keystrokes & kaleidoscopes: November 2014

Monday, November 17, 2014

Evolution of a City

Today I will take you on a tour of my city...Nashville.

Well, sort of. I will show you how my cityscape painting of Nashville came to be through progression photos!

Here is where I began with my 24x48 canvas.

And this is where I ended.

Hope you enjoyed the tour!

This painting will debut at my next show, Centennial Holiday Show, November 22-23. Hope to see you there.

If you enjoyed this post, be sure to check my past posts and some of my free tutorials on my blog page above or at Kirsten Reed Designs or just follow me on Bloglovin' and get them delivered to your inbox!

Thursday, November 13, 2014

A Little TAP and StencilGirl Make a Great Gift!

Welcome to the Lesley Riley Transfer Artist Paper & Stencil Girl Blog Hop! Whew...that is quite a mouthful!

I used this wonderful product to make a special gift for a friend. I took a photo I had of my friend with her brother and sister and printed it on my inkjet printer to the Lesley Riley TAP (Transfer Artist Paper). I went ahead and used up the entire sheet by printing multiple copies.

I then cut out one photo and ironed it on to a piece of muslin until I was sure the entire image had transferred.

I then cut another piece of muslin to paint on for the backside.

Quick REALITY Check: (just in case you were thinking this cleverly cropped photo above was of a neat desk...this one below shows the true story!!!) hahahaha! Just keeping it real!

Okay, so back to the painting. I used this marvelous paint from pebeo paints ~ a iridescent silver. I can not tell you how much I LOVE these paints ~ especially when I am creating Christmas ornaments and paintings! They make me sparkle inside!

So I spread the paint on the muslin, with some paper towels to absorb seepage through the back.

Then I took Lizzie Mayne's Art Nouveau stencil from StencilGirl and black paint to add a pattern and contrast.

This is what it looked like when I finished the back.

I sewed the two sides together, added ribbon and stuffed slightly.

I trimmed the ragged edges of the muslin with pinking shears and then added some "jooj" to make it pop! I used some scrap ribbon and made a ribbon bow, glued it to the bottom of the ornament and added a little button.