“In times like this, we need more than thoughts and prayers.” —just my thoughts – don’t be cross with me.
I created my background pattern with different versafine ink pad colors and my Wabi Sabi rubber stamps.
I made a sketch of my Church foam stamp on Grafix Duralar, cut it out and adhered it with double sided tape. For my journaling I used a Sharpie gel pen.
Here are some of the supplies I used:
“The time is always right to do what is right.” – MLK
I love using a fresh gel plate where the mineral oil makes the paint crystalize.
In fact I loved the print using the Lady Liberty foam stamp so much that I did not want to add much more to it! Sometimes it is ok to keep it simple.
Here are some of the supplies I used:
How well do you know our Creative Squad? Each week one of our talented design team members shares a project with us and we have come to know and love each of their individual artistic styles. BUT we realized that maybe we could learn a bit more about what makes each of these lovely artists tick. So, we decided to do a quick interview with each. Read on and stay tuned for a new interview each month :)
First up is Maura Hibbitts – she has been on the Creative Squad since 2018 and comes to us from beautiful Upstate New York, where she is inspired by the surrounding nature and her love of supplies.
1. How old were you when you first started making art? What is an early artmaking memory?
Hello creative friends, I’m Maura Hibbitts. As far back as my memory goes, I can remember being a creative kid. I can picture myself sitting under a tree in our back yard, coloring in a bunny. If I wasn’t doing that, I was gathering twigs and leaves and making nature sculptures, or sketching.
2. If you are an art journaler, when did you start your first art journal?
I began art journaling about 10 years ago, and haven’t stopped. The “fashion plate” pages are from a class I took with Nathalie years ago, and it was the first time I used acrylic paint. Well, she opened a new world for me! The other page is a hybrid scrapbook/art journal page of my dog, Jasper.
3. What is one technique you just rediscovered or learned that you are now using all the time again?
A technique I love to use is embellishing my own handwriting, and going hand in hand with that is telling stories through my art. It’s not really a new technique for me, but tried and true.
4. Describe your artistic style in 3 words.
Eclectic, Colorful, and Steampunk
5. What are some of the biggest influences on your art?
My art is definitely influenced by the many wonderful artists I have taken classes with over the years, my husband who is an artist, the natural world, and books I read.
6. Favorite color 5 years ago? Favorite color now?
My favorite color five years ago is the same as today, and has not changed through my life – it’s green, in its many glorious versions. It makes me think of spring and growth, and Ireland.
7. Show us where you create.
I create in a space I’ve commandeered in the living room, that looks out towards the mountains. I love my view, but don’t have a quiet space (headphones and music come in handy). I’m sharing my desk area, because the rest is a mess! When the weather is good, I love to work out on our deck.
8. What are your 3 favorite Creative Squad projects that you’ve created?
My 3 favorite Creative Squad projects are Kokopelli, Creating Connections and Wild and Free:
9. Describe the perfect artistic day for you.
My perfect artistic day is when I have the house to myself and no distractions! I’d work from mid morning into the afternoon, then maybe remember lunch. I’d have paints, inks, stamps, stencils and whatever I’m working with scattered across my table as I work through my inspiration. I would just play!
Thank you Maura!
Learn more about all our Creative Squad artists here on our website and on the Creative Squad Instagram page.
“I am made and remade continually. Different people draw different words from me.” ― Virginia Woolf
For this page I started with homemade marbled paper for my background.
Then to make the different patterns I stamped the Solid Hex Small rubber stamp in different Moonlight Duo ink pad colors and then used some of the Hex Set Small stamps to stamp on top.
I finished it off with a fude pen for the journaling.
Here are some of the supplies I used:
I just love that background paper and how the whole page goes so well with that quote Nat.
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a post from Jordan Hill who is sharing her unique take on our theme this month by working on an old playing card with my Triangle Love stamp set. Our theme is: My Kindred Spirit – Animals are often symbols of qualities that we humans identify with, so let’s take some inspiration from them this month. Do you have an animal whose characteristics you identify with? Maybe it changes depending on your mood or what life throws. Who is your Kindred Spirit in the animal kingdom today?
Hello everyone! I’m excited to be back with a new project for the month of April! I had a lot of internal debate on which animal I wanted to focus on for this month’s theme; however, since I’ve always loved amphibians and the symbolism surrounding snakes (the idea of rebirth and new beginnings), I decided to go with a snake. I hope you enjoy following along with the process!
Since I knew that I wanted to do an illustration of my animal this month, I started things off by sketching a snake design on a scrap of watercolor paper with a pink Col-Erase pencil. I used a photo that I found online to get the general shape of the snake down.
Next, I used a piece of tracing paper and a pencil to trace over my sketch. I then used a craft knife to cut out the shape of the snake so that I had a mask that resembled my drawing.
At this point, I wanted to focus on the background. This helped me know how to color my focal image. For the base of my project, I selected a playing card from a deck of cards I purchased at the thrift store for 49 cents. Then, I used a mix of plain rubbing alcohol in a spray bottle and a few colors of alcohol inks to create my background.
It was then time to paint my snake. Using clean water on a paintbrush, I filled in the shape of my snake. I then dropped several colors of watercolor paint in light oranges and dark greens directly into the water and allowed the colors to blend together.
Once the watercolor was dry, I then wanted to add some pattern to the snake. I taped the mask I created in Step 2 over my illustration using washi tape, then used Nathalie’s Empire Triangle stamp paired with Tim Holtz Distress Ink in the color Walnut Stain to cover my snake with a variety of pattern. I then removed the mask and used an ink pen to add some lines the illustration.
In the end, the use of the mask became mostly meaningless, because I decided I wanted to fussy cut my illustration, again using a craft knife. I then rubbed an Archival Ink Pad in Black around the edges of the piece so that it would stand out more against the background. It also covered some of the raw edges I got from cutting with a blade that wasn’t quite sharp enough.
Then all that was left was to actually assemble the playing card! Using Aleene’s Tacky Glue, I adhered the snake to my background. I then used a small phrase I typed out on my typewriter to give the card a title, rubbed my Archival Ink Pad around the edges of the card, and I was ready to call it done!
Altered playing cards can be a great addition to your mixed media repertoire; you can create an entire deck, or staple them into your journals to create quick pages! I hope you enjoyed following the process of creating this card and that you give some of the techniques a try for yourself!
Thank you Jordan – I love that you chose to work on a playing card, and the use of the stamp to create the snake’s marking is just perfect!
Give it a try: you can find all my Rubber Stamps in my Online Shop and in addition to an old playing card, here are some of the supplies Jordan used:
Looking for more projects? Follow the Creative Squad on Instagram here.
Don’t forget – my Spring Refresh Sale in my Online Shop ends TONIGHT, Monday March 21st at 11:59pm EDT. All physical products are 20% off while supplies last.
Just use the coupon code SPRING22 when you check out to enjoy the savings and to maybe pick up a few things to refresh your art making and your home.
Enjoy!!!
Here I’m using another old work of mine from an art journal page (you can see the original post and page here) from the sold out Artist Almanac.
I used a brayer to roll out heavy body white and blue paint and added some yellow areas with yellow acrylic ink. I used my Gnarly and Funky foam stamps with black acrylic paint to add some marks, and a stabilo pencil for some softer marks as well.
Here are some of the supplies I used:
Strolls through my hood get me out of my studio, they help me get unstuck and often I get inspired by what I see and 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.
This is it…my studio all packed and wrapped up on the day before moving to the new house just about 3 blocks away.
I loved the “Lady Office” labeling LOL. The guys were great in packing but let’s say I would not again have someone else handle my art supplies. I would have them pack anything but the supplies. Part of it was probably because they had no idea what they were packing. Having for example oil sticks loosely thrown in with charcoal and then have the box sit next to a radiator …I think you might have an idea how unpacking went.
I mentioned in my newsletter yesterday that even though I am so happy about our new house, it was a bit emotional to say good by to our little pandemic cocoon. We left like many people before us a not in the basement.
But then there is this little breakfast nook which makes me happy every morning – the window is just so beautiful and it is a magical little place to start the day. You can see our mini fridge on the right …we left our cool SMEG fridge in the old house and ordered a new one and well..it was stuck in container hell.
This little beaner was our companion (as I am writing this we finally got the new fridge delivered) for a couple of weeks and it is actually very interesting how much food you can tetris into this fridge.
Here is my new painting studio …taking form …I love this room, the light is amazing. Don’t get fooled this was at a later time of the day. I cannot wait to start painting again.
Lot’s of papers and boxes
which smoothed out waited for several people to them up . It is so much waste during a move it felt good to know that at least 5 different people will be able to move with our stuff …also embarrassingly tells how how much stuff we have in art supplies and books.
This was the living room pretty much on the evening we moved in … all boxes gone, and bang …yes that is Citron on the wall … you either love it or hate it but I am cool if you hate it …not your living room lol- so that should make you feel better than ;)
I took some time as soon as I had my paints and journals out to do some art journaling and as you can see Mingus was very helpful. The cats are doing great btw – if you are a cat owner you know that is a bit of a traumatic thing for cats but apparently the cards were newly mixed and Bobby Pretzel is now the king of the castle and they bonded through the move even sharing the cozy spots in the house.
I am ready for spring now – well right after we have some warmer temperatures and this railing at our stoop is redone …I cannot wait to take to through some strolls through my new old hood :)
It looks amazing! I love the citron! Enjoy your new space, can’t wait to see all the opportunities it opens for you. Enjoy your new home!
So much work and so beautiful. that breakfast nook is a delightful place to read and have a cup of tea.
Here’s to many happy years in your new home and I look forward to walks in your new/old hood.
It’s time to REFRESH!!! Spring is just days away and I’m thinking about all kinds of ways to refresh and renew, inside and out. I love this time of year as things warm up and grow, and I feel more energetic AND inspired when it comes to artmaking. It’s a great time to pick up some new supplies and maybe even some new artwork for your walls. I’m having a Spring Refresh Sale here in the shop to help make it happen.
The Spring Refresh Sale runs through March 21st at 11:59pm EDT and includes all physical products in the shop: stamps, stencils, ink pads, cardboard models, books, original artwork, giclee prints, and more. Just enter the coupon code SPRING22 when you check out to save 20% off qualifying items.
Sometimes an awesome way to invigorate your artmaking is with some new supplies. My Triangle Love and Hex Set Large rubber stamp sets get me creating patterns in my art journal and beyond.
Foam stamps offer an instant impression and I sometimes choose them as a focal element such as my Lady Liberty or other times to build pattern, texture, and layers such as my Mini Tile set.
Stencils can get your creative juices flowing too and a bold pattern like Chicago is just as likely to inspire me as something more delicate like Beacon.
I also have a section in my shop called Favorite Art Supplies where you will find some nifty items like Moonlight Duo ink pads, Boundless Brooklyn cardboard models, and the StampBuddy to get you creating. Check that stuff out HERE.
Having artwork hanging in my home is another source of enjoyment and inspiration for me. If you’re the same, check out my original artwork and giclee prints here in the shop.
I hope you take some time in the next few weeks to refresh an area of your life, whether it be in your home or in your art making practice. Even a small change can be the start of something big and exciting and there is no better time to get started than today :)
So nice to learn more about you Maura! I love seeing your work!
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