Bloom with Joy today!

Hop on over to the StencilGirl Talk blog and watch how I used a variety of stencils, paint, fabric and paste to create this Joyful Floral bouquet!

Click HERE!

Food for Thought Friday

Wishing you all real ones...happy Friday!

StencilGirl & Traci Bautista Create Flower Power!

Welcome to the StencilGirl Blog Hop with Traci Bautista's new stencil line!

I received the Flower Party stencil to play with, which is perfect for me because I love to paint flowers!

I began by prepping my 12x24 canvas with a layer of Golden Fluid acrylic Naples Yellow paint and dabbed Titanium White through the stencil.  After that dried, I used a combination of Color Shine, Adirondack and Tattered Angel's Chalkboard sprays and made lots of layers and drips as seen below.

I added drips of Daler Rowley india ink in grass green.  This is one of my favorite supplies of all time. I adore the vivid color the inks give and the bright green just pops off the canvas!

I used the drips from the top to "create" my vase and painted it in with raw umber and gray.

I have been on a kick lately of NOT using my brushes as much as possible, because I love the organic feel it gives to my paintings.  I used my fingers to bring out, define, highlight and shadow my bouquet.

Here is the final result.

Some close ups:

Here is a picture of the supplies I used ~ most of which can be found here.

Hope you enjoyed this flower party and got some ideas stirring for another way to use Traci's stencils! 

If you enjoyed this tutorial, be sure to check my other free tutorials on my website at

  Kirsten Reed Designs or just follow me on Bloglovin' and get them delivered to your inbox!

***STENCILGIRL GIVEAWAY***

Make sure you leave a comment because EVERY comment on EVERY blog is an entry to win FREE stencils on StencilGirl Talk!

TWO Lucky Winners will be chosen to win one  ENTIRE SET of Traci's new stencils.
Giveaway will close Sunday, July 27, 2014 at 11:59 pm CST.  That's two whole weeks to enter to win!!  Remember to keep hopping along with those artists listed below and the more comments you make the more entries! 

Good Luck!

BLOG HOP ORDER:

StencilGirl Talk

Traci Bautista

Mary Beth Shaw

Carolyn Dube

Jennifer Priest
Gwen Lafleur

Kirsten Reed You are HERE

Leslie Tucker Jenison Go HERE next

Mary C. Nasser

Julia Kellogg

Maria McGuire
 

Food for Thought Friday

I seriously laugh out loud every time I read this! Maybe I will try it!  Happy Friday y'all!

I like 'em Sunny Side Up...

I really love flowers.  I love gardening and growing things.  I love looking out my studio window and seeing blooms.  One of my favorite flowers, besides tulips and peonies, are daisies.  Just simple white daisies.  I know, they are cheap, but there is something so sweet and innocent about them.

I was thinking about them the other day as I started this canvas in my studio and although I didn't quite create a daisy, I was inspired by the simplicity of the white and yellow blooms.

I wanted a simple painting but with a lot of texture.  The entire bottom half of this painting is collage of book paper.

I kept my palette simple ~ blue, gray, brown and yellow.  I used Golden molding paste to create flowers that popped off the canvas. It is important not to use "light" molding paste for this kind of piece or joint compound (which is water soluble and will dissolve with paint on top).  I used a  charcoal pencil for definition.

Can you see the texture?

My flowers kind of look like flying eggs, sunny side up.  I think it works any way ~ a little funky, fun and elegant!

Be sure to check out all my free tutorials on my blog page above marked ART TUTORIALS,
or visit me on my website at Kirsten Reed Designs.

You can also follow me on Bloglovin' and get them delivered to your inbox!

Here are the supplies I used for this piece:

Golden Molding Paste

Charcoal stick

Golden Fluid Acrylic Paints

Liquitex Basic Acrylic Paints

Slow & Steady

My sweet friend Kim and I affectionately call ourselves the Turtles.  We have run several races together and well, to use the word "race" and "Kirsten and Kim" in the same sentence is quite comical!

We are SLLLLOOOOWWWW! Crazy slow.

In fact, my husband often jokes that I could walk faster than I run.  And little known fact, I do walk very fast...no matter where I go.  I think I have just one speed.  And if you call that speed 'walking' ~ it's fast.  If you call the speed 'running' ~ it's slow.

I have known Kim for about 20 years.  Over the past several, we have given each other little turtle things ~ turtle earrings, bracelets, etc.  One year she got socks with turtles on them and we wore them during the Nashville Half-Marathon....and some lady asked if we were turtles.

I excitedly said, "Why, yes, we are!!"  She then asked me, "What's the phrase?"  I looked at her a little confused and said, "Turtle Power!"  It was the only thing I could think of.  She immediately dismissed me and said, "you're not a real turtle!"  

I kid you not!  We laughed at least another three miles about her elitist little "secret turtle club"!!

Kim and I met while working together at Sandestin Resort in Florida many moons ago and I am so blessed to still call her friend.  Lucky girl she still gets to live there, so on her birthday this year, I made her a little sea turtle to represent our slow running and our steady friendship!

I even wrote underneath the final canvas, as I often do, little messages to her.  This one says "slow and steady wins the race".

So in honor of my friend who happily "races" with me at my pace....Turtle power!

Come see me at Swanky Plank!

You are cordially invited to come out to the historic Rippavilla Plantation in Spring Hill, TN and visit the fun, vintage and artsy marketplace call Swanky Plank.  There will be lots of artisans and vendors including me!

This weekend's schedule is:

Thursday, July 10  -  Sneak Peek Party  4-8 pm

Friday & Saturday, July 11-12   9-6

Admission is $7 

Here is a peek at some of the goodies I will have for sale!

Hope to see you there!