Have you ever had a project that just didn’t turn out exactly how you thought it would? That is what happened to me with this globe. I really didn’t like how the text looked (there was a quote on the globe that said “Follow that dream”) so I decided to add flowers and mixed media elements.
Being adaptable while creating is imperative. Things don’t always turn out how we envision them, but if you are adaptable then you can create something even better.
I have to say, I am even more pleased with the flowers and butterflies that I added. I am glad that I could change my direction and try something different. The result is even better than my original vision.
Today I have my first project of 2019! and it is a low buy project. So far I am off to a good start, lol (I am starting strong, let’s keep it up).
For this project I had all of the elements and flowers in my stash. It was fun to find so things I forgot I had to actually us them.
I started with a resin frame that I had in my stash. I bought it on impulse from a creative reuse center and didn’t know what I was going to do with it. So it was stored away. Until I decided to do my low buy. So I went digging for something new to play with, and I found this frame.
Frames and flowers
I thought the frame looked like a fancy window so I stenciled a swing and created a little scene with flowers and sprays and just about any other mixed media element I could find.
Frames and flowers
I loved adding all the flowers, I just kept piling on until I thought the canvas would break, lol. For this project I thought “the more the merrier” and kept on adding. I love how it all turned out and the splashes I added at the end was the perfect way to finish the piece.
I am looking forward to the new projects I can create using what I own. I am sure there are some hidden jems in my art studio waiting to be found.
I had a lot of fun creating this art journal page. I intended to create a mermaid tale, but it does look a little like a whale tale, lol. Oh well, it was fun to create and play with my acrylic paints.
I really enjoy playing with my acrylic paints in my art journal, it relaxes me and get my creative juices flowing.
When I got finished with the ocean and sky I knew I had to add the mermaid tale. Adding in details like this make paintings fun and more personalized. The is my art journal after all, lol.
These quick paintings are fun and I think I will be showing you more of them in the new year.
It is no secret how much I love Disney and visiting Disney World is one of my favorite things to do! When I began my journey into fabric mixed media I just knew that I would need to create some canvases that paid homage to Disney World.
So I created these 4 canvases celebrating each of the 4 parks at WDW.
The first is a pretty pink castle, this is for the Magic Kingdom. It is hard to tell in the photo but there is a lot of glitter and shine on the canvas, especially on the white background.
Then there is EPCOT with an image of Spaceship Earth. This is one of my favorite rides, probably because it is slow and relaxing with lots of air conditioning, lol. Perfect break in the middle of a hot day in Florida, lol
Then we have MGM, no I am sorry Hollywood Studios, lol. I think I will always call it MGM. And I loved the giant sorcerer’s hat that was in the middle of the park for the longest time. I know they removed the hat, but I loved it so much and that reminds me the most of the park, so I thought I would use the hat to depict MGM.
Last but not least is the Animal Kingdom. I love going to this newer park and I have to say the new Avatar section is amazing!
Overall these were so much fun to create and reminisce about going to Disney and I am eager to start my next canvas!
Affiliate Links
Liquitex heavy Gel- https://amzn.to/2DDcWbp
Liquitex gloss gel- https://amzn.to/2JZRSfq
Finnabair Sparks https://amzn.to/2DDkJG2
Finnabair Metallique https://amzn.to/2qJbRGn
Micro beads-https://amzn.to/2DD9opK and https://amzn.to/2B3KjSj
8×8 canvas https://amzn.to/2B3KmgX
Fabric roll (similar) https://amzn.to/2DCF1zF
The Sisterhood of the Traveling Art Journal strikes again, lol. New month, new theme! This month’s journal’s theme is sewing and I love it. There is a wonderful quote at the beginning of the books that states “My soul is fed by needle and thread.” and I just love that quote. The previous pages are wonderful and a huge inspiration for me.
I decided to take my page in a little different direction and create a page around buttons bursting out of a zipper.
I have done this technique in the past on a bottle, but not a journal page. I did a blog post using a Mason Jar and sea shells, I think it turned out really cute, lol. You can see that post by clicking here — Sea Shell Mason Jar.
This was such a fun page to create! I added texture, paint, stamps, and other interest to the background. I played with my Dylustions paint for the background, I just love the way that paint applies.
Then I added the zipper, buttons, and butterflies to the page. Then I painted everything with Finnabair waxes to create the aged look I was going for.
The only problem is that techniques like this can make your journal really bulky, lol. But I love when that happens because it just means that I am using my journal even more and doing even more creating! The bigger the better, lol.
I have to say I am still really loving my art journal group! I love working on different pages and trying new things. I can’t wait to see what next month will bring!
Also, don’t forget to check my events page to see when and where I am teaching, I would love to have you join me in my class!
Affiliate Links to products I used (or similar ones)
Ranger Journal: https://amzn.to/2A0ZjQ6
Dylusions Paint https://amzn.to/2IMwQR1
Zipper https://amzn.to/2E9miwt
Finnabair Mechanicals Butterflies https://amzn.to/2Eafuim
Finnabair Stencil https://amzn.to/2C3ZoUS
Finnabair stamp and stencil set https://amzn.to/2QEgvR3
Ranger Archival Ink https://amzn.to/2yaQv93
Finnabair modeling paste https://amzn.to/2ypTpGw
Finnabair Wax https://amzn.to/2C48jWi
pack of black buttons https://amzn.to/2y9MCBt
Recently I created another art journal page for the Sisterhood of the Traveling Art Journal! (This is the traveling art journal that I am a part of) If you have missed the explanation of the art journal series you can see that post here- Sisterhood of the Traveling Art Journal.
The theme of this journal is cemeteries. This is a new theme for me, and I love expanding my creativity and seeing what I can do with a new theme. Rather than do a cemetery as a place I decided to a ancestor tribute art journal page to my Great Aunt Naomi who passed away in March. This seemed like the most appropriate way for me to express a cemetery.
For this journal page I wanted to be a little more subtle that I usually am. I know, big shock right, lol. I usually put everything including the kitchen sink on my journal pages, but this time I wanted to do a less is more theme.
I used her high school graduation picture and used that as my focal point (don’t use originals, this is just a print from Wal Mart). Once I knew my focal point the rest was easy to build upon.
I used lace, washi tape, Tim Holtz stickers and quotes, ripped book pages, Prima Marketing oil pastels, and Lindy’s Sprays.
I loved challenging myself by creating a simpler page. I love how it turned out and I think this is a perfect tribute to one of my favorite people on the planet.
This page has inspired me to create some additional pages that are in the simpler side, pages that showcase a photo and use a small amount of products rather than create a page that uses everything in my stash, lol. I am looking forward to the next page I create.
What do you do to get out of your comfort zone when creating?
Are you ready for another Fabric Canvas? I am still loving the fabric and the process of creating a canvas with fabric.
This scene was inspired by our recent vacation to Ft Lauderdale. We saw a lot of boats on the water and they looked so peaceful and wonderful that I knew I had to create one on a canvas with fabric.
I did use a smaller canvas than normal, but I really liked how it turned out. And I used a variety of blues for the water and sky. I wanted to create depths and dimension with just one color. There are so many blues out there it was fun to pick and choose which one to use to get the look I was going for.
I used a heavy body paint from Finnabair to paint the boat, and that added additional texture and dimension to the boat. I really enjoyed that paint and I am looking forward to using it even more.
The last details were painted on to the sky and water with regular acrylic paint and that is what the painting needed. I didn’t add any metalic paints or sparks or glitter to this canvas. I kept it all matte and I think that was the right choice for this piece of art.
This was such a fun piece to create and it was a great way to commemorate a wonderful vacation.
Art journaling is quickly becoming one of my favorite activities! I love creating quick little projects that help me grow and expand my abilities. I have this faux leather art journal page that I wanted to share with you.
I really wanted to start with a faux leather look for the background. So I took the tissue paper inserts from old patterns and Mod Podged that onto the page. Once it was dry I painted it all in browns and yellows to make it look like leather.
You can use different colors to create different looks, and you very the “wrinkly-ness” of the tissue paper to create different looks as well.
Once everything was dry I started to add all the details. I wanted the tiny book to be the focal point. You can see the video tutorial for the book here: Tiny Book
That tiny book was so much fun to make, and the perfect addition to my page.
I added string, torn up old book pages, doilies, chip boards, words, and butterflies. I added color with Finnabair’s mica flakes and a little water, that was really fun because it brought out the texture of the tissue paper and brought the page to life. Once everything was dry I light sprayed everything with some cheap hairspray to help seal the mica powders (otherwise it could all be brushed off)
There you go, a very easy faux leather journal page. I am thinking about doing this same technique on an old trunk. What else can I faux leather?
A couple of weekends ago I had the most magical, special weekend! I was able to take 4 mixed media classes from the amazing Finnabair! She is so wonderful and sweet and patient, and I learned a ton from her!
I did a try to keep my squeals and fan girling to a minimum, but I am not sure I succeeded, lol. It was just so awesome!
See here we are, bffs now, lol.
I am only kidding, but just a little bit. It was so nice to spend the time with her at Mojito Creek, a retreat in Colorado. I have been there before, and I love it there! You can read my review on the retreat here: Mojito Creek Review Link
I did a video of the projects we completed and you can see that here:
At the end of this post I will add affiliate links to some of the supplies we used, but there was just too many to list all of them.
The first project we did is the Book of Rust. I loved learning more about the rust paste and how to use it and just to get better with it. I am going to incorporate more rust into my projects because I love the look of rusty old things.
The next project is the long skinny canvas with rust paste and patina. I loved learning about how to use the patina, I have the paint at home but I never use it. Now I know what it can do and I am excited to add this medium to my projects!
That wrapped up the classes for Friday. It was a long day full of learning and exploring and I was ready for bed that night! The next day we got up not too early and started our day learning how to do 2 more projects.
The first one was the journal. This picture is the cover we made, I don’t have a pic of it reassembled. But it did go back together nicely, lol. I love this journal and I have been using it to make art journal pages, which is so nice because I have missed making art journal pages.
The last project is the moonlight one. I have to say this is the one I was most excited to learn! I love the technique and the final canvas is just so pretty.
All of these projects were so much fun to make! And I actually finished all the projects while I was at Mojito Creek, so that was nice to actually come home with finished projects! If she comes to Colorado again I will be sure to sign up for her classes! This a dream come true and I can wait to incorporate what I learned into my projects!
Here is the list of some of the products I used (they are all affiliate links)
Today I have a fun, easy fabric frame project for you. I am still on a fabric kick, I have so many ideas using fabric and I can’t wait to share them with you.
For this project I used fabric I got from Annie’s Fabric Club. This is not sponsored, but I really like the fabric I got, and I am looking forward to next month’s fabric. Here is the link to the club if you are interested in joining: https://www.creativequiltersfabricclub.com/
This is such a fun, easy project that only takes a few materials
Gather all your material including the fabric and your frame. The frame should have a wide enough border that gives you plenty of room to add fabric. The color of the frame doesn’t matter a lot because you will be covering it in fabric.
To get started cut your fabric in strips that are a little wider than your frame. Spread heavy gloss gel on the frame. Coat your fabric strip in Gloss gel and add to frame, crinkling it up as you go. While everything is wet take the time to get all the wrinkles and texture you are wanting.
Take your time and make sure it looks like what you are going for. Before you let your frame dry clean up the edges and back with a baby wipe. Let the frame dry. Once dry you can leave it at this step if you want, or you can go on to the next step which is adding paint.
After the fabric dried (leaving it over night is best) I dry brushed on a Finnabair Metallique and a Finnabair Sparks paint to add some detail and sparkle. I really love her paints and they add that bit of interest that I am looking for. .
And that is it, the frame is done! These are so much fun and easy to make, I think I will be making a lot more as gifts this year.
