christytomlinson

Spring Clock Mixed Media Tutorial AND HUGE Sale!

Hello Sweet friends! Hope you are all having a fabulous week! We are gearing up for our third She Matters Retreat.. HERE at our home next week! So excited for the ladies to come.. Ive been gathering presents and making garlands and switching out bedding and planning the delicious meals! I can't wait! I still need to clean my art studio.. (UGH I HATE that part! Lol).. why is it always so messy??

Well part of the mess is because of this tutorial l am bringing you today! SO I guess mess is good right? :)

Excited to show you a fun tutorial on this Clock Project I did using the Tim Holtz Assembly Clock!

We got these into our Scarlet Lime Store and I have been dying since November to play around with one. The possibilities of creating with them are ENDLESS! seriously so many themes, ideas you can do!

So for this one I decided to go with a Spring/Valentines Day theme. All the details are in the video, so I won't bore you with talk here..

BUT i did want to tell you that THIS week we are having a HUGE sale in the Scarlet LIme store! a MEGA sale! We just got back from CHA and we need to make room for all the brand new stuff we are bringing in! (our warehouse is only so big lol).. so we are doing 40% of a TON of different products! 

Product on sale are as follows (with links ):

Tim  Holtz Configuration Boxes

(which by the way I did a video Tutorial using these boxes a while ago and they are similar concept to the clock!

To view that turotorial CLICK HERE!

Configuration Box Tutorial

also on sale!

,  ALL paper Pads, All Washi Tape, All embellishments, Stamp Tins by Glitz, All Sew easy Products, All Glitter, Mr Heuy and Heidi Swapp Sprays, all Mixed Media and Papercrafting/Art journaling kits,  (excludes are most recent months Oct 13-present).. but the ones showing in our store are on sale!) 

That is a ton of fun products! Great time to stock up on favorites or products you may not already have! Sale is good until THIS Saturday!

use coupon code: artsyfun14

at checkout (all lower caps) to receive the discount!

Okay now onto the project tutorial! I have also gone ahead and listed and linked  each product used in the video to create the clock, (below the video)  if you are looking for a specific product used! I have put *** by the products that are 40% off as well!

here are some up close pictures of the finished clock!

and here's the video! (product links are listed below the video)..

 

 

 here are the products and links listed below: 

Tim Holtz Assembly Clock

***Dear Lizzy Lucky Charm Paper Pad

Modeling Paste

*** My Favorite Assorted Spring Paints

***Jenni Bowlin Chipboard Hearts

***Mr. Heuy Spray

***Heidi Swapp Sprays

***Washi tape

***Maya Road Chipboard Letters

DecouPage by Deco Art

***SeweasyFloss

Faber Castell Big Brush Pens

***Janaury Mixed Media kit 2013 (for alphabet Letters)

Scarlet Lime Doodle Pen

***Glitz Tin Stamps

***Vintage Glitter

AqauMarine Archival Stamp Ink

***Tim Holtz Bottle Brush Trees

***Melissa Frances Mini Bottle Brush Trees (perfect size!)

Simply Simmons 1" flat Brush

 

Hope you enjoy the tutorial!!

p.s! I have also listed my wavy hair tutorial so many of you requested from me.. you can find it on my youtube channel but I will also link it here next monday!

xoxo

 

 

 

Fun Mixed Media Canvas Project Tutorial!

Hello and happy tuesday!
We are back from teaching at the Mexico She Matters retreat! WOW what a wonderful time we had! I met so many wonderful new women.. and created some lifelong friendships! Can't wait to go back!

Life is crazy today..catching up on over 1200 emails since I was gone! YIKES! Getting out etsy orders, unpacking, getting kits ready to ship! Crazy day and I am in slow mode.. due to 2 days of travel trying to get home.. cancelled and delayed flights. lol. But I wanted to stop and share with you a really cute canvas that Robin Blackman did for me.. using the  September 2013 Mixed Media kit!

A full post of pictures as well as step by step instructions are listed on the Scarlet Lime Blog.. but here is a few pictures of the finished project!

 

 

Just love how she incorporated photos on the canvas! Love the wonderful bright colors too! so fun!

So if you want to read more about how to create this SAME canvas using your September 2013 Mixed media kit! Hope on over to the Scarlet LIme blog for the tutorial!
Well I better get back to playing catchup..

BUT my goal is to share with you later this week.. a holiday tour of the new old house! So watch for that later this week!

happy tuesday!

xoxo

 

a Girl a Day Personal Challenge

So.. the crazy in me.. decided my plate wasn't full enough and I needed to give myself one more thing to try and accomplish on a daily basis! A few weeks ago.. at my She ARt Matters Retreat, one of the sweet girls attending the retreat.. Michelle.. talked about a sketch a day challenge she participated in on another blog. The challenge was to do a face a day. Whether it was draw, paint, sketch.. scribble. lol.. just SOMETHING to help you become a better face artist. I LOVED the idea.. and mulled it over in my head for a few days.. and then decided I wanted to create my own personal challenge to create 30 girls in 30 days. A girl a day.

I didn't want to limit myself to just paint, I wanted revisit old favorites like using charcoal, my stabilo pencils, sketch pencils, oil pastels, watercolors,  CHALK pastels, mixed media techniques and more. Somedays I knew I would spend more time on a girl, somedays would just be a simple drawing. But I wanted to challenge myself to create EVERY day. So on the 5th I decided to start. (who says it has to be on the 1st of the month?? right? :)). I am always known for making my own rules. lol.

I can tell you this challenge so far has been a BLAST. Somedays Its been seriously close to midnight and I have run out to my studio to sit and sketch something really quick to get the challenge done for the day!

But I did!  AND.. some days and nights,  I have gone out to my studio to sketch something really quick and ended up staying hours in there.. painting and exploring! Which I have ended up cherishing!

you may think I spend so much time in my studio.. heck before we moved into this new/old house I couldn't get ENOUGH of my studio. I was over here everyday I could.. just being here. Whether it was sitting on one of the couches reading books, or actually painting and creating. I LOVED being over here. Needless to say.. my "other" responsibilities seemed to fall by the way side and I found myself getting behind. lol.

Now that we have moved in.. I noticed that i would go a week sometime TWO without even stepping FOOT in my art studio! WHAT?? hello? it's across the driveway! lol.

(this was taken with me standing next to our house. Seriously that is my studio.. across the driveway. that close lol)

I just got so busy with the other aspects of my creative job/Life.. i would forget how important it was to be creative in THAT way too. I always felt so overwhelmed try to keep up with our Store.. ordering and listing new product, getting ready for upcoming retreats, Ordering products for the kit club, and running the back end of the kit club. Plus answering emails, trying to blog (once in a while hahah). Creating new workshops.. and not the actual filming of them.. but creating the classroom, back end website stuff. Same with all my websites. Scarlet Lime, my blog, and even creating logos, etc... not so fun stuff. . Etc. Many might think I hire a lot of that side of things out. But I actually do all of it myself. I dont have a background in web design.. but I have taught myself because I have never been one to "pay" for something I am determined to figure out on my own. I also have a hard time letting things "go" to other people too. Like I need creative control on EVERYTHING lol. It's a bad problem with me. So i just hunker down and do it all. Spend lots of day.. and nights after kids go to bed, managing the blog, all my workshops, our mixed media store, our kit club and even our online bead store. it's a lot and it's sometimes tiring.. but it is how we support our family and so I do it and don't complain because we are BLESSED to have this job. BLESSED i tell you!

I started realizing though.. I was hardly EVER making time to create! AND HELLO?? isn't that the reason I do all of this? To create?? I think so.. and to SHARE what I create with others.. not just in my classroom but in other ways as well.

So I started this challenge for myself as a way to kind force myself into creating something EVERYDAY and being in my studio everyday too! It IS a challenge to find the time.. when I feel like I have WAY more important things to do.. but I have decided it's important!

I have been sharing my daily progress on facebook and Instagram. I admit. Now that I share everything on instagram/facebook..  I have a hard time "bloggin" as I feel like so many of you already follow me on instagram or facebook and I post so much about my life on there, that it feels "redundant" to be posting about it again here.

But I also forget that a short "blurb" on my instagram about something.. isn't the same as writing and sharing with you all here. Here I can be so much more involved and open, here I can give so much more detail... Here I can be long winded and bore everyone to death! lol.

But you know what I mean. I also haven't spent much time lately sharing about my personal and struggles on my blog. I used to do that alot.. I think I have shied away from it because our little family of 8 has been through some pretty life changing, heart breaking trials over the past two years. Even more so over the past year. Things that at times I thought would totally just break me to the core.. and I didn't feel like sharing my struggles with the world. I could barley get through some days as it was.. let alone sit down and write about it. I just shut down.. and closed myself off to others. Seriously i did. Ask my family and friends. I HAVE.. not just did.. I HAVE. Which normally isn't me at all. I am a gabber and love to talk and love to share and LOVE to be around people! I think sometimes when you go through hard things.. your heart gets hurt and your spirit gets broken and you close yourself off to others as a way to i guess just survive? I don't know. I don't know the right words for it. I think for me too, its just so personal.. I feel like no one will understand.. so why share.. right? I don't know. Who knows. I didn't use to think that way.. but i guess sometimes we change :). Maybe someday I will feel different and be more transparent with my struggles.  right now. not feeling that vulnerable lol.

Anyhow.. holy cow.. we have gotten sidetracked from this ENTIRE blog post.. SERIOUSLY lol.

SOO about this 30 day challenge! I have really had a lot of fun with it and just wanted to share some of what I have been doing with YOU! My BLOG friends! So here are just a few from the past couple of weeks. I will share more as the 30 days continues! 

this was a fun watercolor I did on book paper. I LOVE watercolor as it can be so simple and LOVE using NeoColor Crayons and Inkense blocks. They give such BOLD color. Which for me.. well you know me! I love color! lol

I also have had fun exploring just simple things like charcoal.. and just a stabilo pencil. The pencil I love to sketch with and then turn it wet with a brush. LOVE the look. Charcoal is just fun all around. SPECIALLY love using charcoal sticks. yum.

Also have been playing with my soft pastels. I am not usually a fan of these when I work with mixed media because they don't translate well wet. I mean They "move" when you get them wet. Like Pan Pastels look awesome wet.. but not if you are layering other things on top of them and your design goes to pot. So these were just fun to do because they were done using only pastels and a stabilo. I also had fun trying different papers.. like using pastels on watercolor, bristol and charcoal paper. All with every DIFFERENT results.

The two small ones above were on cold press watercolor paper. VERY loose and smudgy. I kinda liked them.

this girl was done on charcoal paper. Smoother paper and you can see that her lines are a little more clear.

Just fun playing!

this girl was dong of course using messy paints and sprays, stencils, rubons. you name it! Trying a new technique for my upcoming online Abstract class!

here's another one I got messy with. This one I had actually started back at the retreat. But left it way undone. So decided one day I would take the time to finish it. Had fun with all the details on the shirts and hair. Always love getting messy on canvas!

and like I said.. some where just simple sketches with my sketch pencil on sketchbook. Nothing fancy.

All in all it has been a FUN experience! I have more to share.. but I think I have already bombarded you with words and pictures for today.

now whats up next for the blog?
WELL I have written a very long.. very "full" blog post of pictures and my experience with my She Art Matters Retreat here 2 weeks ago. It's was an emotional post to write! I have to say.. but I can't wait to share the experience with you.

Also.. next week will be announcing two new art retreats for Spring Here in my Studio/House. A mini more affordable retreat ALL about girls (kinda exploring things within my 30 day challenge.. like charcoals, pastels, watercolors, paints, etc). and then a full week long retreat where you will get to experience EVERYTHING.. girls, abstract, gelli plating.. the WHOLE shabang!

So next week! I plan to share both of those with you!

In the meantime. Have a happy weekend. Hey if you want.. JOIN me in this 30 day challenge! I would love it!
If you are on instagram.. tag me! @christytomlinson  or #girladaychallenge. I would LOVE to see them!

xoxox

Happy Thursday

 

New Behind the Art MixED Media Tutorial AND A GIVEAWAY!!

well hello! First off! Update on The Fund-raising cards! They are being mailed out tomorrow!  ( i didn't realise it but today yesterday was actually the last day to sign up.. so they are getting all of their cards today!)  The  actual card and insert has all the info about the coupons on them AS WELL as the code for our Scarlet lIme store will be SHIPPING out tomorrow!  :) So those who helped out.. AND THANK YOU!! (you helped raise over $4500 for team!!.. INCREDIBLE!), They are on their way! I will also be sending out an email today with the code in it as well. So you have it in both forms. xoxo

So as I mentioned over the last few weeks I have been working on some videos for my blog!
Many of you have asked me why I don't do videos anymore.. however.. I actually do! lol. Since January I have done over 100 videos tutorials! Crazy!!.. but they are all for my online classes, I offer.. which many of you take. However be doing so many, and with moving, etc.   it didn't leave much room or time to do them for my blog as well. I know I've shared written and picture tutorials over the last few months, but not a video one. So i figured it's about time to do SOME! Right?? lol

I am hoping to post one tutorial each week for the next several weeks.. AND when I do post them, I thought it would be fun to do a giveaway as well!! Since I will be making finished canvases with them, I thought it would be fun to giveaway either the finished canvas or a kit!

For this tutorial I would LOVE to give the finished canvas away.. SO all you have to do to enter.. is to post a comment on thIS blog post and you are entered in! Then Monday I will pick a winner! Wahoo!

I like to use the kits from our Scarlet LIme Store and kit club for the videos, because many of you already have the product (you purchase the kits).. or you can go buy it in one kit in the store. So it's easy peasy! But if you don't have a kit (you can still purchase them in the store).. you can easily get inspiration to use things similar that you have on hand!

For this tutorial I used the June 2013 mixed media kit (from the scarlet lime kit club & Store HERE).

 

When I first picked out the products for this kit, I was thinking "banner" project. On canvas! All of the items included in the kit can easily be used to make a "banner" on canvas. So many possibilities with them! Plus of course add texture, and such as well.. this is what I came up with..

 

I used a 10"x10" canvas and also paints, in addition to the pieces in the kit.

These are what I used and are linked for your convenience to our store!

(plus of course paint brushes, my Scarlet Lime Doodle pens,  Faber Castell Pens, DecoPauge, a few stamps and Archival ink for texture. and Paint!)

By the way.. I just got done LISTING my favorite roller stamps (as shown in this video).. in our store HERE.

And remember TODAY we aer still offering FREE SHIPPING on all orders over $30.00!

Use the code: freeship30  -for US customers.  FOr  international customers you receive 15% off your order: use code: happyday13

note: you can only use one coupon per order so they can't be combined with any other coupons.

here's a little peak below of more detailed pictures!

of course I used lots of doodling as well..

and that's it! Here is the finished piece one more time!

So without further wait.. HERE is the video that shows the process!
Don't forget to leave a comment on the blog to be entered to win this canvas! I will pick a winner MONDAY!!

 

Happy thursday!
xoxo

Christy

 

a new way to create.. backgrounds gone crazy :)

Soo.. I promise some videos are coming! As you know, we have moved out to a new house.. (the new old house).. and with moving into a "older" home and out in the country.. we are experiencing some technical difficulties with our internet! SWEEET!! lol.

We have internet out in our warehouse.. which is on the back of our property.. and we thought we could just use it in our house as well. All connect into the same line. BUT it appears that while we can (and it's even a hard line into the wall???).. it is super sketchy and cuts out ALL the time! We only get wireless in ONE room of our house.. and so yea it's a pain right now. My problem is, I  can't seem to get a connection in my office (which off of my bedroom) to last long enough to upload a entire video.. SOO we are working on that! Hopefully it will be fixed THIS week!

In the MEANTIME.. I thought it would be fun to share a little art project I did a few weeks ago, at the art retreat I hosted here at my house!  While I LOVE painting girls (and they are my first love).. I also really love creating what I call Abstract art. it's probably not so abstract.. but you know.. I like to make up words to mean what I need them to mean lol. SO to me I call them abstract :).

There are a couple of things I love about painting with this technique..  one.. i can paint REALLY large and it doesn't intimidate me!

This painting is a 3' by 4' deep edge canvas. Not the largest I have created.. but still SUPER fun!

The other thing I LOVE about painting this way is that it involves creating a TON with the background.. and usually on a girl, you have to stop at a certain point and go.. okay this is enough.. if I do anymore, it will be WAY too busy.

But with this background, you can keep going and going.. adding more detail and more layers and more depth.. because for ME (and I know there are a lot of artists who paint this way and don't like to add the detail as much as I do).. but for me.. oh goodness I love all the little pockets of goodness that shine through..after the painting is done.

What I also love is that I don't really need to know before hand what it is I am going to create in the final project!! It could be flowers, it could be a large sun, it could be a large symbol of some sort (like a butterfly or a heart with wings).

here, after I was done playing and having fun with the background,  i decided to go with a sort of flower look with fun little stems and words coming off the stems.

really the ideas are endless with this method. I know with some people, they like to look at the background and see what the background looks like and create shapes based on what they see.. but for me.. I really like just creating designs that make me happy!

It's a really fun way of painting, that doesn't require a whole lot of thought process in the beginning. It's just fun and relaxing and honestly a way to just relax when you are stuck on a more structured painting like a girl or a house or something else.

I also LOVE using spray paint and stencils with this background method.. even modeling paste. Its like taking all the things i do with a regular background for a girl and magnifying it times 10! it's backgrounds on crack lol. and it's SUPER fun.

Of course I LOVE the end process as well, not only coming up with the designing but going back in and adding details with rubons, and stamps, and my trust Scarlet Lime Doodle pen (um hello.. i can't resist using those on a canvas).

 

this little cutie is heading on it's way to a dear friend, Liz Eaton,  who was responsible for gathering her sisters and mom to come to the retreat. Those girls were SO much fun and  when I got done with it. I KNEW it had to be hers.. so I am sending it to her this week! Which is great because it makes room for me to paint another one for my house or art studio!

They honestly make awesome gifts for friends and family. NO one expects it and its so personal and different! Unique in every way!

So.. I just thought I would share this with you!

I plan on doing an online workshop this fall .. so watch for it! AND SPEAKING of online workshops I have two I will be announcing SOON! One that starts in just a few weeks.. and it's something different, something fun.. something SUPER hot right now.. (it has to do with Chalk.. and hand lettering.. and even a SPIN on canvas! ) Oh you are going to LOVE it! I will be announcing it NEXT monday! 

Hope you have a HAPPY tuesdsay!

xxoxo

 

 

Behind the Art! A new Mixed Media Tutorial!

wow! it's been a while since i have done a video tutorial! Since January I think!! Crazy!

First off, BEFORE I start in on that.. I TRULY HAVE TO SAY THANK YOU!!!! for the HUGE HUGE HUGE response and support of my products we debuted last week in the Scarlet LIme Store! HOLY COW!! It was INSANE CRAZY! I mean CRAZY.. we sold out of products 4 different times during the weekend and I had to call pink Paislee and make SURE we could get more! I kept ordering a ton thinking it would be FOR SURE enough to not only get me through the sale but for months. and then 6 hours later I would get an email from one of you.. that stuff was out of stock again! I was like.. what? are you sure? I just entered more! I felt bad. sorry it was so crazy for you guys!! Hope you all got what you wanted by the end of the weekend! 

here is a picture that ben took of the orders he printed Friday morning.. not even 24 hours after the sale started.. 

 

  I don't think he quite knew I was doing such a big sale in the store. (keep in mind he is the one who runs the store, prints order, pulls them, ships them. )..

I kinda  sorta maybe.. mentioned to him earlier in the week I was going to maybe do a sale.. I think I did. I was pretty sure I said maybe something about it. :) :) :) But I am guessing maybe he didn't hear it. lol.

so he sent me that picture friday before he left work and said something like " um.. would you mind explaining this please?"

I was like... what? I'm pretty sure I told you I was going to do a big sale? Lol. oh I just love him. He's been working night and day since then to just even print, sort and combine the rest of the orders that came in the rest of the weekend! Yesterday we shipped kit club stuff and today we are shipping all the free kits that went to people who signed up for all three classes!  So they will start filling those orders tomorrow. PLEASE be super patient. This is going to take us at LEAST 10-14 days working non stop night & day to get them all out. So please just know it's coming. :)

Seriously Crazy. You guys. YOU ROCK! I owe you so much!! I hope you know how grateful I am to all of you! Just so blessed for the support you give my family and ME! Someday I hope I get to hug each and everyone one of you!! (getting tear-eyed as we speak).

OKAY! onto The tutorial!! xox

So last week I spent an afternoon at the studio, creating projects with the February Mixed Media kit we offer in my online website www.scarletlime.com . Its part of the monthly kit club (and when we have some left we list them in our store). 

SOME months, when I have time and energy, I like to have fun and play with the kits too and when I do i try and do a video with them, so you can see what I do with the products in the kits.

THIS particular month (february's kit) I KNEW right away I wanted to do a video because I had a certain vision on mind for those products lol.  Most of the products we include are just fun mixed media products you can include in ANY of your mixed media stuff you create. Whether its on canvas, or art journaling, or whatever. Those products are designed for you to use in what you are creating. But For this kit, I wanted to really show you what I used them for and why I included them. :)

SO here is the kit!



As you can see its FULL of alphabets and words. Kinda different huh? I mean totally use-able on canvasses and art journals.. all the time. You always need words and titles on them, so these work great. BUT i wanted to show you some fun and different ways you use them. you might not think about!

So I came up with these (and more!)

Im not going to write step by step what I did, hence the video lol (it explains it all)

but here are come upclose shots of the projects I made using contents from this kit!
(note the videos are at the end)

 

So thats it! Actually there are a couple of more projects I didn't take pictures of.. just too much!

AND guess what else? I try to keep my videos under 30 mins.. so they aren't too boring to watch lol But I did SO many different projects with this kit, it ended up being an hour! even with me on super fast mode (you can tell I am rushing through each one to give you AS MANY Ideas as possible! LOL).

So make sure you watch BOTH Part one and PART TWO!! 

again hope you enjoy!!

xoxo

 

PART ONE

 

Part Two

 

xoxox

something to share..

so as promised I wanted to share with you some of the things I made this past week at the

Nurture your Creative Seed Retreat!
Our First class was with the very talented Ms. Jeanne Oliver and I immediately fell in love with her collage lessons! First thing we did was collaged 6 watercolor pages, with vintage wallpaper, vintage ephemera, paints, and more! We were painting them to make them into a handbound journal at the end of the retreat.. this was SO much fun!

So we spent the morning creating those.. then in the afternoon Jeanne shared her techniques for painting her beautiful girls!

This was the one Jeanne painted for us! I took this picture during the process so she wasn't quite finished.. but I still love it!

So then I went to town.. finding my courage to create too! and this is what I finally ended up with..

I actually had put the patterned paper down on her hair and had planned on painting over it.. so I just had the pattern under the paint.. but once I got it down, i actually fell in love with the look and decided to leave it just as it was! I love those happy unexpected things that happen with art as you are just going with the flow!

So then we had the evening to just work on our journal pages some more.. but I had had so much fun doing girls.. and since girls is kinda of my thing, I decided to use my journal pages as 'backgrounds" for painting some more girls instead!

So I spent the rest of the night and ended up with these fun girls.

I don't know why but my girls all ending up on the right side of the journal page? lol

But I had so much fun just exploring and painting All night! I would have stayed up and painted the last three.. but I knew I would be tired and hurting the next day and didn't want to miss out on Mindy's class! Can I just say Jeanne was SUCH a fun teacher! oh my gosh.. that girl is SOO funny! I have been friends with her for years and I know she is that way for me all the time.. but during class she just has this awesome way of making you feel RIGHT at home and really making you feel comfortable! She is a great teacher too! helping you feel confident in what you are doing! LOVED taking a class from a dear close friend! What a fun thing to do. I mean I have painted with her many times.. but to actually take a class from her, was beyond my expectations! LOVED IT!!

WHich by the way.. I LOVED how different both classes were! Jeanne's is obviously VERY vintage and classic.. and Mindy's style is just whimsical and fun!

So the next morning we started out with the very sweet, adorable and tall (why I always thought mindy ws short. i don't know? lol) Mindy!  OH be still my heart! LOVE THIS GIRL!!

She had us start  the day be creating two our own handmade paper.. and then  backgrounds on canvas..

with Mindy giving us some really fun prompts to do! Fun things like "draw your favorite word but with your non dominant hand.. or scribble with your eyese closed with a watersoluable crayon. It was REALLY fun actually! She is an awesome teacher for getting your playful, let your hair down.. side out! We finished the morning by painting a cute little whimsical bunny! I couldn't get my page to feel right, so instead of trying to make my background mesh and fit.. I just created a second animal friend from the background.. and it seemed to work! lol

Mindy was TRULY an awesome teacher! It was SO so relaxing..

then after lunch we worked on the second canvas, and moved onto to creating a girl! (she started us with the bunny so we weren't so apprehensive about doing faces.. which was a VERY smart thing! lol.. it kinda helped ease us into it!)

So here is the girl..

she isn't quite finished. I didn't spend any time creating later that night because it was our last night and I wanted to talk and hang out with the other women there as much as possible! So she still needs some words, and some background issues and texture fixed.. but again.. Mindy just was so much fun!

so that's my fun weekend! Jeanne and Mindy were both amazing teachers. and like i said earlier this week was JUST so wonderful! I really want to go back! Like next week! lol (Serena can't you just plan another one for this spring? Lol)

anyhow.. just had a great time! Thanks again for letting me share!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!
xoxo

 

Christy

 

Simple Pencil Sketches.. Angel Series

Hey friends! just a simple post for today.. (going in a few minutes for a out patient procedure).. so keeping it simple for today..

I LOVE sketching.. and sometimes I love to go REALLY extravagant and have fun with details and hair, etc.

But some of my FAVORITE sketches are the simple ones, done with a mechanical pencil and my charcoal pencil. Infact I LOVE just using charcoal. It's one of my favorite things. It can give SUCH deep lines and shadows and dimension without even hardly trying..

so I wanted to share with you a few sketches.. simple ones, I did recently.. hopefully to inspire you to sketch! We are doing a lot of fun sketching in the She ARt no. 3 Workshop (started tuesday and holy COW LOVING what is coming from these women taking the course!) 

So here are a few of mine..just simple. VERy simple.. but the way I use the charcoal helps give it more depth.I call this my "angel" line.

(She was an angel then)

 

(she knew she was made to love)

 

(her wings grew with time)

 

(she was a simple soul)

 

SO Simple.. but with a few great placements of the charcoal.. SUCH depth and meaning. By the way.. some of you have asked.. my favorite charcoal pencil is a #2b Soft. MY FAVORITE.. The brand I am using right now is Generals. WE actually carry them in our online store Scarlet Lime . (they come more in a pack with 3 different types, pencil sharpener and charcoal sticks. We also carry white charcoal pencils.)

Anyhow.. just love sketching. I have a little pocket book (3"x5" in size) and carry it around with me everywhere I  go. Just never know when I will have moments of inspiration or need something relaxing to do. Right? 

Speaking of the store.. ben just listed like 100 new products last night! Holy cow the man is awesome! We got some new paints & Sprays into the store!
Tim holtz new line, new Studio Calicos, and Dylusions.

Plus we also have new stencils from Crafters Workshop, Donna Downey, SC and Prima!

AND I don't have a picture.. but TONS Of new texture stamps (and only 2.99!!) From KasierCraft! As well well as a ton of new 6"x6" paper pads! I think it's time to raid the warehouse :). Who wants to join me? lol

okay.. enough talk. I better get going.. gotta leave shortly for a very annoying procedure.. but one that has to be done! See you back here Monday! Hoping to have that February mixed media kit video for you! It's SUPER fun! Just need to get it edited!

Happy Thursday!
xoxo

She was a silent fighter...

sweet friends! wow.. what a week last week. Im not even going to say it because if you have been reading my blog.. you know EXACTLY why i didn't get another blog post in last week... lol. But I can say.. I HAVE started using essential oils and wow... they have been AMAZING for the pain! It's not a CURE.. but it's sure a sweet relief! I will talk on a more personal note later about my struggle right now with Fibro. It's something that latley, makes Me VERY emotional.. but I have decided to just embrace it, overcome it and love what I am learning about myself from it.

I have a couple of fun things to share today..

first off.. did you know that SHE ART WORKSHOP NO. 3 STARTS TOMORROW!!!!

 YES! it does! wahoo!!! so this is just a "final" reminder the class starts tomorrow and I would SOO SOO LOVE to have you join me!  I think this class.. well I am HOPING this class will change the way you create art. Will change the way you look at yourself and others. Help you Embrace all aspects of who you are and paint like you've never painted before! That is my wish! Can't wait for it to start!! If you want to sign up you can click HERE to find out more!

and speaking of She Art..

This weekend, Ben's sister Jenni (whom i love love love to death).. Came and visited us for a few days. She is always so fun to have come because she just has this bright vibrant spirit about her! my KIDS adore her. She is their second mom! Not only is she simply fun, she also has this amazing energy! All day saturday (while I worked).. she helped ben lay sheetrock and tape and texture the new/old house. She is just that way! She can FIX anything, she loves to help with ANYTHING. She is truly super women.
Then yesterday after an amazing soul filling day at church, we headed over to the studio to just hang out. She hadn't picked up a paintbrush to play in years, but I know how creative she is.. so I pretty much made her get messy. lol.  and OH MY GOSH was she amazing!! I mean like in minutes she had painted this gorgeous beautiful woman with this magical depth!

 

I just was standing there in awe! I had planned on just laying around, napping, reading books, etc. and after seeing her painting, I was SOO inspired to get up and paint myself! So i did.As I sat down to paint, I just kept feeling this overwhelming feeling that this fibro was not going to get the best of me.. that I was STRONG.. I was a fighter.. and so I just started to paint what was in my heart.. and this is what came  out.. 

I know I know.. so many of you saying right now.. what?? christy you hardly ever paint faces on your girls.. and I know it's true! But lately.. it's been calling me. I feel like i have a story to tell and when I do, I need it to be known.

That is where the face comes in. I talk alot.. ALOT about this in the She ARt 3 Workshop. There are beautiful reason to for both.. to leave the face blank.. or to paint in the features.. and i actually enjoy BOTH of them. (I finished  second painting last night as well and left her face blank.. but it just FIT her)..But this sweet girl.. she needed her story told. NO questions as to what it was she is trying to say.

She is a strong silent fighter this one. Don't underestimate the determination she has..

You will see in She Art 3, that I don't like perfection when it comes to faces. I LOVE texture and I LOVE it when paint just kinda plays and falls where it ends up. Love the yellow flecks in her right eye.. soo not planned but TOTALLY wonderful!

 

I love how her neck and shoulder are so strong but also "soft" too. It's like they have this story to tell and they are saying.. yes I have been through alot, I have had many burdens placed upon me.. but I am still holding my head up strong!

I think right now, she will go in my bedroom.. on my nightstand.. to remind me every morning of the fight I have left in me. Yep. She is a strong one.. that girl of mine :).

Speaking of STRONG girls..

I wanted to let you all know that my SWEET dear friend Kelly Barton (who you may remember from the 2011 artsy ornaments workshop).. just re-opened her etsy store and her new art is just STUNNING!

I LOVE how it's evolved over the last year! seriously that is what I LOVE about this crazy messy beautiful thing we call ART! 

I love how it's forever changing, and we are growing constantly and it's SOO important to listen to whats in our heart.. not try and paint what we think we are expected too.. but paint what MOVES us.. not moves anyone else.. ONLY US. because then and only then is it real and true.Sometimes is scary to change listen to that new discovering.. it's so much easier to stick to what we know.. but I can tell you from experience that when I finally am Brave enough to just get up and let go.. holy cow I am amazed at what comes from it.. That's all I will say for now.. I share SOOO much more of this in the She Art Workshop 3..  can't wait to share it! Hope it will help you find your voice as well!

(love this piece by Kelly Barton too..so fitting). Make sure to check out her ETSY store!!

anyhow! I hope you have a happy monday! Let's see what the week brings us shall we?  xoxox

Masking Tape Artsy Project..

hello hello! wow.. I am feeling refreshed and ready to start a new day! Yesterday I was in the studio filming ALL day! CRAZY!! I can't remember what I have shared in the past.. but my Fibro lately has been kicking my butt. I have to be honest and say it's been VERY depressing. Only feeling well enough to work.. 5 days out of the last 13, is SO frustrating,specially for me, when I am used to working EVERy DAY.. and usually from 8 am.. all day long, and then again after my kids go to bed from 8 pm until like 1 or 2 am! So for me, to be in so much pain that I am in bed, and laying around.. oh so depressing. But I am starting to work through it. I have a lot of great things I can do to help me get through the pain days. ANd I guess I should clarify. I am in pain EVERYDAY.. and take medication for that so I can be at least out of pain enough to work. But the 13 days I have been in bed.. the meds didn't even TOUCH It. Neither did hot baths, or lotions, or massages, or anything. The one thing that has worked ease everything are prayers. HUGE help! So thank you for all of you that have been praying!  Anyhow.. so i am also kinda a "schedule girl" I schedule out my days and weeks about 1-2 months in advance. I have to or things get crazy. So like for instance my mondays and tuesdays are always spent at home working.. doing emails, blog posts, website stuff, etc. Wednesday and thursday are filming days.. and fridays are pick up the slack on whatever else i didn't get done (usually it's alot lol).  I have learned over the past two weeks.. almost three now.. that I don't get to be on a schedule anymore. Like yesterday, I woke up and knew I was to work at home.. I had emails to respond too, refunds to process, blog post to write, film to edit.. etc.. but when I woke up and took my meds and within a half hour my pain was not only manageable but i mean I felt NORMAL.. I was like.. oh ive got to get to that studio and film! lol. So i literally, didn't even sit down to look at my emails or computer. I got dressed and headed straight to the studio, to take advantage of my day. I can always answer emails and write blog posts from my bed or the couch.. lol.  ANd so yesterday was amazing! I filmed from around 10 am and was at the studio until after 9 pm! CRAZY! and it's sad I say that now, because three weeks ago I would have just said.. yes, so that is normal.. lol. But NOW.. with this new "bump" in the road.. for me is' Crazy awesome and crazy good and SUCH a huge huge blessing and soo soo grateful to my Father in Heaven for yesterday. I have to admit, today is not bad either.. a little ache, but I bet i could film some later this afternoon. It has my spirit in high hopes :) Great reminder to always be thankful for my trials.. it helps me appreciate what comes from them.

Anyhow.. just a little look into my private life and what's going on with me right now. not that you probably wanted to know! lol

So onto to some creative fun! oh wait but FIRST off! just a reminder that you have less than ONE WEEK to sign up for the 3 Class Spring Special. That deal closes on the 12th of February. It includes $15.00 off my three new spring classes as well as a $20.00 kit that is mailed to you! Cut off date to sign up for that special and  receive that exclusive kit is NEXT Tuesday! You can use THIS link below to sign up for it! OR read about in last weeks blog post HERE.

3 Spring Workshop Special

So last summer I had painted this fun little canvas.. I don't know if you remember it.. but I posted it here on the blog.. (the canvas is 12"x36")

Well after I did that blog post, I worked on it some more and the more I added just kinda seemed to muddy it up a little. I wasn't sure what I wanted to do with the canvas. Leave it like that, or add some kind of big element like a flower or something to it? So I just put it aside and left it until last week. One night  last week we were at the studio.. Me, Ben and some of the kids.. and he was working on some canvases (which by the way.. holy cow that man is TRULY becoming an amazing artist! If you have Instagram, you should follow his work. it's pretty fun). Anyhow.. I wasn't feeling great, but good enough to do something and while I couldn't film because he and the kids were there,  I decided to work on something for the studio wall. (yes if you can image, I still have  blank wall in my studio). So I pulled out this canvas and just kind stared at it.  Then I remembered THIS canvas and post I had seen on Pinterest a few months back.. and decided that is what I wanted to do with this canvas! I actually found a couple like this! (here is the link to the posts)

  I LOVED the design and could see it on the wall, with other art surrounding it.. like she art girls, or other canvases. Just kinda  of a collage of fun canvases. But this one would be a fun focal point.

So I asked ben to borrow  some of his painters tape, and then I went to town. I have to say.. I am USUALLY NOT a person who measures anything. I just cut and go, but I found quickly after I got about 4 rows on, I needed to start over and actually measure at least a line, that I could have to follow as I went down.  Like the canvas I was using as inspiration, I liked how not all of the arrows were there. Some were missing. REALLY liked that. So I skipped a few lines too.  Ben was so proud i measure things out (he is a VERY precise person lol). So here was my process..

 First I measured a line about 3" from the right side (I just used tape because I didn't have a ruler).. and I marked it all the way down with a marker, Just a loose light line, but  so I could find it after I pulled the tape away. (after it's all said and done you don't notice the line from the marker). The tape you see on the side of the canvas was just pieces I had already cut and wanted to keep. so they really aren't there for any reason.

Next I starting cutting pieces for the v's. I also loosely measured these as well. Just to kinda have them all the same size. And then I just went to town masking them down on the line. creating a v pattern all the way down the canvas. Keep in mind you can do this with ANY Size of masking tape, or painters tape. I used a 2" size because I wanted as much as the background to show through as possible. Also between the tape, I just left around a 1/4' border.. but not always.. sometimes I couldn't, so I just went with what looked straight. In the end you can't tell if some of the white lines are thicker than others.. just matters that they "v" was straight coming down. That was my only goal

 

Next I did the same with the other side, measured a line and then placed tape all the way down in a V pattern. Once my tape was secure, I used both cream and white paint and just dabbed the paint on (not swiped, but more stenciled effect, I also made sure my paintbrush was very dry). I did this all over the canvas making sure to get it between the tapes to cover the exposed canvas.

 

Once I was done with all of that, I let it dry a little.. well not really, I was too impatient, but you could let it dry lol. And then I simply just pulled back the tape! EASY PEASY!

once I was done.. I had this SUPER fun canvas

I was kinda nervous at first to cover up all the fun stuff I had put onto the canvas,

but actually now you see it even more because your eye is drawn to the color and all the texture because of the white space! LOVE how it turned out!

 

SO if you have a canvas that you kinda love.. sort love.. but totally don't love the background.. or even maybe you painted a girl on it and just aren't feeling it.. think about doing THIS type of thing to the canvas.. instead of just starting over! You can do just about ANY type of shapes or designs! You could do circles, hearts, flowers, lines, squares, hexagons, Octagons, Birds, butterflies, plaid, arrows, feathers, you NAME IT! Anything you can cut out of tape.. you can do. You could even do WORDS! just use your Cricut or Silhouette to cut out any kind of fun shape or words and then lay them onto the canvas with some tacking glue.. and then paint and peel off the paper!( We just printed them off the computer and handcut them out.) I will be posting another blog post in the next couple of weeks where we did this similar thing in December using glitter and lots of different shapes. It was fun!

So just a little something fun to be creative :)

anyhow.. oh i wanted to let you know.. that I only have ONE spot left in the Mexico retreat with Junelle and I, but the other September She Art Retreat, is sold out. So if you are wanting to come.. we have ONE! but I have a feeling it won't last long.. since  I only announced this monday and it's already practically full. So don't delay!  Here is the link for that again!

She Art Matters December Mexico Retreat with Junelle Jacobsen & Christy Tomlinson

ALSO remember to come join me at Studio Crescendo!  This will be my ONLY teaching event this year I will be doing (except hosting my own mexico retreat).. but this really is my only event I am doing this year with another studio! It's in beautiful California and such a great price too! Only 2 days.. so more manageable for some that can't do the week long retreats! I will be doing more of a blog post on that MOnday but until then.. if you want to get a jump start! here is the link!!

She ARt Studio Crescendoh

Thanks for letting me share today!!

Happy Wednesday!