Day 24 – Castle – Another stamp from my Mini Motifs Stamp set inspired by our fireplaces. This one always reminds me of a little castle – maybe because it is part of our home. I thought the triangle stamp from the Triple Play set would make a nice addition to the pattern …if only I could have stamped more straight …boy oh boy ..but it is cool- I see this coming up in the future again.
Here is a look at April 24:
April 25 – Print – My MidCentury Squared Stamp is always reminding me of wallpaper from that time -so I wanted to play a bit with stamping layered on top in different directions and different colors. I really like this- I would take a printed wallpaper like this :)
And a looksie at April 25:
Follow along with the challenge on instagram and post your artwork too with the hashtag #artcollabChallengeAccepted
Are you playing along with Nat and Sarah’s April ArtFoamies Challenge ? You can follow along on my Instagram feed daily with videos and photos, and I post updates here on the blog too from time to time throughout the month. Today I’m recapping 19, 20, and 21. Enjoy!
Day 19 – Circle – These Mini Motifs foam stamps are inspired by carvings in our fireplaces. Every one of the four mantles has different carvings. That Dude went all out with the chiseling. He must have known that 140 years later a weird lady from Germany would become obsessed with the patterns on the fireplaces …and there we come full circle.
Here is a look at April 19:
April 20 – Stellar – Started out with the Beacon Stamp from the Mini Tile Set as it makes excellent start patterns but then I thought it really needed more and added the Santiago stamp as an accent on top. Stellar decision if I dare to say so …patting myself on the back – LOL
Here is another look:
April 21 – Hip Hop – Mixing the very graphic Space Oddity hexagon stamp up with one of the triangle stamps from our Triple Play stamp set created by Marsha Valk, Birgit Koopsen and me. The design for this Triple Play triangle is actually by Marsha and I love how those two go together. Nice fusion.
And another look at April 21 Hip Hop-
Follow along with the challenge on instagram and post your artwork too with the hashtag #artcollabChallengeAccepted
Oh…swoon! I love the mini motifs on that gorgeous old ledger! I have my great-grandfather’s old ledger and have been wondering what to do with it. Now I know! Thanks for sharing!
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.
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 :)
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!
Hello from my Creative Squad! Today we have Maura Hibbitts sharing an art journal page with us that shows off some of her favorite art making tools – both supplies and ideas that get her creativity flowing. She is using my Mini Motifs foam stamps, Mini Motifs rubber stamps, Space Age Modern stencil, and our new monthly 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.
We are creating a list this month of our favorite creative supplies, and I realized that not all of mine are physical items. Some of the things that really super charge my creativity are color and pattern, as well as nature, books, and my ever present imagination. In all honesty, there are a LOT of supplies that I love to work with, but some of my favorites are paint, ink, stamps and stencils…anything that I can layer up and get messy with. Oh yes, I am a messy artist!
I headed to one of my large journals to start working on my creative playlist. I started with a round gel plate and yellow and pink paint. (Not my usual colors, but I have to play with other colors nicely too.) I blended them a bit on the gel plate with the brayer, then laid the Space Age Modern stencil onto the plate. I pressed the journal directly onto the plate to get my first impression.
To get the second impression from the gel plate, I took the plate with the stenciled image on it and pressed it onto the book. For the third impression, I pressed the stencil with the paint on it, into the journal. Now I have three unique impressions from one use of the the gel plate.
Once again, I blended some pink and yellow paint, and pressed the Mini Motif ArtFoamie into it, then began stamping the image in the center of one circle. I took a second stamp and applied paint to only a portion of it with the brayer, and stamped that over the first images.
Use the previous method with the Craftsman Mini Motif stamp and apply to the four sides of another circle.
Next stamp the Mission Motif into three corners of the pages with the paint blend.
Apply turquoise paint for contrast, to the gel plate and brayer. Take the rubber Arts and Crafts Motif stamp, apply the paint, and stamp four times to create a circular pattern. Repeat two more times across the pages.
Hand letter your words around one circle with the turquoise paint pen, and also use it to embellish the stamped designs.
My creative playlist is filled with color, pattern, paint, stamps and stencils.
I need to be creative and express myself through color and design, it brings me joy and fulfillment. Our art is an expression of who we are, our thoughts, and our emotions. I think these pages are full of light and a sense of coming together. What do you see?
Be well and have a lovely February, Maura
Thank you Maura – we definitely see light and optimism in this beautiful page!
Our friend and Creative Squad member Judi Kauffman shared some inspiring extras with us this month: an upcycled calendar collage and some beautiful envelopes.
Last year Judi created a calendar for the year ahead that we shared with you here in this post.
And then Judi totally surprised us this month with a reimagining of the calendar. She saved her stenciled calendar pages from 2020 and for most of the months she turned them into bookmarks and card fronts. But for this one she decided to cut the whole piece into 1” squares and reassemble it into a mosaic. She said it’s her way of giving visual form to this horrible year when everything felt like it had crumbled into tiny pieces by making it into something interesting and cohesive. It’s going to become the first calendar page for 2021! Turning over a new page, as it were.
Judi also created a fantastic wall hanging from another calendar page redo.
She writes, “I made mosaics out of another of the stenciled calendar pages, adding some dimensional bird, tree, and mini buttons for embellishments.”
What a fantastic idea for those old calendars.
Judi also shared with us some envelopes she created using my Mini Motifs rubber stamp set. She writes, “The method: My go-to “Stamp & Drag” where there’s the look of motion.” Love the look and the softer lines.
Envelopes definitely deserve just as much love as the cards that go inside them and we think these are beautiful!
Are you sending snail mail these days? Follow Judi’s lead and try stamping some of your envelopes too.
Is it over yet? Hanging on a thread… I created this art journal page at the end of December.
I began with a background that was from cleaning off different colors. I used black spray paint over my Chicago stencil first, then layered up my Santiago stencil and sprayed with white. My Mini Motifs rubber stamps fit perfectly in the stencil design (smile!).
And I added one last detail to my pattern with one of my Fan-Fare rubber stamps.
I added a bit of coordinating collage paper and my journaling with a white Signo pen. Hang in there everyone!
Now I have some inspiration for making patterns with my art foamies.
Love that ledger paper.
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