Holiday Blog Hop - Create Your Own Gift Wrap - And Video!

{Gift Wrap Created w/ Decorative Papers & 1 Stencil}

"Santa Claus has the right idea. Visit people once a year."

- Victor Borge

Helllllloooooo & Happy Holidays!

I hope this finds you safe, warm and feeling incredibly loved. 

Speaking of which - love that is - I can't wait to share with you the latest from the Jessica Sporn Designs Creative Team: a Holiday Blog Hop using her ever-so-lovely Stamps & Stencils. . . .

Not only are we hopping along with Jessica Sporn herself, but also with the following Design Team Elves, er, Artists:

Sherry Canino

Karen Gaunt

Denise Alloca

And in the spirit of the Season, there are presents to be had as well! That's right, a total of three (3) lucky winners will win one of the goodies below:

Giveaway #1 Blessings: Rubber (Moon) Art Stamp

Giveaway #2 Smoochy Ornament handmade by Jessica Sporn

Giveaway #3 Gorgeous Wall Hanging by Denise Alloca

(It even has a little clip for hanging your favorite picture or notes!) 

How cool is that?! All you have to do is leave a comment here - and everywhere else you hop - to be considered. You have until next Monday (12/12, 9 am EST) to put your hat in the ring, and the winners will be announced on Jessica's blog the following day. Good luck!

So what did I do for the Holiday Hop?

I played around with making my own Gift Wrap using decorative papers and just one stencil. I tend to decorate my home in candy colors for Christmas, and this wrapping paper is no exception. I found that Jessica Sporn's Paisley Flower Repeat was the perfect partner for creating elegant patterns on a variety of old 12 x 12 scrapbook papers I had on hand.

Wanna see more? Here are a few detail shots:

Lime green Christmas wrap with a handmade fabric bow

{To make a smaller bow, cut the width in half and adjust the length to your liking}.

Oranges and pinks with Stickles glitter for an "embossed" look. . . .

Teal with Swarovski Crystals. 'Cause every Christmas deserves a bit of Sparkle. 

{Oh, and in case you're wondering. . . . yes, the boxes are all empty! I know, I know. Crazy, right? In the end, they will be for your eyes only}. Thanks for watching, hopping and playing along! 

I wish you much love, luck and magic this Season and always.

Kristin xo

Art Journaling w/ Decorative Papers & Photocopies: On Video!

Torn Edge Journal Page

"Make it simple. Make it memorable. Make it inviting to look at. Make it fun to read."

- Leo Burnett

Happy Monday!

I've been playing around in my art journal lately, which really means that I've been playing on single sheets of watercolor paper that, for some reason, I've been ripping the edges off of. It's like some sort of paper rebellion - or maybe I just like the look of torn edges waiting for embellishment. Either way, here's another offering - and another video sharing the process. . . . 

I hope you like it! And if you ever decided to try your hand at this tiny torn rebellion, let me know. I'd love to feature it on my Facebook page!

With Much LOVE,

Kristin xo

Quick and Easy Gift Tags & Video!

Altered Wood Gift Tags

"It doesn't matter where you are, you are nowhere compared to where you can go."

- Bob Proctor

Hellooooooo! 

I hope this little video I created using wood gift tags I found in the dollar section at Target brings a sparkly little light to your day.

With Much Love,

Kristin xo

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

Teeny-Tiny Art Journal & Video!

{3.5 x 6.5 Teeny-Tiny Art Journal}

"Someone once said it's the good girls who keep diaries because the bad girls never have the time.

 Me? I just wanna live a life I'm gonna remember even if I don't write it down."

- Anon

Hellloooooo! 

I hope this finds you happy, well, and in the throws of stuffing your face full of candy. (Oh wait, that's me). . . . ANYway, I had the time to play this week, and wanted to share what I did. 

Truth be told, I knew I wanted to create a video, but I had absolutely no idea what to do. It was only when I took out a big piece of watercolor paper to cover my work space for filming, that it occurred to me to create a Teeny-Tiny art journal from a scrap of it. 

So I got out my ruler and wax thread and started making a bitty book inspired by artist Teesha Moore's Amazing 16 page Journal. It's a really small version, but it was fun, easy and done within an hour.

Thank you for watching! I hope you like it and maybe even create a Teeny-Tiny journal of your own. If you do, please let me know! I'd love to feature it on my Facebook Page. 

Kristin xo

"Ghosting" with Drawing Gum & A Halloween Stencil!

9 x 7 Hot Press Watercolor Paper

"When witches go riding, and black cats are seen, 

the moon laughs and whispers, tis near Halloween"

- Unknown 

Things are getting a bit spooky over here!

Check out the following video to see what I did with removable masking fluid and Jessica Sporn's brand-spanking-new stencil that was just released for Halloween. . . .

With Candy Kisses,

Kristin xo

"Frightfully Fall" Blog Hop & Giveaway!

"Boo"

8 x 8 Mixed Media on Wood

Helllloooo & Happy Fall! 

To celebrate all things crisp, cool and Pumpkin Spice-ish, I'm thrilled to be playing along with the Jessica Sporn Designs Creative team for our very-first-ever Blog Hop! October's theme is "Frightfully Fall," and I for one, can't wait to see with everyone did with it!  

Check out all the players here:

Jessica Sporn

Denise Alloca

Marit Barentsen

Sherry Canino

Lizzy Wurmann

Anddddddd while you're hoping, be sure to leave a comment on each post! There's a fabulous giveaway up for grabs, and every comment counts. There will be one lucky winner to win both the Cascading Leaves Stencil and the Tree of Life Stamp. . .

Cascading Leaves Stencil

Tree of Life Stamp

For your chance to win, simply leave on comment here and on every post you visit. All comments on all the blog hop participants count, so be sure to leave your love by Monday, October 10th. Comments close on 10/10/16 at 9:00 PM EST, and the winners will be announced on Jessica's blog the next day.

Wanna see what I did?

I played with the Horned Owl Stencil and created an Owl for an Owl, of sorts. Anywho, I hope you like watching along . . .  

Frightfully Yours, 

Kristin xo

Out Of Practice. And A Video to Prove It. . . .

"My big thesis is that although the world looks messy and chaotic, if you translate it into the world of numbers and shapes, patterns emerge and you start to understand why things are the way they are."

- Marcus du Sautoy

I learned something last time at bat in the studio. As you may have guessed by my lack of posts or art or really anything of creative value this Summer, I've been totally absent. Absent from painting, absent from drawing, and absent from the very room that I usually long to play in. {Although, having said that, I did spend weeks - literally weeks - transforming that hot mess of a room into a real working space with proper storage, organization and a new YouTube set up, so that was exciting}.

I think my absence in part comes from the fact that this was the first Summer that I didn't have The Summer of Color, an annual art event I hosted for 5 years, keeping me busy. And I think in part because of all this time I had on my hands, I just froze. Like a deer in headlights. But like, one that's holding art supplies and stuff. 

So back to what I learned. For me, when I'm out of sorts or out of practice, I find myself waffling when I get back to it. And my waffling, turns out, comes in layers. Many, many layers. I don't know if its insecurity that makes me want to throw every trick or technique or color that I ever learned, used or bought to the table, or honestly, if my picker is just off. You know, that voice that tells you when enough is enough. Maybe that voice is just quiet right now. Or, I guess there's always the opposite, that this page just didn't want to stop being played with.

Either way, I filmed the process and you can be the judge. If you too have been absent from creating, I hope my lack of direction in the above video inspires you in some way. After all, sometimes all we really need is a bit of messy & chaotic to get us back in the game . . . .

With love,

Kristin xo

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At Your Fingertips: Organizing Your Stamps & Stencils!

"When you start recognizing that you're having fun, life can be delightful." 

- Jane Birkin

Helllllooooo! 

I hope this finds you happy, well and hopefully, with your hands covered in some sort of fabulous neon paint. . . .

Speaking of paint - and neon - I played with a bit (or okay, a lot) of both for the above project that was filmed for the new Jessica Sporn Designs Creative Team. 

Just pop over HERE to watch the video and help us celebrate the beginning of what I know will be a throughly delightful year.

Kristin xo

Exciting News!

"Creativity is contagious. Pass it on." 

- Albert Einstein 

Hellllllllooooo! 

I hope this finds you happy, well and in the throws of creating something fabulous. . . .

Speaking of creating - and fabulous - I have exciting news to share! I along with 7 other artists from across the globe (six countries actually, how cool is that?!) will be representing the ever-so-talented  Jessica Sporn and her beautiful line of stencils and stamps from Stencil Girl & RubberMoon. 

Starting this September, you can expect weekly posts and projects from the Creative Team (many of which will be filmed) as well as occasional guest bloggers and blog hops to keep us all inspired!

Wanna know more? Head over HERE to meet the artists & learn about the Creative Team Celebration GIVEAWAY happening right. this. moment. (Seriously. You don't want to miss it).

Good luck and we'll see you back sooooooooon for some stencil & stampin' fun! 

With Colorful Kisses,

Kristin xo

Turning Old Collages into New Mixed Media!

Turning an old collage into new mixed media

"I curled closer to May, comforted by her warmth."

-- Kiera Cass

Hi there! I've missed you so. 

The last several weeks have been a whirlwind around here, and I'm happy to have found time to play a bit. Actually, it was a few tweens that got me back into the studio! I assist in an art journaling class for kids every Friday, and last week I brought - along with several other collage materials - some colored copies of my old work. I hoped they would like the bright colors and perhaps some of the images, but what I didn't expect was how much they liked the idea of using old art in new ways and, moreover, how much I would learn from them in the process! They completely inspired me to try new things and to look at my own art in a different way. Sooooo, I decided to see what I could do with one of the same copies I'd given them and filmed the process.

In the end, I used copies of one old collage (wayyyyyy back from the first Summer of Color!) and created two new pieces with them: both a loose art journal page & an altered brie box. 

Loose art journal page 

Altered brie box

Wanna see the process? It's all here, and below, and all under 10 minutes . . . 

Thanks for popping by.  Happy May & happy creating from our crazy house to yours.

With colorful kisses,

Kristin xo

Mixed Media Bunny Girl On Wood (& YouTube)!

"But I Only Just Wanna Be A Bunny"

Mixed Media on 10 x 10 Wood Canvas

“As for me I will follow the path of the pink bunnies.” 

― Magenta Periwinkle

Happy Easter! 

In honor of the upcoming holiday, I created a whimisical-little-bunny-girl and filmed the process for YouTube.  

Wanna see the rugged edges? 

And scratchy bunny ears?

All come together? Check it out:

(PLEASE NOTE: Although the counter says otherwise,
THIS VIDEO IS ACTUALLY LESS THAN 20 MINUTES LONG)

As always, thank your for your time & support! 

Happy Easter with love,

Kristin xo

A Mixed Media Collaboration with Ayala Art (Part 2)!

(Painted Foreground: Part 2 of 2 of our collaboration)

"I paint self portraits because I am so often alone, because I am the person I know best."

- Frida Kahlo 

Wheeeeeee: the results are in! 

The collaborative between myself and Ayala Art is now complete & ready for viewing. If you missed last week's post in which I explained what we were up to, just pop over here to check it out. If you're ready to see how we completed the backgrounds we created for each other on YouTube, just take a peek below. . . .

Here's what I finished for Ayala Art:

And - lucky, lucky me - here's what she finished for me:

Thanks for watching along! It was a blast to do, Ayala Art is as sweet-as-can-be, and I can't wait to play again.

Until next time.

With love & Colorful Kisses,

Kristin xo

A Mixed Media Collaboration with Ayala Art!

(Painted & collaged background: Part 1 of 2 of our collaboration)

"I think it is in collaboration that the nature of art is revealed."

- Steve Lacy

I have something exciting to share! Not only have I just completed my first YouTube video of the year, but it is in the form of a collaboration with my friend and artist from Ayala Art! How cool is that?

SO, how did it all go down? (It was fun and easy really). We each decided to create a background on a predetermined substrate, which in this case, was an 8 x 10 canvas panel. I created a background for her to complete, and she did the same for me. We then mailed our canvases to each other to film the rest of the process. So in the end, we will have a total of four videos to share, 2 from each of us.

Wanna see what we did with our first background videos? Okay then, here we go! Below you can find the video I created for Ayala Art:

And here is what she created for me to complete:

Check 'em out and let me know what you think! Then tune in a week from today to see how we completed our given canvas. Fun, yes? (I agree). 

Until next time!

With Love & Colorful Kisses,

Kristin xo

There Will Come A Time . . .

"There will come a time when you believe everything is finished. 

That will be the beginning."

- Louis L'Amore

Happy New Year with Love,

Kristin xo