Happy Holidays 2011

Peace & love to you all!
XOXO
Willow

Hello!

smarty-pants owls

These little guys were inspired by a swap-bot ATC swap.
Ingredients:
Watercolor paper
Gesso
Corner rounder
Pigment ink in Chocolate
Vintage book pages
StazOn Jet Black ink
White charcoal
Black china marker
Telly Roll clear stardust
Souffle in opaque white
Sparkle MOD Podge
Dimensional paper glaze
Paint brushes
Ink stamps
Scissors
Patterned paper
Bookbinding glue
Directions:
1.Cut paper 2 1/2 by 3 1/2 to make the card or purchase some readymade ATC blanks.
2. Liberally paint white opaque gesso in vertical strokes to prime the cards.
Let dry throughly.
3. Glue on a strip of interesting book page to the bottom 1/4 of the page. Let dry completely.
4. Clip the corners once dry.
5. Ink the surface to emphasize the textures of the dry gesso
and paper.
6. Cut out your subject and glue to attach. Let it dry.
7. Paint glitter glue on to create balance. Let dry.
8. When dry draw around the main subject with white charcoal and then black china marker.
9. Accent with Sakura Stardust pen.
10. Add elements with black ink and stamps.
11. Add drops of dimensional paper glaze to eyes and elements to emphasize. Dry.
12. Top off the dry glaze with opaque pen.

You did it! Now make another! Sign, title, date, and number each one. They are collector items-fun to create, trade, and collect!

XOXO
Willow

Little Bit of Boo!

1. Hand carved stamps... Fun to do!
2. StazOn black ink
3. White ink (opaque)
4. Clear dimensional paint
5. Decorative paper
6. Book pages
7. White acrylic gesso
I veered from my bookmaking glue and used a glue stick to put these together...and it worked great!

Autumn ATC

Hello Autumn!
Here's a little Artist Trading Card I'm sending out today to my Swap-bot buddy! Hope she likes it!

Materials:
Strathmore Bristol ATC blank
Vintage book page
Green and brown gouache paint
Shimmer mist
Staz-on black ink
Josie Cirincione's rubber stamp
Sakura jelly roll pen in clear stardust
PH neutral PVA bookbinders adhesive
Fun!

Artist Trading Cards

Hello friends!
We've completed 5 weeks of art exploring...learning, making, sharing... Now what? Why not join an artists trading card group!? Fun! Yahoo and www.swap-bot.com both have groups of cReATiVe people just like you who want to stay inspired by swapping art. Just join a group and submit your work! Then open your mailbox and find worldly treasures awaiting you! I love them! Here are some snippets from our Tuesday night class to get you excited!
Great work everyone!
XOXO
Willow

Project Time

I want to paint...now what?

Painting is fun and a relaxing way to spend time focusing on the good things...color, light, shimmer, shine... But how do I get that? How can I have fun with paint!?

Explore the Possiblities!

Our Tuesday night class completely filled up overnight! So, if you did not get a spot...you might live vicariously through some of our fun right here. I will be posting our official class syllabus and project examples as we go... so tune in for updates daily. Thanks! And, a big thanks to all my adult students who officially be came my new muse in less than 2. 5 hours of chit-chatting! I haven't been this excited about something healthy (Trader Joe's came out with some new chocolate that contains pecans, toffee, sea salt, and pure dark goodness that I've officially became obsessed with) for quite some time! I am so lucky to have you in my midst! Yay! Now, let's dive in to your creative potential and discover what fuels your drive to create!
XOXO
Willow

Artist Trading Card Fun!

Journaling

got me back in the swing of things.... and ATC's seemed like the perfect way to try out some of the new techniques I was playing with. So, here are my newest (the last 2 months) trading cards still up for grabs. I just traded my last Sacred Heart... I'll hunt for a picture to post or, if you have one of the series please post a picture of it here. Fun!

Strathmore Journal Project

Okay...
I found this fun project while researching the new trend of "Visual Journals"... It's something that all artists and creatives do without really thinking of it being a neat product. But, now it's a neat product. Hahahaha. So, of course I ran out... far out (we live in the smallest town ever)to grab one of these nifty journals. And I grabbed one so quickly that I totally missed that they come in a variety of paper types, so I got the "drawing" journal... not the Watercolor one like the first class instructor will tell you to grab. It's okay though, they're all great. The paper quality is amazingly thick and absorbent. I really liked journaling with mixed media on the plain pages before starting lesson one. And, because I happen to have some extra 140 lb. Strathmore watercolor paper laying around (lots of it actually) after my big obsession with cutting out freshly watercolored fruit and flowers for Etsy greeting cards... I just made my little collage on a piece cut to fit in the journal. Wonderful! I recomend this project to all of you. Even if you don't have a pile of old journals to use as a starting point, you can just start from scratch! Do it. Really. It's fun.

Coffee or tea?

pomegranates and coffee cups

For Love of Story and Art…

I fell in love with these books! (Now I’m an ambassador for the publisher ...barefoot books :). I just love the illustrations and the imaginative stories! Yea! Follow the link below if you want to shop from my storefront. Have fun!

xoxox Willow

http://www.willowpaint.barefootbooks.com/