The Summer of Color - ORANGE

"Orange You Glad to See Me?"

8 x 10 Watercolor Journal Page

{This collage was inspired by the sections of an orange and a familiar joke. It was created using personal pictures (that's Kendra with the lollipop ;), vintage text, a portion of a soda can and images from Lisa's Altered Art}

The Color Purple

As we head into our last two weeks of The Summer of Color, I must say that I'm endlessly impressed by the work you've been creating and sharing with us here. Your Purple pieces were majestic, fun, feminine, whimsical and downright beautiful. I'm amazed at the outpouring of support you've given to one another and want to thank you for sharing your links with us here, your pictures on our Flickr group (we're nearing 350 contributions!) and for the creative community you've fostered on our Facebook page. It's been quite a ride . . .

So Who Won Purple Week?

The Purple giveaway (pictured in the post below) was won by:

YOU

Please Email me your address and I'll get your Purple goods right out . . .

And Now - Welcome to Orange Week! 

(Monday August 1st - Sunday August 7th)

We saved one of the boldest hues for last and I for one can not wait to see what you come up with. Should you choose to accept it, your Bonus! challenge is to in some way incorporate (or be inspired by) your favorite quote or poem. As always, please (A) link your blog or Flickr feed in the Widget below so that others can find you (B) leave one comment in the comment section at the end of this post if you created an Orange piece and (C) leave an additional comment if you completed the Bonus! challenge.

Here's What We've Got This Week . . .

{A vintage (1952) "Elsie's Cook Book" for your collage collection, Tim Holtz Distress Ink in Spiced Marmalade, Prismacolor Premier broad marker in Orange, Prismacolor Premier fine line marker #005, Liquitex soft body acrylic in Cadmium Orange, a yard of rich orange satin ribbon and a sprinkling of iridescent and orange Swarovski crystals}

Good Luck!

And What Will We Do Next?

Our last challenge - Monday August 8 - Sunday August 14th - is rather simple: we're gonna have a good ole fashioned Show and Tell. Wether you joined every challenge or not, in order to participate next week, please share with us the body of work you created throughout The Summer of Color. Now, how you do that is up to you. If you created a series of journal pages as I have for example, you may want to make a journal cover and show us the pieces within it. If you created a series of canvas work, perhaps you can give us a gallery showing of how they look on the wall. Or if you've made a variety of items, you may just want to share pictures of your work. Wether it's a slideshow or a compilation of shots, the choice is yours. It will be the final adieu to our Summer of creativity and connection together. . . 

Will There be a Giveaway in the Last Week?

Yep. Although there will be no Bonus! challenge in our last week together, we will link our posts or Flickr feeds and there will be a beautiful, sparkling, colorful giveaway . . . see you then . . .

Kristin xo

SPA: Stork

"Dreams"

6 x 4 Postcard

I'm honored to play host this week over at Sunday Postcard Art! It may not come as a surprise that I choose a theme near and dear to my heart, Stork. . . .

This postcard was created using several collage elements including decorative paper for the background, vintage floral wallpaper for the cloud and vintage baby shower greeting cards for both the baby bundle and the stork. Both buff and titanium acrylics were used to keep the piece soft and several charcoals, wax pastels and wax crayons were added for depth. Final touches included a vintage poem by Harriet Dustin Buffum, Stickles glitter as a lining to the cloud, a few sprinkles of german glass glitter to represent stars and a single Swarovski stone on the Stork.

Thank you for allowing me to act as your host this week. I look forward to seeing all your beautiful Stork creations . . .

Kristin xo

MMM: Shape Up

"By Any Other Name"

10 inch round canvas

This is a special day: It is the final post for one of my favorite sites, Mixed Media Monday. Unfortunately, MMM has come to an end and this month's prompt, Shape Up is it's final challenge. I have a strong affinity for Diane and her beautiful site which has been the source of much inspiration for me in the last year-and-a-half.

As you may know, I started Twinkle, Twinkle in an effort to spread the word about our family's hope to adopt again. But I had no idea what to do with a blog once I got it. So I looked to challenge sites to provide an audience and a focus. MMM became a place to hang my hat, and for a while there, I posted just once a week and for those challenges alone. They taught me to grow as an artist, to learn new techniques and of course meet amazing, talented, beautiful people along the way. As a matter of fact, I'll never forget my first post for MMM - I stayed up all night to complete the artwork and found out the next morning that I was too late! The results for the challenge had already been posted and I learned there and then when (and when not to) submit my work. Diane was so sweet as she greeted the "newbie" and told me to post it anyway. And I (almost) never missed a challenge since . . .

And here we are, all this time later and I find myself posting to Mixed Media Monday once more. I've selected round for the Shape Up prompt and was completely and totally inspired by the new Lilly Pulitzer Spring catalogue (which, btw, is so fab and would be great for art journals ;). I wanted a bold color palette with a lot of texture and chose this rose to end our ride with . . . 

Detail of sides

Detail of texture

So much love and thanks go out to Diane for all of her efforts in making us all feel at home with MMM. It has been my total honor and pleasure to work with you all and I look forward to seeing you on other challenge sites out there. Until we meet again . . . 

Kristin xo 

Moleskine: III

"She hated the sound of her own voice"

Moleskine Journal 

It's been an artful few days, but you wouldn't know it by looking here. However, I was able to sneak in some time to create another journal page today and wanted to share it with you. Although the title does seem a bit mysterious and profound, it really isn't. I've been stepping into uncharted territory lately and it's all made me a bit self conscious.  Isn't it funny how much of our life and thoughts steep into our art? But enough talk . . . that will all make sense later . . .

Kristin xo

SPA: Hobbies & Pastimes

"She Liked to Play with Glitter"

6 X 4 corrugated cardboard

This week's theme for Sunday Postcard Art is Hobbies or Pastimes. I thought I'd have a go at the challenge (I'm a newbie to SPA) and create a girlie-girl whose hobby is to play with glitter (It's a stretch, I know) . . .

This piece was created on a 6 x 4 cutout of corrugated cardboard which was ripped, gessoed and washed with iridescent glitter and pale pink water-soluble wax pastels. The edges were further distressed with the back of a knife and then stamped with a swirl stamp before adding (silver Stickles) glitter. The girl was made on watercolor paper with acrylics, gel pens and Caran d'Ache crayons before being cut out and added to the background. Her paint pallet is comprised of globs of glitter. Final touches include more Stickles glitter on the dress and a dot on the whites of her eyes.

Thanks for looking! I look forward to seeing what everyone else does this week. . .

Kristin xo

MMM: Tis The Season

"Santa's Pooped"

16 x 20 gallery-wrapped canvas

I know, I know: a Santa image the day after Christmas!? Only to show what I imagine to be his face after a whole season of merry making has come to an end. "Santa's Pooped" is my entry for this month's Mixed Media Monday prompt, Tis The Season, and my way of depicting what I imagine most of us feel like today . . . 

This piece was created on a 16 x 20 gallery-wrapped canvas using pencil, acrylic paints and water-soluble wax pastels. I added two types of Golden products for depth, including Texture Paste for the beard and Crackle Paste for the trim on his hat. The image was extended to the sides of the canvas and charcoal was added to the surface for interest. Final touches included extra color under his eyes to represent fatigue and silver glass glitter for the pom-pom trim. 

I hope you had a wonderful holiday season and wish you the happiest of new years . . . now, go get some rest . . .

Kristin xo