ArtiphyTheHeart

This Thursday It's All About . . .

. . . "Something With Whiskers"

Hooooray!  This is our first challenge of 2009, so please get yourselves on over to This Thursday It's All About... and play along with us for a chance to win some very nice unmounted stamps and a sheet of EZ mount from Joanna Sheen's wonderful "Messy Rabbit" collection.  We on the design team got to play with the "Footballer" set along with a plate of accessories, but having seen the fabulous Tulip Messy Rabbit stamps with its companion bee, bee hive, and lots of pretty flowers that will be yours if you win the draw, I'd say that you'd better hurry on over to This Thursday and post a link to the page on your blog with your "whiskers" creation, right now!  I know that I'll be picking up Messy Rabbit's Tulip set and using it on art journal and altered book pages, as well as on other altered objects and cards!  Besides, how can you loose?  Even if you don't win the stamps, you're in on the first challenge of the year, and I just have a feeling that 2009 is going to be a great one! 

 

I had lots of fun with Footballer Messy Rabbit!  I stamped him several times on white cardstock with black VersaFine, then several more times onto various patterned papers.  I cut him out paper-doll style, and mixed and matched him with his outfits and shoes, then placed him on a trio of tags.

 

And he looks wonderful in Prismacolors, too!  Especially when layered onto bright and colorful cardstock! 

Now if you're puzzling over the "something with whiskers" theme, just remember to be creative!  You can interpret this in any way you wish.  Just think about it!  Besides bunnies, LOTS of things have whiskers...even your Santa Claus left-overs that maybe you would have otherwise thrown away???  And maybe Uncle George?  . . .Or Aunt Brunhilda . . .?

I can't wait to tweak Messy Rabbit's wardrobe a bit and use him on Easter and other spring-time items!  So far, 2009 has been spent making a plethora of Valentines and Valentine related items, and really, what better way for ArtiphyTheHeart to spend time, than with hearts?  But when the 14th of February has passed, I think I'll be welcoming spring and all that comes with it!  So before I'm on to other things, let me tell you a bit of what I'm up to. . . Right now, I'm. . .

Sipping a glass of wine and decompressing after a very demanding first part of the week,

Grateful for all the blessings in my life

Glad that my "messy doggie" (you can see him HERE) finally has a grooming appointment

Listening to DD play the piano--something I'll miss terribly when she flys the nest

and

Enjoying my son's jokes and laughter

Getting ready for another busy-but-so-worth-it day!

Have a great day, Everyone!

 

 

Something New

 

The Weekend Taggers challenge this week is to use part of your new stash.  I just happened to download the brand new set of Valentine's papers and images from Pink Petticoat last night, and I've used them in today's tag.  The tiny gold hearts paper, the valentine sentiments paper and even the crimson paper used to cover the chipboard letters are all part of Pink Petticoat's "just an old-fashioned girl" collection.  The ecru lace at the bottom of the tag was made with my new Martha Stewart punch, and the silk ribbon at the top isn't very old, either.

I hope your New Year has gotten off to a wonderful start!  I'm in the middle of a gazillion on-going projects.  To mention only a few, there's a 14 days of Valentines swap, and I'm making mixed-media pieces for that.  You'll have to wait to see them though, because it would ruin the surprise if I posted them now;  ...And I'm hand-binding ten more books that will serve as my 2009 art journal stash;  ...There's an altered book round-robin that I'm part of, and the theme for my book is "self-portraits", so I'll have a wonderful record of the artists who participated when my book comes back to me in June;  ...I'm half-finished with my son's Christmas scarf -- yes, I'm late, but I need to take frequent breaks when crocheting as I can feel the tinge of repetitive stress if I'm not careful;  ...And there's the valentine's throw that I'm hand-quilting, made up of 4" squares.  The more I think about it, the closer I am to deciding that this will be a table scarf for Valentines Day, but it may morph into something entirely different before its finished.  You never know;  ...And there pages and pages in my art journals that get done daily.  No matter what!;  ...And there are DT pieces for This Thursday It's All About.   You'll want to be sure to take part in the first challenge of the new year which will be on Thursday, January 8th!;  ...And all the other wonderful challenges in blog-land that provide inspiration and keep us fresh with new techniques, and the latest most wonderful artwork that our friends are posting.  So yes, it's already a good year!! 

As for the other things in life, right now I'm:

Listening to my kids laughing

Reading a newly published epic by the late Roberto Bolano

Craving enchiladas (because of the book?)

Staring at the bright green vacuum cleaner that my daughter thinks is "cute" (it isn't)

Watching old television episodes of The Rockford Files

Getting ready to make a cup of tea

Thinking about creating a new blog banner

And wishing you all an abundance of happiness, creativity and prosperity in this new year!

Have a great 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!

Mistletoe and Wine

 

This Thursday It's All About. . .Mistletoe and Wine!

Now that all the holiday movies are starting to make their way into the theaters and each one is vying for its share of the box office profits, when I ran across some old movie posters, I just had to spice them up for the holidays!  Bette Davis and Paul Muni's characters from "Borderline" (above) make up what is probably one of the more unlikely couples to be found under the mistletoe, but with the right attitude, and a little bit of wine.....who knows?  LOL! 

   

Bogie and Bacall are a little more believable for a holiday romance! 

I digitally altered both posters, removing all of the words except the titles, and re-arranging the colors a bit.  The mistletoe is a .png file from a collection of mine, and I'm not quite sure of the source.  Both are printed onto matte photo paper, cut and arranged on the cards.  The wine bottle and glasses are cut from a holiday catalog,  and everything is mounted onto cream colored card, and tied up for Christmas with red satin ribbon and gold lame.  The black dots were punched from cardstock scrap and glued into place.

The Christmas Pig was found in the same catalog as the wine and the glasses.  I carefully clipped him out, placed him onto the card and accented him with some green dots.  I couldn't resist that expression on his face, and with the addition of a little mistletoe, he really looks to me as if he's on his way to present his lady with a nice Cabernet...that wistful, hopeful look in his eye makes me think he's hoping for an evening of amore!  There's just something about him, even with the beret and the necktie, that makes him seem more Italian than French, so the red, white, and green are more than just the colors of the season, they are also the colors of Italy.

The background is done with several layers of acrylic paint.  All of the elements for the tag, with the exception of Signore de Maiale (Mr. Pig), are off-cuts and leftovers from other projects.  Even the tag itself is a recycled price tag that was on a sweater I purchased a year or so ago, so truly this tag is "green" in more ways than one!  Therefore, it will go into the Arty Girlz Recycling Challenge, as well!

The mistletoe is another print of the same clipart I used above, this time carefully cut and glued into place instead of digitally layered and blended.

There's a wonderful prize at the This Thursday blog that you won't want to miss out on, so hurry on over and take a peek!   Susie has donated a great collection of clear stamps, so be sure to get in on the draw, and good luck!!

Have a great day, Everyone!

Lime, Pink, and Chocolate!

This Thursday It's All About... Lime, Pink, and Chocolate!   The prize this week is a fabulous set of downloads from our sponsor, Funky Fairy's Papercrafts.  You will definitely want to head on over to the This Thursday blog and take a peek!

The dotty, pink paper I used for the background, little bow and thin strip, as well as the lime, pink, and chocolate plaid papers, and the thin strip of stripes, are all Funky Fairy paper.  Cupcakes, hearts and sentiment are from Inkadinkado, and were stamped in Ranger's Nick Bantock Van Dyke brown dye ink.  Other cardstock is Bazzill and Bazzill Bling.

   

The download-ables from Funky Fairy also include a fabulous set of templates in an array of paper styles.  Just choose, click and print!  Then cut along the lines, fold, and assembly is complete!  The box above is a Funky Fairy template.  It is the exact size needed to hold a deck of cards, or a selection of ATCs!  I embellished it with a Funky Fairy Merry Christmas tree, added some glitter and bling, a strip of gros-grain ribbon with a satin bow, and was finished!

 

More Funky Fairy paper and embellies!  I used the yummy, swirly paper for the background, and added a Funky Fairy circle and tree.  The "Merry Christmas" is from PSX, stamped in "old rose" Colorbox pigment ink and embossed with JudiKins "Egyptian gold" powder.  The photo doesn't show the sparkle, but trust me, there's lots and lots of it on this card!

To all my friends and blogging buddies in the U.S. and Canada, I send wishes for a very happy, healthy, and peaceful Thanksgiving, filled with fun and the bountiful gifts of the season!   Wherever you are, whether you are celebrating or not, be sure to head on over to the This Thursday blog and join-in on the fun, and a chance to win the fabulous prize from Funky Fairy! 

Have a great day, Everyone!

Playing With Paint. . .

  

This Thursday It's All About... "Playing With Paint"!  You'll want to join-in on this challenge because, after all, who can resist paint?  And anything goes here, so what ever you paint, or craft and just dab on the paint, will count!

My little snow deer is another page in my funky, chunky  art journal.  The darling little deer is "Joel", from our sponsor, Toodles and Binks.  Isn't he adorable?  I colored him with Prismacolors and a white Sakura gel pen, then placed him onto one of the pages done in blue and lavender acrylic paint, using dimensional tape.  The three trees in the background use one of my hand-carved stamps, and the little tree in the foreground is from Art Journey.  The icicles and snowflakes were done with a combination of white Prismacolor and Sakura gel pen. 

 

Now, meet Simone!  More playing with paint--or should I say, painting with Prismacolors.  Yes, you heard me right, I said painting with colored pencils.  I lay down the pencil very thickly, and then dry brush over with a little Sansodor to blend.  White accents are done with a Sharpie paint pen.  I just love these Toodles and Binks designs, and they are coming out with more!!  Hooray for that!

You're going to want to stop by the This Thursday challenge blog and take a peek at the great prize you can win if your entry wins the draw!  I'll give you a hint:  You'll get three Toodles and Binks stamps and a packet of clear and red Zoomz (I've used clear Zoomz with Joel in the snow, above).

Late edit:  I just found out that Wednesday Stamper's, theme this week is "Snowflake Kisses".  Joel, the little snow deer qualifies, so I'm posting him there, as well! 

Have a great day, Everyone!  And good luck in the draw at This Thursday!!

Marvelous Metallics

 

This Thursday It's All About...Marvelous Metallics!  Our wonderful sponsor this week is Crafty Individuals, who provided the design team with a page of unmounted trees, tiny birds, and sentiment stamps, like the ones used in my card, above, and my tag, below!

 

The background image is taken from Dover clipart of an old masterpiece (I'll let you guess which one...), onto which I stamped the trees, birds and sentiment with black VersaFine.  You will see how the background color shifts from the original autumn rusts and yellows used by the artist, to a misty, patina-like green in certain places, somewhat resembling haze or fog.  This effect is achieved by heating an inkjet image which is printed onto laser paper, with a heat tool.  The color shifts as it is lifted and changed by the high heat.  I rimmed the image with a copper Krylon pen, and mounted it onto a very unusual metallic cardstock.

About a year ago, I found the most wonderful metallic card and bought several sheets.  It is paper, and it is metal, and it's very hard to describe, because I've never seen or heard of anything like it, before or since, and it forms the base for this card, and in my pieces above, it's what sits on the substrate of black cardstock. 

It is easiest to tell you what this paper is not, in order for you to understand what it is.  It is not paper with metal flecks.  It is not metal with paper flecks.  It is not a 50/50 fusion of metal and paper.  It is, somehow, paper with metal fiber, as opposed to paper containing metallic fibers.  And it has a copper/green/goldenpatina, with a hand that is entirely cardstock in feel: smooth, but matte, and at the same time, definitely metallic, but not metal in and of itself.  Get the picture?  Probably not, but it's the best I can do to describe this fabulous find, which originates in Japan, and is perfectly in keeping with this week's theme!  

And because of the unusual nature of the paper, the subject and the method, I decided to not to confuse this week's challenge with a variety of ways to use the stamps in artwork, which I'm sure you are all aware is as many as the number of artists that use them, and instead chose to keep these very complex and unusual materials as simple and Zen-like as possible in design.  

You will want to make sure to add your metallic pieces to This Thursday's challenge, and stop by the blogs to see what everyone else is doing with the theme!  There is a fabulous prize courtesy of Crafty Individuals, and you'll want to make sure that you're entered in the draw!!

Have a great day, Everyone! 

Mojo Surfing

   

What a fun way to find inspiration!  In case you're new to "Mojo Surfing", it's the theme this week at This Thursday It's All About....  There are a couple of ways you can go about this, and believe me, YOU WILL WANT TO TRY THIS, IT'S FUN!!  So, be sure to check out the blog for the challenge instructions. 

The way I found my inspiration was by clicking on one of the links in This Thursday's list of participants in the right side bar of the challenge site.  I clicked on Femmy, and from her blog I found a link and went to another, and another from there, until I had gone 5 blogs deep.  I wound up at a wonderful blog, "Girl Gone Thread Wild",  belonging to Monica Magness.  The post I landed on was full of the most fabulous Halloween inspiration, and being that the "Big Night" is only about 24 hours away, I was more than happy to apply this inspiration in the spirit of spookiness!

Now I must tell you that I had so much fun playing with the goodies from Pink Petticoat last week, that I went back there and snagged the Halloween specials and used them in both of my pieces for this challenge!  The journal page at top features my favorite skull stamp from Stamp Francisco.  I stamped him on white cardstock with Versa Fine black and mounted him on black cardstock before cutting and gluing him to the page.  He is having visions of loveliness...pretty little girlie skulls and bats from Pink Petticoat...a perfect Halloween fantasy!  I added the strip of dotty paper at left, also from Pink Petticoat, and finished it off with doodles and scribbling in my favorite black Micron pen.  The background is another page from my funky chunky book.  If you're interested, you can see more of it HERE.  This page is ready for writing-in, and will hold 2008's Halloween memories when the day is done!

The card at right was done exclusively with Pink Petticoat's Girlie Haunted Halloween papers, image and sentiment.  Only the doodle dots, ribbon and cardstock are added.

Have fun finding your MOJO!!  I can't wait to see what you all come up with!!

Have a great day, Everyone!!

Thrown A Curve. . .

 

This Thursday It's All About...being "Thrown A Curve", and it can be interpreted in any way you wish! 

This is a challenge you're not going to want to miss!  There is a terrific prize (click here to see it), and instant downloads that are free for the taking which you can use right away in your creation, or save and use whenever you like! 

We have a wonderful sponsor this week, Pink Petticoat, who gave the design team an entire CD of images, patterned and plain coordinating papers, sentiments, and more!   And this selection threw me one of the most pleasant curves I've ever been thrown!  I started by making a traditional card or two, and then the ideas started taking hold of my brain by storm!  These contemporary patterned papers will be wonderful in collage, art journaling, book art,...the list is endless!  It goes without saying that I'm not at all finished having fun with these items!  In fact, I've barely begun!  But I had to quit long enough to show you the first four pieces I've made for this challenge.  You can rest assured, in the days to come you will see some collage and journal pages made with a lot of my new Pink Petticoat papers, because there are lots more patterns and colors on this CD than you see here on my blog today!!  I know the CD says it's a Christmas collection, but I can think of a ton of year-round uses for these versatile designs! 

The Chinese Take-away container at the top was made with a template from Paper Bouquet.  I printed a sheet of Pink Petticoat paper and laminated it onto heavy cardstock.  Next time I'll use something a bit lighter, as this was hard to fold.  I added a beaded wire handle and bows, then smashed-down a bottle cap with a hammer (why buy them when this is so much fun?), colored it with alcohol ink, and used one of Pink Petticoat's kitty images as the focal point.  I printed it at 25% of it's original size, cut it with an inch circle cutter, colored it with Prismacolors, and added a spot of Diamond Glaze to make the kitty clearly dimensional, then attached it with a bit of red wire.

   

"Joy" was made with one of the smaller harlequin papers, and I added the flowers, cut from two of the other coordinating papers in the same color-way.  The birdie and "Joy" were both colored with Prismacolors, and I covered the birdie with a sheet of acetate, attached with brads.   Now another pleasant curve you need to know about:  I have no idea if this was intentional, or just fortuitous, but there is a Prismacolor Premiere pencil that exactly matches each color in this collection!  In fact, I spent an hour playing with pencils and a printed out page of Pink Petticoat's stripes...if you have the large set of Prismacolors, you WILL find a matching pencil, no matter which Pink Petticoat paper you are using!  How great is that!!

 

And above is another one of the Pink Petticoat papers--are you thinking Valentine's Day here???  And it comes in lots of colors, not just red!!  But I loved the crimson, so I combined it with one of Pink Petticoat's Christmas owls, colored with Prismacolors.  The "Holly" and "Merry Christmas" stamps are both from PSX.

   

And the final piece in this batch of four uses harlequin paper, another kitty circle, and a bundle of words from one of the pages of sentiments, again colored with Prismacolors.

A long-ish post with lots to see, but what fun I had!!  ...and am having still!  Have a great day, Everyone!  And good luck in the draw for the CD!  You'll love the prize!!!

Swap With Barbara Hurst, And An Up-coming Challenge

 

Barbara Hurst and I met last week to exchange ATCs for our monthly swap.  We had a great chat and a wonderful lunch, and I had to show you the gorgeous "Scorpio" collage that Barbara made for me!  Isn't she gorgeous?  This is one of my favorite, EVER!!  Thank you, Barbara!!   The ATC I made for Barbara is the collage on the left. 

NEXT THURSDAY, ON THIS THURSDAY, IT'S ALL ABOUT...

...A great gift you can win from our sponsor, Pink Petticoat!!  Join us next Thursday, October 23rd, for a chance to win this fabulous CD titled "Tis The Season", full of wonderful patterned papers, solids, accessory papers, images, sentiments, and more!  Susie already has examples of what she's made with a few of the things in the CD, and you can see those cards right now on her blog HERE.  I'll have some examples up for you to look at by tomorrow, so check back for more ideas from this wonderful collection that you can own, too!  All you have to do to win is join us next Thursday, at This Thursday, and play along!  In addition, there will be a free download for everyone who participates, and of course, the chance to win this fabulous prize!!! 

Have a great day, Everyone!

Art From Your Heart

   

This Thursday It's All About...Art From Your Heart!  The design team had some wonderful things to play with in creating this week's examples, courtesy of our sponsor, 3-D Jean! 

The top piece is the inside front of my funky-chunky art journal.  The background is artist paper from Stampington, and the stamp is Lost Coast Design's "Maiden Shrine", from 3-D Jean.  The image is an inkjet print from Dover.  I printed the Dior model onto transparency film.  On the back, I carefully whitened the areas that I wanted to appear opaque using liquid paper (sponge applicator).  Then I attached the transparency to the collage with Diamond Glaze.

 

The next 2-1/2 page spread from the same journal uses the corner elements from Navel Jelly's "Architectural Brackets No. 1, and gorgeous blue rhinestones from Kaiser (in the hair of the head on the left), more goodies from 3D Jean! 

This is what you see if you lift the flap on the left.  The flowers on this page and all images including the heads, and the retro cooking artwork, are RAKs from Belinda Schneider.  The backgrounds for all of these pieces were painted during Kelly Kilmer's funky-chunky book workshop (see more in my post about the workshop by clicking HERE).  The altered label is from 7Gypsies.

The next 2-page spread uses more of the architectural brackets from Navel Jelly and one of the pillars from Lost Coast's Maiden Shrine, stamped with VersaFine (it's the second stamping which gives the gray color).

 

My plan for the pages in this book, which were intentionally bundled randomly into signatures so that everywhere you look there are different colors, shapes and sizes, is to make sure that no matter how the pages are turned, what shows underneath, in front of and behind, will harmonize. I absolutely didn't want them to "go-together", or "match" (how boring!), but intend for them to create additional interest by making the other pages, when seen, almost as if they were part of the collage.  Just another quirky-but-fun game I play with myself to keep it amusing!   The torn piece of bank check on the left is from One Good Bumblebee's mini pile of paper, and the crash test dummy image was taken from an old children's encyclopedia.   The shiny metal heart is a dimensional sticker from Paperchase, and "happily ever after" is rub-on from 7Gypsies.

I had to give you a better look at this guy, since he is actually a self-portrait!  I was feeling a little sorry for myself the day he was collaged (or should I call it a "she"...).  Actually, I was whining a lot...not very attractive, but I really felt as if I were the family's crash test dummy.  You know how it goes.  The sense that your family views you as somewhere between "invincible", and "OK to destruct".  So I gave it a heart, and added the words "happily ever after" to remind myself that in truth, I'm am loved, and rarely taken for granted, and "this too, shall pass".  Very cathartic!  I felt much better after I made this...even better still after I showed it to my DH and kids, and they got it! 

So now I'm off to live my "happily ever after"!  Have a great day, Everyone!           

   

The Spooky Season Is Here...

This Thursday It's All About...The Spooky Season!  And the design team got to have some fun playing with a fabulous set of Halloween stamps from Artistic Outpost for this challenge!

The Canvas:

Stamps in the piece at top include the adorable vintage witch with her black cat and broomstick, the iron fence, the trees, and the "Halloween" text.  I used the back side of a 5" X 4" stretched artist canvas by Fredrix, removed the center portion, and wrapped the frame around with black ledger paper, which was antiqued a bit with walnut distress ink.  Next, I affixed my own background, painted in acrylics, with the tree stamped twice, side by side, in black VersaFine.   Then I glued the larger pumpkin and leaves onto this backdrop, and stapled it to the back (formerly the front) side of the canvas frame.   I stamped the iron fence onto acetate with black Staz-On, cut it to size, and also cut around the top points of the fence, then stapled it at the inside-front of the shadow-box area to create dimension.  The little witch was stamped with black VersaFine and colored with Prang Professional and Prismacolor pencils, blended with Sansodor on tortillons, then she was glued to the front of the box, along with the small pumpkin cut-out.  The "Halloween" was stamped onto beige cardstock with walnut distress ink, then outlined and dotted with orange and black micron pens, and further distressed with touches of walnut ink before it was glued to the top of the box.   Last, I used black carpet tacks to attach ribbon to the sides of the box for hanging.

The Tea-Mailer:

The pumpkin on the front of my tea-mailer was stamped with spiced marmalade distress ink onto beige cardstock, then mounted onto patterned paper before it was glued to the black, folded card.  The swirls and dots were hand-drawn with orange and black micron pens, and the "pumpkin spice" is a strip from a pumpkin flavored Hershey's kiss. 

The inside of the tea-mailer was made by gluing a strip of ribbon across the center for the tie, then adding squares of beige cardstock right and left.  "Hello Punkin" , and all of the pumpkins themselves, were stamped with spiced marmalade distress ink, then mounted onto more black and beige cardstock.  The large pumpkin on the right is affixed to a beige cardstock which was folded into a pocket with the opening at the right side.  I slipped an individually wrapped bag of spiced Chai tea into the sleeve, folded the card, and tied the bow.  A perfect little gift for someone at Halloween!

Come play along with us at This Thursday, and have a great day, Everyone!

So Cute!

This Thursday It's All About "waving flags", and our sponsor, Dinky Dots Crafts, has given each of us a different one of their very cute stamps to play with!   You've got to admit, this is a darling stamp!  But "cute" is difficult for me.  I appreciate cute, and I love "adorable", but it's just not representative of what I do.  So this was challenging for me, but with very unexpected results:  I LOVED playing with this stamp!  I LOVED coloring-in the images, and finding the right embellishments and colors to go with!  I've learned that I can "do" cute, and I enjoyed playing!  But it's still not "me".....unless maybe there's a hidden side of myself that is trying to unveil itself.....? LOL!   At any rate, this was fun, and a very pleasant interlude that almost seemed like a crafting vacation.  Perhaps "cute" will become my new stress buster.

The pennant was made using patterned paper, rick rack, some flowers from Close to My Heart, and chip board pieces covered in a mix of yummy Art Institute glitters.  The heart on the left and the stamped image were both adhered with dimensional tape.  Everything else was applied flat.  "The Kiss" image was stamped with VersaFine and colored with Prismacolors and Sansodor. 

For the tag, the flag was printed onto matte photo paper, then cut to size and shape, and mounted onto stiff card, with some ribbons threaded through at top.  Dinky Dot's "The Kiss" was once again stamped with VersaFine, and this time, colored with Tsukineko inks.   I have been wanting to try the Ecoline inks that I have heard so much about (see Godelieve's blog for more about them), but they are either not available in the U.S., or are very difficult to find.  It finally occurred to me that my Tsukineko inks, which I purchased long ago for fabric painting, would probably be much the same.  This is my first time using them to color a stamped image, and I love the results!  Very fun and relaxing, and the colors are vibrant!  They can be mixed and thinned with water, so the range is limitless.  And when dry, they are permanent!  By mistake, I mixed the light blue in a watercolor pan that had residual peralescent watercolor (Ganzai) paint in it, and it mixed in with the powder blue and gave it a shimmer!  Good to know that this works, since a powder like Pearl-Ex would probably just have sunk to the bottom and not shimmered up through the paint. 

Now that I have my first "cute" stamp, I'm really thinking of adding more!  It may be a departure from my personal style, but it was so much fun!

Have a great day, Everyone, and Happy October!! 

   

A Round Tuit. . .

This Thursday It's All About..."A Round Tuit", which can be interpreted as something you plan to get around to doing, or literally, as a small bowl.  Or, if you Google "round tuit", you come up with lots of other choices, including an ancient Egyptian coin.  The OED defines "tuit" as the obsolete form of "tewhit", which upon searching, I found is a bird!  So without further confusion, I decided to do a couple of things that I've been meaning to get around to, one is crochet, and the other is making tags.

For some inexplicable reason, I get an overwhelming urge to crochet (and hand-stitch, too)  in the late summer, early fall.  Don't ask me why.  It's a complete puzzle to me why this should happen at this time of year, but it's the truth, and it's the same every year.  I just chalk it up to some mutation of a seasonal affective disorder, and go with the flow.  Or maybe it has something to do with nesting, and the maternal urge to feather the nest with warmth in the advent of the cold, winter months to come.  Either way, I give in to it, and today I've stiffly crocheted a small bowl out of jute, decorating it with some wonderful ribbon from 7Gypsies, and some tigers-eye beads (they are spectacular, real round gemstones found at an upscale local bead emporium) strung on copper wire and coiled through every-other stitch at the top of the bowl. 

The tag I finally "got around to" making, uses lots more yummy 7Gypsies items from the Craft Emporium, which include the patterned papers on the large tag and three smaller tags, the reinforcement sticker at the top of the large tag, the metal embellishments, the "general instructions" tag, and all rub-ons.  It would have been quicker just to tell you what wasn't from 7Gypsies:  The chains, the lace trim and the Russian seal stamp (from StampFrancisco).

I have been told by my photographer friend, Mark (you really need to click on his name and take a look at his amazing work, and list of clients!), who is very generous in his friendship and with tutoring me in all things camera related, that I really should use a tripod to avoid blurry pics like the bowl at the top.  Too bad you can't see the detail in the ribbon, which is the dictionary definition for "evidence", and get a better look at the copper wire and the lovely beads.  I do have a tripod (or 3...)....just too impatient to hook up the camera, pose it, and use it....oh well, another one of my weaknesses, exposed!

These were lots of fun to make!!  Now I'm off to rush through errands (necessary evils of life that take me away from my beloved artwork) so I can get back and begin my autumn relationship with fabrics and fibers...and more journal pages, too--of course!

Have a great day, Everyone!

Masquerade. . .

This Thursday It's All About...Masquerade!  And to begin with, I made another 8 X 10 art journal page.  This one uses an old black and white magazine image, tarted up a bit with a specially cut skirt, some new legs and feet, and a mask and beaded necklace, both of which are dimensional stickers from Jolee's boutique.  The rest is acrylic paint, Sakura gel pen and black Micron pen on patterned paper.  The words in my hand-scrawled, funky calligraphy are lyrics from the song "Masquerade", taken from a book of piano music from Phantom of the Opera (scroll down for a youtube video of the song).

My second piece is an altered tag.  This actually began as a price tag on something I bought at a sale last year.  I covered it in layers of acrylic paint in yellows and golds, and stamped on a few of Catherine Moore's character constructions stamps in black Versafine.  These particular stamps are from the "Queen of Tarts" collection.  The stamped images were colored with thinned layers of acrylic paint in shades of pink and white.  The fringe at the top is a combination of pink eyelash ribbon, fuzzy pink chenille, and some glimmery gold rick rack, which was part of Belinda's RAK.

Phantom of the Opera is one of my daughter's favorite movies.  The original black and white version was one of my mother's favorites, and I saw an old clip of it on TV when I was a child.  I did get to see a very good off-Broadway production of Phantom many years ago, and I loved that, too.  But I must admit that I have yet to see the newest movie version that my daughter loves so much.  Having just found this youtube video however, I realize that I have been missing something truly spectacular, and tonight--if I can get everyone to agree--this is what we'll be watching on DVD!   The music from this production has filled our house for the last year, as Amy regularly plays selections from the musical on the piano, and "Masquerade" is one of her favorites.  Between the clip from the movie and the Queen of Tart stamps, I'm definitely in the mood for a masqued ball!

Have a great day, Everyone! 

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