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.

Collage Owl - Altered Envelope

I was digging through my clip-art file this week in search of inspiration, and discovered this fabulous owl image that was perfect for my October Envie Addicts exchange.

I created the envelope using a piece of patterned paper from one of my Stampington magazines.  (I have a huge stack of these papers, and I've decided that this is a good use for them since many have designs or colors I might not like at first glance.)  The patterned paper is glossy, so I used an old credit card to swipe it with titanium white acrylic paint; the paint gives the next layers something to cling to.  Along the bottom of the envelope I adhered some old book text, then stenciled the trees using dusty concord distress ink and stamped on the spatters using Ranger Archival Ink in a color called watering can.  After adhering the owl, I tinted it lightly with markers.

I added some shading around the owl using a black Stabilo All Pencil and smudged some gray Gelatos around the edges of the envelope.  A suspenseful sentence cut from my favorite old novel finished off this collage.

Thanks for stopping by!

Supplies:
Patterned paper and clipart owl from Stampington and Company; We R Memory Makers envelope board; titanium white acrylic paint; tree stencil by The Crafters Workshop; bubbles stencil by Tim Holtz; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Ranger watering can Archival Ink; dusty concord distress ink; Derwent forest green tinted charcoal pencil; black Stabilo All Pencil; water pen; book text; Faber-Castell PITT artist pen; Gelatos.

In Time

Last night we learned that my mom's sole surviving uncle had a fall at home, broke his leg, and is rehabbing at a local care center.  We don't know how long he'll be there, so I made a card to go into the mail ASAP.

For this card, I used an image by Paperbag Studios that was one of the early stamps I bought when I started to make my own greeting cards.  I stamped it on a Daisy D patterned paper from my stash and set it aside until I chose my overall color scheme.

I used two patterned papers by DCWV for the bottom layer, but of course had to doctor them up a bit.  I stenciled distress ink through a piece of punchinella, then added coarse molding paste through a measuring tape stencil.  Once the paste dried, I tinted it with stormy sky distress ink.  I added more stenciling using just the ink.  Then I went back to my focal image and sponged on coordinating inks to tie everything together.

Making my own cards brings me such joy, and I don't know anyone that doesn't appreciate receiving a card or letter in the mail.  I think this is especially true of my generation and my elders, who grew up without email, texting or Facebook (or even cheap phone calls!  Remember how expensive it used to be to call long distance?).  For past generations, the mail was the method used to keep in contact with friends and family, both near and far.  It feels good to carry on that tradition.

Thank you for stopping by my blog.  Have a great day!

Supplies:
Dark gray cardstock by Bazzill; patterned papers by DCWV and Daisy D; In Time stamp by Paperbag Studios; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Ranger Archival ink jet black; punchinella; Tim Holtz measuring tape stencil; Golden coarse molding paste; bundled sage, stormy sky, brushed corduroy distress ink; Ranger Archival ink watering can; oval and lacy oval Nestabilities by Spellbinders; EK Success border punch; pop-dots.

ICAD No. 14 Scotch Grove Salt and Pepper

The card I'm showing you today was inspired by yesterday's prompt which was salt and pepper.  I knew that I wanted to do something black and white, but it wasn't until today that I settled on this.

I took a photograph of an abandoned house a weekend ago when my mom and I went to a flea market and antique sale out in the country.  You can read about that and see the original photograph in color here.  I used the saturation feature on Pic Monkey to turn the photo into black and white, printed it on matte photo paper, and cut it out closely.  To mimic the overcast sky that day, I swiped Payne's gray watercolors onto my background.  When it had dried, I stenciled on the ruler using pumice stone distress ink.  The stenciling doesn't show up well on the scan, but on the original it provides a subtle vertical contrast to the horizontal lines of the house.

Thanks for popping by!

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb cold press watercolor paper; Payne's Gray watercolor; Tim Holtz ruler stencil; pumice stone distress ink.

Arab Scarab #2 and Artistic Notecard

I've been working on some things but I can't share them with you yet because I don't want to spoil a surprise.  In the meantime here's a picture of my second scarab ATC and a quick notecard I made to send it in.

I used more purple on this scarab in order to distinguish it from the first.  I just love this color combination.

For the notecard, I stamped the main image by Artistic Outpost on heavy cardstock then dipped it in some distress stains, being extra careful so the girl's face didn't get covered.  I added the small foliage images along the bottom to fill in the space, "stamped" on some faded jeans distress paint using a piece of punchinella and that was it!  These two items are going to an artist in South Carolina who requested the scarab after seeing the first one I made for the Spring in Egypt swap.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day.

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.