Summer Blog Hop, Video & Giveaway w/ Jessica Sporn Designs!

"What is one to say about June, the time of perfect young summer, the fulfillment of the promise of the earlier months, and with as yet no sign to remind one that its fresh young beauty will ever fade".

-- Gertrude Jekyll

Helllloooo & Happy {almost} Summer! 

To celebrate, I'm HOPPING with the Jessica Sporn Design Team where we'll be sharing Summer-inspired projects and offering a GIVEAWAY of Jessica Sporn's newest stencil, "Women Will Heal the World." 

Wanna see the stencil first? Okay, here it is:

"Women Will Heal the World" by Jessica Sporn Designs For Stencil Girl

Pretty fabulous, right? It's such a unique stencil, I can't wait to share what I did with it. Here's my take on the theme; a DIY canvas tote for all our Summertime Art Journaling needs. . . .

Now, Let's get hopping! Be sure to comment here and on each blog listed below for multiple chances to win Jessica's newest stencil. All comments must be entered by Monday, June 12th, 6:00 pm EST. The winner will be announced the following day, Tuesday June 13th, on Jessica's Blog. 

Marit Barentsen

Karen Gaunt

Jessica Sporn

Until we meet again,

Kristin xo

Spring Blog Hop w/ Jessica Sporn Designs!

(8 x 10 Canvas Panel)

"It is Spring again. The earth is like a child that knows poems by heart."

-- Rainer Maria Rilke

Spring is absolutely, positively my favorite time of year. Not only is the weather gorgeous, but the air itself seems to be drenched in sweet smelling, saturated color. 

So the idea of creating in the theme of Spring for our latest blog hop with Jessica Sporn Designs, gets my head spinning in all kinds of whimsical directions. And! I had a cool idea I wanted to try out: what if I took Jessica's "Build-A-Villa" stamps from RubberMoon and enlarged them to create the focal point in a collage? And, if I did that, then wouldn't it be cool to see what's behind the windows and doors? Anyway, that's where my mind wandered, I hope you enjoy watching along:

For more Spring Fun, keep hopping! Check out what both Jessica Sporn and Denise Alloca did with the theme, and be sure to comment on all posts you visit. Jessica will be giving away her (beautiful, stunning, I must have this!) "Layered Peonies" stencil from Stencil Girl to one lucky winner. 

"Layered Peonies" by Jessica Sporn for Stencil Girl

All entries must be registered by next Monday, April 19th (6:00 pm, EST) and will be announced on Jessica's blog the following day. 

Have fun, good luck and Happy, Happy Spring!

Kristin xo

SaveSave

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

"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

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

An Arty Collaboration . . .

An Arty Collaboration

2 x 4 Gallery wrapped canvas

"Unity is strength . . . when there is teamwork and collaboration, wonderful things can be achieved."

- Mattie Stepanek

One of the things I most look forward to every year is a trip I take with my friend Daniele Shannon. We actually met here - online through our blogs - several years ago and decided to meet in person at an art retreat in Portland. Long story short, we had such a good time that we've made it a tradition, and have been meeting every October since. We don't actually go to a formal retreat anymore, but rather make our own adventure by picking a place somewhere cool and lugging our stash to make art. 

For our most recent trip - to the wineries in Temecula, CA - we decided to do something different and brought a huge (I mean, huge) canvas to the party. The intention was to create a collaborative piece that Daniele would then take back to her new home in Colorado. Wanna see what we did with 3 days, the 2 of us and a lotta wine? Okay then, here we go . . . .

(The canvas in it's entirety)

(The sides)

And there you have it: An Arty Collaboration! And although I highly doubted our ability to finish both that huge canvas and all the wine bottles we had, I'm happy to report that we we successful at finishing both. . . .

Until we meet again,

Kristin xo

"But I Have Nothing to Wear!"

 8 x 8 Birchwood Canvas

"But I Have Nothing to Wear!"

"Halloween is confusing. All my life my parents said, "Never take candy from strangers." Then they dressed me up and said, "Go beg for it." I didn't know what to do! I'd knock on people's door and go, "Trick or treat." "No thank you." 

-- Rita Rudner

Boo! I hope this finds you happy, well and in the process of stuffing your face full of candy. . . .

In the spirit of Halloween, I have a little vampire girl to share with you. It was actually Kendra's idea to give her vampire teeth, which in the end, worked perfectly with my idea to create a young, dark creature struggling with the problem of having nothing to wear for the occasion. Here's what we came up with:

Neck extending down the deeply cradled canvas

Fiber paste helped to create texture for the limited palette

And scribbly-swirls (I'm certain that's a word) define the sides

And here she is! Our little one concerned about her costume. 

I hope you & your little ghouls have a wonderful, happy Halloween!

See you at Party!

To Love, Art & Reese's Peanut Butter Cups,

Kristin xo