Marbling Paper with Shaving Cream

At a recent playdate, I wanted to experiment with marbling paper using the shaving cream technique.  (Thank you Teri for sending me a link!) What absolute fun!!  You basically take a shallow pan (I used an aluminum pan) and fill the bottom with a layer of shaving cream.  You don't need too deep a layer of shaving cream--just enough to cover the bottom.  You can use a spatula to spread the shaving cream into the empty spaces.

You can use food coloring or acrylic paints for this technique.  I thought the food coloring would bleed too much so I chose to I use cheap acrylic paints.  I chose three complimentary colors and placed drops of paint sparingly onto the layer of shaving cream.  Using too much paint will smear.  Now comes the fun part.  You take a mark-making tool ( I used a skewer stick) and begin to move the paint around on top of the shaving cream to gently mix the colors.  I found that keeping peaks in the shaving cream yielded the best results.  If you smooth out the shaving cream till its flat, you will not get the pretty marbling effect.

When you are satisfied with the pattern, place a sheet of paper on top of the shaving cream.  Gently press the paper into the shaving cream for full coverage.  Lift the page and let sit to dry for 3-5 minutes.  If there is enough paint left, try to pull a ghost print.  After the page has dried for 3-5 minutes, take a squeegee and remove the excess shaving cream from the page.  What you have left is a beautiful marbled page! 

Recycled Greeting Card Chunkies

Ever wonder what to do with those greeting cards you receive?  Instead of just tossing them, why not recycle them?  That's what we did for this month's chunky pages.

As I went through my stash of Christmas cards, I pulled out the ones that had the shiny foil features in red, gold, silver, etc.  This would be my unifying element.  I then used circle punches to create lots and lots of circles in a variety of sizes.  It's so interesting to see how the different sized circles change the look of the original image!  You know how you can't always recognize a common object when you look at it  through a microscope?  Same idea.  

I selected  5 different sized circles for each of my pages.  I arranged them in overlapping fashion to fit on the 4 x 4 chunky format.  I secured the circles with two-sided tape to hold them in place while I free-motioned stitched around the circles.  You will see that my back ground is a high-gloss silver cardstock.  My thread is metallic gold.  All of these elements help to tie my foil Christmas card circle punches together into one cohesive chunky page.

Relaxing with a Coloring Book

I've been seeing lots and lots of these adult coloring books lately.  I was toying with the idea of trying one, but never seemed to find the time to just well, color.  About a mont.

h ago, my classmates and I were together at a gathering.  One of my classmates had picked up one of these coloring books called "The Lost Sea" and thought it would be fun if we each took turns coloring in the book--sort of like an AB round robin.  They asked me to start and I happily took on the challenge.

I started by flipping through the pages--all of them were "ocean-themed" pages.  Some of them were multi-page pull-outs.  I would have loved to have done one of those pages, but was not sure I would have the time.  Better to start smaller.  

The page you see above it the one that I was drawn to.  I got out a bunch of my gel pens and got to work.  I started from the inside/center and slowly worked my way out.  I say "slowly" because I was surprised at how much time it took me to color.  It took me three nights to finish the multi-colored spread (circle frame).  I was even more surprised at how unconscious I was of the time I spent coloring.  I found it relaxing, almost meditative to sit and get lost in the simple activity of coloring a page.  I also found it addicting!  As slow as I was to start this project, I couldn't wait to come home after work and start coloring.

I found myself with enough time to do the second spread (the simple circle) before it was time to pass the book to the next contributor.  I experimented with a green/blue palette since this was, after all, all things "ocean."  I had several pens in this palette but ended up using highlighters because they  made it easier to cover the larger spaces.  Accents of glitter glue add a finishing sparkle to the pages.

I am now officially hooked on adult coloring books!  

Chunkies are baaack!

After an extended hiatus, I must say that it feels great to be creating on a regular basis again!  I have had to scale back my commitments this year, but the chunkies are the perfect fit.

We decided to start this new chunky round by illustrating the word or intention we have chosen to focus on for 2016.  My word for 2016 is "Replenish."

I think this first set of chunkies will be a very inspiring set of pages for all of us!  What better way to bring an intention into focus than creating art inspired by that word.

Embellished condiment spoons

Over the holidays, I was gifted with a condiment spoon embellished with colored wire and beads.  I just loved the idea and thought I would try my hand at it.

I started by anchoring a piece of 24 gauge wire around the neck of the spoon by wrapping the wire around the end 4 times (you can wrap more than this if you like).

After the fourth wrap, I positioned a small bead in the center of the spoon handle and wrapped once more to secure it.  Next, I added two beads and positioned them on top of the handle and secured it with one more wrap of the wire.

Continue  to alternate one bead, wrap once, two beads, wrap once, etc. until you have placed a total of 7 beads.  Wrap four times and trim wire.  That's it!!  Of course, depending on how big or long your spoon is, this design can easily be adapted.  Play with colors and bead sizes to create a nice variety of designs!

The End of Another Round Robin

 

 

After a year and a half of inspiration and creativity, these books are bursting with beautiful artwork!  Thank you to everyone who contributed to another rewarding altered book round robin!  

See you in February!

Imagination Illustrated

I got to work in Jen's book "Imagination Illustrated" for the final book of this round robin.  I had forgotten that Jen had encouraged the artists to collaborate by continuing an idea from one page onto another.   When I started glancing through the pages of this book, I saw Darrell's spread entitled "Muppets After Dark" which featured a bunch of googly eyes in the dark.

So this got me thinking...I had done a little research on Jim Henson and the Muppets.  I had even seen a show about him on PBS recently.  I learned that Kermit the Frog was thought to be Henson's alter ego.  I then got this idea that to see the world through Jim Henson's eyes was like looking through Kermit's eyes.  Do you see where this is going?

I took the shape of Kermit's pupils and created cut-outs.  I wanted to illustrate what the world looked like through Kermit's eyes.  Since Henson created the Muppets, I wanted to show the Muppets through Kermit's eyes.

I found a quote from Henson that really fit my spread.  It reads:  "Certainly I've lived my whole life through imagination.  But the world of imagination is there for all of us...a sense of play, of pretending, of wonder.  It's there with us as we live."