Anchors Aweigh with Old Maps

Back view – it is about 1-2 inches deep

What a surprise when your husband brings home something to hang on the wall of the man cave area, and tells you he wants you to “fix it up” for him!  That’s just what happened as my guy was on the hunt to select some items for his patriotic/naval themed wall decor.

He found this piece of wall art which had a great cutout of a rope and anchor.  It took me some time to decide what I could do with it, considering I was already shocked with how a basically red, white, and blue look was going to fit in with the colors of the furnishings of the room!

Finally, it came to me! I had purchase a giant old atlas at an estate sale, for the purpose of using for mixed media pieces.  I went through the pages and selected maps of areas where my husband had either traveled while in the Navy, or where we had lived.  I used ModPodge and stuck it all down to the front of the piece.

When it was dry I could easily hold it where light was coming from behind, and see where it needed to be cut with a craft knife.

I used a little more white and blue paint, and then just gray paint around the anchor and white around the rope. 

When that was dry I did detail work with a fine black marker (I think it was Faber Castel Pitt Pen) and added some shading with some Faber Castel Pitt Pens.  The sides are painted black to coordinate with some of the other wall pieces that are in black frames.

To me, it seems unfinished and I wanted to add some words to the piece, but he didn’t want anything else on it.  Since it was done at his request, I left it at this stage, but I REALLY want to add something else!

Estate sales, thrift stores, and garage sales are great places to pick up old books, maps, and all kinds of great items to use in your mixed media pieces!

Have fun and mix it up!

Bless this Mess with Junelle Jacobsen

One of my favorite people to watch make art is at it again!  Junelle Jacobson will be the featured instructor at Christy Tomlinson’s mixed media class, “Bless This Mess” which starts Tuesday, October 23rd.  This is a sequel to the first class Junelle did earlier this year.  She is a great teacher and a lot of fun to watch.

I first “met” Junelle at a Layout a Day (LOAD) challenge, and loved her scrapbook pages.  We then were in one of Christy Tomlinson’s first online classes, and we all began to see and love Junelle’s unique and creative touch on all the pieces we were doing.

One of things that is most fun with some of these classes, are the FaceBook groups that go with them!  How fun to see what other classmates are doing and meet people with similar interests from around the world.  I hope you’ll think about joining us!

Paper Piecing and Paint

If you are familiar with quilting or needlework, you may recognize this little sunbonnet girl.  Sunbonnet girls were very popular in quilting and to embroider on dishtowels.  This is based on an old pattern, and was such a fun project for me!  It’s sentimental in a number of ways.  My grandmother did a lot of quilting, and my mom loves hanging clothes outside.

I actually created this piece for my mom.  Her clothes lines hang next to my old playhouse, and there are clematis vines that grow on the side. Paper piecing as well as painting, and a few rub-ons are included in this piece.  I was afraid the clematis flowers may be a bit too much, but that is actually the way they look!

Paper piecing is such a great way to use up scraps of your patterned paper!

If you run across some vintage patterns, you may want to think about using them in this way!

 

 

Combining and Sharing Scripture and Art

One of the art groups that I participate in is working on a project that some of you may want to participate in, so I wanted to invite you!  I should have done this sooner, but it is not too late.  Many of you may be able to scan journal pages, or do quick sketches with watercolors, or use some stencils and sprays for backgrounds…..  My point is that you don’t have to spend a ton of time that may be very meaningful to someone else.  You could even use patterned paper for background, print  and cut strips of scripture — whatever you can manage.  If you want to be part of this project, please start creating and send your art to arrive by June 12th so that Melissa can take it with her.  Please keep reading or more details.

As a community of artists, we have special skills, abilities and talents and together, we can use our skills to help a friend touch the lives of those who are not as fortunate as each one of us.  I want to tell you about Melissa and what she is doing.

Melissa will be traveling to Uganda, June 2012 to work with Reach One Touch One Ministries (http://www.reachone-touchone.org/). They work with Grandmothers and Grandfathers, many of whom are raising orphaned grandchildren due to the HIV-AIDS epidemic. She will be visiting several remote villages and ministering to the seniors who benefit from sponsorship in ROTOM.

If you would like to create a piece of art (no bigger than 5″ x 7″, please) that includes a positive and uplifting scripture verse, Melissa will hand these out as she goes from village to village.

This is an amazing way to share personally with the seniors, many of whom are lonely and neglected, the Word of God and the fact that other Christians care about them.

The beauty of ART transcends any language!

If you want to be part of this project, please start creating and send your art to arrive by June 12th so that Melissa can take it with her.

So what can you create?

  • 3×5 cards – gather your favorite verses, add them to 3×5 cards, embellish them, laminate them (if you have a laminator) punch holes in the and attach them together with a book ring.
  • Small canvas – create using verses and positive quotes and embellishments.
  • Bookmarks – Use large manila tags to create book marks with verses and/or quotes, add hand stitching and embellish with thread, yard and colorful strings & beads.

We can serve and make a difference for those around us as well as those around our globe.

It is time to create!  If you want to help, please contact me at: kristiesloan.us(at)gmail(dot)com and I will get you the mailing address.

If each of us just make a few simple pieces in the next few days, she can have a nice quantity to take with her.  What do you say, are you in?

Rotating Backgrounds or Templates 90 or 180 degrees

Whether it’s a template or a background for your art, simply rotating it can give you a whole new look or feel to the project.

Donna Downey’s new series, Canvas Create 2012, looks like it will fun!  I decided to join the fun and while I was watching the January episode, and then working on my own art piece, it made me think about how a simple rotation of a piece can give it a whole different spin!

After finishing my background, I turned it several ways, and decided I liked it a whole lot better turned a different direction than the way I had originally painted it!

Rotating a template for a scrapbook page can also give you a different look, especially if you are working with digital.  You can even do a mirror image flip and have work better for what you may be using it for.  That is especially helpful if you are working on a two-page spread and the template just doesn’t seem to be working.  If you aren’t working in digital, you can still use a template as your guide or map for your page.  Look at these four pages, and think about how many options you could create with just the different areas for pictures, journaling, paper, or embellishments!  I don’t like to have to do statistics and scrapbooking — but I’m sure you get the idea!

scrapbook sketches rotated

Rotate scrapbook sketches for different looks.

…and the mirror images…

rotating scrapbook sketches_mirrored

Mirrored image of rotated sketches give even more options!