New goodies waiting their turn

I am afraid:

… I haven’t spent enough time really working on my on-line presence. My blog is only bare bones still and I have lots to do on my website.

… I don’t work on my collage art often enough. Granted, I have been busy with watching my grand daughter full time up until last week, but I could make my way into the studio after she goes to bed more often. I end up watching TV or playing Bejeweled too much. Poor excuses!

New golf theme items

… that not doing art fairs this summer is going to put me back a few years as far as recognition and acceptability of my art work. Can’t do a whole lot about that now, the decision was a valid one and the correct one, but I sure will miss the fun of seeing and talking with others about my work.

… that the techniques that I want to try will keep me from producing finished pieces that I can take to the gallery and sell. I want to play with some new equipment and tools that I recently purchased, and I fear this play will lead me away from the look I am trying to gel up. Perhaps it will, but perhaps it will also lead me to new and exciting things yet unexplored. I will try not to let this fear hold me back. I love a new technique!!!

New Tunisian crochet hook seldom used

… that by not making enough new work to sell, that I really am really not working at my creative art career. I was so excited about this year and so energized about getting into the bones of my business and strengthening and feeding it so that it could grow and prosper. Somehow I’ve lost steam. Part of it has been my injury, but most of it is my fear to move ahead and realize my dreams. Fear of success, I guess. Fear of failure too. I still have this deep desire to make art not just for fun or my own enjoyment, but to really share it with the world, leave my own mark and be abundantly successful at it. Not just financial success (although this is a big part of it), but abundantly happy with what I do, abundantly blessed with friendships and happy customers who come back for more, being able to teach others my way of looking at things to re-use and re-cycle them into beautiful and whimsical art.

Candy wrappers saved by a friend

I think what I need to do is just forge ahead and put these important goals ahead of me and push towards them, especially the part about friends, happiness, sharing and teaching. Then, hopefully, the rest will all fall into place. If not now? … When?

April showers bring May flowers ATCs

I sometimes join in on an ATC exchange with my Fly Tribe group and this month I couldn’t pass it up. Our theme was “April showers bring May flowers” and I have some of my photos printed out on high quality laser paper, so I choose to work with those. It’s hard to see, but I put some glitter glue rain drops on them to symbolize the April showers. I also tried out a discounted paper punch I bought a while ago. I think they turned out cute! I have 3 requests for the dandelion card, so I might have to make up a few more of that one…

Spray paint papers

On Saturday, I went to my favorite collage group meeting for an afternoon of paper play time. We were to bring our ugly paper stashes, some stencils we didn’t care about getting paint on and some spray paints in assorted colors. I grabbed a stack of ultra neon colored card stock that I bought for my kids years ago and hoped to make them look usable. At first it was a bit awkward and I wasn’t so sure I knew what I was doing, but I kept at it. We worked outside for this project, and if you want to try it, I highly recommend you do too! The fumes from all 10 of us spraying away were enough to bring the art center director out of her office to find out what fun we were having. And the group in the metal forging class that was down wind from us commented on the perfume in the air too. LOL!

Close up of the finished papers

After we took a break for lunch, I got back to working on my stack of neon papers. They were starting to look less obnoxious and more like pretty scrapbook papers, something I could actually work with. I tried to do both sides of the papers with similar designs on each, but with differences too. I am thinking they would make nice journal pages…

So, I now have another project in my “To~Do” stack in my studio. I like to think of it more as job security however…

Since I recently bought a Zutter binding system at a bargin price, I will just have to try it out and now I have some papers to work with! I am excited!

I have one more item to share with you, but it’s not about any project I’ve been working on, well, not exactly. Since pictures are worth a thousand words, I will leave you today with this one. Have a nice week and hopefully see you here again on “Fighting Fear Friday” Cheers!

R I P!

My art journal

I’ve organized a collaborative project with some of my friends from my Fly Tribe, a journal on creativity. We are all working on 2 pages that tell why we love to be creative and what we love to make. Not all of my friends are painters or mixed media artists, some are writers, others jewelry makers and one of them is an accountant. We are a mixed group of very creative women. They all inspire me so much!

A few weeks ago I mailed all of them a package of watercolor paper, some guidelines and asked them to show and tell me about their muse. The watercolor paper is rather large, two 1/4 sheets to be exact (15″ wide X 11″ high).  I wanted to be sure everyone had lots of room to play and room for photos, journaling and any other other inspirations they want to include. Well, it seems a bit overwhelming for most at first, “a lot of real estate” as one friend put it, but I think they are beginning to enjoy it.

inside pages of my journal

I am rather new to the practice of art journaling. It is not something I have a lot of time to commit to it, but I sure love to see what others have done with it. To help inspire my Fly Tribe friends, I posted some links to websites and blogs that I like to go to. I want to share them here with you too. Maybe you will want to try your hand at this beautiful method of self expression.

First I showed them a bunch of eye candy! Something to wet their appetite and make them go “uuuuhhhhhh!” I simply Googled “art journal ideas” and came up with this link of images. Check it out here!

Next, I wanted to show them some ideas with some instructions to get started. I found squidoo.com, a site all about art journals and art journaling. This site has a little bit for everyone, and especially good for someone just starting out. You can link to it here.

Then I showed them a short page on scrapscene.com on putting together ideas quickly, very good for working out a lay-out and not having to commit to it right away. Kind of like a sand box for the creative. Have a peak here.

And I found a site with such great colors that I had to share it with them called daisyyellow.squarespace.com. This one makes me want to stop what ever I am doing and get busy with my paints and papers! You might too, so come and drool here!

Lastly, I found a lady who has more ideas that any 10 people I know. Julie Fei-fan Balzer is an amazingly prolific mixed media artist. I had heard about her from time to time, but never really looked at her work until last week. I am amazed! She works at her art every day and it sure is paying off for her. She even has a project called “Art Journal Every Day” that I think is fantastic! Come take a look at what she is doing here.

another peak

I started a journal a few months ago, and I don’t get it out very often, but I sure want to now. I hope this helps you to think about being creative every day. It doesn’t have to be big, or extravagant or even good, it just has to be what you like to do. Why don’t you get out some paper and crayons or watercolors and colored pencils and glue and ………..

That is how I felt the first time I did a fear release ~ lighter some how. It’s refreshing.

This is how I celebrated today and let go of my fears. I have been feeling so limited due to the long recovery period I am in. I realize that I don’t have it all that bad, but when I can’t accomplish the simplest of things, it sure puts a damper on my spirits. So today I let go of those feelings of pain, frustration, aging and helplessness and opened up my heart to love.

I had thought about burning my shoes as a way to get rid of them and to really release my anger and fear, but when I really thought about it, I realized that was not the best way to handle this. I would have felt bad about all the pollution that would go into the air and gunking up my husband’s grill where I was going to burn it. So I came up with this idea instead.

Celebration begins...

Sweet little plants for my shoes

A sweet little planter filled with pretty little flowers. I went to my neighborhood hardware store and found some trailing flowers that I thought would look nice with my colors.

After poking a few drain holes into the toes, I put a little bit of the potting soil into the shoes. Here is the organic potting soil I was able to find at the store. There wasn’t a lot of room to plant in, so I knew I wouldn’t need much.

good organic dirt!

dividing the plants

filling in the gaps

I carefully removed most of the soil from around the roots and separated them into 2 sets of plants. I carefully tucked each set into each shoe. Filled in any gaps and made sure there was plenty of room for watering.

My finished planter!

And here is the finished planter. I am so pleased with it! Now I have something I can look at and enjoy. I can feel good about turning a negative reminder into a positive and beautiful thing. It will be fun to watch it grow and take care of it.

It's new home.

For now, it is going to live on my deck in the back yard. I want to make sure it gets well established before I move it to the front of the house. This is where I can easily get around outside and enjoy the out of doors. I could almost live on my deck in the summer time, if only it didn’t rain….

Thanks for joining me today. I hope you had a great day and hope to see you here again next time.

The "BAD" shoes.

I prepared for my fear release celebration by getting my “bad ol’ shoes” ready for today on Tuesday. I wanted to be sure I was ready bright and early. My husband was nice and drilled a couple of holes into the heals so that I could run a long piece of stiff wire through them to create a hanger for them. I finished the ends with cute little curls.

Next, I painted them with some white gesso that was a gift from my friend Angel. It covered the leather nicely and I dried it with a blow dryer to speed up the process.

The healing begins...

All the time I was working on these, I kept thinking of the helpful line that my friend Catherine Just shared with us on April 27th. “Fill your heart with love, and there is no room left for fear.” At first I was going to fill the toes of my shoes with my fear, but then thought about what Catherine said and I decided not to, … there was no room for fear here. I started to feel better already.

Next, I decided to add one of my favorite colors, a soft coral pink. I wanted to give the large center area a pretty heart color and this did it for me. I also really liked the dots I did on the birthday chair, so I put in a bunch of those around the perimeter for fun.

a little pink

I covered these dots with a pretty coat of nail polish that I had in my stash of odd paints. It has a nice pearl sheen to it. Another hit with the blow dryer and it gave me some time to work on the embellishments. I had a white quartz crystal that I tied to the top of the hanger. I am sure there is some mystical properties that will help me, not sure what they are, but I need all the help I can get. Next I altered a spare key that my friend Jeannie gave to me. Pinks, reds and blues this time, some glitter and a plastic pink heart tops it off. I also have a whimsical angel that appears to be dancing and I tied her on too to help fly those fears of mine away.

I finished it off with a version of Christine’s saying in black paint pen. My hand writing is not so pretty as I would like it to be, but it is not easy writing on an uneven surface.

Nearly finished...

I also added a coat of clear crackle cover coat, some micro glitter for that finishing touch and WA~LA! Ready for the ceremony!

Fill your heart with love...

I will come back later today and show you what I did for my ceremony…

Feel free to tell me about your ceremony in the comments. If you would like to share with me in a more private way, you can use my email address: linda@lindakaysart.com

A selection of my books

I have diverse tastes in the area of creativity and I have a healthy selection of books to wet my appetite. I don’t just buy what is current or popular, I like to find the unusual and under appreciated. It allows me to find items at less than full price as well as used and in still good condition. I also like to choose these less popular books so that I am learning something outside of the main stream. It give me a new perspective on creative making.

Books on re-purposing

My favorite subject is re-purposed and recycled crafting. I grew up hearing stories from my maternal Grandparents about life during the Depression and making due with what they had. It really struck a cord with me as I always try to apply this to my own life and art making. Part of it stems from a need to be ecologically minded, as well as thrifty. Finding ways to create beautiful things from old, worn out or no longer needed things brings me a sense of satisfaction. I can breath new life into things, all with a little inspiration from my books.

Needlework books

I also have a deep love of needle work; crochet, embroidery, sewing, weaving, knotting,…. I pretty much like everything to do with thread, needles and fibers. I love taking raw fabric and threads and cutting and manipulating them into something to wear or decorate my home. With my books, I can find just the right touch to trim a curtain, learn how to rework an old skirt and turn it into a vest, or use scraps and make a pretty gift for a friend. These books on needlework are a treat for my eyes and help me to envision the tiniest of details for the perfect project.

Painting books

The bulk of my books consist of painting books that I have collected. I belong to the Society of Decorative Painters and have access to artists and their book, pattern packets and design ideas. It’s a wonderful group and I have enjoyed it very much as there are so many people willing to share what they know and love. I have learned from very basic techniques and brush strokes to very complicated Russian painting and layering effects. There is never a lack of ideas to inspire me into painting something beautiful.

Mixed Media magazines

One more area of interest, the one I have chosen to build my creative arts business around, is mixed media art. This area of art has exploded in popularity in the last several years and I started taking notice about 7 years ago. There are books on paper embellishments, books on journaling and books on altering just about everything from old cigar boxes to doll parts. These type of inspirational idea books have really lit a fire under me. I can make all sorts of shadow boxes to canvas works to jewelry with the clever techniques that I have learned from these books. I can also incorporate all of the other things I like to do, paint, stitch or recycle into my work, and these books will instruct me how to make it all work together.

Mixed Media & Crafts books

One of the perks about a book collection such as mine, is that when I get tired of these, there are many, many more to be had. About once a year, I go through my collection and pull out all the ones I no longer want and either give them away to my friends or take them to a book resale shop. That way I have room for more and the old ones are not going to waste. I encourage you to explore your local books shop, resales store or library. You can find a book to instruct and inspire your next project with a small investment.

Remember ~ my “Fear Release Celebration” takes place in two days. On Wednesday at 9:00 a.m. U.S. Central time I will be releasing my fears in a special way. Please take a few minutes to let go of the things that are holding you back from the life you want to live. Then come here and share your celebrations with me! Have a great week!

Note: All the books I’ve shown are copyrighted by the authors who wrote them. I am only showing my collection for sharing purposes and no disrespect or infringement is intended.

It's a Celebration!

Next Wednesday, May 16th, at 9:00 am U.S. Central Time, is the next

“Fear Release Celebration!”

and I would love to have you join me. It is a wonderful way to rid yourself of those nagging little fears that keep tugging at you and keep you from being your best self.

what's holding you back?

My own fear that I will be releasing are related to my injuries that I sustained at the end of March. I am sharing them here now in hopes of helping you to see that fears can be real, yet overcome. You don’t have to let them rule your day to day life. You can learn to let them go, even if it just a little bit, and find a whole new outlook on life.

I am not saying that you should not have any fears in your life at all. No ~ fears keep us safe from real harm, like the fear of playing in the busy street, or fear of falling off a tall building, or fear of being chased by a bear! Real fears are, well ~ real. The fears I am talking about are ones that limit your ability to live in the present and keep you from making the best of your life. The ones that hold you back. The ones that you CAN let go of!

Time to take care of you too.

As you know, I broke my left foot and banged up my right knee. This has kept me from doing all the things I really wanted to do over the last 6 weeks. It has also shown me a side of myself that I don’t like very much ~ my future ~ if I don’t start taking better care of myself. YIKES! This is a big one for me.

But, this week I saw hope. It came in the form of physical therapy and a recommended place to go for it from my friend Angel.  (Yes Angel is my angel this week!) With just one visit, they showed me just exactly what is injured on my knee, some exercises that already are helping it to feel better, and I made a goal to be walking like normal again in 4 weeks. They can’t promise my goal will be attained, but said we will work on it together.

Together ~ I like the sound of that word! I have a team!!!

The "BAD" shoes.

I am preparing my for this celebration by prepping my shoes for a fear release in  a unique way. When I bought them last year, I remember saying to myself “These shoes are going to break my leg.” and I bought them anyway. They are not my usual choice of foot wear, but I wanted something that looked like a boot, but wasn’t a full boot, and they have a bit of a heal. I don’t do heals well. And they are slip on clogs. I love clogs! But ~ I should have listened to my inner voice. Now that I am more in tune with my intuition and more aware of my inner fears, I know better now.

Come and join me on Wednesday ~ you will feel better ~ I promise!

And if you need a bit of Mixed Media Mondays inspiration ~ come back and visit next Monday. Have a great weekend!

This is where I will share any new projects I’ve been working on. I am hoping it will motivate me to finish some old ones that have been hanging around the studio too long, as well as start some new ideas that I have running around in my head.

A couple of months ago the collage group that I belong to, the Collage Sisthars, was asked to donate some altered chairs for a fundraiser. The Fine Line Creative Arts Center in St. Charles, IL is in need of a new driveway and parking lot and they were organizing a fundraiser. Our group pulled together and painted and altered 7 amazing chairs for the “Pave the Way to Our Future Fundraiser”.

It was held at the Harley – Davidson dealership in St. Charles on April 20th. I was not able to go, but heard that 225 people were there and all of our chairs sold in the auction. There were a lot of really nice art work, special baskets and gift certificates to bid on. I sure wish I could have made it that night. I hear the appetizers were very good and I sure wanted to sit on one of the many motorcycles in the showroom!

"Happy Birthday! Chair"

I painted a “Happy Birthday” chair. It was a $3 chair that I picked up at Goodwill many months ago that just screamed birthday chair to me and I had to buy it! I think it was the little balls on the chair rails that did it for me.

It was a lot of fun to paint! I was able to do a lot of the painting on my deck back in March when we had that unusually great weather. It was a lot of work, but the time just flew when I was painting. It is like that when I really get interested in my work. It is more like play than hard work. I like it like that!

back view

I was hoping that my chair would go for $50 – $60 tops for this fundraiser. I emailed the Fine Line to find out how the evening went. They said there was a bidding war over my chair and in the end it went for $150!!! I am stunned!

I am so glad my chair went to such a great cause. The Fine Line is a wonderful arts center and I am sure my chair will attend many very happy birthdays!

Cake view

I am excited to announce that I have been included in a wonderful website that my friend Cindy Jones Lantier of Mixed Grill Favorites has created. Its called Mixed Media May, and is dedicated to Mixed Media Art featuring a different artist on each day for the month of May.

She has selected a wonderful bunch of artist and I am so pleased to have been asked to be a part of this. The talent of these artists is amazing! Everyone was asked the same questions, but each one answered them differently. I think that is what makes mixed media art so interesting, no two artist are the same.

Here is the link to the page I am on. ~ http://www.mixedmediamay.com/2012/05/08

Please come by and visit today and every day in May. I am sure you will enjoy it!

Here are some links you might be interested in.

Mixed Media May Website ~ http://www.mixedmediamay.com/

Mixed Media May Facebook page ~ https://www.facebook.com/MixedMediaMay

Cindy’s Website ~ http://www.lantier.org/

Mixed Grill’s Facebook page ~ https://www.facebook.com/MixedGrillFavorites

"Oh Fleeting Light" interior

Where do you find inspiration? What are your favorite sources for new and exciting mixed media art? There are so many sources to be found, and for the next few weeks, I want to share with you, my favorite go to places. Many of these are very well known, but some of them are still new to me. If you would like to share something, please leave a comment below so I too can be inspired.

This week I am sharing some publications and the companion websites that go with them. These all offer new trends, unique ideas and products to try. I have come to love them and save them for when I need a real treat.

"Give me the money!" detail

My favorite mixed media magazine by far is Somerset Studios. This magazine is responsible for my going into my creative arts business, thanks to a friend showing me a delicious article in an issue several years ago. She forewarned me that it would be addicting and asked me not to blame her for anything that would follow. LOL! She was right, it really changed my outlook on what mixed media art meant. The photos are my eye~candy when I need a treat. I fell head~over~heals in love with it! Inside each issue is a selection of new, aspiring artist as well as those who are well established. The projects are well presented and most times instructions are included. It makes trying out new technique quite easy and fun.

The amount of shared information makes this magazine one of the best. In the pages of Somerset Studios, I have found new favorite artists, wonderful techniques, book sources and even retreats and workshops to attend. Even the advertisement section is full of enticing sources of inspirations! I encourage you to buy a copy and enjoy it, but I warn you ~ don’t blame me for what happens after you get your hands on it……

Here is a link to the magazine. http://www.somersetstudio.com/

Here is a link to the companion website ~ an amazing wealth of magazines, books, products and so much more! http://www.stampington.com/index.html

A tray of freshly made fiber flowers.

I recently found out about a magazine that has taken my work in an interesting direction. Cloth, Paper, Scissors has enables me to think outside of the box. They feature projects that combine unusual materials that I had not thought of before. To mix fibers with paints and paper has helped me to come up with new types of art work to try. My favorite features are those which recycle items into beautiful new items. This is a practice I like to use as often as I can in my work.

The most special thing that I have found in the pages of Cloth, Paper, Scissors is the “Create Retreat” that the publishers have put together. I am luck that I live near Chicago, where they hold one of these events. This retreat is held over several days with classes, a marketplace and many opportunities to socialize with the people attending this fun filled event. I am hoping to attend this years retreat in August. Maybe I will see you there…

Here is a link to the magazine.  http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/blogs/clothpaperscissors/default.aspx

Here is a link to the companion website ~ also filled with a multitude of products, publications and ideas to inspire. http://www.clothpaperscissors.com/

"Tweet Love" ATC

Recently I made a discovery of a free on-line publication, Art Trader Magazine. On this website are quarterly issues in a PDF file format that you can download for free! This publication supports mail-able art, journals, chunky pages, inchies & altered art. They like to feature new unestablished artists, so the art work it shows is quite unique from the magazines listed above. It is refreshing to see new inspirations! If you are looking to get published, I encourage you to give them a try.

Here is the link to this magazine.  http://www.arttradermag.com/

I hope you enjoyed today’s post. Next week I’ll share my collection of books that I have. Come by on Wednesday for a new feature ~ “Wet Paint Wednesdays”.