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Mirror, mirror on the wall
Someone in a forum I follow recently asked about painting a mirror so the dark wood around the frame doesn’t reflect once you’ve changed the color of the frame. If you stop to think about it, it really is tricky. It’s impossible to get a paint brush between the mirror and frame and most first-time painters wouldn’t even think about this until they were done. That was my first ah-ha moment anyways. I had finished cleaning and painting this beautiful vintage shadow box mirror only to see the ugly brown wood where the frame hits the mirror. I couldn’t live with that. My only option was to remove the backing.…
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Enjoying the craziness
Like most of you, I feel November and December can tend to get pretty crazy. But we wouldn’t have it any other way would we! I have so much fun creating and yet, I’ve had my days where I get up with so much to do, then just sit and stare into space because I just don’t know where to start, completing absolutely nothing! And you know what? I really don’t give a damn! Usually by the next day those feelings are gone and I’m back to life-as-usual. I still have several Christmas gifts to make but right now I only need to work on the ones that need to…
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Making corrugated ornies
My sister, Brenda, came down recently to visit. We wanted to get together to figure out how to use our Cricut Makers. That was pretty funny because we discovered they’re super easy! After cutting a few files on the Maker we were ready to play with something a little more fun. I remembered I had some corrugated stars cut so grabbed those, the gesso, glitter, paint, and some printed words. Corrugated cardboard is easily die cut with the steel-rule dies from Sizzix. I cut several more, then we sat down to play and decorate. They’re so easy to make. They can be spritzed with water to help distress the top…
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A little birdie told me
My Art Journal sessions are broken up into four weeks. Each four-week session is themed. These cute little birds are from Art Journal-Fly Away where we worked with creatures that had wings. These background pages started out with just a few stripes of acrylic paint colors and some water. Pretty darn boring! But we learned to work it into a beautiful background to display our winged birds on. Combining other mixed–media products with stamps, stencils and more, we were able to create the most beautiful backgrounds. It’s just so much fun and very relaxing to just sit and play with no end-game in sight. Your page may never be done…
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Loving this art journal thing!
Teaching classes at the CoBACH center in Brighton came to an abrupt halt back in October when the center was closed for building maintenance. With no word on when it might reopen I decided to try the classes in my home. I won’t lie, it’s been cozy but it’s also been fun and rewarding. My most popular has been my Art Journal sessions. I never thought I could enjoy something as much as this form of free-form crafting. It’s a way to incorporate products you most likely already have and chances are haven’t used much. My Art Journal classes are offered in four-week sessions. Each week I teach a different…
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Visiting the farm
Back in September the old guy, Rachel, and I had a chance to travel to Trade, Tennessee to visit our middle child/Rachel’s brother, on their small farm. A visit to their farm is like stepping back into a quieter time with a much slower pace. Kevin (River) and Sarina bought the 13-acre farm nearly two years ago. They packed up everything they wanted to bring with them from Oregon and traveled through the mountains in December’s snow and ice. They have some funny stories about that trip and I’m hoping someday they blog about their farm life. They raise Icelandic chickens, Icelandic sheep, rabbits and have added a couple milking…
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Playing with paint & paper
Boy, today is a good day to sit indoors and play. I’ve really taken a liking to art journals over the past couple years. I’ve been teaching art journal classes as well. I think what I enjoy most about the craft is the freedom to play. There is no right or wrong, no special tools required, and there are no steps to follow to get it right. I tend to play with the myriad of products already in my stash. Those can include scrapbook paper, old book pages, acrylic paints, Distress Inks, Alcohol Inks, etc. Lately it’s been the Americana acrylic paints from DecoArt. They’re relatively inexpensive and they’re readily…
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Creating is good for the soul
I never claimed to be an artist. I couldn’t tell you which colors will play off each other nicely, how to draw a face, the fundamental concepts of composition and design (heck, I don’t even know what that means!). What I do know is how to sit and create (play with my stuff). I also know that when I take the time to sit, create, and play, I can lose myself for hours and totally forget about the world around me and just totally relax and let go. It’s something I feel a lot of us feel guilty about the taking the time for. We need play time, whether that…
