My other OTHER creative passion

Hey- it’s Heather here!  Most of you don’t know this, but besides my roles as mom, office administrator, artist, friend, etc etc…I am also a makeup artist!  While makeup artistry used to be my full-time profession, I am currently  focusing on freelance work for weddings, photo shoots and special events.

I was recently interviewed for a really fabulous wedding site, True Blind Faith.  Owner, Susan Gruenling, is a girl after our own vintage-loving  hearts– a great believer in recycling and upcycling, she creates stunning original bridal headpieces using pieces of vintage jewelry as the centerpiece.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Aren’t they gorgeous?  I am a sucker for anything sparkly!

Please stop by True Blind Faith to see all the vintage loveliness!  Her blog is exceptional, and I’m not just saying that because I am a regular contributor!  Stay tuned for upcoming Gauche Alchemy features there as well.

Zentangles

Cloth Paper Scissors is one of my all-time favorite mags.  I think I even might enjoy it more than (hush!) Somerset.  Maybe.  That’s a hard call.

The Nov/Dec copy landed in my mailbox last week – sometimes I avoid opening it because my brain goes crazy with a million ideas and longings, and frankly, it can make me anxious.  I know, I’m such a weirdo.  I have to wait for the right mood and energy level to start perusing.

There is a great article in this issue by Sandy Steen Bartholomew about a form of meditation called “Zentangles.” Of course you don’t need to use this particular system, just as you don’t need to commit to a particular type of yoga.  The idea of this art/meditation form  appeals to me on so many levels.

I am an artist of many fears.  I am intimidated by so much – painting, doodling, printing, lettering.  I know, you must be thinking I’m a total wuss by now.  Here I am working on inspiring others and pulling things together in a  way that makes it easy for people to be creative, and yet I question so much of my own creativity.  I’ve had this awful habit my entire life of feeling like I have to research and “know” how to do something before I try it.  Ridiculous, I know.  (Oh, you too?)

I like the idea of meditation but have found that so far, my best results come in some form of action: cleaning the kitchen, driving a well-known route, yoga… stuff like that – and of course, spending time in my studio a.k.a. messy crafting room that is a source of shame to my hubby (it’s in the front of the house where everyone can see the madness).

I’m starting to make connections and embrace my ADD-like qualities lately, so I consider meditation to be anything that stops the relentless disorganized, stream-of-consciousness thoughts – and actions.  I’m so easy distracted.

But I digress (see? I’m easily distracted).

Zentangles is basically a form of purposeful doodling.  (Remember I said I was afraid of doodling?  Sure, it’s fine for meetings, but nothing I’d necessarily want to use in my artwork and definitely not any form of meditation.)  Can I doodle and meditate at the same time?  And there’s a possibility I’ll like the outcome when I’m finished?  Wow.

For those of you who love art journaling (me!), you need to know that letters themselves are a great starting point for a Zentangle.  For you scrapbookers, cut out some photo images and use THOSE as your starting point.  Or of course, a combination of the two.  How cool is this?

My challenge to you: give this Zentangle thing a go.  Be sure to share your results on the Flickr group (oh yeah!).  I’m going to try it for sure… maybe even tonight.  I’m not feeling well tonight and therefore only a few volts running through ye olde gray matter.  Perfect time to try it out.  Now, where did I leave my notebook?

oh … hello!

hello gauche alchemists!

thought I’d say hi and let you know how freakin’ excited I am to be contributing to this awesome group of mixed media enthusiasts! I’ve been such a fan of Gauche Alchemy’s kits for awhile (can i get a woot woot for the ACME kits?!) and am so looking forward to playing with them with you all!

Um, not much to say about myself – I live in Atlanta, have two canine fur-babies, do graphic design by day and play with paint and glue and paper at night mostly in art journal form.

But, you know what REALLY excites me? When i discover new uses for what others think may be trash! And moreover when that discovery turns into something cool looking i get goosebumpies!

I use my kitchen table as my art studio. And to protect it I’ve used different things like trash bags, paper, cardboard box and most recently wax paper. Duh! I’ve used it for awhile between pages to keep them from sticking but finally connected the dots to use it underneath the painty and gluey things I make.

One piece was starting to get super painty so i was going to toss it and start fresh. I know! Sacrelig… I threw it down on something i was working on and BAM – not only could I see through it, but it looked so cool! Like kinda obscured, kinda painty without the stress of actually painting and messing up (ya, that never happens to me *eye roll*) – I think I literally squealed!

I used it on an art journal page – put some gel medium between the wax paper and journal page so it dried clear – expect to see wax paper used a whole lot more in the near future!!!!!

Happy Painting!
xoxo-lara

Pink and violet collage

I’ve always been kind of intimidated of using canvas boards. They always looked so professional and serious and I felt unworthy of them.

I finally faced my fear and ventured to alter my first canvas board. And totally amazed myself at the result!

Since I was so scared of altering a canvas board, I’d collage on every possible surface I could find — tin cans, manila folders, chipboard, playing cards, etc.

What made me brave now was the feeling that I’d “practiced” for this, that I had altered every possible surface I could find that there was no other surface I hadn’t worked on but canvas.

Yep, art is about being brave and taking the plunge. But it definitely helps if you practiced a lot first.

When I saw the final product of this, what I had made with my own hands, I was shocked and in awe. I keep looking at it, thinking maybe I copied it somewhere instead of using my own design.

I looked at the pieces and although I’ve seen some of the elements in other people’s work, this was my own, my own likes, my favorite colors.

And definitely, how much original can it be when I know how unique GA Kits are? (I used the Pink Parts Color Kit, Foreign Text Papers plus some odds and ends from old kits for this.)

It’s kinda scary looking at something you made and just know that the art was there all along, waiting for you to come play and reveal it.

So, don’t be afraid. Take the plunge. And you never know when you’ll be able to amaze yourself!

I need something fun

In a sense, I really love working full-time at my dayjob, but there are two downsides.  The first is that I don’t get nearly as much time with you all as I’d like.  The second is that I’ve been running my REAR off for the past few weeks.  Holy Cannoli, Batman!  Has it ever been busy!  Makes the day pass quickly, tell ya what.  They are starting to blur into each other.

Here I am, halfway through the afternoon, finally having some lunch.  And by golly, I need a “fun” break.  I’d say it’s the perfect time to share a little story with you.

Okay, so I had this weird serendipitous thing happen a week or so ago. I know I’ve already profiled this book, but take another look:

This book is great – it has a lot of good tips for artful, edgy designs. Actually, I believe I got this book from Sarah Fishburne in a drawing on her blog – along with about a metric ton of other cool stuff. (Talk about a sweetie – you MUST go check out her artwork if you aren’t familiar with her already!)

Anyway, I was at the post office before going to work one morning – which is often a routine stop on my way to work (gotta mail out packages to all you hungry people). There were three people in the lobby – one of them was me. The counters usually open up at 8:30, but they changed it, for reasons unknown to 9:00. Which might normally have aggravated me, but since they put in a brand-spankin’ new APS (automatic postal service machine), I wasn’t complaining. I love those machines – they save a ton of time.

But I digress. I struck up an unlikely conversation with one of the ladies there. We talked about e-mail and how the post is so passe. I told her I end up at the post office a lot, though, because I mail packages for my business. What business? Oh, this paper arts/mixed media supply business I have online. Really? Yeah, here’s my card! Oh, my daughter is really into scrapbooking! I know, I know! So many people are into scrapbooking! It’s so much fun! Yeah, and my daughter even wrote a couple of books and she goes all over the place doing workshops! I mean, she’s REALLY into scrapbooking!

Uhhhhhhhhh… who’s your daughter?

Tena Sprenger!

NO SH*T!?

Ok, I admit – I didn’t really say that. What I said was:

No kidding! I know of her! Wow… what a coincidence.

So, Darlene and I chatted a bit about her daughter and her family and her interest in antique dolls. Quite a fun and interesting lady. I sloppily wrote my name on our lovely Gauche Alchemy card, which Darlene happily announced she would pass on to her daughter. *grin* Kind of made my day. I love coincidences. Kind of like surprises without the pretty paper.

Anyway, I hopped on over to Tena’s blog and took a look around. Left a comment for her. Let her know I’m writing evil crap about her on our blog. >:)

Here’s another book by Tena and Carol Wingert – looks like another winner. Anyone have this book? What do you think?

Take time out to play…

… which is exactly what I did today. It was a stormy, windy day. The power went off.

I guess when technology is shut down and you have no other choice but to do something, that’s the perfect time to play.

I dug out this new children’s watercolor set I got the other day on a whim. I then dug out my alphabet stamps and some postal stamps and went ahead and played.

If you’ve ever read Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” (I highly recommend it!), you’ll know what it means to fill up the artist’s well. The concept is that we, as artists, are like wells. And we need to fill ourselves up with inspiration, take ourselves out on artist dates, get out and do something that refreshes us. Otherwise, we dry up, our mojo feels like it’s missing, and we beat ourselves up but can’t make anything.

So, take time to fill your artist’s well. And take time out to play.

Happy Halloween!

In celebration of one of the gauchest holidays I can think of, we’d just like to greet you all a gauche-filled, happy, happening Halloween!

I made this little collage shadowbox for the occasion. I was serious about not throwing away the pizza box that your orders from Gauche Alchemy comes packaged in. I had to use tons of cardboard on this project and even ran out of foam tape. I found that cardboard stacked on top of each other is also a great substitute for foam tape. Just adhere to each other with double-sided tape.

Those little windows show little cut-outs from the Nevermore Collage Sheet. The patterned paper on the cardboard (painted black) comes from an old kit. The buttons, sequins, beads and bling all come from the Green Color Kit.

Special thanks to my husband AR (whom I bullied to paint the tombstones for me. *grin*).

I painted toothpicks black and then realized that I could insert them in the holes at the side of the corrugated cardboard. I ended up with a really cool jail cell!

Here’s hoping you and your families are enjoying the spookiness and fun of the season!

*hugs*

P.S. Special thanks to the wonderful Angie of Scrapscene and her special mention of GA on this post HERE.

Guilty pleasure

Okay, I confess. I’m a certified addict. Please don’t hate me. I just can’t stop my obsession.

If I had ALL the TV series in the world to choose from, and yep that includes my favorites “Gilmore Girls” and Big Bang Theory”, I’d still pick “Gossip Girl”.

I can’t help it — the gorgeous people, the fashion, the music, the intricate plots — I’m just obsessed!

And maybe I’m just living a little vicariously through them and wishing my adolescence was just as exciting. *grin*

Anyway, what got me to admit my shameful addiction is the gorgeous Lush Kit and everything it holds. With the pink cardstock, the cocktail umbrellas, cool bling and, yup, those lovely fabric-covered buttons, I couldn’t think of anything else that balanced alcohol and fashion in one great package!

P.S. I’m serious about not throwing away the pizza box your orders from Gauche Alchemy come in. See what fun you can do with the cardboard?

Here’s to guilty pleasures!

*hugs*

Your Tiny Bits

Scraps! I bet you thought I was going to be posting about something scandalous. *grin* Sadly, no.

I’d like to thank everyone for the well-wishes and the swell of support. The last six months has kicked me around pretty hard, but I’m made of stern stuff and plan to bounce back as quick as I can.

Creating art is terrific therapy and is a great way to channel nervous energy or keep your hands busy when you are waiting for the meds to work, the doc to call or, as it seems lately, the other shoe to drop.

I don’t know if you are at all like me, but sometimes I wreck everything I touch. Loss of mojo, jangled nerves, too much stress – whatever the cause, at times I’m a one woman demolition crew. Then I get nervous about trashing my pretty craft  supplies so I do nothing. Yes, the beautiful pages of ephemera are safe in their plastic bags; but are they happy? I think not.

In times like these, I reach for my scraps. Specifically the bits too small to do much with. They are already destined for the trash bin so fooling about a bit isn’t much of a risk. After making the Halloween Hat centerpiece for the newsletter (you get the newsletter, right? If not, sign up PDQ – you’re missing out!) I had several inch-sized pieces of foreign book text. I keep a zip loc bag of itty-bitty card stock so I grabbed it and set about making christmas tags. We’ll all be needing tons of these soon enough so why not?

For these tags I stamped christmas images on my book bits and colored them in with markers. I added a little glitter on some and sequins from the Scarlet Fever and Banana Hammock mixed media color kits. Voila. Done. And I didn’t hurt a thing

With a little confidence built from my lack of destruction I attempted a card with my last, tiniest pieces. A fall card this time as frankly, I’m really not ready for Christmas yet:

If you are wondering how I made that cute abstract tree, check out this awesome video:

You can read more at A Little Hut.

Thanks again everyone for all the love. I really appreciate it.

Exciting news!

If I sounded a little down and unsure in my last post, I hope you will forgive me. I hope I didn’t scare anyone enough to make you think we might close our doors. Naaaaahhhh… perish the thought!

We have not one, but TWO new Team Captains to present. They should both be familiar if you’ve been hanging around long.

The first is our good buddy Julie Kirk. Julie’s been with us since the very beginning. She applied for our very first guest design team call, and … well… we didn’t pick her. Why? I think we had grander plans in mind for her. We are such HUGE fans of her work that we couldn’t imagine having her for any old designer stint. As soon as our Acme kits were introduced, we named her our Acme designer. It’s evolved from there – now she creates wonderful stuff with just about anything we send her.

Julie will be stepping up from Design Team member to Design Team Captain as Nicole recuperates. We hope to hear a lot from Nicole as she starts feeling better, but this takes the pressure off. Get better, Nicole! We love you!

Our second new Design Team Captain is Lara Wineman! We love Lara. We’ve only done feature after feature of her work. On our blog. In our newsletter. We have a big crush on her. She responded somewhat like this when we asked her to join our team:

Just as any high-school requited crush, we are crap-our-pants excited to have her join us! She totally rocks the art journal… and whatever else she might want to do. No fencing her in.

I am terrifically buzzed just thinking about all the cool stuff you’ll see here in short order. Stick close – you won’t want to miss a thing!

There is one more bit of news that I share with tears and mourning.  Yasu will be leaving for Japan in less than a week.  *boo hoo*  I know it’s not a big deal for you guys – you didn’t get to hang out with her on a regular basis anyway.  But I did.  She will be sorely missed in my little corner of the world.  Of course, we expect to see each other from time to time… and she’s carrying Gauche Alchemy home with her to satisfy all our special Japanese fans.  You Japanese ladies have a load of great surprises waiting: workshops, kits… Yasu has some good stuff planned… exclusive stuff just for you!  (Don’t you wish you were Japanese now?  If you visit, we will talk her into letting you into her sold-out workshops, okay?)

We’ve convinced her to continue blogging in English as well as Japanese so we can follow along.  We love you, Yasu!  You are a talent and personality that will never be duplicated.