Friday, April 26, 2019

Cosmic Penguin does the Spectacular StencilGirl® Squared Off Swap Hop


Hello and welcome! You have arrived at the StencilGirl® Creative Team’s Spectacular Squared-Off Swap Hop.

"Don't wait for the stars to align.
 Reach up and rearrange them the way you want"
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The most terrifying part of this was once I began cutting there was no turning back. I knew I wouldn't have any extra pieces to fall back on if something should go horribly wrong. I must have looked at the pieces of paper for several days, letting them "speak to me" before proceeding.

Then I began cutting...
telling myself to breathe....have faith...
The stenciled squares that were given to me came from 

And lo and behold the Cosmic Penguin was born. Once he appeared I had one of my moments where I knew the universe was leading me somewhere and I know that you must sit back and just enjoy the ride. Now, you may ask: why did I think something was going on? It's because I don't normally draw penguins, as cute as they are they are not one of my spirit animals that I am drawn to
...but the riddle will soon be solved.


Here's where I thought I was in BIG trouble.
This part happened so fast that no pictures were taken but I can try and walk you through my mental state of being. Please keep your hands and feet inside the vehicle at all times. This could get bumpy.

The conundrance began when it came to the background. I was drawn to the stark whiteness of it, it made the whole piece feel very modern and very pop art to me but I was too worried it would be considered plain and unfinished ( seriously worried about this for several days! 😕 ) then, I thought maybe a textured white background would make it work.That will solve everything!!  I grabbed modeling paste, glitter paint and gesso and went to town, it was a frenzy of texturizing going on, splattering and mixing my art ingredients somewhat like a mad scientist in a 50's movie!! Now I decided that the all white textured background was the worst possible thing I could have done so now what? Oh did I mention I've already glued ALL MY FREAKING PIECES down? 
I calmly and carefully painted black around the penguin and the planets.
"sigh"
And now I hated it. It sat on my art desk...staring at me...

Now, I'm all about the universe talking to me all the time and if I would just sometimes get out of my own way and just listen then solutions usually present themselves so I turned off the studio spare bedroom light and walked away went to bed...but that's usually where my best thinking happens. For some people it's the shower, for me it's that moment right before I fall asleep that the problem resolves itself and out of the bed I pop...this time grabbing my Spirit Animal guide book from my night stand and I looked up penguins which I thought was ludicrous, a penguin as a spirit guide? 
(I'm such a spirit guide snob, lol ) 
But whatever universe, I'm listening...and....reading.

" You have everything you need inside you and in front of you to have a good life, so always keep that in mind."

Now if you do any kind of interpretive work you know you that you aren't suppose to translate anything in a literal sense but have an ebb and flow for what's written according to what's going on in real life. So this one sentence really stuck out, I mean I wasn't looking to find anything earth shattering revelation but it seemed to fit. So I went back to my canvas and took another look at my bumpy black background and decided, if everything is here then don't add to it, but take away from it so that's what I did. 


With a small piece of sandpaper I began sanding around each planet and the results just don't show up here but the glitter that had been mixed in with the gesso just pops and gives a stellar background!
( pun intended )

and now I love it!


The more blogs you comment on the more chances you have a chance to win one of four $25 gift certificates for stencils from StencilGirl® Products. Comment by May 3, 2019. Winner notified by email May 6th.
Sandee Setliff  👈 You are here!



Monday, April 15, 2019

Go native - go wild!


I'm embarrassed to say that for the majority of my life spent gardening I did not focus on what I was putting in my garden or as to how it effected the environment. I am guilty of buying hybrid-plants, using pesticides and avoiding just about all insects as much as humanly possible. In the last 5 years I have begun buying and planting native plants as much as possible and I stopped using pesticides. Having a pollinator garden may not be as showy as a cultivated garden but I have learned to appreciate the sound of the bees, to pull weeds by hand and to proudly explain to every person who strolls by my garden the names of all the native plants and hopefully make a convert along the way.
***full confession...I'm still not fond of bugs, but I don't kill them any more, unless they are in the house and then all bets are off...just saying, I'm far from perfect! lol ***


One way as artists to recycle is by taking our art supplies and looking way outside the box to find other ways to use something that you might not normally think of. The flowers and the bees all came from a rather Christmas theme die but you wouldn't know it if I didn't tell you! The flowers, stems and circle shapes are easy to pick out of the set but can you 
guess what the bees are made from? 
(the pine for the body, circle for the head and the wings are the tips of the flower stems)

supplies:
Arnold Grummer medium pour hand mold 
Arnold Grummer Design it Yourself Spiral notebook 
Stampendous Build a Wreath Cutting Die Set
Stampendous mica
Rubbermoon stamps
StencilGirl Tea Cup stencil

Check out what YOU might win!

***GIVEAWAY***
One lucky winner will receive a
 

Arnold Grummer's PAPERMILL 
Complete Papermaking Kit

How can you get a chance to win?

Enter to win by leaving a comment below.
Then be sure to visit the other blogs in the hop and comment to win.
The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!
One winner will be chosen at random from all blog comments!
(One comment per blog please.)

You have until Tuesday, April 30th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.
Winner will be announced on the
Arnold Grummer Facebook page on Wednesday May 1st

We can’t wait for you to see what these amazing designers have created!

Enjoy the hop, and thanks for joining us!
Sandee Setliff 👈You are here!
Arnold Grummer blog


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