FUNKY LAYOUT WITH STENCIL & STAMP Creative Team Thursday with Marit Barentsen

I don’t care a lot for holidays. Easter, my birthday, "(Dutch) Sinterklaas"… I don’t pay much attention to it and I don’t celebrate. Even Christmas used to go by like any other day – but that changed in 2009 when I started my "Top 2000 Creative and Musical blog party."

The "top 2000" is a big, annual event in the Netherlands on radio and television. From Christmas right to the New Year, the radio in the Netherlands presents the 2000 favorite songs of the listeners. One week, 24 hours a day: a musical marathon.

In the slipstream of the broadcasting I decided to create something inspired by a song from the list, every day during the time 'the list' was on the radio, and publish it on my blog daily. In no-time, many of my followers joined me and the party was born. And the really fun thing is: it is not "Dutchies only"… the party brings together artists and crafters from all over the world, making art inspired by the songs on the Top 2000 list.

How special my international blog party has become is proven by the fact that the Dutch media picked up my initiative and sent a television crew to film and interview me in 2011.

When December arrives, the Top 2000 virus starts rearing its head. On the radio, people are called to vote for their favorite songs and I can't wait for the event to start. What better to do then, than create a 'Countdown' layout to get in the mood... and Jesscia Sporn's stencils & stamps are just perfect for creating such a layout.

Put some funky music on and GO...!

I hope that you enjoy this video!  You can watch it on YouTube and while you’re there, go and have a peek at the other creative team members fabulous tutorials. 

Used Stencils

Retro Flowers and Circles

Used Stamp

(Build-A-Cosmos) Meculiar Mercury

Other used materials

·         White scrapbook paper 12x12"

·         Dylusions Ink Spray: Pure Sunshine, Bubblegum Pink, London Blue, Cut Grass, Postbox Red

·         Some funny photos (printed)

·         Glue

·         Sand paper

·         Black stamping ink

·         Black acrylic marker

·         Colored brush pen

Have fun creating!
Love from the Netherlands,
Marit

Marit Barentsen is a passionate art journaler, mixed media artist, art instructor and creative writer from the Netherlands. Marit inherited a passion for words from her mother, who is a writer. Her father taught her to not only “look “ but also “see.”  That combination led Marit to become an art teacher and her art always showed images and words. After art school, she worked as a graphic designer. Years later, she re-discovered the  combination of words and images in art journaling and her art took flight.  Marit's art has been published in various magazines and art books. 

Find Marit on her website, Facebook page, and  blog.
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THANK YOU MARIT for an awesome post! 

Click here to check out all of the Creative Team's wonderful creations and inspiration.

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Five Reasons to Participate in Online Art Challenges, Video and Giveaway

I've been continuing with Mindy Lacefield's #365Faces challenge on Instagram.  Recently, I started creating faces on tags, which have quickly become a collection of "Tag Ladies," or "MotivAngels."

Here are five reasons why I find this practice so rewarding:

1.  Confidence:  The more I paint faces, the more relaxed I feel creating them.  I used to have a lot of anxiety about faces - the proportions, the shading, whether they were realistic or not.  With each face, I embrace more, and let go of more, and the freer I become. 

2.  Honing My Style: Staying on the same subject matter - faces - day after day has given me more confidence in what constitutes my style.  When I look at all my ladies together, I can see "me."

3.  Sparking My Creativity:   I truly don't know where these ladies are coming from.  I collage tags with whatever ephemera, gelli prints, old book pages, etc., are laying around.  No rhyme or reason - just listening to audio books and gluing away.  And then, a figure or face "appears" in the scraps, and off I go.  Plus, I staying within a certain format inspires me to use my Stencil Girl Stencils and Rubbermoon Stamps in different ways.

4.  Inspiration from a community: Like the 29 Faces Challenge that Ayala Art hosts 2x a year, this challenge is part of a community.  Because it's on Instagram, it doesn't carry the blogging component - just paint a face, tag it, and post the picture.  It's easy to search the tag and see everyone else's submissions, and hop over to see more of artists that inspire you.  Just check it out!   

5.  Exposure to artists you might not otherwise know.  We all get stuck in our circles of people whose blogs or Facebook pages we habitually visit.  It's so nice to see that there are other circles out there, that we can pop in and out of.  For example, I've discovered a whole bunch of artists who create amazing faces on tea bags!  

I thought I'd share my process for one of my "Tag Ladies."  

You can also watch "Tag Lady" Fast Forward on YouTube here!  

Do you have any favorites of the "Tag Ladies" in this blog post?  Let me know in the comments, as I'll give one of these tags away!  Check back on Monday to see who it is.  And please leave me your email in your post, so that I can get in touch with you if I need to.

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Thank You!

Introducing "Build-a-Villa" Stamps!

I am so excited to announce a new line of stamps with Rubbermoon called "Build a Villa."  You can mix and match them to create your own village.

I just got them in the mail, and can't wait to start playing with them!  Take a look:

You can also watch "Introducing "Build-A-Villa" from RubberMoon on YouTube here.

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

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Art Journaling Bit By Bit

I have an altered book that I've been working in for quite a while.  When I first started doing mixed media art journaling, I worked in one journal until it was finished.  But since I started working in altered books, I have a few different kinds of journals going at once.















This page started as a scrap paper on which I had stamped off gesso using my Shiva stamp and my gelli plate.  I adhered it into the book, and then it sat for a while.  Little by little, I accumulated different pieces of ephemera, that all combined to create a page that was ultimately pleasing to me.

The "fingers" on the top and bottom of the right side of the page are from one of the hands on the Namaste stencil.  I thought they looked cool, once separated from the palms.  The five medallions are from the centers of those hands.

The page on the left features Mary Nasser's Latitude Longitude Stencil.

Here's another page that started and then sat.  It began with a beautiful piece of Mail Art from Corrine Gilman.  

It evolved using my Hamsa Stamp from RubberMoon, and my Hebrew Calligraphy stencil from Stencil Girl.  

The other side actually evolved first with tags, and I posted about it here on the Stencil Girl Talk blog.

Those hands come in handy, as you can see in this post.

Do you journal sequentially in one book at a time, or have different journals going all at once?  Do you work on a page from start to finish?  Or do you sometimes let pages sit for a while?  Interested minds want to know!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

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Art Journaling with Stamps, Stencils and Inventive Inks

Recently I stepped outside my comfort zone to take Marjie Kemper's online class at Craftsy.  Thank you for all the nice comments on that post.  I am please to announce that the winner of the 1/2 priced Inventive Inks class is:

Congratulations Suzie!  I've sent you the 1/2 price link and hope you enjoy the class nearly as much as I did!

I decided to take one of the tags I started in the class and build around it in my art journal.  Here's what happened:

I had stamped one of the Shiva faces from Rubbermoon and embossed it (thank you Marjie - Distress Inks are awesome for embossing!).  I also had left over from another project one of the hands from the Namaste stencil, which I had stenciled using embossing paste.  

These worked perfectly to embellish the tag I had created in the class, using a phrase from the Wall of Words and Flowers, Pomegranates and Leaves stencils from Stencil Girl.

I also used the distress inks mixed with water to tint a picture of myself from High School.  The white swirls and Lotus flowers are from one of the stencils from Stencil Club.

I know I will continue to be inspired by Marjie's class, and the techniques will reverberate in works to come.

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

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Stretching My Boundaries with Marjie Kemper and Inventive Inks

I'm more of a paint girl than an ink girl.  But I'll study anything with a great teacher, even if it's way outside my comfort zone.  So when Marjie Kemper revealed her new online class with Craftsy called "Inventive Ink; Colorful Mixed Media Effects," I knew I had to take it.

I took one of Marjie's classes last October at Art is You, and her knowledge, organization, and ability to put students at ease were just fantastic.

Here's what you get for your $29.99 class with Marjie at Craftsy: Seven detailed lessons, with just about every technique you can possibly imagine you could do with inks. Marjie's enthusiasm for the products and all you can do with them is infectious.  She creates projects before your eyes, and even makes some "mistakes," and shows you how you can fix them.  She shares what to do with your tags and other projects, and gives tips for how to take them to the next level.

I honestly would have felt that I'd gotten my money's worth at the end of the first lesson!  And then there were 6 more!  What an amazing deal!  (You know when you're watching a series on Netflix and you think you'll stop after an episode... but then a little timer says "your next episode will start in 15 seconds... and so you keep watching and watching?  Well that's what it was like for me with Marjie's classes.  They were so good, I just *had* to keep watching!)

Here's what my work table looked like as I prepared to start watching the lessons:

I decided to work on tags, and pulled out some of my stamps from RubberMoon, and stencils from Stencil Girl Products.     I was so involved in the lessons, that I neglected to take step out pictures beyond this:

But by the end of the 7 lessons, I had created three tags, all of which I am so pleased with (if I do say so myself!).

I will definitely be incorporating some of these fabulous techniques into my future work.  And I LOVE the fact that I can re-visit these classes again and again, as there's no expiration date for them. Plus, I know I will get so much more out of them in sessions to come.

AND BEST OF ALL: Marjie has offered a 1/2 price class to one lucky commenter on this blog!  So leave a comment below and make sure to include your email address if you want a chance to win a 1/2 price Inventive Ink class!

 Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!  

 

Mini Masterpieces using Stamps and Stencils

I'm on the RubberMoon Arts Blog today with a tutorial using 4 x 4" Art Inchie Squares (I love them!),  my RubberMoon stamps and Stencil Girl stencils.  I have a video over there, so hop on by for a look!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, Pinterest, Bloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!