Way back in 2015 I made a storage unit for my art studio table. At the time, I wondered how well a storage caddy made from chipboard would stand up to daily use. Would it be worth it to pay for a unit made from cardboard? Four years later, I can assure you that the answer is a resounding yes.
Read the rest of this entryHi everyone! You may have noticed that your browser took you to a new location. To better reflect my brand, I have updated my website, to https://www.BetsySkagen.com. I hope you can take a minute to update your browser. This is on a certified secure server, so no need to worry about all those scary internet things.
I have also changed my store name to reflect the “new me”. You can now shop at https://betsyskagen.zibbet.com/
Instagram and Pinterest also reflect the new name. Hopefully you will soon be able to find my Facebook page at Betsy Skagen Mixed Media Artist. Unfortunately, Facebook doesn’t seem to like change, so I am currently battling Facebook gatekeepers to allow this change.
Another reason for the change is that very few people could spell or even pronounce Paper Calliope. Truth be told, most people mispronounce Skagen also (hint: if you use your noggin, it rhymes with toboggan), but hopefully people will learn this over time.
I hope you continue to follow me, I have some exciting developments under way that I think you will find intriguing .
Warmly, Betsy
For decades I have walked the shores of Mille Lacs Lake in central Minnesota collecting lake glass, or what those of you on the coasts call sea glass.
After two and a half loooooong months away due to an unplanned medical snafu, I am gratefully alive and finally venturing back into crafting.
Unlike the arrogant little tot featured in my project, I was much less confident about getting back to crafting. I decided to make the transition a little easier by using some of my favorite things for my first project: Gypsy Soul Lasercut’s Mini House Shadowbox, Paper Calliope’s Snarky Ancestors, 7gypsies paper and Seth Apter’s embossing powders.
Please pardon the weird sizing. My new design is under construction and there are a few glitches. That’s the problem with being a designer and not a programmer! Hopefully all will be corrected soon!
I’ve been so busy creating over the past year that I decided I better start applying for some holiday craft shows. Here’s a small sampling of what I’ve been creating over the last year. Please note that all creations are copyrighted.
Handcrafted cards with a Minnesota twist.
Once in awhile a project comes along and surprises you with childlike and carefree moments of creative play.This was one of those projects.
I got a much-needed respite when I spent a recent afternoon painting, shrinking and melting bits of plastic into fused combinations of happy color. I hope you hop on over to the ColourArte blog to see find out how to create some of this fun for yourself.
Today the Robin’s Nest is featuring Part Two of the tutorial of Behind the Curtain–a Steampunk Homage to Oz.
I’m proud of this shadowbox and encourage you to check it out. You can also read how it led to my memory of baby-snatching tornadoes.
You see, I felt I needed to explain over at the Robin’s Nest why I don’t really like the Wizard of Oz. That led me to explain my family’s long-running joke about how they forgot me during a tornado.
When tornado sirens sounded, my family retreated to the safety of the basement. Only then did they ask one another, “Do you have Betsy?”
The movie Paper Towns hit theaters earlier this week. Although, I’m not particularly interested in this flick, the title caught my eye. Paper Towns–could a more perfect title for a crafter exist? If you want to learn how to make this Paper Town Three-Drawer Night Light Unit, featuring rows of paper houses, please check out the free tutorial.
This three-drawer night light unit had simple beginnings as a leftover gift box and some foam core.
There’s an interesting side note about this project. Although he never said so directly, it was clear my Dad was not a fan of my art. Endless layers, textures, ephemera and more are the exact opposite of his style. A purist architect, who had once worked for the famed Eero Saarinen, my dad believed that “more did not make better”.
Due to both my journalism and graphic design backgrounds, I appreciated, understood and applied this approach in my professional work. However, crafting is my escape from rigid rules and precise measurements. As a result, most of my art has lots of “more”.
He suggested more than once that I design sympathy cards because there were none simple enough for his liking. I gave him a couple of samples containing a line art flower surrounded by lots of white space, yet those were still too ornate. At some point I gave up. Honestly though, I think the only card that would have pleased him would have been one teeny, terse phrase written in Helvetica All Caps:
It is safe to say he was a no nonsense man.
My dad passed away in June. As I was working on Paper Towns, my sister noticed it and chuckled, “You are channeling your inner father.” She was right. I finally made some art he would have liked.
So, Dad, this one’s for you. Thank you for being my night light and unwavering beacon of safety.
