La Petit Boulanger

"La Petit Boulanger" has arrived in my Etsy shop!  She's been on the drawing table for some time, but I have finally managed to make a sample.  She's really pretty cute in a funky sort of way.

The little cake slice plant is a fun image in itself.  I've have made birthday gift tags with that little image alone and it works quite nicely! 

The background is a watercolor wet on wet technique, when dried it was then embossed.  The text image and other decorative elements will arrive in my shop soon.

Thanks for looking!

A Neutral Morning

It's not going to be one of those bright and sunny days here in Arizona.  A good morning to wake-up and grab a cup of coffee and head to my studio. 

I have several projects on my table in various stages.  The new challenge at CASual  Fridays;  CFC36: Create a Clean And Simple Project that is only black and white, certainly seemed like a easy place for me to start.  This is an honor to “penguins everywhere”…loved “Chilly Willy” as a kid, so I am going for this.  

The graphic quality of the sharp contrast of black and white has always appealed to me.  That’s how I see when I design my stamp images, it is always more of a challenge to use my stamps the way they are meant to be used.

In this submission I am using my Stampotique images Bella and I Love You Flowers.  That’s it.  Black on white, cropped, layered with b/w papers ribbon scrap.  Easy?  Yes.  One more thing, had to add a dash of Diamond Sticklers, just had to!

As I am moving things about I come across a box of scraps (actually, I have lots of boxes of scraps, but I am attempting to appear more organized).   I have projects that didn’t work out, color practice, etc.  So I decided to repurpose items and put them together to make a card.  This is a similar way I have my students work in their collages.  I supply them with boxes at each team table and let them go to town. 

One approach I take is grabbing colors in a limited color palette and trying to make them work.  I try to balance the textures and give the article a little “pop.” 

The image is Fleur Gril #3 from my Fleur de Girl collection for Stampotique.   She is cropped from the entire image and placed in a scrap frame.  The “hello” is from my own hand. The corner needed a touch of black to balance it and I thought “hello” would fit the bill.

Now I’m off to a busy day ahead. 
You don’t mind if I leave my studio a little, well, let’s say, messy? 

Is that a calendar in your pocket?

When I saw the Stampotique challenge for a 2012 pocket calendar I immediately tought of an ATC format, inserting montlhy cards into a small portfolio. I like the idea of small – I can manage small projects lately.

The image on the portfolio cover is cropped from my row houses for Stampotique.  I love this stamp – the imperfect houses are reminiscent of the houses my Kinder and First grade artists draw. I get a lot of inspiration from the children!

I used Copics and Prismacolors to color the image.  Copics, scraps, and masked stamped text from the colorful border.

The months are a set by Amy Wilson Wellenstein for Stampotique.  They fit perfectly – I was so glad they did as that was my agenda!  I created the miniture calendar in Publisher, leaving off the months so they could be hand-stamped.  The number row on the inside of the portfolio, also by Amy.

The 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" portpolio ties with a beaded cord and is secure with a brad.  I think an old button would have been a better choice, but the brad was an easier solution! 

Bee Happy

Vera Lane Studio has been my safe haven this week. With thoughts of retirement, an ill parent, and completion of 850 report card grades (two semesters to go) my head has been in a state of "whirl." Although I am surrounded with plenty of inspiration and things to play with, life just seems to get in the way.

Vera Lane Studio is slowly getting ready for little artists to explore, share, create. Doors will open late summer to early fall. In the meantime, I putter, rearrange, and try to draw when I can.

I am really excited about a new image line that I'll have coming out with Stampotique. The company has a variety of outstanding artists with new ones added to the winter catalog. I am happy to be able to add a few images here and there -- there is something about having your art indexed in black on a little block of wood that gives you such a thrill! A simple,happy pleasure.

But with all the images floating in my brain, and some perhaps not lending themselves to rubber, I am taking a stab at digis. Plenty of artists are doing them I know, but I hope my own brand of funk and whimsy will be enjoyed by some crafters out there.

My latest digi posted on the Vera Lane Studio Etsy shop is "Bee Happy." She's perfect for Valentine's Day. Her perplexed, little face just may be my own expression of late. The versatile side-kick images are two different flowers which are great to use with or without Bee or to even incorporate with your rubber images to give new life. The heart and circle flowers come in PNG format, so you can overlap them and tuck them neatly under other images without the chunky, white outline box that the jpegs sport.

Oh, life is calling me. Have to run.

Until next time, be well, bee happy.

Tree Gal

Better late than never. My art life has taken a backseat to my 850 art students. That's right, 850. It seems a little unreasonable, with a half hour "lunch" and 15 minutes of "plan" a day, it is no wonder my personal creativity gets staled. This will all change in five months when I retire. So here I am, testing the waters. I am going to venture into the world of digital art, invitations, and digital scrapbook elements. There is a lot out there, but we all offer our own brand of style, and I hope my whimsy has an appeal to keep me a little busy! I just opened an Etsy Shop with this lonely little image. I have more on the drawing board so stay tuned. “Tree Gal” is fun to color digitally or with markers. I printed off a dozen in two color palettes, and then added a little colored glitter glue. They are pretty festive on the stark white and easy to “crank out” if you are in need of time as I always seem to be! Please let me know what you think. Thanks for stopping by!

Non Traditional Christmas (Colors)

This simple card is in response to the Stampotique “Non Traditional Christmas” card challenge.
I have such a fondness for these muted colors and the blend of these neutral tones. The colors remind me of a beach cottage, the smell of the ocean, and the color of sea salt.
I think a pale “skirt” of ice aqua ribbon would look nice tucked in-between the two contrasting patterned layers. It’ll be a start to make variations on a theme.

Stamps used: Mr.Snow, 9197 and Wish, 7191.

Copic Alternative

I keep my drafting table in my classroom. On occasion, when time permits, I will demonstrate some art techniques for students who complete their projects early. I think it is important to show children the variety of media and the difference in quality. While I have let my students play with Prismacolors, I had to draw the line in freely allowing them to dig into my Copics. They had discovered some of my older Design markers and really liked them, so I needed an affordable alternative.
The BIC Mark-it set is a great value; I have seen the set of 36 for as little as $15.00. It is a perfect gift for young artists. If you are new to markers and can’t afford Copics I think these inexpensive markers are terrific!
While there are only 36 colors, it is certainly enough to blend and get Copic marker effects – in fact, I’ll bet it would be hard to tell the difference on a finished drawing. The BIC Mark-Its work with the Copic “O” Colorless Blender, although it is not necessary.

Working with values is easy to get the hang of. I prefer to begin with the lighter value, while wet ,quickly add/ layer my darker value, then “chase back” with the lighter value for smoothness.
The BICs also work well with the tip-to-tip technique. Hold the lighter value pen to the tip of the darker value to absorb the darker pigment – apply to the paper with the lighter pen – as the darker area blends, continue to go over it with the lighter color.
I have also noticed that the lighter colors can “pick up” dark areas. If you have gone too dark, you can soak the area with the lighter marker until it lightens up in value.
If you are new to markers it is great to start small. These Twinchies (2 inch squares of art) were designed for color practice – all of them are made with the BIC- Mark-its.
If you have any questions, please contact me at: Janet@veralanestudio.com.