X-wing Box

This was done in August, again in response to online challenges. This time I was able to combine two into one. A fantasy/sci-fi challenge was the theme of technology. An acrylic challenge was to choose an art movement that we like. As I looked through the long list of movements, I saw space was one, which went perfectly with my idea. I used a photo of a nebula as inspiration for the background and the x-wing was my son's choice since I was I painting the box for him. It was also a fitting subject because this year my son and I watched all the Star Wars movies and the Clone Wars together. He was six at the time and it was his first time watching them.

This month I painted a picture for one of my favourite Roblox games, The Resource Factory Tycoon. The game has a painting factory and I asked the creator if he would add one of my paintings and he agreed. Then I decided to paint one especially for the game based on a scene in it. This one was done in Painter 2017.

Here I am all dressed up for Halloween with my painting in the background.

New Year, New Desk!

All I wanted for Christmas was a corner computer desk, the kind where you actually sit facing the corner. There doesn't seem to be very many like that but I did find one on the Walmart site. It just fits in the space I have, after removing a few things. Then I gave my son my old computer desk and was able to take out his little table, which is now a Lego table, and this opens up a lot of space in my room.

Also, my dad built some nice shelves for my bead containers, which is much better than the big shoe rack I was using.



Before:

After:

Before:

After:

The only thing you can't see is my over-stuffed closet.

Now to get back into creating more. I feel like I have been really slacking off for some time. As a warm up I did a quick little painting for the Different Strokes Project at wetcanvas.com, the theme this month being favourite childhood toy. I chose this stuffed lion cub that I still have and added it to my art journal, using paint and stencils to fill the rest of the space.

I also finished a digital piece using Procreate on my iPad. The reference was a photo of vegetables from my garden. Not sure how I really feel about it, but it was good practice anyway. I don't really know where I'm going in terms of style except that I want to move away from realism, but not too much.

 I nearly gave up on that broccoflower thing, lol. It tasted good but is a pain to paint. And this was for a digital challenge where the theme was colour.

Halloween 2015

I almost forgot to post my latest art journal page. The idea for this first came from wetcanvas.com where the theme for the Different Strokes in October project was masks. I printed mask templates on card stock and cut them out and painted scenes on them, then finished the edges with black embossing powder. The journal pages were painted with yellow, orange, violet, ultramarine, and a little black around the edges. The blue is much darker than it looks in the picture. Then I painted a simple spider on a web and did a little stamping and pasted the masks on. This was all done rather quickly and I saw too late that the angle on one mask is a little off.

September Art Journal Page

This has been a big month for us because our son has started kindergarten! He never went to nursery school and really never went anywhere without us or my parents, so it has been a big change for him. And strange for me to not be someplace with him and seeing all that he does. I do enjoy the extra quiet time though, and with him still going my mom's house on some of the days he's not in school, you would think that I should have lots of creative time, but no! This month has zoomed by faster than ever. I did get a little done though, a painting that I still need to photograph, and a page in my art journal.

This month I was thinking about fall and books. I used some soft pastels to create a border around the journal pages. Then on pieces of poster board that I taped down at the corners I used some watered down paint to create a mottled background. I tore some pieces from my favourite book catalogue, Hampstead House, and glued them on and toned them down with paint. Then I outlined some leaves with bronze Plaid dimensional paint, doing a few at time and letting them dry. Then I coloured the inside by putting down some glazing medium and brushing on mica powders. Then I covered the leaves with Glossy Accents. Next I painted the books with Derwent Graphik pens and added a little white paint around the leaves with a brush. I glued the pieces into the journal with gel medium, which is supposed to work well for that but I still got some ripples behind one of them. The final touch was adding little bronze leaves in the corners with dimensional paint.

August Art Journal Page

I didn't even get around to doing anything in my art journal in July. I finally made some time lately, though I think you can tell that I rushed it. I knew I wanted to do something with dragonflies and the lake, and I decided to use my Derwent Graphiks for this. I tried the splatter effect at the bottom, but not crazy about that. Then I doodled the rest and finished with some Martha Stewart glitter glue on the dragonflies, and a little bit on the waves.

June Art Journal Page and Other Things

There has been a lot of stuff going on lately leaving very little creative time. But I have done a little when I got the chance.

Back in June I got another page done in my art journal. Over winter a few of my perennials didn't make it, but then I was surprised to find a little lupin growing in spite of all the digging I have done in that area. There was one in this yard before, which I moved while cleaning things out, but that one didn't survive. So it was the inspiration for this page, which I coloured with coloured pencils. The other page is just some soft pastels and stamps.

I hope the real one will be purple too.

Another project I got done is this box for my husband to throw his business receipts into. It is made from two fruit snack boxes. I cut the top flaps off of one and the other I cut into pieces and glued them to the first box for more stability. Then I covered the corners and edges with strips of card stock, then gessoed and painted. In the middle I painted some simple purple roses and the outer part is a slightly mottled dark red. Then I used gold embossing powder on the designs in between, and gold paint on the edges. Then I added a few purple rhinestones.

Embossing powder is another thing that looks so easy on YouTube, but I make a mess with it.

And here is my first try at making a polymer rose cane. It's okay, I guess.

My first mandala

In my art journal this month I made my first mandala, starting with a black Staedtler pigment liner. I had the idea that it would be flowery but other than that I had no plan, just started from middle and kept adding things. It was kind of relaxing but I really should do these things when my 4 year old isn't around to be able to enjoy it more.

After the outline was done I filled it in with coloured pencils and the blue was done with a Crayola marker.

Earlier this month for Mother's day I made my mom this sign. I had made Tool Rules signs for my husband and my dad and my mom told me that she would like one that says Cookbook Rules. So, I figured, if that's what she wants, I'll make one. This one was more fun because I got to make it pretty. I painted and stamped a piece of hard board, textured and painted the edges, then did the writing on tissue paper with a Sharpie and glued it on. I also glued on silver trim painted with black metallic paint, and made the miniatures in the corners with polymer and wire.

Looks easy on YouTube

I love watching arts and crafts videos on YouTube. So many great ideas. But sometimes they don't turn out so well when I try them. For the latest page of my art journal I decided to try stamping with Pearl Ex powders. I used Stampendous embossing ink and a Martha Stewart stamp around the page set on card stock. I really don't do much stamping so I guess I needed some practice. At first the little flowers were more like blobs but I figured what worked best for me was to not put too much ink on the stamp and do it twice. I also learned to make sure I was paying attention to not stamp upside down, which is what caused the smudges on the top right page.

I also had a problem with the powder not binding with the ink. Even when I let it dry for a long time or heat set it, it would still rub off pretty easily. I used some Krylon Kamar spray to set it but it was hard to wipe away the excess powder without taking off too much.

I finished the pages off with stamps and black ink and coloured the edges of the journal pages with soft pastels before sticking on the card stock pieces.

Another view to try to capture the shine of the powders.

Art Journal Page 2

This month for the Different Strokes Project at wetcanvas.com the theme was Canadian post impressionism, in other words, Group of Seven type stuff. This was my attempt. I tried to use bold colours and brush strokes but not sure if this really makes me think Group of Seven. Maybe more like Clarence Gagnon, who was also painting at the time.

The painting is only ATC size, 2.5 x 3.5 inches.

Then I added it to my latest art journal page. The background is all acrylic paint. Since this is just for fun and I was trying to do it quickly, it's not as refined as I would normally paint, but I would like to try something like this again in a more serious format. I tried painting some frost and a realistic snowflake, and the swirls were made with a stamp. Plus, there are paper snowflakes and the others are made with home made modelling paste used through a brass bookmark that has a snowflake design cut into it. I also put some of the modelling paste around the little painting. And then there is a little touch of glitter nail polish. The writing is done with a Derwent Graphik pen. I wonder how many Canadians recognize the song title.

My next journal will have thicker paper.

Art Journal Page 1

I recently decided to start an art journal, and what better time than at the beginning of a new year. This journal is a way to try new things and experiment and just have fun. No pressure to make a masterpiece, as you can see here. I wanted to keep it simple but it still took me all afternoon.

The background is acrylic paint and represents the way my mind feels sometimes, exploding with ideas, and also hope for a bright future. The writing is on painted card stock and done with black embossing powder. Same with the numbers but with gold glitter embossing powder and outlined with a black Derwent Graphik pen. The outer edges of the number cards are outlined with a gold Sharpie, which I also used in the corners. It was a good learning experience and reminder of things I already knew, like I know that red is very transparent and that I should have used the purple more sparingly.

This is a Fabriano book. The two page spread is 11 1/2 x 8 1/4".