Flip, Flops, Pockets and Cut Outs with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer

It's getting to be a tradition for me - a class at Kept Creations in Whitman, Massachusetts each summer. This year my daughter took the class with me! Double the fun. Notice that even after washing up we were covered in paint. 














This year I took a class called Flips, Flops, Pockets and Cut-outs with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer. It is always inspiring to meet and get direct instruction from someone you have been following and learning from online. Julie has been a big inspiration for me in so many ways.

 

We started with cut outs. Thinking I could make a better circle, I traced inside some tape to make my shape. That didn't leave me much wiggle room. 

While I like my first attempts, I note to myself that next time I will try making a bigger cut out for this technique. It gives room for the possible. 

Expanding on our cutting techniques, this beauty emerged. 

What a surprise it was! 

Who knew I could make this kind of thing? 

 Always the rebel, I tried making paisley shaped pages. We will see how they work out in the end. Currently they remind me that I am adventurous. 

Here are some of the flaps I made. On the first few you can see how the flaps were integrated by painting the background. 

And a paisley flap! Imagine that! When the background is done it will look quite a bit different. 

It took two days for the paint to be removed from this lovely pair of hands. 

Julie is an amazing instructor. Her class is packed full of techniques and ideas. She has humor, energy and is quick to encourage. If you have a chance to take her class, do it! 

Cool idea from another participant of the class. Store washi tape on embroidery floss holders. 

Taking classes provides information, inspiration and the company of others - all things that push us forward. This was a wonderful experience for me. 

Julie posted about the class on her website. If you like a better look at the class look here: 
http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2016/07/three-classes-at-kept-creations.html

Distracted and Forgetful

Happy Belated Valentine's Day! I hope everyone had a pleasant day. 

February has been an interesting month. I sprained my wrist, but didn't want to slow down too much so I practiced using my left hand. I'm not so good at it, but I did improve. Practice makes perfect...well, not perfect. In my case practice made less unsightly.

I used my time to lay down some backgrounds in my art journal. Something a non-dominant hand can definitely handle. 

Meanwhile, Life Book 2016 has captivated me....the only problem is that I'm still on the warm up exercise from week one. I don't really care. I am enjoying it at my pace. 

Here I wrote and used the paper like they did in the past by writing crosswise as well. Great for the background. 

I had some fun taking the photo into my Diana App and juxtaposing it with other art I've done. I love this affect. 

And you can see various stages of color and texture below. 

Optimist or Idiot?

I've neglected my blog, I know, but I am glad to be back at my computer and posting. Frankly, I can't really manage a post on my phone or iPad. Photos get posted to Instagram and then I move on to the next project. So my strategy going forward to is prioritize getting to my desk. 

The struggle to find time for it all is real and yet I remain confident that connection is worth the effort. Prioritizing projects, deciding which things to participate in and which to pass on is hard. After months of thinking about it I finally decided to commit to doing Life Book 2016. The desire to take part is a given, but time...there is always time. I have yet to start my December painting for the Spirit Wings Angel Painting class. There are three more to come. So starting a yearlong project, am I an optimist or an idiot? Can I keep up? The months to come will tell the truth, but I am glad I choose to say "Yes" to this thing I want to do. I'm doing it for me. 

I am a caregiver. I think of the needs of others in so many of my roles. If you are reading this you probably do too, It has been a long time since I started putting the needs of others first. That's ok as long as I put my needs somewhere in the calendar. I'm learning this and it is a struggle. So I am glad I joined this groups as well as the others I enjoy. Life Book 2016, Spirit Wings Angel Painting, CarveDecember, Art Journal Every Day, Mad Tea Party - all these events and the people who host them have made my life more exciting. Thank you all. 

So I may be an idiot, but I hope I will be a happy one following dreams that bring joy and holding the things I cherish dear. If that makes me an idiot, I embrace it. 

Laugh in the Face of Fear

For the past few months I've been carefully using the time I have for creative endeavors...not everything can be accomplished at once. The last week of the year will be spent tidying and organizing so that I can be more efficient in 2016. Hopefully some art will be created in tandem. 

Kelly Rae Robert's course, Spirit Wings, has been my main focus. December has added the option of using snippets of time to participate sporadically in Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's Carve December. Both of these have given me joy this season. 

(Hashtags for the projects #spiritwingspaintingcourse   and #carvedecember)

The painting above is my angel of courage. It was a wonderful process painting her. 

Below you can see a few of my hand carved stamps made during the December event. 

Painting Angels

I've been missing here for a while. I've started a six month long creative Adventure with Kelly Rae Roberts. The course I'm taking is called Spirit Wings. By the time the course is done I will have completed six angel paintings. 

I love art journaling and mixed media is part of all that. I wasn't so sure about painting faces, though that is a trend in art journaling these days. I don't think I would have gone the route of adding faces to my art if it hadn't been for this wonderful opportunity. The timing was great and Kelly Rae Roberts is a powerful course leader. So I showed up.

You can see my first painting above. It's pretty amazing because I would never have imagined I'd paint like that. My big dilemma was the wings. I had done the face and hair and realized that I didn't have a clue as to how the wings should go. I started cutting the features out of tissue paper. I thought if I wrote my meditations on the feathers using a white pen they would be invisible - a note just for me. Well, I was wrong about that. They show up well and I love the foggy aspect of them. 


Looking forward to learning so much more in the next five months.

Kelly Kilmer Class Part Two - Painted Books & Shopping at Kept Creations

 

I made this book. 

Read that again. 

I MADE THIS BOOK!!!!

I've always wanted to do this. 

I did it in my second class with Kelly Kilmer. 

I can't wait to make more books. 

Maybe you figured this out already, but I haven't finished this book. Not by any matter of means. 

I haven't had a day out like this in a long time. I had not realized that I have gotten older. It never occurred to me that I could run out of steam - especially when doing something fun. So fun. 

So the cover and the end pages are possibilities waiting for me. Not only that, but all those wonderful pages are waiting for my art journaling.

The pages are painted.

Then torn to size.

Then bound.

Kelly gave us great instructions on methods, 

prompts to move us out of our comfort zones (see it's not entirely pink),

methods to try 

we tried masks (didn't show up well in the pictures, but cool anyway). 

It was surprising to see how some of the random pairings worked so well.

Interspersed with all the joy of creating was the joy of shopping! This stamp stole my hear, so I bought it! The only problem with this hand carved, wooden stamp is that it might just be too beautiful to use! It may remain a piece of decor as I am too shy to mess it up. 

I discovered not all glue sticks are equal. Mine was less than helpful and I ended up glueing things down a second time when they peeled up. Less than optimal way of creating art. Introduce this glue stick from Italy. It was all the rage. Made from almonds, this is a glue stick you could possibly start licking if you are really hungry. Smells like marzipan. Sticks like…glue. I bought myself the long lasting size as I intend to be gluing things down with a passion. 

Kept Creations has a wonderful wall of stencils. It's terribly difficult to decide which to choose, so why not choose three? Still, there's a pattern here - hearts and flowers. That's the way to my heart. 

It was a great day. I was tuckered out at the end of it, but it will be a day I will cherish. So glad I decided to treat myself. 

How can you treat yourself? What have you treated yourself to? Do you participate in art classes? What is your favorite way to learn a new technique? Who would you like to take a class with if you could?