Wanderlust

confession: I am a paper hoarder

Ok, maybe a little bit...more than a normal person but not quite to hoarding capacity!
 I did do a little research on Inside the Hoarders Brain  and came to this mind blowing revelation:
 you can almost replace the word hoarder with artist and it fits.
Mind. Blown.

I keep scraps of paper close by to my art desk, so I can grab a sheet of paper to brayer off excess paint, practice a stamp or stencil on and in general clean up messes with. I end up with some really pretty papers this way. I don't do much in the way of true collage work but I'll use these papers for backgrounds, and layering in my art journal like I did here.  

Currently, I am watching my daily video in Creative Jumpstart 2018 and Gwen Lafleur is explaining this process as a "shortcut" to creating layers of depth for mixed media. I can even spy one of the Irresistible India Mini Woodblock Border Stamps that you can purchase from her store on the top of the blue paper.
 I love these papers so much that I'll even keep tiny shards...
I just hate throwing them away! 

Can anyone relate?

stencils:

Journal Notes 6 by Pam Carriker and Pen and Ink by Leslie Riley

other supplies:

DecoArt, Rubbermoon

So my question to you...do you consider yourself a hoarder of paper? maybe art supplies?
 trinkets and doodads for assemblage work? Is your craft room out of control?

I think mine verges on it,
 I mean it's crammed full of stuff that I hate to throw out because I may need it.
And on that note, I have been working on clearing out bags of stuff: taking it to the dumpster.
It's a work in progress to release my inner hoarder but I am really giving it an effort to try.
however...
I did get tickled about the comment in the article about shredding paper, cause my first thought was yes, I could shred, but can I take that home? Ya never know, it could make for some interesting art.
I know.
I need help.
Or do I?
::waggling eyebrows::

linking up to
Paint Party Friday

Boutique boots

BOOT MUSIC!!!!

I kinda think you need boot music my friends for this post!

Are you ready boots? start walking!

Whether you are painting tennis shoes or painting a pair of shoes, consider it as a fashion trend! It's all the rage to upcycle these days so why not give an old pair of boots a little winter flair. I mean, yes, I could throw out my boots because the heels were pretty much trashed and spend $$$ on a new pair but why when these just needed some stylish TLC. So off I went to Pinterest to get some ideas and I settled on these 2 for my inspiration.

I used Gwen's Decorative Six Petal Flower stencil to emulate the heel on the left.

To get the lines painted I used some old washi tape to guide me to for the stripe. And then stamped Rubbermoon's Mod Marks Dark - Rubber Art Stamp as an accent on the white stripe.

To jazz them up a bit I applied Mirror Gold embossing powder to create the small line. I laid a thin line of double stick tape along the white stripe and then covered the tape with the EP. I really love how the embossing worked out!

These boots are walking over to

Paint Party Friday
to see what everyone has been doing this past week!

a little bag of inspiration

 Welcome to the 

Mixed Media Inspiration Deck™ Empowerment Edition Blog Hop

where fun and inspiration is in the bag! 

Well, at least it's in my bag anyway!

Using the cards is easy as 1, 2, 3

Inspirational guide cards are designed to inspire your mixed media and art journaling practice and Kiala's cards are fun and creative, guaranteed to get you motivated!

I knew I wanted to decorate my little pouch from the moment I laid eyes on it! 

It called to me to make it artsy. Really, it did.😸

The 2017 Empowerment Edition - Mixed Media Inspiration Deck

Shattered, by Lizzie Mayne and  Ancient Marks by Suzi Dennis

After looking through the cards, I chose 3 that appealed to me and of course, the first step had to include stencils because I love stencils and they always give me a jumping off point in my art, no matter what kind of project I am working on...

1.

DecoArt - Aqua Sky, Sunny Day, Bubblegum Pink 

I found I could say things with color and shapes that I couldn’t say any other way—things I had no words for.
—Georgia O’Keeffe

Color can stimulate and excite us so that's why I picked bright sunny colors to decorate my pouch with because I want this bag to be full of creative juices to stir my senses long before opening it up. Along with the geometric shapes which suggest organization and efficiency which, heck, I need most days! Basically, I am empowering this bag so it has a greater creative association with the cards it holds within.

2.

Rubbermoon - Imagine, New Moon

Did you know that the moon can set intentions, and clear energy? I like to mediate under the light of a full moon and can feel it's vibes and energy pouring into me, feeding my creative powers, so it's no wonder that I wanted to display the moon symbol on my inspiration pouch.

3.

Now I love to sew and this seemed to be the perfect time to doodle with my needle and thread . While I admit to detesting the task of sewing a loose button back onto a shirt, I will happily sew on my art projects for hours...

I'm weird that way. 😜

And close-up shots of the sewing because hey, it's all about the details, right?

GIVEAWAY

One lucky winner will receive both a $25 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products
AND a Mixed Media Inspiration Deck™ Empowerment Edition !

Visit these amazing artists’ blogs and comment there for your chance to win!

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!
(One comment per blog please.)

You have until Sunday, January 14th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.

Winner will be announced on
StencilGirl's Facebook page on Monday, January 15th.

Blog Hop Order

January 10
Mary Beth Shaw

Kiala Givehand

Tina Walker

Belen Sotelo

January 11
Mary C. Nasser

Sherry Canino

Louise Nelson

Torrie Gass

January 12

Debi Adams

Cindy Gilstrap

Sandee Setliff - you are here!
Karen Gaunt

Mistakes Happen

I learned something new, well, new to me anyway, 😜

I have to admit that I have never used embossing powder with paint before, only with ink and then only with stamps but now I learned that it works great with paint and that has opened up a whole new area with mixed media!  

I'm like a kid with my first box of crayons, sheer giddy with excitement! 

Still crushing on the Dresden trim, this time I used some Antiquing creams to knock some of the shine off the angel wing because the background is an explosion of glittery goodness between the gold embossing powder and metallic paints that I used.

I typed out word strips and glued them to the back of the wing for some hidden journaling. You can bend the Dresden trim but I don't think it would stand up to repeated opening and closing but then I'm pretty much the only person who looks at my journals anyway so I'm thinking it will be fine.

I'm trying hard to use up old supplies so I used some old vinyl letters, I had to use a gel medium to make them stick and then painted them black since they had polka dots on them. Somehow polka dots did not seem to work on this page, lol And yeah, added a sprinkling of embossing powder over them!

In hindsight, I'm not sure why I titled this page "mistakes happen" because I was really intending this to be another page to go along with my WOTY hope which is used in the writing on the back of the wing. 

A mistake?...maybe...but they do happen!

 Gwen's Supplies:
Khadi Papers Sketchbook
German Dresden Trim - Extra Large Wings

MT Washi Tape - Crystals 
Exotic Oriental Traditional Chinese Metal Wafer Dies - Round Chinese Screen 

Emerald Creek Embossing Powder - Mirror Gold

Art Deco Collection  - Alphabet stencil

DecoArt

Americana Lamp (Ebony Black)
Dazzling Metallics in Royal Ruby, Splendid Gold
Glamour Dust in Limelight, Copper
Media Antiquing Cream in Carbon Black,Patina Green

Linking up to Paint Party Friday