Mixed Media Class

 

Bob Ross Results

 

 

 Can you find "Bob?"

Okay, so last night I was leading this amazing group of local moms through a "Purdy Inspired" waterscape painting class. I had my examples, my Bob Ross afro, and technical jargon loaded, and a smile on my face as class started. I felt prepared. A few hours of YouTubing will do that to a person :-)

 What I did not expect was the adorableness that describes the enthusiasm of my class. Everyone brought their smile -and their snacks, yum. Despite their protests of, "I'm no artist!" "I'm scared (get that wig away from me)!" and, "What, no wine?" their attention to instruction was refreshing. Happy clouds would be made tonight!

Having no idea what to expect in the way of how experienced the group would be on average was intimidating. Fortunately, my classes are always designed for ages 3 and up, and the format and instructions are based on how well my practice classes with my resident artists go.  In other words, no matter how "bad" at art you are, you should be able to create something awesome if you take a class with me.

So, another thing I was not prepared for, was the talent that came- everywhere I looked I was in awe of what materialized on canvas. Could it have been my entertaining teaching style that produced such works? No, I'm sure the presence of the Holy Spirit was there guiding our brushes into love strokes. As the concentration of creative energy continued to build, the smiles grew brighter. Paint started flying. It was AWESOME.

 And, made even more enjoyable by reading what my friends (I can call them that now) wrote online this morning. They love their art- success story after heartwarming story of family admiration warmed my soul all over again. There is nothing quite like riding home with  big smile on your face and then having it refreshed all over again the next morning, reliving the good times of the night out before...and without the hangover!

 Thank you, God for these women!

Three babies and a "Bob"

Looking for more incredible paint teachings- look for "Mural Joe" and Donna Dewberry and prepare to want to paint Everything You See.

edited to include this following praise:

 

Winter Warm Up of the Heart

Family and Friends traveled from afar to Warm Up with me!

Towards the end of Summer I received an email inviting me to participate in the annual, Winter Warm Up and Chili Competition at our local Civic Center. The booth fee was reasonable and I figured it'd be a great way to help people remember that I'm a local craft diva lol. I procrastinated quite a bit until a retreat I went to at the beginning of October, when I realized how much I needed to get done to be successful. After a couple more weeks of pro-craft-inating, I had over 80 cards, 7 mixed media canvas, 10 paper crafting kits, and some personalized notebooks for sale, as well as notecards that read the card types I have, plenty of business cards, next-event flyers, and this really cool sign that my family and I are holding in the picture above.

I ended up securing two tables to use in my perfectly placed window space- the one I'd hoped for, thanks Patti! I decided to use the stash of supplies I had packed along with me to set up a make and take station and collect donations for our local Youth Center, the Red Barn of Key Center.  What a hit that table was! A lot of students I've met from the library or Home School or the Red Barn or our Preschool stopped by and made something, and I got to interact with some new faces too.
 



Why, hello friends!

Oh you little monkey...

Favorite Student Alert!

"Chris" was SUPER helpful <3

The family that crafts together...

A card for a buddy

Waiting in line to CraftWithAnna

Right when I was setting up I spotted a familiar face- one of my best friends from High School was there for the day as well. What a treat to be able to spend time catching up with her. It was interesting because the day before Ray heard from someone very important in his life after over a decade of not hearing from each other. After the coincidence of me and a friend both losing our family dogs this week, this similarity was noticeable but much more refreshing and a lot more smiley :-) My friend's two daughters were my last students, and just when it was time to clean up, my family arrived and introductions were made all around. Just before they came in, my good friend and fellow scrapbook and stay up all nighter, Becca made an appearance. I also saw some customers of mine from when I worked for the bank in Port Orchard. What a neat day of reunioning, and in such a festive atmosphere.
Can you guess I would say it was a success, especially since I earned back my booth fee- which paid for the purse I bought from my neighbor booth- raised funds for the local youth center, and sold 12 cards and a canvas. I'd also go so far as to say I got a big fat paycheck of the heart!

Way to washi no.722

Take a lot of coordinating colors of washi and use them to create a really cute card!
First I covered half of a blank card base with the light blue stars washi tape. Then I covered another piece of scrap cardstock, cut it into separate strips, punched each strip with the scallop border punch, and then layered them together over the ends of the first washi application. Finished with a lovely K & Company die cut and Jillibean soup label sticker. I felt it needed still something else, a query that is almost always solved by the addition of either bling or twine. Or both!
Thanks for stopping by! You can see this card in person by visiting the downtown Gig Harbor Copy It...Mail It! and I'm terrifically excited to announce that as of this afternoon, a few of my cards are available online through Etsy! I'll have more details about this coming out in the next few days. For now you can click on this link: www.etsy.com/shop/craftwithanna  and see what I've got up. Hooray for card sales!

Mixing Patterned Papers

As much as I rely upon and enjoy following sketches, it is more that I use them as a guide to my creative process, rather than a strict, set way of having to make something. Glitter Girl's rescue lesson this week was all about how to mix patterned papers. I love her examples; I always feel I can confidently accomplish what she's challenging the viewer to make and share.

My two year old and I watched last weeks episode while waiting for baby sister to take her nap. As soon as her head hit the crib sheet we ran to the craft room. Using her prompts to select patterns that coordinated was a lot of fun, and got me to use this scalloped edged 12x12." I was also able to use a sheet of snow covered evergreens, which you can almost see on the right hand side. I couldn't really tell there was snow after layering on my photos and mat. There is some yellow with white clouds print from Bella Blvd, and the heart stickers are by Creative Memories.

  My picture orientation and journaling aren't in the same place as Glitter Girl's sample pattern suggests, but you know I had to make it mine ... I was also trying so hard to make it mine that I turned it to Mama Bossy Pants and turned our fun into tears! Oh boy. After a snack and a new resolve to not take over, Rainie and I finished up this page and called up her East Coast grandparents to share.

Tuesdays have become a day of the week we really look forward to because that's when we see all our storytime friends at the Key Center library. Plus, with all the reading we do, its a day I look forward to because it means a new set of children's reading materials. You know how they love  to read the same thing over and over again :-)

Speaking of trying over and over again, check out my next post for my second interpretation of this patterned paper page challenge. 

 

Four Generations of Fun Guys

I'm so happy to have grabbed this photo out of a text my dad Ed sent me earlier this year- it is such a rare occasion to have my two brothers, Ed, and his dad all together in the same place at one time. It may have been that I was missing being there so much that inspired me to create this page filled with sentiment and phrase stickers!


You see, while I'm fortunate that my younger brother Jeremy lives relatively nearby, my older brother Eddy and his family live in HONG KONG! Yes, that is a ways away from the Evergreen state hehee. So is New Jersey, where my dad and PopPop live just blocks from each other.
Earlier this year my brothers both traveled to NJ with their wives and my nephew Dylan and someone there was thoughtful enough to snap this amazing photo of the four generations gathered together. I'm not sure how many takes it took to get this shot, but I smile every time I see it- they all look so happy and have big smiles on, my favorite kind of pose! Plus I think it's great that it was taken in my PopPop's wood paneled living room- that wood paneling brings back a lot of memories from visits I've taken over there to visit.
I couldn't help but think that my Nana, who passed early last year, would have been overjoyed to see these guys all together- but I just know she was there silently offering up YooHoos for everyone :-)

Hope you enjoyed this video!