Happy Thanksgiving!

Wishing you all the best (and a giant drumstick)

 this Thanksgiving!

Winter Morning - ATC

I decided to participate in an ATC swap with a winter theme.  I'm glad I have to make only one card, because this is not an easy theme to do without it starting to look Christmas-y.  (Not that there's anything wrong with Christmas-y, I just didn't want my card to look that way.)

The Winter Morning sheet music image and the little girl are rubber stamps from Oxford Impressions.  I embossed the sheet music on white cardstock which I then tinted with distress inks.  The little girl was stamped separately and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  The snowflakes were created by stamping a splatter background using white pigment ink and then gently smudging each flake with my finger. I like how it kind of looks like she's peeking out of a frosty window at the snow falling outside.

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day.

Supplies:
Cardstock ATC base; stamps from Oxford Impressions; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; Ranger Archival black ink; Versamark watermark ink; black embossing powder; Colorbox frost white pigment ink; stormy sky, pumice stone and dusty concord distress ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; splatter background stamp by All Night Media; Derwent tinted charcoal pencils; titanium white acrylic paint; vintage book text; Adirondack silver acrylic paint dabber.

Merry Penguin Christmas!

I can't believe I'm saying this, but I mailed my first Christmas card today!  I wanted to send it early because it's accompanying a gift that can be used as a decoration.  With Thanksgiving in just a few days, the Christmas decorations will be coming out soon, if they're not out already.

I stamped the penguins on white cardstock and colored them with Prismacolor pencils.  As if they weren't adorable enough on their own, I glammed them up with some Stickles and added the die-cut snowflakes that were also given the Stickles treatment.  We don't have big Christmases anymore so sending out cards has become one of my main (and favorite) activities for the holiday.  Since I didn't get many cards sent last year, I'm determined to do better this year.

Have a great day!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Green cardstock by Bazzill; whisper white cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned paper by Teresa Collins; penguin stamp by Stampendous; sentiment by My Sentiments Exactly; Ranger Archival black ink; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; Stickles; Glossy Accents; circle, lacy circle, snowflake and banner die-cuts by Spellbinders; corner rounder punch; pumice stone distress ink; pop-dots.

In Flanders Fields - Envelope Mail Art

This month marks the 100th anniversary of the beginning of World War I, or the Great War as it was called then.  I've been learning more about WWI since becoming obsessed with poppies, which are an enduring symbol of the war.  From what I've read, the red poppies grew naturally in the battlefields of northern France and Belgium, sprouting among the graves of the fallen soldiers.  After the 1915 poem In Flanders Fields by Canadian soldier John McCrae, the flowers became forever tied to the war.

Front of the envelope

My main interest in poppies is much more aesthetic:  I'm simply in love with their crepe-paper petals and funky pods.  And if you've been reading my blog for more than a few months, you know that I've been painting poppies, and planting poppies, and otherwise mooning over poppies like a woman mooning over her first love.  So for this month's altered envie exchange I just had to use...poppies!

Address side of the envelope

I did a loose watercolor and ink painting of poppies and foliage on a piece of watercolor paper.  After cutting and folding my painting to form an envelope, I adhered a photograph of some WWI soldiers from a penny postcard I bought at an antique shop.  Among the poppies I wrote the beginning lines to John McCrae's poem.  I've included the complete poem at the end of this post in case you've never read it.  I think it's magnificent.

Close up of the front

Thanks for stopping by!  Have a great day.

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper; Schmincke Horadam watercolor paints; Faber Castell black PITT artist pen; medium charcoal pencil.

In Flanders Fields

John McCrae

In Flanders fields the poppies blow

Between the crosses, row by row,

That mark our place; and in the sky

The larks, still bravely singing, fly

Scarce heard among the guns below.

We are the dead. Short days ago

We lived, felt dawn, saw sunset glow,

Loved, and were loved, and now we lie

In Flanders fields.

Take up our quarrel with the foe;

To you from failing hands we throw

The torch; be yours to hold it high.

If ye break faith with us who die

We shall not sleep, though poppies grow

In Flanders fields.

No Regrets - Mail Art Postcard

All work and no play makes Miss Iowa a very dull girl!  Fortunately, I got caught up with work this week and was able to reward myself with some art time last night.  I started a couple of different projects that I need to get in the mail soon.

I've had this particular postcard in mind for a couple of months, ever since I did my Bogey and Bacall postcards.  However, this time I was inspired to use more colors and additional stenciling in the background.  I like the juxtaposition of the bright, contemporary colors with the vintage image.  The butterfly and the sentiment are rub-ons.  This postcard will be sent in a clear envelope with an address label on the back so that everyone can enjoy Mae West along the way.  I think she would like that.

TGIF!  Thanks for stopping by.

Supplies:
Strathmore 140 lb watercolor paper; vintage Russian sheet music; picked raspberry, ripe persimmon and peacock feathers distress inks; Tim Holtz and Heidi Swapp stencils; computer-generated photo; Derwent lavender tinted and medium charcoal pencil; Ranger Archival black ink; Tim Holtz and 7 Gypsies rub-ons; Lumiere silver metallic acrylic paint; Adirondack silver acrylic paint dabber; Gelly Roll white pen.

The Sky's the Limit - Altered Envelope

I didn't waste any time devising a plan for my first hand-drawn, hand-painted face:  I decided to use it on a piece of mail art.

I made a #10 sized envelope out of heavy bristol paper to adhere the face to, wrapping the paper around the entire envelope.  I further embellished it with a scrap of sheet music, washi tape, stamping, and a gold painted border.

I didn't do much to the address side of the envelope, but I'll show it here so you can see how I wrapped the image all the way around (that's the rest of my gal's magenta hair along the bottom).  I want to make sure that the post office has no problem reading the address, so I toned down the background with some white gesso.  As a final step, I sprayed both sides with an acrylic spray sealant.

Thanks for visiting my blog!  Have a great Friday.

First Hand-drawn, Hand-painted Face

A hostess for the Envie Addicts Unite group shared some links to a couple of videos by Dina Wakley.  Now, call me late to the party, but I have never visited Dina Wakley's site and have never watched any of her videos!  I have heard of her and seen ads for her art products, but for whatever reason I had never investigated further.  That is definitely going to change.

Dina made the process of drawing and then painting a face seem so simple, that I had to try it.  I started with a piece of newsprint that I had used as an "under paper" for a previous project.  It had the remnants of a stencil design in blue and green acrylic paint, a rubber stamp image in black and a little red distress ink.  I selected a section of the paper where the background wasn't as heavy and drew my face using a Staedtler Mars Lumograph 6B graphite pencil (since I don't own the type of pencil Dina used).

I used Liquitex Basics acrylic paints to transform my drawing into a sassy chick with striking green eyes and magenta hair.  I was able to fix her neck at this stage (it was too narrow in my initial drawing; now it almost looks a little wide!).  Other than letting her hair get a little out of control on the left side, I am super thrilled with how this turned out.

Thanks so much for stopping by!  Have a fabulous day.

Here are links to the Dina Wakley videos that I referred to above.  (1)  Learn to Draw Artistic Faces.  (2)  Learn to Paint Artistic Faces.

Supplies:
Newsprint paper from Dick Blick; Staedtler Mars Lumograph 6B graphite pencil; Liquitex Basics acrylic paints.