Luminarte Blog— Vibrant and Brilliant

Take classes using Luminarte at CREATE California - May 30, 2012

Hurry,  time and space is filling up for the classes being offered by CREATE in California. So many artists with so many FABULOUS classes all using Luminarte products! 

The IrRESISTible Paper Engineering Mash-up (3-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-12noon
Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design
Instructor: Jenn Mason
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: N/A

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Fun and Nonsense (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Sherrie Drummond
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $20.00

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Happy Harpies (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Clarissa Callesen
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: N/A

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Collage Monotypes (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Printmaking & Surface Design
Instructor: Helen Shafer Garcia
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $10.00  

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Mini Masterpiece Canvas Journal (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Bookmaking & Art Journaling
Instructor: Joanne Sharpe
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $20.00

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Stitch & Paint Pet or Animal Portraits (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Mixed Media Stitch
Instructor: Jeannie Palmer Moore
Price: $149.00

Materials Fee: $10.00

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The Archivist's Relic (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Bookmaking & Art Journaling
Instructor: Leighanna Light
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $15.00

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The Down-and-Dirty Paintless Journal (6-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 9:00am-4:00pm
Technique: Bookmaking & Art Journaling
Instructor: Dawn Sokol
Price: $149.00
Materials Fee: $5.00

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 Wednesday Evening

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Magical Markers Mystery Tour (3-Hour)
CURRENTLY FULL 

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Joanne Sharpe
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: $20.00

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Doodle Soup: Jambalaya (3-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Dawn Sokol
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: N/A

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Whimsical Rings (3-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Technique: Mixed Media Jewelry
Instructor: Jen Cushman
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: $12.00

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Junk Birds (3-Hour)

Date: Wednesday, May 30
Time: 6:00pm-9:00pm
Technique: Collage & Assemblage
Instructor: Clarissa Callesen
Price: $85.00
Materials Fee: N/A

 

For more information on CREATE or a particular class go to CREATE Mix Media Retreat. To sign up go to CREATE Registration.

Thanks for visiting!

Shimmering Wisdom by Marti Wills

Hope you all had a wonderful day yesterday! Marti stop by to share some of her pieces she has been creating in some on-line classes with our products.

 Hi! Marti here.  I have had the most wonderful experience taking Dion Dior's Wisdom Circles workshop as part of the 21 Secrets workshop.  Dion is magnificent with Luminarte Twinkling H2O's and the Silks Acrylic Glazed.

She is such an incredible teacher and has brought meaning to my perspective on my art that I didn't know was there.  This one was done using Twinkling H2O's shimmering watercolors.

This one uses Luminarte Silks Acrylic Glazed - Luminarte products makes my work glow like nothing I have ever used!

Thanks for visiting!

Special Ladies Day!

I wanted to give a BIG THANK YOU to all the ladies in the world this weekend! We are all mothers in our own right. If you have helped a child in a positive way whether a neice, nephew, neightbor, friends child, or volunteer you deserve to Celebrate Mother's Day. It truely takes a village to raise a child in today's world. So, thank that special lady in your life with a beautiful homemade gift, card, or tag. There is something so speacial about getting homemade presents, I hold on to them forever. Eva Dobilas is here to share some wonderful things you can give to that special peson in your life. Enjoy

Eva here, today I am sharing two more tags using JustRite Stamps and Luminarte Twinkling H2O's, which I hope you will like.  Here is my first one, which is using the Spring Words set.

 

My flowers are by Petaloo, their Color Me Crazy collection, which was painted with Luminarte Twinkling H2O's.

My second tag is using the Just Keep Calm. Once again the flowers are Petaloo painted with Twinkling H2O's.  So pretty, aren't they???

 Scrap-mart carries some really beautiful stamps and this one is certainly one of them.  It's Heartfelt Creations Dutch Iris Frame stamp and as you can see, it has a lot of beautiful potential on how you can color this gorgeous image in.  

I stamped my image with black ink and painted it in with Luminarte Twinkling H2O's. You get such a gorgeous look with the paints on this stamp, I LOVE the way it turned out.

I also used a couple of Spellbinders for this card: Wonderful Wings and Ovals. Here is what this pretty stamp looks like.  Love the sentiment!

Wishing you a beautiful one!

Hugs,

Ageless Play by Dion Dior

Let's welcome back Dion Dior with this exquisite journal page of beautiful color flowers! I love her take about laughing more in life. Enjoy.

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Dion Dior here, too few of us laugh out loud, too often we constrain our laughter in favor of chuckles or composure. We simply don't laugh as heartily as we should any more. What is worse, is more often than not, we fail to see the humorous side of our lives. We forget that the only true requirement of being alive is to live responsibly! At no time are we expected to live 'seriously', that is a burden I think we place upon ourselves.

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There are times when the world feels overly serious, devoid of humor.  But that is probably just my own perception, my own creation, my own reaction or projection.  Don't you think life would be easier if our responses to stressful situations were more light-hearted? Taking life less seriously doesn't mean living less responsibly, it simply means that much tension can be dissipated, that negativity can be...well...negated, and our responses, acceptances, and influence can be more effective.

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Humor frees us from negativity, and playfulness frees us from seriousness.  The inner critic feeds on seriousness, it feeds on perfection.  I recently saw a post of Facebook that said:

"The pursuit of excellence is gratifying and healthy.  The pursuit of perfection is frustrating, neurotic, and a terrible waste of time." 

~ Edwin Bliss

 

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Never, in my mind, is a statement more true than this.  Especially when put in the context of art.  I don't know about you, but I find perfect art rather boring.  Don't get me wrong.  I admire the skill and talent of the artist, their masterful grasp of technique and composition.  However, it does nothing for me.  I feel no stirring in my blood, no whizzing in my gut. 

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But to look at art that is bursting with color, energy, movement, more color, interpretation...these are the elements that excite me.  There is no fast track to finding our own artistic style.  It takes years of practice, experimentation, learning, inspiration, and most of all play.  Yes...I said play!! Something I don't do nearly enough of.

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In recent weeks I've been preparing my upcoming online class "A Taste of Silks".   Acrylics are an extraordinary medium that are sadly misunderstood or taken too seriously.  In order for me to show the versatility of these exquisite paints, I have had to get down and dirty, I have had to play.  I mean really play. I have splattered my studio with Silks, been up to my elbows in them, and felt at times like a mad-sceintist with shimmer all over her face. My fingernails have been like sparkling rainbows and my drawing table looks like it is covered in tiny little jewels.  And I'm happy to say that results of my labor is proving to be exciting.

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This sketchbook page is a small part of what I have been preparing.  I was very lucky to receive a yummy little box of goodies from Creative Imaginations.  They license several Luminarte products, in addition to the Twinkling H2O's, and were keen to let me try some of their other shimmering products.  For this page I used a combination of their Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists,  Radiant Rain Color Concentrates, and Radiant Rain Pourables, under a stunning layer of Silks Acrylic Glaze.  These products are iterations of Leslie Ohnstad's highly successful range of Twinkling H2O's and all I can say is WOW!!

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I was astounded at the intensity of the pigment, the versatility of the products, and the subtlety and beauty of the shimmer.  Yep, it sounds like a lot in one page, but if you let go and allow yourself to play, you'll be amazed at the results. I'll be sharing some of these amazing and wonderful techniques using Luminarte's new range of  Silks Acrylic Glaze, as well as other mixed media in my upcoming 2-lesson workshop.  If you'd like more information, please click here.

Thanks for checking in. xx

Stencils, Silks, Twinks and a little Tissue Paper by Erin O'Neil Argueta

Hello all!

Erin here. So honored to be back on the Luminarte blog.

I've recently challenged myself to use everyday products in my art. For this piece I've incorporated tissue paper for texture.

The tissue paper was crinkled and added to an illustration board with a water-based adhesive. After the tissue paper layer was dry, I painted Radiant Rain Shimmering Mists in Key Lime (on the bottom) and Teal Zircon (on the top) blending them in the middle with a spritz of water.

For added texture and dimension, I created the Big Butterfly by putting molding paste over the Butterfly from the Monarch Stencil Kit. I then painted the Butterfly with Silks: Stargazer, Blue Flame, Perriwinkle and Snapdragon. The smaller butterflies are from my sizzix dies. I cut these in white paper and then painted them with the same silks to match.

The roses were also created by putting molding paste over a stencil. I used the Nature Stencil 12x12. The roses are composed of a few layers of color from twinks and silks. The first layer is Apple Blossom twinks to cover the entire image. Then I added Coral Berry for more dimension. The flowers were completed with Carmen and VaVoom Red silks.

The last thing I did was add some more silks for greater depth. The roses and butterflies were strong in color value against the light green and light blue background so I added some Olive Vine Silks behind the roses and a little Stargazer Silks around the outer edges of the sky. By watering down the silks and applying them over the tissue paper background it created amazing shimmer and varying color values.

Thanks for stopping!

Twinkling Class Giveaway! Enter today!

Hello everyone, I wanted to keep you posted on an online class from Dion Dior called Mastering Twinks. Her class is a must if you use our Twinks because she teaches so many things about color and not to mention all the tips, tricks, and techniques with them. Right now, Dion Dior is giving 2 FREE spots in her Mastering Twinks class and a set (6) of Twinkling H20's. Details below and Good Luck!

Mastering Twinks, an online class that takes you into the shimmering, dancing world of Twinkling H2O's begins its second run in less than two weeks.  Twinkling H2O's are shimmering, glistening watercolor paints, created by color extraordinaire Leslie Ohnstad from Luminarte. They are laced with mica minerals and have to be seen to be believed. There are over 200 incredible colors and they come in a variety of pot sizes and sets. 

 

In Mastering Twinks, I introduce you to the world of twinkling, luminescent watercolor paint, and take you on a shimmering journey through tricks, tips and techniques for getting the most from them. This three week class is pdf based with a private online forum for sharing and discussion. But beware, they are addictive!

Here's what some of the participants of the first run of Mastering Twinks had to say:

"Thanks Dion. I love the Twinks and love the abundance of information
you are sharing with us."

- MV 

"Thanks so much for a wonderful class and for the wonderful 'book' that you prepared. It is a
treasure. The only thing better would be to have you living next door to me or vice-versa."

-Sheila

"Dion, Thank you for the incredible information you have provided to each and every one of us. I
think you have a terrific book in the making. I also think there was a great deal of talent in this class."

-Pat

"I had so much fun playing with Twinks in this class! Normally, I'm not much of a stamper but the
lovely Twinks made it so much FUN!!"

-FFY

"Dion, I love this class. Especially when loaded onto an iPad so I can enlarge the
diagrams and not have to admit to needing reading glasses!"

-Jacqui

 

To celebrate this second run, I will be giving away two spots on Mastering Twinks along with a special collection of 6 mini pots of Twinkling H2O's.  To go into the drawing please leave a comment on my blog Dion Dior  telling me why you would like to take this class. For a second chance to win, post about this giveaway on your Facebook page, and/or blog and leave a second comment on my blog Dion Dior with your link.  I'll be randomly drawing two winners next week.

For more information on Mastering Twinks, or to register, click here.

Thanks for checking in xx

Twinkling Lotus Flowers by artist Dion Dior and our Winner from our Weekend Giveaway!

Thank you so much for all your comments over the weekend. Our Winner is just starting to express herself artistically. Congratulations to .......................Karen Borusiewicz!

We hope our product's will help you create a beautiful gift for your mother for mother's day and please share it with us on our Luminarte Fan page! If you could send an email to citonya@comcast.net with your shipping address so that I can get your goodies sent out to you, I would appreciate it. Thanks again for all the comments and we will be doing this again before the end of the month, SO STAY TUNED to our blog!

Speaking of Mother's Day Dion Dior is sharing a beautiful journal page that any mother would be proud to receive as a gift. Enjoy.

It really was a joyful trip down under, we took a little road trip to take in some of Australia's best views. We just found a lovely spot and stayed there for a few days enjoying the pool and beach fun.

We made our way back to Grandma's house and spent our final week in Australia here.  Autumn is slowly descending on the Southern Hemisphere and our beach days where numbered, but our wonderful vacation was not over till the fat lady sings...so to speak!

In the meantime, it's back to my sketchbook. I have so many pages to share, and this was one I did sitting in my mum's backyard. She's a wonderful gardener (something I did not inherit), I'm not really sure what they are, but they looked a bit like lotus flowers.  Either way, they called out for Twinkling H2O's. And given my "Mastering Twinks" class begins again on April 13 through LuminArte, I'm immersing myself once more in these exquisite, shimmering watercolor paints. It feels like home!!  Registration now, and you can click here for more information.

Thanks for checking in. xx

Welcome Artist Marti Wills!!

Hello viewers, joining us today is another very talented artist Marti Wills. She describes herself as, somewhat random, often obsessive,and  overly imaginative. Marti will be amazing us with her art style and techniques. Check out her blog at Pez-A-Doodle Designs, I am inspired by her drawings and all her different blogs. Here is Marti to tell us some more things about herself and her beautiful artwork. 

Hi!  My name is Marti Wills though online I am often known as Pezadoodle.  I am beyond thrilled to be here as a guest on the Luminarte blog!

I currently live in Northern VA outside of Washington DC but I am a bit of a nomad.  I was quite a wild child growing up which frustrated my parents no end.  They were divorced when I was very young but I saw my dad every year. I have always been a bit off the beaten path.  My brain tends to run wild and I am a fly-by-the-seat-of-my-pants kinda girl.  As a child I drove my parents crazy but one is Cajun and the other is Cuban - what could they possibly have expected?

I grew up {mostly} in south Louisiana in a family of artistic women.  All of the art in the house from paintings on the wall to many of the other art pieces were done by my mother, my grandmother, my aunt...and in my house now nearly everything on my walls is done by me, my mother, my aunt, my brother...  My brother and I were "make n' do" fanatics from my earliest memory.  I am also heavily influenced by the ornate flamboyance of the French Quarter. Everywhere I have lived ever since has seemed so pale and bland in comparison.

I managed to make it to adulthood by the skin of my teeth and was married and pregnant by nineteen.  I had 2 sons by 22 and raised them on my own.  I remember sitting on the couch with them, both in diapers, and thinking about all of the odds stacked against them and in that moment I was determined they would overcome them and so would I.  My art and crafting was put on the back burner for a long time while I raised them and put myself through college and graduate school.  My artistic side was re-ignited when my mom gave me a fulls set of Prismacolor pencils, a sketch book, a sharpener and some tutorial books when I earned my Bachelor degree and I was immediately hooked!  Then I met and married my husband and we decided to have one more child.  This time I would quit working and stay home.  A few months after our daughter was born my stepmother gave me a Cricut machine and my obsession with papercrafts and stamping began.  Through message boards and blogs a whole world of creativity and fabulous friendships has been born and my life is even richer because of it!

I first discovered Twinkling H2Os through a message board and when I received my first order I was entranced!  I feel quite sure I was dipped in glitter before I was sent to live this life!  I immediately scoured the Luminarte website and begun a love affair with both Twinks and Primary Elements.

I am infinitely grateful for the supreme patience of my husband who puts up with my artistic insanity and bursting-at-the-seams craft room and i adore the daughter who loves to create right alongside of me.

here is a sneak peek of one of the items i will be sharing with y'all:

Thanks for stopping by and we will be having another giveaway before the end of this month!

 

Twinkling Mexican Fish by artist Erin O'Neill Argueta

Hello again!

I am Erin and I'm so thrilled to be back to share some more of my twinkling fun. I am in love with my twinkling H2O's and the Luminarte Existencils!

For this project you will need:
11x15-inch piece of watercolor paper
#28382 Oceana stencil 12x12
#28384 Oceana
#28383 Oceana stencil 6x6
Sea foam Sponge
Paint Brushes

Starting with the 11x15-inch piece of watercolor paper, I've used the Oceana 12x12, Oceana 6x6 and Oceana Stencil Kit with my twinks, seafoam and brushes to paint a Mexican porcelain fish.

Using sea foam with twinks and the stencils, I've layered the colors and created an amazing translucent texture.

My camera does not show off the brilliance of the shimmer in this piece.  If you have used the Twinkling H20's, you know that there is just enough shimmer to make this fish come alive with color! It's is stunning in real life!

Thanks for checking in today!

Mastering the Twinks class taught by artist Dion Dior

Mastering Twinks

Dion Dior here, I am so exited to announce that Luminarte, the makers of Twinkling H2O's will be offering a special run of my online class, "Mastering Twinks".   This class will commence on April 13 and registration is now open. As part of this special run, Luminarte will be offering a $25 gift certificate for $10 with your registration. You can use your gift certificate on any of their luscious products. 

Leslie Ohnstad, Senior Designer and Inventor of Twinkling H2O's and Silks has created over 200 stunning, shimmering, twinkling colors. You can check out the products at her website dreamingcolor.com. Aimed at all levels, this class will introduce you to the wonderful world of luminescent watercolor paints.  It is a unique opportunity to loose yourself in shimmering watercolor technique through a wide range of exercises and step by step projects. 

Click here for more information and to register.

Thanks for checking in xx