New Awning!

I'm so excited that the first of my window awnings

went up today by son #3  Isn't it cute!

Click here and here to see more pictures 

of my Funky Farmhouse

Here it is up close.

Just like my front door and mailbox it was sealed 

with PYM II to protect and seal it for years 

to come.

Pumpkin Make-Over

On my trip to the dollar Tree store I

picked up the following Styrofoam pumpkin

and cool stickers and turned them into

THIS below:

Supplies Used

Styrofoam Pumpkin White Glue (any white glue will do) Brush Punchinella

Vintage Book Pages Pigment Inks Stickers PYM II

I've gathered my supplies	Start by tearing your book pages into strips and coat the pumpkin and the strips with watered down white glue.
Smooth any air bubbles and wrinkles (you don't want) out with your finger. Allow the pumpkin to dry.	Using the inks add highlights and color using the punchinella as a stencil.
Add your stickers where you desire and burnish well with the cap of a pen.	Add 3 or more coats of the white glue allowing each coat to dry in-between.
Once your pumpkin is dry seal it with PYM II to keep it from getting sticky from the glue.	Check out your Dollar Storeand see what you can find to alter and enhance with your creativity!

Altered Shoes, Clown Shoes or Fairy Shoes.... You decide...

  I couldn't resist coloring my plain ole white tennies using my new Neon Color Mists! Here's a funny I have to share....After I had colored & sealed them I had them sitting on my table outside drying, and I caught a glimpse of them out of the corner of my eye from the window....my immediate thought was WOW what are those bright things out there Ohh cr** those are my shoes!!! Wow they are way brighter in the daylight then they looked....OMG!! its official I have my very own clown shoes Fairy Shoes! LOL  

I had previously washed my shoes in the washer and dryer so I was ready to mist away on my shoes!  It can be pretty messy so I made sure I put  paper down (I save the paper for after so I can use it for other projects like backgrounds). It took a lot of layers and using the heat gun in between each layer to get them to this point. Patience is needed at this point.  When they were fully dry I then sealed them with PYM II since PYM  makes things waterproof its perfect for my Color Mists.   Have I mentioned how much I love PYM II, I use it on everything!

--Update--
I was still contemplating adding something else 

to help tone the shoes down and I finally decided to use Krylon's black spray webbing and then I
sealed them again with  PYM II

 Now I'm happy with them :-)


Artistic Inspirations to
help you create!

www.OutsideTheMargins.com

PYM II Sale!

I don't know about you, but I always get excited at the mention of a sale! ,I thought I'd pass this May Special on to you! The wonderful folks over at Precision-Blue are offering a PYM II special for the month of May!!! If you aren't familiar with PYM II let me enlighten you...PYM is the ultimate acrylic sealer! Its a waterproof and UV repellent and what I use on all my artwork, metal work, photos, ink jet prints, and anything I put outside that's going to get hit by our hot California sun! I have a mailbox that's over 2 years old that I painted and it still looks exactly like when I first painted it no fading whatsoever! If I could I would have sprayed my entire house after we had it painted! LOL The other things I love about PYM II is that it dries fast and takes on whatever finish you originally had!

<==check the archives to view previous posts

Welcome Banner

(Click to enlarge)

Hi, I'm Aileen and I'm a banneraholic...well okay so maybe I'm not quite that bad but I am addicted LOL so anyhow here's my newest banner I created for my front door. Since it is outdoors and it will get hit by the morning sun I made sure to seal it with PYMII so it wouldn't fade.

<==check the archives to view previous posts

Product Shout-Out!

I'm sure you've heard me mention PYM II before, and I admit I never tire of letting people know about this product I love it so much! I even have hubby sold lock, stock, and barrel on this awesome product! I don't embrace a product easily, but once I do I'm sold! I use PYM II on all my art pieces, along with everything around the house and especially outside items like my hand-painted mailbox. I recently used it on an outdoor flag so it wouldn't fade!

Right now the wonderful folks over at Precision-Blue has a show special going on for the month of March $16.95 $14.95 12 0z. and 6 0z. 11.95 $8.95. **Free shipping on 4 or more cans

Here's some of the reasons I love it:

• UV protects your projects! (this is a biggie for me) I have a mailbox and some brightly colored out door metal wall geckos that after 2 years in direct sunshine still look brand new
• Dries Fast as lightening 2-3 mins. to touch!
• Doesn't have a strong or lasting chemical smell-it does have a perfume smell but dissipates very quickly and doesn't last.
• Seals and protects against moisture.

Check out their website and read more about it and watch their demos!

http://www.precision-blue.com/Demo.html

<==check the archives to view previous posts

My Art Challenge Answer...

I am so thrilled, amazed and inspired by all the comments people have posted in answer to my art challenge question & blog giveaway! Honestly, each and every post has been very insightful and inspiring for me, thank you, thank you to ALL who have posted!! I wish I could send each one of you a prize for taking the time to post! Please know though that your comments, I am positive, are inspiring for others as well! If you have a moment take the time to read through the comments HERE.

So in answer to my own question the ART challenge I want to accomplish in 2009 is to stick to keeping an art journal. Ideally I'd love to do a page a day, but realistically if I at least do a page every other day or two then I will be satisfied. Being realistic in your expectations of yourself is an important factor to sticking with your challenge, so keep that in mind. If your challenges seem too huge and unrealistic try breaking them down into smaller goals and tackle them little by little....at least for me this works, otherwise I get overwhelmed by the larger picture and give up completely.

I have several sketch books where I draw ideas and designs, but keeping an art journal will be different then that for me. In my art journal I will be journaling feelings and thoughts as well as ideas. I've never been comfortable in keeping a diary/journal its always felt too evasive....this blog is as close as I've come to that, so this will be a good challenge for me pushing me outside of my comfort zone just enough.

So with that said I have posted my second art journal page. It's a preliminary sample of what I plan to paint on my front door this spring after hubby gets the door fixed and prepped for me. Its taken me a couple years since we first painted our brightly colored funky farmhouse for me to decide on how I wanted to paint the door. Once I'm done painting I will roll on a layer of PYM II to seal it from the sunlight just like I did with my mailbox which has not faded after almost 2 years. I cannot say enough about how awesome PYM II is! I have solely used this product on my art for almost 2 years now and swear by it! I also cannot say enough about how wonderfully nice, and helpful the creators Doug and Donna Shepherd are to work with!

Art Journal Page

Front Door Sample

I started by sketching the design with a black micron pen and then used a travel set of watercolors and watercolor pencils to fill in. Once that was dry I went back over it with Shiva paintstiks (the squares are representation's of the windows that are in my front door just in case your wondering...what the heck those are! lol).

<==check the archives to view previous posts

Homemade Christmas Gifts Part 2

I thought I'd share my finished tag added to the bottle of Mead (see previous post). I added a bit of history on one side and on the other side I added how to drink mead. Nothing too fancy just a bit of info for the novice mead drinker ;-)

I had a few people ask me what I used for the labels. I bought some gum backed labels that are made for bottling. Most brewing companies sell labels, just google it. I then printed them out with my handy dandy HP ink jet printer and then sealed them with what else but PYM II they are now waterproof! At first I was going to use full size sticker paper labels found at the office supply store, but I'm glad I didn't because I could just see my labels being all catty wampus and with the gum backed labels you can just slide them around until you get them nice and straight.

<==check the archives to view previous posts

PYM II aka CI Super Seal Video

Many of you have heard me rave about PYM II , now also known as CI Super Seal, and how much I love this product! I was always a Krylon user but after using PYM II, I was sold-lock, stock, and can! For those that haven't tried it yet, I thought you might be interested in watching a demo of this product at CHA. You can check with the companies for their shipping prices.

Here's a list of some of the things I've used PYM aka CI Super Seal on:

Ink Jet prints, Ink jet transparencies, over watercolors, Color Mists, Paper Flowers, fabric, shoes, painted mailbox, metal and rusted items. All my artwork is now sealed with PYM to keep it from fading and to protect it from moisture. The thing I love best about PYM is that it will leave it the same finish and texture as it started out as and because it dries so fast!

Gouache Painting

I finished up a couple more gouache painted pieces. For the base I used masonite panels that I have to say, I'm quite addicted to using them, because they don't warp and are a hard surface to work on unlike Canvas boards which tend to warp. To me the masonite seems more versatile, not only can I get them wet, I can drill or screw things into them to add heavier items as well. I'm really loving the 5"x9" panel size. I've decided to start carrying both the panel size and the pre gessoed 8"x10" masonite boards which incidentally work great with the Color Mists! I love the smooth white surface to start from. If your interested in trying these check with your local art supply or you can get them from my online store Outside The Margins HERE.

On both of the following panels I gave them a quick coat of white gesso and then painted the backgrounds using gouache watercolors. I mix a lot with white to get the different highlights and hues. Once the backgrounds were finished I sealed them with PYMII and then added the images I painted with the gouache paint and sealed lightly with PYMII. Since I'm still trying to use up things I have I cut the bird from some scrapbook paper and used some stickers for the wings and crown on the second piece. Once I adhered the images with gel medium I go back and outline with a black water soluble oil pastel and work it in using my finger and remove any excess with a baby wipe to add shadow and give depth to the images.

Here's the before picture I used and then the after picture which I painted with the gouache paints and again adding further detailing with pens, I then sealed it with PYMII and adhered it to the masonite panel:


...Again the before picture, and after picture once it's been cut out:

I like to go in after and add detail and highlights with a black Micron pen and Pastel Sailor Pens.

Here it is completed:

***************

Again in my need to try and use up some of the supplies I have lying around on my work space I made this copper triptych shrine. I aged the copper using Color Mists then zapping it dry with the heat gun. I then cut out the shape, embossed it with a ball point pen and then sealed it with PYMII . I also used up more of some bird stickers I probably will never be able to use up in my life time and some decorative paper and a tag board alphabet initial.

Happy Creating!