We're still creating with PINK this week at Jingle Belles (and both Lauren and I will donate $2 to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation for each card linked-up).
The Santa Baby Paper Collection by Prima has some of the prettiest pink holiday papers.
I used lots of them together with they layout from The Sketchy Challenge (with one vertical strip from Dress My Craft Christmas Bells, another lovely paper collection with pinks).
The finishing touches were some gold strips and epoxy dots.
Another week of skipping through blogland:
Have a tremendous Thursday!
Another Gel Print card made during my Art Camp with the Damsel of Distressed.
This print was made using the Placid Stencil from ARTplorations together with another die from Becca's collection that I thought coordinated well.
I had a lot of fun creating little poems with the Tim Holtz sentiment stickers.
I'm linking-up at the Never Ending Challenge at STAMPlorations.
One of the items on my Grand Forks travel agenda was to give the Damsel of Distressed (go give Becca a Like) her first Gel Printing experience. We had so much fun creating, we never wanted to stop ... and needless to say, she was a super-quick learner (and bought us matching shirts from Unglued for our creative day).
We started with 5"x7" plates and basic acrylic paint and stencil techniques ... as you can see, Becca rocked it.
Here's Becca putting the stars onto that magical Unicorn print.
I had some fun playing with new Elizabeth St. Hilaire Stencils & Masks from Joggles inspired by Gustave Klimt. The bottom two prints use the one called Rectangle Motif. The top right is ARTplorations All Swirls.
I also had fun creating with one called Cubes on the top right and bottom left.
And more Rectangle Motif on the top left. The bottom left is All Swirls from ARTplorations.
Then on day two of our creative adventures, we spent a little time learning alcohol ink printing with the Gel Press.
And next up was playing with die cuts and stickers to turn prints into cards. This one features the ARTplorations All Swirls Stencil together with words from the CUTplorations You Word Die Set and the CUTplorations Awesome Word Die. I think that die cuts can completely transform some Gel Press Prints that felt more like "rejects" when you pulled them.
I'm linking-up at the October Anything Goes Stencil Challenge at STAMPlorations.
Here's another card made from these prints. Becca had stamped and painted a group of houses and had this cutie left over after finishing her cards, so I added it to my design. I had fun using Ranger Sentiment Stickers to create a little poem.
I'm linking this one up at the Anything Goes Stencil Challenge at Happy Little Stampers.
And one more stamping directly onto the Gel Press Print with an image from Sassy & Saucy from Inky Antics by Andrea Ockey Parr.
On Friday, I had the opportunity to wander around Grand Forks downtown and take in more of the sites … and you know I also did some shopping to help enrich the local economy.
There were a nice mixture of shops where I found things for me and even a few gifts … and you know I bought some new shoes. The service at See Dick Run was phenomenal … she recommended a shoe I had never tried (the Brooks Adrenaline) and it fit perfectly.
There was even art inside Run Dick Run in the form of these awesome painted benches.
I also found a fun tea towel gift, some yummy smelling bath soak, a local cookie which I enjoyed on my travels home, a little wooden tree and two kinds of new lip balm (love the Bitchstix … haven’t tried the other yet).
I also found a silver spoon ring that reminded me of the one my Mom wore when I was young. I used to sit next to her in church and play with taking her rings on and off her fingers to entertain myself. When I look at this picture, I realize my hands look a lot like hers did.
I loved the mix of public art around the City … these blue head planters were a favorite.
I also loved this amazing pixilated mural.
And this statue sat in front of a lovely collection of brownstone condominiums.
A few days later, we visited Archives Coffee House (and Art) on the University of North Dakota Campus where I enjoyed a Peppermint Hot Chocolate, bought some local art, and admired this cool modular table.
There was also amazing food consumed. I tried my first Somali meal from Safari Restaurant East African Cuisine, which was delicious. I really enjoyed the Somali Tea which was a spicy chai-like flavor.'
Our main meal was Chicken Suqaar (which had surprising delicious golden raisins). We also had fabulous Samosas, but I consumed them so quickly I forgot to photograph.
This gives you sense of the size of those portions (and make-up free me in my art making clothes).
We also enjoyed a nightcap and dessert (mulled apple cider for the win).
My final Grand Forks meal was an amazing breakfast at Darcy's Café ... seriously so delicious. I had the Kasper (all of the breakfast meats including house made Corned Beef Hash over cheese and hash browns with Basted Eggs), Biscuit and Maple Sausage Gravy, and the seasonal special Great Pumpkin Pancakes with Chocolate Chips and Pecans.
I still have some more Grand Forks Gel Press printing fun to share in another post.
Once of the goals for my crafty trip to North Dakota was for Becca (aka Damsel of Distressed) to teach me how she makes her mixed media canvases (click on over to see her amazing creation).
Messy and relatively unstructured creating are not my comfort-zone, but I hung in there with the process and ended-up with a canvas I adore (with only one near melt down when I feared I had created more of a mess than art).
The first step was choosing the items for my canvas. Our starting point was a cup of end-of-life paint brushes. I also added pieces of jewelry (I will never look at jewelry at garage sales the same again), flowers and buttons to the design, as well as a chipboard circle.
I also chose some papers for collage, which came later.
I really loved the colors of my pieces and built them around the pieces of jewelry in the design … that’s when Becca told me we were going to paint it all white (WHAT!!).
Here are close-ups of several of my vignettes. I decided that the coral, teal and green from that piece of jewelry were going to be my color palette (I had originally intended on the raspberry too, but once I got going, I didn’t like it when I tried to add it to the mix).
Here’s a close-up of the larger focal point of the piece.
We took pictures, so we would remember the layout and then the painting of everything white was next. I have never been quite so paint covered and had so much fun. It was liberating to bring everything together with paint.
Next we stamped on our gessoed canvas. I chose images mostly from Paper Artsy that I got from The Ink Pad and some Distress Inks in my chosen color palette.
Next up was to add some paper collage. I loved using intention to choose my papers (even though they all weren’t ultimately visible in the end).
Since we went to see the play Proof last night (and since my career is in finance), I chose a page with some hand-written math formulas and some charts from a math book to put into the background. I also chose some music and some vintage texts bits.
I also added some vintage S&H Green Stamps that always remind me of my beloved Grandmother and a page title at the top that I liked.
And as you can see, we also used stencils to add some texture past to the design. When I do this again, I would probably add a bit more, because it turned out looking really cool once we added color.
Next we added paint, inky drips to the page, as well as splatters. I believe this was the point I had a bit of a mental melt down because to me I felt like I was making a mess, but Becca assured me it was all going to come together (and of course she was right). Ultimately adding more color, made the design feel more cohesive to me.
Next up was adding back the focal elements to the design. I loved this part. I stayed pretty true to my initial design, but ended-up adding the cut-off bit from my chipboard circle at the top of the canvas. I really loved the button clusters because they also reminded me of my Grandma. It would have been so fun to try to make this kind of art with her.
Next we added more color, splatters and even some Inka Gold to the texture of the design.
We chose some quotes and then finally called it complete. I loved the process … I loved making art with a friend who shared her processes … and I adore my end result. I can’t wait to display it in my studio.
Here are a few more close-ups of the finished piece.
My advise to you is whenever you have the opportunity, make art with artsy friends, especially those whose style is different than yours (even if it’s just on a Zoom call … but in person is so much better). It expands your horizons and helps you see art from an entirely different angle.
And remember to love … and create … with all your heart.
Also, it never hurts to end your crafty day with drinks and dessert … mulled apple cider and chocolate torte FTW.
For my birthday, I decided to take my first post-pandemic plane right to Grand Forks, North Dakota to visit blog friend Becca (the Damsel of Distressed) for some creating fun time in her studio.
Grand Forks is a beautiful city that has some things in common with Cedar Rapids … like being located on a river and surviving a massive flood. Their dike system is accompanied by a fabulous paved walkway where we got out for a walk and enjoyed the gorgeous weather.
Becca also treated me to an amazing lunch and supper at local downtown establishments (the Raspberry Cheesecake Martini at The Toasted Frog was amazing).
I’ll be back later with more Grand Forks adventures.
It's the first Jingle Belles prompt of October, which if you've been around here for any amount of time, you know is all about a PINK Christmas where Lauren & I each donate $2 per card linked to Breast Cancer Research Foundation. All you have to do is create a new holiday card that is predominantly pink and link it up by 6pm EST on Wednesday, October 20th.
I started by pulling out all of my 6" pads of pink holiday paper and then searching for some in the same pink family for my card design.
After I pulled out the floral paper, I realized it reminded me of the In Bloom Background Stamp from Taylored Expressions, so I stamped it in pink on the background designer paper for my layout using the Sketch ~N~ Scrap World Cardmaking Day Sketch.
Next I pulled out my Taylored Expressions Mythical Creatures and colored the Yeti with some pink markers. The sentiment is from Taylored Expressions Christmas Simple Stripes.
I completed my sketch with a Pink Glittery Snowflake for the #TEMakerChallenge where one of the themes is to use something that begins with S (there is snow under my Yeti's feet as well).
Another week of blogland shenanigans:
Have a tremendous Thursday!
The October Stock Your Stash Challenge at Reverse Confetti is Friendship/Thanksgiving.
I went with a Friendship Theme using the Colors from the TGIF Color Challenge.
I stamped several circles from Reverse Confetti Background Builder in Blackberry Bliss on a Vanilla card base.
Next I added a sentiment from Reverse Confetti A Friend Like You and the flowers from Reverse Confetti Beautiful Memories in black ink.
I'm also linking-up at the CAS on Friday Challenge where the theme is Circles.
And the October Challenge theme at Happy Little Stampers CAS Challenge is a One Layer Card.
