Christmas Goldfinch - Tart Tin Ornament

Instead of exchanging altered envelopes this month, we had the option of making an ornament for our trading partners.  I decided to give it a go, and was absolutely thrilled to be paired with our intrepid leader.

I started with a vintage tart tin that was already beautifully grungy--I didn't have to age it a bit.  I searched through my collection of vintage sheet music for a Christmas song and settled on Silent Night.  Because the paper was rather fragile, I adhered it to cardstock before using a round Spellbinders die to cut it.  I sponged antique linen and gathered twigs distress ink around the edges and then sprayed it with matte acrylic sealant.  I dabbed matte gel medium around the fluted edge of the tin and sprinkled on antique gold glitter.  Once it had dried, I gave it a coat of acrylic spray sealant, also. (You know how glitter likes to go everywhere!  This glitter is set in stone practically.)

My partner likes birds, so I headed to my local craft store to find one for her ornament.  I chose this one, the Eastern Goldfinch, because it is the state bird of Iowa.  Its beautiful bright color really gives this ornament its "pop."  The red berries and pinecone were snipped off small decorative stems (called "picks" in the craft industry).  The burlap ribbon is from Really Reasonable Ribbon and was in my stash; it was part of a gift package from a friend.  I followed this Youtube video in order to make my bow, simply adjusting the measurements for the size of my project.  To be honest, I rarely measure stuff like this.  I simply cut my lengths, start to assemble them, and trim them until I am happy with the way it looks.  One tip I would give is to use wired ribbon (as I did here), so that your bow holds its shape.

The leaves behind the bird were cut out of old book text using a Spellbinders die.  (It, too, was adhered to cardstock first, due to how fragile the paper was.)  I tinted the leaves with distress inks and added some green glitter glue to the edges.  I felt the right side of the ornament still needed something, so I added the miniature bell to the sprig of leaves (a Tim Holtz product).  I didn't take a picture of the back, but I adhered a jewelry bail similar to these to use for my hanger.

This is how the ornament looked on my tree.   I sure wanted to keep it for myself!  I'll just have to make another one and hope that it turns out as nice.

Have a beautiful day!  Thanks for stopping by.

The Story Begins and Dream Deferred - Mini Moleskin Journal Pages

I thought I'd share with you a couple of art journal spreads that I completed in my mini Moleskin journal the last couple of months.  The mini Moleskin's dimensions are 3.5 x 5.5 inches, making a two-page spread 7 x 5 inches.

"The Story Begins"

This spread features a copy of a photograph from an old postcard, a map from the early 1900s (pulled from a small datebook about the same size as my mini Moleskin), a real cigar band, and some washi tape that looks like a cigar band.  The text came from one of those 1970s "Time-Life" history books and I thought it fit these two guys, who look like Trouble with a capital T.

"Dream Deferred"

This spread started with the poem by Langston Hughes and largely consists of newer papers.  The book text, sheet music, and red-border playing card are vintage.  I have not been lucky enough to find any vintage photos of African-Americans in the antique shops where I live, so I used this reproduction photo booth image by Tim Holtz.  1964 refers to the year that the Civil Rights Act was passed.

Thanks for dropping by.  Have a great day!

Happy 80th Birthday, Bev!

The mother of one of my childhood friends recently turned 80, and the lounge where she tends bar once a week had a kick-ass party for her.  Her birthday was the day before Thanksgiving which meant a lot of people had the next day off and thus could go to a party on a Wednesday night.  Even her son from Texas was able to come, and the bar hired a popular local band to play.  A pleasant surprise for me personally was seeing another childhood friend and her sister there.  It was by far one of the best birthday parties I've been to in a long time.  I certainly hope I'm still rocking it out when I'm 80!

I created this card for Bev and thought it turned out really cute.  I used one of my favorite images by Tim Holtz and colored it with Prismacolor Premier pencils.  The flower is by Petaloo and it coordinated beautifully with these patterned papers by Teresa Collins.

Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Black and amber cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Teresa Collins; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; focal image by Tim Holtz; sentiment from Stampin' Up; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; oval and lacy oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; banner die by Spellbinders; antique linen distress ink; Martha Stewart border punch; pop-dots.

Be Yourself - Scrap Card

Oh my gosh!  It's been almost two months since I blogged.  There's been a lot going on and although I have been making things occasionally, I've been in kind of a slump the last few months.  Some days I have felt extreme guilt for not using my time more productively and for not keeping up with life's events.  It's not a good feeling.  But the advent of the holidays has lightened my mood and I feel ready to jump back into the mosh pit and create something.

Whenever I need to push the reset button, I go back to my roots and create a card using rubber stamps.  This one came together fairly quickly.  All of the papers are from my scrap pile.  The focal image was stamped on vanilla cardstock and colored with Prismacolor pencils. 

"Mack"

I'm sending this card to my friend Stu, who recently got a new puppy.  His name is Mack and he's adorable.  Little does Mack know that his Auntie Iowa is including a special treat for him:  a squeaky Sock Monkey!  Won't his daddy appreciate that?  Probably not.  But what are friends for?

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a wonderful day.

Supplies:
Black and red cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Tim Holtz (bingo) and unknown (polka dot); vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; focal image by American Art Stamp; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; antique linen and gathered twigs distress ink; splatter pattern stamp by All Night Media; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; border punch by Martha Stewart; pop-dots.

Blackout Bits #1

The heart 

caught

joy,

and feasted.

Some people call this type of exercise found poetry.  I've decided to call mine Blackout Bits, and will periodically share them here.

Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Cowboys' Gettin'-up Holler - Vintage Paper Collage

This is one of the collages I created this summer while staying at a friend's house.  It features an image from a 1954 book called Childcraft: Creative Play and Hobbies, which I purchased at a local library sale.  The book contains all kinds of games and activities for children such as drawing and painting, cooking, making toys, and planning a party.  My little cowboy was in a section on theme parties.

I paired him with a song from a 1930s school children's music book, vintage text, and a cicada image from an old dictionary.  A cicada has nothing to do with cowboys (as far as I know), but I needed something in that spot and was working with a limited stash.  The caption was from the activity book and is so sweetly retro that I just had to use it.  The only new item in this collage, which was adhered to a piece of watercolor paper and measures approximately 4x6 inches, is the star.  It's a piece of clipart from a Stampington publication.

 Thanks for popping by.  Have a wonderful day.

Giant Size Cigars $1.57 Each - and, All Things Andy Warhol at the Czech Museum

In 2016 I had the pleasure of viewing an Andy Warhol exhibit at the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.  Afterward, I bought this small journal in the museum store (I can't resist a good museum store).  I didn't know exactly how I would use the journal, but I just had to have it.  It's about 4x7 inches and the pages feature some of Andy's quotes and designs.

Fast forward to the summer of 2017.   I was preparing to spend five weeks at a friend's house helping her after she had knee replacement surgery.  I wanted to take some art supplies, but since I was flying there I couldn't take much.  I finally settled on a few collage materials (vintage papers, small ephemera, glue sticks), and at the last minute I threw in my Andy Warhol journal.

One day when I had free time to art, I flipped through the journal looking for inspiration.  One page had a retro-looking "Giant Size $1.57 each" graphic in the corner.  I started digging through the vintage papers and ephemera I had with me, and had an aha moment when I came upon the cigar bands.  I had bought a large zipper bag full of cigar bands at a flea market last year, and had yet to use them in anything.  Some of them have sophisticated, detailed logos, and I found it interesting that the bands are predominantly gold and red, regardless of the brand.  (I personally like the ones that include a little black, as it makes them stand out.)  The red $1.57 graphic at the top coordinated well with the cigar bands, but there was another graphic in the bottom corner which did not.  I fixed that by covering it up with a page from an old Czech book.

I picked out as many different bands as I could find and arranged them in a pleasing pattern.  Any bands that extended beyond the edge of the page were trimmed, and those pieces were added in random places.  The final result is a striking collage which could be a lesson in marketing and product packaging.  (My scans don't do it any justice, as they don't show the gold and vibrant red colors well at all.)

"Andy and Edie" by Julius Cavira, in front of the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library in 2016.  Andy and Edie is an "Overalls All Over" statue created in celebration of Grant Wood's 125th birthday.

So, you're probably wondering how a Czech and Slovak museum in flyover country landed an Andy Warhol exhibit.  It just so happens that Andy's parents were immigrants from Slovakia, and the National Czech and Slovak Museum and Library is the nation’s foremost institution collecting, preserving and interpreting Czech and Slovak history and culture in the United States.  The museum's reputation enables it to attract traveling exhibits that generally would be shown only in larger cities.  As the great-granddaughter of a Czech immigrant, I am proud and feel very fortunate to have such a facility in my hometown.  If you're ever in the area,  you should make time to stop there!  Without further ado, here are just a few photos from Immortal:  Warhol's Last Works, as exhibited at NCSML in 2016.

Annie Oakley

Geronimo on the left; John Wayne on the right

Buffalo Nickel

My friend Stephanie admiring Superman

Margaret Hamilton as the Wicked Witch of the West

Speed Skater

My final tidbit for this post is a piece of sidewalk chalk art that was completed near the Czech museum when the Warhol exhibit opened in May 2016.  I was able to see it before the rain washed it away, but unfortunately I don't know the artist's name.

Although the Andy Warhol exhibit, and of course the sidewalk chalk art, is long gone, you can still see the Andy and Edie statue (pictured above in front of the museum in 2016) inside the museum.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

New Job - Thank You

I interviewed for a job last week and planned to send a thank you card to the manager.  Before I could even mail the card, she called to offer me the job!  I start next week and I'm excited to try something new after being in the same field for many years.

I started with the patterned papers by Teresa Collins.  The flapper image by Hampton Art Stamps was stamped on vanilla cardstock and colored with Prismacolor Premier pencils to coordinate with the violet and yellow color scheme.  The card needed a little bling and after digging around in my stash, I found this black rhinestone flourish by Recollections.  I cut it into three pieces before adhering it.

I can't believe October is here already!  It still feels like summer because it's been unusually dry and warm here in the Midwest.  For once, I'm kind of ready for autumn.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Black cardstock by Bazzill; naturals ivory and very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by Teresa Collins; woman by Hampton Art Stamps; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; antique linen distress ink; scallop border punch by EK Success; adhesive rhinestone flourish by Recollections (Michaels); foam tape.

Hello, Friend - Rooster Greeting Card

Hello, hello!  I hope you're having a good week.  I spent all of yesterday with my mom and a friend of hers who is visiting from out of state.  We took a short road trip to a neighboring county which has numerous boutiques and antique shops in and around a small town with a substantial Amish community.  At the "English" owned shops, I found a few vintage paper and alterable items to use in artwork.  At the Amish grocery store, I stocked up on things like basmati rice, couscous, and spices, as they charge much less for them than our local grocery stores do.

Sisters' Garden outside Kalona, Iowa

Being in a rural area, we saw a lot of rooster and chicken decorative items (both new and antique).  This made us think of another friend of my mom's, who is decorating her new kitchen with roosters.  My mom texted her several photos of things to ask if she was interested in any of them (some rather jokingly, like a large rooster cut out of sheet metal which was displayed on the door of a former outhouse!).  And thus roosters became the unexpected theme of the day; so much so that I ended up buying her something rooster-related at one particular store.  I think she will appreciate some unexpected happy mail, as her husband was diagnosed with cancer in the spring and their entire summer has been spent "doctoring."

To accompany her gift I created this card featuring, what else, a rooster!  I used a variety of patterned papers from my stash that go with the color scheme of her kitchen.  The rooster from Oxford Impressions was stamped on vanilla cardstock and colored with Prismacolor pencils and distress inks.  The sentiment is from Red Lead Paperworks.

I'll leave you with more photos from our day trip.

My mom and her friend at Sisters' Garden

My beautiful mom

A fall vignette at Sisters' Garden

Have you ever seen so many old wash tubs in one place?  They mostly held potpourri and other dry goods for decorating.  Iowa Farmhouse and Barntiques outside Iowa City

Iowa Farmhouse and Barntiques

Iowa Farmhouse and Barntiques

Thanks for popping in! 

Supplies:
Red cardstock from Stampin' Up; miscellaneous patterned papers from my stash; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; rooster from Oxford Impressions; sentiment from Red Lead Paperworks; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; antique linen and vintage photo distress ink; round and scalloped round dies by Sizzix; oval and scalloped oval punches from Stampin' Up; border punch by Martha Stewart; pop-dots.

March to the "Beet" of Your Own Drum - Mini Moleskin Journal Page

The best thing to do after a long hiatus is to simply jump in with gusto, so without further ado I will share with you the collage I created at last week's Art Journal Junkies Hangout at our local library.

This collage is in a mini (3.5 x 5.5 inch) Moleskin and features vintage book text and sheet music, an illustration from a "Big Dollar Stamps" book, and some S&H green stamps.  The beet was cut from a 1970s gardening book, and I selected the postage stamps to color coordinate with the beet.  The only non-vintage item on this two-page spread is the dark ocher washi tape.  I decided not to add any wet media, so this collage is what I call glue-book style.

I'll be honest; I've struggled to find my niche when it comes to art journaling.  But I think I've had a revelation.  Spending five weeks at another person's house this summer with limited art supplies taught me that I don't need to have my entire stash of ephemera, rubber stamps, inks, paints, stencils, pens, whatever.  I don't need (or desire) a ginormous art journal in which to experiment with the newest product or to practice the latest technique flooding the internet.  And finally, I don't want to write any deep thoughts on my art journal pages!  That is just not me.  This mini Moleskin, my beloved vintage ephemera, and some simple adhesives are all I really need to express myself and, more importantly, enjoy myself.  I'm just going to march to the beat of my own drum and see how things go.

Whew!  It feels so good to get this first blog post out of the way.  In time, I'll work backward and get caught up on sharing the things I created this summer while I was away from home.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day.

Those Whom We Have Loved

The mother of one of my best friends from high school and college has passed away.  She had Alzheimer's and has been slowly slipping away over the past six years.  It's such a cruel disease and so hard on the person's family and friends.  So this weekend I've been making sympathy cards to send to my friend, his brother, and his mom's best friend and long-time neighbor.

Because it's easier to make sympathy cards for women, I started with this one for his mom's friend.  I think she will like the soft colors.  The stamps are all from Stampin' Up.  I stamped the large flower twice and trimmed away the outer petals from one of them in order to create a layered effect.  The Anna Griffin embossing folder used for the white layer is called Rosa.

Thanks for popping in.

Supplies:
Purple and lavender cardstock; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; rubber stamps from Stampin' Up; mowed lawn and seedless preserves distress ink; Ranger Archival black ink; clear embossing powder; Anna Griffin embossing folder; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; corner rounder punch; pop-dot.

Fly Little Bird

I created this card to send to someone very dear to me who has been going through some trying times.  And I'm sure you'll forgive me for not writing much today, since I'm not feeling too chipper myself.

Thanks for stopping by my blog.

1901 Natural Geography - Vintage Mixed Media Collages

I don't think I've mentioned that I served on the advisory board for a local juried arts festival this spring.  That sounds more impressive than it really was, trust me.  Except for one night when we had to stuff packets for the artists, our monthly "meetings" were basically cocktail parties.  Most of the work is done by a full-time director, and the jurors were folks with genuine art credentials (one has a PhD. in art history and is an associate museum curator).  It wasn't until the day of the festival that I did any real work, and that simply involved staffing an information table, selling t-shirts, and playing cowbell in the Awards Committee Band.  Overall, it was a wonderful experience.  I met some great people and learned a lot about modern art and staging an arts festival.

This year's festival presented two major challenges.  First, the weather.  The festival is outdoors in a park, and it rained.  And rained.  And rained.  To say it was muddy is an understatement.  Second, just five days before the festival, our director "took a header" down the steps of her two-story home and seriously injured her shoulder.  Her husband and more experienced board members had to jump in to fill her shoes in those final days before the festival and on the big day itself, as she was forced to remain in bed.

From the Ganges

Which finally brings me to the topic of this post!  I wanted to create a special get well missive for our director as she faces surgery and physical therapy.  Since she appreciates original art, I set out to create a vintage mixed media collage in my style.  My substrate was a piece of watercolor paper (3.25 x 4.50 inches) painted with gesso.  After it was dry, I created my background by collaging and "de-collaging" various vintage book papers and sheet music.  For an explanation and demonstration of this process, please watch the video in this blog post by Caterina Giglio.

From the Ganges (closeup)

Once I had the papers the way I wanted, I dry-brushed the entire background with titanium white acrylic paint (any inexpensive brand from the craft store will do), lightly stippled on peeled paint distress ink, and dry-brushed on a little more titanium white.  My Ganges fellow was taken from a 1901 natural geography textbook that belonged to my great-grandfather.  He was adhered to the background using matte gel medium, along with a vintage Indian postage stamp from my stash.

Natives of Kaffraria

Since I had so much fun creating one collage, I made two more using other images from the natural geography textbook.  I used the same background technique but chose other distress inks (dusty concord for Natives of Kaffraria, above; barn door for Shanghai Soles, below) to complement the color of the postage stamps used on each collage.  I was darn lucky to find a vintage Chinese postage stamp in my stash--I'll save that story for another post.

Shanghai Soles

One thing you may notice about each collage is the one tattered edge.  Nothing makes my heart sing more than vintage sheet music, and even the lovely tattered edges deserve to be showcased.  You just have to be careful when working with them, as old sheet music is pretty delicate.

Each collage was sprayed with matte acrylic sealant and temporarily attached to a piece of heavy black cardstock for the purpose of this blog post.  I haven't decided yet what they will be adhered to permanently; perhaps a piece of presentation board?

Thanks so much for visiting my blog!

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor paper; Golden white gesso; vintage book pages, sheet music and postage stamps; titanium white acrylic paint; peeled paint, dusty concord and barn door distress ink; Golden matte gel medium; Krylon matte acrylic spray sealant.

Little Boys - Altered Envelope

Now that my altered envie partner for May has received her envelope, I can share it with you here.   I returned to my roots and created a mixed media collage using a combination of old and new items from my stash.

I started with a "yard sale-bought" (as opposed to "store-bought") envelope.  A relative found a box of 250 Georgia-Pacific envelopes at a yard sale for the bargain-basement price of a quarter, and bought it for me.  The envelopes are good quality, but I inserted a piece of lightweight cardstock inside in order to give it a little more heft.

The little boys on the front were a postcard-sized piece of clipart I received with one of my Somerset Studio magazines.  I cut away some of the background so I could create my own using a vintage music lesson, washi tape, and patterned papers from my scrap folders.   To blend all of the papers together, I first dry-brushed white acrylic paint across all of them and then dabbed on pumice stone distress ink using a stipple brush.  The yardstick and alphabet images are stencils by Tim Holtz.  I also used a piece of punchinella (aka sequin waste) to stencil on the small, solid circles.  The larger, open orange circles are acrylic paint stamped on using the end of an old plastic hair roller.  I dry-brushed more white acrylic paint on top to age the orange paint a little.

On the back, I adhered a piece of sheet music from a small vintage music textbook.  The paper boy from Artistic Outpost was stamped on tissue paper and adhered with matte gel medium.  I sponged mowed lawn distress ink around the edges and added the same stenciling that I used on the front.  Because distress inks are water soluble, I sprayed both sides with an acrylic spray sealant before mailing (and before adhering the postage stamp).

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great weekend.

Supplies:
Georgia-Pacific A6 ivory envelope; little boy photo clipart from Stampington and Company; miscellaneous patterned paper scraps from my stash; vintage sheet music; washi tape; Fig. 5 rub-on; titanium white acrylic paint; orange acrylic paint; pumice stone, mowed lawn and rusty hinge distress ink; Adirondack black ink; white Gelly Roll pen; orange fine tip Sharpie; paperboy rubber stamp image from Artistic Outpost; yardstick and alphabet stencils by Tim Holtz; punchinella scrap; Derwent medium charcoal pencil; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; authentic mail art stamp from Red Lead Paperworks.

Simply Wonderful Mother's Day

We've been so busy around here that the word for Mother's Day was "simple."  We had a simple dinner of roast turkey breast, mashed potatoes and gravy, and vegetables.  I made a clean and simple card using patterned papers by Simple Stories and a "simply wonderful" stamp from Stampin' Up.

All in all, it was a simply wonderful day.  I hope yours was, too! Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Yellow Swiss dot cardstock by Bazzill; naturals white cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers  by Simple Stories; sentiment from Stampin' Up; Versamark ink; black detail embossing powder; oval, scalloped oval, and label Nestabilities by Spellbinders; Martha Stewart butterfly and border punch; corner rounder punch; rhinestone stickers; pop-dots.

Speaking of Ephemera...

... I got some new loot!  My parents went to an auction yesterday and bought a cardboard flat FULL of old sheet music for me.  Their final bid?  A mere $5!

The flat held a four-inch-deep stack of sheet music of all types as well as many music instruction booklets and lesson sheets.  The oldest piece I found is from 1890; the newest piece is from 1971.  However, the majority of it appears to be from the first half of the 20th Century.  And a lot of it is in pretty bad shape (which is OK by me).

Who's that handsome guy in the top left corner?  Why, it's none other than Bing Crosby on a piece of sheet music from 1932.  Thanks to YouTube, you can hear Bing's version of Just an Echo in the Valley here.  Compare it to Alfalfa's version, and let me know which you like better.

These piano fingering charts will be fun to use in a collage somewhere, don't you think?

The only "modern" piece in the lot was this instruction booklet for the Tonette, Flutophone, or Recorder.  It's from 1971, which means I very well could have used this in elementary school music class.  I'm tempted to buy myself a recorder and learn a few songs!  A local music store has tons of recorders to choose from, and they are very reasonably priced.  But first, I need to figure out the best way to store this stuff.  The smaller pieces that are in better condition can go into a hanging file folder.  The larger items that are more fragile may have to stay in the flat; I think that will be the safest place for them.

I hope you're having a good weekend!  Thanks for dropping by.