Making Mixed Media Scripture Cards

The first card I made

A while back, as I was beginning to learn more about mixed media art, I began watching Youtube videos (have you done that too?... there's a wealth of art instruction over there!)... and I stumbled upon a series of videos by mixed media artist Stacy Spangler. Stacy is a Christian artist like me, and one of the things she's done over the years is create art cards with her favorite Bible verses on them. Well, I loved that idea and decided to try my hand at creating scripture cards in my own style.

I decided to use the 9x12 inch 100lb Strathmore Bristol paper that I had on hand for my card backgrounds, since it's nice and sturdy. Then I took an old gift card and "scraped" two or three coordinating colors of acrylic paint over the entire 9x12 sheet. Scraped paint dries very quickly, so once it was dry, I cut the larger sheet into A2 sized cards (4.25"x5.5"). You could cut your cards any size that you like!... I just wanted mine to be on the bigger side!  Each individual card then had a different design, but they all coordinated with each other since they shared the same colors. 

 

The second card I made

At that time, I was also experimenting with some intuitive painting... so I added another layer of dots, dashes, squiggly lines and other marks with acrylic paint on top of my cards. (More is better, right?). I loved the way this looked!... Doing this made each card completely unique.

Next, I took each card to my sewing machine and did a zig-zag stitch around the border of each card. I like using white thread, since it blends into the background, but you could use a colorful or contrasting thread if you like that look better.

In her videos, Stacy writes out the words of her scripture verse on cardstock and then cuts them out individually... but that felt a little bit too "fiddly" to me. So I printed the words of my verse in a random "block" with my micron pen and cut around them, adding a border with pen to make them stand out more. You could definitely type or stamp out your words, but I like using my own imperfect hand lettering instead.

Finally, I hand painted embellishments for each card (mine mostly have a nature theme), cut them out, and used my handy UHU glue stick to adhere them. On the first card above, I also added a button from my stash and adhered it with Elmer's Glue. I decided to add a colorful tab with the scripture verse at the top of each card using a little tab I cut from my hand painted paper. On the first card, I added a few stitches with embroidery thread to the tab, and on the second card, I cut a small piece of painted paper for decoration.

I really had fun making these mixed media cards and look forward to making many more! Thanks for the great idea Stacy!!

If using a Bible verse is just not your cup of tea, you could totally create cards like this using favorite quotes or inspiring words... whatever your heart desires! I hope you'll try to make some mixed media cards of your own!

Happy Creating!!

 

You can find Stacy Spangler's Youtube videos with her instructions about how to make these mixed media cards here:

Video #1

Video #2

Video #3

 

** Just a little tip!... I found that my painted cards tended to warp as they dried, but placing them overnight under some heavy books really helped to flatten them out!

 

A Little Saturday Afternoon Doodling

 

I thought I'd share with y'all the most recent page from my sketchbook. Since Spring seems to be just around the corner, I've been on the look-out for the first signs that Mother Nature is ready to take off her Winter coat and send us some Spring warmth and flowers!...  so "Nature" was my inspiration word for this page.

Often I find that picking a topic or theme word for each sketchbook page helps me to avoid the "fear of the blank white page" that can happen when I'm starting something new. And really, the word that I pick can be anything! 

Looking back in my most recent sketchbook, I've used all kinds of themes to jump-start my drawing... everything from mermaids to space aliens to seasons and holidays. I've got pages about things that make me happy... and pages inspired by our family vacation. Any topic will do!... For me, having a theme is just an easy way to dive in and start doodling!

I think the beauty of keeping a sketchbook is that it provides me with a safe place to experiment. I'm free to explore any idea that I want to. No one is looking over my shoulder, telling me what to do and how to do it. No one will be putting a grade on my doodles. They are just for me... for my learning, for my growth as an artist, for my self expression, and for my fun! And much of the time, my sketchbook provides the inspiration for paintings I create or cards that I design. It's a black and white account of the progress I'm making as an artist, and it's a huge source of my own unique creative ideas.

Over the years I've filled up many many spiral notebooks with my silly drawings. I like to work on graph paper with a plain old mechanical pencil and a kneaded eraser. Nothing fancy, and super portable. I take my sketchbook with me when I go on trips, and I always have it at the ready right next to the chair in my art studio. 

How about you?... Do you keep a sketchbook? What works for you in capturing your creative ideas? I'd love to hear all about it!

Happy Birthday To Me!

 

My birthday was in February... and yes, I'm 39 again! *wink!* My sweet husband surprised me with a trip to the mountains for a weekend with our family! He couldn't have given me a gift that I would have enjoyed more! We rented a cute little cabin near my son's house so we could be with family during the day and retreat in the evening. LOTS of eating out and catching up with each other and playing with my granddaughter!... What could be better?!!

So, I thought I'd do a "Five Different Things You Probably Don't Know About Me" for my birthday post. Starting with...

1. I am definitely NOT a morning person! My husband has an "internal alarm clock" that gets him up early each morning... but that feature must have been overlooked when God put me together! It takes me a while to mellow into the day. I'm good to go about 10 AM.

2. My husband and I were high school sweethearts. I was 15 and he was 17 when we first met. After my Dad was transferred to a different state while I was still in high school, we had a very lengthy long distance relationship (I do not recommend this!). We finally got married after we'd both finished college.

3. I didn't grow up making art. When I was young, I always had an attraction to art and crafty things, but I never seriously pursued arty things until my late 20's and early 30's. In fact, it was only when my son was unhappy at preschool that I started to draw little pictures for him. I drew simple pictures on 3x5 cards to put in my son's lunch box for Lunch Bunch... and I was hooked! I've been doodling ever since!

4. For those of you who know Myers-Briggs, I'm an ISFJ... I'm introverted, so I'm quiet and a little shy. I take in information as a sensor through what I see and hear (I don't just KNOW something by intuition like my husband does). I'm a feeler, so I make decisions based on my feelings instead of by logic alone. And I'm a judger, so I like routine, organization and "everything in its' place." 

And finally... 

5. I'm a vegetarian... and I'm really not a very good (or enthusiastic) cook. Give me all the fresh fruit, salads and veggies. Throw in some yogurt, cheese and whole grain bagels and I'm a happy girl! And my favorite ice cream of all time is Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip... YUM!! 

Just a few words about the silly chicken card above... This is one of the cards I recently made for the Creative Kindness Foundation's "Cards For Kindness" program. This organization accepts handmade cards of all kinds and distributes them to people in hospitals, nursing homes, and people in crisis in order to spread encouragement and kindness. I like that a lot. 

I'm fairly new to card making, so I'm figuring it out as I go along. I enjoy mixed media, so most of the cards I've made so far are a combination of drawing, painting, collage, lettering and a little bit of sewing too. I'm having fun with this!... and I hope that the cards I create bring encouragement and hope to those who receive them!

If you'd be interested in Cards for Kindness, check out their website. They are always looking for more handmade cards!
 

Welcome To My Studio!

 

In the wintertime, my studio is my very favorite room in our house! The south facing windows allow the warm sun to shine in most of the day, giving the room an extra boost of cheerfulness! Being in my studio feels like a warm hug during the cold weather... It truly is my happy place!

Years ago, this room was a bedroom for our two little boys. After a major attic renovation to "This Old House" back in the 90's, we were able to bump our bedrooms upstairs and give each boy his own room. That left the downstairs front bedroom of our bungalow for my husband to create his own office. And happily, I "inherited"the back bedroom to be my studio. It's in a perfect location, just off our kitchen, so I can work on projects between loads of laundry or while I have a few minutes during dinner prep.

In many ways, my studio tells a story of acquisitions and repurposed pieces along my life's way. For instance, the drafting table was found in a used furniture warehouse near our neighborhood. My sweet husband bought it for me for my birthday one year. The lamps came out of our sons' rooms once they had flown the nest. The standing lamp holds handpainted ornaments I've created. The barrels you see once held candy that my father-in-law had delivered to our family farm. I put them to good use by turning them upside down to hold my paint water and brushes. The green and purple wreath is a Target find that I've had for years. The colorful basket on the desk is handmade from woven magazines and was a treasure I found in a cute little shop on our summer vacation at Ocacroke Island last year.

This is the corner of the room where I doodle and journal. My husband took me out to a consignment furniture store on my birthday one year, and we found the cute white wicker chair and wicker table next to it to hold my sketchbook, Bible, pens and journal. The stand up lamp behind the chair belonged to my grandmother and it holds a paper mache bird that I made (which my granddaughter loves!). On sunny days, our dog Jake (a Great Dane mix) likes to keep me company on the dog bed nearby. The chest was a thrift store find that I purchased just before my first son was born. We used it as a changing table back then, but now it's found a new lease on life holding various art supplies. On top of the chest stands the wooden manekin that my grandfather used in his studio long ago. If you squint really hard,you can see a little basket I made during my basket-making era, as well as a tiny canvas painting of flowers I created.

When I needed a place to store my paints, I searched and searched until I finally found these bamboo cubbies on Amazon. They were intended for kitchen storage, but they've been great for displaying and organizing all my paints in rainbow order. Seeing all those pretty colors everyday just makes me happy! And the top of the cubbies has been the perfect place to display my handpainted rocks. The stamped white clay piece was made by my youngest son when he was in elementary school. I've added a couple of "people" on each side of it that I painted on paper and then cut out. A big treat to myself a few years ago was the PholkartStudio sign that I ordered from Lori McDonough from WhimsyStudios on Etsy. I just love having a piece of her handpainted art in my studio! Last of all, there's a little black and white photo of me at the beach when I was about 4 years old. It helps me remember to let the little girl in me come out to play!

 

 

This is a little peak at a great big bookshelf that originally came from an elementary school in our town that had closed. It used to "live" in our living room, but several years ago, we did a giant clean out at our house, making this bookshelf available to come "live" in the studio and hold lots of my art supplies. It's nice to have a place in the studio to corral my supplies in an organized and colorful way!

This quirky angel was a roadside find from our neighborhood a few winters ago. When I rescued her, she was covered with snow. I know she's kinda odd looking, but I still like her! I think of her as my studio mascot! I use her as a place to hang my handpainted ornaments after I've created them.

And finally, the newest addition to my studio is this very purple Janome sewing machine! I just love it! I got mine from Joann Fabric, but the link I've left here is from the Janome site. It's a super simple machine to use, very easy on the wallet, without any bells and whistles... and it's exactly what I wanted! I have gotten interested in mixed media art and art journaling (more on that in another post)... and I really wanted to be able to sew on the papers I've been painting. My husband and I once again went hunting for a small used table that I could use to hold the sewing machine, but sadly we weren't able to find a suitable one within our budget. So I opted for this 31 inch wide table from Amazon (you can see it better in the first photo above), and it's working just fine. Now I can enjoy sitting at the window that overlooks my neighbor's garden and sew my little heart out!

I hope you've enjoyed this mini tour of my studio!.. Pulling all the things together to create my studio has been a work-in-progress and a labor of love over the years, and I think it's a very happy place indeed! 

I'd love to hear about where you create!... just leave me a comment! 

Happy Creating!!