Hurricane Florence, local floods and a new stencil from StencilGirl Products

We had quite a scare with the recent hurricane (Florence) that skirted past our area and then the subsequent local flooding.  We boarded up our house and literally fled as quickly as we could to Atlanta, GA for nearly a week to get out of harm's way.  As soon as we returned we heard about the flooding heading our way from North Carolina so we sandbagged our house with scores of sandbags and yards of heavy plastic.  Our neighbors reported snakes in their yards that were being displaced from a local river that was rising.  That was eerie!  I have been leery about walking into the backyard ever since, I take a good look around wherever I step.  Now we're gearing up just a little for what we hope will only be a Tropical Storm (Michael) when it gets to South Carolina.  Better a tropical storm than any "category" hurricane.  

So I needed something nice to brighten my mood and Mary Beth Shaw provided that!

A couple of weeks ago I entered my name in a contest to win a StencilGirl Products ATC stencil and look at what I won!  This is Seth Apter's new ATC stencil and it has been a real pleasure to use this over the past few days.  There are many different artists who have created stencils using this format which is great when you're making a lot of ATCs.  With this stencil I'm not fighting the excess areas that I don't want to use, it makes the process very simple.  Just click on the link below to take a look at the new collection.

Seth's new ATC stencil

Here's a group of the ATCs I've made using this tool with ink and Tim Holtz's paper dolls.  I added some of Prima's micro beads for a touch of bling.

Your limits are only your imagination!  Thank you Mary Beth and Stencil Girl Products for my new fun stencil, it's made me really happy.

Take care and thanks for stopping by!

Hugs ~ Renee

Tangled Pit Bull

I've been working on a ZIA project lately of a Pit Bull dog.  I know most people are afraid of this breed of dogs but I do know one that is very sweet, this picture is of her.  If you look very carefully this rescue dog's name is tangled into her right shoulder.

This is my process after outlining my subject, then dividing the animal into sections to be tangled.

It's not a difficult technique even though it looks that way.  It is divided out into small areas that take about 10 minutes or so to tangle.  The tangles can be repeated.  Practicing Zentangle is a great way to warm up artistically each day and the end results can be quite amazing.  Here's my VIDA link if you're interested in seeing my Pit Bull design on a couple of accessories:  http://bit.ly/2BngetO, just type in my name to see my collection.

Thanks for stopping by!

Hope you're having a wonderful day.  Hugs ~ Renee

Pam Carriker new face stencils alert!

Just thought I'd let you all know that StencilGirl products has a new Pam Carriker face stencil release.  I love her stencils so you know I splurged and bought 9 of them.  I thought I'd share with you the results of my play date with a few of them yesterday.

This one is called Create.

Strength

Honor

These were all done with ink pads in my notebook, I applied small amounts of inks with daubers.  On two of them I used Micron 05 pens and on the first one I applied Dyan Reavely ink pens and Jane Davenport's crayons blended down with a water brush.

If you want to draw faces but find it a challenge stencils are the way to go.  I just wanted to share!  I hope you're having a great day.  Hugs~ Renee

An Altered Box Finnabair Style

A little while back I received a couple of Masonite Boxes from Joggles.  I altered one of the boxes right away which Barb shared on the Joggles blog.  I finally got around to altering the second box which measures 4" by 9" by 4".  First I painted the entire box inside and out with black gesso.  Next I dry embossed a piece of Ranger's Inkssentials Foil Tape Sheets and used the self adhesive backing to glue it to the top of the box.  I painted a coat of Finnabair's acrylic paint called Opal Magic Blue/Gold all over the entire outside of the box.  When it was dry I used all sorts of Prima/Finnabair products to create the design on the top of the box.

I made the wings out of paper clay with Finnabair's wing mold, most of the metal pieces are from her Mechanical collection.  I adhered everything with Finn's 3D Gloss Gel Transparent and let it dry thoroughly before continuing.

This is always the hard part...paint the entire top of the box with black gesso.  Now I start bringing some color back into this mixture.  First by painting the top of the box again with the Blue/Gold Opal Magic paint.  When that is dry I bring in Finn's waxes!  This is the delicious part, not only are they pretty but they have a lovely fragrance that fades with time.  I used many different colors of waxes such as:  Vintage Silk, White Gold, Red Amber, Brushed Iron, Amethyst Magic and Lucky Emerald.

Joggles carries all of these waxes as I believe does Michaels.

The colors of the waxes are very subtle and a tiny smear of wax on the tip of the finger goes a long way.  I will be applying paper clay molded strips to the sides of the box and adding waxes to the entire outside of the box.  It is a fun project that requires some patience as there is drying time involved with each layer.  But then too it is a great way to use your stash of buttons and metal embellishments.

Thanks for stopping by!  I appreciate any comments you choose to leave.  Hugs ~ Renee

Mixed Media play on canvases

I've been making small canvases (4" by 4") using mixed media techniques.  Here are my five pink ladies.

I used products made by a few of my favorite artists:  Lynne Moncrieff, Seth Apter and Kristin Peterson.  A tiny splash of Finnabair's Glass Glitter, paints by Jane Davenport and additional inks by Tim Holtz.  It doesn't get any more fun than playing with all of this from my stash.  Oh, I brought out my embroidery threads and needles, back in the 1970's I used to do all sorts of needlework.  It's like riding a bike you never forget how to do it even after a few decades.  I need to do more of that!

Thanks for stopping by ~ hugs ~ Renee

Altered Paintbrushes in the works

I've been working on a series of altered paintbrushes for the past week or so.  Each one has her own name and story, of course.

The longer they sit on my desk the more I keep adding to each one.  So, what's on your work table right now?  Stay cool, the temps here have been consistently in the 90's and the humidity is right up there too.  It's a good time to stay indoors and craft.

Hugs ~ Renee

Just Mixed Media magazine has arrived

To say I've been a bad blogger is an understatement!  My sister-in-law, her husband and my mother-in-law, who is 93 years old, have recently moved to South Carolina.  They were our house guests for 2 months while looking for a house.  We had a really fun time but I don't do well with such distractions.  I go into full on "mommy mode" and start cooking non-stop as well as trying to do everything else I can do to make my company comfortable.  On the heels of their visit I made a wedding cake for some close friends and helped organize their wedding reception.   Even after the guests have left and the cake commitments are fulfilled it takes me a while to put the brakes on.  Last night I made home made pasta and a lovely fresh tomato sauce to go with it.  So tonight it will be left overs and I'm getting back into my art studio at long last!

I might have mentioned a few months back that my daughter and I were taking a trip to China.  It was an amazing adventure!  We were there for 11 days and saw so many wonderful things, including climbing a portion of the Great Wall and visiting the Terra Cotta soldiers.  It was a trip of epic proportions for me and a dream come true.  I've been to China before but not this part and I've never been on a tour bus there either.  Very interesting.  I believe it's the best way to see so much of a country without having to worry about not knowing the language, etc.  The Chinese people were so kind and patient with us.  I have chop stick issues due to my arthritis so I'm sure my eating habits are extremely offensive.  We walked over 10,000 steps every day, at times Holly was practically dragging me along but I made it through all the exhibits.  While there I found some wonderful Washi Tape.  I used some of it to make this face canvas.  The colors are not my usual palette but I was trying to mimic the ancient stones used to build the Great Wall and so many other structures.

Today I was reminded that I had submitted this to "Just Mixed Media" magazine when I received my copy in the mail.  What a nice surprise!  Hopefully this is just what I needed to get me back on track.  This is what the cover of the newest issue looks like.

And this is the piece that I was privileged to have published using StencilGirl products and Dina Wakley paints.  Notice the hand carved stamp I had made in China while I waited, it's in the left hand corner.  They even gave me the red wax to stamp with.  The Chinese newsprint was used to wrap my tiny little soldiers that made the trip back to South Carolina.

So nice to be back in my studio!  I hope you get a chance to check out the copy of this magazine when it hits the news stands.  It's a great issue.

Hugs~ Renee

P.S.  Here's an early morning photo of my amazing mother-in-law (MaZarate).  She is wearing the crown I made back in 2017 in a Prima class.  She didn't want her photo taken without her make up but I think she looks AMAZING!