Saying Goodbye to July

Where has the Summer sped off too?  This year Summer seems to have flashed before my eyes.  I'm not ready to say goodbye just yet, but it won't be long.  School starts here in just a couple of weeks and my mom flies in a week!!!  On that note let's look at the last week.

I created some bookmarks from an experimental page that I just didn't love, and then I gave them away on my Instagram page.  They really turned out cute and it was fun to set them free in a giveaway.

These bookmarks are just a reminder that not every piece is meant to stay in one piece.  I really love how these turned out.  Cutting something up can make all the difference.  I used a corner rounder and an edge punch on a few of them.  I added some word stickers and some seam binding tape.

During an Instagram Live, this tree was born and I finished it on Saturday night.  This one is a 4x6 piece.  The background is gessoed and Distress Inks were used in creating a watercolor background.  I used Liquitex Basic Gesso, it has a bit of texture and is a bit on the thicker side.  While it's not a heavy body gesso it is stiff enough to use with a stencil to add a light texture to a piece.

Not all my art is created in the studio.  I did a bit of work on my fairy garden Saturday.  This planter has always been a challenge, most things don't like the dirt in it.  Over the past couple of years I have tried a few things, but this year I gave up and decided to start building rock art and terracotta ponds in it.  I finally have a beautiful space.

The center pond has mermaid tears in it, aka glass rocks.  I'd like to get a few bags of these for the other five ponds, but won't be able to do that until we make out next trip to Fairbanks.

I'm one of the converts in the world of reading, as a general rule I'd rather read on my Kindle than read a real book.  Did you hear that?  Every librarian in the world just gasped.  The exceptions in my world are how-to books - i.e. cookbooks, crafting books, and books about drawing.  So let's talk about what's on my reading list...

Currently on my nightstand is Blog Inc.:  Blogging for Passion, Profit, and to Create Community.

This one is a real book, as my lovely librarian handed it to me the other day.  She knows me so well.  I'm only 19 pages in, but it's a slow starter and I'm hoping it gets better.   This book is written by Joy Deangdeelert Cho, the blogger behind Oh Joy!

Over the weekend I also added a few books to my Kindle.  There were a couple of books on sale that have been on my want-to-read list for a long time.

The Renaissance Soul:  How to Make Your Passions Your Life, I'll be honest I already owned this in hardback, but could never get myself to stick with it.  Mostly because it's a book that I feel compelled to take notes from.  By adding it to my Kindle list I'll be able to just highlight the things that strike a chord with me.

I'll donate the hard copy to the library.  It will either make it to the shelves or onto their sale table.  Either way, it will find a new home.

I added Art Inc:  The Essential Guide for Building Your Career as an Artist.  I know nothing about this book, but it piqued my interest and at $1.99 I didn't feel like I had anything to lose.  Here's hoping that tiny investment will pay off.

The last book I'm going to talk about is another that's been on my list for a long time - Art Before Breakfast:  a Zillion Ways to be More Creative no Matter How Busy You Are.

I've had this on my list for so long that I don't remember where the suggestion came from.  I'm gonna guess I heard about it on a podcast.  As someone who only works part-time, I'm not really short on time, but I'm trying to build some new habits and I think this one could help me change my direction and where I spend my time.  Less Facebook zoning and more creativity.

I hope you're enjoying these little snips into my creative life.  I'm trying to hard get back into a blogging schedule.  I'm working to create more content.  I'd love more feedback on what you'd like to see more of.

Currently in the Studio - July

Let's talk about the things that have been happening in the studio lately.  If you read my blog in a feed reader you may not know that's I've done a big makeover on the blog and my website.  I overhauled the layout, put up a new banner, and rewrote a lot of the page content on the website.  Stop by and have a little look around - www.slmpetersen.com.

I'm currently reading Art Journal Freedom:  How to Journal Creatively by Dina Wakely. I wasn't really sure what to expect when I got this from interlibrary loan, but I've been pleasantly surprised.  These types of books swing one of two ways for me; either they are enlightening and I enjoy them or they are terrible and I take them right back to the library.  Much to my delight, this one has been enlightening and enjoyable.


Art Journal Freedom is a great starting place if you're looking to get into mixed media.  Dina Wakley share info on supplies and gives step-by-step instructions, how-to for creating various page ideas.

I've also done a bit of drawing.  During the Facebook Live, I created another of my whimsical faces.  Her name is Lilly and she's traveling by mail to a friend of mine.  I really enjoy drawing the faces and love the fact that they are whimsical, not life-like.  They all have a personality all their own and are just plain fun to draw.

I also completed the fourth and final seasonal tree of a custom order I did for a friend of mine.  I created the final one this weekend while enjoying a lazy Sunday afternoon sitting in our yard.  I really enjoy drawing outside in the natural light, listening to nature.

I'm still finding photography for my shop listings challenging, but I think I stumbled on to a better way to photograph my stuff this weekend, see photos above.  I've felt like the photos I've been doing for the listing are boring, lackluster, and look staged in a sterile environment.  To put it bluntly, they're UGLY!  The photos I took on my desk reflect my style and I'm loving the new look.  Below I've put photos side by side of the styles.  You can see the difference for yourself.

The one on the left is a bit more of a reflection of my style, then one on the right is the standard Etsy style staged photo that looks like everyone else's.  What'd ya think?  Yay or Nay?

That wraps up the studio update.  Hope you've enjoyed reading.  Remember you can follow me on Instagram and Facebook to stay up to date on what I'm creating.

Sea Glass Turtle

If you follow me on Instagram or Facebook you might remember this piece...

You might also remember that I wasn't too sure about it.  this was my first attempt at a canvas board.  The background was created with Distress Oxide inks over top of gesso.  Then I felt compelled to draw the black seaweed.  This sat on my shelf in my studio for quite some time, and I never did fall in love with it.  SOOOO....

I PAINTED OVER IT!  

I started with a fresh coat of gesso, then I added some old book pages using Dina Wakley's gel medium.  Next, I added texture paste using a Waverly Inspirations stencil and added Distress Inks to achieve the look of mermaid scales on opposite corners of the canvas.  That left a middle that was a bit whiter than I wanted, so I took some Distress Oxide in Cracked Pistachio, smeared it on some cling wrap, spritzed with water and laid it down the middle.  From here I left it to dry overnight.

The next day when I removed the cling wrap I had this beautiful effect that looked like water.  After this, I was stumped with where to take the piece, so back onto the studio shelf it went.  I waited for inspiration to strike and worked on other pieces.

Inspiration struck last week when I got my order from Scrapbook.com, which contained the 6x6 turtle stencil from The Crafter's Workshop.  When I took this stencil out of the package I knew it was going to be the perfect way to complete the canvas on my shelf.

I laid the stencil in the middle, giving the illusion that the turtle was swimming between two mermaids, and slathered it with texture paste.

After the texture paste was dry I went back into the Distress Inks and Distress Oxides to give him color and make him pop.  The finishing touch was a bit of Art-C Acrylic paint dabbed on the turtle's shell to give a touch of sheen.

Once complete I sealed the project with Ranger Distress Glaze.  I've been asked if I'll be selling this piece and I just haven't decided about that.  It's already sold if I do decide to let it go.

Whimsical Faces

Yesterday I watched the Youtube video - Learn to Draw Artistic Faces.  Dina Wakley does a fantastic job in this video of taking the intimidation out of drawing a face.

I proceeded to draw six faces yesterday.  I drew the first one while watching this video and then it just kind of took on a life of its own.

Face #1:

Face #2:

Face #3:

Face #4:

Face #5:

Face #6: