Moon people unite!

I love the moon, I always have so lets unite and come together!

 There is something about it that draws me in like a moth to a flame. I've found myself over the years drawing certain images over and over, birds, faces, suns, butterflies, wildlife and moons!

...but the reason I am focusing on my moons today is that I am going to start a 12 month long series..about full moons. I began today with a video about what I am going to do and I hope you join me on my lunar adventure! AND, not only that, but I have just created a Facebook page where everyone that wants to can show their own moons, whether you draw them or photograph them!
Unite as a group HERE

I've journaled about the moon several times over the last couple of years so I thought I would share them today in case you are one of those "moon people" like me. Maybe it's because the moon is more accessible, I mean you can't sit and just stare at the sun or you'll go blind and other planets and stars are too far away to see closely. The moon seems to be more friendly, I think.
It lets you take your time to look.

So here we go ...I tried to put them in order from the newest to the oldest but honestly, I'm sure some are out of order! 😛

I made this small ATC for the Grumbacher Swap: video
Not my favorite but I was trying to learn how to do reflections on water, something I am still working on!

This was a different take on Halloween this year, a more natural setting for something scary. This is the beginning of some round Gel Press plate moons 😄

I've been working this year on my handwriting and typography and I'll still be working on it in 2017! lol

I really had lots of fun playing with alcohol inks on Yupo paper with this one. The background is black acrylic paint and the moon is scratched through the paint to reveal it. I really like this and plan on making it into prints to sell.

I love making moons with the round Gel Press plates, you can get a lot of texture with them that looks "moon-esque". This one is my largest moon, It's not done in a journal but on a sheet of watercolor paper, 18x24" 😉  I'm not finished with it either, I want to place mountains, trees or maybe a cityscape in the foreground, and currently it's tacked to my wall and I think about working on it again every time I pass by it....one of these days I will!

This is one where I was dabbling in painting just with my fingers, it's a lot harder to do than you might think...and I don't like getting paint on my hands, but I do like how it turned out.

I grouped these 3 together since they were a part of a series I did with ink and acrylic on canvas. ( 8x16" all sold ) First time painting silhouettes, I love how they contrast with the backgrounds.

This is the only collage piece I've made of the moon, it's created entirely out of magazines and it's fairly large (12x36") and it's sold. 💓

I created this one during my art-cation with Anna while down in Florida. I had such plans! I was going to sit out on the beach and draw the moon during the eclipse but it rained! UGH!! I ended up watching it on the computer and painted it that way. A little disappointing but oh well, sometimes that's what life hands you and you deal with it, right? 

Also while down on art-cation there I did this quick and fun page in my journal for Halloween.

 This one was created in my vellum journal and I purposely made the moon to cover a face that was done on another page. While I like the interaction you get when painting on vellum: it does take more work to get the pages coordinated. This is 2 different pages, I hope you get that.

There isn't really a better combination than owls and moons, well, other than wolves. Sometimes I like to sew pages and if I am in the right kind of mood sewing my handwriting. I love the look but it is a pain to do which is why I don't do it very often. I must have been feeling very mellow and patient when I did this page...lots of sewing!

What can be better than a Fairy moon bathing?

 I know, me NOT talking in a video! lol

Video Of this one can be found here

This one comes with a video and was pretty fun to do since I painted it with a pipette, and ...sighs... it's another video that you have to listen to my voice!  HA!

The 2 below are from my first mixed media wall hangings that I made when I began selling my art at the Art Mob, a gallery in the city where I live. 

(both are sold) 6x12" They are on chipboard because I wouldn't invest in canvas in case I couldn't sell anything!

I guess time does fly when you are having fun because while creating this list of moons I discovered I've only been art journaling and making art to sell since 2014 and it feels much longer to me than that! 

To think it all started with scrapbooking, 

which turned into card making

 which evolved into art!

Make your gift-wrapping its own work of art

The best part of the holidays is the spirit of gift giving and you put a lot into finding the perfect gift for someone, right?So don't wrap it up in some ho hum store bought paper, make your gift a work of art in itself!

Go to the Gel Press blog to check out the matching tissue paper too! And while you are there, give me a gift of a comment, they mean so much to me. To know that you took the time to leave me some love really does mean the world to me.

Letter to myself...

Ever think what you would say to yourself if you could send yourself a letter? 

I do.

I created the background by using my Gel Press® plate and a stencil from Joggles called Woodcuts. I like to pick the plate up and use it like a stamp directly into my art journal, you can see me doing that here in a video called The Haunting of the Aqueduct.

Day 4 of Drawing and Painting Beautiful Faces by Jane Davenport.

The haunting of the Aqueduct...

I took Carolyn Dube's stencil: The Arched Aqueduct from StencilGirl and used it to create a haunted scene with my Gel Press® plate and acrylic paints by DecoArt. I made a short video showing how I created this page in my art journal and you can see it HERE. 

I am also entering this in

The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge #29

"Mood board"

Butterfly moon

Halloween in the mountains...

I loved that I had some dried paint left over on my Gel Press® Petite round plate, it made for the perfect pick up print to create a moon with. Have you ever looked at the moon or clouds and tried to see images in them? Well, sometimes you can find a butterfly on the moon :)

It doesn't matter...

Another collage piece using the "fan artist" Netflix envelope, if you look closely you can see that it's the head I grabbed from the flyer and then added the mermaid body to it with matching grey paint. I did add some glitter to her hair cause a mermaid just has to sparkle somehow! lol

I had a couple pieces left over from a sea themed gel print using my Gel Press® plate so I added them to the corner of the page, so glad I hang on to little bits and bobs like these.

I really don't like the grey coloring but she really does stand out from the background which was made from left over paint on my brayer from mono-printing. 

Netflix artist: Cris Hamilton

A charming gift box for a friend

I'm not really going into how I made this yet as this was my practice before making a tutorial over on Gel Press®. However, I couldn't wait to show some pictures of how it turned out.

I really enjoyed painting my box using the gel plate along with my DecoArt Americana Multi-Surface paints.

I love the way the butterfly hovers above the flower and the heavy gem button is perfect for keeping the end of the ribbon hanging down.

I also did the inside of the box too, but next time I am going to use a smaller pattern for the inside.

The last really cool thing is making matching tissue paper to wrap the gift in.

All in all I can count this trial run a success and will make another one along with a step out tutorial soon.

Just be silly...

Sometimes, it's just fun to let loose and just do something for fun :)

 A good old fashioned distraction from things like...oh...let's say politics! I am so over the anger, the bashing and name calling...and no that's not the politicians I am talking about, that's my "Facebook friends" I am referring to. I have unfollowed so many of them lately because of their political bullying. 

I needed to do something light hearted and silly and with Halloween around the corner I decided to play with my Beatrice Coron - Danse Macabre stencil from Artistcellar. I wish I could tell you I layered everything in the correct order, but nooooo, you know me...let's do everything backwards! lol I did have a paint brayered background to begin with and then I used the stencil, which I used 2 different ways. I outlined it for the "man" and painted the back of the stencil in black paint and pressed it down for the the 2 dancing "goblins". 

Next I tore apart bits of a Gel Press print to create the floor...and yes, I had to cover up parts of what I had done previously because ...well, because I seem to just do things in that kind of order, so after I glued down the "floor" I had to back over with the stencil and redo the bottom part of the legs.

Then, I stenciled the brick background...not so easy stenciling around the skeletons so at least give me points for perseverance! At least I waited and added the Netflix head from their mailing envelope after the background was made...whew, right?

Netflix artist: Jim Seaver

And the last things I did was to stamp and write the journaling along with stenciling some magical bubbles...and doodling a little bit with my white Signo pen...still by far, my favorite white pen!

I am entering my art journal page of pure silliness in

Simon Says: Anything Goes

lackadaisical

lackadaisical 

adjective

1.

without interest, vigor, or determination; listless; lethargic:

a lackadaisical attempt.

2.

lazy; indolent:

a lackadaisical fellow.

...lethargic, listless, lazy, uninspired....sigh...

Some days I just can't think of anything that I want to paint...or draw....or anything. I just don't feel inspired, but I feel like I should do something. At least if I was motivated to go work in the garden, walk around the park or even ( heaven forbid ) clean house, then at least I would be doing something!

 I'm bored, bored, bored! 

I did spend a few minutes this morning requesting that my library invest in some more art books...it's the least they could do to rouse my muse, who seems to have disappeared on me...yet again. 

So I wandered back into the art studio and pulled out my Gel Plate® and just played, with absolutely no goal in mind. That's usually the best time to do abstract art...maybe it will be a background for another piece or perhaps it should be left alone?

What do you do when your muse abandons you?

Scrapbooking again

I use to scrapbook...a lot.

And now I have no excuses not to do it again because Gel Press® has come out with a 12x12" plate for scrapbookers!

awesome, right?

I mean this fulfills 2 needs

1. To record precious moments of my grand-nephew

and

2. to art! I love making my OWN background papers and all my letter coordinate too which is a bonus, no need to buy everything trying to get it to all match!

Wowzers!

Ok, so maybe "wowzers" isn't the best title for a blog post..but my other choice was "OMGOMGOMG!!"...lol

Everyone that knows me knows that I just love the technique by Mary Beth Shaw of Stencil Girl of dropping Tim Holtz® Alcohol Inks  through a Seth Apter stencil. Well, I just discovered last night, thanks to Sally Lynn McDonald that I can do this same technique on my Gel Press® plate by just using a little hand sanitizer! whoa!! Needless to say, I ran to the store to get some as fast as my little Jeep would legally allow me to do so!

I made a video to show you how I did it and how I made this ghost print too!

And did you know that we just added a new plate size? The 12x12" plate is perfect for scrapbooking!!

Addicted...again....and again...

I admit, I do! I am so addicted to using my smaller Gel Press® plates as stamps when I am working in my art journal. It just makes it so easy...and I am all about easy! My post is up over on the Gel Press® blog today and I would be honored if you stopped by and left me some love over there.

Your words matter.

Here's a little sneak peek :)

Has your art taught you anything new recently?

I'm more than willing to experiment, although sometimes I have huge regrets but hey, if I learned something then I figure it was a worthwhile investment of my time....and supplies...

And sometimes, my experimenting just causes a whole new set of problems...

If you belong to Gel Press Junkies over on Facebook then you know that I was having some issues with pens not showing up on top of Distress ink backgrounds that I created with my Gel Press® plate. When I set out to sketch my angel I used a ball point pen because I didn't want to ruin any of my other good pens. 

( This was my experimenting with different pens and it was also the start of a brand new problem ) 

So the ball point pens really had the same impact as the Distress inks had...problems covering them up! ( BUT, they did write over the Distress ink, so score!...kinda, lol )You can see the pen marks, and even the paint didn't cover them up, and honestly it was like replacing one problem with another. At least the design of the Distress inks are prettier seeping through the paint than the ball point pen was.

So then I thought I would see if the gelatos would cover the pen marks, which they didn't, but I really do like how well gelatos work over paint...so I thought I would see how well paint goes over gelatos. ( At this point I wasn't even worried about the pen marks, lol Playing had taken over ) So I am liking switching between gelatos and paint so much that I now like the darn piece, pen marks and all...but...

I finally resorted to spraying the piece with a varnish ( which just takes time to let it dry, and I admit I am such an impatient artist ) which then let me come back with another round of gelatos and paint to finish her off, and I really like the results. 

So my lesson I learned? 

Keep going. 

Keep adding.

 Have fun!

And varnish!

What lessons have you learned lately?

I hope they bury me with a paintbrush in my hand

Sooooo...you might have seen a few posts recently where I have been playing with some Distress Inks on top of my Gel Press® plate and well, just LOVING it! I use me 5x7"plate or sometimes the smaller Petite plates just like stamps in my 5½x8" Strathmore journal. And that was the first layer on my page.

Then I painted the stencil ( yes, you read that correctly, "painted the stencil" ) and pressed it down onto the journal page. I went over the image with some paint where it didn't come through as defined like I wanted it to be, and then outlined it to make it stand out.

Next, I dropped some alcohol inks through a flower stencil, let it sit for an hour and then removed it. I need to work on that technique, but I think it has great possibilities.

And lastly is my attempt at typography, I think I will forever be working on that skill but when I think of what my writing looked liked 6 years ago ...well..I can say I have improved, and I can also say I still have room for improvement...lol

I just love this stencil set, Danse Macabre series Artistcellar.  

And yes, I really would be happy buried with a paintbrush in my hand!

Fly

 entering my journal page in

ColourArte's Monthy challenge - Vivid Ultra Metallic Paints

I used my Gel Press® plate along with some acrylic paints, Vivid Metallics and some stencils to create my art journal page. 

But today I thought I would show you how I use my embossing tool, which I haven't used to emboss anything in over 10 years at least ( it always hurt my hand ) BUT I have used this tool soooo much in painting! You can see here I removed the cap from the Vivid bottle ( I was cleaning it ) and when I tested to see if the passage was open, well, some paint came out so I grabbed my tool and scooped it up.

 It was very easy to do some fine outlining this way. Now I could use a paintbrush but I'm weird like that, lol And I should note that I applied the Blue Sky Metallic paint through the stencil with a palette brush because I wanted to play up it's dimensionality.

 I also like to squirt out a portion of paint when I have big areas to cover.

 And then spread it out using the tool. You can tell from the tool that I really do use it a lot in this capacity...no lie, it's one of my most reached for tools.

A little close up picture of the Metallics but the picture doesn't do them justice.

Scrapbooking revival, had you heard?

I use to scrapbook a LOT, and then stopped after my divorce, but now I have reasons to start it up again!! I have this over-the-moon cute grand nephew and I'll now have ( hopefully soon in my hot little hands ) a 12 x 12" Gel Press® plate. Now if you are wondering why I am so excited it's because the 12x12" plate allows me to create double page layouts with matching paper. I use to have to hunt for scrapbook papers that did a flip image but no more!

 I can make my own!

I also love that I can make my papers to coordinate with the photographs, I mean really, how many times have you tried to match the photos and paper when you create a LO? It's hard! I know I had made extra trips to the store trying to find the right paper! 

Now, problem solved!

And you don't have to be an artist to create fun LO's with the gel plate. On this LO I simply used my brayer for the lines and the 6" circle plate to create the balls, and I have a color coordinated paper to match the photos! This is a lot more fun than just going out and buying preprinted paper!

And of course, you can always make single pages like I did here, and you can check out this blog post for the tutorial :) On this one I turned my gel prints into digital photos and then used photoshop to arrange the pictures. I really don't do many single page LO's but this one goes on the front page of his book so it's special!

I love the idea that when this book is finished I will not only have my pictures to reminisce about but will also have my art work to look back on too! 

Now, how cool is that?