Thursday, October 18, 2012

Good to Grow!

I met many amazing people at Art is You, and will be telling more about them as weeks go on.  One of them is Mary Beth Shaw, a mixed media artist and founder of the company StencilGirl.  Although I wasn't able to take a class with Mary Beth, I really admired her work and loved her stencils.  One of the coolest things about them is that they are designed by artists for artists.  We talked a bit about my licensing work, and when I got home, I sent her some patterns I had created and ... YES! I am going to be a StencilGirl designer!  THANK YOU to my roommate, Judy Shea, who brought me down to the Art is You trunk show after dinner and introduced me to Mary Beth.
Stay tuned, and I will give my readers a first peek at the new line as soon as it is ready, and also a giveaway of one or more of them. 

This great news prompted this journal page yesterday.  It started out with the lettering on white card stock because I was thinking about Julie's and Nathalie's second floor challenge.  I ended up cutting the lettering out, and then creating this page in my journal.  Here were my steps:
  • Use my own handwriting to write "I'm Good to Grow."  To do so, I used Joanne Sharpe's "thick it" technique;
  • use spray inks through several stencils and then mush the colors around with some water;
  • tear stems and flowers and circles from old dictionary pages to create the beginnings of flowers;
  • make some colorful collage pages -- reds & pinks, and greens -- using Jane Davies' scribble paint techniques;
  • cut up these papers to make petals, leaves, and hearts;
  • glue it all down with my favorite adhesive these days: Elmer's art paste - thanks to Cindy Wunsch for that tip!;
  • Stamp around the page with a hand carved stamp from Julie Balzer's class at CREATE;
  • Doodle around the flowers, leaves, and rest of the page with white and black fluid acrylics and a teeny brush;
  • more doodling with white and black gel pens.
So happy to memorialize another chance to grow!

SCRAPPING THE MUSIC:

I hope you're still with me because Scrapping the Music has two amazing prompts up on it's page.  I blogged about the first prompt here.  The second prompt is to make art around a song that brings out the rebel in you.  After thinking about a bunch of my favorites, like "Devil with the Blue Dress," "Honky Tonk Woman," and Parliament's "Give Up the Funk," I chose Ricky Martin's "Livin' La Vida Loca."  I love the latin beat of this song, the combination of Spanish and English, and the lyrics -- the describe a sassy, devil may care, lady.  It's fun to pretend sometimes!  I hope you'll join in this fun challenge!
We're almost at the end of the first week of the second Fall Fearless & Fly challenge.  Check out the links at Artists in Blogland -- the work is amazing! 

Linking up with Paint Party Friday and Creative Everyday, as well as the links above!

Thank you for visiting! If you are so moved, please leave a comment. Hearing from you means the world to me.

39 comments:

  1. Wowee! Fantastic colours and layers! Love your lettering! Chris

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  2. How exciting for you. Mary Beth was sooooo nice. Can't wait to see what your stencils are...Loving your journal page....xox

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  3. Fantastic news Jessica-congrats!!!! "Good to Grow" is absolutely delightful and makes me smile all over!

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  4. congrats to you Jessica :) I will stay "tuned in" and cant wait to see! Love your fun pages!

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  5. Congratulations! And thanks for the fun tips here too! Your flowers are amazing!

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  6. I can't tell you how excited I am for you. I can't wait to see your stencils. They will be beautiful if they are anything like your journal pages. Two of my favorite people.. you and Mary Beth. Glad I made you take another swing through the show. Meant to be, I guess. I just ended up spending more.

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  7. Beautiful pages, thank you for sharing the tips! Congratulations on your new design job! :)

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  8. Mega mondo super congratulations! I can't wait to see what stencils you create! I enjoy your art so I know I will love your stencils!

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  9. Congratulations on the new design position. Loving your journal page and thank you for the tutorial. Great movement in your fab girl. Happy PPF, Annette x

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  10. Congratulations ...... I can't wait to see ... I love your pages and the lightness and colors....

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  11. Congrats on new art position! Wow! ~ Journal pages are delightful and great tutorial ~ (A Creative Harbor)

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  12. Love that journal page. And congrats on becoming a StencilGirlDesigner. Sounds exciting!

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  13. Congratulations on your stencil design gig. That first page is fantastic!

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  14. Fantastic Grow page love the colors and movement

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  15. Your page is terrific and how exciting, congrats on becoming a Stencil Girl Designer! Happy PPF.

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  16. Jessica....these are so beautiful and the details and colours are amazing!! Congrats on your new design job!!! how exciting!!!

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  17. fantastic pages Jess, love your handwriting on the first one and the STM

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  18. Holy smokes so many layers! It's awesome!

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  19. Oooh a stencil girl designer. Wowee!! Congrats! Enjoy. Love your pages and color. Very nice. Thanks.

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  20. HAPPY PPF! ALL LOOKS AMAZING!
    I love your vivid flowers!

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  21. The Art is You must have been a spectacular opportunity, Jessica. What fun! Your collages are wonderful and congrats are in order for being a stencil girl designer! I think your art today has a Teesha Moore quality. Especially your handwritten text.

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  22. Fantastic news! I'm so happy for you over this new adventure in stenciling, and I love the page you made for the 2nd Floor Challenge. This page is vibrant and totally makes me grin.

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  23. Hi Jessica! I'm stopping by from Art Journal Everyday/Balzer Designs. Love your art, especially your happy colors and designs! I'm your newest follower and would love it if you would come over and follow me back! Congratulations on your new adventure into stencil design, look forward to seeing them!

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  24. I adore your style and your use of color!
    Grand!!!!!!

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  25. Love this piece!
    And congratulations on becoming a Stencil Girl!
    Mary Beth Shaw rocks! I get to see her and make art with her Sunday! :)
    And I LOVE Judy Shea's art and blog...wish I could meet her and you in person and make art with you, too!!
    Can't wait to see your stencil designs!
    ♥♥♥
    Happy PPF!!
    Mary
    Mixed-Media Map Art

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  26. Beautiful work, and congrats on your future as a Stencil Girl designer. Happy PPF

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  27. congratulations... you will be such a great addition to their line up... they are lucky to get your talents!!!!

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  28. How exciting! Congratulations!

    Great pieces.... I especially LOVE Good to Grow.... it's so colourful and optimistic and layered

    Karenx

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  29. Love the 'Grow' page and the sassy, fun lady! Wishing you all the best for the new design journey!

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  30. Thank you everyone for the kind words and warm wishes. I love this community so much.

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  31. Lovely work. Sounds like good things are happening. Congrats. I also love your girl with umbrella in newest post. Something about umbrellas that is so romantic. Thanks for your comment on my blog post too. HPPF

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  32. Love the Good to Grow art. So pretty & colorful and I love the print under it.

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  33. Your page is gorgeous, adore the bright and colourful flowers.
    Congrats on the design job , I'm sure it will promise much excitement and new discoveries for you, enjoy!

    Annabelle m^._.^m ~^..^~ /(..)\

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  34. Congrats on the design job. Your work is gorgeous. love the sentiment.

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  35. First off congratulations on the design job!! Excellent pieces this week...love the color and whimsy!! Also great idea about take prompts from songs!!Love everything here!! Excellent!!I leave filled with joy!!

    Hugs Giggles

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  36. Congratulations to you! I can imagine how excited you must be:) Great post - the art and the words -especially the steps.

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  37. Gorgeous pages! And congrats on your news!

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  38. Gorgeous!!! And congratulations about your designs!

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