Over Sexed - Moo House

How's that for a blog title to start the week?!  I bet it got your curiosity up.  And to think I found the words for this moo in my go-to vintage novel from the 1920s.  It has been a veritable treasure trove of words for my artwork.

The background and the roof are watercolor paper covered with washi tape.  The pin-up was a transparency, so I had to mount it on white paper and then again on black paper to give it more definition against the background.  Because of the extra depth that added to her, I should have built up the back of the rose so that it was the same thickness. Oh well.  Live and learn.

 
Thanks for stopping by.  Have a wonderful day!

Supplies:
140 lb watercolor paper; washi tape (unknown); rose and pin-up clipart from Artchix Studio; book text; clear rhinestones (Recollections brand at Michaels); Golden matte gel medium.

288 Bicycle Lane - Moo

Some folks on ATCs for All are planning a mini-house (inchies and moos) marathon the first week of July, so I thought I'd prepare by cutting some moo substrates out of watercolor paper (1 inch by 2.75 inches) and actually making a moo house (cut an inchie in half diagonally to create a roof).

I used a variety of vintage papers, gesso, and distress inks to create the background.  The gent on the bike and the word bicycle are from a reproduction ad on a paper sack that a local specialty shop uses.  I kept the sack, thinking I could use it someday in a piece of artwork.  The small images are challenging to cut out, but well worth the effort.


Are you planning to stay up late enough to get a glimpse of tonight's "super moon?"  I'll be up to watch the season finale of Mad Men so I'll probably take a peek outside at some point.

Supplies:
140 lb. watercolor paper; miscellaneous vintage book text and sheet music; faded jeans, mowed lawn, and vintage photo distress ink; reproduction advertisement; black and white charcoal pencil; Adirondack black acrylic paint dabber; Golden matte gel medium.

Ode to Spring - Moo

Last night I created this quick mini card using leftovers from previous projects.  I found the scraps (photo, sheet music, and the word spring) in the plastic bin that became the emergency location for the items on top of my craft table in March, when everything had to be packed up quickly in order to deal with wet carpeting in the basement.

I sponged festive berries and vintage photo distress ink onto a piece of watercolor paper, sprinkled on some water, and after it dried stamped on the writing.  I closely trimmed the photo and adhered it, adding the sheet music and word spring.  The edges were finished with a dab of pearlescent acrylic paint.

In no time at all, I gave some disparate scraps new life and now have a fun little piece of art to enjoy.


Spring, especially the month of May, is my favorite time of year.  It is also the name of one of my favorite 20th Century actresses, Spring Byington.  If you like old movies and watch TCM (Turner Classic Movies) a lot, no doubt you've seen her in something.  She played Marmee in the 1933 version of Little Women (the one with Katharine Hepburn as Jo).  But I like her best as Penny Sycamore in You Can't Take it With You, a role I myself undertook in high school when our theater department staged the production.  Penny was sweet but a little eccentric; a housewife who aspired to be a playwright, or a painter, depending on what day it was.

Here is a picture of Spring Byington as Penny Sycamore.  I had to use a similar typewriter in our play production.  I wish I had one now, to use in my art.  (Hmmmm... foreshadowing?)




Thanks for skipping down memory lane with me.  Have a fabulous Friday!

Supplies:
Watercolor paper (140 lb); festive berries and vintage photo distress inks; French text stamp from Stampin' Up; Stazon black ink; copy of old photo; vintage sheet music and book text; charcoal pencil; Adirondack pearl acrylic paint dabber; Golden matte gel medium.

Quick "Play it Forward" Notecard

Ten minute cards are not in my DNA.  I can spend two to three hours (or longer!) making just one card.  But let's face it, some days I don't have that kind of time, and not every card has to be a "masterpiece."  Sometimes, like today, I just want a simple but artsy notecard to send with a Play it Forward art trade, and the beauty of making my own cards is that I can do that, and fairly quickly (even for me).

I stamped the girls from Artistic Outpost, masked them, then stamped the buildings.  I sponged on distress inks for added color.  The background is a Tim Holtz embossing folder, highlighted with distress ink.



Besides being quick and cute, this card scores points in my book because it was made entirely with scraps from my paper bin.

Thanks for visiting my blog!

Supplies:
Black, very vanilla, and naturals ivory cardstock from Stampin' Up; brown cardstock by Bazzill; black Stazon ink; frayed burlap, vintage photo, and stormy sky distress ink, Tim Holtz (Sizzix) embossing folder; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities.

A Wind from the East - Gothic Arch

I still owed a Gothic arch to one of the participants of ARTzona 2013. Yesterday, when I came across the baggie of arches I had cut to take with me (but forgot to pack!), I felt the urge to go wild and just "git-r-done."

Except for the butterfly (Artchix Studio) and the eyeglass rub-on (Michaels), the ephemera I used to make this Gothic arch were in a pile of leftovers from previous projects:  paper scraps, Crossword Lexicon game card (with circle already die-cut), postage stamp, an eye cut from a magazine, and book text.  I did some rubber stamping, stenciled through punchinella, and created the circles using old plastic hair rollers and acrylic paint.  Once everything was adhered, I outlined certain features with a myriad of tiny black dots using a Pitt artist pen.

This arch was so much fun to make!  And it gives me a better idea of what size my focal images (such as the butterfly) need to be in order to create larger collages that are balanced and to scale.  There's just no way to get around it:  I will have to spend some time scanning and enlarging images if I want to create larger collages.

Thanks for dropping by!  Happy Father's Day to all you dads, grandpas, and father figures out there.

Father's Day Urchin

I knew I wanted to use this cute little paperboy from Artistic Outpost on my dad's father's day card, but my dad grew up in a rural area, not the city.  So the Kudzu Kafe building and ticking stripe images were more appropriate. (Random fact:  I love ticking stripe fabric!  Especially in red.)

I stamped the cafe in black, then masked it to stamp the ticking stripe with stormy sky distress ink.  I colored the cafe with pencils and gave everything a rubbing of pumice stone to age it.  My little tyke was also colored with pencils and adhered to chipboard before being added to the card with pop-dots.  I finished the card with some burlap and old blue buttons tied with waxed linen thread.

Thanks for dropping by!

Supplies:
Blue cardstock by Bazzil; patterned paper by DCWV; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; Paperboy and Kudzu Kafe stamps from Artistic Outpost; father's day sentiment from Stampin' Up; black Stazon ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; medium charcoal pencil; pumice stone, stormy sky, and frayed burlap distress inks; round and scalloped round Nestabilities by Spellbinders; burlap; pinking shears; old buttons; gray waxed linen thread; pop-dots; corner rounder punch.

Flower Bed Cherub

This sweet thing is a former water fountain that belonged to my grandmother.  She now watches over the flower bed in our back yard.  This year, she's holding some petunias.  Once the flowers in the bed fill in (they're off to a slow start, thanks to too much rain this spring), I'll take more pictures.


Thanks for stopping in.  Have a great weekend!

Pitcher and Pears

This lovely stamp is part of Stampin' Up's Studio Sketches set (which I think is retired now).  I bought the set because the images would be fun to color and they make cute, everyday cards. 

I'm sending this to my favorite cousin who has been ill.  She appreciates my cards and I know that receiving one brightens her day.  I included a long letter for her to pore over while she's resting.  Sometimes, "old school" is best!

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Purple cardstocks from Hobby Lobby and Bazzill; whisper white cardstock and stamp from Stampin' Up; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; round and scalloped round Nestabilities by Spellbinders; EK Success border punch; corner rounder punch; pop-dots.

Step 3 Open Your Eyes - ATC

The use of altered slide mounts had already come and gone before I started doing mixed media collage and making ATCs, but that didn't stop me from buying some for cheap at a garage sale a couple of summers ago. I was reminded of them this week while perusing Artists' Journals and Sketchbooks by Lynne Perrella.  Although this book was published in 2004, I just purchased it last year and have found it inspiring and informative; and it includes four pages of altered slide mount samples!

This wooden leaf was the perfect size for my slide mount, which I covered with vintage sheet music and colored with distress inks.  I also colored the leaf with distress inks.  The half cent postage stamp (circa 1920s), atlas page, and book text are all vintage.

Have a fabulous day!

Supplies:
Black corrugated ATC blank (Creative Imaginations); black slide mount (Design Originals); vintage sheet music; vintage atlas page; vintage book text; wild honey, vintage photo, peeled paint, forest moss, and antique linen distress inks; wooden leaf (Recollections); vintage postage stamp and paper clip; fine orange mesh ribbon (from my mom's stash); Pitt sepia artist pen; charcoal pencil; Adirondack black acrylic paint dabber; matte gel medium.

Feel Better Soon

I created this card for my mom to send to one of her "snowbird" friends who had back surgery yesterday.  I don't know this friend well, so I let my mom choose the stamp. 

She selected this lovely image by Artistic Outpost, which I colored with Prismacolor pencils.  The patterned papers are by My Mind's Eye.  I inked up a white Heidi Swapp butterfly with distress inks and only then discovered that it was embossed with the lines.

It's Friday!  It's Friday!  Thank goodness it's Friday!  Have a fabulous weekend.

Supplies:
Dark cerise and gray cardstocks by Bazzill; patterned papers by My Mind's Eye; Stazon black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; pumice stone, black soot, and Victorian velvet distress ink; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities; EK Success scalloped border bunch; chipboard butterfly by Heidi Swapp; silver pearls by Recollections; pop-dots.

Bathing Beauties

This is the card I made to send with my Down by the Sea ATC as a thank you for the friend who bought the stamps for me.  I had a lot of fun coloring the beach houses.  For the sky I blended about four different distress inks before lightly stamping the Atlantic City seal for added interest.  The beach was created with an embossing folder and more distress inks.

I think I like the images in the Boardwalk set by Artistic Outpost because they remind me of some pictures in my friend Kathy's scrapbook.  The photos were of her mother and father in the early 1920s before they married.  They lived in Wisconsin along Lake Michigan and they spent a lot of fun days at the beach with their friends.  The main difference is that Kathy's mom and her friends also wore knee-high socks to the beach!  Here is one of my favorite snapshots of Kathy's mom and her girlfriends, true bathing beauties in their wool suits, caps, and socks.

It's another rainy, gloomy day here.  No trip to the beach for us today!  Thanks for popping in.

Supplies:
Black and ivory cardstock by Bazzill; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; stamps from Artistic Outpost; black Stazon ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; distress inks: antique linen, old paper, tea dye, vintage photo, pumice stone, tumbled glass, salty ocean, stormy sky; Cuttlebug D'vine Swirls embossing folders; EK Success border punch; pop-dots.

Down by the Sea - Embellished ATC

I'll be honest:  I'm not a big fan of surprises.  I'm a planner; I'm an organizer; I'm a former Girl Scout who likes to be prepared.  So it's usually hard to surprise me.  But a friend of mine recently did just that by conspiring (yes, conspiring!) with one of my favorite stamp companies, Artistic Outpost, to send me their new stamp set for my birthday.  The set is called Boardwalk and features early 20th Century images of Atlantic City's Steel Pier and some of its bathing beauties, including a beefy guy with a big mustache--made just for me, no doubt!

To thank my sneaky friend, I created this ATC using five different images from the set.  With Prismacolor pencils and fine grit sandpaper, I tried to replicate the look of those lovely 1940s-50s vintage color postcards printed on linen paper. Once I had all the paper images done, I adhered the ATC to a piece of illustration board for strength.  A bit of burlap, some tiny seashells, and a ticket to the pier anchors the bottom of the card.

I also painted a mini wooden easel to go with the ATC.  I primed the easel with a coat of white gesso, then rubbed on some blue and brown distress inks and finished by dry-brushing on a little more white gesso.  Now the easel looks like a sun-bleached piece of wood which compliments the ATC.

Thanks for popping in!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Strathmore ATC blank and illustration board; stamps by Artistic Outpost; black Stazon ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; fine grit sandpaper; dark charcoal pencil; workable fixative spray; old paper, salty ocean, tumbled glass, frayed burlap, and wild honey distress inks; Adirondack black acrylic paint dabber; burlap scrap; small seashells (Michaels); matte gel medium.

Elegant Embossed Sympathy Card

Between my mom and I we've needed several sympathy cards in the last month.  I have only one sentiment that I really like (by that I mean a sympathy-appropriate sentiment other than the generic "with deepest sympathy").  Since it's my go-to stamp, I've used it on almost every sympathy card since I got it about a year ago.  It's a set from Stampin' Up called Love and Sympathy, and you can see it here.  To keep it fresh for myself, I simply change other aspects of the card such as the size, color, or embellishments.

For this card, I used a beautiful embossing folder designed by Anna Griffin.  It includes a coordinating border and personifies elegance.  I'm so glad that companies are now making larger embossing folders.  They make it so much easier to make larger cards.

I've been searching for another sympathy stamp so if you have a favorite (non-religious) sentiment that you use, please leave a comment and tell me about it.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Green cardstock by Bazzill; naturals ivory cardstock from Stampin' Up; stamps from Stampin' Up; Marvy markers; black Stazon ink; Poppy embossing folder and border folder by Cricut; EK success border punch; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities; corner rounder punch; pop-dots.

2013 Art Calendar Challenge - June

I'm not sure I'm getting the hang of this art calendar thing yet.  I know an art journal is a place to experiment with new supplies or techniques and to have fun, and I'm certainly doing that.  I also know that as a journal, the final product doesn't have to meet any criteria but my own.  But as a recovering Type A Personality, it's hard for me not to expect more from myself (wry laugh).

From a distance, my June art calendar looks a little bit like a hot mess.  I started by adhering a variety of leftover scrapbook papers and book pages using spray fixative, a new product for me.  (It worked great, but it is VERY sticky and even the wax paper I put behind the pages would have adhered permanently around the edges if I hadn't pulled it out and replaced it with new wax paper before I continued.)  I next swiped on some watered-down white gesso to the background papers to mute the colors and blend everything together.  Then I played with some new Heidi Swapp stencils and Ranger Perfect Pearls Mists.  The mists are very subtle and have a pearlescent shimmer that is noticeable only close up.  (For the record, I really liked what I had at this stage.)

I then added some stamping in black and red ink or acrylic paint: cursive text, a variety of eyes, and some circles. Most of this layer ended up obscured by the squares of paper for each day of the month, so I will do this step a little differently next time.  For example, I would stamp only the text and circles (or other basic shapes) at this step, and wait until the very end to add the eyes (focal images).  That way I could space them better.

The squares were cut from free art papers (several Stampington magazines include some in each issue) and then date-stamped.  Once everything was in place, I went back and added more eyes and the "Art Begins with a Vision" sentiment.  (Even though in the case of this project, I began without a vision!  Maybe that was my problem?)

I guess upon further reflection, this art calendar isn't so bad.  I would change some things if I could, but instead I'll just take the lessons I learned and apply them to next month.  To see other art calendars a la Kate Crane, please hop over to The Kathryn Wheel.

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

Supplies:
Strathmore Visual Journal with 140 lb watercolor paper; miscellaneous scrapbook papers and book text; Krylon Spray Adhesive; Golden white gesso; Heidi Swapp chevron and polka dot stencils; red Ranger Perfect Pearls Mists (but it's really more of a pink/mauve); black and blazing red Stazon ink; black acrylic paint; text stamp by Inkadinkado; round and square eyes and art sentiment rubber stamps by Studio 490 Wendy Vecchi; pair of eyes stamp by Hampton Art; date squares cut from free papers in Somerset Studio magazine; date stamper by Smash; plastic stick-on letters and numbers (unknown); matte gel medium.