R's Test Muse

Two New Artist Trading Cards & New Songs

2011-09-18T13:44:00.004-05:00

I spent the day in my art room messing around and ended up making a couple new ATC's. Time in the art room is so nice and relaxing... with music playing and endless creativity. It usually feels like I should be creating a lot more in the time I spend, but I guess the process just takes time. I do have one other project I started yesterday as well, but I haven't finished it yet, when I do I will take a picture so I can post it. I haven't quite figured out what it will be.

The ATC below, I set on a black background to take a picture. I like it so much on there, I am thinking of mounting it on black and just hanging it on the wall.

I also changed up my play list of music for my blog. I will have to listen to it a few times before I know I will be keeping it as is, but I hope you like the songs I chose.

Thanks for stopping by.

Peace & Love-
Risa

A new painting

2011-08-14T11:56:00.003-05:00

It has been forever since I added anything to this blog... but I finished a painting, so I wanted to post it! I can't say it is one of my best, but I find the painting process very therapeutic.

I hope everyone is doing well. I have missed seeing every one's work, so I am glad to be back!

Peace & Love-
Risa

new polymer clay pendants

2010-05-07T09:01:00.001-05:00

I made some new pendants with polymer clay!!!

Thanks for taking a peek!

Peace & Love--
Risa

It's been a long time...I'm back!

2010-05-03T11:27:00.003-05:00

It has been quite a long time since my last blog post. 5 months... wow. So, I guess I need to catch my blog up with what I have been up to...

I discovered what fun I can have with polymer clay! Thanks to my friends Merry & DJ who taught me some basics, I have totally taken off with it and have been having a blast... so much so that this past weekend my friends Rhea, Merry & I had our first experience showing our stuff at an art show. It was a lot of fun, and I could not have asked for better partners to do this with.

We now have a new etsy store where I have just started to post our stuff. There is a mini store link on the right side of my blog where you can click and check it out.

Here are some of my newest designs:

I hope you will go check out my store and see more of my designs....and I can't wait to start browsing the blogs again to see what you all have been up to.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Peace & Love-

Risa

Polymer Clay Pendants

2009-09-15T12:17:00.004-05:00

Wow...it has been a while since I actually completed a project and added it to my blog. My cousin Nikki introduced me to some neat people who work with polymer clay, and she hosted a craft day for us. I had so much fun that I have jumped into the world of polymer clay. I need to take a picture of the polymer clay rose that DJ taught us how to make and post it here... it is really pretty!

These are some pendants that I made last night:

Thanks for coming to check out my art. I hope to have time for more soon.

Peace & Love-

Risa

A few pendants

2009-07-20T12:35:00.002-05:00

Here are a few pendants I made.... the pictures are crappy, but the pendants are cute. so use your imagination a little and pretend the picture was great and they look nice... LOL

Thanks so much for visiting!
Peace & Love,

Risa

My mini moos are so cute, and free shipping is you want some

2009-07-14T07:43:00.003-05:00

They are like little slices of my art work made into mini business cards! Take a look:

Everyone I show them too goes crazy over them and wants to pick their favorite!

If you want to order some you can use this coupon code and get free shipping on your order: K8TH6G

Hope everyone has a great day!

Peace & Love-
Risa

A Birthday Present

2009-07-11T10:03:00.003-05:00

The other day was a friends birthday and I wanted to make her something special. I forgot to scan it or photograph it when I was through, so I took a couple pictures with my phone in different lights to try to get a good one. Neither one of the pics really do it justice....but at least you get the idea. The background was actually acrylic paint, a really pretty swirly mix of red and yellow that produced some nice oranges.... but it was not all orange as it appears in the picture. The butterfly was from Tim Holtz grunge board. I painted it with acrylic paints and then used my stamp pad to add the black areas and then dipped it in UTEE for the shine.

Thanks so much for visiting!

Peace & Love,
Risa

Happy 4th of July!

2009-07-04T14:38:00.002-05:00

I hope everyone is having an awesome holiday weekend. I spent some time adding some shelves to my craft room. That will sure help me stay better organized so I can actually find stuff! LOL... I am sure most of you know what I mean!

Today I am the guest host for a challenge blog called Saturday Surprise. Please go check it out and join in the fun!

I hope every one is having a wonderful and safe weekend!

Peace & Love,
Risa

Earrings

2009-07-03T16:23:00.003-05:00

Today I had lunch with my friend Veronica who I have not seen in 20 years, as well as my friend Beth. Last night I was thinking that I wanted to bring them a little something, so I made them these earrings:

I think they turned out great! Alcohol inks make everything beautiful!

Thanks for visiting!

Peace & Love,
Risa

Pendants

2009-06-29T07:30:00.004-05:00

I guess I was on a jewelry kick over the weekend! I made these pendants yesterday. I must say though, the picture is not very good. They look much better in real life!

Thanks for visiting!

Peace & Love-

Risa

2 Red Bananas Chalenge

2009-06-28T17:23:00.003-05:00

This week's challenge on 2RedBananas was to make something that this picture inspires.

So, right away the beautiful blue color caught my eye...and I love the beach...and walking on the beach collecting sea shells. So, I put together this necklace. I used blue hemp cord to hang it on and filled the cute little bottle with tiny sea shells, and then hung 2 like charms on the side.

So that is what the pictures inspired for me! Thanks to my friend Rhea for being such a great necklace model.

Peace & Love,

Risa

And the winner of the blog candy is...

2009-06-27T21:42:00.002-05:00

.....Linda! Her blog is called LiveArt and her work is fabulous! If you have not seen her blog, please check it out. Linda, your blog candy will be sent out to you this week!! Congratulations!!!

Peace & Love-
Risa

Hamsa

2009-06-25T08:56:00.012-05:00

I have tried and tried and tried to paint or draw a Hamsa. I had absolutely no success... then yesterday I realized that was the problem, I was trying to make myself paint or draw it. I needed to craft one... create one from pieces of something and let it come together and be art.

On my way home from work yesterday I stopped at Texas Art Supply and picked up some of that "bleeding" craft tissue. In case you aren't familiar, it is just like tissue paper, but the colors are made to bleed... so when you use it with anything wet, they bleed and blend.

So I cut out the shape of a Hamsa from a nice thick piece of sturdy cardboard. Then I chose 4 specific colors of tissue, because they are my friend Veronica's favorite ones, and ripped them up and decoupaged them onto the Hamsa cut out. I was impatient, so I used my heat tool and dried it. Then added more tissue in places that I felt needed more of a certain color, or blend of colors. At that point I felt like I was in grade school doing a tissue paper collage, LOL, because that it exactly what it was. After I was satisfied with the look and the coverage of the colors, I dried it again with my heat tool.

Then I started with my UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel). I melted layer after layer after layer with my heat tool until I had a nice thick slick surface. It is not perfect... there are bubbles and ridges and such... but it looks nice. The only think I didn't like so much is that it is no longer flat... it is kinda curved... but that is OK. I am going to mount it on that black board that is in the picture behind it and it will be awesome. It is a 12"x12" board that I painted with black gesso. I am going to turn it so it is a diamond with the Hamsa mounted in the center.

Since this weeks Charisma Cards Challenge is to make anything you want, I will use this for that challenge!

Thanks for visiting!

Peace & Love-
Risa

Oh my goodness!!! I got an award!

2009-06-23T07:51:00.012-05:00

Beth Jaffe at The Queen of Cups Runneth Over has given me this award! That is so sweet. I am just speechless. wow! Thank you so much Beth!

Now I get to do the same and pass this award on to some more deserving people.

Here are the instructions:

1. Accept the award and post it on your blog together with the name of the person who has granted the award and her blog link.

2. Pass the award to 15 other blogs that you have newly discovered.

3. Remember to contact the bloggers and let them know they have been chosen for this award.

So, to me the important word in instruction #2 is NEWLY... so, let me pass this award on to some blogs that I have recently discovered and that I am absolutely enjoying following:

1. Linda - LiveArt

2. Diana Evans - Back to the Drawing Board

3. Marie - Ozstuff Online

4. Yogi - Art With Yogi

5. Curly - Curly's Queue

6. Dianne - Dianne's Creative Place

7. Faye - Hastings Hall2

8. Wil - Vintage Wil

9. Lori - RavenPainting

10. June - Arty Retreat

11. Hermine - Hermine's Place

12. Bockel - Bockel24

13. Ed - Ed's Place

14. Karen - KazKrafts

for this last one, I am going to cheat a little bit, because this person is not new to me, but she just put up a new blog, so that counts in my book.. and I can give her new blog it's first award!

15. Emily - Modern Day Mona Lisa

Please visit these awesome blogs. They are great artists and I have really been enjoying their work.

Thanks again to Beth for giving me this award!

Peace & Love,

Risa

Diary 2010 Project

2009-06-22T07:49:00.003-05:00

Have you heard of the Diary 2010 project? This is it's third year, and it includes pages done by artists every where. I signed up for a page early on and there were plenty to pick from, so I picked my birthday. Here is my page:

There is still time to sign up and get your own page in the diary. Go to the web site and read more about it by clicking here.

Peace & Love-

Risa

UTEE Pendants

2009-06-21T22:15:00.004-05:00

Tonight I decided to try and make a couple pendants out of UTEE. This was my result:

Hope you all had a wonderful father's day and first day of summer!

Peace & Love-

Risa

Dad

2009-06-19T15:48:00.004-05:00

For my Dad for father's day I took one of those Michael's wood frames and painted it and I decoupaged a whole bunch of family pictures all around it. In the inside of the frame I used chipboard letters and stickers that say dad, daddy, father and put them all over. The middle looks fuzzy because I guess I should have taken out the glass before scanning it, but you get the idea.

There is a dad challenges this week on Fun Filled, so this fits the bill!

Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there!

Peace & Love-

Risa

WOW!

2009-06-19T07:51:00.002-05:00

Wow! I one of my bottle caps is listed in a Treasury of Houston about beaches on etsy. You can check it out here.

Since we are talking beaches, here is a quickie I did last night with alcohol inks and a stamp.

Hope you all have a good Friday!

Peace & Love-

Risa

Another new ATC

2009-06-17T22:10:00.003-05:00

After 2 days of jury duty, I had to come home and do something to relax! I spent 5 hours today arguing with 11 other people before we could come to a consensus on a verdict. I am not one who likes to argue... in fact it stresses me out to no end. But, I am glad we came to the conclusion we came to today, as I know it was the right one.

It was a suit over money. There was an automobile accident and one party was suing the other for damages. Actually, there were 3 parities involved in the accident. One of the parities was suing the one who was NOT at fault for causing it. The person who caused the accident had no money or insurance, so this person got sued. The lies I heard in the court room...WOW!

I am SO glad that it is over. When I got home, I created this ATC.

Theme Thursday's theme is Beautiful, so this fits right in!

Thanks so much for visiting!

Peace & Love-
Risa

New Blog

2009-06-15T19:27:00.002-05:00

I have a new blog that I made really just for me, but you might find it helpful too... it is to help me keep track of all those challenges out there!

Come check it out! http://allchallenges.blogspot.com/

~Risa

A few ATC's

2009-06-14T23:04:00.003-05:00

A few new ACT's... the first one for the TMTA Challenge.

Don't forget to enter for my giveaway here.

Peace & Love-

Risa

Fabric Covered Art Journal

2009-06-13T16:53:00.004-05:00

The Saturday Workout Challenge was perfect this week, because it was something I needed to do anyways. Fabric Art. I had bought a little picture/scrap book thing that was falling apart and on sale for like $1 at Tuesday Mornings. It was covered in some ugly fabric and it was kinda falling apart. So, I bought it with the intent to recover it and decorate it.

This week I also got interested in a Soul Journaling on-line group that my friend Emily told me about, so I thought this would be the perfect thing to use for that as well.

I used Golden's digital grounds on the fabric, let it dry and then printed a few things on the fabric and stamped a few things on. I had some fabric markers and so I colored in a few things.. and then I used alcohol inks in mini misters and just played with it. After it was all dry, I glued the fabric to the book (I had already removed the old fabric). Then I used black duct tape to re-inforce the "binding" area where the book folds, and put some black and white ribbon on top of parts of the tape... Now, I just have to sit down and do the actual journaling!

SO, here is my first ever fabric project, and my first ever art journal: (I do think it looks much better in person than in these pictures)

If you haven't done so already, check out my giveaway in my previous post.

Peace & Love-

Risa

Blog Candy! 13 Item Giveaway!

2009-06-13T09:53:00.007-05:00

It is Saturday, and time for some fun! Below you will see 3 photos of the blog candy that I have up for grabs!

What you need to do for a chance to win is:

Put a link to my BLOG CANDY on your blog, and then leave a comment on this post telling me where to see your link.

To double your chances of winning, become a follower of my blog and I will enter your name in the drawing twice!

On Saturday, June 27th, 2 weeks from today, I'll put every one's name in a hat and draw the name of the lucky winner!

Thanks for visiting, and good luck in the drawing!

Peace & Love,

Risa

MonaFae

2009-06-12T13:19:00.003-05:00

I made this for the Three Muses Challenge. I call her MonaFae. LOL!

Thanks for visiting my blog!
Peace & Love-
Risa

Where did my inspiration go?

2009-06-11T20:55:00.007-05:00

I have no clue where my inspiration, and my mind has gone, for that matter... I started off trying to do something for the TGIF- postage people challenge. Yes, I did start with 4 postage stamps, but I ended up with a collage of the Beatles, instead of art based on postage people... what can I say.... Here are what the original stamps look like:

Here is my collage:

Thanks for visiting!

Peace & Love,

Risa

Dreamer

2009-06-05T21:20:00.004-05:00

I have done 2 challenges in one, again. TGIF's Dream and Art Creations Friday's picture of the girl. And believe it or not, this was not a ready made scene that I plopped her into. I started with the girl, then added bricks, then added a window, and then added shutters, one at a time, then the flower box and then flowers and then the fence, one section at a time (there are 4 sections), and then of course the quote.... I guess even all those steps sound simple... I had fun thinking it up and finding all the parts, and getting the right shades of grey so they all went well together. I think it would make a great greeting card, or framed print.

Tomorrow I am going to the American Institute of Architecture's Sandcastle contest in Galveston. The sandcastles they do are incredible. Truly works of art. I work at an engineering firm and my boss is having me go down and promote our company. After the promoting is done, I will get to enjoy the sandcastles and the day...

I was thinking I might even take some inspiration from Pat and go looking for some mermaids tears when my job is done... I have been wanting to ever since I found her blog. I will let you know if I find any.

Thanks for visiting!

Peace & Love,
Risa

Another Card or ATC

2009-06-04T22:42:00.002-05:00

I did the background with alcohol inks, and put the rest on digitally. This is for the Cute Card Thursday Challenge. The theme is quotations.

I have decided to have my first giveaway. I just thought I would give every one a heads up, so if you like giveaways you can check back, or go ahead and follow my blog so you are sure not to miss out! It will take place sometime between tomorrow and Sunday.

Thanks for visiting!
Peace & Love-
Risa

A new ATC

2009-06-03T21:52:00.005-05:00

Today I had several projects I wanted to get started on. I had been thinking about them all day. Then I get home and what happens? I see that the challenge on Theme Thursday is people with Hats. And that brings to mind a photo I took last year of my little buddy Garrett playing dress up. He had on fairy wings, a necklace and a hat and he was having a great time using his imagination playing that day. So, I started with that picture.. and then I took some stamps that had elements I wanted to use, but they were not in the proportion I wanted them, so I stamped them on white paper and scanned them. Then I brought them each as elements together, and cropped and played with it.. and this was the end result. This also goes well for the Wednesday Stamper Challenge -Fairy, and the Simon says stamp challenge, because all but one of the stamps I used were Tim Holtz stamps!

I guess I have been doing so many colorful things lately that black and white just worked for me tonight. Maybe tomorrow I will be able to do some of those projects I didn't get to today. Thanks for visiting!

Peace & Love-

Risa

Acrylic Painting- Tuesday Challenge Circles

2009-06-03T08:13:00.002-05:00

This is an acrylic on 16" x 20" stretched canvas painting that I did a while ago, but it is one of my favorites. And it seemed so perfect for the Tuesday Challenge of Circles, that I just had to use it!

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace & Love-
Risa

Weekend art

2009-05-31T20:26:00.011-05:00

This weekend I had a lot of time to work on my art. I spent half the day on Saturday and the whole day on Sunday working on some new things. I had a request from a friend for some Judaic art. I thought that would be an easy task... but I was SO wrong. I have a full trash can, a complete mess of an art room, and a dozen half done projects that hit the reject pile. It was incredibly frustrating. I was totally not feeling it. I could not got into the art groove as much as I tried and tried. But, at the end of the day yesterday I did end up with one finished piece that I actually like.

I started with a transparency and applied alcohol inks for a background. Once that was dry, I turned it over, and on the other side I drew 2 doves and the word Shalom in Hebrew (peace in English). Since I drew them in black, they just kinda disappeared into the background. I didn't like it, so I tossed it to the side. I worked on a bunch of other things that I did not like either, and then I came back to this. I pulled out my gesso, and painted over the doves and the Hebrew with it. Then I had white blobs, so I went back and outlined it all in black. Wow, it sure changed the way it looked! I actually like it!

Since this is literally done in layers, it works for Mixed Media Monday's challenge this week.

I am going to try to take a second look at some of the other things that hit the reject pile and see if I can't salvage some of it like I did this one. Hope your weekend was not as frustrating as mine!

On another note, yesterday was my buddy Connor's 2nd birthday, so I want to wish him a VERY Happy Birthday. Here is a picture of him in my back yard on the tire swing.

I also want to thank Lee for the use of his printer/scanner. Lee is always there for me when it comes to issues with my computer, and I appreciate his help so very much.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Peace & Love-
Risa

Peace...after a VERY frustrating night.

2009-05-28T23:51:00.008-05:00

Well, I did not create what I had planned on last night because my printer/scanner died. I did everything I know to do to try to fix it. But it is truly a gonner. I guess I should be thankful for the years of scanning and printing it did for me.... but I scan and print things daily, so it is VERY frustrating!!! So, since I could not print out some elements I needed to do the art I was going to create last night, I decided to go see a free screening of a movie my girlfriend had passes to.

We got there and the only seats left were front row... not my favorite spot, but we decided to stay. About 3/4 of the was through the movie, it stops. After a while, they finally came to check on the problem. Apparently the movie was on a blue-ray disk, and for whatever reason, the player was stuck. So, after playing with all the settings and everything, they decided to reboot the machine. When it came back on, they no longer knew where the movie had left off - SO, instead of starting at the beginning and fast forwarding their way to the point it left off - they went to the end of the movie and hit rewind. We sat there and watched the ending 1/4 of the movie in rewind mode. Then they screwed up and lost the place again, and started the rewind process over. Finally, they gave up and just started the movie at some unknown point. We missed probably 15 minutes of the movie that we never got to see because they did not rewind far enough. But there is just nothing like having a movie ruined for you when you are AT THE MOVIES!

So, when I got home I decided I was going to do some other art project since I could no longer print. I had these brads that looked like buttons, and I needed to take the brad part off so I could use the button part... so I cut off the little metal tab thingies and I was pushing the extra little metal pieces down that were left over, as I have done many times before, and they stuck right into my finger... and now I was bleeding, and the fabric covered button thingie was now blood red. So... I got some anti biotic ointment and a band-aid and gave up on that project.

So I decided to give up and play with my alcohol inks instead. I loved the way the dragonfly piece looked yesterday, so I did something similar on a about a 5x7 piece of glossy card stock.

This also fits with the Purple and Green- Wednesday Stamper Challenge as well as the Bright Colors-Crazy Amigo Challenge.
Yes, I have done other things with my alcohol inks... made some pretty backgrounds that I will use later on other projects.. but I just love the batik-like look of this. I love batik, and tie-dye. I love peace signs. I am just a hippie at heart, what can I say... always have been. I guess I was just born at the wrong time.

Well, I hope my Friday goes a lot better than my Thursday. Thanks for listening to my ramblings.

Peace & Love-
Risa

Fly..... Mixed Media

2009-05-27T22:03:00.006-05:00

I created this with 2 challenges in mind - Created by Hand - Insects and Wednesday Stamper - Purple & Green. It was going to be an ATC, but it ended up being about 3"x4" and I didn't want to trim it. This is my first project with alcohol inks, my first use of a "resist" stamp pad, as well as my first attempt at embossing. I had a lot of fun!

This also works great for the Melange Challenge. Since the challenge is called Fly, I just could not pass up the chance to use my piece called Fly... if you have already seen this, thanks for visiting again..

As always, thanks for visiting!

Peace & Love,

Risa

Story Flirt

2009-05-27T15:05:00.006-05:00

(To get what I left you on my blog, click here.)

The other day I happened to find the blog Inspiration Flirtation. When I started reading about a challenge they were holding, I got very excited! They were creating their own "stories" in the style of Brian Andreas' Story People. I have been a fan of Brian's Story People for many years. I own several of his books and prints, I am a follower on his blog, and I look forward to my daily emails of the Story of the Day. So, naturally, this is a challenge I could not resist. So, here is my first or hopefully many attempts at a story flirt:

If you have not heard of the Story People before, please check it out. Your heart deserves it!

Thanks for stopping by.

Peace & Love-
Risa

My first ever ATCs

2009-05-26T22:50:00.007-05:00

If you are looking for what I left you on my blog, go down to the next post!

These 2 pieces below represent a few firsts for me.
My first time to make an ATC. My first time to create anything with the new digital grounds products by golden that I learned about in the class I won from Gail of Shabby Cottage Studio. My first time to win something on a blog contest. My first time to print on tin foil....yes this is actual tin foil. Not a sheet of some metallic paper or something like that. It is tin foil from my kitchen.

First I treated the tin foil with a layer of digital grounds for non porous surfaces and let it completely dry over night. Then I scanned a picture I had made in the past using encaustic wax. You can see it here. Then I printed it on the treated tin foil.

It came out looking really neat, but I had no idea what to do with it. So today I thought about it and decided that I would choose some silhouettes to print on it. I wanted to add something, but I didn't want to add anything with color to take away from the look of the background. So, I chose my images and again printed on to the tin foil. Then I took a couple of playing cards and used a glue stick to glue the finished images to the playing card... and here I have 2 ATCs! The second one is my favorite.

I really enjoyed making my first ATC's and I see myself trying many more firsts in my future!
Thanks for stopping by!

Peace & Love-
Risa

An award from Kristen's Kards and Klay!

2009-05-26T11:16:00.009-05:00

Oh my! I have never received an award before! This is exciting!!!

There are a few requirements to accepting the Honest Scrap Award and they are as follows:

1) I must thank the person who gave me the award and list their blog and link it: Kristen Hermanny presented me with the award, so thank you Kristen!! Please visit her awesome blog at: http://kardsandklay.blogspot.com/

2)Now, I must list 7 honest things about myself.
1. I work as a computer draftsman, so I draw all day long in the computer, but I can't draw at all by hand! I am practicing to try and get better, though!
2. I love music and collect musical instruments. I have 2 guitars (6 & 12 string acoustic), keyboard, dulcimer, rain drum, and several types of whistles and flutes.
3. I am a cancer survivor. I have 10 years of remission.
4. My father is running for Houston City Council in November.
5. My brother's family lives in New York and I hate that I am missing watching my 2 beautiful nieces grow up.
6. I am thankful for my job, but I really want to stay home and create art all day.
7. I wish I had a happier, more joyful personality so it was easier to make friends.

3) I must put a copy of The Honest Scrap Logo on my blog which I have proudly done!

4) I must select at least 7 other worthy bloggers & list their links so here they are listed in alphabetical order: (I am glad it says at least, cause I had trouble picking just 7)

Emily - http://www.blitheandblonde.com/
Gail - http://shabbycottagestudio.blogspot.com/
Jan - http://jandeesthisandthat.blogspot.com/
Judi - http://www.artdolls.info/
Kai - http://celebratingchristmasyearround.blogspot.com/
Linda - http://doorno2.blogspot.com/
Monica - http://girl-gone-thread-wild.blogspot.com/
Nancy - http://nancylefko.blogspot.com/
Pat - http://gatherings100.blogspot.com/

Thank you so much to Kristen, and to these bloggers I have listed above for being an insipration to my creativity!

Peace & Love,
Risa

Inspiration - Melange Challange

2009-05-21T08:45:00.004-05:00

This is my creation for the Melange Challenge. It really surprised me that it was as hard as it was for me to do something with the topic of "Inspiration". I sat and thought - "what inspires me?" I couldn't come up with one thing.... there were many things. Probably even more things that I could think of to add to this collage piece. Certain things inspire me more than others, of course. And there are also things that inspire me that I couldn't really show... But I guess the pictures give you a good idea of what inspires my life and creativity, and the words add to what inspires my art...

Thank you to everyone who lends their creative energy to keep me inspired and wanting to create art.

Here is the collage with out the words. A couple of people asked to see it, so I thought I would just post it, too.

Peace & Love,

Risa

Altered People - Mixed Media Monday Challenge

2009-05-19T22:04:00.002-05:00

OK, so I am sure this is not what they were thinking when they said Altered People. Since I have just not been in an inspired state of mind, my artistic side was not listening.... just my regular self was paying attention.. and when I started throwing that around in my head, Altered People, I started getting visions in my head of mutants and things like Pink Floyd's the Wall and their grinder, and Soilent Green....
But then it came, a blast from the past
It popped in my head, it popped in so fast
I thought of Dr. Seuss and his Sneetches with stars,
And I thought that was my best corny idea by far!

LOL, OK, I will quit with the silly poetry! Here is my creation:

I just want to thank Dr. Seuss for his contribution. I also want to let you know that no Sneetches were harmed in the making of this mixed media creation. I am hoping this sparks my imagination, and I will try to be more serious next time... maybe!

Thanks for visiting!

Peace & Love,
Risa

Another craft... trying to find my creativity...

2009-05-19T17:05:00.007-05:00

I have not been feeling at all creative or inspired in the least little bit... But I made myself sit down last night and create something.. just for the sake of creating. I can't say that it got my creativity flowing, but I do have a bunch of cute bottle caps for magnets or charms or pins or whatever.... I guess I should have photographed them individually because on some of them the details are lost, but I figured if anyone wants a close up of one in particular that they will ask me. I actually ended up putting them on my scanner and scanning them... You can't tell that the rhinestones are rhinestones. The one with the washer in it, the washer says "journey" on it, and behind the washer is a cut out of a map of a little city next to Houston named Pasadena. The streets are all named after berries. On the bottle cap's map you see the words: Strawberry Park, Raspberry, Blueberry, Huckleberry and parts of other berry streets.

If anyone out there finds my creativity or inspiration, can you please send it back my way?

Thanks for stopping by.

Peace & Love,

Risa

Being Crafty!

2009-05-08T11:48:00.003-05:00

I have been spending so much time painting lately that I have not really done anything crafty in a long time. So, I thought I would do a craft that was new to me. I came across a baggie of bottle caps that I had saved for just this purpose, so I decided to give it a try. I made 3 magnets for family members that I will be having an early Mother's Day dinner with on Sat. night. For my first try I don't think they turned out half bad. I created the graphics digitally, then used my 1" hole punch, and glued them in with a glue stick. Then I had my first experience using UTEE. Neat!

Then I made a pair of earrings to send to Barbara along with her dance picture. She loves sunflowers.

It was lots of fun. I can see my self making lots more of these!

Thanks for checking out my blog!

Peace & Love-
Risa

Mix it up With Melange & Theme Thursday Challenge

2009-05-06T22:20:00.003-05:00

It is funny there should be a challenge about dance this week. A very sweet girl I know named Barbara is about to graduate from college next week. I have been wanting to make her an art piece but I had no idea what to do. One of her majors is dance, so this challenge gave me the push I needed to get started.

Except for the mats, all the color is done in ink. I even cut out the dancers and inked them in black to silhouette them on the inked background. The artwork is 8x10 in an 11x14 mat. This is really my first experience doing a whole piece with inks and I enjoyed it!

The Mix it up with Melange Challenge can be found here.

The Theme Thursday challenge can be found here.

Thanks for stopping by!

Peace & Love-

Risa

Mother's Day

2009-05-05T20:54:00.008-05:00

This weeks Created By Hand Challenge, and Melange Team challange were both to do something about mothers... so since I planned to make my mom a card, I thought I would go ahead and use it for the challenge, too!http://createdbyhandchallenge.wordpress.com/
http://melangeonetsy.blogspot.com/2009/05/mix-it-up-with-melange-challenge-mother.html
I hope my mom does not pick this week to visit my blog, or it will spoil it! I have made a lot of cards digitally, but besides the construction paper type I made as a kid, I think this is the first one I made by hand. Of course I did print out the elements, thanks to some of the blogs I follow that offer free graphics. I don't remember which blogs, but I got the roses and the music background from them, so thank you!

Front:

Inside:

I think she will like it!
Thanks for visiting my blog!

Peace & Love-
Risa

A Fairy on a Flower....

2009-04-28T18:34:00.003-05:00

Today was started out with a flood, and I ended up working from home today. That gave me the chance to finish up this little 6"x8" acrylics on canvas board painting I had started. I like how the blue background turned out... and I really love the flowers.

Hope your day ended full of sunshine like mine did. Oh, and since some of you that asked, yes Merritt loved the butterfly piece I did for her.

Peace & Love-

Risa

Mixed Media ~ Butterflies

2009-04-24T16:00:00.004-05:00

Tonight I am going out to dinner with Merritt, a life long friend of mine. Her birthday was last Sunday, so I thought I would surprise her and create something neat for her. One thing she loves is butterflies. So, I did this mixed media piece on a 2'x3' canvas. I hope she likes it!

I hope that I will get a chance to do some more creating over the weekend so I will have more to share! I am thinking of trying to do some ATC's, but I am just not sure I can create something that small. We'll just have to wait and see what develops!

Thanks for coming to check out my art.

Peace & Love-
Risa

Three different types of paintings & Art on the Darkside Challenge

2009-04-17T00:58:00.007-05:00

I guess one day I will find my style. Until then, I am having fun doing a little bit of everything. Here are three paintings that I did using 3 totally different styles.

The first is mixed media on an 8x8 canvas board.

The second is acrylics on 6x8 canvas board.

The third is acrylics and I applied the tatoo butterfly with the gel transfer method. It was my first try with a gel transfer, so I think it turned out pretty good. I have looked at this one for about a week feeling like it was unfinished. I could never see what else I wanted to do with it, so I figured I would go ahead and share it. This one is good for the Art on the Darkside Tatoo Challenge.

Thank you for coming to see my art. Check back soon for more!

Peace & Love-

Risa

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Spring

2009-04-12T19:43:00.006-05:00

Today we took a drive in the country and I took the camera along. The wildflowers were out and so beautiful! Spring is here!

Hope you enjoyed my photos! I'll have more art soon.

Happy Easter, Happy Passover, Happy Spring!

Peace & Love,

Risa

I've been busy today!

2009-04-11T22:39:00.004-05:00

Here are 2 more paintings I did today. Both are a mix of acrylics and oils on 6x8 canvas board.

This one I also used some stickers and the wire word "dream".

Thanks for coming to check out my art!

Peace & Love,

Risa

Mixed Media ~ Goddess

2009-04-11T10:32:00.006-05:00

I just love this one! It seems very spring-like and happy. I used acrylic and oil paints on a small 6x8 canvas board. Then added the flower and the wire word "inspire".

I had fun doing this one, and I think I will be doing more similar types of things.
Thanks for coming to see my art!

Peace & Love-
Risa

Love ~ Mixed Media - SOLD!

2009-04-05T19:04:00.004-05:00

The weather today was so beautiful. I opened the windows and let the day in. I heard the birds chirping and the wind chimes and bells in the back yard making their beautiful music and I sat down to create.

This is acrylics, oil pastels, pieces of newspaper & a map, on an 8x10 canvas board.

I just wish we could get the weather to stay this beautiful.

Peace & Love-
Risa

Another try at Mixed Media

2009-03-31T22:53:00.003-05:00

Tonight I think I got as much paint on ME as I did the canvas! I still have yet to figure out how to take a good picture of my art. I did not even have the flash on and I STILL got a glare! Maybe I just need a new camera.

Well, here is my second mixed media painting. I took a couple close ups as well so you could see more details, with less glare. I had lots of fun creating it! (Don't forget to click to enlarge!)

I think I am really going to enjoy exploring the world of mixed media more and more.

Thanks for visiting!

Peace & Love,

Risa

My First Mixed Media Painting

2009-03-29T16:00:00.005-05:00

Yesterday I went to the Bayou City Art Festival. Usually I go looking for what I may want to buy, but yesterday I went to be inspired. There were so many talented artists there, with so many types of art. The thing that caught my eye the most was the mixed media paintings. I had never attempted that type of art before, but I always looked at and wanted to try, so today I did!

Here is my first ever attempt at a mixed media painting. It is hard to see the details in the photograph, so please click to enlarge.

I really enjoyed working on it, so I know I will be doing more in the future! Hope your weekend was as fun filled and creative as mine!

Peace & Love-
Risa

Wax Paintings

2009-03-27T16:36:00.004-05:00

Today I decided that even though I do not have the correct wax, or the cute little iron to do encaustic wax painting, I was STILL going to do SOME kind of wax painting. So, here are the three paintings I did today! The first 2 were done on special paper that I have for painting with acrylics, so they have a canvas texture to them. You can see it in places in the wax.

I used the color black in the first one, but not in the second, yet I can't tell a big difference as far as the black is concerned.

This last one I did between two pieces of clear transparency paper. No texture, but I do have some bubbles!

Well, it was a lot of fun. I hope one day to use the real stuff again, but until then, I am sure I will keep experimenting!

Peace & Love-
Risa

Encaustic Wax Painting

2009-03-25T21:26:00.004-05:00

Here is a painting I did a few years back using encaustic wax. I really had a lot of fun doing it. So, i thought I would share it.

I am hoping that I will get another opportunity to work with encaustic wax in the future. It was a fun medium to work with. Since I only did this and one other painting I really did not get a feel for how to control the outcome of the painting, but I got enough of a taste to know I liked it!

Peace & Love-

Risa

We are all caught up!

2009-03-24T17:54:00.004-05:00

These 3 paintings make up the latest ones I have done, and complete my body of work thus far. I guess that means once I get these posted, I had better get to work! These are all three done in acrylics.

This first one is my favorite painting that I have done so far!

Well, OK, I admit, a little tracing was involved here, but it came out nicely!

On this one I just could not seem to get a good photo. There is not that much red in the painting. It is really all shades of purple, but this is the best of the MANY photos I took, so I decided to go ahead and post it. I started by painting the canvas purple. Then used masking fluid for the dragonflies. And then swirled the different purples around it. Then removed the fluid, and this is what I got! It was fun since I had never used masking fluid before, it was a brand new thing for me!

So that gets us all caught up with my paintings, so I had better go paint some more! Thank you for visiting and come back often!

Peace & Love-
Risa

My first try at pastels

2009-03-23T11:21:00.013-05:00

During one of my visits to Hobby Lobby I decided to pick up some oil pastels. I had never used them before, and really had no idea what I would use them for. They sat in my craft box for about 6 months. Then one day I pulled them out and decided to see what I could do with them. Here are my creations:

This was my first one, just trying to figure out how to blend the colors and get a feel for how to work with them.

This was #2, which Kai says looks like Christmas, exploded! When she gets done with her move she can hang it at her new place to add to her joy of Christmas year round!

This is #3. I actually went out and bought a larger pack of pastels because I wanted more colors!

I did also have a set of chalk pastels that I took out and made one picture with:

Jenny came over one day and she really liked it, so I sent it home with her!

Those are my pastel drawings. I am sure I will re-visit the land of pastels sometime soon because I really enjoyed working with them... I liked blending it all together with my fingers. Very hands on, and fun!

Well, check back tomorrow, there is still more catching up with my art to do!
Peace & Love,
Risa

My Next Four Paintings

2009-03-22T10:08:00.008-05:00

Since I am trying to get my blog caught up to where I am in my life of painting, I thought that I would go ahead and share my next four paintings. They are all acrylic on canvas. I tried different techniques in each one that I either made up or read about on the Internet. I had fun doing each one. They were all created in extremely different ways. It was fun exploring different ways of painting and it was helpful in trying to figure out what I enjoyed in my paintings.

One thing I learned early on was that if I tried to force myself to paint something in particular, or if I had a certain vision set out for what I wanted it to look like, I would always end up disappointed. So, Now I always try to go to a canvas with an open mind and just see where it takes me. I have not come up with a really good method of photographing my art, but these seem to came out ok. So here are my next four paintings:

I am glad that you came back to take a peek at my work! Come back often, there is still more catching up to do!

Peace & Love-

Risa

Welcome!

2009-03-20T11:30:00.000-05:00

Wow! I have a blog. But now that I have it, what do I write? What do I say? What do I share?

I think my main vision for what my blog will be is a place to share my "art". I have recently taken up painting with acrylics on canvas and I am loving it, learning, growing and getting better at it all the time. I did my first painting because I wanted to paint a picture for my father. Over the years, when we went places, he would always point out art that he liked and he would say to me "You could do that." He had more confidence in my abilities than I did. Maybe it is because he is not artistic and because he knows I am creative, he thought it would just come naturally. WRONG! But thanks to him, I did start painting, and I am truly loving it. So, today, on my first blog post, I will share with you the first 2 paintings that I did for him.

I know I have improved since these first paintings, but I thought I should show you from the beginning.

I also enjoy crafting, photography and writing poetry. Over time I am sure I will be sharing many types of projects with you, as well as more of my art.

Thanks for stopping in to read my first ever Blog post.

Check back periodically and join me on my creative journey within.

Peace & Love,
Risa