Nat
Artist Quote of the Week – John Berger
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Creative Ice Breaker – Morning Art Journal Play Video #8
In the mornings I play in my art journal to get myself into the creative groove and break the ice – so to speak- and get ready to paint. I recorded and fast forwarded my morning ritual for this video – and hope you enjoy it. Take it as what it is – a morning art journal play- not a tutorial.
Creative Icebreaker #8, April 2017 from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.
Here is the art journal spread I created in the video
Here are the supplies I have used in my Creative Ice Breaker video above – some links are affiliate links.Please note that my Manhattan Minis will be available soon- some select stores carry them already (The InkPad, Scrapbook Centrale) and I will soon too :) )
I hope you enjoyed the little glimpse into my morning warm up play! Have a wonderful and creative day!
Nat
Comments (2)
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Sherry Canino
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nathalie-kalbach
Awe- thank you Sherry! have a gorgeous and sunny weekend
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Lift Others – Art Journal Spread
Lots of things are going through my mind lately and this quote in my art journal truly resonates with me.
I just received my new Dina Wakley Art Journal yeahh. I was so impatient to finally hold it in my hands ever since I saw it at the AFCI (former CHA) show in January. If you haven’t seen the journal yet, it has different surfaces including burlap, canvas, cotton rag, watercolor paper, and kraft paper. It won’t be my everyday journal, as I love to work in double spreads, but it is a great journal for forcing me out of my box with its fun opportunities and possibilities of paint applications. I am so stoked about it.
This spread was created on a watercolor spread in the book- I love the texture . I also played with some of Dina’s paints. I layered my hood stamps and colored them in.
For the stars in the sky I used my Star Fish stamp with some white ink and finished the spread with the quote written with a white sharpie.
Here are some of the supplies I used for this spread:
I wish you are wonderful day <3
Nat
Comments (2)
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Torsa Saha
Beautiful page !! ??
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nathalie-kalbach
Thank you so much Torsa <3
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Live Like It’s Spring – Cheiron Brandon
Happy Tuesday (or should I say Hoppy?) and hello from the Creative Squad! Today Cheiron Brandon has a lovely and very apropos card for us that uses my Beacon stencil and the monthly theme Live Like it’s Spring – Springtime is when Mother Nature kicks it into high gear. It’s the time to wake up and approach life with renewed energy. Let’s join Mother Nature in this reawakening and create some things in the Spirit of Spring!
Hi there! It’s Cheiron here with my monthly post. I am so excited for spring here on the east coast, but it seems like it’s never going to arrive. I always have best intentions of sending cards for the holidays to friends and family, but they never seem to come to life. I decided to “spring” into action in my studio with some stencils and spring colors and make this fun card that can be easily replicated to send out for Easter to family and friends.
To start, I used some Distress Mixed Media Heavy Stock and applied a thin coat of gesso. Once the gesso has dried, apply Distress Crayons in spring colors to the panel (I used spun sugar, squeezed lemonade, shaded lilac, cracked pistachio and broken china ) blending each color with your finger as you go along.
Keep blending until the entire panel is covered.
Once you are finished blending, put the Beacon stencil over the panel and rub through the stencil gently with a baby wipe to reveal the gesso underneath and create a pattern.
Remove the stencil, add a die cut and some word stickers to you card. It’s as easy at that! You could even use multiple stencils to create this effect. I hope you enjoyed this Easter card, and maybe it will inspire you to make some fun cards to send out to those you love.
See you next month!
Thanks Cheiron! This is so cute and happy! We just love your card designs. Cheiron used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:
Play along with us! 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 “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.
Nat
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Artful Adventures – Interview with Natalya Aikens
Natalya Aikens is part of my book Artful Adventures in Mixed Media and I thought it would be interesting to hear more about her and some of her thoughts. Grab a seat and a cuppa and listen to this interesting conversation which I think you will enjoy. We are talking about things like
- Combining Architecture with Fashion with Art
- Gathering Inspiration
- Tactile Art
- Natalya’s Artwork in my book
- How life experience changes your appreciation for different art styles
- Art History and Docent Tours
- Stitching the ancient architecture of Greece
Artful Adventures in Mixed Media Interview with Natalya Aikens from Nathalie Kalbach on Vimeo.
I hope you enjoyed the interview- let us know what you think about some of the topics.
You can Pre-Order Artful Adventures in Mixed Media now
Nat
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DIY – Stamped Easter Eggs
For the upcoming Easter Holiday I decided to dye some eggs. I bought some wooden eggs, blew out some brown eggs and cooked some white eggs to have a variety to play with.
I dyed the cooked white eggs with some natural dyes (Yellow/Orange (Annatto extract), Purple (Radish), Blue (Cabbage) – see picture on top of the collage. For the blown out brown eggs and the wooden eggs I wanted to try the new Tea Stain Dyes by Faber Castell, which are not suitable for food. They are meant to dye fabric and paper but I thought it should work with wood and egg shells too. I loved how the colors came out with these dyes, especially on the wooden eggs, the brown eggs were a bit tricky with the light green, but it was all good. Both dyes resulted in colors that I was super happy with.
I stamped the eggs with a white pigment dye stamp pad – using my inked cling rubber stamps by wrapping those carefully around the egg, and using some of my foam stamps by rolling the egg over the inked stamp.
On the top row you see the eggs stamped with my ArtFoamies foam stamps – I love how they turned out- the impression is bold.
On the bottom I used my Cardboard Cling Rubber Stamp Set. I loved especially how the Tread stamp gave a look of rubber bands but I do love ever single one. The yellow of course was a bit tough with white ink …so I used an archival ink on top which made it a bit smudge. Oh well.
Next I tried my Embroidery Cling Stamp Set – ohhhhh- i so loved the look of this. The different stitches came out really well on the eggs.
On the bottom you see eggs used with the Stroll through the Hood Cling Stamp Sets -see the Hydrant pattern – I was geeking out- LOL- I know it is random but I love it.
Here you have a couple of the eggs as decoration on my table. The cooked eggs are in the fridge waiting to be consumed in the next couple days ;) That was super fun to make, so easy ! I hope you like them and give these a try :) Here is the supply list of what I used besides some brown and white organic eggs:
Nat
Comments (4)
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stephanie
great eggs!
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nathalie-kalbach
thank you Stephanie! Glad you like them!
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Joi@RR
Heheheh – love your EASTER PARADE of EGGS Nat! They are GORGEOUS. Your stamps are perfect on them. Xj.
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nathalie-kalbach
thank you Joi, I am so glad you like them :) Have a wonderful start into the week! <3
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A Tourist in NYC
Having my friend Birgit Koopsen visit me a couple weeks ago brought the opportunity to play tourist in NYC. Living so close to Manhattan (a 10 minute path ride) makes you often just go in for your goals and chores and forget to explore it the way you would if you wouldn’t live to so close. Since Birgit was already here a couple years ago – I was able to show her some different things. Here are some fun highlights :)
Last time Birgit was here the WTC station wasn’t yet finished …I always rush through it …On the first day we went to the Russian Vodka Room for dinner (it is a fun place – piano player, good food and drinks included- a great place when you are around the Broadway for a show) before
going to a MoMA Party with my friend Kim and we had the galleries almost to ourselves – so cool. It was great to go to the Picabia show for a third time :) I still saw new things and it is always awesome to talk with artsy friends about art.
The party was ok – young rich NYC kids – meh … but you know – look at the gallery above – ALL OURS
On another day we explored the East Village a bit (ok ok …I got lost …but hey…it is the best way to get to know a hood- LOL)
and went to Russ & Daughters – ohhhh yummie. The store exists for over 100 years – the Cafe offering their yummie delicatessen was opened a couple years ago.
We couldn’t stop eating (as we both love pickled fish and fish and pickles and potatoes latkes and dessert) and we bought loads of their fish in store too which we indulged throughout the week at home …heaven :)
We went to Kremer’s Pigment– oh still my heart. A gem open since 1977 in the middle of a buzzing city- a candy store for artists
you can buy pigments there and they make their own watercolors. But they also offer workshops on how to make your own watercolors and gesso. I heard those classes are fantastic.
We went one day downtown
saw the Fearless Girl facing the Wall Street Bull (tons of people there- CRAZY!- that was the moment I turned back into a Jersey/NY girl and had to contain myself from just pushing through the crowd to be able to walk)
We took a Staten Island Ferry Ride- free and with the best picture opportunities of Manhattan, Jersey City, The Statue of Liberty and Ellis Island
And just enjoyed the sun and glorious day
Another day we meet a friend of mine in Brooklyn – Bushwick
strolled around
and had Pizza at the Roberta’s – sitting outside in the garden – yummie!
And then went to the Brooklyn Navy Yard to visit my friend and artist Adam in his studio to see some of his amazing artwork .
and then walked through Vinegar Hill to the Brooklyn Bridge which we crossed at the perfect time of the day with beautiful light
And who says New Yorkers have now humor ;)
We also did a Cheese Tasting in our local cheese store- all cheeses made by female cheese makers in the U.S. and spent some time in my hood. I really enjoyed having Birgit here and I miss her already :)
Hope you enjoyed the little sightseeing tour, I know we did !
Nat
Comments (10)
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Torsa Saha
Love the small sightseeing through NYC !! Love you both !! Hugs !!
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nathalie-kalbach
Thanks for joining Torsa! Huge hugs back to you and a wonderful start into the week!
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susan debourguignon
oh, thanks so much for my armchair visit! i will get there someday. we will definitely visit Kremer Pigments and then have a lovely meal at Russ & Daughters. i don’t eat fish (just don’t care for it) but i will still have to make tough choices for lunch or dinner. and what a treasure of a trip to MoMA! Nathalie, thanks again for all that you share with us … we appreciate your nourishing art information!!!
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nathalie-kalbach
Thank you for coming with us Susan :) There are loads of yummie things on the menu at Russ&Daughters – their Potato Latkes- yumm and …hey…their sweets ….delicious :) Have a wonderful rest of your week!
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Sue Clarke
Love Fearless Girl and looks like you had a great visit with Birgit. I can’t believe that you are that close to NYC.
Thanks so much for sharing our pics Nat.-
nathalie-kalbach
Thank you Sue – yeah it was a fantastic time with her. It pays off to live so close (15min with public transportation) – as I always say ” it is awesome to be quick in and awesome to be quick out” ;)
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Cindy Langston
Ohhh…thank you so much for this post Nat! My husband and I will be making our annual trip to NYC in a couple of weeks and we are always on the look out for new things to see. You have definitely added to our list with your post. Would love more off the beaten path ideas if you want to share!
Thanks…Cindy
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nathalie-kalbach
thank you Cindy, I am glad you enjoyed the post and wish you and your husband an amazing time in NYC!
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Joi@RR
Loved every INCH of this post Nat. The art, the food, the sights and best of all… the story of your time together. Never having been to that part of the country – it’s all just AMAZING. Thanks so much for sharing. Xj.
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nathalie-kalbach
thank you Joi – it was a super fun time! NYC is a great place to visit :)
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Artist Quote of the Week – Hans Hofmann
Nat
Comments (2)
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Judith
I can always count on you to send me just the right quote for my day!!! Thank you again for this lovely quote.
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nathalie-kalbach
yeah- I am so glad it was fitting. Have a gorgeous day Judith!
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Find Out Fridays or …A Challenge is a Challenge
A couple months ago Donna Downey sent me an email and asked if I was up for a challenge. She would send me 4 supplies one month for her Find Out Fridays Challenge and I would have to record the unpacking and creating with those supplies. I was allowed to add whatever I wanted from my own stash. Now …I thought why not and said yes :) And then the package came …and I realized …a challenge is a challenge. LOL. It was pretty pretty hard to be honest and I didn’t want to add gazillion of things from my own stash as that felt like cheating for me …but see yourself ;)
Here are some photos:
It was actually fun and super out of my box- thank you Donna for making me get out of my comfort zone- We all need that once in a while :)
In addition to the Find out Fridays kit, I used the following supplies, some affiliate links:
What would you have created with the supplies?
Have a wonderful day
Nat
Comments (4)
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Laura Weed
Wow, Nathalie!! What a cool project. I think you did an amazing job with a surprise package! Thanks for sharing!!
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nathalie-kalbach
Thank you Laura :) Thanks for coming by and have a gorgeous weekend!
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Jean Goza
Very cool project! The gold gesso is now on my “want” list. Love the effect.
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nathalie-kalbach
Thank you Jean! The gold gesso definitely is yummie :) I like it a lot!
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I love your creative ice breakers they are so fun to watch you create!!! Thanks for sharing and such a beautiful page !!! xxoo
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