Posts Tagged ‘artsupplies’

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Art On The Go – A Look Inside My Travel Art Kit

Hi friends. I love to travel and find that my creative self is often inspired by the sights, sounds, & scents of the places I visit. After a full day of exploring, or even before heading out for the day on a new adventure, I enjoy spending some quiet time getting my art on.

I’m frequently asked which art supplies I take with me when I travel, so I thought it time to share a detailed post.

“Memories are the best souvenirs”

While some of the kit’s content can vary a bit, depending on my mood, travel destination, or a new art supply that I may be obsessing over, for the most part I’ve found what works for me and I stick with it.

Here is my most recent travel art kit that I put together for our recent trip to the Hawaiian Islands.

Kit Contents:

– Small Journal

I whipped up one of my own Painty Papers Journals the night before we left and slipped it into a travelers notebook cover by Foxy Fix.

– Water Soluble Pencil

I’m using a dark blue Aquarelle by Faber Castell.

– White Pens & Markers

For detailed info

– Black Pens & Markers

For detailed info

– White Gesso

I like Dina wakley’s brand by Ranger because I they come in small tubes. The white gesso pulls double duty as gesso and as white “paint”.

– Dark Heavy Body Acrylic

For the dark paint I like using “Night” rather than Black, because it’s a deep blue with a wonderful depth of color.

– Small Paint Brushes

– Water Brush

– Scribble Sticks

I like Dina Wakley’s scribble sticks because they’re easy to transport, water soluble, inexpensive & come in a wide range of colors.

– Gelatos

I like that they’ll go on dry and pull double duty as a wet medium, with a little water.

– Glue Stick

Uhu is great for humid climates.

– Watercolors

I like the colors in the Jane Davenport Bright Palette. They’re inexpensive, come in a tin that helps them travel nicely, & they offer a nice pop of color.

– Spray Bottle

Ranger’s Mini Mister is perfect for travel.

– Ephemera

I take a small assortment of stamped images, decorative papers, & bits of painty underpaper. These are great for collage and adding texture & color

– Stencils

I absolutely love the 4×4 stencils by StencilGirl. They’re the perfect size for travel. You can also cut down larger stencils into smaller pieces, like with their ATC Mixup Stencil. I also just added smaller stencil bits to my kit from Traci Bautista.

– Baby Wipes

They’re handy for tidying up and a great tool for removing paint through stencils for texture.

 

I always add some sort of cover to my Painty Papers Journal, whether it’s a canvas cover that I’ve stitched up myself, or a leather traveler’s notebook cover, like I did here. I also add adhesive pockets to the inside of both covers for a handy place to stash my ephemera and collage papers.

Tucking my stencils right under the band of my travelers notebook keeps them all together in one place.

The Bag:

I’ve tried several types of pouches and bags for my travel art kit and finally found something that I love. It’s a Wash Bag from Lorton & Horn. It has a flat bottom and has a great doctor’s bag opening for easy access.

The best part is that it’s roomy enough to hold all of my travel must-haves plus new additions to the kit, like this set of oil pastels and new Posca Markers.

 

“Travel is fatal to prejudice, bigotry, and narrow-mindedness, and many of our people need it sorely on these accounts. Broad, wholesome, charitable views of men and things cannot be acquired by vegetating in one little corner of the earth all one’s lifetime.” -Mark Twain

 

Enjoying some art time as we arrive on the island of Kauai

Thank you for joining me as I share a peek into my travel art kit. If you have any comments or questions, I’d love to hear from you.

Wishing you a week full of art and a week full of whimsy.

xo, Belen

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Mounting Unmounted Stamps

Hello my crafty peeps! After receiving several comments and questions on Instagram about how to mount full sheets of unmounted stamps, I thought I’d film a quick process video.

The stamps that I’ll be mounting in the video are from Invoke Arts on Etsy. I’ve had mixed feelings about this shop in the past but decided to place another order and I’m happy to say that shipping was really fast this time. I had my stamps in about 4 days.

I purchased my EZ Mount from Amazon. You may not need a 10 pack, but it’s handy stuff to have on hand.

The DVD cases that I use to store my mounted stamps can also be found on Amazon.

Thanks for watching my video. Have a wonderful week!

xo,

Belen

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Create a Keepsake Tin, Perfect For Gift Giving

Happy Monday! I hope that you all had a nice weekend and got to spend some time doing something you love.

I recently enjoyed playing with a few wonderful products by Art-c and I’m going to share with you how I transformed a Tin with Accordion Book kit into a pretty keepsake holder, suitable for gift giving. It comes with a sturdy accordion style blank book inside, which makes this a great gift idea for the art lover in your life.

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To start with, you’ll need a tin. Art-c has these available in different shapes and sizes. I also recommend checking out their adhesive canvas. It’s super easy and fun to work with. That’s what I’ll be using here.

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First, measure your tin and cut your adhesive canvas to size.

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Next, using Ultra Chalk Paint in Turquoise Blue, I brushed a layer through one of their adhesive stencils. This paint has great body to it, so one coat is plenty.

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I set it aside to dry.

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While my canvas dried, I took a of the burlap flowers from one of their collage kits and brushed the edges of the petals with Metallic paint in Magenta.

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Once dry, I just peeled off the backing and pressed it down to adhere the canvas to my tin,

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Next, I measured and cut some burlap ribbon, also from one of their collage kits.

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I used a bit of adhesive to adhere it to my canvas.

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I then took a few wood letters and gave them a coat of Magenta.

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Using my Groove Tool, also by Art-c, I distressed the letters and dabbed on some Ultra Chalk Paint in black along the edges to give them a shabby chic effect.

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I added a bit of metallic thread, from their collage pack, then used a few drops of fabric adhesive to secure my wood letters and burlap flower to the lid of my tin.

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To finish off my keepsake tin, I added a sentiment tag and a cute little clothes pin.

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And there you have it. A handcrafted keepsake tin, perfect for giving. They’re so easy and fun to make that you just may want to make a couple extra so you can keep one for yourself!

Wishing you a colorful week.

xo,

Belen

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Summer Art Bento Box – The Unboxing

I’m so excited to share an unboxing video with you today. I just received my Art Bento Box, the Summer edition, and It…Is…Awesome!

For more info, you can check them out at ArtBentoBox.com or go to their Etsy shop directly.

 

Side Note: I’m not affiliated with Art Bento Box. I paid for my box and have helped promote their product because it’s awesome, because Tori is a doll, crazy talented and puts so much attention to detail into her boxes and because I believe in helping when I can.

Enjoy!

xo,

Belen

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Show & Tell: How I Organize My Stencils

I recently took on the huge task of organizing all of my stencils into some semblance of order. For a couple of years now, I’ve kept them in 13 x 15 3-ring photo albums by We R Memory Keepers, like these here. Although the description says they’re 12×12, you’ll see in the “answered questions” section that they’re really 13×15. Inside of the albums I use clear page protectors to hold the stencils.

This worked pretty well for me at first, but because I never set up a system inside the albums it soon became a mess. I’d use a stencil and just stick it back into any available sleeve. After a while, I had no idea what stencils I even had anymore. I knew it was time to straighten things out.

The first step was making piles of the various categories that I wanted to use.

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Here’s just one small area in my studio, covered with stencils. The rest looked the same, there were stencils everywhere! I asked myself more than once Why I started this project, but I pushed on. I knew that when I was done it would all be worth it and it was!

 

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Once I had all stencils sorted by category I put them back into their photo sleeves then back into the albums they went. I pulled out my handy-dandy label maker to make labels for the different categories and whipped up cute little spine tags using a Frida Kahlo stamp from Rubber Moon.

Here’s a quick video showing one category so that you can get an idea of how I organized them. Stencils in each category are now grouped together, regardless of size. Small & mid-sized stencils are in 8.5 x 11 sleeves and larger stencils are in 12 x 12 sleeves.

I hope you’ve found this show & tell  helpful. Thanks for watching!

xo,

Belen

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Tutorial: Let’s Pretty Up Those Paint Water Containers!

Happy Wednesday to all of you. I hope that your week is off to a wonderful start.

I have a fun and easy tutorial to share with you today, using some of the great products sent to me by the folks over at Art – C. I’m going to show you how I prettied up my clean-up water jar in just a couple of minutes.

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If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you may know that I’ve taken a liking to watercolor and have participated in a couple challenges and most recently a watercolor class.

Each time I sit down to push some paint around I grab a fresh cup of clean water that I use to hydrate my pigments. My brush clean-up water, on the other-hand, is a whole other matter. Sometimes it’ll sit on my desk for a couple of days before I get around to changing it.

Since we have 2 kitties, and didn’t want them getting into the dirty water, I looked for a covered container. I chose a clear jar with a hinged lid that I picked up at my local craft store. So now that I had a functional container it was time to pretty it up a bit.

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I used a ruler, scissors, a pen or pencil and adhesive canvas by Art-C.

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I eyeballed the width of the flat area of my jar and drew a line right on the canvas with my pencil.

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Then I just cut along the line.

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Now comes the fun part, playing with paint! I used Luxe paints and adhesive stencils. I really enjoyed using these paints; they’re lush and creamy. And those adhesive stencils… oh my! They are perfect for using in a project like this. They have a temporary adhesive that clings to most surfaces and then just lifts right off. I’ve even used these with watercolors and the results are unbelievable!

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I gave my canvas a quick layer of gesso then a base layer of chalk paints, to create a little extra depth.

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I first brushed some of those yummy Luxe paints through one of the larger stencils.

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Then I used a smaller stencil for variation.

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The adhesive backed alphabet stencils were great for adding some quick lettering.

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I used a couple more adhesive stencils to add a bit more visual interest.

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A few doodles and marks to jazz it up a bit then I just peeled the backing off the adhesive and stuck it right onto my jar. It was That easy!

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Now my jar looks cheery and colorful sitting on my desk and offers me a nice reminder to “Get Messy!”

I hope you enjoyed this quick tutorial, I had fun sharing it with you.

As always, thank you for reading and I wish you a wonderful week!

xo,

Belen

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Creativity Stifled By Too Many Art Supplies & Struggling To Find My Own Style

Hi friends. If you follow my blog, you’ve likely noticed that I haven’t shared as much mixed media art lately. I’ll admit that I’m in full-on planner girl mode and having a blast with it, but I’m finding that my mixed media art, and art journaling in general, just isn’t where I’d like it to be.

I’ve had to the opportunity to take art classes from some wonderfully talented artists and learned several great techniques from them. I have the time, space and more supplies than I know what to do with, yet I find that I’m struggling to find my own style and just not feeling very inspired lately.

After pondering it for the last couple of weeks, I’ve come to believe that a large part of my issue is an overabundance of art supplies. Paints, inks, powders, stencils, stamps, various machines, misc tools… you name it and it’s quite likely I have it or had it and have given it away in one of my mad art studio de-stashings. I realize that I’m fortunate to be able to indulge my enjoyment of the “new and shiny” and we all love new art supplies, but in my case I think it’s worked against me, stifling my creativity.

I was recently discussing my thoughts with a group of artist friends on Facebook and was surprised to find that several felt similarly and also believed that they created more art when they had less supplies to work with.

One friend, Laura Dalgarno-Platt, gave me a wonderful suggestion that I’ll definitely try. She suggested that I write the names of my supplies down on slips of paper or popsicle sticks and place them in a jar. When I want to create some art, I randomly pull out 3 or 4 and limit myself to those items for that art session.

Having limits can inspire us to be resourceful, more creative. Perhaps having an overabundance of materials has allowed me to be lazy and not have to do that. One thing I do know is that it’s given me too many options and too many options sometimes leads to difficulty, on my part, to make an actual decision… analysis paralysis. Once that sets in, I either don’t create anything or I fall back on styles and techniques I’ve learned in class rather than embracing the randomness and freedom of just playing to see what develops. I’m then left wondering how much of what I’ve created is truly mine and how much is just mimicked from class or a video. This is where I struggle with not knowing what my own style is.

I’ve really enjoyed the art classes I’ve taken and I find a great deal of value in learning the methods shared by these talented artists, being inspired by their styles and benefiting from their lessons learned, but for me, the desired outcome isn’t to duplicate their styles. Ultimately my goal is to create art that I can look upon and recognize as uniquely my own. I’m not there yet, but I’m slowly taking some steps in that direction.

In addition to putting Laura’s suggestion into play, which I plan to do soon, I’ve de-stashed my studio… again, and given art supplies to friends that I hope will get some enjoyment out of them. I plan to clear out even more and I’ve made a commitment to use up the art materials I have before buying more. *Disclaimer: Planner supplies don’t count. Let’s not get crazy here!

I’ve begun boxing up things I’m not currently using but not sure I want to part with yet and plan to store them in the garage. If after a while I find I still don’t use them, I’ll donate them. My hope is that by limiting some of my choices and supplies, I can recapture some of that freedom of “just playing to see what develops”.

I’ve signed up for NaNoJouMo – the 15 Mins Edition on Facebook, which is a free, month-long, 15 minute-a- day, art journal challenge that begins Nov 1st. It’s designed to help us loosen up, begin to uncover our own style and just spend a few minutes each day creating some art. I’m really excited about this and plan to spend my 15 minutes before work each morning.

I’ve also decided to join Wanderlust 2016. I’ll post more about this later, but basically it’s a year-long art journey with weekly videos from a lineup of 26 amazing teachers. This adventure begins in January and I’m looking forward to being a part of it.

Past similar experiences have shown me that having prompts and general parameters to work within, while maintaining the freedom to give an art project my own creative interpretation and adapting it to my skill level is a winning combination for me.

I’m excited to see where these small steps lead me and in which direction my artistic journey will go; I’ll keep you posted!

Thank you for reading.

xo,

Belen

 

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Art Bento Box – Unboxing Video

Hi lovelies! I have something fun to share with you today. Yesterday I received a box of goodies from Art Bento Box and decided to film an unboxing video to share with you today. It’s the first that I’ve shared, so please excuse my nervousness 🙂

Side Note: I’m not affiliated with Art Bento Box in any way. I received this box as a promotional offer to test out their kit in exchange for getting creative with the contents.

Art Bento Box has a Kickstarter Campaign that they’re kicking off towards the end of the month, but you can go to their website for more info and to receive updates.

Before we get into the unboxing video, I thought you might like to see what I created with some of the contents.

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You know I love my art tags, so that’s the first thing that I created. Using the paint and stencil included in the kit, I painted my own washi tape, using the orange tape, also included. I used some of the paper to add that gorgeous flower and the white Prisma Pencil for some mark making.

From my own stash I added a bit of ribbon, some Stabilo black pencil to create some depth and a stamped sentiment using a Donna Downey stamp from the Unity Stamp Co.

And now for the Unboxing…

Thanks for watching and exploring the Art Bento Box right along with me.

xo,

Belen

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The Groove Tool Review & Demo Video

Hello & happy day! I have something new to share with you all today!

I was browsing the isles of my local craft store and spotted this new little gadget, The Groove Tool by Art-C. 2015-05-30 11.30.50 Being the art tool junkie that I am, and it being on sale… well, I couldn’t resist so Hello, Demo Video!

You can see it in action at the bottom of this video, but first, I’ll say a couple of things about it, since this is a review as well. Here’s what comes included in the box: 2015-05-30 11.32.42

  • 1 Groove Tool
  • 1 Brush Tip
  • 1 Sponge Tip
  • 1 Course Sanding Tip
  • 1 Fine Sanding Tip

*Additional tips are available for purchase. It requires 2 AA batteries (not included) and sells for $19.99. If you can pick it up on sale or with a 40% off coupon, like I did, even better.

Basically this lightweight tool works much like a spinning facial cleansing brush in that the tips spin when you turn it on. It has 2 speeds, low and high, making it suitable for use on various mixed media substrates, like paper, canvas, aluminum, even wood.

The Groove is quiet, super easy to use and rather fun! I think it would be especially useful for someone with carpel tunnel or arthritis since the spinning tip does the work for you with very little pressure needed. It would also come in very handy when mass crafting items like cards and invitations.

Another nice thing about it, is that the spinning tips make for a very smooth application, whether you’re using paint or inks, without any harsh brush lines.

I like brush marks as much as the next gal, but sometimes I want a smooth application and The Groove handles that wonderfully.

I’m pleased with this fun little gadget and think it was a good purchase. Did I need it, no. But now that I have it, do I see myself using it again and again, yes! Over all, my take on The Groove Tool by Art-C is that it’s a keeper and a good addition to my art tools.

If you aren’t able to find it at your local craft store, I found it online at Scrapbook.com, but it looks like they are currently sold out. 2015-05-30 12.59.39 A few tags that I made using The Groove.

And now to see it in action… if you enjoy the video, please show it some love by clicking the thumbs up to “like” it.

tag1 Thanks for watching and Happy Arting! xo

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Art Journal Mini Travel Kit

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A recent weekend getaway to Santa Barbara, with my Beloved, inspired me to put together a mini art journal travel kit.

When we travel I don’t spend time art journaling, but upon our return I like to put together a small daybook, or mini journal, to document our getaway. I add things such as notes, memorable moments, a few favorite photos and various bits of ephemera.

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Having a compact, self-contained kit that I can just toss in my weekend bag, is the perfect little take along for putting together my daybooks during quite moments in our hotel room.

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A couple of months ago I purchased these zip folios from Webster’s Pages. They have several gorgeous colors available, I bought 2 of them. For this kit I used the teal folio.

So what’s in my kit you ask? Surprisingly a lot, considering that the folio only measures 5.25″ x 8″ x 0.5″, but basically it contains what I consider to be my art journaling must-haves.

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  • Water brush
  • Stabilo Marks All pencils – black & blue
  • Fude Ball pen 1.5 – black
  • Uni-ball Signo pen – white
  • Sharpie Extra Fine Paint Pen – white
  • Molotow markers – black & white

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  • Day book/mini journal – Handmade, see process HERE
  • Scissors
  • Glue stick
  • Gelatos – I like Faber Castell
  • Text stickers
  • Misc journal cards and hearts that I cut from a sheet of under paper
  • Washi Tape – Handmade, see process HERE

If I want to get really fancy, I my take along a larger wire bound handmade daybook, such as this one that I made using Project Life journal cards.

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You can read about the process for making those HERE.

What you add to your own kit may vary according to your needs, but it’s amazing to see what you can create with just a few basic supplies.

Thanks for reading, I hope this post has inspired you to put together your own art journal travel kit.

I wish you all a wonderful week.

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