As you may or may not know, I’m a self-proclaimed love child of MacGyver. I can turn just about anything into a printing or stamping tool and I get a kick out of seeing what new things I can find to use.

I get especially perky around the commercial holidays [...]]]>

As you may or may not know, I’m a self-proclaimed love child of MacGyver. I can turn just about anything into a printing or stamping tool and I get a kick out of seeing what new things I can find to use.

I get especially perky around the commercial holidays because I can find interesting things at the dollar store or the dollar sections of chain stores that make great printing tools. Since this is a heARTfest Valentine Tutorial, I thought it was a perfect time to print with those heart-shaped ice cube trays.

In this tutorial, I’ll show you how to use them to get nice, grungy backgrounds in your journal, or on loose sheets of paper that can then be used in your art work. Let’s start with a loose sheet of paper.

Materials:

• paint palette
• acrylic paint
• sponge brush
• heart-shaped ice cube tray (I found this at Target!)
• paper or wax paper to protect your table
• loose sheet of paper (I like to use pages from old books.)

Step 1: Place something down to protect the table, then place your paper on top of it. Squirt some acrylic paint on your paint palette, and use the sponge brush to apply it to the top of the ice cube tray.

Step 2: Place the ice cube tray onto the paper and push down with your fingers to print all of the flat areas. Be sure to get in between the hearts too.

Step 3: Carefully lift the corner of the tray, checking to see if everything printed. If not, place it back down and work the unprinted areas some more with your fingers.

Step 4: Add more paint, and print the next section. It can be printed the same direction as the first time, or rotate it 180 degrees to print it the opposite direction.

Step 5: Continue printing until the page is covered. After the paint is dry, it can be used as the background for other artwork, collage material, or to make a Valentine’s Day Card.

Now let’s print it in a journal for a quick background. You need the same materials, except this time you need a journal instead of a loose sheet of paper.

Here’s a short video tutorial I made of me printing the ice cube tray in my journal. If you can’t see this video, click here.

Now, my journal is ready for some action! As I start working in it, if I feel the hearts are too bold for writing or distracting from whatever else I put on the page, I can do a wash of color over it, or even add a thin layer of paint.

Stay tuned for Part 2, printing on fabric!

If you like this kind of printing, you’ll love my book  Print & Stamp Lab. It has 52 different techniques for making your own alternative printing & stamping tools! You might also like my other book, The Art Journal Workshop.

This tutorial is part of the ArtSparks 8 Day heARTfest Valentine Tutorial Blog Hop. Be sure to check them all out!

8 Day heARTfest Valentine Tutorial Blog Hop

• 1/25/2012 Jane LaFazio: Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)
• 1/26/2012 Traci Bunkers: Printed Heart Ice Cube Trays: Quick Printed Backgrounds
• 1/27/2012 Diana Trout: Woven heart valentines card
• 1/28/2012 Lyric Kinard: Lovin’ my Thermofax Screens
• 1/29/2012 Judy Coates Perez
• 1/30/2012 Kelli Nina Perkins: Heart-shaped felted soap
• 1/31/2012 Melanie Testa: (hosted on Lyrics blog.)
• 2/1/2012 Tracie Lynn Huskamp: Valentine Message Pillows

Today is the first day of the 8 Day heARTfest Valentine Tutorial Blog Hop!

Jane LaFazio started it off with a fabulous tutorial on making a valentine and matching envelope using a page from your sketchbook. You can apply this information to other things as well, not just making cards. So be sure to [...]]]>

Today is the first day of the 8 Day heARTfest Valentine Tutorial Blog Hop!

Jane LaFazio started it off with a fabulous tutorial on making a valentine and matching envelope using a page from your sketchbook. You can apply this information to other things as well, not just making cards. So be sure to check it out!

My tutorial is tomorrow, so come back for that. Here’s the list for the blog hop:

8 Day heARTfest Valentine Tutorial Blog Hop
1/25/2012 Jane LaFazio: Sketchbook page to Valentine Card (& envelope too)
1/26/2012 Traci Bunkers: Printed Heart Ice Cube Trays: Quick Printed Backgrounds
1/27/2012 Diana Trout: Woven heart valentines card
1/28/2012 Lyric Kinard: Lovin’ my Thermofax Screens
1/29/2012 Judy Coates Perez
1/30/2012 Kelli Nina Perkins: Heart-shaped felted soap
1/31/2012 Melanie Testa: (hosted on Lyrics blog.)
2/1/2012 Tracie Lynn Huskamp: Valentine Message Pillows

I had a great weekend, that really started with Friday night when I went to Karen Matheis’s art opening. (We we in the same dorm in college!) Not only was it fun to get out and be social and to support my friend, but I also set in motion possibly having my own show!

This tutorial shows you how to quickly create a background in your art journal using fruit! Vegetables can also be used.

Simply cut your fruit or vegetable of choice in half–I used an orange–apply paint to it with a sponge brush, then stamp away!

Here’s a short video showing [...]]]>

This tutorial shows you how to quickly create a background in your art journal using fruit! Vegetables can also be used.

Simply cut your fruit or vegetable of choice in half–I used an orange–apply paint to it with a sponge brush, then stamp away!

Here’s a short video showing the process.

(If you can’t see this video, you can watch it here on YouTube.)

Now, my spread is ready for journaling. If I feel areas are too dark for writing when I get to that point, I can apply a thin layer of white or a lighter color of paint to those areas. Or, simply use a white pen.

For tons more info on art journaling and making your own printing and stamping tools, check out my books The Art Journal Workshop and Print & Stamp Lab.

As you know, I love taking photos, whether it’s with a film camera or a digital one. Since I got an iPod Touch a year ago, I have had fun playing with all kinds of different photo apps.

I find out about a lot of them from following the Life in LoFi blog [...]]]>

As you know, I love taking photos, whether it’s with a film camera or a digital one. Since I got an iPod Touch a year ago, I have had fun playing with all kinds of different photo apps.

I find out about a lot of them from following the Life in LoFi blog by Marty Yawnick. He reviews them all the time, and lets you know when they are on sale or free! Today I read about this new app, called Magic Hour, that I had to try it. Today is the last day it’s on sale for only $0.99!

As soon as I read Marty’s review, I downloaded it, and went to try it out with my faithful photo assistant, Ruby.

The first two photos were taken directly with the app, and then I chose existing filters to use. Even though Marty has a great review of it, I’ll take you through the process of how I used the app with one of my photos.

I took the above photo with my iPod Touch. With the Magic Hour app, you can either take photos using the app, or open a photo from your photo library.

Here’s what you see when you open the app. It’s easy to use and pretty self-explanatory. I was happy with the different things you could do with it, yet it was simple. The opening screen is labeled with the buttons for you to choose a photo or take one. It also has the settings button, and the filters button. You don’t need to worry about the filters yet, but you might want to look at the settings. (I didn’t do anything with the settings until later, but you might want to set the resolution before you take pictures.)

Here, I opened up the picture I had taken in the cemetery. You can scale the image, or move it around where you want it inside the white box, which shows how it will be cropped. You can also rotate or flip the photo. When you are done, click “done.”

Next, you choose a filter, and it shows a thumbnail of your photo with the filter applied, making it easier to choose. There are a lot to choose from–not only the ones that come with the app, but there are also filters available that were created by other users for you to use.

I chose the “Old Magazine” filter, then saved it. Below is the photo with the filter applied to it.

After you select the filter, you can click on the “recreate” button to make changes, which in turn creates a new filter.

You can change various things, such as the brightness, contrast, the vignetting, textures & frames. Here, I’m changing the frame. After I made the changes I wanted, I saved them, The photo below shows my new filter.

After you select the filter, or create a new one, you can also use the tilt-shift setting. That allows you to focus on a selected part of your photo with the rest of it blurring out. It’s a great effect which draws attention to the focused area. My very first two photos in this post use tilt shift to focus on the top part of the cross.

Then you can save the filter, name it, and choose whether to share it with other people also using the app. I named mine “Sepia Cemetery,” as you can see, and shared it. I like that the preview with all of the filters shows the picture before and after the filter is applied to it. That gives you a better idea of what the filter does to the photo. You can download any of the shared filters for free!

The above screen shows my filter available in the new filters section! That’s kind of fun!

Remember the photo I took the other day at my local nursery? The one below, to be exact.

I played around with it in Magic Hour, and look what I came up with!

I saved and shared this filter too. It’s called “Dramatic Flower.” If you want to use either of my filters, you can search for them in the “filter market” section. If you do, I’d love to see your photos!

If you want to try  Magic Hour out, today, Jan. 15th, is the last day it’s on sale for $0.99. After that, it’s back up to $1.99. I see myself using this app a lot! Have fun!

First off, I have given my blog a facelift! I’ve been working on it for about a week now. I’m excited about the changes I made, and I’ll be adding more items to the top navigational menu as I have time. Now, on with the show!

Compared to the previous winters, we’ve had [...]]]>

First off, I have given my blog a facelift! I’ve been working on it for about a week now. I’m excited about the changes I made, and I’ll be adding more items to the top navigational menu as I have time. Now, on with the show!

Compared to the previous winters, we’ve had it pretty lucky (so far). But yesterday was a dreary & windy day. I had been working a lot, and needed to get out, and needed some inspiration.

I am fairly secluded since I work at home and live by myself. So I’ve decided I need to get back to weekly artist dates to get me out of the house and among the living. (I live across from a cemetery.) Even though it was almost closing time, I went to my “go-to” place on the way to the grocery store.

A winter weather advisory was starting. And based on things that have happened the last two winters, my knee-jerk reaction when I hear that now is to go to the store to buy a lot of toilet paper and a lot of food. And I needed to do that anyway. (Well, I didn’t need lots of either, but hey.)

My go-to place is a local nursery, Sunrise Garden Center,  not too far from my house. I love plants & flowers, so it’s always a pick-me-up when I go there, especially in the winter since it’s warm. But yesterday it was even dark in there. I was still able to check out all of the beautiful plants and snap some photos.

They had some lovely orchids blooming that were detailed with incredible color patterns.

The grafted cacti were bursting with color, but still look interesting in black and white.

Then I came across this beauty. I didn’t look at the tag to see what kind of plant it was because I knew I only had a few minutes left before the shop closed, and I wanted to take some more photos.

Since I was using my iPod Touch and the hipstamatic app, I wanted to shoot some variations of the blooming plant by using different “film” and “lenses.”

I think they turned out great! And now I have some more photos to use in my visual journal and in my art work. I prefer to use my own photos in my work because it makes it more personal. So getting out to take pictures is a great way not only to create more original material to work with, but to also stay inspired.

I went home from the nursery with two mini plants. They were so tiny & cute & inexpensive that I couldn’t resist. It’s hard to tell the scale in the photo, but their pots are only 2″ tall! They are the perfect size to put on my kitchen windowsill.

I am one of the teachers in the online group of workshops called “21 Secrets,” and I had a giveaway for a free registration. That ended last night, and I just drew the winner using random.org !

and winning entry 195 is:

Cara Jones! I’ll send you an e-mail, and you have [...]]]>

I am one of the teachers in the online group of workshops called “21 Secrets,” and I had a giveaway for a free registration. That ended last night, and I just drew the winner using random.org !

and winning entry 195 is:

Cara Jones! I’ll send you an e-mail, and you have 3 days to respond. If I don’t hear from you by Monday at 9am Central, then I’ll draw a new winner.

But, even if you aren’t the lucky winner, the registration fee is only $59, and you get 21 online journaling-focused workshops, available to you 24/7 from the opening date, April 1, until January 1, 2013. That’s quite a deal!

If you do sign up, I’d be so grateful if you did it by clicking on either one of my links in this post, or in my blog sidebar. All of the teachers are “affiliates”, so I’ll receive credit when you do. Thanks! This will be a great experience, and I’m looking forward to it!

I am one of the teachers in the online group of workshops called “21 Secrets,” where 21 different artists teach various workshops all having to do with journaling.  And thanks to the generous hostess of 21 Secrets, Connie Hozvicka of Dirty Footprints Studio, I’m giving away a spot! That means, the winner will have [...]]]>

I am one of the teachers in the online group of workshops called “21 Secrets,” where 21 different artists teach various workshops all having to do with journaling.  And thanks to the generous hostess of 21 Secrets, Connie Hozvicka of Dirty Footprints Studio, I’m giving away a spot! That means, the winner will have access to all 21 workshops! This is quite a deal. But, even if you aren’t the lucky winner, the registration fee is only $59, which is very low considering you get to take all of the workshops at your own pace. Everyone enrolled has 24/7 access to them from the opening date, April 1, until January 1, 2013. So there is plenty of time to take them all in, day or night, dressed or in your PJs.

Here’s how it works:

• My giveaway starts today, and ends Thursday, Jan. 5th at midnight Central time.
• You can leave a comment, but you have to fill out the form to be entered into the giveaway.
• I’ll select a winner randomly on Friday, January 6th using random.org. I’ll notify the winner via e-mail, and the winner has 3 days to reply. If I don’t hear back from the winner within 3 days, a new winner will be drawn.
• Tell your friends! And this is for everyone, so you don’t have to be in the U.S. to play!
• Please only sign up once. Any duplicate entries will be deleted.
• In case you subscribe to my blog via e-mail, or see this on facebook, you will need go to my blog to fill out the form.

The giveaway is now over.

Last night, I participated in the Final Friday Gallery Crawl here in Lawrence, KS. It was a smaller attendance than we’ve had the other times, but we expected that might be the case due to the timing with the holidays. We still had a great time, and it was nice to see new faces [...]]]>

Last night, I participated in the Final Friday Gallery Crawl here in Lawrence, KS. It was a smaller attendance than we’ve had the other times, but we expected that might be the case due to the timing with the holidays. We still had a great time, and it was nice to see new faces and also some old ones (so to speak!) that I haven’t seen in a long time. My friends and I need to decide if it’s better for our sales if we participate every month, or maybe skip some here and there. It’s great talking to people and getting feedback about my work, but selling some of my work would be even better!

After I got home, I needed to finish up my drawing for the very last day of 30 Days of Drawing. It was after midnight, but I didn’t want to miss drawing for the very last day. Even though I hadn’t been gone that long, all three of my pets acted like they hadn’t seen me in a very long time. Either that, or they planned a conspiracy to try to keep me from drawing.

First my dog climbed on top of and kept climbing as if I were a ladder. If I stopped petting her, she’d climb up higher. After I got her calmed down and over to my side, my old cat Shelby took over. She kept licking my hands and climbing to top of my sketchbook, and rubbing her head against my pen. Then it was Goliath’s turn. I thought moving into the bedroom might be better so they could all lie in bed by me while I worked. Not so much. Shelby kept walking and sitting on top of my Koi watercolor set and trying to climb on my arm.

But my tenacity won over theirs! I finished this piece, but after all of that, I was too tired to scan and post it. So, I’m doing it now. I am very happy with how it turned out. This was a great brainstorming, and also meditative project. Some of the little pieces I might explore ways to turn them into other projects or uses. You can see the rest of my posts for 30 Days of Drawing here.

Thanks everyone who joined me for 30 Days of Drawing. I hope you feel you got something out of it. For me, it always reaffirms that I CAN keep a commitment if I set my mind to it. And it’s good to keep a practice of making art every day. I am going to keep making art every day, but won’t blog about it every day. Don’t worry, I’ll still blog on a regular basis.

Happy New Year! I’ll be spending most of my weekend editing knitting patterns to try to meet the deadline for the knitting magazine I edit for. But I’m going to try to squeeze in some time for art. It had been a tradition to spend New Year’s Day with my long-time friend Bobbi Studstill, eating posole that she made and “gluing shit down” (as we called it). She moved away this summer to start a new adventure, so it’ll be a little sad tomorrow not having her here to do that. I miss her!