Creative Squad

Videos from the Creative Squad – Part 4

Here are some of the supplies used in these projects:

My Creative Squad has made some really cool videos for their projects through the years (what a talented bunch indeed) so I did a little 4 part series where I shared some with you. This is the 4th and final so I hope you have enjoyed them as much as I have. Also I encourage you to check out the Creative Squad archive of projects as an excellent resource for serious artistic inspiration.

First we have Squad alum Tania Ahmed sharing a fun card with us that she made using my Stroll Around the Block set of house stamps, my My Home is My Castle stamp, and my What’s the Point stencil. Our theme was: Inside Outside – Inside can be cozy and warm. Outside is about fresh air and freedom. Are you a homebody or do you suffer from cabin fever? We’re creating with these opposites in mind.

Here is the link to her original post and here is the video she shared of her process:

I love the texture Tania creates with my What’s the Point stencil!

Lastly we have alum Nicole Watson and her magical art journal spread using my foam stamps and the theme: Under the Sea – There is something so fascinating about water. We love being in it, floating on it, relaxing next to it, and it remains one of the last frontiers here on the planet. Create something that is an ode to the sea.

Here is the link to her original post and here is the video she shared of part of her process:

This is a great way to make a whole bunch of gorgeous collage papers!

I hope you enjoyed all the Creative Squad videos I have been sharing. Be sure to check out the archive of their projects – they show so many ways to use foam stamps, rubber stamps, stencils and more in their beautiful mixed media creations.

Here are some of the supplies used in these projects:

Nat

Leave a comment

Different Realities – Art Journal

“You never win a fight with someone who only lives in his reality.”

This art journal page is using a page from the sold out 2022 Artist Almanac – don’t dismay though, 2023 is in the works ;)

I started by rolling out yellow paint with a brayer to create some texture on the page, and added red acrylic paint onto a palette knife and lightly pressed it onto the yellow background, pulling it down or to the side. After it dried, I used water based spray paints, sprayed through an older Stampendous stencil (not available anymore sorry) – and my What’s The Point stencil (yes that guy is still available).

The only reason I used the old stencil is because I had used it on the background of the calendar page and I wanted to incorporate the form, but you could also make some paint splashes onto a thin piece of cardboard and then cut the form out to make your own stencil. Or if you are brave, make some big paint splashes right on top of the page. Next I adhered the calendar page with double sided adhesive.

The spray paint wasn’t perfectly dried yet and it wound up clogging up my sharpie ball pen which I love to use for journaling – a good reminder to be patient…

Here are some of the supplies I used:

Nat

Leave a comment

Inside Outside – Tania Ahmed

  

Hello from my Creative Squad and welcome to a project from Tania Ahmed. Tania is bringing us a super fun easel card using my Stroll Around the Block set of house stamps, my My Home is My Castle stamp, and my What’s the Point stencil. Be sure to watch her awesome video for the how-to and join us for this month’s new theme: Inside Outside – Inside can be cozy and warm. Outside is about fresh air and freedom. Are you a homebody or do you suffer from cabin fever? We’re creating with these opposites in mind.

I was inspired by this month’s theme to create an easel card as a play on the “inside Outside” theme! My main focus was the Queen Anne Building stamp which is a part of the Stroll Around the Block Set #1.

The theme made me think about whether I preferred to stay at home or be outside. Did I prefer my own company or to be around people? As I get older I am getting more and more comfortable in my own skin and realising that I can have moments where I prefer one or the other scenario and that it’s okay! I’ll have days where I want to make a clean and simple project and then there will be days when I will be absolutely covered in paint and making happy creative messes!

I decided to make a video tutorial showing how I made this easel card, and I loved how it turned out :) Click on the video below to watch:

Here are also some photos:

Thank you Tania! I’m just loving your video and seeing the awesome texture you created with my What’s the Point stencil on this card! Also those colors are yum! In addition to various cardstock and papers, here are some of the supplies that 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“.

SaveSave

SaveSaveSaveSave

Nat

Leave a comment

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle with Michelle Rydell

  

Happy Tuesday everyone and welcome to a project from Creative Squad member Michelle Rydell! Michelle brought together a bunch of different items from her stash to create a beautiful little book with a message that is just perfect. She used my Mini Batik Pattern 2 stamp and my Batik, Lily Wallpaper, and What’s the Point stencils to help her with this month’s theme: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle – Let’s do Mother Earth a favor this month and use what we already have.  Maybe we’ll dip into our stash of leftovers from other creative projects or maybe we’ll repurpose something unexpected.  This month we’re thinking about how artmaking can impact the environment and we’re trying to make our footprint just a little bit smaller.

About five years ago, I found a bunch of old S&H Green Stamp books at an antique store, and I thought they were so cute I just had to buy them.  Remember green stamps?  Well, they have been just waiting for the right project, and this month’s Reduce, Reuse, Recycle fit the bill perfectly!

I decided to make one into a mini-journal.  Here’s how I did it…

I combed thru my stash of vintage ephemera and picked out a pile of things that I thought had possibilities – mostly because they matched the color scheme of the green stamps…

I decided on a theme for the book, and then combed thru my stamps and stencils designed by Nat, and picked out some that I thought would work great for the project.  The ones I ended up using were: Mini Batik Pattern 2 Foam Stamp, and three stencils: Batik, Lily Wallpaper and What’s the Point?

The toad I wanted to put on the first page needed a background to rest on, so I pulled out the foam stamp and added a couple of swirls to start things off.

Then a little paint and a bit of patterned paper…

To create some consistency, I flipped to the back page and did something similar with the background.

From there I was off and running, adding stamps and stencils, paint and bits of paper to each page.  I also took out the rusty old staples and changed the binding to bakers twine. The dots here are made with the What’s The Point stencil. At the end I added a favorite quote to pull it all together.  Here’s how it turned out…

Thank you Michelle for this inspiring little book! In addition to various vintage papers, Michelle used the following:



Play along with us too: 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 (6)

  • datatar

    |

    Amazing album! I just love everything about it. Thanks for the inspiration!

    Reply

  • Deb

    |

    What a FUN idea!!!
    I too remember the green stamps and going with my Mom to the redemption store!

    Reply

    • Michelle Rydell

      |

      Thanks so much Deb! I’m glad it brought back memories for you!

      Reply

  • Julie Tucker

    |

    I do remember those green stamp books!!! I loveeeeeeeeeeeee this!! FABULOUS!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

    • Michelle Rydell

      |

      Thank you so much Julie! I appreciate your kind words!!!

      Reply

Leave a comment

Say It Like You Mean It – Michelle Rydell

  

It’s Tuesday and time for a post from my Creative Squad! Today we have a fun and uplifting art journal spread from Michelle Rydell. She used my Stroll Through the Hood #1 stamp set for her take on this month’s theme Say it like you Mean it – Let your unique voice be heard and tell us what’s on your mind. Be bold. Be yourself. We all have something to say and sometimes we need to shout it!

One thing I have always been passionate about is music. I grew up with a lot of music in our house – my mom played the piano, and my dad loved to sing. I was fortunate enough to take dance and piano lessons too. Now, as an adult, music inspires a lot of my art. In fact, I am currently working on a mini-journal dedicated to song lyrics.

Today, I want to share a quick and easy way to make a journal page, using Nat’s Stroll Through the Hood set #1 stamp set! I’m creating this spread in my 4” x 5” mini journal. The song I am using as inspiration is “Hope” by Idini Menzel. I want to reflect the soft and gentle spirit of the song, so I start with some pink, orange and yellow paint, swirled with white to create a soft background

Next, I added a small strip of sheet music for texture, and pounced some coral paint thru Nat’s “What’s the Point” stencil to create movement in the sky. The “Brownstone” stamp creates the scene, and the lyric starts with the word hope, which is emphasized by using the “Hope Tag” stamp.

I wrote in the rest of the lyric with a journaling pen, added some stamped “Star Tags” to the sky, drew in a little bird, used a poster paint pen to color in the stars, and added highlights to the building. I finished the page by adding a border with an oil pastel, smeared with my fingers to create a softened effect. Here’s the final page…

Now that I’ve done a page with the Hope Tag stamp, I can’t wait to try one with the Art Tag and Love Tag stamps too!

Thank you Michelle for this gorgeous little masterpiece! In addition to some sheet music, Michelle used these supplies – some links are affiliate links:




Play along with us! 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 “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

Comments (2)

  • Julie Tucker

    |

    Wowwwwwww! This is gorgeous! LOVING that quote, the music paper and the buildings!!!!!!!!!!

    Reply

Leave a comment

Good Things Just Keep Happening – Marsha Valk

cs-november-good-things

Today, Marsha Valk from my Creative Squad is sharing two gorgeous prints using this month’s theme: “Good Things Just Keep Happening.” I invite you to join me and my Creative Squad this November, in the spirit of the Thanksgiving holiday in the US, to remind ourselves to be thankful for even the smallest things.  Every once in a while it feels nice to slow down and recognize the good stuff that’s all around us.  What Good Thing happened to you today?

marsha-november-headshot

I already had a long and hard thought about the theme before it occurred to me that the answer had been staring me in the face each morning:
One of the smallest things that I’m thankful for nearly every single day is the pot of tea that my husband prepares before he leaves to go to work. So each week day morning, when I get up and go into the kitchen, there’s a warm pot of tea sitting there to greet me. Just for me! It’s the small things that count and I know this is just one of those things that will be etched in my memory forever.

 

marshavalk_nstudio_goodthingsjustkeephappening-7

 

So the idea for my project formed in my head and I wanted to use the Gelli Plate to execute it. That meant that I needed a mask of the teapot. I decided that the easiest way was to just take a photo, print it and then use the print as the mask.

 

marshavalk_nstudio_goodthingsjustkeephappening-1
marshavalk_nstudio_goodthingsjustkeephappening-2

 

I wanted the backdrop for the teapot to look like wallpaper, so I printed solid colours on the background first and then I printed over those colours using n*Studio stencils.

 

marshavalk_nstudio_goodthingsjustkeephappening-3
marshavalk_nstudio_goodthingsjustkeephappening-4

 

To get a (fairly) crisp edge I masked off the edge in the middle before placing the stencil on the Gelli Plate. I also stuck the teapot mask to the already printed paper before I pulled the stencil print and I used the lines on my glass mat to line up the paper.

 

marshavalk_nstudio_goodthingsjustkeephappening-5

 

Once the printing was done I sketched in the details with graphite pencil and I used a paper stump to create the shadows. I also added a little bit of colour with Inktense pencils. That’s it!

 

marshavalk_nstudio_goodthingsjustkeephappening-8
marshavalk_nstudio_goodthingsjustkeephappening-9
Ohh , I love this – thank you Marsha!  Looks wonderful and is such an awesome idea.  I love the teapot!
Here are the supplies Marsha used to create her prints – some links are affiliate links:


supplies


Play along with us!  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 “n*Spiration From Around the Globe“.

Nat

Leave a comment