Monthly Archives: May 2013

May 31, 2013 · 4:59 pm

Picture This–Hands and Hexagons

Recently I had the pleasure of hosting the May Swirly Girl Challenge on http://www.swirlydoos.com/sd_plugins/forum/forum_viewtopic.php?206934. As host I had artistic control over the theme and guidelines for the challenge. What to do? What to do? I’d recently started playing with the hexagon paper shapes and was considering ideas for using them. While brainstorming with them I placed a couple on my fingers thinking they would be the perfect size for use as rings. That got my little wheels turning and that is how my challenge theme was born. Hands and Hexagons.

I began looking through my photos for a candidate for my layout and hoping for further inspiration for using hands and hexagons. I came across this picture I took in Alexandria, Egypt, of one of the fisherman fishing off the ocean shore. I was amazed by how long the fishing poles were that they used. This particular picture I had printed in a rose colored tone for no particular reason. Perhaps the Universe knew all along I would need it to fit perfectly with the color scheme of this layout.

I traced my hands and cut them out. I am fascinated with the art of Mehndi so I used one of my stamps to simulate the look of that by stamping on the cutout hands. I shaded the edges to add some dimension and eventually glued them down around the picture as if they were framing the scene for the shot. Lots of layers and distressing underneath. Added my hexagon “rings” and simply could not resist some glittery nails!

I have a great appreciation for well-done hands by artists. One of my favorite hand artists is J. D. Hillberry. He does charcoal and pencil drawings and I own a few of his astounding pieces.

Here are links to a few:

Thanks for spending some of your time with me today. Your visit is appreciated.

Art Out With Your HeART Out

4 Comments

Filed under Mixed Media Mania

Tagged as distressing, glitter, hands, hexagons, katyoparty, layers

May 30, 2013 · 7:42 pm

Hooray for Hexagons

A few weeks ago I had a fun art date with myself and started playing with a pile of hexagon cut-out shapes I had left over from a die-cut piece. They were black cardstock when I started on them. I layered some white gesso on and then began painting some with acrylic paints. I went on to make designs with StazOn inks and stamps, doodled with Signo markers and then embellished with random brads I had in my stash. Here is the first batch:

As I progressed I began using clear embossing powder on some and I also began experimenting with texture paint and pastes.

Yummy texture and patina

Stamped with Versamark, brushed with Perfect Pearls and then clear embossed.

I was really happy with the way this one came out–love that subtle xray look!

Old china look

This one I stenciled with modeling paste, then used blue embossing powder and white embossing powder, clear embossed over that and then went back with some brown ink to highlight the stencilled design. I am pleased with the aged china look.

Rusty patina

I began doing more layers with inks, embossing, modeling paste, paints, and trying for the metal look.

A crackle stencil with homemade decopauge mist, paints, and inks, clear embossing over top.

Experimenting with different stencils and modeling paste.

Aged copper patina

Hooray for Hexagons!

It was so fun to play with embossing powders again and to combine them with mists, inks, paints, modeling paste. I encourage you to revisit the supplies you have in your stash and experiment with new ways of combining them. If you are like me you have probably learned new skills and have new ideas since the last time you played with some of those old mediums. Go forth and

Art Out With Your HeART Out!

8 Comments

Filed under Mixed Media Mania, Musings

Tagged as embellishment, hexagon, katyoparty, mixed-media, patina, texture

May 24, 2013 · 3:38 am

Learning From My Art Journal

It’s been several days since I began my Art Journal Experience and I look forward to it every time. I thought I’d share some of the things I’ve learned so far.

–You can use up a lot of bits and bobs that you’ve been saving. The entry above I finally used the rose in the vase illustration which I had cut out of an old children’s book and had in my stash for at least 5 years.

–Don’t put a brad through the previous page without figuring out how you are going to camoflauge the back of it on the next page. Lesson learned. My least favorite part of this page is the metal tape embellishment I put over the back of the brad (upper left corner).

–Put masking tape over the center seam of the book before you cover it in gesso so your paints, inks, etc., don’t leak down into the book spine and bleed over into other pages.

–Put scrap paper under each page you are working on to keep any overflow mediums from going over the edges onto already done pages or the next page. Some people may not be as picky about this as I have discovered myself to be!

This page is pretty much strictly paint and a bit of Lindy’s Stamp Gang mist. I started out wanting to use up some of the scads of leftover alphabet stickers in my stash. You know how when you buy alphabet stickers and use up all the “good” ones and then you’re left with lots of consonants? I’ve created several items in the past using these poor “old maid” letters. If you look closely you’ll see the stickers are the base of the stems, leaves, and flowers on this page.

I started out this page wanting to use some InkaGold color pastes. I started with those vibrant Dylusions Spray Inks and then progressed to Luminarte Silks paints, some metallic 3d paints and finally added some painted masking tape I made months ago. On this page I learned that I love all these rich and shiny colors together!!

Other things I’ve learned:

–Roll with whatever you’re doing–there are no rules in your own art journal. Use whatever colors you want and put things anywhere you want. You are the Boss With The Hot Sauce…or the metallic paint as the case may be.

–Be patient when it comes to waiting for things to dry. I am completely impatient with this and my heat gun is my best friend. There are some mediums that dry differently if you force dry them and it kills me to have to let them air dry naturally. I will keep working on this.

The most important thing as always is….

Art Out With Your HeART Out

7 Comments

Filed under Art Journal, Mixed Media Mania

Tagged as Dylusions, flowers, InkaGold, katyoparty, mixed media art journal, paint, Silks

May 13, 2013 · 1:32 am

A New Beginning–the artful way

This is how I spent some of my time today. I started my first art journal! What a wonderful gift to myself on Mother’s Day. Everything happens in it’s own time and this is a prime example. I’ve been looking at and admiring many artists’ art journals while following a parallel path on my own art journey. Always thinking that I would do some art journaling someday, later, or tomorrow. Right.

Recently while shopping for some other MUST HAVE NOW art supplies I happened across the rack of art journals. I’ve been through this routine before and I’ve looked at probably dozens of art journals without ever purchasing one. Just call me Goldilocks–I wanted one not too big, not too small, the paper had to be not too thick, not too thin, the cover had to be flexible but not flimsy–maybe I should be called Her Royal Highness MS. Goldilocks. In any case this time all journals were 40% off so I began the routine of ~~fondling~~ perusing all the journals. I mean ALL the journals. Spent about 20 minutes before I found IT. THE ONE! The perfect size (7″x10″), the perfect weight and feel of paper (#120 lb), the perfect cover (nondescript and unadorned but not plain). Did I mention it was THE ONE??!! Took it home and…put it on the shelf for a couple of weeks.

I moved it around several times because it kept getting in the way. I picked it up and looked at it several times. The pages were so white and so blank and there were so many of them. I put it back on the table. It seemed no matter where I put the damned thing it kept being in the way of what I was working on. There was no way the Universe was going to let THE ONE get lost in the shuffle. So today on “my” day, Mother’s Day, I opened my new art journal and played. I got all the pretty colors on the page from the feeling in my heart as I reflect on my blessings of true love, sweet family, good friends, good health, and the companionship of a sweet dog.

Art Out With Your HeART Out

13 Comments

Filed under Mixed Media Mania

Tagged as art journal, blessings, colorful, katyoparty, mixed-media

May 10, 2013 · 6:02 pm

The Best of Both Worlds

I’ve been stretching the boundaries of my comfort zone and striving to learn new things. My mantra this week has been “where there is fear there is no creativity”. I first heard this statement years ago on a how-to decorating show on television. I think it was called “Interior Motives” and it was hosted by a delightfully funny man named Christopher Lowell. He shared so many skills and in such a non-intimidating and empowering way that I was able to decorate my whole house using his ideas. For someone with their first home and a limited budget and being paralyzed at the thought of making a bad decorating decision this was huge. It is not a stretch to say that by following his Seven Layers of Design and creating all sorts of home projects I was opening the door to my art creativity. I realized what a joy it was to use my hands to create things. From making cornice boxes and curtains and painting baseboards and draping fabric and becoming intimately familiar with my staple gun (that does not sound quite right does it?) I started to think creatively.

Fast forward a few years and I discovered scrapbooking. I always made photo albums of our family vacations and tucked in all the ephemera and room keys and little comments about our adventures. I never knew there was a whole UNIVERSE out there of people decorating these scrapbooks and creating layouts around all this stuff. I went into an Archivers store that I passed by dozens of times and it was GAME ON. I could not get enough of it–the paper, the stickers, the stamping–all of it. I would spend days working on a single layout. Agonize over every decision.

Fast forward another couple years and I had stopped scrapbooking and had moved on to a small and sporadic papercrafting business. I was using my scrapbooking skills on cardmaking, giftbags, bookmarks, and journals. I had small-scale success at holiday gift fairs and word-of-mouth sales. I took a stab at an etsy site but my heart wasn’t in it. It felt like I was forgetting how to create things with my own voice and I was becoming paralyzed by worrying about what other people would like. I was second guessing every idea. My happy creative mojo was nowhere to be found. During this time I started taking classes and attending art retreats that featured lots of mixed media art. I had my cool little art shack and every art supply I wanted but wasn’t feeling it. I was creating a whole lot of nothing…nada…zip.

Fast forward to October, 2012, and I saw an ad in the paper for a paper crafting fair on the weekend. I decided to go and see what was new in the paper crafting world. Well the answer was ALOT. The scrapbooking world has finally started incorporating more mixed media techniques and embracing more imperfection and less cookie-cutter-ness (new word!). It seems there is room at the table for both scrapbooking and mixed-media to co-exist comfortably. I’ve noticed mixed-media artists using some of the tools of scrapbooking and they aren’t even holding their noses! I’ve noticed scrapbookers embracing the drippage and splatters and textures of mixed media without frantically diving for paper towels! It is thrilling! There are throngs of artists who like me enjoy having a paintbrush and an inkpad in both worlds. Yippy skippy!

All that said–here are my creations from the past week.

Created from ribbon, lace, string pearls

Mixed media and photo

Glass bead gel, Dylusions, handcut leaves

All of these were created using both scrapbooking and mixed-media tools and techniques and were loads of fun to make. TFL!

Art Out With Your HeART Out!

4 Comments

Filed under Mixed Media Mania, Musings

Tagged as Christopher Lowell, flowers, glass bead gel, katyoparty, mixed-media, pink, texture

May 5, 2013 · 2:47 pm

Mini Album Musings

Hello! I’ve been out of pocket for a bit but have no fear…I’ve been doing lots of creative things. My obsession with watching YouTube and UStream tutorials is still in full effect. There are so many clever and creative people in the world. I happened across some videos from Steff Miller (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5c3Gun5U4R8) and her blog (http://withagrin.blogspot.com). She does tons of scrapbooky mini albums that have so many little details and nooks and crannys. I am fascinated by them.

I also saw some work by Esther Craft (http://www.youtube.com/user/esthercraft). She apparently doesn’t do videos anymore but I really enjoyed her mini albums and their intricacies. Worth checking out.

In the past I made a grand total of two mini albums. They were both done in 2006 when I was a newbie scrapbooker. One is distinctly mixed-media with lots of paint and a beach theme.

The other is more scrapbooky and also with a beach theme. (I love the beach.)

I’ve always incorporated hidden journaling in my scrapbook pages using pull-tabs and flaps and such. I know I love stuff like that and I envision future grandchildren enjoying looking at my scrapbook albums much as I did as a child with my grandma’s photo albums whenever I went to visit her. But I digress….

I decided to make a mini album. My goals were to incorporate some of the upcycled tags that I enjoy making, use up a lot of bits and bobs from my stash, and to learn how to do some of the pockets and other mechanics used by these other artists. I think I accomplished my goals. My album is not as cohesive overall as I would like. I jumped around on styles but I learned new things on every page. Here are some pics.

If you want to watch a flip through and see how the mechanics work, here is the link to my YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-_SwcZCUVU).