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One of two commissions…

I had the opportunity to do two commissions. I am sharing this one because I am confident the recipients won't see this post. I'll share the other one when the recipient has it. Doing these really put the bee in my bonnet about getting some paintings done and ready to sell. I have been meaning to do it for aaaaagggggeeees and I think the time has finally come!

This one is 24"x36." All paint is of course my amazing Dina Wakley Media acrylic by Ranger Ink. The pencil is the Stabilo All.

For the joy of stamping….

Ah, I love stamping.

Here's my origin story.

I started scrapbooking in 1995. I discovered stamping around the end of 1996. I wandered into a local stamp store and stood with my mouth agape as I took in the amazing surroundings. That store was Stampotique. The owner, Carol, suggested that I take a beginner's class, which I did. And thus the monster was born….ha.

No matter where my art ends up, I will always love, love, love stamping. There's a satisfaction to inking a stamp and making a print, and in the many possibilities that stamping offers.

Lately I've been loving fluid colors (all painted with my Dina Wakley Media acrylic) and lots of dimensional layers. The stamp below is my Scribbly Fellas set.

How have you been using your stamps lately?

It has been a whirlwind!

Whew, it's been a whirlwind!

I taught at the Stamp Art Shoppe in Roseville, CA, then headed straight to New Jersey for a week of meetings at Ranger. Then went straight to the Collins show (retailer event). Then I was home for a few short days and went to teach at The Crafty Scrapper in Waxahachie, TX. I'm home now until I leave in early May for Scrapbook N Memories near Kansas City.

You can always see where I am going to be on teaching schedule. Here's where I will be in the next few months:

May 5-7, 2016: Scrapbook-N-Memories, Harrisonville, MO.

May 20-21, 2016: PaperCraft Clubhouse, Westbrook, CT.

Jun 4-5, 2016: The Ink Pad, NYC.

Jun 10-11, 2016: Pages In Time, Lititz, PA.

Jul 8-9, 2016: Buffalo Stamps & Stuff, Amherst, NY.

Jul 22-23, 2016: Scrapbook N Such, Wichita Falls, TX.

If you're a store on my waiting list, hang in there. I will make it eventually!

Here are a few pics from the whirlwind:

Teaching at Stamp Art Shoppe:

The painting I made while at Ranger. See a video of the process here!

My partner in crime, Mario. What fun it was to be at Ranger with Tim and Mario all week!

Graphic Designer Extraordinaire Brianna, filming my mess making process:

While there we ate our weight in chips, salsa and Carvel!!! Was so fun to have the lovely Dyan and Nadine join us.

Which scissors are mine and which are Mario's?

I guess I was chatty on the way to Collins. Bwa haha!

Sales Chief and Grand Pumbah Steve did my make & take at Collins. I am sure he wears it every day.

Headed home! We had a blast and have some cool things in store for you. So, so appreciate Tim and Mario's friendship and help.

 

Class at The Crafty Scrapper. I am rubbish at taking pics when I am teaching. I never take enough! I think Carolyn stole my phone to take this one. We used the new Dina Wakley Media Board to make cool wall hangings.

Whew.

My to do list is a mile long…so off I go to chip away at the mountain. I have more art to share, so check back soon. Happy Monday!

 

 

 

 

The artful scroll…

Howdy! Here's another class I taught at Art From the Heart in March. Everyone started with a piece of primed canvas, about 18"x36". Then we painted, layered, stenciled, stamped….and voila! We ended up with a cool, artsy scroll.

The artists' scrolls were so amazing. We lined them up in the hallway and then rolled around on them. Ha, j/k. But we felt like doing that. Don't they look incredible together?

 

Sharing some art from class…abstract painting

Whew. Long time no blog, eh?

My schedule since early February has been heinous. I was gone so much, and then on top of being gone I got quite ill (still am not better). Plus my son is ill and not getting well…ugh. Gotta hate spring bugs.

Today I'm sharing a painting I made while teaching at Art From the Heart. We did my brand new 6-hour abstract painting class, and I have to tell you, the art that came out of that class was stellar. Absolutely stellar!

Here's the piece I made. It's on a 12"x24" canvas. All the paint is my Dina Wakley Media acrylic. The stencil is my Halves stencil. I used a lot of my new colors here: Fuchsia, Ocean, Elephant, Blushing, Cheddar.

Here's some of the work of the artists that came to class. Amazeballs, don't you think??? I tried to remember who did what, but I forgot a few. Please email me and I will edit your name in if I forgot ya! And I didn't get a pic of everyone's piece, aargh. If I don't have yours, email me a pic of it.

Below: Jackie, Lyn, Bernadette

   

Below: Kassa Hayseldon, Bernice, and ??

   

Below: Susan and ??, Nathalie, and ??

   

Below: Jaqui, Steph, and ??

 

Just a reminder…21 Secrets: Tools and Techniques is out tomorrow!

Tomorrow is the day!

 

The E-book/class releases tomorrow. You will be blown away by the content. So awesome!!

 Click here to view more details about 21 Secrets: Tools and Techniques!

My class is going to be about my favorite pencil, the Stabilo All. I will show you how I use it and give you some tips for drawing expressively with it.

My new media board, paint colors, stamps, and stencils are trickling into stores!

Yay! If you've been waiting for my new CHA release products, they're starting to trickle into stores now. I gets lots of questions about where to buy my products. The best thing to do is request them at your local store.

If you don't have a local store any more, never fear. Most independent stores I know will happily ship to you.

Here's a quick little mini book I did with my new Small Scribbly Birdies stamp set and Funky Journal Shapes stamp set. I sewed two of my warm up tags into a coin envelope. Then I decorated the pages quickly with scraps of painted papers, scribbly birdies and seed pods stamped in black Archival (I stamped the birds on white cardstock and cut them out), and quotes from Tim's Idealogy Small Talk sticker book (love that thing). I cut the green circles from a piece of painted sticky back canvas. Easy peasy!

 

 

Join me in 21 Secrets: Tools and Techniques!

I am one of the teachers for 21 Secrets: Tools and Techniques. We are going to have a blast! The class goes on sale TODAY, and it starts on April 1st.

 Click here to view more details about 21 Secrets: Tools and Techniques!

My class is going to be about my favorite pencil, the Stabilo All. I will show you how I use it and give you some tips for drawing expressively with it.

And, exciting news! 21 Secrets is having a special 3 day EARLY-BIRD Sale! The sale will run from Wednesday, February 17 – Friday, February 19 ONLY, and we will be offering $10 off with coupon code: springsecret  
Coupon is now expired.

Be sure to enter the coupon code when you check out. See you in class!

 

 

 

 

 

 

Try using your products in inventive ways….

One of my favorite things to do with new products is to think of inventive ways to use them. Think beyond the brush or the sprayer! For example, I love Tim's splatter brush, and I do use it for splatter. But I also dip it in paint and draw with it.

On this page, I experimented with my new Lapis Mica spray. Instead of spraying it, I shook it up and poured it out of the bottle right into watery, wet paint layers. I let everything dry and then I drew over it with the Stabilo All pencil. The result is a unique look with that fabulous mica shimmer.

What are your favorite unconventional ways to use your supplies?

Loving the new Scribbly Small Birdies…

My most popular stamp set by far has been Scribbly Birdies. I hope you all enjoy the new Scribbly Small Birdies. Now you have more sizes of the adorable images to use on tags, cards, anything! Notice that I included the two birds from the special holiday set we did last Fall. So easy to use and cute.