First up, I'm excited to announce that I'm back for the 6th year in a row as an instructor for Creative JumpStart 2021. CJS is run by Nathalie Kalbach and is a fabulous way to help you jumpstart your creativity in the new year with daily downloadable mixed media video lessons - all about 10 minutes each. This year marks the 10th anniversary for CJS and we're celebrating with more artists and videos than ever - you get 45! 

And for today only, all 45 videos are just $49. 

(Tomorrow through December 4th it will be $59, December 5th-31st it will be $69. After that, it goes to the regular price of $89. So make sure you jump on this incredible deal!)

This year's theme is probably my favorite so far - Storytelling. Not to give anything away, but I'm super excited about my lesson where I'll share a bit about telling your story with your supplies. Here's just a peek at one of the samples for the project I'll make in the video:

There are so many amazing artists participating in Creative JumpStart this year - I'm thrilled to be one of them and I can't wait to watch the videos! I hope you'll join me in jumpstarting your creativity in the new year.

Of course, it wouldn't be a Cyber Weekend without sales... my shop is having its last day of my annual Cyber Monday sale - save 20% off your entire order with the coupon Cyber2020 through midnight eastern tonight (November 30th.)

StencilGirl is having their annual Cyber Monday sale as well - today and tomorrow, you can save 25% on all stencils, which includes my latest release.

Last but not least, my last live online class of the year, Ornaments & Amulets, will be held this Saturday, December 5th. There's still time to sign up if you're interested! The pre-class video and downloadable bead pattern sheets are already archived in the group. Even if you can't make the Live, all of the videos will be saved for watching and / or re-watching at any time and registration will close before the live class begins, so if you want to get in on this class, make sure to sign up today!

I'm excited today to be releasing 7 new stencil designs with StencilGirl! I'm adding three new stencils to my Boho collection, a new mini Palmistry Hand stencil, and three new Suzani designs that coordinate with some of my PaperArtsy stamps as well as my July 2020 StencilClub collection.

The Boho Faces stencil was inspired by a piece of artwork I created as a sample for one of my rubber stamp collections. There was so much interest around the piece that it then inspired a set of rubber stamps with PaperArtsy. Of course, once I started playing with those small stamp designs, I started thinking that it would be even more fun to have different faces in a much larger size. Thus, the Boho Faces stencil was born.

There are two faces on this 9” x 12” stencil that are a mash-up of tribal influences from my travels as well as my imagination. You can use one or both of the designs and you can also mask them off to use bits and pieces. This stencil also coordinates beautifully with my new Boho Daisies Small and Mini stencils as well as the other designs in the Boho collection (as you can see in the sample artwork above.)

The Boho Daisy stencils were inspired by the daisies that I started drawing around the eyes of my tribal or Boho faces. I wanted to have two sizes of this daisy design so that you can use them together for variety in size or layer on top of each other in your work. They're also fabulous as embroidery patterns or for cards and tags, scrapbooking, and lots more.

The Palmistry Hand stencil was inspired by my experiences having my palm read while traveling through Bali and India. The design is a right-handed palm showing the Life Line, Wisdom Line, Love Line, Fate Line, and Marriage Line. This design also includes the symbols for Venus (love, sympathy, and grace,) Moon (courage, mysticism, and imagination,) and outside of the palm are Jupiter (confidence, wisdom, and leadership,) Sun (ambition, success, and creativity,) and Saturn (discipline, balance, and independence.)

My new Suzani stencils were inspired by inspired by the traditional hand-embroidered Suzanis (textiles – usually bed covers or wall hangings) found through Central Asia, and especially in Uzbekistan. I saw them in markets and and was especially intrigued by many displays of traditional Suzani motifs in a museum in a Summer palace in Bukhara. All three designs were intended to stand alone but also to coordinate with some of my PaperArtsy rubber stamp collections (EGL11 and EGL12) as well as my July 2020 StencilClub “Suzani” collection (which is exclusively available to StencilClub members.)

The Suzani Circle Flowers stencil has a detailed floral design that can also be repeated - turn it in different directions for even more versatility in creating backgrounds and larger designs.

The Suzani Circle Medallion stencil was particularly inspired by the large circular embroidered medallions found on many of the traditional Suzani textiles. This beautifully detailed design can be used with or without the thin circle border, or you can mask off other elements to use just the center section or other shapes in the design.

Finally, the Suzani Flower Medallion stencil is a lacy and detailed stencil that can be used as an embroidery pattern, but it’s also ideal for art journaling, mixed media, handmade cards and tags, and much more.

I'm super excited to be adding these to my repertoire of stencils available from StencilGirl as well as seeing how perfectly they coordinate with some of my recent stamp collections. I can't wait to make more art with them and to see how you all put them to work in your own projects.

Things have been busy lately with lots of new product announcements, new online classes, and other goings on, so today is a quick combo post to share info on two of my upcoming live online workshops along with a new free mixed media tutorial.

​First up... I'm up today with my quarterly Paint & Texture column on the StencilGirl blog and this month I'm sharing a few ways that you can make and use acrylic skins with stencils in your art journal (or mixed media, scrapbook layouts, and lots more.)

I'll share the steps for creating the bulk of the art journal page shown here. Head on over and check it out!

I've been incredibly busy putting together and teaching live online workshops all year, and I still have a few more coming before we close out 2020.

And save the date! I have a second class with Artistic Artifacts, "Ornaments & Amulets," which will be held on Saturday, December 5th. More details and registration coming soon.

One last quick note... my latest stamp release from PaperArtsy is now in stock and available in the shop!

I'm super excited to announce the release of my three latest stamp collections with PaperArtsy: EGL10, EGL11, and EGL12. I love to incorporate floral and other ethnic patterns that I've discovered in my travels - both in real life, such as the Suzani patterns from Uzbekistan, and the travels in my mind like the ones to Japan (someday I'll get there!)

You can head over to the PaperArtsy blog for the full release post with all of the details and even more project photos, but here's a quick overview of some of the samples and inspiration for each set.

EGL10 is the set I call Japanese Patterns - it's entirely inspired by designs I found in an antique Japanese design book. Each hand drawn element is designed to be able to work on its own, or you can repeat them to make backgrounds and collage or patterned papers.

For my samples using this collection, I made a bunch of different patterned papers and collaged them to create patchwork backgrounds with stamped butterflies and medallions in the foreground.

EGL11 is my Suzani Florals set - this was inspired by traditional embroidered Suzani designs from Uzbekistan. (This may look familiar to some of you as these are smaller and more detailed versions of the designs that came in the 9" x 12" stencil in my July 2020 Suzani StencilClub collection.)

I used the small stamps in this set to make some collage papers for a mixed media piece and card. The large floral stamp was stamped on some scrap paper with white paint on it, colored with colored pencils, and then cut out and adhered to create the focal point.

EGL12 is my Suzani Motifs section - flowers and medallions that are great for cards, tags, art journal pages, scrapbooking, and lots more. 

My samples with this stamp set included a card and a handbound Concertina book with patterns and hand painting inspired by Ajrak block printing from India. You can read a bit more about the inspiration behind the background papers on this pieces in the announcement blog post.

If you head over to my post today on the PaperArtsy blog, you'll find a short tutorial showing how I made a set of ATCs using all three stamp sets, including how I made my own patterned faux washi tape.

I'm thrilled to finally be able to share these designs and some of the projects I've been making with them... I hope you like them as much as I do, and I can't wait to see what you all make with them!

My newest online workshop, Interactive ATCs, is now up and open for registration! This live 2-hour online class, held in partnership with Scrapbooking Fairies in Alberta, Canada, will take place live in a private Facebook group on Saturday, August 22.

We'll turn your traditional Artist Trading Cards into interactive artwork that can also be used in art journals and more as we mix stamps and stencils with paint, collage, and mark marking for a layered background and embellishments. The class also includes downloadable patterns and hand-drawn labels.

(Or go straight to registration)

I'm excited to share that my latest online class, Patchwork Pages, is now open for registration! 

In this 2-hour class, being held in partnership with The Artistic Stamper in the UK, we'll mix collage, stamping, and mark making to create patched-up layers of texture, pattern, and color. Our project will be an art journal page or mixed media piece, like the ones in the samples, with a few page components left over for use in future projects.

Hi all! Just a quick post to let you know that I'm up on the StencilGirl blog today with my quarterly Paint & Texture column. This month I'm sharing three ways that you can incorporate watercolor and stencils into your mixed media projects and there are three mini tutorials to go with it!

​Here's a peek at each of the three projects I'm sharing:

Make sure to head over to StencilGirl Talk to get all of the details, including the step-out instructions for how I used watercolor and stencils to create each of these projects.

I'm excited to share that I'm this month's StencilGirl StencilClub designer! Those of you who aren't already members might be wondering... what exactly does that mean?

StencilClub is a monthly club run by StencilGirl where you get an exclusive collection of three stencils shipped to you for every month that you're a member. (And there's no commitment, but trust me... it's worth it to stick around.) In addition to the stencils you also get a video tutorial and downloadable PDF from the designer for a project using that month's stencils. At $25, it's one of the best deals around.

My stencil collection for July is called Suzani and was inspired by textiles... Suzanis, that are traditional in Central Asia - particularly in Uzbekistan. Check out this reveal video to see the stencils, hear more about my inspiration for these designs, and get a peek at my samples as well as the project that we'll be making in this month's video tutorial.

Ready to see those samples up close? Here are the art journal pages and backgrounds that I made using each of the three designs.

And here are a few peeks at the project I'll be sharing in the accompanying video tutorial where I'll show you how to make this stenciled handmade art journal.

For those of you who are already StencilClub members, I hope you're looking forward to getting these in your mailbox sometime after July 15th! And if you aren't a member but want to make sure you get this month's collection, head on over to StencilGirl for the details and to join the club.

It's time to tap into your inner child... mixed media style. My latest workshop, "Mixed Media Menagerie," brings whimsical creatures, layers and texture, mark making, and more together into a fun and interactive handmade art journal.

The class is being held in partnership with Everything Scrapbook & Stamps in West Palm Beach, Florida and the live portion of the workshop will be held on June 27th from 1-3:30pm eastern time. In addition to the scheduled live, there will be one more video in the group for a total of more than 4 hours of video. Plus tutorials, patterns, a fun marbled paper technique, and more.