Keeping the creative momentum.

Oh my, time seems to have slipped through my fingers again and now it's almost the end of August and I haven't posted here since June. How does that happen even in this strange time of isolation when I have no classes or creative studio and so much time at home on my own. However it happens I am sorry for not post more here. I won't promise that I will do more but I will do my best to do better. I have the best of intentions and so many ideas to share with you. Well we will see...

The theme for July on Dragonfly Dreamers monthly exploration group was Cards. I had intended to do many different kind of cards but I ended up just doing some affirmation cards and ATC's. They were all done with layers of collage, paints and pens. I start off by doing a full sheet of collage and painting and then I cut them to the size I want before finishing them of with some mark making and doodling the back with an affirmation or quote.

These ATC's all got traded with people from the group.

These affirmation cards are 4.5"x3". I think of the left side as the front and the right side as the back but both are finished pieces on their own. I have quite a collection of these cards now and like to shuffle through them and choose one each day for a daily affirmation.

I hope you are keeping creating.

Wendy

Monthly Explorations

   It's been an interesting year so far to say the least. I've been taking some time to reboot and work on some new projects over the winter and just when I am ready to get back to doing some workshops the world has turned upside down. Now it's time to rethink the next  steps to take.
   Being an introvert makes the social distancing an easy thing to do for me. So I'm choosing to take advantage of my extra time alone in the studio to play and catch up on things. I hope you're able to make the best of the situation and give yourself permission to play.

   One of the things that has kept me busy this year is my Monthly Explorations Themes over on my FB group. In January the theme was Doodling, Mark Making and Drawing. What's not to like about that!

8"x5" journal page on Bristol Smooth

9"x11.5" Dylusions journal page.

In February the theme was Stencils. I love my stencils and use them often. There are so many ways to use them. Here are just a few.

Since it was February I had to do a few heart cards. I made my own heart stencil with a heart die I have and then layered other stencils on top of it for the patterns. I used Distress Inks and Oxides for the colours along with some light modeling paste and Finnabair Icing Paste for the texture through stencils.

Multiple layered stencils.

This page was done with a lot of layers of collage material, paints and stencils. The mushrooms were a new stencil I got recently from Stencil Girl. I used Nuvo Expanding Mousse through the stencil. This was an new product for me and I loved the way it puffs up when heated. Once dried I coloured the mushrooms with Finnabair waxes.

9.5"x8" double page in small Dylusions journal.

This is another page done with lots of layers and even more stencils. But here the stencils are used mostly in the background instead of the focal point as the mushrooms were. 

9.5"x8" double page in small Dylusions journal.

  And now in March the theme is Watercolour. This is not a medium that I play with much or know much about so it really is about exploring and learning. 

  I made myself a small book with 5.5"x5.5" watercolour paper pages to do my playing/experimenting in. It is a nice size to try out something new.

   I did a few pages of rocks. They were great for practicing some mixing and layering of colours.

Watercolour rocks.

   These little swatch doodles were inspired by a fun Canadian Artist, Cee Cee's Creations. You can find many of her videos on Youtube. They were very fun to do. I'm sure I will be doing more of them this month. 

Watercolour swatch doodles.

  If you'd like to see more come over and take a look at Dragonfly Dreamers Monthly Exploration Themes. And of course you are always welcome to join the group.

Keep Creating!

Wendy