I'm taking a multi-week printmaking class at the Boston Museum of Fine Arts (MFA). I'm beyond geeked out and excited about it. I've done a ton of printmaking but never with a real live printing press!!! We are going to be focusing on three kinds of printmaking: monoprint/monotype, drypoint, and relief printing. The first class was all about monoprints and monotypes. I found a great explanation on the difference between monotypes and monoprints on monoprints.com. A monotype is essentially ONE of a kind: mono is a Latin word which means ONE and type means kind. Therefore, a monotype is one... Read more →

I think that this is one of the easiest and coolest ScanNCut techniques that I've ever shared! Essentially I'm using an embossing pen in the Universal Pen Holder to create a pattern for heat embossing. Can you imagine the possibilities?! Here's the tag from the video: ScanNCut 2 ScanNCut Standard Mat ScanNCut Universal Pen Holder Inkssentials Embossing Pens Black Tags Deli Paper White Zing Embossing Powder American Crafts Heat Gun InLinkz.com I hope you'll give heat embossing with your ScanNCut a try! It's super duper cool! Thanks for stopping by! ---- P.S. I am a paid spokesperson for the Brother... 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. 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, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. I went on a search through the Art Journal Every Day hashtag to... Read more →

I've put together a quick video for you today sharing how to use simple paper masks to create beautiful heart prints. I hope you enjoy the video: Deli Paper Sakura Oil Pastels Winsor & Newton Watercolor Brush Pack Dina Wakley Brushes Gelli Plate Speedball Soft Rubber Brayer Doodle Stix Liquitex Basics Acrylic Paint Golden Fluid Acrylics Blick Matte Acrylics Fiskars Amplify Scissors 110 lb. white cardstock 8.5x11 Cosmetic Sponges Sharpie Waterbased Paint Marker Gelly Roll Moonlight Pens Permapaque InLinkz.com The Balzer Designs stencils I used aren't available yet (closer to the end of the month). However, you can pre-order them... Read more →

When I was thinking about Valentine's Day gifts, I started to think about personalization. What is a simple gift that you can give someone to make them feel special? I came up with the idea of etched glasses -- such an easy way to personalize a gift! (And perfect for giving to someone you love -- like a parent or friend or child -- without being romantic.) Last night I did a quick Periscope video showing how to etch glasses for your sweetie. You can view it until 8pm EST tonight. If it's after that time or you're looking for... Read more →

There are so many cute crafts for Valentine's Day that you can create with clothespins. Here are a few of my favorites: source source source source source These are all super adorable, but I fell in love with this next idea: source I took that idea of a hidden message and created my own decorated clothespin with a secret message! Believe it or not, I had never decorated a clothespin before. I learned some things that may be helpful to you if this seems like a project you'd like to try: Clothespins are fairly rough. A quick sanding with some... Read more →

It's Valentine's Week (i.e. the week before Valentine's Day)! Valentine's Day is an excellent excuse to make crafty things. So, all this week I'll be sharing some love inspired projects! The very first stamp that I encourage anybody and everybody to try their hand at carving is a heart stamp. You learn how to carve curves and straight lines, as well as inside and outside points, all in a very simple shape. But that humble heart stamp is more than just practice! A heart stamp can create so many lovely patterns! Simply rotate, space out, and experiment with overlapping. Take... 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. 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, use the hashtag #artjournaleveryday so that we can all take a peek. Even if you're not on social media, you can see everything (from twitter, pinterest, instagram, and facebook) that uses that hashtag here. I know that I do a lot of journaling in my art journals.... Read more →

I'm going to be sharing a series of videos all about Art Foamies over the next few months. Today I'm starting at the very beginning with the basics of how to use your Stamp Buddy. I hope you enjoy the video! You can purchase Art Foamies direct from their website. And hopefully from a bunch of other sites and local stores very soon! I'm providing direct links to all of my designs below -- there are some new ones I haven't shared before (yay!): Big Numbers Floral Polka Dot Make Art Leaf Vine Eyes: Triangle Lashes Me-O-My Pair of Eyes... Read more →

Today I thought I'd share a few random pieces from around MoMA (The Museum of Modern Art) as well as a peek into the excellent Jackson Pollock exhibit. I love Franz Kline's bold black and white paintings. It looks so simple, but when you get up close you can see the care he took in the areas that have been "fixed" and painted over to get the simplicity "just right." You know, I often obsess over getting the hands to look like hands. Looking at the painting above and the painting below, it's so clear that the emotional content is... Read more →