Show & Tell Saturday

Hi all, Marcia here.  Show & Tell Saturday is a bi-weekly link party.

For Show & Tell Saturday:
* Please visit at least 3 other artists and if you use Pinterest, please PIN your favorite art from this week.  I know Pinterest brings a lot of traffic to my blogs, so it is a great way to share art. *

Add a link to a recent blog post and make sure to grab one of our buttons or put a link in your post back to Artists in Blogland so more people can join us.  Try to visit at least 3 other blogs and leave comments. 

If you are reading from a blog reader, you might have to pop on over to the actual blog post to add your link.

By participating in this link-up you give us permission to share your artwork on our blog (with a link back to your blog.)

Techniques on Tuesday with Jessica Sporn

Hi - Jessica Sporn here to show you a fun technique to do with leaves.  Here in the northeastern USA, they are falling from the trees and are everywhere.  When I walk my dog, I can't help but pick them up!

I have painted "portraits" of them:

But by far the most fun thing I've done recently is use them as stamps!  Here's how:

Collect some leaves (my rule is that they must have already fallen!) of different shapes and sizes.  Here are the ones I used, after they were already covered with paint:

Mix up some watercolors, or get out your favorite sprays.  You can either paint/spray directly onto your leaf, or paint/spray onto a craft mat or plastic plate and then dip your leaf into the paint.  Then press your leaf onto watercolor or other sturdy paper.

You can either leave the imprint exactly how it is:

 or use your brush with water to soften it and blur it a little, creating lovely transparency and texture:

You can also use paint/spray around the leaves, using them as masks:

Stay in the same color family to avoid making muddy colors as you overlap and re-activate your paint!  Here's an art journal page in the making using this technique:

On another page in my journal, I went to town stamping my leaves and overlapping the colors.  Before I knew it, I had almost filled up an entire page:

I thought - wouldn't this make beautiful hair!  So I stopped and added a face.

Hop over to my blog to see how I digitally put this lady on a background and added some text.

Hope you enjoyed this technique.  If you try it, please share your link in your comments below, or use the technique to link up for the next Show and Tell Saturday! 

Do you have a technique you'd like to share?  Please let me know by sending an email to jessicabethsporn (at) gmail (dot) com.

Warm regards, Jessica

Jessica Sporn is a mixed media artist and illustrator, known for her strong use of color, texture and heartfelt style. It's been said that her artwork always contains a sprinkle of my soul! She is a designer for Stencil Girl Products; her illustration work can be found on stationary, giftware, and Judaica products for Aviv Judaica. Some of her Judaica designs are sold at the Jewish Museum and Metropolitan Museum of Art. She is is represented for licensing by Creative Connection Inc, at http://cciart.com/, and is proud to be a co-moderator of Artists in Blogland!

Hi all, Marcia here.  Show & Tell Saturday is a bi-weekly link party.

For Show & Tell Saturday:
* Please visit at least 3 other artists and if you use Pinterest, please PIN your favorite art from this week.  I know Pinterest brings a lot of traffic to my blogs, so it is a great way to share art. *

Add a link to a recent blog post and make sure to grab one of our buttons or put a link in your post back to Artists in Blogland so more people can join us.  Try to visit at least 3 other blogs and leave comments. 

If you are reading from a blog reader, you might have to pop on over to the actual blog post to add your link.

By participating in this link-up you give us permission to share your artwork on our blog (with a link back to your blog.)

Color This Quote - September Challenge

Hi Artists in Blogland!  Jessica here getting an early jump on "Color This Quote - September!"  You still have a week to link up your August creations, but if you want to get an early jump on September, here's the quote:

What does this bring up for you?  Roads to travel?  Things to learn?  Adventure?  Perseverance?  Here's what it inspired for me:

There's a quick tutorial and video on my blog of how I made it!

August's quote challenge ,"Seize the Day," resulted in lots of wonderful interpretations, and I hope some more are coming as the linky list stays open until the 31st!   Here are two, randomly picked:

Lucid Memoirs channeled her child self and remembered the abandon with which she used to create, using spaghetti and string to create a page full of "just do it" affirmations:

2AM Scrapper used the Latin for "Seize the Day" and was inspired by the newsboys in the video clip from Newsies to create this great card:

Congratulations to everyone for making such beautiful art in response to August's quote!

And now on to September.  The quote is:  

Does this inspire you?  I know it inspired me...  Express yourself!  Here's what you do:

• Grab the Color This Quote button and let people know you're participating!

• Link up your take on this quote in the Linky List below.  It will be open until September 30, and on October 1, the next quote will be revealed!

• Please link to a specific blog post or Flickr page, not your general URL.  

• In your blog post, please state how your work relates to this quote and mention the Color This Quote challenge.    A blog post that does not indicate how your work has a connection to the quote will be removed from the linky list, no matter how gorgeous it is.  Please do not link up random posts.

• Visit 3 or more people who linked up, and leave loving words on their blogs or Flickr pages;

• Anything goes -- can't wait to see what you do with this quote.

• Have a great quote?  Leave it in the comments section for future Color This Quote challenges!

And now for a little housekeeping:

We'll continue doing Color This Quote challenges through 2013. Let us know if you want to continue into 2014, or whether there's a different type of challenge we should try. 

Are you enjoying the monthly Technique Tuesday posts?  Any particular techniques you'd like to see demo'd?

If there's anything else you'd like to see featured here,  let us know in the comments!

Show & Tell Saturday

Hi all, Marcia here.  Show & Tell Saturday is a bi-weekly link party.

Here are a few artworks that members posted last time.

A lovely watercolor painting by Nora MacPhail

 Steampunk Stickers from Natures Walk Studio

 

 Beautiful spread from Valerie Jael

 "Winter is Coming" by Francie

For Show & Tell Saturday:
* Please visit at least 3 other artists and if you use Pinterest, please PIN your favorite art from this week.  I know Pinterest brings a lot of traffic to my blogs, so it is a great way to share art. *

Add a link to a recent blog post and make sure to grab one of our buttons or put a link in your post back to Artists in Blogland so more people can join us.  Try to visit at least 3 other blogs and leave comments. 

If you are reading from a blog reader, you might have to pop on over to the actual blog post to add your link.

By participating in this link-up you give us permission to share your artwork on our blog (with a link back to your blog.)

Techniques on Tuesdaywith Maria McGuire

Jessica here, with another Techniques on Tuesday post.  We've had some great techniques featured here.  Do you have a technique you'd like to share?  If so, please let me know in the comments.

This month, our technique is brought to us by Maria McGuire.   Maria is the leader of the Stencil Girl creative team.  She maintains the Stencil Girl Talk blog, as well as her own fabulous blog, Believe, Dream and Create with Maria.

MARIA:  I want to show you a technique I like to use to make background papers to be used as collage elements. I learned this technique at a local gallery while taking a collage class.

Supplies:

Colorful Magazine Pages from National Geographic--no other will do.

Golden Gloss Polymer

Nevr Dull available in the automotive section of most big box stores

Found Objects/Stencils

Process:

Pick colorful magazine pages. Pour some of the Golden Gloss Polymer into a paper plate. Use found objects to "stamp" the polymer onto the magazine page. Let dry completely.

Open the Nevr Dull can and rip off a piece. Make sure and do this in a well ventilated area. Rub the Nevr Dull over the magazine page and until the desired amount of ink comes off. As you will see, the areas coated with the polymer  stay colored and give you a cool effect.

So that was the way I learned the technique. But how about if you use a stencil? 

I put a StencilGirl stencil designed by Mary Beth Shaw over the magazine page. I then poured a line of polymer right on my craft mat above the edge of the stencil and used a card to scrap the polymer over the stencil. Lifted away and let dry.

Now you have a new way to use your stencils and beautiful papers to use in collage.

Thanks to Artists in Blogland for having me visit today!

Maria

Thank YOU Maria McGuire for this awesome technique.  Now it's your turn to try it!
 

Show & Tell Saturday

Hello all!  Marcia here.

I probably should have made this clearer before, but Show & Tell Saturday is every other Saturday!  Someone asked me about it and I realized I hadn't mentioned it again since the first announcement about it a year ago.

I started a Pinterest board for Artists in Blogland!  I try to pin a few artworks from each Show & Tell session.

Here are a few that caught my eye from last time.

Natalie

 

 

Bastelmania

Kelly

Lenore

Sonya

(love this!  Giraffes were my FAVORITE animal as a kid)

For Show & Tell Saturday:
* Please visit at least 3 other artists and if you use Pinterest, please PIN your favorite art from this week.  I know Pinterest brings a lot of traffic to my blogs, so it is a great way to share art. *

Add a link to a recent blog post and make sure to grab one of our buttons or put a link in your post back to Artists in Blogland so more people can join us.  Try to visit at least 3 other blogs and leave comments. 

If you are reading from a blog reader, you might have to pop on over to the actual blog post to add your link.

By participating in this link-up you give us permission to share your artwork on our blog (with a link back to your blog.)