Experimenting and Learning While Doing the Things!

We all have cabinets and drawers full of things that we saw someone do something really great with so we bought it.  Then we did the thing and didn’t know what else to do with it, so we stuck it in a drawer.

I don’t know about you, but one of the positive things that has come out of the last few months for me as I’ve quarantined at home is that I’ve been pulling that stuff out of the cabinets and I have been using it.

I’m experimenting and figuring out how else I can use it knowing what I know now.  I’ve also continued to take classes online and watch the Tim Holtz and Vicki Boutin Lives on Facebook and YouTube.  These are the designers and artists inventing the things we have in our drawers.  They have been graciously devoting several hours a week to these Live events to teach us all the ways to use the things we have in our stash.

I’m loving it!  Free classes from the actual designers and artists.  What a deal!

I have been working my way through a My Creative Scoop mega class the last few days.  I’m practicing techniques that I’ve already learned and learning even more new ones.

This was one of the classes that I took today.  The mega class has 7 classes and it includes the digital images.  Mindy Baxter designed this class to teach all kinds of Copic coloring skills.  I love the way she focuses on one part of the image at a time.  Each class is divided into several smaller videos.  If I don’t have time to complete the entire image in one sitting, I can do a couple of the videos and then come back to the project later.

I’m pretty comfortable now with water, skies, clouds and mountains. We’ve done those things in several of the classes that I’ve taken so far with Mindy.  I liked this one because I’m still working on the fur and giving clothes a textured look. I also liked learning how easy it was to give that rock a reflection in the water.

The first class we tackled in the mega class was designed to teach us braids and tree stumps.  I also loved the sunset and then this also included water, sand, grass, and clouds.

I LOVE this one!  I always print at least two copies of each image so that I can create one along with the video tutorials and then I can try one on my own.  These are the ones I created with the tutorials.  In a couple of days, I will try them on my own.  I want to create them myself and practice the skills that I learned.

I’m working to develop my own style.  At first I was taking classes from a number of different instructors, but quickly realized that they all have their own style of coloring with Copics and I needed to pick one and focus on that for a while.  Then I can experiment with different instructors.  I have been taking Mindy’s classes for a while and I am glad I picked her to start with.  She makes it so simple to recreate what she’s teaching you and the projects turn out great.  Are they Mindy level?  Maybe not, but they aren’t too bad!

We added all the detail to that stump!  It was just an outline when we started.  I also love that we add all the background details. When you print the image, you just get the girl on the stump and the bear on the rock with the fishing pole.  Mindy has taught me how to do all kinds of backgrounds and I create them on my own with my own little twists to make them my own.

Then there is Vicki Boutin and her Mixed Media 6 x 8″ background pieces on her Foundations paper.  I am really enjoying making these backgrounds.  We experiment with different products on Wednesday afternoons and then on Friday evenings we take the backgrounds we created on Wednesday and take them up a notch.

Here is what I created this Wednesday:

This was created with Distress Oxides one applied with a wet technique and the other just ink blended on.  Then we used a lifting technique with a stencil to create the pattern.  I want to stamp over this one and add a metallic touch.

I had so much fun that I created two backgrounds on Wednesday:

This one was made with Vicki’s art crayons.  We also applied one with a wet technique and the other with a dry technique and then did some lifting with a stencil.

I made this the Wednesday before:

I made 4 of these I loved this so much.  This was Vicki’s art crayons layered on using the smoosh or kissing technique.  Layer, dry, layer and continue.  The more you do, the more depth your final piece has.

Vicki had us take one of these and stamp a shape stamp on and then paint between the shapes with metallic watercolor paint.  At that point I had not been able to do the Wednesday live, so I pulled out a premade background and played along.

I thought she was crazy with the  metallic paint, but I LOVE this.  On Friday, she had us “doodle” on top of it.  I am putting this in a frame I love it so much!

We took the other rainbow images and used the SVG cut files she created for us with her own art work!  She showed us how to pull acrylic paint down a 12 x 12″ scrapbook cardstock paper with a palette knife and create a gorgeous scrapbook layout with the cut files used on one of our rainbow backgrounds and the paper with the acrylic paint dragged down it.

I’ve played with mixed media for a long time, but this is the first time that I’ve ever felt that it is all about the process of experimenting and seeing how your products behave.  When you realize that it’s just a piece of paper and if you hate it, cut it up with some die cuts and use it on another project!

Some of these backgrounds are too pretty to scrapbook on!  I’m saving my favorite and I’m going to bind them together to create an art journal.  You know what…Vicki did two Live sessions on how to do that!!  She’s teaching this all for FREE!  You can join her Facebook Mixed Media group and watch the Lives as well.  We’ve all been drinking the VBoo Kool Aid!  I’m so hooked and now I don’t feel guilty about not making 12 x12″ layouts.  I’m loving the 6 x 8″ layouts and backgrounds.  My kids are in their 20’s and living on their own in different states so I just don’t take that many pictures anymore.

Now I don’t feel obligated to.  It’s okay to create just for the sake of creating and keeping it all in a binder or album or make your own bound book out of it!  Whatever makes you happy!

I’d also like to say that I resisted the Copic maker digital images for a long time.  I wasn’t interested in the characters and critters.  How ridiculous of me.  This is one of the most relaxing hobbies!  And again…it’s a piece of paper and some of my time.  The more I practice, the better I get and now I’m brave enough to do my own images and choose my own colors.

I’m loving it!

You can check out Mindy’s classes at MyCreativeScoop.com.  She has lots of free resources and free digital images along with the classes she sells.  I have no business affiliation with her, but I have taken many of her classes and I’ve had a great experience.  I am just sharing the information in case you’ve been looking for something like this to do!

Supply List:

Are you interested in the products I used?  To make them easier for you to find, I have linked them below. (Affiliate disclosure ) Your purchases help keep my blog running at no additional cost to you and I thank you for the support!

Needless to say, I have been busy with classes and Lives the last two days.  It’s just so much fun!

I really appreciate that you stopped by today.  I hope you are finding inspiration that gets you excited to try something new!

Be well my friends!