A Look Back – This time I’m looking at some things I’ve done with my Batik Stencil over the years. Art journaling, mixed media on canvas, and a throwback to a Creative Squad alum too just to categorize a few! Read on and I hope you try some of these project ideas :)
A Look Back is a blog series to show you some projects and posts that you may have missed – sometimes going WAY back in the archive. I think it will be fun to revisit a few ideas that we haven’t seen for a while. I’m excited to see how a little look back might inspire something new in the future :)
Going back to one of my 2014 art journals and I was layering up a couple stencils for my background – including my Batik (of course) and my What’s the Point. I’m still digging the colors in this spread – check out the original post here.
Kinda keeping with that palette, here’s a painting I did in 2016 called State of the Union, a scene from the old train station in Liberty State Park and a rather outdated Jersey City skyline lol – lots more buildings back there these days. I used the Batik stencil for a pretty unexpected design element in the sky. Read more here.
Finally, I just love sharing this fun way to use a stencil – lay it under your art journal page and take a rubbing! Check out my post here from the Stencilbop Challenge in 2019.
I hope you enjoyed this look back and are inspired to try a few of these ideas using your mixed media supplies.
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.
Quite some snow in February – here is my husband Rescuing our big brush that was fallen down from all the heavy snow. It didn’t get uprooted so it made it :)
Someone made a little snow man for Abe …I thought that was nice!
Lincoln Park – I love this park – – it was nice with the now and I cannot wait to see the trees come back to carrying their green roofs :)
I love the sign on this Sub Store and hahah- about the little pigs too.
I know I have shown the church before- but it is making me happy every time I walk by. My friend Marsha said, it has something of a Disney Castle- and maybe that is it.
See those two goofs? They make us laugh everyday and they have also quite some skills. The very innocent looking Mingus in the background can take off iron cast lids from a big Dutch Oven. How I know ? Let’s say it has been a very special cleaning experience in the kitchen …cannot leave anything unattended. Bobby Pretzel likes to help …I have never had crazier cats.
Some movement on this property – fence around it- it must have looked so beautiful in it’s hay days. I hope I find a picture some time to see.
On the same block is this house which has this magnificent iron work – I love this so much!
Such a gorgeous iron cast newel. While I like the patinaI hope someone gives it some TCL soon!
couldn*t resist that Mingus and Bernie are sharing the same mittens, this is what happens if you are inside for too long ;)
I loved the cardboard city decoration at my favorite Cheese store- I want this in my windows !!!
After one of the milder snow storm days …while I hate the cables I did find beauty in them with the snow covered tree.
I am happy warmer days are coming …While I do have lots of wonderful friends who have their birthday in February and sweeten up the month for me ;) – I am not embracing February hahaha- that is basically the month I am getting impatient and think “Enough already with the cold and snow!”
Thanks for joining me on this stroll – I hope to see you next month again.
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a lovely and uplifting art journal page from Maura Hibbitts that just might get you thinking about spring :) Maura is using my Amsterdam, Art Nouveau Wallpaper, Art Deco Fairview, Versailles, Batik, and Tokyo stencils and our new theme: Life in Bloom – It’s been a long winter where we are and I’m dreaming of flowers and gardens and spring. Indulge us all in a project that focuses on one of Mother Nature’s most exuberant symbols of life: flowers flowers flowers!
This is the time of year my son and I start pulling out the seed and gardening catalogs and making our lists and getting our orders out. Luckily this year, we have quite a few seeds left from last year’s gardening. During the pandemic, we along with many other people, added to our gardens to grow more of our own food, and it was well worth it. I did not neglect the flowers though, because I so enjoy their beautiful shapes, colors and aromas. We filled the deck with plants and are looking forward to doing that this year. As I worked on my project and looked out, the snow kept falling all day long, so it was fun to make wonky flowers and dream of Spring!
I started my Life in Bloom project by creating papers to use with paints and stencils. First step was to brush the lightest layer of each color onto watercolor paper – Radiant Yellow, Jadeite Glass, Peach Punch, and a blend of yellow and pink.
Green paper first – I stenciled the background green with the Tokyo stencil and darkest shade of green (apple green), and dried it with the heat tool. Then I added another stencil layer with the Batik stencil and Matcha Green. Tip: My favorite tool for stenciling with paint is a cosmetic sponge, you can buy them in bulk and they are not expensive. I make them go even further by cutting off the end and reusing them multiple times until they become too small. Just remember when stenciling, to dab most of the paint off of the sponge before applying, otherwise you can lose the design.
Yellow paper next – I started with the Versailles stencil and Sunny Day ( I meant to use the darker color first, but reached for the wrong one, so the stencil designs don’t stand apart as much here.) Next layer once dry, is using the Amsterdam stencil and Canary.
I added a blended paper with both yellow and pink, and stenciled this one with the Amsterdam stencil (yellow) and the Versailles stencil with pink.
Now, it’s time for the pinks. My first stencil layer is with the Art Nouveau wallpaper and Pink Tropic. Once dry, I added the Art Deco Fairview stencil with Cactus Flower.
Now that I have my paper variety, I can create my flowers. I just cut out wonky shapes for the flowers and layered them, and cut out stems and flowers from the green paper.
I like edging my pieces with black pen, it brings more drama to them, and my favorite pen for this is a Carbon Ink pen. Of course, any black archival pen will work. I draw two lines around each piece and don’t worry about being precise. Next, I assemble the pieces of each flower and glue them into my journal with tacky glue. I chose the black background, so the bright colors would pop.
I printed out the quote “All the flowers of the tomorrows are in the seeds of today” (an old proverb), using my label maker. Hand lettering it would work beautifully too. Then, my final step to pull it all together was to add faux white stitching around the pages. One of the flowers from my deck last summer inspired me to use the pinks. We saved seeds from this beautiful plant to grow more this year.
It’s fun to think that life is in bloom in other parts of the world, even when mine is covered in snow. I can tell you, I am really looking forward to spring and this year, that includes being able to get together with family and friends outdoors, a few at a time. The seeds are saved and ready for planting new flowers and gardens come spring. Let’s look forward to a new season together, Maura
Thanks Maura – so fun that this spread came together during a snowstorm!
Give it a try: you can find all my Stencils in my Online Shop and here are some of the supplies Maura used:
Don’t forget to check out Nat’s Creative Squad on Instagram too: Each week we post projects, ideas, and inspiration for mixed media art.
Maura, I too, can’t wait to garden and see the flowers again. I love the idea of making the florets from Nats stamps. Fun! Such a bright and lovely page!
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have Jordan Hill sharing with us a guilt free art journal spread using her favorite supplies, my Mini Motifs foam stamps, my Art Deco Empire stencil, and our theme: My Creative Playlist – Your favorite mixed media supplies are like your favorite songs: they lift you up, inspire you and just feel good to groove to. What are your favorite supplies? Use them in a project – YOUR Creative Playlist that always gets you going.
Hey everyone! I’m excited to be back with a new post for this month’s theme of “My Creative Playlist”. I tend to reach for a lot of the same supplies in most of my art journal spreads anyways, so this was a great excuse to not feel guilty about it! With that being said, let’s get into it!
I started off today’s page by scribbling randomly with a white crayon. I then reached for some of my handmade watercolors and did a wash over the entire spread. I used to be more of an acrylic paint person, but recently watercolors have really been speaking to me. Thus, for the theme of “My Creative Playlist”, I thought I would take the time to really combine the two types of paint! Collage is also something that I really love using in my work, so I glued a piece down.
Next up, I wanted to play with Nathalie’s Mini Motifs foam stamp set to continue building the background I had already begun. I decided to use another of my handmade watercolors in order to add these stamps to my spread. I was looking for a bit of a softer effect than what I often get from using acrylics, so using a slightly darker color of watercolor did the trick! In order to do this, I used a large, wide brush, loaded it up with paint, and painted directly onto the surface of the foam stamps.
Using the same watercolor on a makeup sponge, I then used Nathalie’s Art Deco Empire stencil to fill in the rest of the background space!
Next, I started blocking in the face I knew I wanted to add the page. For this particular page, I wanted to draw a new one from scratch, so I started by sketching in a basic face shape. Then I used some matte acrylic paints (another favorite supply of mine!) to block in the base skin tone.
Following the theme of My Creative Playlist, I decided to use a Prismacolor colored pencil in the color Indigo to sketch in the details of my face. This is one of my very favorite colored pencils for sketching faces, and I’m at the point where I’ve used it so much that I’m going to need a new one very soon! I also added another piece of collage in the lower left hand corner to match the one in the upper right.
Using a dark teal acrylic that I mixed from Aqua and Black CraftSmart craft paint, I then blocked in the general shape of the hair. At this point, I also sketched in the general shape I wanted to use for the shirt. Things were still lacking a bit of cohesiveness at this point, but I love how the white crayon I used in my first layer acted as a resist through all the layers and helped tie things together.
For this particular portrait, I knew that I wanted to spend a bit more time developing the details of the face, so using my trusty acrylic paints, I added some shadows, highlights, and general depth to the portrait. Once those details had been added in acrylic, I went back to my Prismacolor pencil in Indigo to reintroduce any lines that may have been lost by painting over top of them.
Finally, I added some finishing touches to the page. I decided that the Mini Motifs stamp in the background wasn’t nearly pronounced enough, so I used the same teal paint I had mixed for this girl’s hair to stamp the design in the upper and lower right of my spread. I also added a scrap of masking tape with a bit of paint on it, and added some additional details in pen to the hair, shirt, and in the form of a short phrase. With that, I was ready to call things done!
I had a lot of fun putting together the spread for this month’s theme and I hope you enjoyed following me along for this process!
Thank you Jordan – absolutely love to see how you create your figures through different favorite media!
Give it a try: you can find all my Foam Stamps and Stencils in my Online Shop and in addition to her handmade watercolors and some collage pieces, here are some of the supplies Jordan used:
Don’t forget to check out Nat’s Creative Squad on Instagram too: Each week we post projects, ideas, and inspiration for mixed media art.
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Recording of Episode 1: “I wasn’t always a Full-Time Artist”Friday, February 26th, 2021
I am excited to bring together three artists, Seth Apter, Carolyn Dube, and Sarah Matthews, and myself to discuss this topic that many of you bring up in my workshops and on the blog. We will talk about our past careers, our path towards our dream and what tips we have for anyone who might think about becoming a Full-Time-Artist and even have the possibility for you to ask questions regarding this topic.
Spill your heART – Once a month, you can join me and a panel of professional artists to hear them sharing their personal stories and experiences in the arts. From past-life professions to finding time for art to discovering your creative style, each month we’ll be covering topics to motivate and inspire you to create and do what moves you.
Hi Natalie, just watched the recording. thx so much for organising the talk it was very informative. Can I please have Sarah’s website would like to c some of her work. Looking forward to ur next talk. I have 1 question how long did it take to fined ur type of art from when u started how it evolved and where do u want to take it⁉️
Reni- glad you enjoyed the recording. Sarah’s website is linked up as well as the others in the text for the episode on this post. I can only speak for myself as to where my art is going – it is an ever evolving process – my urban paintings started out with mere paintings of what I see to deeper exploration of the history of the neighborhood I painted, to talking to people who actually live in those neighborhoods and starting to incorporate this into my art in many different facets.
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have Robin Seiz sharing her love of layers with us and creating a dreamy background paper who’s destiny is TBD :) She’s using my Mini Motifs rubber stamps and my Art Nouveau Wallpaper stencil and our theme: My Creative Playlist – Your favorite mixed media supplies are like your favorite songs: they lift you up, inspire you and just feel good to groove to. What are your favorite supplies? Use them in a project – YOUR Creative Playlist that always gets you going.
Layers and Layers and Layers
Hi Friends, Happy February — the month of LOVE! I don’t know about you, but I LOVE putting down layers; all that yummy texture and color! It’s so fun see what peeks through in the end.
My studio is overflowing with materials so I wanted to use what I had right down to some heavy 12×12 paper from a beautiful paper pad sitting on my shelf. When I first started out in mixed media, I used my paper pads a lot to make card backgrounds, but now, I tend to make my own papers so all those beautiful paper pads are not being unused. We can’t have that! Pull out the old stuff and infuse new life into it! I started with this sheet of paper:
I put a light coat of Golden Absorbent Grounds on the page because I wanted to mute the background and I knew that I would be using acrylic stains; I wanted the page to have both texture and “tooth”. There were some patterns that I knew I wanted to peek through in the end, so I applied an extra light coat to those areas.
Most of the materials I used are shown in this picture. I did end up adding a few more materials (who doesn’t when you get going!) I’ll mention those when we get to those steps.
Once the Absorbent Grounds were dry, I randomly stamped Nathalie’s Mini Motifs rubber stamps on the background. I used both the Mission Motif and the Craftsman Motif. I knew that I wanted just a “hint” (or you might say a “kiss” for February) of these to be shown in the background in my final piece.
I love the look of splatters on a page. I think it adds so much and is easy and fun! I used watercolors, (Phthalo Turquoise, Nickel Azo Yellow, and Quinacridone Magenta) although I could have just as easily used acrylic paints. Use what you have in your stash and just tap your brush against your finger to create the splatter.
To create even more interest, next I applied Nathalie’s Art Nouveau Wallpaper Stencil and sprayed Distress Spray Stain by Ranger. I used stains (Old Paper, Mustard Seed, Hickory Smoke) that would pick up the background and would give the page a vintage look.
Once the Ink Stain was down, I wanted to pull everything back just a little. Gesso is the perfect medium to do that, however, I’m notorious for not letting things dry long enough; that’s exactly what happened. OOPS! But that’s why I said, this project was about layers and layers and layers. I applied a second coat of gesso to the areas that I smeared, and chalked it up to just another layer! I’m not a perfectionist and really like the process of creating as much as the outcome. My motto is, “When all else fails, just add another layer and begin again!”
Now that the gesso was down, I wanted those splatters to show through more — again another layer of splatters! There is something so satisfying about these, so I never mind giving it another go!
Next, I’m sure you can guess, I applied another layer of the stencils with the spray stain. This time I also used Spun Sugar because I wanted more pink to show up on the page.
As you can see, Nathalie’s original motif stamps are peeking through the background as I had planned, but I also wanted to use the Jugendstil Motif, giving it more prominence. I used Versa Fine Clair Charming Pink and stamped it on top of the stencil pattern. (I was going to use Purple Delight and Warm Breeze as shown in my materials picture but changed my mind at the last minute. Again, I wanted to pick up more pink.)
And finally, I pulled out my watercolor pencils and a few pastels and went over the butterfly and the flowers where I wanted to bring out the pink. I also used some 100 Proof Press postage stamps at the top, to stamp over what was already there.
I will most likely use this as a journal cover, but it could certainly be used for a background page or journal page. Of course, every time you try this process, you will get a completely different result! Isn’t that the beauty of mixed media! No matter what — have fun putting down layers and layers and layers. Remember, it’s not done until you are satisfied with it… you could go on and on!
Thank you Robin – love all the subtle layering and love that you were able to share your oops moment with us too :)
Since I was a child I have always been obsessed with anything miniature and so I had to have this mailbox and some other stuff you can see here. These adorable model kits are super fun to build and then personalize with some mixed media supplies.
I painted the kit with acrylic paint – it arrives flat and includes glue dots for easy assembly.
I added some lighter blue and brown with a babywipe to make it more weathered looking.
Then I pulled the form together and secured with the glue dots. Looking pretty awesome already – just like the real USPS mailboxes you see on street corners in towns and cities all over the US!
Next I spiffed it up with my Love Tag, Star Tag, Numerals, and some of my other rubber stamps and different inks – more layers to give it that real feel with graffiti and just general grunge. In my hand you can get a feel for the size – I can’t get over how cute this little Mailbox is :)
You could of course go with whatever color or stamp and stencil decoration that suits you.
Do you like this mini version of a mail box? I could build a hole city if you let me ;) LOL.
When I was a kid a million years ago there were mailboxes scattered throughout residential neighborhoods. We had one around the block from us & I would get great joy walking my Mom’s cards to be mailed there. She mailed cards to everyone for any occasion & I have to admit I do the same.
Oh my gosh!!!! This is adorable. I love the way you decorated it too! Mindy is obsessed with little things! This is a must have foe me! I’m ordering a few today!
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have Emilie Murphy sharing a nifty art journal page with a list of her favorite mixed media supplies. She is using my Mini Motifs foam stamp and my Exchange Place stencil and our theme: My Creative Playlist – Your favorite mixed media supplies are like your favorite songs: they lift you up, inspire you and just feel good to groove to. What are your favorite supplies? Use them in a project – YOUR Creative Playlist that always gets you going.
Hi there! Today I’m presenting you my take of the theme of the month that is “My Creative Playlist”. I chose to make an art journal page listing some of my favorite art supplies. It was tons of fun making it. Let me guide you how I made it!
To start my project, I used my Gelli plate and a sheet of 8.5×11 white cardstock to make the background. I first applied only a layer of yellow paint and pulled the print.
Next, I chose three colors and applied the paints in strips using my brayer. I stamped on it using the Mini Motifs foam stamps, one at the time, in line. My intention here was to remove some paint to be able to see the previous yellow layer, so that I rubbed my foam stamp on scrap paper after each stamping.
Next I pulled a print.
To add a little more texture and interest to my background, I used Nathalie’s Exchange Place stencil. This time, I applied a partial layer of paint, laid down my stencil and pulled the print.
And Voila! Isn’t awesome? That’s why, I think, it is so fun to play with a Gelli plate. At that point, I was satisfied how my background looked like.
Next, I gave to my background some highlights getting over the different patterns with black and white pens.
Then I created a border around the edges. I cut a mask and secured it with removable tape to prevent from moving.
I applied black paint and let it dry. Then, I applied some white paint on the foam stamp with a sponge and stamped repetitively on top of my black layer.
I removed the mask and doodled a little more adding some marks, lines and splatters using some Posca pens.
I created some labels with a page of old book coated with a thin layer of white paint. I let my page dry completely before writing down my favorite supplies with a permanent black pen to avoid the ink to smear.
After I cut and glued down all my labels with a glue stick, I gave them a dimensional effect drawing around, only on the left and bottom edges, with a black Stabilo pencil. I stayed closed to the edges and wiped my brush off from time to time when I applied the water on the black Stabilo to avoid spreading it too much. I added a little tint around the others edges of the labels in order to make them embed in the background.
To finish off my page, I added some music keys with black and white Posca pens.
Voila! I really love to the way it my page turned out and the fact I can still see the mini motifs and the beautiful pattern of Nathalie’s “Exchange Place” stencil on the background.
Hope you enjoyed my February project and it gets you inspired to make your own creative playlist. Have some fun playing with your favorites art supplies!
Have a good rest of the week and see you next month!
Thank you Emilie! I love this idea for an art journal page!
Hi there! It’s Riikka here with my third and final guest project! I hope you have enjoyed them so far. They are all quite different, but that’s just to show that Nathalie’s stamps go so well to different projects and styles!
As my final piece I made an art journal page. I really love how versatile the “Grove Street” stamps are. In the card they reminded me of a sun with the rays of light, in the earrings they made me think about Nordic patterns and Marimekko and here I turned them into a crown and neck ruffle! All with the same stamp set!
I started the page by making some patterned paper of my own. The stamps make it easy as you can combine them in various ways. I created one bigger pattern and another smaller one. The bigger one then became the background for the page whereas the smaller one ended up being a piece for the dress. I used the Grove Street foam stamps and the Fairview Fan foam stamps.
The character I made for the journal has a head from an actual painting. The painting is by Anthony van Dyck and it’s of Queen Henrietta Maria, done in the 17thcentury, 1638. I printed the head a couple of times as I wasn’t sure about the size but went with the middle size one.
The part that’s not visible in the video is the collaging or adhering. After I have the background painted and the elements embossed and printed, I collaged them all together using an acrylic gel or a glaze of sorts called Izink ICE. This way I could make the background older looking by using a tea-colored glaze there and make the blue dress even more vibrant using blue gel. I’ve added a link to a series I made as a Seth Apter Creative Team member about ICE to the description box of the video, so you can see more, if you wish.
Thank you for this chance, Nathalie! I hope you have enjoyed these projects and thank you for stopping by today!
All the best, Xoxo Riikka
Thank you Riikka -absolutely love how you used the foam stamps for that collar and dress! Henrietta has some serious style :)
Want to give it a try? You can find all my Foam Stamps in my Online Shop and here are some of the other supplies Riikka used:
Beautiful! Love the rich palette and how much the white really pops. Nathalie’s stamps work so well, especially for the ruff! Just gorgeous. Thx for doing this guest tutorial.
Maura, I too, can’t wait to garden and see the flowers again. I love the idea of making the florets from Nats stamps. Fun! Such a bright and lovely page!
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