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I have migrated my blog over to a new location!!
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Ocean/Sunset ATC Swap part 2

I was so thrilled when my swap package arrived!  My favorite color envelope, and filled with beautiful ATCs!  I wanted to get a great photo of each one because they are just so lovely.  Mother nature has been not so nice with us lately and the lighting was odd in some of the photos.  These photos are done without flash in the midday light.  Thanks once again to the wonderful Lenna Andrew for hosting this swap! You can find information about her swaps here. Happy arting!

Marion Bockelmann

Sarah Boblit

Leah Povloski

Cynthia Zdanzukas

Barbara Johnson (better pic below!)

Barbara Warrick-Fischer

Paula Boyd Farrington

Lisa Malle

            

Sunset/Ocean ATC Swap

I'm participating in an ATC swap hosted by Lenna Andrews. The swap constraint is that all work must be with a sunset or ocean scheme. I originally picked sunset, which is representative of my usual palette. But I decided to make the ATCs two sided, and I did the ocean on the other side. I'm thrilled with the way they all came out! The paper is Strathmore Bristol Smooth Paper , Golden Fluid Acrylic Liquitex BASICS Acrylic Paint , washi tape, and stencils by Julie Fei Fan Blazer/The Crafters Workshop. The quotes are originally Project Life cards printed in Avery Clear Shipping Labels and can be found here.

6x6 with Julie FeiFan Balzer

Earlier this month I was lucky enough to get a spot in one of the two classes that Julie presented at the Ink Pad in NYC.  I love that fact that I live semi-close enough to take classes with the Ink Pad at Westbeth Community Center.  It's such a cool space, and I love seeing the familiar crew of artists who take these classes.  It's always very inspiring and it forces me to make time to create art!

Find out more about classes at the Ink Pad here
Here's the link to Julie's amazing blog
Most of the stencils/stamps used in the class are from Julie, you can find the stencils here and the stamps here 

Julia & Julie

Prepping the backgrounds-limited palette

Layer 1-some contrast/some not

love this color combo

finished product

up close

up close

Blast from the past part 2

Last year I took another awesome class with Michelle Ward at the Ink Pad in NYC.  If you ever get a chance to take a class with her, do it! She is funny, very regular, and just lives/loves the creative process. This class was the "cardboard" journal and just so cool to work on! Mine is still in progress but here are some photos of Michelle and her journal.

Find out more about classes at the Ink Pad here
You can find Michelle's stencils here and here
This is a link to Michelle's blog

Blast from the past

Back when the CREATE classes were still happening, I had the chance to take an amazing class with Andrew Borloz, who is just so great! Using Andrew's stencil designs, we created our own hand painted book cloth for two sketchbooks. I love the way mine turned out,  and bought almost all of Andrew's stencils to make more of these yummy books! Here are some samples from the class!  All books were created with Blick Matte Acrylics and cotton fat quarters.

You can find the acrylics here
You can find Andrew's stencil line here 
If you would like to see Andrew's work here's the link to his blog.

Here are the books from all the class participants!

Gold over purple

These are my finished books!

Better at blogging

Every year I have a moment where I realize that I need to blog more, because why do I keep this page otherwise?  There are several things that I need to do, creatively, and otherwise to stay motivated.  So prepare for an onslaught of posts!  I just returned from a conference in Chicago, which was amazing. The opening day of the conference was on  St. Patrick's day, so all sorts of Irish themed accessories were available.  Below are just some of the 250 pictures I took while I was there!  

Donna Downey class

In December I was lucky enough to get a seat in a sold out class Mixed Media Academy with Donna Downey at the Ink Pad in NYC. Donna is so charming and funny. It was a great chance to see some of her work up close and in person. I love the project, and I signed up for one of  Donna's online classes- Metamorphosis . Stay tuned...

The No Glue Book

Early on in some of the bookmaking classes I attended, I learned how to make a book with out glue or binding of any kind.  When I teach this technique to students and other teachers, everyone is amazed that the book stays together just by the tension of the folded paper.  It's truly amazing!  Below is a supply, some photos and a video tutorial I made for the "No-Glue Book."  Enjoy!

Supply list
(the book can be made any size-these are my dimensions from the video)

two pieces of board (can be chipboard, mat board, even cardboard) 4"x6"
a few sheets of decorative paper large enough to wrap around the board (I'm using some gelli prints on copy paper)
heavy cardstock (mine is 110lb weight) 3"x6"
ruler
pencil
scissor