Steampunk Grey

All finished with a new piece. This is the end result of the textured project I've been working on. Many, many layers of media on this and several fun hours learning a new technique.  The end result is a 10 X 10 canvas piece that weighs a little more than your average wall hanging, but some weight on just the right wall can really anchor a spot. To top it off, I think it's sold already.

A few weeks ago I happened across several fascinating pieces by Andy Skinner. He has an interesting style that incorporates a ton of different mediums. After previewing some of his videos and workshops I was hooked and signed up for an online class to learn more about his process. This project is from a freebie course that was added on to the one I actually signed up for. What a bonus.

Products used on this piece include Liquidtex Modeling Paste, Golden's Course Pumice Gel, a variety of paints, dye cut shapes, and pieces from my prized rusty metal collection.

Thanks for stopping by. Please take a moment to share comments below.

Happy Creating.

Susan

Upcycled Vase

I found a very sad and unloved pitcher at the thrift shop a few weeks ago. Darned, no before picture. You'll just have to trust me on this one. It was pretty awful but it was no lost cause. A new coat of paint and a little distressing with some antiquing techniques here and there and WOW. The transformation is incredible, (again, you have to take my word on this one). The graphics are from my favorite image website, The Graphics Fairy and were transferred using a gel medium on a reverse image print from a laser printer. 

A lovely French lady from Canada purchased this finished product to use as a flower vase in her guest room. According to my customer, the wording is an advertisement for a rental apartment . She thought it would suit the theme of her guest room perfectly.

You are invited to leave a comment and thanks for stopping by.

Happy Creating.

Susan

Open for Business, Soon

Yes, yes, I know. What a mess. 

I hope that you will visit in the very near future for an completely updated look and feel.

Happy Creating.

Susan

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I've Found a New Weakness!!!!

I am notorious for starting online courses and never finishing them. Can't stand to waste my money like that so towards the end of the course I'm frantically downloading course materials and instructions. A few months ago one of my favorite online instruction sites, My Creative Classroom, made a change so that courses are available forever instead of just a few weeks beyond the end of the course. Bad news for this procrastinator. Now I can take longer to finish and I don't have to use up my paper to print instructions or computer memory to save the files. Win, win all around for me.

My most recent class will be closing the end of this week. No biggie, I can access it anytime, but here's where my weakness came in. I realized the first part of this week that if I finished the course and posted my projects that I could get a free course at some time in the future. FREE? Did I read that right? Yes, FREE! Do you have any idea what I've been doing the past couple days? I'm sure you can guess. I've been finishing up watching and reading the course content as well as making my projects. Finished them yesterday and got them all posted today and I thought I would share them with you. 

This was a mixed media class. Even though I consider myself a mixed media artist I don't think I can ever learn enough. I soaked these techniques up like I'm a sponge and I'm continually looking for new mediums, textures, and techniques to apply to my projects. MM is something I am truly passionate about.

I am not at all pleased with the results of this project but I did learn somethings about beading and was introduced to using fabric in my MM projects.

A music themed collage on canvas. I used many leftover embellies on this project and tried something new with the canvas; black gesso. I've used black gesso in the past to achieve a completely black background but this time I intended to use it for it's contrasting quality against the sheet music and book text. Turns out that canvas primed with black gesso looks really aged when you take the sanding block to it. I LOVED the results.

Guess what I learned from this project? Always press your fabric before creating your layout. The wrinkles look great to the naked eye but when photographed, it just looks like a bunch of shadows. By the way, the pictures and title in this layout are printed on muslin. Never printed on fabric before. Will definitely be doing it again. Loved the results. Canvas duck is the substrate for this layout.

Look at how awesome the print looks on the muslin. Fun stuff!

And here's my favorite. This substrate is just plain ole' cardboard with the covering removed from one side. The picture is from a trip to the Outer Banks a few years back. The chair and fishing rods were cut out from some other photos from that same trip. I will be using cardboard more in my projects. I just love the tattered look it gives the project. 

Thanks for stopping by and taking a look. I always appreciate the company and I love to read your comments.

Happy Creating.

Susan

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It's Still Here!

It's been so long since I've posted that I wasn't sure my blog would still be here. I half expected it to have been absorbed into some blogger abyss. (Like that could happen. Well, maybe it could).

Anyhoo, if you are reading this, my thanks to you for returning after my long hiatus. I appreciate your loyalty and I hope to have a more regular plan for posting in the future. Yes, I have a plan, (work with me on this please), a plan that includes getting some things that I've been working on posted to the blog. Even though I've been MIA from the blog, I've been having a blast in my Playroom, (It's really a mess too. If my children's playroom ever looked this bad I would have had a cow on them). 

So, real quick, I want to share my new found fun pastime. It's called Zentangle. I used to call it doodling but someone, (obviously a smarter someone than me), came up with a nifty name, published a few "how to" books on the subject, certified educators, started teaching classes, and is probably making a tiddly little sum from this ancient art form, (why oh why can't I think of these things). 

Here are my first two attempts, (in order of completion), at Zentangle. 

I have to say, I was pleasantly surprised with the results. And, even though, I made some off handed comments above, I do plan to take a class next month at my favorite LSS, A Scrapbook Store and More. It appears there are many, many more techniques that I have yet to learn and as an art form, Zentangle is in a class all by itself.

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Creating.

Susan

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