Foxglove's Mixed Media

Hello again, everyone!   Man, it’s been a while since I last posted.   It’s a challenge to juggle work, home life, make and edit video, write blog posts AND have fun creating, but I hope to do a better job with it. So much (artsy-wise) has happened – more swaps, more cards and look!    I bought a 2-lb grab bag of stamps from Viva Las Vegas Stamps (their online store is here .)     This is a bit out of character for me, as I am wary of grab bag and random bulk buys.   In my head (and I know this isn’t always the case), I associated “grab bag” with “things that didn’t sell.”   I did some research online, and I didn’t see where other people had recently posted their grab bag hauls – I was worried about getting a bunch of political, religious, or super-basic stamps, but in the end, I am glad that I took the leap and ordered them. So can you guess how many stamps is in a 2-lb grab bag?   152 stamps!   Wow…that’s a l...

Mixed Media ICAD, Using Scrap Papers From My Stash Hello, everyone!   I am back with another ICAD – this time, I was determined to use up some of my leftover bits of papers and used postage stamps.   I will apologize up front, as some of the photos aren’t very clear, but I used the ‘snapshot’ feature on some of them using a video editing software, and the images became blurred when I made them bigger.  Yes, you heard right!   I made my very first YouTube video!   Whoot, whoot!    I’m doing the jiggy dance as I type this – soooo…I still have areas that I need to improve on, but hey, you never learn if you never ‘do’, right?   If you are interested in the video, you can find it here or find it at the bottom of my post.   That being said, I don’t think I will use photos from the video anymore.   They just get too fuzzy when I enlarge the images.   Lesson learned for next time! As I mentioned above, I have too many left...

Hello, everyone!  Sorry for the disappearance.  I went on a sort of working vacation, but I'm back with another ICAD! I was still tired from my trip, so this card was a quick on.  I did my usual background of gessoing over some bookpage scraps I had glued to the index cards, and it was dry, I dabbed some green fluid acrylics in Green-Gold (Golden) and Veridian (DecoArt) onto the bottom of the card and spritzed it with water.  I used the stick end of a paint brush to help spread the paint around, and dried it with my heat tool.   I added some washi tape at the bottom and randomly on the card, and then moved on to the critters. The cat and bear were fussy cut from a paper doll string that came with my Flow Magazine for Paper Lovers, and were created by Tokyo artist Aiko Fukawa.  Aren't they cute?  This was actually a long chain, as you can see below, so you'll be seeing the rest of the parade at some point. The animal parade had a border ar...

Hello, everyone!  Welcome back!   Today, I'd like to show my twelfth index card.   For this card, I decided to use a modeling paste background, Liquitex Acrylic Ink and the Tim Holtz Paper Dolls. Instead of using a bookpage as my base layer, I decided to use paper that I took from my of Flow Magazine Book for Paper Lovers. I tore a page into strips, and glued them down.  The paper had a different pattern on each side, so I alternated between the busier print and the subtler print.  At this point, I didn't know where I was going, but in the end, you don't even see the paper. (Of course.)  When the mod podge dried, I brushed a thin layer of gesso over it.  At this point, you can still see the base layer. I needed some texture, so I pulled out a Finnabair stencil that was part of a stamp/stencil set called Flowers on the Deck.  This is one of the sets that Michael's recently started setting. I used Golden Light Modeling paste through the s...

Hello everyone!  I am back with my eleventh ICAD.  For this index card, I was inspired by the Simon Say's Stamp Monday Challenge.  This week's theme is "Transport It."  You can find their Monday Challenge Blog here . I started off this card by using a pink paper from the massive Flow Magazine For Paper Lovers.  If you haven't heard of it, the Paper Lovers book has over 300 pages of papers, tissue paper, wrapping paper, stickers, tags....if it's paper, they probably have it. Anyhow, I glued down the paper and scrapped a thin layer of gesso over it.  I allowed some of the pattern to show through, though by the time I was through with the card, you can only see a little bit in the upper left corner. Next, I watered down some DecoArt acrylic paint onto an acrylic block and splotched it onto the card here and there.  Normally, I would do this on my craft mat, however I am a huge clutz, and my craft table is a mess right now, so I didn't have m...

Hello, everybody!  I am back to show my 10th index card, a flamingo. Ain't he cute? I am SO happy with how he turned out!  I started off the way I almost always do - gesso over a book page. I scraped the gesso on with a palette knife, but I tried not to be too even with it and made sure the book text showed through here or there.  When the gesso dried, I sketched the head and neck of the flamingo. I don't have any pink acrylic, so I mixed DecoArt fluid acrylic in Titanium White with just a touch of Dina Wakley heavy body acrylic in Fuchsia to create a rich pink. For the background, I spritzed the paper with water and scraped Phthalo Green-Yellow acrylic along the edges and let the color bleed and run.  I dried the color with my heat tool, and then re-spritzed with water to add some touches of the Fushcia. I finished by outlining him with the stabilo marks-all, but instead of spritzing it with water and letting it spread, I just blended it a bit...

Hello again!  I'm back with a quick ICAD that I made last night.  It was so quick, that I only have two pictures.   During a recent trip to Tuesday Morning, I found that they had a TON of Tim Holtz products on sale.  Now, if you have never been to a Tuesday Morning, I highly encourage you to go!  They have all kinds of things at discount prices, not just crafty goodies; household items, toys, kitchenware...a ton of awesome and unique items.  I ended up with a bunch of the Tim Holtz mini blueprint stamps, chitchat stickers, ribbons...it was an awesome haul.   Anyhow, I really wanted to use them, so I decided to make a coffee card. Which is funny, because I don't even like coffee! I started by gluing down scrapbook paper with a fancy script on it (you end up not seeing it), and I added a thin layer of gesso over it.  This being a coffee card, I figured I needed coffee colors, so I pulled out my Tuskineko Walnut Ink sprays in Jav...

Hello, everyone!  I am back with my eighth index card (ICAD).  Yes, I've fallen behind a bit, but that's okay.  For this card, I wanted to collage with leftover bookpage and a chevron stamp.  Chevron because I like the shape, collage because this is something I almost never do...and while I admire those who seemingly are able to lay down papers and make it look Mah-velous dahling, this is a thing I struggle with.  So what better way to practice than on an index card! I prepped the card by gessojng the paper several times with regular Liquitex gesso and Art Basics heavy gesso.  No matter how many times I layered it on, I still couldn't really hide the blue lines on the index card!  I was really getting frustrated too, because gesso can cover just about anything.  The blue and pink ink just kept bleeding through no matter how many layers I used. Oh well.  Moving on!  While the gesso dried, I pulled out my bookpage scrap bag and ...

Happy weekend, everyone!   I hope you all have a nice, fun, creative weekend!  I have been catching up on some creative projects, one of which is my ICAD for day 7.  I did not follow the prompts, and instead I did my own thing - back to the messy abstract-ish style I've been leaning towards. I started off the way most of my project start - I glued down a bookpage with Mod Podge and scrapped gesso over it with a pallet knife.  I didn't really have a direction at this point, but I was in a mood to use earthy colors, so I grabbed a grey and a red iron oxide color and loosely scraped them over the wet gesso with my pallet knife.  When I was satisfied with it, I went to dry it with a heat tool.  I ended up leaving it alone for a day. When I came back to it, I could see a landscape in the mix...maybe a hill looking off to the distance, or a sandy dune by the sea. So I added a wash of green for the land and a wash of blue for the sky using my Derwent Inkt...

Hello, everyone!  I am back with a pair of sun-themed Artist Trading Cards (ATCs) and to show my failed ICAD for Day 6. (There will be a surprise cameo from on my fur-babies, Chubby!) I will start off positively, with the pair of ATCs.  These are for a swap on the ATCSforAll.com trading forums.  If you are interested in trading ATCs, I encourage you to check out this very friendly site! I started off with the way I start most of my mixed media projects - by gluing down bookpages, this time with mod podge (sometimes I'll use soft gel medium.)  I covered the ATCs with a good layer of the mod podge to seal the cards, because I knew I would be using a lot of water later on.  For once, I didn't cover the book text with gesso. After the mod podge had dried, I spritzed the cards with water and dropped yellows and oranges onto the card using DecoArt fluid acrylics and acrylic sprays.  I let the colors mingle by tilting the card and gently swirling the ...

Hello, everybody!  I am back with two more ICADs to show you! The first one follows the prompt of "Ferris Wheel".  I glued down scrap bits of book text, and then for added measure, I also put down some strips of washi tape; you don't really see them when I am finished, but a piece here and there does peek through. After this, I scrapped white gesso over the card, then went back with a paper towel and lifted some of the color.  At this point, I got so involved in this card that I forgot to take photos of my progress!  Yeesh!  Anyway, I dabbed drops of acrylic paint in Transparent Red Iron Oxide (DecoArt fluid acrylic) and Quinacrodone Magenta (Golden fluid acrylic).  I spritzed it with a lot of water, tilted the card, and pushed the color around with my fingers.  It was a fun mess! Look at how those colors mix and blend together!  I was surprised at just how much I love this color combo.  As you can see in the photo a...