Our Design Team is Growing! Meet our new memeber Tasha!

We are moving into our fall season on Vera Lane and are happy to announce our newest Design Team member, Tasha Nez.  Our Design Team guest and talent coordinator Stephanie Eaton was our scout on this lucky find!  Tasha has been a Vera Lane Studio fan within her busy school schedule.  Having guest hosted for us in the past with favorable reviews we are so excited she is joining us full time!  Here is a little bit about Tasha: 

My name is Tasha and I’m a mixed-media artist, amateur
photographer/graphic designer and gallery assistant for a non-profit
art organization. I’m from a small city in sunny New Mexico! I
recently graduated from college and received an Associate’s Degree in
Human Services focusing on Substance Abuse. Alongside having a passion
to help others I also have a passion for creating art! I like to
dabble in so many different forms of art from acrylic painting,
water coloring, book-making, photography, jewelry-making to
illustrating just to name a few.
I first started creating art almost six years ago by making artist
trading cards with sharpie markers as my only medium. Who knew that
those small cards would lead me on such a grand adventure! It is my
hope that I can inspire others to seek and discover creativity in
their everyday lives and make their worlds as colorful as can be.

I hope you will all join us in welcoming Tasha.

Design Team 2018

Happy New Year everyone!   Vera Lane Studio has been busy planning ahead for our 2018 collections.  We released 2018 Matilda early and she has found her way into many hearts.  We have two new lines and our "Tiny Veras" that will be released each month, collage sheets and planner props too!  Our new line will lend itself to more art journaling and mixed media to prepare to see some new things emerging from the studio.

As we say goodbye to two design team members we are moving ahead with our very talented ladies; Corrie, Carole, Stephanie, Sharon, and Teresa.  New to Vera Lane Studio Design Team we are bringing aboard Angie Jones. Thanks to Stephanie for locating the perfect fit for our team, Angie has already been creating behind the scenes and you will love her style.  Angie is attracted to the quirkiness of Vera Lane Studio and has been a member of several design teams.  She would like to share a little bit about herself:  

"I live in Queensland, Australia with my hubby, son, daughter and our spoilt adopted Greyhound.

I have always loved colouring in since I can remember....my stamping / card making started around 30 years ago.....I bought some copic markers at a craft show about 3 years ago and sort of yes/ no for a year. Around 18 months ago, I did a few online classes and bam.....whole collection of markers now and I colour everyday!  I still have traditional stamps but I love and prefer Digital images now. I also create art journal pages, atc’s and have just really gotten into decorating my planner/diary."

Welcome Design Team 2018!

Please join us on Face Book and follow on Instagram to see what 2018 will bring!

SDC 215; Card for a Child

 

So often we create to amuse ourselves or other adults.  Children love stamping and also enjoy what is created especially for them.  For this week’s Stampotique Designers Challenge I am challenging you to create a card that will have appeal for a child, be it a young one or teen.

I created a card to accompany a travel art kit for a young student of mine.  She will be taking a long flight next week and I wanted to make sure she could stay busy creating during the flight!  This card "inspire" will accompany her gift.

 I began by bleeding watercolors together to create a background.  This is a technique she had completed in a recent watercolor lesson.   I let the wet on wet colors bleed into each other.  The stamps are colored with markers and Prismacolor pencils.  I had another Kate Crane image colored and selected for this card but my dog ran off with it.  Since Frock was also colored I made the substitution.   The other two stamps in this creation are inspire and the flower from Agatha's Flower.  It's a simple card with bright cheerful colors and happy images.  I hope she likes it.

Simple prompt Sunday; Put a hat on it

Hat from #Realmen , Cat from #Girlandcatwithpartyhats
cloud from #allthings  (house is inactive)

This is our third Simple Prompt Sunday and I hope more of you will be playing along.  It wonderful to see how Vera Lane Studio sets are mixed and matched to create new scenes.  I love seeing your unique vision, style, coloring and techniques.  From newbies to advanced designers, the learning and sharing that is taking place is really quite lovely.


Simple Prompt: 
Put a hat on it! 
Be creative.  Pick a VLS character or your choice and add a hat, a headpiece, a crown or a bow.  Have FUN and don't forget to post!




 

Just playing with some scraps along with Girl and cat with party hats.  Happy Sunday.  Go make something.  :-)

Got bookmarks?

The Housewives of Vera Lane are whimsical and quirky to say the least.  I thought they would make fantastic bookmarks.  These mini collages are fast and satisfying to make, and a useful departure from ATCs.  So make some with me!

I arranged and printed the gals on white cardstock.  They are colored with Copics , a couple are paper pieced.  I applied old book pages and scrap paper to cardstock measured to 2.5 x 6 and 2.5 x 7 inches.  After collaging my precut cardstock I used mono adhesive tape to attach the digi image in place. Paint pens, Pitt liners, and washi tape complete the tiny compositions.  Cold laminate is applied to the front and back of the bookmark and trimmed.

How fun to make a batch for your next book club!  Tuck one or two in an envelope and mail to an avid book lover.  Punch a hole in the top and use as a long hang tag.

These four gals are available for instant download in my Etsy shop.  I hope you enjoyed this quick craft fix.

DLP 2015

 The Documented Life Project 2015 has rolled out with the first challenge of the year.  "Be your own goal keeper" prompt brought me to my commitment to eat healthy and stay fit.  As someone who fights two autoimmune diseases, keeping these goals is life changing. 

I began with the suggested book paper applied with Golden Soft Gel Medium.  When that was dry I used Inktense blocks wiped with a baby wipe to blend and soften my greens and teals.  Because of the color intensity I preferred using Faber-Castell Gelatos for my pink and oranges.  I softened the colors with a white wash of acrylic paint.

I listed my nutrition goals with scraps from menus and nutrition handouts.  "Goals" was stamped with my Random Acts Alphabet stamp set by Stampotique.  A Stabilo All 8046 black pencil was used for lines and random marks.  Adding a bit of water from a waterbrush makes the black more intense.

I collaged a small cover that is hinged with Washi tape and secured with a ribbon.  This random photo of my fit grandfather with an unknown "less fit" person just seemed to make its way to my page.  To preserve the original photo, this is a color copy.
I took a picture of one of my favorite recipes and printed it with my pocket LG printer from my phone.  It is mounted on painted paper with Washi tape.

The scallop borders are cut from painted papers I had in my stash.  Areas were toned down by randomly wiping gesso with my fingers.

I had no idea where I was going with this and I tend to only see the areas I'm unhappy with.  Another goal is to try and not be so critical and venture into each page as a learning opportunity. 

Altered Playing Card Challenge Catch-up

I left town after week 5 and it's been a trick to get back on track since my return.  Here are my catch-up cards!

Week 6:  Halloween theme.

Left: I used "Wishbone" from my Vera Lane Studio digi stamp set.  She's colored with Copic markers.  The background is a combination of Inktense and Neocolor wax pastels dripped and blotted.
Right:  A printed piece of cellophane (from fresh flowers wrap) is glued over Inktense color on prepared gesso.  I used a portion of my crow line rubber stamp from Stampotique printed with Stazon ink.

Week 7: Nautical/ Ocean theme.  Not.

I substituted a fairy theme from my digi image set Firefly Fairies.  They are colored with Copics with acrylic paint backgrounds.  Pitt pen and paint pens add doodles. 

Week 8:  Hearts

Left:  Inktense blocks and Prismacolor pencils make up the background.  I doodled with a fine Pitt pen for the border.  Collage scrap and a charm complete the card.
Right:  Inktense wiped with babywipes and Sharpie paint pen make up the background.  The scallop border is cut from printed deli paper.  The stamp is my "love you heart" available from Stampotique.  It's stamped with Stazon and clear embossed.

Week 9: Flowers and Stencils

Left:  Claudine used a stencil and text on one of her cards.  I cut a stencil with scrap paper for the background.  I used Gelatos and white paint pen in the stencil over an Inktense base.  The character is "Blossom" from one of my digi stamp sets.  Text stamp is the definition for "rose" -- also by Stampotique.

Right:  Claudine demonstrated how to align washi tape on paper to allow a punched circle.  I followed that technique for the inside of the doodled flowers.  I scraped the black line with the tip of an X-acto blade for a scratchy texture.  The bird is from "Bud and Birds."  I painted the flowers with acrylic paint and the bird is colored with Copic marker.

Week 10: Altered
Left:  The background is Gesso with Inktense layered with Caran d' Ache neocolor II wax pastels layered and wiped with a baby wipe.  I glued eyes from a magazine cutout and drew around it with Derwent watercolor pencils and a waterbrush.  I used a mechanical pencils for shading and an X-acto knife to scratch into the hair.
Right:  The image is from Vera Lane Studio digi images colored with Copics.  Eyes from a magazine cutout are glued in place with a tiny tag and scraps.  Scribble with pencil and paint pens in a Distress stained background.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Documented Life Journal 2015

I'm starting my New Year's resolution early.  

In 2015 I'm going to try to take a little more time for my own art.  I share my studio with several young art students during the week.  My art form has always been assisting children in their creativity.  That in itself feeds the creative soul.  In 2015 I intend to carve out a "me" day.  Let's see how that goes.

I have completed the cover of my 2015 Documented Life Journal after looking at the Cover Story Workshop at Art to the Fifth.  I looked at Roben-Marie Smith's videos and a portion of Rae Missigman's.  What I saw was so motivating that I will savor the rest of the series for inspiration later. 

My cover is mostly inspired by Roben-Marie's  example.  I collaged old letters, ledgers, patterns, and scrap paper.  I added acrylic (Martha Stewart multi-surface satin) , gesso, and layers of Inktense wiped with baby wipes.   My date was stamped with  Random Acts, an alpha-stamp set I designed for Stampotique.  I originally had the date on ledger paper exposed under an envelope window.  After a late night I noticed I transposed my numbers and had to come up with another plan.  An image floating in the bottom right corner was also not working for me.  My solution was to add the due date with a date stamp to commence the beginning of DLP 2015 .

The back cover is much of the same. I used a liner brush with black acrylic paint for my line work. 

The inside cover was screaming for some coverage.  The base of the collage is Rae's technique.  I layered over it with sequin waste stenciling, and more layers in Inktense.  I really like the transparent layers that are created by wiping it down with baby wipes.  It seems to add depth.

A small cigar box of hand carved stamps from a day working with kids were begging to be used. They were applied with Momento ink and Inktense blocks.   Sharpie paint pens and graphite pencil scribbles are added throughout.

My scallops are cut from Gelli prints on deli paper.  Deli paper is such a perfect weight to collage with.

Roben-Marie and Rae had so much more to their techniques, so I encourage you to take advantage of the workshop.  You can borrow some great ideas and incorporate your own.

Thanks for taking a peek.

Altered Playing Card Challenge; week 3

This is week 3 of Claudine's Altered Playing Card Challenge.  If you have not jumped on board, now is a time to start.  My goal is to respond to the challenges with a digi stamp and a rubber stamp each week.

Claudine used alcohol inks and Tim Holtz's Distress Ink for her backgrounds using a fall and a Steampunk theme.

For "Fall Coat" I used mustard seed and spiced marmalade Distress Inks over gesso.  The digi images are from the Cherry Street Collection in my Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop, Classy and Fabulous.  She is colored with Copic markers.  I used BIC white out pen for white embellishments.

The background of the second card has the same color distress inks.  My number stencil does not show in the picture, but I also used brushed corduroy.  I'm not much of a Steampunk fan so putting this together took some thought.  I had an old watch cube from Post-modern Design that I had never used from years ago --  out it came.  The Mad Hatter is part of my Alice in Wonderland series for Stampotique.  I didn't have any gears so I cut circles and used a stamp edge scissor to make the grooves and colored with metallic marker. I used white Prismalcolor to accent my design elements.

I love this challenge -- for my time commitment the size of the art is just perfect.  Its a great way to try new techniques, push the envelope and experiment.   

SDC 155 magazines and newspaper

 Happy Thursday.

I have a fun project for you NEXT WEEK.  Why NEXT WEEK?  Because I had to jump in on the (Stampotique) SDC 155 challenge that began yesterday. 

Magda is our hostess this week and I could not resist her challenge to use newspaper or magazine.  Since I have a little obsession with type I thought I'd share one of my very favorite techniques!

Daniel Torrente's Hunk is here to help, along with Amy Wellenstein's love and be loved quote.  My background shows a hint of text for added interest and texture.  Here is how I did it.

Materials:

Cardstock
Gesso
Used gift/ credit card
acrylic paint
work surface
newspaper
flat paint brush (or fingertip will do)
Modge Podge
baby wipes

1. You can begin with a sturdy sheet of cardstock, watercolor paper, or even scrapbook paper with a pattern. 

Add a few drops of acrylic paint to your gesso and scrape across your paper surface as desired.  Sometimes I like to leave ridges (right) from the credit card and not smooth out. Let dry and add another color layer if desired.

2. When prepared surface is dry, apply Modge Podge generously with flat brush or finger.  Immediately place and gently press newsprint face down on Modge Podge. Use the brush to gently burnish the image without moving it.

3. By the time you are done washing out your brush you are ready to remove the newspaper with the credit card. The backwards type is left behind.

4.  If you want to remove some areas to create a more distressed look, wrap a baby wipe around your finger and work away the area you wish to remove.

I even added a little type in Hunk's head. 

I colored Hunk with Peerless watercolors and a waterbrush.  He's raised on the surface with a little silicone glue and there is a bit of washi tape just to keep him grounded.

The randomness of the text is really fun.  I hope you try it!

Come back next week because I have a fun project that you will want to make!

Janet

Summer love

I have a love-hate relationship.  I'm loving summer right up until NOW!  Arizona summers seem to last forever.  We will be entering "monsoon season", which admittedly can be fun with beautiful skies.  However, with added humidity and temps on the rise to 115 plus, the outdoors is not to be enjoyed for too long.  My love-hate Arizona summer feelings gave inspiration for this mixed-media piece.

Stampotique's Mela and Little bird are featured in  this journal page.    I began with a light application of gesso, applied with a credit card.  I smeared Gelatos into the gesso and intensified the color with an additional layer of Inktense brushed roughly with a stiff damp brush.  My sweet  husband bought me Posca pens which led to my doodles.  I loved how they took the surface.  My signature scrap bits and stitches complete the background. 

I used a white wax crayon to work around the edges of the images to create the intensity of the summer sun.  I made Mela's heart a little larger with some scrap paper to accent "summer love."



What does the fox say?

Ylvis's hit "What does the fox say" motivated me to make these animal sound ATC's.  I began with repurposing my over spray papers that I cut into 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" cards. I looked through my Stampotique images for animal images, stamped, colored, added scraps, some washi tape, and scribbled.

Unfortunately I was multitasking at the time and I'm not so pleased with the set. But I think it is still a super cute idea and I offer it to you to give a try.

My Stampotique images used in this ATC collection are all cropped. They are from the following stamps:

Barnyard cube 9106
Chicks cube 9098
Crow line 9210
Cat family  9251

Look through your Stampotique stamps with the kid's and have them identify animal sounds. Make your own set of animal sound cards for a fun activity with your littles!

Thanks for taking a look!

Take some honey and plenty of money...

 

 In my quest to use what I have, recycle, and repurpose, this waste from repeated gelli printing became my inspiration.  The deep dark color and textured layering reminded me of ocean and night.  Immediately the children's verse "The Owl and the Pussycat" by Edward Lear came to mind.

I combined a portion of my Cat Family and Kira Nichols Birdy Up to be the stars of the evening scene.  I drew the "pea green boat" as well as the honey and plenty of money.  France Papillion's Banner decorates the mast of the boat.  Shreds of fabric are added to add life to the evening sail.  The images were stamped with jet black StazOn , clear embossed, then colored with a combination of Copics and watercolor.
My background was created with layers of Gelli Plate printing using acrylics, stencils, and stamps.  Colored modeling paste enhanced a wave border that I had on hand.  A vintage button serves as a closure to the journal. 

I like to look for opportunities to combine stamps, cut them apart, add to, or reduce.  I encourage you to look at your rubber stamps (Stampotique of course) as puzzle pieces.  Tell a story, event, play, but most of all, have fun!
 

Modeling Paste, Gesso, Stencils

Prior to Stampotique's Designer's Challenge last week I had created a stack of backgrounds utilizing stencils, modeling paste, and gesso. 
I have a heavier gesso that worked well with a stencil, the lighter gesso was preferred to prime my paper surface.  While the heavier gesso works well with stencils, I slightly prefer the modeling paste for this application.

For this background: I scraped some gesso on cardstock with an old credit card.  Shades of green and blue green acrylic paint were also applied with the card. In the area behind the cat family  I masked an section to create a block image with antique border  and allowed to dry.  Modeling paste was applied through a portion of a chevron stencil.  I used  Liqutex modeling paste in a tube with a flip lid.  It's a simple motion to squeeze some paste onto the stencil and scrape.  I can flip the top back without stopping to cap a container to prevent my product from drying out.  This may not sound like a big deal, but when you are working with mixed media and accumulate a mess in the process, it is easy to neglect capping something and ruin your product.

I softened the antique border images with a light scraping of gesso.  A bit of Dylusions was sprayed on the modeling paste and wiped away. 

During this experiment session I used gesso and or modeling paste with either acrylics, spray inks, or a combination of both. My sheets were quite warped, so I used a book press to flatten them before adding them to my stash. This was not one of my favorite backgrounds but I decided to challenge myself to give it some life.

Bird in a cage and the cat family image were stamped with StazOn and embossed. Watercolor pencils were used to color the stamped images.

The rest of the piece is assembled with my usual scraps and scribbles.

I'm more of a dog person, so Carol Fox, this one is for you.

Count your rainbows

I received my shipment of Stampotique Wizard of Oz characters this week. After stumbling across the quote, "Count your rainbows, not your thunderstorms,” I respond to this week’s designer's challenge no. SD91 Sketch featuring the Dorothy image.
 

The colors from the background papers were motivation to pull additional scraps that directed the color palette of the piece.  Dorothy is colored with Copics and a little glitter for her ruby shoes.

Note: The background painted paper is made with tempera in my children’s workshops.  We set up trays of diverse colors at each station and apply watered down tempera to make solid sheets.  After the sheets are colored, children will move about to different stations where there are a variety of gadgets to print with.  Repeat patterns added. When the papers are dry they are flattened and cut in quarters.  I use these papers for a wide variety of projects.