Queen of Flowers II – A mixed media collage

Hi everyone! Happy Friday! This week flew by and I am just now getting the chance to sit down and visit with you. How has life been treating you?

I wanted to thank everyone from the bottom of my heart for the sweet and encouraging comments left after my last post. It’s always a bit scary to share my artwork – so please know that I greatly appreciate the support! Art is such a core part of me. When I actually take time to do it, I am amazed at how it fills me with happiness and peace. I was so pleased with the last collage that I did a second one. I snapped pics of my progress with my phone to document the evolution of the piece.

Similar to the last project – I started by collaging bits of vintage ephemera to the inside of an old book cover.

Enter my muse (another Anthropologie model) who I painted over, inked her face and hair and added scrapbook papers for her dress. You can also see in the upper right hand corner I added some pink acrylic paint to start balancing the color composition.

The last details were added to complete her, including a sweet antique Australian stamp (a little shout-out to my homeland!), a jeweled crown and of course a bird. Gotta have a bird.

I stamped the cover of the book with this chickadee stamp and added the word “fly”.

So there you have it, another little collage project that I was able to complete in a couple of days during Claire’s naptime. So much more fun than folding laundry!

I have just listed prints of this collage and the last one in my Society 6 shop too!

Have a beautiful weekend!

xo,

Ivy

 

Some exciting news…

Hello there. How was your weekend? Ours had everything typical of a weekend including, pizza, thai take-out, a kids birthday party, sleeping in (not) and pancakes. Not exactly exciting, but fun anyway.

I have some exciting news to share with you today. On March 1st, Somerset Apprentice will hit store shelves and little ole’ me will be featured within its inspiring, art filled pages! I feel so lucky and humbled to be included among such wonderful artists!

One of the projects I did for Jeanne Oliver‘s class – Creatively Made – will be outlined in detail with a helpful DIY guide that will walk you thru the steps to create a vintage journal. I can’t take credit for the idea, since Jeanne masterfully taught the lesson within her e-course but I was very pleased with the process and the outcome. It was a joy to build this romantic book. You can check out the full post here.

So, I hope you will check out the latest Somerset Apprentice. If you have never read the magazine, it is bursting with creative ideas and projects – many by very successful and well known artists – all laid out with guides to their processes! Brilliant! It’s a must read if you need to fire up your artistic side!

Thank you again, dear readers, for all the support and encouragement you have given me. I will always be grateful.

xo,

Collage Cards

Hi friends,

Hope you are enjoying your weekend. I know Valentine’s is over but I wanted to share the collage card project Grace and I did for her classroom. I think this simple method of creating cards is really fun and can be done for any occasion.

Grace and I have done many collages but I have discovered that the best success is found when I curate the materials. Usually sticking with a theme or color palette allows your kiddo to make choices and express themselves without being overwhelmed. There have been plenty of times when I threw down a mass amount of stickers and papers only to find the Grace got overwhelmed and upset when her finished artwork looked “messy”.  She simply had too many choices in front of her. Providing just a little framework meant that she got to be creative and enjoy her results too. Nothing  is worse than an afternoon spent crafting only to end up with a grumpy kid, a paper strewn floor and glue everywhere. A creative buzz kill.

Before Grace got home from school I had cut out and organized the elements that would be used for the Valentine cards. This made it easy for Grace to make her selections and understand the color palette.

Scrapbook paper and vintage music sheets were punched into hearts using this handy dandy punch. Scrap booking die cuts and sticky jewels make easy embellishments – we had to make 25 of these cards after all! A little glitter was used at the end for a special touch of sparkle and buttons were a fun 3D addition. K & Company has some of the prettiest supplies and are my go to for scrapbooking goodies!

We had so much fun making these! I would have pics of all of them but it was dark by the time we were finished!

Think about making some collage cards with your kids for Easter!

Have a wonderful Sunday!

xo,

Big Sister Project : Door Hanger

Last week, I was putting the final touches in the nursery when I felt a little hand tugging my shirt. Grace looked up at me, wide-eyed and smiling,

“Mommy, I want to do something for Claire’s room too.”

“Of course you do. ” I replied. I grabbed her hand and slowly led her back downstairs to our studio. I had to think fast. I needed a project that she could handle, using the bits and pieces I had. Then it hit me, a door hanger!

We had done a collage project together back when I was taking the Creatively Made e-course with Jeanne Oliver and I still had some of those supplies. Perfect.

I grabbed one of my 4″ x 4″ canvases, matte medium, brushes, scissors and a stack of vintage papers. She got right to work covering the canvas with the medium and paper pieces. I dug through my scrapbook supplies and pulled embellishments and words that she could add on, plus a few baubles and 3D elements too. Gotta have a little bling! Right?

After she had completely collaged the canvas with the vintage paper, I helped her brush on some white paint and then gently rub it in with a cloth to unify and soften the background. Then I let her arrange the embellishments until we reached a design we both loved. Some glitter, ribbon and a few healthy dollops of hot glue and we were done! Grace had created a special gift for her sister’s room. She was beaming with pride and was anxious to go hang it on her door. Here is the result…

I think it turned out quite pretty and it goes perfectly with the room too! Good job Gracie! This is a super fun and easy project to do with your child. Let me know if you have any questions about the process.

xo,

Inspired: Studio Visit with Amy Olson

Hello there! How are you all? Hope you enjoyed the weekend. Portland is rocking some serious sunshine and I’m soaking it up. Me and my cankles…yes, third trimester swelling has begun. Oh joy! Only five more weeks to go – so excited to meet my little girl!

Anyway, today I wanted to share with you a little behind the scenes peek into the studio of Amy Olson Jewelry. I don’t know about you but I love seeing where people create. There is an intimacy and beauty to witness where creativity, inspiration and vision come together for an artist. To see their dreams become reality…

Lucky for me, Amy is a dear friend so getting backstage access to her jewel filled studio was no problem.

Filled with natural light, the white washed walls play backdrop to an eclectic treasure trove of jewels, bits of gold and silver, vintage artifacts and of course all of Amy’s tools.

I must admit…it was hard to keep my paws off all these dazzling bits of loveliness. Like a little kid, I was tempted to play with all the beads, chains and gemstones. Who could blame me?

Amy’s beautiful apartment relates to her jewelry and her favorite hues and textures can be seen through out her sweet home.

So gorgeous right? Feminine, delicate, nostalgic and refined…these are the words that come to mind when I think about Amy and her precious creations.  She truly designs unique and authentic jewelry that reflect her aesthetics. Each piece is hand crafted with such care and detail! Be sure to check out her Etsy store here.

Thanks Amy for letting me into your studio! Keep creating girl!

Hope you enjoyed that little tour…do you have a place in your home where you create?

xo,

Inspired: The Makers Project

Happy Friday everyone! Hope your week went well!

I don’t know about you but I love to witness people’s creative process. I like to see how an artist creates… how does it start? What does their space look like? What kind of tools do they use? I’m a bit nosy that way. So, when I came across this amazing photography project by Jennifer Causey, I had to share it with you. The project is titled – “The Makers Project” and it visually documents the creative process of artists, jewelers, ceramicists, bakers, florists and many other amazing artisans! I could spend all day looking at these beautiful and intriguing photographs.

Here are some shots showing the work of  talented Brooklyn based jeweler,  Jennifer Sarkilahti of Odette Jewelry

Fascinating right? Now be warned, the site is addictive so make sure you have a cup of something warm and a little time to explore. Enjoy!

Also…go check out Odette’s website, Jennifer’s creations are truly gorgeous! Drool…I mean see below….

Have a fantastic weekend.

xo,