I feel like I see a lot of people making truly gorgeous collage fodder. It's just so lovely to look at. Not me. I make ugly fugly collage paper. Why? There are a lot of reasons to make ugly collage paper: ONE: It lowers the stakes around cutting into your collage fodder. Here is a piece of copy paper that I had no problem cutting up. You can see that the ugly piece of paper makes for beautiful little bits. I used two of them on this mixed media collage: TWO: You need contrast to make your work sing. If... Read more →

This is a photo of the dining room of my house when we bought it: Looks great! Beautiful woodwork and I don't even mind the wallpaper. But six months later, this is what that same room looked like: Not because we wanted to move walls or change the layout. We had to take everything down to the studs because the structure of the house was no good. From plumbing to electrical to insulation to the foundation to the roof...the structure of this house needed to be repaired. It's easy to understand that structure matters in a house, right? No matter... Read more →

This past weekend I tried my hand at making fancy pancakes, aka "pancake art." I had some technical issues, but it was still fun to do. Take a peek: Here's what I learned: I used 2 tsps of cocoa powder to turn half of my pancake batter a darker color. This way I had two colors to work with. The flavor wasn't noticeable. I was surprised. I used a funnel to pour my pancake batter into squeeze bottles. Someone more talented than I can certainly skip the funnel, but I couldn't make it from bowl to bottle without it. My... Read more →

"Art Parts" are the mise en place of art making. Having a stash of art parts makes the act of making finished art quick and easy. But art parts aren't simply painted pieces of paper. They're immediately usable "parts" that can be adhered in place. Watch the video for more: If you're interested in my Art Parts class this weekend, you can read all about it and sign up HERE. There are 3 spots left in class. Regardless of whether or not you sign up for class, I hope you'll consider building up your Art Parts stash. Piles of pretty... Read more →

These mixed media collages are changing a bit now that I've left the art journal behind and I think that's a good thing. Evolution is an important part of being I did pop back into my art journal for day 62: And then back out again: Monthly Members can see the real-time process video of the piece above in the online classroom. I think I prefer the pieces without the white margins. What do you think? Thanks for stopping by! Read more →

I got a tattoo! I'm scared of needles and commitment, so the good news is that this one will wash right off. I have always loved temporary tattoos, but I don't always love wearing someone else's design. Well, did you know that you can buy printable temporary tattoo paper? Yes, you can! You simply design your tattoo and print the design onto the paper. Now, one of the important notes on using temporary tattoo paper is that you need to cut close to the edges of the design. So, I decided to use my ScanNCut to do just that! As... Read more →

It has been several months since we've released a new podcast. There's a good reason and I'll bet that you can relate: the COVID blahs. But all hope is not lost, Mom and I have four solutions for you -- ways to bust those blahs and get back to being creative. Give it a listen: If you do not see the podcast player above, please click on this link. On the off chance that you've never listened to a podcast or don't get why anybody would want to, here are some facts: (1) Podcasts are convenient. It's a recording that... Read more →