calendar art - 3rd post today

Hi friends.  More calendar art for you to enjoy. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

calendar art - 2nd post today

Hi friends.  Here are more pictures from my calendar art. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

calender art

Hi friends.  I hope you're not getting tired of my calendar art.  Rather than overload this post with pictures, I'm going to break it into several smaller posts. 

At this point, I was getting rather frustrated having to put gesso on each date, wait for it to dry, then add my image, color and wait for it to dry.  Along with that frustration was the fact that because the gesso is rough, many of the stamps didn't give a nice neat, clear image to work with.  In light of that, I decided to change the way I'm doing the entire project. 

I am now cutting cardstock into rectangles that fit the date 'squares', working all the art on the cardstock, and then gluing the cardstock to the calendar.  I'm much happier with this system.  So here are the first ones that I did this way. 

 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

more

Hi friends.  I just had to share a couple more sonobe balls.  I'm not really calling these ornaments, because they are just too big for the tree. 

When I first started making these, I was curious as to how well it would work using brown paper bags, not the flimsy flat ones, but the heavy ones from the grocery store. 

I made two different sizes, two with 4" squares and one with 6" squares.  It is definitely easier to put together the larger sizes, but I did find out that because this paper isn't as smooth, that was actually an obstacle when putting the pieces together.  I think it would have been close to impossible to use this paper on a smaller ball. 

The gold one is painted with gold Lumiere paint.  And for the one in the front in this next picture, I stamped each square with a burlap background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms in coffee archival ink.  After it was all put together, I coated it with matte Mod Podge.  I love how that one turned out. 

And just for comparison, here is the biggest one along side one of the ornaments.  I think I'm going to paint the large one, but I haven't decided on a color yet. 

You can really see the detail of how the pieces are tucked into each other. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

fan club challenges part 6

Hi friends.  I hope you're not getting tired of these cards that I made for dare to get dirty on SCS.  I still have many to show you. 

The Fluffles stamps from Stampendous always make fun cards.  I added a tree branch with a Tim Holtz/Sizzix die. 

A card with a lot of texture.  The leaf is die cut from acetate and colored on the back with alcohol inks. 

I bought this baby bottle die a number of years ago.  I finally decided to use it.  The words and dots are from a sheet of rub-ons. 

Thanks so much for stopping by. 

dare to get dirty - page 13

Here are the last of the SCS fan club challenge cards.  I hope you've enjoyed the eye candy. 

Thanks so much for taking time to visit.

sepia

Hi friends.  I hope you are having a great weekend.  Today I spent way too much time (overthinking) making a card for the inspiration challenge and the technique lovers challenge on SCS, but I'm finally finished.  For my inspiration, I used this gorgeous sealing wax stamp, which I think is probably ivory, but I can't read Chinese! 

I decided to use sepia technique, which is super simple.  I used ivory card stock and vintage photo distress ink for all the layers.  I stamped a PSX delphiniums stamp on a mini baroque die cut (Tim Holtz/Sizzix), and then used my water brush to spread the ink.  I also pulled some ink from the ink pad with the brush to make some areas darker. 

I used two background stamps, dotted diamonds (Rubbernecker) and pretty pattern paper (Cornish Heritage Farms).  Two other dies were used as well - baroque (Tim Holtz/Sizzix) and lacy ovals (Spellbinders). 

All of the layers were sponged with vintage photo and the edged darkened even more using a sponge dauber.  The front layer is raised on dimensional foam tape. 

I'm really happy with how this turned out.  Of course, I'd love to have that sealing wax stamp, too. 

Thanks for stopping by.

five challenges in one

Hello friends.  Tonight I checked out the inspiration challenge on SCS, and as I looked at the sample inspiration pictures, I realized that I could combine this challenge with some of the others for this week.  The inspiration sample that I chose to work with is a girl in a denim dress.  The other challenges are mix-ability (rip it, paste it, ink it), free for all (geometrically speaking), ways to use it (girls rule), and technique lovers (transform a map). 

I started with a white card base.  I had a photo copy of an old map, so I tore it into strips, inked the edges with vintage photo ink and glued the strips to my card base.  Then I inked over the whole thing with faded jeans ink. 

I traced around the insert from a used tape roll on some denim from an old pair of jeans and then cut out the circles.  I could have used a die and my cuttlebug, but was too lazy to pull them out. 

I chose a lady stamp from Stampendous.  I stamped her on white card stock with jet black archival ink, traced around a small container, and cut that out.  Then I sponged faded jeans all around the circle, just leaving her face uninked. 

The sentiment is from Cornish Heritage Farms.   Both the lady and sentiment circles are popped up on dimensional tape. 

I gave the card a bit of a frame by adding the fancy photo corner punches. 

Thanks for checking in. 

20 hearts - #19

Well, here I am again with another heart for the February challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  I decided to make a one that is faux wood.  This is such an easy technique.  Just swipe several colors of brown ink down your paper, starting with the lightest color, until you have the look you desire.  I used creamy caramel, more mustard, really rust, and chocolate chip inks.  Then use a black marker and straightedge to make lines for boards.  Add some 'nails' and you're done.  You can also change up the colors to grayish blues/greens for very weathered wood. 

After making the faux wood, I cut out my heart and attached it to a cereal box chipboard heart. I hand wrote the sentiment on the heart.  I also punched out the photo corners from the faux wood. 

The background is victorian leaves background from Cornish Heritage Farms, inked with peeled paint distress ink, misted with water, and stamped on the card base.

After gluing all the pieces together, I decided that it needed a small accent, so I stamped the leaves from because I care (SU) with always artichoke on certainly celery card stock, and then punched them out using a Martha Stewart leaf punch.  I added some sponged artichoke ink along the leaf edges and glued them on the card. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit today. 

20 hearts - #15, #16, #17

Hello friends.  Here I am with some more hearts for the February monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art. I have three more done.  I might just get all 20 made.  Actually, I have one more finished, but can't show you that one yet.  I'm using it for my Friday Feature on the OWSE blog. 

The card base for all the hearts is cereal box, coated with gesso and these three are painted with light buttermilk acrylic paint. 

My first one today has a background stamped with a large stitch background stamp from Cornish Heritage Farms.  I used tumbled glass to ink the stamp, then misted it with water and stamped.  I used a paper tower to remove the excess water. 

The cereal box chipboard heart is covered with fabric.  Then I die cut the mini sewing room dress form and spool.  I added some crochet cotton to the spool to make it look like thread. 

The sentiment is computer generated.  I think I have a stamp that says that, but didn't want to spend time looking for it. 

For my next heart, I colored the background stamp, leaf & floral (Hero Arts), with distress markers, misted with water and stamped.  I used a paper towel to blot away the excess water, leaving a nice soft background. 

The heart is a piece I found in my scraps that was colored with wrinkle free distress technique.  I thought I would get done faster if I pulled some things from the scrap stash.  I stamped one of Tim Holtz' stamps in jet black archival ink on the heart.  Then I sponged a little vintage photo distress ink on the edges. 

I colored the butterfly with Copic markers, cut it out, and popped up the wings.  I added the antennae with a Pitt pen. 

The sentiment is computer generated, cut apart and glued down. 

My third background (dots & flowers from Hero Arts) is colored the same way as the second, but using different colors. 

The heart and birds were in my stash, making it easy to put this one together.  The heart is embossed with tiny mosaic texture embossing folder and sponged with vintage photo distress ink.  There are some birds stamped on it in white ink, but they don't show up very well. 

The birds are die cut with a Sizzix die.  The one in front is grungeboard, painted with pearlescent blue Lumiere, and the one behind is certainly celery card stock. 

I printed the sentiment on my computer, sponged the edges with vintage photo distress ink and glued it on. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit today. 

sending smiles

Happy Saturday.  I made a card today for two challenges.  OWSE Yahoo group has a couple of challenges each month, and one of the February challenges is a color challenge - blue, orange, and straw yellow.  The inspiration challenge on SCS was also my inspiration.  I chose this layered flower pin as a basis for my card design. 

My background is white, stamped with scratchy straw (Cornish Heritage Farms) in more mustard ink.  I also sponged the mustard ink over the background to soften the color from a bright white.  The fancy photo corners are punched from mustard card stock. 

The flower layers are from Heartfelt Creations, stamped with jet black stazon on white card stock and sponged with ballet blue and only orange ink. 

I die cut elegant flourishes (Tim Holtz/Sizzix) from ballet blue card stock. 

The sentiment is from Hero Arts.  I finished off the flower with an orange flower brad. 

20 hearts - #3, 4 & 5

Hello my friends.  I made some more heart cards for the February monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  It's quite a challenge to come up with 20 hearts that are all different. 

The first one today is a stenciled heart.  First I painted a very pale blue on the background.  I cut the stencil from paper and used a dot stencil over that, to get a dotted heart.  The dots are paint and the heart is distress ink.  Then I used the cut out heart as a mask, so I could stamp the filigree background from SU. 

I used two photo corner punches for the corners and added some white gel pen highlights. 

The sentiment was computer generated. 

My next card has a washi tape heart.  The music strip is from Tim Holtz and the others are hand made with tissue paper, scor-tape, distress stains and stamps.  I just put the strips on white card stock and then ran it through my cuttlbug with a scallop heart die (Spellbinders). 

Some stamped, torn card stock and a computer generated sentiment complete this card. 

My third card has a hand crocheted heart.  The background was painted red and then a Gina K lace border was stamped with white pigment ink.  Even with a heat gun, the white ink took forever to dry.  The heart is not permanently attached to the card.  It's just tied on with ribbon, so the recipient can remove it and use it for something else.  The sentiment is computer generated and punched wih a word window punch and tied to the ribbon. 

Thank you so much for stopping by today.                                                                                                           

21 cards - #22

Hello my friends.  It's another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Even though my title says card #22, this is actually a makeover of card #10.  I really didn't like that one, so I covered it completely with gesso and started over. 

My daughter wanted to draw words again from my inspiration jar, so the words are: happy, quilt, and background stamps.  I think she just wants to see if I'm up to the challenge. 

I went for my fabric and found some 2 inch squares, which worked perfectly.  I chose blue and brown and attached them to the card with matte Mod Podge.

I cut the house free hand and used a burlap background (Cornish Heritage Farms) with salty ocean distress ink, and a crackle background (Judikins) with jet black archival ink for the roof.  Then I sponged vintage photo distress ink over the roof and along the edges of both pieces.  The windows and door were cut from navy card stock.

I printed the sentiment on my computer, cut the words apart and edged the pieces with vintage photo.

I used a white gel pen and black Sharpie marker to add quilting stitches on the house and fabric squares.

Since quilts make me happy, I used all three words, and I really love this card.

Thank you so much for spending time here with me today.  Have a great weekend.

21 cards - #20

Hello again.  Here's another card for the monthly challenge at Motley Soul Mixed-Media Art.  Please check this post to see how I made the base for my cards.


I used my Inspiration Jar again -- my three words are: pink, tea, and seeds.  I used the first two. 

I started by painting the background cream and then stamping a Cornish Heritage Farms background stamp in tea dye ink.  It's not very dark, so I highlighted some of the lines with a brown marker. 

I die cut a piece of white card stock with my Tim Holtz baroque die.  Now if you've been reading my blog for awhile, you know that pink is not one of my favorite colors.  In fact, it's one I tend to avoid.  But, I put some of that type of word in my jar, because it makes me go beyond my comfort zone.  So I pulled out Tea Shoppe from SU, and stamped the tea cup on the die cut with victorian velvet distress ink, which is a nice soft rose color.  The die cut was too wide for my card, so I trimmed off the sides to make it fit.  Then I sponged victorian velvet and vintage photo distress inks along the edges.  I added the tiny circles with a brown marker.  The idea was for it to resemble lace, but I don't really think it does. 

The sentiment is computer generated and was also edged with the same two inks. 

All in all, this was a pretty easy card. 

Thank you so much for stopping by for a visit. 

Grungy Monday 39

Hello, my friends.  Well, it seems that I've missed quite a few of these challenges.  More often than not, life gets in the way and the week is over before you know it, and other times, I either don't have the products required or I can't get my mind around an idea.  This week I didn't wait until the last day to figure something out.  This is card made for Grungy Monday 39, a weekly challenge all about the products and techniques of Tim Holtz, that can be found on Linda Ledbetter's blog, Studio L3.  This week's challenge technique can be found here. 

I decided to make mine monochromatic and stick with blue, since that's my favorite color and makes me happy.  This also fits the Free for All challenge on SCS today. 

I recently found a good deal on a Spellbinders die called Nested Tea Cups and immediately saw tulips and skirts, so I used the largest die to cut a skirt from the plaid I'd made. 

I die cut the dress form from black, white and pacific point card stock.  On the white part I stamped SU's linen background stamp in tea dye distress ink and on the pacific point piece, I stamped one of Tim's grungy dots stamps in faded jeans.  I punched some partial circles around the neckline and sleeve area and added some white gel pen accents.  Around the waist, I knotted some ribbon. 

The background stamp is from Cornish Heritage Farms and the buttons are from SU's button, button.  I threaded black crochet cotton through the holes in the buttons and popped everything up. 

I hand wrote the sentiment and added some faux stitching with black marker.  Then I coated the buttons with crystal effects. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you have time to create this weekend. 

believe in magic

Hello, my friends.  It's a beautiful, sunny, but cold day today.  A good day to stay indoors and create.

The end of the month is fast approaching and that means a deadline for several challenges.  So this morning I worked on another art journal page for a challenge at OWSE Yahoo group.

We were given a list of ten words and had to use three.  I chose 'believe', 'magic', and 'young'.  I decided to write out the words in fancy, doodle letters.  After I had finished the words, I spritzed them with Adirondack color wash and cut around each word.  Since the colors are pretty bold, I chose to make my background much lighter.  I used a Crafter's Workshop stencil called paradise and sponged distress inks on randomly.  Then to tone down the bright white areas, I lightly sponged tea dye distress ink all over and around the edges.

After gluing down all the words, I knew there had to be at least one butterfly.  (Seems to be a theme of mine)  As I was playing around with color and placement, I thought it would be cool use the concept of changing from black & white to full color, so I decided to leave some butterflies all white and then have some gradually becoming colored - like magic!  haha - I love it!  The large butterflies are from SU Flores suaves, and the small ones are from CHF Vintage Butterflies.  I used tuxedo black memento ink and copic markers.

I glued all the butterflies down and then added antennae and some light butterfly trails, as well as a bit of doodling along the edges.   I like how it turned out and it didn't take me days and days to create.

Thanks so much for stopping by.  I hope you're having a great weekend.

happy valentine's day

Well, almost.  Hi my friends.  I'm still working on the challenges for the first half of February at OWSE yahoo group.  This one is for a valentine using a vintage image.  When I saw the technique challenge on SCS for tomorrow, I decided to combine the challenges.  I'm also entering this in the February challenge for Inspiration Journal, which is to put a heart on it.

The background is made with wrinkle free distress technique using victorian velvet and tea dye distress inks.  I also crumbled the card stock and added some tea dye ink to highlight the wrinkles.  The edges are distressed and sponged with tea dye ink. 

The digital image is die cut using spellbinders classic ovals and the layer of designer paper behind it using big scallop ovals.

The lace edging is hand crocheted.  All the little hearts are punched from the same paper that is behind the image. 

Thanks so much for stopping by.

it's been awhile

Hi my friends.  Although I haven't posted any completed projects, it's not because I haven't been playing with my art supplies.  I've been doing bits on journal pages - a little on each page for backgrounds, but nothing completed.  I was reminded this morning that January is almost over!  Can you believe that?  And I have some challenges to do if I want to get in the prize drawings at OWSE yahoo group. 

So today, I decided to concentrate on getting a challenge or two done.  Here is my first one.  The challenge for this card is to use silhouettes.

This is a one layer card and super easy.  I made the background with distress stains - wild honey, spiced marmalade and barn door.  Then everything else is stamped in jet black archival ink.  All the stamps are from Cornish Heritage Farms (nature silhouettes and silhouette blooms I & II).  I also scribbled a little bit at the bottom with a black marker.  And that's it.  Done!  I hope you enjoy.  Thanks for visiting. 

Tim tag #10

Hi my friends.  I think I might just get them all done.  I'm one more tag closer to getting finished.  This is my second one today, but by the time I finish typing my post, it will probably be a new date, since it's almost midnight. 

Here's the link to Tim's tag #10.  And here is my version. 

More improvising was required on this tag.  I had actually started the first step a couple of days ago - packing tape transfer - but my first one (actually two) have disappeared.  I think static is probably the reason.  They grabbed onto something and are hiding.  But that's OK.  I actually like this one way better.  I pulled out some old Christmas cards and found a picture that was small enough to use. 

Then came time to do some improvising.  Although I'm sure all the paper was gone from the tape, the metal foil tape didn't show through at all, so it made no sense to even use it, so I didn't.  I also don't have any facets, so instead, I used a piece of plastic packaging on the front of the picture and on the back, I built up a few layers of card stock to give it some stability.  I used my cropadile to punch holes in it for the brads. 

My music background stamp is from Judikins and the greenery is from Cornish Heritage Farms.  After I stamped the green, I heat set it before I put the embossing powder one -- oops!  So I pulled out my versamarker and went over all the stems and leaves and then embossed it.  You can't even tell the difference. 

No banner die here, so I cut that freehand, and added some distress ink to make it blend with the rest of the tag.  I stamped the sentiment and cut it apart, because it was in three lines.  It was too long to fit the banner, so I just left out the word 'still'. 

Then I added some hand cut holly leaves and some punched berries, to which I have added some glossy accents.

I'm so glad you stopped by to visit.  I'm not sure I'll be posting again before Christmas, so I hope you have a wonderful time with your dearest friends and family.  We have two get togethers this weekend, one with my husband's family and one with mine.  Tomorrow I need to do some food preparation. 

and DONE!

Hi my friends.  I can't believe I haven't posted since Wednesday.  I guess I got so busy making the cards for the fan club fun on SCS, time just whooooshed by.  I'd be so tired when I finished for the night, that I had a hard time keeping awake long enough to upload my cards on SCS, nodding off in front of the computer and finding something like this -> dddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddddd on my screen.  And now here it is after midnight early Sunday morning.  So here are a few more cards I made in the last few days.  There were 37 challenges total and I combined a number of them in different cards, but still made 22 I think.  I won't put them all in one post, but will spread them out over the next few days. 

But first, I'll show you the one I made for the inspiration challenge today, which was inspired by these utterly scrumptious doilies. 

I used a doily die (French pastry by Cheery Lynn Designs) and cut three, one white, one tangerine, and one pink passion.  The colored ones I cut in half and used on the outer edges of the card.  The white one I stamped with Hero Arts lace background, which I colored select portions of with markers.  I used several punches and dies to layer, with a crochet flower and button on the top.

And then here are some of the Dare to Get Dirty challenge cards. 

Thanks so much for stopping by today.