Tag Archives: katyoparty

Summer Potpourri–Car and Gardens

Hot Summer Wheels

Hot Summer Wheels

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Hello hello!  Isn’t that the most beautiful summer car??!!  Yeah–too bad it isn’t mine, but it does belong to a good friend.  I thought I’d share some of the other things I’ve enjoyed this summer.

In June I went to a garden open house at the home of a local garden guru.  It was absolutely gorgeous with the profusion of colors and vignettes around the property.  Here are some of the shots I took:

Tiny drops of sunshine

Tiny drops of sunshine

 

A proliferation of perfume!

A proliferation of perfume!

Purple buzz

Purple buzz

A cornucopia of cacti!

A cornucopia of cacti!

Tiny Stone Gardens

Tiny Stone Gardens

Symmetry

Soothing Symmetry

Lush and Lovely

Lush and Lovely

Circle in a Circle

Circle in a Circle

The Artist's Palette

The Artist’s Palette

Pot Garden

Pond in Purple

Pond in Purple

Shaded Serenity

Shaded Serenity

Sweet Eternal Slumber

Sweet Eternal Slumber

I hope these images have given you a moment to take a deep breath and smile.  Thank you for visiting today!

Art Out With Your HeART Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Transform It!

Hello hello!  I wanted to share a layout I did this week for the August Swirlygirl Challenge over at Swirlydoos (http://swirlydoos.com/news.php).  This month’s challenge is hosted by Christy at Creating With The Girls (http://creatingwiththegirls.blogspot.com/).  The goal was to take a piece of paper and transform it’s look using whatever you wanted.  Since I am a fan of mixed-media I pulled things from my bag of tricks….

Here is the Before:

Cotswald Manor by Splash of Color

Cotswald Manor by Splash of Color

This month’s kit from Swirlydoos is filled with the most beautiful papers it was hard for me to choose one to transform.  They were all gorgeous on their own!  That said–here is what I did…

In The Pink

In The Pink

I recently received some corrugated snowflakes in an RAK from the Funky Junkie Boutique (http://www.thefunkiejunkie.com/) so after gluing those down I continued layering with various and sundry mediums to get to the end result.

Here is a close-up:

Transform it closeup

 

I am obsessed with pink right now and can’t seem to get enough of it!  The photo is from a clipart sheet I bought several years ago from ArtChix Studio (http://www.artchixstudio.com/shop/home.php?dir=home).

Here is a list of the supplies I used to create this:

Dylusions spray colorant in White Linen and Funky Fuschia

Inkagold in Rose

Liquid Pearls-Flamingo

Gelatos

Prime and Bo Bunny flowers

Plaid craft paint in County Twill

Versacolor ink pad in Peony

gesso mixed with Dylusions in Funky Fuschia

Heritage 3d Stencil paint

Thanks for visiting today and don’t forget to

ART OUT WITH YOUR HEART OUT

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Summer Potpourri–Art Journal Update

As promised here are some other things I’ve been working on this speedy summer–where has it gone??!! My arting time has been more sparse than I prefer but I have been doing some creating!  Here are a few art journal pages I’ve done this summer.  I am still enjoying working in my art journal and experimenting with new ideas, supplies, and techniques.  

I have been putting tape over my center seam on every set of pages to prevent bleed-through.  I have also been gessoing every page for better “tooth”.   This page I did some paint washing and then stamping and used some felt letters.

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 Acrylic paint over gesso, metallic paint, banner with Stickles “stringer”, stamping, outlined lettering, papers from stash.

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Love the patterned paper I bought in a grab bag and also love the big bloom stamps and little poppy scraps from my stash.  Acrylic paint on the edges.

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One of my fav pages–hearts everywhere!!  Heart stencils, heart stamps, hearts for everyone!

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Must’ve been a blue day huh?  Dylusions mists, Inkagold sparkly 3d paint, stamps, modeling paste.  Fun and free flowing!

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Experimenting with black gesso.  One of the points of art journaling for me is that I want to use up some of those bits and bobs that are left over from projects.  Too small to be a project on their own but I can’t bear to part with them.  This page uses modeling paste colored with alcohol inks, embossed metal that is painted with gesso and alcohol inks, tiny laser cut butterflies colored with Smooch inks.

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Last but not least…muted soft beachy colors and metallic acrylic paint.  I textured the page with bubble wrap, and a piece of cardboard cut so it had teeth, a cardboard roll was used to make circular patterns along with a foam circle and square shapes.

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Thank you for sharing my art journey and spending a bit of time with me today!  Look for the glimpses of beauty in your everyday life and…

Art Out With Your HeART Out

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Summer Art Potpourri

Purple Pride

Hard to believe that summer is flying by so quickly!  Completely amazing!  I hope all of you are enjoying summer fun, good times, and lots of the beauty of nature.  So much inspiration can be found all around us if we take the time to notice.  I could probably spend a month of Sundays trying to get that purple shading and flow and nature reproduces it flawlessly time after time.

Here are some of the things I’ve been working on since my last update.

A good friend had his 70th birthday party and was his usual serious self–of course I had to memorialize the moment.

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It took all my restraint to keep the layout masculine and relatively unadorned.  I framed it and gave it as a gift to he and his wife.

IMG_0996 (500x460)Restraint be damned when I got to this layout!  I could not get enough flowery adornment on this page!

Switched gears from scrapbooking to some mixed media work on the canvas cover of a mixed-media album.  I used gesso mixed with modeling paste to do my bricks.  The frame and corner pieces are resin covered with black gesso and Inkagold.  I made this project at the Swirlydoos art camp in June.  The class was taught by Design Team Member extraordinaire Rachel Moses.  I love my framed worry doll!

Worry Doll Mixed Media Mini-Album front cover

Worry Doll Mixed Media Mini-Album front cover

Worry Doll Mixed Media Min-Album back cover

Worry Doll Mixed Media Min-Album back cover

My goal this summer has been to use up items in my stash because it seems to reproduce exponentially when I’m not looking.  This layout I used some strips of fabric to make my ties along the top.  I used some gelli plate printed doilies, ribbon,and stenciled glass bead gel.

IMG_0972 (483x500)The next layout is one featuring a picture of my crazy little fox terrier mix–Sophie.  Do not be deceived by this precious photo of her slumbering comfortably on my husband’s pillow.

DSCN0707 (490x500)Lots of distressing and flowers and texture but the main thing about this layout is that I used a piece of paper that I had been “hoarding” for about four years.  Yay me!

I have more projects to show next time.  See you soon and thanks for visiting today!

Art Out With Your HeART Out!

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It’s Mixed Media Madness Baby!

I am away at an art retreat for a few days and having a great time! Here is what I’ve been creating today! TFL!

Art Out With Your HeART Out

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Cozumel Mini Flip Through

Peacocks in Cozumel

Peacocks in Cozumel

Hello Hello!  I finally got my mini-album done for my Cozumel, Mexico trip!  It’s been several months since the trip but I am so easily distracted in my art life….first I got a Gelli Plate, then I found some awesome heavy-weight watercolor paper at a thrift shop, then I started experimenting with video….you get the picture–easily distracted.

I am sharing the picture above of some peacocks because it is one of the pics in the finished album and because I was fascinated with them while on vacation.  Once I discovered the peacocks on the grounds of the hotel I pretty much went and saw them every day.  Oh yeah–mini album–right!

I did a short video flip-through on the album.  Thanks for looking!

Art Out With Your HeART Out!

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Art Definitions

Merriam-Webster.com defines art as:  A visual object or experience consciously created through an expression of skill or imagination.  That is a pretty all-encompassing definition that suits me perfectly.  I believe Art is where YOU see it.

I see Art in scrapbooking:

Doorway in Turkey 2010

Doorway in Turkey 2010

I see Art in cooking and pretty food:

A day's harvest from my garden

A day’s harvest from my garden

A simple lunch at the office

A simple lunch at the office

I see Art in architecture:

 

Messina, Sicily 2010

Messina, Sicily 2010

I see Art in sculpture

Athens, Greece 2010

Athens, Greece 2010

I especially see Art in nature and I am inspired by it every day.

Birds of Paradise, Naples, Italy

Birds of Paradise, Naples, Italy

A bitty bloom

A bitty bloom

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A profusion of pretty

A profusion of pretty

No matter where you are there is beauty to be found all around us.  I wish you a beautiful day.

Art Out With Your HeART Out

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Somerset Place Entry

Photo by Andrea C. Jenkins featured in Life Images 2008

Photo by Andrea C. Jenkins featured in Life Images 2008

This morning I saw this contest on the Somerset blog (http://stampington.com/blog/index.php/2013/06/06/short-story-challenge-try-your-hand-to-win/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+Stampington+%28Stampington+%26+Company+Blog%29).  I wrote this short poem a few months ago and ran across it two nights ago.  When I saw the photo above I thought my words seemed appropriate.

Fear not to Fly,

Make the Journey,

Be Spectacular,

In Your Courage.

TFL!

Art Out With Your HeART Out

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Featured Member

Hello Hello!

I am pleased to share that I have been selected as the Featured Member of the Month for June over at Swirlydoos (http://www.swirlydoos.blogspot.com/2013/06/featured-member-katyoparty.html).  I enjoy being an active member of the community there and I am honored to be featured on their blog.  TFL!

Art Out With Your HeART Out

The Butterfly Messenger

The Butterfly Messenger

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Picture This–Hands and Hexagons

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

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