Tattered Angels & 7Gypsies Library Drawer

Have you ever started a project that you REALLY wanted to finish but somehow your time was hijacked by other obligations. Well...this is one of those projects and it is going to be finished. Since I'm declaring that to be so I will post my progress ...this will get me going if I know that I am accountable :)

I started this 7Gypsies Library Drawer last year after seeing a blog post from Tammy Tutterow back in 2011. It is based on THE HAPPINESS PROJECT by Gretchen Ruben...highly recommend reading her book! I knew I had to create a similar idea and I did but didn't finish it. My resolve this year is to do exactly that and share with you my progress.

 I created 3 mini layouts to show how NATURE makes me happy. Many shades of Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist and Glimmer Glam were used to create each LO. This is the divider created for this section.

                                 Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist ~ Olive Vine & Patina

                                                                                   BLUE MOON

                                             Tattered Angels on Canvas Corp Tag

                             Glimmer Mist Granite & Glimmer Glam Tinsel Town

                                                          GARDEN FLOWERS

                             Tattered Angels Glimmer Mist ~ Blue Skies & Key Lime

                        The Crafters Workshop Flower Garden Stencil by Balzer Designs

                                                     THE BEACH @ Outer Banks, NC

                                           Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam ~ Ocean Spray                                                             Canvas Corp Burlap Tag                                 

                             Pink Paislee Wood Embellishment ~ Nantucket Collection                                                                                                                                                 

                               

Thanks for stopping by...please come back and hold me accountable...I really want to finish this project...it is so pretty and I want to fill it with all the things I love!

"Stuck on you" news with HELMAR"

Really excited that I can now REVEAL that I am a HELMAR Design Team again. It is my glue of choice ;)

Copied from HELMAR:

The New Helmar Design Team consists of 19 full time designers, 5 guest artists, and 1 sketch artist. I'm so honored and humbled to present to you the Helmar Design Team!!!
Jamie Cripps
Jennifer Evans
Martha Richardson             <----------------------------------------ME
Julie Tucker-Wolek
Cheryl Boglioli
Grace Lauer
Susan Weckesser
Carisa Zglobicki
Cindy Royal
JJ Sobey
Vicky Alberto
Melanie Forbes
Rae Cooper
Michelle Wallace
Amy Lynne Lassiter
LIz Chidester
Jen Erickson
Beck Beattie
Sandie Edwards
Lydell Quin- Our Helmar Challenge and Sketch Artist
Erin Morehouse - Our May Guest Designer
Lisa Wilkinson - Our June Guest Designer
Katie Nolan-Denhan - Our July Guest Designer
Kate Vickers -Our August Guest Designer
Cheryl Walker - Our September Guest Designer
Erika Taylor- Design Team Coordinator
Also Jessica Morales will be doing some amazing videos for us on a regular basis and we wanted to give her a shout out too.

What a team...what a product...I'm super excited to be back on the team!!!
Martha

The Second Floor Challenge #3

Today Julie & Nathalie revealed the theme for The Second Floor Challenge #3...TRUTH. I encourage you to try these challenges and to give you more information here are Julie & Nathalie's links explaining the concept and Challenge #3.

Julie's blog:
http://balzerdesigns.typepad.com/balzer_designs/2012/04/second-floor-challenge-3-truth.html

Nathalie's blog:
http://nathaliesstudio.com/2012/04/24/second-floor-challenge-3-truth/

Here is a link to my Flickr set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/philmart/sets/72157629622849505/

Really...try these challenges...I'm forced to step outside of my comfort zone but the learning process at the end is so worth it!

Have a great day...let me know what you think!

Breathe Art!
Martha

The Second Floor Challenge #2

Before I start I want to encourage anyone who is looking to step outside of their comfort zone to check out this new class that Catherine Matthews Scanlon is teaching at My Creative Classroom, starting May 4th. Check it out JOURNAL2ART  :)

I want to take a quick moment to thank Julie Fei-Fan Balzer & Nathalie Kalbach for creating this challenge. I highly recommend that you get involved. Here is my Challenge #2...the task was to create with something new. 

This is just a page of different types of doodles using Faber-Cstell Pitt Artist Pen {my favorite pen}. I wanted to experiment with my brand new box of Caran D'Arche NeoColor II Artist crayons.

Here is the finished {or I thought} page. I loved working with this form of water color and loved how I was able to pull the color out do some shading. When I looked at it I felt it look just BLAH! First I didn't feel that it combined well...looked to random. So my attempt to join several different doodles was not appealing to my eye! Of course I'm a true believer in the philosophy"MORE is always BETTER."

So out came  Jacquard PearlEx pigments, Distress Stickles, Glossy Accents, Tattered Angels Chalkboard Glimmer Mist in Charcoal and Tattered Angels Glimmer Glam in Stiletto. And I started playing with these products. Of course you can't see the final effects but they are there. I'm not sure if I even like it but I LOVED the process.


I would love to know what you thing...thanks for stopping by.

Have a fabulous creative day!

Martha

Visit my Etsy Store

The he{ART} Tribe...Etsy Store

I am super excited to tell you about the Etsy store I have just opened. The concept was born at the Winter CHA 2012 in Anaheim. My thoughts behind it are relatively simple...to bring you the Best from the Best. Products from artists that I have worked with,learned from and observed...artists like Dyan Reaveley,Julie Fei-Fan Balzer, Nathalie Kalbach and Anna Dabrowska-Pekoca (aka Finnabair} who are now expanding into the retail side of the industry. Items that I have personally used from taking online or in person classes with them. My hopes are to eventually carry "soon to be released" stamps, stencils, papers from them plus more. 


I'm just starting to load the newest stencils from Dylusions and Balzer Designs and have more to put up but hoping you will bookmark this Etsy store and check back often. I hope to have the Balzer Design stencils loaded in the next few hours. 


I'm also hoping to convince some of my International artist friends to allow me yo carry their products...I'm working on it now ;)


Thanks for stopping by...would love to hear what you think...any suggestions or comments are greatly appreciated!


Martha

ATC's, Tim Holtz, Creative Chemistry 101 & Helmar

I just finished taking Creative Chemistry 101 with the Professor, Tim Holtz. It was an incredible class for so many reasons. I think on top of learning about all the fabulous Ranger products and how they are REALLY used...{I've never had such in-depth instruction on a product} was the fact the Tim Holtz truly is an educator. As a teacher I look at other instructors through my own lens & experiences...take away all the product and the glitz and the glam...strip it all away and you find that Tim Holtz is a natural born teacher. He loves disseminating information...he really wants his students to get it! His presentations are clear and to the point, succinct and fine tuned. A great experience and I really hope that he will continue on with this format of online teaching...especially for all of us that can't get to or into a workshop with Tim Holtz.


I mistakenly thought I had a Helmar Blog post today...duh...next week {BY THE WAY ~ HELMAR Design Team applications are being taken until 4/18th, just click on the above link to find out more}. This projects will not be suitable at that time and I didn't want to waist what I created. All the pictures are in raw format...I didn't finish editing them but I want to share this project. I'm going to load the pictures and I think you will get the gist of what I created. Enjoy & let me know what you think ;)

These 6 ATC's are for my very 1st ATC Swap that I'm involved in...the background was made using the MARBLED STAINS technique, the little bee in the upper right corner was stamped using Chipped Sapphire distress ink & clear embossing powder, The heart was painted with Worn Lipstick Distress stain and then coated with Spun Sugar Stickles, each piece was highlighted with Weathered Twig Distress Ink {this is my favorite brown, it's from there Fall Ltd. Ed. collection} and lastly the brass bee embellishment. Each ATC card is signed and numbered on the back...I made a total of 7 but will be swapping only 6...I made an extra just in case I goofed up...and I did ;)


Hope you get the idea of what I was working on...enjoy and let me know what you think...I love hearing from my eaters ;)


Martha
Challenge: Simon Says Stamp - T!m Techniques

Online Classes for the Artist in You...Recommendations

I am a virtual learner due to my location and work schedule. Most of my classes are taken online and I have been nothing but pleased. Have you waded into this incredible opportunity? I get to take classes with the Best of the Best and my list is quite long. Instead of going backwards I'm going to share the classes I'm now enrolled in that start soon and with artists that I've already completed several classes with. That's why I feel confident making these recommendations to you. I'm also looking at these classes & instructors through my own lens & experiences as a veteran Family & Consumer Science teacher.


For today I'm going to focus on the 4 workshops I'm enrolled in now. I'm asked if I complete all the assignments...my answer is I do what I have time to do, I post what I do but I'm not worried if I don't finish ALL the work. I always gain so much knowledge from these workshops that whatever I get done is to my advantage! I'm providing links for information on these classes and on their personal blogs ;)


Coming up {in no particular order}:

                                                           

Art2Journal with Catherine Matthews Scanlon
Catherine does a top notch job with there classes...videos, pdf's, clear & concise instructions. She is readily available on the forums for help & critique. This will be my 4th workshop with Catherine.

Uber*Media Acrylic Paint with Nathalie Kalbach. 
This is the 3rd workshop in Nathalie's focus on working with different media, products and techniques. This is my 5th workshop with her and I highly recommend this based on the amount of info. you will receive.

Artful Alphabets with Joanne Sharpe. 
If you're interested in learning great lettering techniques then this is the class for you. This is the 2nd class in a series from Joanne and you will just love what Joanne has prepared for you to learn.

Your Living Canvas workshop  with Christy Tomlinson. 
Again I highly recommend any workshop from Christy as she has an entirely different approach to looking at yourself, your world and your art. This will my 5th workshop with her.








If you have any questions please feel free to ask. I have included links to each of these workshops so you can get an overview of what you will be doing. I'm so thankful that I have these at my disposal. ALL of the classes and artist have made me better at what I do!


Thanks for stopping by. Now back to the regular schedule programs ;)


Martha