Tuesday, August 25, 2015

Tell All Tuesday -Teaching News and More

Festive Soul Food starts 9/1.  

Are you signed up?   Check out this amazing video showing samples from all the participating artists.  Or watch Festive Soul Food promo on YouTube here.    


For $32 you get a month of lessons from so many amazing artists, recipes and more!

Here's another sneak peek of my project.  I'm so excited to share it with you!  I'll be sharing lots of tips about using your stamps and stencils in ways you might not have thought of, and we'll create a holiday themed project that will make a great gift or keepsake!


Go to Community Thrive and sign up today! 






October Art is You Retreat Spots are Filling Up Fast

Have you checked out all the amazing workshops at Art is You this October?  I'm teaching on Sunday and Monday, and there are many other amazing instructors teaching all throughout the weekend.  Register today - you'll have a wonderful time.


New Meetup Classes Added! 

I recently added new Meetup classes for the fall.  So if you're in the NY/NJ area - come on over to my home studio for semi-private lessons.  6 students max, and lots of individual attention!  I've even added some additional dates beyond the ones in this graphic.  Spots are filling up so check it out today! 


Digital Sketching

I recently purchased the Memopad app for my iPad and have been having fun sketching with it.  Do you use a digital sketch app?  Let me know in the comments what you like and why.  Here are some recent sketches.




Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, PinterestBloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!  

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Tuesday, August 18, 2015

Tell All Tuesday


A lot of my work is created for licensing in the Judaica world.  I have been blessed to have a great collaborative relationship with Philip and Zippy Lax of Aviv Judaica that's been going on for over 7 years!  Yesterday, I visited their booth at the New York Gift Show #NYNOW at the Javits Center.    It was the first time I saw samples of the new Woman of Valor and Beloved line.  I was so happy with how it all turned out! Plus, my new Latke plate looked terrific, as did the new menorahs.  YAY!



I'm thrilled to be featured today on Marjie Kemper's blog.  Marjie's Tuesday's Tutorials series has grown from a year-long series she completed in June called Tuesday’s Texture.  Each Tuesday, Marjie features a different artist and link to their blog. You can see all the featured artists here and here.  
I am honored to be featured on Marjie's blog with the tutorial I created for my green lady!

Here are two very sneak peeks at my project for Festive Soul Food.  Have you signed up yet?  Class starts in just two weeks! 


Look at this amazing roster of instructors.  And the price - $32.  You can't beat us, so join us!
Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, PinterestBloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!  


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Friday, August 14, 2015

Rosh Hashanah Cards with Stamps and Stencils


I'm on the Stencil Girl Talk blog today with a tutorial showing how I used various resist techniques to make these cards using my stencils from Stencil Girl and some of my stamps from Rubbermoon.  

This is a follow up to the tutorial I posted last week on Marit Barentson's Quirky Dutch Summer blog, where I showed the step outs for this card:


I hope you'll hop over to Stencil Girl Talk and take a look!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.


If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, PinterestBloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!  


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Tuesday, August 11, 2015

Festive Soul Food Registration is Open!



I am so excited to be part of this wonderful celebration.

Here's what you can expect:
  • 3 Head Chefs: Mystele Kirkeeng, Heather Santos and Jeanette House
  • 9 Sous-Chefs & 1 Celebrity Chef!
  • 3 content rich video instruction mixed media lessons per week for 1 month - September.
  • Each artist’s favourite festive comfort food cooking recipe
  • All downloadable videos
  • Classroom access through Dec 31, 2015
  • Access to a private Community Thrive group on Facebook
  • All for only USD $32!
I hope to see you in the Festive Soul Food classroom!

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, PinterestBloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!  


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Monday, August 10, 2015

Layering Stencils and Inspiration from Friends


Recently, I came across and swooned over this beautiful art journal page by Maria McGuire.  I loved the silhouetted black flowers agains the watercolor background.  I was reminded immediately of a beautiful Queen Ann's Lace stencil by Cecilia Swatton that I owned but had never used.  
I had a watercolor background in my art journal, which I had painted over some doodles in white pastel, which had resisted the paint.  I used the Queen Ann's Lace stencil with black over the background.  


I pulled out another stencil I owned, but had never used: Andrea DeMeng's Pretty as a Peacock Stencil.  I stenciled it with the same black paint onto the page.  Then I lightened things up with Traci Bautista's Deconstructed Zinnia Mask and Stencil and white paint.  


I thought about leaving it alone at this point, but instead I started using the stenciled face as a jumping off point and my muse took over.  Without intending it, she became a Bedouin girl in a headscarf.  


This quote from Psalm 139:14 was perfect for her:




Thank you Maria McGuire for sharing your beautiful journal page, which was my initial inspiration.  Nathalie Kalbach's Batik Stencil also found it's way into this girl's outfit.  I so love the wonderful community that I am part of at Stencil Girl Products, and am happy that so many artists' inspiration found their way onto this page.

This piece will form part of "The Psalm Project."  Please visit my "Psalm Project" pinterest page to see my favorite Psalm quotes.  And I would love if you would share some of yours in the comments.

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, PinterestBloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!  

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Wednesday, August 5, 2015

Gelli Plate Learning and Teaching


I've been teaching an amazing group of women this summer.  One of them, Lesley, took one of my classes at The Ink Pad.  She contacted me in May, asking if I would come to Long Branch once a week and teach a group in her home.  I'm so glad I said yes!  It's been a great adventure, and I learned so much as I planned a new lesson for each of the six weeks.

Our last lesson was on Tuesday, and it seemed fitting to have a Gelli Plate Party!  None of these women had ever used the gelli plate before, and their excitement and joy was thrilling.  The paint and prints were flying!  All my Stencil Girl stencils were in the mix, plus a big favorite -- Terri Stegmiller's recent design for Stencil Club.



Peacock stamp from Rubbermoon!
 We used our gelli prints to make illustrations inspired by African Masks, following the steps I used in this post to create a Ganesh Superhero.


Here is the preliminary work:


and three of the finished pieces.  Aren't they awesome!!!


Here's a picture of all the women at the conclusion of one of our earlier classes.  I have truly enjoyed working with them.


Here's my finished demo piece - inspired by Cecil the Lion and this editorial


 Maria McGuire's Greek Border stencil provided the perfect finishing touches.


How do you use your gel prints?

Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.


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Monday, August 3, 2015

Art Journaling with the August Stencil Club Stencils AND Quirky Dutch Summer

It's a day of TWO guest posts!


I'm on the Stencil Girl blog today with step by step photos showing how I used the August Stencil Club stencils in my art journal.  I hope you'll stop by!


AND, I am thrilled to be a guest artist today on Marit Barentsen's blog, where she is hosting a series called "Quirky Dutch Summer."    There has been a line up of amazing artists, sharing step out tutorials in their own styles.  Today, I'm sharing step out photos and a video showing how I used my Stencil Girl stencils and Rubbermoon stamps to create this piece, which is part of the Psalm Project on which I've been working.  I hope you'll hop over and take a look.


Your comments make me so happy and let me know you were here. I read and treasure every comment and will happily answer any questions as soon as I can.

If you don't already, please sign-up for my newsletter HERE, and follow me on Facebook, PinterestBloglovin and YouTube, so that you never miss a giveaway, and always get the latest Jessica Sporn Designs News!  


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