Tag Archives: Maria Greene

art, craft, creativity, mixed media, mosaic, polymer clay mosaic, process

Polymer clay mosaic tutorial.

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People have been asking me about more polymer clay mosaic tutorials.

I have posted before on how to paint the baked tiles, and there is a YouTube video on how to paint them as well.  CLICK HERE.

Here are some pictures on how to put the mosaic together with the finished tiles. Since this is a star box I had to fiddle with and cut some of the tiles, which is tricky since they break pretty easily.  It’s much easier to make a square or rectangular design.

polymer clay mosaic tiles
painted tiles ready to be assembled
star box lid
Box top painted black

I paint the lids black to hide any gaps between the tiles. If the gap is too big I place some glue and drop some seed beads to fill the gap.

layout
layout, one tile at a time
finished design
Tiles fitted and glued down

Here you can see some blue seed beads in the top two corners. The tiles were too big to cut for size.  Seed beads are great and they lend some sparkle to the project as well. Choose a color that matches the main color(s) of your design.

painting the box
Painting the box

I painted the box on the outside with acrylic paints.

gold interior
spray painted interior

I spray paint the bottom and the interior with gold paint before I paint the rest.

finished box
finished box

What do you think? Pretty colorful. I had fun making this, and so many others.

I made a mirror that promotes PEACE!  I thought that was a worthy thing to be reminded of while looking into a mirror.  Peace begins within and it’s a choice. I even had a Buddha charm I embedded in the clay and baked.

peace mirror
Peace mirror

The mirror part distracts from the frame in the bright outdoors, but there it is. Polymer clay is so versatile you can make almost any design.

I use old buttons, rubber stamps, charms, found objects, and lettering to imprint the tiles. You can use anything that makes a nice imprint.

If you enjoyed the tutorial, please leave a comment.

Please visit my new etsy shop, Earth and Faery.

Have a great creative week!

xo

Maria

art journaling, craft, creativity, giveaway, mixed media, tutorial, video

Giveaway!

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I have a giveaway on my blog today.  It’s Day 29 of the 30 day blogging challenge and I have made it through so far. I’m celebrating by giving away this FUN ink blot art journal I made from a manila folder and some ink blot art. I made it today and figured it would be fun to give away. It’s definitely a one-of-a-kind journal!

Here are some pictures and the video on how I made the journal. You can enter the giveaway or you can make your own journal. 🙂

ink blot art journal
handmade art journal
ink blot art journal
the back of the art journal
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ink blot page
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ink blot page

 

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ink blot page giveaway
ink blot page
more ink blots

An idea for you how the pages look. I added a bunch of blank card stock pages as well to fill out the journal. Here is the video how-to.

The winner was Jean Marmo. Congratulations!!! 🙂

art, counter-productive, doubt, motivational, process

Stop beating yourself up!

Sometimes we set impossible goals, or goals we’re not quite ready for, and then we beat ourselves up for not accomplishing them.

It’s good to have a schedule or a plan and to stick with it, but if it’s totally overwhelming it’s going to be counter-productive.

If you discard a goal and feel bad about it, know that today is a new day. How can you modify the goal and feel more at ease? Life is not a race and what others accomplish has nothing to do with you.

I made a goal at the beginning of 2016 to offer something free or paid art-wise to my artist friends.  I followed through until June and when six months were almost up I realized so many things had been counter productive.

I can just give up or beat myself up about it ad nauseam, but that is even more counter productive.

I learned something along the way about the process and that is priceless. If I hadn’t taken the action I would still be in the dark.

It’s not about discarding the dream, but to make it more streamlined to who YOU are, not what people might expect.  Or even bigger still: what you expect of yourself.

Listen to your own drumbeat.

drum beat
The beat of your own drum.

I have always been a doer and sometimes I forget to listen to my own drum. But it’s getting better. Nowadays, I don’t get as far away from myself as I used to do, and I truly want to offer the best me to the world.

I don’t compromise while creating my art, but how I bring it out to the world the best way is still somewhat of a mystery. All I can do is keep exploring and see what responses I get.

One thing I do know. Your dream is important and when you talk about it, you might help someone on the other side of the world as you pursue your own process.

I often get comments like, “oh, I really needed to hear that today, thank you.” Then, what I thought was  a half-assed blog post or art offering, means something. It’s verification that I’m headed in the right direction, and that I inspire others.

That makes every step worth it.

To find the right way sometimes takes many tries, but there are no failures, only experiences.

Believe enough in yourself and keep the dream alive. There really is no other alternative!

So, STOP beating yourself up from now on. 🙂

xo

Maria

P.S. If you’d like to try one of my evergreen art journaling e-courses, go HERE to check them out.

craft, creativity, passion, trend

Adult coloring books and planners.

Awesome artists, I have noticed the trend of adult coloring books and planners sky-rocketing.  I was wondering why that is, and thought about people’s search for something fun and gentle to add to their life.  In this stressful world we look for something that has meaning and a calming influence. It brings us back to our childhood when the world was full of wonder and color.

I remember when I was a kid I was into paper dolls and beautiful bookmarks, Victorian roses and kids in vintage clothing mostly. I loved them for their intricate detail and elegance.

I also loved coloring books and would not color outside the lines. 🙂

My best friend and I used to take a composition book and fold the pages in half.  In some of the folds we put bookmarks we wanted to trade. We would each take a turn to pick one of the folded pages. It was always an adventure to see what bookmark I would get. This was an ongoing thing. I treasured my folded paper book and would look inside often and change out the bookmarks.

That was the old style “planner” for me.  I recognize the same wonder and excitement in ladies who buy their planners and all the accessories to create their very own version of planner.  There are stickers, embossed labels, special pens, lists, pockets, sayings, and pictures to add.  It is guided creativity.

I think we have forgotten how to create on our own, so we turn to kits and guided painting classes. Nothing wrong with that, and it may spark the individual to explore and continue with their creativity. In other words, unleash their inner greatness!! 🙂

Mandalas are big too.  Many of the coloring books are nothing but  mandalas.

mandala-1322767__180
mandala
star-1220784__180
another gorgeous mandala

Mandalas are like snowflakes, each unique.  Some are so beautiful they take my breath away.

I think planners and art play books help us to heal and explore our own creativity. The time has come to be more of who you are. I think there is a strong inner urge for creativity as a unique expression and method for growth.

We grow through creativity and it is a GREAT thing!

I have a planner, but it’s not the artsy kind. I have to write everything down to remember stuff, but there is space to journal if I feel so inclined. I have at least three journals going right now. One is for business, one for personal stuff, and one for communication with my guides.

The journals all have their place, and I start every morning journaling while having my tea.  I sit outside in my backyard, partially to keep an eye on my kitty who gets to go outside one hour in the morning.

I find so many things to be grateful for, and I write those down. I write down my intentions and needs.  Ideas sometimes find their way onto the page. It’s a great way to start the day.

How do you start yours?

Much creativity to you this weekend. 🙂

Maria xo

P.S. I have some handmade low-cost art journals for sale in my etsy shop. CLICK HERE.

craft, creativity, fabric paper, mixed media, video

Fabric paper anyone?

I was pondering how to make some fabric paper from the stack of dry paint wipes I had collected while making art journal pages.

I knew I had to find a way to stiffen them, make them as solid as possible. I decided to do an experiment. I used Mod Podge for one wipe and Liquitex matte medium for the other.

I made a video of this process for you.  After the video was done I realized the sky’s the limit when it comes to making versatile custom fabric / paper.

Surely one-of-a-kind!  I even stiffened a paper towel rag to see how it would turn out. Check out the video and see for yourself. I hope it gives you some good ideas. 🙂

xo

Maria

art, craft, creativity, mixed media, mosaic, polymer clay mosaic

Painting polymer clay mosaic tiles.

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I made a YouTube video today on how to paint polymer clay mosaic tiles.  A few days ago I posted a picture tutorial on how to put the tiles onto a frame so that is another post you can check out for more information on the polymer clay mosaics.

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polymer clay mosaic tiles on a wood frame.

They are a lot of fun to make and they look rich and colorful with three layers of paint. The last layer is embossing powder.

Where there are gaps between tiles I use seed beads or black polymer clay “rods” covered with gold leaf as fillers. That makes the art work extra shiny and rich. You can’t add too much bling to this type of art work.

You can use any color combination, but I’m partial to blues, teals, purple, and reds.  As you experiment you’ll come up with your favorites.

Here is the video.