Making ATC's for the Post Christmas athon on ATCsforall

This weekend I finished my article for next month for the Unruly PaperArts blog and I have been making some ATC's for the Post Christmas athon on ATCsforall

Art show opening night and my article on Unruly PaperArts

Yesterday was the opening night of the local annual art show. I had a lovely time and already sold 2 alcohol ink paintings!

And today my new article is on the Unruly PaperArts blog. On how to create some lovely vintage Christmas tags. Check it out here

Ready for opening night!

Yesterday evening my sister helped me with getting ready for the local annual art show starting tonight. We had a great evening, sorting all the paintings and hanging them on my 4 meter space. Lots of paintings, but I like how the wall turned out. I am ready for the opening, tonight at 8pm!

If you are interested (and live nearby) the art show is at the WVT in Bilthoven, from December 18, 2013 to January 2, 2014. With opening hours every day (even on Christmas). There is lots to see, paintings, sculptures, ceramic, jewellery, etc.

Getting ready for the local art show

It has been a few weeks since I posted anything on my blog. I was so busy with work, life and getting ready for the annual local art show. The show starts this Wednesday and my sister will help me on Tuesday evening with getting things ready. I have selected all the work I want to take with me, and all the art work is matted and framed and ready to be hanged.

The mixed media paintings are framed in a 40 x 50 cm frame. I love how they turned out, they look so much nicer and professional in a frame.

The pastel drawings are also done.

And this is one of the boxes I am taking with me. I have the 2 mixed media paintings, 14 30 x 40 cm frames with pastels, alcohol ink paintings and monoprints. And in the bag are 4 23 x 23 cm poppy paintings in alcohol ink. I hope the show goes well. I will post some pictures from the opening night on Wednesday!

Landscapes in alcohol ink

This week I have been working with alcohol inks again. I just love this medium. It has mind of its own and is hard to control. Just like me ;-). I created a few abstract landscapes with the inks, with no brush in sight. Just letting the inks flow on the Yupo paper and find their own way. I work on A4 size Yupo paper (8 1/4" 11 3/4")

I also have been busy for the local art show that will start in 3 weeks time. I bought new frames and I will need to frame everything I want to show. Not an easy task, did you ever see the difference between a white and black frame on an art work? It could make it or break it. The 2 pastel paintings need a black frame, I will start with those. The paintings I will take with me to the art show will stay for sale in my Etsy shop til the show. If you are interested in buying one, now is the time!

Coffee swap ATC's and Buddha on the wall

This weekend I have been creating ATC's for a swap I am hosting on Atcsforall. The theme is coffee. The due date is December 7 and I already received beautiful ATC's.

When I worked on the Coffee ATC's I also created a 4 3/4" x 4 3/4", 12 x 12 cms mixed media collage/painting. The cup is painted with acrylics and glazing medium. It fits perfectly in an Ikea frame (Ribba, 23 x 23 cms). It is for sale in my Etsy shop.

And last night I finished the mixed media painting of the buddha. The only thing it needed was a bit more shading and defining. The painting is now on my living room wall, very peaceful!

Buddha in mixed media

Did I already tell you I am going to take part in the local art show? Last year I participated for the first time, showing oil paintings, mixed media paintings and polymer clay mosaics. I even sold a few pieces.

This year I have registered again and I am very happy to get another chance to show my art. I will be showing different kind of work. Alcohol ink paintings, monoprints and mixed media collaged paintings. The show is from December 18, 2013 to January 2, 2013 in De Bilt in the Netherlands.

This weekend after I finished my mixed media painting of San Francisco (I am still very happy with it :-)) I started another mixed media painting. This canvas has been on my easle for a very long time, and is part of 2 square canvasses I worked on at the same time. I was not happy with the canvasses and decided to re-use them.

This is the canvas after adding new papers, gesso and paint.

There is already an image of a buddha in the background. That is why I decided to paint a larger buddha on the canvas. I used glazing medium with acrylic paints, this way the layer becomes transparent and you still can see the background through the paint.

This is more detail of the painting.

I am already quite happy with the painting and will work on it a bit more to add some more details and shades. I hope I do not overwork the painting, I want to keep it transparent!

San Francisco in Mixed Media - finish

This morning I finished my Mixed Media painting of San Francisco's Golden Gate Bridge. San Francisco holds sweet memories for me and this is actually one of the first paintings I painted just for me.

I will show you the last stages of the painting. I corrected the pillars of the bridge and the background last time and added more collage to the piece. The first thing I did this morning was to paint the left side of the pillars with yellow and glazing medium. And I painted the rocks in the background.

Then I used more orange and red with the glazing medium. I worked on the bridgde and the pillars under the bridge.

I added some more shading under the rocks in the background and to the bridge. Then I declared this painting FINISHED! I love it ;-). When the painting is completely dry I will put a layer of gel medium on top to varnish the painting.

This is a detail of the background, with the rocks made from different kind of collage and textured papers, paint and glazing medium.

And a new background is already waiting for me.... ;-)

Thanks for watching and your lovely comments along the way!

Mixed Media Discoveries - Stencil Crazy backgrounds!

Always wanted to know how to create marvelous Mixed Media backgrounds for ATC's, inchies, chunky, journal pages and other Mixed Media projects? On the Unruly PaperArts blog I am showing you how in my first Unruly column!



More techniques on how to create lovely backgrounds can be found on my YouTube channel.

Corrections on the Golden Gate Bridge - WIP

After a busy week I found some time to work on my Mixed Media Painting of the Golden Gate Bridge. I was not happy with the of the pillars of the bridge, so I added some more paper. I also needed to fix the background thru the pillars as it did not connect.

This layer is drying and after the next layer of paint I will show you how it looks!

Halloween ATC's.....

This weekend I am playing in the Halloween a-thon at ATCsforall. I have made 4 ATC's so far, all with alcohol ink backgrounds. The images are drawn with my Pitt pens (love them...).

Did you do anything scary last night?

San Francisco in Mixed Media WIP - continued

Time for doing some work on my Mixed Media Painting of the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco. The painting has been resting on my easel in the living room. This way I can look at it every day and can see what still needs to be done. First, the blues from the sky needed an extra layer of paint (and glazing medium). The drips from the alcohol ink were a bit too visible to my taste. And I found the bridge needed be a bit bigger on the right side of the painting.

This is after I added a layer of blue to the sky and the water. The color is now a deep blue, while the collaged papers on the background are still visible. And I added some shades to the painting to create more depth.

After the painting was dry, I added some more collage papers. First to the pier of the bridge, and to the water and the rocks in the background. The color of the painting is more intense in real life.

I still have a few layers to go. I need to work on the reflections in the water and create more depth. But I am happy with the result so far!

Painting in alcohol inks

Last year I was part of a local art show during the last 2 weeks of the year. This year I have enrolled again and hopefully I will get the chance to participate again. Last year I showed a lot of Mixed Media Paintings and this year I want to show alcohol ink paintings and watercolor and pen paintings . Fingers crossed that they will pick me again ;-).

In preparation for the show I created a new alcohol ink painting on Yupo paper. The size of the painting is A4, 20 x 29 cms, about 8" x 11". It will look great when it is matted and framed!

Time to start thinking about Christmas presents!

The days get shorter, the nights get longer and summer is slowly becoming a lovely memory. Fall is already here! And Christmas is approaching fast. Time to start thinking about Christmas presents.

I have some lovely creations in my Etsy shop that make really great Christmas presents. What about a alcohol ink painting of a poppy. Painted on Yupo paper and ready to be matted and framed.

Orange poppy alcohol ink painting

Or a vintage looking mixed media collage with Frida Kahlo? Ready to be framed!

Frida Kahlo mixed media collage

Or a ACEO made from polymer clay?

Polymer clay ACEO

All these examples are USD 12.50 or USD 15.00. Lovely presents for a small price! Take a look in my Etsy shop. If you send me a message when you are checking out and let me know that you are a reader of my blog, I will send you a lovely present with your purchase.

Card mania this week!

My mother works as a volunteer in an old people's home and they have a stash of cards which they sell to someone who needs a card (and doesn't want or cannot go out themselves to buy one). And she told me that they did not have many cards in stock at the moment. As I had some time left this week and I had just bought some lovely images on Etsy, I decide to make 'some' cards for them.... I have already done 25 and still counting ;-).

My other crafty plans for this weekend? I still need to finish 2 chunkies for the Chunky PAT on Atcsforall and I hope to find some time and inspiration to work on my Mixed media painting of the Golden Gate Bridge. It has been on my easle for a few days and I already some spots that need some work! What are you creating this weekend?

San Francisco in Mixed Media WIP

I have been working on the Mixed Media painting of the Golden Gate Bridge.

First I added some Azure blue ink with a little makeup sponge, I used a piece of punchinella with little squares. And then I started painting, I used orange and red acrylic paint with a glazing medium. It starts to come together.

Promotion in my Etsy shop!!

I have added several lovely note and greeting cards to my Etsy shop! Not only handmade original cards but also cards with prints of my mixed media artwork. Cards for every event, birthday cards, Christmas cards and cards for kids.

Time for a promotion in my Etsy shop! If you buy 4 original and/or print cards, you will get one print card for free! Just leave me a note when you check out your order with the link to the card you want for free.

Etsy shop Kitty's art & crafts

San Francisco in Mixed Media

This week I have been busy with my 'real life' job ;-). Not much time left for creativity. But I did have a good week, I went to a concert on Tuesday evening and got a new laptop on Wednesday. And as always, it takes time to reinstall the printer, the camera, all the software and transferring all the files to the new computer. BUT, I am done, the time has come to start on a project that has been in my mind for a while.

In May/June I was in California and at the end of the trip I went 'back' to San Francisco. And I say back because years ago I came to San Francisco regularly. And I loved San Francisco. And I found out I still do....

I wanted to make a Mixed Media painting of San Francisco and today I finally started. It is not finished yet, but I will show you the progress I made today. The canvas is 40 x 50 cms. I started with collageing pieces of paper to the canvas, I used a stencil with some spray ink, dripped on alcohol ink and painted the blues with acrylics and glaze. It already makes me very happy :-).