Alcohol Ink Tiles & Coasters

I started teaching Arts and Crafts last Fall at the Yarmouth Senior Center in Yarmouth, MA on Cape Cod. It's been an amazing and fun experience so far ... with me learning as much from them as them from me. I am overwhelmed with the creativeness and the openness to learning new things my students have shown!

Our last class was Alcohol Ink Tiles and Coasters. None of my students had ever heard of, let alone worked with these inks before. We were all amazed at the beautiful abstractions created with the inks and rubbing alcohol, and everyone's style emerged as they learned new techniques. It was a fabulous, fun class and I look forward to teaching Alcohol Inks again. My students left the class with plans to mount their tile art on the wall and use as wine coasters. Below are some of the tiles made by my students... (any blurriness is my fault) .....

 

My Upcoming Classes:
Painted Tissue Paper Bowls
May 15 - 10am - 12pm - $15pp
We will be making beautiful paper bowls again. This time we will use painted tissue paper to make one-of-a-kind art bowls. These beautiful bowls can hold wrapped candy and faux votives and make great gifts…or display your work as a piece of decorative art. No previous experience is necessary. Instructor will bring all supplies. Max. 8 people

Make Your Own Art Stamps
May 22 - 10am - 12pm - $15pp
In this class you will learn different techniques for making shapes with peel & stick foam that adhere to a plastic surface for creating one-of-a-kind art stamps. Then with ink and paint we will stamp our designs on cards and paper. These homemade stamps can be used for many projects and will last a very long time! You will leave class with a homemade stamp, a greeting card, and several stamped papers. No previous experience is necessary. Instructor will bring all supplies. Max. 10 people

Gelli Plate Paper Printing
June 26 - 10am - 12pm - $20pp
If you are new to Gelatin Mono Printing, you will learn the basics of print making with the easy to us “Gelli Arts” Printing Plate. If you’ve taken my class before, we will continue on with more amazing techniques using paint, stencils, mark-making tools and paper. Prepare to be amazed as you create your very own unique pieces of art.  All supplies are provided. Max. 8 people

Why Not Paint Luggage?

I have said on more than one occasion that I will paint anything that isn't moving.

I needed (yes, needed!) one of those small pieces of luggage that spin 360˚. My husband found a great deal on one and I said I didn't care what it looked like. (I can't believe I said that!) :)

It wasn't ugly....many people would have loved it. It was just too 70s for moi.

I covered it in gesso first, and later wished I hadn't because part of the design shows through where I didn't cover it and I thought it looked pretty cool. (see bottom of front view)

I used my acrylic paints, my homemade masks, markers for doodling, etc. and eventually my homemade stencil. It's not finished, but it's been a lot of fun so far and has traveled to NC with me. :)

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My First Video

I've done PhotoShop tutorial videos in the past. All but one are lost now. But, I've been wanting to do Art & Craft videos for some time. I have quite a long list of ideas, and I'm going to try to put up one a week. I'm also going to try to be unique in my subject matter so that I'm not just repeating someone else's video. Not an easy task....have you seen how many art & craft "how-to" videos are on YouTube? I've learned so much and they have sparked much inspiration.

Hopefully, I will be able to do the same for others in my 2nd video, because my 1st video is more of a comedy than a "how-to"....my hands flying all over the place and my multitudinous ummms were a bit distracting. I had no script, just ad-libbed my way through....which explains everything! But, I decided to put it up anyway. If nothing it will show my improvement over time....I hope.

It's only 7 minutes....how tortuous can it be? And isn't the subject matter riveting??? Until next time...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VdnGbjJdTwo

More Art Journal Pages

I haven't been working on my Art Journal pages as often as I'd like. I guess I'm too busy painting anything that isn't moving. :)

Most of my Journals are begun by cleaning my brayer on the pages as I work with my Gelli Plate. Then, when I like a print or want to experiment with a ghost print, I lay my Journal right down on the plate. So, there are lots of images made by my mark-making tools or handmade masks. Then, over time I add to the pages with different colored pens. I may see a shape that reminds me of something or often I will add writing to a page. I do a lot of experimenting on my pages...in my Art Journals I am wild, free and daring...NO FEAR! :)

Gelli Printing Nature

Inspired by Nature
Nature is almost always at the core of my art. I know this NOW. I look back at art I created 20 years ago and it is filled with leaves, trees, flowers, animals, etc. It was never anything intentional, it's just what inspires me and what I never get tired of trying to replicate.

Digital Nature
During my daily walks in the Punkhorn I would pick up leaves and other bits of Nature. I started scanning them and making digital brushes and stamps. My ETSY Shop, The Digital Nature Shop was born. The Shop name has changed now (to The Digital Stash), but it is still filled with lots of nature-themed digital stamps, papers, etc.

https://www.etsy.com/listing/124127166/dried-flowers-weeds-stems-7-digital

Gelli Plating Nature
So, it was no surprise that the first things I started using as mark/pattern makers on my gelli plate were leaves, feathers, dried flowers, weeds, etc. If the only mark-making tools I had were bits of Nature, I could still gelli print for the rest of my life and be happy!

The first 3 (warm) colored prints below are available in a paper package in my Etsy Shop. (https://www.etsy.com/listing/201933908/painted-autumn-leaves-5-digital-12x12)

Gelli Plate Art Date

In November, I visited my friend Diann who happens to be a very talented artist. One place you can find her is in the book, "Incite 2".... she's on page 11!!  Way to go, Diann! :)

Diann and I met in an abstract painting class and we hit it off right away. It was an amazing class filled with very talented people and taught by my favorite teacher, Mellissa Morris. Not surprisingly, everyone was or wanted to be an abstract painter. Diann and I were the only mixed-media artists! I learned SO much in that class and hope to take another class some day with Mellissa.

So back to my visit. Diann wanted to learn more about the Gelli plate and I have been obsessed with it for most of the year. (I have several blog posts that are Gelli plate related!) So I packed up my gelli printing stuff including a homemade gelli plate that I wanted Diann to experiment with. I also brought my 8x10 gelli plate for comparison. (future blog post on that!)

So, time flew as it always does when creating. A few hours later we had a stack of gelli prints, paint all over our hands and smiles on our faces. Can't wait for the next Gelli Plate Art Date! In my gelli mania I forgot to take more pics! :) (pics below: Diann in action and print result)

Citrasolv Mixed Media Collages

It's SO wonderful that Digital Art has finally come into its own. I recently had one of my digital pieces hanging in an art show....something I thought I'd never see. Today, I received an email from the Artist's Network and found they did a blog post: Explore the World of Digital Art.

Right now, I'm creating Digital Mixed Media Collages using Citrasolv papers I have scanned into my computer. Everything you need to know about making Citrasolv art is here: http://citrasolv.com/art/index.html  (warning...creating these papers is addictive!)

Many artists create pieces with the actual Citrasolv papers...adding images or deleting ink, etc. But, I like to work with them in Photoshop. If there is text left over or something I don't like I can clone it out. Quite often I will work with hue, saturation and blending modes to manipulate color.

This Citrasolv paper has not been manipulated in Photoshop, yet.

Artists who make these papers know that they are not only beautiful abstractions in their own right, but quite often they will see images (people, landscapes, objects, etc.) in the shapes and shadows and an idea for a new piece emerges.

I have been creating my own digital stamps and brushes for years and have amassed hundreds of them. I create them in Photoshop from photographs or scanned images...many from Nature. These come in handy when I'm creating collages as so many of my pieces are Nature-themed. And sometimes I also use actual photographs, like the butterfly in the collage below. I've also been writing Haikus for years and am now incorporating them into my pieces as well. Sometimes I write a new poem, sometimes a Haiku inspires a new piece.

An Artist is Born ©Kitti Scibelli, 2015

The collage below was created with 3 different Citrasolv papers....one of which was the inspiration for the whole piece. The bottom part of the collage, the "sand" reminded me of how the beach looks after a storm and how devastating the erosion.

Crooked Shacks on a Cliff ©Kitti Scibelli, 2015

Nine times out of ten, there will be a bird in one of my collages. I love them, feed them, photograph them and am fascinated by them. Usually a collage doesn't feel finished until I've added a bird. This collage perfectly expresses what I feel every time a new Citrasolv creation emerges: Serendipity!

Serendipity ©Kitti Scibelli, 2015

Having fun with my new Scan-n-Cut die cutter!

ALERT: This blog was written awhile ago.....CHRISTMAS IS OVER! :)

I have been watching Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's videos for quite some time. I became very excited about the Brother Scan-N-Cut especially since I've got a little pain in my right hand and cutting by hand is just not fun anymore. So, when Julie was on HSN (back in Oct.?) with the die cutting machine, I watched it. My husband saw me watching it and I told him all of the amazing things it could do for me. (I have 2 ETSY Shops and I teach Arts and Craft classes) I told him I was going to try to find it cheaper somewhere. Many, many weeks later I decided I couldn't afford the Brother Scan-N-Cut and found the Silhouette machine (another die cutting machine that does NOT scan). I told him I was going to get that one. He got a funny look on his face and I knew something was up. He had bought the Scan-N-Cut on HSN the day I was watching the show!!!! He asked me if I wanted it early (before Christmas) and I said, oh yeah!

Here's the very first thing I made...

MERRY CHRISTMAS PAPER MANTEL BANNER

I tried to do it Julie's way....she stitched them all together....ha! Nightmare for me, a seamstress I am NOT. So, I went with my strength....glue! I glued them on some beautiful lacy off-white ribbon. The images are all from the Brother's memory. I combined some to be more unique.

My next project was a pop-up card for each of my best crafty friends. Yeah, I should have gone with something simpler, but what's the fun in that? One of the designs was from the machine and one I had to design myself, because that's how I roll! :)  (that one, of course, took me 3 tries!)

But, I was very pleased with the results and my friends loved them!

The last thing I just did and I'm very excited about is cutting out shapes to make a bowl. I saw this bowl on Pinterest and had to try and make it. I printed out one of my Japanese Maple leaf silo stamps, then scanned it into the Scan-N-Cut. I printed out 20 leaves on leftover scraps of a heavier stock. (the die cutter did a fantastic job!) But, the stock was too heavy for the balloon method. Gluing them onto a balloon was not going to happen, so I reverted to the bowl method, which I am not fond of.

This was the result...yuck....but I learned a lot. Next time I will use thinner paper and the balloon method!

Celebrate National Craft Month

I've been super busy with both my ETSY Shops....playing catchup really after the flu, a cold and lots and lots of snow have kept me from creating. I still can't believe it's 2015....and MARCH already!

PAINTED TISSUE PAPER NESTING BOWLS

 And it's a very exciting month....National Craft Month!

10 Ways to Celebrate Arts and Crafts 

     (I kinda celebrate every day, but that's me) :)

     1. Why not try a new art and/or craft....dabble in a new media or technique.
     2. Take a class you've always wanted to.
     3. Teach a child a craft you learned when you were a kid. (Pinterest has millions of ideas!)
     4. See the documentary: "Art and Craft" (http://artandcraftfilm.com/see-film/)
     5. Make something for your home to celebrate Spring. (or St. Patty's Day or Easter)

HANDMADE SILK SUNFLOWER PILLOW

     6. Pinterest has a National Craft Month board:
               https://www.pinterest.com/favecrafts/national-craft-month/
     7. Spend a whole day just being creative....it's SO meditative.
     8. Make a craft or piece of art to donate to a worthy cause.
     9. Make a "Happy National Craft Month" card and send it to someone special.
    10. If you're a hobbyist or a professional...this is the month for sales!

 And speaking of sales, I'm jumping into the fray and offering 30% OFF your entire purchase in my ETSY (Digital Stash) Shop....just type in MARCHCRAFT30 at checkout!
Below are 2 of my latest products available at https://www.etsy.com/shop/TheDigitalStash

HAND PAINTED DIGITAL WASHI TAPES

CITRASOLV INKY ABSTRACT BACKGROUND PAPERS