Blog

Here you’ll find sneak peeks into the newest goings-on, including hot-off-the-press books and DVDs from your favorite authors, exclusive webinars, behind-the-scenes happenings, and, of course, mixed-media art techniques from the pros!

Because of its translucency, tracing paper can be an artist’s best friend when it comes to auditioning designs for artwork.

Sandrine Pelissier’s 4 Tips for Trying Out Patterns

Patterns are a fun addition to any design, but they can be very time consuming to create, especially for large projects. Before committing to an idea, it is nice to be able to visualize how a color or a pattern will look so you can more confidently apply it to your work. Here are four…

make mixed-media art with vintage ephemera:

Make Projects Galore with Our Vintage Ephemera Kit!

Collecting vintage ephemera is one of my passions, and I love sharing my finds with people. That’s why I’m thrilled to tell you that we’ve put together a limited collection of ephemera that’s part of our new Vintage Ephemera Kit, which also includes the books Storytelling with Collage and The Art of Expressive Collage. These…

ink drawing for Inktober:

Improve Your Ink Skills During Inktober!

Tomorrow is October 1st, the kickoff to Inktober, a month when artists challenge themselves to create an ink drawing every day. Are you in? I hope so—I look forward to this event every year. I always encourage artists to take part in Inktober if they can, since it’s a great opportunity to take your creativity…

Studio Saturday: The Miracle of an Organized Art Studio

My office here at Cloth Paper Scissors Central doubles as my secondary art studio. To produce projects for blog posts, it makes sense (and saves time) to create things where I work. Recently I did a big one-day cleaning/overhaul, and it’s made a huge difference in my mood and my energy. Although it may seem…

If you love to doodle, hand lettering offers plenty of opportunities for showing off your style.

Lettering Lessons 2018: Creative Geometric Hand Lettering

Debi Adams guides you back to basic lines and shapes in Lettering Lessons: Creative Geometric Lettering. If you think that basic means boring, you’re all wrong. Debi presents a plethora of hand lettering ideas for transforming simple shapes into unique and artful letters. You will not be disappointed. Debi shows so many creative ways to build…

Download this fantastic selection of vintage ephemera images today and start creating stunning mixed-media art!

Free September Downloads: Elegant Ephemera

Another successful trip to the flea market means one thing: new free ephemera downloads! For September, we’ve got some awesome vintage images for you that you can print today and use in all of your mixed-media artwork. I’ve also cooked up a few projects for some inspiration, so let’s get started. These detailed images are…

Looking for a great new mixed-media challenge? Try sewing on paper for a stitched diary!

Studio Saturday Stitched Diary: Sewing on Paper and Fabric

One reason I love doing these Studio Saturday posts is that it gives me an incentive to try projects we feature in Cloth Paper Scissors. As we work with our artist contributors, I can’t wait to check out their techniques. The Jumpstart feature in the Fall 2018 issue, “The Hand-Stitched Diary” by Lynn Krawczyk, features…

Creating “Pandemonium” and Growing as an Artist

Endless creative thoughts and new ideas for projects pop into my head at random moments—while out for a walk, sitting in traffic, sometimes in the middle of the night. Other times there’s some sort of sensory spark—something catches my eye, or I hear music. As a creative, I try to tune in to these thoughts…

Use Acrylic Paint Skins to Make Abstract Flowers

What do you do with leftover acrylic paint skins? If your answer is “toss them,” get ready, because this post is about to change that! In the September/October 2017 issue of Cloth Paper Scissors, artist Staci Swider shared a superb idea for transforming leftover dried acrylic paint skins into vibrant abstract flower collages. Follow Staci’s…