I Need You Around

What is your creative journey?
Which paths led you to the place you're at?
Do you have any signature products that you can't resist? Any new ones that make your heart flutter? :)
Take a look at Anai's story...

Lately I've been thinking a little about my creative adventure.

Years are passing by and I still find it hard to say what are my most favorite techniques, products or types of works. I started from cards and very simple works, then started my scrapbooking adventure, then came the mixed-media stuff. ;)

From time to time there are some new products which I fall in love with (paper flowers, mists, die cuts, stencils, PanPastels, lately all kind of "project life" cards - the list could be much longer ;) ) and I feel the urge to try many of them, to expand my techniques, to learn new things. :)

No wonder that my style in constantly changing. But on the other hand - I think my real style, my estetic feeling is still the same. :)

For the last few weeks I've been experimenting with layouts a lot. I've been trying to apply many techniques I've been using on my canvas panels. I'm playing with backgrounds a lot - with PanPastels, stamps, paints, stencils, gel medium, mists and so on. Later I cover most of it with paper and embellishments, but I really like the results. For me it's a perfect combination of my two artistic paths - as a scrapbooker and as a mixed-media artist. ;)

I decided to make a layout with a photo of my friend Zosia and her two daughters. These women are so amazingly strong, funny and friendly... I just love spending time with them.

For the base I used a paper from the "Illumination" collection (oh hey - here's the third path of my creative journey - I actually designed the paper ;) )

On the close-ups you can see small parts of my "working on the base" phase. It takes a lot of time to play with media like that, but I really love it.

Have you already seen these new doilies die-cuts from Prima? They look so nice! And although Zosia is not a scrapbooker - sometimes she goes with me to scrapbooking meetings and conventions and I know for sure that there's always one particular design she's looking for - a doily. :)

I want to give her this layout so it was a very important part of this composition.

And how about a bit of glitter? You probably know by now that I'm a huge fun of all sparkly and glittery stuff. :)

My favourite way is to mix glitter with gloss gel medium and use it with a stencil. It makes amazing effect - it's sparkly, dimensional and no glitter is falling off!

And how about you? How does your creative journey go?

Are you more on the scrapbooking or more on the mixed-media side?

Hugs
Anai

Materials from Mixed Media Place:

Being like...

Have you ever longed to be somone else...?
Grab some pretty papers, delicious media and just imagine for a while...

Sometimes I have this idea that I would like to become someone else. Just for a little moment.
When I decide on which artist I would like to be that day, I analyze his or her works, I try to capture the atmosphere of their works, some characteristic compositions or details.

Then I sit down, get my supplies ready and start working. I try and I try and in the end it turns out that my work looks like... well... my own.
Maybe a little bit different from my usual style but still mine.

So today I'd like to show you these two works. Both of them were inspired by a very well-known artist.
I wonder whether you will guess who I wanted to be this time. ;)

In my first layout I used the beautiful Illumination collection which is very elegant and so perfectly designed by Anai.

I arranged the triangles cut out from Connections paper on another paper from the same collection. I added the text (it means: "Me That You Don't Know") and my photos that were framed using a filmstrip die.

I decided that my layout needed a little bit of color so I smudged some magenta Pan Pastel with my finger and around the photos and the triangles and then I added some Ecoline watercolor with a paintbrush.

I finished off with some splashes of white Ecoline and tiny black paper specks that were the leftovers after cutting out my frames.

My second layout is quite colorful which is not at all typical of me.
After deciding what my composition would look like, I prepared my background using a stencil and chalk inks, stamps and Ecoline watercolor.
When everything dried, I glued some thread with gel medium and then added all the other elements.
And again - some splashes of Ecoline, hand drawn frames with white Gelato crayon.


Supplies from Mixed Media Place: