Journal Play

"You Are What You Eat"

8 x 12 Moleskine Journal

Images from Retro Cafe Art

A new Moleskine + A few hours to play . . .

Thanks for looking!

Kristin xo

So What Do We Call This?

"A Single Star"

8 x 10 Altered Cardboard

Texture created with a doll comb and wet Gesso

(Bird's nest from Lisa's Altered Art and vintage girl / head from The Graphic's Fairy.)

Scrapbooking? Mixed Media? I dunno. What I do know is that I miss printing (and actually using) pictures of Kendra since I stopped scrapping, and I've been looking for a way to incorporate more of her (even if it's just her body in this case ;) into my work. 

My friend's recently published piece in Somerset Memories in which she used a photo as as the main element in her art, inspired me to try the same. . . here is what I came up with . . .

So: what do we call this?

Kristin xo

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

SPA: No. 1

"That there ought!"

4 x 6 Postcard

I had a lot of fun with this week's theme - No. 1 - at Sunday Postcard Art. It's been a while since I've done any collage, and I thought that this would be the perfect opportunity to get out some of my Alice sheets and play . . .

"That there Ought" started life as a piece of painted card stock that was first treated with a Gesso Relief technique (you can go here to see it first hand). To that, I placed several #1 stickers over the surface and used them as a mask for bright green acrylic. Once peeled off, I added images From Alice in Wonderland that spoke to me and enhanced them with white gel pen. Final touches included a border of bold paint pens to create a scallop (still into them from last week ;), colored pencil, black ink and two forms of glitter. The quote reads, "There ought to be a book written about me, that there ought! And when I grow up, I'll write one."

Thanks for your time! I look forward to seeing all of your "No. 1" postcards this week . . . 

Kristin xo

The House of Art

Gesso Relief on Journal Pages

March Video on the above technique is up at The House

March content is up at The House of Art! I'm honored to be included among the amazing group of artists featured this month as we explore the use of Texture in our Mixed Media work. Just pop over to see educational videos from LK Ludwig, Susan Tuttle, Journalartista, The House's creator Emme and Me as we explore various ways to create depth and interest to our projects. You'll also be able to read several artist's takes on the subject of "Allowing yourself permission to be a Student" throughout the month.

So, what is The House of Art? It's a new Mixed Media online community in which articles, videos and forums are posted on a monthly basis. And the best part? It's totally and completely free. That's right, all you have to do is sign up to become a member and gain access to all the education and discussions: you can post your work, meet other artists and find a friendly place to hang your hat . . . Oh! And there's also an amazing giveaway this month (I don't know how Emme does it): sign up to win a Graphics Tablet from Monoprice! How cool is that?! You have until the end of March to try your luck . . .

So check out the videos - mine is on creating Texture with Gesso Relief - and have fun! And if you do watch mine, make sure not to miss the final few seconds. . . just sayin'. . .

Kristin xo