May Enive

...red caps and fireflies...

   My goodness, it has been a long time. What can I say? Life happens, but I'm still art'in along. I'll walk you through, for instance, with my latest Envie. Yup, it still starts with a little sketch.

My next step is to line everything with a Micron pen.

I use three different colors of Inktense pencils.

Here are the colors blended when activated by water.

So, this is where I sorta screw up! LOL! I started using Gelato's to smudge in color for the background. It looks like it starts off okay, but then it turns into a big smudgy mess! I almost trashed it. Figured I had nothing to lose, so I took the sprayer from my sink and sprayed down the Entire Envie!

The Inktense stays put and the smudgy stuff fades into nice water color muteness. On top of all of it I swipe in Blue Distress Ink. This ink can be manipulated with water as well. I used a water loaded brush to push the color around.

I've outlined the shrooms with a white Uniball Signo pen. I colored in the yellow dot's, that are my version of "Fireflies," with an acrylic paint pen. The paper was still wet, it allowed the paint to go fuzzy around it's edges. Giving them their "glow." 

Here's the finished Envie...

Sennelier USK Books

...a tip in swap...

   I've got myself wrapped up in another art swap. This particular swap is being hosted by a good friend of mine, Ruth Morris aka Art_Junkie of ATC's For All. The appeal of this swap is to end up with a finished sketchbook. I have yet to complete my own sketchbook, so this is awesome to have! We are using the Sennelier USK Book. They look like this...

I wanted to personalize my own book, so I painted up the cover. 

I've also colored in the edges of these accordion folded pages.

The above shows some of the art that I got on one of the swaps. I'm in a second round now, that will fill the book back and front. I did leave the first couple of pages blank, for a table of contents. 

Here are some of the pages that I will be turning in for trade. We glue these tip in pages, in to the book. :) It's cheaper than sending the whole book to be art'ed in. 

Valentine Postcards

...How Do I Love Thee...

   Our Valentine swap over at E.A.U. was a big one this year! The last couple of years we only had 10-12 trader's. This year we had 19! I thought that if I just do some Gelli printed posties, it would be easy peasy. However, it got all complicated! ('Cause that's the only way I know how to do things!!) Recently my camera on my phone went kaput, but I think I can still explain how I made my postcards. Here's what a couple of them looked like...

I used 140lb watercolor paper. The first step was to Gelli print a few different shades of red. Once it was dried on some of the cards, I used some distress ink and stencils to add a red pattern. (tone on tone.) 

Next, I took my Vintage Remington Rand typewriter and typed out sonnet #43 by Elizabeth Barrett Browning. "How do I love thee? Let me count the ways..."

So, on top of all of that I did another Gelli printing. First roll out your paint. For me, it was contrasting colors. Then, I placed paper heart cut outs on top of the paint. This will block some of the color, letting the first layer show through. Once it all dried, I took a white Uniball Signo pen to draw in the web like designs. I wish I could show you more examples, but my camera just wouldn't cooperate. They were all very different. I tried a few different colors throughout. :)

Gee, It's Been A While!

What have I got myself into?

      I thought for sure by mid January, things would slow down for me. So, now here I am at the end of February, trying to get at least one post in! The holidays were a whirlwind of family, working, and art. Yes, even some art! ...Which, by the way, I think had suffered a bit because I had to rush most of it. Most of my friends already know of one the thing that I have gotten into, but I would like to, someday, revisit this moment. Sorta like a journal entry. 

I sent in an entry to a call for mail art, from Somerset Studio magazine. It's a small spot, but I'm delighted to have been chosen! Perhaps I will give some of their bigger spots a try. I wanna thank, aka Miss Iowa, for telling me of this contest.  

Another new thing I tried, was domino books. I was in a gift swap and one of the requests was for one of these thangs. Here's what I came up with...

I included a beaded crocheted necklace, for displaying on a hook...or to simply wear. 

Inside is an excerpt of Shakespeare's Song of the Witches...also known from Harry Potter. Double Double, Toil and Trouble. 

I also had the chance to make a postage stamp/domino pendant for a friend of mine. 

The above was, again, for a gift swap. I made the beaded necklace. They have gypsy bells too. It makes a cheerful little sound. :) I also gifted an accordion book. I painted the front cover to look like the night sky. On the inside I painted what looks like a morning sky on one side. On the opposite side, is a stormy sky. Here's a peek inside...

It's a finish me book. I did the background, the recipient finishes the rest of it. So anyways, that was the beginning of the year for me. At least where art is concerned. :) 

Pomegranate's On Gray

...the biggest painting I've done...

   Okay, so 15x30 inches is not a really big painting, but when you are usually working on envelopes, it's big to me. A friend of mine, Christy Bryant, saw some Pomegranates that I did on an envelope. She asked if I could do a painting on canvas for her. Who could say no? It was enjoyable to paint and fun to see it morph a few times. I love the challenge of the random wish list she gave me. Besides the Pomegranate's, she wanted the colors gray and red...with silver as the metallic. You know how this starts...with a little sketch...

Looks pretty boring huh? 

I started painting the Pomegranate's first. They got yellow first, then some shades of orange. I thought making the background slanted would give it movement or flow, but it'll end up changing.

I forgot to mention that I am using acrylic paint so far. To add the shadows on the Pomegranate's, I'm using water soluble oil pastels. For the shadows cast by the Pom's are Inktense pencils. They are also a water soluble product. 

I've added some blue...not quite a shadow...it's just some artsy fartsy stuff! I also played up the shine or highlights on the Pom's. The cast shadow also has a reflection of the Pom color.

This is the finished painting. A lot of changes has been made since the above pic. I ended up using shades of gray in some texture medium to scrape vertical, instead of the slant it was on. 

A lot of my art friends liked the background. How I did it, was to turn the painting upside down. I scribbled with Inktense around the Pom's. Quite darkly, in fact. Then with a brush loaded with water, I dabbed at the scribbling and let it drip down. When it was dry, I used an opaque white pen to outline some of the drip marks. To play up the gray and give it more depth, I rub in some black oil pastel randomly. One of the last things I added was the silver leaf. Which, in my friend's pic, is better captured...

To add those, I took some Decoupage and swiped it from Pom's to the top, with a card. I took little pieces of silver leaf and stuck it to the Decoupage. With the same card and a bit more Decoupage, I swiped over it to seal it in. When everything is dry, a clear coat keeps everything in place! 

*I hope ya'll don't mind. I wanted to tell you about a friend of mine. She was one of the people that help fill a request of mine, to send my sister in law some mail art while she was going through chemo. My friend, Harriet aka Acalla, is in a similar situation. Her sister in law is facing huge medical bills. They have started a funding drive which you can read more about at this link: Help Mrs. Peggy Fodge If you can help, great! If you can't, thanks for checking it out anyways. <3 

Kroma Crackle!

...fool'in with something new...

   About a month ago, my son drove me to the new Blick store in Sacramento. He's a good egg. I know I had to have spent a good hour in there browsing the aisles. I came across a silver tube accompanied by some examples of what this product can do. It's called Kroma Crackle. It's about $7 dollars...maybe it can be found cheaper else where, but still not a bad price. It does exactly what it implies...it crackles...paint that is...Below are some pics with my experience with it.

First you have to paint your surface with a color that will show through in the cracks. I painted some chipboard pieces with neon pink and yellow acrylic paint. 

Let that dry completely, or do what I did. Hit it with a hairdryer. Next, squirt out some of the Kroma Crackle. My projects are small, so I don't need much. If you are doing a large area, use a lot. You will need to spread it thick like frosting. I also add a tiny bit of a contrasting color. Stir them until they are completely combined.

Spread the mixture thickly on to your project. Approximately 1mm thick. The thicker the application, the bigger the cracks. 

You will see the difference thickness makes. I messed up the yellow ones! 

To finish any thing that you crackle, you need to seal them. If you don't, the paint will chip and fall off. There are several different ways to do it. As for me, I took some matte decoupage and brushed gently over the crackles. 

I know that are several different brands that crackle, but this one did a fine job of it. :)

Postal Swimmers!

...it's weirdy time again...

   Envie Addict's Unite, our mail art group, is wrapping up our weirdy mail month. Normally we do art envelopes and postcards...but we get restless and need to get a little crazy! We send objects, as is or "naked," through the mail. We somehow, through conversation, started to call this "weirdy mail." Below is a pic of what I sent...

These postal swimmers are made out of canvas. Here's how I made them.

First, what you don't see, is how I prepared the canvas material. I took clear Gesso and brushed it over the area that would be painted. I can't wait for it to dry, so I took a hair dryer to it. Next, I sketch directly on the prepared canvas. I used water soluble, Inktense pencils to color in the fish. With a brush full of water I drag the colors until I was happy where everything ended up. 

Once everything is dry, I line it all in Sharpie. Then comes the sewing machine....I know how to use it...just not neatly! So, before I sew two halves together, I take one side and sew around the fish two times. I purposely cross the stitches and try to make it look imperfect. For the last go around, I sew the two sides together. I am not turning this project inside out. Gesso prevents the canvas from fraying. I just leave an opening large enough to add stuffing.

They end up like this! Oh-fish-al! ... Postage was troublesome though...I ended up using Glossy Accents under and around the edges of the stamps. Glossy Accents is sorta like resin. :) 

My Postal Swimmers front and back.