Mixed Media Artist

Hi, I'm Cyndi, and I've been writing and updating Mixed Media Artist since 2005. If you're a new visitor, welcome! Come travel with me through a mixed media art wonderland, where no materials are considered too strange to use in making something! My constant cry as a young child was, “Please Mommy! Don’t throw that out. I can make something out of that!” No surprise that years later, it became the cry of my daughter as well (pictured above). It’s wonderful having a kindred spirit to share with. I hope that you each have someone in your life to share your passions with, and I hope that you’ll come and share them with me as well. A few years ago, I had to cut back and consolidate a bit in my writing, so Mixed Media Artist has become more or less of an archive site, filled with tutorials on image transfers, fabric and paper painting, art quilts, collage, digital work, book arts, and wearables. You will find links to all of these up in the tabs at the top of the page. ...

I made a tee shirt quilt a few weeks ago with the stockpile of tees that neither the Mister nor I were ever going to wear again.  I love how it turned out, and I'll show it to you someday soon, but in the meantime I'm even more excited about the tee shirt scraps!  I used a bunch of them to fix up some shirts that I actually would wear... Above you'll see the top of a knit shirt that I loved, but it was too short.  So, I wacked off the bottom of it and cobbled together some tee shirt scraps to lengthen it.  I like a rather long tunic shirt so that I can comfortably wear it with either jeans or leggings, or even over a skirt.  But when I was finished, it seemed a little boring.  Stencil Revolution came to my rescue!  I received a handful of really nice reusable stencils, and the two that were moons were the perfect size and shape for my new shirt.  I love the material the stencils are made from.  It's translucent, so you can see cl...

Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. 

This block is from an older crochet-along, which I missed at the time, but caught up with later!  Instructions are available from  Hooks and Yarn

Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. 

Directions for the stitch can be found here: MyPicot

Untitled Alcohol inks lifted with hand sanitizer Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved.

Learn how to make an awesome cowl like this along with the lovely lady I learned it from, Essence of Me ! YouTube video tutorial

Over a year ago, the black and white challenge was sweeping Facebook.  It's since gone the way of dinosaurs and celery, but I recently came across the pieces I shared and thought I'd share them here too. Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. 

Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale Copyright 2019 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved.

Today I want to introduce you to the second book that caught my eye for summer projects with the kids or the grandkids... Magical Forest Fairy Crafts Through the Seasons by Lenka Vodicka-Paredes and Asia Currie.  These ladies are awesome, and if you fall in love with their work, you'll be thrilled to know that there is another book simply called Forest Fairy Crafts  that you can snag as well. All the fairies, gnomes, and critters are made from felt, so the cutting and sewing part is super-simple.  It's the details that make the difference, and there are copious instructions given for how to make these delightful folk come to life.  The beginning section covers all the materials and techniques, and the first part of the project section suggests that you construct practice pieces: a fairy girl, fairy boy, fairy baby, and a basic gnome.  Of course if you're like me, you'll want to just skip ahead right into the projects!  Go ahead...the instructions are ...

There are two books coming out this month that I believe are perfect for not only your own amusement, but also for doing projects with children or grandchildren!  I am very excited about both of them.  I haven't yet been able to get my grands hooked on fabric art (they do like to draw and paint though), but I can see myself just casually working on a cute little project when I'm with them, and letting nature take its course!  The first one is up today, and I'll hit the second tomorrow. The Big Book of Pretty + Playful Applique by Carol Armstrong looks like a must-have to me.  It has ONE HUNDRED AND SIXTY TWO of Carol's gorgeous, realistic designs.  There are four full projects included to help you practice doing these appliques, but I don't care so much about that as I do about the incredible number and quality of the applique patterns.  Just look at the lists below and you'll see what I mean.  Click on the pictures to get a larger image that you...

Water Sprite Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Following in the tradition of En Pointe ,  Fire on High  and  Tempest , this piece was done using the wet into dry technique with  alcohol ink .  I used some discreet dots of ink near the top, and swirled them around a bit near the bottom before allowing them to dry completely.  Then, using 91% rubbing alcohol in a  squeeze bottle , I dripped the solvent onto one small area at a time, manipulating the running inks by blowing through a straw.  You can use a hair dryer (set on cool), canned air, or a  heat gun  (at a distance) instead, but the straw will give you those really interesting spots.  This is because of spittle!  It takes longer to dry than the alcohol, so the little dots end up having concentrated color.  If you don't like the dots, choose a different air source, because it's pretty much impossible not to spit on your piece!  :-D Originals and prints of Cyndi's wor...

In July, this fun book came out that shows you how to take all your different fabrics and get them to play nicely together!  If you're like me, you've got cottons, wools, silks, upholstery fabrics, sheers, and more in your stash. Click to see an enlargement In The Art of Mixing Textiles in Quilts , Lynn Schmitt will show you to blend them together like a pro, including how to add great dimension to your projects by using different materials together.  There are 14 specific pieced and appliqued projects included in case you want some ideas to get you going! This post contains affiliate links: Amazon

En Pointe Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Just like Fire on High and Tempest , this piece was done using the wet into dry technique with  alcohol ink . Drip your  alcohol ink  colors onto a dry background and let them dry, or at least mostly dry.  Using 91% rubbing alcohol in a  squeeze bottle , add the solvent to one small area at a time, manipulating the running inks with a blower.  You can use a hair dryer (set on cool), canned air, a  heat gun  (at a distance), or even just a straw. Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contains affiliate links: Dick Blick Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial only may be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

When you work with  alcohol inks  using a wet-in-wet technique, you've got less control than with any other method.  At least it seems that way to me!  Put 91% rubbing alcohol or a  blending solution   into a   squeeze bottle , and wet your paper thoroughly.  Drip inks onto the page, and allow them to spread for a bit.  Tilt and tip the page to allow the inks to run and blend.  Add more alcohol or solution, and more inks as needed.  Keep it wet and loose until it's blended to your satisfaction.  You could also use either a hair dryer, canned air, a straw, or a  heat gun  to move the inks around.  Be careful to use colors that mix well when using this method, or you could end up with a muddy mess. Once the piece is dry, you can reactivate areas that need more work, or you can add small details like the dots that you see near the center.  All that takes is a small brush or cotton swab, dampene...

Lazarus Rising Cyndi Lavin, 2018 This piece was painted using the same method as Fire on High , dripping  alcohol inks  onto a dry background and working on a small section at a time.  Visit the link to Fire on High for more precise instructions! Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contains affiliate links: Dick Blick Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial only may be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that entire file, including this notice, remains intact.

Tempest Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Prints for sale A piece like this uses a combination of wet and "dry" techniques.  Of course,  alcohol inks   are wet by nature, but it's possible to add smaller details with a damp brush and the most concentrated inks late in the process. For Tempest , I started with a fairly heavy application of inks with a brush. After allowing them to dry, I used a  squeeze bottle  with rubbing alcohol to drip a small section at a time, blowing it with a  heat gun .  You can use a hair drying instead.  You can also experiment with using either 91% rubbing alcohol or a  blending solution  in your bottle.  In some sections, I let the inks spread a bit before blowing; in others, I began blowing right away.  Variety! The final steps after if was dry was to adjust the color with a barely damp brush.  If you drip out a drop or two of ink onto a plastic palette and let it evaporate, you can reactivate th...

Morning Mist Cyndi Lavin, 2018 Here is another watercolor-look technique you can try with alcohol inks .    First, choose the colors you want to use, and mix up a small batch of each in a  squeeze bottle .  You can use either 91% rubbing alcohol or a  blending solution   to make a very dilute mixture of each color you plan to use.  Apply the inks, one color at a time to your paper, and use either a hair dryer, or a  heat gun  to move them around.  Adding the next color will reactivate the dried inks, so be careful about your placement and direction of blowing.  The little dots were adding later with a cotton swab. Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contains affiliate links: Dick Blick Copyright 2018 Cyndi Lavin. All rights reserved. Not to be reprinted, resold, or redistributed for profit. The tutorial only may be printed out for personal use or distributed electronically provided that enti...

Alcohol inks  can be used in a similar way to watercolors, where they are dripped and manipulated on a wet substrate.  In this case, it would be wet with either 91% rubbing alcohol or a blending solution .  But there is a variation on this method that I want to show you, because you can get just a bit more control over what happens with just a slight change in technique! Put your rubbing alcohol into a  squeeze bottle  and use it to make a design line on your page.  Right next to this line, but not quite touching, add lines and/or drops of alcohol inks.  Then use a straw, a hair dryer, or a  heat gun  to sharply blow the inks up into the rubbing alcohol line.  Manipulate them as desired and let them dry slightly.  Add more lines and more ink as desired, working either in from the other edge of the paper, or continuing along the edge of the inks already added. Originals and prints of Cyndi's work for sale This post contai...