I Run This - Art Journal

Happy Hump Day!  I've been waiting for the weather to clear up so I could get some good pics of my latest art journal page.  This is the page I've been sharing with you on FB :D

I created this page for an online class that I was taking with Tamara Laporte of Willowing Arts.  If you're not familiar with her, you need to check her out.  Here is the link to her website: Willowing, she is AH-MAZING!  I love seeing other artists' creative process because we all have such different ways of doing things.

So many artists are doing women (myself included) but she said something that made so much sense to me.  She said that when we do our women, we're actually painting a part of ourselves.  They may not always look like us but there is definitely something in each piece from our soul.  I have to say, this is SO TRUE!  When I do art shows, I have a lot of people tell me that my women look like me, lol.  Now I don't know if this one does (I don't thinks so) but there are definitely aspects of her that represent me and I hope that others will see pieces of themselves in her too.

She's posing like Tamara's but everything else is all me ;D

I thought long and hard about what I wanted her to say.  She has such a strong look to her so her statement needed filled with strength.  Originally I only had "I Run This" but then I thought, "I need to add to it".  So I added a Mexican proverb about the role of a women:

La casa no descansa en la tierra sino en la Mujer

The translation is "The house does not rest on the earth, but on a woman".  Perfect!!  She is a beautiful queen, strong and fierce.  She is the foundation of her home, LOVE IT!  

 

Thanks for joining me today and I hope you've enjoyed my post!  Hugs to you all, don't forget to be fierce in all you do!!!

What Little Girls Are Made Of - Mixed Media

Happy Friday Everyone!  I hope you all are staying nice and warm.  We're actually having an ice day here in central Texas.  Everything is shut down so it's a great day for creating!  I've been doing a lot of prep work so I can get started on a new batch of paintings.  I was invited to join the Peddler's Show in April so there is lots to do to get ready.  While I was prepping, I came across this mini canvas so I thought I'd have a little fun.

Ta-da!!  This chic is bad!  Okay so I found this awesome stamp at the Grapevine show last summer and had to have it.  It reminded me of Miranda Lambert's Gunpowder & Lead.  I'm a huge Miranda fan and have been wanting to do a series inspired by her songs.  So I thought this would be a nice jumping off point.

This canvas went from brighter colors with butterflies to a darker scene that I felt worked better with the overall design.

She has that "I wish you would" look to her, lol.  I have to say, I love her but I'm really curious to hear what you all think.  So sound off, let me know your thoughts and don't be shy!!

I think she needs to be the first of a "bad girl" series ;D

Thanks for stopping by, stay warm & have a wonderful weekend!!!

What a Wonderful World

Hello, hello!  I'm up on the Paper Wings Productions blog today and I'm still on my flowers kick.  So today I'm sharing an altered/upcycled wooden plaque.  I used the PWP Creative Girl Mixed Media kit and a couple of their NEW release stamp sets.  Here's a peek:

Are you curious about my creative process?!  Well wonder no more!!  Head on over to The Aviary and watch me create this piece from start to finish.  That's right, I'm sharing a video today.  So what are you waiting for, let's create!!

Thanks for joining me, hope you hop over!!

Praise the Lord - Mixed Media

I've been on a roll and I'm happy to report that I've completed another canvas!  I had this one going at the same time as the last one so I couldn't resist doing more flowers.  The colors and the hearts were inspired by Valentines.

This is a 10x10 canvas with a mixture of acrylic paints, gauche, molding paste, inks and paper.

I started out by creating the hearts with paint and molding paste.  I used a palette knife to give them lots of texture.  Next I began doodling the flowers around them.

I added book text for stems and stenciled around the canvas.  To add a little more visual interest, I hand wrote "Praise the Lord with all your Heart" around some of the flowers.  I love incorporating positive messages in my artwork and what could be better than praising the Lord.

All of the edges are painted black for contrast.  Thanks so much for joining me today!!  I'll be up on the Paper Wings Productions blog tomorrow for Tutorial Tuesday, hope you'll join me.

Have a BEAUTIFUL day, blessings!!!

Bloom Where You're Planted

Hi everyone!!  I'm finally ready to share my latest canvas with you.  I've been working on this piece a little here and a little there since New Years.  

My inspiration for this piece was this art journal page:



I really loved the bright colors and whimsical flowers so I wanted to recreated them on a canvas.  So with a very loose idea of what I wanted, I began to play.

 

This is a 12x12 canvas that I painted blue and green.  Then I went to town doodling my flowers.  I added my usual 3-D enamel flourishes because no piece would be complete without them, lol.

Then I just started painting the flowers and layering colors.  I loosely doodled in and around the petals in between each layer of paint until I was happy.

I debated whether or not to add the sentiment and in the end just decided to go for it since it's what inspired me in the first place.

I pretty pleased with it!  I love the bright color and fun shapes.  So there you have it, my 1st official canvas of 2014!!!  Thanks so much for joining me today and have a beautiful day!!

Reorganizing bug

Hi everyone!!  I've been bit by the reorganizing bug.  I've been doing lots of cleaning, rearranging and reorganizing.  I even made the two hour trip to IKEA two days in a row, lol.  Unfortunately they've been out of stock of what I'm looking for because of all the bad weather.  Hope all of you are keeping warm!!!

I finally got rid of my desk that was caving in.  I replaced it with this curved corner piece.  I had it all figured out in my head and it all fit perfectly.   I was gonna keep the "T" formation by getting rid of all the small pieces and replace them with this corner piece and the other desktop I bought.  But of course, what I plan doesn't always work, lol.  So I had to come up with a whole new layout.  The solution was this horseshoe type of formation.  I'm still not sure if I like but I think it's actually gonna work really good.

The middle space is the perfect size for me to reach everything.  The plan is to put in more of the Alex drawers once they're back in stock.  I want to be able to store everything close by but have it put away so my space looks nice and neat.  You can kinda see the huge mess on my work table.  I always accumulate a  huge mess because I don't wanna throw anything away.  It's my hoarding tendencies, lol.

The only downfall of this new layout is that the view of my inspiration wall is a little obstructed.  I like being able to see the whole thing when I'm working on my computer.  Now I can only see from the top of the tables up.  Oh well, guess you can't have everything right!  Thanks for stopping, I hope to get back into the blogging grove soon.  I've kinda fallen off the wagon during the holidays but now it's time to get back to work, right.  Well take care friends!!!

Paper Wings Productions Design Team Blog Hop & Giveaway

WELCOME to the Paper Wing Productions Design Team Blog Hop & Giveaway!  If you've arrived here from Irit's blog, then you're in the right place.  If you’re just stopping by for a visit, please CLICK HERE to start from the beginning.

We have come up with a fun challenge for 2014.  Each month our designers will be given a challenge of creating their projects using a certain color scheme.  This month our theme is White.  It will be so much fun to see how each designer interprets the color.  Go grab your favorite snack, get comfortable and enjoy the hop. 

The main prize is a $25.00 gift certificate to the Paper Wings Productions online store.

For a chance to win all you need to do is:

• be a follower of the Paper Wings Productions blog
• visit each of the participating designer's blogs and leave a comment
• come back and leave us a comment on the PWP blog telling us you completed the hop.

To increase your chances of winning: like our Facebook page and/or invite your friends to the hop.  Be sure to leave a separate comment for each of your additional entries. The winner will be announced on Tuesday, January 7th, 2014 on the Paper Wings Productions blog.

Happy 2014 Everyone!!  I hope you all had a WONDERFUL holiday season.  Our's was great because we actually had all of our sons here with their families.  Now that two of them are grown, it's really hard to get everyone together so we really enjoyed having them.  I also took a lot of time off to enjoy my family and recharge the ole batteries.  It felt great to sit back down at my work table to create.  So without further ado, here is my project!

I created a tag using the BEAUTIFUL January Nesting Components kit and several PWP stamps.

I was really inspired by the Cosmo Cricket wood charms in the Jan kit.  I had a ton of ideas of what to create with them but settled on making a frame with the rainbow arches.  I wanted to give them texture so I applied a layer of crackle paste, then sprayed them with each of the Lindy's Sidekicks but in the end I decided to cover them with white embossing powder.

  

I formed the shape of my frame on balsa wood and outlined to cut out but the balsa wood began to split as I cut so I ended up using matte board instead.

I used the beautiful Diana stamp for my focal image (she's one of my favs).  I stamped her with Stazon and then used Prismacolor pencils and Distress inks to color her.  Once I was done, I fuzzy cut her to insert into my frame.

I stamped the matte board with the delicate Lace With Border stamp.  I used Old Paper Distress Ink to keep the background subtle.

I put it all together using Modge Podge and then trimmed the matte board down to fit.

Next I moved onto the background of my tag.  I cover the whole tag with paper from the Cosmo Cricket Creative Girl Mini Deck included in the Jan kit.  I toned it down a bit with Picket Fence Distress Stain.  I created a panel using two of the wooden charms.  To keep the design cohesive, I covered them with white embossing powder too.  I also backed them with more of the Cosmo Cricket Creative Girl paper.

I embellished the tag using the adhesive backed Pearls from the Aug Nesting Components kit, rose ribbon and the fireworks bursts from the Sparkle stamp set.  The sentiment I used is on the With Some Sparkle stamp set.

Another little touch I added was some jewelry wire.  I used it to connect the wooden charms together.  To finish it off, I added some ribbon on the top and one of the Cosmo Cricket canvas brads.  I toned it down with more of the Distress Stain.

This is such a beautiful kit and it worked perfectly with this month's color challenge.  I highly recommend it!  You can view all of the details and purchase your kit HERE.  Well friends, it's time to send you off to the next stop in the hop.  Up next is PWP Mama Bird herself, Carrie!!

***Here is the complete line up just in case you get lost along the way***

Irit Shalom

Katie Smith

Norma Gomez

Carrie Avery

Amber Rasmuss

Cathi O’Neill

Dana Tatar

Erica Rose Thompson

Paper Wings Productions Blog “The Aviary

Thank you so much for joining me today, enjoy the rest of the hop

&

Let Your Creativity Take Flight!!

Women Melange Cling Stamp Set Diana Cling Mounted Stamp Lace with Border Clear Stamp With Some Sparkle Sparkle Cling Stamp Set August Nesting Components Mixed Media Kit

InLinkz.com