"Identity" A closer video look at my mixed media painting

Hello mu friends!  I have been making a few videos lately.  As you may know, if you have watched any, the are amateur as I am a newbie and just getting my feet wet.  Here is another very short video.  A closer look at my mixed media painting, "Identity"  I know  some of you have seen this painting already, but for those of you that haven't, please have a look.  For those of you that have, maybe you want to have a second look?
I have to say that I always feel a connection to my creations.  That doesn't mean I can't let go of my work as I know some artists have a hard time doing.  As a matter of fact, it really gives me a sense of joy and fulfillment to see one of my paintings, or cards, or tags or Gelli prints go into the hands of someone who loves them enough to take them home.  I know they will be cherished, which makes me feel wonderful.  The truth is though, that I do feel more of a connection to certain pieces.  For some reason, this is one painting that I feel particularly attached to. While I will certainly be ecstatic to see it find a loving new home, it will be bittersweet, as I will also feel sad to see "Identity" go.  Perhaps that is why I have posted it a couple of times and created this short video.
For anyone that likes this painting and is interested in seeing how I made it, please have a look at this post to see my process.
As for the videos, that is my goal for this year, to create videos and work on my YouTube channel.  There will be videos of my art, our shows, some haul videos and, hopefully my focus, art and craft tutorials.
If you like my few short videos and what I have been sharing here on my blog, please subscribe to my YouTube channel and give me some thumbs up!
And I know this is long overdue, but I am finally on Instagram for anyone who is interested. Find me  mimi.johnson358
Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have and awesome and artful day!

Jane Davenport Haul!!! and Happy New Year!!!

Hello my friends and Happy New Year!  Things have been a little crazy around here and I can't believe t's already the middle of January, and this is my first post of the year..  I hope everyone is great, settling into 2017 and anticipating lots of wonderful things this year.  I don't really make "resolutions", but I do have a mental list of some things tat I'd like to try this year.
Last year was a year for several new things for me.  I have to admit, I'm a little "old school" when it comes to technology, but I'm trying!  I started this blog last January, my first and only (so far!).  I still don't really know what I'm doing and have a lot to learn, but I am having so much fun with it.  I love sharing with all of you.  I love seeing that people from all over the world have stopped in to have a peek at what I have been up to.  I think it is so amazing to feel connected to people in so many countries.  My original intent with this blog, was to share my art and cards with my sister, who I haven't seen for several years and who lives 3000 miles away.  I had text Kerry some photos of of cards that Ii had been making and she was interested in trying some as well.  I thought this would be a great way to craft together.  We could speak on the phone and them I could show her what I was talking about in my blog and share different ideas and techniques with her.
I also joined some FB groups for the first time.  The first one i joined was  the One Little Tag Craft Challenge, (which is continuing this year, in case anyone is interested in checking it out)  So I made tags for the first time, which I really love making.  The idea behind the challenge was to try and make on little tag a day, just to stimulate your creativity.  Once a day isn't always possible, but that doesn't matter.  To be honest, I haven't made a tag yet this year.  I started off really well last year but sometimes life gets in the way of art projects, or sometimes other art projects get in the way of tags.  It still didn't matter, you can jump in and out as much as you like.  But I have to tell you, it really kept me inspired.  So you will find many many tags on my blog.  I also joined some great Google communities.  I have found that people are so kind and supportive and it is so motivating.  So thank you to any of you who may be a part of the FB groups and G+ communities I am in.  I will share links at the end to some of those wonderful groups I participate in.
I know I am a little slow with my technology, but I have set up an Instagram account.  I haven't posted anything yet, but once I get going I will share that as well. So that was one thing I wanted to do this year. Another goal this year is to do some crafting videos, so hopefully I will have some of those to share on my YouTube channel as well.  I have never done any art journalling, that is something I'd like to do this year.  There are other little creative challenges I think I will be trying throughout the year as well.
I hope you are inspired to try some new creative endeavors this year.  I would love to hear some of the ideas on your list.  It might spark even more new interests for me, or others that may read this.

NOW, without further adieu, let's get to Jane Davenport!!!  I was so excited to see so many YouTube videos showing that her product was now available.  Then I was disappointed, because there was nothing at my local Michaels (I believe this is exclusive to Michaels) and when I searched Michaels Canada, nothing came up for Jane Davenport.  Alas, I thought, it must only be in the US.  Well, I did not give up my search and I am so happy to report that the Jane Davenport line IS also in Canada, although it is not at every store.  I was also very pleased to discover that they were not a crazy price point, (especially with coupons!) and some items were quite reasonable even without the coupons.
What I am sharing is a collective haul from a couple of different Michaels stores spanning a distance of 4 towns!  I have not tried any of this product yet, and I will be sure to share with you what I think of it when I do.  Most of the reviews (all actually) that I have seen have been good, so I was pretty confident making my purchases  There are many more items in the line, including water colours, pens journals, rub-ons and more.  I will probably get some more things down the line, but I did manage to  get most of what I wanted.

I am excited to try these pencils, they supposedly play very well with paint and other media

I actually have a lot of Gesso and matte and other mediums that I use in my  painting, but I thought I would try these anyways.  They are a handy size to keep with my crafting supplies

All these stamps were a very good price point, in my opinion.  They were $8, or maybe even $8.99 (Cdn), so probably even less in the US.

This stamp set is going to be so fun to play with, creating different faces!

I am also looking forward to giving these a try, especially the white, I am always on the hunt for good white pens for mixed media.

How cool are these!

Funny story, my friend Lynn was with me for the majority of my Jane Davenport hunt.  We were both looking for the stencils but couldn't find them at either store.  Lo and behold, when I got home I discoed that the stencils were in with the paints.  It did say that on the packaging, but we missed it in our excitement.

I am looking forward to giving my new stash some creative love.  However, I am also busy painting as I will be displaying my art at the Ajax Town hall soon, and I am hoping to have some fresh new works, which I will share.  So, now that I have all my Jane Davenport goodies, before they sold out, I will reluctantly have to put them aside for a little while.  But next month, I'm sure I will have someting to share, so make sure to check back.  It would be great to hear what any of you, who have the new products, think of them.

Thanks so much for stopping by, here's to a wonderful creative year together! xo

Here are slinks to some of the different groups and communities I have been enjoying, I hope you can check them out.
One Little Tag Craft Challenge , Facethescraps , Creating and Sharing Mixed Media Art ,All Things Mixed Media Art! , Krafters Kommunity , Card Making Haven

A closer look at "Inner Workings" My latest mixed media painting

Hello all!  Thanks for joining me.  While I was at the reception of our show at Art Square last night, I took the opportunity to do a closeer look at my painting, "Inner Workings".  I know that some of you have already seen this painting on a previous post, but if you are interested, this is a little more true to life.  It is also, my very first post on my YouTube channel!  Yay!
For thos of you that  are interested in some close up shots and a look at the process and you haven't already seen my previous post, you can find it here.
Thanks so much for stopping by and having a look!

"Inner Workings" A new Mixed Media painting

Hello !  Today I bring to you my latest creation, a mixed media painting I have titled

 "Inner Workings"

This painting will be heading to Art Square tomorrow, a downtown Toronto venue close to the AGO, along with several other paintings done by the talented artists in another group I belong to, Ajax Creative Arts.  It's difficult to see all the details and texture of this painting in a photo, so I have taken a few close-ups.  I really enjoyed creating this piece.  I had an idea what I wanted to do, but at the same time this painting was largely intuitive and very personal.  I knew what colour inks I wanted to use, I knew I wanted to use gears and I had a vision of the basic composition.  I knew I wanted a lot of texture.  I didn't know how it was going to come together and the words occurred to me after I had already started..  I like the idea that they are part of the painting, but not the focal point.  They will be discovered as someone examines the painting..  I am very happy how this painting turned out and for some reason, I feel a real connection to it.  I hope you enjoy the close ups and at the end I have shared a little of my process as well, if you are interested.

I was already into the painting when I thought that I should document the process for my blog.  I had already added a lot of texture with modelling paste, beads and crystals. and established my composition.  Once that was dry, I painted over everything with acrylic paint.  Then I decided I wanted to incorporate some words into the background and did some stenciling with some white pearl modelling paste.

I created the gears using aluminum tape and I die cut them to shape.  Once my background was complete, I tempoarily added them to the background to give me an idea how I wanted to position them

Then I removed them, sealed them and aged them before adhering them to my painting

Now I was ready for the acrylic ink.  I added the ink in layers and moved it around with some water.  You can never predict exactly what result you will get when it dries.  While there was definitely a method to  my madness as I laid down the colours,  the ink does such wonderful things as it dries into the textured background that you cannot know as you lay it down.  I was excited when I awoke the next day to see how it had turned out.  I loved it!  As I move around the ink with water, there is a spray that occurs, which I like but It can be a little bit busy. So for my final touches, I muted some of the spray and recreated some quiet space.  I hope you like the end result

Thank you so much for letting me share my work, my process and my thoughts with you today.

Tag 9-4 Another Christmas Tag using the crackle background #onelittletag

Hello my friends!

Today was my birthday and my friend Bonnie gave me the new Kaisercraft "Frosted" stack.  So naturally, since I enjoy making them anyways, I'm in the mood for Christmas tags.

I have been wanting to make a tag using the background I created using the crackle technique for Mixed Media Morsels. I knew I wanted to use it for a Christmas tag

I cut out ephemera from my new paper and edged it with vintage photo distress ink.  I took a sled I had previously die cut from gold card out of my stash.  I also got a "Recollections" Christmas flower from my stash.

I used some Glitter Snow, Diamond dust and Stickles to embellish the tag.  I layered onto some white gold shimmer card and then mounted onto heavy black card.

Thank you so much for stopping by!  I hope you enjoyed  my tag today.  If you are new to my blog and have been enjoying my tags and like to make tags yourself, you may want to check out the FB group that started me on this tag making journey! it is The One Little Tag Craft Challenge

Have an awesome and artful day!

Very Cool Crackle paint technique MMM#27 #Mixed Media Morsels

Hello my friends!  I also belong to a FB group called Mixed Media Morsels created by Cat Hand.  Some of you that may have been following along for a while, may have seen some other "morsels"  I have participated in.  Sometimes I spread myself a little thin, consequently, there are a lot of morsels that I have yet to do.  But this technique intrigued me, so I made a point of doing it.  I have used crackle pasres before, but I did this with plain old Elmer's glue!  Not bad!  Here is a link to Cat's video that inspired me to try this.  Mixed Media Morsel #27  She is using a crackle medium, but mentions that the same can be accomplished with glue.

First I inked my background using Tim Holtz distress inks so that it would be darker through the cracks.

I have found that you can create an interesting background by rubbing your paper or card over the ink pads after blending your initial background.  Although, you won't see much of this using the crackle technique!

After I had inked my card, I applied a decent coat of glue (I used Elmer's, I'm sure others would work, but it probably should be white school glue")

I let it dry for about 15 minutes, which seemed to be just about the perfect timing. Then I added a coat of acrylic craft paint.  According to some of the posts on Mixed Media Morsels, the timing is important, too soon or too late and you don't get a good crackle effect.  I guess I was lucky with my first attempt,  so I don't know first-hand what happens with a different timing

The one in the top right corner had an almost instant effect!  The other two that I did took a little longer, but not much.  You can see results quickly, but let it dry thoroughly before trying to work with it.

Thanks for stopping by to have a look at this technique and a big thanks to Cat Hand for sharing it.. I hope you think it's as cool as I do!  I will be creating some tags with these backgrounds, but I was so excited that it worked so well, that I wanted to share right away!  There are many people that would not understand why this would excite me, but I'm sure most of you do, lol!
Hope you give it a try and have some fun.  Have an awesome and artful day, my friends!