Seth Apter's Blog, page 50

Coloring Book Sketchbook

In a post from July titled Top Ten Trends in Mixed Media , I listed coloring books for adults as a hot trend. Fast forward to December and the newest addition to the collection of creative coloring books has just been released.


Cloth Paper Scissors has created Coloring Book Sketchbook. It is an 87-page book with a twist. Not only does it include 35 black and white images to color in, the images themselves are all hand drawn. No computer-generated, clip art to be found. Artists such as Joanne Sharpe, Dorit Elisha, Pam Carriker, Cathy Taylor, Jodi Ohl and Julie Fei-Fan Balzer have contributed. There are also a number of technique articles included and a product page with coloring suggestions.

Each drawing is on a page that is blank on the other side to avoid the colors bleeding through and in case you chose to tear out and frame your work. The pages are categorized by themes which include scenes, nature, people, collections, travel, patterns and objects. I am thrilled to have a drawing included in the scenes section. It is an ode to my home New York City. Check out the glimpse below.

See You at CHA! Blog Hop: Sneak Peek & Giveaway

Welcome to the See You at CHA! Blog Hop, running online from 12/7 to 12/11. Nearly 60 participants are posting to celebrate the upcoming 75th meeting of the Craft & Hobby Association (CHA) at their annual conference and trade show in Anaheim, CA on 1/7 to 1/12/16.

This conference brings together manufacturers, retailers, designers and other creative professionals from the craft and arts worlds. Companies exhibit their newly released product lines, workshops and business seminars are held, and there are endless formal and informal networking connections happening round the clock.


While the event takes place in January, the excitement starts today with this Blog Hop. All participants will be sharing new product sneak peeks, details about their workshops or demos, project tutorials or their own personal show stories. If you cannot attend the show, this Blog Hop is the next best thing to being there. Oh and did I mention that you have a chance to win a $625 gift card?!?!

a Rafflecopter giveaway Click here to see the other participant's links.
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This will be my third year attending CHA and definitely the one I am most excited about. I will be teaching two workshops, walking the aisles to better be able to report the trends to you, and -- most excitedly --releasing new products with two companies.
I will be releasing 12 new rubber stamps with Impression Obsession and demoing in their booth #521, with schedule to be determined. These new designs, along with my already-released stamps shown below, will bring my line with them up to 34 individual stamps. 



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I am also releasing my first collection with Spellbinders, with whom I am developing a full line of mixed media products. This first release consists of dies, embossing folders, rubber stamps and a  journal/planner/artist book set. If you are attending, please stop by their booth #1735 to see me demoing at the following times:
Saturday 1/9 - 10:00 - 12:00Sunday 1/10 - 11:15 - 1:15Monday 1/11 - 1:30 - 3:30
As promised, a glimpse of what you will see...
Sneak Peek

Spellbinders is also hosting their own CHA Roundup with giveaways for an entire week beginning today. Click here to visit today's participants, head here to sign up for updates about the entire CHA experience, and come back to my blog on Friday 12/11 for some full product reveals.

The Week Links: 79

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 79...


1. In love with these journal pages (complete with step-out instructions) from Olga Siedlecka 

2. I covet the enamel work of Helen Carnac. Have since I first saw it in London many years ago.

3. Claudia Neubacher shares her recipe for hand marbling paper.


4. I love everything about Melbourne artist Ngaio Lenz's Instagram feed.

5. To the people who think that their 3-year old can create a Jackson Pollock drip painting, please read this.

6. Mesmerized by the ethereal marbled paintings created by Emma Lindstrom.

7. Amazed by the organic sculptures made by Brenda Holzke (thanks to John Hopper for the link).

Xs and Os

My newest stamps from Impression Obsession are all about Xs and Os.

Extras
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Roundabouts
This small release of 6 stamps will be followed by a larger release of stamps in early January 2016. My entire collection of stamps from Impression Obsession is hand designed and made from deeply etched, red rubber. They are available for purchase in sets and individually as either cling or wood mounted. You can find them now in my online shop, on the Impression Obsession website, and soon via online retailers and in stores everywhere.

New Stamp Release

I am excited to be releasing two new sets of stamps through Impression Obsession.
ROUNDABOUTS


EXTRAS

The 6 stamps were designed by hand and are made using deeply etched red rubber. The designs are available for purchase individually as either cling or wood mounted or in the two sets as shown.
The stamps are available now in my online shop, on the Impression Obsession website, and soon via online retailers and in stores everywhere.
This brings my collection of stamps to a total of 22 when added to my first release from July.

And stay tuned.... This small release will be followed by a much larger group of new stamps that will be available in early January 2016.

The Week Links: 78

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 78...


1. Incredible 3-D lettering that absolutely pops off the page from Tolga Girgin - first seen here on Design Taxi.

2. The Painter's Primer: A Survival Kit. 100 suggestions on living and working as an artist. Thanks to Dina Wakley for the link.

3. Even the works in progress from Roxanne Coble are amazing.

4. Incredible surface created by Alaric Hammond via etching and corrosion on zinc plates. Seen earlier this month at the Saatchi Gallery in London.

5. Looking forward to getting Daily Rituals: How Artist's Work by Mason Currey after reading excerpt in the current issue of Professional Artist Magazine.

6. My friends - Mary Beth Shaw, Julie Fei-Fan Blazer, Nathalie Kalbach and Dina Wakley are all featured on the new DVD Art Journaling Live 2. Well done!

7.  One of two gorgeous Rothko paintings auctioned off on 11/4 at Sotheby's in NYC as part of the A. Alfred Taubman collection.

Consider me Your Dealer

It is the time of the year when we all reflect on our lives and give thanks for all that is good and wondrous.
It is also the time of the year for sales!
I never want my blog to turn into a blatant promotional tool -- but I am making an exception today. Just for you. So for all you supply addicts out there (yeah...I'm talkin' about you), consider me your dealer. If you have been thinking about buying some of my (or anybody else's) stamps, stencils, DVDs, books and other artsy stuff, now is the time.
Impression Obsession
Interweave
Or if you can wait till Monday you get an extra 10% off 
StencilGirl Products This starts at midnight CST and that is when the best deals are to be had. 

ABCs

There is a magical shop in NYC that I head to if I need a dose of inspiration, a visual fix, or a photo op: ABC Carpet & Home. Even their website is a gem. The shop is filled to the rafters with the most incredible objects and their stylists seem to change the scene constantly. It is a place to spot trends, see the work of new designers and find fuel for the creative fire.

For those of you who cannot visit in person, I am happy to bring some ABC to you in these images I shot this past weekend...

Australia 2016

To all my peeps down under: I am excited to be returning to Australia in July 2016 as part of the Art is You Australian Mixed Media Roadshow. My experience there in 2014 was one that I will never forget and happily have documented in these blog posts. 

Information has just been posted about the stops on the 2016 tour on the Art is You website, where you can also sign up for updates to your inbox.
We will be in the country... Fairbridge Village, Pinjarra Western Australia7/13/16-7/17/16
We will be in the city...  Crystal Palace Luna Park, Sydney New South Wales7/20/16-7/24/16
We will be at the seaside... Noosa Convention Center, Tewantin Queensland7/27/16-7/31/16
Please consider joining us. It is guaranteed to be a time you will treasure forever.

The Week Links: 77

Join me every Sunday when I share some of my favorite links I discovered in the previous week. Earlier posts in the series can be found here.

And here is Week 77...


1. Spectacular Landscapes of Possibilities made from maps by Ji Zhou.

2. Love the concept of rustic luxe from Amy Duncan.

3. Digging this detail of a work in progress from Bridgette Guerzon Mills.

4. Don't usually have time to take online workshops but when I saw this image for Pathways and Wanderings from Roxanne Evans Stout I signed up immediately.

5. Life-sized scrap metal sculptures by John Lopez (thanks to Donna Joy for the link).

6. Rae Missigman shares her favorite studio tools.


7. This is from Calico - a Brooklyn-based wallpaper company. Their designs would make brilliant book covers.