Got Art? Frame It!

I have always loved everything crafty from Embroidery, Scrapbooking, Cards, Papercrafts and now Paint.   Inspired by my sorority sister Deidre Pigues, I decided to create my own “Art Therapy”.  She gave us a piece of canvas and my imagination went to our 100th year celebration in Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc. and this is my creation with the finishing touches.  I autographed the art and placed it in a frame.

Receipe Ingredients

Adirondack paint -  Snow Cap, Eggplant, Rich Black

Americana paint -Tomato Red

Folk Art paint - Honeycomb

Stickles - Golden Rod

Recollection- Bling

Notice the bling?

 

Princess… The Papercrafter?  Princess…The Artist? 

Do you have a favorite? Do you have it somewhere visible in your home or is it in a closet?  Let's celebrate our work!

Somewhere Over the Rainbow

I am a lover of Quotes and I often share them in my classroom. I ran across this quote "The Soul would have no rainbow if the eyes would have no tears". Yes as you would imagine 'rainbow' stayed in my mind, which led me to this months creativity.   I purchased this little bird house for a steal at Michaels since it was missing a couple of knobs.

I gathered some paint to make the rainbow colors and added some mini beads and stickles.

Then off to my stash for flowers, buttons, brads, butterflies, pom poms and jewel stones....

...and this is how I created my rainbow House!

 The Paper Company Beadwork Starry Blue paper is the background

Angled view

Rear view

Left side view

Front view at the top

Quote

Are you inspired to create a rainbow?  Will it be a layout, card or altered item? 

Remember "The Soul would have no rainbow  if the eyes would have no tears".

Thanks for stopping by

Princess

Fun With Paint!

Inspired by Kenyatta's handpainted designs I decided to try my hand at painting. This is a quick mini-layout that I did using Photoshop CS5. They have a tool which allows you to mix & blend colors on a paint brush resulting in a hand painted effect.

I began by brushing stripes of three colors onto the same layer. Then using the Mixer Brush Tool I began blending the colors. I chose colors from the little girl’s shirt so that the whole layout has a coordinated look. I brought down the saturation a bit on my painted background, which helps to allow the photos to stand out.

Try your hand at painting on your layouts and see what you can come up with! Also be sure to check out the current edition of the magazine for some of Kenyatta's painting tips on page 31.

Art Is More Than A Paintbrush

I've gotten many emails since beginning to share how I incorporate painting and scrapping .. and I try and tell everyone that it isn't just with a paintbrush that you can incorporate art in your layouts.

Start small .. something as simple as a white gel pen. Take an existing layout and a white gel pen, and just add outlines to the paper .. maybe the letters to make them stand out a little bit more.



Keep doodling ... use some of that blank cardstock in your stash .. and begin to make your own lettering, doodle flowers and build your layout around your larger doodles.




When you get comfortable with your doodles ... then just take a a couple of more baby steps and add color to your doodles with watercolors.




There are so many forms of art that you can use to add special touches to your layouts ... it isn't always with a paintbrush ... but it's always using your imagination.

So have FUN with it ... bet you create something wonderful!

Easy Beginner Project: Pinwheel Flower Accent Card

Have you ever given a gift and wished you had matching paper to make a card? Have you wished you had more paper after using up the last bit of your stash on a project, to create a matching card? Or in my case, received a cool gift - and got inspired to make a card from the pattern.

Well you can create your own designs to make a card, or accent an existing project, with a little bit of paint, paper and 1 brush.

I got the inspiration for this quick design, after receiving the cutest little paper box from my Secret Sistah (going on right now on the Scraps of Color website). I loved the bright whimsical floral patterns on the box - and wondered if I could re-create one of them.

I chose the light blue pinwheel flower to re-create for my accent. After choosing a flower to re-create, look in your stash for colors to match as close as possible.



You can use acrylics, watercolors or what I used, Folkart Papier Paint. Using a flat brush, press down, pull and lift up to create your petals.



Alternate your colors, using the same strokes until your flower is complete. Don't worry if the ends of the petals drag - you can use Flow Medium to thin your paint, or water. Remember, you'll be covering up the center with yellow, for your flower center.



Did you notice the accent dots on the box? I re-created them on my card, using the end of my paintbrush.



Let dry. Now, you're ready to decorate a card, or add your item to a scrap layout, like you would normally.



Once complete, you now have a unique, one of a kind card. You can do the same to a border of a scrapbook page, and altered project - even an ATC.



Come on, give this project a try - I've laid out all the steps for you to paint along with me. Once you try, you'll see how quick and easy adding painted elements to your paper projects really is.

Happy Crafting!


Supplies: FolkArt Papier Paint, Donna Dewberry #6 Flat brush, Cats Eye ink, bling by Lush, sheer ribbon and grosgrain ribbon from ScrapGoods, Paper by Be Bop