Tuesday, December 29, 2015

Free Download for 2016

Happy New Year!

I am so grateful for the role each and every one of you has played in my life in 2015.  As a thank you, please feel free to download and use this image in your art journals, or for other personal use.


I look forward to connecting with more of you during 2016. 

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, December 23, 2015

Last Minute Holiday Gifts


I'm on the Stencil Girl Talk Blog today with some ideas for last minute holiday gifts using stencils and dollar store clipboards.  I hope you'll hop over and check out my post!

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, December 22, 2015

Last Chance for a Huge Online Class Sale!

Through December 25th, all of my online classes are available at the discounted price of $9.99! Each one is yours forever - the videos and pdfs may be downloaded and viewed at your convenience.  Each has loads of techniques that will help you in all your mixed media work.  Click here to read more about them and buy today.  





Each one gives you access to an exclusive Facebook group.  I look forward to connecting with you there!

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, December 15, 2015

How to Make Your Own Up-cycled Wrapping Paper


I was so inspired by last week's guest posts by Corrine Gilman and Miriam Schulman.  Did you see them?  Here's how I used bits and pieces of both tutorials to make my own wrapping paper using paper bags and newsprint paper.

 

I used my stamps from RubberMoon with Black Archival Ink from Ranger.  Then I colored and doodled using my Posca Markers and Black Sharpie pens.



A little washi tape and cord remnants added color.

For this one, I used my Medallions stencil from Stencil Girl combined with a Hamsa Stamp, some doodling and leftover trim.


I love that the supplies were all things I had around the house, and that they look so home made and unique!


Here are some pictures from our Hanukkah celebration last week, with my mom, daughters, sister and brother in law, and my dad's sisters - the twins.

All my best wishes for a wonderful holiday season!

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, December 11, 2015

Handmade Holidays Day 5 - Gelli Print Garland, Watercolor Resist Holiday Cards and Banner

Welcome to Day 5 of Handmade Holidays!  Every day this week, you'll find unique art and craft ideas.   Remember that every post has a giveaway, and all the comments for all the days count!  

For today's post, I have three projects for you.  The first project is a simple holiday garland using your excess gelli prints or other patterned paper.   All you do is punch shapes out of your prints, glue your shapes back to back over a piece of string or twine, embellish with glitter glue and dimensional paints, and add inspirational words.  Voila!  a pretty, festive, whimsical garland to adorn your mantle or stairway.  I was inspired by this post by Alicia Burke, in which she used some of her cards.   But then I added my own flair.




Next, here's a holiday card project.  You can use any image to make your cards.   I used the Three Trees Stencil from Stencil Girl Products. 



First, I stenciled the tree designs using acrylic paint.  Then I used a Sakura glaze pen to doodle and create resists.  When I washed around the stenciled designs with watercolors, the doodled areas resisted the watercolor.  

Here’s a video of some of my process making these cards.

You can also watch Watercolor Holiday Cards on YouTube here.

I added some glitter glue here and there, and was about to add the words from the stencil when…..

I spied some corrugated cardboard in just the right shapes to contain the trees!

I cut the trees out, and then painted the cardboard with Golden Fluid Acrylic paint.


I’d had this Bark Paper in my stash forever.  It was time to use it.

I added the trees to my cardboard substrates, pulled out my glitter glue and other items from my stash, and started playing.
 
Before I knew it, I was taken over by my muse.  I originally thought I would use each of these as an individual card or wall hanging.   But then I strung them together as a garland.  I love them this way!


I filmed some of my process.



Hope you enjoyed this easy project and it gives you some ideas for the holidays!

I hope this post gave you some fun ideas.  I am giving away one of the Three Trees stencils!  to a lucky commenter.  Remember, for extra chances to win, make sure to comment on all the Handmade Holiday posts!  I will pick all of the winners on Saturday morning, 11AM EST. 

Please leave your email address in your comment (like this: jessicasporndesigns at gmail dot com) to be considered for the giveaway!

And the winners are:

Corrine Gilman’s Brooch:  Lou Lou in Texas!  
Art is you Trade:  Suzie Q 23!  
Clay Ornament:  Karen!  
Hamsa Stamp:  Lisa Meyers! 
Three Trees Stencil:  Lu 

Make sure to check back for more projects and giveaways every day this week!

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!  


 Follow on Bloglovin

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Handmade Holidays Day 4 with Miriam Schulman


Welcome to Day 4 of Handmade Holidays!  Every day this week, you'll find unique art and craft ideas.    Remember that every post has a giveaway, and all the comments for all the days count!  I'll be picking all the winners after 11AM EST on Saturday, so make sure to check out all the Handmade Holidays posts!


creative gift wrapping ideas | handmade wrapping paper tutorialToday, we welcome guest blogger Miriam Schulman!

Have you ever found yourself stuck without beautiful wrapping paper in the house?

Have no fear- all you need is a bit of acrylic paint, a stencil and a sprinkle of fairy dust to transform whatever paper you have in your house into something truly special. In this tutorial,  I'm going to share mixed media techniques that shows you how to embellish wrapping paper using  Jessica Sporn's Hamsa stamp and Five Hamsas Stencil.  (And of course, you can use stencils and stamps from your stash as well.)

creative gift wrapping ideas | handmade wrapping paper tutorial
creative gift wrapping ideas | handmade wrapping paper tutorial
Make all your packages extra special and show that you care with handmade wrapping paper.



https://schulmanart.leadpages.net/freeartjournalclass/

 

In Case We Haven't Met Yet...

artist Miriam Schulman of @schulmanArt learn more at www.SchulmanArt.com
Like this? You might also like my 
other blog posts about art journaling 
Hey, I'm Miriam Schulman and I create mixed media art to tell stories. I also teach other people how to craft their stories with art. I give them the techniques they need to get the results they desire which brings more joy to their lives. 

My art has been published by Somerset StudioArt of Man and the New York Times among others and collected by an international audience. When I'm not working on art in my studio, you'll find me in a museum spending time with friends or family. Explore my art at SchulmanArt.com or join the fun at TheInspirationPlace.net where you can find lots of free resources for artists.
________

Thank you Miriam!  I hope this post gave you some fun ideas. 

Giveaway alert! I am giving away a Rubbermoon Hamsa Stamp to a lucky commenter.  Remember, for extra chances to win, make sure to comment on all the Handmade Holiday posts!  I will pick all of the winners on Saturday morning, 11AM EST. 

Please leave your email address in your comment (like this: jessicasporndesigns at gmail dot com) to be considered for the giveaway!

Make sure to check back for more projects and giveaways every day this week!  Click on Handmade Holidays to see all the posts. 

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!  


 Follow on Bloglovin

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

Handmade Holidays Day 3 - Ornaments and Embellishments

Welcome to Day 3 of Handmade Holidays!  Today, I'm sharing handmade ornaments and embellishments.  Remember that every post has a giveaway, and all the comments for all the days count!  So if you haven't commented on the previous posts, go back and do it before Saturday!


I made my ornaments and embellishments using the Build a Villa stamps from Rubbermoon, as well as the Hamsa and Text Stamps from my line.

You can also do all these techniques with stamps from your stash.

Make sure to scroll down for the giveaway!

For the first set of embellishments, I followed these Paper Casting instructions by Judy Shea.  Basically, you separate the plies of tissue or toilet paper, and lay them one at a time over your stamp, brushing matte medium between each layer.  I used six layers and it worked pretty well.  Here's how two of the houses and one of the Hamsas looked after they dried.

I gave them a coat of off white paint, and then painted two of them teal and two Quinacridone Gold.  When they were dry, I used my finger to brush gold and silver metallic paint on them.








and glued one of them onto the top of a previously decorated box.  What a fun, quick and easy technique!













Next, I decided to make some ornaments using polymer clay.  (Air dry clay would work too.) While my dedicated clay oven was preheating, I rolled out some clay.  I happened to only have orange, blue and green, but since I'd be painting them anyway, that was fine.


I stamped the images into the clay, then cut them out with an exacto knife, poked holes using a bamboo skewer, and baked them for 30 minutes at 300 degrees.  Here's how they look all painted up!   In addition to glitter glue, I embellished these with my Pearl Pen.  I think these will make nice hostess gifts for friends, and ornaments for our tree.


They were so sweet, that I decided to make some more clay ornaments for mini canvases.  These two are on 3 x 3" Black Art Minis, like the ones I used in a RubberMoon tutorial here.    The compass is a stamp by Mary Nasser.  


I created the background using the Six Point Starry Night stencil from stencil Girl.  I used silver metallic paint and then glazed over the square with Pthalo Turquoise Fluid Acrylics mixed with Glazing Medium. 


 For this one, I created the landscape background using the Teapot and Teacup stencil upside down!


Remember to always look at parts of your stencils, and don't be afraid to turn them!


The substrate for this one is corrugated Cardboard leftover from a project I did for Valentine's Day (!).   I really like how the cardboard added texture behind the clay pieces.

So... I hope this post gave you some fun ideas.  I will give away one of the ornaments to a lucky commenter.  Remember, for extra chances to win, make sure to comment on all the Handmade Holiday posts!  I will pick all of the winners on Saturday morning, 11AM EST.

Please leave your email address in your comment (like this: jessicasporndesigns at gmail dot com) to be considered for the giveaway!

And the winners are:

Corrine Gilman’s Brooch:  Lou Lou in Texas!  
Art is you Trade:  Suzie Q 23!  
Clay Ornament:  Karen!  
Hamsa Stamp:  Lisa Meyers! 
Three Trees Stencil:  Lu 

our 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!  


 Follow on Bloglovin