Monday, June 27, 2011

The Summer of Color - PINK

"Seek Joy"
8 x 10 Watercolor Journal page
This page was inspired by the following quote:
"If we were talking to you on your first day here we would say, 'Welcome to planet Earth. There is nothing that you cannot be or do or have. And your work here - your lifetime career - is to seek joy'."
- Abraham


You continue to amaze me . . .
Just two weeks into color prompts and The Summer of Color has already proven to be an incredible journey. Your Green work was beautiful, diverse and so obviously created from the heart. Thank you for your comments to one another, your dedication to the project and the enthusiasm and passion you bring to your work. I love the community we're building here and am honored that so many of us are sharing it together. 

Have you checked out our Flickr?
I must say, it is really impressive! At last count, there were 100 pictures in our gallery and it continues to grow daily. If you haven't added your work to the Flickr pool yet, I highly encourage you to do so. I love seeing our work in one place and I'd be thrilled if we were all represented. If you have any questions about Flickr, please feel free to go here. For more Summer of Color community and connection, check our our Facebook page. It's quickly becoming my favorite new hangout . . .

Drumroll please . . .
The winner of last week's Green Giveaway (pictured in the post below) is . . .


Please email me your address and I'll get your Green goodies right out!

Now, on to PINK week!
I'm thrilled to hear that many of us are already excited about this one. If you haven't joined The Summer of Color and have been wanting to, now's a perfect time to start. Judging from your reactions, I can already tell that it's gonna be a great week. . . As of Monday the 27th through Sunday July 3rd, you may link your artwork inspired by the color Pink in the widget below. This week's Bonus! challenge is to in some way incorporate wax into your work. In summary, (A) please link your work in the widget below so that others can find you, (B) leave one comment if you created a Pink piece and (C) leave two comments if you completed the Bonus! challenge. Good Luck! 

And what is this week's pretty in Pink giveaway?

Bazzill basics 8 page scrapbook in pink, several pink bingo papers, two vintage (written on and stamped) postcards from the 1920's, one vintage nursery-rhyme playing card, several pink "keep this coupon" tickets, Liquitex soft body acrylic paint, Hubba Bubba bubblegum ;) and a sprinkling of clear, iridescent and pink Swarovski crystals and beads.


And what is next week's color?

YELLOW
(Monday July 4th to Sunday July 10th)

"How wonderful yellow is. It stands for the sun."
-Vincent Van Gogh

"What a horrible thing yellow is."
- Edgar Degas

Is there a Bonus! challenge for Yellow week?
But of course! Next week - should you choose to accept it - your Bonus! challenge is to incorporate metallics into your work. Metallic ink, paints, leafing, embellishments or otherwise, the choice is yours.

Have Fun . . .

Kristin xo

Monday, June 20, 2011

The Summer of Color - GREEN

"Pink with Envy"
8 x 10 Watercolor Journal Page

Wow . . .
What an incredible Blue week! I'm thrilled with the response we had with our first color prompt and am throughly enjoying the connection and community we're building here. Thank you for your time, enthusiasm and for sharing this colorful journey with me. . .

A little bit about Linking, Commenting & Giveaways:
Thank you for linking your color-specific artwork in the widget below. In order to qualify for the weekly giveaway, you must also leave a comment in the comment section directly below the current post. Starting this week, if you participate in the bonus challenge, you will be able to enter your name twice. The best way for me to get an accurate count for the Random Number Generator (and to save you from having to link more than once) is to take your names from the comment section. With that in mind (and although it goes against my very nature to do it ;), I have deleted any duplicate or additional comments from last week's blue pool in order to get an accurate count. As of this week, (A) please link your work in the widget below so that others can find you, (B) leave one comment if you created a Green piece and (C) leave two comments if you completed the bonus challenge. 

Anything else?
If you just found us, please feel free to join in the fun! Don't worry if you missed a week, you can pop in anytime. Also, there's an amazing community of artists gathering on the The Summer of Color Facebook page and in our Flickr pool. Check it out . . .

So who won the Blue Giveaway?



Please email me your address and I'll get it right out to you . . .

Now, on to GREEN week . . .
This week's color challenge is Green. The Bonus! Challenge is to somehow incorporate the color Citron into your piece. Please remember to leave an additional comment should you complete both. I so look forward to seeing what you do! 

And what is this week's Giveaway?

An elegant floral picture frame with vintage sheet music, Liquitex acrylic paint in Brilliant Yellow Green, a set of two Moleskine ruled notebooks, Craft Smart polymer clay and a sprinkling of green, iridescent and clear Swarovski crystals and beads.


Okay. Please feel free to link your GREEN work here:
(Monday the 20th - Sunday the 26th)


And what is next week's color?

PINK!
"Pink is the navy blue of India"
-Diana Vreeland

Bonus!
Next week's Bonus! Challenge is to incorporate wax into your piece. Beeswax, candle wax, wax crayon . . . any kinda wax will do . . . Have Fun!

Kristin xo

Monday, June 13, 2011

The Summer of Color: BLUE

"The Wishing Well"
8 x 10 Journal loose-leaf page

Can we talk?
Before we go any further, I want to extend my sincere thanks and gratitude for the tremendous response we have had for this event. I'm blown away by the amount of participants joining The Summer of Color and am honored by your excitement and enthusiasm. It looks like we're in for a fabulous Summer of creating, community and connection.  . . 

What's everyone doing?
Last week's challenge was to tell us what you are planning to create during the event. It seems that the freedom to do anything you want was very popular and because of that, we have an amazing assortment of art and inspiration to look forward to. In case you're curious, the majority of us will be doing some sort of art journaling, followed closely by ATC's, color inspiration / altered books and scrapbooking. There will also be some doing canvas work, cards, collages, altered objects, illustrations and/or sketchbooks, digital art and photography. A few are planning to work with fabric or felting and we even have a poet, jewelry artist, one who restores furniture and an artist working on fairies. We will be seeing work with teabag paper (how cool is that?), oils and of course, some who will be doing a little bit of everything. I'm so looking forward to learning from all of you - thanks again for sharing your talents with us all . . .

A little bit of business:
In all of the excitement of the opening week, there were a few of us who got started on their artwork a little early (so we've had a sneak peek of some beautiful work ;). If you linked up with blue on last week's post, I would be so grateful if you would link it again this week. Those who wrote about their plans for the event qualified for last week's giveaway, which was the assortment of art supplies. Because the first week was a little tricky to decipher, I selected the winner by randomly drawing a name out of a hat (okay, bowl) and checked to make sure she had met the first week's requirements. From next week on, I will use a random number generator from the comments section. This will make more sense when it comes time for bonus weeks, when you are able to enter twice should you complete the bonus challenge. So, the linking is for us to easily find one another and the comments are to sign up for the giveaway. Lastly, you will always know a week ahead of time what your next color challenge will be. That way, you have time to plan and prepare your work.  . . 

Okay, okay, so who won?

Drawing for last week's giveaway of art supplies

Congratulations! The winner of the assortment of art supplies from last week's drawing (pictured in the post below) is: You! Please email me your address and I will get it out right away.


Now, welcome to Blue week!
As of today (from Monday the 13th to Sunday the 19th), you may post your artwork based upon the color Blue. To do so, please share your piece on your blog with a link back here (so that others can find us) and then link your direct post to the linking widget below. To enter the blue giveaway, please leave a comment in the comment section.

The Blue giveaway for the week is . . .

Large Martha Stewart fine glitter in turquoise, 2 bottles of Martha Stewart flocking powder in Robin's Egg and Turquoise, a Martha Stewart ballpoint tip glue pen (and believe me, you want this ;) and a sprinkling of pale blue, clear and iridescent Swarovski crystals and beads. 

Also:
Please feel free to share your work on our Facebook page and our Flickr group which you can always find on the sidebar here . . .



And what will we be working on next week (from Monday the 20th to Sunday the 26th)? 

Green!
"Green is the prime color of the world, and that from which it's loveliness arises." 
- Pedro Calderon de la Barca

Bonus! 
For Green week, your bonus challenge (for a chance to be entered twice in the Green giveaway) will be to incorporate the color Citron in your piece. Have fun . . .

Kristin xo

Monday, June 6, 2011

The Summer of Color!

"Color is the keyboard, the eyes are the hammers, the soul is the piano with it's many chords. The artist is the hand that, by touching this or that key, sets the soul vibrating automatically."
- Wassily Kandinsky


Welcome to The Summer of Color, a 10-week blog party celebrating art in all it hues! 

Beginning today - and every Monday throughout the event - we will focus on and create art based upon the beautiful, bold and luscious colors of the rainbow. We will work in our preferred medium exploring color and share what we produce here. We will link our work using the widget on the bottom of each Summer of Color post and, for those who participate, leave a comment to be entered in a weekly giveaway. The purpose of the event is to emerge ourselves into the world of color: playing, experimenting and learning from one another throughout the lazy days of Summer . . . 

Let's get going!
There are so many ways to participate in The Summer of Color. You can create anything you'd like, as long as it's based upon the color of the week. You may choose to develop a body of work using the same materials each week, or mix it up and work with different mediums and/or products throughout the event. It's up to you. 

What kinds of things will we be seeing?
Glad you asked. I have taken the liberty of linking to some beautiful images of the following art forms:
Of course, there may be things you'd like to do that I haven't thought about. The thing is, if you have an art form you love, go for it. Create it in color and share it here. If you have an art form that you've been wanting to try, now's the time. We will learn and explore together. And hopefully make some new arty friends along the way  . . .

So, what about the colors?
We will create new art each week based upon a specific color that I disclose here. In other words, we will all be working on the same color in the same week. Now, a note about the colors themselves: after much thought, I have decided to make each week's color nonspecific. As much as I want us to create in the mediums we prefer, I also want us to create in the hues within each color that we prefer. Should the first week's color be blue (just as an example ;), I would want you to create in the blues you love. 

And how will this work?
Each week, I will provide a color prompt here. You then will have a week to complete your piece based upon that color. When you are done, simply post about it and link it here (in a widget like the one below) from the following Monday on. Of course, you can also share your work through Flikr. Each week the color will change and we will get started on another piece. There will also be a giveaway each week for the participants of the challenge. Just leave a comment to be considered for the random drawing. The winner will be announced the following week. 

Whew, so in the end, it goes like this: 
* Come here every Monday to find out what color we are working on
* Create art based upon that color
* Come back here the following Monday (or within that week) to link your work and enter the giveaway
* Discover what the next week's color will be

Okay, that's better. Anything else?
Um hm. Just a few things to note. There may be some weeks in which there is a bonus challenge. In that case, should you complete the bonus, you may be entered into the drawing twice. Also, this is meant to be fun. No pressure. If you are away or can't participate every single week, don't worry about it. But you can always check in to see what others have created in your absence. Having said that, only those who participate may enter that week's drawing. That seems fair, right? 

Yep. And what about the stuff on your sidebar?
There has been a Flickr group and a Facebook page (thanks again Trisha ;) created specifically for the event. Check in there for more Summer of Color fun. 

**********************************************************************************

Okay? Okay! On with week one . . .
This week, your challenge is simple. Just tell us what you're going to do or create during the event. Will you be working with inchies or moo cards? Will you be creating a Summer of Color journal or scrapbook? Will you be making an altered book or be doing some canvas work? Please share it with us here. Simply post a picture in Flickr or on your blog along with your thoughts about your project. Please also include a link back to Twinkle, Twinkle so that anyone else who wants to join in can find us. Then attach your post using the linking widget below. When you're done, leave a comment in the comment section to be entered into the random weekly drawing.

This is what I am going to be working with . . .

Strathmore 8 x 10 Ready Cut Watercolor papers

I have decided to participate (yes, I will be working and sharing alongside you ;) by creating a lose-leaf art journal. I love the idea of making a journal that I can work on one page at a time and am thrilled to be creating a series based upon color. In the end, I hope to find some creative way to bind the pages for a complete book about our journey together. Wish me luck. 

Will there be a giveaway this week?
Naturally! And it's a good one - I know these art supplies would get my wheels turning (and my heart beating) . . . You wanna win this?

Artist Loft 6 piece acrylic set, Strathmore watercolor postcards, Visual mixed-media journal, and (like me) a pad of ready-cut 8 x 10 watercolor paper. Bristol ATC cards, a Blick notepad and 8 colored pencils, an 18 x 18' piece of primed canvas material and a sprinkling of Swarovski crystals.

Again, all you need to do to enter is post about your participation in the event, link that post here and then leave a comment in the comment section. You will have until the end of this week (Sunday, June 12th) to do so. The winner will be announced next Monday. 

AND - what is next week's color? 

Beautiful, beautiful Blue!

"There are connoisseurs of blue just as there are connoisseurs of wine."
- Colette

You may link your artwork inspired by the color BLUE as of next Monday, June 13th.

Thanks for joining me: I look so forward to hearing what you are planning to do this week!

{Update: Thank you for all of your excitement! It looks like we're headed towards a great Summer of creativity and connection. I've been asked a few questions that I wanted to share with you so that I can be sure that we are all comfortable with how this will work. First; this is an international event. Should your name be selected for a drawing, I will happily to mail it to you at no cost. Second; This week's challenge is to post about what you plan to create and link that direct post in the link widget here. This week's giveaway will be drawn from the pool of those who have posted about their participation in the event. Third; we will post our blue pieces as of next week, from Monday the 13th on. That will be the first time to share our artwork with one another. Thanks again! xo}

Kristin xo

Sunday, June 5, 2011

Quotable Color

"Camden" WIP

"The soul is dyed by the color of it's leisure hours"
- W. R Inge

See you tomorrow . . .

Kristin xo


Saturday, June 4, 2011

Sweet Saturdays

1958 Greeting Card
Free to use

I love this little one from my stash of vintage greeting cards (she's "furry" in person ;) and thought it a perfect fit for this week's Sweet Saturdays

Please feel free to take it and use it as your own . . .

Kristin xo

Friday, June 3, 2011

Quotable Color


"If you want an interesting party sometime, combine cocktails and a fresh box of crayons for everyone."
- Robert Fulghum

Wednesday, June 1, 2011

"Arting" with the Kids!

6 x 6 Chunky Canvases with Monogram

My little friend Ashton turned 11 over the weekend. She celebrated in style with a day's worth of activities followed by a slumber party for 8 of her closest friends. One of her life loves is art, so I volunteered to create and teach a project that I hoped they would all have fun with. The results are what you see here: a series of 6 x 6 chunky canvases collaged with handmade papers (a la Shona Cole) and topped off with painted and glittered initials. We documented the process step-by-step so that I could share it with you here . . .

Sand craft store initials 
Create handmade papers using printer paper, Gesso and craft paints
Paint initials in desired color
Add stamps to painted papers
Tear handmade papers and glue onto canvas with gel medium
Add gel medium to painted initial and sprinkle with iridescent glitter
Adhere initials with E-6000 (I did this on my own) and allow to dry
Volia! Happy Birthday Ashton - I love you! 

Kristin xo