nathalie-kalbach

Aligned Stars or … The Whatevers

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Are you ready for the next photo of the Second Round of Whatevers? If you missed what the Whatevers is all about (basically they are photos that my friends and I found on flea markets etc. and that we give a new life and story) or want to see all the past photos and takes…check it out here.

Click here to see what CatVickiMartha and Cuchy made out of the photo and which story they tell.

Here is my take on this month’s photo:

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“They knew their stars were aligned as long as they were able to keep away the evil forces of world politics”. NatKalbach_AlignedStars02

I worked in a smaller art journal this time and also changed the format. I wanted to see how I like it. NatKalbach_AlignedStars04 It was fun – I think it is a different way on approaching an art journal page.

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

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You can play along with us and share your story with the Whatevers- just link it up so we can see it :)

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Here is how it works

    • Vicki, Cat, Cuchy (Carmen), Martha and I 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 to download and show us your version of The Whatevers. The photo will be posted at the end of our blogposts- not on Facebook!

 

      • 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 artform you choose – it can be a scrapbook layout, an altered art project, an artjournal page – WHATEVER

 

      • Here is a rule though: if you take the photo you have to link back to us and show 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 we’ll have a linky list for each Whatever Post.

 

 


Two Button Have a gorgeous day!   Nat LogoBlogSignature nSupplies


Comments (4)

  • Sue Clarke

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    I love reading the stories that go along with the Whatevers creations.
    Especially that they are all so different. TFS

    Reply

  • Catherine Scanlon

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    I love the Hand Journals — though sometimes find the one I have a bit on the small side. Your colors in the background are great — looks like Winston and your Man coordinated their outfits this month, LOL.

    Love your colors!

    Reply

  • Martha Richardson

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    Love how you used the new journal…is this story about anyone we might know???

    Reply

  • Cuchy

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    the stars and the planets should be aligned for them :)
    powerful colors. I love it!

    Reply

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Germany’s Next Goof Ball

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I think this is an appropriate title for the layout showing pictures of a photo shoot in Germany. I did this layout for the Stampendous! CHA booth …and I kind of think I have never shown it…if I did…sorry…I guess then I goofed up ;)

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I stamped the white background with my Stampendous! Stampset Wired and Gesso and after it dried I lightly sprayed over it with Liquitex Spray Paints. I stamped on different cardboard with the circle wire stamp and cut it out. Also stamped and stenciled with gesso and black acrylic paint on top of the background after spray painting.

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For the title I stamped foam letters with archival ink and the background stamp to pick up the background design. The ones I used were Pink Paislee Cushies which are not available anymore but you can use any kind of cardboard or foam alphabet stickers. It is a great way to alter what you have and make it fit with your project.

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The photos were mounted with double sided tape and for dimension also with foam pads.

Yours truly

German Goof Ball aka Nat

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Artvergnugen: PanPastel WS at The Ink Pad Photos

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This friday I had the pleasure of teaching anotherArtvergnugen Workshop at The Ink Pad in New York City. Artvergnugen is an ongoing Evening Art Journaling Class – once a month I teach with a different medium or tool and it is loads of fun. I love our little group of girls! This time I showed all kinds of techniques and ways on how to use PanPastel, a wonderful pastel medium, in your art journal.

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As you can tell I am very enthusiastic about PanPastels and the girls looked at me first as if I am a bit goo-goo..well I am ..but ha- I got them excited too ;) (Thank you Pamela Young for letting me use the picture)

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Soon they were playing and trying all kinds of applications and techniques

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Pamela loved how she could layer all kinds of different techniques to build up a page

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Wendy obviously loved playing with the Versamark Techniques I showed ;)

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Jane loved the Stamping Techniques :)

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Lisa loved playing with Stencils and PanPastel

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Sandra really liked being photographed ;) just kidding- she liked the stenciling best too I think :)

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And Sandy loved the vibrancy of the colors

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Ana loved how you could blend the colors and also the stenciling

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And finally Diane really loved her page with all kinds of different techniques ..and I love it too :)

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The next and last Artvergnugen is on June 27 – I believe there is one seat left – the theme will be Oilpastels/Artbars – I would love to see you :)

If you would like to learn the techniques and actually many many more  then what I taught in The Ink Pad on how to use PanPastels, sign up for my Online PanPastel Class. 

In five lessons you will learn the basics, all kinds of surfaces and techniques you can use the PanPastels with and I will show you several projects including a nice wooden canvas and a scrapbooking layout using them too. And you don’t have to travel to New York for this…although…it would be fun, right? You can take the class in your Jammies, whereever you are , whenever you want :) More details on the class here

Wishing you a wonderful day

Nat

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Painting with Newspapers – Transfer Technique

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We get the New York Times on the Weekend and I love to read it but every time I put the paper into the recycling I look at the sometimes very colorful pages and think “what a shame” …and so…I came up with this Painting with Newspaper Technique. Basically you use the colors of images in your newspaper to create the background. Apply Liquitex Gloss Medium & Varnish thin onto surface (here water color paper) – press down newspaper image /text and wait for a couple seconds, peel off- repeat several times with different colored images until background is “painted”.

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I painted the canvas board – just outer space with Acrylic Inks, tore the water color paper- applied with Gloss Medium and Varnish. Added Ink again to fill gaps – and stamped with the inks and household items to tie elements together. Made some marks with a graphite pen. Mounted photo on top. Done- FUN!

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Can you spot what inspired my for this project on my Stroll through the Hood in this post?

Here is a list of supplies I used:

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Hope you like this mini technique and maybe you give it a shot :)

Nat

 

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Comments (5)

  • Lisa

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    I love your innovations and inspirations! Can’t wait to give this a try!!

    Reply

  • Johanne Lacombe

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    This is a great way to recycle the newspapers. Think I’ll try it. Thanks for sharing,

    Reply

  • Ava Stone

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    So cool! Love new ways to use what we already have and your page turned out pretty and funky. Thumbs up!:)

    Reply

  • Mary W

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    Wonderful idea and thanks for sharing it!

    Reply

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Watertower Canvas or The Yea or Nay Question

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This is my latest canvas which is a 24×20″ one.

It is pretty textured as I layered Cheesecloth, Bark and Canvas cloth onto the painted background. I worked with Liquitex Acrylic Inks and Paints on the Background

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Then used some Liquitex Professional Spray Paints

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and lastly painted and touched everything up using Winsor & Newton Oilbars. (I just bought them and gosh do I love them!)

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I will show this canvas among others in my Gentrification series today at an art show done by artists of and for residents of Dixon Mills here in Jersey City.

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I am excited and nervous to show my work- it will be a small show but still :) My motto today is “The master failed more times then you have even tried” …so here you go, I am putting myself out there and it will be fine :) I am excited to see what people think of it- I am not planning or expecting on selling the work yet but it is the start of whole series with  lot more paintings on the Gentrification topic that I have in mind .  My dream would be a big exhibition on this topic- one can dream, right? But, since a couple of you emailed me and asked if I would sell the one or the other canvas, I was thinking of doing prints of them though- what do you think? Yea or Nay?

Have a wonderful day !

Nat

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Comments (14)

  • Gina Sismilich

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    I’m sorry I never commented before – but I absolutely love your large canvases of buildings and pieces of places you live. They are dynamic and full of marvelous color – I would be surprised if you didn’t sell some-prints – definitely. Good luck with the show

    Reply

  • Jeanne

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    Love the texture and color on this canvas!!

    Reply

  • Jeanne

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    Love the texture and color on thi done!!

    Reply

  • Jean Goza

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    Love the art and the idea of being able to buy a print. I say go for it! Have fun with the show.

    Reply

  • Laura S

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    Good Luck at the show!! I’m sure you will sell some of your beautiful work. Yay to the prints!

    Reply

  • MaoMaoKitty

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    The show looked great! Can’t wait to plan a collaboration. A colorful and other-worldly collaboration! We were thinking something during the fall Jersey City Open Studio weekend… If you haven’t been before, it can be a pretty big deal. Love ya! Kim

    Reply

  • Barb J

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    A big YAY!!!!!!!
    Let us know about the outcome of your art show.

    Reply

  • Jackie P Neal

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    I say yea! And I really think you picked a the perfect pieces from your art to show- Love them all! Good Luck!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    One word reply=
    YES!

    Reply

  • Antje

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    Love those colors – it’s a great canvas!

    Reply

  • Robinn

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    Today’s canvas (5/8) is absolutely stunning!! I like your work but this painting just blew me out of the water!! I hope your show goes well and you sell at least a few canvases!

    Reply

  • Karen D'Angelo

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    YES ABSOLUTELY – 100% – Same size too.

    Reply

  • Janene

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    I like the subject and layout, but the color puts me off because it looks like the whole place is burning. I would not buy anything that had flames all around the buildings.

    Reply

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Back from NAMTA Art Materials World 2014

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I am back from my fun little trip to Pittsburgh for the NAMTA Art Materials World 2014. I took a little Banana Pillow aka Propeller Plane over and spend three nice days there. (the term Banana Pillow is a courtesy of the flight attendant :)

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At this convention art and creative material is shown. It is a Trade Show, not open to the public or designers and CHA has joined them this year with a group of CHA exhibitors. Stampendous! was one of them :) I demoed with my Stampendous Stamps some art journaling techniques using also some of my StencilGirl Products Stencils and Liquitex Acrylic Media.

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As you can tell I had a lot of fun – just give me some paints and I am a happy girl :) – …if I had no ears I would smile in a cirlce…(yes, J. I know I am squinting again ;) )

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I walked around a lot and checked out some new and known to me art supplies. It was loads of fun. There are not many photos because you were asked to not take photos at the show…and …sometimes I remember I am a Kraut and obey rules…go figure ;) But here are some…

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The wonderful people from Lumi were at the show- you  might remember I took a workshop with them at CHA and I am still planning on a blog post and creating some projects with this cool sun printing material. But as you might have caught the word SUN…that was exactly the problem the last couple months. I was happy to see that Lumi now also has Snap packs – small packs- with their dye, which make it easy to apply too. I will post some stuff soon :)

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Seeing my friend Jamie Dougherty doing her magic with oil paints was pretty cool…plus hanging out with her every day and evening was über-cool :)

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Ever wondered what to do with those styrofoam mannequin heads? Here you go…perfect brush solution ;)

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I am not only a nerd when it comes to art supplies, but also when it comes to notebooks. of course I had to stop at the Leuchtturm booth, since I know it well from Germany and have bought a lot of their notebooks. The more I was geeked out when I discovered their new Whitelines Link Notebooks. With the accompanying app, you can take a photo of your drawing, notes whatever on the page, it will take the photo, enhance it automatically and turn it into your choice of either a jpg, pdf for emailing, put it right into drop box or evernotes…BRILLIANT. I need it- no kidding !On my shopping list.

Other than that I would like to give a shout out to Genie Canvas. They came up with a collapsable canvas- so genius! I have been in situations…actually I am in the very moment- where the canvas that I created for a workshop is too big for my suitcase and for carry on and I have a real hard time with shipping etc. So I love love love this idea and I am sure there are others too.

Strathmore will come out with a new Printmaking Paper – I got a sample pack and will test it soon – Love the idea and it felt really good. It is very smooth and I can already imagine how well this will go :)

Grafix – not new to many of you…but kind of new for me – I have never seen them in Germany. I love a lot of their products, from Paper that lets you make your own rub ons, to Dura-Lar an acetate alternative- oh my….I cannot wait to try some of their products out for my art projects :)

PanPastel came out with some cool new stuff – cannot wait to try and share with you :)

 

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This is my circle smiling face again – after meeting Meg – who I never saw before…and who apparently lives in the same apartment complex as I do…the world is small and I loved meeting her and had a lot of fun :) I met a lot of wonderful people – that was my fave about the show :)

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And here is our smiling circle- LOL- my girls that I spend a huge amount of time during and after the convention with – it was great- at CHA it is always such a buzz you never have time to really talk and spent time – Limor Webber and Jamie Dougherty – miss you girls already…crazy bunch ;)

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What else did I see from Pittsburgh? Not much..but I crossed the Andy Warhol Bridge to visit the Andy Warhol Museum – he was born in Pittsburgh, so they claim him ;) – and oh boy- you gotta go there when in Pittsburgh- wonderful collection- loved it.

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I took one photo…although it was forbidden…must have been my non-kraut heritage side ;) – and then I was a good girl again. I came out of this museum so inspired…I went straight into my hotel room, ordered room service and smashed my hotel room with paint and art journals ;)

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I had three days to clean up that mess…and I did…

Wishing you a gorgeous day

Nat

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Comments (6)

  • Marjie Kemper

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    I cannot believe you met someone who lives in your building while at that show! That’s craaaaaaaazy. Love the photos, and thanks for the link to the collapsible canvas. Who knew!?!

    Reply

  • stephanie

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    i am total paper and supply geek. Looks like it was fab. P-burg and the Warhol Museum are great.

    Reply

  • Felicia Aaron

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    Nathalie, I too think it looks like you had loads of fun! I’m jealous that you get to have fun with so many talented artists, such as yourself! By the way, I think you have a FABULOUS smile!! :) LOVE that jounal!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Looks like a bunch of fun (not that I saw any photos).
    I love the huge size of that art journal you were working in.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Hi Sue, yeah that is my new artjournal- it is gigantic – 11x14inches :)

      Reply

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Frog Dog Studio May Mixed Media Kit

I was so stoked when Tina Walker from Frog Dog Studio send me an email and told me that she is going to include my StencilGirl Products Typewriter Stencil and my Stampendous! Wired Stamp Set in her May Mixed Media Kit.

May 2014 MM Kit

 

I had fun playing with the kit too – and especially loved trying out the Fresco Finish and the Vellum Book included in the Kit. I used the Wired and the Mish Mesh (not included in the kit) Stamp Stet on both art journal spreads.

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The Journaling says: Don’t spend time beating on a wall, hoping it will transform into a door…just walk through the door.

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I used the mixture of my own acrylic paints and the Fresco Finish with my Stamp Templates and stamps. I especially love the matte chalky look of the Fresco Finish.

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I used the Oil Pastels also included in the kit on the dress of this image that I had cut out of a catalogue. I love the mixture of oil pastels and acrylic paints. Just make sure to use the oil pastels last as you won’t be able to add any other medium on top of the oil pastel and journaling wouldn’t work either on there!

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Journaling: Sitting Quietly doing nothing, Spring comes and the grass grows by itself.

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I had used the Oil Pastels on a page of the Vellum Book and then cut out circles which I applied with Gel Medium to the my art journal page. I used the Prima Chalks to stamp through the Typewriter Stencil – so easy to use those with stencils and get a nice and crisp image – and I also used them partly on some stamp images.

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It was fun playing with the kit – you can purchase the May Mixed Media kit including my Typewriter Stencil and the Wired Stamp Set (I also used the Mish Mesh Stamps which are not included in the kit, I apologize, due to a misunderstanding I thought that one was included and did not see my mistake until it was too late to switch my projects ;) – I am sure you can imagine other stamps on the pages too :) ) at Frog Dog Studio.

Have a gorgeous day

Nat

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Comments (6)

  • katie smith

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    I love these! Especially the first one!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Looks like a fun kit and I really like your art journal pages Nat.

    Reply

  • Tina Walker

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    Thank you, thank you, thank you! Just love what you created with the May kit! You rock Nat!

    Reply

  • Sanna

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    Beautiful projects! I was thrilled to see your stencils and stamps in the kit!!! :) Love, love, love them :)

    Reply

  • Riikka

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    Looking really good! <3

    Reply

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All That We Are Art Journal Page

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All that we are is the result of what we have thought – Buddha

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This page started out as a demo page at one of the Artvergnugen Workshop Demo Pages, I had created a simple background with acrylic paints and used my Stamps and the included templates with acrylic paints. I later hand cut out wonky circles, layered them on top of the spread and sprayed over with Liquitex Professional Spray Paints. While the Spray Paint was still wet, I lifted off areas with a paper roll and scratched off parts with the brush end to reveal more areas of the background again.

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I liked the result but it looked a bit flat so I added some more dimension and interest by using the Derwent Artbars – water-soluble wax bars – in different colors around the circle patterns. I love how the Artbars pop off the acrylic paint. It was a fun, easy and fast spread, especially since the background was already there and saved my day having me feel I did something creative when I spent most of the time with paperwork.

Here is the list of what I used:

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I wish you an amazing and creative day

Nat

Comments (7)

  • NANCY

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    Love your background. What was the color of the base of the page?. Did
    you cut out the circles to make a stencil and spray yellow?
    Keep up your beautiful work. I really enjoy following you.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Nancy- the base is a background that looks like everything you see that is yellow. Then I cut out circles, masked off areas with them and sprayed over with the beautiful Blue Liquitex Spray Paint. I love to do this whenever my background doesn’t really speak to me as smaller parts of it are more interesting than bigger :)

      Reply

  • Tracy

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    Such great colors! The Buddha comment is really a good one. I actually thought of s song by Pink when I read the post title. The song’s called “Are We All We Are.” Great spread! I want those stamps!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    I just got this stamp set in the mail yesterday and will share something that I create with it if I feel it is ‘worthy”. :-)

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      All you do is worthy!!! Cannot wait to see what you do with it.

      Reply

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Stroll Through The Hood

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A lot of times I get asked what inspires me. And one of my key answers is always “a stroll through the hood”. It might be street art, it might be thoughts or feelings connected with certain sights, it might be stuff I find to buy…in one way or the other you might find the photos, the thoughts, the feelings, the colors or anything from those strolls in my art journal, a mixed media project or a scrapbooking layout.

I would love to show you once a month what inspired me while strolling through my neighborhood. I hope you like the little insights into my daily life where I live . This is also a wonderful way for me to remind myself on the inspiring things in the hood. Maybe you get inspired by those posts and even invite ME to a stroll in YOUR hood – feel free to grab the logo and leave a comment for me on the post and share!

Now that the weather is warmer, there is finally more strolling around in the neighbor hood and I discovered this:

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which was by the way on the way to the art store- which I love because it has changing art work out side and has very knowledgable staff and …it is always good to support small businesses when they do such an awesome job

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Perfect to also stop to get a yummie bread which was used with an awesome mask

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On the way I love to see the obvious stated

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And shake my European head in disbelief when stumbling upon adventurously installed power cables…in front of a window…in the middle of the pavement…

 

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These are the things you still have to keep in mind and watch when you are looking for all this amazing street art work here

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or smile at this

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and then you can take the path and visit a friend in Hoboken and find inspiration in the subway station too -isn’t this color combination great? White, Blue, Black and Rost (forget the feeling that the subway station looks as if it is falling apart ;) )

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And when you arrived in Hoboken you can drive your friend Carla crazy by telling her that Hoboken is the 7th Borough of NYC ;)

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It was an awesome day and I am so happy that the weather is now getting better and more strolls in the hood are coming up…and time on our deck too :)

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Wishing you a gorgeous day!

Nat

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Comments (2)

  • Joan vMetz

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    Hi Natalie, I do so love your “Stroll through the hood” snap shots … The different infusions of colours and tones leaves me wondering what you wil be presenting on your next canvas’ ! Thanks for all your inspiration!!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Great pic of your friend with a bird in the background.
    The detail on the foot in that first pic is crazy good!

    Reply

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