Playing with Backgrounds

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Good Morning!  its a fabulous start to the day!  Now I've got to go to work...  I thought I'd give you a sneak peak into what I got all fired up about this morning.  Yesterday I wrote a little bit about my Pen Pal Bonnie and today is small continuation of that.  Several months ago I made her the beginnings of a small art journal.  Once a month or so we exchange pages that are 4x4 for each others journals.  Though she laments that she's not quite cut out for it I believe that her pages are completely wonderful and gorgeous.  As part of her Christmas Surprise I'm working on several 4x4 pages for her journal.  I started out this morning with Mixed Media paper from Strathmore that I cut to 16x16.  I then just started playing with my favorite stencils and gesso.  Then I brought out Burnt Umber, Azure Blue, and Deep Rose gouche.  I applied it liberally with a brush and then spread it around with a baby wipe.  I'm totally in love with the results.  I was on a roll, but the reality of daily life, sigh....

My thoughts are that I'll come back with script stamps and my own lettering before I start cutting down it to mini journal size.

I'll be back, muse readers!!!  Enjoy the Season!

Hello My Pen Pals!

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Hello my Friends,

I've been working on a little Christmas Present for my Pen Pal Bonnie. The letter I sent her in October was delivered in the envelope that is pictured below.

I normally decorate  her envelopes and I wasn't expecting the rave review that she sent me in return.  So, I decided she needed another angel, but this time on canvas board.

So here's Bonnie Angel!...

 There's a couple of things that I noticed when I scanned it in that I may go back in a touch up, but for the most part she's done! and I Love Her, hope Bonnie Does too!!! 

I've decided that scanning for the most part is better than trying to photograph it, but you can't quite get the feel of the gold paint.  

So Long Muse fans where ever you are!

Twinkle and Spirit

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Just a little playing around I started yesterday morning.

I be twinkle & spirit

First page of December

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Can't Stop Thinking Big!

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Can't Stop Thinking Big... Rush

     Here it IS! Woo Hoo! I'm amazed at myself.  Wouldn't have ever thought it possible, but it has happened.  I have completed my very first Mixed Media Canvas!  I'm in shock and I'm really excited about all the blank canvases sitting patiently in my closet.  So without further adieu. I present to you...

The Fairies' Secret!

"Every Wall is a Door"

The Hidden Text is a quote from Ralph Waldo Emerson

You must find your own key to open your walls.

My favorite key and a pair fairy wings. (I made those a while back and they were perfect! I got the idea from a book, that I think is titled, Enchanted Adornments.)

Just a little Gaming Obsessed

Pin It Now! I've been a little preoccupied the last couple of months and my blogging has suffered just a little. There's been birthdays, vacations, more birthdays, music concerts, retreats and last but certainly not least this fall has been the season for Xbox game releases where my geekiness and fandom reign on high.

Borderlands 2
Dishonored
Assassin's Creed 3
Halo 4

Oh boy! Dishonored is such a well kept secret. Produced by Bethesda the creators of the Elder Scroll franchise. It's a short game in comparison, but its a great story and fabulous game play. Borderlands 2 kept the Bink in constant thrall. It's a fun quirky game with lots of pop culture references. And then there's Assassin's Creed 3. My oh my such a gorgeous game the additional gameplay features add so much to the overarching story line. I've been taught well by my Bink and have emersed myself in finding and unlocking everything so my enjoyment is only growing and the end isn't even close yet. It's like a really good book that you read slowly as to prolong the ending because the story is a treasure that you just don't want to let go of just yet. And there is Halo 4 which I haven't gotten or played yet. But one day. Maybe soon I will be hunting down the covenant scum with Master Chief and Cortana. Can't wait, but I'll continue hunting down Redcoats Regulars for now.

This said I've not been neglecting my art table, just altering my priorities just a little. I've gotten a lot done and will share soon.

Still at it!

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Traps, Treasures, and Secret Doors!

Pin It Now! Having watched the 2001 sequel to Secret Garden, The Return to the Secret Garden recently.  I've had floating around in the ole brain pan the thought that my current Journal, Secret Garden needs to have a secret door.  Also, being slightly addicted to Pinerest (first stage is denial, right?!) I've seen that there are a few cards being made now that use an embossing resist for the central design.  When I started this layout those two thoughts were forefront. I started out by stamping the branch and leaf pattern then embossing with clear powder.  I then took the same stamp and using Mowed Grass Distress Ink stamped again.  I used my heat tool to dry it a little bit and lightly wiped off the ink from the embossed surface. I then stamped the Lock and Key.  I had the butterflies floating on my desk so I transferred them using gel medium.  The embossed surface also resisted the transfer so the butterflies look like they are behind the branches.  Very cool!!!

That green really needed additional color and I've had these Prima flowers in my stash for quite a while so I starting gluing them down.  The larger flowers I used brads to secure and then glued to the page.  After all my elements were down I drew the framework of the door around them, which you can see in the photo below.

I took out my Prometheus Pen and Black Magic and inked in the door frame.  I couldn't help adding the tiny red bird to the foliage.  I'm currently debating on whether or not to paint the door a different color or leave it as is. hmm...

Magician's Secrets

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Started this watching Immortals the other day. I was thinking steampunk, but it segued into the magician. I'm enjoying the crazy symbol on her face whatever it is. Had a time with her shirt. I started with a pinky mauve color but it was too close to the background so I kept trying darker colors until I settled on the blue.

Take a Hike! The Zombie Apocalypse and more

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Sometimes you just have to take a hike and last Sunday was just such a day. I didn't realize how much I needed to breathe in new air. So the Bink, Hanzmo, and I went to the Mountains. We choose Southwest Virginia because we've not done much hiking there so we pointed north and drove. We thought about Flag Rock, High Knob, but decided on Bark Lake Camp. Very nice lake, there wasn't but 2 other families sitting around the lake. Looked like they'd gotten a lot a rain, but everything was so green. The trail around the lake was a mix of gravel, rock path, and bridges. From either side of the trail it was a sea of ferns and these ferns were massive. Fungi was prevalent as well due to the abundance of rainfall. Bink kept finding and showing us animal signs, especially beaver. The boys didn't appreciate me in the lead as I wasn't clearing the spiderwebs. We juggling walking order until Bink was in front with his new walking stick he had rescued from the dam. After the 3rd or 4th bridge he would rush ahead of us and we would hear, "None shall pass." We passed anyway... Sometimes when we hike its in silence and other times our conversations are random. At one point Bink said he would head for the hills if the Zombie apocalypse ever came. That way we would be able to see, hear and smell them for they got to us. Set up the mountainside like the Swiss Family Robinson. We would even be safe from the Zombie Pirates when they came. My argument was how would Pirate Zombies make it to SWVA in the first place. Of course they would be pirates first, then zombiefied and become lost. But never fear Ninja's would be brought in to fight the pirate zombies. It wouldn't matter if the a couple Ninja's fell to the Pirate Zombies and became Ninja Zombies because since they are such mortal enemies they would continue to fight themselves and leave the Apocalypse Survivors alone. So went our hike until Bink decided that you just "don't cross the streams" at the next bridge we crossed to much groaning from Hanzmo and myself. We had lots of fun on that hike, can you guess which of us would be the Ranger, Druid, and Rogue, or effectively the DPS, Healer, and the Tank?

Mixed Media/Collage Napkin Tutorial

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Da Masta Cheef posed the question on how I was going to remove the layers from my table cloth doodle. So here is how I utilize tissue and/or napkins in my Journals. I like using tissue and napkins because of the added texture that they give.

Materials: napkins, matte/gel medium, brush or palette knife

Step 1: find a napkin you like	Step 2: find your plys by separating the corners.

Step 3: Remove plys from design	Step 4: Lay down medium and place design

Examples:

I've stamped a napkin ply	collage	peacock girl by L.Cox

Table Cloth Doodle

Pin It Now! The Bink and I took my Grandmother to a family reunion Sunday before last. After catching up with so many  faces, seeing the new ones and enjoying the fantastic food.  We retired to our table and I realized that the table cloth was a paper disposable one and I thought to myself how micron and tablecloth would react together.  It's a lot like a heavy duty napkin and the bleed out from the micron was minimum.  It turned out better than expected so I had to take the doodle with me to put in my journal.  I'm going to remove the multiple layers until its like tissue and use gel medium to make it become part of the background of whatever page it ends up on.

My Secret Garden

Pin It Now! I've always loved the Secret Garden story.  As a child I always had places I went to play and they always were secluded away in trees, the woods behind my elementary school, even the schools playground had a wood copse.  I could watch the movie over and over.  Not quite sure if its the time lapse photography of the plants in the garden or the labyrinthine Misselthwaite Manor.  So, Its not surprising that my current journal title ended up Secret Garden.

Oh My Goodness, Oh My Goodness, Oh My Goodness

Pin It Now! I've been MIA I know, but WOW what a couple of months!  Its been insanely busy.

I've been a little swamped the last two months with new car, the theater, art dates with my scrapbooking girls, inventory, inventory, inventory, and vacation. I have found time to finish my Moxie Art journal though, so here is a update as to what I've been doing.

Thanks for Watching, so long art fans...

Pinterest in bed...Leads to Words and Eggs.

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There's something about surfing Pinterest in bed that instantly makes me relaxed and sleepy. There's a quality about the mobile app that I enjoy so much more than the PC or laptop. But laying in bed unwinding from a fruitful, but long day with Pinterest is like a bed time story told in just pictures. Tonight it led me to Words and Eggs. A tumblr page by college instructor and calligrapher Lesley Yoder.

"W&E primarily spotlights vintage and vintage-inspired design, typography, hand lettering, literature, francophilia, and anything else that's rad." thats Verbatim from the Tumbler site.

The images there prompted me to seek out the Words and Eggs blog site

If you're a geeked out movie nerd on a star trek/star wars high then its worth a visit it get lost navigating the fascinating posts on vintage themes with a nerdy twist. Especially "I can read movies" where the covers for the novelizations of such movie icons as Blade Runner and Highlander are art and design, not stock photos from the movie.

Anyway... It was a nice end to the day. I would encourage anyone to go for a visit or a brief interlude. So check it out.

Words and Eggs!

Studio Rug Project - Day 1

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I've had this particular project in mind for a while now and finally decided to give it a whirl. My brother-in-law painted the isle runner we used in our wedding. I gave him some painters canvas and the design. Unfortunately once the wedding was over the runner was folded up and stored in the closet. Months ago when the Bink and I started converting our office space into more of a craft space I found that runner. I had been thinking of getting a rug to put under my stool to help with protecting the carpet and this was the perfect thing. The knot design is worked in sections so it was fairly easy to cut it and secure the end with hot glue. Threw it under my desk and it's been a great addition to my creative space. But it lacked for color. On a trip to Asheville I discovered a shop that had painted drop clothes for sale. They were adorable! They have been in the back of my mind for months and I decide to give my rug a painted face lift.

The afternoon got away from me today, but Tycoe (Our Maine Coon) and I enjoyed a fantastic late afternoon taking it easy on the deck. Her chasing sun beams and I painting the inside of the knot work. I must admit that I originally thought it wouldn't take any time at all. Right! This is going to be a multi-day project. I made some good progress on it today.

Good night Art Fans, the sounds of Hearts of Space are calling to me from the radio.

It's How I Roll!

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TGIF! Friday background sneak peak...

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 I'm working in the center of my journal and though the 8x8 size is unique I'm thinking of making the 8x10 journal I started with once I finish this one. Here's a sneak peak at the background I'm working on.
     It's kinda funny because I was inspired to do this technique by the rugs that are scattered throughout the dungeons in the Skyrim Xbox game.
     It's a light back ground with a darker stamped image on top that is outline in white. I used my Neocolor 2 crayons to create the blue/purple color. Stamped in faded jeans distress ink and outlined with a white Gelly Roll pen. The left side took about 45 minutes, but the effect was worth the effort.
     The stamp is by Hampton Art 4x4 cling mounted stamp and every time I've stamped with it the square shape is very apparent.  I very pleased with this out come.

So Long Art fans, you with your visions and dreams...

In my Studio - distress ink reVamp!

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Before

I have a tray on my art table that houses all the inks that I tend to use frequently.  My Distress Inks by Ranger take up a lot of room on that tray.  I did a lot of re-stacking looking for the right color. Watching a YouTube video a fellow journalist referenced Ranger's (Distress Ink manufacturer) website.  So, spent a little time surfing and found these...  a Distress Ink color chart and Distress Ink Labels.  Pretty Sweet!

After

It didn't take very long to color code the labels and attach them to the ink pads. Stamp the chart with the coordinating color too.  I now have more room on my tray for supplies I reach for every day.  I transferred my Matte Medium and Gesso to plastic containers.  Much easier getting brushes into. I can now have those on the desk within easy reach now.  I even have space available on the tray still.


So long Art fans, back to the two page spread I'm working on. Its looking good.


Distress Ink Labels
Distress Ink color chart

Memorial Day Weekend UP date!!!

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Hey Blog Readers!!!

Its been a while since I've posted and about time that I've give you some attention.  There's so many things that have happened and so many more to waiting in the wings to occur.  I may have been absent from this here blog, but I haven't been totally absent from my art desk.  I thought that I would give you guys just a brief introduction to my Memorial Weekend to get back in the swing of things.

Saturday:  the Bink had to work and I was invited by some fabulous ladies to a Crop in Historical Downtown Jonesborough, TN.  They are all so very sweet letting me work with them, even though I'm not scrap-booking. This is the second time that I've ventured forth with my journal and I'm getting the hang of what to bring with me and what really needs to stay at home.  #1 limit myself to 2 possible projects and be open to spontaneous demonstrations.  Having the potential for more than 2 just means there is more supplies that I have to carry, take only what I need to survive (at least for a small period of time and I can leave the industrial strength hair dryer at home!)
  The main project that I took with me was for my Pen Pal Bonnie.  I started a mini journal just for her.  I added a few pages that I started for her.  I kept adding things to it and the large envelope that I was planning on using quickly became not big enough.  So, I transferred everything to a postal box that I had on hand and I just couldn't send it without "embellishing" it a bit. I finished it up and began a new collage sheet.
  Spent Saturday evening on Boone Lake!  It was the first time ever in 6+ years living here that I've been on the lake at night.  It was extremely nice. I packed us a simple dinner of BLT sandwiches and Pringles!   The ultimate benefit was that I spent hours on a boat and not one sign of sunburn. The moon is my skin's friend.

Sunday: Spent working on my art journal, killing aliens on the Xbox, and watching Monk episodes.  Its on Netflix right now and I'm totally addicted.  Did fire up the grill for some really thick Pork chops, Parmesan and pepper corn on the cob, and Mashed red potatoes.  For desert individual Strawberry shortcakes, yum, yum.

Monday:  More work on the art journal, finished the sketch I started on Saturday and Inked it, read a lot, Xbox, and more Monk.  We may not have gone anywhere, but it was a very relaxing day spent with my Bink.


that's all art fans!!! Its almost my bed time and I gotz to find out what happens next in Raven Calls!

Invasion of the Amateur Movie Crew

Pin It Now! Saturday, March 24th, 2012

The Bink's movie crew has picked my living room for a scene. It is utter chaos. I have escaped out the front door to Neverness'.  Totally derailed him from his Saturday afternoon pursuits. Mawahahahahaaha! If you want to know what he was doing check out his Blog at Neverness Hobby Chronicle.

B. U. T... I've managed to get him ARTING! We're currently plotting away on our 40K project.

So I'm getting a lesson in inking and then dyes.

My sketch 

My first lesson in inking

I really like how this came out, I've noticed some things in the drawing that could have been tweaked.  Practice, Play, and Practice some more.  I've progressed since I first started drawing and I'm happy.


Update:  He (Neverness) gave me homework before rushing off to the wilds of Indiana.
So I am now outfitted with Black Magic Ink, New liner brush, tracing paper, new sketch pad, and a couple of "text" books.

Now the plan is to add a second page to this here blog that will be center on our exploits in this Warhammer 40K Collaboration.

If Warhammer 40K is complete gibberish to you check out Games Workshop & Fantasy Flight Games for some clarification.

Communing with Gaia

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HELLO Spring 2012!!!

For me its always easier to breathe surrounded by trees.  Trees of all shapes, sizes, and colors.  My favorite is the willow. Did you know that there are champion willows.  My sacred Willow is in Burke's Garden, VA.  It has a sign that proclaims it to be the Champion Willow of 1976.  If it was that grand then, just imagine what it looks like now, HOLY COW!!! 

The weather has been so wonderful that the Bink and I, along with some compatriots have journeyed forth into the Wild Woods so near our East Tennessee home. We're so lucky to have several State Parks so very close.  It is a simple thing to leave work and be surrounded by nature in just a few minutes.  With it being so early in the season we've managed to witness the sprouting of nature in her protected habitat.  We've traipsed among tree roots, last years leaves, and the crumbling rocks of Gaia's bones.  It is but a hint of the beauty that is to come.  I feel so at home with the trees.  I believe that there are places for each of us that allow us to inhale and exhale more freely and to be more relaxed.  My Uncle Ron commented on a photo of our hike saying, "trees connect us with our past and [with] the earth, so we're respected by our ancestors." I so agree with him.  Even my Pops feels that his soul is at peace when he visits the 'ole homestead' where he grew up and learned how to fish in northern Michigan.  Wherever that place maybe for you.  GO THERE!!! Commune with the birds and the trees.  Relax and let your soul find freedom and peace!

That's Just Me COOKIN'!!!

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I love to cook!  I LOVE to COOK!!!

Of course in the grand scheme of life sometimes I don't.  I think I might even consider myself a foodie... That is if pressed.  There isn't just one thing that I enjoy. It makes me think of a line from City Slickers, where Billy Crystal is asking Jack Palance the meaning of life and Palance's response is its just one thing ..his index finger held up for emphasis... (If you haven't seen this movie, watch it at least once)  I'm going to disagree with Jack. *gasp* Its many things: the process, the ingredients, and ultimately the edible result.  I cannot deny that I like food and the more complicated it is the more I like it.  I cook cause it make me happy and I've been told recently that it makes others happy too.  That declaration makes me even more happy and giddy.  

I'm beginning to see my practice of art in the same manner.  There's not just one thing that I can point to and say that's it.  It isn't just stamps (totally obsessed), paint, pens/pencils, tape, paper, etc, etc, etc... its the whole kit and coboodle.  The Bink told me the other day that he's delighted to see that my OCD isn't affecting what I'm doing at the art table.  It was an AH HA moment for me, 'cause I have to constantly remind myself to let go and walk away if its too messy.  So, when he says this it means that I'm making some progress.  YEAH ME!!!  

I'm currently obsessed with a Mini Journal.  I even got the Bink to help me trim paper for it.  Its 4 inches by 4 inches and totally cute. I'm finding that there are days when I just can't art but a few minutes and my large journal was too much for such a short period of time.  I've got enough space in the mini to journal short and sweetly.  I like that I'm using those scraps that are forgotten in the bottom of my stash.  Because I used Binder Rings I can take pages out to work on them and reorder the pages as I like.  

I've been reading Life is a Verb by Patti Digh.  I have to admit that its my fall back book for when I finish a book and don't have something else to read to finish my workout.  So, I've been reading it spurts.  Days pass and I don't even think about it.  Don't get me wrong there are parts of it that I laugh at and nod my head to.  Sure, I've been there something similar has happen to me or to someone I know.  Patti tells a good yarn.  Today, though there was a passage in Chapter 6 - Intimacy: Love More (Give Free Hugs) that even though my elliptical machine had stopped I couldn't quit reading.  So, there I am standing on the machine reading about Juan Mann, his Free Hugs Sign, and Patti Digh's daughter.  I was riveted by the story and by the time I got to my car I had the Free Hugs Video up on my phone.  I cried, I laughed, and I cried some more. I found it again when I got home.  If you've never seen the Free Hug movement videos, follow the link above or search via YouTube.  I think its well worth it!

So Long ART fans where ever you are!!!

Rising from the Mud

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"I rose from marsh mud
algae, equisetum, willows,
sweet green, noisy
birds and frogs."
― Lorine Niedecker

You may remember that last week I was struggling in mire, just digging myself deeper and deeper into the ooze.  I love, love, love, the color brown, but I'm discovering that when on paper or canvas it helps to create mud very easily.   Earthenmagic sent me a message about last weeks post and her insight was extremely beneficial.  Walk away and refocus intent.  I set my BOD aside and worked on playing with beautiful faces and copic markers. If you are interested to seeing them, they are on Flickr.  On a side note, my flickr gadget key code, blah, blah, blah quit working so I had to take it down.  *grrr*

I pulled out my Vol. I BOD to finish up that final page spread with tip in.  For some strange reason I started thinking about centerfolds.  I started sketching while watching the movie Due Date, HILARIOUS by the way.  My centerfold is sketched and all I need to do now is add some color!  I was left with a prepped tip in and I moved it forward a page and continued the doodles I had there on to the tip in.  Why didn't I think of that before!?  Doodling fun.  


I finally pulled Vol. II back out and just started removing the images I had attached from the front of the cover.  I really like the images I had chosen, very turn of the century botanical garden-esque.  I then reached for the gesso and had at it.  I even removed the binding tape from the spine and started over with a new piece "dyed" with watercolor.  The left image is the new Book of Days 2012 VOL.II.  The two right images are of the original cover & journal sleeve.  What do you think? What are your thoughts on my journal sleeve? Creepy or cool?

I want to thank Artistcellar for the FANTASTICALLY AWESOME rose window stencils and the Stewart Gill Byzantia paint.  This is my first use of Stewart Gill and the color is so Intense, love it.  Also, the watercolor effect of the window was inspired by Earthenmagic's Magic Tree.

How do you save muddy?!

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Focus and simplicity... Words that I need to live by, especially simplicity.  I over think things all the time! I've been thinking, thinking, and more thinking about the last page in my Vol. I Book of Days.  I even have the tip-in prepped and ready to go.  I attended the Girl's Night Out Event at the William King Museum of Art last Thursday and I had a blast with the other ladies. Of course, I over thought my design.  I can still hear Nadia in her beautiful Russian accent going..."Why are you erasing?! It was gud, it was gud.  No, no no.  Don't erase!"  I drove her a little nuts.  I have a painted canvas, but no design...YET!  I was so mired in the murk of my own meandering mind over that last page that I decided to move onto the cover of my Vol. II Book of Days.  Vol.I, I keep with a Smash book rubber band around it to keep it closed. So, I thought that I would make a "corset" for Vol. II.  I have and I HATE it!  hummm... maybe that's too harsh, but I am NOT happy with it.  I set it aside and moved on to the actual cover and now I think its too muddy.  I'm so frustrated with myself!!!  How do you save muddy?  Paint over it?  Highlight it?  Grrrrr...  I'm sure I'll work it out.  

That's been one of my mantras - focus and simplicity. Simple can be harder than complex: You have to work hard to get your thinking clean to make it simple. But it's worth it in the end because once you get there, you can move mountains.
Steve Jobs

10 Things I can't ART without!

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  What a crazy cram packed week/weekend!!!  Working late or working at home this past week, shewwww... but I've managed to get caught up and Mr. Bink has been just as busy if not more so than myself.  Saturday was supposed to be an all day ART affair, but I soooo overslept and woke up with a nasty headache.  Made for a slow going beginning, not to mention the absolute dreary weather. I felt like I was stuck in a Bronte novel. I did manage to totally destroy 1 sheet of 22X30 Water color paper. Okay, maybe I didn't completely destroy it, but it got maimed real bad! Manage to make Vol. II of my Book of Days journal.  There's a sneak peak of it in photo.  I made it 8x8 to give me some more room on the pages and I stuck close to Teesha Moore's 16 page design, so lots of extra pages and a sheet for easy assemblage of any tip in.  Neverness saved me from myself and we went into town.  I picked up some bamboo brushes to try out and a cool new art book from Barnes and Noble, plus choose a fabulous Mexican dish from Cacula, which could feed 4+ people.  LOTS of leftovers...  But Neverness and I are finally taking some baby steps towards our collaboration, its a work in progress.  I'm excited!!!  Hey, Neverness!!! Where's my sketches?

I've got this idea for my final spread in my Vol.I journal, but it's going to be a bit tricky.  So, I've been pondering and musing on how exactly I'm going to put it together.  When I do, you'll get to see it!!!  For this week I've been thinking about those things that are my table that I just can't art without, was and wasn't to pick them.  Some things got excluded and others I'm gonna lump together.

my desk! Thanks ever so much to Mr. Bink!!!

1. Strathmore - 400 series Cold Press Watercolor paper
2. Stamps - couldn't pick just one... I'm addicted 
3. Tim Holtz Distress Ink - Love Love Love.  I love to use them like watercolor
4. Ranger Craft Sheet - saves my bacon when I spill things and I mix my watercolor or gouache right on it and wipes right up.
5. Artist Pens - Micron Sepia, Pitt XS, and my new discovery Copic 05, doesn't bleed with Copic markers!
6. Scissors
7. Mini Mister - a. water, b. alcohol, c. water+perfect pearls
8. Golden's Matte Medium
9. Sketching pencils and kneaded eraser for faces
10. Heat Gun.

  *  This is a new tool.  It works fabulously with my BOD.  I was having issues using masking tape.  It would  NOT take my watercolor or ink.  This is tape that the hospitals use and it acts like a fabric and absorbs color like a dream.  

  So, whether you're a practicing Artiste or miniature painter, what are your 10 favorite things you can't work without?!

So Long Art fans, wherever you are!!!

Beautiful Disaster

Pin It Now! What a day! The all day drizzle brings out the need for a great big mug of Caramel Hot Chocolate with marshmallows!  Yumm, yumm... Its a good consoler after all.  I've been feeling a little strung out due to my minions not showing up to work, causing me to spend my days on the production floor and not in my office. There is so much that I want to do and I am finding that I'm sacrificing some things in order to do others.  I want to do it all, dang it!!!  Cue QUEEN:

I'm a man with a one track mind, 
So much to do in one life time (people do you hear me)
Not a man for compromise and where's and why's and living lies
So I'm living it all, yes I'm living it all,

And I'm giving it all, and I'm giving it all,

It ain't much I'm asking, if you want the truth,

Here's to the future, hear the cry of youth,

I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now,

I want it all, I want it all, I want it all, and I want it now,

The boys were watching crap on YouTube Sunday afternoon.  I'm supposing because they had a hard day filming on Saturday.  It was bad enough that Hanzmo spent more time in at the art desk with me than with them.  We concocted a clever plan, let us go to the MOVIES!!! Worked too... no more listening to crap videos from the other room.  We went to see HUGO!  I found it a pleasant escape for a Sunday afternoon.  Visuals were stunning.  I found it rather Steampunk-ish.  There were steampunk elements to it, such as: clocks and automatons.  It wasn't dark and dank, but light and expectant.  One key shot was of the main character, Hugo, standing looking out the face of a clock tower.  That particular aspect stayed with me and it is the basis for this week's Monday spread. 


I had a horrific disaster at the art desk.  I had painted my background and working on building layers of color.  I was using Eucalyptus Walnut Ink. Makes a fabulous stain.  Not quite sure how I managed to do it, but I knocked over the bottle and 90% of its contents went across the desk.  Luckily for me it missed my Book of Days Journal.  It was a really good thing that I had my craft sheet down too.  After a couple of failed attempts to "clean" it up, I had to holla for the Bink.  Through great team work we managed to get 80% of the liquid back in its bottle.  The rest was everywhere like a thick dark green swamp.  The Bink's solution... Kleenex... 1 Kleenex...  I was going for the roll of paper towels on the desk, but he was back so fast and was already wiping up.  We both had green hands after that fiasco.  The Kleenex held up, but the layers came apart easily.  Bink is going, "It looks like Camo!"  He looks at his hands and goes, "It'll wash off, right?!"  Sure will, at some point.  

beautiful Disaster

Week 5 PROMPT: Affirmation

Challenge: Use an envelope 

Kleenex + eucalyptus walnut ink

After the clean up I was ready to call it a night, but as I stared at the Kleenex wad on my desk I had an idea.  I treated it just like tissue paper and placed it down with Matte Medium.  I let it tear and wrinkle when it wanted too.  I then went to bed to let it dry. 

I removed any excess hanging over the edge and any parts that didn't adhere well.  Shabby, shabby... right on track... It was very dark once it had dried.  I really wanted the texture to stand out, but not to lighten it.  I wanted that gritty Steampunk feel. I decided to fall back on a miniature painting stand by ~ drybrushing.  I hadn't used that technique yet and so I went to it and worked fabulously. 

close up of the texture

My envelope tip in.  I got such a tremendous response to my Pen Pal envelope that I decided to do another.  She looks a little frustrated or disgusted don't she. 

Clock "Face"

 Its missing something...  I'm sure that I'll continue to tweak it.  

Final with Envelope tip-in.  

Check out the rest of my week of journal pages at Flickr, follow the link at the top of the page.  My parting gift of chocolaty goodness.  So Long Art fans, wherever you are...

Mrs.Bink...