Meditation Rock Garden

This week I created an indoor rock garden.  I love looking at beautiful scenes to inspire me and remind me of the things that I want to remember.  I have really been into encouraging words lately and they came out again for this project.  I decided to use rocks that I collected this summer along Lake Michigan.  Some of the ones that I collected are very pretty and I just wanted to leave them with their natural beauty.  I collected other rocks because they were smooth and would be easy to create art on.   I selected a few of the smoother rocks, some modeling paste, and some of my favorite Artistcellar stencils.

I made sure that my rocks were clean and dry and then I applied modeling paste through select parts of the stencil onto them.  I wasn't trying for a perfect impression because that's pretty hard to get on a curved surface.  I let the modeling paste dry naturally before I moved on with the project.

Next I used Golden Fluid Acrylics to paint the modeling paste.   Let it dry.

I used a white Sakura Gelly Roll pen to write words and painted in parts of the rocks and let it dry.

I added doodles with Faber-Castell Pitt pens too.

I sealed the rocks with glossy gel medium to give them a lot of shine and to protect them.

I put the natural rocks into an old pan that I painted and placed my decorated rocks on top.  I added a package of the Pacific Fiber Mix around the edge to give it a little flare.  This fiber mix goes well with the rocks and brings out their beauty.

I used the words: Journey, Beauty, Flow, Mystery, Eternal, Grow, and Think.

I can add more rocks with important concepts as time goes on.  This will give me a visual reminder and provide a little beauty to my home too.

I used these stencils: Cherry Blossom, Paris Cathedral, Ocean Waves, Apparatus, Petite Pods, Runes, and Rivermap

Here are the rest of the rocks that I painted.

Have a wonderful creative weekend and go out and create something.
Janelle

Journal Goodness

Along with my projects for Artistcellar I have also been working in my journal.  I try to make time every week to work in my art journal.  Painting for fun and as art therapy helps me to de-stress and makes me happier and therefore makes my home a happier place too. 

Mamma wants some time to dance.

Gel medium transfer in her torso with beeswax and colored wax around her.

Close-up of the texture the wax creates.

Focusing on my goals for the year.

Modeling paste with shimmery paints.

Fun with tags. They provide a perfect place to do some writing about the important people in my life.

Contemplating

Having fun with doodling.

I hope that you enjoyed seeing a bit of what I have been up to.
Janelle

Inspirational Quilt

I made an inspirational quilt this week.  I love adding uplifting words to my art that remind me of the good things in life. I started with a piece of white cotton fabric with a tight weave so that it is easy to paint. I painted loose flowers in light purple, let them dry and then heat set the paint.  I did the same for the dark purple flowers and the turquoise flowers I painted inside the dark purple and turquoise flowers with Stewart Gill Metamica paints in Moonlight and Heather Mist and the centers with a silver Lumiere textile paint. I love how these paints sparkle. They look marvelous in the sunshine. I stenciled the open area with the Amiens Plan Cathedral stencil with Stewart Gill Metamica paint in Moonlight. I let that paint dry and then heat set.  Heat setting between layers keeps the colors from mixing together when I want them to stay separate. I colored in the open areas with Derwent Inktense pencils and activated it with textile medium.  I left the light purple flowers white.  I let that dry and then heat set again. Next I squared up the dry fabric painting and cut a backing and batting. I bagged out the quilt to finish the edges.  I basted the batting to the wrong side of the backing fabric.  Then I placed the right sides of both fabrics together and stitched a narrow seam all the way around except for an opening on the bottom of the quilt. I trimmed the batting close to the seam lines and cut off the corners at a diagonal. I turned the quilt the right side out and pressed it.  I removed all the basting threads.  I pressed in the fabric edges on the opening too.  I slip stitched the edges closed. Next I used free motion stitching to sew with a dark purple thread around my painted flowers and I thread doodled in the open areas. I sewed around the light purple flowers with a turquoise thread and I thread doodled swirls in the petals. I wrote words on a piece of tracing paper and cut them out.  I used these to figure out the word arrangement. When I was happy with the arrangement I used a fabric pen to write words on the stenciled side of the quilt. I used free motion stitching to write over the words in a thick variegated purple thread. I free motion stitched, with a blue thread that matched the Metamica paint, around the words. I steam pressed the whole quilt to smooth out the wrinkles. The finished quilt is 9" X 13". I hope that you go and make your own inspirational piece of art. This quilt still needs a name.  If you have a suggestion you could leave me a note in the comments. After I decide how I want to hang this quilt and finish that portion this beauty will be for sale. Have a creative weekend, Janelle

Autumn Greeting Cards

This week I am sharing a mixed media project that uses fabric, stenciling and stamping all in a layer of beeswax. This is a good way to use up small bits of fabric and lace and to make your own greeting cards.  The best part is the lovely smell of the beeswax.

I started with cardstock card blanks.  Heavier cardstock will hold up better to the beeswax.

I cut pieces of fabric and lace the length and width that I wanted for the first layer.  I choose fabrics from my stash that reminded me of the beautiful colors of autumn.

Layer the fabrics and stitch them to the cards when you are happy with the placement.  Use a long stitch length so that the cardstock doesn't become perforated and rip.

Using the stencils from the playful pod series I added designs beside the fabric layer.   I use browns and greens to go with the autumn theme.

I also used a hand carved leaf stamp to add designs on some of the cards.

I used Distress Ink pads in wild honey, vintage photo, and tea dye to stamp the leaves.

I used a hand carved acorn stamp to stamp images on some white tissue paper.  I used a

StazOn ink pad in timber brown.  Later I added these to the cards between layers of beeswax.

I used a quilting iron to start adding beeswax over the entire front of the card.  I held the iron onto the wax until I had some drips on the card and then I smoothed them out with the iron.  When I had a nice layer of beeswax I placed the pieces of the acorn tissue paper on some of the cards.  I added beeswax over the tissue paper to seal it to the card.

I went over the entire card again with the quilting iron to smooth out the beeswax.   I also hit it with my heat gun to make sure that everything was fused.  Don’t worry if it isn’t completely smooth, the texture is part of the fun of using beeswax.

I bought my beeswax from a honey store.

I sprinkled on some Pearl Ex powder in interference gold to parts of the card, rubbed it in with my finger and went over it with the quilting iron.   I wanted to fuse the powder to the card, but I didn’t completely cover it with the beeswax.

I rubbed Inka Gold onto the edges of the card as well.  I love the shimmer that the gold adds to the card.  Gold just seems to go well with autumn.

Inside the front I glued on another piece of white cardstock.  I glued a piece of painted paper to the center of the cardstock.  After the glue was dry I rubbed a bit of Inka Gold onto the painted paper.  These extra papers protect the stitching, cover the beeswax that leaks through the paper, and makes the inside of the card extra pretty.

For the last step I sprayed some copper glitter spray to the inside of the card.

I didn’t add a sentiment yet, I’ll wait until I am ready to send the card.  That way I have cards that I can use for any occasion.

Here are the five cards that I made.  I hope that you go and make some unique greeting cards of your own.

You can see more of my work on my website. 

Have a great weekend,

Janelle