Stencil symbology

Hello everyone...long time, no see!

I haven't blogged in AGES, so bear with me dear readers, I'm a bit rusty! 

Lately, I've been working on my Moon Journal and I love using my  StencilGirl stencils and Rubbermoon/Art Foamies stamps. Today I am over on the  StencilGirl blog kinda explaining how I use symbology to illustrate the moon phases and my astrology charting. They call it Moonology and I love it...but that's another story, today is about the art.

StencilGirl Artistic Muse Card #1

Music Geek

ArtFoamies Triple Moon stamp

Rubbermoon Maybe It's the Moon

Surround Me With Art and Music process slide show which

is a no music, no talking step out video showing the creative process

Remember....it's just a phase.

Sandee  from

 Sandee's Artful Words

2020...the begining Wanderlust week 1

So many things are going on with my life right now at a nice little clip,  and I am beginning to realize the power of manifesting and intention setting, which isn't witchy at all...in case you think it does.

 Manifesting = Goals.

 Intention setting = planning steps to achieve said goal.

And I am dedicating this journal to actually "journaling" as much as "arting" and committing myself to recording a years worth of moon manifestations along with the Wanderlust program and in a years time, I'll have solid proof for myself to continue researching and learning more about this. (I love researching stuff, lol)

The front page of my journals are what I use to set my theme or intention for my journal and this year I am dedicating 2020 to "self-discovery" which also would have made for a great Word Of The Year, but I chose "RECOVERY" because I am trying to recover the person whom I thought I would have become when I was "old"...(lol, yes I am turning 61 this year and when I was 10, this was definitely OLD.) I figured that my inner me needs a re-boot of sorts and I am on a year long conquest to do just that...I've lost her but she is still there I just need to intentionally go about finding her again. I put a lot of thought into this so I wanted to use the all seeing eye from my Artistic Muse Card #2 stencil to show:
a symbol of divine providence, powerfully representing spiritual truth and awakening.

So that explains the first page 😊

supplies:

acrylic paints by DecoArt

watercolor paints by LuminArte ascending  

hand stencil by StencilGirl®

My book will be called the Artfull Moon but I won't make the cover until the end (because yes, I am very messy) and you are welcome to ask me any questions if you want, create something similar of your own, or just come back here and check on my progress.

The Week 1 journal prompt:

Because I am working in my Moon journal I am tweaking the journal prompt to fit my needs:

Which of my three signs to I relate to the most?

I chose a planetoid shape along with their astrological symbols to represent the 3 astrological relationships. 

supplies:

acrylic paints by DecoArt

watercolor paints by LuminArte

stamp by Rubbermoon
stencil by StencilGirl®

Did you know?

Are you aware of a specific number that just seems to keep popping up,
sometimes for no understandable reason? ...

Power number 3 — A person with the power number 3 tends to attract a rich and full life from midlife on, permeated with creative self-expression and social activities. The person is likely to be tolerant, optimistic, and inspiring.

Personally, I'm all about the number 2 and 2020 is going to be my century! Especially on my birthday in 2022 being that I was born on 2-22 and born at 2am under a full moon. I've been looking forward to this time of my life since I was about 10 and I am sure to be journaling about that too! ❤

What's your favorite number?

It's been a couple of weeks since I last posted but I was preoccupied with testing and debugging my next set of stencils to be released in September. (insert big woo hoo here, lol ) I did do some art journaling but didn't post them like I should. I've gotten lazy and been putting things on IG, so anyway, for anyone not following me on IG or FaceBook..here ya go :)

linking up with

Paint Party Friday

STILL trying to adjust to a new video editing program, but it's been a tough transition. I still prefer my old one...sigh...old dogs, new tricks, blah,blah, blah...

Namatase

The collaboration

First we were partnered up with a team member and each person in the group began a piece. (That could be laying down a base coat of color, sketching a design, prepping the surface, or anything else we agreed upon in our discussions with our partner.) Next, each person swapped their prepped pieces with the other member(s) of their group. Finally, each person finished the prepped piece that was mailed to them. Each person is now posting the piece they finished to their respective websites.

The partner

My partner was Heather Thompson who created a lovely monochromatic textured background for me to work with. Having an all white background really allowed the colors to leap off the canvas! I loved all the molding and crackle paste that she used, it was exactly what I wanted!

I attached the bird ( which I just LOVE ) to the top of the frame and it really creates a 3-D effect to my art. I guess I could have trimmed down his feet but I just adore the oversized feet on him, lol They're kinda goofy in the most adorable sense!
( I colored tissue paper with spray inks and glued them onto the bird )

 I drilled holes through the wood frame and the bird came with wires attached to him so I threaded the wires through the holes and tied them off.
( Heather stamped the eyes on the back of the canvas, it's like she just knew I was going to putting the bird there. I thought that was so cute!! )

The heart and flame come as 2 seperate parts so I glued them together and covered the area with some pearls to hide the seam. The flame was painted with acrylic paint 

The heart is covered with red tissue paper which I stamped on first and then glued it on. The wings are also painted and attached with glue to the canvas.

I just love the little banner that I stamped the Namaste word on and I popped it up for dimension.

Helmar Liquid Scrap Dots

Washi tape is the easiest way to add lots of fun without doing much work! I think it really finished off the piece.

Small Starry Nights Washi tape

Rubbermoon
Namaste
La Banner
Beautiful Mistakes

Relics & Artifacts
Rising Spirit I
Finch

Some bunny loves you!

 You know what stinks? Having your card returned to you for insufficient postage which means it didn't get there in time, 😞 I knew better, but carelessly put the wrong stamp on the envelope. Meanwhile, to make this less of a downer, watch the very short video of what I put inside the envelope which prompted the necessity for extra postage. Hope you laugh along with me!

well, sorry the video won't show up but you can go here to see it.



Linking my card up to Paint Party Friday!

And if you are feeling particularly generous and just want to make my day then you could go leave me a comment over on the StencilGirl blog because I posted this dreamcatcher art journal page over there. Comments sure are nice here on my blog but it makes me smile to get comments over on a manufacturers page, lol Insecurity strikes us all doesn't it?

Seashell mermaid

Have you ever played with Grafix Shrink film? If not, you should try it, cause it's lots of fun and easy to do. So easy that you can take it with you to the beach to play with on those afternoons when the rain storms roll in across the ocean.

I had some awesome Rubbermoon stamps gifted to me recently and they were so easy to stamp on the sheets using my Stazon ink. Grafix sent me some of their new gold and silver metallic shrink film to play with. I love how shiny the colors are, my photos don't do them justice.

Next, just color them in, and I used my PITT pens, look how bright and pretty they are!

Next, you cut them out and make sure to punch holes in them if they are going to be a charms but they are also great for adhering to cards, and mixed media projects! 

My friend Bridgette found this little shell on the beach with the perfect hole at the top to hang the little mermaid charm from that I drew and shrank. I poured some DecoArt Glamour Dust into the shell and let it sit overnight to dry. Kristen has such an eye for things I never would have thought of, like using some broken shells as wings...omg, I loved that idea! I'll never look at a broken shell the same way again!

Linking up my seashell mermaid to Paint Party Friday!

View from our room.

Some of those rain clouds I was talking about, although it never did rain, it was just overcast and windy...very windy!

I don't know if you can see him but there is a small alligator tucked into those reeds. 

We had a spur of the moment mani-pedi day after brunch on Sunday. 

All smiles!

My niece who lives at the beach brought her little man up to visit his old grand aunt for the day.

Great trip: wonderful friends and family combined with some fun art,
life was fine this past week!

Twice as much fun

Mail art (also known as postal art and correspondence art) is a populist artistic movement centered on sending small scale works through the postal service.

My post is up over on the Rubbermoon Artsmosphere today and I would be honored if you stopped over there and left me some love. 💗💙💚💛💜 I made a short video of me making my card and matching envelope too if you're interested in watching it. :)

I'll link to their blog once my post goes live. I'm up EARLY this morning and beat them to it, lol I mean really, who gets up this early without meaning to? Sigh, so as you can tell, not sleeping real well these days. I remember when I was young I could sleep forever, now that I'm retired I can't sleep at all! ugh!

Linking up with

Paint Party Friday

Facebook tests and art journaling

Please do excuse the fact that I am re-posting an older post for Paint Party Friday but today I will be going to pick up my crutches.
What's old, fat and goes splat...Sandee tripping over her own feet!
Oh well, anyway back to elevating and icing my knee, I'll be sure to visit all of you since I'll be on the couch computer for the rest of the week-end! I look forward to having ya'll inspire me back to a quick recovery and get back to arting again real soon!
------------------------------------------------------------------------
I'm always looking for new ways to add journaling to my pages and I think I have found a new and fun way! At least it is for me since I like to play around with the Facebook tests. I find them to be basically upbeat and positive on the whole and sometimes they actually fit so I keep those and do an art journal page about them.

Marbled Paper Sampler

Astro Boy

tiny crow

So this is fun and this way I get to keep all those tests that I want to keep and look back over them .

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!

Believe

German Dresden trim

Vintage Vibe - German & English Scrap

Angels & Cherubs Double Sheet

Children with Signs

In December, Gwen's Artist Tribe is focusing on creative ways to use Dresden Trim and English/German Scrap. You can save 15% when you order any Dresden or Scrap during December. Details are on the coupon below.

Here is my box that I painted along with Kae Pea in her Let’s Get Makey Premium club using DecoArt paints, Rubbermoon stamps and Gwen Lafleur's

German Dresden trim

Vintage Vibe - German & English Scrap

I fell in love with the Children with Signs  (Vintage Vibe - German & English Scrap) because I have these small sentiment stamps from Rubbermoon which I immediately envisioned using with the pieces.

Embossed foil paper trims, also known as Victorian Scrap or recently as "Dresdens"
They are made of embossed, die-cut metallic foil paper.

These old-fashion styled Dresden trims are sooooooooo cool to work with. They have a fabulous metal look to them but in reality are easily bendable and mold around corners like butter!

And I am still crushing on this silk from Darn Good Yarn, love the colors, love the little frayed bits and bobs and especially love the feel of silk! I also adore the bronze Hamsa charm to the paint brush handle. According to Aristotle, the hand is the "tool of tools" so I figured it would be a perfect addition to the paint brush. 

I popped her up with some glue dots and added a small old and broken paint brush and then painted doodles along the edges.

It was easy to cut the background paper after stamping to fit the inside of the box and then glue a word bead along with a teeny tiny butterfly from the collage sheet just for fun.

Adding my painted box to the Paint Party Friday link up!

Kawaii cute charms!

I'm up over on Rubbermoon's Artmosphere today 

( my very first post ) I do hope you join me and leave me some love.

Kwaii charms

linking up with

Paint Party Friday

Be Yourself

"To help yourself, you must be yourself. Be the best that you can be. When you make a mistake, learn from it, pick yourself up and move on."

Dave Pelzer

I named the piece "Be Yourself" in honor of the one little fish going it's own way, against the flow so to speak. Sometimes art has little stories to tell quite on their own accord as if they have their own voice and like the current of the ocean I float along with their story that unfolds before me.

The current is similar to an undertow which drags me along, influencing my emotions with thoughts of how I can bring out it's message? How to further it's cause? I came up with the idea (at least I think it was me and not the fish) to stamp "It is what it is" and "Imagine" around the edges of the frame. I juxtaposed the sayings to show how the statements relate to each other. 

The same and not the same.

I just love these brightly colored handmade Boho fish made by Gwen. They truly brighten up the panels with their own one of a kind art, accented with sari scraps, fibers, trims, rhinestones and stenciled designs.

 Each one is a piece of art on it's own accord.

 Even the dangly bits of the Kuchi trims are a joy as they really helped add movement to the seaweed. I love the assortment of colors and how much texture they created, definitely making their own unique mark in my art.

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