Back to school... Back to basics!

Spark some Kreativity Saturday  @ The Kraaft Shaak

It's hard to believe we are in the second month of Kraaft Shaak design team projects. All month long, we will be sharing with you Sparks of Kreativity that embrace learning and all things education related. 

I have to admit when the theme was chosen, I thought I had this in the bag. As a former teacher married to a teacher, how hard can this be...right? Well, it turned out to me a bigger challenge than expected simply because there was so much I wanted to do. Finding a focus and sticking to a project took me awhile. I finally decided to use the dictionary pages from my mixed media kit. I thought it was kind of perfect to repurpose the dictionary pages into a project with a school theme.

So I took these and sketched on them with pencil, then used inktense color pencils to add some color. Since I was making a poster, I knew my image was going to be fairly large so I drew my picture in sections. 

Added color. 

Some darker shades 

The face and hair took the whole page. I then created a body on a second page. 

Once I had my two main elements ready, I  worked on creating a background. The whole time I was working on this project I kept thinking "Back to Basics". I wanted to keep it simple and use just basic materials. So I created a simple background using shades of blue. 

I spread the paint around until I had the coverage I wanted. I also used the basket clear stamp by Finnabair that was part of my kit to add a bit more dimension. 

Once I was happy with my background I added my drawing onto it. 

Deciding on my placement before gluing it down. 

I glued my image down and cut off the areas that went over my background paper. I wanted to add something to ground my image down, so I cut some stars from another text paper from my kit. I added some color with a yellow inktense pencil. 

Once I was happy with my placement, I glued everything down and worked on my wording.  This poster is intended to go in my husband's classroom in their class library area. I wanted something that would invite the kiddos to read. 

I was worried I wouldn't have something for our back to school theme and was pleasantly surprise when this came together.  It's ready for its new home in the 2015-2016 school year. I love all the text pages in the mixed media kit. It's a great variety with endless possibilities. 

Thank you for following the Kreative Sparks from the Kraaft Shaak design team.  You can find all our Sparks at the Kraaft Shaak. Stay tuned as we honor education and learning in our projects all month long. 

Follow the Design Team member's blogs where great things are always happening!

Peg @ Bits N Pieces
Sheri @ Cards and More
Beth @ Lizzie's WorkShop
Sylvia @ Tabororiginal
Dana@ Dapoppins
Shel@ Paper Ocotillo studio

Have Art...Will Travel

Spark some Kreativity Saturday @ the Kraaft Shaak 

It's an honor to once again head the amazing Design Team from the Kraaft Shaak. In my head, I'm hearing a little voice saying "I'm not worthy, I'm not worthy"...but who wants to listen to that! The first round of teammates kept me on my toes. It was amazing to see how each person transformed the contents of their mixed media kits into amazing projects. I know that we have assembled another group of amazingly talented folks for the DT squad and round two is going to keep the 

"Sparks of Kreativity" flying! 

The mixed media kits comes with an assortment of goodies to play with. It's a great way to start with mixed media and an even better way to add to an existing love for mixed media. The amount of sample products in these kits makes it such a great value. I think the samples give the kits their uniqueness. It allows you to play with some of the "hot" new items in the market before committing to a full size. I know I've purchased supplies only to realize that I didn't like them or that they weren't for for me.  That is where these kits and their samples are a genius idea. But don't take my word for it! Find out for yourself by visiting Kraaft Shaak, and get yourself a kit because it's play time! 

The mixed media kit comes with an alterable item. I was so excited when I received my tote. It's huge! It's nice and wide and a great bag to travel with art supplies or to keep handy on my art supply shopping trips.

Once my excitement for the bag wore off, the reality of a blank canvas staring me in the face sank in. So I jumped right in using some of my bright go to colors and some fabric medium from golden to add some color. I didn't measure or have an exact ratio for the fabric medium. I just added about equal parts. 

Once I had my color pallet, I decided to use my small gelli plate to print directly onto my tote. This was lots of fun but did come with some challenges. I noticed that it worked best when I had more paint. Unlike paper, the canvas printing required a heavier hand with the paint. The ghost prints didn't make the best impressions. At times it gave me a muggy look, since the paint didn't seep into the fabric. But after playing with a few layers, I loved the results. 

Side1:

Side 2: 

I did splatter some of my left over mixed paint. By this point, I was beyond thrilled with the brightness of the tote. I was on an art high, so naturally that meant that I needed to keep adding to it. So I added some teal to create a border around my prints and the bag. 

And so, I got carried away...

But wait, there's more...

By this point the bag was so bright and happy, I just had to add more. So I went for the straps! I used some teal and lime green to match them to the bag.

I was at a point where the bag truly made me happy. I was picturing myself on shopping trips with my art tote, or filling up my bag and taking my art supplies with me when I visit family.

So I walked away and let it dry over night. When I revisited my bag, I knew I wanted to add one of my faces. So I went for it! I dived right in by using an inktense pencil. I created an outline and added some color. It was at this point that I realized that you can't undo fabric painting.  I was not happy with the outcome.

She was looking strange and out of proportion. I was not happy and had no clue how to undo what I had done.  Her hair was dark and strange too. Like she had a strange hair cut from a discount hair place. I was so mad at myself for ruining my happy tote.  I panicked! So much so that I shared it with my fellow teammates. I cried out for HELP!!  I know it's kinda trivial. We nit pick at our stuff, and we are our worst critics. With some comforting words from my DT pals, I did the only logical thing... I walked away. I gave myself  time to realize that it was not all gloom and doom. 

I allowed myself to panic and throw a tantrum. Then, I revisited my tote and worked in ways to make it look more appealing to me. So, I added roses. Lots and lots of roses.

Roses here, roses there, roses everywhere! 

Here a rose, there a rose. I went rose happy, and that was exactly what I needed to bring me back to a happy place with my tote. My visions of shopping trips were coming back. 

I felt my flowers were getting a bit lost with my background but I didn't want to darken them up, so I used some inktense to add some shading and outlines. 

It's helped set them apart just enough. 

Once I had my roses done, I knew I wanted a quote or saying I needed to add something to fill the blank space. First I wrote it with an inktense pencil. 

But the inktense was not as dark as I wanted it, so I went over my letters with black paint.

I then decided to add my name on the side. 

I am back at a happy place with my bag and can't wait to tote it around on my shopping trips! 

I think this kit option has to be my favorite.  It's so practical and can be customized so easily.  I can have my Art and Travel with it too!  I hope you give this a try. Find some bag or tote and add some color to make something that makes you happy. Also, please stay tuned to the Saturday Sparks from the design team. 

Get to know these talented Design Team ladies: 

Peg

Sheri 

Beth 

Heather

I seek to see the whole Me...

That you see!

I seem to always come back to faces. I love creating backgrounds and finding faces in them. I use the shapes and lines to pull out my faces. My fascination with faces comes from my desire to see myself the way others see me. I struggle with this daily, I hide myself at times in my art.  I am far from perfect and hardly consider myself an artist. However, I keep playing and practicing in hopes of finding myself and a style to call my own.

Here's the video of this piece as it comes together.

Mail Art Madness VI

MailArt Maddness II

MailArt Madness I

Mail Art Madness III

MailArt Madness IV

MailArt Madness V

A KIT Saturday ... It's been a while!

It is the first Saturday of the month and that means that it's Kraaft it Together at KraaftShaak.com, a virtual crafting meet up. The best part is you don't have to pack your supplies up and haul them around. I haven't  had a chance to participate in one of these events in a while. I know I'm missing out on the great fun!  This day never disappoints with lots of laughter and sharing of ideas and know how. All the Kraafters involved are a true joy to hang out with.  So here is what I worked on during this event.

I created a stamp. I wanted something to represent sisters or  friendship. I drew two girls  without facial features leaning their heads towards each other. When I was happy with my drawing, I transferred it to my carving rubber. All you have to do is turn it over and rub it with a finger or bone folder.

Then I just carved out the areas. I knew this was an outline stamp, so I just carved everything.  that wasn't drawn.

I stamped it a few times until I was happy with how it looked. My final stamping was done on a piece of book text that I had used to lift off some paint from a previous project. I think that the two combined make a great image! The message is evident! 

Sister, Friendship, LOVE!

I also got my small 2x3 gelli plate and created a few backgrounds. My intention is to use them as envelopes. They will be combined with my stamp soon and turned into mail art. 

Of course I had to draw on some of my backgrounds. I practiced a few faces with Neo color II. This one I liked a lot.

This one not so much. I wasn't happy with the hair. And it seemed too dark. 

If you ever want to join a virtual art meet-up, join us at the Kraafters  Kommunity on  Google plus.  They are totally worth it! 

Pieces of Me... Vol. 1

So I decided to delete old art pictures from my phone but before I do, I thought it would be fun to share them here. I'm hoping that this will give you a glimpse of me through my art.  

Playing with masking fluid. This was fun, although waiting for it to dry...not so much.

Loved this poster I created! The colors just make me happy! Using masking fluid as well.

Playing with text. I like to practice my handwriting every now and then using a brush.

Mail art with some handwriting on a gelli print background.

A post card

I joined a cardboard post card swap. So I played around with cardboard. I love all the texture! 

More cardboard.

I see faces!!! Most of my art is pulled art from backgrounds that I create. I like to pull out the faces that are hiding in the backgrounds.  

I just LOVE this one! Face on mixed media paper.

Face on canvas with intktense. She's a ginger beauty.

A color challenge and she emerges! 

In my art you will find pieces of me. I never know what I'm going to create or what it will look like. I like to spend some time looking at my background until I see someone looking back at me. You know those people that claim to see something in their toast?! Yeah that's me! I guess my cloud-watching days are paying off. 

Creative Blog Hop

Creative Blog Hop

I was introduced to this creative blog hop concept a few weeks ago by my crafty friend Heather from the Kraaft Shaak. She has an amazing community on G plus called Kraaft Shaak. I was drawn to the welcoming environment that she has created there. So when she asked if I would participate, I immediately jumped at the idea, not really knowing what this whole thing was about. So I read and reread how things work and found it pretty amazing that the goal is to have this as a neverending blog hop where we can get to know new crafty people. All I have to do is answer a few questions and introduce you all to some of my crafty friends and they will then in turn  introduce some more crafty friends and the cycle will continue with them.

So here we go.
What am I working on?

 At the moment, I have a neverending to-do list that happens to be all over the place. I'm currently helping some teacher friends. I've made some tags and posters.  My currents projects are all school-related. Being a former teacher and living with a current teacher makes this time of year busy. I'll be sewing some seat pockets and creating some team shirts. I also have a request for some beer labels and some head pieces for a friend's wedding, along with a bridal banner. Wow, when I'm forced to write things down it all seems a bit daunting and scattered. Of course, I will also squeeze in some paint time. I need my paint time! As long as I can get my hands in some paint, all will be well in my world. 

Classroom poster

Teacher tags

How does my work differ from others in my genre?

I'm not sure how my work differs from others in my genre. I'm currently into mixed media and colorful faces. They seem to find there way into my mail art and regular art. I love to create pulled art. I let my backgrounds dictate what type of face will be on it. I create mixed media  backgrounds  for envelopes and canvasses and later revisit them and finds faces in those backgrounds..."I see faces"( a la The Sixth sense)

Mail Art face

Mail art face

Why do I write/create what I do?

My creations help me stay busy and release some of the stress and tension from my day to day life.  I create things for fun and to learn and practice new techniques.  I create for the interaction. I love sharing my creations and hearing peoples' comments on them. I love creating and sharing what I've learned. When I grow up, I'd like to be an artist. 

How does my writing/creative process work? 

My creative process just happens. It seems like a cop out answer but if I'm creating just for myself, I just sit with my materials and make something. I'm not the type of person that gets up in the middle of the night because I've had a brilliant idea. The only time my creativity invades my sleeping time is when I get a request from someone. That's the only time my mind goes on over time with ideas. 

I've got some amazing crafty friends to add to this blog hop. Please check them out. 

Alice, a childhood friend that shares my crafty passion. She's a card maker, scrapbooker, and a lover of all things vintage. 
Creating, Crafting and Thrifting

Mel is an amazing artist who is my enabler for all things mail art related. She has some amazing watercolor skills and captures birds and fishes beautifully.  A Mynah Production