second six on the final day were amazing. And soooo much color and happiness.

We had such a great time and it fills me with a lot of happiness to look at those photos. Thank you all so much for coming to this workshop and jumping into this crazy artful adventure with us :) Thank you to Sue from Art Workshops and her amazing team Dawn, Debbie and Leroy for all the wonderful help and making us feel super welcome. This was the second time I taught for Sue and sure hope it wasn’t the last :)

I am taking a in-person teaching hiatus most of 2019 as I have some big plans and …well some of you might have seen it, we are on a house hunt which is taking up a lot of time (plus the way it looks it will def. a house that requires a lot of work). Cross your fingers for us – it is a bit stressful to find a place esp. in this area – I won’t lie ;)  Join me meanwhile for my online workshops here and watch this place in the next months for even more online workshops :)

 

Nat

Comments (4)

  • Dawn

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    Fabulous memories of a fabulous weekend. It was lovey to meet you for the first time and see you inspire so many students. Hope to see you again soon xx

    Reply

  • Hazel Agnew

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    Without doubt the best course for content that I have ever experienced! Learned so much. And we had a ball at the same time. Grateful thanks! Xx

    Reply

  • Ally

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    Glad I could spice up those photos! ?
    It was a truly awesome weekend!!! Thankfully we had fabulous teachers too!!! Xxx

    Reply

  • Debbie Martin

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    So many wonderful memories of a very special weekend. Fantastic to see you again and looking forward to next time. Tapping my thumbs frantically for you. Hugs Debbie xx

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Sydney Opera House Painting

2016

I was lucky to be invited twice to teach in Australia and I have fond memories of Sydney. The first time I went to Sydney we were able to get some tickets to a Herbie Hancock concert in the opera – the very last seats in the back …the sound was good..Herbie was a tiny ant- but it was pretty cool :) Australia is fascinating and a real Artful Adventure – for this painting I used an Australian Dictionary for the background, made a stamp with gum tree nuts and also used actual gum tree nuts. The painting is part of the travel chapter in my book Artful Adventures in Mixed Media. Maybe some day I will be back but until then this painting is my little Australia at home :)

Acrylic paint, ink, marker, charcoal, paper ephemera, gum tree nuts on canvas 9×12 -Available for Purchase – email me if interested .

 

Nat

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