Mixed Media Place........Coffee

I know not every one is  a coffee fan, but I love it.  Mixed Media Place Creative Gym has based the challenge this month on coffee. Check HERE to be inspired. I've created a tag complete with a coffee stained doily, the no.3.....that's how many cups I limit myself to in a day, and some beautiful Finnabair Mechanicals and Micro Beads.

We'd love to see how coffee inspires (or not ) you, so come and play at Mixed Media Place Creative Gym.

Teaching: Perth WA

I have been invited to teach a mixed media class in Perth, WA, in April this year. Suzanne McGregor from The Scrapbook Store has all the details if any of you from "way out west" are interested. Dates are 28, 29, & 30 April. Contact Suzanne here: suzanne@thescrapbookstore.com.au   www.thescrapbookstore.com.au

Art Journal Cover......For Finnabair Creative Team

The release of some amazing new art mediums from Finnabair and the purchase of a new art journal has inspired this project. Beautiful new acrylic paints......art alchemy in Metallique with rich, deep colour and art alchemy in Opal Magic which produces two totally different colours depending on whether it is applied to a dark surface or a light surface.......it really is magic.  There is a step by step on Finnabair's blog HERE of how I made this cover and some short videos on her new products and how you can use them.

All medium and materials used on this project can be purchased HERE from Mixed Media Place

Thanks for visiting today. Wishing you have a fun and creative week.

Finnabair Creative Team.......Kewpie Meets Mad Max

Happy New Year ! I know it's well and truly started and there are challenges before us. This idea of "challenge"prompted my latest project for Finnabair Creative Team. I have upcycled a plastic Kewpie Doll. She's been given a Mad Max makeover because it's a tough world out there. A short tutorial and all the details and materials used can be found HERE on Finnabair blog.

Finnabair art basics, Mica Powders and Mechanicals are at the heart of this project.

Some Christmas "left overs", made for Mixed Media Place.

R. I. P. David Bowie. What a privilege to have existed at the same time as this creative genius.

Thank you David Bowie and Freddie Mercury for teaching us how radical it is to be different and weird but how ok it is at the same time. You can be who ever you want to be. Embrace uniqueness.

Thanks for visiting. Wishing you a "unique' year ahead.

Turn Paper Into Fabric....Finnabair CT

My december project for Finnabair's Creative Team involves pattern, layering and "illusion". Finn has produced some truly beautiful small, textural, stamps. Repeat stamping equals pattern. Do it on Bond paper then using Distress Stains, saturate it with colour. Scrunch it up, then partially dry it. This paper then looks and feels like fabric and can be moulded, folded and gathered just like fabric. The full tutorial is HERE on Finnabair blog.

Thanks for visiting. Have a happy and creative weekend.

Finnabair CT.........Spread Your Wings Mixed Media Academy

Today it's about favourites. We all have favourites......food, music, movies, books, seasons, places...........art materials. Choose your favourite art material and do something with it.This was the brief for this months SYWA. See what the other girls have chosen and their beautiful projects HERE on Finnabair's blog. My favourite medium is art basics Soft Matte or Gloss Gel. It works as a glue, (perfect for collage, my favourite thing ) also as a binder to which you can add other materials like Mica Powder, it's a sealer and it works better than any other product to do image transfer.  I love the process of image transfer and then the creative possibilities that this then opens up.

This journal page, with an image transfer of my favourite face, that of Frida Kahlo, was done using art basics Soft Matte Gel.

There is a more detailed step by step HERE on Finnabair's blog, but here you can see how well the image is transferred.....not perfect, but that is part of the beauty of this process.....I love the jagged, soft, smudgy edges.

 I received some criticism when I posted this journal page on my Instagram, telling me "Frida was overdone, move on, do something new." It made me a little sad.  What is it  about our "favourites" that we love so much...........they make us feel good, they make us happy, we feel comfortable with them, we trust them, our favourite things become a part of who we are. Negativity will never, ever be one of my favourite things.

Keeping It Simple..........Mixed Media Place

Sometimes it's good to limit yourself to just a few art materials. There is just so much to choose from these days, and if you love mixed media as I do, you just want to play with it all. On this journal page I have kept it simple, 2 colours 2 stamps 2 stencils 1 box of Prima Water Soluble Oil Pastels.

These oil pastels give the look of watercolour but with a lot more control.

Using too many different materials and colours on one small page can become a bit like having too many kids at a birthday party.......lots of fun, but lots of chaos as well. Keeping it simple allows the couple of colours or media you use, to shine. More detail and a list of products used on this page can be found HERE at Mixed Media Place.
Thanks for visiting, have fun with your art materials ( just not all at the sane time )

Mixed Media Place.........Working Small

Mixed Media Place Creative Gym this month is about working small. Something I'm not that comfortable with. I have never been attracted to making cards, but greatly admire those artists out there who produce amazingly detailed and beautiful cards. I actually had to Google what an ATC was and how big it was. The challenge is also Christmas themed, so if you like working small and are in the festive mood already, then come and join our challenge HERE.

Two little ATC's made with Finnabair stencil, stamp, Mica Powder, Mechanicals and Glass Glitter

Details of challenge and team inspiration is HERE at Mixed Media Place. Thank you for dropping by. Believe in Peace.....do we dare?

Shrine for Frida.............Finnabair Creative Team

Using a "cutsie" doll's face to represent one of the strongest and most iconic of women seems almost sacrilege, and I apologise if this offends. I really did just want to portray the strength and beauty of this amazing woman. Perhaps the face is a little more Salma Hayek,who plays Frida in the movie, than the real Frida.

It was challenging to take a silicone doll's head and paint it, and I have nothing but respect for those artists who work in this field.

The other thing that I was inspired by for this project was an amazing wall of beautiful tiles I saw in a Mexican restaurant in Byron Bay. I had a go at making tiles out of chipboard, collaging them with tissue, cutting them into 1cm. squares and then coating them with glossy accents.

Wall tiles in restaurant.

The other side was coated with art extravagance White Texture Paste and coloured with Distress Stain.

Metal, resin and lace embellishments all coloured with Mica Powder. Micro Beads, Glass Glitter and Mica Flakes added for shine and texture. A more detailed tutorial is HERE on Finnabair's blog,

 along with a full list of ingredients used.

If you do not know the story of Frida Kahlo, watch the movie, it's wonderful.

Thanks for visiting today.

"Feet what do I need you for when I 

have wings to fly?" Frida Kahlo