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

Trust the Magic - A Mixed Media Girl

Hello my friends!  Today I am sharing another whimsical  mixed media girl.   My sister wanted me to do a fairy girl, so she is a fairy. (I love fairies, too)  I think I am going to do a series and make some cards with them..  This seems to be what I am enjoying for the moment!

When I started this art project, I had no idea what I was going to be doing.  In fact, I was doing various backgrounds to choose one for my first attempt at  Mike Deacons "Mission Inspiration|" (which I still haven't finished, but will be posting soon!)  So I did things in a specific order on all of them to start with, since I wasn't sure which one I was going to use.

We were supposed to add colour with a baby wipe, add some tissue paper or napkin fragments and then cover with a thin coat of Gesso..  this is where I veered off coarse.  The next step was to do some embossing paste through a stencil and then add two opposite colors.  I used my sprays and was starting to add to use opposite colours, but got carried away with the sprays!  I liked the direction this was going but knew that it wouldn't be for the challenge.  I actually ended up with several backgrounds that I really liked (and that you will eventually see) as well as my page for the mission. So it was a productive day at art last Wednesday.

Tonight, this is the background that I chose to use and added some embossing paste through some Tim Holtz stencils (he has such cool stencils!)  I actually did some embossing on all of the backgrounds, since I had everything out, but I did this one with intent!

Then I got one of the copies of a face I had sketched on watercolour paper.  I decided I wanted to start off with paint on this one. First I added in the outline of the face and neck.  I used acrylic paint (craft).  This is the first one I have done with acrylic paint.

I added in some details with a black  marker.

Then I copied it, slightly reduced on white card and added in some more details.  I knew this was too big for my project, but with my vision issues, it's a little easier to work larger.

I copied her again, much small, and cut her out.  I cut out some hair and her dress from some scraps of patterned paper in my stash.

I needed to add some wings, so I scrbbly sketched some on some vellum with a gold Sharpie.  Then I thought I would use the rubber cement foiling technique.  So I used the brush provide in the glue jar to roughly "paint" around the wings, let it dry and then put my deco foil on top and gave it a rub.

I edged her hair with my gold ink and her dress with some distress ink.  Then I assembled her.

I added her to my page, outlined her with a PITT pen, added my sentiment (a Prima stamp)  I punched out some butterflies from some gold foil paper. 

 In retrospect, I may not have added them, or so many,  But too late know, so I outlined them to give them more definition, since they weren't going anywhere!

I hope you enjoyed todays post.  Thanks so much for stopping by and letting my share my efforts with you.  Have an awesome and artful day!

Be Awesome - A Whimsical mixed-media Girl

Hello my friends!
I thought you might like to see what I did with my whimsical girl.  As I mentioned in my earlier post, I thought I might cut her out and use her on a mixed-media piece.

I started off with some Canson watercolour paper.

I started off with some pink craft paint that I applied with a baby wipe.  To be honest, this was originally starting out as something else that ended up being the background for my whimsical girl.  That's why I was using craft paint.

Then I collaged on a few pieces of a pretty napkin.  Then I used a light coat of gesso to push it back a bit

Next I added some gold embossing paste through a couple of stencils.  That Tim Holtz stencil is my absolute favourite!

Then I added some sprays.

I cut out my girl, edged her with gold ink  and adhered her to my page.  I added some more embossing paste on top of her to tie everything together.  I also added some more spray.  Suddenly she had little purple freckles!  I thought I had covered her, but I didn't want to end up with a harsh line, and it turns out I didn't protect her well enough.  Now, I have a confession too make.  Because I wasn't initially sure what I was going to do, I made a copy of her.  So the truth is, the copy ended up with the freckles.  Which, having freckles myself (although not purple), I don't mind. Then I printed out my words, edged them with gold ink, then black archival ink, and added them to my page.

Then I got out  one of my PITT pens and some stamps and ink for some finishing touches.

Thanks so much for stopping by, I hope you enjoyed your visit!  Have  an artful day and 

BE AWESOME!