Art Journal Page with Tandi Art collage

Hi lovelies!

How is it November already? I feel like I haven't done as much art this year as I had envisioned. I did complete this cute album, which I'm happy about, as well as participating in this year's postcard art exhibit. So there's that.

This past weekend I created another art journal page using the cute images from Tandi Art Cut & Collage book. I wrote about it in my previous post.

These are hugely popular in the mixed media / art journaling community, so today I'm sharing my fun (and easy) journal idea. 

For my background I applied white gesso mixed with light turquoise, olive and gold ochre acrylic paint. I used a color shaper to smoosh the color around. This is such a fun process - no skill required. The color shaper pictured bottem left is a tool like a brush, but with a silicone piece attached, similar to a spatula. I also dripped in violet ink and made a few splatters with pink ink. I was going for a painterly effect.

Next, I fussy cut a few Tandi Art collage images which I thought would go well with the background. I then proceeded to glue them on the background along with some neutral papers from my stash. I used gel medium to glue them down. I also stuck down a few torn pieces of washi tape here and there.

 

I continued layering with more collage bits and pieces and arranged them in a pleasing composition. I used one of my favorite stencils to add pattern in some areas with white paint. Lastly, I highlighted some areas with crayons.

 

Thanks for reading. Have a beautiful day!

Creativity is Magic

Hello Blog Friends!

It's back to art this week. With the shortening days I had almost forgotten how quickly it gets dark in my studio downstairs. Currently, it's also quite noisy as there are new people moving into the house next door and these past two weeks my art making has been accompanied by hammering and drilling sounds. I wish they would just hurry up, move in and get settled already. ugh.

On to more pleasant things.

I created this set of Washi Tape Artist Trading Cards (ATC). They are incredibly easy to make. Just grab your favorite tapes, a botanical stamp and a bird image. Start with neutral tapes, then add one or two colorful ones (tiny pieces suffice), stamp the leaf image and stick down the bird. I made a process video here.

I'm not sure if I have shared the following page before. I played around with acrylic inks, diluting them to make them very flowy, almost like watercolors. I painted random shapes and achieved an interesting layering effect. Just for fun I painted a face with flowy hair. There's a video in my channel, if you would like to see the entire process.

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I also enjoyed creating the following pages in my small art journal. The collaged images are from Polish illustrator Sylwia Gryczuk, who resides in Ireland. She draws these quirky, colorful, childlike images for her brand called Tandi Art. I had purchased her cut out and collage book a while ago, but only got around to creating with it now. I like supporting artists who do not use AI to create their work. I painted backgrounds that matched her whimsical style and added a few of my own sketchy elements and doodles. What do you think?

 

By the way, this blog post took forever, as blogger refused to upload my pictures. I had to try several times. Is anyone else experiencing this issue?

Anyway, thank you for reading along and your lovely comments. I really appreciate them! Have a good week.

Garden Love ~ Gut Heidefeld

Hello lovely readers!

This post comprises the final stretch of my Autumn walk at Gut Heidefeld. If you missed parts one and two you can catch up here and here.

In the second photo you can catch a glimpse of the back of the guesthouse which is attached to the Café above. This is where, at the end of my walk, I enjoyed a steaming cup of tea and a scrumptious slice of apple cake.

Row upon row of a variety of potted hostas (and there are plenty) in their early stages. Eventually these will be planted into the ground. There's something so lovely about these little pots - they put a huge smile on my face 😊

Some of the pathways were especially narrow - I did not know where this particular path would lead me and that itself was wonderfully delightful! Others, like the one in the picture above were comfortably wide, and where I happened to spot a pond bird busy picking at fallen fruit. 

Although the main flower season is over, there were still a few bright pops of color to be seen. The holly bush immediately had me thinking of the upcoming Christmas holidays!  

The garden had a large area devoted to rhododendrons. In summertime this patch must surely be bursting with glorious color and worthy of attention. How happy was I when I discovered this single pink blossom hanging on?! As fellow blogger Anette mentioned in a comment the other day, it's a wonderful gift of nature!

Toward the end of this leisurely walk a little face (sculpture) peeked out from within the bushes - as if to say "see you again next time". Oh, I absolutely plan to re-visit next year in Summer! 

I hope you enjoyed this virtual garden walk. Thank you for stopping by and have a great day!

Garden Impressions ~ Gut Heidefeld

Hi everyone!

I'm still sifting through the photos I took on my walk through the gardens at Gut Heidefeld. This is part two. Since it's October not many flowers were left. I did spot a few bright spots along my leisurely walk and, of course, there are a large amount of evergreen plants to admire as well. Apart from the numerous trees, plants and shrubs, there were various ground-covering plants that were highly interesting. The groundskeeper thoughtfully stuck little signs next to most of the plants, so my walk was visually stimulating as well as educational. 

"The protector"

All of the sculptures amongst the plants, hidden in nooks and other surprising places are by local sculptor Wilhelm Bollwerk (1936 - 2022).

The Orangerie (conservatory) pictured above was built to provide shelter for the numerous potted plants during the winter months.

Fuchsias defying the chilly weather!

The above sculpture had me smiling. It depicts a choirmaster on the right hand side and the choir on the left.

Another resting place amongst the shrubs and plants. Note the chili plant in the bottom corner. This will probably be moved into the Victorian style conservatory shortly. 

I think that's enough pictures for today :) 

Thank you for visiting my blog and have a wonderful day.

An Autumn Walk at Gut Heidefeld

Hello lovelies!

I had fully intended to visit more gardens over the summer months, but then illness struck, leaving me with no choice but to stay home and recover. It's mid-October now, the flowers have long wilted and nature is preparing for the cold months. However, I did not want the year to end without having visited at least one garden in the area. Gut Heidefeld seemed like a good choice - their grounds were still open to the public at this time of year and there's a cute Café adjoining the garden. I'm always up for tea and cake!

Let's start with a little bit of history. The estate dates back to around 1811 and it was initially used as a residential castle with the surrounding grounds mainly used for agricultural purposes. Fast forward to 2010, when a local family acquired the estate of Heidefeld along with the land. The family roused it from its slumber, and with great attention to detail, transformed it into the beautiful gem it is today.

The garden contains an enormous variety of trees, flowers, plants and herbs - my head kept swiveling from one to the next - a few of them familiar, but some I had never seen nor heard of before. I took a ton of photos and will share these across several posts. I hope you will join me for a virtual walk.

 Amazingly these gorgeous roses were still blooming.

It was sunny but quite chilly on this day. The leaves have already turned orange and brown or have fallen off. It was very quiet and peaceful here at the fountain. 

The entire garden is interspersed with sculptures by local artisan Wilhelm Bollwerk. A nice surprise when you discover them among the plants and trees! 

These are "Garden Guardians"

Sometimes it pays to look down.

There were plenty of benches or chairs to sit and just soak in the surroundings.

I did not see many birds, but I did spot this owl sculpture.

The walk isn't over yet, but I will pause here, as I feel I have already posted way too many pictures. I hope you enjoyed them so far. See you next time and have a wonderful day!