Mixed Media Artist

  Creative Dreamer The snow and dreariness had me hemmed in...so what else to do but make a book? Part one of making a hand bound book. Gadabout Media DIY Statement necklaces are a big trend right now, but they can sell for thousands of dollars - so why not make your own with these easy patterns?   Hankering for yarn It's time for the Teddy Bear's Picnic! Noreen designed a darling, easy to make teddy bear to weave on the potholder loom.  The Artful Crafter If you’ve done metal embossing in the past or would like to learn about this art form, let Eileen bring you up to date.   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Paisley Taj Hope Smith 20x28 Fine ... Buy From Art.com

Up to four people will be picked to have a banner ad running on Beading Arts for one month, free !  You do not have to run a jewelry or art related site to be considered.    Deadline: March 27, 2010 Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  The Crochet Dude Drew reveals his favorite cookbooks and answers 8 important questions. About Family Crafts Sherri challenges you to create your own leprechaun trap. Use her tips and the photos that have been submitted so far for inspiration.   Aileen's Musings Come journey with Aileen along her creative process as she transforms a paper napkin into 3 whimsical pieces of art!   Cathie Filian Turn a hardware store washer into a papered necklace with Cathie's tutorial. Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world At Craftside there is tutorial on turning a box into a book, how to paint a bunny rabbit and carrot Chinese brush style, putting words on a spoon and a sneak peek into the new book 1000 ideas from 100 Fashion Designers with my own fashion star sighting.   Crafty Princess Diaries Looking for a little crafting encouragement? Tammy found it through an Etsian jewelry designer. Farm Girl Roots, City Girl Style Org...

Unfortunately, it’s not always possible to go somewhere to take a class. There’s so much to be said for classes…being able to see the technique demonstrated, being able to ask questions, mixing and mingling and meeting new people. It’s all good. But it just doesn’t work out for everyone. Fortunately, there is the internet! There are three categories of posts on this very blog that will lead you to lots of techniques, tips, tutorials, and fun new projects to try. There are also lots of new sources that I’ll be adding to these categories pretty regularly.  There will be some overlap on these lists. Sorry, but it’s unavoidable:-) Book Arts Techniques Collage and Quilt Techniques Creating Background Papers for Artwork Digital Effects Fabric Painting Techniques Image Transfer Methods Tutorials and Techniques - a complete list Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Collage Lab: Experiments, Investigations, and Exploratory Projects by Bee Shay Digital Restoration from Start to Finish, Second Edition: How to repair old and damaged photographs by Ctein Rock, Paper, Scissors: Pop Music as Subject of Visual Art by Diedrich Diederichsen, Dirck Linck, and Peter Pakesch Objects of Reflection: A Soulful Journey Through Assemblage by Annie Lockhart Creative Mixed Media: Paint Print Stitch Stamp Embellish by Sherrill Kahn Alchemy Arts: Recycling Is Chic by Kate MacKay and Di Jennings Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Embellished Mini-Quilts by Jamie Fingal This is a great book for eye-candy, but not one that I would recommend to someone who is looking for the basics of making art quilts. If you’ve got experience, you’ll find it a treasure trove of ideas. If you haven’t, you’ll find it beautiful and lush, but frustrating in the details it leaves out. Actually, the book briefly profiles some amazing quilt artists and then moves directly into specific quilts that they’ve made, outlining the process. Due to this, the directions are of variable detail, as to be expected with multiple authors. I really don’t intend this warning as a criticism of the book: no book can be all things to all people. Still, if you’re unsure about your own proficiency, you might want to take a look at a copy first before you splurge on it. Some of my favorite artists are in here (Frances Holliday Alford, Larkin Jean Van Horn), so to me it’s quite worth it! Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital a...

I told you about Spoonflower , the site for custom-printed fabrics quite awhile ago, but I only recently got around to trying them out.  I learned a few things in the process! Have a sample printed!   That's actually all I did, and I'm really glad, because for just $5 each, I got little 8x8 inch tests of two prints.  Very reasonable price to try out your design, I think.  Don't use an image that has too much detail.   It just won't come out.  Wherever detail is subtle or begins to pile up, the fabric will just appear to be printed with a solid muddy color.  This is not their fault!  I needed to pay more attention to the image size and the printing resolution. Color is tricky.   I will need to do color calibration on my monitor before having anything else printed.  Also, remember that there will not be light shining through your fabric like there is on your monitor, so the colors will not be quite as bright.  Read up on fabr...

  Beading Arts Cyndi's new bead embroidered necklace has everything but a name! Creative Dreamer I'm inviting everyone to knit (or crochet) some boobies...come see this GREAT project I've found!   Gadabout Media DIY Making crafts with kids can be a lot of fun, but it can also be frustrating. Here are a few tips from Chloe to make your next project with the little ones go smoothly.   Hankering for yarn Noreen has designed a beautiful crocheted rosebud that is a perfect gift for Mother's Day or a wedding or graduation or... The Artful Crafter Eileen shares directions for making flowers from fabric scraps or from paper coffee filters.       Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

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  The Artful Crafter If you’ve done metal embossing in the past or would like to learn about this art form, let Eileen bring you up to date. About Family Crafts Sherri shows you how you can transform ordinary flower pots into a variety of fun craft projects.   Aileen's Musings This week Aileen has a fabulous dollar store find she wants to share with you! Stop by and see what she's created and take part in her challenge.   Cathie Filian Check out Cathie's blog for 11 DIY wedding favor ideas. Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside has an inside peek into how to choose the right color for a design, a free pattern for knitting cuffs with the boy/girl icons on them, a fun logo made with a scribble, a tutorial on how to make a Steampunk style necklace with a recycled soda can and polymer clay heart and some Lisa Kettell news about her Art Opera. Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy gives you an update about the new jewelry boo...

Color is important to every artist, but as a bead or jewelry artist, you probably haven’t been classically trained like a painter would be. Not to fear! There are a plethora of wonderful online sources to help you learn the terminology on your own and to teach you how to train your eye. Here are some of the best: Informational Articles on Color: The Color Wheel and Itten’s Color Theory Brown University’s Color Theory Course Margie Deeb’s Color Articles Best Books on Color Color Scheme Tools: WellStyled Tool is designed primarily for web designers but useful for anyone. Steel Dolphin Designed with the digital artist in mind. ColorBlender A fun to use tool with sliders. Daily Color Scheme For a bit of serendipity! ColourLovers An entire community just for color lovers. Color Picker from Adobe Pick your own or examine what others have done. Color Schemer Online Picks a group of colors that compliment your original color choice. Pic2Color Creates a color pal...

My family are great ones for bestowing names on each other. No, not nasty names, silly! More like names that capture a part of our lives and personalities. One of our favorites is to come up with “Darth” names for each other. Maybe most people would prefer not to live on the darkside, but we’re just adventuresome that way! For the record, our Darth names are Darth Physicist (DH), Darth Humorous (DD), and Darth Pyro (me). Sometimes the name your were given at birth just isn’t satisfying enough. Certain games, both online and IRL, demand alter egos. What do you do when your bag of ideas runs dry? Now you can turn to one of these fun name generators. For extra fun, I’ve also included a couple of other online toys that might help to inspire your creativity. Get a Chinese name Get your Mr T. name Jedi name generator Your Hobbit name Fairytale name Kickin’ new Ninja name Viking name converter AmazType The Dialectizer ʇdıɹɔs ǝɥʇ dılɟ Technorati Tags: mixed media , co...

Collage, Assemblage, and Altered Art by Diane Maurer-Mathison  This book is in three parts, as the title suggests, with each new part building upon the techniques and concepts of the earlier ones. Diane includes many interesting techniques and even some step-by-step projects, but my favorite parts of this book are the sections entitled, “Learning from the professionals”. My kind of stuff! Here we get to peek inside the heads of some remarkable and talented artists to learn what they were thinking when they created their fabulous works. Lots of inspiration and solid information! This is not a completely comprehensive guide to every technique ever created for collage, but it’s a very creative and informative start :-) Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

My friend Eileen Bergen , aka The Artful Crafter , sent me a list of blogs that she finds inspirational in response to our Question of the Month .  Since Eileen was on my list, I would of course suggest that you add her to your own list of blogs to visit :-) Faint Art Heart Bueno Brushes Cathie Filian Lost and Taken Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery Tim Holtz Beading Arts (in the name of full disclosure, I have to let you know that this blog is one of mine, and I feel very flattered that Eileen included it) Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

I tried a little Photoshop experiment that I'm still not sure about.  I think the look of this could be very effective for a spooky piece.  I know it's not Halloween season, but I was feeling a bit morbid because of the loooooong February we're having in New England. What I'd really like to know is this: if February is the shortest month (and it is), why does it feel like the longest? Harumph. Anyway, the best I can figue out, I started with a picture of a tree in a graveyard, layered on a transparent layer of some of the tree detail, added a few morbid lines from Psalm 49, desaturated and played until I liked (sort of!) the look.  At least I'll probably like it next October...  Copyright 2010 Cyndi Lavin. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. May be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact. Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , dig...

  Creative Dreamer One hundred and twenty three Valentines...all for a great cause, come see! Hankering for yarn Noreen made her mom a darling wooden doll for Valentines Day, using a vintage photo of her mom.  The Artful Crafter How to make laminated tasseled bookmarks and personalize them for any occasion. And don’t miss Eileen’s follow-on tutorial on making your own tassels (should you run out mid-project as she did – lol).   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

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  Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery How to make a button covered headband with a recycled t-shirt inspired by a project from the book The Paper Bride by Esther K. Smith The Artful Crafter Do you dream of designing and making your own jewelry? Here are some tips from Eileen to help you get started.   About Family Crafts Need an easy, last-minute Valentine's Day gift or card? Sherri has some great ideas for you!   Aileen's Musings Aileen's offering some whimsical freebie postcards for you to download and send to a friend!   Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy reviews a new craft book she received: The Perfect Handmade Bag by Clare Youngs.   Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter Valentine's Day is looming and Madge shares a swell idea for a combo pin/card your teen can whip up for Mom or Grandmom. These would be cute anytime of year!     Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , a...

The Artist’s Toolkit is an amazing educational site. Set up and maintained by the Minneapolis Institute of Arts , this incredible toy tool allows you to explore all of the different elements and principles of design in a fun and interactive way. Many of us in the mixed media world did not have a classical art education, and this tool will help to fill in some of the missing gaps about why some designs work better than others. First you will get to watch an animation which explains each element. Next you will be able to explore how it was used in well-known works of art. Finally, you’ll get a chance to create your own composition to try out the things you just learned. Very very cool :-) Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

All three of the following calls are for submissions to different Stampington & Company magazines: Altered Couture: deadline 03/15/10    GreenCraft: deadline 03/15/10    Somerset Home: deadline 03/15/10  The Polymer Revolution, 2010 : deadline 03/15/10  New Fibers 2010 : deadline 03/25/10  

A fabulous online course that you can go through at your own pace. Written by Christine Castigliano , there’s a lot of meat in this course. Christine writes: Why this course? There are a great many people today who practice design - and call themselves “web designers” - without training in design. Many know their way around PhotoShop and other software, but do not understand the basic principles of design. Naive business owners may pay them, but so much of their work is simply not effective. Don’t contribute to the noise! Learn to avoid their common pitfalls. I love that line about not contributing to the noise…I’m also sure that I’m guilty of doing it! Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

I will freely admit it…I’m kind of a smarty pants when it comes to holidays like Valentine’s Day. Something perverse rises up in my nature, and I can’t help wanting to take the romantic impulse and twist it slightly. I guess I just can’t be romantic on demand. Or because the calendar (and Hallmark) tells me to. I made this plaque to hang near my desk. It isn’t pointed at me ;-) Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  Beading Arts A beautiful glass bead becomes the focal point of a Valentine's Day necklace! Creative Dreamer I've been inspired to coordinate a fabric ATC swap...Everyone is welcome...come join us and be a part of the fun!  Faint Heart Art Vicki has a different take on inchies Gadabout Media Chloe has found some sweet Valentines Day projects to work in cross stitch or needlepoint   Hankering for yarn This week, Noreen designed sweet little Crocheted Love Hearts for Valentines day. Here's the pattern for them...   The Artful Crafter Do you dream of designing and making your own jewelry? Here are some tips from Eileen to help you get started.   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Asian Collage II Mauro 10x13 Fine ... Buy From Art.com

  Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter Make a romantic ribbon wristlet with The Impatient Crafter for iLoveToCreate. Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery See how to make a Paper Flower with a quilling paper fringer inspired by one from the beautiful book- Home, Paper, Scissors by Patricia Zapata   The Artful Crafter How to make laminated tasseled bookmarks and personalize them for any occasion. And don’t miss Eileen’s follow-on tutorial on making your own tassels (should you run out mid-project as she did – lol).   About Family Crafts Sherri wonders what you could create using buttons? Aileen's Musings Aileen has a funtastical mini tutorial on creating a mailable canvas valentine and birthday card!   Cathie Filian Enter win Cathie's HUGE 101 Snappy Fashions Giveaway! Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world Craftside's got how-tos on making a double sided hanger out of a soda tab, burning the edges of silk, a good list...

Darren Rowse over at Problogger posed the question a few weeks ago, who are the bloggers that you consider to be Bloggers to Watch ?  Darren's world focuses on, of course, blogging itself, so while most of the suggestions he got are folks who blog about blogging, I started thinking that most of us probably prefer reading about paper, fabric, mixed media art... So, do you want to share your list of  Bloggers to Watch ?  If so, put together your top ten (please include their urls), plus an additional  link to your own site too, and send it to me to share with everyone.   I'll bet we can all find some great new blogs to follow this way.  Just send the links to cyndi @ mazeltovjewelry.com (remove the spaces).  Please put "MM bloggers to watch" in your subject line. My top ten Bloggers to Watch list is easy.  It includes the blogs of artist friends of mine.  I also read a lot of industry blogs which are really great, but these are ...

Art and Soul There are quite a few retreats or conferences or gatherings or whatever you want to call them (even shopping extravaganzas!) where Mixed Media artists get together to enjoy classes and fellowship. Here are some of the biggies. Do you know of more? Art Unraveled Phoenix, AZ Art and Soul International The Art Nest Utah Quilt Surface Design Symposium Columbus, Ohio Hudson River Valley Fiber Arts Workshops Greenville Arms Inn in New York Artfest Port Townsend, WA Art Fiberfest Portland, OR Mixed Media Melange Near Memphis, TN Textile Evolution Colorado Springs, CO Art for Art Lovers Retreat Fort Payne, AL Art in the Rough Charleston, ME Artiscape Columbus, OH Create with Cloth Paper Scissors Rosemont, IL Idyllwild Arts Southern CA Textile Evolution Monument, CO Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

2011 Cloth Paper Scissors Magazine calendar, Make It Pretty : deadline 03/01/10          Art Between the Covers : deadline 03/02/10       2011 Quilting Arts Magazine Calendar, Flavor of the Month : deadline 03/08/10      

This book made me stop and look, laugh, flip through it and laugh some more. Out loud, even! Jessica Strawser has a wicked sense of humor that isn’t always found in the scrapbooking and cardmaking world. I want her to be one of my girlfriends. You get the feeling, reading her book, that she spends a good deal of time exchanging witticisms with her girlfriends! Get Real Greetings by Jessica Strawser Here’s one card text that I especially liked, front cover and inside: Good luck on your new job…May it have more doughnuts and less soul sucking than the last one. Now who wouldn’t like to get a card like that? Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

A couple of weeks ago, I mentioned that I used snow to paint some fabric that became part of my Spruces of Utah quilt .   Today I want to show you how screamingly easy it is to do this.  The only thing you really can't do without is snow...   Overly enthusiastic as usual, I shoveled up much more snow than I really needed.  Besides a piece of fabric (I used unbleached muslin torn to size), you'll need some paints, dyes, or other colorants.  If you use dyes, you'll get much stronger colors than I did.  I used acrylic paints, watered down a lot, so by the time the process was finished, only the softest haze of color was left in most areas.  That's what I wanted.  The paint colors that I picked are known for their transparency, even before diluting them.  It's nice to have a sheet of acrylic or glass and a pan for it to drain into, but it's really not necessary.  I angled the acrylic sheet so that the melting snow would ...