art everyday - 11

Today Ive made a bit of progress on this piece that I previously posted about here and here..... I added a bit more texture to the tree, inked in the cage, and gave my little birdie some color. 

 
I wish you could see it in this scan, but I used a bit of iridescent gold in the tree and a bit on the birdie....truly magical in real life :)


I have a phrase for this that came to me the other night, and it literally brought me to tears with the truth that the words held for me. Now my hope is to just get the phrasing right so it makes sense. I tend to over state and over complicate....but this one needs to be simple. So right now I'm pondering that....

Hope your day is filled with many open doors and wide open skies....

Kelley xo

art everyday - 9

Today is going to be little tutorial on how to make your own Glimmer Mists. Glimmer mists have become increasingly popular lately, especially in Art Journaling. But they can get expensive, sometimes up to 5 or more dollars per mist. So when I happened upon this video on how to make them yourself, I decided to give it a go. 

Supplies you will need:

Spray Bottles: I found mine at the dollar store in a pack that had 2 bottles. One had a squirt top, the other had a spray top. Still, they were only a dollar for the 2.

Craft Paint: I bought these at Walmart for 1.00 each, but I know with a good sale or coupons they can be found for less. I bought 4 regular colors, and 2 that were metallic to emulate the "glimmer".

Distilled Water: Some research I did says this is the best water to use, as it keeps the paint from spoiling.

Rubbing Alcohol: This is used to help the paint dry more quickly.

Perfect pearls: You can add a "paint brush dip amount" into the regular paint bottles to make it a glimmer paint if desired. 


The Recipe:

Fill the bottle 3/4 full with the Water. Add a splash of alcohol, and a good squeeze or two of paint. The more paint you add the more opaque your spray will be. Give it a good shake and let the painting fun begin :). 


Here are a few examples of some of the sprays in action. I sprayed on Gessoed pages of my Art Journal using some masking stencils.....

Blue Metallic

Regular Pink

     Green/Gold Metallic- I ended up adding a bit more paint to this one to heighten the color

Although the glimmer isnt apparent in the pictures it is very apparent in person, sorry that the camera couldnt pick that up.


Remember that overspray will occur, so protect the surfaces you don't want paint on. I didnt do that initially and my phone was a lovely shade of sparkly blue ;)


Overall I spent 13.50 to make 6 paints. I could maybe buy 2-3 ready made sprays for that price. Plus I can make more because I already have the paint. So at 2.25 per paint I think overall, this was a great deal!! 


I hope you give this a try and make some. And if you do, come back and share what you think.


I hope your day is filled with lots of glimmery goodness!!


Kelley xo

art everyday - 7

I cant draw, which is why I rarely sketch...but, I was going nuts laying on the sofa, trying to combat whatever this bug is. I was unable to nap and feeling a bit restless, because I feel as though if I give up on creating everyday, I wont keep going. So I drug my pounding head into my Art Room, and scrounged up my neglected sketch pad and a charcoal pencil. Remembering my post from yesterday, and the beautiful flowers in my new Blue Ball Jar, I decided to give it a go.....

Will it find its way to a canvas someday? I'd like to think so. In the mean time please be kind to this Artist that can't draw....I am sick after all ;)

Hope your day is filled with lovely sketches of things that make you smile.....

Kelley xo

art everyday - 6

Today wasnt much of a Art Room day. But I found a few things that I hope will help "create" an Art Space I'm inspired to work in.  Although I'm still feeling "puny", I had to get some grocery shopping done. But the best thing about grocery shopping is that there is an Antique Mall right next door....so I drug my puny self over there in search of shelving for all my Art Space, hoping to find something unique to put my printer and all my Art and packing supplies on. I found something a bit out of the ordinary, but oh so yummy.....

I know it doesnt look like much here, but this is a four shelf unit that stands about 6ft tall and is about 4 ft. wide. My best guess is it was used in a restaurant for storage of some sort.  But it is all sorts of chippy, shabby, rusted goodness, yet still very sturdy. Major Score!! And the best part, it was only $25.00....yeppers! Feel pretty good about that one :)

I have also been collecting Mason Jars, and found a couple that were pretty cool. A pretty blue "Ball" one and an older "Hazel Atlas" one with a great rusty lid and mechanism!

I filled the blue one with some flowers to brighten up my Art Space.....

Hope your day was filled with creating things that make you smile, and that you are all happy and healthy.....


Kelley xo

art everyday - 5

Even though I'm feeling puny today (what my father in law used to call feeling sick), managed to get some progress made on this piece. I built the tree up with some tissue paper and matte medium. Can I say how much I love using this stuff?!! I do not know where I got it or how it showed up in my Art supplies. But I love it!! It's Dress pattern Paper without the patterns on it. It's just brown tissue paper, But its so fun to work with and layer. Very simple, but Ive always preferred simple.....

Now I'm off to wrap up in my Down throw which I love, drink some tea, and maybe catch up on some Dexter. Almost done with Season 5, and then I can watch this Season that's waiting for me on my DVR....

Hope your day is filled with warmth that surrounds you like a down blanket, and of course lots of Artsy goodness.

Kelley xo