CLAUDINE HELLMUTH
CLAUDINE HELLMUTH blog   

back from HSN!
I'm back from another trip down the HSN. This was an exciting trip because both my chipboard kit and the pop art sticker kits have sold out! 

The only sad part is now they will never be made again. I am glad I bought a couple extra kits to keep as samples!I loved that little ice cream truck and the suitcase!! But the fun part is I'll get to design even more kits!  I still have 4 other kits on HSN which are also limited editions. Check them out here!

When I first get to the HSN studios there is always the mad dash to get tables so you can set up your displays. There never seems to be enough tables to go around. I got lucky though. Emeril's staff who were there selling his product line, were super helpful and gave me one of their tables. Thanks Emeril's staff!!




Here's my table in the pre-set up madness. I'm pretty slow at setting up my tables, it takes me along time, and I keep moving stuff around until I get it just how I want it. 



Here's one of the tables all finished! This one was for my rub on kit.  Then they wheel this table onto set right before you go on air. It's tricky to have everything set up and not have it fall over when it gets wheeled away!




Here's the necklace I wore on air. I made it from one of Lilla Roger's Ruby Violet kits by Prima. I love her kits!




 
And a youtube video of my card kit demonstration on air. I was proud of myself -- I looked at the front facing camera more this time. With so many cameras it get very confusing. But each time I go on I try to tweak my demonstration until one day (hopefully soon)  I'll have it down pat!



And the empty greenroom! Most of the day it was just me in here! But I was busy setting up tables and getting ready for each segment. the time really flies when you are there! 
 

So another exciting trip to HSN! I'll be back on in July! thanks to everyone who send nice messages via twitter and facebook!

And right now,  I'm off to the Ranger offices in NJ to teach at RangerU for the weekend! It's been a busy travel week!

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HSN here I come!
I'm headed down to Tampa for another day at HSN!  Here's my on-air schedule for tomorrow morning:

5:20am EST - Pop Art Stickers and Rub on and Vinyl Kit
8:40am EST  - Sweet Treats Chipboard Kit
2:10pm EST - Swellsville Card Kit and Super Swell Scrapbook Kit
*** all times could change! ***

All kits that I am showing are already on HSN.com, and some will be be at great one-day discounts that you'll want to check out! 

and take a look at these beautiful cards that Ryann Salamon created with my kits! I'll be showing these on air too! Thanks Ryann for letting me show your beautiful work!



This card that Ryann created uses stickers from my Pop Art Stickers 3-D sticker Kit. Check it out on Ryann's blog here! This kit is selling out fast! Just a few left in HSN stock!


This card that Ryann created features chipboard from my Sweet Treats Chipboard Kit - only a few of these kits left at HSN!!. Check it out on Ryann's blog here!


And one more card that Ryann created using chipboard from my Sweet Treats Chipboard Kit. Check it out on Ryann's blog here!
 
I'll be up early tomorrow! I have to be at the studio by 3am! I'll be tweeting my HSN adventures! Thanks to everyone who was rooting for me from the twittervese last time I was on! I really appreciate your support!

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clear stamps giveaway #2

Let's have another giveaway! Stampers Anonymous has provided a few samples from my new stamp release to giveaway. Today we have my new Spring Garden Set! 

UPDATE - WE HAVE A WINNER! winner has been picked! scroll down to view winner! We'll have another giveaway next week! thanks for playing! 


I just love this little set. The flowers, the rain boots. I had too much fun drawing all these thingsll! 
Speaking of rain boots, check out what Julie Ebersole created using this set of stamps! Aren't these lovely? Don't miss her blog!



GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
One winner will be selected for this giveaway. Prize is one of the Spring Garden Stamp sets. I'll pick a winner at random using the inlinkz.com contest picker from the comments in this post. Just comment on this blog post to enter and don't forget to leave me a way to contact you in your comment if your profile doesn't have that information! We'll run the contest to 5pm Wednesday April 25th. I'll post the winner Wednesday evening here! 

UPDATE - WE HAVE A WINNER! winner has been picked! scroll down to view winner!

My new stamp collection is now available! You can find them on the Stampers Anonymous web site, and on Ellen Hutson,and  Simon Says Stamp (type my name into the search bar), and don't forget to ask your local craft store to carry them too!! 


FTC Disclosure: some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I will earn a small referral fee. I appreciate your clicks and support! No purchase necessary to enter the giveaway. just leave a comment in this post and you are entered!

UPDATE WE HAVE A WINNER! winner has been picked! Congrats to Linda R!! We'll have another giveaway next week! thanks for playing! 



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finding your artistic style: part 2
This is my second post in my "finding your artistic style" mini blog series. If you haven't read the first post here's the link to it. We had quite a good discussion in the comments as well!

My first post touched on the fact that even if you have been creating art for a long time you may find yourself at a point where you need to grow or change your style.  These tips will also help someone who feels they don't have a style and would really like to hone in on more of a "look" that is unique to them.


A couple things before we get started. 

From the comments in my last post, a few people seemed to be confused about medium vs style. You can work in many different mediums or surfaces, journals, canvas, ATCs sketchbook etc and still bring your style with you. It's not the medium that determines your style, that's just the surface you are working on

And it should be noted that there are many successful artists who simultaneously create in a few different styles and have thriving businesses because of their style diversity. So having one exclusive style that you work in morning, noon and night is not always a must. 

It's up to you and the way you work and how you feel about needing a look that you can call your own. 

As far as style, I prefer to work in a way that was described in college by my professors as a "concentration". They didn't say your style is this or that. 

It was your "concentration". I really like this. 

Concentration can be something that you are focused on, for a long time until you feel it has run it's course. It's not something that you marry until death do you part. It may help to try to look at your current work as "a concentration" --  it's your focus, for now. You are creating and exploring it until you feel you have explored all aspects of it. Then one day when it's no longer exciting for you -- you will be growing into a new concentration. 

OK so how to get started finding your own style or "concentration"?

iHanna posted in the comments in my last post that the only way she sees forward to finding your style is to create a lot of art. And boy is she right!! 

The ONLY way to finding your own look is to make a lot of art. A LOT of art. Most of which you will want to throw away and never show anyone. 

But I have some guideposts to help you along the way, that I hope will help you. This is all of course easier said than done and finding your style takes a lot of work, and you will go through a messy experimental phase. But it's an exciting adventure!!  

Here are some tips to the process of finding your artistic style that I hope will help you:


MAKE LISTS TO FIGURE OUT WHAT YOU LIKE
My first step is to make lists and notes. I begin by making lists of the types of artworks that I enjoy from magazines and galleries. I look for anything that gives me that real feeling of excitement when I see the work. At this point it's really important to look outside the sources that you normally look to. If you usually read Somerset Studio Magazine. Go and grab a Raw Vision or Juxtapoz. Look in modern art galleries if you like classical and vice versa. Try to broaden your inspirational input.


When you see an artwork that you really like. Don't just say "I like that artwork I'm going to make something like it". Really look at the work to pinpoint what exactly you like about it. Is it the line quality that excites you? Is it the color palette? Is it the overall subject matter of the work? Is it the surface they are working on?

Distill it down to the heart of what about that work you love and write it all down. This part will require some thinking and practice if you are not used to doing it. But it's important because you don't want to be copying, you want to find the essence of what inspires you so you can make your own unique path.

Now an example! 

When we first moved to DC I kept seeing street artists' work all around where we live. One artist, decoyink (watch her video on current tv here ) in particular really excited me.  


I loved her use of line and limited color. I would get so excited when I would see her work! The line quality! the spots of color. SWOON!!

So if I were creating a inspiration list, inspired by this work, my list would have "line quality" and "spot color" on it.

Let's try another one this time with a less contemporary artist.: 


Even when I was in college I was inspired by the work of Edouard Vuillard. He would fill his paintings to the brim with pattern. Every surface is covered in pattern, none of which normally go together but somehow it all works.

I also love pattern! Polka dots and stripes, gingham and plaid. But maybe I never thought about combining them all together in once piece. So this might give me an idea. If I were studying this work for my inspiration list "lots of pattern" would go on my list.

Here's a list of descriptive terms you might come up with when creating your inspiration list:
line quality
texture
color palette
whimsical
serious
pattern
subject matter - figurative, still life, 
abstract
layered
collage
type/lettering




EXPERIMENT - A LOT
After you have made your lists of inspiration elements, now it's time to start experimenting. Get ready to make a lot of art. It's only through the doing and the creating of a lot of work that you will start to see your style evolve. Try to shoot for one small artwork a day. Create quick pieces that are complete experiments. Work small, use materials that are not intimidating. 

I like to go back to basics and start with using office paper, pens, cheap supplies and glue stick. Nothing that I will feel precious about. Create create create. Do not judge your work at this stage. Just work. Keep looking at your inspiration list and incorporating those elements that still speak to you, Do not feel you have to incorporate all of the elements from your list, those are just there to help you define what you like and what gets you visually excited. If you have "texture" and "collage" as items on your list  -- start there, layer up the paint, collage in your work and see where it takes you. Work in the in the colors that you put on your inspiration list. keep working until it feels right. 

you may try one piece that has collage, then another that has collage + line work, then another that has collage + type. Mix and match the items from your inspiration list if you feel you need a place to start. This will be the hardest part. Try not to over think it. Even if you have to tell yourself you will throw everything away at the end (I do this!). Try to relax and experiment and not think at all about where this is all going right now.


Know that there will be an ugly phase before things start to feel like they are working.  I call this my ugly teenager phase. It's just about to all come together but it's going through some growing pains. This is the part where most people give up. Don't edit or judge your work yet. Just keep making stuff!!


BE PATIENT
When I was going through a big style change with my work in early 2002, it took me over a year of experimenting and creating a ton of art until I started to feel like I was getting somewhere. I didn't show this work to anyone except closest friends and family. It was a difficult year, I kept wondering where my work was going, I was leaving behind a style that I had become very well known for, and some people couldn't understand why I needed to move on. It was a very, very rough year. I didn't feel anything clicking. I was floundering around. It was very uncomfortable. This is part of the process. I wish we could skip over this phase but we can't.


REVIEW
After a period of time, I would say at least 3 months of creating art just about every day or every few days. If you can only create one piece a week. Then wait 6 months --- spread out all your work and review. Make notes about what you see. I bet you can really see a progression toward a look happening before your eyes. Make notes about what you like about the works in front of you and what you would like to see more of. For example: maybe some of your earlier works have more layering that you really like, but your later works have more typography and you think if you combine the two looks you might really be onto something.


After you have evaluated, get back to creating and review again in another month or two. Soon you will feel things clicking! You are well on your way to expanding your artistic voice!!

In my next "style post" I'll show examples of my inspiration list and how I use it to make tweaks to my artwork to make sure things stay interesting! 


But for homework I'd love for you to listen to this interview with Lesley Riley and Katie Kendrick. Katie talks a lot about how her style is growing and changing and I think you'll enjoy it! You can also listen on itunes here.

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smart creative women interview
I was really excited to be interviewed by Monica Lee for her Smart Creative Women interview series! 


We covered so many topics: licensing, HSN, changing your style - which I touch on a few things from this post and then also is a good segway for my next post about that topic -- which is coming up soon! We had lots of smiles and laughs too! As you can see from the screenshot above, Brian cat even made an appearance! 



Watch the interview using the player above (if you are reading this on a feed and don't see a video click here to watch the interview).

Make sure to check out all of Monica's amazing interviews on SmartCreativeWomen.com. I look forward to them every week and I listen to them while I am working, always inspiring!

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clear stamps giveaway
Let's have a giveaway! Stampers Anonymous has provided a few samples from my new stamp release to giveaway. So today let's start with my favorite, the So Retro Set! 

UPDATE - WE HAVE A WINNER! winner has been picked! scroll down to view winner! We'll have another giveaway next week! thanks for playing!

This one is my all time fav with the typewriter, the car, the phone, the eyeglasses! LOVE them all! 

Here's a little card I created, it's so easy to make cards with these! I could do it all day long!



GIVEAWAY DETAILS:
One winner will be selected for this giveaway. Prize is one of the So Retro Stamp sets. I'll pick a winner at random using the inlinkz.com contest picker from the comments in this post. Just comment on this blog post to enter and don't forget to leave me a way to contact you in your comment if your profile doesn't have that information! We'll run the contest to Friday and I'll select a winner Friday evening! 

UPDATE - WE HAVE A WINNER! winner has been picked! scroll down to view winner!

To show you how easy it is to create a card using this set, check out this video filmed by ScrapTime at the CHA Winter show:

 

My new stamp collection is now available! You can find them on the Stampers Anonymous web site, and on Ellen Hutson,and  Simon Says Stamp (type my name into the search bar), and don't forget to ask your local craft store to carry them too!! 


FTC Disclosure: some of the links in this post are affiliate links. If you click and make a purchase, I will earn a small referral fee. I appreciate your clicks and support! No purchase necessary to enter the giveaway. just leave a comment in this post and you are entered!


UPDATE WE HAVE A WINNER! winner has been picked! Congrats to Yaritza!! We'll have another giveaway next week! thanks for playing! 
  

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illustration friday: vocal
Here's my submission for this weeks illustration friday theme of "vocal"
 

illo_friday_vocal
This was a piece I created for Bethesda Magazine's Suburbanology column which I regularly illustrate for. They decided to go with another one of my designs and you'll get to see that version in the May/June issue! 


Happy Friday everyone!!

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easter egg challenge
Ranger is hosting an Easter egg decorating challenge on their blog and I was invited to play! 

I couldn't wait to make something over the top cute! Right away I was thinking of bunnies and chicks and all things darling for Easter.

Here's what I created: 


First, I made a little paper mache Easter Bunny, and then I collaged paper a plastic egg to create an Easter basket, everything got painted with Studio Gesso and then I added a Sticky-Back Canvas handle. I also added a few Sticky-Back Canvas trims to the basket too! 

 Check out the other eggs each day this week over on the Ranger Blog!

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