Dare 2 Create with Tracy, Three Colour Challenge!

Before Tracy left for vacation, we decided to have a Dare 2 Create challenge one evening. We hooked up the webcams, grabbed a blank canvas and a glass of wine each and decided to limit ourselves to just 3 colours from the Media Line: Pyrrole Red, Carbon Black and Titanium White (I would argue that this is a one colour challenge as black and white are officially not colours but hey!).

We give ourselves these challenges for a few reasons: 1) to push each other out of our comfort zones, 2) to learn and discover new techniques, 3) to de-stress, 4) because it's great fun, and 5) it's a damn good excuse to chat and have a glass (bottle) of wine together, even though we are over 5000 miles apart :).

Here are our finished 3 colour canvases:

I love Tracy's canvas and am claiming it for myself when we meet up again in Chicago for The Ministry of Mixology event. (Ministry is down to its last 4 places out of the 70, so if you want to come you better get in quick! We'd love you to join us for 2 days of painting and a whole lot of fun!)

Details and bookings can be found here http://www.ministryofmixology.com

Now we challenge those of you in our private groups to have a go or if not already a member come and join the fun! 

We will award two DecoArt Red/Black/White prize packs (1 per group so make sure to upload those projects!). Deadline is September 26th…..

Head to the groups below for more info
https://www.facebook.com/groups/AndySkinnerandFriends/
https://www.facebook.com/groups/mmmtwstudios/

We Dared.. you Created!

Well, what a fabulous, fun-filled and furious weekend I had at Dare to Create with Tracy Weinzapfel. Two days of mixed media workshops were topped off with a live, interactive Dare to Create session which we taught jointly on Sunday afternoon. I'm worn out but elated by the wonderful comments from the students who came along - thank you all for your lovely feedback and more so for giving Tracy such a warm welcome on her debut appearance in the UK.

Here we are looking fetching in our handmade aprons, courtesy of Debbie Martin. Pink's my colour don't you think?

My Saturday Workshop

Tracy's Saturday Workshop

I've known Tracy for quite a long time and she wasn't going to get away without a prank or two on my part - I might have hidden eight alarm clocks in her room and set them to go off a few minutes apart. She got off pretty lightly really! I expect she's already plotting her revenge for when I go to the States later in the year...

Thanks to everyone for embracing and joining in with our tomfoolery and wearing your 'Tracy, is it dry yet' caps with pride! (If this reference is lost on you, check out pretty much any video of Tracy's and just watch!)

There were so many creative variations coming out from the students - fabulous to see so many people embracing their creativity.

Artwork by Brenda Brown

Artwork by Carol Findon

Artwork by Suz Humphreys

Thank you to everyone who came along and to Art Workshops for organising the weekend. We hope you had as much fun as we did and that we'll see you all again sometime.

Tracy and I will be appearing together again at the Ministry of Mixology weekend retreat in Chicago this October. There are still a few places remaining and we'd LOVE it if you'd come and join us!

MoM Chicago Update - Sponsors and More!

Announcing our NEW US Sponsors

We are so proud to be welcoming a host of new sponsors for MoM Chicago, who are partnering with us alongside our Core Sponsors, Tando Creative, DecoArt, and Stampendous.

Please give a very warm welcome to:

Canson

Marvy Uchida

Canvas Corp Brands

Gelli Arts

Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine

Painting World magazine

Beacon Adhesives

These companies have all generously donated to the event - which means our Goody Bags are going to be EPIC!!!

And in Other News

We are happy to announce that we have an awesome face to welcome everyone at registration - the lovely Nadine Schwartz.  She has been so generous to volunteer to take on this vital position for us and will be there to give a warm welcome to everyone and to help out throughout the event. 

You may be familiar with Nadine from the Craft & Hobby Association and of course she'll also be able to answer any questions you might have. Don't miss out on the opportunity to network with her!

We've secured an on-site retailer to join us at Chicago so start saving your stash money! As well as their regular lines, you'll be able to buy the products used in our workshops and items from our fantastic sponsors. Our apologies in advance to your bank balance...

Tracy and I are SO excited and can't wait to meet you all! There are just a very few places left now so if you'd like to book just click here.

See you very soon!

Dare to Create LIVE!

Our next Dare to Create adventure is coming to you LIVE - yes LIVE - from CHA, Anaheim.

We invite you to join us LIVE from the DecoArt Booth #1701, 1801, 1805
When:  Monday, January 11th  6:00pm - 8:00pm GMT (10:00am - 12:00noon PST)

Where:  https://blab.im/tracy-weinzapfel-dare-to-create-4-live-from-cha-with-andy-skinner-and-tracy-weinzapfel

We'll be chatting you through the new product releases and making a collaborative piece of art live on air. Join us to ask any questions you like about CHA, DecoArt product, or our Dare to Create Challenge.

To take part in the chat all you need is a Twitter account (you can view without one but remember you cannot participate in the chat). We hope you can join us for the fun - it's almost as good as being there.

And did I mention it's live? Anything could happen......!

Andy

Blab with Andy and Tracy – Dec. 9th!

We will be back blabbing on Wednesday, December 9th LIVE

We had so much fun with our first one that Tracy and I have arranged to do not one but TWO more Blabs! The first will be as follows:

When:  Wednesday, December 9th

Time:  12:00noon (PST), 2:00pm (CST), 3:00pm (EST) for those in the USA and 8:00pm (GMT) for those of you in the UK! Make sure to check your local time zones.

Where: https://blab.im/andy-skinner-mixed-media-art-and-general-discussion

(click the link to subscribe and be notified when we go live)

What is it you may ask? It's a live, jointly held chat session; a chance for us to Blab together and interact directly with you. It will be an open session where you can ask us absolutely anything you like. All you need is a Twitter account to login FREE to Blab and you can watch directly on your phone or computer. Learn more about BLAB HERE.

During the Blab will have 3 GIVEAWAYS! The first one will be given out first thing and for a chance to win it, all you need to do is submit a question to us. You can leave it here on my blog or on our Facebook Walls:  Andy Skinner or Tracy Weinzapfel and we will pick our favorite question to win a prize! We will have two more giveaways during our Blab session so you won't want to miss out on the fun!

Our second Blab will be a LIVE Dare to Create from CHA and will take place on Monday January 11th at 10:00am-12:00noon PST. We are really excited about doing a live show broadcast and more details will follow on this nearer the time.

I hope you will join us for one or both sessions and get those questions coming!

Andy

Did you miss our Blab?

If you missed Tracy Weinzapfel and I Blabbing last week you can now catch the repeat on YouTube. I promise the matching ensembles is pure coincidence although it did raise some virtual eyebrows.

We are hoping to Blab again before Christmas and we'd love to know what YOU would like to chat to us about.

Andy

Blab Q&A and Live Chat

The terrible twosome strikes back! Yes Tracy Weinzapfel and I are getting together again following our Dare to Create adventures - but this time just to Blab. We'd love to invite you to join us on Wednesday 4th November on Blab.im. 

Some of you may be wondering... what on earth is Blab? Basically it's a social media platform on Twitter which allows us to interact directly with other Twitter users in a live broadcast. We'll be hosting a Q&A session and general chat (undoubtedly with some silliness thrown in for good measure). Ask us your art-inspired questions - or any other burning questions you may have (note: we reserve the right to plead the fifth!).

When:  Wednesday, 4th NovemberTime:  12:00 pm (PST), 2:00 pm (CST), 3:00 pm (EST) for those in the USA and 8:00 pm (GMT) for those of you in the UK! (make sure you check your local time zones as the broadcast is live).Where:  https://blab.im/tracy-weinzapfel-dare-to-create-blab-with-andy-skinner-and-tracy-weinzapfel

Click the link above to subscribe and you'll be notified as soon as we go live. 

All you need is a Twitter account to login FREE to Blab. Below is a video which tells you a bit more about the service.

We think this is a great way to connect with other artists, share our creativity and have some fun! We hope you will join us! You never know what might happen.........

Andy