A Steampunk Mirror

I love to recycle or alter items I continue to find in the house that are not really being used.  Some things have just been relegated to the book case, behind books, just barely peeking out.  Sleep often eludes me and I can't stand to just lay in bed, so I sneak into my studio in the wee hours of the morning and use that quiet time to create.  This time I used my new Finnabair Patina Effect Paints in Blue and Red Rust plus a few metal objects to give an old mirror new life.

I won't hide this behind any books now!  Thanks for stopping by-hugs-Renee

Day Three of the Imagine and StencilGirl Products Blog Hop!

Here we are at Day Three of the Imagine and StencilGirl Products Blog Hop!  Have you been leaving comments every day on each of the designers blogs?  I hope so.  This is the final day, you have until Sunday July 23 at 11:59 PM Central Time to leave your comments.

(One comment per blog please)

One winner will be announced on Monday, July 24th on the StencilGirls Facebook page and on the Imagine Facebook page.  Just to remind you of what the prize is:

Here's your list of designers for today:

Belen Sotelo

Torrie Gass

Debi Adams

Martha Lucia Gomez

Jessica Litman

Alison Heikkila

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Be sure and leave a comment on each of the designers blogs that have been showcased on the lists over the past three days to increase your chances of winning the prize of a $25 Gift Certificate from Imagine and a $25 Gift Certificate from StencilGirl Products.  Who doesn't need $50 of supplies?



I'd love to share one more of the journal pages I did with my stencils from StencilGirl just to emphasize the versatility of their stencils.  All the same stencils just different results.  Be sure to hop along to the above list to win the gift certificates!

Hugs ~ Renee

Stencil Girl Blog Hop and Giveaway!

Hello and welcome to the StencilGirl Products and Imagine Blog Hop, DAY TWO!

For this hop I received three stencils:  Jessica Sporn's Rain, Andrea Matus deMeng's Eve, a modern woman small stencil, Seth Apter's Techno Insiders Circle.  It was so easy to use all three, actually it became an addictive process, I haven't been able to stop using them all month long!  This is the project I chose to share today, it is called " Steampunked Namaste".  It is part of an art journal of faces, she just has an elaborate head gear and flowers.  I will make a series of faces like these and then bind all the pages together in a hand made journal.

The background gets its color from Fireworks! Craft Spray in the Lilac Posies color, sprayed over Seth's Techno Insiders Circle.  Then I used the Techno Insiders Circle again on top of that with Fireworks! Desert Sand spray.  The face is Andrea's Eve stencil. I evened out the skin tones with Jane Davenport's Paint Over Pens, using Unicorn, Beach and Starfish.   Even the flowers in the foreground are a StencilGirls stencil designed by Mary Beth Shaw.  On a separate piece of water color paper,  I sprayed the Fireworks! sprays through the stencil then added additional shading by pouring some of the Fireworks! in a water brush and applying it where needed.  When the flowers were dry I cut them out and adhered them with Tear It! tape.   Here are a few close up shots of the background and the face.

To give her a "Steampunk" look I adhered cogs and gears with Imagine On Point Glue and a touch of the Iridescent Blue Creative Medium.  By using the On Point Glue I can better isolate the areas where I want to adhere the glass glitter.

After applying gesso through the words on the Rain stencil, I allowed drying time, then I highlighted the words with London Fog ink and a small dauber.

Here is another very similar art journal page using the same stencils but in Fireworks! Craft Spray in primarily blues and greens.  I used all the same stencils just differently.

What would a Blog Hop be without a GIVEAWAY?!!  One special winner will receive prizes from both StencilGirl Products and Imagine, a $25 Gift Certificate from each.

What do you have to do to enter?

Just visit the blogs of the fabulous designers and comment for your chance to win.  The more blogs you comment on the more chances you have.  (One comment per blog, please)

You have until Sunday, July 23rd 11:59 PM Central Time to leave your comments.  

The winner will be announced on the StencilGirl Facebook page and the Imagine Facebook page

on Monday July 24th.

Sandee Setliff

Karen Gaunt

Cindy Gilstrap

Tina Walker

Neva Cole

Kyriakos Pachadiroglou

Renee Zarate ~ You are here

Elina Stromberg ~ Your next stop

Product List:

StencilGirl Products

 Jessica Sporn's Rain, Andrea Matus deMeng's Eve, a modern woman small stencil, Seth Apter's Techno Insiders Circle and the flowers came from a stencil designed by Mary Beth Shaw

Imagine Products

Fireworks! Craft Spray- Lilac Posies, Desert Sand, Blue Hawaii, Tangelo and New Sprout

StazOn Jet Black ink

Memento London Fog ink

Blue Iridescent Creative Medium

Goosebumps Clear Texture Spray (on the lips and eyes)

Sheer Shimmer Spritz Frost

Tear It! tape

On Point Glue

Craft Mat

Palette Knife

Small dauber

Other Supplies

140# water color paper measuring 8 1/2" by 11"

Gesso

Jane Davenport Paint Over Pens

Bird nest stamp from Michaels

Fude Ball black pen

Prima Metal Cogs and Glass Glitter

Paper towels for blotting

Heat tool

Water Pens

Thanks so much for stopping by and leaving a comment.  There is one more day of the blog hop so be sure and stop by tomorrow for the list of designers.

Hugs~ Renee

The Imagine and StencilGirl Product Blog Hop starts today!

The StencilGirl and Imagine Blog Hop starts today!

And what do you have to do to enter?

Just leave a comment on each blog by Sunday, Jul 23rd at 11:59 PM Central Time.

Visit the fabulous designers from both teams and comment for your chance to win! 

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!

(One comment per blog please)

The winner will be announced on StencilGirl's Facebook page and Imagine's Facebook page on 

Monday, July 24th.

Here's your list of blogs to visit:

Mary C. Nasser

Janet Joehlin

Gwen Lafleur

Carol Baxter

Jennifer Vanderbeek

Nadine Carlier

Roni Johnson

Mischelle Smith

Be sure and stop by here tomorrow as I will have a few projects posted here, leave a comment below tomorrow so you can be entered in the drawing.  I'll look forward to your visit!

Hugs~ Renee

AIRs July Challenge... "Wet" made me think of rain

When I was looking at the Imagine AIRs DT challenges for July one caught my attention...WET.  Of course, living near the ocean I immediately thought of the beaches here in South Carolina.  We have had an unusual amount of rain this year so I decided the StencilGirl stencil designed by Jessica Sporn might be more apropos since it is title "Rain".  I ended up doing cards that look like water colored panels, placing the stencils on top of the colors and using white gesso to make the images pop out.  It gave a chance to use one of my new Andrea Ockey Parr's new stamps, they are so adorable!

With that theme in mind I also incorporated our color of the month, Pineapple yellow, into another design.  It is the same technique just adding bright yellow or Pineapple to the umbrella.

I would love to embrace the rain like that but, you know, my hair.  If I had hair like hers maybe it would be different but my is too curly. ( lol)

Here are the directions and a supply list:

1)  Cut a piece of master board measuring 5” by 6 ½”.  Place a stencil on top and using a palette knife push white gesso through the stencil, dry thoroughly. Be sure and wash the gesso off of the stencil immediately before continuing.  If need be repeat the gesso stenciling until the coverage is sufficient.

2)   Reapply the stencil to the panel. Use colored ink with a small dauber to enhance the phrase. While the stencil is in place use a VersaMark pen through the stencil on the umbrella and the boots, remove the stencil and apply Imagine Iridescent Embossing Powder on the umbrella and the tops of the boots. 

3)  Melt powder with heat tool. Stamp words in black, emboss with Clear Embossing Powder and melt with a heat tool.

4)  Continue to enhance card with pens, attach sequins with On Point Glue and add additional inks. Ink edges and attach to a card blank with Tear It! Tape.

Supply List

Imagine Supplies

Fireworks! Craft Spray – Bahama Blue, Dandelion, Tangelo, Lilac Posies, New Sprout (for master board)

Brilliance – Pearlescent Rust

Memento Dual Marker pens – London Fog, Peanut Brittle

VersaMarker watermark pen

Imagine Embossing Powder – Clear and Iridescent

On Point Glue

Tear It! Adhesive tape

Craft Mat

Sponge daubers – large and small

Scotty palette knife

Other Supplies

Strathmore 140 lb. Water color paper

Stencils – Stencil Girl (Rain by Jessica Sporn)

Washi tape

Spray bottle of water

Micron 05 black pen

Sequins

Heat Tool

Paper towels

Paper trimmer

Thanks for stopping by, leave me your thoughts if you have a moment.  Hugs ~ Renee

Using Stencil Girls stencils to create faces with Dina Wakley's Scribble Sticks

I'm using Pam Carriker's face stencil and color wheel stencil here to create a portrait.  Stencil Girl makes several different face stencils by different artists, there is one for all different styles and tastes.  I wanted to try out my Dina Wakley Scribble Sticks on gessoed water color paper and this is the result.  I've written the colors I used right there on the right hand side of the page.

Very fun and very easy to do using the crayons and baby wipes.  Thanks for stopping by!
Hugs, Renee

My upcoming Zentangle Class at the Chapin Library

In the event that you are in the Myrtle Beach, SC area on Thursday, July 20, 2017, I will be teaching a Zentangle 101 class at the Chapin Library.  There is no charge for the class with the exception of $5.00 for supplies, which include 3 tiles, a Micron pen, a paper blender and a small pencil for shading.  I also include hand outs that show the step by step process of each tangle taught in the class.  If you have your own supplies though I do invite you to bring them with you then your cost would be zero!  Just click on this link to sign up, the cut off date to register is July 17th, you have the option to call Wanda or email her to book your spot.  The class will take place between 2-4 PM.  My students generally complete 3 Apprentice size tiles which measure 4.5" square during the class.  I teach not only the basic Zentangle concept but enough tangles to lay a foundation that can quickly be built upon to create small masterpieces.  Here is a sampling of what my students were able to achieve in 2 hours last year at the Surfside Library class:

Not one of these students had any previous experience with Zentangle, some had never even heard of it before.

So if learning Zentangle has been on your bucket list I hope you will take advantage of this opportunity.  Most people find that is an incredibly relaxing art form and helps to cope with anxiety while opening up an amazing pathway to individual creativity.

I invite you to release your creativity, only by taking the risk of learning new skills can we grow artistically.  I hope to see you there.  Hugs ~ Renee

An "Itsy Bitsy" Card using Inchies

Imagine Crafts challenged their AIRs design team with the theme "Itsy Bitsy".  I immediately thought of "inchies" which are precision cut tiny canvases measuring any where from 1" square all the way up to 4" squares.  I have some tiny mat squares that measure 1.5" by 1.5" that I knew would be great for this project.  These were given to me by Inchie Arts and are very high quality.  This card was designed with those in mind.

Here is a short tut on how to use inchies in creating a unique card like this one.

Step one:
Stamp and color in the images.

Step two:
First stamp the phrase, sprinkle embossing powder on the phrase and melt with a heat tool.
Cut and tear paper to go across the top and the middle of the blank card.

Step three:

Add the tiny dog portraits by using a strong adhesive.

Here's the supply list:

Supply list

Imagine Supplies

VersaMark Watermark Stamp Pad

Imagine Black Embossing Powder

Memento Markers- Peanut Brittle, Espresso Truffle, Dandelion, Teal Zeal and London Fog

Tear It! Tape

Craft mat

Other Supplies

Art Squares from inchie arts lic., three 1 ½” precision cut matboard squares

G45 paper from “It’s raining cats and dogs” collection

Paper cutter

Blank white card

Heat tool

Thanks for stopping by!  Hugs ~ Renee

Stencil Portrait with Distress Crayons

I find drawing faces so intriguing, it's as if each face falls out of my pencil and has its own story to tell.  Using a stencil is a terrific building block, the stencil lays a quick foundation and it reinforces the positioning of the facial features.  By outlining the face through the stencil with a Stabilo pencil I'm assured that the shading will take care of itself.  The Stabilo pencil is water activated, it seems to blend into the right places on the face.  I use Distress Crayons to do quite a few of my portraits now and a quick spray to the entire surface at the end gives it a water colored appearance.  I had several posts a few months back showing a step by step tutorial on how to create your own water colored portraits.  If you follow the directions it is as simple as it looks, I taught my 11 year old great-niece how to do this with very successful results.

Thanks for stopping by, if you have any questions about this technique just send me a message.  I hope you're taking a little time every day to create some kind of art! Hugs ~ Renee