a peek inside my sketchbook

creating with jules: owl ornament

Hey Friends! I am super excited to introduce Jules Madden to you! Jules is an artist, illustrator and maker living in Victoria, Australia with her husband and two crafty girls. She loves color, creativity and connecting with other like minded people. She will be sharing some DIY projects and inspiration in the coming months!

Craft this pretty peaceful owl as a gift or to hang on your own Christmas tree. My two girls have seen me making these and they really want to make some themselves! They really are quite fun to make.

Gather Your Materials:

Air Dry Clay

Acrylic Paints

Fabric Scraps

Beads

Mod Podge

Silver Thread

Glitter (optional)

Tools:

Greylead Pencil

Scalpel 

Scissors

Paintbrushes

Rolling Tool

Wooden Skewer

Clay Tool (for smoothing)

Click HERE to download owl template at 100%

Print your template PDF image out at 100% and cut it out

Take a piece of your air dry clay and roll it to approximately .5cm (3/16”).

Place your template over the clay and cut around the body shape.

Cut the wings from the paper template and cut them out from a piece of rolled clay around 3mm (1/8”) thickness. 

Reserve your paper template pieces for later

Mark where the hole will go in the top of the ornament and poke with a wooden skewer or similar.

Score the back of the wings and the wings area on the body.

Moisten slightly with water and press together, smoothing out the joins.

Press beads into the soft clay body.

Leave your clay shape overnight, or until dry.

When dry, cut two fabric wings using your paper templates.

Paint Mod Podge onto the clay wings and press the fabric shapes on.

Paint over the top of the fabric with Mod Podge.

Also cover your beads with a layer of Mod Podge, this will help glue them into place when you paint your ornament.

Next, paint your ornament all over with grey paint.

Paint the sides of the ornament as well, not forgetting the inner sides of the wings.

Rub any paint off that got onto the beads with a damp tissue. 

Paint extra little cute spots on your owl with light grey paint.Paint your owl eyes and beak in black and orange. Paint the reverse side of your ornament in a nice color for a professional finish.

Once the paint is all dry, apply a final coat of Mod Podge to the whole ornament. I sprinkled some glitter onto my owls body, as I love a bit of glitter!

Then add a doubled up and tied length of silver thread through the hole, loop it into itself and hang up to enjoy, or gift away! I think these would make great stocking fillers or gifts to teachers :) If my kids can part with them!

I really hope you enjoyed that tutorial. To see some of my other work or to get in touch, visit me at http://julesmadden.blogspot.com.au

new coloring book available!

I am incredibly excited to announce that my latest coloring book Feminine Wild is now available for purchase! This is a 25 page self published coloring book that I collaborated on with my crazy talented husband Andy. About 6 months ago, we had the idea to create a coloring book that made use of our individual talents! Andy is a master at drawing portraits and I love drawing pattern so we began working on a coloring book completely dedicated to women- all kinds of bold and beautiful women! 

The coloring book is available over in my shop and on Amazon. Here is a little peek.

This coloring book really lends itself to coloring pattern but it also give you the opportunity to play with shading faces. In the coming weeks Andy will be sharing all kinds of simple shading tips and tricks for shading the pages of this book.

P.S. Another batch of messy pouches are in the shop this week and I've got more coming in weeks ahead!

black friday sale- three more days left!

Just three more days of left to get in on my black Friday sale! Online class are all marked down and lots of products are on sale. Head on over the shop HERE for all the deals.

REMEMBER! Purchase $30 or more in the shop and receive a free exclusive 15 page digital download full of colorful paper and tags to use for your holiday crafting.

Purchase $100 or more in the shop and receive the free digital download AND a free class of you choice! *Please use the notes section at checkout to include your free class choice.

happy weekend!

We are heading into a long holiday weekend and I am signing off here on the blog to spend time with family. I'll be back on Monday with all kinds of fun new stuff! Love to all of you!

the art of chasing a dream: botanical watercolor artist

Tell us about yourself and your journey chasing your creative dreams.

My name is Anne Butera and I am a blogger and self-taught botanical watercolor artist. I believe that art, creativity and gratitude are transformative and I’m passionate about encouraging others to embrace their creativity and discover their joy.

A little over 6 years ago I hadn’t yet picked up a paintbrush. My job and the city where I was living left me constantly drained. I knew I had to do something and without much of a plan I quit my job and moved to the country to chase my dream of living a more creative and fulfilling life.

I secretly wanted to be a painter and although I started teaching myself to paint, when I opened my first Etsy shop it was to sell sewn and crocheted jewelry and accessories. Things didn’t work out quite as I had hoped and that first step of my creative journey was a failure. I moved back to the city and tried to patch together my life. It was a dark and difficult time, but I held fiercely to my dreams and kept creating.

That was five years ago. Five years of hard work. Five years of slow progress. Five years of clarifying my vision. Today I sell my art on my own website and on Etsy. I have a fabric collection available on Spoonflower. I teach classes on Skillshare. And I write a blog where the focus is art, magic and joy (a good overview of my blog can be found here).

This past spring a project I collaborated on with blogging friend and fellow artist Dana Barbieri was featured in Uppercase Magazine. In June I had my first solo exhibition. And recently another dream came true when my blog was featured in the Winter 2017 issue of Artful Blogging magazine.

I feel as if I’m finally getting closer to truly living my creative dreams.

Something I didn’t fully understand when I was starting out is that success doesn’t happen overnight and that (for most) achieving your creative dreams is a long, slow process. My journey has not been easy. The road has been long and winding, challenging and sometimes scary, but my faith in the importance of creativity, art, gratitude and joy has kept me going.

What are your favorite materials and supplies to work with?

I am completely head over heels in love with watercolors. Over the years I’ve tried various media and techniques, but I always come back to watercolors. I think they are a perfect match for painting botanicals, giving a very organic feel to the finished pieces. I prefer working with pan watercolors and I use professional grade paints from three brands: Sennelier, Winsor & Newton and Yarka St. Petersburg.

Until recently I primarily used Arches cold press paper and love the texture, durability and beauty of that paper. Lately I’ve also been trying a variety of hot press papers and am enjoying the change of working on super-smooth paper. It’s nice to shake things up every once in a while and I enjoy experimenting and trying new things. The sketchbook collaboration I worked on for over a year with Dana Barbieri helped me to stretch and experiment and one of the things I especially enjoyed trying was block printing.

In my sketchbooks I like to use black Micron pens and keep things simple. Sitting in the garden with my sketchbook and pens on a sunny summer day is such a joy.

I also enjoy taking my watercolors into Photoshop, whether I’m simply preparing an image for my website or making prints from my paintings or working on my yearly art-print calendars or designing fabric. It’s so different from painting, but I find it very satisfying.

How do you go about finding inspiration for your work?

Inspiration is everywhere. I find most of mine in my garden. I like painting vegetables and herbs from the garden as well as flowers. Having interesting subjects to paint is always a good justification for adding a new plant to my garden, too.

Seeds, leaves and other bits I pick up on walks with my dogs also find their way into my paintings, as do butterflies (real, imagined and inspired by field guides) and goldfish.

Because I live in Wisconsin where the winters are cold and long it’s then that my attention turns to my indoor garden. I have a large collection of indoor plants and they often work their way into my art. As long as I’m paying attention to the beauty and magic of the natural world, I’m never at a loss for inspiration.

Can you tell us a little bit about your creative space?

My creative space is always evolving. I’m fortunate to be able to use one of the bedrooms in our house as a studio. It’s a very bright space with two windows (which are both jammed with plants). I’ve painted the room white to give a clean backdrop for my work and to make the space brighter. I have two main work tables, one in the center of the room where I do my painting and one along the wall where I do things like trim my watercolor paper, prints and calendars (or fabric when I’m sewing). Recently I had my husband build tall legs for the table along the wall (which is actually a repurposed door) so I can stand up and work without hunching over. It also gives me more room underneath for storage. My computer has its own desk, a cabinet whose back creates an entryway into my studio. I’ve collaged the back of that cabinet with a patchwork of papers and it never fails to bring me joy as I enter my studio.

What is a typical day like for you?

I am most productive in the morning and my part-time job at the local library is a perfect fit because I don’t start there till the afternoon. Many days I spend some time blogging, whether it’s preparing a post for that day or for the future. Usually I spend some time each day responding to emails, networking and working with social media. Depending on where I am in a painting project I might be mixing paint, sketching or painting. Or I might be scanning a painting, cleaning it up in Photoshop, making prints or photographing my art or prints of my art. If I have orders to fill I’ll be packaging up art to send out. I might also be working on planning, filming or editing my latest Skillshare classes. Other days I’m updating my website, doing research or seeking out opportunities. I keep a running to-do list as part of my planner and adjust my schedule according to what special projects are going on. I try to regularly evaluate my way of working to make the most of each day. It’s always a challenge to balance everything.

What are your goals for your creative business?

I want to keep growing. Growing my skills and growing my business. I don’t yet make a fulltime living from my art, but I’m working on expanding my streams of income with that as a goal. Teaching has been a wonderful addition and it’s been so satisfying to be able to inspire people with my classes. I’d like to do more surface pattern design and license more of my art. I’d also like to do more commissions.

Want to see more of Anne?

My website: http://www.mygiantstrawberry.com

My Blog: https://mygiantstrawberry.blogspot.com/

Blog overview: http://www.mygiantstrawberry.com/start

My web shop: http://www.mygiantstrawberry.com/originals

Etsy: https://www.etsy.com/shop/MyGiantStrawberryArt  

Spoonflower: http://www.spoonflower.com/profiles/mygiantstrawberry

Skillshare: https://www.skillshare.com/r/mygiantstrawberry

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/mygiantstrawberry/

Dana Barbieri’s website: http://www.danabarbieri.com/

my sketchbook collaboration with Dana: http://www.mygiantstrawberry.com/2x2

Do you have a small business that you are proud of? Send me a little information about your story at alisaburkesubmissions@gmail.com for the opportunity to be featured in my "The Art of Chasing a Dream" series.

shop update!

Hey friends! From now and through December I will be adding all kinds of handmade goodies to the shop! This week I've got a batch of hand dyed, hand printed scarves you can check them out HERE. 

And a batch of colorful messy pouches, you can check them out HERE.

Due to requests from many you, I'm also extending my early black Friday sale for the rest of this week. You can head over to the shop for low prices.

REMEMBER! Purchase $30 or more in the shop and receive a free exclusive 15 page digital download full of colorful paper and tags to use for your holiday crafting.

Purchase $100 or more in the shop and receive the free digital download AND a free class of you choice! *Please use the notes section at checkout to include your free class choice.

love alone is worth the fight

I've know this guy for 17 years, been married for 12 and boy have we been on a journey! We've been through some tough stuff but through it all we have fought hard for love, for dreams, for family. A couple months ago, Andy surprised me with a pretty little ring and a proposal to renew our wedding vows. We picked November 11th as the day we would have a family ceremony. In the meantime, life got busy, challenges came our way and while we could have put off the plans to renew our vows until things calmed down, it felt really important- for our relationship, for our family, for hope, for love. So last week on November 11th, we stood at our favorite beach and renewed our promises to each other. Andy spoke from the heart, I spoke from heart while crying my eyes out and Lucy jumped for joy...it was one of the most perfect 15 minutes of my life.

creating with mary: color mixing

Hi, friends! I am so thrilled to share with you today how I achieve my favorite, go-to paint colors that tend to show up time and time again in my artwork. I get asked often which brand of paint I use, and specifically - what colors I create with. I want to let you in on a secret: what I'm about to show you is so easy and will have you creating with the most AMAZING color palette ;) ! I use Golden fluid acrylic paint almost exclusively. While I experiment with LOTS of other brands (liquitex is another favorite!) I have yet to find such deliciously bold + bright colors anywhere else!

Here is the line-up. These are the colors I would have a really hard time living without (Note: we must not forget about white! It is not pictured here but is equally as important to me in my color mixing endeavors). Quinacridone Magenta, Primary Magenta, Cobalt Turquoise, Teal, Phthalo Green (Blue Shade), Yellow Ochre, and Hansa Yellow.

Remember how I told you mixing these colors would be easy?! With just about all of them, all I do is add white. 

Yes, that's it! Just look at how gorgeous these colors are. In my artwork I like to use the color straight from the bottle, as well as the color mixed with white. I love the depth and variety.

To achieve my all time favorite yellow - simply mix together Hansa Yellow Opaque, Yellow Ochre, White, and Phthalo Green (Blue Shade).

It is so much fun experimenting with the tints of each color! I hope you enjoy adding these beauties to your palette. Tag us on instagram - we would love to see what you're creating!

You can check out more guest posts from Mary HERE

Or you can find Mary:

Over on her website HERE 
Her shop HERE
Instagram HERE