Mandala Canvas Art

I have been wanting to try my hand at a mixed media mandala and I finally had my chance this past weekend. I know, I know. We're moving and there's stuff to pack and sort and...well...I have to feed my soul somewhere in the mix too. :o)

 

I've made my share of mixed media canvases. I love the process of adding layers of color and texture to a canvas and seeing how the final piece emerges over the course of the project. It's just so fun and gratifying.

I actually started this canvas a couple of months ago by adhering some thrift store sheet music to a 12" x 12" canvas. Then I drew a loose mandala that I didn't care for right from the beginning. The layers of paper caught my pen as I drew, making the lines jagged and not pleasing to my eye. At the time I decided to step away from it for a while, vowing to come back to it at some point when I had the gumption to take it in a different direction.

Then I found myself in Louise Gale's online Mixed Media Mandala Class and this happened:

I added layers of acrylic paint, watered down a bit. I finally used an empty paper roll as a stamp and that was fun - will definitely do that again. The next photo is what my canvas looked like after about 30 minutes last Saturday morning. The word "REFRESHED" was placed on the canvas for photographic purposes only. I kind of liked it there...

I almost didn't want to cover this background with anything! It was just fun to look at imagine the possibilities, you know? But I am so glad I did cover it, because this just might be my favorite mandala ever!

I used watercolor paper to paint strips of paper and then cut the petals you see glued on my canvas. I love that the thick paper stands out and gives this piece more dimension. I used a fine black Sharpie sparingly, and a gold Uniball pen for pop. The rest of the lines and dots were added with acrylic paint.

This piece will hang in my new craft room some day, along with all the other mandala canvases that are surely in my future. As I type this morning, there's a partially completed pink/orange/white canvas to my right...

A girl's gotta' feed her soul, you know.

♥

Summer Solstice 2014 ~ Sunshine Art

Carrie and I were resting on our mats last Saturday when our yoga teacher entered the room and cooed, "Happy Solstice, yogis." In my mind I searched for "What date is this..." and was like, "Hey yeah! Summer solstice...totally forgot about that..."

I love that this particular yoga teacher will choose a theme to repeat throughout the course of our class. On that day she recited this piece from Rod Stryker, over and over: "In me there is a light that lights up the whole world. It radiates truth, boundless will, action and knowledge." She repeated it enough times that I committed it to memory, and as soon as class was over I jotted it down so I'd remember when I got home.

I knew that I'd be working on an art canvas later that day, and I was thinking of putting those words on it. I mentioned it to Carrie after class, thinking she'd say, "Oooh, I love that..." but she didn't respond quite like that. Ha. Daughters. Once she voiced her opinion I second guessed myself and the direction of my canvas art.

But, I'm glad I did. I went home and pulled up the file in my computer where I save quotes I like, and these lyrics written by John Lennon couldn't have felt more perfect. I love the song, "Across the Universe" anyway. This was meant to be!

The part about how I made it:

The art canvases I've made in the past have been done with acrylic paints, but this time I used watercolors and loved every bit of it! I used an 8" x 10" canvas, used mod podge to attach sheet music and then added a wash of blues and purples. And the suns rays got yellow and orange. Yes, the text is French - ooh la la. The half-circle for the sun is a piece of white fabric. I wet it with water first, then did a wash of yellow, orange, and a little red.

I ironed some freezer paper to the back of some unbleached muslin to keep it stable while I stamped my words, then I cut it into strips and peeled the paper off before attaching it to my canvas. I outlined all the pieces with a black Sharpie, stamped it randomly and called it good.

And there you have it ~ my little sunshine art to

commemorate Summer Solstice, 2014.

☀

My Review of Sketchbook Skool

When Alexa mentioned on her blog that she was going to sign up for an online class called "Sketchbook Skool," I followed her link to check it out. I read through the description and thought about it for a day or two…talked to Doug about it…just couldn’t stop thinking about it…and finally took the leap and signed myself up.

♥

The term “sketchbook” encompasses so many different forms. I had always admired the sketchbooks that Carrie’s great-grandmother had created – full of the most beautiful pencil sketches I’ve ever seen and accompanied by thoughtful journaling. Seriously, her sketches look like photographs and they are the epitome of family heirlooms.

I’ve kept my own form of sketchbooks over the years {above photo} – filled with rough drawings of ideas I had in my head for projects to make for my mom or friends or family members {photo below}. I knew this class wasn’t going to teach me the basics of drawing, but I had a feeling there would be plenty of creative goodness to absorb. And I was right!

Over the course of six-weeks we learned from six different artist teachers. I loved getting the email on Friday mornings with a link to the new videos for the week. It was so much fun to have a tour of each artist’s own unique sketchbooks – each of them so different and so wonderful – and it was also really cool to watch videos of them actually sketching in their books.

I remember thinking early on that the class was not at all what I thought it would be, but what I ended up receiving from the class was far beyond anything I could have imagined or expected. Little bits of information here and there, and the experience of watching seasoned artists creating really fed my own creative spirit.

Before this class, I had never sat and drawn something just by looking at it – my previous drawings were more like doodling. This class taught me to really look at an object or scene – I mean, really study it – and then put it on paper. I learned about drawing the hard-outline first, paying attention to negative space and light, looking for shadows, and embracing the uniqueness that makes my artwork mine.

My apprehension slowly turned to confidence and I can see how this could take on a life of its own with daily practice. I think the thing that surprised me the most was the meditative aspect of sketching. Putting pencil to paper puts me in a place where there is no time or worry. In fact, time seriously flies when I am sketching.

I’m not sure how often I will blog about my sketching – time will tell, I suppose. But it would have been silly to post a review of Sketchbook Skool without sharing the work I created during its course.

You can read more about the class by clicking here, and the faculty members by clicking here. My favorite teacher was Jane LaFazio and you can see her work here. I love her artwork and her style and the fact that she does yoga poses in public. Awesome!

Do you keep a sketchbook of your own?
♥

The Man and The Mountains

I met Michael 10 years ago at a party hosted by a co-worker. We were standing at the food table and exchanged brief pleasantries as we unknowingly eyed the same bowl of dip. He and I went for the same dip at the same time, and as we pulled our respective chips out, Michael's dip dripped onto the back of my hand.

Each of us held a cold beer in one hand and a dripping chip in the other, with no napkins in sight. Michael didn't miss a beat. He calmly set his beer down, lifted my hand and licked off the dip he had dropped there.

Well. In that awkward moment we laughed. And in that moment I noticed the wedding band on his left hand. "Oh great," I thought, "I'm a single girl at a party with a bunch of married couples and someone's husband just licked my hand."

I was invited to this party under the premise of "meeting someone." My co-worker's boyfriend had a single friend and she thought we'd be perfect for each other. Ugh - I hated those situations. Though I'd been on a self-imposed dating hiatus, I succumbed to curiosity and went to the party that night. It might be different this time, I thought. And now a married man - who seemed like an innocent flirt - had licked my hand.

Looking around for a familiar face, I found a group of co-workers and proceeded to do what work friends do on a Saturday night when they find themselves at a party: we talked about work.

The evening wore on and I was enjoying being inconspicuous with my work friends when my co-worker, the hostess, grabbed me and said, "Come on, Deb. He's here..."

We stepped out to the patio and there he was.

"Deb, this is Doug," she said. "And Doug, this is Deb."

Oh you guys, he was so cute! He'd been out quad riding with a buddy that day, and his skin was freshly sun-kissed and tanned. He had an easy going way about him, and I was instantly drawn to his genuine personality and sweet smile. {Side note: He was wearing faded 501 jeans and a white button-up shirt with the sleeves rolled up which I thought was really hot.}

My co-worker left us alone and there we stood, in the center of the patio exchanging those first few questions and answers that I can't even remember now. What I do remember is having the man that licked my hand join our conversation soon after we'd begun chatting. He and Doug obviously knew each other, and when the man acknowledged me Doug asked, "Oh, do you know my brother, Michael?"

"Haha. Yes," I said. "We've met."

Michael smiled and said, "Oh yeah, I licked dip off her hand earlier. She's a good sport!" and we had a good laugh. {I am smiling the entire time I'm typing this blog post, remembering this story...}

Fast forward 10 years and the history of my friendship with my brother-in-law, Michael, is one that is very special to me. He's the epitome of big-brother-ness, kind and protective and fun. Quick with a joke or a tidbit of random information, he is the life of the party.

Michael celebrated a milestone birthday this week, and his wife {my awesome SIL, Janet} asked me to make this canvas for him. It was so much fun to create a canvas with a masculine theme, and I loved thinking of Michael and the good times we've shared over the past 10 years while this artwork came together.

 

You'd love Michael too, but I'd suggest that you

steer clear of him around the dip bowl. ;o)

♥

 

PS: This canvas art was inspired by a class I took from Christy Tomlinson called "She Art Workshop."

PPS: You can see the canvas that I made for my SIL Janet by clicking here. :o)

Around my house this past weekend...

Hello, Blog friends!

♥

We had a fantastic 3-day weekend here in Arizona. I spent most of my time in the ol' craft room working with paint and canvas.

I finally spent some time and made a new blog banner {that also doubles as a wall plaque for my craft space}. I do love how it turned out. :o)

We had family over on Sunday evening for a get-together, and Doug made his famous homemade ice cream. YUM!!!

We managed to rest and take a cat-nap here and there...

My craft table had not one inch of free space...

And one more project on canvas...

Yes, I was busy, and as a result I didn't spend much time on the computer {which is good in some ways, but means that I'm a bit behind in blog reading...again...}. I hope you all had a lovely weekend. This week will be busy getting our house ready for a "Girl's Night In" party on Saturday night. The occasion? Well...someone in our family is turning 23! :o)!!!

It's a circus! {She Art canvas}

♥

Ok, I'm telling you, the She Art class I'm taking is the most fun thing ever. I have LOVED putting paper and paint and ink and stuff onto this canvas and seeing it come to life.

It started with my step-dad's old storybooks, and I wanted to use the circus themed book. The result isn't quite what I expected, but I just couldn't be happier with this fun little piece.

All of the paper used for this project {with the exception of my girl's face and arms} was taken from the old circus book {published 1954} and even though you aren't able to clearly see my base papers, I do love the way all of the colors work together! This inspires me to look at these old storybooks in a different way. I'll be using some of the "less desirable" books for future projects - solely based on the color scheme.

~sigh~

No photo shoot in my craft room is complete without Whiskers butting in.

♥

I have some more empty canvases and a 3-day weekend coming up...see ya' later...I'll be in my craft room...   :o)

I ♥ paper punches.

♥

Because here's what you can do with them...

Tags for the Valentine bean bags for my niece and nephew (Presley and Stone):


I used foam stamps for the letters. Have you ever used these? They are meant for use with acrylic paint, but I love the look of them done in ink!

A little extra... Here's my view this afternoon as I tried to get some half-decent light for this shoot. See the teal colored thing behind the patio post? That would be Carrie's thrift store bookshelf purchase from last weekend still sitting on our pool deck waiting to be washed and taken away. (eh-hm.)

And the clouds in our beautiful Arizona sky blocking the light.

I really didn't mind...

~sigh~

What a great day.

Happy, happy, joy, joy!

♥

The Christmas boxes have landed...down from the attic and contents oozing out around our house.

*

NOW it feels like Christmas!

♥

Post 100. Giveaway 1.

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:o) It's here.

My 100th post and my first blog give-away.

How exciting, right?

In honor of my 100th post, I'm doing a giveaway as a token of my appreciation to those of you who follow my blog, humor me through my silly life drama, and leave me fun comments. I just love our little blog world!!!.

And since I had so many nice comments about my chalk blocks, I thought I'd offer a set of four as a prize. To be entered into the drawing, just leave a comment and tell me what color you'd want the blocks to be if you were the winner. (BTW, the prize blocks will be smooth wood -- mine are a bit weathered because I used recycled wood blocks.)

Post your comment by Saturday, December 5th and I'll announce the winner on Sunday morning.

Good luck!

yay!

Planning two parties at a time? What was I thinking?

I will not be a crazy woman.

I will not be a crazy woman.

I will not be a crazy woman.

That is my MAIN goal for the remainder of November!!!

We are hosting Thanksgiving dinner at our house this year (26 guests) AND having a 50th birthday party for my hubby that same weekend (35 guests). I've been fairly well organized with my planning, keeping my main goal in mind so that I don't end up stressed out and overwhelmed in the end. eh-hm. yeah.

IT'S ONLY THREE WEEKS AWAY AND NEXT WEEKEND WE'RE GOING CAMPING SO OMG I AM SERIOUSLY RUNNING OUT OF TIME.

So. I spent a lot of time this weekend finishing up some projects for hubby's casino themed party. I strung some garland using sewing thread, hot glue, poker chips and cards. (Do you call it garland if it hangs straight down?) These will hang from the arch in our entry way the night of the party. For now it's hanging on a foam board that I'll store in the garage to keep from getting mangled between now and the party.

(always a cat in the action...)

And, I folded 36 origami box party favors to fill with candy and place on tables (my finger tips are sore!).

Bonus: I ended up with a bunch of white and red cardstock strips (scraps left over from invitations and favor boxes) that I'm saving to make paper chains to use on the fireplace mantel the night of the party. I think this will be a fun project for my nieces and me on Thanksgiving afternoon, and the red and white will work for the birthday party and carry over through Christmas. I'll definitely have some pictures to post of that. :o)

♥

A little somethin' somethin'

for my SIL, Liz.

Remember the purse I made? Well, Liz loved it. Asked for it. Received it for her birthday last week. I wanted a little add-on so I embellished the front of a mini-Moleskine journal to go with it.

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Here's what I came up with. :o)

When life gives you lemons...wear a cute apron while making lemonade!

I made this apron for Carrie as a housewarming (moving out) gift. She chose the fabric ~ I cut and sewed it (upside down -- oops!) and added my signature 'apron brooch."

She likes it!

:o)

♥

(Now cook me something, Carrie!!!)

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My new addiction...obsession...thing I love to do...

Granny Squares.

Who knew they would be so much fun to make? Who knew they would be so addicting...just one more...just one more...just... I want to make hundreds of them in SO many different colors. I want to make an afghan TONIGHT. I need yarn.
.
I watched a few YouTube videos over and over and over, had several mess-ups before I actually got the process down, but I did it!!! :o) .

~sigh~
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There are worse addictions!
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The day has come. Let it be.

It's here.

The day that Carrie moves out.

~gulp~

The range of emotions I feel today is completely out of control. Proud. Sad. Sentimental. Excited. Anxious. Yeah. Out of control.

I've been able to keep myself occupied with this little book I've been working on for her this week. If you know her, you know that she's CRAZY about the Beatles, and she LOVES the words to the song, "Let it Be."

I was inspired by an online class I took recently with the lovely Elise Blaha. The base of the chipboard book I learned from her, as well as the inspiration to use the inside of security envelopes and to cut my own bracket shapes.

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So -- Carrie is moving to an adorable condo, 3.4 miles from our house and has a very cool roommate who I think will suit her very well. Fingers crossed that she'll still spend lots of time hanging out around here! (I can't even imagine what it would be like if she were moving to Africa for Pete's sake!!!)

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