Mixed Media Artist

Love you all!  I'm taking the week off, and I'll see you bright and early in 2013!! Image: The Meta Picture

Mixed Media Revolution: Creative Ideas for Reusing Your Art by Darlene Olivia McElroy and Sandra Duran Wilson Exploring Watercolor: Creative Exercises and Techniques for Painting With Watermedia by Elizabeth Groves Advanced Adobe Photoshop CS6 Revealed (Adobe Cs6) by Chris Botello Simply Solids: A Twist on the Traditional Use of Solid Fabrics (Annies Quilting) by Annie's Embroidered Memories: 375 Embroidery Designs 2 Alphabets 13 Basic Stitches For Crazy Quilts, Clothing, Accessories ... by Brian Haggard 15 minutes of Play -- Improvisational Quilts: Made-Fabric Piecing Traditional Blocks Scrap Challenges by Victoria Findlay Wolfe Doodle Quilting: Over 120 Continuous-Line Machine-Quilting Designs by Cheryl Malkowski Mark Hearld: Workbook by Mark Hearld Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  Knitting Patterns for Beginners Are you just getting started with knitting? Check out this round-up of easy knitting patterns for beginners over at CraftFoxes.   My Family's Homemade Ornament Exchange Cherie shows off some of the homemade ornaments her family has made in their exchange.    Beading Arts The parties aren't over yet! Here's how to put together a festive hair ornament! ACreativeDream One of my favorite treats, candied ginger dipped in chocolate. It's easy to make, and a great holiday gift! Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy takes a look at the wave of hand-made toy drives going on right now and considers the needs of her own community as well.   How to Create a Cheery Folk Art Angel Ornament Make several of these jute ribbon angels to represent friends or family members. You can even let the kids draw on the faces themselves; just be sure to date their art!     Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , ...

Painted nerd shirts Song lyric plates Antiqued mercury glass Painted nerd shirts Rag rug Autumn leaf bowl Personalized mugs Owl granny squares Recipes in a jar Scissor holder Junk mail snowflakes Skull snowflakes Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  Sheep coasters Duct tape coffee cup sleeve Sheep coasters T-shirt blanket Zippered hand-warmers T-shirt rag rugs - part one T-shirt rag rugs - part two Beeswax flower candles Painted shoes Wind-up paper butterflies Peacock tutu Photo wall clock Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  Hot chocolate spoons Once more, I need some last minute ideas, so I turned to my folder where I've been collecting them all year!  Here you go...most are fast, all are wonderful! Striped glycerin soaps Kitty ears hat Gold and silver felt coasters Hot chocolate spoons Log cabin napkins Lavender and brown sugar scrub Embroidered felt bookmarkers Recycled sweater mittens Embroidery hoop wall pocket Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  How to Make Bread Dough Clay Holly Leaf Christmas Ornaments Bread dough clay is fun for kids of all ages. What a great project for a wintry snow day!   Modern Quilt Pattern Remember Lindsay's Equalizer Quilt? It's a modern look that makes a perfect quilt for men, and it's now a free pattern. Beading Arts Cyndi has three bead kits to give away, thanks to The Bead Shop!   Wedding Cake Ideas Even if you're not planning a wedding, check out this post on wedding cake ideas at CraftFoxes. From ombre to cake tattoos, this list is inspiring. ACreativeDream Ornaments, ornaments, ornaments! Fifteen of them in 15 days... and plenty of them you can get finished in time for THIS Christmas!   CD Scrapbook Ornaments Cherie makes ornaments out of old CDs and scrapbooking supplies.   Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at our crafty world This week at Craftside there are tutorials on how to fold an origami gift box, make a recycled t-shi...

  Beaded prism ornament Star and candle ornament Beaded prism ornament Googly eyed ornament Embroidery hoop ornament 15 Felt and fabric ornaments Glass and crayon ornaments Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  Children's mosaic ornaments Ornaments for the Christmas tree make fabulous gifts too!  Here are some beautiful, whimsical, and striking ornament links that I've been saving. Children's mosaic ornaments Cookie cutter felt ornaments Bread clay ornaments Hot air balloon ornament Stamped salt dough ornaments The rest...tomorrow! Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

I have had soooo many fits and starts with this new quilt.  I was hoping to finish it up before the end of the year, but I'm afraid that is just not to be.  Or at least, getting it written up is not to be...we'll see about the stitching part :-) Anyway, I had no completely clear idea of what to do with the blocks once I painted them, so I just forged ahead.  Which turned out to be a bad idea! Bad idea #1 - Keep the blocks attached and add embroidery on the lines.  Oh yuck, I really didn't like the way this looked at all, but I almost stuck with it because I HATED to have to pull all that stitching out.  But I did... Bad idea #2 - Cut the blocks apart and begin to add beads.  After beading three blocks, I decided that I just hate the way they look.  However, I can always cut the beading off later, so I decided to leave them as is for now and make that decision later.  Maybe I'll decide that the rest of the blocks need beads, an...

  Crafty Princess Diaries Enter to win a free copy of the new e-book by Margot Potter, "The Fine Art of Shameless Self-Promotion."   Eileen - The Artful Crafter Make these sweet bread dough clay candy cane ornaments with the kids. Holiday Gift Guide for Arts and Crafts Lovers What to buy for the crafter in your life? Here are our current favorites!   Beading Arts Cyndi is featuring quick and easy jewelry projects all month long for your holiday gift-giving, including this special bracelet...sooo pretty and sooo fast! Laura Thykeson's Uniques A Wonderful life - well lived! Plus some arty eye candy!   Modern Quilt for Music Lovers Lindsay shows off her Turntable Quilt, a modern crib-size quilt that's unlike anything you've seen.   Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery How to make recycled cup glitter votive holders.   Very Last Minute Stocking Stuffer Cherie makes a simple ribbon bookmark with charms.   ACreati...

Are you a hopeless procrastinator (like me)?  Here are some fantastic wreath projects that you'll have plenty of time to whip up for yourself or someone else...I promise you they are all worth the time! Thread spool wreath Origami wreath Birch wood wreath Vintage-style velvet button wreath Crocheted wreath Sheet music star wreath Burlap wreath Mini rosemary wreath Plastic ornament wreath Butcher paper wreath Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Make Mine Mini reader challenge Deadline: 01/04/13       Art Quilting Studio Deadline: 01/15/13       Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Barbara, who writes Rocky Cross Studio , is the winner of the fabulous Push Print .  Congratulations!!

My lava fabric that I told you about last week arrived from Spoonflower, and I ironed it out and began to paint it just as soon as I could find a couple of uninterrupted hours.  1. I was really pleased with the way it turned out.  I ordered a good quality cotton print on a fat quarter, and it was exactly what I was looking for. 2. My first step in adding color was to choose some acrylic paints and water them down a lot.  It was very helpful to have a nice wide margin of fabric around the blocks so that I could test colors. 3. I added thin washes of the colors and built up some layers to make them fade into each other.  I let the paints dry and then heat set them with an iron. 4. While I had the iron out, I added a very lightweight fusible interfacing to the back.  Later, when I cut the blocks apart, this will keep them from unraveling. 5. I used Inktense pencils to add more definition and color to the texture of the lav...