P.H.D. completed? ....

...Project Half Done that is.  I love zipper bags. My zipper bags have zipper bags. I use them for everything.  I have my make-up in 3 or 4 zipper bags, (yes organized, eyes, lips, etc ...) however,  most of that I don't use everyday but I pull out my make-up bags & they sometimes end up on my counter  for a day even though it takes 2 seconds to put them back in the cabinet.  I don't like that.  If you are a Follower of my blog you might already know about my "Hidey Holes", they are places I put things in so things are out of sight, just one tiny example is a antique large green bell pepper cookie jar filled with vitamins, aspirin, cough syrup, etc... in my kitchen, that jar would be classified as a "Hidey Hole", a medicinal hidey hole. hahaha   Basically they save me, I can have lots of crap but not look like it. haha   True story. When I was a kid my Mom had us shove clutter from the coffee table under a couch cushion when company came calling. hahaha  In her defense, she was married to Dad who doesn't like his clutter touched & had 4 kids, personally I thought it was brilliant at the time.

3 years ago (I know, craft hoarder) I saw this ugly worn jewelry box at the thrift store for $5. (The picture doesn't do it's homeliness justice, I thought $5 was a lot for it.) I also thought it might be perfect to put my everyday make-up/facial things in and a few pieces of costume jewelry or what nots - basically a new Hidey Hole for my dressing area.  

When I got it home & started painting. First primed it with white.

I drew out flowers, and painted it black.I didn't like the flowers.  

 

So I changed the flowers to Hydrangeas, which I love.

 

 

Then I decided I didn't want that for make-up. I like my zipper bags, they take up less space and swore off leaving them on the counter.  So I just put it in it's own hidey hole and left it. Well I pulled it back out a few weeks ago and decided I finish it and if I didn't want it I would just re-donate  it or give it away. But as I was finishing it I thought I would use it to house lots of sewing notions that I grab often, bobbins, rippers, stuff that .  

 

I liked it black and may turn it back to black...  

 

 

 

...but for now I am leaving the pop of red color on it.

 

 

 

I still have to varnish it or wax it...one day...

I hope this inspires you to make something new again!

Blessings

Squirrel ! ...

.... and I'm off!  That didn't take long did it? Today I was "squirreled" after viewing an online artist friend's new video.  Mystele Kirkeeng.   She is a Mixed Media Diva!  She makes it look so easy & not messy at all.  I love to watch her process and I am happy that I have some of her art.  Well right there on the side bar was a video by Betty Franks, Mystic Tulip Art, (click on their names to view their videos)  and her colorful doodle painting caught my eye so I watched Betty and I then painted & doodled all day.  I love mixed media pieces. I try, I make a mess, I have fun for awhile then I start thinking too hard, I get stuck, or I ruin it somehow, anyway I'm not ever super happy with the end result ...  then I clean up the mess & vow not to do it again for a long while...  But these were fun! It's just paint & ink. No stamping, poking, scraping, coloring, spraying (well I didn't spray. I dabbed ;)  I actually did some paintings like this in 2008 or 2009. I even resorted to my white lines like my ol' folky folk art I used to do.  

I took pictures of my process today so you could see that too.

 A great tip that Betty has for doodling is what I am gonna call the "double doodle".

Going over your lines twice and not perfectly does look really good!

 

 I already have some ideas for more and will probably think of a few more when I'm trying to get to sleep.

I did these little spontaneous pieces yesterday.

All 3 of the latter are ACEOs. 

Now I'm off to bed with paint in my head! 

Blessings!

Gesso, I Guess So...

Thanks Bloknote!

Newest Oval Angel just finished...

 

Ta Da ! I Tried It Thursday...

... This week I tried "Hot Glue Stencils" for Mixed Media paintings & art projects. I used wax paper to do mine on.  It tears off pretty easy. I started with my smallest glue gun and using small strings of glue like the video, however, they tend to break when you are pulling the stencil off the paper.  I think that this would be the case no matter what you put the glue on.  So I pulled out the big glue gun and this worked much better, the strings are larger and it's easier to pull off the paper.  You could put a design under the paper to guide your glue gun.  This was a fun project and I am already using and loving my re-usable hot glue stencils! Click  HERE  to go to Pinterest to view some more ideas for hot glue stencils.

God Bless & Create A Great Day!

Just Off The Easel...

***

Ta Da I Tried It Thursday...

...This week, mixed media art play.  I'm trying to quit listening to my left brain tell my right brain what to do and just live in my right brain for a while. It's happy there. haha  I actually tried several projects that got me inspired and in create mode.  I made 2 lace books like these by Scrappin Happyxo for friends over the past week or so. Each took several days for me to do solely because of not being able to make a decision on how the fronts should look. Rearranging them over & over.  Just Click on her name to watch her video.  I'm not going to share mine right now because they are in the mail as I type. Maybe a post for another day.  I will say that I really had a lot of fun constructing these with paper like her, however, I put cereal box cardboard in mine on front & back covers & pages to make them sturdier, a little more functional.  The more you create the better you will be at it.  It made me want to learn how to do different bindings & make lots of art journals to play with.  Honestly I have never painted an art journal. I have many many spiral notebooks with notes, lists of things to do, sketches, ideas, plans, etc... but never have really painted "art journal".  While I was daydreaming of starting one & looking for some inspiration & helpful tips, I came across this video by Alma Stoller. Painting on a magazine page.  This was a fun & partly a major fail project so I am going to share this one.  

As soon as the video started I knew I had to try this! I bet you want to now after watching and I hope you do!  I "needed" to try this because I feel like my backgrounds just got boring.  In 2008 I sold mixed media paintings (not glued paper though), very folk artsy, incorporating sand, but somewhere along the line I just got too simplified, or out of touch.  Anyway, I found an old Fine Cooking Magazine, I must have been saving it for some reason. After doing my first pages I decided to use it as a funky art journal. (I did end up ripping 1 page out but the rest will be left in tack)  I feel the need to explore new products & try new techniques. I almost feel like burning everything and starting all over.  Reinventing myself. I actually know of an artist who did just that - but then spent a little time in the hospital if you know what I mean. Happy to say she is back to work but she is also back to creating the same art. So can we ever really reinvent ourselves?
Doing this project/exercise, I found out that I love painting on magazine pages with acrylic paint! It turns the stiff paper into a fabric like texture with a matte finish almost suede like.  I love the feeling of it. Could it be varnished with acrylic & then sewn on? hum...

 I also learned that it doesn't adhere to canvas very well or I'm a bum gluer.

My first pages...

I started off having so much fun, no plots, no plans, then all of a sudden I am painting food! hahaha

 There was a pea pod on this page upper right corner -  I call this "Minding my Peas & Q's". haha

 I ripped out a page  (see below) so I looked to the next page for inspiration.

I left the backs of the painted pages unpainted for now but may end up painting over them. 

I love tomatoes.

The words on this page are  from the collage sheet in my last post. I'm glad I saved this magazine. :)

This portrait page I cut out to put on a canvas...  Also realized that since it's a cooking magazine that I will leave all the paintings food related.  I do like to paint some food. Love kitchen art.  (Sushi paintings & veggie paintings are in my Etsy Shop)

Major Fail. This canvas turned out to be a hot mess, I don't even want to show you how it ended up but I will.  I used Golden medium to adhere it to the canvas but as the magazine paper dried it began to lift off. Then as I started to paint over it, it began to wrinkle & bubble.  Perhaps next time I will gesso the canvas first, or use a different glue. 

 I have to admit I did feel a twinge of guilt for spending so much time on a go nowhere piece but I have to admit that I think it was worth learning what I did, and I must say that the background isn't boring! Some of these might find their way onto a canvas in my Etsy Shop.

I hope this inspires you to try something new.

Create a Great Day!

Out of our Bubble...

...Hubby surprised me with a little get-away this week.  At first I thought he was joking or just talking but no! He wanted to take me to Sebastopol and to the ocean to get a breath of salt air. It's been a stressful time with deaths in our family & illness for us and others, so it was nice to get out of our bubble. He wouldn't listen to my protests & lists of things to do.  I'm so glad he didn't.
A few years ago we set out for Sebastopol after a get-away stay in Petaluma but taking a different turn (wrong turn) we ended up at Point Reyes Lighthouse & Drake's Bay.  I blogged about that get-away too. Click HERE to see that post & video. I'll share my photos, even though most were taken from our moving vehicle.
On our way to Jenner we made a detour to visit Occidental, home of the The Union Hotel.  My late Mother-in-Law used to go there when she was a little girl. His family used to take the long windy drive from San Francisco just to eat a dinner of duck at this out of the way tiny town on the Bohemian Hwy. It opened in 1879. They no longer serve duck but do still serve family style Italian food. Just click on the picture below to read more about it.

We went into a few beautiful shops, actually there are only a few, because this town is tiny.  I'd like to go back one day to eat at the Union Hotel or Nigri's Italian Family Style Dinners We then headed to the coast to Jenner to get some of that salt air.  The drive & the day were gorgeous. 

*used a zoom

Jenner, CA

And we found a few surprising places...

"Amusements" Park ?

Monte Rio is on the Russian River

When we entered this fork in the road & I read the sign I have to admit that I felt like I entered the Twilight Zone, not a Wonderland, suddenly feeling like a character in a horror movie, potential victim actually. Silly as it seems, I'm glad we are keeping to the right! haha If anyone knows & loves this place forgive me & please tell me it's not creepy.  Certain towns and places in this neck of the woods give off a "Alfred Hitchcockie" kind of vibe to me, a "disturbance in the force".  Then, coincidentally, when we were eating supper, the couple in back of us were talking about the same thing.  I'm not the only person that feels this way! The man was telling the woman that "There are roads you wouldn't want to go down around here."  Not that I was eavesdropping but we were the only people in the cafe at the time (eating a late lunch/early dinner) and the food was so good we weren't talking at our table!  Popping into the  East West Cafe in Sebastopol was a tasty treat. Hubby is still talking about his Lamb Kabobs. 

When checking out of the hotel a local free travel/area magazine caught my eye.  My right brain quickly noticing a man painting on the front.  That man/artist is Thomas Arvid. Inside was a really nice article about him and his art. He paints realistic wine inspired paintings, bottles, corks, etc... Click on his name to view his bio & art. Anyway I grabbed 3 free local info magazines for the Wine Country, Sonoma & Napa Counties. 

Last night I read them all then cut them up so I could throw them away.  (The way I deal with my magazine addiction. haha) I made a collage from what I found in these periodicals.  Using Golden Matte Medium I glued my cutouts to heavy card-stock.  If you plan to do this using the same medium beware that the paper grabs right to the card-stock so there is no moving around once you lay it down.  I laid it out before I glued it down. Now I can print it out or re-cut the pieces out & use mounted on the card-stock. That is what I might do if I make a little memory book from our trip. Speaking of bookmaking, stop by next Thursday for Ta Da Thursday! 

 I scanned it after it was dry and cleaned it up a little. 

You are free to use this page. Print or for inspiration.

So next time you are on a adventure don't overlook those free area guides! 

They are great for inspiration, art projects, mixed media, collage, journal or scrapbook projects!

Just right click on the picture and save to your computer.

If you use it, please don't forget to share your creation with me and I will share whatever I end up creating with this collage page.

God Bless & Thanks for stopping by!