Dreaming about Spring

Hello dear bloggers, I hope you are all doing well.    I'm still not in blogland much but again thought I would show a few things that I've worked on recently.

This first abstract mixed media painting is from a LB2018 Lesson (with Laura Horn), I followed her techniques, but my painting is not like hers, I went my own way.

Next is another whimsical (or stylized) girl using inks (her face has some acrylic):

And finally a couple of cards that I created using Distress Inks, stencils and stamps in the background along with paper flowers that I molded with a stylus.  I used rolled roses in the center of the larger flowers.  So much fun :)

Well again that's enough for one post !

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Cheers
Shirley

Whimsical Girl

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I created this journal page with acrylic paints and pens earlier this year when I was more relaxed and had time. I'm looking forward to getting back to mixed media art and drawing, but my craft 'studio' is packed up, I won't have much space and limited supplies for art for a few months.  We are moving to a temporary location soon while waiting for our new home to be built :) 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Merry Muse

Hello creative people, I hope all is well.   It's VERY dreary here but milder than normal due to heavy cloud cover.    I'm starting to feel like a sponge as we have not seen the sun in quite a while.    Normally January brings in cold but sunny days.

I am keeping up with Lifebook 2017 lessons, but today I'm showing you a mixed media piece that I did between the weekly lessons.   This is very much inspired by Tamara Laporte of Williowing Art - the Merry Muse course, it's the same layout but my girl & dove look different.  

Thanks for stopping by and have a great weekend,
Shirley

Life Book 2017 - Week 1

Hello everyone, I hope you had a great start to the New Year.

My Christmas gift from my dear hubby was enrollment into Life Book 2017 - from Willowing Arts (Tamara Laporte).  Life Book is a year long, weekly on-line art journal class with Tamara and 23 other Mixed Media Artists.

Week one included a warm up page and a wonderful detailed lesson by Tamara.  I'm showing you my pages from this week.  It was so much fun with lots collage, drawing, painting, mixed media & a big mess in  my craft room, I loved every moment.  I'm using 12 x 9 inch quality mixed media pages, they will be bound into a book at the end of the year.  Tamara's lessons are awesome (I've taken several), I love her art and her teaching style.

The above whimsical 'Star Girl' is from the main lesson - Journey through the Light.   The basket is actually 3D and is holding stars on which I've written words for 2017.  

The mixed media page above was the warm up lesson and I have ideas to create similar (but smaller) backgrounds for cards :)

Thank you very much for your visit and have a great weekend,
Shirleyx

Happy New Year !

Hello and Happy New Year !  I hope you enjoyed the festive season with family and friends.   

Thank you for all your visits and comments in 2016.   I wasn't 'here' as much last year as life is busy and I'm doing my best to make time for creativity.  

I am spending enjoyable time drawing and painting stylized/whimsical faces using techniques learned from on-line classes with Tamara Laporte of Willowing Arts.

Today I'm showing a mixed media lady who is ready for her wedding day.    I thought she was appropriate to show for the New Year as we think about new beginnings.  

You can see the stamped hearts under the paint on her dress in this close up.   I find stamping under layers of paint much easier than collage but am experimenting with both.

Thanks for your visit.   I hope you have a wonderful year filled with good health, happiness and lots of creativity.

Cheers
Shirleyx

Purple and Blue Lady

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well and enjoying the festive season.

I'm taking another break from Christmas designs to show you a new stylized lady that I drew and painted.  I'm still having fun practicing techniques learned from Tamara Laporte's of Willowing Arts courses.

I used mixed media for this page, mainly acrylic paints, but also pens, pencils, neocolour crayons and I collaged tissue under her top. 
 
I also used stencils in the background along with a wooden stamp and acrylic paint.  I love water based media, it's much different using acrylics, but they are great that you can paint over top when dry if you want.

The photo below shows how the newly fallen snow looked a couple of mornings ago, very beautiful.   We love snow and crisp sunny cold days but our winters are a bit long.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley x

Pink Lady

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I'm taking a break from Christmas cards today to show you another face drawing and painting.  I'm a little obsessed with sketching faces lately but I won't bore you by showing everything. 

I created this page using techniques learned in Tamara Laporte's of Willowing Arts, Fabulous faces self study course.    I wasn't following anything, just having fun practicing drawing and painting with mixed media.  I'm a gardener and love flowers and so I like to doodle draw them as well. 

This is a different colour combination for me.   The hair started out with copper acrylic paint and I didn't like how it looked.  The beauty of acrylics is that you can easily go over top when dry :)   So then I decided on Magenta hair with a few copper highlights.  I was a bit 'stumped' as to what colours should surround her, but eventually made the decision on blues and pinks.   The background has a few layers including stenciling.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.
Shirleyx

Mixed Media with Tattered Flowers

Hello creative people, I hope you are enjoying a wonderful weekend.  Our Spring continues to be up and down with the temperatures.  This weekend, it's a little like winter but without the snow and the middle of the week was more like summer.

I'm still hooked on making paper flowers, it's fun to use different colours and shaping techniques and for this card I used mixed media to create the background.

I start with Strathmore mixed media card stock, 400 Series which I like a lot as it holds a lot of water and has a smooth vellum finish which is great to stamp on.

The first step was to create texture using Tim Holtz Stencil THS032 Flourish and molding paste.  When dry I added Distress Paints (Violet and Blueprint).    I brushed a little heavy body white acrylic paint after drying.  I also stamped some lettering using blue Versafine ink which is hard to see in the photo.  I also used a little turquoise mica power and finished with Distress Crackle paint here and there.

Dies:   Marianne Design - Clock CR1234, Sizzix Tim Holtz Tattered Florals 656640, Dee's Distinctively - Large Green Leaf

I wet the flower die cuts after blending Distress Inks over top and crinkled the largest for the first layer.  I curled some of petals as you can see and added small beads to the centres with Glossy Accents.

You can see more of the detail in the close ups below.

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week,
Shirley

The Voice of the Sea

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well and enjoying summer.  It's quite hot and humid here but still better than minus 25 Celsius and snow blowing.  

I have a page from my small Art Journal to show today.  I actually started this back in May when the Art Journal Journey challenge was "in the Sea"  but I was too busy to finish it until recently.

This is a mixed media piece but I can no longer remember the steps.   I used acrylic inks and paints along with a couple of stencils.    I also added some glitter with spray glue and silver embossing enamel.

Stamps:  Quote is by Impression Obsession which I used crackle paint over top.    Sea horse Set by Designs by Ryn.

It's hard to see but I also used Design by Ryn's Floral Spiral Stencil in the background.  The flower die cuts are from Heartfelt Creations.  I used white cardstock, blended ink, molded and added micro beads to the centers. 

You can see some of the detail on the close up below:

Thanks for stopping by and have a great week,
Shirleyx

Vintage Texture Collage

Happy Weekend everyone, I hope you are doing well.  It's a snowy day here.

I have something different to show today, a textured collage on a 8 x 10 canvas.  I think this was inspired by Finnabair or maybe from what I've seen at blogs and/or Pinterest.   I'm drawn to vintage designs, but I don't create them often.

I struggled a little with this.  At one point it was brown and blue and the end result is after a few layers of Gesso to 'start over'.   

Materials:

• light molding paste with and without using stencils
• gel medium
• lace
• flourish die cuts (Tim Holtz)
• drywall tape
• metal embellishments, buttons and rhinestones
• Silks acrylic glaze
• Acrylic paint
• Gesso
• Dylusions inks - purple and turquoise
• Stickles
• silver embossing enamel
• the vintage photo is one that I found on Pinterest, it did say 'free printable'.

I started with a collage of paper to create depth but it got lost under everything else. 

Thanks for your visit and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Mixed Media with Circles and a Flower

Hello everyone I hope you are having a great weekend.    It's very cold here, but at least we are seeing the sun again.    I  can deal with cold by dressing for it, but I find the lack of sun makes my brain foggy and drains energy.

I have a card to show today that was great fun creating.   I gained the inspiration to start using mixed media again from Astrid's gorgeous artwork and detailed tutorials.

I started with mixed media card stock and took the following steps to create this card design:

• Covered with Tim Holtz tissue using gel gloss medium and wrinkled when adhering (see Tim Holtz's January Tag)
• Painted with Distress Paints, spritzed with water
• Sprayed with Distress Spray, spritzed with water
• Stenciled circles using white acrylic paint
• Added outline to circles with black Neo-colour crayon, blended with water & brush
• Covered background with Gel Medium
• I distressed the edge and painted with black acrylic paint

The Tattered Blossoms (dies with co-ordinating stamps) by Heartfelt Creations were coloured with Distress Ink and 3D Stamp Paint.  The centre is tiny beads adhered with Glossy Accents.  Branch die cut is by Tim Holtz - Sizzix, coated with clear Glimmer Glaze.

'Art' is from Chocolate Baroque's Artistic Expressions set, coloured with Distress Spray and painted with Distress Crackle paint

I'm joining the challenge at The Mixed Media Card Challenge, as my card fits the theme - this is the first time I've used Distress Sprays over Distress Paint and I used tissue in the background.

I've also used the Tattered Blossoms stamp for the first time so this card qualifies to join into the fun challenge over at Darnell's  Blog- Never Before Used Stuff Challenge

Thanks for stopping by and have a fabulous day,
Shirleyx

Mixed Media Canvas with Fluttering Hearts

Hello everyone and welcome to 2015!

I have a canvas to show today featuring stamps from Chocolate Baroque's gorgeous new Fluttering Hearts set.

I took the following steps:

• Adhered Tim Holtz tissue on canvas with gel medium
• Covered with Gesso
• Added texture with Tim Holtz hearts stencil using light molding paste
• Painted with Distress Paints and Silks Acrylic Glaze
• Added texture with acrylic paints using bubble wrap and a Memory Box dotted stencil
• Stamped images from Fluttering Hearts on tissue paper with cobalt Archival Ink
• Adhered tissue with gel medium
• Painted images with acrylic paints and highlighted with white Gelly roll pen

Here is a look at both of the new stamps sets Fluttering Hearts and Punky Hearts that are new this month:

I don't play with mixed media as much as I would like, something I hope to change in 2015.  Below is the entire 10 x 10 canvas.  I wasn't happy with how the photographs were turning out so I cropped it (above).

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirleyx

Steampunk Roses with Texture

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I have Steampunk design using mixed media which was great fun.   I didn't have a plan and was just 'going with the flow'.   

I started with a piece of mixed media cardstock.  I adhered Tim Holtz tissue wrap with Gel medium.  I coloured over top with Neocolour II crayons, sprintz with water and let it run.   I wasn't too happy with the colours and it almost went into the re-cycle bin.  However once dry I added light molding paste over the TCW Gears stencil and painted over top with Silks Acrylic glaze which allowed some colour to show through.  I also used Pearl UTEE around the edges.

I embossed the Roses from Chocolate Baroque's Steampunk Butterfly with silver on watercolour paper, painted with both Tombow markers and Acrylic glaze.  I cut the roses out and attached over the background. 

Thanks for your visit and have a fabulous day,
Shirley

Inspired by Suzi Blu

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a fabulous weekend.   I would like to welcome the new followers, thank you for your interest and visits !

I have something different to show today.   I enjoy drawing 'not real' and 'doodle style' faces.   Recently a friend pointed out a book by mixed media artist, Suzi Blu that she thought I would enjoy.  It's titled "Mixed Media Girls" and she is right I love the book, it's great fun.   Here is my first 'folk art' girl that I drew and painted in my Journal.  

It's difficult to see but the background has texture from acrylic paint, which I stencilled over.   I stamped Design by Ryn's Sea Bubbles to add some fun texture to her hair.  The colouring was done with Prisma Pencils and Neocolour II (water soluble) crayons.   I also used TCW stencils:  Starfall, Circle Explosion and Cubist with Distress Inks and a white pen for the highlighting.

And here is a photo that shows how buried a couple of chairs are in snow.   It's a bit milder today, it's melting a little but it's going to get quite cold this week again.......Spring please come soon !  

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your day,
Shirley

Mixed Media Card Design

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.  We are 'enjoying' a tough winter, the worst in over 20 years.  We got a foot of snow this weekend along with a blizzard, but today the sun was shining and the snow looks beautiful.  

I have a card today that I used a little mixed media to create.   

I started with mixed media cardstock and added a layer of Gesso.  After drying I covered it with a piece of Tim Holtz Tissue using a Gel medium.    I added texture with TCW Harlequin stencil and light molding paste and let it dry.  Next I sprayed Dylusions inks and painted with Silks acrylic glaze.   I added some gold and green Inka Gold wax on the raised pattern.   I coloured the tissue (on the butterfly) with Inktense pencils.

Art is from Chocolate Baroque's Artistic Expressions and the final step was to add some metal charms.

And here is a photo of one our cats, Archie, who was quite 'chill'.   It was tough to get a photo from the angle, but you get the idea.... crossed arms & legs :)

 

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your week,
Shirley

Abstract Light and Dark

Hello everyone, I hope you are doing well.

I have something different to share today and again it's not a card and it's not for Christmas.     I took an Acrylic painting workshop with Karen Ellis in the summer and finally showing the result - an abstract painting :)   We were free to paint what we wanted and not following a design but learning techniques.  However I was inspired by a painting of Karen's that hangs in her studio.   I continued to paint on this piece after I got home, as I could not finish it in the afternoon.

I'm joining in at Art Journal Journey's Light and Dark challenge.    I hope this is OK as it's not my Art Journal, but it matches the theme.  I see the light shining on the 'trees' with dark in the background.

This is a large canvas, I used Acrylic paints, molding paste and stencils.  

Thanks for looking and have a great day!
Shirley

Mixed Media with Butterflies

Hello everyone, I hope all is well.   Our snow melted two days ago and now it's back !  

I have a Mixed Media Collage (on canvas) to show you today. 

 

I started with a 10 x 10 inch stretched canvas.  I covered it with a sheet of Tim Holtz Tissue Wrap - Melange using Matt Gel Medium.   When dry, I added lots of greens & blues with Neocolor II (water colour) crayons, spritzed with water, let it run and then let it dry.   Next I added texture using TCW - Solace stencil with light molding paste and let it dry.   I added the diamond pattern with TCW Harlequin stencil and black acrylic paint.   Next I painted with Silks Acrylic Glazes.

I stamped the large Butterfly from Chocolate Baroque's Tangled Garden set with black on 140lb mixed media paper.   I cut it out & adhered with Glossy Gel Medium, added wires for the antennae and then painted with the Acrylic Glazes. I added lots of stickles to the body.  

I covered everything with clear Distress Crackle paint.   The final step was to add the metal centers to the 'flowers' and the 3 metal butterflies which I also painted a little and added liquid pearls to the center.

Here is a close up where you can see the 'crackle' in the finish.

Thanks for visiting and enjoy your day !
Shirley

Fancy Flower & Mixed Media

Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying the summer, it's been very hot in Ontario, Canada but has recently cooled to more comfortable temps.

I have a design today using a little mixed media along with another flower from Chocolate Baroque's beautiful Fancy Flower set along with a fragment from Lace Fragments. .

I started with a sheet from Chocolate Baroque's Leafy Brocade Printable set and glued it to water colour paper with Modge Podge.   I love the printable sheets, the designs are beautiful and you don't have to store paper, just simply print when you would like one.  They are easy to order too !

Next I added a thin layer of Gesso and when dry I coloured with Neocolour II crayons (water soluble) in botches.   I spritzed water over top and let the colours run together.   I stamped the images with Teal Blue Stazon Ink (permanent water proof ink)  I coloured the flower with Tombow markers and blended with a brush & water.  I outlined with a water based Sharpie paint pen.   I added stickles to the center of the flower.    The sentiment is from Words of Gratitude. 

Thanks for stopping by and have a great day,
Shirley

Mixed Media with Cornflowers

Hello everyone, I hope you are enjoying the weekend.

It's overcast and rainy this afternoon so I stayed inside and played with Acrylic paints, Silks Acrylic Glaze, Molding Paste & stencils.    This is a cropped version of the canvas that is a little larger, but for photograph purposes it looks better this way.  

 

I actually started by covering the board with some pieces of background created with the Gelli Plate.  You can't really see them, but bits & pieces show through.  

I added a little lace, drywall tape and molding paste with TCW Cornflowers & Peacock Pattern stencils.   I used heavy body acrylics and Silks acrylic glaze.  I went back over the flower using the stencil with white acrylic paints and outlined with a pigment pen after dry.   I also added a little silver pearl UTEE around the edges.  

A fun 'play' for a dreary afternoon.   I'll be back in a couple of days with another 'Fancy Flower' by Chocolate Baroque :)

Thanks for stopping by.

Shirley

Published in Craftstamper!

Hello everyone, I hope you are having a great week.

I was excited to learn that this card design was published in the July issue of the Craftstamper magazine (which is full of inspiration, techniques and printed in the UK).

I was inspired to use techniques described in an article by Liesbeth Fidder:  "Awash with Colour" on page 10 of the June 2012 issue of Craftstamper .   I used Neocolour II crayons vs Aquacolour crayons.   All stamped images are by Chocolate Baroque
  

I started by adhering designer paper to water colour paper with modge podge.   After drying, I painted Gesso over top.   Next I used Neocolour II (water soluble) crayons to add colour and sprayed with water to let it run.  

When dry I stamped the fragment around the edge from Textured Fragments using Black Soot Distress Ink.    The words are from Artistic Affirmations and the beautiful flowers are from Fantasy Meadow which I stamped with Black Stazon ink.   The flowers were painted with Tombow markers and I finished by adding stickles. 

Well that's my excitement for today, thanks for stopping by.
Cheers
Shirley