Friday 26 February 2021

A Light to You - A Journal Page for Finnabair



 

Hello darlings,

 

I want to share with you a journal page I made for my Quiet Moments journal. It’s a journal for which I use inspiring elements and let my heart guide my creative process. I want to capture quiet little moments in life that makes it so precious, and I want every page to reflect that, using fragile dried flowers from our own garden, lace that I have botanically dyed, but I also want it to show how there is balance between everything; joy and sorrow, laughter and tears, hope and fear, light and darkness, all parts of life.

 

The journal is a Finnabair Art Daily Square Journal, 5.5 inches, 14cm in size, so it is rather small – which makes it perfect for a project like this.

 

I had no clear vision what I was going to do, I just collected some elements I found inspiring, and waited for my intuition to tell me what to do next. 

 


 

I started with layering some vintage papers and used tea bags on the page, attaching them with Soft Matte Gel, then primed the page lightly with Heavy Gesso, wiping most off with a baby wipe so that gesso did not cover everything, just gave the page a blended look.

 

I wanted the first page to include common yarrow, my favourite nature flower along with lily of the valley. I love the delicately simple look that contains so much power; common yarrow is one of the oldest medicinal plants on Planet Earth. Every flower has kind of symbolism and as I love all things vintage, this thought made me check what was the symbolism of common yarrow. It is healing and protection, joy and light, so I picked a favourite quote of mine I thought rather fitting for this purpose, by J.R.R. Tolkien.

 

I attached both to the page using Soft Matte Gel, and after letting everything dry properly, I added some paint. I mixed a light paint mix using Impastos Snow White and Linen with a hint of Pitch Black and Dark Chocolate and added only a very light coat of paint onto the page, again blending and wiping most off with a baby wipe.

 


 

Next, I added some shadowing in form of Liquid Acrylics Burnt Sienna and Ink Black, adding some Umber and Ochre to make slightly deeper shadows at some parts of the page.

 

I wanted to test how the new Winter Release Gold Metallic Flakes fit into this kind of journaling page, so using Gilding Glue, I attached just a hint of gold flakes here and there. In such a soft, neutral coloured journal page the gold stood out a bit, so I gently added some new Sage Leaves Matte Wax on top of the gilding, to make it look more aged and worn.

 

I already had used dried flowers and a quote, so I wanted to add my third signature element that makes my journaling look like me: lace. I took some lace and silk ribbon I had dyed using the flowers from our own garden, just some leftover pieces perfect for this kind of projects, and sewed a vintage button to held them together, and glued them onto the page.

 

As a finishing touch, I sprinkled some white acrylic paint to the page, to give the composition some more softness to reflect the message of the quote.

 

Wishing you light and joy,

 

Emilia

 


 

 

NEW WINTER RELEASE MATERIALS:

MATTE WAX SAGE LEAVES

GILDING GLUE

METALLIC FLAKES GOLD


 

OTHER MATERIALS USED:

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-daily-chipboard-journal-5-5-x-5-5

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-soft-matte-gel

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-heavy-gesso-white

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-ink-black

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-burnt-sienna

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-umber

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-ochre

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-dark-chocolate

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-linen

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-pitch-black

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-snow-white

 


 

Thursday 18 February 2021

Queen of Tides - Finnabair Creative Team Art

 

 

I decorated the cover of my precious and much-consulted Finnabair swatch book with the new release chipboards, moulds, and mechanicals. I had waited for a perfect moment, materials, and inspiration to decorate the cover, but with these new release embellishments, it kind of created itself for me. 

 

The journal is Finnabair Art Daily Mixed Media Journal, A5 sized, just a perfect size for a swatch journal. My original idea was to paint the cover purple, my favourite colour but somehow, I was drawn to blues and browns.

 


I started the process with taking some left-over scraps of Finnabair tissue paper and attached the pieces with Soft Matte Gel to the cover, crumbling and folding while doing it, so it made a bit uneven base, and then primed it with two coats of white Heavy Gesso

Then I decided which embellishments I’d use and how, arranged them on the cover, and attached with heavy Body Gel.

Next, I wanted some more dimensional effect, and mixed Texture Paste White Sand with Mini Art Stones and using a palette knife, smeared some here and there. I did the same with Old Walls Rust Effect Paste, to create more layering. Then, I primed everything with a thin layer of Heavy Gesso. 

For the painting process, I wanted to use my favourite medium, Liquid Acrylics. And as said, my original plan was to use purple shades, but somehow found myself using blues and browns! I started with Prussian Blue, mixing some with Ink Black to create more contrast and depth, and then started to add Umber and Burnt Sienna. I used very diluted paints, and sprayed water to make it spread watercolour-ish way, to create natural blending and lines. Then, I did the same with Titanium White, to blend blues and browns together.

For the painting process, I wanted to use my favourite medium, Liquid Acrylics. And as said, my original plan was to use purple shades, but somehow found myself using blues and browns! I started with Prussian Blue, mixing some with Ink Black to create more contrast and depth, and then started to add Umber and Burnt Sienna. I used very diluted paints, and sprayed water to make it spread watercolour-ish way, to create natural blending and lines. Then, I did the same with Titanium White, to blend blues and browns together.

As the composition started to look more and more like tidal beach colours, I accentuated it and added some Golden Dragon Effect Paste, as the either last or first sunrays reflecting in the sand. I also added some new release Gold Metallic Flakes using Gilding Glue, only a lightest touch of gold in only a couple of places to highlight the composition. After gilding, I added new release Sage Leaves Matte Wax to give the gilding antique look.

As the final touch to highlight the Queen of Tides (the mould) and some art pebbles, I added a light coat of White Pearl Metallic Wax, and my Finnabair swatch book cover was finished! 

See (the very unlike-me speeded-up) tutorial video here: https://youtu.be/c0LYbl0vIUA
 
Wishing you beautiful moments in your favourite colours,
Emilia

 


NEW FINNABAIR WINTER RELEASE MATERIALS USED:

DESERT FLOWER MECHANICAL SET

SCRAPYARD DRAGONFLIES MECHANICAL SET

DECORATIVE CHIPBOARD MACHINE FLORAL DECORS

MECHANICALS GRUNGY GEARS

MOULD VINTAGE PORTRAIT

MATTE WAXC SAGE LEAVES

METALLIC FLAKES GOLD

GILDING GLUE

MATTE WAX SAGE LEAVES

 

 

OTHER MATERIALS USED:

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-heavy-gesso-white

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-heavy-body-gel

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-ink-black

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-prussian-blue

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-burnt-sienna

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-titanium-white

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-umber

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-metallique-wax-white-pearl

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-extravagance-texture-paste-white-sand-tube

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-extravagance-texture-fantasy-old-walls

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-ingredients-art-stones-mini

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-finnabair-tissue-paper-wilderness

                            

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-finnabair-mechanicals-antique-labels

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-finnabair-mechanicals-woodland-ferns

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-ingredients-melange-art-pebbles

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-daily-chipboard-journal-5-5-x-8

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wednesday 17 February 2021

A Kiss - Finnabair Creative Team Art



It was love at first sight, when I saw the new Vintage Portraits mould, and I could clearly vision a garden goddess of some sort, a rose sprite sleeping inside it, so I decided to wake it up with a butterfly kiss. 

 


 

The canvas is small, only 20 cm x 20 cm. I wanted an uneven surface, so I crumbled tissue paper, attached it with Soft Gloss Gel, and primed it all over with Heavy Gesso.

 

I arranged my composition using Heavy Body Gel to attach everything, and after it had dried, primed the clay motives with Heavy Gesso. 

 


 

Then I mixed a rosy paint mix using Impastos Snow White, Dusty Rose, Burlap, and Linen, and for shadowing, I added to the mix some Pitch Black and Dark Chocolate. Then I painted the whole canvas with the pain mix, wiping most off with a baby wipe leaving just a trace of rosy background. For the next layer I mixed a new mix of Liquid Acrylics Avocado Green, Umber, Crimson, Purple, and Metallic paint Plum Preserves for the moulds and for blending them to the canvas, and for shadowing and highlighting, added Ink Black and Burnt Sienna to the paint mix.

 

 

 

As finishing touches, I used wax in different shades, Pearl White, Vintage Silk, Vintage Gold, and White Gold and finally, added a very light wash of Jewel Paste Golden Dust here and there.

 

 

 

 

And indeed, it looks like the butterfly is waking up a sleeping beauty, a rose sprite, a goddess of flowers. With minus 25 Celsius degrees here in Finland, it seems a faraway dream, but it will come, triumphantly victorious, the spring, bringing butterfly kisses and whispering flowers.

 

Emilia

 


 

New Products, soon available in stores:

 

Art Extravagance Jewel Texture Paste: Golden Dust

Imaginarium Moulds: Vintage Portrait, Large Gears

 

 

Other Products used:

 

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-heavy-gesso-white

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-soft-gloss-gel

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-basics-heavy-body-gel

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-dark-chocolate

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-linen

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-burlap

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-pitch-black

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-snow-white

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-impasto-paint-dusty-rose

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-crimson

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-ink-black

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-umber

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-burnt-sienna

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-purple

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-liquid-acrylic-avocado-green

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-metallique-plum-preserves

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-metallique-wax-white-pearl

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-metallique-wax-vintage-gold

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/paints/paints-art-alchemy-waxes/prima-art-alchemy-metallique-wax-white-gold

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-art-alchemy-opal-magic-wax-vintage-silk

 

https://mixedmediaplace.com/prima-finnabair-tissue-paper-moda



 

 

Monday 15 February 2021

Time to Soar

It’s not a subject I have managed to accidentally stumble upon anywhere. It makes people easily uncomfortable. It is something that is often considered a rather embarrassing, avoidable, a subject to be silenced to nonexistence. Which is exactly why I am always bantering about it.

 

About being disabled.

 

I have written about it a lot during the past years, trying in my own way to give a small voice to a large subject. How being disabled is not something that defines me nor anyone else, how it does not – wonders of wonders – make my life miserable, but is only what it is, one aspect among others in my life. I’m still me, I’m still a person, I still have the same right to dream, to enjoy my life, to notice the little things, to smile, to laugh, to live, that any other human being, even if I have a disability parking permission.

 

(I know it makes me a terrible person, but it is fun to make people confused by smiling them widely in my pretty lace dresses while sitting in my wheelchair. I know, I know, I am a hopelessly bad, bad person. I should learn to act my part and look miserable, preferably wear black instead of dusty rose, and I should definitely forget those lace petticoats. But I keep forgetting it. I have too much fun and am too busy to live my life to remember it.)

 

But, instead of talking about disabilities in general, there’s one angle of it I would like to rise up properly to spotlight this time. It is a subject very rarely talked about. (In fact, so rare I have never heard anyone talk about it, beside me that is.)

 

What it is to be a disabled crafter.  Or what it is to be a disabled crafter, to be precise.

 

I know. It’s a huge subject, and I can’t ever reach the bottom of it, but I want to share some thoughts about it with you, so you could as a relatively healthy, averagely normal person (who actually can define what normality or average is, but you know) see the world from just a tiny bit different angle, or you could as a disabled crafter either nod in agreement and harrumph that finally someone brings it up – or of course, totally disagree from your own experience. Your pick.

 

 

 

First of all, a disclaimer. You need to remember that my disabilities are mine and mine alone. Others have different kinds of issues, but this is me now, talking from my point of view. I have mobility issues, limited amount of energy, and all kinds of cognitive problems, caused by rare chronic illnesses and a brain injury, but I do not have any kind of problems with creative functioning.

 

Nor with intelligent functioning, may I add. Somehow, people tend to think that having had an accident and getting a brain injury or just because they see me in a wheelchair means that I need to be spoken slowly, clearly, and preferably in short, simple sentences. Of course, what they do not know – and maybe if you just happened to stumble upon my blog, you don’t either – that actually I once was someone defined as quite smart; an academic researcher in Helsinki University and Academy of Finland. Although an accident did wipe most of my memory off more efficiently than any baby wipe does the trick with acrylic paint, I do still have some of that brain capacity left. I can handle long sentences, if I (want to) concentrate hard.

 

In short, my limits are physical, but they do not prevent me from crafting. Or being a human being, for that matter.

The subject of being a disabled crafter is wider and higher than Mount Everest, so I decided it needs the proper, thorough attention it deserves. So, in this blogpost I concentrate on what it is to be a disabled crafter in social media. Next time it’s more comfy areas I promise, like how I did find sometimes funny, sometimes unexpected, sometimes simple, alternate ways to craft with disabilities and so on. But this is a subject we need to tackle through first, because this is the reason for quite a lot of smaller subjects you might call problems if you are a pessimist (or a realist), or hiccups if you are used to these kinds of things and just shrug them off and have those rose-tinted classes of yours nearby.

 

And I have to admit that actually, this is a subject I have been hesitating to talk about, for reasons you will soon see. I have been writing this blogpost for months, trying to find right words, as it is not a light subject, easy, happy, comfortable. No. It’s a rather ugly one. And the words social media and ugly, they are a word combination that is, well, it’s not very nice or easy to be the one saying it aloud. You see, as in life in general, the subject of disability in social media is a subject uncomfortable, unwanted, avoided.

 


 

Although I have been a crafty, creative person all my life sewing, cross stitching, crocheting, paper crafting, doing some serious dolls house crafting, painting, tinkering, playing the violin and piano, singing, writing, drawing, reading, testing and exploring all possible new aspects of creativity all my life, I found mixed media art only a couple of years ago. (About three, I think.) Which, I can tell you, have been a blessing, to find my own creative voice, my own place in the world, after having had to bury my academic career.

 

This new crafty world has brought me immense joy. It has also brought me new, unexpected problems or issues to tackle. Problems or issues that are something I rarely, if never, hear anyone talking about but which should be talked on and on, until from sheer exhaustion, the subject is emptied of any taboos.

 

The world of crafting is a beautiful one. The social media’s crafting corner is full of supporting friends, shared dreams, kindness. It’s a creative haven, a community I feel grateful to be part of, and I have not once experienced anything but love, kindness and genuine support. But. (There’s bound to be a but. I’d not be writing this otherwise.)

 

I know I am not the only person on planet Earth who loves crafting and have restrictions, but it is a topic simply not spoken of in social media. I understand that not everyone wants to share their private struggles, that some people just want crafting to be their happy place, where they can be an equal part of crafting community without anyone knowing the real-life battles, and I understand and respect that.

 

Also, I know there are people like me, who think of nothing of their disabilities and restrictions, as that is just what normality looks like for them, simply a subject not worth mentioning. I, on the other hand, specifically want to talk about it. (I think I might lack the bashfulness button, someone forgot to install that on me in birth. If you find one extra button wandering about, it’s probably mine. If you send it to me, that’d be great; I could use it in one of my mixed media canvases and name it Wanted: Shame.)

 

I do know that there are many people out there, who would want to share their struggles and their victories, who would want to ask for advice or yearn for peer support but are too intimidated to do so, because any sign of real-life weakness isn’t something social media is very good at handling. And I think if one corner of the world of social media, it is the creativity corner that should be open to everyone. And by everyone, I mean every single person, regardless their skills, restrictions, disabilities, hidden or in-plain-sight anything. The only thing that should matter is their love, their passion to create.  

 

 



But. Think about this… Every time – and I am serious – every single time I mention the word DISABLED in my blog, in my Instagram post, in my Facebook page, in my Facebook video, in my YouTube video, anywhere in social media, every single time I lose followers.

 

Every single time I mention the word, I get considerably less likes than otherwise. If I mention it in my videos, I get thumps downs. Lots of them.

 

And believe me, I have tested it over and over again. It. Is. True. I still am a researcher through and through, even if these days a disability pensioner (sorry, just couldn’t resist), so I tend to notice all kinds of unnecessary details.

 

To test the phenomenon more, started to use #disabledcrafter on Instagram and my follower number dropped couple of hundreds. I mentioned the word in one post and lost fifty followers more. And so on.

 

I mentioned in one video (on purpose, just to test the reactions) that I need to use a bigger brush because it’s easier to hold when you have mobility issues, and I got angry face emojis. I haven’t even read any video comments lately, just because, well. I just don’t.

 

Luckily, I am not a person partial to follower numbers or defining myself according to likes on social media. That’s not why I am bringing this up, how many likes I get, how many followers I have, it simply isn’t relevant for me. What is relevant is that there are people out there who do care about these kinds of things. Which is why, when I noticed about this phenomenon, I decided to repeat the word even more often. Just because I have a voice. There are too many who haven’t.

 

I hasten to say that this phenomenon is not something that is restricted to crafting world only. No, it’s just the way of the social media, I know. I have a good example for you.

 

After suffering from my second brain hemorrhage a couple of years ago, I lost my native language Finnish for a year or so and spoke Finnish only with a strong Swedish-German-Russian dialect and with no grammar whatsoever. I wrote about it in my personal, private Facebook I had for people I called my friends, people I actually recognize when passing in street, people who I would gladly ask in for coffee if I saw them. Instead of getting supportive comments, I suddenly found I had almost 60 friends less. (That is not much when you think in terms of general FB friends amount people tend to have but at the time I had only approx. 120 friends to begin with, knowing them all in real life, too.)

 

Just because I happened to have had a brain hemorrhage and talked about it to my friends, they vanished. Now that is social media for you. It just can’t handle real life with its darker shades, it thrives only from the light bits.

 

But I also have a lot to be thankful for social media, too. I have got friends, real, actual, lifetime friends dear to me. I have a place I can feel loved, supported, appreciated just as I am, and I can share my passion for creativity and beauty with them. I would be a lot lonelier without my friends all over the world that social media have brought to me, and it is those friends I will treasure like most valuable gift ever presented to me. I have been able to take my first, tentative creative steps towards the yet invisible trail while my friends have held my hand and shown me the way, and they have witnessed and supported me while I have made the trail as my own and widened it to a path. I could never have done it without them.

 

And what makes me most humble, grateful, and so incredibly touched to tears is that I can proudly say I am part of Finnabair Creative Team, team that supports, encourages, and urges me to talk about this subject aloud, and not just aloud but with such a loud voice that others can hear it to the far corners of the world. And that is one thing that I could not say nor experience without social media. So, there really is is no such a thing as only black and white. There is the whole rainbow of colours reflecting in everything.  The creativity corner of social media is open to everyone, I know it is, I have experienced it myself, me being welcomed with open arms. But, in the end of the day, it’s open only partially, as I have myself witnessed, too, and that is something I’d love to see changing. I cannot change social media, I’m only one person. But I can ask you to join me and make the creativity corner equal and yes, accessible to everyone, together.

 

Think about it like this. What if most people have actually been installed the bashfulness button in birth that I lack of and are not as stubbornly Finn as I am? What if they actually do care what others think? What if there are insecure, vulnerable individuals out there, who do care how many followers or likes they have, and hence never ever can imagine they could openly talk about their restrictions and problems they face with crafting, in fear of experiencing the same phenomenon I am constantly crashing with? Could it be possible that instead of pressing the unfollow button, we all could share some collective support for anyone openly admitting they are vulnerable?

 

You see, besides the aspect of social media and its lack of being comfy with anything not-completely-over-the-moon-happy and the collective intake of breath shaking its foundations with a mere mention of the word “disability”, there are some things in real life that normal, relatively healthy human beings cannot understand if they have not been through it all themselves. And crafting with disabilities, my darling friend, is absolutely one of those. 

 

I want to shed some light to what it is to be a disabled crafter not because I want sympathy. I do not. I and my disabilities are fine, thank you, and can handle us pretty well, and I think that this might be another reason it’s a subject never discussed. Any crafter with disabilities does the same: concentrates on the good things (the actual crafting) instead of wasting their time and energy to pointing out the problems and obstacles and difficulties they face and conquer all the time when crafting.

 

I am a person not easily disheartened (I am a Finn, after all, we invented the term sisu), so I took and still take it all as a challenge to climb over. But what if there is someone out there, with chronic illnesses and a flaming desire to create, who is discouraged by thinking about all the obstacles they know they would face, just like they face in every single thing they do, every single day of their one life?

 

I want to reach out for them, to hug them, to courage them, to take their hand and say that hey, darling, beautiful, brave you, don’t be afraid, you can do this, you can find a way, let me help you with the first steps and soon you’ll soar.