Wednesday, December 4, 2013

PAINTED BIRD IS FLYING with 513 beautiful tail feathers


I thought I'd share photos of the beautiful hand painted bird soaring at the Canadian gallery this past weekend. 

If you'd like to host this bird in your gallery nest, be sure to contact the organizer Yanik Falardeau Avoxtar

The bird has 513 mixed media tail feathers contributed from artists around the world. 

Congratulations to Yanik for putting this collaboration together!!

I'm thrilled to be a part of this collaboration!

Blessings.......
Candice




Friday, November 29, 2013

My Feathers Arrived in Quebec, Canada!!

Thursday, November 28, 2013

JOYFUL CREATIVE ADVENTURE - Collaborative exhibit

I am thrilled that the feathers I designed and submitted will be included in the collaborative exhibit  in Canada. The exhibit and it's vision are by organizer extraordinaire Yanik Falardeau-Avoxta of Quebec, Canada, who wrote,"

"A central theme in my work is the idea of freedom and liberty. Birds always seem to appear in my pieces even when I try to steer clear of them as I’m painting. I’ve learned to just let it flow and I’ve fallen in love with my birds. I often work with recycled materials and I envision creating a large bird with it’s wings wide open."

You can read more about her and  this project's beginning  here. Or click on the link in the right sidebar of this blog.

Two of the "feathers" I submitted were created on recycled cardboard (packaging) and the decorative insides of business envelopes. The third feather was "contributed" by my cockatiel bird Cinnamon. He donated his shed feathers and then I blinged them up with sparkles from Close to My Heart®.

Needless to say but I'm very proud to be a part of this exciting exhibit and wish I could see it in person. I admire Yanik's time, talent and devotion to this event!

Thank you, Yanik. May this collaborative event be all you envision it to be and MORE!


Wednesday, November 27, 2013

BLACK FRIDAY SPECIAL from Silpada

SILVER RUSH BRACELET

Here’s the inside scoop on a dazzling deal! This Black Friday, Nov. 29, through Cyber Monday, Dec. 2, take 50% off the Silver Rush Bracelet. Mark your calendars now! Limited quantities available. So much Silver and so many places to wear it. Toggle Clasp. Lightweight Sterling Silver.

SPECIAL PRICING and ordering


Let me know if you'd like to order it or place an order at my site.

Friday, November 22, 2013

ACRYLIC PAINTERS TAKE NOTE

Thanks to Donna Downey who linked to this interesting and important video. I thought it was important enough for me to link to it as well. Very good information from artist Michele Theberge.

Watch before you do your next raw canvas painting.

WORST MISTAKE ACRYLIC PAINTERS MAKE

I usually work with a Gesso prepped canvas but this is really helpful.

It's dreary in Michigan today………hope you are finding some sunshine in your part of the world.

cbs……...

Wednesday, November 6, 2013

10,000 + VISITORS TO STUDIO-MOSAIC SITE

Thank you for visiting my site here and my FaceBook page…..

I'd love to hear from you so please feel free to leave comments or email me……

Happy November…….

blessings on your day…..

Candi

Monday, October 28, 2013

PRODUCT INTRODUCED SOON by ME!

Teaser for you…..
I've been working on a product for awhile that will be helpful with all inks, including alcohol, acrylic paints, pastels, various substrates and stencils, GelliArtsPlate®………..

It's all USA made……..main part is a recycled All-American product…...

It won't be very expensive……..

It will have replaceable parts that you can make yourself, or can be purchased from me…….

It will be difficult to get hard edges with it…….

It's small, handy, and comfortable…….

It's final name is still under consideration……

You will only be able to purchase this from me……..

Watch for details soon……

Anyone want to guess what it is?? Leave a comment ……..

Blessings on your upcoming week….
Candice

Saturday, October 19, 2013

More Journal Play




Variety in my journal play - use of stencils, stamps, watercolors, acrylics, inks, markers and the desire to "play."

Can you name one product I used in each image? Email me with the information :)



Enjoy the weekend!! Happy Sweetest Day!
Blessings................cbs


Tuesday, October 15, 2013

Taking My Photographs to a New Level

I'm sure many of you enjoy taking photographs as much as I do. My niece and I, cameras around our necks, visited Old Temecula, California last year. We were in the area for my nephew's wedding. Old Temecula is an interesting lively little historic town. The architecture and flowers were beautiful. Of course, we enjoyed the shopping too!

The building shown here is of a Mexican restaurant and I loved the turquoise and cream against the brilliant blue sky. The arches, gates and paned windows added even more interest. As much as I loved photographing this building, I really enjoyed running the photo through an App called Photo Pal and creating a sketch of my original photo. LOVE THIS! I changed the setting to Sepia, printed it out and adhered it to an 8" x 10" canvas board. The grayscale version is shown here to the right.


The next photo I used in the App was of a bridge in Chicago (left) - can't remember which bridge. 
Anyway, I ran it through the Photo Pal app, used the Invert FX and got the cool print on the right. The inverted one is now on a 5 x 7 canvas board. I did another one cropping a different section of the bridge, inverting it, and attaching to a canvas board, so I'd have two of images that weren't exactly the same.

There are a lot of great Apps out there.....I am still playing with them...some are free, at least until you pay something to make the ads go away. Some other apps I like are Over,  Rhonna Designs, Photo Shaper, PhotoCollage. The opinions I have of these apps are my own...I am not a paid agent of any of the app designers.

If you haven't played with any of these Apps, give them a try. If an App has a free version, try it first! There are SOOO many options and I pay attention to the reviews given. 

Also, you might want to get iWatermark so that you can establish a copyright text line, then apply it to each photo before you put it online. It's a great little App!

Have Fun
Blessings on your week.......
cbs




Tuesday, September 17, 2013

Working with Leather


This was an interesting project - actually I've done several. I took a course by Melody Ross who taught how to decorate leather bracelets. This project came to me while I was trying to do something else with leather.
I put this store-bought leather bracelet through my Big Shot inside an embossing folder. then I painting it yellow acrylic paint and wiping off the surface, the paint embeds in the embossed areas. I added Teresa Collins Designs Vintage brads (gems) in two holes and reattached the lobster claw connector (forgot to take the picture after I had a chain on the other side). Tied a ribbon to one side and it's ready to wear!! Actually, I'm going to seal it, I believe. I'm sure someone has thought of this LONG before I did, but try it...such fun!

Enjoy the blessings of your day!
.....cbs


Sunday, September 1, 2013

Art Journal Playtime


Birds from the stencil by StencilGirlProduts.com - had fun in my journal playing with the stencil, water colors, colored pencils and markers!
Thank you for the inspiration, 
Joanne Sharpe and Stencil Girl!
  
Did you know that even though it says No Comment under this box, that you can actually click on those words and leave a comment? Wish people would. :) Critics are welcome!!
Happy Labor Day weekend!

Thursday, August 29, 2013

CREATE MIXED MEDIA RETREAT 2013 - CHICAGO

Last week my friend Grace and I enjoyed every day at the annual CREATE Mixed Media Retreat in Chicago with a diversified set of classes. We chose our classes without consulting each other and discovered we didn't sign up for any class that the other had!! She attended in 2012 and enjoyed it so much that I was determined to save my dollars to attend this year. I'm glad I did.

This was the first time I participated in an event like this where the people were so friendly, eager to learn and eager to share. The teachers were generous with their knowledge and supplies. I learned a lot and need another week just to "play" with all the ideas swirling in my head. Oh well....

The only downside was that I registered for this before I knew that my daughter and husband had blocked off time at work to be here in MIchigan for a summer vacation. So I missed a number of days with them and their daughter - our 4 yr. old granddaughter Emmalee. I was able to spend several days with them, and was able to make a few "fairy gardens" for Emmalee to take care of while I was gone. Glitter certainly comes in handy (wink).

School starts next week and after a brief trip up north with my husband, I will get back to my other life as a substitute teacher, and hope to get a few cardmaking and mini-album workshops scheduled.

I am planning to host a two-day event in my studio where anyone who attends may use ANY of my products for $15 per day. Stay tuned for the dates.

This summer has been soooo busy that's it's swirled by me.

I will post photos of some of my finished projects from Create Chicago 2013.

Enjoy the weekend.........
cbs

My finished projects from CREATE Chicago 2013


Friday, August 16, 2013

"FREE" - Title of Mixed Media Canvas


I am enjoying this canvas project, but I tend to let it sit quite awhile before I add to it.
The birdcage is a diecut I bought awhile ago. It has several coats of decoupage paste on it because I had planned to use it as a stencil with one of my GelliArts™ printing plates.

It's new use is to swing freely from a filigree brad at the top edge of the canvas. I added some feathers from my cockatiel bird "Cinnamon" to the cage as well as on the bottom left side. (He was not injured in the process....honest!)

The photo transfer is of my granddaughter - somehow she sneaks in to most of my projects and doesn't even know it!

This canvas has lots of textures created from background pages, corrugated cardboard and embossed cardstock. I really love the way this is going but need to add some more paint to the top of it.....it looks maybe a bit too "contrived" right now.

OH! I also used a cute little brad on the birdcage from an older collection by Teresa Collins Designs which has the word "FREE."

Most of my work lately has been in small journals. I'll post some of them soon.

Next week, my friend Grace and I are attending CREATE Mixed Media Retreat in the Chicago area. She attended last year and loved it. I'm soooo excited to attend --- one of my favorite things is to immerse myself completely with little other distractions in my ever-changing, ever-expanding art.

Comments are always welcome!!

Enjoy the weekend............
cbs

Thursday, June 13, 2013

MIXED MEDIA PROJECT UNDERWAY

I've tried to sell this 40 yr. old high chair at about 4 garage sales. I took it out of the last garage sale and decided it would become my next mixed media project.

Today, I got a bit of collage and paint on it, and I think I'm going to like this project. I will also use lettering and stamping on it. My plan is to use it as an outdoor plant stand, but it works well as a youngster's chair, so maybe my granddaughter can use it when she visits in August.

The papers I'm adhering are scraps I've had around my studio for awhile....hopefully I can maintain the basic colors throughout the whole chair. I may end up doing layers and layers, introducing new colors if I run out of the current scraps.

I'm liking the turquoise on the top of the spindle back and the tips of the arm rests. I may leave the gold as is in various places on the chair. For now, my thought is to cover all the black and leave the light wood showing, but I may end up covering that too. Any suggestions?

Stay tuned for the final results -- hopefully within a few days.

Happy Weekend!
...............cbs





Friday, May 17, 2013

New member of the family

We miss our Maltese dog Buttons a lot, and didn't plan on adopting another dog until late in the summer, but Cricket (in photo) had other plans.

Cricket is our new family member. She was rescued by a very nice Michigan group called WAG. The man who used her for breeding in a puppy mill had planned to drown her. Thank goodness she ended up with us.

This little Maltese has been in a foster home since late March and her foster mother knew that the attention we could give the 5.4 lb. dog would be just what she needed.

We have some work to do, but it was nice to see her soundly sleeping tonight while we were nearby yet not holding her. She is skittish and cringes as if she is going to be hit when we reach to pet or pick her up....so sad to see that. We'll get a schedule that works well for all of us. She does have a howl/cry when she misses us....sounds like a mini fire truck LOL!

I highly recommend opening your home to the pet who needs you, and works well with your lifestyle.

So, my studio time has taken a backseat to Cricket, but I will find a place where she can hang out there too. Someday soon I will find the top of my work table and maybe she'll want to sit there and take her chances on getting paint, ink, glitter on her white coat! 😳
Enjoy the weekend!
CBS......



Wednesday, May 8, 2013

Saying Goodbye

Today was our time to say goodbye to our precious 11 yr. old Maltese dog Buttons. Her health wasn't good and then she dislocated her hip. Yesterday and this morning were not pleasant for her.

She was such a sweet dog and especially close to my husband.

This evening it's been amazing how we expect her to be at our feet, or following us across the room, or running to the kitchen when she heard one of us chopping salad vegetables. She loved lettuce, but carrots were her special treat!

She's traveled all over the United States with me as we joined my husband wherever his current assignment took him. Buttons would sit patiently in the back seat while I harnessed her and then attached the seatbelt. She'd sleep unless she heard me eating something, then she'd sit up and wait for her nibble.

Hotels became part of her life. She knew about elevators, hallways with other dog smells, and she didn't mind taking the stairs sometimes. She knew right where her travel bag was and where to find the refrigerator in any hotel that would become our temporary home. She could watch television contentedly but didn't like basketball, black and white shows, or line drawings in advertising.

Her only babysitter was a neighbor friend who not only loved and spoiled Buttons, but watched TV with her too.

Our granddaughter says Buttons is in heaven with Jesus and we should get another dog like her and call her Buttons. :-)

Our dogs know us, love us, try to please us, and appreciate whatever routine we can give them.
We loved and knew Buttons very well too.
Her shadow now lingers throughout our home.
We are grateful she was here.
Goodbye Buttons.

Introducing myself to Ice Resin

I decided to try Susan Lenart Kasmer's Ice Resin product (jeweler's grade). She has developed a plunger system that dispenses the two ingredients needed at the same time so you get the correct measurement. Stir it thoroughly, pour into bezels and wait for it to set up, then cure. That's a very simplified description and I made a couple of errors as you may be able to see from the two images on the left. You get the glass effect over your image. Be sure to read more about it on her blog.

Various shades of pearls were added to the two of the bezels. I used her Paper Saver product on the photo and didn't wait for it to dry thoroughly so the first pour didn't work well at all. (Ok, so one of these days I will get patient about art things.....usually I'm a patient person!) So, I repeated the process, adding the same image to the hardened surface and poured another batch of Ice Resin on top without using the Paper Saver and it worked fine.

The image is of my granddaughter Emmalee, who is 4 this week. I dressed her in one of my t-shirts after I braided her hair out of the way so that we could do some painting together. She turned and caught a glimpse of herself in a mirror. I was lucky enough to snap this photo. Needless to say, it's become my go-to photo lately.

I've ordered some more product and round bezels - we'll see how I do with them.

OH, by the way, I had leftover product and used a couple of other products to fill with the Ice Resin. I overfilled some of these - one is a metal label holder from Close to My Heart® - the other two are metal belt loops. Glass beads and glitter were added to the resin immediately after pouring. I just trimmed the overfilled-excess Ice Resin from the edges with scissors.

Try it! Lots of possibilities and the easy dispenser takes away the nervousness about precise measuring. I know I'll be figuring out lots of way to use this product!


Saturday, April 20, 2013

GRATITUDE

 My life is so full. After so much tragedy this week in our country, I realize how full my life is. I am so grateful for God's love for me, love from family and friends. cheerful signs of Spring, new and old friends in fellowship in a new Bible Study, the opportunity to be a participant in a couple of special online art classes, the chance to be with children in my part-time teaching and so much more......

......my loving, helpful husband, my daughter and her husband and their daughter, my brothers and their families, brothers-in-law and their families who provide me with nieces, nephews, great nieces and great nephews to love (new great niece arrived yesterday).....and I have aunts and uncles who don't forget me....and so much more.......

We all look at our own lives more closely, when we are jerked into the realization that things can quickly change and go sour.

It is such a joy to be able to go  into my studio whenever I want. I am lost in a new project, testing a new art technique, or completing a project-in-progress. The experimentation results of Citrasolv® and an old National Geographic magazine are shown here. For now I plan to use them as part of collages, but I may use each as a journal page.

So, as this week comes to an end......I am grateful for some resolution to the tragedies in the U.S.A. this week, for the people in my life, and the opportunities I have.

God bless us all.......
.....cbs


Tuesday, April 16, 2013

Praying for the Boston Marathon victims and their families

We are all affected by this horrendous event, no matter how far away we are.

Please keep the victims and their families in your prayers.....they will need lots of comfort and strength.


Friday, April 5, 2013

I Rocked My Book

When I first saw the information about Andy Skinner's workshops "Book of Ruination" and "Rock Your Book," I really thought the projects were soooo strange, not my style AT ALL. Yet, the images kept calling to me, and I KNEW I'd learn some great techniques if I signed up, and that's what happened.

First thing I like about his workshops is their year-long availability - that is very important to any workshop participant, in my opinion. Then, I liked the detailed videos and PDFs that he provided. They were clear and concise. My only negatives were that I didn't have the acrylic paints he recommended (I try to find things at my local stores first.). It's not really a negative because I experimented with mixing some paints to find something that was similar to his sample. I ended up using a small jar of wonderfulness, that has been residing in my studio for years. and it was super!! (LuminArt® Indian Copper is what I used to cover the alphabet letters.)

The book that I "rocked" was from a larger book  cut in half.....I didn't realize until my cover was underway that I was doing it upside down, but I will be painting and tearing out pages anyway. I used so many interesting techniques to finish the book; another project is checked-off on my creative path this week.

It's been a delightful week of creating and learning. I TRY to clean up my studio, but then I stumble on something that triggers a new idea, and I'm off and running again with some new project. SUCH FUN! My mind is spinning.

Hope you enjoy how I "rocked my book" shown in this image. A link is on the right of this blog to "The Book of Ruination."

Thanks for coming along on my creative Spring Break week.....
Blessings on your weekend.......
...........cbs

Wednesday, April 3, 2013

Creative Spring Break

This is Spring Break from substitute teaching for me this week, and I've been in my studio almost non-stop. Sending lots of thanks to my husband who takes over many household chores when he's not on an assignment out of state.

Online workshops are such a fun way to learn new techniques so I signed up for a few. WOW! They certainly stirred up my creative juices and I've been churning out lots of things.

These photos are a few examples. I highly recommend participating in online workshops, especially if you have access to the videos/materials for a year.

The bluish/green book cover is from a course with Andy Skinner.... "The Book of Ruination".....great technique.  I will upload the second book.... "Rock Your Book," when it is finished. Click on the logo on the right of this blog for more information.

The silhouette image is not from a class but it's the second project I've done with the crayon melt technique. The images were cut from stamped images from a Close To My Heart set, called Childhood Portrait. The branch was from a stencil by The Crafter's Workshop.

The third image is a collage painting based on a Funky Flowers workshop offered by Melody Ross Brave Girls Art School...a link is also to the right of this blog.

Hmm...these certainly are different!! I just realized that I'm jumping all over the place with my art, aren't I? LOL

I would love to have feedback but it seems that my visitors just like to visit....so, thanks for stopping by.

Blessings............
.......cbs





Monday, April 1, 2013

Funky Flowers

This canvas may get a complete whitewash of Gesso because I only like it from a distance. It was going to be an 8 x 10 journal cover, based on a Funky Flower online class from Brave Girls Art School.

My original sketch and marker drawing had bright, vivid colors, which I think is in the archive on this blog. The collage began when I decided to use paper towels I had on hand that were covered with the excess ink from stencils. I used them as the petals for the largest flower and then just took off from there. But, really....are their greenish/brownish/yellowish flowers?? I don't think so!! I guess that makes them "funky."!!! LOL

So, guess who will probably try again and follow the original sketch? One of the canvasses will be the back and one will be the front!! Nothing like having OPPOSITES, eh? :-)

I suppose this is called being free with my art!

April blessings....................
.........cbs

Thursday, March 28, 2013

Happy Easter!

Just completed some of my traditional "Martha Stewart" silk-dyed eggs...there are more simmering now. Such fun because each is always an interesting surprise!
The directions are in my Archives.

Have a wonderful Easter weekend!


Blessings to you and yours....cbs



Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Inkjet Photo Transfer

I love this iPhoto photo that I took of my granddaughter. We were getting ready to do some GelliArt™ prints, so I braided her hair and put her in one of my t-shirts. I told her I wanted to take her photo, and she happened to catch a glimpse of herself in the room's mirror just as I took the shot!

This one is a cameo-wanna-be, don't you think? (Future project, maybe) I've printed out several versions of this photo. The original is not a technically-perfect image but so much fun to play with.

This version started with a board that I crackled a few weeks ago, testing the technique for a friend, so tonight I did an image transfer using an inkjet paper that is clay-coated on one side. This paper is advertised as not requiring as much ink for printing and still getting vibrant colors. I like it for that but the image transfer was a bonus. I'm not sure the paper is still available - it's called Super Color® by Micro Format, Inc., Wheeling, IL

I coated the board (which had acrylic paint and crackle medium on it) with Matte Gel Medium then placed my image, ink-side down, into the medium on the board. Using a brayer and then a narrow plastic scraper, I smoothed out any bubbles. The board had lots of imperfections from the crackle medium. I dried it for a bit with a heat gun and then set it aside for about 30 minutes...usually I leave this type of project for a couple of hours or overnight.

When it was dry I wet my fingers and started working in small circles around the edge of the image, eventually wetting and rubbing the whole image. I would dry it a bit with a paper towel, then start again with wetting and rubbing. The ink starts showing and you need to watch that you don't tear the paper, although that can be an interesting "feature."Eventually I found one area where the paper actually peeled off so I gently started living these sections and the whole backing was off with no more rubbing needed ---- my fingers said, "thank you." (2nd photo)

3rd photo - I am playing with embellishing the image. I painted Iridescent Gold (Fine) fluid acrylic by Golden around the edge of the board, then dry-brushed the same gold around the image and slightly on the image. I will seal the image with a decoupage medium, but for now flowers, lace, pearls are under consideration....
Comments are always welcome.

by the way, Emmalee is an almost 4 yr. old tomboy - LOL
Blessings...................cbs







Thursday, March 14, 2013

Resin Embelishments

Aren't these beautiful??
Just received this order from Webster's Pages. Scrapbook pages, cards, altered books....lots of uses!
Blessings......CBS

Sunday, March 3, 2013

Crayon Melt Project

I saw a variation of this idea and thought it would be fun to try... It is fun but, watch out, it can be messy. I used a 5"x7" canvas board a friend gave me, attached approximately 1/2 of each crayon with hot glue to one of the narrow edges of the board. For this project I used browns, greens and yellows from a 64 crayon box to simulate a field.
As the melting begins with a hair dryer, the crayon can fly around so work in an area where you don't mind spots of crayon color. I melted mine by leaning it up against the side of the inside of a box.
This dries quickly so I added some waxy flax stems, various flowers, leaves and a little part of a picket fence that I use with my Christmas decorations. All were adhered with hot glue. The butterfly is cut from the Pink Butterflies trim accents by DCWV.
I think this will look nice in a bathroom or my granddaughter's bedroom.
Let me know if you have any questions.
Blessing to you and yours this week......
cbs

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Mixed Media Butterflies

Another fun project last night into the wee hours of this morning (I think I'm too old for the late hours now!) finishing this up......next step will be to collage a canvas as a backdrop for this mixed media piece.
I did not come up with this idea myself. Donna Salazar, is the designer. She is an upbeat artist whose work I follow....GirlieGrunge...a link to her is on this Blog. She is teaching a class at MyCreativeClassroom.com called "Make Your Own Paint".....this photo is my creation based on the project she designed and demonstrated.

The image is actually a bit lighter than what is shown here, and I need to add some sparkle to the word Inspire, but this part is basically complete.......stay tuned for the final result.......maybe tomorrow or Friday.....

Blessings to you and yours................cbs

Here you go - completed and hanging on the my kitchen wall for now I lightened it up a lot and it's a happier piece perhaps :) Another version will be created soon using different colors.

..........cbs

Monday, February 25, 2013

Open Studio this Saturday

You are invited to my Open Studio time this Saturday, March 2 from 1 pm - ??. Bring a project to work on, show some things you've been working on. I will share the projects that have kept my mind and hands busy.

I will also demonstrate the GelliArts™ Printing Plate, and you will have a chance to try it. If you have a beige brayer and some tubes of acrylic paints, bring them with you......otherwise you may use mine.

Need directions? email me.

Enjoy the week's blessings .........cbs

Organization is not my specialty


Something tells me, it may not be your specialty either........want to compare closets or work areas?  OR, maybe you are like my husband and everything is in its place!

Somehow organization is not part of my genetic makeup although I try to kickstart it once in awhile! I DO try to keep the mess to my areas and not infringe on other living areas!

With organization as a journey, rather than a final destination for me, I am constantly looking for storage containers, drawers, cabinets, etc. where I can put things away. I really like the new organizers from Close to My Heart™. The three sizes offer lots of options for me and I've already purchased a few of the small and medium sizes...the large is on my to-buy list.

The smaller one (14-1/2 x 10-1/2" x 2") is perfect for keeping tools and supplies in one handy area for a current project, such as card making. I can put markers, papers, pens, scissors, stamps, stamp pads, etc. inside. When I have time to work on that project, it's all organized for working at home or on the road. One of mine has some supplies for an altered book project....another has tools/supplies for some sketchwork I'm learning.

The medium one (14-1/2" x 10-1/2" x 5") has removable dividers, but for now, it holds stamp pads, reinkers, markers. The photo above shows the small and medium organizers. Close to My Heart™ has a number of useful organization options. Follow my link "Shop with Me," or go to candiceb.myctmh.com to see the complete catalog and ordering information.

Someday, I'll do a photo tour of my studio.......right now I'm going to go find the top of the work table......
Blessings on your week...........cbs

Wednesday, February 20, 2013

Plaids, plaids, plaids - this is a wonderful technique that I've used for a number of years with inks and Dreamweaver Stencils' Plaid Stencil. When I first started doing this, I used the 12 x12 plastic stencils (discontinued) by Close to My Heart
NOW, I am using the Dreamweaver Stencil with acrylic paint and my GelliArts Printing Plate. LOVE the look with a couple of paint colors or even using the same color.
 
Two techniques: 
Technique 1
Put desired acrylic paint on GelliArts Printing Plate, place stencil on top of the paint and press desired paper on top of stencil and lift paint that is between the metal part of the stencil....you may have to press a little harder than with other stencils to lift off the paint. Remove your stencil,  turn your paper 90 degrees and place it back on the printing plate and lift off the remainder of the paint. You should have a beautiful plaid. 
Technique 2: After you put a coat of paint on your plate, lift that paint off with your paper, then add darker paint and do your stencils in the two directions as mentioned in Technique 1. Would love to see your results! Have fun!
 
Blessings............cbs

Wednesday, February 13, 2013

Valentine Surprise

Beautiful, favorite flowers delivered to me today from my wonderful husband, who thinks of me even when he is many, many miles away! Love him!
Glad they arrived today because it's also a nice little tribute to what would have been my mom's 85th birthday. I am thinking of wonderful memories with her.

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Altered book update

These are the additions to the altered book cover I discussed in an earlier post.....almost done.
I need to work on the inner and outer spine.
 Still not sure if I will put the words "reading works" on the cover.
I'll list the products I used when I am finished.

Comments welcome!

Blessings on your week!
......cbs





Upper left - outside cover without words
Upper right - outside cover with words temporarily laid on

Left - outside covers
Right - inside covers