Gelli Print Business Cards

Recently I bought a gelli printing plate.  It allows you to create layered prints similar to ones that you would be able to create using gelatin.  Because you do have to pull a lot of prints before getting a good one, I found that I wound up with a lot of extra prints.  The light prints that didn't make the cut as art, make for great business cards.  I used a business card template on Pages on my iMac, and threw the prints through my printer.  I have found that spraying them with a fixative (matte or glossy depending on your preference) keeps the ink from smearing around too much.

New Month..New Posts!

Within the last month, I didn't write in my blog so much, but I have done TONS of art.  So much fun.  To begin with, I found an old Kenmore sewing machine at a garage sale for only $15, so I promptly began pinning a bunch of beginner sewing tutorials that I could find on Pinterest (there are a lot--but I am selective).

The first thing that I created was this adorable owl pincushion.  You can find the whole pattern and video directions for free at the DIY Dish website.

I then created this great reversible tote bag just big enough for my IPad.  Those directions can be found at The Very Purple Person blog.

The outside fabric, which I absolutely love, is designed by Dear Stella in their Garden Collection.  I bought it from Hawthorne Threads, which had the best pricing I found on the internet as well as some of the best choices for more modern fabrics.  

Other than that, I have been playing with acrylic gels and transfers.  Early next week, I'll be posting some of the techniques that I'm teaching my AP art students to create great mixed media collages.  For now, I will show you what I am working on--it is a mix of acrylic paint, gesso, ink pens, tar gel transfers, and beeswax.  It's not done yet, but I'm pretty excited about the direction that I'm going in.

Get Your Art On: Days (mumble, mumble..I've been a slacker) through Day 8

The last weekend has been crazy!  Between grading my mountain of papers, my dog getting super sick,  preparing and teaching a spirited easel class, and other little things, I've gotten a bit behind on the art challenge.  

My dog Einstein..yay for a vet visit tomorrow!

I've started teaching two hour painting workshops at the South Lake Artist studio in Clermont.  My students walk out with a completed painting in two hours.  They are amazing and it is so much fun! (these ones I don't have to grade)

The kid's spirited easel class

So today I finally got to work on a colored pencil drawing.  I just got the book Colored Pencil Painting Bible in the mail and I have to say that it is amazing.  I'll be using it as a guide as I teach my high school students the basics of drawing with colored pencils.  Here is what I was able to finish off today.  Not much, but I loved learning new ways of layering, blending, and preparing my paper.  The pear was the first exercise in book.  

30 Days of Get Your Art On: Day 3

Today I worked a bit more on my watercolor design.  This is the third one I painted.  Watercolors are rough and not forgiving at all!  So I decided to create mine using multiple masks and washes.

© 2012 Anni Christie

30 Days of Get Your Art On: Day 2

© 2012 Anni Christie

30 Days to Get Your Art On: Day 1

Today I started working on a rule of thirds design that I'll be painting in watercolor.  I saw the article "Postive Negative" in the October 2011 issue of Watercolor Artist (you can still download it here for $5.99) and loved the results that I saw by the artist Alexis Lavine

So here is my plan of action:

© 2012 Anni Christie

I'll be ready to transfer it to watercolor paper tomorrow

Cut Paper Art

Whenever I teach my students about negative space, I love teaching them about cut paper art.  Beginner art students to advance art students really see the importance of positive and negative space when cutting apart a piece of paper.  Right now my students are working on their own designs, so I decided to create a simple one too.  I have a couple sprigs of baby's breath in my studio, so I took a photo of it and used it to cut out the negative space.

© 2012 Anni Christie

Now I just have to be patient and wait for my Dimensional Magic Modge Podge to dry in the bezel.

© 2012 Anni Christie