Artsy Rolodex

 Artsy Rolodex

Hi, it's me Patti Campbell! This month I would like to share my fun Artsy Rolodex project with you. This idea came about because I was trying to think of a good way to keep the addresses from the Moonie RAK list close at hand while also making it a piece of art.

I wanted something I could access easily, would fit on my desk, and would be fun to look at. First I thought I would just buy an address book and art it up but that wasn't quite what I wanted. Then I thought it would be cool to find an old Rolodex and be able to customize each section/page. 

I happened to be in my car when this idea struck so I went to Staples on the off chance they might have a Rolodex, and to my surprise they did! I bought it and went home to get makey. 

The Rolodex was designed for business cards, so I pulled out my scrap box and my paper cutter and started to cut some of my older pieces of artwork into business card size.

 I decorated some of them with ArtFoamies. I used Wingspan by Sandra Evertson, Mixed Media Mashup by Kae Pea, Floradala by Kae Pea, Flora Elements by Elizabeth St. Hilaire, Tulip by Sarah Matthews, Tree of Life by Gypsy Soul, and the April 2022 freebie bunny. I also used several RubberMoon stamps.

I added the addresses and inserted them into the pockets in the Rolodex. For the purpose of this blog I made fake addresses; no real addresses are in these pictures. Because I like to be different and there are no rules in creating art, I alphabetized my address book by first name. Then I went about decorating the alphabet tabs. At first I was just doing it randomly, but then I thought it would be fun to make each letter correspond with a famous artist and to decorate the tab in the style of that artist. 

For some I painted the artist and for others I made a painting in their art style or recreated one of their pieces. I started with my favorite, Frida Kahlo, creating a recognizable portrait with her iconic brows. I recreated The Scream by Edvard Munch for the "E" tab. For "G" I did a landscape in the style of Georgia O'Keeffe. For "H" I recreate a self portrait of Herrad von Lansberg. I recreated Golden Tears (Freya's Heartache) by Klimt and so on and so forth.

It is still a work in progress, but it's really fun to flip through and look at all the art. It was fun to make art that was not only decorative, but also functional. I hope this inspires you to get makey in unusual ways!

Love and laughter,

💜Patti💜

The Joy of Painting with Tea

 The Joy of Painting with Tea

Hi, it's Patti Campbell again! Today I am switching it up from my usual tutorial style post. I want to talk to you about what I've been doing these past couple of weeks. Over in the CoMOONity, we have been working on a tea themed swap. I wanted to do something different so I decided on experimenting with using a variety of teas as paint. I am a tea lover so I had a wide variety of tea on hand. 

In small glass jars I brewed a number of different teas. Who knew there were so many different colors of tea? I created a swatch card so I would know what they looked like when they dried, and numbered the jars and swatches accordingly. It was surprising to see how some of the colors changed as they dried. I had a cranberry tea that was red in the jar but dried purple.

The first thing I painted was a couple of ladies with flower crowns on two different types of watercolor paper. The tea reacted differently on the different papers. Interestingly the cranberry tea dried purple on one paper and green on the other. 

Just for fun I tried to paint some abstracts with tea. I splattered and dropped tea onto the paper as well as using a paintbrush and they were fun to do. 

The tea behaved much like watercolor. I had to let each layer dry completely before adding the next. It does however take much longer to dry than watercolor paint. 

Next I tried stamping. I attempted to stamp with the tea on an old book page. This was not very successful. The tea was too pale and didn't show up. Then I tried it on watercolor paper and that also didn't work out. The image was too blurred. 

Then I tried it on fabric. To my surprise this was successful. I used a paintbrush to apply a small amount of tea to the stamp and then carefully applied the stamp to the fabric. I pressed it down firmly and held it down for a few seconds. The result was a clean, opaque image. 

I started thinking of other ways to play with the tea on fabric and landed on tye dye. I tied the fabric and used three different colors of tea in the sections. I wrapped the fabric in plastic wrap and let it sit overnight. The next day I took it out of the plastic and let it dry. I removed the string and I was pleasantly surprised with my results. I really enjoyed this and will definitely do it again in the future. 

I wanted to keep experimenting so I went back to my watercolor paper and stamped with ink, then filled in the images with tea to varying degrees of success. You really have to make sure that ink is dry. I got the best results when I heat set the ink before filling it in. 

One of the stamps I used was the Diamond Moon ArtFoamie by Rita Barakat. I stamped it in Moonlight Duo in Deep Space Blue. After letting the ink dry completely I painted it in with several different tea colors. After the tea dried I cut it out. Happy with the results, I thought it might be fun to stich it to a piece of fabric. I really like the way it is turning out. 

Overall I really enjoyed experimenting with using tea as paint. I will continue to do so in the future. Side note, the tea smells really good! 

Happy spring!
Love and laughter,

💜Patti💜

New Year's Makeys and Musings....

Hi! It's me, Kae Pea! For those of you that don't know me, I am the "main moon" here at The Moon and The Maker Creative Space (home of RubberMoon and ArtFoamies Stamp companies). The story behind how I came to own these businesses is a long one and I won't bore you with those details here and now, (maybe later....). Just suffice it to say that I wear a lot of creative hats and the many facets of the business, including my own art practice, keeps me hopping with details that are, like most-any small business, simultaneously hectic, fun, creative, mundane and unique! So, when there was an opening for a blog post today, I said, "I will do it!" I thought it would be a great idea to do a New Year's post to share fun makey or project. Of course, as the deadline for the post approached, I thought to myself, "What was I thinking?" I needed another deadline or project like I need a bag of rocks (although I COULD paint a bag of rocks...but I digress...!) Although I do 'usually-always' have some art-project or makey ready to share, I thought, instead, for this post I would reflect a bit on the past year and ponder the future a bit too!

Let's just say it. Twenty-Twenty One was a doozy of a year. As a business owner it was a real challenge. And as an Empath even more of a challenge. But art, creativity and 'getting makey' everyday helps me navigate these difficult times. I do not ignore what is happening in our world. Rather, I recognize the need for light and goodness and radiating a source of joy when there are so many sources for the opposite. 

It is my sincere hope that whether you are a part of my comMOONity, follow RubberMoon, a fan of ArtFoamies or a visitor at The Moon and The Maker or all of the above...Whether you join me on Patreon and watch me "Get Makey" 5 days a week or see me on Facebook on ArtFoamies Fun Friday or maybe just a YouTube video every now and again, that you will find it as a source of joy and inspiration in your life too. 

I hope you are joining in for Nathalie Kalbach's Creative Jump Start 2022 (it is not too late!)

And that if you are not already my Patron, you will join me this year, to focus on creative self care and lots of getting makey!

Here are random pictures of so many "Makeys" I created and shared in 2021:

I can't promise it will make life perfect, but I can safely say, it will make it better :)

And I can promise all of inspiration, innovation, kindness and caring I have to give.

Here is to getting through another year together, creatively!

Stay safe, Stay Sane and Stay Makey,

A Happy, Healthy 2022 to you.

xo,

Kae Pea

Finding Inspiration by Patti Campbell

🦋Finding Inspiration🦋

Hi, it's me Patti Campbell again! This post is going to be a little different from me, as this time I want to tell the story behind my inspiration.

Anyone who knows me knows that seeing live music is like going to church for me. My concert t-shirts are sacred. So when I do something that damages one, like getting a bleach stain on it, it makes me sad.  

For a long time I've been looking for a way to fix this shirt. Then one day it popped into my head to fix the bleach stain using more bleach (on an ArtFoamie). After checking with Kae Pea to make sure the bleach wouldn't ruin the Artafoamies, I pulled out Sandra Evertson's Bonehead ArtFoamie and got to work.

I tried applying the bleach on the ArtFoamies a couple different ways, and started experimenting on scrap pieces of fabric. What worked best for me was putting the bleach on a sponge, and gently tapping the ArtFoamie onto the sponge. Then I used a nice, clean brush to spread the bleach around the stamp, being careful to only get the bleach where I wanted it. This gave me the best image. 

When I was happy with my results on the scrap fabric, I laid out my t-shirt. I took a plastic placemat and slid it inside the shirt to ensure the bleach would not go through to the back of the shirt. 

Then I stamped Bonehead onto the bleach stain. I chose this stamp because it went with the theme of this concert tee.

Fixing this shirt inspired me to make a pillow cover.

For this project I used:

• some small pieces of black fabric in various sizes

• orange and yellow batique fabric 23" x 57"
• rainbow colored thread
• Clorox bleach
• a new, clean sponge
• a small flat brush
• 22" x 22" pillow form
• sewing machine
• plastic mat
• iron
• pins
• and the following ArtFoamies:

Queen Bee by Gypsy Soul

Whimsy Wings by Kae Pea

Intricate Butterfly by Donna Downey

Woman Power by Einat Kessler

Step 1:

I ironed the pieces of black fabric and laid them out on a plastic mat.

Step 2:

I put the new sponge in a dish and poured the bleach over the sponge.

Step 3:

I paired the Woman Power stamp with the Whimsy Wings stamp, and using the bleach on the sponge as mentioned above, stamped it onto my rectangular pieces of black fabric. On the smaller pieces of black fabric I stamped the Queen Bee, and on the big square of black fabric I stamped the Intricate Butterfly stamp twice.

Step 4:

I allowed them to dry completely and then I folded the edges under and pressed with an iron.

Step 5:

I measured the pillow and then folded the batique fabric with right sides together to equal 22". Then I pressed the side seams with the iron. 

Step 6:

I opened the fabric back up, and using the pressed seams as a guide, I laid the black stamped fabric on what will be the front of the pillow cover how I liked them and pinned them in place. 

Step 7:

I then stitched the black fabric pieces onto the batique fabric using my sewing machine.

Step 8:

I hemmed the two ends that would become the back opeing of the pillow cover for a nice, clean edge. 

Step 9:

I once again folded the batique fabric right sides together in the same place I had before (along the pressed seams), and I pinned the two raw edges.

Step 10:

I sewed the two raw edges with a 3/4" seam allowance. 

Step 11:

I turned the pillow cover right side out, and inserted the pillow form. Now I have a beautiful, decorative pillow to brighten my living room.

Thanks for reading!

Love and laughter,

🦋Patti🦋