This I Believe

You have magic in you.  This I believe!

Are you a subscriber to my newsletter?  On the first of every month, I send out a newsletter with a free download of my art and other news.  This is the September download! It is exclusively for newsletter subscribers.  High res, no watermark!  So what are you waiting for?  Subscribe today through the link on the right side bar, and you will receive my newsletter with a link for this image to use however you'd like (for your personal use only!).

I'm going on vacation between now and September 3.  Have a wonderful end of August and I'll see you soon.

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

Linking to my favorite Monday blog hops:  Make It Monday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Creative Every Day, Inspire Me Monday, and Be Inspired. 

 

Stencil Club Tutorial - Using Negative Space

Have you seen the August stencils Mary Beth Shaw designed for Stencil Girl's Stencil Club?  I just love the shapes, lines and marks she created, inspired by the artist Rex Ray.

Here's a quick and easy project I made with them, for September's Color This Quote challenge at Artists in Blogland.

I started with a 6 x 6" square of randomly collaged gelli prints.

I tinted the canvas with a mixture of 50% glazing medium and 50% fluid acrylics.  (If you're using regular craft acrylics, up the glazing medium to about 2/3.)

I traced the outlines of the stencil onto my canvas, and colored in the surrounding areas with a black paint pen.   Here's a one minute fast forward video:

The way the collage poked through the negative areas of the stencil reminded me of a garden maze.  This quote went with it very well, and it's so true...

The original is available for sale in my Etsy shop.  Prints are available at Society 6 which has free shipping through Sunday!

I'm so excited that my stencils are going to be featured in October for Stencil Club!  I've designed a special series exclusively for club members, and am working on lots of projects and videos to show you how to use them.   So if you're not a member of Stencil Club yet, check it out. 

Plus - just a quick reminder that I'm teaching at Little Bird Creations on Friday night, September 20.  We're having a gelli plate party, with lots of cool techniques, resulting in you creating a unique journal for yourself. 

I have extra gelli plates, in case you don't have your own. It's the last time I'll be teaching in 2013 so I hope you'll join the fun!

And P.S., in case you need help with this, here is a video of my dad explaining the proper technique for flipping a pancake.  If you need a good laugh, check this out!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

Linking to Paint Party Friday, Art Journal Every Day and Creative Every Day!

 

Sharing the Spark

I've been a well of emotion lately.

The world spins - children are born and grow up as you blink ... people you love pass on.  As Emily says in Our Town, "it all goes by so fast, we don't have time to look at one another."  She asks, "Do any human beings ever realize life while they live it? - every, every minute?"  Most often, the answer is "no."  (The links are for the amazing Lincoln Center production of this play.)

Do you ever feel as though your inner light dims and the world seems grey?  IT SUCKS!  But inevitably, something happens; someone re-kindles the spark, and the world is alive again. 

This post is about the gratitude I have for those angels who come to me in human form and teach me to see the world with love and not despair.  You never know when you are that angel who lights another's spark.    Here's a fast forward of my process as I created this canvas in gratitude for the angels in my life.

After I finished her, I felt like she was missing something.  I wanted spiritual motifs in the background and on her dress.  I pulled out my Priestly Blessing stencil, with its beautiful Hebrew letters, and my Medieval Leaves stencil, which is designed from ancient motifs.

The canvas was too small to accurately stencil directly on top of the design.  So I pulled out some white tissue paper, and stenciled on top of it with gold paint.

The great thing about stenciling on the tissue paper is that I was able to tear out portions, and then place them exactly where I wanted them.  With a thin watery brush, I traced around the areas where the designs should be, and adhered the tissue paper with matte medium. 

Once I adhered it, the white portions of the tissue paper melted into the canvas, leaving the gold design exactly where I wanted it.

"at times our light goes out, and is rekindled by a spark from another.  

Be grateful for those who have lit the flames within you."

This image is available as a print at Society 6 (which has free shipping through Sunday) and the original is for sale in my Etsy shop.   

Linking to my favorite Monday blog hops:  Make It Monday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Creative Every Day, Inspire Me Monday, and Be Inspired. 

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

 

Wisdom and Grace

I needed Wisdom and Grace, because I had two posts that were both due today!

I "WANT" you to click here for my One Little Word post, where the word is ... "WANT!"

I'm also at the Stencil Girl blog today to show you how I isolated different parts of several stencils to get the look I wanted for this angel.

I don't always want to cover my entire page or canvas with one stencil design; sometimes a stencil can look completely different if you use just a part of it.

For this angel, I used parts of three different stencils to get the looks I wanted.  The first two are from different monthly collections that are exclusively for subscribers to the monthly Stencil Club.  The third is my Apples & Pomegranates stencil.  I love it for it's crisp, yet classic, design. 

I also used prototypes for two new stencils that I just designed!

All the details, as well as a video  (with sneak peeks at the new stencils) and step out photos, are at Stencil Girl Talk!  

I hope you'll pop over to say hello!

And I hope you'll also check out my post today for One Little Word, where the word is WANT!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

 

I Want....

I have two posts today!  Click here for Wisdom and Grace, my guest post for Stencil Girl Talk.

Today's "word up" at One Little Word is Want.

 

This word brought up the longing to know the unknown.  I have previously written about Joe Collins, the founder of From Houses to Homes (the wonderful organization we volunteer with in Guatemala).  Joe died recently of colon cancer.  Joe was truly a "holy man." in my eyes.  His purpose in life was to make a better world for the children in the highlands of Guatemala, and his every action was weighed against that mission.

I thought about all of the questions that death brings up -- the longing, the wanting, to know why -- as I altered this book.

I started by cutting a niche and decoupaging book pages around it.

I added music pages, and stamps that represent traveling, to represent his journey. 

Around the niche, I spread Wendy Vecchi's black embossing paste through my frames stencil from Stencil Girl.

In the niche, I put a clay heart that I made, which I wrapped in gauze, the way princes and kings were wrapped in linen in ancient times for their journeys after death.  I wrapped the heart in string, to represent the way Joe had tied his heart to the children of Guatemala.

I created a "found poem" with words from the book pages I had removed from the book:

through the twilight

into the distance

an uncontrollable desire

to see

the other side.

Inside the book, I used one of Pam Carriker's stamps to create an angel to watch over Joe's journey.   I also printed out and pasted one of my favorite poems: Rendezvous by Robert Hillyer.  I read it when I was a teenager, and it has stayed with me ever since.

I surrounded the angel with another frame from the frames stencil, and surrounded the poem with hands from my new Hands stencil. 

Another hand - reaching, wanting, longing -- is on the back cover.

"Or, since our spirits take off and resume

Their flesh as travelers their cloaks, O tell me where,

In what age and what country you will come,

That I may meet you there."

What does the word "WANT" bring up for you?  I hope you'll create something around it and join us at One Little Word!

Linking to the blog hops at Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Every Day, and to the challenges at Simon Says Stamp (make the cut), and City Crafter (count your blessings).  What an honor and blessing to have had Joe touch my life and my family.  He has left us a beautiful way to give back to a grateful and deserving community.

Joe and Samy have a "stare down" - February 2012

And don't forget to pop over to Stencil Girl Talk to see my tutorial and video!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

 

Jump Into the Roses

Have you participated in Artists in Blogland's "Seize the Day" challenge?  My first take on that phrase was about how we always put off seizing the day because we want to get our ducks in a row:

 Marjie Kemper liked this take on it, and created a gorgeous journal spread:

© Marjie Kemper

There's a tutorial on Marjie's blog with step-outs for how she created this gorgeous work.

The idea of "seizing the day" has been on my mind.  We never know how many more days we will have to "seize."  I was recently reminded of this when Joe Collins of From Houses to Homes, the organization we volunteer with in Guatemala, lost his battle with colon cancer.

 

In the week before he passed, I spent some time with Joe.  I held him, and we talked about what happens when we die, and the importance of the life we lived.  He felt like there was so much more he wanted to do for the children of Guatemala.  I promised to do whatever I could to help fulfill his dreams.

I wanted to make a tribute to this quiet, humble man, who didn't like to waste lots of time discussing and studying and planning; if someone had a good idea, he wanted to jump in and get it done.

I started with an art journal page in which I had loosely painted hearts and roses.

I cut out this old picture of myself.  My mom had taken it in a playground when I was about 3 or 4.  I was jumping off a ledge into my father's arms.

 I decided to try to paint myself:

Then I glued the painting onto the page with glue dots, to give her a little dimension.  I also added a twist on the saying "Stop and Smell the Roses.  I wrote the words out on cardstock, cut them, and adhered them with glue dots.  I added some shadowing, so they would stand up a little off of the page.  On my computer, I cropped the design into a square, to zoom in on the girl and the roses. 

Jump into your life.  Jump into your ideas and your instincts.  Seize the Day!  You never know when you'll have another chance.

Linking to my favorite Monday blog hops:  Make It Monday, Mandarin Orange Monday, Creative Every Day, Inspire Me Monday, and Be Inspired. 

Linking also to Art Journal Journeys (square),  Make My Monday (add some dimension), Create Daily and Tuesday Taggers (collage with a twist - add script).

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

 

My Israel Trip

My recent trip to Israel was full of family and special sights, sounds and memories.

This was my fourth trip to Israel, but my last trip was 24 years ago.  So much has changed, but so much has stayed the same.  One thing that hasn't changed is the beauty of the Mediterranean Sea.  I swam in it every day, and loved its gentle waves.  Another thing that hasn't changed is the presence of ancient history everywhere -- even on the walk to the beach, ancient ruins were discovered and preserved.

The Carmel Market in Tel Aviv is as hectic and chock full of sights, sounds and textures as it was in 1989.

 

One new thing was our friend Mixie's coffee stall.  It was so fun to visit him there and have him mix special blends for us to take home. This was my parents', aunt's and uncle's and my first few day in Israel.  We were all a little punchy!

Tel Aviv is extremely conservation minded.  Every few blocks, there are big cages like this, where people toss their water bottles.  What a great idea.

Of course, our main reason for going was because my dad was honored by the Sports Hall of Fame in Tel Aviv.  He received a Lifetime Award of Excellence for all of his medals won in the Maccabiah Games.  Here's a picture of the whole "mischpachah" -- the 28 of us who traveled to Israel for this honor. 

Another huge highlight was visiting the Israel Sports Center for the Disabled, where my dad helped dedicate a large, wheelchair accessible, elevator for which he had helped raised the funds.

My daughter Mariel and I spent a lot of time sightseeing together.  She is so interested in other cultures, and a tireless traveler -- she makes me so proud to be her mom.

I made so many sketches of the shapes and marks I saw around me.  Several of these designs are in the works as new stencils for Stencil Girl.  Stay tuned!

I leave you with a few pictures I took in the old city of Jaffa, where there were many colors, textures, artisan shops and galleries to stimulate the senses. 

This last one is my silhouette, as I looked in the window at a sculpture made of carved leather.  AMAZING detail.

Linking to Paint Party Friday and Art Journal Everyday, where you can see lots and lots of inspiring work!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.