Life Book 2015

 

A few months ago I made the decision to sign up for Life Book 2015.  My decision was made after taking another online class where Tamara Laporte was an instructor.  I really loved Tam's approach to teaching and felt that I learned a lot about making faces and adding details.  This was our first week's challenge and I spent a good portion of January 1, 2015 creating ART!

I had a great time creating my girl and while there are many areas that could be improved, I'm excited that I stuck with it and completed the piece.  The page was created using graphite and Stabilo pencils and paints from Dina Wakley, PaperArtsy, and Golden.  I also added some chunky glitter that has been living in my stash for many years (I knew I'd use it eventually! LOL!)  The other fun thing I used was a tiny alphabet stamp set that I purchased years ago for next to nothing.  It's one of those sets I consider dumping every time I clean my studio.  So glad I didn't because they were perfect for adding my my own sentiment, or more precisely Scripture text (from Proverbs).  Here's my completed piece...Enjoy!

 

Chirp

 

A quick and easy tag I created when Dina Wakley first released her new paints and those sweet Scribbly bird stamps, which are nearly impossible to find now.  Darn!  They were big sellers!  Dina demo'd a tag in a video and this was my take...

I created the background by using a brush and a combination of Turquoise, Sky, and Night paint to color the background.  I then used my fav Classic Words stencil, from Wendy, to add another layer, along with a spritz of Dylusions White Linen through the Canvas stencil.  The birdie was stamped on a separate piece of cardstock and colored with paint.  The text created a branch for the bird to stand on; this kept him from looking like he was floating.  I then just added the tweet and chirp and a few more text circles.

Enjoy!

Bloom

Sometime last year I registered for an online Donna Downey class, to create the above painting.  I loved how Donna used a stencil to create the face...seriously, so much easier than drawing by hand, and how her hair was primarily constructed of flowers...me, faces, and flowers?  Why, yes, that's a fabulous combination!  (You can sign up for this same class here)  This stencil is called Three Quarter is was designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  You can see a video of Julie demonstrating how to use these stencils here.

 

 While I was really happy with my final results, a year later, I can see so many areas where I would have done things differently.  However, the one area that I adore is actually the canvas background, which was created by first randomly applying Wendy Vecchi's white embossing paste.  I love how the paste looks once you apply paint (after the paste is dry)...like a chipped wall in an old building...be still my heart!  I also added some stenciling using another Wendy Vecchi item, the Classic Words stencil (one of my favs!)  The Bloom is from the Artful Thoughts stencil.  I'm also really partial to all of the dots on the flowers...adds such a fun element.

Overall, I really enjoyed this class and am looking forward to finding a place to display my blooming lady...