If you loved to paint and lost your eyesight, would that stop you from painting? It didn’t stop this man.
Sargy Mann’s story will inspire you to move beyond whatever you consider a block to your creative expression. He just recently passed away and you can read more about his life in this article.
So what is holding you back? Be the creative person you were created to be!
The theme for March was “Making Marks” using doodles and marks such as stamps in the Documented Life Project. The art challenge for week 11 was borders and the journal prompt: “Borderline feels like I’m going to lose my mind.”
Jan:
For this challenge, I choose one of the gelli prints I made with threads (read post) and drew string and ribbon doodles to make borders. Drawing string intertwining is a good brain exercise and is not as easy as it looks. Try it! A Little Lime has a great tutorial to help you get started. For the border on the left I drew three intertwining strings/ribbons first with pencil (I am still using an eraser) and then colored marking pens and pencils. The border on the right was drawn on another page, colored, and cut out on the left side. I glued a piece of pink crochet thread down the page trying to match all the loops of my doodled border.
Melinda:
I have struggled this year with the challenges each week. I have not felt connected or inspired. One reason has been that I have big changes happening in my life as my Hubby and I have been raising funds to be US Missionaries. We have also been preparing our house to sell to be more mobile for our ministry. I realized that I haven’t given myself the time to make these pages personal. I decided to allow myself to use this art journal for me and not have the mindset that it’s for the blog. Because of this, I have to allow myself to be vulnerable, which can be hard but isn’t a bad thing. Maybe you have been struggling with your art lately. Have you been making it personal?
My Princess:
Ninja Boy:
Ninja Boy was excited to point out to me all the ways he used borders in his picture– very creative!
Each month the Documented Life Project issues a new overall theme for the weekly art challenges. For March the theme was “making your mark” with doodles and mark making. We were both a little challenged by this– perhaps because Melinda and I don’t do enough doodling or “mark” making, so we got a little behind. But we are trying to stretch our skills and we will catch up.
The art challenge for week 10 was to use marks “as a layer element” and the journal prompt (for those who like to journal) was “surviving the elements.”
Jan:
My final page ended up nothing like I originally had in my head. I started by dripping watercolor drops onto my paper and blowing on the drops through a straw. It was rather fun watching the paint run away from my straw in straight and curly lines all over the paper– though I did get a little light headed. When the paint dried, I used a black marking pen to draw all kinds of doodles all over the page. By the time I was done, I felt the page was way too busy and my eyes could not focus on any one thing. So I pulled out one of the few punches I have and punched out trees from my doodled page. I painted a watercolor background page of green hills for the trees to stand on and glued them in place. By the time I finished I definitely felt like I had survived the elements of doing a mixed media page!
Melinda:
I saw a doodle in Pinterest that made me think of scales of some kind. I wanted to try making something like it but on a fish. I used colored sharpie for my outline and colored pencils to color in my little fishy and the underwater scene. 
Melinda’s oldest kids can’t wait for the new challenge to come out each week (they have kept up.) Ninja Boy asked why they don’t just give all the challenges for the year at one time!
Ninja Boy:
My Princess:
Through a free online course offered through Craftsy called, 2015 Block of the Month, I am learning how to make a different quilt block every month. In January, I made a block pattern called “May Basket”. For February, two quilt block patterns were introduced, but I just made the “Basket of Fruit”. The pattern for the month of March is “Cherry Basket”. The techniques for the base of the basket were similar to previous lessons, but this time using hand sewn appliqué was introduced. If you are a beginner at sewing the video lessons are easy to follow. Even though I have sewn for years, I am still learning new things.
Here is my “Cherry Basket” quilt block.
So are you ready to learn to sew quilt blocks? You don’t even need a sewing machine– just a needle, scissors, thimble, thread, and fabric scraps. The class includes all the instructions and pdf printouts for you. Learn a new creative skill and set a goal to sew one quilt block a month this year (you can start any time.) Sign up here.
(Disclaimer: We do not receive any compensation from Crafsty for sharing this with you. We just like to let you know of great opportunities to grow your creative skills!)
Gelli printing is a wonderful means to producing unique backgrounds for use with other art mediums or for creating your own paper to use in mixed media collage, card making, or scrapbooking. I enjoy experimenting with various items around my house to make new texture designs.
I am still using the same homemade gelli plate I made in January of 2014. I still rinse it off after use, break up the plate, put it back into the glass pan, microwave it for 2.5 minutes, and let it set back up. it remains covered on a shelf in my craft room until the next use.
Why not make a gelli plate of your own and create one of a kind papers to use in your craft projects?
For this session of gelli print creating, I wanted to experiment with various threads. Yarn is an easy texture “tool” to use. (1) You can lay it on top of the paint spread on the gelli plate, (2) set a piece of paper on top, rub, and you get a design that looks like a road through the mountains or maybe the path in an ant farm! (3) When you pull up the yarn from the gelli plate after pulling your first print, the yarn leaves a nice texture on the plate from which you can pull a ghost print. (4) Notice you can even see the texture of the yarn in the ghost print.
I used crochet thread and got a similar look as the yarn, but the lines were not as thick as with the yarn (sorry no picture).
I was curious what thread would do and thought it would be too thin to leave any design, but I was very pleased with the results. In the photo below, you can see I lightly spread paint onto the gelli plate. The thread I took off a spool stayed curled in a spiral, and I laid it on the plate with the spirals sticking up.
When I laid paper on top and lightly rubbed, the thread pressed down and left a wonderful design.
A print can be made with the leftover design when the thread is pulled off the plate, as shown below. (1) I used a different thread that laid flat on the gelli plate. (2) I pulled the first print by laying the paper on top of the thread. In picture 3 it doesn’t look like there is much paint left after pulling the first print, but when the thread was pulled off, you can see how much was left still on the plate (4).
I used those lines on the following print. There are multiple layers in on this page but you can see some of the purple thread lines.
(1) I tried some thicker trim scraps. Because of their thickness, it was harder to rub the paper on top, (2) but some of the design on the trims showed through in the first print. (3) I took the trims off the gelli plate and pulled a ghost print, and you can see so much more of the trim design on that print.
I next laid gold trim on top of paint on the gelli plate, lightly pressing it into the paint, and took the trim off the plate before pulling a print. The design of the trim is much more distinct.
My next experiment was with ribbon. Picture 1 shows the 1/4″ ribbon laying on top of a thin layer of paint on the gelli plate. Picture 2 shows what was left on the gelli plate after pulling the print (3).
This time I left the ribbon on the plate and very slowly rolled some aqua paint over the ribbon with my brayer. The ribbon stayed in place! I then pulled the ribbon off the plate and laid a bunch of thread on the plate. This was the result when I pulled a new print. Notice the fine texture lines of purple where the ribbon had been.
It is hard for me to quit when I start experimenting with various texture “tools” for gelli printing. So I moved on to laying a couple of raveling strips of fabric on the gelli plate (on top of paint). The middle picture is the first print and the third picture is the ghost print.
I turned the fabric strips over so the side with paint was face up on the gelli plate and pulled another print. This time you can see the tiny details of the fabric weave as well as the raveled edges.
Then I tried some pieces of fabric cut with pinking shears and randomly scattered them on the paint on the gelli plate.
The first print left an interesting design and the ghost print shows more of the fabric texture.
Another print and ghost print with pinked edge fabric strips:
I printed a whole bunch more than what I am showing you here, but I hope I have sparked a desire in you to try creating with gelli printing. Learn how to make your own homemade gelli plate and get started! For other ideas of tools you can use for printing and to see ways we have used our prints, click on the Gelli Plate Printing category in the sidebar to read more gelli printing posts.
Mixed media art is challenging for those of us who tend to choose one type of art medium to work with for a particular project. The challenge for week nine of the Documented Life Project was to use at least five layers on a page. In order to help make a decision of what kinds of media to use on these layers, I made a list of all the possible types of art supplies I had in the house, wrote each item on a small piece of card stock, and threw them into a box. Then we each drew out five cards that would be the type of medium used for each layer. The challenge then was to figure out in what order to do each layer. Once that was determined, we began our creating.
Jan:
The cards I drew were colored pencils, stamps, embroidery, fabric or trims, and gesso.
For my first layer I used colored pencils and quickly drew some clouds and grass. The second layer was a light layer of white gesso to hopefully smear and tone down the colored pencil.
My third layer was stamps. I used a couple of unique items for my stamps–a button and piece of cardboard. Now stamps have to have paint or ink to make a mark, so I used acrylic paints with the stamps.
The fourth layer was fabric or trims and I cut butterfly shapes, flowers and leaves from scrap fabrics and glued them to the page. For the flower centers I used scraps of lace.
When all of the fabric layer was dry, I used embroidery floss to hand stitch through the paper and fabric the details on the butterflies and added french knots to the flower centers.
Melinda:
The layers I chose were gesso, fabric or trim, watercolors, stencil, and marking pen. I am one that struggles with this whole layering thing. This one took me several days to accomplish. I started with gluing on some fabric with sheet music print, then when that was dry, I added a thin layer of gesso so the print would show through. My next layer was the watercolor tree. I am still very much a beginner when it comes to watercolor. Then I used a journaling stencil to make straight lines for the music staff with a marking pen. The notes are from a wall hanging my great grandpa made from old barn wood, and the song is “He leadeth me.”
Ninja Boy:
Layer 1- Pencil
Layer 2- Crayons
Layer 3- Gesso
Layer 4- Fabric
Layer 5- String/Ribbon
My Princess:
Layer 1- Pen
Layer 2- Stencil
Layer 3- Fabric
Layer 4- Book Paper
Layer 5- Watercolor
The challenge for week 8 in the Documented Life Project was “Repeating Elements” and the journal prompt was, “It’s Worth Repeating.”
Jan:
Last year I started learning to knit while visiting my daughter for the birth of her son. She taught me how to make several dishcloths. I was constantly asking her to help me “fix” a goof I had made and could not figure out what to do. For some reason, my brain was not making sense of the direction the yarn was supposed to be going. The more I did, the easier it got (during the five weeks I was with her). Well, fast forward to the fall, and I was visiting her again. I had not knitted since spring and it was not yet imprinted in my brain enough to have the confidence to do it on my own. She took me to the Lion Brand store, and I picked out yarn to make a scarf. I decided this time I was going to keep it simple and just knit a row, purl a row back and forth so the process of each stitch would become natural and I could learn to keep a consistent gage. I currently have over half a scarf finished and hopefully I will get it finished long before I need a new warm scarf for next winter.
I told you all of that because knitting is just two different stitches done in various combinations over and over (repeat). I decided to draw knitting stitches for my repeating challenge and make the yarn variegated with watercolor. I think now that it is completed that it is easier to actually knit with yarn than trying to keep track of those stitches on paper– although it was easier to take out stitches with an eraser!
Melinda:
I’ve been looking at a lot of drawing tutorials on Pinterest lately. A lot of them show step by step guides of how to draw. That is my inspiration for this page and this is the picture I was looking at.
Ninja Boy:
My Princess:
Latches and locks can be fascinating to curious little munchkins and provide puzzles for them to discover how they work. On the surface they may appear to be playing, but they are really trying to figure out how to get into something they are not supposed to. So when our daughter, Kara, sent Pa a message suggesting that he make a latches toy board for her son’s first birthday, we asked dubiously, “Are you sure?” He is a very curious little boy who wants to explore and get into everything– especially if it looks like it belongs to the adults. While he was with us recently, the pile of “toys” appropriate for his age were usually quickly cast aside while he went in pursuit of “not a toy”. Since we encourage learning through active exploration, we agreed to make our version of a latches and locks toy.
First, Pa designed and cut out the wooden pieces for the toy.
Then I sketched a design and painted the back board with a picture that would be revealed when a latch was conquered and the block was opened. When all of the blocks on each side are unlatched, the little guy sees the whole picture.
When the wooden frame and blocks were painted in a blue wash, Pa trimmed the backboard, glued and nailed the frame together and attached all of the blocks and latches. He even put a handle on the top for carrying or for hanging on a hook for easy storage. The two latches on the bottom right will have small padlocks with keys when our grandson gets past the stage of “everything goes in the mouth”.
Instead of showing him how the latches work, Mommy is letting him explore and discover it on his own. I don’t think he realizes it’s a “toy”.
Inspiration for art is all around you and most of the time you are not even aware of it. You probably would not think that pen caps, rubber bands, popcorn, fortune cookies, pacifiers, or whistles could form the basis for fun drawings. Victor Nunes makes thousands of illustrations using everyday objects. I showed my oldest grandkids pictures of some of his work and they loved it. When I suggested they try to draw something from an object I choose, they quickly agreed. My mom had just the day before given me a small bag filled with assorted buckles (in case I could use them for something). So I pulled out a couple of buckles for them and it did not take them any time at all to start drawing out their ideas.
Ninja Boy turned his buckle into a robot.
My Princess made a girl out of her buckle.
My Princess decided to use her buckle as a stencil to make more girls and was quite proud of her group of people.
Ninja Boy wanted to use more buckles from the bag and came up with these creations of a car and an airplane.
They cannot wait to pop some popcorn and see what kind of images they find.
This activity is not just for kids. Take a look at more ideas by Victor Nunes using pencil shavings, paper clips, walnuts, scissors, clothespins, and sunflower seeds. If you are finding yourself with a creative block, grab an ordinary object and pencil and turn that object into a part of your drawing. It just may unlock something and get the creative juices flowing again.
Through a free online course offered through Craftsy called, 2015 Block of the Month, I am learning how to make a different quilt block every month. In January, I made a block pattern called “May Basket”. For February, two quilt block patterns were introduced. February was a crazy busy month for me with the kids visiting, so it was March before I got one of the blocks finished. Since they were similar in style, I decided to do only one of the February patterns for now.
Since I am not making a quilt at this time, I am just using random scraps of fabric I have to make each block, rather than a color coordinated set of fabric pieces– kind of like the way my grandmothers did it years ago. They just used what they had available.
Here is my “Basket of Fruit” quilt block for February.
So are you ready to learn to sew quilt blocks? You don’t even need a sewing machine– just a needle, scissors, thimble, thread, and fabric scraps. The class includes all the instructions and pdf printouts for you. Learn a new creative skill and set a goal to sew one quilt block a month this year. Sign up here.
(Disclaimer: We do not receive any compensation from Crafsty for sharing this with you. We just like to let you know of great opportunities to grow your creative skills!)
