The G.R.I.T.S. Kit Series for Altered Pages

Hi y'all!!

I am channeling my inner Southern Belle these days & working on a series of fun mixed media wooden block kits for Altered Pages!

The G.R.I.T.S. Girls

aka "Girl Raised In The South"

The first one is up on the site already 

& I just finished #2 {but I can't share her yet, DANG-it!}

Meet Twyla Fay...

You get everything you need to make a block like this in the kit except paint & scissors! Including VERY detailed instructions with color pictures!! All for just $16.99!

Here's the backside...

I hope y'all will join in on the fun & create your own collection of G.R.I.T.S. Girls with little 'ol me!

Next one up is Ida Bell, & she's even more fun than Twyla!!

Y'all come back now, ya hear?!

It's time for a mint julep!

TTFN!

P.S. I plan to do a western/cowgirl series too! YEEE HAWWWWW!

One more week...

I am so excited to start the next class taught by Christy Tomlinson!!! 

It's called "Your Living Canvas!"  

And she's teaching it along with a life coach, Art McCraken, so it should be a super-charged, soul searching 6 weeks!!!

Your Living Canvas

If you've never taken one of Christy's classes, you are missing out! They are amazing!! I have learned so much from just taking the one that she did with Junelle (The Art of Wild Abandonment one that I've blogged about recently).

And, if you're afraid you won't really like taking a class online, I'll tell ya, it's pretty awesome!! Not only do you have access to the class for an entire year! But you can go at your own pace; replay portions of it & just do it when you can! Also, they have set up a private Facebook page for all of us to share our thoughts & projects. It's been really fun to get to know some of our "classmates" before we've even started!!

So, I encourage you to check it out!! It's only $109 & you use your own supplies. Christy sells a lot of things that she uses in her Scarlet Lime shop, but most of it you can find at your local hobby or art supply if you don't already have it! She encourages you to just use what you have on hand!

From Inside My Sketchbook

I've been playing in my sketchbook a little this week...I wanted to draw some abstract flowers, kind-of in the style of Alisa Burke, {I just adore her work & hope to take one of her online classes soon too!}. So I got out my pencil & started sketching the above thumbnails. Then I pulled out those WONDERFUL Caran D'ache colors & filled them in.

I discovered these fabulous water-color crayons while taking that Art of Wild Abandonment class I took recently. They are so great & give you so much more control over where your color goes than palette watercolors. I don't know if I am using them the proper "watercolorist" way, but I like the effects I got!

Here is what my thumbnails led me to...

12, 4x4 card to make a couple sets of note cards

 Here are some close ups of my favorites...

gotta have some poppies in there!

That's it for today!

Thanks for stopping by!

It's time to Hop with Wild Abandonment!

WOW! I can't believe all the talented artists who participated in the Art of Wild Abandonment class! It's intimidating AND inspiring! Whew!

Hopefully you have come to me {Becky Voth} by the way of Jan Chau's blog!

If not, you will want to hop back to the beginning {Claire Smillie}& see all the beautiful work that was created or inspired by our time online with two very talented ladies: Junelle Jacobson & Christy Tomlinson during the Art of Wild Abandonment class! 

So grab a cuppa joe & a nibble & come along on this crazy journey with us!

My nest from class

I was one of the lucky girls to win this online class through Christy's blog one day! It was my first online art course & my very first with Christy! Now I am hooked!  I have already signed up for her upcoming Living Canvas class that starts in a couple of weeks!!! I can't wait!!!

I have shared some of the class along the way with our readers & you can see those posts here, here, & here.  In addition to taking this class, I was also taking a collage class at the local Art Students League! I was CRAZY-busy, but I had so much fun & spent SOOOO many hours in my studio - the laundry & shopping got way backed up!! (You can see some of that work here.)

Ok, enough chatter! On with the show!

I collaged this canvas for my design team commitment on Altered Pages, and was totally inspired to try some of  the styles of texture we played with in class.

{This is a little risque, so avert your eyes if you blow it up to view!!} 

In one of the classes, Junelle had us make flowers by painting on parchment paper. Well, I did poppies & then quickly became "Poppy Obsessed" & decided to play some more with them!! I did this piece for my DT also, using some silly erotica images from the past!!

I did this one in my Art Gypsies art group. We get together every month & work on whatever project the hostess has come up with for us to play outside our comfort zone!! This one was driven by the note boards we made in week 3 & an image that my hostess had for our inspiration! I'm not super crazy about it, but I can live with it for a while until I figure out what I want to change!

My "boss" at Altered Pages asked us to make some artist tags for her to be included with any of the kits we designed that sell in her shop, so I designed my own Art Girl! She was totally inspired by the girls we made in our journals & also in watching Christy's work! I love them & had a blast making them! So much so that I had to keep one for myself - the one in the yellow dress in the second row!!! She's so me - even tho my hair isn't that dark right now & I don't typically wear boots with my summer dresses - UNTIL NOW! I am on the prowl for some broken in cowboy boots now! Thanks Junelle!!! LOL!

In addition to all this creating, I was inspired to FINALLY submit something to a Somerset Studios design call for their Halloween issue!!! This has been a long-time goal of mine & I FINALLY had the nerve to do it! Thanks to Junelle & Christy!!! {I'll keep ya posted if I get in!}

Lastly, I just finished this one & it prompted me to open another Etsy shop for my own artwork & photography! {I currently run one with my sister & Mom - The Scrap-a-Teeny Girls!)

It was totally inspired by the class & a lot by Christy's style of art!

This class was truly amazing & has got me dreaming about art & waking at all hours with so many ideas in my head that I have to keep my journal handy!!!

Thank you Junelle & Christy for inspiring us all!!!

Next, you will hop over to Valerie Herbert's Blog, she does some great stitch work, so even I can't wait to see what she's come up with from this class!!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to you'll leave some blog love for me & that you'll stop by again soon!

Cheers!

New ETSY Shop!

I have opened another Etsy shop under the  

"The Laughing Magpie" moniker!! 

The Laughing Magpie

I have decided to feature some of my own photography & mixed media pieces that are not associated with my partnership in The Scrap-a-Teeny Girls.

I am hoping that these pieces will take me in new directions in the future & I hope that you will stop by once in a while just to say hi!

But don't worry! I will still be blogging here about the goings on of the Scrap-a-Teenies & my role on the Altered Pages DT, as well as my crazy life with a 6 year old (my Magpie!) & a mountaineering hubby!! 

Cheers!

Upcoming Bloghop!

The students (incl. me!) of The Art of Wild Abandonment class will be sharing their works inspired by the class in a BIG bloghop! 

I hope you will stop by for a gander!

Blog Hop!!