Deli Paper Mail Art!

Deli Paper Mail Art

" I love the rebelliousness of snail mail, and I love anything that can arrive with a postage stamp. There's something about that person's breath and hands on the letter."

- Diane Lane

I love deli paper. There's something so magical about drawing something on a translucent surface which can later be altered by adding it to something busy, colorful - and in my case lately - incredibly bright. My friend and fellow lover of the stuff recently (well okay, like a year ago) sent me a huge stash from her own collection so that I could play, play, play. Thank you Linda for sharing it with me, I've been having fun with it ever since! 

As a matter of fact, I've recently decided to create a series of mail art using deli paper as the base. Wanna see what I came up with?? Okay then, here we go. . . .

Deli paper sketch with pencil, Micron black & Sakura white pens

As she appears on top of her altered Priority Mail envelope

(Alpha stickers played a part here)

Little Blue Girl on a small Priority Mail Box

(Back view) 

And in case you wanna how I did it, here's the exact, technical-ish process:

I first collected several US Priority Mail boxes and envelopes in various sizes. Once I decided which combination of materials I wanted to work with, I began by painting both the front and back of each substrate with gesso. Once dry, I began playing with a variety of supplies and mark making materials including spray inks, homemade stencils, oil pastels, charcoal and pencil. 

In order to bring something different to the now colorful backgrounds, I decided to draw several quick sketches on translucent Deil paper to place on top. The sketches were first created in pencil and then brought to life with black ink and pops of white for definition. Once complete, I then tore around the images and glued them on to each box or envelope. 

Further details were then added with bits of collage including bubble gum wrappers, pieces of decorative napkins and other bits of dried paint on deli paper from a past project in which I used deli paper as my palette. Lastly, I added white paint over stickers that were removed once dry to create the “Somerset” and Zip on the pink envelope (so okay, for those of you paying real close attention, you now know where they're headed ;) and added stamped lines on the fronts of each piece to represent the addresses. 

Oh yeah, I also did a simple black and white pen & ink drawing on a large Priority Mail box to send the whole lot off. 

And there you have it: Deli Paper Mail Art!

Until we meet again, I wish you creative days & colorful kisses!

Kristin xo

Mind. Body. Soul. (Art Journaling)

Okay, so I guess I lied. I thought I was onto the next word in the series of journal prompts from sweet Leslie's Mind. Body. Soul. e-course, but for some reason, it seems that Renew was not done with me. . . 

Here are two more pages in the almost-complete journal:

"Renew"

Scrapbook materials enhanced with glitter gel pen and ink

Martha Stewart Glue pen and glitter on neck and lips

"Gave 'em all away"

Background of decorative paper, stamps and acrylic

Collage using pieces of Kendra's baby clothes

Page tab created with a baby label and accessory

That's it! Now I'm off to create the final pages for Anxiously Engaged . . . whew . . .

Kristin xo

Mind. Body. Soul. (Art Journaling)

I'm happy to say that I've completed the work for week one in my beautiful friend Leslie's new E-course, Mind.Body.Soul. Our task was to create two journal pages focusing on positivity and the word Believe. Here is what I came up with:

"You Are Enough"

Elements attached with string and staples

Revealed message

"Sit with it for a While"

Torn papers and rub-ons

Stamping and a page full of decorative tape

And just as a side: I broke out a new journal for this class, the Strathmore Visual Journal, and I'm more than impressed with it. It's a Cold Press watercolor journal with a good weight (140 lb) and no matter how many layers (painting, rub-ons, stamping, gluing, image transferring, um, glittering . . . ) I put it through, it stayed with me (no balling up or wrinkling). And I loved the 5 x 8 size as it was very easy to complete in one sitting. At around $5 (I got mine at Michaels, but they are everywhere), I would recommend it in a heartbeat!

Thanks for looking! I'm now off to see what's in store for Week Two . . . please feel free to join us, it's inspiring, fun & free!

Kristin xo

Paint Party Friday (Week 33)

"Boo."

4 x 6 Postcard

Happy Paint Party Friday!

And Happy almost Halloween . . . may your weekend be full of ghosts, goblins and plenty of chocolate . . .

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

No Plan, No Purpose - Result

Detail 

It was a lot of fun (and a bit of a challenge) to create something with No Plan or Purpose in mind before doing so. I started with a few of my favorite collage materials, some matte gel medium, a 16 x 20 canvas panel and an open heart. I decided to go with the flow and see what happens. Since you have all been so kind as to comment on my progress, I thought it would be interesting to show the Results to you step-by-step. Here's what I came up with . . .

Soften the background with cream and pink acrylics

Add scalloped edges and a decorative curtain. Sand.

At this point, I knew there would be a disco ball in the center.

Highlight and define with white paint and charcoal. 

I found a vintage image from a greeting card that I outlined with charcoal and burnished onto the canvas to serve as the base for my central figure. I then spent time defining and painting the figure before adding crystals and glitter to her dress, disco ball and drapes.

The Final Result  . . .

"Under the Disco Ball"

16 x 20 Canvas Panel

(you may click to enlarge)

Thanks for joining me on my journey! Let's do this again sometime . . .

Kristin xo