Being Fabulous

Some days I just have to get my snark on, and snark is always better when shared.  So I created this card to send to my friend Annie and now that she has received it, I can share it with you.

I started with the Dylusions sentiment by Dyan Reaveley, then searched my stash for an image to go with it.  I knew I could stop looking when I found this photo booth beauty by Tim Holtz.  The look on her face is priceless!  The patterned papers are from an old 6x6 Basic Grey collection called Offbeat, which also seemed to fit this card.

 Thanks for dropping in!  Have a great weekend.

Supplies:
Black and white cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by Basic Grey, whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; Dylusions (Dyan Reaveley) sentiment by Ranger; Ranger Archival black ink; photo booth picture from Tim Holtz; EK Success border punch; pop-dots.

Aunt Dee is Unsupervised!

And she's on her way to join my friend Sandy, who recently retired.  I can just imagine the shenanigans those two have in mind.  Knowing them, the bathtub is already filled with ice and beer, and rubber cockroaches are ready to get slipped onto some unsuspecting person's dinner plate.  I feel like I should warn the locals.

I selected these vibrant papers by Bazzill to coordinate with Aunt Dee's lime green eyeglasses.  The sentiment is a Dylusions (Dyan Reaveley) stamp.

 TGIF!  Make it a great one!

Supplies:
Black and yellow cardstock by Bazzill; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up: patterned papers by Bazzill; Aunt Dee (unknown manufacturer); sentiment by Dylusions; Ranger Archival black ink; various markers.

Aunt Dee Says - I Am Exhausted

It's been a trying week.  What with the election and the trauma of catching a burglar trying to break into our house, Aunt Dee and I are both pretty exhausted!  A little irreverent art therapy is just what the doctor ordered.

A friend of mine recently gifted me a set of Dylusions (Dyan Reaveley) stamps with snarky comments, and they pair perfectly with good ol' Aunt Dee.  I decided to make a couple of postcards to send to friends who are similarly exhausted this week.  I used picked raspberry, spiced marmalade and mustard seed distress inks to create my background on a piece of bristol vellum paper.  Aunt Dee and the sentiment were stamped separately on white cardstock and cut out.

For the address side of the postcard, I cut another piece of bristol vellum the same size and embossed it with the postcard frame folder by Sizzix.  (The embossing did not show up well in the scan, so I darkened it a little for you.)  I glued the front and back together, and sealed the edges with a polka dot washi tape.  This was a fun little project that lifted my spirits and will no doubt do the same for the recipients.

Have a fabulous day!

Supplies:
Strathmore bristol vellum paper; picked raspberry, spiced marmalade and mustard seed distress inks; spray bottle of water; Aunt Dee image (unknown manufacturer); Dylusions sentiment by Dyan Reaveley; Ranger Archival black ink; Staedtler pigment ink pen; washi tape; postcard frame embossing folder by Sizzix.

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.

Poire Jolie - Mail Art Postcard

The fun and talented leader of our altered envelope group is celebrating her birthday this month.  She does such a fabulous job of keeping the group going, and her artwork is amazing!  Take a moment to visit her blog, A Mynah Production, and you'll see what I mean.  She likes mail art with a lot of layers so I created this postcard to send to her.  Now that she has received it, I can share it with you.

The background started with lime green Dylusions ink sprayed through a chicken wire stencil.  I drew the pear on a separate piece of cardstock that I had colored with distress stains.  After cutting it out I stamped on the numbers.  The red letters have some dimension to them thanks to modeling paste that was applied through a stencil using a palette knife.

Thanks for popping in!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper; Dylusions fresh lime ink spray; Crafter's Workshop chicken wire stencil; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; Tim Holtz wild honey and festive berries distress stains; black and white Stabilo All Pencil; Derwent white and natural charcoal pencils; vintage sheet music scrap; script stamp by Inkadinkado; numbers stamp from Red Lead; Ranger Archival black ink; Tim Holtz letter stencil; Golden modeling paste; Tim Holtz rub on; washi tape; Tim Holtz reinforcer sticker.

The Bird Sings - Mixed Media Postcards

I created two postcards last weekend but since they were going to folks who now read my blog, I waited until after they had been received to share them with you.  It's the two year anniversary of the "Envie Addicts Unite!" group, and I wanted to surprise the hostesses with a piece of mail art.  Not only do they do a phenomenal job of organizing the swap every month, but they keep the group going with lively conversation.  They have created a community of artists that is truly a pleasure to belong to, and I have had so much fun and learned so much in the few short months that I've been participating.

I was so happy with Marylee's birthday card that I decided to try to replicate the look for my postcards.  I started again with 140 pound watercolor paper, stencils and spray inks.  I wanted to try different colors though, which led to a happy discovery:  the Perfect Pearls Mists I had bought long ago and never found a good use for (especially the sunflower sparkle) were perfect for this project!  I'm not typically a glitter girl but I love the subtle color and shimmer that this spray ink gave to the postcard.

On the other side, I created a bright and festive collage featuring a cupcake by Inkadinkado with two candles (drawn by yours truly).  The postcards are 4.25 x 5.5 inches so they fit into the standard A2-sized clear envelopes that I already had.  I purchased mine from Stampin' Up but I'm sure there are other sources for them. 

Thanks for popping in!  Have a fabulous day.

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor paper; Dylusions fresh lime ink spray; Ranger sunflower sparkle Perfect Pearl Mist; Ranger scattered straw, black soot, ripe persimmon, spun sugar, dusty concord and seedless preserves distress inks; Heidi Swapp stencils; Tim Holtz stencil; Tim Holtz patterned tissue paper; vintage sheet music; bird and sentiment stamps from Red Lead Paperworks; washi tape; Gelly Roll white pen; Adirondack black and white acrylic paint dabber; punchinella; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Adirondack Archival jet black ink; Georgia Pacific white cardstock; Derwent white and lavender charcoal pencil.

The Bird Sings

A friend of mine turns the big 4-0 today and we're having a celebration at a local winery this evening.  I bought her presents several weeks ago (including this cute little book), and had an idea for the perfect birthday card to go with them.  Well, I procrastinated and wouldn't you know?  The card was not coming together for me AT ALL.  As the night turned into the wee hours of the morning, I decided I better just switch gears.  And boy, did I!

I started by die-cutting a piece of watercolor paper and using orange and red Dylusions sprays with the honeycomb stencil.  (The honeycombs on the bottom half of the card look rather orange in this picture but are actually a color called postbox red.  There's something about red that is difficult to scan or photograph accurately.)   After adding the torn strip of sheet music, I stenciled on the letters and numbers using black soot distress ink.  The bird and sentiment are from Red Lead Paperworks.  My friend is a professional vocalist so any reference to singing is a good thing.

This card is very different from my usual style, so I hope my friend likes it.  I'm personally thrilled with it!  It reminds me of the art journal pages I see but have never been able to pull off myself, and I can't wait to make more things in this style.

A warm welcome to my new followers!  Thanks for popping by and have a great weekend.

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper; Nestabilities Grand Labels 1 by Spellbinders; white cardstock by Bazzill; vintage sheet music scrap; bird and sentiment from Red Lead Paperworks; Ranger Archival black ink; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; Heidi Swapp honeycomb stencil; Tim Holtz schoolhouse stencil (letters and numbers); squeezed orange and postbox red Dylusions ink spray; black soot, salty ocean and mustard seed distress ink; Adirondack white and black acrylic paint dabber; punchinella; washi tapes; Gelly Roll white pen; Derwent white and peat charcoal pencil.

Endless Despair of the Soul - ATC

So this is what happens when I force something:  I end up with a piece that's messy, a little off composition-wise, and in a word, disappointing.  I've been wanting to make an ATC for trade or for a RAK (random act of kindness), and yesterday was the day.  However, once I sat down I just wasn't feeling it.  Still, I kept plugging away and although I really liked the background and the combination of colors, an impending electrical storm caused me to rush some decisions on the placement of the text.  And then mucked up fingers (from gel medium) caused a "boo boo" that I tried to fix.  So I will keep this one for myself, and perhaps use it on a journal page about patience!

(Can you tell where the boo boo happened?)

On the bright side, the thunderstorm that blew through did not contain the quarter-sized hail they were predicting, and the much-needed rain will activate the lawn fertilizer we applied earlier in the day.  Not to mention a bad day of arting still beats a good day of working.

Thanks for stopping by!   Have a great weekend.

Supplies:
Strathmore Bristol Smooth ATC blank; vintage Czech book text; Tattered Angels Glimmer Screens fanciful stencils; Dylusions vibrant turquoise ink spray; vintage Flinch card; vintage postage stamps; 7 Gypsies rub-on butterfly; vintage book text; white acrylic paint; punchinella (sequin waste); peat charcoal pencil; Adirondack espresso and vintage photo acrylic paint dabber.

With Deepest Sympathy

I needed another sympathy card, so I used my new stencils by Tattered Angels and Dylusions turquoise ink spray to create a simple background for a lovely script sentiment.

I hope everyone is having a wonderful autumn weekend.  Welcome to my new followers! 

Supplies:
White cardstock by Bazzill; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; silver stationery from Target (old); flourish stencils by Tattered Angels; Dylusions vibrant turquoise ink spray; sympathy sentiment by Stampabilities; Ranger Archival black ink; oval and scalloped oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; sheer silver ribbon from Michaels;self-adhesive rhinestones; pop-dots; corner rounder punch.

Fly Away - CAS Sympathy Card

Clean and simple cards are a challenge for me.  But sometimes that's exactly the look I want, for example for a sympathy card.  So this week I tried again and finally, I made a CAS card I like well enough to send to someone.

I started by stenciling a butterfly on whisper white cardstock using Dylusions vibrant turquoise ink spray.  Once that was dry (almost instantly, I must say), I stamped on my sentiment.  And for once, I decided no further embellishments were needed.

The butterfly stencil was in the Glimmer Screens starter kit (by Tattered Angels) that was in my prize package from the talented and generous Yvonne.  Pop on over to her blog Journey into Artistry to see some lovely stamped and mixed media creations.

Have a wonderful day!

Supplies:
Black and white cardstock by Bazzill; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; silver stationery from Target (old); butterfly stencil by Tattered Angels; Dylusions vibrant turquoise ink spray; sympathy sentiment by Stampabilities; Ranger Archival black ink; corner rounder punch.