Happy Valentine's Day!

Lately I've been creating some mixed media Valentine's Day cards to send off to Cards For Kindness. Here are a few of my latest designs... I think they came out pretty cute!

All my cards are A2 size (4.25"x5.50") because that's what Cards For Kindness prefers. I usually start out with a white cardstock base and add another cardstock layer (3.75"x5.0") on top of that one using double-sided tape to prevent my cards from warping. This gives me a nice white border around my design. From there, anything goes! 

I like to use my own original illustrations on my cards. I draw the designs on heavy white cardstock and ink them with Micron pens. Then I paint them with acrylic paints and add details to my illustrations with colored pencils (I like Prismacolor pencils the best!). Next I "fussy cut" each design and adhere them to the card base using a UHU glue stick. Sometimes I add Modge Podge Sparkle to my lettering or other small parts of the design, which gives the card a nice glittery finish. I've even been experimenting with sewing on my cards with my sewing machine!

 

Cards For Kindness prefers that all the cards they receive are left blank on the inside... but sometimes I just can't help myself, so I like to add a cute border and a tiny handpainted embellishment on the inside of the card, just for fun! I also add a tiny colorful punched paper heart of the back of the card. So far I haven't been signing my cards... but I think it's OK to initial them on the back if you'd like.

My hope is that my silly designs will bring a smile to someone's day! Cards For Kindness sends cards to all kinds of different organizations... from hospitals to Ronald McDonald House charities to nursing homes, and everything in between! If you'd like to see a list of Cards For Kindness' partner organizations, you can find it HERE.

Wishing you a very Happy Valentine's Day wherever you are! 

XOXO

 

Merry Christmas!

The Good Shepherd

 

Luke 2:8-18 NIV 

 

"And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified.  But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.  This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying,

  “Glory to God in the highest heaven,
    and on earth peace to those on whom his favor rests.”

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.”

So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger.  When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child,  and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them."

 

*********************************************************************************** 

Hello Friends!... and Merry Christmas!!

I'm sorry that I've been MIA for so long this year on the blog! The last part of this year has been one of experimenting with art journaling for me... which has meant a lot of learning and trial & error! I have not had much finished work to share here recently; but I hope that I'll have more opportunity for art in the coming year!   

 

As the year comes to a close, my wish is that we all would come to know and love Jesus better each day. He is our good shepherd, and he loves us beyond our wildest imagination! What an amazing gift!

 

May the Lord bless you and keep you in the coming New Year!

 

Blessings!

Patti 

 

** "The Good Shepherd" artwork above is from a mixed media card I created this year. ** 

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!