I like to bake, and I know from experience when I can make substitutions for ingredients and when substituting is a recipe for disaster. Most of the time, anyway. (There was an unfortunate incident with an apple cake and bourbon, once.)

When you're faced with a blank canvas and want to create a background or you have a collage or painting that needs a focal point, reach for a stencil.

If you read this blog regularly, you know I looooove gelatin printing, especially with my Gelli Arts^TM printing plate. But I have to say, I've been in a bit of a rut. I've used some basic masks. I've made marks with a few tools. But I am looking to go further and make my monoprints more complex, with layers of textures and colors.

Did you know you can turn a piece of metal into a component for wearable art? All it takes to make jewelry from found objects are some common mixed-media art supplies, some metal found objects or pre-made blanks, and a few basic techniques.

A while back I wrote about Julie Fei-Fan Balzer's techniques for successfully making custom rubber stamps had me eager to try rubber stamp carving myself. I asked for your advice, and you gave it!

Well, friends, we celebrated 12-12-12, we survived the Mayan apocalypse, and we're on the verge of a New Year. (Depending on where you are when you read this, the New Year may have already arrived.)

For the most part, cootie catchers provide giggles for adolescent girls. But it turns out the basic cootie catcher construct can be the basis for paper art silhouette ornaments. These ornaments (which can also be used as gift toppers and card embellishments) turn kids' amusement into sophisticated handmade paper crafts.

Decorative papers always catch my eye. I've been known to drop serious amounts of cash in those fancy paper product and art stores. But when I get them home, I always hate to use them—they're too precious. So when it comes to mixed-media art, I find it's easier and much less expensive to make your own papers for paper crafts or backgrounds.