Category Archives: Tutorial

Under the Mixed Media Big Top

Under the Mixed Media Big Top
Under the Mixed Media Big Top

 

 

Canvas Corp will soon be publishing a plethora of 4 x 4 canvases, uniquely created by each of their design team members. Since the canvases are supposed to reflect the designers in some way, I decided to create a vintage circus meets industrial canvas.

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A riot of spring colors–butterfly tag tutorial

A riot of spring colors–butterfly tag tutorial

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The promise of spring is here in the Northland with budding lilac trees and shoots of green forcing their way through the still frozen earth. After months of bleak winter landscape, the vibrant colors and textures of spring are truly a rebirth. My three-dimensional butterfly tag is meant to reflect the wonderful assault of color that spring brings. Please visit the tutorial on how to make this fun take at the ColourArte Blog.

 

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Save money! Be unique! Have hella fun! Make your own embellishments

Save money! Be unique! Have hella fun! Make your own embellishments

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When I was in my twenties I would naively brag about how I was great at finding bargains–except I wouldn’t use the most refined language. My stepmother would gently correct me, telling me I shouldn’t say I was cheap, and instead describe myself as frugal. She was right, of course. Never for a single moment–even back in college when I sometimes wished I could just be a carefree party girl–have I “been cheap”. Read the rest of this entry

What’s on your bucket list

What’s on your bucket list

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What’s on your bucket list? My first post with Canvas Corp was on mine!.

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Life suddenly began whizzing by for The Husband™ and I. And, to tell the truth, it sometimes feels like there are a lot of missed opportunities.

As parents of kids with unique needs, we put many of our dreams on hold. Year after year, we avoided activities that required babysitters. We embraced staycations and we usually juggled far more stress than we could imagine. Yet, I would give anything to have my kids be little tykes again so that I could better appreciate that precious and fleeting time. Read the rest of this entry

Pink rabbit noses and roses abound in this tunnel book–but be careful, not all bunnies you meet are sugary sweet

Pink rabbit noses and roses abound in this tunnel book–but be careful, not all bunnies you meet are sugary sweet
Pink rabbit noses and roses abound in this tunnel book–but be careful, not all bunnies you meet are sugary sweet

 

 

 

 

I am not sure why I had never made one before, but I am here to tell you that making tunnel books are a whole bundle of fun.

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Meet my hipster great-grandparents

Meet my hipster great-grandparents
Meet my hipster great-grandparents

 

 

 

Check out the beard on my great-grandfather! Isn’t he quite the hipster. Too bad the rest of this photo is somewhat frightening. I don’t know if my great-grandparents, Sven and Caroline, were terribly stern, but they certainly appear so.

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I decided to have a little fun with my ancestors by creating mixed media frames and then sprinkling the photos with whimsical and brightly colored flowers.

To learn how I did this and to learn more about Sven, Caroline, and twin boys Arvid and Harold, please visit my tutorial at the ColourArte blog.

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Great Stuff

Itty bitty teeny tiny–how to make miniature flower bulbs

Itty bitty teeny tiny–how to make miniature flower bulbs
Itty bitty teeny tiny–how to make miniature flower bulbs

 

 

 

For some of you Spring is in the air. Here in Minnesota, well, let’s just say, we don’t even dare hope for it until April. Creating these miniature dollhouse flower bulbs provide a fun reminder that eventually the snow will  may melt. The realistic miniatures have bulbs and shoots made from clay, and papery scales made from paint and gloss medium.

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To see a tutorial on how to make miniature flower bulbs for dollhouses, please visit the ColourArte blog.

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Great Stuff:

Tag someone sweet with this mixed media Valentine

Tag someone sweet with this mixed media Valentine

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Have you completed all your Valentines cards yet? Don’t run out and buy those perforated factory-made cheapos just yet. You still have time to stun someone special with a dazzling creation.

And if they don’t ooh and ahhh with enough appreciation? Well then you can retaliate by keeping all the chocolate for yourself.

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A mixed media Valentine made from a Tyvek envelope and glass heart

A mixed media Valentine made from a Tyvek envelope and glass heart

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Who knew that my heart would get shattered before Valentine’s Day? Thank goodness it was only a spare glass heart. This mixed media heart made with glass, dazzling artist’s pigments and Tyvek envelope paper beads is still intact.

I hope you have time to check out my tutorial (and get a peek at my shattered heart) for this mixed media Valentine project.

Great Stuff 

I love my word nerd friends so much that I made them an altered art Valentine tag

I love my word nerd friends so much that I made them an altered art Valentine tag

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As a former journalist and business writer, I have many friends in the editorial world. While our party animal reputation may not be on par with–oh say, the Kardashians–we still know how to have a good time. For example, can you think of anything that creates more rollicking merriment than a little word nerd banter?

Indeed, we are a boisterous and bawdy bunch.

Please go see the tutorial on the ColourArte blog.

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