Spray Paint fun

This week has been tough, our car is in the shop and we have been having scheduling problems, which hasn't left a lot of time for my art. But I did this one little page spread. I used a stencil mask by Hedi Swap and some design master's spray. It's a type of spray paint that is made to spray dried flowers. It has a nice texture when sprayed and doesn't have the smell. I used a cranberry and navy to get the colors. All in all I think it turned out quiet nice.

Tissue Paper clean-up

I recently started working on a silpat (it is a silicone based flexible cooking sheet that is supposed to keep cookies from sticking to the pan) when I was doing stamping. Mostly because I took this amazing class with Maryjo Mcgraw and she taught us how to pick up stamp ink onto a brayer from a silicone or glass surface. Anyway, when I am done stamping there is always a bit of a mess--leftover ink on the silpat, leftover ink on the brayer and stamps. So this afternoon when I went to clean up I saw this old yellow piece of tissue paper I had out and had the idea of using it to clean up with. I wiped up the ink with it like it was a paper towel, and then cleaned my stamp by laying it down and brayering it repeatedly. Then I cleaned my inking brayer off by rolling it across the paper. I was so pleased with the results that once it was dry I stamped the little bird onto the paper repeatedly and a new background was born!

Where Is Your Heart?

I am a fan of the band My Chemical Romance--and got inspired this week by their song "Famous Last Words" in which Gerard Way asks "Where's your heart?" So I created this spread in my book. I liked the idea of a diagram of a heart rather than something soft and romantic. I took small metal arrows (from Artchix Studios) and attached them to the back of the heart.



I then stamped the text onto blue cardstock the length of the book and punched holes and set some eyelets so that they could be tied to the sides. I stamped the backs of the cards so that they wouldn't look too plain when closed and embossed them using UTEE.

The background is acrylics that I used a card scraping technique on to give it that distressed look.

Wednesday Stamper

The theme for this week's Wednesday Stamper is Paris. When I think of Paris, I think of the Parisian women, fashionable, mysterious and aloof. So, I created this little tag to try to emulate that feeling. The background is a page from a French book, the coloring is alcohol inks onto a transparency. I stamped the woman on top using stazon ink, and then rubbed the flowers on. (I believe they are Basic Grey's Holy Cow line, but I'm not positive because I lost the envelope they came in.) And then wrote "La Belle Femme" (The beautiful Lady) with a Sharpie. I finished it off by tying some fibers at the top.

A little D.H. Lawrence

So the challenge for this week's artwords is poetry and I chose a poem by D.H. Lawrence. The background page I had made on a whim--I had a page that I didn't like the look of, so I used my square punch and punched it into a bunch of little squares and then thought they would look good on a gold background so that's what I did. Once I was done with it I had no idea what I wanted to put on it. I liked the look so much I didn't want to disrupt the overall feel And then I saw the challenge for this week and thought it would be fun to do it on transparencies. I used a bird stamp from invoke arts. I stamped it on each side of the transparency so that it would face both left and right. The rest is hand drawn with a sharpie.
The poem reads "I never saw a wild thing sorry for itself. A small bird will drop frozen dead from a bough, without ever feeling sorry for itself."

Some peeled paint ATCs

I made these two little ATCs using a peeled paint UTEE resist technique from Bernie Berlin's book "Artist Trading Card Workshop." I painted a layer of acrylic let it dry, stamped and embossed the UTEE, and then coated it with a contrasting color. When it was dry I took my craft iron and a piece of scrap paper and ironed the surface. The heat heats up the UTEE and lifts the paint off creating a peeling resist.
Both of the stamped images were done onto transparency sheets. The pink faerie didn't show up as well on the scan--I think because I used a metallic ink and my scanner doesn't pick up metallic very well. For the purple image I layered it onto a vintage piece of french text that had been painted with twinkling h2os. For the little girl, I layered her onto brown cardstock that had been stamped with text.
The girl is a stamp from lost-cost designs. The winged woman is from paper-artsy.

Altered Cabinet Card

I made this altered cabinet card as a gift for a friend of mine who just finished her doctoral exams. A long and grueling process that took a total 11 years of schooling to happen. I masked off the image and then layed down a few washes of acrylics. Once they were dry I stamped a bunch of alphabet stamps for the background. I then glued down some scraps for text and then put a few more acrylic glazes on it. I finished up by overstamping with some twinkling h2os and a text stamp with brown ink. Unfortunately, my scan doesn't really do the twinkling stamps justice. I removed the mask, painted the halo, and gave her a crown. The stars were made out of metal repair tape that I stained with alcohol inks to give it that bright pink and yellow color, and then punched out the shapes using a hand punch.
This is actually going in a shadow box assemblage. I will try to take a picture of the finished product and post it when I'm done.

Bouquets of Color

I cleaned my work space up last night and reorganized and was struck by how pretty all the colors look. It reminded me of spring, which feels a long way off still. But until then, I have bouquets of pencils and glitter pens to make up for the lack of flowers.

Playing with texture

One of the things that I really love about keeping an art journal is that it's a space where I feel free to just play around with stuff. Most of the time I have no plan whatsoever! I've stumbled upon some of my favorite techniques using this process. This spread was created using my haphazard method. I knew I wanted to use old phone book pages, and I wanted a space for my golden girl, and I wanted to test the twinkling h2o's to see if they would stamp onto acrylics. And this is what I wound up with. I love working with phone book pages because of their thin texture, and how the text still shows through after paint has been applied. (If you click on the picture for a close up, you can still see the listings for lawnmowers!) After I crinkled the pages up, I glued them down using gel medium and then dry brushed them with acrylic paints. Once they were dry, I stamped on them a Latin text stamp using twinkling h2os. I think that they took to the acrylic really nicely. The golden girl is attached to the page using a pull-out tab (think pop-up book) so that she can be pulled-up for journaling space. Another one of my creative solutions so that I can have space to write.

Wednesday Stamper

The theme for this weeks Wednesday Stamper is butterflies and as soon as I saw it, I knew what I wanted to do. I used some twinkling h2o's to stamp the blue and green portion of the butterfly stamp--which is from Viva Las Vegas Stamps--and then when it was dry over stamped it with the text in brown ink. I then used the same blue twinkling h20's' to stamp the same text over the green card stock. Although it's hard to see from this scan, it's actually mounted onto a cream card.

Alpha-Jumble

One of the things that I have really been struggling with is the size of my current art journal. It's a lot smaller than my old one--and it's forced me to reevaluate how I attach my photos and drawings. In my old journal there was plenty of room for my embellishments and my writing, but in this one I find myself faced with the same problem over and over again--not enough space to write. After two weeks of messing with it, I have to confess, I was ready to abandon this book and head back to half-price to find something a better size. But I must have some hidden anal-retentive streak (shudder) because I found that I hated the discontinuity of starting a new book and leaving the old one unfinished. So I have been trying to adjust how I attach things, so that they are movable and allow for the maximum of journaling, hence the paperclip.
Anyway, long rambling aside, this page was created using a bunch of layered acrylics, some stencils, and some colorbox chalk inks for stamping. The $500 queen was made using the magazine technique I talked about a few days ago. I think my favorite part of this whole spread is the little bit of text at the bottom of her chin that reads "you have stolen my heart."

Wednesday Stamper

The theme for this week's wednesday stamper is shoes. Oddly enough, I don't own a single stamp that has a shoe on it, so i got to thinking and decided to make a giant shoe out of fun foam. I was thinking about the children's rhyme about the woman who lived in a shoe. After cutting out my shoe shape, I heated the fun foam and pressed my alphabet jumble stamp into it. When it was cool, I painted it with acrylic and then dabbed some ink onto the top of it so that the stamping would show up a bit better. The background is an old piece of organ music, that I stamped grass and stars onto. I cut it down to fit in my art journal as a tip in.

Petty Fairy

I just bought the new ATC book, by Bernie Berlin which if you haven't read it, is full of amazing techniques for all sorts of altered art--not just atcs. Anyway, I tried out one of her techniques for this spread in my journal and I think it is my new favorite. What you do is cut out an image from a magazine, lightly gesso it, when the gesso is dry, outline the features you want to highlight in a black permanent pen, and then paint. The face of this fairy is actually from a magazine that I altered using this process. If you click on the photo you can get a better look at her face and hair. Because I love using faces I know that I will use this technique over and over and over! The really funny thing about this, is that I didn't realize until I went to post this pic that somehow in the gluing I left one of the "e"s out of the word fareie. Ooops. Oh well, now my piece has some wabi-sabi.

Nosy!

So I do like to draw--mostly abstract people. Most of the time they start out as doodles while I'm on the phone or killing time and if I like it, I keep it. So here is one I did, that's in my art journal. It's my representation of a nosy person. The background is a red acrylic dry brushed with copper--although I don't think the metallic shows up much in this scan. The words nosy have been coated with UTEE--I am really loving how it looks wet or glass like when heated. :)

Monthly Challenge+ATC

So I belong to a yahoo altered books group and every month there is a challenge to try out new techniques. This month it was to use fun foam. I cut out the shape, heated it with a heat gun and then while it was still hot, I stamped into it with an alphabet stamp. When it was cool I painted it, rubbed some glitter and a little bit of brown ink onto it, to give it some dimension. I really don't know how I'm going to use it in a spread yet--but I'm sure it'll be one of those things that sits on my table and then one day I see the perfect use for it.

This is an atc I made messing around with UTEE. I've never really used it before--but after seeing how many different uses it has, I'm kind of excited to start playing with it. I painted a pink background, stamped and embossed UTEE, and then washed black paint over it. The guy in the middle is from a Lost Cost Design stamp and the text and paper is from an organic chemistry text book.

some photos and a little art

So Indiana got pounded by a snow storm. We were just south enough to get the least of it, only a little over a foot. But just ten miles north of us, is under a snow emergency because of the drifts. This picture doesn't really do the snow justice--when we were out shoveling, there were places that the snow was up to my knees. The whole city of Indianapolis was shut down yesterday.



My husband and I have been in the process of redoing our bedroom in an Indian inspired theme. I wanted to do a painting for our room and with the snow I've had the time to work on it. Our room is in an orange and purple so I tried to do the same for the painting.



And along those lines, my hubby gave me this giant sized brass elephant for valentines day, to put in our bedroom.

Wednesday Stamper

The theme for this weeks Wednesday Stamper is "Valentine" so, of course, I used my husband Eddy as my subject. This card was made using an inkjet transfer onto a piece of scrapbooking paper. It is my husband and I on our wedding day. (I actually remember the moment the photo was taken, our wedding party was milling around waiting for the photographer to get started, and Eddy and I were able to have our first private moment in what felt like forever. Turns out it wasn't so private after all!) I then layered it onto a piece of white card stock and then onto a piece of pink card stock which I stamped with the words "Dream, Believe, and Imagine" repeatedly in pink. The big word love is a stamp by Heidi Swapp--who has a whole line of wonderful word stamps that are very reasonably priced. I put glitter glue in the center of the flowers for the buds and a valentine was born.

More Transfers

I am doing better with inkjet transfers--this one I did onto a piece of scrapbook paper. This is a page from my journal and I attached it to the back of the previous page with ribbon so that it can be flipped up for journaling beneath. The background is just layered acrylic.

More fun with transfers

So I finally think I'm getting the hang of the transfer process. I used the photo from the previous post to create a couple of transfers for my altered journal. The first one I transferred onto a piece of scrapbook paper that says "Let it Snow". You can see that I let it set a little too long because the paper tore a little bit.

The second one I transferred a page from an old book onto the picture. I love the look of layered text with images.
The background of the pages is just simple acrylics, dry brushed to give it some texture.

Let it snow!

It started snowing here about 10 this morning and hasn't stopped. Here is a picture of our street--although it doesn't really do all the snow justice. I had to cancel my evening classes because the roads are a mess. I went out after my morning teaching to buy some golden matte medium, and it was so slick. So it's going to be me bundled up with my art and a nice hot cup of coffee. I hope were ever you are, you're safe and warm. :)

Wednesday Stamper

So the theme for this weeks Wednesday Stamper is pink, which happens to be one of my favorite colors. I used a foam stamp that I got at the dollar section at Michaels. The birds I stamped on a transparency. It's actually one stamp, that I put on each side of the transparency, using Stazon ink. The bird stamp is from Invoke Arts.

InkJet Transfers

So this weekend I've been playing with ink jet transfers onto cloth and I finally got one to work. Although, I think I wound up doing the wrong technique. I was trying to print onto matte photo paper, and then transfer using gel medium, but the paper stuck and i had to peel it off, a bit like doing a toner get medium transfer. But at least I got it to work. I am going to keep messing and see if i can get something better to work, but in the meantime here is a pic of what I've got. :)
My husband says that he can see a little person standing between the two pillars. Personally, I don't see it, but he insisted that it put this in the post to see if anyone else can see the little person. So if you see it, let me know, it would make him very happy.

Bad Bird

So I absolutely love birds. They are an obsession of mine and it seems that I'm always using them in my work. Here is a spread from my art journal. The background I made using acrylic paints and a monoprinting technique. When it was dry I washed it with a blue metalic paint.
In other news, I'm going to be messing with the template of my blog over the next week or so--so please be patient with my while I make my changes. :)

Wednesday Stamper

Here is my creation for this weeks Wednesday Stamper the theme of which is Mona Lisa. I altered a playing card using acrylic paints and some water color crayons.

Whew!

It's been forever since I've posted. Mostly, due to the holidays. I made several of my gifts, so I couldn't post pics of them, and then we were cat sitting for several weeks for my mother while she was in India, and that cat was into everything! So, no artwork for me. But I'm back (hopefully) in the swing of things. Here are a few images of things I've done over the last couple of weeks. The first is a pop-up that I did with the Indiana Altered Books group. (If your in the Indianapolis area and would like to come check us out please take a look at our blog and send us an email. The link is in my links section. We meet every month to share our art and try new techniques.)


The second image is from a spread I did messing around with stitching on paper. I was inspired by a Hem song. The lyrics are on the page as well. They read, "The bed is too small for my tired head/Bring me a hill soft with tress/Tuck a cloud under my chin/Lord blow the moon out please."



And las but not lest--is my mother's cat. Becuase while she was into everything, she was adorable. Here is a picture of here taking a nice refreashing drink.

Wednesday Stamper

So I am very late posting this--things have been so hectic I haven't had time to sit down and post for a while. I made this tag as part of the Wednesday Stamper the theme of which is tags. I call this "Our lady of the never-ending car trip." I used an old car map, attaching it to a plain tag. I embossed a poker chip for the halo, which besides giving her a nice glow, gives the image some lift. I also embossed the stamp at the bottom.

Bleach Stamping

So I've been working with bleach the last couple of days. I'm participating in a bleach atc swap and I have to say it's been a fun experience. I really like the look of the bleached background. I took a small amount of bleach, and put it in a Tupperware container lined with a paper towel. I used the towel like the felt of a stamp pad and then stamped the bleach onto the card stock. I think the stars turned out really nice. The little girl is from Lost Cost Designs, and the Indian girl is from Viva Las Vegas stamps.

Tiny Tuesdays

Here is my creation for Tiny Tuesdays. I used alcohol inks on metal repair tape and then stamped the image from Oxford Impressions onto a transparency sheet. It actually is a little clearer in real life--the scanner didn't really pick up the image well.

Wednesday Stamper

So here is my entry for this weeks wednesday stamper the theme of which is Halloween. I almost didn't get it done in time--I was in a nasty car accident last week and it's just thrown everything off.
I painted an acrylic background, and embossed the french flash card with three layers of powder and then froze it for 15 minutes and cracked it. I then over-stamped the word magic in french, and stamped the swirls along the borders. I especially like the brown background paper becuase it looks like spiderwebs.

Tiny Tuesdays

Here is my creation for this week's Tiny Tuesdays. I made this as part of a Halloween swap. The leaves were made from punching a brown paper bag. The tombstone was a stamp that I embossed using clear embossing powder. The ghosts were buttons that I snapped off the backs of and attached.

Wednesday Stamper

Here is my creation for this weeks Wednesday Stamper the theme of which is crowns. The bird in this picture is a stamp by Invoke Arts and is from the set titled "Build your nest." I stamped it onto card stock and then cut out the head and feet to put in the dress, which is an old paper doll dress that I went over in oil pastels, to give it a more faded look. The background is hand painted acrylic. This page is actually from my journal, which is why the surronding area is empty...There is actually a little green heart in the center of the snap in the crown, for some reason it didn't come out in the scan. Oh well...

Baby!

A very good friend of mine just gave birth to her first baby boy! So I made this little card to send to Mama and baby. My husband says he likes it because the letters remind him of doughnuts. Sometimes I wonder about him a bit. :)
Anyway, welcome to the world Kiran!

Big Hat

Here is an atc I made as part of a vintage hats swap. I love the jaunty angle at which she's wearing her hat. It's so sassy, it makes me wonder how come I don't wear hats?

Not Really Tiny Tuesdays

So I know that today being Tuesday, I normally post an ATC, but I've decided to mix it up a bit and post a photo instead. I spent part of this morning going through some old photographs for a project I'm working on and I came across this one of my Nonna in Venice. I love this shot, with the gondolier in the back ground kicking off the wall and her looking so penisve.

Wednesday Stamper

Here is my creation for this weeks Wednesday Stamper
the theme of which is school days. For this piece I stamped text on an old assignment book page and tinted the edges with brown ink. I stamped the alphabet on a tag, and tinted the flower as well with stamping ink. The tag at the bottom is from an old division flash card.

Between

Here is the altered book spread that I've been working on. It's actually from my journal which is why it's blank in this picture. The text is from a poem by Octavio Paz and it reads "Between what I keep silent and what I dream..." the background I painted with acrylics, and then I put flower rub-ons and drew in some more with oil crayons.

Altered Tarot Card

Here is a little altered tarot card I made as part of an altered book spread I'm working on. Once I get it into the spread I'll try and put up a picture of the whole thing.

Tiny Tuesdays

Here is my creation for tiny Tuesdays--an all white atc that I created as part of a swap through Speckled Egg which is a great site for all things altered art! Unfortunately I cut off the top of the card when I was scanning it and didn't realize it. Oh well, you get the idea. Other than this, I haven't done much--my brother was in visiting from NY, so most of my times been spent with him. But now that he's flying home it's back to work!!

Tiny Tuesdays

Here is my creation for tiny Tuesdays. Another of my Halloween cards for a Halloween swap. The stars in the background are a stamp from Viva Las Vegas Stamps which is one of my favorite places to buy stamps!