Super excited to be debuting 2 new workshops June 4, 2016 at Palette and Paper in Indianapolis, IN!  You know I’ll have a stash of StencilGirl stencils for our play with the rainbow.  Thanks Mare for inviting me!  Here’s what we’ll be creating during our play- hope to see you there!

The Gesso’d Journal
Master gesso and all that it can do for you as you create a stand up cardboard art journal! After this technique packed workshop you’ll wonder how you ever survived without gesso before now!

We’ll create with abandon using the entire rainbow and you’ll know how to avoid making mud! There’s also a trick to creating with abandon…and I’m sharing it with you as we’re playing with StencilGirl stencils and paints.

Whenever I’m around, there is always an oops and you’ll see it live and how I handle it. In fact, in the photos there are several Oopsies. And I wouldn’t change a thing about them because I see each and every one as a gift from my muse. Most importantly, I’ll be there to help you see the gifts in the Oops, should you make any.

Details and registration here.

The Playful Collage

We’re making collages from the ground up. We’ll start by playing with stencils to create papers for the base of the collage. I’ll share techniques covering how to use a stencil as a tool, how to let the stencil do the hard work, how to get any stencil to fill any size paper, how to layer stencils, how to use the rainbow without making mud, and more!

Next, we’re going to be working with an image transfer. Well, not exactly an image transfer in the traditional sense. This is a short cut, guaranteed-to-work-in-a-flash way of doing image transfers.

Then we’re putting our papers and image together to create colorful vibrant art as I share 3 simple, easy to remember, no fail rules for building collages.

Details and registration here.

Do Over! Kids shout it all the time and so can we!  This months Let’s Play strategy for rediscovering how to play is all about changing your mind and giving yourself a do over!  There is no legal binding contract between us and our art journal pages.  We do not need to put an attorney on retainer to change a page that was once considered complete.

Every week this month, I’ll have a new video sharing how I gave myself a do over. Plus, a new $50 gift certificate giveaway happens every month! It’s for Michaels.com this month! Leave a comment to get entered (and there are ways to get even more chances- check out the end of this post).

In the video, you’ll see how I even change my mind from the start of the redo. There was a part of this page that I absolutely loved. Even protected that part…until the end.

Watch An art journal do over..redoing an old art journal page on YouTube.

Want to see more Let’s Play videos? You can find all the weekly posts here.

I give myself permission to change my mind when creating.  No legal action will be taken against me if I do. So when I flip through my journals should there be a page that jumps out to me as needing more, I put more on it.

I changed my mind about a whole bunch of things on this page I made long ago.  The fact that something was glued down didn’t stop me from ripping it up and gluing it down somewhere else!  You bet that flower is on the move!

I changed the colors a bit, covered up the rectangles, added more color the flower, and added more flowers with a stencil by Cathy Nichols.

Then the rain happened thanks to Rae Missigman’s stencil. In the video you’ll see how many different times I thought I had it all stenciled and then I suddenly noticed an area that I forgot.  Funny thing is how obvious it was to me the spots I missed as I was doing the video editing but while I was playing totally didn’t see them at first.

When I just started art journaling I was so unsure of things, felt so self conscious of what I made that I was in my head and missing out on the joy of play.  By allowing myself to change my mind, it took the pressure off to get it just right (code for perfect) the first time.

Do you have any art journal pages that you have changed your mind about?  You can always give yourself a do over!

Want to see more Let’s Play videos? You can find all the weekly posts here.

There’s also a change to how Let’s Play is happening starting this month.  I’ve listened to your feedback about how and where you’d like to share your play.   Instead of the link party as in previous months, we’ll start sharing it in the Facebook group called A Colorful Place to Play.   In fact, lots of you are already sharing it there!

What about the monthly giveaways?  The monthly giveaway is conintuing – just leave comment to be entered and one winner each month will be chosen by random.org.  Want more chances to win the $50 gift certificate?  Pin any of the images from the page or share about it on Facebook- then come back and leave a comment telling me what you did and you can have more chances to win! Giveaway closes the Monday, May 30th at 8am EST and the winner will announced on the blog!

Why did I choose to switch to the FB group?  It allows for more people to comment and encourage and interact which was one of my hopes for Let’s Play.  I looking forward to seeing your play!

Here are the supplies I used. Some of these links are affiliate links which means I get a small percentage. It doesn’t cost you anything extra and you are helping me keep this blog and my videos ad free! Thank you- I don’t like ads any more than you do!

InLinkz.com