Santa

This is a 9X12 canvas of a traditional Santa that I made for Christy Tomlinson's Winter Whimsy class.  The "snow", and Santa's beard and hat rim are made with gesso, layers of it, so this took several days to make to allow for drying time.  I love how it turned out, and I'll be giving this as a Christmas gift (can't say to who in case they're reading ;)

 

We got our first snowfall of the season today!  Only a couple of inches, but enough to make everything beautiful (I love the snow :)

Have a great day, and thanks for stopping by!

Christmas Tree

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!  I'm sitting here watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade with my hubby and my kiddos, so thankful for the many blessings God has given me.  We're going to have a very relaxed day today, eating at a local restaurant that serves a wonderful Thanksgiving feast.  Can't beat that, no cooking, no clean up, mama is truly THANKFUL ;)

I have an 8X10 canvas to share with you today.  I've always loved the look of these rolled paper trees, and wanted to try my hand at one.  The background is made of various green patterned papers.  I adhered red gems on the rolled papers to add a bit of bling.   The tree stem is made of cork.

A close up shot:

I have to say this is MUCH prettier in person than it is in this picture.  There's something about the dimension the rolled papers add that's difficult to capture on screen.

I hope that wherever you are today, no matter your circumstances, that you have something to be thankful for :)

Snowman

I have a fun project to share today.  I'm currently taking Christy Tomlinson's Whimsy Winter Workshop (lots of fun projects in this class!)  I've been doing most of my projects lately on canvases, but for this particular one I didn't have a canvas that was as small as I wanted, so I decided to improvise. 

This was actually painted on an empty, sturdy, Partylite candle box (measures 6 1/2 X 6 1/2 X 3" deep).  To make this I first decoupaged book pages from an old book onto the box, covering it completely.  Then I added several colors of paints, some ink sprays using a snowflake stencil, and stamps.  I paper pieced the snowman and tree, then added all the finishing touches.  The white border around the front of the box is simply a tube of white paint that I squeezed around and then let dry.  As you can see from the side view below, this box is just perfect for sitting on a shelf!

The best thing about this is that I saved the expense of buying a canvas.  I found several other boxes lying around my house that will work for other projects.  I love repurposing items like this :)

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving holiday; thanks for stopping by today!

Home

I finally started my first art journal.  This is a big milestone for me; it's something that I've thought about doing for a very long time but kept putting off.  Taking the Art of Wild Abandonment 2 class really gave me the push I needed to get started.  Junelle has helped me to realize that it doesn't have to be perfect, it just has to come from the heart.

I'm altering a large, hard cover, coffee table style book for this journal.  I removed some of the pages so the book doesn't become too thick.  I covered the remaining pages with gesso.  This first layout uses paints, lots of bits of patterned paper, stamps, rub ons, and the hearts were made with modeling paste and a stencil.  I enjoyed making this, and love the whimsical look of the finished pages.  The hardest thing for me with doing an art journal is going to be expressing my feelings in it, that has never been easy for me, particularly when it comes to writing those feelings down on paper.  But I'm up for a challenge, and I think it will be a cathartic process.

Bless This Nest

Today I have an 11X14 canvas to share.  I'm currently taking an online workshop, the Art of Wild Abandonment 2 with Junelle Jacobsen.  One of the lessons this week involves creating art that involves our home.  I think of my home as my "nest", which is how this idea came to me.

I made the nest by taking strips of green tissue paper and brushing them with Mod Podge, then crumpling them and applying them to paper.  After it dried I dabbed some brown paint on top at spots to add some dimension.  The white hearts in the background are modeling paste dabbed on over a heart stencil.  This is my first time working with modeling paste and I've got to say I really LOVE the effect!  You can't really see it on these pictures but it adds a wonderful raised dimension to the canvas.

I hope that everyone is safe and sound after the wrath of Sandy this week.  We got by without losing power (I'm in southeastern PA), and the kids had two days off of school, which of course they loved.  I'm praying for all those who were not so lucky.

Thanks for stopping by today!

Three Houses

Yes indeed, I'm having SO MUCH FUN making beautiful messes these days lol!  This 11X14 canvas was made using the Sept. Scarlet Lime Mixed Media kit.  I have to give ALL the credit for this piece to Christy Tomlinson, this is her design.  I followed her instructional video right down to using the same papers and colors she used.  I had to, because I freaking LOVE what she did so much, I wanted one just like it!  If you'd like to watch her process, here's the video for this piece.

 And a close up so you can see a bit more detail:

So what's on your agenda for this weekend?  Tomorrow I'm making a trip with my sister to a Dick Blick art store near Allentown (love that store and there are none near where I live unfortunately, or fortunately depending on how you look at it lol!)  I'm also currently taking an online course, The Art of Wild Abandonment 2 by Junelle Jaconbsen, and I'm going to be working my way through some of her videos.  This class is definitely stretching me because it involves things like sketching, something that's way out of my comfort zone.  But I'm hoping it'll help me grow as an artist, something I'm keenly interested in doing!

Make it a GREAT one!

Butterfly

A customer requested a canvas of a purple butterfly with an inspirational quote.  She has a friend who suffers from lupus, and she wanted to give her a gift.  This is what I came up with:

Here's a close up of the quote.  It's a Club Scrap stamp:

I hope she likes it as much as I do :)