Blog: liquitex

Gone … or In My Art Journal Today

NatKalbach_Gone01

“Gone. the saddest word in the language. in any language.”

I read this quote on a pinterest board and it resonated with me. Thank you for your kind and sweet words a couple weeks ago in comments and emails- that was very touching and wonderful! Thank you!

 

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I had a more vibrant but pretty ugly background which I totally covered with black acrylic pant and then lifted up some of it again to reveal the background here and there- I stamped and stenciled on top repeating some of the colors in the background and also added journaling to a mono printed water color paper sheet in black and white attached it on top.

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Art Journaling is a great way to deal with the good and the bad – it is amazing how much comfort messy hands can bring :)

Here are some of the supplies I used

nSupplies




Have a wonderful day!

Nat

Comments (6)

  • Leadonna Kimmel

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    Nat, she may be gone in body, but her spirit and love live on in you, sweet friend. It really is amazing how much comfort creating brings to the soul. As always, your work is stunning and this journal spread is particularly poignant. Love and hugs! xx

    Reply

  • Joi@RR

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    ❤ Big hug. j

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    The colors go with the feelings.
    Yes, working in one’s art journal can help deal with feelings for sure.

    Reply

  • andrene

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    Beautiful page, Nat! Lately I am so drawn to black backgrounds…wonder what that means (something ominous I’m sure!)

    Reply

  • nurse-ratchet

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    It is an infinite word! Perhaps you could journal ” Gone but not forgotten”

    Reply

  • Nancy Keslin

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    hugs…..this is lovely and what a wonderful way to express your feelings.

    Reply

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Paper Clay Play

FiestaPlate_NatKalbach_02

A couple months ago I was looking for some little bowls or plates that I could use for dropping of my bling in the evening but nothing really made me truly wanna spent money as colors or shapes weren’t what I was looking for.

So I remembered a tutorial that I had seen a long time ago on Pinterest on using Paper Clay and Lace to make your own little bowls and decided to give it a try with my newly arrived Stamp Sets. The Paper Clay I used doesn’t need any firing or heating and just air dries. Easy peasy :)

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For this bow I rolled a piece of Paper Clay to a little ball and then rolled it out with a rolling pin to a flat wonky circle. I then stamped into the clay with some of my Kaffee Klatsch Stamps. You don’t need to press to hard to get a nice sharp impression. I found a bowl where I liked the shape on the bottom as a guide – since I wanted mine to be not a high bowl and a bit quirky – and pressed the top onto the clay to cut out a nice circle. Next I  formed the clay circle into the bottom of the bowl.  I let everything in the bowl dry for 12 hours and then carefully took the new paper clay bowl out. Since the moisture in the paper clay mostly is evaporated by then it shrinks a bit so that it is easy to get it out of the template bowl. It was still a bit moist on the bottom since now air could get there so I just put the paper clay bowl upside down and let it dry for another 12 hours.

I did the same steps with this plate – just using a plate as a template and the Fiesta Stamp set for the Impressions

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Once they both were dry I used Liquitex Soft Body paint thinly over the surfaces, waited a couple seconds and then using a paper towel rubbed some of the paint off again, so that the impressions were more colored and more prominent. That way the texture really popped off. For the plate I used two colors to and blended them. I painted outside of the bowl and the bottom of the plate and then everything dry again. I applied some Liquitex Transparent Raw Amber Acrylic Ink over the circle impression of the bowl to have it pop up even more and to give it some patina and let that dry again. To finish everything off I coated the bowl and plate with Liquitex Pouring Medium which gave it a nice shiny glossy and glass like look and feel. I coated it twice leaving a couple hours in between for curing.

Done :) Hope you like this little crafty fun project – I also made some christmas ornaments using the same technique…there is a lot of potential in this – you just have to play . Here is the full supply list:

nSupplies



Nat

Comments (11)

  • AmyO'

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    I have some Paper Clay in my stash from long ago – I’ll be digging it out this weekend to see if I can still use it – I love these!

    Reply

  • Stephanie

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    Great project. Thanks for the tutorial

    Reply

  • andrene

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    OK I am so doing this. Hope mine turn out as beautiful as yours!!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    That dish is so sweet and I love the new stamp on it.
    It’s nice to have a place to place one’s rings and such at the end of the night (or while washing yucky pots and pans).

    Reply

  • Petrin Diaz

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    Oh, Nat…so long not writing, but always take time to read all your publications…Love thiis “little idea”…and will try asap, as soon as i can. Thanks always for your kindness! lovely colors!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      So good to “see” you again! thanks for your sweet words!

      Reply

  • Kathy Gledsdale

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    Oh these are gorgeous, I adore them, thank you for sharing the idea.

    Reply

  • Win Dinn

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    Love these, and I love it that you made it rather than buying something that was less then appealing – living the art-ful life!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Win! I agree, making something your own instead of buying is always double the fun!

      Reply

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We go together like … Hops + IPA

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A Valentines Card for the avid IPA Lover ;) Using Liquitex Spray Paints, Acrylic Paints, Inks and Markers and my new Fiesta Stamp Set with it’s Template and the Marker Maker Stamps.

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As we Germans do not really celebrate Valentine’s Day, I think I did pretty good with a little bit of a German twist here too – LOL ;)

What would be your personal Valentine’s Sentence “We go together like …..” – fill in blank :) ?

nSupplies



Nat

Comments (2)

  • Linda on the Prairie

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    A great pairing any way you look at it!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    We just had a V-day lunch out land my hubby was thrilled to get a tray of 5 handcrafted IPA’s to have with his meal.

    Reply

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High Line – Mixed Media Painting

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This painting is inspired by the High Line in NYC.

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I really love the whole idea of having an elevated park and my favorite about it is the different perspective it gives of NYC .

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Probably every one of my visitors was “forced” to go there as it is a good excuse for me to walk there myself. I just love how different everything looks in any season , light and time.

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I feel the High Line is a different way to connect with this buzzing city. I chose a very different color scheme than usual for the background of this painting

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– Unbleached Titanium, Deep Magenta, Fluorescent Pink, Burnt Sienna and Hibiscus

 

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As always for those of you interested- here are the supplies I used:

nSupplies


Have a gorgeous day

Nat

Comments (8)

  • Joi@RR

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    I have never been to New York and I don’t even want to admit it but I don’t know what the High Line is so I had to look it up – whew. Such a home body am I. I absolutely adore all the colors in this work. And guess what? I am not a pink person at all!! So…. that’s a real compliment from me!! Somehow the pink is perfect and it doesn’t even seem “pink” the way you mixed it all together and added the other bright colors to scene. As always you inspire me Nathalie. I’m off to try something pink – dear me… unbelievable!!! LOVE THIS. Xj.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      YEahhh – Joi, I am not a pink person either :) How fun this inspires you to try it though – sometimes it is good if we just play with colors, right?

      Reply

  • Joanne

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    Fantastic! I love the High Line and this is a great interpretation. The colors are wonderful.

    Reply

  • Leadonna Kimmel

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    I so love this! The colors are fantastic! Still waiting for my new replacement paints from Jimmy and then I want to jump in and create something fun like this! (Hoping Jimmy didn’t forget about me! LOL!)

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thanks Leadonna ! No – he did not forget about you – I sent you a the tracking number.

      Reply

  • Francine

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    stunning Natalie it’s an Awesome Word of art❤️

    Reply

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Liquitex Artist Night Workshops at Michaels – Friday Jan 30

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Are you anywhere near the locations below? Come and join us this Friday 30th, 2015 – from 7-8pm – I will be at the Edgewater location showing fun with Liquitex Pouring Medium and String Gel –Details and Sign -UP Information here

ArtistNight

 

Have an awesome day – and if you are on the East Coast – stay warm and safe!

 

Nat

Comments (5)

  • jtowndebrisno1

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    Hi Nat–I love your new color combo!
    Just want you to know that I have really enjoyed CJS2015 and all of the wonderful artist videos. I know that I’ll refer back to them throughout the year, until the end of November. And I have to say … Liquitex has amazing products for creating art! Best from me to you.

    Reply

  • Stephanie

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    Hi Nat – I wish there was one in Columbus, or at least Ohio. would love to do a demo session with you.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Some day I might visit my friend Joe Rotella in OH and then maybe there will be a class ;)

      Reply

  • jackiepn

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    I checked this out earlier over at Liquitex- bummer none are anywhere close to me- but I will keep watching in case -someday!! “)

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Too bad Jackie! That woudl have been fun! But hey- someday I am sure :)

      Reply

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Workshops in Toronto, Canada in March

Yeahh – I am coming back again to Bizzy B’s in Toronto to teach three workshops from March 13 – 15, 2015.

Friday, March 13 – WALK WITH ME: ALTERED BOOK CLASS – 6:30 – 10:00 PM 

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In this class, Nathalie will show you how you can turn an old, sad book in to something beautiful again! You will work with acrylic paints, acrylic inks, stamps, and stencils, and Nat will walk you through some fun sketching tricks. In the end, you will have a colourful creative keepsake filled with techniques that you can use for all kinds of Mixed Media and Art Journal projects.

NOTE: this is a different class from the altered book class that Nat taught at Bizzy B’s before!

Saturday, March 14 -ACRYLICS DEMYSTIFIED: TECHNIQUE & ABSTRACT CANVAS WORKSHOP – 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM 

AcrylicsDemystified

Join Nathalie for a full-day class to explore all kinds of different Acrylic Media – from Dumbledore to Merlin, from Acrylic Paints to Acrylic Inks, from String Gel to Pouring Medium, from Modeling Paste to Stucco and other fun stuff! Learn their magic – and put an end to the mystery of how to use these amazing helpers in your Mixed Media and/or Art Journaling projects. Learn not only how to use Acrylic Media and when to use them, but also put your own spell into 3 abstract canvases during the class. You will for sure have as much fun waving your new magic acrylic wand in the future as Nathalie does!

Sunday, March 15 – RAW CANVAS STAINING WORKSHOP – 10:30 AM – 5:00 PM

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The technique of painting on unprimed, raw canvas is most often associated with artists such as Morris Louis, Kenneth Noland, and Helen Frankenthaler, just to name a few. Colour-field artists poured, dripped, or brushed thinned paints onto the canvas that soaked through the surface and stained the fabric, creating a velvet-like appearance. Join Nathalie in exploring fun techniques of staining and painting raw canvas and open a whole new creative world to apply these techniques to stretched canvases, pillow cases, bags, home decor items, and even clothes!

 

More information and sign up info here at Bizzy B’s – I hope to see you there!

 

Nat

Comments (7)

  • Gerit

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    Wunderbar !
    I love you work and almost everything what comes with it;)

    Reply

  • Francine G

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    I can’t believe you are coming and I’m out of the country…. Darn I’m not lucky…. :-)

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Too bad Francine – so sorry to hear! Hope out of country means a great vacation though :)

      Reply

  • nurse-ratchet

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    First on the list….as soon as I heard you were coming in March …made Bizzy B put me down for all three before I knew what the workshops were! Now I know am thrilled!!!!,

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Can’t wait either Kelly!!! Always love to see you!!!

      Reply

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State of the Union – Mixed Media Painting

NatKalbach_StateofTheUnion01

Finally I finished up this canvas which some of you might remember seeing me working on in the Liquitex video. And that is how long this canvas took me – about four months. Boy it just didn’t wanna come along and play with me …

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The scene on the canvas is from Liberty State Park – at the historical Ellis Island Train Station, where hopeful immigrants not going to NYC would go on a train ride to start their new lives somewhere in the U.S. The train station is pretty much in shambles though seems to get restored somewhat. From this spot you have an amazing view of the sparkling finance world of Manhattan across the Hudson River …if you actually heave your eyes over the totally destroyed historic ferry landing area  …remains of Hurricane Sandy. You can also see the skyline of Jersey City – behind the New Jersey 9/11 Memorial .

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For me this spots represents a very powerful and symbolic place in America.

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I used lot’s of acrylic media on this 12 x 14 inch Canvas of course :)

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Here is a list of what I used

nSupplies



Have a wonderful day

Nat

Comments (16)

  • Francine G

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    Nathalie i love your canvas the textures, the details, colors combos and composition … I simple love your artwork…. Keep it going.

    Francine

    Reply

  • Mary W

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    This is awesome – giving not only the look but the feel of so much history and the life that vibrates through everything. Great work!

    Reply

  • Tina Gilbert

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    It’s absolutely GORGEOUS, Nathalie!!!

    Reply

  • Sabine Schneider

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    Fantastisch! Love all about it, besonders die Farbe!
    Inzwischen ist auch das pouring medium, ein paar Liquitex freestyle brushes und splatter brushes angekommen. Und ich hatte schon viel Spaß mit dem “splatter brush”.
    Liebe Grüße aus dem kalten und trüben Deutschland, Sabine

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Danke liebe Sabine :) YEAHH – freut mich dass Deine neuen Spielzeuge angekommen sind. Frohes Splattern- LOL. Liebe Grüße in die Heimat :)

      Reply

  • rivonda

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    That’s awesome, Nathalie! I love the colors. Pensive.

    Reply

  • mary

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    We are a young nation. I appreciate seeing the work of artists who feel the tensions and can represent our history and longings. Thank you for this.

    Reply

  • nurse-ratchet

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    The colours in the sky speak to me of new beginnings and the beautiful essense of hope! Stunning !

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Nurse Ratchet – I am glad that the colors in the sky came across as they were intended to be :)

      Reply

  • windinn

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    What a fabulous painting – love the concept, and the execution!

    Reply

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Create Memories – Canvas

NatkalbachCREATEMemories01

I haven’t done canvases with photos in a long time and I really had a lot of fun to create this super easy canvas for the Stampendous CHA booth for my new Stamp Set section :) The stamps are trickling now into the first shops- the are just starting to ship out. I will post a list of stores soon! Using the Kaffee Klatsch Stamp Set which also includes a free stencil, I took the stencil, laid it down onto the canvas and using a nice Painter’s Knife I spread some Heavy Gesso over the Stencil.

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After the stenciled images dried, I used some Liquitex Acrylic inks and added them to the canvas using a water spray to mix them at areas, take off some ink, make the ink run and drip and drop . Super fun!

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When the ink was dry I just stamped with the Kaffee Klatsch Stamps and Archival ink on top of the canvas. I splattered some Soft Body Paints on top of an old and dried up brush (yup- if you forgot to clean it and ruined it- you might as well just incorporate it into your art work or craft projects, right? ) . I applied the photo with double sided tape and the heavy brush with Heavy Gel Medium.

 

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I used some old black chipboard letters and to unify them more with my background design, I stamped with one of the round Kaffee Klatsch stamps using  Liquitex Unbleached Titanium White on top. Since most self adhesive letters won’t hold forever on canvas, I applied the letter also with a thin coating of Gel Medium.

Here is a list of all the supplies I used

nSupplies


Have a gorgeous day!

Nat

Nat

Comments (20)

  • Seth

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    Loving the new stamp sets Nat. Congratulations on a great release!!

    Reply

  • mapperlmutter

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    Looking forward to using your stamps. I am now sold on the Liquitex acrylic inks. These past few weeks have really “Jump Started ” my creative side. Thank you.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      I am so glad you like them and also feel jumpStarted- yeahh! Thank you for being part of it!

      Reply

  • nathalie-kalbach

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    Danke schön :) Die Stempel gibt es auch bald in Deutschland- ich weiß von mindestens zwei deutschen Shops, die sie bestellt haben – ich halte Dich auf dem Laufenden :)

    Reply

  • colourfly

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    Stunning piece! Love all about it.
    Und die Stempel hätte ich auch gerne. Mal schauen, wo ich die finde….

    Reply

  • smokeysmom

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    Nat, I love, love, LOVE this canvas!! Great picture of you, too. You’re so cute:) I, too, cannot wait to buy the stamps you used in this project! Attaching the old brush to this painting is genIous!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you so much for your sweet words! I knew this brush would come handy some times – LOL

      Reply

  • Denise Spillane

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    Oh Nat, I so love this. The texture, the look do doilies, the great picture of you! The color! Wonderful.

    Reply

  • Barb

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    I Love this idea!!! Can’t wait to try it–an extra jumpstart!!! Thank You so much. I am so enjoying CJS–only wish I had known about it from the beginning. But I know now, so hope it remains an annual thing. : )

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      I am so glad you enjoy it Barb ! You never know ;) I hope I will do it again but every year in January I need a break- LOL

      Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    I continue to love this pic of you in your element Nat and the canvas came out great. Liquid inks I now must try.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Sue- I know you will love those inks and they are super versatile!

      Reply

  • Cynthia

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    Love this canvas, especially the way you added the decorated brush and that fabulous photo of your beautiful, smiling self!!

    Reply

  • nurse-ratchet

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    This piece is so cheerful and happy which reflects the fab pic of you! I cannot wat to get my hands on these new stamps! See you in March, my LGL!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thank you Nurse Ratchet! Cannot wait to see you in March- we will have loads of fun at the workshops !!!

      Reply

  • yankeegirl

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    Awesome canvas, Nat! I really like the look of the liquid inks. You have inspired me to get out my stuff and get messy today! And you are looking fabulous—- love that photo of you!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Awe- thank you so much! Yes I do love those Liquitex Inks a lot too :)

      Reply

Leave a comment

Stay Out Of The Drama or … In My Art Journal Today

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Some great words to live by.

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This art journal spread is one of my faves I did the past couple months – and funny enough it was one of those pages where I was just trying out my new stamps and stencils some other new stuff , and I was using up left over paints and boom – as I was layering and layering I started to really love the grunge and then I dived full force into it and embraced it.

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I used some left over Liquitex Super Heavy Gesso from a different project and spread it over the  Stencil in my Kaffee Klatsch Stamp Set to tie the background together.

Here are the supplies I used

nSupplies


Have a beautiful day :) 

Nat

Comments (3)

  • andrene

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    I love all of the layers and the colors you chose. You are one of the few that can load a page up with that many colors and designs and keep it cohesive, clear and so artistic. Great job!!

    Reply

  • Sue Clarke

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    Nice texture and colors. I am “behind” on CJS since I’m waiting for the speakers for our new computer to be hooked up. I’m looking forward to catching up!

    Reply

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