New Video: Edgy Inking Technique

If you've tried to ink the edges of your photos or projects and felt frustrated by the unsightly lines and gloppiness, then I've got the perfect video for you!

A few close-ups so you can see the subtle shading.

This quick video (less than 1.5 minutes) is the fifth in my Quick Tip Series and you'll learn my secret to beautiful shaded edges on my projects.
Enjoy!



If you want to know how I created the background on this project, be sure to sign up for my free monthly newsletter! I'll be sharing my secret in the April issue with a link and password to a sneak peek of a new technique video. You won't want to miss it.

My monthly newsletter, A Bit of Whimsy, is filled with inspiration, beautiful artwork, and quick tips. Plus...starting in April, each quarter, one lucky subscriber will win an exciting prize!

Subscribe to my free monthly newsletter

Pin It


Happy Creating!

xoxo
Bethany

New Video! UpCycling Candy Wrappers: DIY Chubby Bird

Don't you just love spring? Spring is my favorite season. As a child growing up in the Chicago land area, spring was the end to the dirty, grey snow and the beginning of shorts! Just thinking about it, makes me frolicsome. (Now, in sunny Arizona, I wear shorts all year!)

I digress...

In honor of Spring, I created a few chubby birds using up-cycled candy wrappers from Valentine's Day. (Love those Kisses!)

Here's a close-up that really show these girls' personalities.

This is a very easy project that would be fun to do with the kiddos. Don't believe me? Take a look at my technique video. The materials and sources can also be found in the video.




BTW, you may have seen this video in Stampington's PostScript! I was thrilled to be a guest artist for them this month!

Pin It


Happy Creating!

xoxo
Bethany

Creative Foundations Blog Hop

Welcome to my blog! If you are following the Creative Foundations Blog Hop, you've come over from Kelly Goree's beautiful blog. If you haven't been following the blog hop, please begin at the talented Vicki Boutin's blog to get all the details.

Vicki Boutin just published an amazing technique book for scrapbookers and beginner mixed-media artists. It is filled with ideas using basic, easy-to-find supplies. (If you'd like to purchase Creative Foundations go here.)

I am a very lucky contributor to this book and I'm just thrilled about it. Because I love cool techniques, I created a new piece just for this blog hop. It measures 5x7 and is created using the burnished metal method on page 54. Instead of using acrylics to color the metal, I used alcohol inks.

I also cut words out of a magazine (technique on page 16) to create the poem on the piece. It reads: "do not forget love is always vast."

As you hop along to the next talented artist, Danielle Flanders, your secret word is COPY.

Happy Creating!

xoxo
Bethany

Scrapbooking Revisted

I think the last time I scrapbooked was over a year ago. Unfortunately, I burned out and didn't touch a 12x12 sheet of cardstock except to tuck it safely away. I continued to take photos of the kids, but I just didn't have the heart to scrapbook them. In fact, just 6 months ago, I finally figured out that I would never ever in a million years be able to "catch up" on all the pictures, events and memories. (I'm a very slow learner, obviously!) I bought 15 albums, 20 sets of page protectors for 4x6 pictures and set to putting all of my pictures into those albums by year. A huge undertaking, to say the least. I'm still working on that little project. I hope to have it completed by Christmas 2013. Yeah, that's right, 2013.

Ritual documents our tradition of reading before bedtime.

Style Girl documents E's amazing and funky sense of style. The title was  created with DecoArt SnowTex writers

While I handled all the pictures, memories flooded over me and suddenly the scrapbooking bug bit me again. I picked up a few 12x12s and did a few pages, for old times sake. The pictures that I chose were ones that were sitting around. (They aren't even current.) This session was extremely rewarding and I remembered why I loved this art form for so many years: it is a great way to connect in an artistic way with loved ones, it is a relatively quick project and it is a great way to reminisce on happy memories. Although, I don't see myself as a strict scrapbooker anymore, I still love it and will every-so-often create a new layout.

New Bunks records D and Z's foray into sharing a room which lasted years and lead to them becoming best friends.

Noses 2 documents the special relationship between my father and E

However, I'm not the same scrapbooker I was a year ago. I'm not gaga over the newest lines of papers. I don't feel like I need the new chipboard alphabets. Instead, I found myself reaching into my "junk bin" of papers from previous projects. I found myself painting with wild abandon. Combining my knowledge of mixed-media techniques to create backgrounds on chipboard and cardboard. It was fun to combine bits of this and that into one cohesive whole. The pages that resulted are different, fresh and filled with the memories of previous projects. I love them.

I hope that this week, you too can feel that awesome sense of elation that occurs when creating!

xoxo
Bethany

Sculpting with Paperclay: Gerald and Connie

I just met the most delightful couple. Gerald and Connie.

They've been married for about 23 years and frequently go to the beach on vacation. They usually spend way too much time there (hence the reason why Gerald is slightly pinkish) and go back home to Indiana with sand in their pockets and shells in their buckets.

Connie holds a beach ball. She's practically a professional beach volleyball player while Gerald welcomes in the season with a cool banner. Connie's lipstick is never smudged and she is quite proud of her fancy-shmancy-ness.

Gerald is a little bit more down to earth.

I simply must show you their feet because that seems to be all the rage on FB these days.

Oh, and you can't forget Gerald's chest. Apparently, he's been eating loads of lobster. (Everyone knows that it puts hair on your chest...giggle...)

All of the supplies for this cute couple can be found in your local craft store. Gerald and Connie were created with Creative Paperclay which is an airdry clay. Perfect for the distractable sculpter (like me.) I'm a big fan of Paperclay and use it quite frequently. (Okay, just about weekly.) They were painted with DecoArt paints.

Happy Creating!

xoxo
Bethany

Working 3D on a 2D Surface

As you know, I'm quite drawn to the whole idea of creating dimension on a flat surface. I've been experimenting with this concept for years now and I'm still not done. There are quite a few pieces that I've created in the past that explore the idea of 3D on a 2D surface.

I've done this with fabric and batting on paper...

in my art journal.

 

on cards...(This card appeared in an article in Somerset Studio. What an absolute thrill for me. A dream come true, really.)

I've also experimented with Creative Paperclay...

You might remember this cupcake from Somerset Apprentice. (Another dream come true!)

These hearts are now in my Etsy shop.

This piece now resides in the home of a good friend. It feels like a piece of my heart lives somewhere else now.

This one lives in my boy's room. It fits.

The next two appeared in Somerset Studio.

And of course with paper and DecoArt textures...

For some reason, these textures have me hooked on the bird theme.

This one won Second Place in the Laveen Art League Gallery Show a few weeks ago. (I couldn't have been more excited!)

This one not only won Honorable Mention in a Laveen Art League Gallery Show in September, 2011, but it is also an advertisment for DecoArt in Paintworks magazine (Feb 2012) and it is on the back cover of DecoArt's 2012 catalogue.

This one is a favorite and therefore I gifted it to one of my BFFs.

I think that the concept of 3D on a 2D surface has become a part of my style because I recently created these little works for friends. (I used the newest DecoArt acrylic paint colors. I love how bright and cheery they are.)

Obviously, I love dimension! I can't wait to experiment further! I was recently directed to a bloggy friend's (Daniele Valois) exploration of dimension using styrofoam. This might be my next medium!

Happy Creating!

xoxo

Bethany