RubberMoondalas!

I've been having a lot of fun lately, playing with mandalas. I've been adding them to my journaling practice this week. It's a wonderful way to just sit back and relax with the pen, allowing the natural creative flow to happen.

I thought it would be fun to show how you can have the same fun making mandalas using rubber stamps. It might even be a good way to introduce yourself to the process if you feel a little nervous picking up drawing or painting materials to make a mandala.

Select a bunch of your favorite Rubbermoon Art Stamps. Don't limit yourself to shapes alone. Dare to use those illustrative stamps as well... or even those favorite WORD stamps you've been wanting to use more often.

Some of my favorite word stamps: Crazy Ideas, Wanderlust
Some of my favorite shape/design stamps: Scattered Hearts, spiral, circles
Other fun image stamps to use: Typewriter, New Moon, Girl holding heart

This process is so freeing! Anything goes!

I chose to create a series of "RubberMoondala" (tee hee!) postcards.

I love creating art to share in the mail.

Use a matte card stock cut to postcard size (around 4x6"), place on a scrap paper (so you can stamp off the edges without messing up your table), and stamp away!!

Below are some samples of the fun I had with my collection of rubber stamps:

Would you like to receive some fun art from me in the mail? Visit my website!


Article by Wendy Fedan

"Divine Guidance" Journal - with Rubbermoon stamps!

For some reason I love using RubberMoon stamps for my creative angel work. I like coming up with new ideas for creative spiritual-related projects for myself. And the RubberMoon stamp library has so much imagery that just relates so well to spiritual imagery.

Here is one stamp which especially intrigued me when I first saw it, and knew immediately I had to do something fun with it: "Messages From the Center of the Universe."

I like to keep a journal I call my Signs and Wonders journal to keep track of messages I get from the Universe. Mainly synchronicities.

For this project, I thought I'd do an artsy version of it, and see what it would be like to art journal my messages for a while.

MATERIALS:

• Board book, peeled - or of course use any blank book of your choosing (sketchbook/recycled book). See Tammy's explained technique from her blog post.
• Mod Podge: waterbase sealer, glue & finish (I used this to dress up the cover)
• Metallic gold tissue paper (or other color of your choice)
• Glue stick
• card stock
• Metallic gold craft paint (I used this to dress up the edges of the pages)
• Oil-based metallic paint marker (for accents)
• Gouache paints (for inside pages)
• Watercolor brushes
• "Messages From the Center of the Universe" LARGE RubberMoon art stamp!

STEP ONE:
I was inspired by the "peeled book" technique explained in a recent post by Tammy Vitale. I just had to try it, and after reading her blog post I began peeling books immediately to prepare my blank canvas for this project!


STEP TWO:
I decided for MY book, I wanted to dress it up fancy, so I grabbed some metallic tissue paper, scrunched it up by hand, and Mod Podged it all over the cover of my peeled book (using my bare fingers to paint the glue overtop my crinkled tissue paper). I have since had to press the book to get rid of the slight bowing that happens from this step - so if you don't want to deal with that, I suggest dry pasting collage (glue stick) or just painting a light wash of Gouache paint colors to your liking.

I let this Mod Podge stage dry overnight, to ensure it was dry before working more on it, cutting the stray tissue edging with scissors.


STEP THREE:
Rubbermoon stamp time! Very carefully, I stamped my large "Messages" stamp on a matte piece of card stock to add for the cover:

STEP FOUR:
Cut out the stamp design to make a circle piece for the cover. I used scissors, but feel free to use an Exacto knife if you prefer.


STEP FIVE:
Embellish the design with an oil-based metallic paint marker (gold):

STEP SIX:
Use a glue stick (or scrapbook tape) to adhere the circle shape to your cover.


STEP SEVEN:
IF YOU LIKE... feel free to paint the edges of the pages as well, with metallic craft paint. I just felt like trying this, to fancy-up my book a little more. Yeah, I was getting a little gold-crazy, I guess:

STEP EIGHT:
Yay! Time to have fun with the INSIDE!!
I wanted to see how Gouache paint would work on this highly-absorbent surface. It worked like a charm! I love the textures that come from using this type of paint on this surface. It made a beautiful, colorful base:

STEP NINE:
Add collage, or just keep painting/marking. Markers would dry out fast on this highly absorbent surface, so if you want to try it, use your child's markers, not your expensive ones. A cheap felt tip marker works well, too, for journaling/doodling! A glue stick or double-stick tape would work best on this surface for collage, to keep it dry and manageable.


I thought it would be fun to use my particular journal, here, as a way to keepsake my Angel Cards that I draw for myself occasionally. I like to see patterns of messages that come up over a period of time, and doing this in journal format is a good idea! It's easy to use more of my favorite Rubbermoon stamps for this process as well, as I continue on this "Divine Guidance Journal" journey!

Article By Wendy Fedan

Intuitive Painting with RubberMoon Art Stamps

                         

                         Friday, May 23, 2014

Intuitive Angel Painting for Dawn Richerson

I've been wanting to experiment lately with creating artwork for my Angel Readings, something new I'd like to start offering to people. It seemed appropriate to use Rubbermoon Art Stamps for such a project.
You could create an Intuitive Painting for yourself by simply drawing cards from a card deck of your choice. They cold be Angel Cards, Tarot, or even something like Louise Hay's Inspirational cards.

Use whatever type of cards appeal to you, to use as a spiritual message to illustrate, or merely as an intuitive prompt.

Draw three cards (or more if you wish) and use your intuition to hear what the cards are trying to communicate to you. Sketch down words and images that seem to be coming through to you. They could even simply be words that are on the cards, or images that come through from the cards.

MATERIALS:

• Watercolor paper of your choice (I used 140 lb 16x12").
• pencil
• Watercolor paint or Goache (I used Goache, just because I like the bright colors lately).
• Faber Castell PITT artist pens (I used a combination of fine tip and brush tip)
• Rubbermoon Art Stamps of your choice (I used the New Moon and Paint Spatter stamps).
• Black (or other) ink stamp pad.
• Your INTUITION.

1. After you have your rough idea sketched out in your sketchbook or scrap paper, begin drawing your final sketch plan on the watercolor paper with pencil. Feel free to allow words into your sketch if you like, or keep your initial concept by your side to add certain elements with paint.

2. Paint directly over your sketch with watercolors or Goache.

3. Use the Faber-Castell PITT art pens for sketchy accents, if you like. Personally I love using markers, so I just couldn't help myself. Also by bringing in the black, I was easily able to fit my stampings into the painting using the black ink stamp pad.

New Moon and Paint Spatter stamps

I decided to use the New Moon and Paint Spatter art stamps because they perfectly fit in with my theme. I was already using the spattering technique in the painting, and I like the spiritual essence of the New Moon face. I decided this little face would be fun to add in secret places in the painting - as though they represented spiritual beings within the painting, lending their support to the person I was painting this for.

I decided to use the New Moon stamp for the "tree trunk base" - as if the base of the tree housed these wood sprites, sending their messages and support. I used a paper towel to mask off the edge of the trunk so I could stamp some of these as half-faces, showing that they wrap around the tree trunk. I added more lines with my PITT art pens to blend them in a little more, visually.

Then I decided to have more fun with this moon stamp and use it as a decorative element for the wings of the angel, pressing only half of the stamp down (angling it). I liked the accidental facial features that would show themselves through this half-stamp technique. I liked the synchronicity of that.

My final "play" with the moon stamp was to use it as a shape accent inside the crayons I drew and painted, again, using only a crescent of the stamp:

Then came play time with the Paint Spatter stamp, which I used all over the painting, stamping even when the ink was drying out on the stamp - I liked some spatters to be strong and some light, to create depth. The stamp worked so well with my painting which already had quite a lot of colorful spattering as you can see:

This is a fun way to explore with your art. I suggest you give it a try! And if you'd like me to create one of these for you, contact me through my website!

Rubbermoon Surprises for your Kids' Lunchboxes

Some friends and I were having dinner last night and my friends began to reflect on the days when they used to create little artsy surprises to add to their kids' lunchboxes. One of my friends used to draw pictures of horses and add one to her daughter's lunchbox every day. My other friend used to make little crafty things to add to her kids' lunchboxes. I was starting to feel inspired to try something like this myself, and felt it would be a fun project for Rubbermoon stamps!

MATERIALS:

• Of course use whatever materials YOU happen to have lying around. Card stock is best to use as a base, to help make it more card-like.
• construction paper or note paper
• Kids' washable markers + a sharpie
• Rubbermoon stamps of your preference - I used the "open arms" stamp (and scattered hearts too) and the girl holding heart stamp - a few of my favorites to communicate love!
• Glue stick

1) To make this something artsy, I went to grab some light cardboard stock I had saved for random crafty projects, and some note paper to cut up.

2) Then I stamped the Rubbermoon images onto the note paper, and used the glue stick to adhere the note paper to the cardboard stock.

3) I enjoy using my kids' washable Crayola markers to color the images - the washable markers don't bleed on the note paper, which is great!

4) I added my own decorations and message to the image to personalize it. The kids will know it's from Mommy, so I didn't need to add a byline.  :)

5) Last thing was to add the little artsy surprises to the kids' lunchboxes. I hid Jack's in his sandwich box, and tucked my daughter's away in the pocket behind her cookie!

I enjoy fitting Rubbermoon Stamp rojects into my daily life, to see how I can fit creative pockets of time into my daily routine. It's a good way to spice up the day, and this particular mini project can be a GREAT way to boost your creative energy first thing in the morning!... And make your kids remember Mom is thinking about them while they're away!

Gratitude Jar FUN with Rubbermoon Stamps

My kids have been inspiring me a lot lately. They've kind of been overwhelming me, actually - they use the loose paper I have lying around the house, along with markers, tape, and scissors, and they've been making the most amazing inventions: Puppet shows, Leprechaun traps, Leprechaun costumes, hats, and various other paper thingamajigs they can imagine. It gets a little crazy.
I have actually found myself wanting to scream, "Will you please just take a break and watch TV for a little while?!"
Anyway, I've taken their cue to create something very simple using the same scrap paper they've been using for their costumes and contraptions. I've been wanting to make a Gratitude Jar, inspired my my friend Dawn Petrill's blog post, so here we go!
I decided to adopt the simple materials used by my kids, except adding my Rubbermoon Stamps and Faber-Castell PITT Art Pen (Mommy's materials).

MATERIALS:

•  Faber-Castell PITT Art Pen (fine tip)
• Rubbermoon Art Stamps - I chose two of my own Rubbermoon stamp designs: Girl With Arms Open and Hearts. I knew they would be PERFECT for this project!
• Recycled peanut butter jar.
• Scrap paper
• Tape
• Black ink stamp pad
• Scissors

STEP 1 - Measure scrap paper to wrap around your jar.
STEP 2 - Start stamping, and decorating/drawing!

STEP 3 - When you're finished decorating, use tape to attach the scrap paper after wrapping around jar.
STEP 4 - Cut a batch of paper into small slips - to be sure you have no reason not to get started writing down your daily gratitude notes.

My friend, Dawn, chose to deposit a gratitude message every day - write just ONE THING you feel grateful for each and every day, for a year. At the end of the year, she had a wealth of gratitude to sift through and remember. It's a wonderful thing to open your gratitude jar and remember the GOOD TIMES.
One thing I'm grateful for is my pair of creative kids who continuously inspire me every day. Thanks, kids, for keeping me creative!

The kids and I with our St. Patrick's Day scrap paper creations!

Creating 100 Artsy Bookmarks - Using Rubbermoon Stamps

When visiting the Sunview Elementary School 3rd Grade classes a couple weeks ago (as a visiting author - I recently published some books), I really wanted to bring some special giveaway to the kids. A small, simple artsy gift to remind them of the writing pep talk I gave to them. Since the four classes consisted of over 20 kids per class, I decided to create 100 bookmarks (25 per class, so the teacher could keep a couple as well).

So how do you create 100 bookmarks when you really don't have much time on your hands?

Here's how! And it's also very fun!

MATERIALS:

• 2 sheets of 15x20 (or larger) 90 lb watercolor paper.
• Gouache paints
• Brushes of your choosing - and sponges to add textures
• Rubbermoon art stamp (I chose the typewriter - one of my favorite stamps - because I was giving a writing pep talk).
• Exacto knife and/or paper cutter

1. Use a large brush or sponge to create a wash to over the whole paper. I recommend getting both sheets out and painting them simultaneously. I painted one at a time only because I underestimated how many pages I would need to create enough bookmarks - didn't plan properly. Painting both sheets at once will save you time.

2. Just start painting away! Use a variety of brush styles to paint. I like to use a soft brush to make swirly shapes and a stiff bristled brush to create spattering. I also love to use sponges to add texture.

3. After your paintings have dried, it's time to cut them up (you COULD start rubber stamping now or after cutting)! First I used an Exacto knife and ruler to cut large chunks that would be easy for me to slip into my mini paper cutter (which is very small - used for scrapbooking). If you are lucky enough to have a large paper cutter, just use that! Chop strips to the size of your liking. In order to get as many pieces done as possible using two sheets of watercolor paper, I cut mine in various sizes, averaging 1.5"x 3".

4. After cutting all my pieces, and counting to make sure I have the 100 slips of paper I need, then I placed the strips onto a newspaper and started stamping away. Yes, you could do this BEFORE cutting, but it was important to me that every single bookmark had a recognizable amount of the  typewriter image visible on the bookmark. 

And VOILA! You have one hundred bookmarks to use as giveaways!

I wish I would have been prepared enough to add stickers with my website info on the backs, but live and learn, I guess! I highly suggest you use these fun giveaway bookmarks as business cards if you like, adding a stamp or label of your own on the back with your contact and/or website info! This is certainly something I plan to do, because making these bookmarks is SUPER fun!

Tea Lovers Art Project: Making Tea-Stained Tea Notes!

In college, I came up with this fun idea to recycle my tea bag envelopes and tags by turning them into cute little notes. If you're like me and you drink tea all day long, I suggest you give this a try. It's SUPER fun!

Materials:

• Used Tea Bag with the tea bag envelope
• Watercolor paintbrush
• Watercolor paper (weight your choice) or card stock paper for the folded cards.
• Archival Ink pad
• Sewing needle (any size)
• Faber Castell PITT Art Pen (fine tip)
• Mini paper cutter (used for scrapbooking)
• Rubbermoon Art Stamp (I used the New Moon stamp  - a favorite)

INSTRUCTIONS:
Prepare a cup of tea to drink while you work on this project  :)
Tear the string off the used teabag and save the tea bag envelope. Squeeze excess tea from teabag into bowl to use for painting, before pitching the used tea bag.

 

Use paper of your choice (watercolor paper is best for tea painting), and use mini paper cutter to chop your paper. I chopped up a 5x7 piece of watercolor paper and created multiple little art pieces at once. If you want to make folding cards, cut long rectangles: 1.75"x 4.75". If you want to just make non-folding cards (to simply create art to fit inside the tea envelopes), cut pieces at this size: 1.75"x 2 3/8".

 

Use a sewing needle for your tea bag string tat you tore from the tea bag.

String it through the tea tag thread and poke through the card.

 

Remove needle after the thread is through, and knot the thread.

 

Now it's FUN TIME!

Use Rubbermoon stamp and then start your tea painting.

Use a watercolor brush, and treat it just as you would treat watercolor.

 

 Feel free to spatter the inside of note with tea!

  

When the tea is dry, use Faber Castell PITT Art Pen (doesn't bleed) to add more design accents to the front and back of your note card(s).

  

And VOILA! You are all set with a set of cards to tuck inside your multitude of tea bag envelopes! Use double-stick tape to attach one to the front of your tea envelope for added artsy-ness (see image below)! Surprise your friends with these along with a letter in the mail. Write a poem, a meaningful quote, or love note inside! A very fun thing to surprise someone with!