Black Eyes Blazed - 4x4

I haven't given up on the idea of participating in a Halloween chunky swap, so I sat down last night to try my hand at another one.  This time I started with one of my favorite spooky images: a bat from Oxford Impressions.  I used this stamp last year to create these ATCs that were traded in record time.

I spend a lot of time building up the background layers on projects like this, and it's where I have the most fun.  Even if the first layers end up largely obliterated by what is added on top, a little bit peeks through here and there to add depth and interest.

Happy hump day!  Thanks for dropping in.

Supplies:
Medium weight chipboard coaster; patterned paper by Authentique; titanium white acrylic paint; Dylusions fresh lime ink spray; Heidi Swapp clock stencil; crackle background stamp; Ranger archival black ink; punchinella; dusty concord, rusty hinge, old paper, walnut stain, and black soot distress ink; bat stamp by Oxford Impressions; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; vintage book text; My Mind's Eye distress rub-ons; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; white, peat, and burnt orange charcoal pencils; Adirondack black and espresso acrylic paint dabbers; Elmer's glue stick; Golden matte gel medium.

Arthur Coffin - 4x4

Last week was a busy one, leaving me little free time to work on any art projects.  And I swear I suffered withdrawal because of it!  So yesterday I skipped doing laundry and started to play around with some ideas I have for a Halloween-themed chunky swap.  After a while I decided that the images just weren't working for me, so I switched gears and this is what I ended up with.  It's not particularly "Halloween-y," but it is kinda spooky!

I started by covering a 4x4 inch chipboard coaster with some Halloween-themed patterned paper.  I toned it down with white gesso and added some stamping, stenciling, and book text.  The main images are stamps by Oxford Impressions.  A lot of distress inks, acrylic paint, and charcoal pencil went into giving this piece a dark and mysterious feel.

Have a great Monday!  Thanks for popping in.

Supplies:
Medium weight chipboard coaster (4x4 inches); patterned paper by Authentique; vintage book text; rubber stamps by Oxford Impressions; very vanilla cardstock from Stampin' Up; Ranger archival black ink; distress inks: dusty concord, antique linen, vintage photo, black soot, frayed burlap, rusty hinge; Adirondack acrylic paint dabbers or distress paint: espresso, frayed burlap, snow cap; white gesso; charcoal pencil; Dresden trim; white gesso; punchinella; gel medium.

2013 Summer Fashion Trends

Some cards just make themselves...

Last Friday a colleague of mine discovered, on her way home from work, that she had been wearing two different sandals all day long!  And either nobody noticed (what she hopes) or people noticed but didn't say anything (what she fears).  Either way, this gal has a great sense of humor and was willing to share the story AND take a picture of her feet wearing the two sandals.  One of my first thoughts (after OMG--that's hysterical!) was "I have to make her a card with this picture."

I imported her photo into a Microsoft publishing software in order to add the title.  On the inside I used a stamp that says, "Be Good.  And if you can't be good, be Stylish."  I know she'll get a bang out of it.

Have a great day!  And be sure to check your feet before you leave the house in the morning.

Supplies:
Yellow cardstock base by DCWV; white and fuchsia cardstock by Bazzill.

Refrigerator Pickles

Since I still had plenty of cucumbers even after giving some away, I decided to make refrigerator pickles.  I used a recipe from MyRecipes.com and I gotta say, the pickles taste pretty darn good!  I put some on a grilled hotdog and the combination was fabulous.  The recipe I used has a little more kick than my grandma's recipe for refrigerator pickles (which are more of a bread and butter pickle), thanks to the red pepper and the garlic.  I reduced the garlic by half and diced it fine, but I still think these pickles will be a little too spicy for one member of the household.  Since it looks like the cucumbers will be producing for a while, we'll have enough to make a batch of grandma's pickles next.

Have a great weekend!

Extra! Extra!

I returned to my stamping roots, so to speak, to create this birthday card for a male friend.  He's one of those big guys (a former noseguard for the Nebraska Cornhuskers) with a soft side, so I think he'll like this card.

The paper boy was stamped on cardstock and colored with Prismacolor pencils.  He was adhered to a patterned paper stamped with a newsprint collage (all stamps are from Artistic Outpost, by the way).  I created the frame with two Nestabilities Label 8 die cuts.

I can't believe it's Friday already!  I had to look twice at the calendar to confirm it.  Thanks for dropping in and have a great day.

Supplies:
Black cardstock by Bazzill; crumb cake cardstock from Stampin' Up; patterned papers by My Mind's Eye; Bristol smooth white cardstock by Strathmore; rubber stamps from Artistic Outpost; Ranger archival black ink; antique linen and vintage photo distress inks; Prismacolor Premier pencils; odorless mineral spirits; Derwent burnt orange and natural charcoal pencils; tortillion (for blending the charcoal pencil); oval, scalloped oval, and label die cuts by Spellbinders; corner rounder punch; pop-dots.

Speaking of Cucumbers...

I found this bad boy in the garden yesterday.  He should have been picked a couple of days ago (at least!) but he was hiding right in the middle of the patch under heavy foliage.

At almost 10 inches in length and seven and a half inches in circumference, I know he'll be full of big seeds.  I won't let him go to waste, however.  I'll just slice him lengthwise and scoop out the seeds, turning him into a cucumber canoe.

Have a great day!

2013 Art Calendar Challenge - August

Our little garden is currently producing cucumbers like crazy, so I decided to make them the theme of my August art calendar.  I am so pleased with my watercolor cucumbers!  I drew them with pencil (I had a "live" model...hee hee), then colored them using Derwent watercolor pencils and a water brush.  A sepia-colored artist pen was used to simulate the little bumps and ridges on the cukes.

The first layer of these pages consisted of a plaid pattern created with painters tape and spray mists, but I had forgotten to prime the pages with gesso first.  Once I scraped on some white gesso and added some strips of washi tape and rubber stamping, the plaid design was mostly obliterated.  You can still see some of the chartreuse spray mist, especially around the edges.  But the stars of these pages are most definitely the cucumbers.

To see more August art calendars for Kate Crane's challenge, please visit her website The Kathryn Wheel.

Thanks for stopping by my blog!  Have a fabulous day.

Supplies:
Strathmore Visual Journal with 140 lb watercolor paper; blue painters' tape; Heidi Swapp spray mist (chartreuse); Ranger Perfect Pearl Mists (turquoise); white gesso; washi tape; punchinella; distress inks: mustard seed, peeled paint, scattered straw, vintage photo and tumbled glass; Stazon olive green ink; flourish stamps by Inque Boutique; Heidi Swapp polka dot spray stencil; Derwent watercolor pencils; Niji water brush; Pitt sepia artist pen; Pitt black artist pen; large alpha and number stamps by Wordsworth; small alpha stamps by Hero Arts; date stamper; Derwent tinted charcoal pencil (forest pine); matte gel medium.