I'm delighted to bring you another episode of the Adventures in Arting Podcast! If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. You can listen to a podcast anywhere and at any time. It is a recording that is available to you whenever you'd like to listen. If you'd like to download it to your iTunes library, click here. You can also pause and rewind or fast forward as you desire. I like to listen to podcasts while I'm making art. It's a little like hanging out with friends while you art. We are changing... Read more →

One last Easter craft for you today! In order to gift my Easter eggs, I used my ScanNCut to make some super cute paper boxes just the right size for eggs. Check them out: I tried putting the bunny box inside of the bird cage box... ...but it looked too much like a bunny in jail. All the box designs are from this USB. To make them more mixed media, you could use hand painted paper instead of commercial scrapbooking paper or you could cut them from watercolor paper and then decorate the paper afterwards! I have to confess that... Read more →

I have always wanted to try my hand at pysanky. It's an Ukrainian egg dying technique in which you use layers of wax to act as a resist for each layer of dye. Mom and I dropped in at a local shop called Pinecones & Needles. It's an awesome little store run by a lovely woman named Anne: She taught Mom and me the pysanky basics and let us go! You heat the kistka in the flame and then place it in the beeswax (the heated kistka melts the beeswax and fills the kistka's cup) and then draw on the... Read more →

Happy Monday! Here are three interesting art-related links that I think you'll enjoy. Picasso's Self-Portrait Evolution We all evolve as artists but Picasso's self-portraits are fascinating to watch change over time. How to Print on Paper Bags What a super duper easy way to create a gift bag! Or pack a lunch with panache! By Bun This is a new-to-me blog by artist Roxanne Coble. I really like her stuff. Lots of art journaling and book making and paint! 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. 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. Another art journal has come to an end. I've said it before and... Read more →

Here's what life looks like around here: As you can tell from the studio pics, things are a bit of a mess around here. I'm feeling a little bit chaotic right now as I get ready to head to Australia for a month and my home reflects that chaos. I always know that I'm in a good place when I start to organize and clean up. I feel like, for me, an organized home is a reflection of an organized mind. I'm hoping to have a chance to organize and clean up before I head out. It's so much nicer... Read more →

For me, Easter means chocolate and time to dye eggs! It's a tradition. Every year I buy the Paas kit in the supermarket. You drop the little color dye pellets into white vinegar and then add water and you've got dye! This year I used the wax crayon that comes with the kit (and acts as a resist), some rubber bands, and my ScanNCut to create a bevy of colorful eggs! I decorated these eggs with a friend who said that he hadn't decorated eggs since he was a kid. I was reminded in that moment that we all start... Read more →

I thought I would share the results of my final two printmaking classes at the MFA Boston. We did block printing, aka stamp carving. We used a block material I didn't love, but any carving is good carving, right? Here is the teacher doing a demo on inking: And here is a sampling of work by my fellow students: I worked on what I thought was going to be a simple block, but turned out to be quite complicated. I ended up having to finish the block at home! But it was worth the extra work because I love the... Read more →

I've got an awesome **giveaway** for you today! I'm giving away two things: one is the ScanNCut Stamp Starter Kit, the second is the notebook that I make in this video: And here is the fancy notebook: Check out how seamless that vinyl is: And here you can see the three stamps I used to create the layered print: If you'd like to win the ScanNCut Stamp Starter Kit AND the notebook I made in the video, here is all the official contest info: Giveaway Duration: March 21, 2016 through March 27, 2016 Brother prize package includes: ScanNCut Stamp Starter... 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've got more daily pages for you today! These ones are from the... Read more →