Store is Open

My new Etsy store, "bynancyoriginals", is open for business.  So far, I've listed only 6 items, but more are finished and ready for photography.  I need to clear out some of these canvases, so I can make more, which is the fun part.

Art from the Retreat

Last weekend, I spent 5 nights at a craft house in Wichita.  There is enough room for 12 people to scrapbook, eat together in the dining room and 4 bedrooms with a total of 12 twin beds.  The house is in the historic section of town.  In addition to scrapbooking, the garage is set up for "messy" crafts - that describes me and my artwork.  Here are the results:

My House contains the Bible verse from Joshua - as for me and my house, we will serve the Lord.  This piece is 8" x 10".  I used tissue paper, paint, stamps, buttons, paper, ribbon, rub-ons and an embroidered flower.

Measuring only 5" x 7", For the Lord is Great could go anywhere.  I love red, and used a lot of it on thispale yellow based piece.

Laugh with Me measures 5" x 7".  It is a companion piece to the one above, with lots of red on a beige base.  Next begins my birdhouse series:

Spread Your Wings shows a cheerful off-white birdhouse and a Bible verse about eagles.  Measures 8" x 10".

 Life is Tweet uses the verse about how much more valuable we are than birds.

FLY refers to God renewing our spirits so we can soar like the eagle.  After the weekend in Wichita, I do feel refreshed and ready to tackle new things - like my new boss.  He really kept me busy!  As soon as I learn his routine, I'm sure things will settle down.  I hope to get my Etsy store up and running today - bynancyoriginals is its name.

New Adventure

Today begins two new adventures in my life - a new boss and a new Etsy store.  I'll post here about both as we go along.  Since the beginning of 2011, I've taken 2 mixed media art classes online, from Christy Tomlinson at Scarlet Lime.  She is an amazing teacher and really fueled my interest in this type of art, which is really just an extension of the scrapbooking I've done for years.

What is Mixed-Media Art?  It is simply art incorporating more than one medium.  I use paper, acrylic paint, sprays, watercolors, oils, stencils,fabric, buttons, stamping, doodling, rub-ons, ribbon, lace and whatever else that strikes my fancy.  Just a couple of days ago I came across some rub-on titles that fueled my imagination.

First, I'd like to show you some of my mixed media artwork and describe each.

Dreams Can Take You Anywhere
This is one of my first pieces, mounted on a 10" square canvas.  There are a couple of layers, beginning with a piece of ledger paper then paint, rub-ons, paper, buttons, stamping and half of a zipper.  The flowers remind us of the beauty that God created, while the butterflies symbolize how our dreams can "take us anywhere."  This piece is not for sale - it was created as a gift for someone.
Eat Drink and Be Scary is a piece I did several years ago as a gift for my son.  Incorporating a page from an acrylic scrapbook album, the picture and papers are attached to the back of the acrylic.  The black title and leaves are glued to the front.  After punching holes in the plastic, two brads adorn the lower left corner of the picture and ribbon is woven through two holes below the picture.  You can definitely see the scrapbook origins of my mixed media pieces here.

Enjoy and come back again for more - as soon as I take some pictures!