Sparkling Embellishments w/ Silks Acrylic Glazes (VIDE

It's baaaaack!  

I could write it all here, but why don't you watch? 

This was supposed to be a bonus lesson for Summer Camp, but found I didn't need to add in the extra content...so decided I'd share it will all of you!  

Really, YouTube is a passion of mine, and it's time for me to start making videos again. We'll see what happens. I'm going to keep them under 8 minutes, so they're just a little inspiration in your day, but need YOU to give me ideas of what YOU want to see!  

I'll be filming a couple more things this week to tide you over while I'm on vacation, and then I'll be making the set and developing content. Something I'm really into is products...I'm always sharing new stuff with my friends, and have a studio FULL of fun stuff you may have never heard of...and I'm a total bargain shopper, so it won't break the bank! 

Part of that success I wrote about over the weekend? Yeah, it's because of you...my darling readers and subscribers and followers and friends. I'd be nothing without your support...we're in this together! 

ALSO, if you are NOT SUBSCRIBED to me on YouTube, would you? I'm desperately close to 5k, and honestly, that's were all the cool stuff starts to happen. Just askin'!

YOU ARE WORTHY

AH! I have a blog! Between working on Daring Adventures in Paint (which is awesome, btw, and if you want to paint more & be inspired, I recommend it!)​, keeping up with Digital Adventures, getting Creative Warriors all set for May, & my own need to PAINT ALL THE THINGS (especially with spray paint), I am a crazy woman on the edge of I CAN DO IT / OMG WHAT IS FREE TIME. *laughs* A good fencepost to be balancing on, yes!

I promise to share the deets of my impromptu and magical adventures in Berkeley and San Francisco (not limited to Public Transit is Confusing, Did I Really Get a Ride from a Stranger, Blick Owns My Heart, FACE TO FACE OMG, Magical Artists, & more!)​ this weekend, but for today, I wanted to share an important message. 

Prompted by a comment made by a friend, I filmed this intro for Creative Warrior's April project, and felt it was too important not to share....I even choked up while I was editing. ​I've done a LOT of work on myself, and know what it feels like to feel lazy, useless, or a waste because you need to CHILL OUT and REST (two things that are VERY good for you!). But THEY AREN'T TRUE. YOU ARE WORTHY AND WONDERFUL. So view my video below. 

I'm also sharing a piece I finished today that will be up in the Etsy shop as prints on Monday. ​

Now, I shall attempt to tackle my inbox. *winces but is brave!*​

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Walk In Truth -- speed art journal page video

Yesterday, I received a message from a dear reader who's been around for a bit; you may not think it, but I notice the names as I see likes and comments and notes on the blog, ​consider you friends -- without all you, I'd still be a girl making art for herself, not a woman discovering her deeper self and sharing that with the world. 

Darling Rita has cancer, and is beating out her doctor's estimates. She wrote the longest, sweetest message, about her memory in the future (and I must take more time to process and think and dream), and one of the things she mentioned was that she missed me on YouTube. ​

I make a LOT of videos you don't see if you're not enrolled in classes. And I do work for clients, now, doing CHA releases and demo videos and e-classes for others, so YouTube has fallen behind, yes. But Rita's message is the same as others -- and yes, my last test was shaky (sorry!) and this one may be a little unstable (I created a new rigging for my camera; I test with YouTube and perfect for classes/clients!), but I hope to do more little things, tips and peeks and maybe one of these longer videos whenever I can. ​

But! A lot of this spread is stuff I haven't shared. Stuff I have only just figured out -- my colors and style and what goes where and how it goes.....to the point I want to go DEEPER with all this....I'm not just trying to find what works but HOW. ​

Feel free to ask questions in the comments and I will try my best to answer them! ​

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Playing With Spraypaint!

Years ago, before I moved to Phoenix, I used to have tons of spray paint. Nothing fancy, just whatever I could grab at Wal-Mart or Lowes. It was messy and gave me a headache when I played for too long, but I adored the look and had just started collecting stencils. 

But winter meant I couldn't go outside to use it, and spray inks were just coming out, so I slowly switched and abandoned all my cans when I moved cross-country. ​

Recently, my love has been re-kindled by the messy graffiti outsider art of MitsiB​. I grabbed the one can I had in my apartment and played, then grabbed a fluorescent red/orange from a big box store. I played for 10 minutes and my head hurt. 

So I decided to try the Liquitex spray paint, hoping 'Low Odor' meant ​we won't give you a bloody headache and burn out your nose. 

After posting to Instagram and FB, I decided it was a perfect time to test the camera on my new iPhone. C'mon....I'm a video-makin' junkie! How could I NOT test it! This little video was so much fun to put together....I wonder if you'd like more little videos like this? Talking about what I'm working on, using, and creating? I think a mini-tripod is in order (sorry for all the movement!), but I'd love to make more like this....one of the thing I love about videos and blogs is seeing someone else's world​. I can share that! 

Let me know YOUR experiences in the comments below. Or suggest my next mini-video topic! ​

Gelli Printing in Your (hardcover) Journal (VIDEO)

On the lighter side, here is the video I recorded when I hit 1,000 newsletter subscribers, and gave them last week as a thank you (as well as a few other not-seen-elsewhere-things). I have a new set-up, and time between clients (so hire me...I have time!), and have really learned SO MUCH in the past five months about recording & editing & directing & business & so much more, that I wanted to start making videos for myself again. ​

(Also, I've decided to see if dosage changes with some meds may help with the fatigue and general yuckiness-I-can't-stay-awake-ness, and so far, I've gotten dressed today and am wearing a messy top bun and glasses, since TBD on Pinterest said it is fashionable. I think I still look like a nerdy artist who doesn't like hair in the way when she paints or reads, but hey...that's why they're fashion experts and I blog about art and life. Feeling better today. Got lots of love getting the word out about my awesome $10-off sale for Going Further...really, it's like 3 e-classes' worth of info, inspiration, and so much more...a massive brain-dump of my favorite projects and techniques....you should really grab it if you want to be journaling from now until summer. (I have even uploaded a preview w/ a lesson you can download!) Please help a girl out? I'm not telling you to pay, I'm asking if you would. [you can always donate if you so choose.] Letting my vulnerability hang out here, and man, is it hard. Go watch the video. It's good and fun and artsy and I babble. Are you still reading this side note? Cause I've got a book calling my name from my comfy bed, and a puppy to cuddle with. XOXO, Samie)​

Gelli Arts Gel Plate Basics! (video)

Ah, finally! Even if you don't see them, I'm working on videos every single week, and am now working with others to make them awesome & amazing videos for their tutorials, too! So here's the gel plate tutorial I filmed a couple weeks ago! 

I've learned so much and converted more than a handful of people with this fun, easy to use product! I'll be making another with 'advanced' techniques pretty soon, for those of you with your own plates who want to know more! I just....I have so much fun with my gel plates! It's so calming and medatative and full of all sorts of layers and possibilities! 

If you want to see more of what I've created so far, check out my Gel Plate art gallery!

My lovely amazing friend Roben-Marie has ALSO posted her take on gel plates -- we scheduled our posts to go up together to give you all a Weekend of Gelli Arts! 

Thanks to Gelli Arts for giving us the opertunity to play with this amazing product! 

 

Make More Time for Your Art Journal w/ a Couch Box!

 

I've been asked by a few to show y'all what I have in my Couch Box - a box of art supplies that I take with me to journal anywhere and still make amazing art (it's also useful for when you go to a friend's for an art afternoon!). 
But I really do talk about how you can make more time for your art, and a few ideas of what you can do to do something EVERY DAY! It's not as hard as you think! 
Please share your favorite supplies, or your own box, in the comments down below!