Mixed Media Layers: Tissue & Deli Paper with Kristin Van Valkenburgh

“A grownup is a child with layers on.”

— Woody Harrelson

Hey there!

I hope this finds you happy and well. I had so much fun playing with layers this time around for the Jessica Sporn Creative Team, that my fingers are still stained with ink and sticky with glitter as I write this.

Like many of us, I love, love, love adding layer upon layer to my art journaling pages or canvas pieces. The barely visible bits and pieces here and there create mystery and not only draws me in, but hopefully those who come behind me as well.

One of my favorite ways to add sheer layers is with decorative tissue and deli papers. I discovered deli paper through an artist friend of mine who not only inspired me to try it, but also sent me some of her stash so I could! Deli paper is just that - paper used to wrap deli sandwiches. It has a lovely sheen, is matte on one side, and takes wet media like a star. Likewise, tissue paper (I know I’m not the only one who hoards it at birthday parties ;) comes in so many colors, and is so see through, that it too can be so fun to play with.

Follow along as I create this layered piece using Jessica's Women Will Heal the World Stencil and Build-A-Neighborhood Stamp.  Put your own personal spin on my project and share it with us on Pinterest.  Be sure to tag it with #JSD #CreativeTeam and #KristinVanValkenburgh so we see your creation!

A childhood obsession with Hollywood starlets led to an early life in the theater, where Kristin Van Valkenburgh spent many happy days on set and behind the scenes as both an actress and makeup artist for the stage. Kristin has a passion for all things mixed media and loves to create whimsical pieces with lots of layers, bright, poppy colors, big eyes and positive affirmations. Her work has been featured in numerous Stampington publications including Somerset Studio, Somerset Studio Gallery, Somerset Life, Somerset Apprentice, Artists’ Cafe and Art Journaling.  

You can find Kristin on her blog, YouTube, Facebook and Instagram.

THANK YOU KRISTIN!
To see all of the Creative Team posts, click here!

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Five Ways to Rescue an Art Journal Page

If you're like me, you sometimes abandon an art journal page or project because you think it can't be saved.  Recently, I had just such a page, and searched "ways to rescue an art journal page."  Funny enough, the search led me to MY OWN POST from about a year ago!

Since I didn't even remember I had created it, I thought it would be useful to repost it!  Enjoy.

We all have pages in our journals that we hate.  Either the page didn't turn out as we planned, or we had an "accident" on it - something spilled or a product was expired and didn't react as it was supposed to.  Here are five ways you can take such a page and turn it around. 

1.  Make your background your foreground.  Use gel medium through a stencil, let it dry, and then gesso over the rest of the page.  Wipe the gesso from the gel'd areas with a baby wipe, leaving your background peeking through.  You can add journaling over the gesso, or just keep going with another technique.   

You can watch a video of this process here by Peerless Designs.

Stencil used: Eastern Lotus and Leaf Repeat

 2.  Add lots of layers using the same stencil or stamp.  Using the same stamp or stencil, first do a layer of really dark color.  Then use a lighter or neutral color.  Finally, use a very light color, like a Titan Buff or white.  You will get lots of depth using one tool.  Then add a sentiment or embellishment, and voila!

Stencil used:  Herbs and Doors & Windows

3.  Tease out hidden elements.  Hold your page far away from you and squint.  Are any hidden shapes peeking through?  Bring them out.   Here, I saw a face peeking through the leaves and brought her to the front.  (For more on this technique, as well as my tips and tricks for painting faces, check out my online class - Facing Faces!)

Stencil Used:  Curvy Stems by Terri Stegmiller

4.  Push your page to the background by adding elements in complimentary colors.  See how the orange flowers seem to jump forward?  You can do this with paint, ink or collage.  (This page is a demo from one of my Floral Canvas Class.)

5.   Just keep going.  Keep adding layers.  Remind yourself that no effort you make in your artwork is ever wasted.  Something you initially dislike may hold the kernels of something you may eventually love.   That's what happened for me with this 2013 journal page.  

Here's a video of how it happened. 

You can also watch Rescuing a Journal Page on YouTube.

Here's what my worktable looked like as I experimented with all these techniques!

I leave you with these words from one of my favorite books - The Phantom Tollbooth, by Norton Juster:

“You may not see it now," said the Princess of Pure Reason, looking knowingly at Milo's puzzled face, "but whatever we learn has a purpose and whatever we do affects everything and everyone else, if even in the tiniest way. Why, when a housefly flaps his wings, a breeze goes round the world; when a speck of dust falls to the ground, the entire planet weighs a little more; and when you stamp your foot, the earth moves slightly off its course. Whenever you laugh, gladness spreads like the ripples in the pond; and whenever you're sad, no one anywhere can be really happy. And it's much the same thing with knowledge, for whenever you learn something new, the whole world becomes that much richer.”

Words to live by! 

         Visit Stencil Girl Products and RubberMoon Stamps to see all my designs!

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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 are entering a GIVEAWAY, please add your email address in the event I need to contact you.

To avoid SPAM, please write it like this: jessicasporndesigns (at) gmail (dot) com

Thank You!

Free Download - Art Affirmations

On Tuesday, December 27, a long-time friend of mine went into sudden cardiac arrest during the cool-down in her daily exercise class.  My friend, Lynne, was in great shape, ate sensibly and moderately, never smoked, only drank socially, and had no warning signs that she might experience such an event.

So consider this a personal public service announcement😊

Sudden Cardiac Arrest, or SCA, is different than a heart attack.  A heart attack occurs when blood flow to the heart is blocked, causing muscular failure to that area of the heart. SCA is a shut down of the heart due to erratic beating.  Our internal circuit breaker flips, the heart immediately stops beating, stops sending oxygen to the brain and rest of the body.  Seconds later, a person loses consciousness and has no pulse.  If the victim does not receive treatment within minutes, death occurs.  In fact, there is only an 8% survival rate.

My friend was in a cool down in her class when the person next to her noticed that she wasn't moving and that her body was spasmed in an awkward position.  The studio did not have an AED machine - which would have given her the best chance of resuscitation.  However, her instructor was trained in CPR, and there were two nurses waiting for the next class.

Within minutes, the three of them began working on her while waiting for the EMTs to survive.  She had no pulse and had begun to turn blue.  When the EMT's arrived, they had to shock her 3 times before they got a pulse.  However, Lynne did not regain consciousness.

The cardiologist at the hospital recommended that she be put in an induced hypothermic coma for 48 hours, lowering her body temperature to 90 degrees Fahrenheit, to protect her brain from any further injury than might have been caused by oxygen deprivation while her heart was stopped.

A fact that her family and I had to accept while we waited for three long days is that the majority of cardiac arrest survivors have some degree of brain injury and impaired consciousness.  Some stay in a persistent vegetative state.  Therefore, after they warmed her and gradually reduced her sedation, we had no way of knowing whether the Lynne we knew would come back to us.

After Lynne regained consciousness (on the 30th), it was not clear whether her movements were purposeful, and whether her eyes were focused on anything in particular.  However, on New Year's Eve, she began to nod yes and no in a plainly purposeful way.  The doctors recommended against getting overly optimistic, yet were thrilled that there was purposeful consciousness.

Two weeks later, I am thrilled to say that Lynne is back.  While time might indicate lingering effects, she is attacking her physical therapy with gusto, and her speech, memory and cognition seem unimpaired.  She has defied all the odds so far, and I have no doubt she will continue to do so.

Every day that I sat by Lynne, I drew words of affirmation in stars and hearts.  These kept my hands busy and my mind calm.  It was great art therapy for me, and I have made her a garland of these little prayers to decorate her hospital room.  Here they all are on one document.  Please feel free to download them for your personal use (by clicking and saving, or dragging the image to your desktop) and give them to anyone who needs to be lifted up.

TAKEAWAYS:
Please - make sure that any exercise studio you frequent has an AED machine, and that ALL of the instructors are trained in CPR.  This will make a difference in life or death, should you or someone around you suffer a SCA.



As illustrated in this video, if you are a bystander to someone who collapses from SCA, call 911 and then push hard and fast in the center of the chest to the beat of any tune that is 100 to 120 beats per minute, such as the classic disco song "Stayin' Alive." Immediate CPR can double or even triple a person's chances of survival.  You can do this without any training.  Your actions can ONLY HELP.

My best wishes for a happy and healthy 2017!

         Visit Stencil Girl Products and RubberMoon Stamps to see all my designs!

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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.

How to Use Inspiration as a Jumping Point

 

This is another entry in the "Mucking Around in my Art Journal" series.  But this one has a twist.  I was truly stumped and couldn't find a "jumping off" point.  My usual Pinterest Board resource of prompts wasn't doing it for me.  And so I turned to YouTube, and found this wonderful video by Ronda Palazzari, who did a two page spread using string.

That video completely inspired me, and provided me with the jumping off point I needed.

Here's my process, start to finish, in an under 6 minute fast forward video.  In total, I played around with this spread for about two hours in the course of two days.

You can also watch "Mucking Around in my Art Journal IV" on YouTube here.  

So many artists give freely of their time and talent on YouTube.  Use their inspiration as jumping off points and live inspired!

Thanks for visiting, and leave me a word or two if you are so moved :)

         Visit Stencil Girl Products and RubberMoon Stamps to see all my designs!

If you haven't already - please connect with me here:

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Thank You!