Imagination

Since I was a little kid one of my most favorite quotes has always been "Sanity is the playground for the unimaginative!" I don't remember where I heard it as a kid, I just know that I loved it so much that I wrote it everywhere, in fact I think it is still plastered on my old bedroom door in my parents house. lol  You may have also noticed it at the bottom of my blog here as well and now its finally made an appearance in my artwork, its really about time! lol

I am very much up in the air about selling this painting, I love it that much!!! It may or may not get added to my Etsy Shop, I'm still deciding, but in the meantime here are some pics to share with you and you can order prints of it just follow the link below...

Imagination

4" x 4" x 1.5"

Mixed Media Original

Prints available HERE

Thanks so much for looking! Ciao for now! ♥

In My Art Journal

I've decided to give you a little peek inside my art journal today because the ACEO that I ended up creating yesterday originated there.  I actually have 2 art journals going at the moment, one is very rough, doodling, sketches and that sort of thing and the other is a mixed media journal for doing more painting and stuff however I rarely find the time to get to that one anymore.  So from the first journal...

After I did this little pencil sketch above yesterday I decided that he was just too darn cute to stay locked away in my journal as a pencil sketch and that he deserved his very own art card to be shown to the world!

So here he is in color...

Shy Boy Had A Bad Day

ACEO Mixed Media Original

2.5" x 3.5" on linen canvas paper

$10 on Etsy HERE

So when its all said and done I think I like the original pencil sketch better then the ACEO! lol He just seems to look a little bit cuter in pencil then he does in color, maybe I chose the wrong colors?  I'm not really sure, or maybe its just me?  who knows, what do you think?  Is he cuter in pencil or color or does it not make a difference to you? I would love to hear your opinions, comments and criticisms in the comments below!

Thanks for looking! Ciao for now! ♥

Dream Big

Unfortunately I'm still not feeling very well but I wanted to share the ACEO that I finished, it was the WIP from yesterday.  I don't have anything started to show you at the moment and I didn't write a poem to go with this one yet either.  I do intend on coming up with a poem for this one at some point so I will probably come back and add it in eventually.  Hopefully I get feeling better soon and get things back on track around here!!  I have a big art show coming up August 24 & 25 weekend which is why I have been building my ACEO collection back up again amongst other things as well, just hard to do much when your sick! blah

Dreams 6

ACEO Mixed Media Original

2.5" x 3.5" on mixed media art paper

available on Etsy HERE

Thanks for looking! Ciao for now! ♥

Head In The Clouds

Dreams 5

ACEO on Mixed Media Art Paper

Mixed Media Original

Available on Etsy HERE

No one is who they seem

in this ever growing crowd

she's lost in a dream 

with her head in the clouds

~ Lizzy Love

I'm not feeling too well today so I'm just going to keep this post short and sweet.  This next pic is the ACEO that I am currently working on, I should have it done by tomorrow and will post the finished pics then.

ACEO WIP

Mixed Media Original on Linen Canvas Paper

Thanks for looking! Ciao for now! ♥

Summer Snowballs

Just going to be a quickie post for you today to share a new ACEO that I have done, its the owl WIP from yesterday.  I don't have a poem to go with this one either so like I said, a real quickie! lol

Summer Snowballs

ACEO Mixed Media Original

2.5" x 3.5" on mixed media art paper

on Etsy HERE

I don't have a WIP to share with you today as I am still working on the other one I shared with you yesterday and have yet to start anything new.  I'm sure something new will blossom later today! lol

In the meantime I would love to hear your thoughts, questions or criticisms below in the comments!  As always thanks for looking and ciao for now! ♥

ACEO ~ ATC ~ Art Card

You may have noticed already but I'm back on an ACEO kick!  Over the past couple of days I have shared the new ACEO's that I have created and been asked about 5 different times "Whats an ACEO?"  So I decided before I go any further with the new ones today I would take a moment to answer that question once and for all in case there is still anyone left out there wondering "what the heck is an ACEO?" lol  To make this easy I just copied and pasted the web definition from Google as they tell it perfectly!

Artist trading cards (or ATCs) are miniature works of art about the same size as modern trading cards baseball cards, or 2 1⁄2 by 3 1⁄2 inches (64 mm × 89 mm), small enough to fit inside standard card-collector pockets, sleeves or sheets. The ATC movement developed out of the mail art movement and has its origins in Switzerland. Cards are produced in various media, including dry media (pencils, pens, markers, etc.), wet media (watercolor, acrylic paints, etc.), paper media (in the form of collage, papercuts, found objects, etc.) or even metals or fiber. The cards are usually traded or exchanged. When sold, they are usually referred to as art card editions and originals (ACEOs).

I have 3 to share with you today! First off is the WIP that I shared with you yesterday is now finished, it is #4 of my ACEO Dreams Series, mixed media on mixed media art paper.  I have written a poem about this one which I will share here with you in a minute.  I just also wanted to let you know that I did write poems about the last 2 that I created as well and not only are the poems written on the backs of the ACEO's but I also went back and added them into the blog posts and the Etsy listings so if you want to read them here are the links Dreams 2 and Dreams 3.

Dreams 4

Mixed Media ACEO

2.5" x 3.5" on mixed media art paper

Available on Etsy HERE

Some dreams are big 

other ones are small 

they can be short 

or mighty tall 

some times your dreams 

you sleep right thru 

other times your dreams 

they do come true

~ Lizzy Love

I actually have 2 WIP to share with you today!  The first one here is going to be an owl when it is finished and I am not sure if you can make out the sketch of the owl on top of the paint or not, I haven't started to paint the owl in quite yet.

So far I started with a piece of mixed media art paper cut to size.  I collaged a bunch of small pieces of sheet music that would of otherwise been scrap as they were so small to the card first. I then added acrylic paint, I guess I over did it a bit with the paint as you cant see much of the sheet music at all now! lol I sketched the owl out on white tissue paper and applied it with gel medium to the surface and that is as far as I've gotten with this one so far.

This next one is going to be #5 of my Dreams Series and it is going to be another big eyed girl.  So far with it I used a piece of mixed media art paper cut to size.  I did something a little different with this one, something I never did before as I just had the idea last night.  Im sure a lot of other artists out there already know and do the little technique using Tim Holtz distressed inks by applying the ink in a couple of colors to the Ranger craft mat and then adding water and placing your paper or in this case my ACEO in the water ink mixture then lifting it up to see what you got.  Well in this case I did that with spun sugar and broken china distressed inks only instead of spritzing water on it I spritz Perfect Pearls mist in the perfect pearl color which is just translucent shimmering white.  I am in love with the result!!!!!  Well, you can see for yourself...

Ok, the pic above does not do it justice at all!!!!!!  This card shimmers so beautifully and when you tilt in the light you get all these shimmering blues, grays and pinks through out the whole card, it is really something!  So after I did that with the inks, I added the clouds and raindrops and a postal stamp but wish I hadn't done the postal stamp, its ok though because I will be painting the girl in and hopefully she is going to cover up most of it anyhow.  

I should have these 2 WIP done by tomorrow to share with you!  Thanks for looking and if you have any questions please feel free to leave them below and I will try to answer them the best I can!

Ciao for now! ♥

Dreamer Of Dreams

Yesterday I shared with you the ACEO that I was working on and today I have it finished and photographed and so super pleased with how it turned out!

In case you missed yesterdays post, this is what it looked like then...

and this is what it looks like now...

#3 in my ACEO Dreams Series

Dreams 3

ACEO on Linen Canvas Paper

2.5" x 3.5"

For Sale HERE

"Behold these eyes

they're not what they seem

there's magic in the sky

they're the dreamer of dreams"

~ Lizzy Love

Heres a pic of my current WIP, its also a mixed media ACEO but doesn't have quite so many layers as the last one did.  I started out with a piece of cold press watercolor paper cut to size.  Ripped a piece of newsprint slightly smaller then the card and sealed it down in the middle of the card using Mod Podge. I then distressed the entire card using Tim Holtz distressed inks in Broken China (blue) and Spiced Marmalade (orange) (I told you I'm really digging those colors right now lol thats 3 ACEO's in a row with that color combo!!)  Next I distressed just the edge in Black Soot (black).  I used a honeycomb stencil and sprayed a golden orange color of Smooch Spritz at one end and a blue color at the other end thru the honeycomb stencil.  Im not sure what the proper names are of the Smooch Spritz are cuz they dont say it on the bottles and I thru out the packaging when I bought them so it is what it is. lol  Next I added a small piece of striped blue washi tape at the bottom right corner and then I drew out a girl on tissue paper, cut her out and sealed her to the ACEO using gel medium.  I give my reasoning behind why I do this in tissue paper in yesterdays post near the bottom if you are curious.   Finally I just started to paint the girl in before I took the pic so thats where Im at now....

I am planning on using blue for her hood since you really dont see much of the blues that I already used, the orange is very over powering and the girl covered up a good portion of it too.  I should have this ACEO finished tomorrow to share with you.  

Thanks for checking out my art! Ciao for now! ♥

Pickled Pajamas

You may remember a couple of months ago I had a Giveaway on my FB Page for getting to 1000 "likes" and the winner got to tell me what they wanted me to paint for them.  Over the past couple of weeks I have been working on the winners custom painting and finally just finished it last night.  

The specifications I got from her were...  Use book pages and sheet music, the colors pink and purple, the same girl from a previous painting I did titled "Pondering",  give the girl freckles, put cat ears on her head and throw a panda in somewhere.

This is what I came up with...

Pickled Pajamas

12" x 9"

mixed media original on canvas

Prints available on Etsy

While Im here I thought I would share an ACEO WIP that I am working on at this moment...

I will tell you a bit about my process so far for this mixed media ACEO.  I cut a piece of linen canvas paper 2.5" x 3.5" in size (standard ACEO size), I then used Tim Holtz distressed inks in broken china and marmalade with water to create a background (you cant see much of it at all now) lol  I then covered it in white tissue paper to add texture.  Once dry I used mesh dry wall tape putting a larger piece at the bottom right corner and a small piece top left corner.  I used cobalt teal and cadmium orange hue acrylics and added some more color.  The music notes are Tim Holtz washi tape and the black circles are a stamp with black staz on ink, and finally to complete the background I used a paintbrush to splatter white acrylic paint randomly all over the card. The girl I drew in pencil on tissue paper and then cut her out and applied her to the ACEO with gel medium.  The reason I do this is because once you get all this texture and color built up on the artwork it makes it really difficult to sketch anything in pencil on the surface. The reason I use tissue paper and not regular drawing paper is because the tissue paper is so thin that once applied with the gel medium you can hardly tell that it is even there.  Once I paint over the tissue paper you will never know it was ever there unless I tell you like I am now! lol  If you do this process with regular drawing paper or even just white printer paper you will be able to see the paper line and it will look like it was applied to the painting after the fact instead of looking like part of the painting.  Just a little trick I've taught myself over the years. :)  

I should be able to show you this finished ACEO card tomorrow. Ciao for now! ♥