Scrap Tags

Authors get writer's block.  Athletes have slumps.  What do artists experience?  I call it losing my mojo.  It happens periodically, usually after a stretch when I don't have much time for art.  Once I finally did have time this month, it's like all my creative juices had turned sour.  But now we're on the verge of a new month, and I'm determined to get back my mojo.

Usually the first thing I do to jump-start my creativity is to clean off my craft table and put away any items I left out.  (I'm notoriously bad about cleaning up after myself.)  A clean table is refreshing, and in the process I'm reminded of the great art supplies I have.  So while doing that yesterday, I came across the pile of scraps and "failures" from the last few weeks.  I also rediscovered a package of black cardstock tags I bought recently.  Bingo!  I decided to make some tags using just the scraps on my desk.

The tags include little bits and pieces from the past month: leftover word die-cuts, extra copies of a photo I didn't use, stamped images, a piece of gelli print paper, and bits of "failed" mixed media postcards on watercolor paper.

I used a regular paper hole punch to create the small circles, and then unified all of the bits with my Stabilo All Pencils in black and white.  I love how the white Stabilo pencil looks like chalk on a blackboard.

The finishing touch was some diamond Stickles on the die-cut words and on the small circles.  You can kind of see the glimmer on this last one, which I think is my favorite.

Tie a piece of ribbon onto these and they will make fun gift tags, or I may put them on a card front, or they could be the start of a journal page.  The tags are 2.5 x 4.5 inches, so they'll fit just about anywhere.  I love imagining all the possibilities.  Welcome back, Mojo!

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Memorial Day

Arlington National Cemetery

Today we honor and remember those who made the ultimate sacrifice while serving our country.  Without their bravery and dedication we would not enjoy the freedoms we have today.

Tomb of the Unknowns, Arlington National Cemetery

Bleeding Hearts -Envelope Mail Art

Back in March I sketched some bleeding hearts just for practice, and ended up making an ATC that I really liked.  I decided to expand that drawing and use it on my partner's envelope for this month's altered envie exchange.

I made my own #10 envelope out of watercolor paper and used Derwent watercolor pencils to make my bleeding hearts.  I added some outlining and doodling with a black Pitt artist pen.

I kind of lost my mojo after I did the front, so the back looks completely different.  I colored the envelope with distress inks and added a scrap of sheet music that I had made a monoprint on.  Because my partner likes birds, I used a variety of bird-related images to complete the envelope.

Thanks for dropping by!  Have a great day.

Playing with Pencils - Graphite Granny Smiths

Late last night, while bingeing (see ** below) on Mad Men (AMC is running a marathon leading up to Sunday night's series finale), I also spent a little time sketching.  I wanted to work on basic shapes, so I chose a Granny Smith apple and worked from photos taken from different perspectives. 

I used a 4H Staedtler Mars Lumograph graphite pencil for most of the sketch, then used a B to add just a bit of shading and to make the sketch dark enough to scan.  A 4H pencil is pretty "hard" and therefore doesn't make a really dark sketch.

** Regarding the spelling of bingeing: the Blogger spell-check doesn't like that "e" in there.  But according to most dictionaries, it is an acceptable spelling.  As a linguist, I think you need that "e" in there to keep the "g" soft, that is, pronounced like a "j."  After all, I'm not bing-cherry-ing on Mad Men, if you follow where I've drifted (wink).

Hope you're having a great day!

Cute as a Button - Mother's Day

Hello and Happy Mother's Day!  This is the card I made for my mom.  The little girl reminds me of her because my mom does not like to smile in pictures.  She says it makes her eyes crinkle up too much.

I created the 12x12 scrapbook page below several years ago.  It features my mom's high school graduation picture.  See?  No smile; even though her description in the yearbook included "has a smile for everyone." Smile or no, I think she is absolutely, classically beautiful, and I am lucky to have her as my mom. 

I hope you're having a wonderful day!  Thanks for popping by.

Card Supplies:
Plum cardstock by Bazzill; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned paper by Teresa Collins: focal image by Stampers Anonymous (Tim Holtz Collection); sentiment by Red Lead; Ranger Archival black ink; antique linen, wild honey and peeled paint distress ink; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; oval and scalloped oval punches from Stampin' Up; border punch by EK Success; flower by Prima; leaves from Michaels (Recollections brand); corner rounder punch; pop-dots.

May Birthday Postcards

Since May is my birthday month, I decided I should get my act together and send RAK postcards to the other members of our mail art group who are also May babies.  That ended up being five other people!  I knew the only way to accomplish this in a reasonable time period was to make five similar postcards.

I started with a piece of 140 lb watercolor paper cut to A2 size (4.25 x 5.5 inches).  I stamped the word and number collage image using permanent ink (it just happened to have a prominent number 5 in its design, which is appropriate since May is the fifth month of the year).  I then spritzed the card with bubblegum pink Dylusions spray ink and sponged on some wild honey distress ink.  Also in the background is a strip of alphabet washi tape, some sheet music, additional stamping, and white acrylic paint applied through a piece of punchinella.  The birds and the butterfly are both Tim Holtz rub-ons.

The lovely lady's name is Nita.  I bought her picture in a paper arts store that caters to mixed media artists.  I scanned the photo and printed it small enough to make it look like a photo booth photo, although originally it was more like an over-sized wallet print.  To help Nita stand out against the wild background, I matted her on small bits of patterned papers from my scrap bin.  The last touch was to add circles using silver acrylic paint.  I have four different sizes of my mom's old plastic hair rollers; they make great paint stamps!

I had so much fun making these postcards.  I hope they reach their destinations without any problems.  One has to go all the way to Slovenia, so keep your fingers crossed!

Thanks for stopping by.  Have a great weekend!

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper; Dylusions bubblegum pink ink spray; wild honey, vintage photo and black soot distress ink; Ranger Archival black ink; alphabet washi tape by Cavallini and Co.; pen and ink background stamp from A Stamp in the Hand; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Tim Holtz alphabet stencil; clock image stamp by Tim Holtz; rub-ons by Tim Holtz; Stabilo black All Pencil; Adirondack silver acrylic paint dabber; white acrylic paint; punchinella; patterned paper scraps; vintage sheet music; vintage photo; Sharpie fine black permanent pen.