Michelle G Brown | Mixed Media Art

Five Mixed Media Christmas Ornaments to Make

By 1 Comment

~*~

It seems like this time of year brings out everyone’s creativity and we get a chance to show off our crafting skills by making greeting cards, Christmas decorations and Christmas Ornaments. This lets us share our passion with friends and family. I have been scouting the internet to find ornaments that we can make with our mixed media supplies and put all of those mixed media techniques to good use!

Here are my Top 5 Mixed Media Christmas Ornaments:

1. Paper Ephemera Ornaments

Being avid mixed media artists, we all have a huge collection of paper ephemera, old book pages, painted backgrounds and maybe even a few Gelli plate prints lying around. This tutorial by Shelley Detton, over at 7 Layers, shows us how to make these Christmas Ornament Spheres using sheet music, red ribbon and some sparkly glitter. She has also included the wordstrips for you to print ~ Thanks Shelley!

Shelley Detton from 7 layers

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~ 

2. Cookie Cutter Ornaments

These cute ornaments, featured by Martha Stewart can be made as simply or as lavishly as your creativity dictates. While the glueing will need to be done with care, this is another project to put those lovely ephemera sheets and lovely background on display. You can also use your embellishments to add a little sparkle.

Cute Martha Stewart design

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

3. Button Tree Ornaments

For those of us that may have a bit of a button fettish, this Button Tree ornament is a “must-try”! Penelope has put together this tutorial to make sure we can all create a lovely little tree.

Use your button collection to make this cute christmas tree decoration

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

4. Paper Origami Flower Ornaments

If you still have any paper ephemera or gelli prints left over after the previous paper ornament tutorials, Jenn, from Origami Twist has done this video showing how to fold and glue this gorgeous flower ornament. I’m not quite sure if your papers need to be two sided but I am giving this a go soon, so I’ll report back.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

5. Beading Mini Wreath Ornament

If you are looking to use more of your jewelry making skills, Stacy from Beads Direct, shows us how to create these cute little Christmas Wreaths.

Use your jewellery skills to make these lovely beaded ornaments

You will need some jewellery wire, a collection of beads and some ribbon. Alternatively if you don’t have these materials at hand, you could substitute pipe cleaners for the wire to make the support ring and replace thinner wire with thread to tie the beads into place. You could even mixed beads and buttons to create an interesting wreath.

.


.

Filed Under: Mixed Media Project Tagged With: , , , , ,

Mixed Media Postcard Art Tutorial

By

~ * ~

To celebrate our 4th birthday, Michelle hosted a crafty online tutorial to create mixed media postcard art along with give-aways (now closed), a challenge and blog link swaps, all thrown into one action packed tutorial!

Together we will review our favorite mixed media techniques and put them together to create postcards that we can share with our friends and family. Regardless of your current skill level or preferred style, you will come away inspired to get creating for the Holiday season, as well as “meeting” member of our Mixed Media community.

Using gesso and acrylic paints to create postcard art

~ * ~

Postcard Tutorial

Thanks for coming along and playing with us. If you missed our tutorial, here is the recording

Our competition to win one of our fabulous postcards is now closed! The winners are (16 in total!):

  • Jasmine – Ottawa
  • Lucille – British Columbia
  • Carol – Winnipeg
  • Meredith – Calgary
  • Marsha – Des Moines
  • June – England
  • Jean – Australia
  • Karen – Virginia
  • Jan – Ohio
  • Marilyn – Alabama
  • Clemencia – Florida
  • Sue – Pennsylvania
  • Virginia – Texas
  • Janet – Missouri
  • Dana – Ontario
  • Marion – Germany

~ * ~

Why Postcard Art?

And WHY postcard art? you ask. We will play with many mixed media techniques that can be as simple, or as complex as you like. Regardless of your preferred style, you can create wonderful backgrounds that can then be turned into postcards, ATCs, bookmarks or greeting cards. We’ll look at postcards that are easy to make and easier to post to our global mixed media community.

mixed media art on cereal box cardboard

~ * ~

For more inspiration:

our Mixed Media Art Technique Sheets ~10 projects and techniques available for immediate download ~ are here

Mixed Media Art Technique Sheets

or buy them individually here ~ just scroll down and choose the one you want NOW!

 

or our Creating Layers in Mixed Media Art book

~ * ~

 

 Share your Postcards

Whatever has inspired you in this months online tutorial, whether it’s to create your own postcards or something else, we would love to see what you’ve created.

Filed Under: Mixed Media Inspiration Tagged With: , ,

Mini Altered Houses

By 3 Comments

Melanie Statnick has put together the materials list and instructions for these cute mini houses.

Supply List

To create your own village, you will need:
  • Wooden houses
  • wooden pieces including hearts, tags, bingo tiles, fence , rulers.
  • Tissue paper,
  • decoupage,
  • flat brush/glue brush,
  • glossy accents,
  • letter stickers,
  • Walnut Ink Spray
  • a heat gun.

Mini altered houses by Melanie Statnick

Instructions

Step 1. Decoupage tissue paper to wood houses. Apply glue directly to wood. The tissue paper will move around and might rip. This is the look we are going for. Grungy, wrinkled look. Dry with heat gun and set aside.

Mini altered houses by Melanie Statnick

Step 2. Spray all wood pieces with your Walnut Spray Ink. Dab with paper towel and dray with heat gun. This will the wood an antique look with some grunge.

Mini altered houses by Melanie Statnick

Step 3. Using glossy accents glue fence onto front side of your houses and continue with the other wood pieces. You can arrange them how you like.

Mini altered houses by Melanie Statnick

Mini altered houses by Melanie Statnick

Step 4. After your pieces are glued and dried, you can now add your word art. Last use Glamor Dust, Liquid Pearls, or Stickles to add details.

Three Mini altered houses by Melanie Statnick

 

Happy Creating!

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

I’m a Canadian Mixed Media & Collage Artist out of North Carolina . I create art daily from my private studio and my artwork is fun and whimsy . I teach mixed media and art journaling online  and I hold mixed media workshops around the USA.

 

My artwork can be found in art galleries and shops extensively in NC with international private collections. I have created my personal line of original stamps to purchase and use in your art.  Look in my Etsy shop for my line.

Please visit my website to learn more about me and my work at www.melaniestatnickart.com or become fan on Facebook.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

.

.

Filed Under: Mixed Media Art Techniques Tagged With: , ,

Mixed Media Artist Jennifer Schultz

By 3 Comments

Today we are SO pleased to be presenting Jennifer Schultz, from One Happy Little Mama, and her brightly colored acrylic paintings.

Take it away, Jennifer…

I am a self-taught artist, mommy and wife living in Georgia. I’ve always had a passion for art and drawing.  After I got married and had children, my art took a backseat and my focus turned to my family.  Now that our youngest is 5, I’ve been able to find more time to devote to my love of expressing myself through my art.

Jennifer Schultz Red Roses

Mostly, I work with acrylics although I occasionally incorporate oil paints and watercolors into my works.  My process is sort of a mixture of whatever I’m feeling at that time. I don’t do a lot of pre-planning, it’s more like letting my hands do what they want to do, at that particular time. I enjoy getting lost in my paintings! For me, it’s best not to over think but, instead, have fun and just be in that moment.

The Penny McHenry Hydrangea Festival paintings

I’m drawn to birds, unusual objects in nature and I find beauty in interesting faces. Ever look really closely at a mushroom? Or, a Poppy flower pod? They’re beautiful little works of art that go unnoticed every day. I like to recreate these types of objects, on a larger scale. I found a quote by Georgia O’Keeffe once, it read: “When you take a flower in your hand and really look at it, it’s your world for the moment. I want to give that world to someone else. Most people in the city rush around so, they have no time to look at a flower. I want them to see it whether they want to or not.” That quote really resonated with me.

Since getting back to creating, over the last few years, I’ve realized how important it is for me to be able to express myself, through my art.  I missed having that outlet.  I think everyone needs some form of self-expression.  My hope is that my kids may also find a passion of their own. I think it’s something everyone needs in their lives. Self-expression is key and I try to encourage my children to find their own voice. Unfortunately, there are too many adults running around who’ve either lost their voice or were never given the encouragement to find it in the first place.

Solitude girl in acrylics

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

If you would like to view more of Jennifer’s art, you can visit her via:

One Happy Little Mama blog

One Happy Little Mama website

or Facebook ~ One happy little mama

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

.

.

Filed Under: Mixed Media Artists Tagged With: , , , ,
« Previous Page
Next Page »