Art Day Camp 2016

I am super excited to announce that I will be offering Art Day Camps this summer at Maranatha Youth Ranch!

Click HERE for the Art Camp Registration Form!

Scripture Journaling

I am so excited about digging into my Bible studying through Bible journaling and prayer journaling!

Here are some recent photos:

Journaling Bible

Prayer Journal (Composition Book)

Prayer Journal

Art Sign Tutorial with Collage Elements

Well, Hello There!

It has been a little while since I last posted. Our house was under the attack of a terrible cold that lasts 2 weeks per person. Of course everyone gets it at different times! I am feeling much better now, though.

I really wanted to post a video art tutorial, but am still working out how to do those. HOWEVER, I do have a photo tutorial for you today! This was a commissioned piece with requested quote and colors, so I decided to take photos of each step. Keep in mind I worked on this over the course of 5 days, allowing drying time between the steps/layers. 

I used a reclaimed white oak wood kneeling bench about 33 x 5 inches. After dismantling, it was ready for my artful purpose! You will see two boards in some photos, the other is for a wedding gift that I will finish later.


1.  Sand smooth - I used a sander. Fill in holes with wood putty. Let dry over night. Sand again.

2.  Prime with white gesso. Let dry. Sand in some areas to distress.

3.  Apply petroleum jelly in spots where you want the white to show.

4.  Paint with color. I mixed up this nice green using acrylic paints. Let dry.

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5.  See in the corner how the petroleum jelly repels the paint? Wipe off the paint resisted by the jelly. I used paper towels.

6.  Then I used baby wipes to get all the jelly off the surface, or you could use a slightly soapy rag. Let dry. Again apply petroleum jelly to the white and green spots that you want to show.

7.  Paint a second color and let dry.

8.  Again wipe off jelly w/ paper towels and clean it all off with baby wipes. I gave it a bit of a light sand at this point to get off any loose bits.

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9.  I took a lighter blue and used a palette knife to scrape the color where I wanted it.

10. I love to reuse/recycle stuff in my artwork, so here is the plastic bottom of a store bought cake that I saved because of the lovely honeycomb pattern. I painted and stamped, then filled in a bit with a small brush.

11. I chose a font, printed it out, and taped it together. I used graphite paper underneath and traced over the letters with a pen. (I have practiced calligraphy since I was 12 and taken classes throughout the years both in a classroom and online. Given that little waiver, I use the methods that help me to save time and to get the font spaced and lined up correctly.)

12. I painted the letters black (a couple coats) and let dry completely. Then I shadow the letters under and on the right to make them pop. Let dry. 

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13. Now comes the collage part! I printed out some vintage bees on card stock. I cut them out  - just the head, body, and wings. I used a pencil to sketchy outline the honeycombs.

14. I used some matte medium and glued some transparent glitter onto their wings. Let dry completely.

15. Using the matte medium again I glued the bees down. Let dry. I then used the paper scrap as a guide to paint in the bee legs and antenna.

16. I used some gesso to lighten up the wings and highlight some around the bee. Then I used a blue ball point pen and traced around each bee to make them stand out more.

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17. Almost done! Here I brushed a coat of matte medium over the whole thing to seal it. Be careful where there is pen ink, cause it can smudge. Let dry overnight.

18. Finally, I spray the piece with Krylon UV coating to keep the colors vibrant!

19. A photo I took outside in the snow.

20. The full shot photo.

Oh yeah! I hammered saw-tooth wall hangers on the back. I signed and dated on the back too. 

Check out our Etsy shop for mixed media art pieces for your home! Commissions welcome!

I hope you enjoyed this tutorial!

Shawna

3 Giveaways in 3 Weeks! No. 3

Congrats to Lydine, the winner of this giveaway!

This is it - the third giveaway in 3 Giveaways in 3 Weeks!

The winner of giveaway #2 was Marylinn - Congratulations!

Giveaway #3:

DIY Mixed Media Canvas Supplies (or use in your art journal!):

• Dylusions Number Jumble 9x12 stencil
• 20 Manila Tags 2 3/8 x 4 3/4 inch 
• Grumbacher Academy Acrylics Mixing set 5 tubes
• Grumbacher Artists Canvas 8x10
• 8 piece Brush Set
• Sharpie Purple Paint Pen

Approx. $50 retail value

HERE ARE THE RULES:

To be entered in this week's giveaway (#3) 

* Follow Me by Email at TOP RIGHT  (your email address will not be shared)

* Like Me on Facebook & share this post

* Follow me on Pinterest & pin this post.

* Follow me on Instagram & repost/tag friend @shawnagoforth #afgiveaway3 

* Follow me on Twitter & tweet this givaway

You MUST Email Me at artfulflourish (@) gmail (dot) com with your follow, share, pin, IG, and tweet Links/info to earn the entries. 

Giveaway #3 ends Friday, Feb. 13, 2015. Winner will be notified by email and must respond within 2 days or another winner will be selected. Package will be sent USPS.

Winner will be announced next Saturday, Feb. 14, 2015!

!!! I will be posting video art tutorials in near future !!!

Bible Journaling

I have recently joined a Bible Journaling group on Facebook, and I really enjoy seeing all the beautiful artistic Bible pages. I do not have a journaling Bible yet, but here is an example of some my notes I took during church.

Thanks for visiting!

3 Giveaways in 3 Weeks! Number 2

We have come to the second week with Giveaway # 2!

But first, the winner of the first giveaway was:

April - congratulations! I hope you enjoy your prize!

Here is the Second Giveaway!

Giveaway #2: this Set was also specially selected from my personal stash. Here is what's in this second set of yummy art journal supplies:

• 3 pack of Baker's Twine - Red, Baby Blue, & Medium Blue
• 20 Tags 2 3/8 x 4 3/4 inch 
• 2 3-packs of Fireworks Shimmery Spray Inks - Campfire and Ocean
• Strathmore Visual Journal - Watercolor, 140lb 
• Yellow dual tip Painter's Pen 
• Dylusions Letter Jumble 5x7 inch Stencil

Retail Value approx: $58.26

HERE ARE THE RULES:

To be entered in this week's giveaway (#2) Follow Me by Email at TOP RIGHT

(your email address will not be shared)

~~~ For additional chances (only after you've followed by email) you can… ~~~

* Like Me on Facebook AND share this post

* Follow me on Pinterest AND pin this post.

* Follow me on Instagram AND tell about the giveaway with #artfulflourishgiveaway2

You MUST Email Me at artfulflourish (@) gmail (dot) com with your share, pin, and/or tell Links/info to earn the additional entries. You MUST use the same email address that you "Followed Me by Email" with or the additional entries will not be able to be counted.

Up to 4 entries per person per giveaway. EDIT: up to 5 entries if you TWEET this giveaway, also!

Giveaway #2 ends Friday, Feb. 6, 2015. Winner will be notified by email. Package will be sent USPS.

Winner will be announced next Saturday, Feb. 7, 2015 along with info on GIVEAWAY #3!

Winter Blast and A Little Scribble

So I had it all planned. I was going to have a lovely post of my art class making Valentine's Day cards. But, alas, due to the snowy weather it was cancelled.

I did, however, get a couple snow pictures, and boy! - trudging in the snow is hard work! I find it completely beautiful here when it snows heavily. It is at least a foot deep out there, which is a drastic change to growing up in the Georgia winters of we're lucky if we get 2 inches for 2 days!

This is our pretty German Shepherd pup, Ziva. She accompanied me on my trek.

Buffalo Creek is right across the drive way, and it is beautiful in every season (except the rainy ones).

So now we get to a little scribble I did. It is not much as far as my handiwork, but this is what I thought when I was thinking about Valentine's day cards. This isn't a card, though; it was just practice. It is free to copy, if you like that messy, sketchy look.

3 Giveways in 3 Weeks! #1

YAY! Here is my first Artful Flourish Giveaway! 

And I do love a good giveaway. This is the first of 

Three Giveaways in Three Weeks! 

Giveaway #1 Set was specially selected from my personal stash. Here is what's in this first set of yummy art journal supplies:

• 4 Tim Holtz Distress Ink Pads - Vintage Photo, Victorian Velvet, Spun Sugar, & Broken China
• 50 count Kraft Paper Label Stickers
• Tim Holtz Stamp Pack - Urban Grunge, set of 8 cling stamps
• Strathmore Visual Journal - Drawing, medium tooth, 100lb 
• Red Sharpie Paint Pen - water based, medium point

Retail Value: $52.53

For this week's giveaway (#1) all you have to do to enter is leave a short comment on THIS post telling me what are your favorite art/craft supplies. 

~~~ For additional chances at giveaway #1 you can… ~~~

* Like Me on Facebook & share this post

* Follow me on Pinterest & pin this post.

* Follow me on Instagram & tell about the giveaway with #artfulflourishgiveaway1

Giveaway #1 ends Wed., Jan. 28, 2015. Winner will be notified by email no later than Fri., Jan. 30, 2015.  Package will be sent USPS.

Winner will be announced next Saturday, Jan. 31, 2015 along with info on GIVEAWAY #2!