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?

Etegami...kinda sorta...

Hahnemühle sent me a wonderful set of 30 Cold Pressed watercolor postcards that came in this beautiful limited edition tin, perfect for both wet and dry techniques. I love sending out postcards much like snail mail art where the outside can be enjoyed by every person who touches the card. 

I thought delving into some Etegami would be perfect. 

Now I am not going to even pretend that they are true Etegami but more like a nod to Etegami, lol

 (Etegami principles that I kinda used are all noted in red.)

A simple, hand-painted image — outlines in black ink and filled in with watercolor.

Now, anyone who knows me, knows I love to outline so this part was easy enough. I did use my bamboo pen and tried to not be precise and to not worry about any bleeding since the

 Motto of etegami – heta de ii, heta ga ii translated means

 "Clumsiness is no problem. 

Clumsy makes it better.” 

Something that sounds simple but is one of the hardest things for me to achieve. I would have started over after the india ink bled under the stencil but then I wouldn't have used my supplies in the way that I did and for this I just smiled. 

Generally, use no more than three colors.

Etegami always includes words and I love to add words to my art although I do try and write them as best I can, Etegami forgives less than perfect lettering.

 “Etegami (e=”picture” tegami=”letter”) 

are simple drawings accompanied by a few apt words, done on a soft absorbent postcards. They are meant to be mailed off to one’s friends, not hoarded. They often depict some ordinary item from everyday life.

In Japan, people do not sign; They use stamps. 

They are called Han or Hanko, and every individual in Japan has one.

Now I don't have a Hanko but I grabbed the closest thing I could think of, a mini hand carved wood block stamp that you can find in Gwen Lafleurs online store. I didn't even have red ink so I choose a hot pink which I got from Rubbermoon which came in one of the Moon Mail club items.

Linking up to Paint Party Friday

You can purchase the Hahnemüle Limited Edition tin of watercolor postcards from:

Rochester Art Supply

Jerry’s Artarama ( looks like a better deal )

The postcards are excellent quality and they came with the address field on the other side so they make for a very professional presentation. I've been in love with the Hahnemüle watercolor paper for awhile now and their watercolor postcards are equal in quality. 

The artist on the cover of the tin is Alexa Dila, urban sketcher from Berlin, Germany

And if anyone wants to see pictures of Blossom,
 my fiberglass bear I painted for charity please visit here 😊

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?

Etching, the problem solver

Potluck dinners, a sick or bereaving friend or church functions, those are the occasions where I bring a casserole or dessert, and then begins the fretting of getting my dish back. 

Yes, I fret.

After all, there is no such thing as Dish Karma.

 If you lose one, another doesn’t show up as a random act of dish replacement. 

The Land of Lost Pyrex is right down the street from The Land of Single Socks.

The best and easiest way to get your dish back is to etch your name a design on it.
Permanently into the glass.

Shattered Stencil designed by Lizzie Mayne

 I didn't want to etch my name into it because one day, someone might inherit my dish whether through a garage sale or through a hand me down moment so I thought I'd etch a design into the dish instead so it's more "user" friendly down the road. But you can do your name if you so desire.

The little dots are actually from the paper that I placed under the dish to get some contrast.

After etching, it's safe to wash in the dishwasher and safe to put in the oven

as long as the bakeware is intended for oven-use. 

And do etch on the outside area of any dish, just in case..

ya know what I mean.

I am sure you've gotten quite a few etching instructions along the way on the hop 

so I'll just mention a couple of things I learned along the way:

1. A painted stencil did not effect the etching at all, so you don't have to start off with a new stencil. This is a picture after the etching paste had been scraped off before washing the remainder of the paste off in the sink. And an extra tip, the spray nozzle did great for removing the paste in between small areas of the stencil design.

2. Areas on your casserole dish that have a raised area (like the name of the dish, size of the dish, etc.) won't etch quite as well because the stencil itself cannot lay flat,

 but overall I think it turned out very well.

The little dots are actually from the paper that I placed under the dish to get some contrast.

GIVEAWAY
One lucky winner will receive an etchall® Glass Etching Bee-ginner Kit,
reposition/reuse stencil spray
AND a $25 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products!
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, March 20th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.
Winner will be announced on
StencilGirl's Facebook page and etchall’s Facebook page on Wednesday, March 21.

Blog Hop Order:

March 14
Mary Beth Shaw
Gwen Lafleur
Mary C. Nasser
Debi Adams
Tina Walker
Cindi McGee
Nadine Carlier
Joe Rotella

March 15
Belen Sotelo
Cindy Gilstrap
Kiala Givehand
Janet Joehlin
Anita Scroggins
Erin Reed
Candy Rosenberg
Susie Bentz

March 16
Carol Baxter
Sandee Setliff ← You are here!
Louise Nelson
Terry Ricioli
Christie Troxell
Steph Ackerman
Julie McGuffee

I'm linking up the blog hop to Paint Party Friday while I have a piece of Lemon Meringue pie...
the things I do for my design team...sigh
😜

New life

Didn't you love it as a kid? A bonifide "do over"?

Well, in art, we can also re-think our art, and breathe in some new life to it!

Sometimes, it happens while working on a piece, maybe you sleep on it over night and wake up with a different plan. Sometimes you create something and just know it wasn't your best effort, and it sits there like a big white elephant in the room, staring at you every day, thinking, 

why did she abandon me? Doesn't she love me?

Sighs the artist, yes I love you but I didn't have the time...the direction...I was lost.
until now...

I totally love the redesign, just some simple touches with paper, paint and embossing powder and it has a new life breathed into it. I love the Art Deco Alphabet stencil, very cool lettering. I felt I need to jazz up the word "ART" a little so it could hold it's own next to the sophisticated "MATTERS".

I know you can easily see that I collaged the background with text paper, but did you notice that I also added assorted papers  to the paintbrushes and a few inspiring stamped words too!

The base was really easy to create with some Van Gogh Painting washi tape which I sealed with some Deco-page paste, added some Exotic Orient washi tape to the brush, a little bit of Dresden trim and some Mirror Gold embossing powder and I love it!

And speaking of embossing powder I covered the mug completely with all sorts of different Baked Textured powders designed by Seth Apter of The Altered Page and wow, it has a lot of dimension and depth now.

And some awesome products from DecoArt which helped me to pull it all together.

Now, guess who is also feeling a bit neglected now?

Linking up to Paint Party Friday where no one feels neglected!

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

Happy New Word for 2018

hope

1. This time of year I begin thinking of my word for the year and this year I have chosen the word hope. I usually create an art journal page to remember it, just in case I should forget, lol 
2. It's also nice to look back at my previous words I've chosen over the years. 

I love angels

I admit I've never been good with New Year's Resolutions so I began choosing a single word to guide me for the new year instead. A single word that will sum up the essence and focus for the next 365 days of my life. 

Dresden trim, washi tape and stencils...my oh my!

I like to do an art journal page on my WOTY. 

It helps me to keep seeing my word.

How do you display your word? Or do you?

Don't box yourself into only choosing one word if multiple words or a phrase resonates with you. There is no word limit on this, so choose something that resonates with you! Write journal your word down!

I love all the shimmer!

Don't box yourself into only choosing one word if multiple words or a phrase resonate with you. There is no word limit on this portion, so choose something that resonates with you! 

Do you choose a WOTY?

I would love to hear what yours is if you do.

Supplies:

Gwen Lafleur Studios

Khadi Papers Sketchbook

Vintage Vibe - German & English Scrap

German Dresden Trim

Decorative Filigree Ornament stencil

Decorative Folk Flower Screen stencil

StencilGirl

Layers stencil 

Crowns and Scepters stencil

ColourArte

Buttercup

DecoArt

Americana Acrylic - Lamp (Ebony) Black

Dazzling Metallic - Splendid Gold

You still have time!

Linking up to Paint Party Friday

Happy New Year to everyone!

Be Merry holiday card

Welcome to the "Are you ready for the holidays?" blog hop...OK OK, it's not really called that, but seriously...

are you ready?

Well, have no fear, we have loads of inspiration waiting for you!

I love to send out personalized Christmas cards. 

I use to try and make everyone a one of a kind card but man, that's a lot of work! I've learned that I can make a unique card and then have it printed, this way they are still getting a custom card from me but with way less pressure...I mean I still have to decorate the tree, wrap presents and bake all those cookies...it's exhausting just thinking about it! So I hope this gives you the inspiration to make your cards but take some of the pressure off you!

Techniques that I used to make my card:

masking

layering different stencils

outlining

shading

accenting

reverse stenciling to get mirrored images

Check out my video so you can see how I incorporated them all!

We have a more than a dozen projects our Creative Team members made just to whet your appetite for the merriest season!

While you are busy oohing and aahing, take a moment to leave a comment on each blog and you'll be entered to win a $25 StencilGirl Gift Certificate!

Here are links to all the fantastic, magic, merry, holiday projects:

Karen Gaunt

Tina Walker

Torrie Gass

Cindy Gilstrap

Sherry Canino

🎄 Sandee Setliff 🎄

Kiala Givehand

Janet Joehlin

Belen Sotelo

Louise Nelson

Debi Adams

Carol Baxter

Comment by midnight CST in the USA on November 8^th and we’ll randomly choose a $25 StencilGirl Gift Certificate winner. The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to win. 
We’ll announce the winner on our Facebook Page on November 9^th.

Please feel free to share the hop with your friends!

Three Trees Stencil by Jessica Sporn

Holiday Sayings 6 stencil by Mary Beth Shaw

Holly Mistletoe Repeating Stencil by Jennifer Evans

Linking up to Paint Party Friday
Ho, ho, ho!

Sense of self

This post finds me in washi tape heaven!

In Japan, it's known as masking tape (マスキングテープ) and the most renowned brand of washi tape is simply called mt - which stands for "masking tape". The term "washi tape" refers to the fact that the tapes are made from Japanese rice paper and differentiates it from typical masking tape you might find in the hardware store.

Vintage Stamps, Ransom Numbers, Wide Black Calligraphy, Star Woodblock stamp, and Old Letters & DaVinci Writing

Washi tape is actually usually made from natural fibers (like bamboo or hemp) or the bark of trees native to Japan such as mulberry, mitsumata shrub or the gampi tree.

But let's start at the beginning, this is my art journal page that I created.

And this is how it began...

I had some backgrounds pre-made ages ago using the Decorative 6-Petal Flower Screen stencil by Gwen Lafleur. I loved the backgrounds so much that I could have left them as is.

But then the washi tape was whispering my name in my ear...and wow, does Gwen carry the most beautiful designs! And oh look, one of the Darn Good Sari Yarn Sample Packs jumped out to join in all the fun!

OK...so my typing skills still haven't improved but while I was pecking away I couldn't help but notice this little person hiding among the splattered paint and coaxed him/her out of hiding with a little pen work.

I then laminated the piece, punched in some holes and tied it into the journal with the Sari ribbon. Have I mentioned that silk yarn is sublime? 

I doodled with the Star stamp and some Rubbermoon stamps and used my Overstitch wheel/pricking wheel through the paint to create the star trails.

 Thanks for stopping by! I really do appreciate you and will return the favor.
I promise!

When you stop by it makes me feel like I've been crafting with friends versus being by myself and I love that sense of camaraderie between artists.

One of the Turkmen jewelry parts

See you soon, I can't wait to see what you've been up to this week!
linking up with
Paint Party Friday