Use your scraps: DIY Lacey Stones

I am always looking for unique ways to use all the scraps of lace, yarn and ribbons I collect after my major projects.  As I was cleaning out some bins in my craft room last night, I found a collection of river rocks that I had gathered a while back in hope to do something crafty with them.  With a little glue (or gel medium if you've got it) and a pair of scissors, I cut little bits of lacey lovely things and just adhered them to the surface of the rocks, then tied on bits of ribbon, yarn, or thread.  It was super easy and so fast, and they turned out so cute. 

They could sit on a shelf or have a sweet little message tied to them and be given to a friend in need of some artsy love. 

These three will be sent with lovely little messages to to the next three people that join in on my Made With Love art mail project.  What could be more fun!?  

In fact anyone who sends me art in the next two weeks will get a lovely little stone gift from me.  Speaking of gifts, the holiday season is coming fast, and I have lots and lots of new things to list in my Etsy Shop.   First up will be these sweet little necklaces made from antique lace and linen. 

I have listed this one here, and there will be lots more joining her throughout the day.  Thanks for stopping by!

XO, HARMONY

Grow Fearless...new artwork and a message for you.

This is a new painting and part of a new inspirational mixed media style for me.  I have been really evaluating what I want from all this, the blog, the etsy store, the craft shows, the art that I make.  I have some really big dreams for it all, hopefully resulting in the running of a creative retreat center.  Sometimes I get really overwhelmed by how far I still need to go to get there.  Sometimes those thoughts turn into negative voices telling me I wont get there so I should stop pretending that I will.  Do you have big dreams that seem so far away sometimes?  If so, I just wanted to say to you today to keep stretching, dont look back or hold yourself back with your fears, Keep Growing and Grow Fearless!  I think that everyone should live their life free of fear and hold on to a boldness of heart to always move forward towards whatever they desire for their lives.  Just wanted to encourage you with that today.  I am offering prints of this painting at my Etsy Store, if you want to bring one home to remind you each morning to Grow Fearless in your life.   My fearless moment in the next week or so will be putting all this new art I just finished out there for people to see, judge, and decide whether there is a market for it.  It is always a scary moment to put new work out in the public, when I dont know how it will be received, but it is my dream to make inspirational art to encourage closet creatives like I was for so long.  So for every "I dont like it" or "I could make that" comment I will hear at the show, I will hold on to courage and wait for the person that discovers the meaning and heart of my work and gains a bit of their own fearlessness.

Leave me a comment and let me know how you are going to take steps this week to be more fearless in your life.

XO, HARMONY

On my worktable today...vintage lace

With two more weeks left before the show and a million things to do, here's a look at what I am creating today...

What do you think?  Since I live in the South, I have to offer more crafty than artsy items to sell enough at festivals to make it all worth it, and so I come up with these ideas that I think are super brilliant, but sometimes wonder "is it just me?"  I made them with scraps of dyed linen overlayed with vintage lace pieces left over from my artworks.  I think they are adorable, but I also have a soft spot for lace.  If there is lace on it, I will look twice, no matter what it is.  I got the idea from this etsy jewelry artist, whom I have spent many days ogling her vintage lace necklaces and wishing I could splurge on myself.  Any lace lovers out there?  It was totally the "in" thing last season, I think the world has moved on to geometric shapes in clothing and jewelry design in the present though.  How people keep up with changing trends, I couldnt say.  Large expendable income I suppose, or a deep love for accessorizing.  I am still stuck on lace.  Any thoughts about these are welcome, I could use some perspective, other than my obliging husband's "its nice hun."  Anyway, I do promise that Saturday coloring book pages will return very soon.  It's just a bit hectic around here right now.  Hope you have a wonderful Saturday!

XO, HARMONY

New Painting: Seek Adventure...be authentic

Creative Authenticity has been an overwhelming theme for me lately in my own work.  What does it mean to you to be creatively authentic?  I find sometimes it's really hard to feel genuine and true to myself, my style, my heart in my artworks when I am stretching and learning and growing.  I am so influenced by everything around me, everything I see, admire, get inspired by.  I often wonder what the line is between influence by inspiration and true organic creating?  If I use lots of ink and scrawled words am I being too Sabrina Ward?  If I use bubble wrap to create a layer in one of my backgrounds, is that just being Kelly Rae?  What about if I use type font stamps to create inspirational phrases, is that just Christine Masons thing?  I haven't figured this one out yet, so I am working very hard to create with as much of all the other influences and images as stripped away from my conscious as possible and do things that make me happy.

What didn't shock me in this process was to see a gravitation in my style away from the folk artsy look that I started with last year and a drastic movement into bright, bold, and kind of grungy.  These are the things that I really love and want to surround myself with in my own home, so it makes sense that this would come out of me.  So I am on a mission to understand more about being creatively authentic in my work.  This pic is of one of my latest mixed media paintings, and it is truly a piece from my heart.  This one was created with lots of layers, vintage papers, paint, inks, vintage lace pieces, stamping, and did you notice the use of my handmade artsy tape from my DIY?  It tells me to seek adventure in all things and not be settled with the normal routine for too long.  I love this idea.  If we arent pushing ourselves into new spaces, experiences, growing and moving, then we've lost opportunities for incredible discoveries and immense amounts of joy.  So take a risk today, seek adventure in whatever you are doing.  It doesnt have to be a gigantic step, adventure can be found in little details and small moments of magic.  I'd love to hear your thoughts about creative authenticity and how you are taking an adventure today.

XO, HARMONY

New Painting! Bloom In Your Own Time.

I've been working on a new series of paintings based on acceptance and empowerment of self.  It's something that has been on my heart for a while.  Maybe it's my background in Family Therapy work, maybe it was all those years working with at-risk teens, and maybe its partially due to my own trauma and drama of navigating womanhood as a teenager and in my early twenties, but I really have a heart for women young and old, reclaiming themselves as powerful, brave, beautiful, and special.  There are too many negative messages in our culture, and I've been wanting to start creating paintings that will inspire and motivate women to love ourselves a bit more.

Here's the first one that I will share with you...

It says "Bloom in your own time, redefine beauty."  I picked these words because I often feel the pressure to keep up with the women around me (in the art world, in the parenting world, in the business world...) in ways that I just may not be ready for yet.   I am still growing, finding myself in my process, and when I am ready to bloom, it will happen in my own time and space that is perfect for me.  I will redefine what is beautiful and lovely in my own way and time.  Do you ever feel that way?

It was made using layers of vintage gift wrap papers, acrylic paints and alcohol inks for the background, then I applied vintage lace remnants and used my own hand carved stamps for the wings.  I hope this message is meaningful to you, or perhaps pass the link along to someone you know that could use the encouragement.  Have a lovely Wednesday because you are so lovely too.

FYI: There is still time to enter my Giant Sponsor Giveaway! I have 8 amazing artist and crafters donating incredible prizes for one winner.  There are lots of ways to enter. Click HERE for more information.  Dont miss out!

XO, HARMONY

Shop Update: More Handpainted Art Journals

I dont normally post twice in one day, but I couldnt resist jumping right in and sharing a few pics of the latest art journals I just finished making.  I realize that there has been a lot about art journaling in my posts this week.  It's been most of my creative world the past several days, and I hope you dont mind if I share just a bit more.

I really enjoy making these little books for other people to use as a creative outlet.  There is a lot of love and creative energy put into them, and I just have to show them off.  These recent books have been a bit of a departure from the art journals that I normally make for shows.  They are a bit smaller, fewer pages, but way more details, personal touches, and I use all vintage paper ephemera and photos as my add ins in between the hand painted pages and the colored cardstock.

These two are now available in my Etsy Shop, with Free Shipping through Monday.  Thanks for letting me show them to you.  Have you caught the art journal bug yet?

XO, HARMONY

A Sweet Little Book Made with Love

Hello! It's Friday :)  Which for me means the opposite of most other people.  The weekends are my time to get as much work done as possible in my art room, while my husband and little boy are off playing.  So I am gearing up for a few days of creative play and crafty work, but I wanted to take a few moments and show you what I made yesterday.

Here is the finished journal that I made from the pages you saw me make yesterday.  When I started putting it together, I really felt like it needed some vintage flair, so I added lots of extra pages from vintage wrapping papers from the 50s and 60s, and several vintage photos from the 40s and 50s, along with a few pages from vintage fairy tale books.

Overall there are 35+ pages of color popping goodness, lots of bright pinks and blues.  The cover is hand painted much in the same way that you saw me paint the pages, with a vintage wrapping paper layer underneath that peeks through, and I layers some antique lace trims on the edge of it, just in case it wasnt girly enough ;)

 The book is hand bound with a black metal spiral and embellished with a mix of recycled sari ribbons, hand spun yarn, and hand dyed silk.  It is a truly precious little book measuring 4.5"w X 6"h.

 This one of a kind entirely handmade journal is up for sale in my ETSY SHOP now, as well as lots of new prints and originals, at reduced prices.  I will be offering Free Shipping on everything through Monday, just use the FREESHIPPING code at checkout *(see store announcements for details).  Thanks for looking and I wish you a very happy start to your weekend.  DIY Saturday is tomorrow, with a super fun project in the works, so perhaps I'll see you back here for more creative fun in the morning.

XO, HARMONY

New Works! The Sojourners Series Begins

I began a new series of paintings that I am really excited about, and since my husband is completely useless to me in reflecting an honest reaction to my art ("That's nice." - worst description of how you feel about an artwork ever!) and my sister (who is always the most blunt and honest with me about my work) is currently overseas for the next 4 months, I wanted to share them with you and see what you thought.

"Sisterhood"

2011 by Harmony

Original Mixed Media Painting

8X8 done on wood panel

I created this (above) painting on commission for a lovely pair of sisters to celebrate their journey both separate and together.  It really inspired me to think about each of us and our individual journeys that almost always have at least one "other" that makes us brave and gives us strength to be our unique selves.  My little sister does this for me.  We are almost exact opposites in personality and style, this led to lots of competitive behaviors and fighting when we were young, but as I have grown alongside her, I have discovered it is the beauty of our differences that I love the most, and that she helps me be who I am today.  So I was inspired to create a few more pieces of each sister on their individual journey, to reflect the duality of their spirits (connected together yet living separate lives). 

 "The Dreamer"

2011 by Harmony Lenasbunt

Mixed Media Original Artwork

6X6 done on wood panel

 "The Seeker"

2011 by Harmony Lenasbunt

Mixed Media Original Artwork

6X6 done on wood panel

More about how I made them: Each piece is totally unique, full of texture and  layers, as well as color and patterns.  I used vintage wrapping papers to create a base layer which I kept overlaying with paint, pastel, inks, adding more and wiping away over and over until the background was built up with as much character and beauty as the figure herself.  There are vintage lace pieces affixed to the edges, and the images are actually done on fabric, giving them a soft dreamy appearance. 

I am absolutely over the moon with how my vision for these paintings turned out in reality and am currently working on several more pieces for the series of Sojourners.  Thank you for letting me share them with you.  They are very dear to my heart.  Prints and wood mounted prints of them will be available in my Etsy Shop later today.  If you are interested in the orginals, or a commissioned work like this, please email me.

If you were represented in an artwork like this, what would your title be?  I am definitely the Dreamer, while my sister is completely the Seeker.  Any Wanderers, Pranksters, Mother Hearts,  Thinkers out there?  Tell me what word describes your current journey best?

XO, HARMONY