Week 1 AEDM & More 21 Secrets- A Mix of Stuff!

Last Monday was the first day of Art Every Day Month, and I have been creative every day, but haven't posted until now, so this is a long post of pictures and projects from the week. The projects are from classes I've taken in the 21 Secrets Playground, which closes for registration Dec. 1. Click buttons on sidebar for info on either activity.

There is also a written list of what I did that I don't have pictures for.

                                     Week 1 list of creative activities- Monday through Saturday

This is a mixed media postcard from the Glazing 101 workshop with Less Herger. It's supposed to look like a night sky with a lot of starry depth, but I got carried away with the spattering of the stars and they look more like fireworks. The herons started out as pink rice paper cut outs, but didn't show up well, so I painted them black with a sharpie, still didn't like it, and they wound up gold. The moon is white and gold glitter glue. It didn't turn out like I wanted it to, but I learned from it, and I can live with it. :)

Another mixed media post card with various techniques learned in the workshops from different instructors. It has glazing, spattering, text transfer, paper towel, and one of my cut out paper angels. The text is from an ad in a magazine. I don't remember which one or what it was advertising, but it says, "There are 1,440 minutes in a day. Take at least fifteen for yourself." I gave my angel red shoes and a goofy face, cause even angels need fifteen minutes for themselves in a day, don't you think. :)

These are just some papercuts out of pink unruyu rice paper and doodles that I did while watching TV the other night, just fooling around. I had the paper folded, so I have several of each one. The little pink parchment paper card says "Wall Flowers" and the figure is wearing one of the paper dresses.

This started out in my Moleskine journal as a technique by Heidi Dilley in her workshop Everything But the Kitchen Sink. I was supposed to use clorox with the stamps on dye ink. Only I was out of clorox and did the inking wrong. Clorox wipes didn't work, so I just stamped white ink on them, added the mouse stamp, and moved on...

Another technique from Everything But the Kitchen Sink with Heidi Dilley. This one is really messy and fun! Also in the Moleskine journal. It involves shaving cream and fluid acrylics, because I forgot that it was supposed to be ink. Anyway, I loved the marbling effect on it. Unfortunately, I decided to try the ink/clorox technique above on the back of the left page and the ink pads bled through onto the marbling. I should have known better! But I can always cover it up with something else, can't I? :)

This is the second print off the same shaving cream as the one above. Experimenting. Colors a little more muted. I see all sorts of shapes in the patterns!

The third pull off the same shaving cream pile as the two above. More pastel. Still in the Moleskine.

I decided to try a book page on what was left of the shaving cream pile. I love it! The page is from the book, "The Dancer" by Oriah Mountain Dreamer. I used to would NEVER have torn a page out of any book, especially one that I enjoyed. But I've gotten brave in these workshops and am trying everything. I'm so proud of me!

Also, someone in the workshop asked me if I'd noticed the face in the marbling. Sure enough there is! Do you see it?

Hate this one, but decided to share it anyway. Have to take the not so good with the better, you know. It's on a gray piece of card stock, and I had very little shaving cream left. I used red and black sumi ink. It smeared some, and I don't really like the colors. I'm going to buy some regular inks and try them, but I think I really prefer the fluid acrylics. Anyway it's a very fun technique that could get addictive.

Another failed attempt at ink and clorox on an off white piece of card stock. I stamped the teal ink pad down once, but it didn't do well, so I took a paper towel and smeared it around, then added red and black sumi ink with more teal added in. The clorox wipes and stamps still didn't work, so I took a wet sponge pear and blotted it over the red. That didn't work like I wanted it to either. There is a faint image if you know it's there. It'll make a good journal page background though. One good thing about messed up pages and experiments. You can always cover them up or cut them up and use them elsewhere. Another thing I've gotten brave about in these workshops. :)

Another card stock post card. This poor card has been through so many changes and glazes that I can't even remember them all, but with the help of glazing layers, I really like it now.

The first art postcard I did in the workshop with Lis Hofmann, Art Journaling's Sassy Little Sister: The Art PostCard. I took a bought postcard and sanded the glossy finish off, added a layer of gesso, then started picking up little scraps and other stuff off my table and gluing them down. I added doodling, spattering, glazing, some paper cutouts, and whatever else seemed to work at the time. Another fun project doing stuff I used to not be brave enough to do!

The list for Sunday Week 1 --One of the shaving cream/acrylics marbled pages I experimented with and a couple of character sketches from memory from a movie I watched Sat. night.

Well, that's it for week one. Looking forward to seeing what everybody else is doing, and I hope that you are all having as much fun as I am, and I hope there is at least one thing on here that made you smile. :)