Friday, December 27, 2013

A New Year's Coming

These are the last three of my New Year's post cards for the swap. I used mixed media paper and cut my own 4" x 6" postcards - rather than buying them. In the last two cards I tried something new. Not sure how I like it yet. I used pen nibs and a speedball wand, which I dipped into Liquitex Acrylic Ink to draw the pink string and the green vines. Other colors in the cards came from Grumbacher Translucent Watercolors, Wink of Stella Glitter Markers, and At You Spica pens. It's almost new year's day. The cards are in the mail. It's a new record :).
The Creator's Leaf

Sunday, December 22, 2013

Pkok Tangle, Sandhya Manne

Currently, I am working on postcards. 
A few of us are involved in a New Year's postcard swap and I'm trying to get mine done and in the mail. 
You might have seen yesterday's post where I listed how far behind I am. 
I am one step closer now, haha!

Pkok is a new tangle from Sandhya Manne, one of our CZTs from India. Her work is always so beautiful and delicate. 
I love this new pattern of hers! It just really wanted to mix it up with some merryweather (Sandy Hunter) and bales (Rick Roberts and Maria Thomas).

I cut my own postcard from mixed media paper.
Color came from my Grumbacher Transparent watercolors.
The sparkle is from Wink of Stella Glitter markers (which unfortunately doesn't photograph well.)

The Creator's Leaf

Friday, December 20, 2013

Thawing Out

I haven't posted in a few days. I am up in Maryland with Kali. I didn't bring very much artsy stuff with me, just little bits of bright colors, a few pens, and some colorful backgrounds I made a couple weeks ago.  I have 106 ATCs to make, as well as 25 or so bookmarks, 4 postcards, 2 sets of prestrung tiles to complete (18 tiles total), and 15 other ATCs that I had forgotten about until now. Whoa! I have fallen way behind! It's been freezing and has snowed three times since I've been here. Today started a bit of upward rising in the temps. Yay!!!

I was headed home Wednesday, but Kali was in a traffic accident. So now my days are filled with insurance agents, body shops, medical files, and now car dealerships. The decision was made today to total her car. Not a fun day. So, once again I am in Maryland until we find another car. Posts are probably going to be few and far between for awhile. 

Above is an 11" x 14" colorful background that I tangled here at Kali's. I tried to use a bunch of tangles that I had not used lately. Trying to refresh my memory. I still run into those times when I just stare at the paper and tell myself I can not remember a single tangle that I know. Does that ever stop? Hahahaha! I'm sure it never happens to you :)

Background colors brought to you from Dylusions Ink Sprays and Wink of Stella Zig glittery markers.

The Creator's Leaf

Friday, December 13, 2013

Word Art

Word art is something new to me. I learned about word art on Facebook, on Jo Newsham's page called Pen in Hand. Her work is wonderful and so much more involved and detailed than mine. This is my first attempt.

I used a page from a C. S. Lewis book of quotes for this project. I chose a page about friendship, then scanned the page to find words that went well together - to form a thought. A little penwork and shading made the words pop from the page. Next I added some tangles. I surely could do a whole lot more with this page, but I am pleased with this as my first attempt. So much fun to do. The hardest part was picking out the words!

The Creator's Leaf

Thursday, December 12, 2013

Butterflies in Flight

About two weeks ago, I posted this background and showed the steps I took using a stencil to lift the background color, forming the shapes of the butterflies. You can see that post here. From there, I started drawing in the butterflies with black microns. I added color with a fairly new product from Zig - Wink of Stella Fine Glitter Dust pens. I love them! They provide color, glitter, sparkle, and shimmer, and are transparent so you can still see the tangle lines through them. So much fun! I hope you enjoy my butterflies in flight!
The Creator's Leaf

Tuesday, December 3, 2013

Bubbles in Blue

Here is one last background for awhile.
11" x 14" Strathmore Bristol Smooth Surface,
Dylusions Ink Spray - London Blue and White Linen.
Joggles stencil Endless.

I created the background first, with the two Dylusions colors.
Then I spritzed water through the Joggles stencil.
Not sure why the wet places lifted to a darker blue, that's one of the nice things about these inks. 
You never know what you are going to get!
The Creator's Leaf

Sunday, December 1, 2013

Stenciled Flowers

This background was built on 11" x 14" Strathmore Bristol Smooth Surface. 
I made a whole bunch of these at once, using paper from one pad of bristol. 
The bright colors came from two Dylusions Ink Sprays -  Lemon Zest and Funky Fuchsia.
I am always amazed at the colors I get when I start mixing these sprays with a little spritz of water and let them just blend into each other.
This is another example of what I showed you two posts ago.
I used a new Joggles stencil called Flowerburst.
I just placed it down on top of my colored background,
spritzed water over the stencil, and let it sit for about 15-20 seconds.
Then I removed the stencil and let it sit another 15-20 seconds.
Then I blotted the excess water away with a paper towel, 
and let the color continue lifting for a short while.
I love the results once the color has been lifted, 
leaving behind the image of the stencil.
Then I finished drying the whole page with a heat gun.
Now it's ready for some tangling.
I can't wait to get started on this one!
(I know, I say that every time! But it's true!)