More Art Swap Pages

I have completed two more pages for the Art is . . . You Swap. This little birdie is made from a couple of swatches of upholstery fabric. The cool stitching around the border is a bit obscured by the layers of pastel I added, but it's more visible in real life. And you can't see it, but behind the letter stickers there's a piece of paper that has the title of a vintage book about nests and birds :)

The colours aren't as true in the picture below, but you can see the effect of the ribbon better:

The other page I created was inspired by Christy Tomlinson's She Art girls. I haven't taken any of Christy's classes, but I've watched a few of her online videos and I like her whimsical girls.

It's hard to tell, but my girl is wearing a bun ;) And that flower in the middle is supposed to be the sun! :)

I'm lacking inspiration for my last two pages, though . . .

Homemade Stencils/Stamps

The other day I saw the idea of making homemade stencils with hot glue on Traci Bautista's blog.  Well, I have a hot glue gun and I'd like to try playing with some stencils -- so I thought I'd give it a whirl. I used waxed paper, which didn't release the stencils very well, but it wasn't hard to peel the paper off. If I do it again, I'll use parchment paper as Traci suggests. 


Here is my little collection of hot glue stencils:

Pretty cool, eh? I think this technique could be used to make some kinda cool embellishments, too -- though it would be nice if I could think of a way to colour them.

 I didn't have any paint mists, so I watched a bunch of youtube videos and made my own with some water, a smackerel of ModPodge, metallic paint, and folk art paint. Then I played with my stencils! 

After I sprayed with the glitter mist, I flipped the stencil over and used it like a stamp:

Fun stuff!

Do you have any other ideas for making homemade stencils?

Any thoughts on how to colour the glue?

Word Art Wednesday - July 18, 2012

The text for this week's Word Art Wednesday Challenge is from a hymn I remember from my childhood:

It's a good reminder, isn't it? A comforting thought. Feel free to download and use the text in your own art if you'd like.


For my collage, I used two texted papers and some vintage bird graphics from The Graphics Fairy -- a wonderful resource for vintage pictures, blog backgrounds, and project ideas. I don't know that those little birds are sparrows -- but you get the idea ;) 


If you'd like to join us in the WAW challenge, be sure to link up so you can have a chance to win a little something from Detailed 4 U Collections. And don't forget to read the featured bio on the WAW page -- it's about me! :) 

Work in Progress - Art Swap

I recently decided that I'd like to participate in the Art Is . . . You  Art Swap.  The theme is Weird Wild Wonderful. I have been itching to get started, and yesterday afternoon I found the body power to begin, as long as I remained sitting. 


Oh, what fun I had! Outside of a run-in with the sewing machine (I wailed in frustration, unaware that in my efforts,  I cut my hand on the balance wheel and got a blister  -- not such a good thing when my immune system is so compromised. Turns out it wasn't just my chemo-compromised muscles -- DH had to get a wrench to loosen it!), I spent several blissful hours playing and creating. 


I decided I want to have a theme for each page with just a word or two to indicate that theme. The first was "Joy" -- epitomized by my happy little masking tape girl. (I kinda wish it was more obvious what she's made of.)  The perfectionist in me says she's too juvenile. But I am getting better and better at silencing the inner critic and embracing whatever shows up on my pages!

I might replace that little bird with one that stands out more, but other than that I think I'll call it done for now.

On my second page, I decided to try a technique I've seen a few places online -- painting over a magazine face. (Here is a cool example. I put a light coat of gesso on the image, so I had no trouble with the paint adhering -- though I was using acrylics and not water colours. ) 

I like my little lovely and will definitely be trying this technique again. 

Have you ever participated in an art swap? I encourage you to try it. You're "better" at art than you think! (I wrote about my first swap here. Looking back now I can see how I've "grown" as an artist -- even in less than a year! That's cool:)