Monday, May 28, 2012

…California here i come!!

…off to Create in Irvine, CA! All packed, shipped and ready to teach my brand new classes and meet some new "forever art friends". I love California, just plop me next to the ocean and i'm in my element.

This is the first trip of five art events where i am teaching from coast to coast. Very excited about my classes, and my new favorite is the colorful "Magical Marker Mystery Tour". The student learning journal is pictured above. We're going to have such fun, using several brands of my favorite markers in mixed media and art journaling. Needless to say, i am bringing have over 500 markers and pens with me to share with my students. 
Coloring. What a great way to spend 3 hours in a class!

I'll also be teaching these classes at Create in New Jersey in July and Chicago in August. Classes are filling quickly and there's still time to register. Hope to see some of you in my travels this summer!

Oh, i haven't forgotten, i will post BIG NEWS #3 this week! Thanks for dropping in.

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Friday, May 25, 2012

….BIG NEWS #2….


The release of my 
Cloth Paper Scissors Workshop 
"ARTFUL LETTERING" DVD 
IS JUST WEEKS AWAY!!  
I'm soooo excited to announce that my "Artful Lettering" DVD will soon be released and available for download purchase on the Cloth Paper Scissors website.  And shortly after that, the hard copy will be available for purchase on June 20, 2012.  That's just weeks away!

More fun, more lettering, more new projects playing with fancy fonts, pens and inks and all kinds of good things to add to your mixed media lettering tool box.

My Cloth Paper Scissors WORKSHOP DVD includes many of my favorite creative lettering techniques that some of you are familiar with, and so much more.  You'll experience my" artful lettering basics" along with several new and never seen exclusive projects designed specifically for this workshop.  
Oh the places you will go with MORE lettering magic!


It was such fun being at the Interweave headquarters this past December
 in Loveland, Colorado and on the set with CPS editor, Jenn Mason.

 Here's a look at how i roll, with a behind the scenes shot, literally BEHIND the table where they were filming my demos!  It was pretty quick paced, taping one technique after the other.  So i  tossed  placed the items on the floor behind me to enthusiastically get to the next project.  You won't see this on the DVD!!
 This is the showcase of the projects and lettering samplers and some ideas you will find in the DVD. It's chuck full of many fun ideas and techniques to guide you in discovering your own signature lettering style.  Whether you purchase The DVD, or download it on to your computer, it will be a great addition to your creativity library a resource you'll own forever!
So be on the lookout for announcements from Cloth, Paper, Scissors and i'll be back in a few weeks with a Artful Lettering DVD Giveaway.  Stay tuned!
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Thursday, May 24, 2012

…another HOP!


I'm happy to have another opportunity in this BLOG HOP to preview a fun Crafter's Workshop stencil designed by Julie Fei-Fan Balzer.  

Again, the design of the 12"x 12" LEAF GRID stencil was screaming to me to become ANOTHER mini-journal!!  This time an accordion book. 

I love books!  And i tend to "think outside the box" when making my little inspirational lettering journals and books.  Using the square leaf edged boxes of the stencil made for perfect lettering space.
This is a great example of the colorful pages we'll be making in my 
new online class 
COLOR LOVE 101: WHIMSICAL ART JOURNALS 
starting June 11th.  Bright, bold, vibrant, delicious color and art.

To make this mini accordion journal, I started with some sheets of smooth bristol paper and my spray inks, making assorted color combinations with the stencil.
 
For the panels and pages, i cut 5 strips out of the stencil design keeping the leaf pattern on all four sides of the panels….

...then glued them together so the accordion is double sided.  When glued, i free form cut around the leaf patterns on one side, and "winged it" hoping the pattern repeated on the other side.  It pretty much did match, and looked great, in my favorite style, "perfectly imperfect'!
Bold white lettering on the cover and inside pages was created with a correction pen.  I also cut out one of the "leaf sprigs" and glued it on the left edge adding a 3-D element.



 The fine white lettering was done with the Uniball Signo UM-153, my favorite. 
 After all the lettering is done, i folded each one of the leaf squares back and forth, in an accordion pattern.  The stenciled squares became the pages!  
Have fun with your stencils and thinking "outside the art box"!

Oh!  And come back to my blog tomorrow for BIG NEWS #2.

HOP ON OVER to see what my other art friends have created with this stencil:

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Tuesday, May 22, 2012

…BIG NEWS: part 1...


Here's the first of three in my "big news" installments this week. 

I AM WRITING A BOOK!  
Just signed, sealed and delivered my contract to write a book for Interweave Press!  A dream come true?  Absolutely.  It's such an honor to be chosen in the mixed media category.  My book is themed on my favorite topic and passion………….can you guess???………..Artful Lettering….of course!!………i just can't wait.

Even though i am writing the manuscript right now, it's a very long process.  My book will be released in early 2014.  I'll be sure to keep you posted along the way.

Thank you for sharing this artful journey with me.  
So very blessed.

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Tuesday, May 15, 2012

…ready for some COLOR LOVE???...

...a new artful adventure???  
I'm happy to invite you to my new online class…

"COLOR LOVE 101: 
Whimsical Art Journaling"
with joanne sharpe
Here's the perfect "lazy days of summer" class to embrace and capture bold, bright palettes in a color saturated art journal.  

This class is all about big, bodacious, vivid COLOR techniques using watercolors, inktense and colored pencils, pan pastels, markers and inks.  With 25 dynamic video lessons and pdfs, you'll paint, letter, doodle, draw, blend, spritz and sketch to create 25 color saturated journal pages.
It's summer color lovin'!   
Class samples in this video:

"COLOR LOVE 101": 
Whimsical Art Journaling
Create 25 journal pages in 15 LESSONS
25 VIDEOS with 25 PDF PAGES
***forever access and networking***
5 WEEKS LIVE!
June 11, 2012-July 12, 2012 
(lessons post Mon/Wed/Fri each week)

****REGISTRATION NOW OPEN!***
$35
***Within 24 hours of Paypal receipt you'll receive a welcome letter with supply list and access information.  
Class will launch Monday, June 11, 2012.

See you there in bright bold color!

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Saturday, May 12, 2012

…come CREATE with me!


 Nothing screams "CREATE" better than a group shot of happy, painty, inky artsy hands!  Are you looking to travel, get artsy, laugh and learn with the most amazing people you ever will meet?  Kindred art souls gather at CREATE retreats sponsored by Cloth Paper Scissors magazine!  I will be teaching at all three events this year: Irvine, CA in June, Somerset, NJ in July and Chicago in August.  So if you're in the neighborhood, or in a convenient flight pattern, come join the creative fun.

I have a brand new class this year called  "ARTFUL LETTERING FROM A-Z".  Look at this canvas sampler you'll make in a three hour class, i'm not kidding!!  We even added a SECOND session to the schedule in Irvine, Saturday, June 2nd from 9-12 noon.  The first class sold out, and the second one is filling fast!
 ...and how about ALSO  lettering this little watercolor sampler…….creating while learning!
Another brand new class is my "MAGICAL MARKER MYSTERY TOUR"!  I promise it will change your MARKER life when you know how SIX brands of popular markers are so completely different.  Look at all the markers you get to try and learn, as my markerful blissed out students show you from last year's Copic class…...



I have ALL new classes debuting at CREATE this year!!  

 ….i'll be bringing a hoard of materials, as i love sorting supplies in the my hotel room art studio...
…the kindred art souls you'll meet will become your cherished forever art friends, i mean it!
Check out my wonderful "art friends" who will be joining me at CREATE this year!  Really, really, really hope to see you in Irvine, CA i June, Someret, NJ in July and Chicago in August.  We can't wait!



The Create Mixed Media Retreat’s Meet the Instructors Blog Celebration Weekend:
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Thursday, May 10, 2012

…it's a HOP!!

You're at the HOP!!  It's my pleasure today to share a fun stencil from The Crafter's Workshop, designed by Julie Balzer.  The "Peek A Boo" stencil, is a composition of repeating "half moon" shapes in a block pattern.  The arrangement of the patterns on the 12" x 12" template was begging me to make an art journal!  The four groups of circles is a perfect canvas for a decorative background for lettering and journaling.  In the midst of my hosting my online lettering classes, this was a perfect opportunity to create another small lettering journal, i'm calling my "Vision Book".
I started with 2 sheets of 12"x12" watercolor cut to size.  Both sides were spritzed with the new spray inks, Dylusions from Ranger.  Of course the bold, vibrant palette just sings to me!

After the inks were dry, i painted to a thin coat of gesso to unify the page, soften the colors and create a smooth surface for writing.

When the gesso dried, i cut out around the "half moon" shapes around the borders on all four sides.  When i first saw this stencil i envisioned whimsical scallops as edges of pages in a handmade journal!
 …Using a metal t-square for leverage, i tore the pages down the center creating 4 pages of design to be folded in half to make 8 book pages.  (this is actually a 6 page book with a half sheet for the inclusion, and the other half for the cover decoration)
I used 3 pages to make the book and bound the pages with bookbinding thread.  I then tore the 4th piece in half to make and inclusion page, and a decorative ruffle for the front.  The scallops were screaming "paper ruffle" to me!  I cut two strips for the ruffle from one leftover square from the stenciled pattern.  The scallops were created by rolling the cutout "moons" with a thin paintbrush handle to create dimension, then glued to the journal cover.

Bling girl that i am, i then coated the cover with the new Silks, the delicious acrylic glaze paints, which glided on like shiny buttah!  Be still my blinging heart!
My favorite part comes last, filling the book with lettering samplers, writing words and quotes with my black markers and sparkly Sakura Galaxy pens.  I love how the stencil design elements became the dimension for the edges of each page.


This was such a great challenge, to take a stencil and do something completely out of the ordinary with it.  That's what i love about my life as art, being constantly inspired to make something simple, or wonderful in every creation.



Join the fun and HOP on these links to see what my friends created with this stencil.  
Creativity is a magical thing!

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