Journal

Random Musings on Art and LIfe

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Pine Beetle Rubbings

October 13, 2016

Last week I posted photos of Pine Beetle Art. In a nutshell, they are photos of tree trunks showing the paths taken by pine beetle grubs as they tunnel around under the tree bark – and slowly kill the trees. Oddball inspiration? Yes. But inspiration nonetheless. Today, I have photos of Pine Beetle Rubbings. No, not rubbings…

My Urban Computer Satchel is Finally Done!

July 14, 2016

At long last, my Urban Computer Satchel is complete! This is one project that turned into a marathon, and I’m thrilled to cross the finish line. [Tweet “An off-road adventure with an Urban Computer Satchel is finally over.”]   I used Brenda Miller’s Urban Computer Satchel pattern and her hardware kit. (I love, love, love…

Got Glass Rubbing Plates?

March 24, 2016

One of my favorite things about working with Paintstik Rubbings (and teaching you to use them!) is that we can make rubbings from just about anything that is reasonably flat and has a texture. Including glass. [Tweet “See how you can save Grandma’s pie plate on fabric.”] During one of the recent classes, Kathy Maras…

Rubbing Plate Surgery

February 25, 2016

Several years ago, when Zentangles were very much in fashion, I designed a set of rubbing plates I called Doodles. Many of the designs were divided into sections instead of having one distinct design for each plate. [Tweet “Build your own textures with Rubbing Plate Surgery!”] My favorite plate in the collection is the one…

What Is A Whole Cloth Collage?

December 31, 2015

As I have been preparing to teach my new Whole Cloth Collage with Paintstiks and Textures course, I have been trying to pin down an answer for an interesting question – what exactly is a Whole Cloth Collage? According to our friends at the Merriam-Webster Dictionary, a collage is A)  an artistic composition made of…

A Super-Sized Paintstik Rubbing in Sunny Mexico

April 30, 2015

As we begin our tour of Rubbing Plate Roundup, I just couldn’t resist showing you a super-sized rubbing I made from a patio table in Chapala, Mexico. It’s slightly off topic, but Paintstik Rubbings are the first chapter in the book. (Wink, wink!) You’ll just have to pretend along with me that I’m working from…

From Kaleidoscope Fabric To Beautiful Bag

July 3, 2014

In last week’s tutorial, I told you about my process for creating overlapping rubbings from the new Kaleidoscope plates. (Click here to read that article if you missed it.) This week, I am happy to show you my beautiful new handbag. I love making handbags from fabric I create. They are one-of-a-kind bags that do…

Overlapping Rubbings Tutorial

June 26, 2014

by Shelly Stokes, Founder and Creative Mentor The new Kaleidoscope Rubbing Plates received warm welcome at the Minnesota Quilt Show and the International Quilt Festival in Chicago. Many thanks if you were one of the select group of people who snapped one up at the shows or placed your order during our promotion. I know…

How Does Your Garden Glow?

April 10, 2014

by Shelly Stokes, Founder and Creative Mentor A couple of years ago, I got bit by the hand-stitching bug. Hard. I am not saying it was a bad thing – just that it totally changed the way I think about painted fabric. It started with just a little bit of embellishment for a handbag. Then…

Clean-Up Tips

August 24, 2009

Whenever I do paintstik demos, someone inevitably asks “how do I clean up?”  After playing with these paints for 10 years, I’ve gone through a lot of different cleaning products. Here are my favorites. Cleaning Brushes My favorite cleaning for cleaning brushes depends on how long they sit before I clean them. If I clean…