I miss going to NY as we are still limiting our trips to the City during the pandemic, but I do miss it. We usually would go in several times a week, living just across the river and a couple PATH stops away.
When I am in the city nowadays either for errands, visiting the doctor or even the one or other restaurant visit, I know the city will be ok… it always will be and that is why we love NY.
I used a copy of an old painting I made of the Flat Iron Building along with some Caran D’ache Museum Aquarelle pencils on top of the black and white copy, and inside some of the circles (made with pencil). The stamp is one of my Fan-fare stamps used with archival ink. I did my journaling with a Sharpie S-Gel Pen.
In addition to collage elements and my black and white copy, here are some of the supplies I used:
My Hydrant foam stamp just cracks me up sometimes. It’s big and bold and well… kinda cute. Is that possible for a hydrant? I don’t know but in this case I think so.
It’s one of those iconic sights on the street in the US and wow is it popular with four legged friends if you know what I mean ;) But it’s also a pretty interesting piece of equipment, always a bright color (usually red), and it makes me think of city neighborhoods, which I love.
It’s a little unexpected and fun to use it as a repeating pattern in my art journal…
…and in fact I also like the abstract shape that you can make by stamping the back!
Got some dog lovers you know? These cards by Creative Squad member Judi Kauffman are hilarious:
And then also this votive project was a pretty neat idea, especially when combined with a few of my other foam stamps. You can create a whole little illuminated streetscape:
It’s a unique foam stamp, but that’s probably why the Hydrant catches your eye and makes you smile. It’s a little different and that’s one reason I love it.
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a post from Judi Kauffman who is sharing with us a whole bevy of ATCs (Artist Trading Cards). She’s using my ATC Mixup stencil and our theme this month: Time for Texture – Visual texture or actual texture is an element that can give dimension, depth, and touchable interest to any piece of art. Let’s play with texture in a series of ATCs and see what emerges!
Cut On The Dotted Line:
Nathalie’s ATC Mixup Stencil is my new best friend. I got a little carried away with the ATC project this month, even though I don’t have an official Tuesday Squad slot.
To create the feel of “faux postage” on my ATCs I printed dotted lines in black on my 8.5×11 cardstock, which means 9 ATCs per sheet (instead of 10 if the cardstock is cut in the traditional method). These lines also helped me do allover patterns that feel random but have just a tad of structure.
A radical departure for me: I used BROWN, a color I reach for maybe once every decade or so!
Using low-tack cover-up tape (an old staple from the days of typewriters), mask between the individual ATCs or add random strips at angles or as horizontal or vertical lines within the blocks. (I also printed a grid with smaller blocks and used low-tack circles as part of the first step.)
Dry brush three light colors over the pages; allow paint to dry. Then get out the ATC Mix-up stencil and use a dark contrasting color to add a variety of patterns. I stuck with just the brown, but mix colors as desired.
Remove tape and the circles, setting them aside to use as washi tape and decorative embellishments.
Cut the ATCs apart along the dotted lines. Keep some of the connected in rows of three for accordion-folded ATCs. Add minimal embellishments, as shown (just the tape and circles) or keep going: Draw, add collage, found poetry, layer with dimensional elements.
Thank you for sharing your process Judi – loved seeing how much variety you achieved and also how you repurposed the tape.
You can find all of my stencils in my Online Store. Here are some of the supplies that Judi used:
Always looking for ways to step up my ATC’s. This is wonderful and easy to do by all. Thank you for making this possible no matter what level of creativity we have.
ATCs are so fun to make and trade. These are fabulous. Masterboards are a great way to have loads of ATC bases ready to go for when inspiration strikes. I really like how you have the coordinating tape and circles to use as embellishments. Great idea!
Today we have Valentine inspiration from Creative Squad member Judi Kauffman who is using my LOVE foam stamp to create some beautiful layered card designs.
The ones with the red background were done with gel-printed mailing labels (got several boxes at a yard sale) plus dye ink for the LOVE foam stamp.
The others have Magic Stamp textures as the background. I used the same dark teal dye ink pad for all.
Just wanted you to see what I’m up to… I’m getting ready for Valentine’s Day!!!
Thanks for the Valentine’s Day card making inspiration Judi! Love the layered backgrounds in these and such a cool idea to gelli print up a bunch of label sheets!
Give it a try: you can find all my Foam Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the supplies Judi used:
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a collection of ATCs from Maura Hibbitts using my ATC Mixup stencil and our theme this month: Time for Texture – Visual texture or actual texture is an element that can give dimension, depth, and touchable interest to any piece of art. Let’s play with texture in a series of ATCs and see what emerges!
This month we are combining a couple of my favorite things: Artist Trading Cards and texture, and we get to create with Nathalie’s awesome ATC Mixup stencil! I wanted to begin with some favorite colors, add fun images with stickers (a Christmas gift), and find the perfect words for a new year. It’s funny when you search for words, how most of them jump out right away, but there are one or two reluctant ones you have to drag out.
Begin your project with your ATC base (I used watercolor paper), Nat’s ATC Mixup stencil, Transparent Texture Paste and a palette knife. Add a light layer of the paste through the stencil, and be sure to clean both immediately. Set aside to thoroughly dry.
Lightly dab paint onto your ATCs with a cosmetic sponge. I began with the Cobalt Teal Hue, Cerulean Blue and Quinacridone Gold. Then, I added some green gold to a few.
Play with the paint on the ATCs until you are happy with the result. Wipe back over the texture area to reveal the pattern. Let dry.
Next, pull out a background sheet from your stash. (I’m using a watercolor print with bubble wrap.) Use an alphabet stamp set for the words or your own handwriting, cut the word strips out, and edge with black ink.
Find stickers or images to represent your words. (I received a wonderful sticker book for Christmas that I am using here.) Attach them to the ATC, using glue if needed. Pop the word strips up with foam tape.
Add more texture with Nat’s Batik stencil (one of my all time favorites) and Prussian Blue paint. Apply the paint with a light touch using a cosmetic sponge.
Outline the new stenciled design once dry, using a bronze Sharpie. Edge the ATC using black ink if desired.
The ATCs are complete and filled with layers of texture and meaning. Some textures you can actually feel, and others are more visual, but both are so much fun to play with. As you add more layers of images and words, you build a tiny work of art.
Enjoy creating your own layers of texture and meaning. Find positive words to use that will help you journey through this year and bring you joy. Maura
Thank you Maura – these are so beautifully layered! Love the subtle play of pattern and texture that you’ve built up on each one.
Give it a try: you can find all my Stencils in my Online Shop and in addition to gelli printed papers from her stash, here are some of the supplies Maura used:
Looking for more projects? Follow the Creative Squad on Instagram here.
“I am not everybody’s cup of tea… that’s fine… I am a cup of coffee anyway!”
Kind of a hot mess but oh well – the gold spray paint was still wet in spots and so it muddled with the next layers…
I used acrylic paints and did some stenciling with my new ATC Mixup stencil. I also grabbed my Manhattan stencil and used that with gold MTN spray paint. You’ll also see in the mix my Small Circle Jumble rubber stamps, a Posca marker for journaling, and a postage stamp.
Is it great? Nope. Did I learn something? Only to be more patient. Did I have fun? Yep. It was good to step away from house reno and administrative workshop task for a couple minutes :)
“It only takes a little bit of willpower to see the beauty around us.”
For this page in my vintage ledger art journal I used archival ink with my Stroll Through the Hood 1 and Hydrant rubber stamps. Then I added some color with acrylic markers and collaged in one of the Artist Almanac calendar pages that had my painting on it. As you may know, that super popular Almanac is sold out.
It is fun to use some of my old artwork as a starting point for something new. This painting is called Pencil #2 and is still available here in my online shop.
“Art can confront and raise the consciousness of others in the most plain and gentle way.” -Ai Weiwei
Hold your horses- I finally did something creative ;) It’s certainly been difficult juggling so many things right now but wow it feels good to just spend some time creating.
This was a not so blank page in my ledger art journal as I had used the excess spray paint from my Art Deco Wallpaper stencil (used in my Beautiful Feelings art journal page) and made an imprint on it first. That was a great starting point. I just grabbed a lot of collage material and stuff I had on my work bench – the Lady Liberty which I had used as a mask for my Creative JumpStart class, a page of my artwork from the Artist Almanac Calendar (unfortunately sold out), an ATC I had made with my new ATC Mixup stencil, and I just used the Embroidery stamps and pens that I had laying around.
And the quote – well the quote was on a piece of paper where I had jotted it down when I found it a while ago and it fell into my hand! The whole process was not at all very conscious but I sure felt better to have spent some time playing around and the quote nonetheless is a good one …so it is a gentle way to incorporate it in my creative play.
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a post from Jordan Hill who is sharing an art journal page that combines elements from her past (like an art journal page from when she was 11!) along with my LOVE foam stamp and our theme: Creating Connections – We’re playing along with the Creative JumpStart 2022 theme Creating Connections and exploring how our artwork connects us to the world around us, our community, our favorite supplies, or maybe our artmaking choices. Connections are everywhere when we create!
Hello, everyone! I’m excited to be back with my first project of 2022! When I was presented with this month’s theme of Creating Connections, I was extremely excited to get started. The word “connection” holds a lot of meaning for me personally, so I really wanted to play with a couple of different ways of incorporating that idea into my work.
I started things off by scanning and printing off some of my very first art journal pages. I believe these are from 2008, when I was around eleven years old. The “What If” page is actually the first art journal page I ever created, and the others are ones I made not too long after. I wanted to play with the idea of connecting my oldest artwork to something brand new, and this seemed like a good way to do that.
Next, using Nathalie’s CJS22 LOVE Foam Stamp, I stamped it using an ink pad re-inker over several scraps of paper. I wasn’t sure exactly which piece I was going to use, so I thought I would give myself options. Then, I cut up one of the pages I printed off in the last step, specifically focusing on cutting out the pink flower shapes.
The next step was to flip through one of my art journals until I found a page I wanted to work on. I eventually decided on one made from a manilla envelope. I then glued down one of the scraps that I stamped in the last step onto this page using a glue stick.
Next up, I tore off a piece from the scan of my first art journal page and glued it into the upper left hand corner of my page. I knew that I also wanted to focus on connecting myself to my artwork, so I used a regular graphite pencil to scribble out a stream of consciousness brain dump. I had no intentions of ever reading this again, so I made no attempts to make this part legible.
Then, I covered it all up. Using a mix of white gesso and neon pink acrylic paint, I covered the words using a large paintbrush. I overlapped the edges of my collage pieces with the paint in order to blend them into the page even further. Some of the words from the previous step bled through this layer and added further texture to my page.
I then glued down the flowers that I had cut out previously. Despite the fact that I had primarily been focusing on the left hand side of this spread, I also incorporated a few of the flowers onto the right hand side. This will tie the pages together when I eventually decide to expand on the right hand page.
Since I was already playing with the idea of connecting my old artwork to my new artwork, I decided to reach for a supply that was a go-to in a lot of my old journal pages- Portfolio oil pastels. I used the Pink to make marks across various parts of my background.
It was then time to add the focal point. To further expand on the idea of connecting myself to my artwork, I printed off a photo of myself, cut it out and glued it down. I then glued another small drawing onto the page, slightly overlapping with my face. I added some line work with a black pen to the photograph, in order to make it appear more illustrated, and then glued down a small phrase that I had typed out with my typewriter.
Finally, to finish off the page and fill up some of the remaining space, I scraped some neon yellow paint across a piece of book text and cut out some ray shapes to place around the top part of my photo!
In the end, the style of this page turned out quite different to what I usually tend towards, but I really like the way it turned out, and I love the way that the theme of Creating Connections manifested in this work!
Thank you for sharing Jordan – love how you wove together so many elements in your composition to connect past and present!
Give it a try: you can find all my Foam Stamps in my Online Shop and in addition to collage bits, here are some of the supplies Jordan used:
Looking for more inspiration from the Creative Squad? Follow them on Instagram here.
Always looking for ways to step up my ATC’s. This is wonderful and easy to do by all. Thank you for making this possible no matter what level of creativity we have.
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