Blog: RubberMoon

Golden Gate – Art Journal Page

“Give me your tired, your poor,
Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,
The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.
Send these, the homeless, tempest-tossed, to me:
I lift my lamp beside the golden door.”

Emma Lazarus

Lady Liberty is right at my front door …well I used to see her until last year from my studio window- but now a tall new building is blocking the way. I love to take the bike in the summer and go out to Liberty State Park and enjoy a view of her. What a wonderful symbol she is.

It was freeing and good to create this page springing from a crazy mash up of added paints, patterns, texture and colors. I thought that was fitting for this page.

Here are some of the supplies I used – some are affiliate links:


Nat

Comments (2)

  • Torsa Saha

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    Wow!! Stunningly beautiful!!

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Courage and Love – playing with Watercolor in my Art Journal

“Courage, like love, circles back around and finds us again. Love, like courage, only blooms there exists so many reasons to be afraid.” Tyler Knott Gregson

I had such a wonderful time creating the page and playing and trying new things. I tested the Daniel Smith Gold Iridescent Gesso, which the wonderful people at Daniel Smith gave me for that purpose at Creativation and applied it loosely to the art journal pages. The gesso was thinner then I expected but oh my oh my once it dried the load of gold pigment fully revealed itself. And I was in Love.

Next I used my Chicago 9×12 Stencil here and there dabbed some white watercolor ground through it – and then painted the bottom of the page also loosely with the ground. Watercolor ground is a primer like Gesso which creates a porous surface on which you can later apply watercolor. I am totally intrigued by this medium and also bought a clear version to further play later and mix up watercolor and acrylics more in my work. I let everything dry overnight as it was stated on the jar.

Then I stamped with my Stroll Through the Hood set 1 and Stroll Through the Hood Set 2  and archival ink and created a city scene. I used the cling stamps and layered them up, using only parts of buildings- and just had a fun time with them.

And then I played with watercolor and just had a good time. I love how the watercolors pop off the background and how the white watercolor ground and gold elements are making it sparkly. I also love the texture created with the watercolor ground.

I added the journaling with one of the ArtGraf Graphite and went over it with a wet brush again. I guess I have a new crush …on watercolors …oh brother ;)

Here are the supplies I worked with  – some links are affiliate links:


Do you have a new art supply /medium crush this year?

Nat

Comments (1)

  • Julie B

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    This is absolutely STUNNING! Just stunning! Thank you for sharing your process……love the watercolors with your stencils and stamps; love the gold throughout. Hmmm…..you have me very curious about this medium. Thank you!

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Hope Tag

Love making tags that I can use for gifts or just as card to give to someone. For this I tag I used the Cardboard Stamp Set

and stamped with archival ink on the the tag, then used acrylic paints and scraped them over the tag. I like when the stamped images are part of the background

I stamped the Hope Tag Stamp on top of some left over raw canvas and then fringed out the edges and applied it with Gel Medium to the tag.

I usually ink up the cling stamps and press them not perfectly onto the background to get bits and pieces of the imagine blending into each other onto the background.

Here is a short list of supplies I used for this tag – some links are affiliate links


Wishing you a wonderful day !

Nat

Comments (2)

  • stephanie

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    Ohhh – nice!

    Reply

  • joi

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    FABULOUS – love every inch of this Nat. WOW. Xj.

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Shoot for the Moon – Art Journal Page

For this quick art journal spread I stamped some of the Embroidery Stamps onto the blank background and then painted over the background, alternating between a thin transparent layer and an opaque purple layer. I stamped again on top of the dried paint with different stamps and archival ink. For the border I used the Satin Stamp – it is a great border stamp.

I used the Chain Link stamp to create pattern on the magazine image dress.

For the journaling I used a fude pen in black and then wrote on top of it in white with a signo pen. I love stamping and covering up – repeating – the process – as I feel it makes it more interesting if you don’t know where a stamp was applied or how.

Here is a supply list – some links are affiliate links:


Do you use stamps in your art and craft?

Have a wonderful day!

Nat

Comments (1)

  • Jill

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    Love this journal page! I’m participating in the #ArtMarks30DayChallenge with Rae Missigman and am loving working in my journal each day. I really haven’t made time enough to do that in the past so one of my 2017 resolutions is to get more journaling in. Love your work. You are an inspiration, Nathalie!

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Stroll Through Hood Wallhanger

I wanted to create something for my studio wall and played around with some of my favorite art tools at the moment :) I painted a grey cardboard with a mix of gesso, grey and blue. After the cardboard dried, I stamped with different inkpads and  with some of my Embroidery Stamps as well as with the Star Stamp on top of it.

I took some different Ampersand Scratchboards or also called Clayboards (depending on where you look for them) and using a cosmetic sponge I dabbed on different colors of acrylic ink. I love the texture the sponge creates and how vibrant the inks pop up from the clayboards. After the inks dried I stamped with some of my Stroll Through the Hood stamps and Staz on on top. I waited a couple minutes to make sure all was dry and then used the Ampersand scratching tools following the lines of the stamps – sometimes offset – and scratched lightly to reveal the white clay surface underneath again. This is so much fun to do – and very addicting!

I mounted the Ampersand boards on top of the cardboard with some Gel Medium and then splattered some acrylic paint over all of this to tie everything together …and because I love splattering – after working so tightly on the scratching I need to let go a bit again ;)

I love how this came out – and I am already thinking of other possibilities with those clayboards.

Here are some of the supplies I used for the wallhanger- some links are affiliate links:


Have you worked with Clay-/Scratchboard before and if yes, what have you done with it?

Nat

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365 Opportunities – Art Journal

Love this – so uplifting when you think about it, right? 1 Year = 365 Opportunities. I used my new Cardboard Stamp Set for this art journal spread. I stamped the background with some of the stamps and then painted over some areas with acrylic paint and gesso to push them back.

Then I stamped over the painted areas again with different ink pads and repeated the steps.

I stamped some of the stars onto formerly painted deli paper and cut those out and applied those with Matte Medium.

Love the look of this – it is a fun way to create a background with a lot of visual texture.

Here are some of the supplies I used for this art journal spread – some links are affiliate links:


Wishing you a gorgeous day!

Nat

Comments (2)

  • Vicky

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    Love all the beautiful layers you created in this spread. Your new stamps are gorgeous and create such yummy visual texture!

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Love Tag

This grungy love tag was created using my new Embroidery Stamps. I scraped off some acrylic paints and white gesso to a big shipping tag with an old gift card to get a weathered look. After the paint dried I stamped with several of the Embroidery Stamp Set stamps with archival ink.

I stamped with the Love Tag Stamp from the Stroll Through the Hood set onto a piece of left over canvas and then fringed the edges and applied it with Gel Medium to the tag.

To enhance the tag a bit further I added some embroidery by using the stamped imagery as a guide and trigger for the different stitches.

I love how the flat stamped embroidery and the dimension of the actual embroidery play together.

Here are the supplies I used for this tag- some links are affiliate links:


Do you incorporate stitching or sewing into your projects?

Have a beautiful day

Nat

Comments (3)

  • molly

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    Very cool! I just got some tags for a Christmas gift. This gives me some ideas of ways to enhance … and use … them! YAY! Thanks.

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  • Beth in IL

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    I love this tag. The stitching adds so much to the tag.

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Peace – let’s work on it -Art Journal

Peace is my word for 2017 – I wrote about it here and as every year when I chose a word, I wanted to create an art journal page with it. I used my new Stroll Through the Hood Stamp Sets und stamped all of them right on top of the background. In fact …I had just gotten them and tried them out to be honest :)

Then I used some Golden High Flow Acrylics and scraped them with an old gift card over the stamped images. I love the highly pigmented and bright look and how it still allows for the imagery to look through.

Using the Artgraf Varco Charcoals I wrote the word Peace layering several colors on top of each other and then wrote over the word with a wet brush.

I also added some of the Charcoals here and there without adding water to keep the vibrancy and also the texture they create.

The journaling was added with a soft pencil.

I had so much fun making this spread.

Here are the supplies I used  – some are affiliate links :


Did you create something using your word or resolution for 2017?

Have a wonderful day

Nat

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Happy New Year Announcement – New n*Studio and RubberMoon Stamps

Happy New Year to all of you!!!

I am so excited to start this New Year with lots of fun things. Here is one of my biggest secret the last couple months

RubberMoon is a wonderful company in the USA owned by the amazing Kae Pea. RubberMoon creates hand crafted, red rubber stamps. I am so over the moon that we teamed up and here are the four sets of stamps I designed and RubberMoon made, which are available as cling stamp sets, single wood mounted stamps and single cling stamps:

The Stroll Through the Hood stamps are inspired by places and objects in my neighborhood of Jersey City, as well as by my blog series of the same name. I gather inspiration as I sketch and photograph on my strolls, and I am attracted to the historic architecture, forgotten landmarks, and the street art that I pass along the way. These original hand sketched stamp designs are reminiscent of things you might find in towns and cities across the US.

The stamps come in two sets – and as separate cling stamps as well.

here are some samples created with the Stroll Through the Hood stamps:

The Embroidery series of stamps are inspired by the art and design of the needle crafts.  I was always attracted to the combination of mixed media and fiber arts, and have recently begun some projects that focus heavily on embroidery and stitching as the end goal. In addition to adding faux elements of embroidery to projects, these stamps can also be used as pattern making tools and guides on which to stitch upon.

Here are some samples with the Embroidery Set

The Cardboard series of stamps are inspired by the interesting patterns and surfaces I observed while playing with cardboard packaging materials in my studio.  These stamps capture my love for found objects, repurposing materials, and that grungy edge I love to add in my work.

And a sample with the Cardboard set

All of the sets and all of the single stamps are available as red rubber cling stamps from my store as well as from RubberMoon direct. RubberMoon also sells all of the stamps as wood mounted stamps.

I hope you like these new stamps- I am so so excited about them and cannot stop playing with them.

If you wanna hear and see more about them watch the recording of my  Facebook Live Kaffeeklatsch with Nat from my  Facebook Page

Have a wonderful start into the new year today

Loves

Nat

Comments (18)

  • jean marmo

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    Congrats! These are fabulous!!!!

    Reply

  • robynseaniger

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    These stamps are really cool Nat, will they be available in Australia (Rachel Greigg, Darkroom Door)? Or do I purchase them from the US? Happy 2017 xox

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Robyn, I do n’t know yet- I might find out more in a couple weeks- I would hope that they will be ordered by a store in Australia :)

      Reply

  • gwenlafleur

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    Oh how cool! These are awesome Nat… congrats!

    Reply

  • Dee Spillane

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    Love your new stamps. See you live in a few!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Awe- thank you so much Dee! Thank you so much for joining, it was fun to see you there :)

      Reply

  • Maura

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    Awesome news! I’ll be getting these in the store real soon I hope! Texture stamps are always great and cityscapes are always good too!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Wohooo! Let me know when you have them in store and I am happy to shout it out :)

      Reply

  • Louise DeRagon

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    Love the cardboard stamps. I am a member of the rubber moon stamp club. Looking forward to your products arrival.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      thank you so much Louise! I am so happy to be part of RubberMoon’s Artists now- their stamps are amazing!

      Reply

  • Jane Chang

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    Oooooh! These are so inspiring! I haven’t stamped in ages and have been thinking I need to make time to get back to it. These might be the nudge I need.

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Jane, so happy you like them! Happy New Year!

      Reply

  • Tina Walker

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    Congrats! These stamps are fabulous!

    Reply

    • nathalie-kalbach

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      Thank you Tina! Cannot wait to see you work you magic with those ;)

      Reply

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