I've been thinking about my mom a lot lately. Maybe it was the "Happy Mother's Day" signs that have been staring me in the face at every store we have been to for the last month. Maybe it's the fact spring is sprung and every spring (for Mother's Day) I would help mom fill her front flower beds with flowers. Mom passed away about a year and a half ago, and we were very close. As life continues on without her, I find myself thinking about her a lot!
Even with as much as I had been thinking about her, it surprised me when I started creating pieces for a canvas that reminded me of her. After creating a background with gelatos, I grabbed a stencil and masked off part of it to create what I wanted to be a "stained glass" or "mosaic" vase. I realized after I created it, the vase reminded me of my mom's urn. The flowers I wanted to fill it with were daisies, mom's favorite flowers. I wanted butterflies on it-Mom loved them! It was then I realized how much I just wanted to talk to her and I guess creating the canvas was my way to do so.
So I turned my canvas into a letter to her.
Dear Mom,
Sometimes it seems like it was only yesterday you left, other times it seemed like it has been a million years since I lasted talked to you, seen you smile. I miss you so much. I see something you would like and I want to pick up the phone and call you, but I know I can't. I know you are so very happy where you are at! You are with the Savior of the world, with Jesus. Knowing that fills me with the hope that I will see you again and that is how I can face life!
Love, Betsy
Supplies used: 8 x 10 canvas, Faber-Castell-Gelatos and Bead Gel Medium, Heidi Swapp-Colorshine, Ruby Rock-it-Butterflies, chipboard letters, Sharpie markers, Krylon-18k Gold Leaf Marker, Prima Marketing-flowers, mosaic stencil.
When you go to a magic show are you the type of person that wants to know "how did they do that?" I sure am. While I understand, a good magic show takes skill, technique and a whole lot of practice, I also realize you need to know "how the trick was done."
I recently returned from what I consider to be the "most magical place on earth." While I did go to Anaheim, California, my purpose there wasn't to visit a mouse, my purpose was to attend the Craft and Hobby Association trade show commonly referred to as CHA for short.
Art for me is magical. It transforms the creators thoughts, feelings, emotions, memories, ideas-- into a tangible and visible form, able to be shared with others. Before you get into a big debate with me over the word "magic" consider the definition:
mag·ic/ˈmajik/
noun
1. the power of apparently influencing the course of events by using mysterious or supernatural forces. 2. wonderful; exciting
Art for me is wonderful and exciting, I love how someone's work can take me on a mysterious journey into their inner thoughts, it can convey emotion, art shares a memory. Art can also be a form of self expression or a way to make "cool stuff" and bring beauty to the world around us. Yet sometimes that whole creative process can be a bit mysterious, therefore, art to me is magical.
While I appreciate art and love creating, and I do not consider myself an artist, yet somehow, the creative industry has embraced me as one of their own, because of this, I am able to attend the Craft and Hobby Association trade show. The purpose of CHA is to bring together; creative professionals, businesses and manufacturers to further the creative industry. At the CHA show we learn about the latest products, learn new techniques, and connect with others in the industry. I like to think of it as my chance to learn the"how did they do that?!?!" to the magic of creating.
Sometimes the "how did they do that" comes from a fabulous new product designed to make something easier or create a cool effect. Other times the "how did they do that" comes from learning from other creative professionals that share their techniques, and skill with us. All the time it's a chance to connect with old friends and make news ones and celebrate the "magic" that is the creative industry.
So come with me to catch a glimpse of the 2015 Craft and Hobby Association Trade Show and see why I call it "The most magical place on earth!"
For those wanting to view via You Tube you can find it HERE
I am so loving playing with these canvases! You might even say it's been an addiction! They come together quick and make great gifts. This one though, I might keep for myself.
I wanted to play with the Faber-Castell gelatos and see how rich I could get the color coverage. So I darkly colored the canvas with a rainbow of stripes and then smoothed out the lines with water. After making such a bright background I had to put something on it.
I drew a swirly tree and what tree is complete without a bird? My bird needed to sing so I added some metal brads shaped like music notes. The brads were black and being such they blended in too well with the tree, I wanted them to stand out. Trying around different colors I finally settled on silver. So I sanded the brads and then used a paint pen in sliver to color them.
For my letters I just grabbed random letters from my chipboard. I actually colored them all black with sharpie. Again the letters didn't "pop" so I decided to add some pen stitching with a white gelly-roll pen.
I was quite pleased with the finished product. It will make a fun addition to the wall in my craft area.
As I said I have had a "craft crisis" with many of my supplies unavailable to me to play with. That being the case I have been playing a lot with paint, canvases, and Faber-Castell gelatos. Within my mom's painting treasures was "texture paste" I have never played with it before and wanted to experiment.
I thought it would be cool to make another gift for a friend. She is an amazing person and the Lord has done such a transformation in her life. It's awesome to see!
So I started out with a Gelato background, when that was dry, I outlined the word "Transformed" and then filled it in with texture paste, building up layers. I colored in the paste to blend in slightly with the background but then outlined it with a black sharpie to give the letter's more definition.
Wanting to have something to symbolize a transformation, I stamped butterflies on vellum and then heat embossed them. When cool I colored them in with painted on Gelatos and then cut out the butterflies. Bending them slightly at the middle I was able to hot glue them on just down the middle to give the look of the butterflies being "in flight" as well as landing on the word "Transformed."
After adding a scripture reference I called it done. It looks much cooler "in person" and my friend Erica loved it!
