I have some NEW rubber stamps coming out today! It’s a big exciting group and I am very happy to be sharing them with you. AND if you are around today (April 3rd) at 12noon EST be sure to catch me LIVE on Facebook for my Kaffeeklatsch where I will be showing the new guys :)
In the meantime, here we go. Here is the Wabi Sabi set, a fun set of 6 little stamps that are perfect for adding abstract, mark making to your artwork:
And here are some of these stamps in action:
Next up is the Mini Motifs set – all these were inspired by designs that I found on my fireplaces at home!
The Mini Motifs can be used for so many patterns or for a little ornament here and there:
And then there is the Triangle Love set – wow these are fun to use for making patterns. I will show you in a bit how you can make kaleidoscope-like patterns by rotating and stamping the triangles…
These are amazing to play with to create patterns:
And finally two different birds in the Bird Stamps set – Early Bird and Nightingale so you can “put a bird on it” ;)
Here are these lovelies:
I hope to see you at the Kaffeeklatsch later today to see the new stamps and just to catch up on everything:
I am having a very special sale in response to these unprecedented and difficult times – Creative JumpStart (CJS) 2020 will be just $45 through the end of April. Yes, this is the online workshop CJS that started back in January – the Super Power edition. I know many of you are at home these days and looking for activities, a sense of community, and artistic inspiration. Join us for Creative JumpStart!
Here is the promo video to introduce you to our amazing group of 31 artist teachers. They have each contributed a lesson with the theme Super Power:
These super talented artists are sharing their artistic Super Powers with you through a project or technique lesson. There are 31 teachers and 31 lessons, spanning a wide variety of styles and media. The goal is to JumpStart YOUR Creativity. Learn more HERE.
And check out a peek of some of the artist’s lessons below:
Creative JumpStart is also about Community. The goal is to have a place to get together with other creative and artistic people. In the classroom you can comment on lessons and share your experiences and ask questions. There is a Show & Tell page where you can share your artwork and see what other students are creating. And of course we invite you to interact on social media with hashtags like #cjs20 and #creativejumpstart20.
We are a community of over 1000 people – and now is the perfect time to join in and make some new online friends :)
Already participating in Creative JumpStart 2020? Come back to the classroom and say Hi! Maybe revisit some of the lessons that you loved or techniques you haven’t tried yet. Show & Tell, post on social media, let’s get the conversation going and all enjoy a break from things with some artistic FUN.
These are unprecedented times of crisis and now more than ever we can see the beneficial powers of artmaking and getting involved with arts communities.
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a tag and envelope project from Judi Kauffman using my Art Deco Summit stencil and this month’s theme: Motivated in March – What keeps you motivated to create? Is it a certain material? Your favorite colors that you can’t get enough of? Maybe you get motivated when you see artwork in a museum or out and about? Share with us your creative motivation and then create something inspired by it.
I love this month’s theme; “Motivated in March” really resonated. I thought a lot about what motivates me as well as parts of my life where more motivation is needed. To that end, I picked what I’m calling a “Magic Number” for the month: 37! And I designed a tag in a pocket to help me remember and focus on the number.
I’m going to spend 37 minutes a day on the treadmill. I’m going to help my neighbor register 37 new voters! I’m going to do 37 different creative projects during the month and will document them on the back of the tag and in my Traveler’s Notebook. …And I’m going to imagine that I’m only 37 to keep myself feeling younger.
YOUR TURN – A CHALLENGE
Before we get into the how-to portion of this tutorial I’m issuing a challenge: Pick your own “Magic Number”! Write down at least 3 things that it represents. Make a tag with a pocket like mine or start with an envelope, folder or box. Add the number to the tag, envelope, folder or box. Document your intentions for the number and then chronicle how the month plays out!
INSTRUCTIONS
1. Dry-brush a sheet of royal blue cardstock (or a color of your choice) with two or more acrylic paints. Shown: Black, teal, medium blue. When dry, randomly scribble with dimensional paint in one or more coordinating, equally dark colors. Allow to dry.
2. Dry-brush the reverse side of the cardstock with black.
3. Die cut the pocket shape.
4. Using teal paint, stencil Art Deco Summit pattern on the portion of the inside of the pocket that will show when it’s folded. Allow to dry.
5. On the right side of the pocket use copper metallic paint to stencil Art Deco Summit pattern on the two angled sections. Use newsprint to mask the areas where you don’t want any stenciling.
6. Fold on score lines, assemble the pocket.
7. Cut a 4.75” x 6.75” rectangle from scrap portion of 12×12 cardstock. Stencil Art Deco Summit pattern in two colors at an angle, masking between colors – copper metallic on one side, teal on the other. Trim corners and punch a hole to make a tag.
8. Edge the pocket and the tag with paint.
9. Hand- or die-cut the “Magic Number” and a hole reinforcement from another scrap portion of the 12×12 cardstock. Adhere to the tag. Add fibers in coordinating colors.
Thank you Judi – what a nice idea of activities that we can do now that we are all spending more time at home.
Want to give Judi’s project a try? You can find all my Stencils in my Online Shop and here are some of the other supplies she used:
Feel inspired? Working on something yourself that you’d like to share? I love to see how you interpret our monthly themes. Email me how you used my stencils and stamps with the theme and email me an image – I would love to share your projects in my next “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.
This little painting already found a loving home and I am so excited about it.
It makes me really happy to know that my Stroll Through the Hoods paintings do resonate with you and there are other architecture lovers out there :)
Now when I walk by the house I will think “someone else likes you so much – you are now part of a different home in a different state as well” – I like that thought.
I hope you are all doing well- please stay safe and healthy!
I am so pleased and joyful with “my” paintings. I have been a quilter for 30 yrs and given away most of the quilts or wall hangings. I share your feeling of a bit of sadness when they leave the nest, some are really hard to let go. Now a days I only make quilts for those I know will truly appreciate them and I am keeping many more for myself! Thank you again for you inspirational work that brings joy to our house.
All of my online workshops (excluding Creative JumpStart) are 20% off through today, Sunday, March 29th at 11:59pm EST. Just use the coupon code STAYINGHOME when you check out. Here is a link to my Online Workshops page.
We can still enjoy some artistic activities and get a little creative inspiration. I hope to see you in the classrooms!
“The words you speak become the house you live in!” In other words, speak carefully – a good motto but definitely a tricky one to always follow :)
This was another study for a new painting. On the left I spread gesso through the Manhattan stencil and on the right I spread gel medium through the Santiago stencil. I wanted to play a bit with stencil texture underneath the painting or around it to see how it would look.
Once the gesso and gel medium dried I added thin paint over both sides and then wiped it off the surfaces before it totally dried – as the gesso and the gel medium resist the paint longer. I am not sure if I like it as a surface to draw on though – it really makes it hard. Better to think first of where I want the image to go and then spread out that area for the background… but that is why I love an art journal to play with such things!
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.
Well a lot of those photos were taken before we all were practicing social distancing. And the more these inspire me – a good reminder to enjoy the little things like meeting with friends in a cafe or a stroll through the hood. Speaking of a cafe – I love the “fence art” by Norman Kirby above that made its way into this new-ish restaurant.
St. John’s Church – a gorgeous gorgeous historic landmark church – which is falling apart. I am reading a lot about this church and it’s history in this neighborhood. I will def. write a separate post about it – it is so fascinating and I will def. do a painting of this church.
This made me smile. Bentley Avenue also has the nickname of “Doctor’s Row” – there are a ton of beautiful victorian Mansions on this street and they have become unaffordable in the recent years (if you find one you could buy you would have to pay a ton of money to bring it back to livable status) – so this tiny Bentley house is pretty much all we could afford hahahah
Speaking of Social Distancing- those guys have no clue and boy they are soo cute. Here is Bobby Pretzel on his foster blanket on my letterpress- he loves that spot.
While Mingus loves to perch on the Banister – he is such a riot.
Speaking of beautiful churches- I can not believe that I was never before in Grace Church downtown – I lived there for 6 years and somehow never made it in until now when a friend of mine was singing there. So colorful!
Another row of beautiful brownstones – I love the balcony on the left!
This former victorian mansion looks really sad
I wonder if the scaffolding means restoration or stripping it down from it’s last architectural elements. I would be surprised if that house could be saved but you never know.
I loooooveee this building – I am not sure yet what used to be in there back in the golden days- but it is sooo cute. It has been abandoned for a long time – I hope someone buys it and revives it. A friend of mine who is actually a real estate agent said that a lot of those abandoned buildings in the neighborhood have been bought a long time ago by investors and they are now waiting for the perfect timing to sell those for a hefty price. It makes me angry as to what this does to this neighborhood.
A little bit of a sad Hope sign but at least hope :)
This beautiful house was once built by one of the richest men in Jersey City in 1860 – he died impoverished and the building is now an apartment building. Some of you might recognize it in one of my paintings ;)
Same street- more gorgeous apartment buildings!
These are Dutch Queen Anne Houses Row Houses. And yes that is a style as well – and reminds me indeed of Amsterdam.
and this little street with the small town brick townhouses makes me just happy- it is super cute and I cannot wait for the trees to be in bloom.
Hope you enjoyed the Stroll through my Hood! Hope you are all well and stay safe and healthy! Loves!
Join me today, March 27th at 2pm EST for a LIVE chat on Facebook – Let’s catch up and see how everyone is doing!
Always enjoy your photos from the hood. I love the architecture of that area. So very different from my home state of California. I did live in New Jersey for awhile many years ago. Was fascinated by it then as well. Stay well and sane during this difficult time.
Today I have some very cute Easter cards to share with you today from Creative Squad member Judi Kauffman. Judi is on a roll revamping her calendar pages into new projects. Remember back in December she created a monthly calendar, with the goal of reusing the pages once the month was passed? Well here we have the February page, turned into some sweet bunny cards, and a couple other items too.
From Judi:
“I used my inlay technique* to turn the February calendar page into seven Easter cards, one Traveler’s Notebook page, and used a remaining scrap for a bookmark. I considered simple egg shapes, but couldn’t resist the bunny. (Die from AccuCut)”
*Judi Kauffman’s Inlay Technique: Die cut a simple shape from two or more coordinating sheets of stenciled/stamped paper and purchased patterned paper. Make sure there will be good contrast. Inlay the positive image (shown: a bunny) so it fits into the opening on a contrasting background. Glue both pieces in place on a piece of board, a card front, into an art journal, or on mat and frame.
Thank you for sharing Judi!
Here are some of the supplies Judi used:
And I hope to see you tomorrow, March 27th at 2pm on Facebook for a Live chat. I would love to hear from you and learn about how you are doing these days. Please join me and say HI!
Judi – this is so inspiring! I love the idea and you have created such a gorgeous tag!!
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