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💜

STAMP BOLDLY WITH RUBBERMOON

by Guest Artist Ceci Córdova

Sometimes when I tell people about my rubber stamps, they ask, "What do you do with them?"   They see the images but have no idea what can be done beyond stamping the image on a piece of paper.  And, then what?   Sometimes when I am talking with people who really like the ideas and images of the rubber stamps, they ask how to use them to make them worth buying in the first place.

This series is for those who ask those questions and need just a little encouragement to spread their stamping wings. If you have never stamped before or want to make your stamps earn their keep by being more versatile and doing many jobs, this is the place for you!
 
Try some of these ideas and send us photos of your efforts.  We'd like to see what you come up with!  Show off your work and inspire others!


Today we'll start with the Stardust Frame (db4923) which is sparkly and exciting and attracts the eye, but.......once you've got it, what can you do with it?  Well......come in and see!

I love the Stardust Frame stamp......It does so much with just one imprint.......you really don't need to do anything else, but actually, the stamp lends itself to many different uses.......come along with me......and see.....


The first and simplest use of this stamp is simply to stamp it on a card and use it as the decoration all by itself.

When you are in a hurry or aiming for simplicity, this is the easiest.  It is large enough to fill the front of a card and strikingly unusual in black and white or any other contrast.  Try it in white ink on a dark card.  Stamp it.  Write your message inside the card.  You're done.  That was easy!  That's a lot of excitement for very little effort


If you have a little more time, with not much greater ambition, you can embellish it a bit with other stamps. 

Here I've used it as an address label on an envelope.  Again: simply stamp the image once.  I then embellished it with a sprinkle of stars (star stamp DB2484) (another option would be MK180 Stardust, which would fit in just beautifully) to give the impression of the stars spilling off the corner of the envelope and used MK586 Man in the Moon stamp to balance the image and frame the return address.  You don't have to use these specific stamps, but you can see how three simple stamps can dress up an already exciting stamped image!


Another simple, easy embellishment of an exciting stamp: color it in. 

This takes more time than just stamping but creates excitement for the eye and spirit and soothes the soul of the colorer.  I admit, I find this very comforting....it doesn't just take me back to kindergarten, because I've done this all my life, but it does make art easy.  If I want to make something beautiful but don't have lots of creative energy, just stamping some outlined images gives me a chance to color quietly and have a beautiful joyful piece of work, in the end.  If you have the time and interest, make a few cards and they will be on hand for the times when you are in a hurry and need a card.

I enjoy using all kinds of color pencils.  Prismacolor are nice and soft but they are expensive and break easily.  I find that I am happy with plain old Crayola Color Pencils.  I buy the largest box during Back to School sales.  Get your money's worth!


OK.  This one takes a little more time. 

You can use color pencils or water color or crayon or felt pens....your choice.  If you've got the time, color in the background, too.  Or, the background, only.  What the heck.  Do what you want or what you have time for.

I shaded the colors, starting by picking out all the color pencils I had in the turquoise family, from light to dark.  I started with dark, against the outside border of the image and then fanned out using lighter colors and lighter strokes, as I got to the edge.  I went back over again on places I wanted it darker.  We will have a tutorial later on color pencil shading, but that's enough for right now.  I just want to show you different ways to use this one stamp.


OK. If you have even more time and ambition, this is easy and fun......just takes a little more time and tools. 

Again, I stamped the same image on card stock, and after it dried, I cut out the window with an Xacto knife, so we can see the inside of the card. 

On the inside of the card, I stamped the same moon (MK586 Man in the Moon stamp) so it is visible through the window. 

Then I sprinkled stars (star stamp DB2484) around where they are not seen through the window, and a couple of happy sentiments (db411 "Moondancing is strongly encouraged" and db4459 "Happy Birthday to you"), also outside of view through the window.  The surprise element is what makes a window fun.....some things can be glimpsed through the window but the entire story remains a secret until you open the card.

Of course, you know you can combine all of these ideas: color the stars and cut out a window to show more colored images!  You can fill in the empty square with a name, a message, another stamped image, as well as an address.  Color them all or leave some or all of them uncolored....use different colors of ink.  Just look at all the possibilities!

OK.  In this post, I've used cards and an envelope. 
Here are some other simple, quick uses for this and any stamp, in case you are wondering "what else can I do with that?": 
•  Stamp repeatedly on blank paper for wrapping paper. 
•  Stamp it in the same color of ink or vary the ink randomly (actually, to save your ink pad, stamp all the images in one color first, then clean the stamp and repeat with another color.  Then clean again, etc etc, for all the colors you want to use.). 
•  Gift tags. 
•  Lunch bags. 
•  Decorate the top of a letter....once or repeated across the top of the page....or sprinkled around anywhere you want!

Oh, my stars!  There are so many many uses for every stamp.  Get going!  Have fun!  And share with us what you make!!  We'd love to see it!

We'll be exploring more stamps in future postings, learning how to get the most use out of each stamp and how to make simple and versatile cards with the stamps you have.......or  the RubberMoon stamps you have just decided you NEED to have!


About Ceci
I have always enjoyed stamping.  There is something about reproducing the crisp image on paper and sharing it or decorating it or just enjoying it as it decorates a new surface.  I have been collecting stamps for many years and began carving them from erasers in my teens.  I enjoy carving my own, collecting those made by others, and playing with them to give voice to stories, thoughts, and feelings as well as color and excitement to otherwise barren surfaces.

A TREAT of a project from Debra V.

RubberMoon Arts is very excited to share this TREAT from the original Moon Goddess, Debra Valoff!
Here Debra shares with you her creative ideas and process for repurposing art and imagery into fabulous folders you can not only have fun making these but you can use and enjoy them every day. Your office supplies never looked sooo good!!

Having lots of wonderful mail art and snippets of projects/ideas I wanted to do something with it that I could enjoy, rather than being in a box that only gets looked at a couple of times a year.  Since I use file folders a lot I figured they would be the perfect way to see all of my fun mail often and serve a useful purpose at the same time.
So the first thing you need to do is select a bunch of loot that would work and that you'd be willing to cut into. The cutting wasn't as hard as I thought it would be because I knew I was turning it into something else that I could still enjoy.  Another huge plus is getting to use small snippets of art that would otherwise be difficult to use.
Luckily office supply stores carry a nice selection of colored file folders so select a color that will compliment your chosen pieces.

Next select pieces that will work for your folder and arrange them in a pleasing way for you. Don't overlook the backs of envelopes or little play pieces you stamped and buried in a pile. After they're the way you want, dab with a glue stick to keep them in place.
*I secured mine in the end by stitching them down so if you don't plan on using a sewing machine please take more time and use a good glue to attach them.

There are tons of great decorative tapes on the market and if you're like me, you probably own half of them! Go grab some and get busy attaching pieces here and there.

Now grab some awesome RubberMoon stamps and embellish some of the blank spaces that are needing attention. Since my folder is a dark color I decided to use a lot of white ink (which I had to cover with a spray fixative since I didn't want to emboss). I also ran a sewing marking tool through some black ink for more added interest and some consistency. (The dot dot dot tool I used in a recent Lynn Whipple class and I want to use it on everything now!)

My last step was to stitch the paper pieces down using a zigzag stitch ( 3.1 wide, 3.1 long) with black thread. When I finished, the back side of the folder wanted to curl but I simply put weight on it for an hour or two and then it was fine.

TA DA!!!
All done and ready to use.

Thank you Debra, your art and projects are ALWAYS a treat!

"Three Horses in a Corner" Acrylic painting by Teresa Cox Kolar of Sweet Mare Studio

Hello Fellow Creative Ones! :-D

 This is Teresa Cox Kolar of Sweet Mare Studio 

and I am truly pleased and honored to 

return to the RubberMoon blog as a guest artist.

My last post was in February. It is exciting to be back for a visit! 

Today I will show you how to create the painting below 

"Three Horses In A Corner."

"There Horses In A Corner"

Acrylic painting

1.Your Painting Surface

 You will need a 12x12 inch artist panel, 3/4" deep 

or any other size you might prefer.

This panel is made by Ampersand and is wonderful

 to work on as it is a hard surface, perfect for stenciling. 

I also enjoy the texture as it so closely resembles real canvas. 

Cloth-like texture on a super sturdy surface-perfect!

2. Your Under Painting

For this step you will need the following acrylic paints and one brush:

Burnt Sienna

Manganese Blue Hue

Naples Yellow Hue

Wide, flat, scrubby, inexpensive paint brush

The brands I use are Golden and Liquitex. 

Other brands should work just fine too.

3. The Final Details

Various handmade stencils. I have drawn

 and cut out  my own stencils in the 

shapes of a horse, bird, oval.

Feel free to create any designs that you prefer.

For my stencils I used a manila folder. For the smaller white circles

I used the RubberMoon Organic Circle Stamp #TK6F. For the triangle designs I used the stencil shown. I found it at Michael's Art Store.

Paint colors for these final detail were Burnt Sienna, Gray, Blue Gray, White and Cobalt Turquoise.

VOILA!!

"Three Horses In A Corner"

Many thanks for taking a look at my tutorial. I hoped you enjoyed it.

Happy painting and creating!!

Please feel free to visit my Etsy page where you will 

find more of my work. 

All the very best,

Teresa

Magical Moonlight

Magical Moonlight 2014

I am just back from Stampaway and one thought that went around in my head was that I need to make use of my older supplies and somehow make them new again.  I went around my studio choosing RubberMoon stamps and then saw this wonderful Inchie Arts black ATC size mat board rectangle just begging to be used.  Then my mind skipped to the drawer full of Tsukeneko Opalite pads. A primer for those who don't know......They are interference pads (that show on dark surfaces) and are still in existence.  I got a few out and surveyed my stamps for the project.  Clearly I was going to do a night scene.  That's all I knew as I began. 

Masking is a great technique to use on your surface or even on a stamp as you'll see below.  I began by masking the outside perimeter with low tack painter's tape because I already decided a border would be fun.  I then stamped the star spiral using the silver frost Opalite pad.  I knew I wanted a series of "mod" flowers near the bottom.  But I only wanted to use part of the stamp, so I partially inked the catch a falling star stamp,  and then taped the areas where I had overinked and didn't want it.

,

I also used Opalite colors Glacier Blue, Golden Mist, and Crystal Blush to stamp star spiral and spiraling to represent the flowers themselves along with the masked "catch a falling star stamp".  

I used my favorite gel pen to add gold stems/leaves to the flowers and detail in other places.  Once a phrase was chosen,  I applied the same masking concept to the phrase I wanted to use.  It wouldn't fit spatially so I had to break it up.

The tape is so easy to use and remove. 

Voilà.... the center is done!

WOODEN NECKLACES FROM RUBBERMOON STAMPS!

 Last December, I posted a Rubbermoon Blog making a Fun Snow Globe Wooden Necklace from a single Rubbermon Art Stamp. Now we are into the Wonderful Days of Summer, and I have created just a few more Necklaces. Below are some that I have recently finished.  In Last December's Rubbermoon's Art Blog Post, I posted a full tutorial for making these fun Necklaces. Check out the December Blog to learn more.

HOT COCOA CUP STAMP

ITTY BITTY HEART STAMP

LOVE THIS FACE! STAMP

EXCLUSIVE MOON MAIL CLUB STAMP FOR MEMBERS ONLY

Directly above is the Photo of the Necklace from my December Blog Post. Check this post out for a complete Tutorial on how to make these fun and easy Wooden Necklaces. 

-BARB