Happy Easter with Sizzix

Head on over to the Sizzix blog and see how I created this easy Project Life card! Have a great Easter and see you next week!

Paper Mache Easter Eggs for Boys

Yesterday I shared a sweet little Easter Egg box that, frankly is strictly for girls. If I gave that to my 14 year old son I think he would disown me. Well, maybe that's a little harsh....but he wouldn't think it was cool at all.

So, how do you decorate eggs for boys? How about this idea. Wrap the ribbon just like I showed you yesterday, but instead of decorating with a pretty foofy pink bow -- add a bird nest, eggs and a cute little bird.

Now that I've got the base part created, I can add a few flowers and branches without making it look too girly. I also stuck with masculine colored ribbons and paint colors to help.

If you've got two boys, use different birds, or add a simple, hand written name tag so they know which egg belongs to them.

Now, I just need my husband to help me with the geo-caching thing and the hunt will be on!

Thanks for dropping by, come back tomorrow to see who is the winner of the Catherine Scanlon Designs / Art Gone Wild Blog Hop AND a sweet Easter Card!

Have a great day.

Easy Peasy Easter Eggs

Spring is here, even though we got a few inches of snow this morning. With the arrival of spring means Easter is right around the corner. Sunday to be exact. This Sunday.

Since, as you well know by now I'm a last minute kinda gal, I thought I'd share how to put this super easy and quick Easter egg together.

I started with a 6" Paper Mache Egg that I picked up in my travels and painted it green. Since I have three kids that I'm making them for I also painted the other two while I was in the mode.

When the paint was dry I used a hot glue gun to add some ribbon to the TOP of the egg. The first ribbon was just long enough to wrap once around the egg with no room for bows. The ends overlapped and are tucked under the second ribbon. 

The second ribbon was long enough to wrap around the egg, tie in a knot and make a single bow.

For a fuller look to my bow, I cut a second, shorter piece of ribbon and tied a second bow over the top. The base to my egg is complete.

 

For some added prettiness, I hot glued some flowers and leaves around the bow and a hand-lettered tag. It's ready -- and the hardest part was waiting for the paint to dry so I could add some decorations!

 

The 6" eggs are large enough for quite a few little trinkets and some paper grass as well. I can't wait to add them to the geo-cache pile, I hope the weather holds!

THANKS for dropping by today, have a great day!

The Whatevers 2: April

It's that time of the month --  APRIL Whatevers Two! We have a fun photo for you to play with this month. Hope you can join in. If you are not familiar with "Whatevers" You can read more about it here. But basically my friends...Vic, Nat, Cuchy, Martha and I have committed to a full year of bringing new life to forgotten photos. Each month we create a page and give it a story using that months photo. We share the photo with you in hopes that you will play along and join in the fun.

You will find more info and details at the bottom of this post.

Here are the links to the other girls blogs so you can see their creations this month.

Martha Richardson

Vicki Chrisman

Nat Kalbach

Carmen Sanchez

When Winston was a young man and thought about what his life would be he never imagined what it would be like to grow old with Morning Glory. There was always a different woman sitting beside him on the porch.

 

While he couldn’t make out her features, he always knew she would wear brightly colored clothes and have hair to match. In his thoughts he felt like he was pretty happy with her.

He would always felt guilty about that, especially after reality set in that she had passed away and he REALLY wasn't going to grow old with her. Through all that he had experienced in his life, this one fact seemed to bother him the most. He never doubted his love for either woman, and as Newton and Winnie grew could hardly remember his life with Morning Glory. With each passing day she had faded farther and farther away from his mind.

Now that he had been forcibly reacquainted with his and Morning Glory's children he couldn't stop imagining what his life would have been like if the fire had never happened.

Here is how it works

• Vicki, Cat, Cuchy (Carmen), Martha and I and I have made a one-year commitment to each other and picked twelve photos with Whatevers whom we will give a story.

• Every month – if possible always on the 15th –  each of us will do a post with an individual story that goes along for us with the same photo.

• If you want you can play along and we will have the photo for you to download and show us your version of The Whatevers. The photo will be posted at the end of our blogposts- not on Facebook!

• There are no rules to the story itself- it can be funny, sad, uplifting, breathtaking- WHATEVER
  There are no rules on the length or the form of the story- it can be a short sentence, an essay, a poem or a soap opera – WHATEVER

• There are no rules on the artform you choose – it can be a scrapbook layout, an altered art project, an artjournal page – WHATEVER

• Here is a rule though: if you take the photo you have to link back to us and show us your story.
   
• These pictures are from our personal stash and are for personal use for you only! If you want to use them for a publication whether a book or magazine in print or digital form please ask for permission

• If you want to participate we’ll have a linky list for each Whatever Post.

You can also join our The Whatevers -Facebook Page

An InLinkz Link-up

Blog Hop with Catherine Scanlon Designs + Art Gone Wild!

I'm super excited to share a fun project that I've been organizing over the last few weeks -- and I'm even more excited that I've got some amazing friends joining me!

Not only will you be inspired by some really beautiful projects created by these very talented artists friends of mine using my stamps and stencils but I'm happy to announce that I've got a few prizes to give out at the end as well!

I'm happy to finally announce my very first blog hop using my stamps from Art Gone Wild and Friends! This has been quite a journey -- from drawing designs in my notebooks and sketchbooks to seeing them as products -- a total dream come true. It's funny, the first time I realized that I had achieved one of my largest dreams -- I couldn't stop the tears from running down my face. it's amazing to see the fruits of your labors finally pay off -- when you realize it it's the most amazing feeling!

You can see out the entire catalog with the Winter release at Art Gone Wild by clicking on the catalog image.

• You can also see the Summer, 2013 release here (Direct LINK to Catalog: http://agwstamps.com/catalogs/winter_2013_pdfs/Catherine_Scanlon_late_2013.pdf). 
• For wholesales inquiries you can contact Art Gone Wild at sales@royalacme.com
• To see a list of stores (on-line and in person) that carry my stamps you can go to my blog and look at this link: Places-you-can-buy-my-stamps and stencils

So let's get this party started and get on with the fun!! I'm so happy to have these amazingly talented ladies joining me for this blog hop and even more excited to see what they've created using my stamps and stencils.

I used this set, Flower Stamps 2.

To create a funky Journal Page with Private Journaling and some fun color adding and subtracting techniques.

I started out by covering the entire page with journaling, in pencil about what motivates me. To add the flower designs, I stamped and random pattern with the Flower Stamps 2 set using VersaMark Ink and sprinkled White Embossing Powder over. 

 

After they were heat set I added color with Red and Yellow Distress Paint and LOTS of water. I let that dry and then added a layer of blue Distress Paint. Where the red and blue met you can see a beautiful purple color. When those colors were dry I used black paint to hide some of the journaling that was more private and I didn't want people to be able to make out what the words were.

 

To finish up I enhanced the colors with colored pencil and added journaling with a white Gel Pen. The top of the page was kind of lonesome so I filled in around the flowers with leaves and stems. It turned out pretty nice, and it felt good to get that off my chest!

Well, that's ALL I've got today, make sure you HOP on over to everyone else and see what they are up to. Make sure you leave a comment ON THIS blog for a chance to win a Clear Stamp Set, courtesy of Art Gone Wild!

• Art from the Heart by Catherine Scanlon Designs < --- You are here!

• This Art that Makes me Happy by Vicki Chrisman 

• The Mermaid's Closet by Martha Richardson 

• Pearl Maple by Mandy Collins

• Kooky Delucy by Kathie DeLuca

• n*Studio by Nat Kalbach

• Live the Dream by Jennie Atkinson

I mentioned that I had a few prizes to give out -- to be eligible to win, leave a comment on Catherine's (www.cmscanlon.blogspot.com) blog by Friday, April 18th.

• The two Winners will be chosen on April 18th, and will be posted on the Art from the Heart by Catherine Scanlon Designs blog. 
• The two winners will be emailed that they have won, so please remember, when commenting make sure to leave an email address where you may be reached so I can email you that you've won and get your mailing address. 
• New winners will be chosen after a few days, so be sure to reply right away. 
• This is Give Away is OPEN to International Readers! 

THANKS for joining me today, I'll share where I've been the last few weeks pretty soon, just waiting on a few results to be sent over! Good LUCK!

We Do Not Remember Days...

I'm running around trying to finish up those last minute details and I remembered I wanted to do a quick post before I leave for the Mixed Media Retreat in a few hours!

I wanted to share a few cards I made for the Art Gone Wild booth at CHA back in January! 

This card was made using a stamp from the Edna's Flowers Set and I hand lettered the sentiment. Perfect for a Project Life Card!

  

This stamp is from Esther's Garden Set and perfect for any occasion.

This stamp is the Daffodil Spray stamp, and is a single stamp. You could easily create this card when you have a spare minute and add a sentiment when you need a card to send out!

Thanks for dropping by, have a GREAT weekend!

Another Project Life Card!

I forgot that I had another project life card to share with you --- feel free to print from here. It might be a good thing that I forgot to share it before -- because now I have something to post about today, LOL. It's going to be a whirlwind around here as I finish up the last minute prep for the retreat this weekend!

Thank you for dropping by, have a lovely day.

Teaching is so Rewarding!

Today I wanted to share some photos from a workshop in Shetland, UK over the weekend with the lovely and talented Jennie Atkinson. I first met Jennie when she signed up for a class with me at My Creative Classroom several years ago, and in a recent email to me said this:

I always tell everyone that I am only where I am today because of you - by doing your courses you stretched me in ways I would never have thought possible.  Your courses are always so well organized and I know you put a lot of time and effort into them to get it right.

It's been so exciting watching Jennie's progress as she incorporated what I taught into her toolbox. Now, she's teaching amazing classes and sharing that and that makes me super excited too -- and super blessed that I am able to share what I do.

Here are a few pictures from her class at the Tingwall School last weekend.

 I spy, with my little eye -- something familiar on this page!

It sure looks like they are having a great time AND I'm super excited that she shared some pictures using my Black Eyed Susan stamp. Thank you so much Jennie.

You can check out Jennie's class schedule here and check out my on-line classes at Merrymeeting Art House or here at My Creative Classroom!

Thanks for dropping by today, have a great week. I think I'm finallly on the mend from a super nasty cold that's been hanging around since last week!

 

Just Be..

I've been nursing a nasty cold since last week. At least the downtime give me plenty of drawing time. I haven't really felt like doing any thing but being a couch potato.

Sharing a little challenge I did last week with the words Just Be. Simple but relaxing as there were no expectations - I should have added the words healthy there somewhere! Determined to kick this cold in the butt this week!

Have a great day, thanks for dropping by!

Mixed Media - FREE Book Download at ISSUU!

I'm really super over the moon can't stand still excited to finally share my news with you.... the FREE eBook that Mandy Collins and I have been working together to create is finally available for download. (click on the image below to go directly to it on ISSUU.)

This is a 44 page book that contains a ton of amazing inspiration and colorful work, step-by-step tutorials for mail art and visual journaling.

We've put so much thought and effort into this book in the last 6 weeks and learned so much along the way! We have bigger and more collaborative goals in mind but this little gem was the perfect way for us to work out some of the bugs that happen when working collaboratively, internationally, with multiple platforms, photo editing software and all the challenges that go along with trying to create amazing content with multiple artists.

Feel free to share, download to your tablets -- but most importantly please be inspired by our hard work.

Thanks for stopping by and enjoy your weekend!

The Whatevers -- March

 

It's that time of the month again, when Vic, Nat, Martha, Cuchy and I come together to share out Whatevers stories with you! Make sure you visit everyone to see where their story goes in this super fun project -- and also make sure you download the image and play along!

• Martha
• Nathalie
• Vic
• Cuchy

__________________________________________

Each undercover assignment with the Pinkerton's for Winston was exciting -- to say the least.

While he hated to leave Morning Glory home alone on the farm he knew he had to work for PGS until the drought was gone and he could farm again.

He just didn't like betraying his friends....

the ones who he knew were brewing moonshine in the secrecy of the woods!

__________________________________________

Here is how it works

• Vicki, Cat, Cuchy (Carmen), Martha and I and I have made a one-year commitment to each other and picked twelve photos with Whatevers whom we will give a story.

• Every month – if possible always on the 15th –  each of us will do a post with an individual story that goes along for us with the same photo.

• If you want you can play along and we will have the photo for you to download and show us your version of The Whatevers. The photo will be posted at the end of our blogposts- not on Facebook!

• There are no rules to the story itself- it can be funny, sad, uplifting, breathtaking- WHATEVER
  There are no rules on the length or the form of the story- it can be a short sentence, an essay, a poem or a soap opera – WHATEVER

• There are no rules on the artform you choose – it can be a scrapbook layout, an altered art project, an artjournal page – WHATEVER

• Here is a rule though: if you take the photo you have to link back to us and show us your story.
   
• These pictures are from our personal stash and are for personal use for you only! If you want to use them for a publication whether a book or magazine in print or digital form please ask for permission

• If you want to participate we’ll have a linky list for each Whatever Post.

You can also join our The Whatevers -Facebook Page
And share your project with use here:

http://goo.gl/oPGaIQ

Don't be so Critical of Yourself!

Today I wanted to share a couple of recent #dailysketches that I've completed that I'm not so crazy about. For one reason or another they didn't turn out like I wanted them to. I can't even explain why. Just something bugged me about them.

Which gets me to the point of my post today. It's so easy to be critical of your work and give up. For whatever reason:

• you've gotten to attached to it and don't really see the forest through the trees
• it doesn't match the inner vision you had for it
• it doesn't look right -- the perspective is off
• it was a struggle that you don't feel was worth the effort when you have completed the piece
• All of the above

However, when you put your page or art or whatever it is "out" there in cyberspace your least favorite work turn out to be some of the most liked and commented on pages by a jury of your peers.

What does that mean?

For me, it means I shouldn't be so critical of my work, others don't see what I see -- and really they're just daily practice sketches in a cheapo notebook that I use to keep my drawing muscles pumped and ready.  What I really need to do is step back and not set eyes on it for a few days. A week or a year. 

When I come back with fresh eyes I might see what everyone else sees. Sometimes it might be something lovely and fresh and different from the normal day to day and other times I still might not like it. I do tend to get caught up in drawing flowers so sometimes it's nice to draw bugs and birds. However, my love will always be the flowers.

But whatever the outcome, sticking with it and staying true to my own artsy course is the most important part. Being unique and sticking to what I like to do is as important to me as not giving up and expressing myself through drawings and words. All of these dailies makes my heart happy and makes me feel good about what I do. 

You can see more of my dailies on my Instagram feed, link on the left side of the page!  And make sure to sign up for my Newsletter so you can see what's going on in the studio.

Thanks for dropping by today, have a great weekend!  Oh, and make sure to check this out!

Soaring through Layers

Today I wanted to share a super fun project I created -- I used only acrylic paint, spray paint, a wood panel and my Sizzix Tools! The beauty of creating mixed media art is that you have the flexibility to layer and layer and layer different mediums using a variety of tools until you get the desired result.

By starting out light and layering darker and brighter colors you have the ability to create a piece of art that has a beautiful depth and vibrancy that is unique to you and your sense of style and color. 

Using Thinlits to create stencils from heavy weight card stock is a great way to incorporate those expensive card-making and paper crafting tools in mixed media art.

Creating stencils from plastic packaging and Bigz XL dies is a fun way to create stencils that last a long time.

You can also use the Sizzix Embossing Folders to stamp designs on your canvas and incorporate lots of interesting texture and designs in each of your layers.

Once your layers "feel" complete you can step away and let the design speak to you -- see what you want to do with it next.

For me, the next step was using the Songbird die to create a beautiful bird in flight. I just love how this canvas came out. In total I think I had about 15 "base" layers before the songbird came out and then several layers after that! It's a fun technique to use when you are feeling stuck and want to create something with paint!

Thanks for dropping by today, have a great day! 

It's a Frenzy around here!

Sunday we went to the Fine Lines Exhibit of Drawings from the Brooklyn Museum at the Portland Museum of Art. It was a gorgeous collection of drawings from well-known artists that we all truly loved.

It was the first truly spring like day we've had, as you can see in this photo. This is my favorite spot in town. When I was in high school I took the same exact photo only in black and white and developed it myself. I'm going to have to find some of those cool pieces of art I created then and share them with you.

Anyway, I'm in paint flinging mode as I prepare for the Mixed Media Madness retreat on the 21st. It's those special little details that make everyone happy, don't you agree?

I'm back to flinging paint and cutting paper today, thanks for dropping by. Have a great day!