ArtiphyTheHeart

The Everyday Things

The page above is from one of my "Everyday" journals.

I keep several visual journals for different types of things.  A couple of them, like the pages I posted yesterday and the day before, are introspective and deal with thoughts and issues.  This page is more fun/utilitarian.  It's pretty much a chronology of what-happened-when, so it's on the lighter side.  Every once in a while a particularly heavy day will creep into the book and I'll let loose.  But for the most part, it's just a who, what, where, when, why.  

If you're interested, you can see the covers and the binding by clicking HERE.

Here's one more page from this book.  

A card in a magazine I was flipping through inspired my St. Lucy, so I had to draw her.  I was on an art date with my friend Rita and the only plain paper I had with me was a sketchbook that was not meant for water media, as you might be able to tell from the scratched up fibers in the background.  Once I figured this out, I decided to collage St. Lucy and outline her with my Rapidosketch.  This worked much better.  

All the pages in this book were pieced together from various papers and images before the signatures were sewn into the book.  The duck and cranberries (they're really jelly candies, but let's pretend they're cranberries...) on the page at the top were already there when the book was bound months ago.  So were the papers and the red bench in the second picture.  It happens so often that what's already on the page lends itself perfectly to the theme of the day.  It isn't planned.  It just happens that way.  

Koulourakia

Creativity isn't just about artwork.  Today it's about cookies.  For the Greeks, koulourakia is a traditional Easter cookie.  But being half Russian and half German, I make them all year round.  Especially at Christmas time.  Very yummy butter cookies with sesame seeds.  Not too sweet, and with a teaspoon of ground Mastiha, or Mastic from Chios.  It takes a while to grind the resin into a smooth, white powder, but it's worth the effort, and it smells wonderful!

More Frames

Day 13 of Traci Bunkers 30 Days Of Get Your Art On, and I'm experimenting with the many frames I cut as practice runs for the thicker mats that will make it into my next book for FTB.  In the meantime, I was 2/3 of the way through today's spread when I realized that King Richard the First really deserved his own frame (look at the muscles on those arms!).  Tomorrow you'll see how it looks on the page, but for now, here's a quick peek before it is glued forevermore.  

I used my hand-carved stamps to decorate the frame as a special tribute to my friends Belinda Schneider and Hermine Koster.  Belinda and Hermine began Wednesday Stamper many years ago.  But all good things must come to and end, and WS closed its doors at the end of June.

WS was the original, or at least one of the very first and certainly one of the longest running, blog challenge sites on the web.  I started blogging in 2007, shortly before Belinda's SantaClaus Fest, and this is when and where I met some of my longest-standing and dearest friends on the web.  In addition to web friends, through Belinda's posts from Luxemburg, half a world away, I was introduced to a friend right here in Phoenix.  

Belinda's Icicle Doll Fest was the first and best swap I've ever participated in.  A couple of years later, Belinda's swap and our icicle dolls were published in Sew Somerset.

The good things which have come to me personally through my association with Belinda, Hermine, and everyone who participated at Wednesday Stamper are too numerous to mention.  One of the absolute best things, hands down, was meeting my best blogging buddy, Rosie Rowe.  So to commemorate the end of an era, I'm about to post my offering as a final tribute to WS, the place on the web that started it all.  It may be over, but it will never be forgotten.  

At Full Tilt, and Boogieing...

Here's another peek at how my mind (and hands) work in-process:

It's summer, so theoretically I have more time.  "Theoretically" is the key of course, but I'm counting on it!  

Continuing study is as valuable as practice, practice, practice.  Therefore, I will allow myself three groups to study with over the summer.  I say this to myself every January, then I follow through.

I knew who I'd be playing along with and learning from months and months ago:  Kelly, Marit, and Mary Ann Moss.  There are other places I'd like to be too, but I narrowed it down and made my pick long before some of the other groups sprang up, and I'm not sorry with my choices.  Who would be?  These three are golden!  A stellar way to spend my continuing study credits, and I couldn't be happier!  There is enough that's unique to each group along with subtle hints of an overlap here and there, so that if you concentrate and look hard enough, it can all be woven together whilst giving each module its own, separate attention.  That's what goes through my mind, along with the whistling wind...

Mary Ann Moss launched day one of Full Tilt Boogie on Friday.  Of course it's about books, binding them, and tarting them up a bit.  Actually the tarting part is mine.  The rest of the class is ARTing them.  Sorry, I just gots to be me.  

The entire theme of FTB centers around gorgeous, vintage cabinet card albums.  Drop dead gorgeous ones!  Some with celluloid covers, velvet bindings, exquisite clasps, embossed leather, gorgeous beveled mats to house the photos, tortoise shell covers, damask, silk, moire and more. Beauty!  I spent all of March, bits and pieces of April and most of May trying to find albums to use in this class.  I combed local antique stores and flea markets.  I found two.  One was 3" X 5" with a leather binding for *gasp* $260, and the second was even tinier with a mother of pearl casing, gold leaf, and a clasp that looked like a jeweler designed it.  It was $600.  *chokes*, and pass!

Now I know my experience was local, and I could have gone to Etsy and Ebay.  But I had another idea.  I collect library discards.  Not just any, but ones with pages I'll use and bindngs that make me squeee with delight.  The prices are a bit lower.  Ten books for $1, or 10¢ a piece.  So I have quite a few, and my total investment is under $20.  

I sent Mary Ann an email.  I asked, "What if I used some great boards from one of the books I have on hand?  And what if I employ my underused Cricut Expressions with my SCAL software to design some faux cabinet card frames?  What if I get a deep-cut blade and turn this puppy into a jig saw?  What if I forget the heck about Ebay and antique stores, and make my own knock-off?"   And she said, "Go for it!"  

So yesterday, after dutifully concocting and taking a few sips of the official class martini (yes there is one, in fact there's more than one....), I proceeded to begin my practice book.  Highly suggested, due to the fact that I've never done this binding before, and I want to solve any issues that may surface before I tackle the red leather bound encyclopedia that I'll be using for the real deal (also purchased at 10¢/vol., for a grand total of $1.20 -- get a tissue. No drooling on the computer screen).  

I've used two of these volumes already, both for Juliana Coles Altered States workshop which I took last summer.  That was an art-changing experience for me.  Truly, deeply, awesome.  Jules is repeating Altered States this summer--now, in fact--and has bundled it with Field Notes, another of her workshops which I took last year.  I highly recommend both.  

So before I get to this book, there's the practice book.  And as I look through the stacks of possibilities, I'm thinking that I want something I can work with, something that won't be too precious, but that I'll love enough to use, because I can't do this unless I pour my heart and soul into it.  And I see a book that I bought for the funky, retro designs on the pages.  The boards are in fine shape, sturdy enough to hold up when I rip off library tapes and stickers and possibly citra-solve the residual stickiness.  But the cover just isn't going to work for me.  Santa, on a sleigh, with reindeer, and a tree?  I wouldn't draw, collage, write, or do anything else in this book.   Not that there's anything wrong with it, it just isn't "me".   Hmmm, I love the lettering.  I could mask "Handbook" and paint the boards.  Then maybe stencil them.  So I did.  I cut the hands last.  Like I said, while the others art it up, I'm tarting it.  And this one's just for practice, right?  

Mary Ann mentioned mod-podge.  I'd never used the stuff, but I'd heard lots of people sing its praises.  I think it was developed in the 60's for decoupage when that was so popular and was taught in high school craft classes.  I decided to get a jar, and figured that this time I'd go ahead and seal my lots of thin layers of gesso, paint, stenciling and collage, especially since the area that I had masked-off was glossy, and a few layers lower than the finished, painted board.  I never, ever, seal or varnish pages, but for these boards, it was a good idea.  I'm not sure I'd use mod-podge for collage.  Actually, I wouldn't.  It's wet, it makes images curl, and I'm addicted to Cocoina, which is glue heaven.  But for ease of spread, quick dry and clarity, mod-podge rocks!  It's a keeper, along with the foam spreader I used to spread it, which I'd never, ever use with anything else.  Paint brushes rule the day, even for glue.  But I love the control of application I got from the foam + mod-podge, and it's essential that this stuff is spread evenly and thinly, layer upon layer.  No bubbles, no pooling-up in globs.

So that brings us back up to the pic at top.  On the left, you can see the inside cover page.  I rubber-banded the block and saved the pages after slicing off the boards.  Picture Santa in his sleigh with reindeer, proceeding in a diagonal path from the upper left corner of the tree top, heading across the page to the right, and you'll have a pretty good idea of what the cover looked like before I altered it.  

Now to make signatures, fold folios, punch holes, put it all together and stitch the binding...

New Year, New Stuff....

 

...Paris--For Theme Thursday:

Some scribbles in one of my journals after a day of flipping through books on graffiti at Barnes and Noble.

Drawing--Quote No.1:

"If you're creating artwork, it's always about the drawing.  Always." --Hippie drawing Prof. at ASU in the '70s whose name I can't remember, but it doesn't matter because he was quoting someone else whose name he couldn't remember...  

What he was trying to get across to us was that even if you're making a sculpture out of two sticks and a piece of string and you've never touched pencil to paper, everything created is always drawn in your mind before it's created, even if so instantly that you don't recognize it.  There is no art without visualization.  Ever.  And drawing is about seeing, not motor skills.

Drawing--Quote No.2:

"A successful drawing is one that appears on paper exactly as your mind's eye pictured it" --Same Prof., again quoting someone else...

Q. But what if it turns out better than I pictured it?  

A. Then what you have is a less successful drawing that accidently looks better than your mind's eye knows how to picture.  Solution: Practice drawing AND seeing.  

Working In Books (as opposed to "workbooks"...):

At the moment there are five books I am working in.  The Paris page was done in a little hand bound book that I carry with me in my purse, always.  This book is filled with stuff:  drawings, scribbles, notes, lists, collages, glued abstracts, paint, pens, inks, crayon, pencils, watercolor, markers...ad infinitum.  I work on both sides of the page in this book.  It's bound with a variety of papers so that when I want to work in acrylic, I can.  When I'm just using pencil, there's a page for it.  When I want a colored background for gel pens, there are lots of those, too.  And watercolor paper, etc.

The other four serve different purposes; all I've bound by hand.   One of the collage journals is filled with acrylic backgrounds on one side of the page only.  Why?  I'm not sure, but there's something in the back of my mind brewing for the other sides of these pages.  Probably a description.  Anyway, I can use a box cutter and remove pages from this book when there's one I want to make a print of, and I don't have to worry about what's on the other side.

Another one is specifically for work I'm doing in A Life Made By Hand.  

Another one is a chronology.  I do a page every day, or every few days, in chronological order.  I don't skip around in this book and I date the pages.  Later on, this one will give me an idea of what I was up to in 2010.  

Oooops, I said five.  Not true.  There are seven.  The other three are unfinished working journals. I use these to try out new ideas and new techniques.  

I also do lots of things outside of books.

Less and More in 2004 2010:

I liked 2004 better because it rhymed.  Oh well.  Here are some things I'd like to spend my time doing more of, and others that I'd like to do less of.  This is as close to New Years resolutions that I'll ever come:

More:

Drawing

Glueing

Writing

Painting

Abstract compositions

White space

Playing

Getting serious

Laughter

Time with family and friends

Reading

Music

Focus

Organic

Less:

Non-productive time online

Rushing around

Time spent suffering fools

No:

Additives

Preservatives

Hormones

GMAs

I can already see that this will be a prosperous year, as the "mores" far outweigh the "lesses" and the "nos".

Here's what I'm up to at the moment...

Reading Thomas Mann's Magic Mountain, Thomas Foster's How To Read Literature Like A Professor, and Thomas Pynchon's The Crying Of Lot 49 (all of them Tom's? ...very curious, indeed!)

Listening to Soft Machine's Six, and National Health's Tenemous Roads

Drinking tea (some things never change)

Watching HBO videos of The Flight Of The Conchords

Getting ready to celebrate Russian Christmas (old calender) tonight with friends of the family

Guest hosting for Mixed Media Monday next week, so stop by and submit some artwork!

Have a great New Year, Everyone! One great day at a time!

On The Fifth Day Of Christmas...Ornaments!

For T!m's 12 Tags of Christmas, Inspire Me Thursday, One Powerful Hour and Wednesday Stamper...

 

Making It Work...

There were so many elements to this tag, and since I make it a practice never to shop in the middle of a project and instead use the things I have on hand, tons of substitutions were needed to make this work.  You might want to take a look at T!m's tag and then come back to mine so you can note the differences, but I'll describe what I did differently in detail below. 

The Ornaments...

I had much more fun than expected making the ornaments, and that says a lot, because I knew they'd be a blast!  Santa was first, and I made sure that he was all decked out in the traditional red and green. This particular Santa required a larger fragment than the one T!m used, so the ornaments took up more space on my tag, than his did, but I think I like that!  All images used for the ornaments are stamps, and all but the three trees which are from PSX, are from the Stamper's Anonymous mini holidays collection.  The charms made from the fragments alone would make great tiny gifts, as would the tag itself!

The Background...  

About the only things I really wish I'd had on hand were the white Mambly rub-ons that T!m used for the sentiment on his tag, and the gorgeous flourish stamp that he uses so often.  But all-in-all, I'm happy with this tag, and now I know what to do with the set of idea-ology fragments that had been sitting in my stash unused for such a long, long time!

Using What I Have On Hand...

Except for the inks, most of my tag employs substitutions for the products that T!m used, simply because his exact items were not in my stash.  But I did follow his design and techniques almost to the letter.  Whenever possible, I use a Ranger product as a substitute because they're made to coordinate so well, but as you can see, I've used lots of other things, too.  Here's the list of my improvisations:

• I inked the Hero Arts manuscript background stamp in walnut stain distress ink and used it in place of the script stamp that T!m used.
• As I said, I'd love to have T!m's flourish stamp, but since I don't, I used some rub-ons from a K&Company set.  
• I used the pine bough from Stampers Anonymous mini holiday set as a substitution for the stamp that T!m used, but I followed his technique.  I didn't have the exact colors, so I used embossing powders that were already in my drawer.  For the green, I sprinkled on a combination of Ranger's evergreen, and peeled paint Distress powder, and sprinkled a line of tea dye Distress powder for the bark.
• "Joy" was handwritten with a water-based Sharpie paint pen.  I sprinkled it with DecoArt's glamour dust before it was dry and voila!  It stuck, and it glimmers!
• The sizes of fragments I used for the ornaments differed from T!m's because of the images I selected, but the product was the same.  Santa was colored with watercolors and red marker, an off-brand of green glitter glue (I hated it!), and red Stickles (Must have Stickles!).  

Everything else was done using the same products and techniques that T!m used.  I can't help repeating how valuable it is to follow someone else's steps using the same supplies they use when learning something new.  You can always make adaptations later, and as necessary, but initially, learning from the master's hand using the master's tools is the best!

Now I'm Off To...

Get to the store and back before the next storm arrives

Cook for my family

Put some music on!

And share a "crafty" video with you before I go....

!Caution!...

Do not watch this if you are offended by strong language!

"GangstaCraft" is funny!  But if you're offended by, as Bridget (aka Scissas) puts it "potty mouth language", then skip it!  Personally, I think it's a hilarious parody!  But if you're offended by language then please just pass it by.  And if the little ones are around, please skip it until you're sure they're out of ear-shot!  Now that you've been duly warned, if you choose to watch, Enjoy!

I must say that it was a little eye opening that I actually have experiece with EVERY item mentioned!  

Have a great day, Everyone!

Surprise! Another Tag...

...For T!m's 12 Tags of Christmas, Inchy By Inch, Soartful, Inspiration Avenue, and One Powerful Hour...

 

So Much Fun...

OK, this was by far, the most fun I've ever had making a tag!  And not only did I have to use my imagination and improvise quite a bit since I never shop while making a project and always use what I have on hand to complete it, but I even got one of the steps entirely backwards, and it still turned out so well that I have fallen in love with it!

Charming...

And isn't that little charm just the most adorable thing you've ever seen?  It reminds me of a festive house, warm and cozy and all decked out for the season!  Definitely makes you nostalgic to be home for the holidays!  If you look very close and very carefully (click to enlarge the photo of the tag above), you might be able to make out the word "wish" which is just a whisper of script over the top of the Christmas tree inside the charm.  Certainly appropriate, because after all, what's Christmas without wishes?  

And This Is "Note"worthy...

Now take a close-up look at the back of the charm.  Nothing is left unfinished.  Inside is a snippet of a song, because what's Christmas without gloriously sung carols?  But truth be told, I have a love-hate relationship with Christmas music.  So much of it is beautiful and heavenly, and so much of it is boring, repetitive, gratuitous and common -- overplayed and over-rated, which is why we make our own mixes at home and play just what we like throughout the season!  

Using What I Have On Hand...

As always, I'll direct you to T!m's blog so that you can see what he did and how he did it.  As for me, since I never shop during a project and always use what's in my stash, here's a list of my improvisations:

• Thank goodness I had that set of stamps from Stamper's Annonymous, otherwise I don't know how I could have even come close to the way this tag turned out.  But I don't have many any re-inkers, and I don't have a sheet of cut-n-dry felt, so I had to improvise here.  Instead of inking up the felt and making a custom stamp pad (which is definitely on my list of things to do in the future!), I was very comfortable inking the stamp itself with Marvy dye markers, which I do have in plentiful supply.  This was a great solution, especially since I really didn't have an immediate use for multiples of this stamp in color.  So I colored the part of the image I wanted, breathed on it to re-moisten it just before pressing, and stamped!  
• I used a K&Company rub-on for my word "wish" instead of a word cut out and pasted.
• Ooooops!  I got T!m's instructions backwards for stamping the tag.  Instead of stamping with black archival ink and then coloring the background with distress inks, I colored first and stamped over.  Not a problem.  It works either way.
• I have only 3 stickles (*sniffs back a tear*), but picket fence is one of them, and it worked perfectly to create snow and icicles on the roof of the charm when I squeezed it over a teeny bit of titanium white acrylic paint applied with a toothpick. 
• I was lucky enough to have the frames, the glass, and the memory capsules in my stash.  I even have a selection of Barbara Trombley's fabulous glass glitters, but alas, none of it is "clear".  So I had to improvise, and once again, I love how it turned out!  I used a tiny smattering of Suze Weinberg's iridescent Zamora beads (which generous Carol gave me for free as she scooped them up from the floor of her shop after I broke the jar--clumsy, butter-fingers me!), along with a few speckles of silver glass glitter, just for the charm and sparkle.  The iridescent beads are awsome!  They play off the lights beautifully and don't occlude the background image.

I think that everything else I did was done from T!m's instructions, which is fabulous because there's so much to be learned in using someone else's techniques along with the products they're actually using.  Even if you'd rather use your own stash and methods for projects at hand, it's valuable to accumulate stores of information and experience from the heads and hands of other artisans which can be applied to pieces of your own work in the future.  I know I said this very same thing in yesterday's post, but really, it is worth repeating.

Now I'm off to...

See what needs to be cleaned-up after last night's desert hurricane.  The rain was driven horizontally by 75mph winds, and this lasted for hours!

Infuse myself with lots more caffeine to stay awake through the afternoon and evening.

Forget about cooking and let everyone make their own soup and sandwiches tonight, 

While I make more tags!!

Have a great day, Everyone!

3-a And 3-b...

...For T!m's 12 Tags of Christmas, Lots To Do, Saturday Surprise, and Wednesday Stamper...

3-a:

Have I mentioned how much fun I'm having taking my in-studio vacation to make T!m's 12 tags of Christmas?  On day three he made two tags.  The one above and the one below are my interpretations of T!m's examples and instructions, using what I had on hand to make them both.

3-b:

 

If you want instructions for making the tags, you'll need to get them from T!m's blog.  You'll also need to see T!m's tags to understand what I did differently, for comparison and contrast.  I've listed my adaptations below: 

Using What I Have On-Hand...

• As much as I would love to have them, I do not own a distress ink stamp pad or re-inker in "soot", which was needed to color the tags.  I substituted washes of sumi-e ink, but I suppose you could use black watercolor washes as well.  
• T!m used washers and brads to attach the worked images to his tags.  I'm absent washers, so I set some nailheads instead, then used the studded hammer tip of Ranger's texture hammer (LOVE this tool!) to rough them up a bit.  
• Alas, I do not own the glorious trees stamp that T!m used, but last year I carved my own tree, so I pulled that out of my stash, masked the image to layer it, and created my forest on 3a.  
• On both tags, I substituted a Rhona Farrer flourish for T!m's, and on 3a, I used Hero Arts "dot pattern" for the negative image snow flurries instead of the stamp that T!m used.
• My metal "Joy" charms are, well, not metal at all.  I used 120# kraft, die-cut the circles and embossed the larger ones, giving each of them separate washes of metallic Japanese ganzai paint.  You could use perfect pearls just as easily, I'm certain.  I antiqued the edges with Ranger's walnut distress ink and used a Micron pen to write "Joy".

I think that everything else was done from T!m's instructions, which is fabulous because there's so much to be learned in using someone else's techniques along with the products they're using.  I think that even if you'd rather use your own stash and methods for projects at hand, it's valuable to accumulate stores of information and experience from the heads and hands of other artisans which can be applied to pieces of your own work in the future.  

A Hint Or Two...

Somewhere along the line, T!m makes a point to say that "it's all in the details".  This phrase should be listed as one of the supreme life-lessons for artists.  As with all projects of artistic merit, paying attention to the little things makes all the difference in the world.  I tell my own students:  Be careful not to confuse acquiring the patience to do things precisely with being "fussy".  Paying close attention to detail is often the only line that's drawn between amateur and professional, and it is what will train you to do what you intend to do with ease.  

And one more hint (just because I'm feeling generous):  Never confuse "happy accidents" with "mistakes".  While true "happy accidents" are sometimes encountered -- often leading to wonderful new discoveries, "mistakes" on the other hand, are neither "happy", nor "accidental".  They are sign posts that read:  "more practice needed".  

If I ever hear another student whine and say something like, "I don't need to take this too seriously, it isn't like I'm going to be doing it for a living..." (and I will hear it, again and again...), I think I'm going to keel over and go mad!  In a nutshell, even if you're a hobbyist, an accomplished hobbyist is a happy hobbyist, and you can't be having fun if you're unhappy with your work.  Did you hear me use the word "perfect"?  Never!  "obsessive"?  You've got to be kidding!  I said "accomplished".  There's a huge difference here.  Accomplishment has everything to do with how you feel about your work when you've honestly assessed it, and it's that sense of well-being that drives us to artwork in the first place.  So there you go "n" and "n" -- you know who you are, LOL!  Some good advice that I hope will help you get even more enjoyment out of everything you do!

And thanks, T!m.  It really is "all in the details"!

Now I'm off to...

Put the finishing touches on a pot roast

Finish one of the books I'm reading and get back to The Time Traveler's Wife

Feed the dog

Put on some music, and

Make more tags!!

Have a great day, Everyone!

T!M Two...

...For Inspire Me Thursday's handmade holidays theme...

 

...On The Second Day Of Christmas...

Or should I say, the second day of my in-studio vacation (see yesterday's post), I came up with my interpretation of T!m's tag.  At the risk of repeating myself, I'll remind you that it's my policy not to run out to the store in the middle of a project for supplies.  I use what I have on hand, and if there's something missing that I feel I must have, it's added to a list for later.  That said, I'll go on to explain the differences between my tag and T!m's, but you'll have to get yourself over to T!m's blog to see the real deal, along with the generously detailed instructions he gives with his in-process photos.

My Substitutions...

Stamps:

I have only one set of T!m's acrylic stamps, along with a few wood mounted singles.  Not a Christmas theme among them.  So for the gorgeous frame that T!m used, I substituted a frame from Urban Lily's "little things" set of clear stamps, and for the flourishes, I used an acrylic from Rhonna Farrer's "swirls v:I" set.  Believe me, I am seriously lusting after the tattered elements frame from his collection!

Inks & color:

I used the reds and greens from my collection of distress inks, not exactly the same colors as T!m used, but in the same family.  My colors were shabby shutters, peeled paint, tattered rose and fired brick, and I substituted a mix of perfect gold and interference green Perfect Pearls for the antique golden color that T!m used to splatter on his tag.  

Metal:

I have no metal accents.  I love metals, but rarely use them as I have a slight nickel allergy and don't want to aggravate it.  I do keep thin sheets of metal on hand that can be snipped and embossed.   These can be worked easily, with little or no hand to metal contact.  To make my corners, I cut an inch square, embossed it with hand tools, cut it in half diagonally, snipped a triangle out of the middle, let it slightly overlap the corner of my tag, and folded the ends under to the bottom of the tag to secure.  The metal was a shiny gold color, so I antiqued it with alcohol inks:  Ranger's rust, and Pinata's burro brown, along with a touch of black Staz-on.  I used the same products on the metal flowers and brads which I found in my stash.  I have no idea who makes them.  I took a hint from T!m and snipped one of the flowers in half and glued it down with diamond glaze, making the partial flower at the bottom, underneath the other two.

Now I'm off to make tags 3a and 3b -- yes, there are two today, and if I get them done, I'll post them tomorrow.  So be sure to stop by later!  ...and I'll give you a *hint* -- we're making plaid!

Have a great day, Everyone!

Tim's Tags...

For Saturday Surpirse -- "Christmas in unconventional colours" theme

  

Tag--You're On Vacation!

Just havin' some fun, and LOTS of it!  Every year I collect Tim's tag recipes.  I have a binder full of them. But every year I'm just too busy to play.  I'm not letting that happen this year!  This year it occurred to me just how long it's been since I've had a vacation, and just how much I need one!  Can't go anywhere right now, so I'm taking my vacation in my studio--making Tim's tags!!  

Go Get It For Yourself!

If you want his instructions -- and who wouldn't? -- you'll have to go to his blog.  I'm not embedding a youtube, adding photos, nor am I going to say things like, "First Tim did "this", then he did "that"...and bore you to death over something that is not in anyway shape or form boring!  Instead, I will tell you a bit about what I did that's different.

Tim's Way and The Ranger Way...

What I take away from every conversation, every class, every online tutorial with Tim is twofold:  Tim's way, and the Ranger way!  These don't conflict.  They are two sides of the same, generously talented guy.  Tim's way is to show you how to use his ideas to spread your wings and have lots of fun and success.  The key word that repeats itself here is "explore".  You use what you have to create in new and exciting ways.  Don't have stickles?  Be creative.  Find something you DO have that will work instead and use it!  The Ranger way will show you how to use every Ranger product on the market precisely so that you get the most out of it and make your work sparkle in ways you couldn't have otherwise imagined. And of course to learn how to use Ranger products,  you should actually be using Ranger products, or how else would you know?

What I Do, and Do Not Do...

So here's how I've chosen to get the most out of this and come up with some spectacular and unique tags in the process:  I read through Tim's blog post, gather up the products he uses that are already in my stash, and look for clever substitutes for the ones I don't have.  I do not interrupt my fun by taking trips to the store!  However, if there's something I really like and think I can use in the future (there always is...), I'll put it on a list for later.  

What's Different?

Alas, I don't have many of Tim's stamps, so I used PSX's Brushed Snowflake 5, and some snowflakes from a set of Art Journey Christmas stamps (RAK'd from Willy).  Rudolph is actually "Rob the Reindeer" from JudiKins.  

I didn't have the stickles that Tim used for the icicles, but did have red and black stickles and used them for Rudolph's (aka Rob's) eyes and nose.  I do regret not having the icicle stickles, because while I love the range of light that DecoArt's brush-on crystal twinkles achieves, they don't hold their shape and tend to flatten out and spread very quickly.  Stickles rock!  They have body and the power to hold their shape, but can also be flattened and spread around if that's what you need.

I substituted Range's Crackle Accents for the Ranger brush-on distress crackle that Tim used.  It did the trick and gave stunning results, but it was a labor to squeeze out in quantity and work to spread it around with a popsicle stick.  Much easier and efficient to have what Tim used, but the final crystal crackle looks the same. 

Tim's tip on wiring ribbon makes me hoot with joy!  The sad thing is that it requires a heavy-duty artist's double-stick tape, not Scotch brand, which is too weak to hold the wire.  So I beefed-up my ribbon with an undercoat of Diamond glaze, exercised copious amounts of patience, and moulded it into shape.  It worked, but there's no question: I gotta get the right tape!!

I do have Grungeboard!  LOTS of it!!  And until now, I wasn't really sure what to do with it, so it sat in a drawer with some other DT stuff plus some other mystery products I've been given by advertisers over the years.  Stamping Rudolph (Rob) onto Grungeboard and embossing him with Ranger black made him easy to cut out.  Really easy.  And notice those antlers?  The detail?  I had no problem at all with that area being weak or frail as I snipped away.  Grungeboard rocks!  

I do have my share of Ranger's wonderful paint daubbers, but no white.  Plenty of acrylics, though, so I used a dampened fingertip and some titanium white to glaze the flourish behind my reindeer.  And about that flourish....Tim used one from his collection of Grungeboard flourishes.  Very lovely!  But I don't have any Grungeboard shapes.  So I freehand cut mine from a sheet of plain.  Like I said, Grungeboard rocks!  All that snipping detail, and not a bit of it weakened or lost to the cutting floor.  Strong and flexible.  Just like me!  (Hah!)

Now there is one other item that has me lusting and salivating.  That Dymo labeler of Tim's that writes in script!  LOVE that!  But my antique version worked quite adequately, so I'm not disappointed.  However, if you're wracking your brain for that perfect Christmas gift for me, and you haven't already purchased a Cricut Expression, then perhaps a Dymo labler with a script font?  Wouldn't want you to have to suffer over wondering what to get me, now would I?

Dr Who?

I realize full-well that I've just said "Tim" all through this post.  Don't tell me you're asking, "Tim who?" If you don't know who "Tim" is, then what the heck are you doing here?  OK, I'll be gentle.  If you're a newbie, or "otherwise" talented, then meet Tim Holtz.  Click on his name.  He's a great guy who hails from my old and frequent stomping grounds--Prescott, Arizona, and he is artist, craftsman, spokesman, and product demonstrator and developer par excellence for Ranger Industries.  Never heard of Ranger?  Unbelieveable!  Go to Tim's blog.  There are plenty of links.  

Now it's time to tell you what I'm up to next...

More tags!

A very late breakfast (Is it really 2PM?)

Another cup of tea to take off the chill

Another box of kleenex (tis the season *sniffle*) 

And some music!  For once, it's actually too quiet in here!

...And as always, there are journal pages, books, and a collage or two in the works as well!

Have a great day, Everyone!

Alice In Wonderland. . .

 

The Make a Moo or Two theme for the week is "Alice In Wonderland", and I truly must thank Mandy, who is this week's guest hostess, for solving a Christmas present dilemma!  My DD LOVES all things Alice, and the two moos that I made for this week's challenge are sitting back to back, encased in glass slides and a brass frame, with a long black silk ribbon tie, ready to be wrapped for her and put under the tree! 

I make so many thing for other people, that when it comes to my family, it must be something truly special.  I think this is it!!  Now, I'll need to keep Amy from reading my blog for a couple of days, so Shhhhhhhhhh.....don't tell!

Both images were scanned, cropped, cut, colored and collaged onto black linen cardstock.  The "r-e-a-c-h" is computer generated and the "Tea" was done with a Sakura gelly roll pen.

And on another subject, you will all want to take a look at Lani's blog...she's offering some very special blog candy!  The person who wins the draw will get a space in two of her online art courses!  A fabulous prize, that I really hope to win!!!  Good luck to you, too, but I am SO keeping my fingers crossed for me......

......Have a great day, Everyone!

Brown & Aqua. . .

 

This week the Weekend Taggers theme is "brown and aqua", a very pleasant change from the plethora of holiday colors that I love, but that we are necessarily bombarded with at this time of the year!

I couldn't resist the season however, so mine is a "joy" tag.  The tag was stamped with Hero Arts "manuscript background" in tea dye distress ink, then mounted onto a cut piece of 7Gypsies paper, which was then mounted onto a piece of aqua Bazzill cardstock, then cut to shape.  The tag is topped with an off-cut of brown Bazzill, a large aqua flower from Making Memories, a circle of brown cardboard, a couple of buttons, and some aqua silk ribbon.  The j-o-y letters are Making Memories pre-glittered shimmer jigsaw chipboard.

Have a great day, Everyone!

On The Ninth Day Of Christmas. . .

. . . Shelly gave to me. . .

 

. . .This adorable snowman package, filled with a gorgeous treat! 

You all know that I usually just cut to the chase!  No packages first, I go right for the gift!  But in this case, I thought you needed to see the snowman bag first.  There is something really special about him, aside from the fact that he's adorable.  If you pull the ring at top, the package opens magically, without disturbing the bow, and the gift is in your hand!  I didn't go so far as to take a video of this process, so you'll have to take my word for it!  It is a touch of magic.  Opening this gift definitely restored a sense of child-like wonder in the process!  Way to go, Shelly!  This is fantastic!

But as good as that is, it's nothing compared with what was inside....

 

. . . An artful altered domino collage on a waxed-string necklace!  I am gob-smacked!  Isn't this the greatest combination of beauty and fun??  What a conversation piece this will be!  I can't wait to wear Edward!  Such a handsome lad in his old-school cap, don't you think?  And the card that he's attached to is a wonderful little work of art, too!  But to get the proper effect and see Edward in his full glory, you need to see him off the card....

 

...here, on top of this piece of Christmas sheet music for good contrast!  Isn't he wonderful!  I can't thank you enough, Shelly!!  I have fallen in love with this little guy! 

You can see more of Shelly's beautiful artwork on her blog by clicking HERE.  There are also some wonderful tutorials on her blog, too!   And If you'd like to see all of my posts on the Twelve Days of Christmas swap, you can find them all in one place and in order, by clicking HERE.

Now....on to day 10!

Have a great day, Everyone!

On The Eighth Day Of Christmas. . .

. . .Jeri gave to me. . .

 

. . .This adorable pincushion nested in a beautiful antique cup and saucer!  The perfect marriage of beauty and usefulness!  Jeri Aaron is our hostess for this swap, and also the bearer of today's gift.  You can see more of Jeri's wonderful artwork on her blog:  An Artful Gathering. 

This was the perfect gift!  Not only do I keep several pincushions going at once and can never have too many, I also have a small collection of KLM porcelain from Germany, and the cup and saucer are a perfect addition!  Needless to say, I am thrilled with this gift!  Thank you so much, Jeri!  Not only for the gift, but for hosting the swap of swaps!  I can't tell you how much fun this is.  All of us in the swap get together every evening to discuss our gifts and whatever else we have to share with each other.  We have all had so much fun with this that none of us are looking forward to the end of this swap, so we've made a pact to stick together.....get ready everyone....we'll be celebrating the 14 days of Valentines!! 

Another thing you need to see is the fabulous box this gift came in!  The box could be a gift in itself, and mine has been put away in a safe place....you know about "safe places", don't you?.....they are the little nooks and crannies where very special things are kept....the places that are so truly safe that they remain a secret....even to yourself!  Have you guessed it?  Jeri's gorgeous Christmas box is in one of the "safe places" in my home, and one of these days...sooner, rather than later, I hope....I'll remember which "safe place" I put it in!  In the meantime, I didn't want to hold-up posting about Jeri's wonderful creation while I continued to search for the box that it came in, so here's a link to our swap-mate, Shelly's blog, where you can see her pic of the box: The Art And Musings Of Shelly Rae Wood.  Once you've seen the pic, you'll want to take a tour of the other wonderful things on Shelly's blog!  It's a real treat!  And if you'd like to see all of my posts on the Twelve Days of Christmas swap, all in one place and in order, you can do so by clicking HERE.

Now on to day 9 (am I getting away with this??  It's really day 11, you know, and I'm running fast to catch up...)!

Have a wonderful day, Everyone!

This Thursday It's All About . . .

 

This Thursday It's All About..."Naughty or Nice"!    Our sponsor this week is Cosmo Cricket, and I can't say enough wonderful things about the fabulous Christmas pack the they sent my DT mates and me to play with!   

But, if you join-in on this week's challenge and win the draw, what you'll get is even better!  The prize this week at This Thursday is Cosmo's Chemistry paper pack (perfect for Valentine's day), and a packet of Cosmo's "buck naked buttons and more"!   So be sure you pop on over to the TT blog and add your artwork to the challenge so you'll have an entry in this week's draw.  The winner will be announced next week as usual, but after this week's challenge, all of us at This Thursday are taking a little holiday break and we'll see you back again on January 15th!  ArtiphyTheHeart will go strong through the holidays, so be sure to stop by often and see what I'm creating and concocting!   I feel some journal pages coming on........

In the meantime, take a look at the snowman (above) and my two cards (below), all created from the Cosmo studio papers in the Joy kit!   

You know me, I'm really not usually a "kit' type of person, but I have to tell you that Cosmo just may have converted me!  I have discovered that every single item in these kits are fabulous as-is, or, even better, can be customized a gazillion ways!!  I'm still playing with the papers and die cuts in this package, but here are my first three samples for this post.

  

For the snowman at top, I used Cosmo's punch-out die cuts, adding a lot of my own embellies, like the red, flocked pom pom on top of his hat, the black metal eyelet eyes, and the faux pieces of coal for his smile.  I modified the snowman himself with a light brush-over of peeled paint distress ink, and added the adorable photo--a freebie from my friend Willy.  The Christmas tree die cut is a Cosmo cut-out included in the kit.  I added the red gros-grain ribbon and backed the ornament with the second (yes, you get two!) snowman in Cosmo's "Joy" kit.  Now, the question is, has this young man been "naughty", or "nice"?  I think he's far too adorable to be naughty, but there might just be a hint of mischief there....

The next two cards are definitely "nice".  My Joy card uses no fewer than 5 of the papers from Cosmo's Joy kit!  If you look closely, and possibly enlarge the card by clicking on it, you can see that the background paper design is the same as the large star.  The ribbon strip at the bottom of the card is cut from another Cosmo paper, and the two smaller stars, while they are die cuts punched from the kit, are the styles of two other full sheets also included in the kit.  I cut black cardstock to match the stars and mounted them just off-center behind the patterned paper.  I used red metal eyelets in the centers of the smaller stars and threaded a length of green silk ribbon through the larger one.  The letters in the J-O-Y on the card are chipboard from Making Memories, covered with lush red suede paper that is so soft and fuzzy to the touch I wish you could feel it in person!   You'll have to use your imagination here...if you think of each of the letters as being as light in color as the lightest part in the photo, then you'll get the idea.  All of the darker areas are the shadows from the closely clipped pile of the suede fibers.  I edged each letter with a Krylon gold leafing pen, and dotted them, as well.

My Christmas music card uses three different and coordinating papers from Cosmo's joy kit.  I cut four flowers, two from Cosmo paper and two from black cardstock, using a Sizzix die.  I set four red metal eyelets in each of the two patterned paper flowers, threaded cuts of khaki silk ribbon through two of the eyelets and tied them off, leaving short tails, then mounted the patterned paper flowers onto the black cardstock flowers, just off-center.  The circles on the left side of the card are off-cuts from the flower centers.  Both the "Merry Christmas" and the snippet of The First Noel, are downloads from Artella.  The rest of the card was just placing and gluing, although there is some shabby shutters distress ink edging the music and behind the sentiment.

Absolutely much more fun than I expected to have, and I'm definitely wanting more, more, more, from Cosmo Cricket!!  Don't forget to stop by This Thursday,  check out the fab prizes, and enter the draw by participating in the challenge!!

Have a great day, Everyone!