Circus Parade

Circus Elephant

Flamingo Circus

Circus Parade

Flamingo Circus Mixed Media

Flamingo Circus Postcard

Baby Shower Invitation

Just completed the second in what I hope to be a series or circus parade prints.  Each print has an element that shows up in the next print making it ideal to hang together as a set.  I only have two completed at this point and the next will have the elephant's trunk incorporated into it.   I have also include additional works I have created from my original watercolor of Flamingo Circus (a mixed media work a postcard and party invitations) to illustrate that once you complete a work it is not necessarily done!

Making Postcard Mixed Media from Original Art

Original Mixed Media

Lower Portion for Postcard

Upper Portion for Postcard

You can start one of several ways.  I usually start with a piece of card stock paper, watercolor or acrylic  paper (something with some bulk to it that will hold up to paint).  I will gather items that look appealing together, bits of scrapbook paper, notes, paper ephemera, old postage stamps, stickers, etc.  I arrange my paints and rubber stamps and start a huge collage on my dining table until I see an idea starting to form.  I then try to position my original artwork (bear in mind that you can use only a section of a piece or the whole) on the piece adding in the other elements.  The areas that are still white is where I add in paint.  After everything is glued down I used any rubber stamps or handwriting.  When I finish the design I scan it and it is ready to print on card stock paper for your postcard.  I use a rounding tool to round the corners and place a line down the middle of the back separating the address side from the message side.  I happen to have a rubber stamp that looks like an old postage stamp that I will put where the stamp will go if it is ever mailed.  

Postcard bulk

Pick any four

Pick any six

Ok, went a bit crazy with the postcard fun and plan to have a few more crazy moments!  Warning, this will make a mess, a big mess.  I took up the kitchen table and every available chair with paints, brushes, paper ephemera, stamps, postage stamps, bits of photos, lined paper, pens, ink.....you get the idea.  Created over 20 in less than a day, that is if you don't count the previous day that I was busy printing, and of course if you don't count the day after to scan and list all of these.  Putting all the pieces together is a bit like looking for the perfect puzzle piece.   Some took more thought than others but the overall process was really fun.  I used gel medium to glue the pieces on to the card stock (for those of you who do not know what this is, it is usually found in the same area as the fine art paints and reads "gel medium".  It works great as a glue but I would imagine plain old glue would be fine too.  I am always on the look out of images I like, they can come from magazines, old books, family photos, etc.  I even go through previous read books to find phrases that I like.    If you have really nice penmanship, use your own creative hand.  The key is, don't be afraid to try your hand at something new and your friends will think you are wonderful when they receive one of your creations in the mail and as I side note you are adding a little eye candy for the mail carrier!  To take a look at all 20 plus go to my etsy site www.etsy.com/people/studioquest or click the link at right.

Two Birds Postcard

Two Birds

Two Birds Postcard

This sweet watercolor was perfect for some mixed media work. Once the postcard is printed on cardstock paper then the edges rounded it is ready to ship.

Raven Postcard

The Raven

Took my original watercolor "the raven", added some scrapbook paper, stamps and I now have a new mixed media postcard.

The Raven Postcard

Postcard Art

Dreamed of in a Girl

Always looking for new ways to market existing pieces of art and decided to create some new pieces from both full works of art and parts of an existing piece.  I took my original work "Dreamed of in a girl" and added some scrapbook paper to the bottom to create a different postcard.

Dreamed of in a girl postcard

Then decided.....what if I cut into two pieces, one to highlight the eyes....

Blue Eyes

One to highlight the red lips...

Dreamed of in a girl

What I ended up with is four potential postcards, each a bit different and unique.