As you'll recall, I posted a video from Jane Davies about making clear skins for collage. I had to experiment with the technique! It took me a few days because there's a lot of drying time and I didn't have the right supplies. I used fluid acrylics to create my patterns and then tried a variety of mediums to create the clear skin. First up, I tried Golden Soft Gel (Matte). (Jane used Gloss in her video.) Unfortunately, it wasn't clear and it got lots of tears in it. Next up, I tried my trusty favorite: Liquitex Matte Medium. The... Read more →

Back in 2010, I painted up this bag: I recently pulled it out of the closet and decided to paint over my original design. I love that you can still see portions of the old painting through the new painting and yet the bag is totally transformed! And here's a photo of me wearing the bag: I've been very happily carrying it around! Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

Yesterday my brother and I spent the afternoon and evening watching football and decorating his tree. However, he didn't have any ornaments. So we used what he did have: a pair of scissors, scotch tape, construction paper, twist ties, and some Crayola markers. I call this one the Charlie Brown ornament: My brother was an excellent host and provided some motivation to be a good little elf: We even made our own patterned paper: My brother said that this ornament was very ugly and told me not to hang it on the tree, but I hung it up anyway. ;)... Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. There is a flickr group for sharing right here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week and you've blogged about it, or put it on flickr, please leave a link in the linky list at the end of this post. Thanks! As I've often said, I tend to work on my art journal pages... Read more →

So I took those stamps I carved yesterday... ...and made two very different cards. What do you think? Do you like one more than the other? Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

It was snowing here in NYC and rather than complaining about the weather, I decided to be inspired by it! And so I carved three snowflake stamps. Like real snowflakes, each one is just a little bit different. With any image, I think it's nice to have the versatility of different sizes (one of the reasons I love having both 6x6 and 12x12 stencils with the same design). The largest stamp started as a 3-inch square. The smallest one started as a 1.25-inch square. Thanks for stopping by! ---- P.S. I'm excited to announce that, once again, I'll be participating... Read more →

Given the super snow storm that is descending on us here on the East Coast, I'm super excited to be heading for California in just a few weeks! January 4 and 5 I'll be in San Jose, CA teaching at A Work of Heart. My Altered Book class on the 5th is full (yay!), but there's still room in my Stamp Carving 101 class. If you've never ever carved a stamp this three-hour class will get you addicted. Everyone I've ever taught stamp carving to has told me that it's much easier than they thought. I'll be sharing my tips... Read more →

I think I've mentioned before that I struggle with making cards. My solution has been to eliminate the notion that it's a card from my mind. Instead, I simply think of it as a piece of art you stick in an envelope. I recently made a birthday card with this notion in mind: I created a deli paper envelope for the card: A happy solution to a consistent problem I have! How do you approach card making? Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

If you're new to Art Journal Every Day, there is a short introduction here. All of the previous posts can be found archived here. There is a flickr group for sharing right here. Remember, it's just ten minutes of nourishing your creative self every day! No need to finish anything or even like it. If you've done some art journaling this week and you've blogged about it, or put it on flickr, please leave a link in the linky list at the end of this post. Thanks! Today we've got a guest post from Melita Bloomer. Hi guys! My name... Read more →

I'm a little sad that I'm away from home at the moment because I just watched this video and I'm desperate to try it out! DESPERATE! Isn't that amazing?! The video is from Jane Davies, who is one of my most favorite collage artists. It's a technique she learned from Patti Brady. I can't wait to get back to NYC and give it a try! How about you? Thanks for stopping by! Read more →