April 19th, 2015
Creativity is magic! I think we can agree on that right?But does this magic have to be packed with many supplies and embellishments?Is creativity a direct result of how much stuff you use or how much money you spend?let’s challenge ourselves to create with less!I say that we can create magic with ONE sheet of paper! Who’s with me? One Sheet of Paper Interactive Mini Album Start with a 12×12 cardstock. I used a black one and covered it later but you can use a patterned double sided cardstock and then you can skip the covering part. Score it on the 4″ and 8″ marks, turn it a quarter of a turn and score again. Continue according to the items:First cut along all the lines (that are not dotted) and then fold:A: fold top center to the right. apply adhesive to top and bottom edges of right square and attach to create a pocket.B: fold down.C: fold top left square …
April 18th, 2015
I love creating mini albums but not always use paper. I try to challenge myself to try new materials and see what kind of mini albums they would make. Today I played with fabric. And the best thing is that this mini album doesn’t need any sewing at all. So if you don’t have a sewing machine or don’t know how to sew you can still create this mini album! All you need is some ink, acrylic paint and stamping objects to create this fun project! I’m sure there are some fabric pieces in your stash you can play with…right? For this mini album you can use any type of cotton fabric or cheesecloth. It needs to be flexible and thin enough to be folded and its texture needs to be the kind you can paint on because it will be covered with gesso to prime it. felt, for example will not work here. This is basically the same process …
April 14th, 2015
I love buying new craft supplies! Exciting, new products, new paper designs, new tools are introduced all the time and fill the shelves in the craft store. Who can resist it? So we buy…But what about what we already have?Those supplies suddenly look updated, old and that is if we even remember that we have them and can find them! Well…I think we have a TREASURE of supplies hidden in our stash and we can use it all! Even what looks old and we don’t really want anymore.Here are a few ideas I created over the years on how to use your supplies: Use old letter stickers or chipboard letters Use those leftover letters that we never use but don’t have the heart to throw away as a background element. Look at the shape of the letter instead of its meaning. You’ll find out that letters are beautiful and can be used as embellishments or texture elements. It doesn’t matter …
April 12th, 2015
We all have TOO many craft supplies! We can’t help ourselves…when we go into a craft store we’re like a kid in a candy store. We just can’t get enough! Everything looks so pretty and exciting and all kind of creative ideas starts flying in our heads. We just know we’ll have time for all those projects and we just know that we NEED all those supplies! DO WE? Really? I think not! I’m here to tell you we all have a craft store in our house!! We just need to use it wisely! There are so many projects hiding among those papers, fabric squares, paints and craft supplies. We just need to get smart! Craft More and Buy Less! We can all save our money and still enjoy crafting if we do two things: 1. Shop for crafting supplies in our own stash! 2. Find more affordable ways to buy supplies or get them IF we really need them! …
April 11th, 2015
Inside: what is abstract painting and how you can make it without complicated techniques or artistic experience. I consider myself an artist but I have no formal artistic education and I don’t have an art degree or even traditional experience. Even though I don’t have all that I still call myself an artist because I make art and create it in my own way. The art I make might not follow the traditional rules or laws but it says something to me and that’s what matters. Making art is something everyone can do and I believe abstract art is the way to start! WHAT IS ABSTRACT PAINTING Abstract painting does not depict a person, place or thing in the natural world, even in an extremely distorted or exaggerated way. Therefore, the subject of the work is based on what you see: color, shapes, brushstrokes, size, scale and, in some cases, the process. HOW TO …
April 4th, 2015
This is post #3 in the series 4 Essentials You Need to Know about Mixed Media. Here’s a breakdown again of those essentials: 1. Types of projects 2. Materials 3. Techniques 4. Overcoming your fears We’ve already discussed what mixed media is and what types of projects can be created, as well as what supplies you need to create them. so now let’s talk about what kind of techniques you can use in your projects. Mixed Media includes many techniques because of this genre’s general, comprehensive definition. However all techniques used are visual art techniques and not other art non-visual elements like sound, dance or drama. You can use one technique in your project or combine as many techniques as you want. Here’s a partial list of techniques: Painting: the practice of applying paint, pigment, color or other medium to a surface (support base). The medium is commonly applied to the base with a brush but other implements, such as …
April 3rd, 2015
This is post #2 in the series 4 Essentials You Need to Know about Mixed Media. Here’s a breakdown again of those essentials: 1. Types of projects 2. Materials 3. Techniques 4. Overcoming your fears We’ve already discussed what mixed media is and what types of projects can be created, so now let’s talk about what materials you need. Every artist has their own list of materials they use when creating mixed media projects. The list I compiled for you is a partial list but comprehensive enough as a starting point. 1. Paint: the most popular kind is acrylic paint. Acrylic paint is a fast-drying paint containing pigment suspension in acrylic polymer emulsion. Acrylic paints are water soluble, but become water-resistant when dry. There are different thicknesses of paint by different manufacturers and you have to find out which ones you like and work for you. I like to use Deco Art paints and Liquitex, which are heavy body paints that …
