Solstice Snow by Helen Campbell

Solstice Snow; 5 x 5 x 1 3/4 inch mixed media abstract landscape now in my Etsy shop.

Sharing with Artists in Blogland

Shine light

Vision of a full moon through the trees, illuminating the surrounding clouds. 

Which brings to mind, how when one person shines light on others, they in turn shine light on others, who in turn shine light on others... a chain reaction of light.

That which you put out into the universe, returns to you multiplied. 

Shine light.

A Eclectic Treasury Weekend

Goodness! I've had several items from my Etsy Shops including in Treasuries this weekend. Here's a few: 

Autumn Leaves Are a Changing by Rose Baker

Lady in Red From the Shops in the epsteam by denise

Orange is the new Black by PamelaAngus 

Amazing Grace-Treasure Song Inspired Epsteam by Damaris Matos

A very vintage halloween by Tiffany Gran

Good Good Guys by Mike Patterson

Textured Abstract

Added to my Etsy shop this week...

Autumn Mountain III by Helen H Campbell

This is one of a series I created last year after a wonderful Autumn day with my husband up at Heather Meadows near Mt. Shuksan and Mt. Baker. We make an annual trek the last "good" day before the snow flies (based on the weather predictions) Based on some of the photographs I took, the abstract painting includes "upcycled" lace, mesh, threads, and vintage lace. Acrylic with recycled/upcycled materials.

It brings back lovely memories every time I see it. :)



Sharing with Paint Party Friday.

Morning Strawberry

Discovering lovely strawberries first thing in the morning is one of the joys of summer gardening. We get a handful every other morning or so...

This year we're growing them in pots; we'll have a real bed of them next year. We're trying three varieties, however this ever-bearing Joe's Best Tri-Star is our favorite and the one we're letting "spread".

We're already looking forward to next year when we'll get more than a handful at a time. :)

Dancing with Transition

Dancing with Transition

Momentary, Permanent,

Feathered Wings Soar

This is the mostly completed journal page from the 40 word challenge. Die cut book page hearts in an altered book. Spray inks, 3D Paint, gel and Pitt Pens. Not sure I'm totally pleased with the haiku, but hey, this isn't rocket science, it's art so I'll let it go. :)

I really am dancing with transition... becoming a full time artist and owner of two Etsy shops (Vintage and Art) this past two weeks, rather than doing it all while also working for someone else. I'm re-learning the discipline and scheduling time for each thing I'm doing, while still allowing time to relax and enjoy my family and the summer weather.

In other news, I have started a junk mail/recycled paper journal from bits of heavier papers from the recycle bin, and masking tape. So far I have the papers taped together, and have applied a layer of gesso on the "cover". Much more coming on this project.

I'm interested to see what other artists at Paint Party Friday have worked on this week. 

Also sharing with Artists in Blogland.

Cool Vintage Finds...

Interesting Vintage Finds from my shop this week: 

Antique Doll

Happy Home Needle Book

Mid-Century Gelatin Molds

Jumping Beans

Leaning out...

Leaning out

I love StoryPeople by Brian Andreas! 

I get their daily story in my email, check out their online site to sign up. It's a fun start to the day.

Some make me laugh, some make me think, and some hit it right on the nose...

Permanent To-Do List

I can handle this to-do list. *grin*

Oh! By the way, I'm leaning out so I can soar! 

Happy Monday! 

Early Morning Gold

It's possible to discover gold when wandering the garden in the cool of the morning. 

Golden Rod in bloom

Just Picked Sun Gold Tomatoes

Sharing with 

Beach Hearts

There is nothing more soothing than wandering along a beach enjoying the view and admiring the treasures as you go... an interesting shell, a crab scuttling back to the water, starfish clinging to the rocks. The rhythmic sound of the waves and the calling of the birds has a calming effect on my occasional stressed out soul. 

I'm blessed to leave near the Puget Sound, where it's a quick drive to many beaches. And when ever, and where ever I go, I seem to find hearts... 

Under my feet...

And above my head. 

Can you find the hearts in these pictures? 

I hope your day includes something to sooth your soul! 

More Box Journaling

A bit further on my boxes for Box Journaling, part of Carla Sonheim's Summer Camp...

I had the idea to use an Altoid tin for some of the mixed media hearts I've collected in trades recently. Here's where am I thus far. 

Decorative paper attached to top and bottom; ribbon attached around the top rim. Bottom rim still needs something... I created the winged heart on the top of the box, from paint on heavy chipboard with metal wings attached. It symbolizes my heart winging to my friends. 

These are some of the hearts that will be contained in the box. 

For the beach walk treasures, I decided to use the round tin with clear window peeking through. First I sanded and then painted the round tin with Vintaj paint. It still needs another coat. I plan to put some paper or ribbon around the bottom edge, and this photo is on one of the possible paper choices. 

I'm also thinking of gluing some small sea shells and rocks (I've collected a lot of them!) on the top of the tin to surround the window...  

 

These treasures will go inside the box when it's done

The tea box I started has become a disaster!  The colors aren't working out at all as envisioned. (Okay, it's bu** ugly!) And with the combination of the gesso and paint, the lid no longer fits. *sigh* 

Ah well, I can always gesso it and start over. Of course, I'll have to figure out a different lid, or adjust the current one. I don't even want to show you, it's so bad. LOL! 

Eventually, however, I'll have a box to contain the variety of inspirational tea tags I've saved from the gallons of Yogi Tea I've had over the past year or two. My original idea for the tea tags (why I started saving them) was for a journal page. Which hasn't happened yet. I will figure out some way to display them. 

Much more to come. Trying to do so much in a week has become a challenge. The cool thing about Carla Sonheim's classes is that you can access them forever, so I have all kinds of time to keep perfecting my ideas. 

So, what have you been working on this week? :)

Sharing with Paint Party Friday, hosted as always by Eva and Kristin! 

Box Journaling

I'm in the midst of Box Journaling with Carla Sonheim, and don't want to give away all the class secrets, but here's a bit of how I've started.

These are the selection of boxes I narrowed down to consider.

My first box is the tall tea box... I started by peeling off the label, sanding and adding a layer of gesso. At this stage I was not  yet sure where it was going.... 

And these are a few treasures I'll include in one of the boxes, little memories from a nice day wandering the beach with my husband. 

More to this story tomorrow. 

Words of Heart

Beginning of a Words of Heart journal spread for a local art group, part of a 40 word poetry challenge. 
The challenge is to find 40 words that call to you from a book page (or two) and then use them to create a work of poetry and art combined. 
For the journal spread, I layered die cut hearts over ink sprayed and stenciled altered book pages, and then picked the 40 words from the various words on the page. 
I'll share the finished page soon... another week to finish it before we gather again.

Steampunk-ish

So... the owner of the store asked us to take some 3D stickers and see what we could come up with and then show and tell them at the weekly demo. O.o

Stickers! I don't actually use this type of stickers, however I do use various things as "embellishments" in some of my work. And then browsing Pinterest, I came across an idea that inspired me to make Steampunk-ish ornaments. Eureka!

I started with gear die cuts (Sizzix) I'd received from a friend some time ago. These were cut from old cereal and cracker boxes. Yay for recycling/repurposing!

I them painted them with the Viva 3D Stempel-Farbe Stamp Paint, in Walnut Brown Metallic. It made a cool vintage rough metal looking surface.   

I layered the gears together and used some of the stickers to create the ornaments. 

I haven't quite figured out how I will hang them, probably with a wire of some type. The ribbons I tried just didn't make me happy. 

Oh, this the the Sticker package I used for two of the ornaments: 

It was interesting seeing all the different ideas folks came up with to use the stickers. All my co-workers made things, and several of the demo regulars came with goodies as well. A show and tell fun!

I also worked on a journal spread this week, and will share that soon!


Sharing with Paint Party Friday hosted by Eva and Kristin