Mixed Media Artist

  Create Colorful Aluminum Jewelry Using the simplest of techniques, Helen Harle guides you through the process of making all different kinds of fun and festive jewelry.  All you need are aluminum cans, a few basic jewelry-making tools, and...get this...scrapbooking paper punches!!  Yup!  Paper punches can be used to cut right through the soft metal of cans, so after you've done a few preparatory steps with your cans, you can launch right into making fabulous flowered jewelry.  I think you'll be amazed by how many styles of flowers you can create with this simple method.  But don't stop there...once you know the basics, there's nothing to stop you from applying Helen's techniques to other forms.   ***Free Stuff Alert!!!*** Would you like to win a free copy of Create Colorful Aluminum Jewelry ?  Just leave me a comment below and you'll automatically be entered.  If you tweet or post on Facebook or other social spots about the contest, y...

Styrofoam tombstones by Cory Derenburger Decorations, in and out! Glow in the dark garland Styrofoam tombstones Floating ghosts Sexy pumpkins Skull font Decorate yourself! A wonderful mask idea that you can vary to suit your costume Cute Halloween earrings Spooky Halloween jewelry Dozens more great ideas Treats to eat! Franken-pops Vampire cookies Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

I got to take an artist date to the National Gallery of Art recently, and as usual, I spent more time in the impressionists and post-impressionists wing than anywhere else.  It got me to thinking about the graphic swirly style that Van Gogh developed, and I decided to see if I could figure out a way to approximate it with my beloved Photoshop.  Start with an image that has been photographed against a solid colored background.  1. Duplicate image and select the background on the copy using the magic wand. 2. Create a new blank layer and click on layer mask. 3. Unlink the thumbnail and the mask. 4. Fill background with a solid color. 5. Select flower in layer 1 and use Cntrl j to make new layer.  Move to top of layer stack. 6. Select background.  Paint with thin squiggles of ligher color. 7. Apply filter > distort > twirl over and over to background, overlapping. 8. Apply filter > artistic > poster edges. 9. Select flower layer....

  Beading Arts Are you an animal lover? Cyndi designs a piece to remind her about the importance of slowing down and making time for the small ones in our life! Clarence...The Creative Bird An Eclectic Fun Spirited Bird which is part of my Bird Series. These birds have their own little lives with lots of personality which they want to tell you about. :)   CreativeDreamer Let's make come homemade caramels to mark the coming of fall!   Eileen - The Artful Crafter The Artful Crafter receives lots of questions about whether different media can be used together. Here are some tips for sorting out the issues yourself.   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  About Family Crafts What is the most unique Halloween costume you have ever worn or seen someone else wear? Share your ideas and read about others... Aileen's Musings Aileen shares this year's Herm and Ethel Freebie Halloween Postcards with you!   Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi experiments with her own images to make a 3D card embellishment.   Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world This week at Craftside there is a chance to win a copy of the new book Creating Glamorous Jewelry with Swarovski Elements, info about getting involved with conservation work with your dog and the upcoming ReuseConex event, and a recipe for cognac Cherries.   Crafty Princess Diaries Tammy gives you the low-down and her favorite picks from Drew Emborksy's new crochet book.   Eileen - The Artful Crafter If you’ve been hesitant to try decoupage on wood, check out Eileen’s tips for beginners.   Margot Potter The Impatient Craft...

New Quilts from an Old Favorite 2011 Deadline: 11/01/10   Craftster's DIY Halloween Costume Contest 11/01 - 11/07/10     Fabrications Seven Deadline: 11/13/10       Haute Handbags Deadline: 11/15/10    Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

I received this letter from Erika, and I thought the subject was one that others might find helpful.  I hope that the project gets approved, and that Erika's students are able to share their projects with us! I am a volunteer mom out in California (where we can't afford art teachers) and am trying to come up with interdisciplinary art lessons for 5th graders. One of my ideas is to take their unit on Dorthea Lange/ depression era studies and come up with a project using photographs and image transfer. I would like the students to be able to create a work using a photograph transferred onto paper, and then embellish it, along with creating a poem or written story about what they see in the photo. Is image transfer too difficult for this age group? I have a few other parents to help, but don't want to frustrate them either. Many thanks for any ideas or suggestions. I will try any projects at home first with my own 4 kids to make examples. Thank you! Erika Hi Erika...

For a really fine example of multi-layered flaps, take a look back at Elaine Crowe's Halloween spread .  A common image to use is a door, as I've shown above.  It's fairly easy to see how a flap is made; the only tricky thing is deciding how to attach it.  Materials and tools list from Part One 1. Prepare your book page that will have the flap attached to it.  If you want multiple layers, plan out carefully how they will stack up and where it will be best to attach them.  2. Prepare the flap.  Make sure that it will be the right size and shape to cover the secret that lurks below.  It's important for there to be some sort of "pay-off" when you introduce an interactive element like a flap.  In Elaine's book, there is a visual surprise which makes it worth opening! 3. Although you can attach part of your flap directly to the spread with glue, staples, or by other means, the piece will eventually weaken along the fold line that you have t...

  Green Cthulhu Scarf Free scarf pattern for the geek in your life. Out of the Studio and Into the Lens I haven't been in my studio a lot lately. This is why. Doodled Troll Drawing a troll from a picture. Then doodling the background using markers.   Beading Arts Auntie's Beads supplied some wonderful faux sea glass beads for Cyndi to use in a new design!   CreativeDreamer Opps... I forgot to include the wrap up next week, so here it is... the Boo Pumpkin wrap up...   Eileen - The Artful Crafter Don’t let the rotten egg smell or safety concerns keep you from discovering the wonderful burnished effects you can create on thin metal sheet with liver of sulfur.   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery Check out a cute origami penguin in Plaid from the new book-Origami World By Didier Boursin. The Crochet Dude Drew throws a wrap tour to celebrate his whirlwind blog tour! Check out his list of stops along the way and discover "new to you" crafty bloggers!   About Family Crafts If you are thinking of having a Halloween party this year, Sherri has some great ideas and resources for you.   Aileen's Musings Aileen offers a little fall inspiration with her Day of the Dead Fiber Necklace.   Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi's latest art cards feature an accidental colour palette.   Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world At Craftside this week you can enter to win a new Singer sewing machine and a copy of 1,000 Clever Sewing Shortcuts and Tips, see how to draw 12 facial expressions, use and clean a kneaded eraser, make a silk lotus flower and a bunch of fun fashion sketch poses. ...

  Miami Early in the summer, I got to go out junking with my favorite cousin.  My biggest score for the trip was a jar full of  brightly colored (mostly plastic) buttons.  If you are going to work with plastic, it needs to be BRIGHT, or else hey, why bother?  :-)  I also bought the vintage enameled pin since it had the right colors to match some of the more gaudy buttons.  I rarely work in true yellow and orange, so this piece was a challenge.  What do you think of the name?  Is it too obvious? If you'd like to share your best find from the summer, just send me an email with your story and any image you'd like to share, plus a link to your site or blog, and I'll post it here :-) Email cyndi @ mazeltovjewelry.com (remove the spaces) with the subject line "my best find". Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

You might remember the beginner project I did with needle felting a little while ago.  I say "beginner" because I'm one, not because you are!  Anyway, I found a nice little video that shows you some of the wonderful fibers that you can do hand felting with.  Apparently almost anything can be used to needle felt if you have one of the machines, but when you're working by hand, you want to make sure that your efforts will be successful.  Here is Brookelynn Morris at The Yarn Tree Shop to show us how to choose: Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  Cut It, Paste It, Sew It: A Mixed-Media Collage Sourcebook by Chisa Itou Drawn to Stitch: Line, Drawing, and Mark-Making in Textile Art by Gwen Hedley Adobe Photoshop CS5 Illustrated by Chris Botello Adobe Illustrator CS5 One-on-One by Deke McClelland Dual Image Appliqué by Dilys Fronks 45 Quilt Blocks: Flowers: A New Collection of Designs by Trice Boerens Crochet It. Love It. Wear It! by Drew Emborsky Ton of Holland: Contemporary Embroidery by Mattias Duyves and Roos van Put Kaleidoscope Quilts: The Workbook: Create One-Block Masterpieces; New Step-by-Step Instructions by Paula Nadelstern From Spain with Love: 11 Quilts Celebrate Mediterranean Color by Roberta Cardew Quilts: Masterworks from the American Folk Art Museum by Elizabeth V. Warren Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

The trees begin to lose more and more of their leaves, and it's also easy to lose heart.  Eco-artware has a simple project called Twig Lettering that will help you to take advantage of the bare twigs all around you...especially if you have children who would enjoy an outing in the woods.  Instead of only collecting leaves to press, collect some twigs too! Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Shiny metal foil tape, the self-adhesive type, can be found in hardware stores.  The brand that I found had black ink writing all over it (what were they thinking?), but I removed it easily with some acetone, aka nail polish remover!  Look for a brand that has a thin film on the back that you can peel off to uncover the sticky part.  This makes it much easier to handle until you're ready to stick it in place. Materials and tools list from Part One 1. Use a stylus, a blunt pencil, or an empty ballpoint pen tip to write on the foil tape.  All you want to do is to incise the letters, not to leave any ink. 2. Thin some black acrylic paint until it is thin enough to run into the incised lines you made.  Wipe each word with paint, and wipe it right back off the tops of the foil, leaving it down in the lines. 3. Peel off the film from the backs of the words and stick them in place on your otherwise completed page. Part One: Introduction to altered books P...

  Carmi's Art/Life World Carmi plays with a 3d paper sample to create this new card set.   Beading Arts Have you seen what you can do with macrame? Don't think hemp, think colorful and modern!   Eileen - The Artful Crafter Remember the chewing gum twins, "Two, two, two sticks in one"? Well, Eileen set out to make a monoprint - which means one single print - and ended up with two! Craftside-A behind-the-scenes peek at a crafty world This week at Craftside there is a charming pattern for knitting a shrug, a tutorial on how to make a felted covered bangle, an inside peek (or peck) of some wonderful bird art from the book 1,000 Artisan Textiles and a chance to win a poster by Masha D'yans and a copy of 1,000 Ideas for Decorating Cupcakes, Cookies and Cakes.   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

  Eileen - The Artful Crafter Don't let the rotten egg smell or safety concerns keep you from discovering the wonderful burnished effects you can create on thin metal sheet with liver of sulfur.  Margot Potter The Impatient Crafter Madge has a big new full time job! Read all about it!   Stefanie Girard's Sweater Surgery See how I am spinning..uh crocheting a spider web skirt inspired by The Crochet Dude's new book- Crochet It. Love It. Wear It! and read a fun interview with master of the hook himself Drew Emborsky!   About Family Crafts Enjoy some family time together and make some apple crafts. A perfect Autumn activity!   Aileen's Musings Don't be araid to live out loud is Aileen's motto! She demonstrates this with her front door redesign, stop by and see her boldly painted front door!   Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

Altered book cover frames House book Found poem altered book page Altered book artists Altered book communities Design ideas for page layouts Sculptural books Complete list of book arts posts Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

I love the Lark 500 Series books, and this one is no exception!  500 Judaica features just over 180 artists who work at making ritual objects used both at home and in the synagogue.  One would expect to see lots of beautiful menorahs, Shabbat candlesticks, and seder plates, and yes, you will find many amazing examples.  But you will also be thrilled by gorgeous ketubot, Kiddush cups, tallits, tzedakah boxes, and more. The artists featured work in metal, wood, ceramics, paper, and fabric.  An introduction by Daniel Balasco, a curator at The Jewish Museum in NYC, discusses the various trends in contemporary Judaica.  There is also a glossary which is helpful for those who are not as familiar with the names and purposes of the various ritual items.  Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals

This is an amazing little palette generator ! Let’s say that you’ve created a picture in one medium, and would like to turn it into a different medium…like for example, I want to make a beaded piece that uses the palette of the digital image I’ve already created. Which I do, by the way! Run your image through the palette generator, and you’ll have swatches of the colors, complete with the html code. Here’s a link to my more complete list of Online Color Training and Tools post. Technorati Tags: mixed media , collage , assemblage , digital art , photography , altered books , art journals