It's That Yucky Time of Year Again....and I Like It

If  you  live  in  this  part  of  the  country--you  know  what  I'm  talking  about.   It's  bitter  cold  out  right  now  with  snow  on  the  ground,  and  the  next  2  to  3  months  will  pretty  much  be  the  same.   It's  yucky  out,  you  feel  yucky  (due  to  lack  of  sunshine  and  fresh  air)  and  you  look  yucky  (due  to  lack  of  sunshine  and  fresh  air).   And  I  don't  have  an  outside  job,  so  basically  I  become  a  recluse,  which  would  always  get  me  down,  but  not  anymore,  because  I  now  have  TIME  to  play  and  have  fun!

I've  been  cleaning  out  my  art  room,  and  actually  getting  rid  of  a  lot  of  stuff  that  I  know  that  I'll never  use  and  to  make  room  for  everything  else  that  I  will  use.   I  have  3  major  obsessions  when  it  comes  to  art.   First  I  cannot  help  but  get  every  art  publication  out  there,  I  cannot  stay  away  from  online  classes  ( I  signed  up  for  2  at  the  end  of  the  year,  and  just  signed  for  3  more--what  is  my  problem??),  and  my  biggest  obsession  is  art  supplies.   I  have  found  things  that  I  didn't  even  know  that  I  had.....but  now  I  have  TIME  for  them--just  a  fraction  of  what  I  have--

I've  actually  been  using  the  watercolors  for  my  class  Watercolor  Bliss  with  Alisa  Burke- definitely  a  bit  of  a  learning  curve.   And  I've  been  playing  with  the  chalk  pastels--no  idea  what  I'm  doing,  but  fun.    Look  at  the  Shiva  paintstiks- -haven't  even  opened  these  up  yet--but  I  will.    And  how  about  that  ribbon  tape (LOVE  ribbon  tape)--didn't  even  know  I  had  it,  but  it  goes  perfectly  with  the  painted  papers  from  my  last  post---which  I  used  in  my  latest  piece--

.....and  I  got  out  my  stash  of  scrabble  tiles  and  grunged  them  up--because  I  had  the  TIME  to  do  this--added  some  molding  paste  for  the  foam  (Latte's--one  of  my  favorite  drinks!).   The  one  thing  that  I've  learned  from  Every  online  class  that  I've  taken  is  to  enjoy  the  process  of  art  making  (which  I  know  is  no  surprise).   The  more  I  do  this,  the  more  I  can  accept  the  "ugly"  stage--not  freak  out,  and  keep  going  until  it's  not  "ugly"  anymore.

Yes,   I  enjoy  a  good  cup  of  freshly  ground  coffee  first  thing  in  the  morning!  

I  completely  enjoyed  making  these  2  pieces,  because  I  took  the  time  to  play  around  with  them--just  for  the  mere  fact  that  I  now  have  the  luxury  of  TIME!

See......I  even  had  time  for  this  rambling  post!



My Classes and a Bob Update

Can  I  tell  you  how  glad  I  am  that  I  signed  up  for  Christy  Tomlinson's  She  Art  Class!    The  first  week  was  jammed  pack!!   And  she  starts  with  very  basic  designs  for  the  girls--she  shows  3  examples,  and  one  of  them  is  an  angel  which  immediately  appealed to me.  So  I  decided  to  make  some  She  Art  garden angels--

I  love  her  energy  and  enthusiasm,  and  she's  very  organic  with  her  designs,  which,  for  the  most  part,  I'm  not.    But  her  technique  of  creating  rubbed  off  on  me,  and  I  just  worked  along  with  her,  and  I  love  the  way  these  girls  turned  out  in  such  a  short  amount  of  time.   All  of  the  layers--

And  the  textures--

I  highly  recommend  this  class--although  registration  is  now  closed,  I'm  pretty  sure  I  read  that  you  can  sign  up  again  in  April--I  can't  wait  to  see  this  week's  lesson!

And  my  other  class  with  Alisa  Burke,  I'm  also  enjoying--Sketchbook  Delight.  I've  just  watched  the  first  2  weeks  of  the  class,  and  I  have  to  say  that  I'm  not  the  world's  best  sketcher,  but  I  do  enjoy  it.   And  in  these  lessons  she  gives  us  permission  not  to  be  perfect--I  know  that  sounds  silly,  but  you  when  you  hear  someone tell you  this,  it  makes  you  feel  good  about  sketching  no  matter  what  your  sketches  look  like.

And  she  tells  us  to  draw  what  we  like  to  draw  and  what  appeals  to  us.   Well,  I  like  to  draw  faces  and  collect  them  as  well--so  that  was  the  natural  choice--

This  was  so  relaxing  to  me.   She  encourages  us  to  fill  up  the  page,  which  is  never  a  problem  with  me--this  is  what  I  like  to  do  anyway.   And  these  pages  are  done  mostly  with  colored  brush  tip  pitt  pens  and  outlined  with  micron  pen (one  of  my  new  loves).  Her  choice  is  watercolors,  which  I'm  planning  on  trying  (she  has  some  great  tips  with  watercolors).  I've  never  used  watercolors,  but  have  always  wanted  to-so  now  will  be  the  time.

And  speaking  of  Alisa,  not  only  does  she  have  some  great  art  tips,  I  also  found  a  very  quick  recipe  on  her  blog.

These  tiny  red  potatoes  are  so  darn  good.  I  actually  ate  them  as  my  main  course.  In  her  recipe  she  also  added  pearl  onions,  and  a  variety  of  fresh  herbs.   I  didn't  have  the  onions  and  all  I  had  was  the  fresh  parsley--still---DELICIOUS--and  the  fastest  dish  you  could  prepare.  I  don't  like  to  cook  either.  You  can  find  her  delicious  recipe  HERE.

Okay,  and  more  thing--Bob.  His  Mom  and  Dad  were  in  a  wedding  yesterday,  and  apparently  it  must  have  been  an  adult  only  wedding,  because  Bob  couldn't  go,  and  they  didn't  want  to  leave  him  alone  just  yet.   So  I  had  a  visitor  yesterday--

He  looks  a  bit  worried,  doesn't  he?   He  kind  of  was once  his  parents  weren't  there,  but  then  he  settled  in  fine  and  made  himself  at  home.   As  you  can  see,  his  leg  is  just  about  healed.  But  he  kept  going  up  and  down  our  stairs,  and  by  the  end  of  the  day,  he  was  having  trouble  keeping  his  leg  on  the  ground--it  was  probably  a  little  sore--poor  thing.   Monday  will  be  the  first  time  in  2  weeks  that  he'll  be  left  alone.  I  think  they're  going  to  have  a  whole  new  set  of  problems!!

Etsy--A Giveaway--New Classes

Okay,  first  on  the  list--new  Etsy  listings.  I  inspired  myself  to  make  another  piece  like  the  ones  that  I  made  for  OWOH, but  instead  of  using  my  painted  papers,  I had  this  scrapbook  pack  from  Cosmo  Cricket  that  I wanted  to  use.   I  really  like  the  vintage  feel  of  them  with  the  patterns  and  most  definitely,  the  colors--

This  time  I  made  it  on  a  6 x 6  very  deep  wrapped  canvas  (almost  like  a  box).  I  really  love  using  these,  and  I  can  only  find  them  at  Dick  Blick.

Love these flower embellishments!    Thanks  once  again  to  K & Co.!

And  I  went  on  to  my  other  favorite  "canvas"

I  never  never  know  where  these  are  going  to  take  me,  but  I  had  this  old  cloth  tape  measure,  and  the  buttons   just  naturally  followed--

Very  fun!

I  go  into  more  detail  with  these  over  at  my  Etsy  shop,  if  you  want  to  know  more  : )

Okay, next  on  the  list--a  giveaway  over  at  Tara's (Aquamarine Art)

Aren't  these  great?!  These  are  cards  of  her  artwork--Love  her  work!!   So  just  go  on  over to her blog  and  leave  a  comment  for  her--that's  all  you  have  to  do,  and  also  wish  her  a  Happy  Birthday,  which  was  on  the  day  that  she  posted   this.  I  hope  you  had  a  fun  birthday  Tara  : )

And  last  of  all,  yes  I've  signed  up  for  2  new  class---I  just  couldn't  resist.  When  I  was  at  Jen's blog,  Sadie Inspired,  she  was  talking  about  Christy  Tomlinson's  new  class  She Art  that  starts  Feb. 28,  which  I  never  heard  about.  So  I  went  to  take  a  peek--

How could  I  possibly  turn  this  one  down!!   And  the  price is  right  too!!

And  after  seeing  all  of  you  different  bloggers  talk  about  Alisa  Burke's  Sketchbook Delight  combined  with  my  recent  obsession  with  sketching--how  could  I  resist?   I'm  very  excited  about  this  one!!

A New Technique and My Finished Piece

First of all I want to thank everyone for giving me advice on my crackling dilemma, and also on the online classes.  Alot of you have recommended Julie's class. But I think I 've narrowed it down to either Alisa Burke or Traci Bautista--the graffiti art is more what I'm interested in--I just have to make up mind.  In  the meantime, Suzi is going to have a Goddess and Poet class part 2, and I know I'm taking that.  Although I haven't been showing many--faces are still my obsession.  And I also wanted to thank  Emelie  for giving other helpful tips about stencils and saran wrap.  You can find these tips on my comment section on my last post.

For my new technique, well actually it isn't new.  I've read it on a few blogs, and Wyanne has showed it on her videos.  She is another favorite  artist of mine  that also offers online workshops--aiiiii (that's a scream)--if only I had the money AND the time for all of these!!!  But anyway, it's the alcohol technique--

It's on the background of this paper--here's a closer view--

The best demonstration that I found for this technique is on this you tube video:

The trick is to do it when the paint is still wet, and to make sure that the alcohol is at least 91%

And I also put my paper from my last post on canvas--

This paper was 12 x 12, and I found a 12 x 12 canvas so it worked out perfectly.  I wanted to add a little embellishment--

I had this metal heart  that I found at Michaels actually (it was on clearance too!), and then I still wanted to add a little dimension, so I had these Stickles that I've had forever but never used them--so I  put Stickle dots  in places, but I discovered when they dry--they're very glittery--which made me discover that I am not a glitter girl, so I covered them with paint : )  HOWEVER I did like these Stickles--

Distress Stickles  -they are the glitter without the glitz.  It 's hard to describe and this photo doesn't show them well--

In case you're wondering--I put the Stickles in  the center of the flower.  They look more glittery in the picture  than  they really  are.  I just like the dimension that they give without all that glitz.

I also have a WIP going--

I have a plan for this one--but we all know how that goes.  When you have an idea, and it always ends up differently.  I can't just sit down with a blank canvas and just create--I've tried--I have to at least have a plan.  I know it's more "artistic" to let your muse or whatever take over, but I can't do it that way.  So we'll see how this actually turns out.

And this Friday, I am leaving to go to Columbus for a wholesale cash and carry  show on Saturday.  I'll be one of the shoppers---I usually don't mind crowds, but these wholesale shows are ridiculous--these lady shoppers are on a mission, and you don't want to get in their way.  It's mainly for crafts, but I can find supplies that I can use--when I come back  I'll show you what I find.  After going to these shows, I am amazed at how much retailers mark up these products!  What I'm really excited about, though, is that there is a D. Blick store there--I can't wait--I'll show you what I get there too.

And one more thing--I finally saw Alice yesterday--and I LOVED it!!  I don't care who you are or what your age is--I just can't see anyone not liking this movie! 

And one more thing--Happy St. Patrick's Day everyone!!! It's a BEAUTIFUL day here today, finally, and I'm going for a walk : D