First Art Book Publication - Incite, Dreams Realized: The Best of Mixed Media

When I decided to branch out into textile art and mixed media earlier this year, I never dreamed that it would go very far other than fulfilling my inner desires. I'm so honored and excited to be published in my first art book - Incite, Dreams Realized: The Best of Mixed Media. This book holds such amazing eye candy and inspiration.

And here is my page..

I have another textile collage art piece in the works. It's quite large and has taken some time, but I'm hoping to reveal the macabre twins soon..

I hope you will pick this book at your local bookstore or on Amazon - I just know you will love it!

XO,
Jennifer

An Experiment With Plaster, Watercolors, Fabric and Embroidery.. Or Fresco Embroidery..

Ever since I dived into Plaster Studio: Mixed-Media Techniques for Painting, Casting and Carving, I've been experimenting with adding plaster to my repertoire. I have absolutely loved including plaster into my work, but I've been searching for ways to marry it with fabric. In the book there are a few projects that use it with burlap to create some beautiful pieces, but it wasn't quite me. I didn't want the fabric to simply be a substrate, I wanted it to breathe and have a relationship with the final piece. I have a number of ideas I want to explore with different fabrics and types of plaster (gesso, joint compound, plaster of paris, etc), but I'm so excited and I wanted to share my first piece with you.

This piece started with a single piece of linen and was frosted with a thin layer of joint compound. Once it set, I painted the background with a wash of watercolors. Then with perle cotton, I embroidered a primitive design of two homes. To add stability and color to the project, the piece was then deconstructed and hand sewn on to another piece of linen. Once it was secure, I free motioned it all together with a flannel batting and heavy canvas back.

It is delicate, simple and thoughtful. This piece is a gift and has a long story behind it.

It is the start to hopefully many more "fresco embroideries". I love the texture and fragility of it, though I hope I can find the right combination that will allow more detailed embroidery without impacting the plaster too much.

Vintage Easter Craft Inspiration

I have been well most of this winter even with the girls getting the flu -strain B and numerous colds. However, my body finally succumbed to an awful head cold. I have however become a netti pot fan! 

A couple of evenings ago, I really needed to do some creative work to ease my spirit. I dragged out some materials that I've been hoarding for awhile - vintage tart tins and yarn cones. I searched my random Easter ephemera and scoured Pinterest for some ideas. Here is my spin on vintage Easter decor! A number of these will be carefully wrapped today and sent to those I love.  

 

Domesticated - Painted Plaster & Encaustic Art

I raised to respect and love the domestic arts - and I do with all my heart.

 My latest art piece, "Domesticated"  is an ode to one of my favorite hobbies - baking! 

Using my new favorite methods.. Layers of plaster on a wood plaque.. Shallow carved using Urban Threads embroidery designs.  Truly, there are soo many ways use to embroidery patterns beyond it's intended use. A fabric and lace apron dusted in chalk, stamped, and covered in beeswax...

A few more layers of paint - reminiscent of those fun, flour messes that build in our home after a day of baking cookies.

Sea Port - Encaustic Art & How To Wall Mount Thin Wood

Sea Port is my latest mixed media piece of art. It began from a day of doodling compasses and transformed into an abstract dreamy vision of days at sea. This piece is another wood panel layered in plaster, paint, pastels, wax, shallow carved and more! All the layers really add to its dreamy nature. In the end it cried for a bit of bling, a bit of a frame.. so I soldered it with lead free silver solder and buffed it to a high polish. I hope it speaks to you! It makes me miss my California hometown terribly..

Then when I was finished I was perplexed as to the best way to wall mount this art. The wood I work with is typically 1/4" thick, too thin for sawtooth hanger nails. I decided to mount another small piece of wood at the top and drill through both. This art is now super secure and ready for the wall.

Hippity Hop - Chocolate Bunny Mixed Media Art

I started this piece a couple weeks ago. I had some spare time and just was playing. When I first started with  fine art mediums, back in high school, my favorite was oil pastels. I still have a large supply of them and thought it would be fun to try them again. The first layer reminds me of jelly beans - bright, yummy rainbow of colors. From there I built up several layers of texture and finished with my favorite Easter candy - a large, chocolate rabbit. Just makes me want to bite the ears off! Hippity Hop  is a much sweeter piece than I've been doing lately and every time I see it, I want a handful of candy.

Playing With Fire - My First Dive Into Pyrography

Last week on Instagram, one of my online friends displayed a photo of her wood burned spoons. I fell in love! Pyrography is something that has always interested me, but I have never played with it. I was inspired to see how it can be used in such modern ways to create amazing art. Also given my latest love with playing on wood bases for encaustic and plaster art, it seemed like a natural technique to learn up on and incorporate.

My very first piece was this queso / cheese board that I just paired with kitchen towels and listed on Etsy.

I free hand sketched the design and just dove into it with my pyrography pen. I feel in love fast! Wood burning is not quick, it is a slow art that allows a level of meditation. If you try to force it to move quickly, you will not receive the desired results. You have to relax, man. Yeah, I need some more of that in my life!

The Halloween trinket box, I posted yesterday? The ghost bunny was wood burned first!

And what else I have been playing with?

A wood burned paper mache egg! I can't wait to finish this and paint in the dots with some metallic cream. This beast is not a normal egg shape,more like an ostrich egg and it will be some time before I finish. But working on it is the best reward!

If you are looking for a new medium to work in and would like to be forced to sllooowww down, pyrography is the way to go!

When The Stores Fail, DIY Carved Stamp

I have been working on this Halloween project demo and really wanted to add something to the background. Nothing super obvious or distracting, just something to layer up some depth. I thought it would be easy enough to find a polka dot stencil..um, nope. Apparently the big box stores think plastic stencils are passe, but some of my favorite designers have been quite busy creating amazing ones.

What to do, what to do..

Well I have plenty of toys that would help me create my own stencil. I figured though if I was going to take the time to make my own, it should speak more of me rather than what is always expected. It would be easy enough to punch holes through some stencil plastic, but that just didn't seem right.

I decided that even though this would be a simple polka dot design, I wanted to hand carve a rubber stamp. It doesn't take long and you have full control over the final appearance. I started by stamping dots with the back of a pencil eraser - low tech, but effective! I then carved out the rubber around the circles. I varied the circles width - some bigger, some smaller. I love the final stamp - it's fun and perfect for what I needed.

For the Halloween project, I layered brown PanPastel chalk on the stamp and pressed down on the wood. Yup, you can totally stamp with them! A background that is layered, but doesn't scream out at you.

A Shallow Carved Mixed Media Mirror

A few months ago I picked up Plaster Studio: Mixed-Media Techniques for Painting, Casting and Carving with the hopes of learning some new mixed media techniques. And boy did I ever! It is rare these days that I find a book that I want to completely devour and every page has insightful new techniques. If you don't have this book in your library at home, you need to. It's pure awesome.

Two weeks ago I had reached a mental block with sewing and needed to move into a different media. I started playing with plaster and didn't stop. Then to top off my excitement with a bit of heartbreak, I read online that Jenny Doh was hosting Stephanie Lee, one of the authors, to teach a class on her book. Oy. Some days I miss my California home badly, those days usually coincide with Jenny's class announcements. From all the pictures on Instagram from that class, yeah I was bummed! I decided that I would pretend to be at the class and join in on the fun.

I brought out this plastered wood mirror that I had started and just went to town on it. Layers of burnt umber, mustard yellow and evergreen. Then a shallow carving of a single feather. And yes, I sweated over that one. I figured I had one good try to make it right or I'd be back to square one. Luckily I didn't choke and I'm pretty happy with it.

I thought it needed a little something extra, I decided to carve a small word of inspiration.. "fly".

Though I'm sure it doesn't compare to taking a class with Stephanie, it was still so much fun to make. I just added the mirror to my Etsy site if you are interested.

The Stitches That Bind

Oh my, this was just too much fun to make! I have been itching to do another encaustic / textile mixed media piece. My girls both had the flu this past week and there has been little time to sleep nor play. As soon as fevers subsided and laundry cleaned, I ran to the studio for some art therapy!

This was done on a mounted canvas. I pulled out one of my easels and acrylic paints with glee. I then layered it with the quilting cotton fabric (they are from Blend, Charlotte Lyons line - Walnut Hill Farm) I embroidered on linen the following quote - "Reinforce the stitch that ties us, and I will do the same for you". They were embedded into the canvas with warm, hot beeswax.

I wanted something more.. Something organic. I wanted to have some free motion sketching on the canvas, but I did not want to cover up more of the paint with chunks of fabric. I had an idea!

I knew that you could create free standing lace by stitching soluble stabilizer and tulle. I wondered if I could do that with just free motion sketching and if the hot buttery wax could melt the stabilizer. And it did! Looking back I could have washed off the stabilizer, dried it and then embedded... Oh well, maybe I will try that next week.

This was such a fun treat to make after a week of some ickiness.
I think it is the perfect Valentine art and just placed it on Etsy.. 

Poisoned Apple - Completed Piece

I loved this process so much.. I can't wait to get started on another!

Poisoned Apple 

Beauty & the Beast - Part One (The Fun, Artsy Part)

Well if you are friends with me on Instagram, you know exactly what I'm talking about. Yup, I drank THE kool-aid, I made an Amy Butler Weekender bag. Let me preface that I did not originally intend to.. Okay, here's what happened..

I used to live in Arizona and that's where I was first introduced to the mega fabulous Crafty Chica. I fell in love with her style, her confidence, and her desire to inspire. She is such an amazing artist and inspirational, positive Latina role model for my two ankle biters. I have followed her success and am so happy to watch her make it national and with a craft line of her own.

This past month I had the opportunity to work with one of her craft products - flocked decals. Not boring ol' traditional puppies and teddy bears, but really awesome designs that you will want to go crazy with. And I went crazy all right!

I ironed on the flocked decals to white linen - I knew I wanted a canvas-ish base to work off of. For the sacred heart, I used watered down acrylic paints to bring it to life. You could of course use fabric paints or even the Crafty Chica's fabric pens!

For the muertos couple, I really wanted to enjoy some mixed media flavor.. lots of paint with lots of hand embroidery.

There is SO much embroidery that is hard to highlight in the pictures. If you are going to Sewing Summit in a few weeks, come get a closer look! The flocked decal was perfect for this mixed media project. It provided yummy texture and a fabulous base for painting.

Needless to say, quite a few hours went into working on the decals. I didn't want to just frame it, I wanted to enjoy this all the time. With Sewing Summit around the corner, I thought it would be fabulous to create The Weekender bag and include this as the highlight.

And I do have lots to say about the actual construction of the bag.. which I will give you later this week in Part Two.. Until then Click here to see if a Michaels store in your area is carrying the Crafty Chica line.

***

I received this complimentary product from CraftyChica.com as part of the Crafty Chica Design Team, 

 and was asked to share an original DIY project.

From Sweet To The Not So Sweet

To say I have ADD when it comes to creating is probably an understatement. I used to struggle with it, but whenever I try to narrow it in I'm always unhappy. So ADD it is! 

This weekend is no different. Kiddo turns four in a couple weeks and has requested a Strawberry Shortcake themed party (I think she made this request the day after her 3rd birthday party..sighs) I designed the invite this evening. I left out the specific details..but you get the gist. Thank heavens for Photoshop! Now I need to finish her gifts and get moving on the favors for her friends..

And then on to the not so sweet... It's my latest piece of art,"Before The Luck Ran Out". I tried to make it just a sweet Irish/St.Patrick's day work, but it just didn't end that way. I really wrestled with adding the little glass whiskey bottle. Ah, well I know it won't appeal to everyone...but that's what makes it art and not a trendy commercial, right?

If you are so inclined.. I have placed it for sale in my Etsy shop..

Modern Cowboy

For this week on Project Quilting we were asked to create a work based off a song title. I knew immediately that I wanted to work on this quilt for my family. I've envisioned this quilt for several months and just haven't had the time to dedicate to it. My song inspiration was "Modern Cowboy" by Tesla and I was also inspired by my family.

I wish I could photograph this piece in a way that does it justice. There are a number of painted layers with thread painting as well.

I can't wait to hang it in our bedroom. I know my Cowboy's life is nothing like he envisioned, but more importantly, I know he loves it with every bit of his heart..

Only Bad Witches Are Ugly

It's no secret to friends and blog readers that I'm a tad obsessed with Elphaba, the green faced witch. But I also *love* the musical Wicked.. and Glinda.. and well I guess everything related to OZ.

I'm also a HUGE fan of Halloween! Having a whole day to pretend to be something extraordinary, receiving a pillowcase full of candy, and in general causing a raucous - yup, that's my ideal day! I was supposed to be a Halloween baby too..much to my Mom's dismay. My mom does not care too much for Halloween...but she does love Glinda the Good Witch..

Soo... I decided to sass up a pair of Glinda Witchy Boots! It's paper pieced quilted on wood.. Yup!

Here in Utah, we have an amazing wood craft store called The Wood Connection. They always have amazing wood pieces for the season as well as some fabulous year around staples. If you're in Utah, you have to check them out!

To make these fabulous pumps, you'll first want to draw the outline of the wood block on paper. I had to tape 2 pieces together. And be sure to outline both feet. When you paper piece quilt, your final product is a mirror image.

Paint the sides of the wood that will not be covered in fabric.

Decide on the color scheme of the shoes. And well Glinda is all about the pink & flashy silver!

Draw in the details of how you want to quilt the boot. Keep it SIMPLE - this is not the time to learn how to design paper piece quilting.. Check out my sample - super easy 3 parts. Then paper piece quilt it together. Need some help? Check out my tutorial on paper piece quilting here.

Once those are done, adhere to the boots with a fabric glue like Liquid Stitch. Now it's time to decorate those snazzy shoes.

I apologize that I don't have more in depth photos to share. Baby was up screaming from 9pm -4:30am..and I was brain dead when I finished these. So the details are labeled below..

Even if you're not a fan of Halloween or The Wizard Of Oz (gasp!!), you've got to love these Good Witchy Boots...

** ARE YOU LOOKING FOR THE GO! GIVEAWAY POST? CLICK HERE & GOOD LUCK! **

Linking up to: Lil' Luna, Someday Crafts, Tatertots & Jello