Thursday, April 25, 2013

A Painterly Day in April


Gentle sunshine, a soft breeze, and a free afternoon lured me outside to paint today! I spent a lovely day working on this collaged and painted book cover. It's destined for a coptic stitch book inspired by The Journey of Letting Go workshop with Jeanne Oliver that I'm currently enjoying. A wonderful experience that I highly recommend! {Both the afternoon and the workshop!}


The journal covers began their life as a humble Reader's Digest volume that I picked up for a song at my local library. I love upcycling these discarded books into art journals. They are plentiful, inexpensive, sturdy, and I don't feel guilty about taking them apart and remaking them into something useful and beautiful.


I used creamy colored gesso from Matisse in these luscious shades to cover the book. I especially love the Caromelle. I purchase mine from Jerry's Artarama, and I learned about them from the amazing map artist Mary C. Nasser. Thanks Mary!


I worked on several projects today, including a funky sketch of a girl with surprisingly big hair, and another journal for the Jeanne Oliver workshop. I dabbled in watercolors, and tried out some new mediums including clear gesso, Golden acrylic paints, Derwent Inktense pencils, and Dorland's Wax Medium. I used the latter to cover the painterly bird journal. A lovely afternoon...


All that endeavor made me feel a bit peckish, so I whipped up a scrumptious Naan Bread pizza!
It's so simple, but so delicious! Simply preheat your oven to 450 and spread a piece of Naan Bread with fig preserves or jam and a sprinkle of kosher salt. Top with shredded mozzarella and bake for 7-8 minutes, or until the cheese is melted. Remove from the oven and immediately top with wafer-thin slices of prosciutto and a sprinkling of peppery arugula. A tasty treat for a painterly day in April!
{The pizza was inspired by this recipe, but I substituted the Naan Bread for the pizza crust}

Monday, April 1, 2013

{Red, Black & Cream Collage Journal} The Best is Yet to Be


I had tons of work to do at the studio the other day, so of course I made a 2-page spread in my Red, Black & Cream collage journal instead! The theme of the pages is "The Best is Yet to Be." I love collage for so many reasons: the mysterious layers peeking out here and there, the chance to use up all those bits and pieces I've gathered over the years, and the hidden meaning that can be incorporated into the collage itself.


For example, I was thinking about how at age 49 I'm {hopefully!} in the middle of my life. So I used pages from a french book with those numbers. I created the pages in the middle of my journal to carry through with that idea. I'm a sentimental person, and I view my happy memories with great nostalgia, but I try to view the future with optimism, hence the quote on the bottom of the pages.


Birds are one my favorite motifs, so I used some tiny wooden birds, and a collectible vintage bird card to represent soaring into the future. I tried to restrict myself to the materials on hand, so fortunately some of the goodies I shared in my post about Art is You Nashville were scattered on my worktable! So many exciting things are happening in my creative life right now, so I truly do feel that the best is yet to be!

Art-is-You + Pink Fridge Studio


I'm getting ready for an exciting journey that begins this weekend at the Art-is-You Retreat in Nashville, TN! On Friday, I'll be taking a workshop with one of my favorite book artists, Nellie Wortman. We'll be stitching up a gorgeous hanging luminary, and I've been gathering vintage sari fabric, pretty silk ribbon, and trinkets of all sorts that I can't wait to use!

Saturday is a very special day because I'll be a vendor at the Art Trunk! I'm thrilled to be sharing a sneak peek of my upcoming online shop, Pink Fridge Studio, at the show. The grand opening of the shop will be later this spring so watch this space for news and updates over the next few weeks. Pink Fridge will be stocked with fabulous finds for book arts, collage, and artful upcycling of all kinds! In the meantime, here are a few of the goods I'll be bringing with me to Nashville.


{vintage collectible bird cards}


{pages from a french book}


{tiny wooden birds in glassine bags}


{Extra-large Vintage Flashcards}

I literally gasped when I spotted this box of 10" and 12" flashcards at an antique store last Saturday! I LOVE these and I can't wait to share them at Art-is-You in Nashville along with loads of other yummy artful goods! The Art Trunk is open to the public from 9:00 am - 2:00 pm on Saturday, April 6th, 2013. Hope to see you there!





Friday, March 8, 2013

{Artful Inspiration} Michelle Mathey



Have you seen the gorgeous faces and quirky style of talented artist Michelle Mathey? Michelle shares her amazing drawings of beautiful faces on her blog Pigment of my Imagination. Today she's featured on one of my other favorite blogs, Balzer Designs. Be sure to check out her guest post and her blog. You'll be so inspired!

Wednesday, February 27, 2013

Artful Upcycling with Martha Stewart Crafts


I like to have stylish storage pieces for my studio that are pretty and practical. Forget the plastic, I prefer to take vintage finds and transform them into items that are functional and fabulous. Paintable clings and glass paint from the Martha Stewart Glass Painting Program are just the ticket to take any thrift store find from drab to fab!


The clings and liquid fill glass paint are incredibly easy to use. Simply fill in the sections with paint, allow to dry, then peel and stick for easy embellishing on just about any surface! The clings are easy to remove, so you can experiment with a variety of looks or change them up any time you wish.



I used Red Coral, Bright Sky, and Kelp liquid fill glass paints to turn a Plain-Jane lunch box that I discovered at antique store into a decorative storage case with a bit of pizzazz! The Flowers and Leaves clings have clean, graphic lines that make the bold colors pop.


For a softer, more romantic feel, I chose leaves and blossoms from the English Garden silkscreen collection for the other side of the lunchbox. These delicate blooms reminded me of embroidered embellishments, so I decided to simply to paint the leaves with Kelp liquid fill glass paint, and use them as is for a lovely, transparent effect. Of course, I can always take them off and paint them if the mood strikes! Such a versatile product!

Speaking of versatility, paintable clings also make lovely accents for framed art. I simply trimmed a piece of vintage dictionary paper to fit in a small frame and added a butterfly from the Butterflies and Blossoms collection to create a pretty vignette for my desk. Red Coral liquid fill glass paint adds a pop of vivid color on top of the glass.


Laying the paintable clings over a dark background like a sheet of kraft cardstock makes it much easier to see where you've filled in the designs. For more vivid color and better coverage, add a thin base coat to the clings, allow to dry for a few minutes, and then add a second thin coat. The paint dries fairly quicky, but I allowed the two coats to dry overnight to be sure they were completely cured. When using more than one color, you'll have more success if you allow each shade to dry before adding another one.


My glass paints are safely tucked away in their new storage container, but this product is so fun and easy to use that I'm sure I'll be using them often! Give them a try, and let me know what you think!