Yellow Barn Art

DIY scarf

2012-01-16T13:03:00.003-06:00

Recently my family and I went to the Rock and Roll Craft show at 3rd degree Glass. 3rd Degree is an amazing blown glass facility that is in St. Louis. If you live near, you should check out their site and go to a Third Friday Event! They are so much fun with live music and glass blowing demos. They also have glass pieces for sale!
Well at the Rock n Roll Craft show we saw these amazing scarfs for sale. I'm all for supporting local artists, but I really wanted to try this out on my own, so I googled "t-shirt scarf diy" projects and found it on pintrest. They had a great link to a diy page for the scarf. It is so easy. Check it out here!!!
I am probably going to make this at my sisters pintrest party Feb 4th! I cannot wait. I'll share my scarfs when they are made! But here is one to tide you over!

Snow Day Art

2012-01-13T11:23:00.008-06:00

Snow Day

So yesterday we had a snow day. It was pretty un eventful and very cold, so we just bummed around the house and worked on my altered book. Here is my table of content & cover. For some reason, my pics uploaded all crazy so bare with me. There a a couple zoom ins of my cover:

Janel's Turning 30...Yikes!!!

2010-03-21T00:17:00.003-05:00

Be there or be square!! RSVP because it is just plain bad manners not to!!! -Nicole

Cake Class

2010-02-08T17:03:00.007-06:00

I am taking such an awesome class. It is a cake decorating class. I have always, for as long as I can remember, wanted to decorate cakes. I knew it was something I would like and definitely a skill I can use in the future. Possibly for a sister and a sister-in-laws birthdays that are coming up!!! I am taking the class with a few of the bags ( that is a completely other blog in itself) and ones of the bag's twin sons girlfriends. Did I explain that right. Well, needless to say the class rocks and it is great girl time. I love it! So I have totally overloaded this post with pictures, but that's the best part of blog anyway isn't it?!!

Here is my cake and Megan's cake pre-learning anything. We have to come with a cake baked and iced. We learned how to do this the first class. Isn't it smooth and delicious looking!!!

Now we are ready to get to work. Our bags loaded with icing!!

Carol very hard at work practicing some of the boarders we learned. The shell boarder is my favorite. The reverse shell is another story.

I don't know how this happened, but I looked up and Jacqueline was covered in icing.

So here is my finished product. I think its pretty good for my first ever decorated cake! I did the shell boarder around the top and base, then some happy daisy flowers and leaves. I really need to work on my writing.

Darlene (who is hosting the class) and Dianna doing the C-boarder.

Yep, that's me. I am genuinely that happy and excited doing this. It is right up my artsy alley.

Now you can see why I said I need to work on my fonts...this is what it should look like!! Stacy is so amazing at this. She needs to open her own shop. I would work there for sure...after a few more classes of course!

Again, I cannot say enough about how good Stacy is:

Here is Megan's cake fr her Uncle's B-day:

This is carol's cake. she plans to use her newly acquired skills on cupcakes!!!

This is Jacqueline's cake. I love the grass tip around the bottom.

Darlene's cake. This seriously looks like something you'd buy in a shop.

Dianna's cakes. Such adorable flowers!!

Week #3 we learned roses, vines, leaves, and rose buds. Here is Stacy making a large rose. Keep in mind she did this with cream cheese icing, that Darlene and Megan made, which was really hard to work with.

Step 1: build up a tall base. aka a blob.

Step 2: swirl a small spiral with the flower tip.

Step 3: Make petals. In Stacy's case make petals look really easy so everyone is jealous when they can't do it good.

Step 4: Bam...you have a beautiful rose. Yep just like that...I swear!

Then I asked about leaves, mainly because I like fall colors and even in spring, fall colors will be the ones I chose to use. On the left is a classic fall leaf. Sweet. and on the right is another kind of leaf...yep! Stacy didn't even realize what it looked like until I pointed it out. Yes, a maple leaf! Haha!

So here is my 2nd cake of all time. I will say it now I hate the vines. But I love the bright, bold blue flowers. The buds need some work too.

Dianna's cake. Now I must say she wrapped her cake up quick, but I snuck a pic before she left.

Darlene's dot cake. Isn't is cute. She said I had to mention she had icing problems..but I like it.

Megan's cake. Doesn't the icing look so good.

And Jacqueline's awesome cake. She really worked hard on that boarder.

This class is so much fun. I cannot wait to go tomorrow night. I hope it doesn't get cancelled due to snow. This class rocks. Next i want to do a fondant class at Michael's. Who is with me?

Etched Glass DIY

2010-02-07T17:56:00.007-06:00

So my friend, Sarah and I have resorted to making gifts for each other instead of buying presents. #1 like I said we are teachers, so we're broke and #2 homemade/handmade gifts are so much better anyway. So for Sar's (she prefers to be called Sar) Christmas gift, I etched her some tumblers. She has the rad peacock plates from anthropology seen here:

I figured she needed some glasses to accompany them. I went with a simple feather, as to not take away from the more intricate plate design. Here is the finished product:

Etched glass is extremely easy, but looks so elegant when it is finished. I had the privilege of having some amazing art teachers in high school, so I actually got to do this when I was a senior. I did a totally lame kung-fu girl on a mirror, but never the less, I got to do this early on. Suzanne Walker, kuddos to you!!!

Here is a quick and simple how to etch glass.

You will need : 1. Something glass to etch

2. Velvet etching creme

3. Contact Paper

4. An image if you don't want to free hand yours or a pencil if you do

5. An exacto knife

6. Tape

7. A brush ( a junky one)

This is the etching creme. It is around $20.00 a bottle, but it lasts forever. One place to order it is here. Make sure you read the directions and the safety precautions. It is very bad for you, so be safe!!!

Tape on your image, or draw one on. Totally up to you. Since I wanted all the glasses to be the same, I used the same image, but free handed my feathers, so they were all a bit different.

What ever you cut out, will be what is etched. Keep that in mind as you cut. Cut on top of newspaper so you don't damage your table. Your husband would be really mad at you if you did.

When you are finished, add the contact paper to your glass. Make sure to rub out any air bubbles. It may take some time, since glasses are cylindrical and not flat. If there is a crease or bubble near an edge, you run the risk of creme greeting under there and ending up with a weird blob instead of a clean line.

Brush on your creme. Be generous, because we will re-use the creme in a bit. Put it on thick.

If you see any light shining through, add more. This also shows any missed areas.

Yes, it looks this gross, and smells worse, but its all worth it in a few minutes!!!

Set a timer for 3 minutes. That's all it takes!!!

Now, I use a credit card or matte board scraps, but you want to scrape any extra back into the bottle so you can reuse it. This will make the bottle last a lot longer than if you just rinsed it all off.

Ta-da...almost done!!!!

Wash the left over off in running water. It may look like it didn't work while you are doing this, but it jut the water making it look dark. Trust me.

Peel off you contact paper and throw it away. Wash you glass and dry it. Revealing your beautiful master piece. I am thinking of using my cricut machine to do some monograms for our new house. What a great gift for someone!!!

Below is a single glass from the set I made at the beginning. Now go make your own!!!

YoCanDu Art Studio

2010-01-18T21:17:00.006-06:00

Today in celebration of MLK Jr. Day, My momma, Janel, and I went to YoCanDu Art studio and made some art. Janel and I both made stuff for our homes. I had previously gone with my girls from work, and made and N...but now that I am married and we have "our" house, I felt bad hanging up an N with no M. So, I brought back my sister, and mom for support, to check out this amazing place. It is a wonderful studio where you can collage, paint, mosaic and craft. Check out their web page here.

Here are some shots from our radical day:

I adore that this wall has half a cup in it. I want to do this at my house in my basement. How bomb!!

ATC (Artist Trading Cards) having from above...beautiful.

This is the finished M...next to my N that I brought to match with!!

It has all sorts of found objects, like rusted screws, washers, tiles, skeleton key, worry doll

(a boy to go with the girl on the N), and a good luck coin like the one Matt carries in his pocket everyday.

Brushes hanging in the paint area. I love that they are in ketchup bottles and color coded.

Janel making a key rack for their kitchen...Adam, don't look at this. It might be a present.

Hard at work.

Sculptural books hanging from above. I want to do this.

I want this too.

Janel's finished product.

These are the jars that are full of tiles according to color.

This place is seriously amazing. If you live in STL, you should hit it up. I cannot say how awesome this place is.

Journal Swap

2010-01-08T17:45:00.003-06:00

So today is the first day of a journal swap I am doing with some rad ladies I meet down in Springfield, MO in November...i think it was in nov. And I cannot wait to get one in the mail. I sent mine off today...ps, mail is so expensive, I bet the pony express didn't cost $10.00 + tax. Anywho, I can't wait to see what everyone is doing. I admit, my pages are a bit lame, but I wasn't sure what to expect. I googled some images of journals people were doing today and i am overly inspired. Look at some of these amazing pages that I found.

This woman does such amazing water color. Janel, loves water color, so I'm sure she'll be doing some thing like this in hers :) Check out more of these bomb pages here.

The next three images are from this page. There is a ton of images to get ideas an inspiration from. I love working with mixed media in my sketchbooks, so I adore these pages.

Love the background of this page. I usually work on white pages, but I think I am going to steal this idea of adding paper or images first then journaling on top. This is such a cool blog, check it out here.

Again, check out this page. I love the collage work done in it. Incorporating magazine images to make a picture rocks!

I really wish I would have photographed my pages before I sent off my book. I will add them to the blog once I get it back!!!

I got hitched!!!

2009-11-10T20:33:00.005-06:00

I'm so sorry for being the worst ever lately, well for awhile now. But the good news is I got married last month, moved into a new house with the hubs, and am finally finished unloading boxes. Since I am an avid reader of my sisters blog, which is amazing, I am jealous of how amazing she is at it and am hoping to get back into the swing of things. So here are some long awaited, not just for you, but for 7 years of dating, photos of the wedding day!! I still suck at uploading in order, so these are a bit backwards, but you'll get the idea of our amazingly awesome day!!

Below is the best sister moment ever. How special is this picture. I love my nelly-belly!!

So, We wanted to hit up Gus's Pretzels, a st.louis must if you are ever in town. But to our dismay, it was closed. My amazing bus driver, Scott of Callaway Coaches, knocked on the door, got us in for pics, and hooked us up with 5 bags of pretzels. It rocked!!

Down by the river front at the graffiti wall. It was so funny when we pulled up there was another wedding party down there and two of my groomsmen immediately started snapping like on West Side Story getting ready for a turf war. Hilarious!

Again my amazing bus driver pointed out this awesome shot. It has a beautiful fall tree and the St. Louis Art Museum in the back. It is a perfect picture, not only because I'm an art teacher and I love art, but Matt and I got engaged on the hill!!!

Our amazing photographers Whitney and Brenden Raidt. Here is their website if you need photographers, they are tops!!! http://www.wix.com/raidtphotography/Raidt-Photography-Saint-Louis

Best intimate photograph of the day!!

Barnholtz/ Maclean/ Mankus Girls in the photo booth!! ( Check the awesome peacock pin I wore in my hair at the reception!!)

Favorite picture from the day. Probably because it's a candid and looks like and old newspaper clipping. This was at McGurks in O'fallon. Grabbing a cider before the reception.

Oh yes, we found a carnival to take pictures at too. If you didn't know, it is all about the pictures!!

Another great shot, with a great effect added. Most of the carnies (is that pc?) let us on the rides for free to shoot some pics. How fun!

Fish Face...a classic. It is probably my dads favorite kind of picture. Either that or ghetto girls!!

At the grand basin below SLAM.

Listening to a reading from my favorite aunt, Sue. So glad she could be part of our day!! Best God Mother ever! we got married at Immaculate Conception of Dardenne.

My second favorite picture from the day. I just love it, for no reason, I just do.

I'm extremely excited right now. Isn't my dad handsome in the tux!!

I think this is a throw back to Matt's dad's wedding day.

It was such an amazing, surreal day. It went off without a hitch. I had a lot of help from a lot of amazing people. Thanks so much for being part of our day.

I am still waiting on the photos from our other photographers, yeah I had 4 photographers, like I said, it's all about the pictures. Take that F.B. Loves!!

Frank LLoyd Wright

2009-07-24T22:39:00.008-05:00

I know its been awhile, but I have some major inspiration!! Frank Lloyd Wright. If you don't know anything about him, do some research!!! It is well worth it. Check out some of his amazing architecture.

This is Frank Lloyd Wright's home and studio in Oak Park Chicago. This is tops on my list of things to see before I die.

This is an interior of one of his houses. You can see the amazing simplicity of his homes. Everything has a purpose and all the furniture is made specifically for this house. FLW also did amazing stained glass windows. Unfortunately he fell away from these in his later years.

The Fawcett Ranch House, near Los Banos, Calif., is the state’s only Frank Lloyd Wright residence in the context of a working farm. Listed for $2,700,000. Can you believe there are actually FLW homes for sale. Apparently Brad Pitt owns one. I want one!!! Anyone want to donate to the Nicole loves FLW home fund???

This is the Robbie house in Chicago. It is on a college campus and was the center of interest in the children's book The Wright 3. You should check it out when you get a sec.

This home I got off of this website.

Frank Lloyd Wright Penfield House, Willoughby Hills, Ohio.

This is Taliesin. This is the home FLW built in Wisconsin. It has such amazing history and an amazing story behind it. I recommend reading Loving Frank by Nancy Horan. It is such a beautiful book with such a great, tragic love story.

So I was luck enough to visit Frank's most famous house.......Falling Waters!!!! a few weeks ago when heading up to Massachusetts for Janel's final wedding reception.

It was amazing, beautiful, breathtaking, radical....I could go on and on. It is so amazing to see what this brilliant man can do. He really focused on interpreting and incorporating nature int his work. If you get a chance, this was an 11. Phenomenal!!!

What a stellar view

This was in the living room. A stairway that totally opened up so you could walk down, fish, and catch some dinner!

Barnholtz, when one MacLean, Ladies

The other FLW we went to later that day down the road, Kentuck Knob, had a bunch of other art. They had this amazing Claus Oldenburg Apple there!!

I got a bit hungry. Haha!!

They also had an amazing Jim Dine Sculpture of a flower morphing into a fan. Very Cool!

If you get a chance, I say look up your area and see if there are any FLW homes in your area. They are one of a kind homes from an architecture who was way before his time. If you are local in St. Louis I would recommend the home in Kirkwood. It is owned by the parks and it is by appointment only. There is also a killer home in Springfield Illinois.

Owl Art

2009-06-30T11:20:00.005-05:00

I know its been forever, but I'm back (to let you know I can really shake it down!)

I've found some good inspiration lately with owl art. Owls are so awesome and totally remind me of my grandma's house b/c she collected them. she had all the nick-knacks, i've been in love ever since. Here are some this I've found online:

love these fabric wall hangings. there are endless possibilities!

doe on the back of a scrabble letter.

linoleum printing. do it one time and make multiple prints on paper, fabric, and anything else. then you can add embellishment on top of that.

love this necklace. don't you hate it when you grab the small image instead of enlarging it first!

tiny felt owls

how cute are these fabric broaches. i think they could be painted on wood too! one way to avoid cutting out those tiny pieces.

anyone out there who wants to teach me to make jewelry like this, i'm in!

all types of owls

love the idea of incorporating a page for a book into it. wouldn't this be great in an art journal?

i love this ring.

Meet Oliver <3

2009-06-19T08:31:00.001-05:00

This original painting (by me) just got added to the Etsy shop today!! Please stop by and check him out! He is a sweet little octopus who live in a magical, colorful oceanic world :) I love him!
And speaking of Etsy, Nicole and I have been working really hard for Etsy shop update soon!! Keep checking back because there will be lots and lots of goodies coming soon!

Wreck this Journal :)

2009-06-16T15:10:00.001-05:00

I FINALLY got this journal about a month ago :) I loved it instantly and I actually got it to show to my fifth graders. They loved it as well and many went and got it! I started wrecking it but never finished and I thought that since I was pretty much stuck in bed again today, I would work on destroying it some more :) I found the Wreck This Journal Flickr group and found some really great inspiration from it. These pictures definitely put me in the mood to do some serious wrecking to my journal :)

How fun right?? Adam said that doing a journal like this would be torture for him. Isn't weird how some people just don't get it :) Does anyone else have this journal? If so, did you finish it? What was your favorite part? Link me some pictures for inspiration!!

Happy Tuesday!
xoxo
janel

A girl can take a hint :)

2009-06-15T07:14:00.005-05:00

Hello friends!
Wow, Im not sure but I think Nicole was trying to say that I have been slacking over here at yellowbarnart? lol. I have and I am so sorry. It has been a super busy and crazy summer so far, but I promise to be better :)
Today I am going to share with you some awesome inspiration that I have found in the Flickr Group 100 Reasons to Love Summer.
I won't post individual links for each picture because you can find them all there. I obviously don't need to find any more reasons to love summer because I just LOVE SUMMER no matter what. Here are some great summer inspiration pics that made me smile today:

What are your favorite things about summer?
Please share :)

Shelf Art

2009-06-14T21:21:00.002-05:00

I am loving the pics I've seen of different colored shelves and backings. My friend Laura just painted the shelves in her living room a different color than the surrounding area. It looks so bomb. I tried to find some pics of examples of solid colors, but failed, so here are some awesome patterned papers:

This one isn't so much a book shelf, but an area of wall. Still love it. Same basic idea though!!!

Again love this!!! I think all the matching accents are great.

Simple!!

What a perfect addition to a craft area. If you have anything like this, or a spin on it, you should send me a link so I can get more inspiration!!!!!

Sorry it has been ages since I've (or Janel, hint hint) has posted, but now that I'm not at school, I don't get online multiple times a day. Which I really should do anyways to check all of your amazing posts. I vow to do better. and hopefully someday the co-writer, Janel will post to!!! JK loves!!!

On another note, does anyne have any great sites for finding foreclosures in MO? Matt and I are goingt o start looking for a house and we have to buy before the wedding, Oct 17th, so he can qualify for the $8,000.00 Obama moneys!!!! Thanks

Whitney's Extra Pressy!!

2009-05-30T22:06:00.001-05:00

Just thought I'd give you a peak at the yba exclusive add in to the give a way. Whitney scored this awesome day of the dead journal. These bad boys are complements of my fantastic students who had extra wood in industrial tech class and needed something to do, so their teacher let them cut some awesome wood shapes for me. Janel and i plan to crank some more of these out and have them ready for our June etsy update!!! Make sure you check that out...coming soon! Anywho, thanks again for all the love you showed us for the give a way and stay tuned for more good stuff!!

All I need to do it drill some holes and put it all together!!!

A little note to the winner!

Some journal prompts in a few spots of the journal to spark some creative genius!!

This one is a bit crappy, but it says: Draw something you can see right now!!

Journals..love them!!!

Paper Sculptures

2009-05-29T12:43:00.004-05:00

So, for my final exam in my sculpture class, along with formal critiques of their own work, I gave my students a large sheet of paper, tape, glue and scissors and had them create a sculpture with it. then told another "non-art" teacher what I was doing for their final and they looked at me like I was crazy. What could students possibly make from paper? Don't they know I have the most brilliant students ever? Well, I googled (well, technically i msn searched) images of paper sculpture and look at all the goodies I found. And they are all primarily made up of paper!!! Check it out homes:

Who would think paper or film strips on their side could be so awesome? I'm doing something like this for my house now!!!

I found these amazing sculptures online. They do a computer scan of your features, then make an amazing replica of you head...who knew.

This one looks like a crazy puzzle put together!!!

Simple but elegant!

If this is legitimately cut from the paper below, I bow to you!!!

LOVE THIS ONE!!!

I'm hoping these are low watt bulbs! Beautiful. Wouldn't these be awesome over the dance floor at a wedding?

Layered to create a peek through picture.

Colored paper cut into circles and then frayed on the ends. Love these bunched together

These almost look like paper cups smashed together!!!

A compilation of a bunch of small paper sculptures!!!

After I saw these, I had to show them off to my disbelieving colleague. She was amazed!!! Artists can really make something from nothing.

If I won the powerball, I would buy these

2009-05-27T21:27:00.006-05:00

If I win the powerball tonight, these are the things I'm going to get from papersource. If you haven't been to their website, to their store, or get their emails/catalogues, you need to get with it! The have the most amazing gifts, paper, kits, stamps, you name it, they've got something cute like it!!! Check out these radical items. And remember, the also have paper!!!

First things first, I would get this wrapping paper for all my seniors who just graduated...and a gift I guess to wrap around!!!

Don't you adore this luggage? I do!!

And who, tell me WHO, wouldn't love stickers to make their inanimate objects come to life!!!

These old "housewife" pictures with clever text on them are to die for!

This journal is too cute.

And chalk boards to write on.

Saving the earth, one reusable, adorable bottle later!!!

A must for any road trip...especially this summer, the 22 hours to Mass to see the MacLeans!!!

Even though I'm north county, I think these would just be a good read!!!

I'd get this for my friend Sarah. She's one of those weird cat people. I don't mean it mean, I don't get it being a dog person, but I know she'd love this!!!

Nuff said!!

And I would then get the Diana camera, so I would need the fish eye lens, obviously.

You really need to scope out Papersource. I think the closest one in in Kansas City, MO to us, but well worth it. It is on my to do list for next weekend on my trip to visit Bagels!!! Cannot wait!!!

Who knew?

2009-05-26T19:30:00.005-05:00

Who knew there were so many yellow barns out there! i love it. If only there was one close by for a photo op, boo!

This is the one I want to use on my business cards!!!

I want to marry this sky!!

I actually didn't realize this was a watercolor until now, but I'm sure the artist worked from life, so it is legitimate.

I think if I ever had a barn, there would be a silo.

How fantastic is this bright yellow barn with the brown doors, great contrast.

Picture perfect!

Look, 3 barns in 1!

I want to be here with my nikon d60. It would be love at first site.

Just two more!

Wouldn't this be perfect to renovate into a home!

Just so fun here at yba!! Does any on have a good yellow barn in their town?? Maybe Janel and I need to take a road trip!!!

and the winner is......

2009-05-26T01:00:00.000-05:00

The winner of the give-a-wow is miss whitney. Here is her response:

Whitney said...

"Hi! I just found your blog through Janel's... the background on my Mac is one of Elsie's paintings so she's for sure in my Top Three favorite artists. I also admire my mom's work, it seems to be a bit busier and more vintage than Elsie's. The medium she uses baffles me (www.thecharmhouse.com). And who doesn't love the rebellious stencilists/spray painter that roams the streets of Britain, decorating the streets with the most powerful and thought-provoking graffiti, Banksy? They're all three very different artists but I find inspiration and beauty in all of their work.

I look forward to following your blog! Yay for contests!!"

I am also a huge fan of Banksy. He is an amazing gurilla artist. His work is extremely risky and thought provoking. Check out some of his work below and visit this site.

So whit...send me an email with your info so I can ship your goodies! nbarnholtz@hotmail.com

To everyone else who posted such amazing comments, thanks for visiting our blog. Keep checking in with us for amazing updates, insprations, art and more radical give-a-ways soon to come. You all rock our worlds!!!!!

More Journal Prompts

2009-05-25T18:25:00.004-05:00

It is that time, once again, for some more prompts. Show me what you did with these prompts. Only one person has before, and I'm dieing to see more.

1. Make a list. Any list. Groceries, cds, playlist, family members, stores, to dos...anything!!! Add a border or doodle around your list. Use at least two different colors. Switch up your fonts or try writing in a way other than your every day writing.

#2. Fill an entire page with line designs. Use thick, thin, curvy, zig-zag lines. Make simple and complex lines. Connect lines to make objects. Use lines to create words. Use line to draw pictures. Use only one color. I recommend marker, but your choice of medium is good too. Make sure you go to all edges of he page. Leave minimal white spaces.

#3. What is art? what is art to you? Give a brief definition of what art is to you. Not Websters idea of art, but yours. Once you've written you idea of art, show me at least 6 examples of art. these can be photos, examples from magazines, online sources, or your own work. Again, fill the page and even work off the page if needed. Luck Loveys!!!

Now remember, post your journals, or hook a girl up with your flickr pages so I can check it out!!! Absolute last chance to enter the give-a-wow!!!!

Hope everyone had a bomb memorial day weekend and had a lot of great BBQ!!!

love - n

Inspired!

2009-05-24T07:04:00.001-05:00

So I was just scrolling through all of the comments in Nicole's give-a-wow post. I decided that I would google each of the artists that people chose...AMAZING!! I am totally inspired now. Some of them I have loved for awhile and some of them our brand new loves now!! Keep the inspiration coming :) Be sure to leave a comment on the give-a-wow post to tell us your favorite artist!! I love seeing who everyone finds their inspiration from :)
THANKS!
janel

Hi Tree <3

2009-05-23T11:20:00.005-05:00

My friends over at Polka Dot Robot featured this etsy shop the other day and I fell in loooooove :)
Hi Tree is a cute little Etsy based out of LA and is here to "Bring tree hugging to a new level!" I love that motto!! I am totally a tree hugger myself so here are some cutie pie things that I loooooove from their Etsy shop!!

I mean seriously, any shop that can make me want a fanny pack, is pretty cool :) I loooove it all. Definitely hit up their etsy and check out all of their awesome items!
Only a couple days left to enter our Give-A-Wow!!! It is a goooooood one so don't delay!!

Must See

2009-05-20T20:21:00.002-05:00

This is a must see youtube. It is the featured video of the day. The first song is bomb. If you only have a sec, atleast listen to that one!!!

Tote Overload

2009-05-20T18:47:00.012-05:00

I am sure like most of you out there, every time you see a cute tote bag, you buy it. I have so many totes, i don't know what to do with them all, but i can't help it. I am all for helping the environment. I take them to the grocery store every time I go, and shoot people loading up on plastic bags dirty looks. It's what I do, I can't help it. Now I am not the greatest "environmentalist" out there, don't get me wrong, but I do try. Here are some really fetch (mean girls anyone?) totes I've found while browsing around on google, etsy, and blogger...

Here are some fantastic hand sewn totes from etsy. This girls has a pluthera of crafty goods in her shop. I love people thinking outside the box. These finds are simply a must have for every eco-chick...pick one up here in her etsy shop!!!

Love these adorable bags. Very modern and sleek looking. I'm in love with the first one.

These are great and send just the right message:

Chocolate Brown MinusBag, $16. Holds as much as two plastic bags.
Beleaf Bag, $36. Made from organic cotton.
Saving the Planet Shopper, $13. Tells it like it is.
CC Skye Green Luxe High Eco Tote, $250. For the fashionistas.
Natural Envirosax Hemp Bag, $22. Three times stronger than a cotton bag.

I've seen on a bunch of other people's blogs lately some inspring music, so here is some of mine. Play these while you are painting , sewing, or whatever you do to create. Use this music to move your soul!!! Enjoy!!

Adele - Right As Rain

Next up is Priscilla Ahn - Dream

The Duke Spirit - The Step the Walk

My all time favorite Jack Johnson - Better Together

the veil

2009-05-18T22:13:00.005-05:00

okay, so i ordered my veil for my wedding. i am so in love with this "virgin mary" look. it is just so classic. i went with ivory finger tip length. i'm not really the classic bride kind of girl, but i just needed this to finish the look what do you think?

Here is a close up view of the detail. i actually think i am going to take off the pearl beads. i just want it to be super simple... and here is why:

I want to do something like this for so of the pictures and the reception...

o love the ideas of mixing clear simple..cheap..beads and pearls. do you like the headband looks, or do you think it will be too elementary school girl?

i adore the piece above. simple but elegant!

this piece is great because i think i would look great with gold. and i like the idea of a clip so it doesn't take up my entire head.

this one is okay, but i have no idea where to get large fish net like this, so i probably couldn't make it

but this is the one i really want. it is from this amazing etsy shop. this girls has so amazing pieces. her selecion is huge and the quality looks bomb. i may sacrific the peacock feather necklace for this. I really recommend you check out her shop and buy something from her. a classic piece for your collection. hit her up!

it probably won't fit into the budget, so any ideas to making something like it? cheap place to get crystals? anyone have something as spectacular as this just lying around, for a something borrowed? i'm in if you are?

p.s.don' forget to follow our blog and comment on the last post to win our magical give-a-way!!!

GIVE-A-WOW!!!!!!!

2009-05-17T00:09:00.006-05:00

Okay, here is the first, of many, yellowbarnart give-a-ways. You must be a follower of this blog to participate in our give-a-wow. So just click on follow this blog and join our amazing journey. As a winner of this give-a-wow, you will get all of these goodies:

Let me break it down now son:

2, 6B graphite sticks

pink and brown art supplies carrier

chip board pieces

crazy cut scissors

crayola gold twistable slick stick

2 glitters pen minis

black and brown markers

colored raffia and string

dye-cut pieces of paper

stamps

more chip board pieces, SLAM mini sketchbook and journal, sample water color and acrylic paints, Handy Art block ink, sculptey clay, and prang water color

bag-o-pom poms

travel journal pack

paper-mate crazy stripe pens

primary blick colored pencils

THE WORLDS BEST PENCIL (you know I love you if I'm giving up a pack of my favorite, all time pencils, Ticonderoga. Ask Janel, I'm so nerdy when it comes to these pencils)

Crayola 10 classic pack, Prismacolor Art Stix, Pentel 16 pack oil pastels, and an Elephant dung photo frame. These frames are so awesome and are from an amazing women I know, Mary Tevlin. It is made from natural objects and elephant poo. It is amazing. Unfortunately I have miss place Mary's card, but I wed for sure post a link to this great paper. It really is beautiful to use in journals, scrapbooks, and printmaking. Love it!

Along with all this great stuff, you'll get an exclusive yellowbarnart item...how exciting...made especially for you!!!

OMG, are you not so excited for this give-a-way. You need to follow our blog to get in on this stellar gift. Leave us a comment telling us your favorite artist and I'll pick the winner on

5-26-09

Tell all your blogger friends about his blog and give-a-way, maybe even post a link on yours, brownie points!!!!

Can't wait to hear from you and give you this awesome package!!! LUCK!

need or want???

2009-05-16T19:36:00.003-05:00

So I found the most amazing necklace to wear with my wedding dress. I totally have a thing for peacock feathers, it dates back to a vase full of them at grandma barnholtz's house, and this necklace rocks my socks. Check out the bomb etsy shop it came from. I love everything in her shop. I want to learn how to make jewelry like this. Anyone dieing to teach me???

This necklace is just so classic!! I need it.

but will it clash with gold shoes and jewlery on the other girls?

REUSE

2009-05-15T21:47:00.006-05:00

I am extremely into rehabbing things right now. I love the idea of taking something old and redoing it to make it new again. Not only to do save some money by buying using old things or thrifting some items, but your saving the earth to by not buying new products!!! Win Win!

Here are some amazing finds I found on design sponge. You should really check out this site. It is full of great ideas, diys, and loads of other swell things. My girl Sarah hooked me up with this site and I love her for it.

Who would have thought making a simple weekend at grandma's suit case into a......

fantastic wall/home organizer. Inside there are file folders to keep you together!!!

Love this find. especially because it was discarded trash that someone just dumbed out in nature. It was found and rescued and remade. would you ever think living room with the before picture.

I wish I would have thought about this in college. Our couches were terrible, and really could have used a makeover.

What about this simple chair i'm pretty much positive everyone's grandmother has:
How bomb is it now??? Love it!
Lately I've really been searching for things to spray paint. I never looked at things before in this light. Why not buy something I "like" and spray it so I LOVE it. I will be doing this in the near future. Here are some finds I found on Sarah's blog. I just came across it when googling sprayed objects...and her blog rocks. Check it out:

What do you have in your home that you can remake to really go with your style? Any room you are dying to redo? What do you have lying around you could add a coat of spray paint to to make it modern? Goodwill finds? Hand me downs?

Do you know of any good re-use examples you have seen or done yourself? Email me and lets see your rad ideas! -nicole

New goodies in Etsy Shop!!!

2009-04-26T16:39:00.004-05:00

Hey lovelies!!
I just finished a weekend of creating some really cool multi-media necklaces for the Etsy shop!! I am really excited about these pieces because they encompass a lot of my favorite things!! I especially like that you take something eveyday-ish, like a domino, and then turn it into a mini-piece of art on a necklace!! I love them!!
Here is a little peek :)

My favorite one is the "Scrap girl" one. It is so cute and has a lot of cool details!! Please hop on over to the shop and check them out!!!
I also made this cutie-pie little painting for Nicole to celebrate her engagement day:

Soooo cute!! Ok, I am off to post the winner for my give-a-way over at my blog :) Hope you all had an amazingly lovely weekend!!
xoxo
janel

Just to let you know!!!!

2009-04-25T20:40:00.003-05:00

I'm engaged!!! To the love of my life Matthew Mankus. Check it out:

I'll totally blog more later, but i have to celebrate!!!

-NB...soon to be NM

Flickr Faves.

2009-04-17T21:27:00.002-05:00

I am feeling super inspired to create things lately. I have organized my craft space and I am ready to roll!! Here are some of my flickr faves that have gotten me in the mood to make stuff! Hopefully you will be inspired too!!
Enjoy:

1. Felt Fast Foods, 2. C365, 213 - Circles in Progress, 3. addicted..., 4. 'I Heart Handmade' Mobile, 5. pretty coasters, 6. embroidered*dinos, 7. 100_7689, 8. needlepoint necklace, 9. eat, 10. mixed media, 11. late night stitching (w.i.p), 12. FRA[n]BBIT 2

Spring Has Sprung

2009-04-16T20:31:00.003-05:00

Spring has sprung. Go out and play in this mazing weather!!!!! Go and do some photo journalism of your amazing day out. Give us your flicker show us your shots!

Organic Forms

2009-04-15T20:07:00.008-05:00

So I just started my favorite project of the year with m ceramic class. It is to go and fine natural items around the school yard and press them into free form forms they've created. Here is one I made. It is probably my favorite piece I've ever made with clay!!!

Here is some more natural inspiration that is made from all natural things, or is inspired by nature!! Enjoy!!!

Featured!!

2009-04-13T16:40:00.002-05:00

Yellowbarnart was featured over at The Spark!!! Go check it out and leave us some comment loooove!!! We love all of you!

Yellow Barn...Literally!

2009-04-09T21:30:00.004-05:00

One of my fantastic students, Stevie, is awesome and is cutting some shapes for me in his industrial tech class. Don't worry, he's finished with his project and has nothing to do. He cut out two amazing barns for me in honor of yellowbarn. I painted them and surprised my sister with one. Isn't it sooooo stinkin cute?

This is how I think I'm going to write our name on my art pieces!!

Journal Prompt #3:

Write 3-5 short letters to people who have affected your life. Whether it was positively or negatively, write to them. Write each one in a different font. Add a border and frame the most important letter with some sort of doodle. I recommend different color text too! Luck and show us some of your work!!!

The next one is too my boo. He is stellar! And my mommasita. The most amazing person I have ever known. (Well my dad to, but you get it)

And last, but not least my sthneey! I got this font from her. It was a big hit in my sculpture class!

Finally the next sweet addition to yellowbarnart. A new necklace. The last ones sold quick, so get it while its hot. Don't forget to hit up our brand-spankin-new etsy

Again thanks so much for the love you have all shown us. And if you don't already, follow our blog. It's so bomb!

ETSY!

2009-04-08T19:04:00.004-05:00

We finally have the beginnings of an ETSY shop up and running :) We would love for you to stop buy and check it out HERE!

Journal Prompt #2

2009-04-08T11:27:00.004-05:00

Okay: Here is another prompt. Journal a day in the life of you. Even if you didn't have the best day, show us. As you can see, this morning started with the battery in my bedroom fire alarm dying. For those of you who don't know, I have vaulted ceilings in my condo and no 13 foot ladder. Boo! So I had to build a makeshift ladder our of my dresser and a step stool. Very Scary, especially at 12:35 am. But it was my day, so I deal!!! Okay try to have at least 20 sections in your day. Make sure each box has some words and some pics! Do stick people if need be, just draw!!!

Matt was preping for an interview...ps, he got the job...and we were doing ink blots. I think I might be crazy because I always saw a scary monster. Matt said the "correct" answers were animals or things in nature!!! Oh well!

Sorry about the crap quality of the pics, but I took them with my iphone (which might I add is the greatest phone ever!!!) and there is no flash. Sorry lovies. But get creative and send us a link or pic so we can post yours!!

New Creating!

2009-04-04T22:42:00.002-05:00

Here is a lovely embroidered piece that I created, inspired by Spring!
This cute little owl is something that I am drawing everywhere :)
Her name is Ruby :)
Anyway, the color that I used are one of my current favorite spring color combos. I am loving magenta, green and yellow!! I embroidered it on some designer fabric that I had left over. I love it and it will be up in our Etsy shop as soon as we get it running :)

Also, we need more followers :) Follow this blog :)
Goodnight lovelies!!!

Journal Prompts

2009-04-02T21:18:00.006-05:00

Okay!!! So here are some journal prompts to get the creative juices-a-flowing! These are some I have done with my students and they ran with them. I am going to give the same "requirements" I gave them, but feel free to bend, break, and create new rules. If you choose to do these journal pages, send us a link so we can post them and show off your mad skills!!!

Here is #1: Getting to know you. This is the first page in my journal and will help us to get to know some of you...our amazing followers!!!

1. Self-Portrait Page: This page is about you. Give me a glimpse of you. Fill the page.
• Full name
• 10 words to describe yourself
• 1 additional type of paper
• paint
• your family or ethnic background
• a cut-out (be creative…anything you want, like, or think looks good)
• a photo of yourself
The above things are required. Feel free to add anything else you want. This is your sketchbook/journal. Make it yours!!!

Here is the whole page! I love the paper doll cut outs. I just used gridded paper!

I am a proud English, Irish, German, and Russian girl. There is also Greek in there somewhere, but I'd have to bust out the family tree to find it! These are my grandparent's maiden and married names.

Here are 10 words describing me. I love using multiple fonts on a page!

This is my favorite pic of myself. My Matt took it at Janel's wedding. I thought the sepia tone looked good with the black sketchy paint behind it.

Prompt #2:

Find a photo of you and this special someone or just the special someone. Slap that down on your page. Now list all the characteristics of that person that you like. And this could be about anyone: your significant other, your child, your dog, your cat, your friend, anyone! Use love colors if you want, or just a fun color combo. Try experimenting with large and small fonts. Bold and skinny. Have fun with it!

I actually used screen printing block ink for the purple and acrylic for the blue. I splatterd my page with the colors and used a credit card to spread it down the page. I then watered down some of the blue to look runny. I tried to find color changes to add my text in.

Matt is going to kill me for zooming in on this one, but it truly is adorable. My title is the "What I love about you" in the heart. Fill it up. Use all of your page.

#3!!! Create a calendar journal for the month of April. Snip, Tear, or write on each day a word or two, draw a pic, or fill it with a summary for that day. Add paint, doodles, magazine cut-outs. Add a background with paint, ink, or drawings to fit the mood of the month to make it all cohesive. Change the title (April) to make it your own.

I kind of had to make up this month and just guess how each of my days would be. I added a few plans that I already had set.

Can't wait for the RVA Weekend!!

Yikes, I forgot to rotate this one. But you get the idea. Do each day at a time and sum it up. Have fun with it and be truthful!

I hope you enjoy these activities. Don't forget to send us pics of your sketchbooks. I'll try and post one a day. Between Janel and I, we should be able to do it. Comment us and let us know what you think! Happy Creating!! -n

Awesome Turn-out!

2009-03-29T12:12:00.002-05:00

After only an hour and half at our booth, we COMPLETELY sold out of everything!! For all of you who emailed us about necklaces, Nicole will be getting back to you reallly soon with all of the details!!

I am in love with yellowbarnart!

Our good friend Jodie is working on our logo and Holly Sarah is working on our blog header so when we get it all together, this blog is going to look sooooo cute!

1st Legit Post of yellowbarnart

2009-03-26T23:17:00.008-05:00

Hello everyone out there in blogging world! This is Nicole, Janel's sister, co-founder of yellowbarnart. I am so excited to be part of this and get to know all of you amazing, crafty lovelies!! Janel raves about how awesome everyone in her online class and community are and I cannot wait to be part of this stellar journey!

So this weekend we're at an art teachers conference this weekend an they do an awesome thing called bizarre bazaar where art teachers can bring in things they've created to sell or swap. Here is some jewelry I created for the sale!!! If you're interested in purchasing any of the one of a kind, first ever yellow barn art pieces, shoot us an email and we would be happy to design a piece perfect for you!!!

nbarnholtz(at)hotmail(dot)com

janel(underscore)007(at)hotmail(dot)com

E1: $5.00

E2: $7.00

E3: $7.00

E4: $7.00

E5,E6,E7:$5.00 each

E8,E9,E10: $5.00 each

E11,E12,E13: $3.00 each

E14: $7.00

E15: $7.00

There will obviously be two in the set, but only one photographed here!

E16: $10.00

N1: $10.00

N2:$20.00

N3: $15.00

N4: $20.00

N5: $20.00

All of these necklaces come on a black or brown cord with a closure.

These pieces are actually selling like hot cakes at the art conference. We are so excited!!!!!

Again, we are so excited to finally be getting yellow barn art off the ground. We really appreciate all of the support and love we are getting from everyone! THANK YOU!!!!

-nicole b.

Yellow Barn Art

2009-03-24T23:46:00.001-05:00

This blog is currently under construction and will be fully active by the end of this week :)
Be excited!!