The Artistic Journey of Linda Kay's Art ~ Chapter 552

I am delighted to be a member of the Cre8ive Klatch.  It is a wonderful place where we share our cr8ivity and inspirations. Today I want to share with you a part of my artistic journey.

Ever since I can remember, art and craft making has been a big part of me. So, I guess I have been on my artistic journey my entire life. I have a unique way of looking at all the things around me and find creative ways to use and beautify my surroundings. It is a passion of mine to find new ways to use gently used items and give them a new and beautiful purpose.

I have been building my art business over the last 8 years. Most of what I do is on the small scale, sold locally and has given me a lot of enjoyment. I have learned a lot and feel confident in what I do. Now I have the opportunity to expand and grow my business and this is where you will be joining me on my journey, part 552.

I have been working in my home "studio" which consists of a 9 foot work bench in my laundry room. As you can imagine, it gets pretty crowded in there, especially if my kids are doing their laundry while I am working. At times I have spilled over into the living room, but working at the coffee table is not that comfortable. Recently I tried using the dinning room as a place to work and teach classes. It was a nice big space, but not quite convenient should we want to all eat dinner together. I was having growing pains!

As luck would have it, an opportunity to rent studio space from my local arts council, Arts in Bartlett, materialized just at the right time. My friend Jenny and I are now new tenants in a small studio together. Jenny is a pastel artist and does wonderful bird and nature art work. I am a mixed media artist and working on refining my work. Since we both need a place to put some serious effort into our work, this seems a perfect solution for us both.

The space we are moving into was formerly a beauty spa and salon. There has been a lot of work put into changing it over for arts council needs. Cleaning, patching, painting, trim work, plumbing, and more! It is exhausting but with all the volunteers, along with our contractor, we are pulling it all together nicely.

 Our studio space is smallish, but has a nice feel to it. We only have 3 walls as one has some gentle curves in it. I think it adds charm and movement to the space. We had a sink installed after I laid some tiles down. A coat of the lightest shade of lavender paint came next, the carpet was cleaned and now we are moving in!

Jenny has a portable table to work on. She fashioned a kitchen cupboard unit into a tableau with a nice counter top on it. This repurposing warms my heart! I have a folding table that I use for art fairs as my work surface, which will get a new padded table cover. Storage for my supplies will be next. I fell in love with a trendy turquoise cart from Ikea, so I bought 2, one for home and the other will go into the studio. A couple of chairs and we are set to go!

Being part of this group and working in a gallery setting will be a new experience for us both. I am looking forward to the new opportunities it will bring us. I for one welcome having others around me more often. I tend to keep to myself a lot and have missed interacting with others.

And so my journey continues down a freshly painted new path. It's pretty exciting, don't you think? 

Linda Kay Kinnaman of Linda Kay's Art
Website ~ http://lindakaysart.com/Blog ~ http://lindakaysart.com/blog/Facebook ~ https://www.facebook.com/LindaKaysArtInstagram ~ http://instagram.com/lindakaysart/Pinterest ~ http://www.pinterest.com/lkkinnaman/

Cre8ive Klatch

We can't wait to see all the cre8ive things you come up with!

Valentine Fabric Tag Tutorial by Laney McDonald

Hi there! This is Laney from Sugarplum Patchwork and I'm happy to share this Valentine fabric tag tutorial with you today.  This is a quick little tag to stitch and you can vary the design based on the colors/fabrics you choose. I made two versions so you can get some ideas.

What you will need:

scrap fabrics
cardboard from an old cereal box, etc.
sewing machine (or hand sewing thread and needle)
embroidery floss and embroidery needle - optional
stamps and stamp pad  - optional
ribbon

What you will do:

Choose fabrics. For my first design, I chose an old upholstery fabric sample for my main fabric. I love the texture in this piece. And I chose a satin-y lining fabric in pink for the hearts. For my second tag I used some hand painted canvas I created a few years ago.

Cut the background fabric to 5" x 6"

You will fold it in half right sides together and stitch along the long edge and across the bottom to make the body of the tag. Leave the top edge open.Turn it right side out.

It should measure about 2  3/4 x 4  3/4 inches - depending on the thickness of your fabric. Like this pic below. I have already cut my hearts out and started playing around with where I want them.  ;)  But let's get back to the program!

Cut a piece of cardboard to about 4 3/8  x   2  3/8 inches. Don't worry too much about this measurement, just get close. Err on the side of too big rather than too small.

Put cardboard inside the fabric pocket. Trim the cardboard slightly, if needed.

Stitch the remaining end closed. You can turn the edges under or leave the raw edge out depending on the look you prefer. Stitch all the way around the card just in from the edge.

Cut two hearts from the pink fabric. (Unless you've already gotten ahead like I did!)

Stitch them to the card.

Then stitch the words "Be" and "Mine" on the hearts with free motion stitching. Or you could embroider the words or stamp them onto fabric. That's what I did for the second tag.

Use embroidery thread to stitch straight stitches along one side if you like.

Using scissors, make a hole in the top of the fabric card and tie the ribbon through it.

Enjoy!

Happy Valentine's Day!

 Share your tags with us in the Facebook group!

You can find me here:

sugarplumpatchwork.com

Facebook

Twitter

Instagram

Pinterest

Disposable Cupcake Holder by Shells In The Bush

We know that everyone must be headed out to parties and family get togethers for the holidays. Here is your tutorial for the best cupcake carrier for your event!! 

You all need to make one and post your picture of your creation to our Facebook page!! We will be looking for them!

Hi everyone!!

I'm Michelle Reynolds from www.shellsinthebush.com/ and the Cre8ive Klatch Team.

I'm here today to show you how I made this pretty disposable cupcake holder and to inspire you to create your own.

I've just baked two dozen cupcakes to take to my high school reunion and needed a way to transport them safely so I decorated an old cereal box.  This is a great idea if you have to take a cake or cupcakes to an event such as school party or a fair donation and you don't want to be worried about getting your plate back or the plastic wrap touching the icing - a couple of toothpicks will help with that if your cake is bigger than the sides of the box.

Supplies 

~ an old cereal box
~ craft knife or scissors
~ tape, sticky tape and double sided tape
~ paper to decorate - I used gelli prints but you could recycle wrapping paper or scrapbooking paper.
~ washi tape

 1. Tape up the opening of the cereal box.

 2. Use the craft knife to cut away one large side - I put this back into the bottom of the box to strengthen it.

 3. Measure and cut the side and bottom panels and place in box.

4. Use the double sided tape to stick the paper to the inside of the box - just one small piece in the middle of the side is all I used. I used sticky tape at the bottom of each outside corner to keep the paper in place.

 6. Measure and stick washi tape to each corner edge - this helps keep the paper in place and makes the box look prettier.

There you go - one pretty cupcake holder...hmmm...maybe too good for cupcakes...will try to take it home and re-use it for something else if there isn't too much icing on the paper...

I hope you have fun creating your Diposable Cupcake Holder.  Please join our Cre8ive Klatch FaceBook Group and share your creations - I would be thrilled to see them and I'm happy to answer any questions you may have.

Thank you.

Michelle.

PS If you would like to buy some gelli prints to use to create this cupcake holder or in your art journal, for collage and mixed media art then check out my Etsy store for some great Gelli Print Packages.

A Different Tag Post by Lori Leissner

Tis the season for tags it seems.  I love making tags. It's a quick, easy and inexpensive way to be creative.  If you want to be creative this time of year, quick, easy and inexpensive is definitely the way to go.

This little project is even less expensive than the norm because we are reusing clothing tags.  I  have a confession: I sometimes purchase clothing based on the quality of their tags.  The shorts that came with this awesome tag were not necessarily better than the alternatives (in spite of all the stretchy talk). The tag made the sale.  It was a good size and especially sturdy.  After this post, you are totally going to be checking tags. Now's a good time, too!   Those jeans you got your kid for Christmas?  Go check the tags!!!!

This tag had a plastic coating on it, which is probably why it was so sturdy and why I liked it so much.  I'll save you the trouble of all the paint peeling off and tell you to give it a good sanding first to rough it up.

Now gesso!   Yours won't look this smooth though because this was before all the paint peeled off and I had to sand it.

Use a heat gun or blow dryer to make it even speedier if, for example, you need it for a gift tag for a party you will attend in an hour (and you still don't have any makeup on).

Grab some complementary colors.

 

Slap some paint on there. Literally, you do not have to be all neat and tidy. You don't even have to cover all the gesso. That's what's so fun about this!  You're going to sand it again, and you want some of the other layers to show through, so just get some paint on there however you want.  Make sure it's dry.  Then sand it off slightly so the gesso and the bottom original color shows through a little.

Then paint another color on top.  Also let that layer dry and sand it a little, especially the edges.

Now you can paint your image.  I chose a bouquet of roses in a vase.

 

Use a Sharpie pen (not a Sharpie marker...a Sharpie pen...they work so much better over paint) and a white Uniball Signo  pen (the only white pen I've found to work all the time) to add embellishments.  Then add some words.  I think all art is a little better with some words.

Finally, add some frilly yarn and ribbons and spritz with a little clear coat and let dry.  These make great gift tags. This one is so sturdy, it could even be a Christmas ornament.  I especially love them as book markers. For a super quick gift, print out an Amazon gift card and use washi tape to attach this cute tag to the envelope.

Catch up with me on Facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/LeissnerArt 

My website here: http://www.leissnerart.com/ 

Instagram here:  http://instagram.com/leissnerart

Or Twitter:  https://twitter.com/leissnerart

Come join us for more cre8ive ideas and crafty connections at our Facebook group:

Cre8ive Klatch

Hand Carved Stamps Outside the Box by Ursula Smith

Sometimes when you think outside the box, it is literal. In my case I decided this year to forego wrapping presents. I really hate it- in fact my family jokes that I can do anything crafty- except wrap. I am like the guy in that funny Christmas song from years ago yelling as he is "Stringing Up the Lights", except I am cursing out wrapping paper.

While I was playing around with carving stamps the other day, I was looking for some paper to test them on, when I spied a white box. I grabbed it and started stamping away. I loved the look of it, so I grabbed a clean, folded box top from a new package of gift boxes and had a pleasant stamping session  using my new hand carved stamps and acrylic paint.

Here is the result...

The stamps I used weren't really Christmas stamps at all, but in keeping with the "thinking outside the box" theme, I think they work just fine!

Here is a quick companion post for recycling gift bags.

I will have more stamp carving posts and holiday ideas on my own blog- Ursula-Smith.com/blog - in upcoming weeks. Happy Holidays!!

Come join the conversation at our Facebook page:

Cre8ive Klatch