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My ARTistic Life
Creativity and Sharing from Helga at
ARTchix Studio
Issue #4, May - July 2007 (Our Current Issue)
Click images to enlarge
| About
My ARTistic Life (Our New Newsletter) |
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Cover of Issue #4
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Sorry, this
issue is no longer available. But luckily you can read it here (see
below). |
| About
the Cover Art |
This gorgeous DreamBox
was made by Jackie McColl.
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This dreamy DreamBox was
made by Jen Hammond. |
This beautiful DreamBox
was made by Kathy Cameron. |
This charming DreamBox
was made by Lori Peterson. |
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Letter from Helga |
Me behind a wonderful statue by
Sergio Bustamante, in
Mexico |
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Dear Art Friend,
Hope all is well and happy in your world. Here in ARTchix-land, life
is fabulous!
I had an awesome birthday this year! I invited the girls over for a
little art party. We feasted on yummy pumpkin cheesecake, had a very
inspiring show and tell of all the latest art projects we’ve been
working on and we painted and arted up our new DreamBoxes (that I had
just brought back from Mexico). You can see a few above along with
techniques and ideas below.
I brought lots of other goodies back from Mexico this time...including
the gorgeous paper flowers that I was coveting in the last issue. Now
you can enjoy them too! See them below along with a fabulous selection
of my current faves.
Also, last time, I shared some of my travel photos with you. This time,
I thought it would be extra cool if I showed you some of the collages I
made in Mexico next to the photo or objects that inspired them. Check
‘em out below.
Hope you’re enjoying the gorgeous spring weather!
Wishing you a wonderful, art-filled day,
Helga
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My
Inspiration |
| Mexico is such a
beautiful, inspiring country. I made these collages while on the road
with just a zip lock baggie of supplies. The items that inspired each
collage are pictured on the left. |
My inspiration
My collage |
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My inspiration
My collage |
Colorful, Patterned
Sink
This is the sink that I washed
my face in everyday. All of my sinks at home are boring white...so
seeing this riot of color every morning sent me running to my little
travel art journal! For my collage, I drew the pattern lightly in
pencil first, and then colored it in with watercolor crayons. Then I
added some pretty ARTchix images. |
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Tickets, Receipts & More
I love collecting receipts,
tickets and bits of paper while I’m traveling. They’re great
mementos and wonderful to add to collage art. Here are some of my
saved bus tags, cigar bands and more. You can see that I added one
of my bus tags to the collage shown here. I first did a background
of handwritten text + watercolor crayons. Then I added paper bits. |
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My inspiration
My collage |
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Pretty Garden
This little garden was just
outside our patio door where we were staying. So, I looked at it
everyday. One afternoon, I sat down in the sun and made this
collage. I did everything in watercolor crayon (love the mosaics!)
and then added an ARTchix
Party
Girl and a few more paper elements.
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| My
Art Studio |
| Let's
see...what's new and fun in my art studio? Here are a few things I'm
enjoying lately. |
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Inspiring Book:
Kaleidoscope
This wonderful book was written
by my dear friend, Suzanne Simanaitis. I’m so proud of her! In this
book, she has written and pulled together an incredible amount of
ideas and projects to spark your creativity. She rocks, and is an
amazingly talented artist and writer. Be sure to check out her
awesome zine too:
www.artitudezine.com. |
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Pretty File
Folders
I decided to spruce my desk up
a bit with these beautiful folders from
www.stampington.com. |
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Cool
Tunes: Lily Allen
I’m just loving this new,
funky, hip album by Lily Allen from the UK. |
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Martha
Madness
I recently purchased some
lovely stickers from Martha Stewart’s new line of crafts. Wowza,
they’re expensive but gorgeous! You can find them at Michael’s. |
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Good
Pens: Staedtler Triplus Fineliners
I threw these into my bag just
before leaving for Mexico. I’m so glad I did...they’re great for
writing, drawing & highlighting images.
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| My
Art Projects |
| I fell in
love with these incredible tin frames (aka nichos) in Mexico. We're
so pleased to introduce them to you as our very own ARTchix
DreamBoxes. Each one is entirely made by hand so they're all
slightly different and imperfect (which I love!). They're so much
fun to play with! Here are some ideas we discovered at a recent art
play day: |
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DreamBoxes by Helga (left) and Jackie (right). |
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DreamBoxes by Jen (left) and Jackie (right). |
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DreamBoxes by Lori (left) and Kathy (right). |
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*
Prep: You may want to clean them with a cotton ball and rubbing
alcohol before painting them. Pipe cleaners are a great way to clean
the glass in the
Mini
DreamBoxes.
* The Exterior - Tin Painting & Altering: I love the look of
the tin (both pieces on the top left are unpainted). But we were
definitely keen on
painting/ altering the tin surfaces too. A few layers of acrylic
paint works great (Kathy’s DreamBox has many thin layers of acrylic
paint). Alcohol inks look gorgeous too (see Lori’s DreamBox).
Handmade paper with a PVA glue covers both Jen and Jackie's
DreamBoxes on the top right (looks cool!). You can also add gold
leaf, experiment with patinas and faux finishes, try paint that’s
just for metal, glue on pretty napkins and vintage paper scraps,
etc. The possibilities are endless! |
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* The
Exterior - More Ideas: You can draw little decorative designs
with a metallic paint pen (see Jen’s DreamBox). Add charms and
embellishments with jumprings and wire by first poking a hole into
the tin with an awl (it’s super easy...see Jackie’s DreamBox). I
love using sandpaper to age them too!
* Interior - Great Fun:
Our colorful images from the
Imagine Collage Sheet
(#M172) are sized to fit most insides of our DreamBoxes. Try cutting
up little cardboard squares to add depth for 3-D collages. |
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Favorite Products: Nature |
The
beauty of nature always fills me with awe and delight! These
awesome new goodies help to bring the beauty outdoors into your art. |
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1)
ATC Creativity Kit: Nature’s
Beauty (#K610)
I had so much fun designing
this kit! I filled it with beautiful images that I just love:
precious eggs from an old book, blooming flowers from an antique
book page that I bought in London, radiant butterflies from an old,
weathered book page that I purchased at a flea market in Italy, and
much more. You’ll find that it’s so easy to create stunning little
collages with these items. They blend together effortlessly to
celebrate the beauty of nature. |
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2)
E is for Egg Transparency
Sheet (#T443)
These lovely eggs look
incredible when laid over vintage text! |
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3)
Small Velvet Leaves
(#AB1079)
I bought these precious, velvet
leaves in Mexico. I have found myself wanting to put them
everywhere! |
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4)
Nest Charms (#AB714)
I love these little nest
charms! I like to rub a bit of brown acrylic paint into the grooves
to make them look more rustic. Looks cool! |
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5)
Handmade Paper Lilies(#AB1085)
I’m absolutely in love with
these paper flowers! They are handmade in Mexico. Add them to your
art or brighten up any room by putting a bouquet in a vintage glass
bottle.
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Gallery |
Did you
know that we host a fun art show in our
YahooGroup a few
times a year? Get inspired and see a bounty of artwork from our
talented members. You might even find an original piece to buy. Here
are a few of the gorgeous pieces from our Nature’s Beauty Art Show. |
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Collage by Carol Myrick
WINNER: 1st Place |
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Assemblage by Paula Dion
WINNER: 2nd Place |
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Assemblage by Elaine Kerr
WINNER: Tied for 3rd Place |
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Assemblage by Jennifer Bohrer
WINNER: Tied for 3rd Place |
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Collage by Natalie Briney
Just had to show you this cute
collage that was in the show. |
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Jacket by Anne St.
Louis
Just had to share this cool jacket that was in the show... what a
great way to use our
Fairy
Dreams images! |
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