Mixed Media Artist

Lee Valley Tools Check out the hardware and tools sections. You won’t be sorry! American Science and Surplus Incredible stuff at unbelievable prices! Lots of junk you’ll just have to have. Be forewarned… Woodworks Ltd An amazing selection of wooden craft parts to build with. Sky Blue Pink Advertises cool stuff for non-fancy prices! Volcano Arts Handmade book and bookbinding supplies, paper marbling, clock parts, kits, etc etc. Ready Stamps This is the place that you must use to have stamps made from your own designs. Not only are the prices competitive, but Ready Stamps is a community-based business of The United Cerebral Palsy Association of San Diego, promoting the independence of disabled persons through training and employment. MisterArt A full selection of art supplies. Together with Dick Blick (below) you’ll be able to find all the put-it-together stuff you’ll need. Dick Blick Another very complete art supply shop. Between Dick Blick and MisterArt (above), just about...

Start with a beautiful picture taken on a clear sunny day. Add a touch of menace. Why would you want to do this? I don't really know, but it's fun to know how! With Photoshop , there are always multiple ways to accomplish tasks, but here's how I did it: 1. Open image you want to use to make a shadow. Make sure background is black. Note - I used a dragonfly image by R.A. Nonenmacher , available on Wikimedia Commons . 2. Select the shape with the lasso tool. Delete the selection. 3. With the shape still selected, use Cntr-J to create new layer with only black image. 4. Apply a Gaussian blur. 5. Drag and drop the "shadow" layer to your background image. Reduce the opacity to about 30%. Try different blending modes to see which looks best with the light conditions of your image. 6. Use Edit-->Transform to make the shadow the right shape. Copyright 2009 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use ...

Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery See how to make a card and card album themed for a rock and roll mom to be that uses cute die cuts in a cool way. The Artful Crafter “Panadieres for Zambia” is a neat story and one small example of crafters helping crafters – all around the world. As Eileen likes to say, “Crafters are just the nicest people.” The Impatient Crafter Madge shares a technique in this post about embossing on slick surfaces! About Family Crafts What are your cleaning tips for crafting with kids? Please take a moment to share your tips and then browse through tips shared by others. Aileen's Musings Hard as it was, Aileen has narrowed down the playing field and needs your help again to choose from her favorite sayings that have been posted for her blog giveway! Stop by and pick your favorite. Cathie Filian If you are wondering what to eat, craft and play on the 4th of July then head over to Cathie's blog for ideas. Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at ...

Thank you Brian, thank you thank you thank you!! Don’t miss Brian’s own tutorials as well :-) Bookbinding links Brian Sawyer’s tutorial In all his spare time, Brian Sawyer is craft writer, including contributions to Make and Craft magazines. The man knows what he’s talking writing about! Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Hollander’s To make your own handmade books or altered books, you’ll mostly need things that you can get for free, or very inexpensively, especially if non-traditional bookbinding appeals to you! For serious bookbinding, or if you plan to do a lot of it, you’ll probably want to purchase some basic supplies and tools, especially if you want to make your books from materials that will last. Some suppliers are listed below to help you get started. If you want to try altered books and you don’t have a book at home that you care to sacrifice, try your local library where there may be shelves of books for sale…either donations or books that have been removed from the collection (big word for the day: that’s called “deaccessioned”). Trust me when I say that there are so many books that end up in landfills, perfectly good books, that you are actually doing the world a favor by turning these books into artwork. John Neal, Bookseller Bookbinding supplies, plus the know-how to do it Hollande...

Here's a round-up of many of the fabric techniques we've covered here. I'll be adding to the list in the future, so I'm going to add it to the sidebar under The Basics so that you'll always be able to find it quickly. Many of the techniques covered in Creating backgrounds for artwork , although they were designed with paper arts in mind, can be used for fabric painting too, so don't forget to check them out as well! T-shirt transfers Transparency transfers Painted fabric trim Leather-look felt Rusted fabrics Painting fabric in a bag Twisted fabric painting Wiped and striped fabrics Shibori fabric Snow painting Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Naughty Secretary Club Think all the marketing at a craft show is already taken care of for the vendors? Think again. Jen shares some marketing tips. Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery Another of Stefanie’s Happy Bunnies-This one created using the help of the cool book: Stray Sock Sewing The Artful Crafter What new mom would not be delighted with this precious keepsake pendant? Eileen gives you step-by-step instructions for making it using polymer clay and decal paper. The Impatient Crafter Madge went on a bead buying trip to NYC! Get the scoop! Vickie Howell Craft Corps Stencil Kits are in! Check out Vickie’s How-To on making your own, stenciled gear. Stand up, shout loud, you’ve joined The Corps and you’re proud! About Family Crafts What is in your craft cupboard? What craft supplies can you not live without? Has there been a craft item that your purchased thinking it was the greatest invention of all time and then never used? Aileen’s Musings Aileen needs your help! ...

Mixed Media Explorations by Beryl Taylor Beryl Taylor’s beautiful work is unlike any other! Her techniques are clearly presented, and somehow you just end up believing her, that you could do stuff like this too. One of the most valuable parts of the book for me is where she shows how she breaks down a very complicated-looking design into quite manageable elements. Even if you don’t want to work with fabric and paper, the visual aspects of this book are worth the time to read it. Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

The Make It From Scratch Carnival is being hosted by Jen on 11th Heaven's Homemaking Haven ! I want to thank Jen for including my post on twisted fabric painting :-) Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

I’m ending our short series on painting fabric surprises with a technique that takes a bit more time. Although it starts out with unpredictable results, the second half of the process is much more deliberate and controlled. Double the fun! For the first two fabric painting techniques, visit these links: Painting fabric in a bag Twisted fabric painting This time, you'll need the usual ripped or cut piece of plain muslin, acrylic paints , a large soft brush or painting sponge , tape of different widths, and a large stamp or two. 1. Wet your fabric until it is dripping. Stick your brush or painting sponge into thinned acrylic paint and wipe it clean on the fabric. To do this, wad the wet fabric up in your hand, and pull the brush through the folds, squeezing to clean all the paint off of it. Reapply paint and repeat. Splatter the fabric with some random drops of paint as well.  Color used: Primary cyan 2. Use additional colors and repeat the first step. If you allow ...

Last week we looked at how to paint your fabrics in a plastic bag in order to achieve unplanned but beautiful results. Well, here is another method that will keep you in suspense until it dries and you unroll it! Again, you'll need to rip or cut a piece of plain muslin, gather up the acrylic paints that you want to use, and find an old bottle (wine bottles are perfect), some paint brushes , and a rubber band.  Again, I will note here that I use heavy bodied acrylic paints, diluted with plain water, not fabric paints or textile medium.  My fabrics are all used in projects that don't need to have a soft feel or stand up to repeated washings.  1. Make sure your fabric is thoroughly dampened, but not dripping wet. Holding diagonal corners, twist it. Start at one corner which you'll anchor to the bottle with the rubber band. Twist the entire piece and tuck the second corner under the band as well. 2. Using your first color, thinned with a fair amount of water, p...

Over the next couple of weeks, I want to turn our focus to fabric painting. Now that it's getting warmer, this is a wonderful activity to do, maybe on your picnic table or on a sunny porch table. Painting your fabric in a plastic bag is a great technique to choose when you want a surprise: you never know what you're going to end up with when you let everything swirl around together in a bag. So rip off a length of plain muslin and gather up your acrylic paints , small cups, water, and oh yeah...a gallon sized plastic bag.  Note: I do not use fabric paints or textile medium.  Since these fabrics are going to be used in fiber art projects and not washed, I am not concerned about the stiffness of the fabric or fading.  You can see what I used this fabric for here . 1. Wet your fabric thoroughly, and ring it out so that it is wet but not puddling. Place it into the plastic bag. 2. Working from lightest to darkest color, mix your paints with water if they need it...