And the winner of the Coloring Studio workbook is...

I drew the name of the winner of the Coloring Studio Workbook Vol. 4 today and it is...

Kathy H

Congrats!!

Please contact me ( I hope to hear from you within 24 hours) and let me know what your mailing address is.  

Thanks everyone who entered.  Have a great weekend.  ~ hugs  ~  Renee

Drawing faces with a Jane Davenport stencil

I drew this face using one of Jane Davenport's face stencils.  This one is called "uptilted", then I just tangled free hand around her face with a Micron05 pen.  She'd be fun to color in, don't you think?

Queen of the Butterflies

I hope you're having a great week!  Don't forget to comment on the previous post for an opportunity to win Stampington's newest Coloring Studio workbook.  It is not just another coloring book, it offers so many articles on techniques and tips to improve your coloring skills.  

Thanks for stopping by!  Hugs~Renee

A Give-away of the new Coloring Studio workbook!

It's time for a give-away!  My work was featured in the latest Coloring Studio Workbook and Stampington has provided one copy for me to share with one of my followers.  The only rules are 1) you must be one of my followers and provide an email address so I contact you and 2) you have to be a resident of the USA. Just leave me a comment on this blog post, I will choose the winner on Sunday, December 18th, 2016.  After I have announced the winner, please contact me within 48 hours so I can have the book mailed to you by Stampington.  If I don't hear from you I will have to choose another name so be sure and check back to see if you've won.

Here is my page to tangle in and color, I give suggestions on how to do it yourself.

There are so many inspirational articles and submissions in the workbook.  Lots of ideas on things to create with your finished pages.  So if you'd like to win one just leave a comment here.  I hope you do!
Hugs ~ Renee

Artists in Residence 2017 Announcement

I have some exciting news to share with all of you...I was accepted to be a part of the IMAGINE design team for 2017.  The group is called AIRs or Artists in Residence.  It has been over a year since I've been a member of this group and I'm over the moon to have been selected for 2017.  I'll be sharing projects made with Imagine/Tsukineko products, which I feel are the Gold Standard for inks, etc.  Every month for the next year, beginning Jan. 1, 2017, I'll be showing tutorials and techniques with the purpose of sharing creative ideas and techniques with new and old products.  Each time I'll share a sneak peek on my blog with a link to the Imagine Blog with all the instructions and products used.  I hope you'll check out my posts and those of my fellow team members.  The design team was introduced on the Imagine Blog today so you might want to pop on over and check out the team members and their winning projects.

Thanks so much for joining me on this creative journey!  Hugs ~ Renee

Mixed Media Portraits

Now that my studio is downstairs and at the front of the house my neighbors can see me in the window creating at all times of the day and night.  That, of course, has led to much curiosity about what I'm doing artistically.  I love my new studio so much that I've actually invited people in to take a look around when they ask.

One of my sweet neighbors asked if I could do a portrait of her and her husband.  I told her I'm not a real artist but she said she liked my style so she gave me free rein to create something for their wall.  This is the photo Florence gave me to work with, I did two different portraits for her.

This is a black and white copy of the photo on canvas with all their favorite things written around the images.

Photo on packing tape adhered to a mixed media sheet colored with crayons and inks.

While working on this I kept coming up with different ideas as to what I could do with that photo.  I had to stop myself after two otherwise I would have had ten portraits of them in no time at all!  

That was a fun commission, have you ever tried to do portraits in a non-traditional manner?  Unleash your creativity!  Have fun ~ Renee

Stenciled Faces with Distress Crayons

I promised to share more stenciled faces colored with Ranger's Distress Crayons and here they are.  The technique and supplies are identical to the previous blog post so if you have questions you can refer back to that post.  Whenever you change the color palette the face has a different feel to it.

It seems that changing the position of the catch light in the eyes make the eyes appear to be looking in a different direction.  All three were done the same way with just different colors.  I hope you'll give this a try since so many have mentioned that they purchased the Distress Crayons and haven't used them much, myself included.  They really are lovely to work with!  Hugs ~ Renee

Using Pam Carriker stencils to draw faces

I'm the first to admit that I have an addiction to stencils.  For so many years I wanted to draw faces but just couldn't do it.  Then I discovered face stencils.  When people look at my drawings they think it is difficult to do but it really isn't hard at all.  I thought I'd give a short tutorial on drawing a face with a stencil, one of Pam Carriker's, and then coloring it in using Ranger's Distress Crayons by Tim Holtz.  Here is the finished result:

I started by making myself a small book measuring 11" by 7" (when it is folded shut), it is just several sheets of Bristol paper folded in half and sewn up the middle.  I applied a light coat of gesso and allowed it to dry.

This is the stencil I used and traced it using a pencil.  I used Pam's color wheel stencil on the opposite page and this will be where I lay down my Distress Crayon colors.  Usually I label the colors with a Fude pen so I remember which ones I used.  Then I start adding color to the face trying to stay within a limited palette for the face and complimentary colors for the background.

I pencil in the eyes and brows, then I using a heavy outline in Distress Crayon Rusty Hinge.  It's going to get uglier before it gets pretty.

Now I'm adding Fossilized Amber, Vintage Photo and Dried Marigold.

I start blending with a baby wipe, trying to leave some areas white.

I brought in some white highlights with a White Sharpie pen.  I apply the ink and then use my fingers to move it around the canvas.  I can keep dipping my fingers in the color wheel on the right, I just keep adding water to my finger tips and blending it on the face.  If I want some hard line dark areas I use my Stabilo All pencil which can be blended with water also.

I fine tune her face and add complimentary colors to the background, this is a combination of Seedless Preserves, Wilted Violet, Chipped Sapphire and I added some Spun Sugar to her face and lips.  I used that White Sharpie to add the catch lights in her eyes and other highlighted areas on the face.  Then I took Seth Apter's stencil and used a baby wipe to lift off more color around her face.  Dyan Reaveley's number stamp with some StazOn Black ink completed the project.

Here is a list of all my supplies:
Distress Crayons by Ranger:

• Squeezed Lemonade
• Mustard Seed
• Antique Linen
• Dried Marigold
• Fossilized Amber
• Rusty Hinge
• Vintage Photo
• Spun Sugar
• Picked Raspberry
• Seedless Preserves
• Wilted Violet
• Chipped Sapphire

Stabilo All pencil
Micron Pen 05
Pam Carriker Stencils
Seth Apter Stencil
Dyan Reaveley number stamp
Gesso, Bristol paper, Sharpie white pen, paint brushes, water brushes, baby wipes

If drawing faces has been one of your dreams I encourage you to give stencils a try.  Every face looks different depending on your color palette, no two are the same.  Next week I'll share some of my other faces in this small journal.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I'm sending hugs your way ~ Renee

"Dreamweaver" tangled drawing

I used a Jane Davenport stencil and a Micron pen to make this drawing.  It'd be a fun coloring page.

I hope this finds you all well!  Big hugs and thanks for stopping by ~ Renee

Art Sisters Journal Page

I'm always so amazed by the art sisterhood that exists online.  So many mixed media artists are willing to share their style secrets and their art journals not only online but also in publications just to help and inspire others.  It truly is a tribe of art sisters (and brothers) that encourage each other and cheer on the newcomers equally.  I'm in awe of the work of artists around the world that is produced, edited and shared on a daily basis.  This morning I created this art journal page with them in mind.

Supply list:  Dyan Reaveley background stamp, Stampotique image and phrase.  Tsukineko's Memento Markers in Peanut Brittle & Morocco, Micron 01 pen.

I provided a supply list since I will enter this at the Take It Make It Craft Stamper magazine November Challenge.  You can find the link here.  The Challenge is Anything Goes, it just must include some stamping. Pop over if you get an opportunity, lots of eye candy inspiration to be found there.  Hugs ~ Renee

Take It Make It Challenge: November

Here's a pretty mixed media card made with one of Finnabair's stamps:  Don't Forget to Fly, manufactured by Prima.  I've included instructions in the event that you'd like to give it a try.  I made this for the Take It Make It Challenge for November over at the Craft Stamper blog,  The theme is "anything goes", I've included the link for you.

Supplies:

• Ink:  StazOn Jet Black; Brilliance Mediterranean Blue, Victorian Violet, Delicata Golden Glitz
• Stamps:  Finnabair, Stampers Anonymous script
• Other accents:  Ranger Distress Crayons:  Antique Linen, Rusty Hinge, Fossilized Amber, Mustard Seed, Seedless Preserves, Chipped Sapphire
• Gelatos:  Grape, Metallic Melon, Mint, Blueberry,
• Stencils:  Unfinished by Seth Apter, Alphabet stencil by Andy Skinner
• White gesso, water color paper, irRESISTible clear glaze, baby wipes, Stabilo All pencil

Instructions:

Apply gesso to watercolor paper panel, allow to dry.  Stamp image in the center, color in with Crayons.  Mask off the image and apply Distress Crayons to the background, use a baby wipe or apply water on your finger if you need to blend the colors.  Place "Unfinished" stencil on top of panel and remove some of the color in background with a baby wipe.  Stamp script, the stamp from Stampers Anonymous.  Outline the wings with the Stabilo pencil and use a water brush to soften the look of the pencil.  Remove mask, apply clear glaze to circles and on the wings.  Use Alpha stencil with white gesso randomly on panel.  Distress the edges of the card with Victorian Violet and the Mediterranean Blue inks.  Adhere to a black mat, glue matted panel to the blank card.  Ink the edge of the white card with the Violet and Mediterranean Blue inks; then apply highlights with Gold ink.  Allow to dry thoroughly.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you'll check out the TIMI link and enter something.  Hugs ~ Renee

Color Challenge: Lilac

There is a color challenge to be met at the Stampers' Sampler magazine, if you're interested.  My studio is awash in Lilac projects at the moment.  The challenge is open until Feb. 2, 2017 so we all have plenty of time to get submissions together and into the mail.

While I was working I thought of my mom, I know she would enjoy a bookmark since she is a great reader even at 90 years of age.  I stuck with my Lilac colors and came up with this tag.

The stamps are by Crafter's Companion in a set called "Two of a Kind".  I hope this provides a little inspiration for you.  Thanks for stopping by, hugs to all of you!  ~ Renee

Zentangle Tiles

Sorry I've been MIA lately but the hurricane passing through the area seems to have tampered with every body's schedule.  Fortunately there is always time for a little Zentangle.  The official Zentangle tiles measure 3 1/2" by 3 1/2' and take about 15 minutes to complete.  I have been teaching a couple more ladies here in the area to tangle and it has made me work on this skill a little harder just to keep up with them.  A lot of people have no idea how talented they are until someone puts a pen in their hand and shows them what they can do in 15 minutes.  Then, off they go making all sorts of wonderful art!  Here are a couple of tiles I've been playing with incorporating face stamps into the design.

Most of us have at least 15 minutes in a day when we can carve out time for ourselves to do just a little bit of art and that is the best thing about Zentangle.  Why not give it a try?  Thanks for stopping by! ~ hugs ~ Renee

Hurricane Matthew~the view from Myrtle Beach, SC

Just a short posting to let you know the storm came through and left, we're still here, we didn't blow away! Hurricane Matthew hit parts of the Caribbean and Florida very hard, we were expecting a Category 2 hurricane here in South Carolina but fortunately it was downgraded by the time it arrived here.  It still did tremendous damage in Charleston and north of here in North Carolina.  Our house is just far enough inland that we were not ordered to evacuate.  We did lose power for parts of three days, the Internet was down even longer.  The worst day was Saturday with that terrible wind and rain that blew sideways.  I felt like a little dog running from window to window watching the storm rage.  Siding was blowing off of houses in our neighborhood. What an amazing display of power!  We ventured out the next day and took a few pictures of the surrounding area.  After driving around the block I'd seen enough and just wanted to go home.

This is the entry to our complex

Many homes suffered flooding in their yards

A lot of windows were boarded up

At least these poles were still standing, even though a little crooked, many had snapped off.

A lot of the fences were blown apart.

We had our grill in the garage so I made all our meals, including our morning coffee, on that.  Everything in the fridge and freezer was on ice.  My daughter, Holly, was visiting from California for the week so she felt like she was on a glorified camping trip.  Now she said she can check off "survived a hurricane" from her bucket list even though it was never there.  We're all Southern Californians so we know earthquakes, not hurricanes, it was a little unnerving to say the least.

It was such a beautiful day on Sunday and has continued to be lovely weather ever since.  The cleanup here began as soon as the storm passed and I'm sure by next week it will look as if nothing ever happened.

We did get a new neighbor who now lives in our pond, we noticed her/him the next day...an alligator.  Our very own Nessie.  It is about 5 feet long, I'm just hoping it doesn't eat all my sweet turtles that live in that pond.  I call "breakfast" and about 4 of the turtles come swimming down to be fed.  I just hope they're not breakfast any time soon.  My next door neighbor warned me today to be careful when I go out the back door since we don't have a fence around the yard as yet.  I don't want to be "breakfast" or worse, a snack.

I'll share some of my artful creations done during that down time in another blog posting.  I'm grateful for so many things right now and just glad the storm has left.  I'm so sorry that so many others are suffering from the immense power of Matthew.  My thoughts and prayers are with them.  I do want to thank so many of my friends, relatives and  art sisters from around the world that checked up on me during those dark days. Thank you all.
Hugs~ Renee

A Coloring Studio Project using a page from Volume III

When Stampington was looking for coloring book pages for Vol. 3 of the Coloring Studio,  I thought of a page I had done about a year ago that combined Stampotique rubber stamped images with Zentangle designs.  Here is the uncolored page and how I colored it in with Brushos and Memento markers.

While I might not have been thrilled with the end results of the colored in page, I could see opportunities to use it in the future.  I used it to create the colorful and funky top of a small storage box.

Color in a page out of the Coloring Studio coloring book.  Photocopy the colored in page onto heavy cardstock.    Choose a part of the page that measures the same dimensions as the top of the box and cut it to fit the top of the painted box.  Save the scraps to make cards.

Supplies:

Inks:  Permanent inks to distress edges of paper panel chosen to fit the top

Other:

Cardboard box, Chalkboard Paint (black), strong adhesive such as: E6000, Idea-o-logy metal feet

DIRECTIONS:

1.     Choose a card board box, new or recycled and paint it inside and out with black Chalkboard paint.  When dry attach metal feet to the bottom of box with a strong adhesive and begin working on the lid.  Allow paint to dry completely.

2.     Cut a piece of background paper, this one is from a coloring book page that has been colored and photocopied onto heavy cardstock and is a “master board”.

3.     Adhere panel to a piece of card board cardstock, glue with a strong adhesive to the box.  The inside of the box can be further decorated.

So tell me...what do you do with your coloring book pages when you're done?  I'd love to hear about it.
Thanks for stopping by ~ Renee

A Coloring Page turned into a Garden Notebook

So many of us are loving the coloring book craze and it shows no sign of disappearing any time soon.  Many people wonder what to do with some of those favorite pages.  How can we look at them every day without plastering our art work all over the walls?  Here's a suggestion, use the book page as a master board paper and it suddenly takes on a whole new life.  In this instance the page was used to make a small garden notebook housing seed packets and miscellaneous garden notes.

To begin I printed out a copy of the uncolored page on to a piece of computer paper.  Clear packing tape was applied over every bit of the design, trimmed out and then submerged in water.  After a few minutes of soaking, the paper will peel off of the back of the tape leaving only the print of the design.  Next the water color paper was folded into a miniature book measuring 7.5" by 7.5".  Tim Holtz's Distress Crayons were applied on a craft sheet and then picked up with a baby wipe and applied onto the front cover, being careful to follow the design; this is the portion that the packing tape transfer will be covering.

It doesn't look like much until the packing tape is adhered, then it takes on a life of its own.

There should be enough tackiness left in the tape to adhere to the book but if not just add some glue under the tape.  Now color in the background with additional Distress Crayon colors.  Draw a horizon line, add texture with StazOn Studio Glaze and allow to dry.  Now for the back of the book.

It is nice to have continuity in the colors of Distress Crayons used throughout the book.    I took the time to sew areas of the book so it will serve the purpose that I have in mind, mainly storage of seeds, etc.  There are several pockets on the inside to stuff treasures. Several of the threads were left long for a grunge effect. Random flower and butterfly stamps were used with StazOn Jet Black ink so there's no chance of smearing later.  The Bokeh effect is reminiscent of dew drops in the early morning and that look was achieved here with Purple Iridescent Creative Medium and a stencil. 

Here is a view of the book opened so you can see the front and the back after all the edges were distressed.

This is a list of the supplies used:

" Beauty Boots" coloring page from Stampington's "The Coloring Studio Vol. 3"

• Inks:  StazOn Jet Black, Ranger Wendy Vecchi Archival Cornflower Blue, Orange Blossom, Tree Branch
• Distress Crayons:  Seedless Preserves, Picked Raspberry, Mustard Seed, Rusty Hinge, Twisted Citron, Mermaid Lagoon
• Gelatos:  Metallic Melon, Metallic Mint, Cotton Candy
• StazOn Studio Glaze:  Cactus Green, Emerald Green, Orange Zest, Silver
• Stamps:  Penny Black, Memory Box, Finnabair, Idea-o-logy, Stampotique, Dyan Reaveley, Dina Wakley
• Stencils:  Stencil Girl, Artistcellar
• Other:  Purple Iridescent Creative Medium, Transparent Packing tape, Watercolor paper, baby wipes, black embossing powder

I'd love to see some of your projects created with coloring book pages.  Please feel free to leave a comment telling us what YOU have done with your pages.  Thanks for stopping by ~ Hugs ~ Renee

Hurricane Hermine is passing through today, time to Stay Calm and Color On!

Well, this is what our day looks like today.  It seems like Hurricane Hermine has decided to pay us a short visit.  Our pond in the back was getting quite low due to a recent dry spell, not a problem now it is full to the brim!

I did what any mixed media artist would do in a situation like this.  I stayed home, baked bread, made soup and colored.  My friend Ella Wilson who lives in North Carolina told me before we moved down here that she calls hurricane weather "blizzard weather".  Since she is from New England we both knew what that meant.  When the weather is bad up north everyone hunkers down and stays home.  Most residents are prepared for inclement weather and can be self sufficient for days on end.  One time we lost power for 3 days due to a blizzard.  We made our own refrigerator on a teak table outside, brought our camping stove into the kitchen and built a fire in the fireplace that blazed for 3 days straight.  We slept in front of that fire the whole time in reclining chairs.  It seems like the longer you live in NE the more stubborn you get.  The first year that happened we headed for a hotel for almost a week.  Being from Southern California we had no idea how to handle a situation like that but we learned quickly.

I used my Coloring Studio Workbook Vol 1 to pass the time today.  These two pages are by Ruth Dailey and are very abstract drawings.  I used Inktense Watercolor pencils and a water brush to color them in.

So my advice today is "Stay Calm and Color On".  Hugs ~ Renee

A Tangled Feather

Every morning I practice my Zentangle skills while I have my morning coffee.  Here is today's offering.

I hope you enjoy it, I did.  Hugs ~ Renee

National Dog Day

I love animals but my husband is so allergic the only pets in this house are the ones I've drawn.  Since August 26th was National Dog Day I felt it was appropriate to share my friend Ella Wilson's dog Maggie with everyone.  Ella commissioned me to do a ZIA version of her sweet Cairn Terrier and here is the finished picture.

I took photos of the process if you'd like to see it.  I started with a piece of watercolor paper to which I had applied a thin coating of gesso.  The reason I apply the gesso is so I can apply color to the drawing or Ella can apply color later.  I feel like the gesso gives me more control over how much of the color I leave on the page.  Ella is a mixed media artist in her own right and may want to add different elements to the drawing later, I will leave that up to her.

After the gesso was dry I traced a copy of her dog from a photo that she had emailed me.  Just the outline of her dog, I can try to get the look in her eyes from that photo also.  Once the outline is there I section off areas of the dog with light pencil marks and each area receives a different tangle until it looks complete.

Thanks for stopping by and allowing me to share my process with you!  Have a great week ~ hugs~ Renee

New issue of Craft Stamper magazine is now available

 I just received my complimentary issue of Craft Stamper magazine in the mail.  I'm amazed and grateful to have one of my cards published, it is my first time in this magazine.

Here is my card reflecting the colors in a four color challenge, they have challenges often, you can go to this link if you're interested in participating with a chance of being published.

I used Finnabair's stamp and several different stencils to get this result, all the instructions can be found in the latest issue of CS.

Thanks for sharing my joy!  Hugs ~ Renee