Mixed Media "Tiny Homes" with Canvas Fabric & Stamps!

“When you invite people to your home, you invite them to yourself.” 

- Oprah Winfrey

Helllllooooo & Welcome to another Creative Team Thursday!

Today I'm sharing my newest project for the Jessica Sporn Designs CT that was inspired both by Jessica's fabulous Build-a-Villa Stamps as well as some scratchy, rusted tins that I found discarded in the desert. 

I know it sounds strange, but you can pop over to Jessica's blog to make sense of it all. There you'll find details about these sparkly "Tiny Homes," as well as a process video showing how I altered them all. I hope you like it and look forward to playing again soooooon . . . 

With Colorful Kisses,

Kristin xo

Mind. Body. Soul. (Art Journaling)

Believe it or not, I am almost done with the journal started for sweet Leslie's online course, Mind. Body. Soul. Good thing too, as the prompts ended about two weeks ago. (sigh). . . .

Below are shots of the last journal spread for Anxiously Engaged, followed by the first and last pages of the book:

"Oh the places we will go"

(Vertical spread)

Vintage music, vintage stamps, Stampington art papers (bike) and personal photo

Opening page /  Table of contents:

"Contents"

Featuring all of Leslie's prompts

Carefully selected papers hint at what's to come

Back / final page:

"Put on a happy smile"

Swarovski crystals, rub-ons and paint chip

There you have it. Only one thing left to complete: the cover! Oh, and the story behind the book as a whole. On a personal note, when I started the course, I had no idea what or where I would be when I ended it. I don't mean to sound cryptic, I will finish the cover, put it all back together, and share the story in it's entirety in my next post for Paint Party Friday. 

See you then,

Kristin xo

{Looking for The Summer of Color? Get the whole scoop here.}

MMM: Mother

"I am what I am"

6 x 8 Canvas Panel

I had a good friend at the house the other day and we got to talking about art. I laid out some of the pieces I've made over the last year and, while carefully looking at what she saw before her, she asked me a bold question: "Do you feel guilty about not being able to become pregnant?" Wow. And, yes. I wouldn't have thought so, but my answer came quickly.

I am acutely aware of how lucky we are to have our beautiful baby, and I am forever grateful that Kendra's birthmother trusted us to parent her, but now that we are hoping to adopt again, all of the "old" feelings of not being able to do this, or relying on someone else to do that, must bring it all up again. What I realized in that moment is that I am still holding on to a lot of guilt and fear. And I am sharing it with you because with this piece for Mixed Media Monday, I have decided to let that go. I know that we will have another child, even if I don't know how or when. And I have resolved to live more in the moment and celebrate the family I do have. I am the one who can not give birth. But I am also the one who was lucky enough to carry Kendra in my heart. We are all so lucky. I have finally given myself permission to just be. After all, "I am what I am."

This piece was created on a 6 x 8 canvas panel that was collaged with personal mementos of our adoption including a letter from my Mother-in-Law, a piece of my baby shower invitation and the stamp we created for her birth announcements. To this, I added a wash of acrylic, a charcoal outline representing myself and a heart (made from handmade papers) representing the part of me she came from.

Thank you for looking. And a big thank you to my friend for showing me the light . . .

Kristin xo

MMM: Hello Dolly!

"Living Doll"

3 x 7 inch piece of wood 

I wanted to do something personal for this week's Mixed Media Monday prompt, "Hello Dolly." While going through Shona Cole's new book, The Artistic Mother, I am reminded of how important it is to celebrate personal photographs and empheria in art. I hope that Kendra will come to cherish the items I have made for her over the years, and that they will serve as small reminders of how much she means to us. . .

This was made on a piece of wood from the craft store and collaged with several of my own photographs (including the roses and circular perfume label) which have been color enhanced in Photoshop. I also used handmade background papers, water-soluble oil pastels and a picture of Kendra on her first birthday. It was finished with a satin ribbon that has been topped with the barrette she is wearing in the picture.

Thank you for looking! I look forward to seeing all the entries this week . . .

Kristin xo

MMM: Eggs

"New Possibilities"

8 x 10 Canvas Panel

Detail of poem

Detail of paint chips & Tim Holtz mask

For this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge, Eggs, I wanted to create something that spoke of our hope to adopt again. I found a wonderful vintage poem by Laddie Fisher that sums up how I feel about the subject. This piece represents Kendra looking upon the egg and all of it's New Possibilities . . .

This was created on an 8 x 10 canvas panel and has my favorite color as a base, Robin's Egg Blue. I wanted the whole thing to be a study in blues, so I started with a background of various blue paint chips. To that, I added some blue, cream and white acrylic with a brayer (over a Tim Holtz mask) and some of the circles that I was playing with last week. The egg was created out of decorative paper and the image of the little girl is from a vintage Mother Goose book. Final touches we added with charcoal, white China Marker and, of course, some beautiful pale blue Swarovski crystal stones (I so wish these photographed better!) on the child's toy.

Thank you for looking! I am eager to see all the beautiful work featuring Eggs this week . . .

Kristin xo

MMM: Vintage Children

"Dance Now"

8 x 10 Canvas Panel 

Well, it's no surprise that I would be excited about this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge: Vintage Children. I find that I use a lot of children's imagery and illustrations in my art; especially those that have to do with fairy tales, children's fables or nursery rhymes.  However this week (because I knew you'd expect it), I steered clear of those altogether and instead, tried to capture the  feeling of Vintage Children (and their surroundings) by creating a bright and whimsical background for the "fairies" in the foreground. 

I have been reading Kelly Rae Roberts' wonderful book, Taking Flight and was eager to try some of the background techniques outlined in chapter 3: specifically, using a brayer to create depth and add color to a collaged surface. I created a subtle wash with blues and greens and to this added another element she suggests, a shampoo lid to create the white acrylic circles. 

In addition to the tips above, I also used magazine cutouts for the first time. The fairy bodies are from a children's catalogue and the ice cream cone was cut from a family magazine. The child's head (that sounds weird) was taken from the cutest vintage Kellogg ad and the house and birds in the background are also vintage. Both were from Art Freebies. Final touches included water-soluble oil pastels (loving these lately; they add such bold, blendable color), white pencil (Sharpie white china marker), glitter, swarovski crystals and snippets of a poem, Spring Child by Caroline S. Kotowicz.  

The text reads, "Sip now from the chalice of laughter / Dance now to the song of the breeze. . ."

Kristin xo

MMM: Mardi Gras

"Key To Understanding"

9 x 5 Altered Game Board

I've been so inspired with the assemblage pieces featured on Mixed Media Monday lately - including those created by our guest host (Cindy) and last week's Romance winner (Diane) - that I decided to take the colors of this week's prompt, Mardi Gras, and create something of an assemblage piece of my own.

I love the idea of creating something functional that allows me to showcase some beautiful vintage keys that were hiding in a drawer only this morning . . . I also glued (don't tell my husband!) a vintage bolt from the same stash to the top for balance.

The materials used are fabric (which has been distressed and inked), glitter, silk ribbon, a decorative button and, of course, Swarovski crystals. The backing is a piece of game board and the quote says, "It is the key to understanding."

Thank you for looking! To see more of this week's challenge, please check out all the talent on http://www.mixedmediamonday.wordpress.com

Happy Valentine's Day!

Teacher gifts:

Decorated tags with Swarovski crystal bobby pins

Kendra modeling her new "sparkl-ee" bobby pin

Goodie bags for little friends

Class party

Happy Valentine's Day!

Art Tags for You!

First 3 to comment will win

As my Valentine's gift to you, I am offering these Art Tags to the first three people who would like them. Last month, I was the lucky recipient of one of three Art Tags that Peggy Gatto gave away on her blog and and now, as promised (finally), I am paying it forward.

If you would like to participate, please leave a comment and I will later ask for your address so that I may send it to you. And if you too would like to pay it forward, please do so. Take your time and have fun . . .

To see the original inspiration, please visit the talented Peggy at http://www.peggysamusement.blogspot.com/. I know you will love her work (and spirit) as much as I do!

MMM: Wings

"The Deluxe Cupid Kit"

Altered tri-fold box

(may be enlarged to show detail)

Detail of Wings

Makeup box before alteration

This week's Mixed Media Monday's prompt, "Wings," was the perfect excuse to use a tri-fold box that I received makeup brushes in for Christmas. As Valentines is around the corner, I thought that creating Cupid's wings would be appropriate for the theme. Since I had more space to fill within the box, what started out as a pair of wings turned into a complete kit: actually, "The Deluxe Cupid Kit."

From Left to right, the kit includes Cupid arrows in 3 sizes (love, marriage and baby carriage), a gold heart and key, the decorative wings (I imagine these would be used for formal occasions) are in the center and an affirmation mirror inscribed with the word "lover," and a bottle of fairy dust (borrowed from real fairies) in the top right corner. In the bottom right corner are intention tips (for use with the arrows) and a note, Thinking of You. I assume that the kit would be given as a gift for those little fellas who have just earned their wings . . .

The dirty details: This piece was made using (oh, so many) items. The arrows are craft store lollipop sticks covered in acrylic and glitter. The gold heart and key are from my stash of collectibles. The heart was dusted with glitter. The wings were made by creating a template out of cardstock which was then covered in individually placed feathers in both white and pink. Touches of glitter and Swarovski crystals were added for oomph. The plate on the bottom was covered in glitter and used to house a sentiment, "love," which was taken from a fabric picture from Crafty Sentiments. The mirror was an old Christmas ornament that was distressed, painted and glittered (white rub-ons created the etched effect for "lover") and and the fairy dust bottle was created using some tubing, glue, crystals (as the stopper) and filled with iridescent glitter. The wings are from another ornament. Finally, the arrow tips were made from picture corners which were painted and glittered, and the Thinking of You tag (Anna Griffin) was aged and placed along side a pink feather. The entire outsides were covered in flocked pink and red paper and the inside was covered in batting and bright pink satin fabric. Lastly (I mean it this time) the frame was created using several Anna Griffin die cut flowers that were whitewashed and (surprise) detailed with glitter. The final touch as another fabric picture from Crafty Sentiments, this time of a Cupid Doll herself. . .

You still with me? I know; it took for-ev-er to make too: thanks for hanging with me! To see more pieces on Wings, please check out all the talent on http://www.mixedmediamonday.wordpress.com/.

MMM: Try Something New

"Dumb Birds"

5 X 7 Canvas Board

Loving this week's Mixed Media Monday prompt: try something new. I had some new products that I wanted to experiment with (Tim Holtz Distress crackle paint and my new - oh so pretty - box of Martha Steward glitters to name two) and this seemed the perfect excuse. In addition to the new products, I also wanted to try my hand at some new techniques. With that in mind, I played around with the idea of paper piecing with fabric. I have long admired birds (in artwork and in general) but I just can't seem to get the look I want with pens. When playing around with the idea of creating what I wanted via fabric, a whole new world was opened up to me. I love the concept, and when I found vintage text to support the theme (from the 1957 Learning to Read picture book that was still lying around from last week's piece), it all came together.

This piece was made using a canvas board (crushing on these lately), acrylic, the new crackle paints (in broken china and picket fence) both under and over glitter, fabric and Swarovski crystals. The shoes were made from fabric backed with cardstock so that I could cut them out easily. The sentiment, "dumb birds" came from the chick herself: why should one fly when there are so many beautiful shoes to choose from?

Thank you for looking! To see more pieces on Something New, please check out www.MixedMediaMonday.wordpress.com.

MMM: Leftovers

"The Red Dress"

5 X 7 Canvas Board

This week's Mixed Media Monday challenge was to create a piece of art representing (or using) leftovers. It was such an interesting prompt as it could go in so many ways: should I do a piece of art on holiday leftovers or should I use leftover supplies to create a piece of art? While I choose to use leftover supplies, I also wanted to incorporate something that I have never used or thought of before as a way to really challenge myself. I looked at everything this week with new eyes, and when I came across a piece of broken glass under our Christmas tree, I knew I had found what I was looking for. The turquoise ornament glistened in the light of the holiday hurricane (that is, on the floor under all the hastily opened presents) and I knew that I had found yet another way to create sparkle on a piece. . .

The Red Dress was created using a Canvas Board, vintage text, crayons and a ton of beeswax. Not only was the beeswax used for texture and depth, but it was also used as the glue for the entire project. After priming the board with hot pink acrylic, I scribbled with yellow and orange crayons before applying the beeswax. I loved how the clear(ish) wax blended with the wax colors to create a pool of warm soft color. After applying text (in the rough shape of a tree) I added more color and wax, this time in green. The ATC size vintage paper dolls (Hannah Grey) were applied with more wax to create a clothes line. The vintage text was from a 1957 Learning To Read picture book (note the odd grammar) and the "mirror" was from an old Anna Griffin kit that I painted and distressed. Finally, the found ornament was glued on top to create a dreamy sky and a soft pink glass ball (okay, so I broke that one on purpose) was placed on the bottom of the piece, dripped in more wax. Also used were fibers, fabric and Swarovski crystals.

Whew! So there it is: my little piece of leftovers. To see more pieces on Leftovers, please check out www.MixedMediaMonday.Wordpress. com.

Happy New Year. Happy New Art. Kristin xox