Creative Squad

Boldly Going – Marsha Valk

Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have Marsha Valk and a series of wonderfully colorful mixed media pieces using my Neato and Far Out foam stamps. This month’s theme is: Boldly Going – Go BOLD with color or pattern this month and really make something that is packed with visual POP! This is no time to be subdued or subtle. Go Bold!!!

 

As I tend to go bold with colour and pattern all the time, I thought about how I could go even more courageous.

I envisioned an abstract work incorporating acrylic inks as a watercolour because that’s something I have wanted to try for some time now.

For my colour palette, I decided to use all the colours of the rainbow + pink, black and white.

I started with applying the acrylic inks by brushing clean water onto my paper and then adding in acrylic ink a few drops at a time. I used another brush to spread and push the ink around.

As could be expected, this technique has a learning curve, and the result wasn’t what I was hoping for. I ended up creating six or seven backgrounds on different types of paper that then all had to dry completely.

The next step was to try and make a visually popping abstract work out of at least one of these backgrounds.

I decided to work on all of them at the same time. Adding some paint here, then some ink there, some stamping on this page and some marks on that page. Making sure I use ROYGBIV on all of the pages.

Somewhere along the way, it became apparent that I’m obsessed with making inky circles and I had to admit that my attempt at making abstracts had turned into making graffiti.

I also let go of the idea of not having anything recognizable on the pieces, because nearly all of the images I stamped with the Neato Foam Stamp practically begged me for an eye.

I ended up with four sheets successfully packed with visual pop. I kept two A4size, and I cut two of them into smaller cards.

All of the leftover pieces will go onto my basket of printed and painted papers for use in future projects.

Thank you Marsha! Love how this experiment in materials and methods lead to some gorgeous results! You can find all of my Foam Stamps in my online shop. Here are some of the other supplies Marsha 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“.

Nat

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Boldly Going – Tania Ahmed

Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a sweet suite of cards from Tania Ahmed using my Clam Hex and Signals foam stamps. Check out her video below. This month’s theme is Boldly Going – Go BOLD with color or pattern this month and really make something that is packed with visual POP! This is no time to be subdued or subtle. Go Bold!!!

 

This month, I decided to keep things simple and create some quick and easy cards using Nat’s Art Foamies called Signals and Clam Hex. In fact, you can use any of Nat’s Foamies because I used the backside of the stamp to get a solid hexagon! This is a fantastic way to get your Art Foamies to do double duty and you can achieve some very unique shadow or halo effects if you use both the flat back and the designed side of the Art Foamies.

The Jane Davenport Hybrid Squid Inks were perfect to use with this month’s theme of keeping things bold which is right up my alley!

I hope that you enjoy the video tutorial and play along with the Creative Squad! Thanks for watching ?

My process was something you could do with just a couple foam stamps – I used Nat’s Clam Hex and Signals stamps. I started by stamping with the back of the hex stamp.

Then the Signals stamp in another bold color…

Next I cut my patterned paper down to a size that would fit on blank cards.

And then I put them together with some word stickers.

You could use this method to make a variety of cards.

Thank you Tania – what a perfect quick and easy Summer Stamping project! You can find all of my Foam Stamps in my online shop. Here are some of the other supplies Tania 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“.

Join me on Wednesday at 2:30pm EST for a facebook live Kaffeeklatsch chat!!!

Nat

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Call for NEW Creative Squad Members!

Creative Squad Call!

Our current Creative Squad is in search of 2 new members. Read on and let us know if we should be looking at YOU. International applications are welcome so come one, come all!

Do YOU fit the bill???

+ Are you a Mixed Media Artist, Art Journal Maven or Card Maker Extraordinaire with a unique style and a passion for creativity?
+ Do you love to use stamps and stencils in your work and love to try new techniques and media?
+ Do you love to share your projects on social media and engage with other artists?

If the answer is yes, yes, yes, we are looking to fill some spots on our n*Studio Creative Squad and would love to hear from you! 

How to Apply:

Email nat(at)nathaliesstudio.com with “Creative Squad Submission” as the subject. Please include:

1. Full name, email address, links to social media sites/blog/website where we can see your work
2. A couple sentence bio or description of your work
3. 4-5 low res images of your work that best represent your style

Enter by August 10, 2019  :)

What exactly does a Creative Squad member do?

As a Creative Squad member for Nathalie’s Studio you will serve a 6-month term beginning 10/1/2019. As part of the Creative Squad, you will receive a variety of Nathalie’s Studio products. You will create one project per month, using specified products or groups of products and inspired by a monthly theme. You will be featured once a month on the nStudio blog, Facebook page, and Nat’s Creative Squad Instagram page, and you will be part of an amazing team of artists with a legacy of awesomeness!

Don’t be shy, apply today – we would love to see how you are rocking your creativity!

Nat

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Food for Thought – Judi Kauffman

Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a post from Judi Kauffman. You can learn more about Judi from our Nice to Meet You blog post featuring her creative story and artwork. This time Judi is sharing some upcycled folders and some new bookmarks that she creates using my Downtown Stencil and my FANtastic Large and Solid Fan rubber stamps. This month’s theme is: Food for Thought – Let’s take a lighthearted look at food! While the culinary world has become an art and a science in terms of preparation and presentation, sometimes it is the simplest foods that bring us the most joy. Simple fare or elaborate family traditions, we all have our favorite foods. What is yours?

 

Food for Thought is such a great theme. I asked a neighbor, age 8, what it meant to her and she said it was about reading because reading is food for your brain! Out of the mouths of babes, right? 

I’d been considering recipe cards and a mixed media spoon doll, but her comment took me in a different direction: Bookmarks and a folder for storing newspaper articles, drawings cartoons, clippings from magazines! Of course the bookmarks could be tucked into recipe books, making it easy to find favorites, and the folder could be used for recipes, but I think if I went that route I’d use lighter, brighter (more ‘appetizing’) colors.

Instructions for Folder:

1. Using black acrylic paint, randomly add portions of the 9×12 Downtown stencil to the front and inside flaps of the folder.

2. Using copper metallic acrylic paint and black permanent ink, stamp Solid Fan and Broadway Fan onto the cover and inside flaps of the folder. 

3. Using a stiff brush, add copper paint to the left side and all edges of the folder, and randomly on top of the stamped and stenciled areas. 

4. Using a craft sponge, add teal ink here and there, masking some of the fans to add color around the shapes.

Instructions for Bookmarks:

1. Using a light butterscotch ink, randomly stencil portions of the 9×12 Downtown stencil onto a batch of bookmarks. 

2. Using ginger and black inks, randomly stamp Solid Fan and Broadway Fan onto the bookmarks.

3. Using teal ink followed by copper metallic acrylic paint, stamp Broadway fan on top of inks from step 2. Allow to dry.

4. Stamp a fan, cut it out to use for a mask, and use teal ink to smudge around some of the fans for contrast and to create a mottled background.

5. Add copper paint around the edges of each bookmark. Allow to dry.

6. Add fibers to the hole at the top of each bookmark.

Thank you Judi! I love this take on our monthly theme! You can find all of my Rubber Stamps and my Stencils in my online shop. Here are some of the supplies Judi used:

If you are working on something yourself that you’d like to share, please do! I would love to share your projects in my next  “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

And TODAY is the last day to buy Creative JumpStart 2019 (the one that was released back in January of this year) so if you haven’t yet you can sign up here. It is an amazing lineup of artists, full of inspiring and fun content, and you have until November 15th to download all the videos.

Nat

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Food for Thought – Maura Hibbitts

Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a cute project from Maura Hibbits for all you chefs out there (or maybe hat enthusiasts???)! She is using my Park Blvd stencil and my Solid Fan and Fantastic Large rubber stamps, along with this month’s theme: Food for Thought – Let’s take a lighthearted look at food! While the culinary world has become an art and a science in terms of preparation and presentation, sometimes it is the simplest foods that bring us the most joy. Simple fare or elaborate family traditions, we all have our favorite foods. What is yours?

Do you have a King or Queen of the kitchen at your house? Anyone who loves to cook? Why not create a crown themed chef’s hat for them? One of my sisters loves to cook, and loves the color purple which got my muse thinking. I found a canvas chef hat in my stash, and purple made me think of royalty, hence the crown reference.

I started with simple materials for my project, chef hat, stencil, stamps, and paints. Of course, this could easily be done on a canvas bag too. 

My first step was to stencil around the headband portion of the hat with Nat’s Park Blvd stencil. I used a cosmetic sponge with the Cobalt Teal Hue acrylic paint and dabbed lightly. In retrospect, I would have waited to do this step until after I did the fans, which would have made the placement better. I also would have lightened the blue. Oh, the things we learn as we go!

I blended the Dioxazine Purple and Translucent White on the gel plate with the brayer, then used this as a stamping base for the Solid Fan. I found I had to repeat the paint stamping onto the hat two to three times in order to get it dark enough.

Next, I blended Quinacridone Magenta and Translucent White on the gel plate, and stamped into this with the large Park Avenue Fan to transfer it to the hat. I stamped this design on top of the solid fans around the brim. Then, I decided there wasn’t enough contrast, so mixed a second blend using more white, and re-stamped the design. If you look closely you can see a shadow effect.

To create a royal feel to the chef’s hat, I outlined the fans with a gold acrylic paint pen.

Then, I figured a “crown” needs jewels, so sewed a purple button to the top of each fan.

Time for the “foodie” shot, so I am modeling the Royal Chef Hat.

I can’t wait to see my sister’s reaction when I hand her the Royal Chef Hat in honor of her love of cooking and creating. I think it’s a good thing she enjoys wearing hats, even weird ones that look like a dragon or jester, lol. Time to honor the Queen of the Kitchen!

Thank you Maura – I love the idea of donning one of these in the kitchen :) You can find all of my Rubber Stamps and my Stencils in my online shop. Here are some of the supplies Maura used:

If you are working on something yourself that you’d like to share, please do!  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“.

Nat

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Food for Thought – Jennifer Gallagher

Hello everyone – time for a post from my Creative Squad! Today we have Jennifer Gallagher and her upcycled candy box turned recipe box and cards using my Fantastic Large stamps and my Buenos Aires stencil. This month’s theme is Food for Thought – Let’s take a lighthearted look at food! While the culinary world has become an art and a science in terms of preparation and presentation, sometimes it is the simplest foods that bring us the most joy. Simple fare or elaborate family traditions, we all have our favorite foods. What is yours?

This month we are discussing food for thought. Well, I am a southern girl. We take our food and our traditions very seriously. So when I received this month’s prompt, I instantly thought of family dinners, holiday celebrations, and those recipes that get handed down from person to person. This month, I am sharing with you a fun way to recycle a candy box into a recipe box. Let’s get started.

I had been holding on to a candy box left from Valentine’s Day for a while now. I knew I could turn it into something fabulous. I started by applying a coat of white gesso to the box. (It ended up needing two coats.) 

While the gesso dried, I created a series of papers to use for collage. Using just basic computer copy paper, I stenciled acrylic paint through Nat’s Buenos Aires stencil with a mini blending tool.

Next, I cut some shapes out of the stenciled paper. This is one of my favorite ways to push my stencils and stamps to get more out of them. 

Using matte medium and a small brush, I glued down the cut out shapes in a pattern that was pleasing to me. I followed this pattern around the entire side of the box.

I painted the top of the box green. Once it was about half way dry, I dabbed the paint with a baby wipe to give the top texture and a distressed look. Then I dabbed a little dark grey acrylic paint along the edges of the top of the box.

I cut out three more shapes from the painted paper and glued them to the top of the box. I added doodles around the designs with a black posca pen. I liked it so much I did the same around the sides.

Now we need recipe cards. I started by stamping the Solid Fan in one color onto copy paper and then stamping another color in the Fantastic Large designs over that. I used archival inks for this process. I cut each one out, modified it slightly with scissors, and glued it to my blank 4×6 inch recipe card. I added a little doodling with a black pen and wrote in my recipes.

Saving our traditions to pass down to others is very important. I have so many cherished recipes that not only help me keep those traditions alive, but remind me of people that have passed and good times that are now memories. I hope you have enjoyed this tutorial. Remember, play along with us and share your creations!

Thank you Jennifer! I love how you cut up the stencil design to pull out some cool shapes. You can find all of my Rubber Stamps and my Stencils in my online shop. In addition to a candy box, here are some of the other supplies Jennifer used:

If you are working on something yourself that you’d like to share, please do!  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“.

Nat

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Food for Thought – Marsha Valk

Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have a super cute post from Marsha Valk with a mixed media project that is just perfect for summer. She is using my Fantastic Large and Solid Fan rubber stamps, as well as my Amsterdam stencil. This month’s theme is: Food for Thought – Let’s take a lighthearted look at food! While the culinary world has become an art and a science in terms of preparation and presentation, sometimes it is the simplest foods that bring us the most joy. Simple fare or elaborate family traditions, we all have our favorite foods. What is yours?

For this month’s prompt, I had my heart set on making something off the page for a change. I made a list of all the things I could do. I even went (window) shopping to come up with more ideas. But once I began stamping to try out colour combinations, I came up with something entirely different and maybe a bit silly…

For years I only knew of two ice cream parlours you could go to in our town. One had the reputation of being THE best, so I don’t think we ever even considered going to the other one. But then all of a sudden there was this new kid on the block who’s ice cream flavours stole our hearts. I guess others noticed its success too, and now it seems like brand new ice cream shops are opening everywhere! We’ve got so many choices now, and my husband has jokingly said that we should try them all. 

Back to the stamping: the fans I was stamping to swatch colours were looking an awful lot like scoops of ice cream to me. So I thought… what if I could make something like a cross-off list of all the ice cream shops we could try?!

I started with stamping the scoops with the Solid Fan. I figured that I could stamp about ten scoops and still have it look like an ice cream cup.

Next, I stamped a pattern on the ice cream cup with the Jewett Fan. I sketched the shape of a container on paper first and then cut it before I started stamping.

Then I went back and stamped over the scoops with the different fans in the Fan-tastic Large stamp set.

I cut out the scoops, adhered the cup to the scoops and then mounted the ice cream cup on cardstock. I did not have a sheet of cardstock large enough, so I taped two sheets together and then cut it down to fit my ice cream cup.

I used a cosmetic sponge to stencil onto the cardstock with stamping ink and the Amsterdam stencil.

Once finished, it looked so pretty that I didn’t dare to write anything in the scoops. But, even if we don’t end up crossing off anything, this ice cream cup will serve as a reminder of something fun we should do this summer!

Thank you Marsha! We are now inspired to both do some stamping AND visit our local ice cream shops :) Wanna try making Marsha’s ice cream creation? You can find all of my Rubber Stamps and my Stencils in my online shop. Here are some of the other supplies Marsha used:

If you are working on something yourself that you’d like to share, please do!  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“.

Nat

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Food for Thought – Tania Ahmed

Hello and welcome to a post from my Creative Squad! Today we have Tania Ahmed starting us off this month with a delightful and easy decorating idea for the kitchen. She is using my Fantastic Large rubber stamps, my Van Vorst stencil, and this month’s theme: Food for Thought – Let’s take a lighthearted look at food! While the culinary world has become an art and a science in terms of preparation and presentation, sometimes it is the simplest foods that bring us the most joy. Simple fare or elaborate family traditions, we all have our favorite foods. What is yours?

The theme that we were given for the month of July is Food For Thought, which gave me plenty to think about what to make as my project! I decided on creating a place mat, which I think will actually make a perfect present for someone special! :) 

Watch my video tutorial:

I stamped Broadway Fan Stamp and Park Avenue Fan Stamp in alternating colours and lines. They are so easy to line up and even if they don’t line up perfectly, when you see the overall design it adds to the handmade charm, so I like to think! ;) At this point you can add stitching over the lines to make it extra fancy or even use a permanent marker to add more details.

I liked how the colours looked very patriotic so I kept the same blue ink for the stencil. I created a mask and cut it out, and taped it down on my canvas. I then taped down the Van Vorst stencil and applied my ink with a makeup sponge. 

After making sure the ink was completely dry, I finished off the edges with some iron on adhesive and if desired you can add some felt or more fabric to finish of the back of the mat. 

And lastly, I enjoyed my new place mat with one of my favourite meals: pasta! My cat Billi also makes an appearance in the video as she is my assistant, always supervising my filming or editing making sure I am working hard :)

Thank you so much, and I hope you enjoy the video!

Thank you Tania! Wow we feel really inspired to try making some of these quick and easy placemats ourselves!!! And also now we are hungry :) haha. You can find all of my Rubber Stamps and my Stencils in my online shop. Here are some of the other supplies Tania 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“.

Nat

Comments (1)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Tania, thank you for that easy to follow video.
    I love the colors that you chose for the place mat.

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Hex Marks the Spot – Maura Hibbitts

Hello from my Creative Squad today! Here we have a post from Maura Hibbitts, sharing an awesome little stamped pouch with us that will inspire you to get organized! She is using my Hex Set Large and Hex Set Small rubber stamps and this month’s theme: Hex Marks the Spot –In the days of pirates and lost treasure, a map would lead you to gold and jewels. Today we treasure all sorts of things – our family, friends, experiences, meaningful objects, accomplishments, etc. Think about what you treasure and how you found your way there.

I love using pouches and bags to organize my art supplies, and have a wide variety of styles to choose from. Bags to hold pens and pencils, bags to hold paint, papers … you name it, and I probably have a bag for that supply.
Some bags are boring and plain, like the mesh bag I started with here. It is so easy to transform a plain pouch into a mini work of art with some paint and stamps and make it your own.

I like to use the gel plate to blend colors. I started with the red and magenta, and stamped the Space Oddity Hex stamp into it, then transferred the paint to the bag and repeated a pattern of three across the bag. Be sure to clean the paint off the stamps after using them. With a large design like these, I just use a baby wipe to clean them.

Next, I blended the yellow and orange on the gel plate with the brayer, and laid the stamp into it. I offset the hex stamp this time onto the previous stamped design. I also repeated a partial pattern at the bottom and top of the bag with the yellow/orange and then the magenta.

I spread the yellow onto the gel plate with a brayer, and used the small beacon positive stamp to fill in the design between the hexes. Final step once the paint dried was to tie on a bit of sari ribbon.

This is an easy project with minimal supplies. The process will work on any surface that will take acrylic paint.

I challenged myself to work outside of my usual color choices, and I like the bright, cheerful feel of the altered bag. It’s ready to be filled with markers, pencils, tools…whatever I might need for a project. One thing is for certain, this bag won’t get lost in a crowd!

Thank you Maura! What a great looking little bag!!! You can find all of my rubber stamps in my online shop. Here are some of the supplies Maura 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“.

Nat

Comments (1)

  • Sue Clarke

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    Nice bright cheery colors Maura. What a cute bag and the ribbon pull is a nice addition.

    Reply

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