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Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Mixed Media Canvas

I have been itching to do something with some arts and craft supplies that have been in my office drawers for the best part of ten years. Little blank canvases, wire, Sculpey and an array of pearl ex powders and mediums and so much more!

 

So, I did and this is what I ended up with!

I think I may end up adding some word strips to the canvas, but for now I am still looking for the appropriate wordage for this piece!

 

 

A texture close-up:

 

 

This is the cage from the bottom. It’s was made out of purple and brown wire, but I then painted over it in varying colors.  Then I sprinkled in all with some fine embossing powder and melted it, for some texture.

 

 

The birds were made out of Sculpey oven-bake clay, which I then painted with acrylic paints and also melted some clear embossing powder on for some texture.

 

 

The branch is fixed to the canvas with some clear fishing line and the background raised texture is mostly regular white Gesso, using the method described here.

 

 

 

I also used a variety of stamps on the background.

As you can see, the colors of this canvas seem to be quite different every time I photographed a different angle or in different light. This is because of the Shimmer Mists, gold ink pads and Pearl Ex powder used on the background and I love that you never get quite the same whenever you walk by it!

But the “real color” of the canvas is probably right somewhere between the green and blue dominant photos and the more yellowish ones!

The whole canvas is only "6”x6”, so it’s quite small and “soooo cuuute,” to quote my daughter!

 

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Sunday, May 27, 2012

Gesso Stenciling: 2 Ways To Create Texture

 

Most of you are probably familiar with Gesso. For those who are not, it is a primer for paper and canvas. It provides stiffness and “tooth,” so paints adhere better.

In some instances Gesso also provides a barrier for the paint or ink and stops it from being “sucked” right up by the paper or canvas.

Gesso is most commonly white, even though it is also available in transparent, black and a whole array of colors now.

 

I often use Gesso in my Art Journaling as well as in my mixed media canvases. Not only for all the above reasons, but also because it can be a great medium to cover up things I want covered, or, applied a little thinner, cover things just enough to give it a great workable surface, but the print or image underneath is still visible!

Lately however, I have been getting into using Gesso for texture! Gesso always provides a little texture, even if just applied in it’s primer function, but it’s mostly just a slight roughening of the surface it’s applied to. I’m talking about real texture!

 

 

So, today I will share with you two ways to use Gesso for texture and embellishment on your art journaling pages or mixed media canvases.

 

You will need:

 

 

1.) Place the stencil where you want your texture to be on the page/canvas, scoop a little of the gesso onto your card and then scrape the gesso across the stencil. Random strokes works best, as it creates a less defined edge. Make sure you hold the stencil down well, so it doesn’t move and smudge your stenciled image.

 

 

Carefully lift off the stencil.

 

 

Let it dry and you have a nice little texture on your page.

 

 

 

See how it’s raised as high as the stencil was thick. Once it’s dry, you can paint over it for subtle texture, or make a feature of it by highlighting it with inks, paint, shimmers or by running your stamp pads randomly and lightly over it. This will highlight the edges as well as random raised parts in the texture which makes for a great background. As it is gesso it will also still take stamps, pens, inks, etc.

 

 

2.) Or, you could do this:

 

 

 

Yes, that is the Gesso too, not puffy paint!

How do we do that? Simple!

You do everything as above, only once you pulled the stencil off, instead of letting the gesso just dry, you use a heat gun. You can get in pretty close and within split seconds, you will see the gesso stencil image puff up like this:

 

I just love how perfectly round they puff up!

And you can control where you want your puffiness by where you point your heat gun, so you can puff up some areas but not others if you so choose!

 

 

Once all the areas are puffed up, just let your image cool down and the puffed gesso will dry in place. The great thing about it is, that it is pretty sturdy. It will actually hold that shape, even when you paint over it , but it still has a flexible feel to it, so if you wanted to push the pattern down randomly, it won’t crack or crumble!

 

 

In this example, I pushed the dots back down a little, so the ink and shimmer could pool inside the dots too!

 

In this next example, I left most of it raised!

 

 

There are just so many possibilities to work with this stuff and get cool effects! Try coloring your gesso and then scraping it into a stencil! It makes for some awesome images and texture!

 

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Friday, May 11, 2012

The Ability To Draw (or lack thereof) And An AJ Page

I think I’m on a roll with my Art Journaling pages! I have so many things that want to come out right now, so many ideas and quotes that want to be expressed!  So many drawings and “girls” working their way to the surface! And so little time!

But you know what’s the best of all for me - well other than having an awesome medium for expression and enjoying getting my hands covered in glue and paint?
I am finding that I can draw! ME!?
I have been convinced ALL my life that I can’t and there is plenty of evidence that I can’t draw to save my life. Seriously - I am not just saying that. I might be artistic and crafty, but really ... I can’t draw.
Or I couldn’t, up until recently. It was no accident that I became a DIGITAL scrapbook designer. I can create things on a computer that I never could on paper.

But like I said - until recently! And I’m finding that my biggest problem was that I thought that drawing was about being accurate and that it needed to look a certain way and that proportions just weren’t something you could go about willy-nilly making up.

And believe me nobody is more surprised than me to see myself actually drawing in my journal! And often I even like what I’m seeing! Imagine that!

What did you do, you ask? What is the big secret to the drawing challenged amongst us?

There isn’t one.        And yes,  if somebody had said that to me a while ago I would have snorted and thought that that is always what the people that CAN draw, say!

But really - it was simply about letting go. Or not so simply, since letting go is often the hardest thing to do!
And it still is about letting go now. It’s totally an ongoing process and often not an easy one.
It’s letting go of preconceived ideas of what it should look like - how somebody that CAN draw draws.
It’s letting go of comparison.
It’s also about letting go of the notion that I can not draw. That’s probably the biggest one for me. And one of those beliefs that I backslide on really easily. The ones we held the longest are often the hardest to let go of course! EFT can really help there, by the way! But really, If I continue to belief I can’t draw, I likely will never be able to. So going with the notion that I can’t draw like others, but that I can in my own way is a big one!

And then there is simply just letting go.
Letting the hand do what it does. Letting the body do what it does. The other day I took a canvas and a pencil, closed my eyes (yep) and just went for it. Doodled, wrote, drew - just kept on moving that pencil. Of course the result was nothing coherent, but that’s ok. I had no goal other than wanting the experience. No desired outcome, nothing to get wrong - just doing it! It seemed important to let go of everything, most of all of the idea of “failing” or not being “good enough” and to just ... well ... draw!
It was about getting into the rhythm, the flow, the letting the hand experience what it feels like to draw like you know what you’re doing - without the hesitation of people who believe they CAN’T draw! You drawing challenged people out there know what I’m talking about when I say hesitation, right?

So, it’s been a process, for sure. At times very much a “oh what’s the point” kind of process. But I’m starting to enjoy it.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m still not the kind of person who can sit down and knock out an amazing doodle on a napkin just like that.  Far from it. I’m still the master of stick figures on that front.
I still can’t just take a piece of paper, think for two seconds and then draw some amazing thing. I am (still?) not like that. I think practice has a lot to do with that too. And I’m working on getting a lot of that right now!

My approach still needs a little planning, lot’s of room for correction (pencils and erasers are great there) but I get there. And sometimes it feels a tad pathetic just how long it takes me to get to a oh so natural and haphazard looking swirl or hair, but hey, that’s how I roll right now!
And I’m getting a little more free with it too. Again, it might be the practice thing. Not just practice in drawing, but practice in letting go when drawing!
And then, when I have a basic outline and messed around with my proportions a little,  I go in with a micron pen for the outlines. Sometimes I even mess around on the computer first as I still feel more comfortable there with outlining an idea or a drawing. Then, once I have visualized it, it goes on paper!

So, I guess it’s true what they say, everyone CAN draw. It’s just a matter of  finding a way that works for you and gets you there! And wanting it badly enough to stick with it!
And to be honest, a lot of the time I still feel like I’m a bit of a fraud. Like I’m just pretending to draw or something, but I’m not the real deal. But you know what? I’ll get over it and in the mean time I’m enjoying my “fraudulent” drawings in my art journal!

Have you pushed your boundaries lately? Let go of some “I can’t” belief - even just a little, seemingly insignificant one?

Here’s my latest AJ Page: Be led by your dreams!


With this page, I followed pretty much the same technique as with the last one, only I got a little larger with my drawing. First I covered a book page with some white acrylic paint. Drew my basic girl outlines, covered here in masking fluid and went to town with some shimmer mists and spray inks.

Then I unmasked my girl and colored her with inks and watercolor pencils. The balloon was outlined on a piece of paper that I slightly aged separately before gluing it on the page. Then I took a dotted texture roller stamp and went over the whole lot with some Dazzle ink. That’s my favorite way of tying everything together on a page where subtle is the key!

Then I printed out the words, cut them and glued them to the page. And that is it!


Linking to:

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Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Releasing The Past AJ Page

The page was painted/drawn on an old book page. Once I was finished I mod-podged the entire page onto one of my empty Cason journal pages, so I can bind it with the rest of my journal pages.

 

I spread some off white acrylic paint thinly over the page with an old credit card. I wanted the print to still show through, but not dominate the page. Then I mostly just used Perfect Pearl Mists and a little bit of water color to add color to this page. Another thing that I did differently on this one was, that I actually drew the girl first (the dress is the original white background) and then covered her with masking fluid before adding any colors, sprays etc. 

 

It’s a whole new way of doing pages for me but I really enjoyed branching out into softer colors and a more child like girl. I have a feeling I might have a few more of these in me!

Some of the birds are drawn on, some are painted on and some are little bits of paper cut out, glued on and then outlined.

 

 

Here are some shimmery details from the in progress page:

 

 

And showing some more of those shimmer mists from a different angle. In person however, the whole page is covered in different subtle shades of shimmer mists, which gives this page a really lovely visual effect.

 

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Saturday, May 5, 2012

Hello Abundant City Yard

 

So, things are heating up around here, but we are not in the weeks of sweltering, “nothing will grow anymore” heat yet and our little backyard garden is really starting to come into it’s own.

 

First up, our tub of zucchinis that think they are a tree.

 

 

It’s hard to see in this photo, but the zucchini plants themselves are well over 4 feet tall now. The tub is one of those 70 + gallon tubs and the soil inside the tub only goes less than half way up.  BTW, that’s only 3 plants in there!

It seems to have something to do with the tubs though because I also planted 3 of the same batch in one of our raised beds and they are not even half as high! Or they just really like that walled in corner! Let’s see how they do when it gets really hot though, because then the wall may be a serious problem as it retains the heat and literally burns plants to a crisp!

 

Speaking of tubs, they seem to be doing really well this year!

Here we have from left to right: Pinto beans, chayote squash, yellow grape tomatoes, butter lettuce, mint, green peppers and marjoram.

 

 

Some Sage peeking through!

 

 

And some Thyme!

 

 

And some Italian Parsley! Further over I also have some Chives and more butter lettuce.

 

 

And one of our lot of green peppers (we have several all over the yard.)

 

 

The kid’s pinto beans.

 

 

Some Marjoram!

 

 

We have several tomato plants in our yard. All are different varieties. This little scraggly looking one, has so far been incredibly productive. It doesn’t look like much, but look at all the tomatoes it has on it. And we’ve had a few on a daily basis for a week or so already! The other varieties are much larger, but these little yellow things are lovely too!

Our mammoth large tomato plant from last year, that turned into a huge jungle, is doing very well again this year and has provided us with several large, very dark red, succulent heirloom tomatoes already!

 

 

Oh, and remember the Chayote squash I planted from the one I bought in the store? Yep, that’s what it looks like now!

And the butter lettuces I planted have been going strong for weeks now, providing us with daily fresh lettuce!

 

 

And some Rosemary and Dill.

 

 

Our Basil “bush”.

 

 

The Hibiscus are still going!

 

 

I’m trying to grow cucumbers this year too.

 

 

And we also have some strawberries this year!

 

And thanks to these guys, we have a very sweet smell in our yard and lots of humming birds in the yard too!

 

 

 

Such wonderful abundance in our little city yard. And I’m expanding what I grow every year too, so we are getting more and more homegrown fruit and veggies out of it!

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Friday, May 4, 2012

More Art Journaling Pages

 

 

 

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Thursday, May 3, 2012

Grain-free Cheddar Bacon Spinach Muffins (GF, LC, SF)

    Or they could be biscuits - or even  bread. It all depends what shape you bake them in. My favorite method for these are however these  muffin cups from IKEA! 


    Shape wise they are a bit of a cross between the size of a muffin cup but almost as high as a popover form. Nothing ever sticks to these little things, they stand up by themselves, which means you are not restricted by a muffin tin and they crisp the cheese up around the outside of the muffin and on the bottom just right!


    {YUM!}
    I was really pleased with the texture of these. They are delicious straight out of the oven. Very flavorful and moist, without being soggy or eggy, which can often happen with these kind of ingredients.
    Even cold these were a hit with the family and they toast up deliciously the next day!

    {Look at all that yummy goodness!}

    This recipe is quite versatile and you can switch out some of the ingredients to your liking. I will give some indications behind each ingredient what you could substitute with.

    Cheddar Bacon Spinach Muffins

    Makes 12 regular muffin sized and 8 large sized muffins

    Wet ingredients:
    4 eggs
    1/4 cup bacon grease (or coconut oil, olive oil, softened butter)
    1/3 cup mayo (I use veggienaise)
    1 handful of fresh spinach leaves (Kale, fresh garden herbs, chopped onions) - I add them to the blender, but if you prefer your muffins not to have a green color, just finely chop whatever you are adding - about 1/4 cup chopped. It looks much prettier but doesn’t affect the flavor!
    1/3 cup green onions, chopped
    Dry ingredients:
    2 cups almond flour
    1/2 cup golden flax seed meal (I prefer golden, but you can use regular flax seed meal)
    2 tsp baking powder
    1 tsp baking soda
    1/2 tsp guar gum (or xanthan gum)
    1/2 tsp salt (or seasoning salt if you don’t’ use bacon)
    1  cup shredded sharp cheddar cheese, grated
    1/3 cup parmesano regiano, grated
    1/2 cup bacon bits ( or sausage crumbles, or chopped vegetables, chopped nuts or seeds)

    Preparation:

  1. Preheat oven to 350F and line a muffin tin with paper liners or grease your muffin tins/silicone forms.
  2. In a blender, combine the wet ingredients. It doesn’t have to be totally liquified, just a fine chop will do.
  3. In another bowl combine the dry ingredients and use a whisk to combine. Then add the wet ingredients and stir together with a wooden spoon. Make sure everything is well combined. Let the batter sit for  a couple of minutes. It will thicken a little bit.
  4. Divide the batter equally among your muffin papers and bake  for about 17 - 25 minutes or until golden brown and a toothpick inserted in the middle comes out clean. Don’t overbake these or they’ll be dry! If in doubt, ever so slightly underbake!
  5. Allow them to rest for a few minutes after they are out of the oven, then enjoy!


They will keep in an airtight container or ziplock baggy in the fridge for several days.
They are best heated either by toasting them or by wrapping a damp kitchen towel around them and nuking them in the microwave for 30 -45 seconds.


The carbohydrate count of these can vary widely, depending on the carb count of your individual ingredients and what you choose to add. With MY ingredients (making 12 muffins,) each muffin has 6g of carbohydrate, 3 g of fiber and 12 g of protein. So 3 g of net carbs.

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