Finally Done! The Project that would not end! LOL!

I'm soooooooooo happy! :) I have finally finished the project I have been working on for weeks! You know how you think you have a great idea for a gift...... then you try and execute and nothing really works out as you planned???

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I wanted to make a "Big Sister" gift for my son's First Grade teacher who is expecting a little boy in November. We are having a shower for her next week. Her daughter, Sophie, is 2 and 1/2 and very excited to meet her baby brother!

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My experience has been that "big" brothers and sisters like shower gifts MORE than the new baby! LOL!! So, I decided to make a book for Sophie.

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I started with 8x8 thick chipboard which I purchased on Ebay. It is very nicely cut and I was really happy with the quality. Sophie's favorite colors are pink and yellow. So, the colors of the book should be no shock to you! LOL!!

I painted the chipboard with acrylics......3 layers later, I decided that I should have primed w/ gesso first! It took about 6 coats of paint before I got the look I wanted for the base color! (live and learn........)

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I stamped the background with acrylics and then glued on the background papers. I glued and sealed everything with Matte Medium as I went along.

I used punches for the circle and squares for the letters. I wasted some time my stamping every circle and square with Versamark flowers...... of course, you can't see them at all now! (sigh)

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I stamped all of the letters with acrylic and used die cut letters for the big "S"'s. The S on the front of the book is a wooden one that I painted and stamped.

It is a very simple book, but the bits and pieces and detailing took me FOREVER!!!! Plus, I had to wait for the acrylic and Matte Medium to dry before I could move onto the next step.

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Finally, I sealed everything with 3 light coats of PYMII. This prevents the pages from sticking together and will protect the colors from fading!

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And now, for Sophie:

"My S Book":

And the Winner is............

MOONWILLOW!!!

You have won the 4 Halloween ATCs!! Please email me your snail mail address and I'll pop them into the mail for you by Friday!

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Thank you to everyone who participated!! I enjoyed all of your wonderful comments and compliments!! You really made this last week fun and entertaining!!

Halloween ATC Giveaway! :)

How many of you remember me saying "I'm never making any more ATCs!". Well, I'm pulling a James Bond -- "Never Say Never......". I just could not resist making some quickie ATCs with these great little Vintage Halloween images! :)
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A quick print, a quick spray of PYMII (to prevent smearing of the images while gluing!), and some cutting, inking, and assembling. :) It felt really good to get something from brain to paper all in one sitting! Woo Hoo! :)

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Now, since I don't collect ATCs, I have decided to give 4 of these away! If you like ATCs or Halloween and would like a chance to win 4 (of my choice) of these ATCs, just leave a comment with your full name and email address! (Make sure and type both your name and email in the comments section.....even if you have a Blogger account!)

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I'll draw a random winner the morning on Wednesday, October 10.

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Here they are! :) I purchased the background papers at a local scrapping store that went out of business.

4 of the ATCs open up with a little "scary" sentiment...... :)

And now, back to our regularly scheduled programming......

Ok. I have been tagged (several times) and also linked up to a "blog award" (a Nice Award! :)

I'm just not one to participate in these because I have such a limited time to create art and try and keep up with my Yahoo Groups.

So, why am I posting this at all?? Because I have guilt! LOL!! For whatever reason (past life experience?? sub-conscious chatter??) I feel guilty about a lot of things. I hold onto it forever and it eats into me...... I still feel guilty about the way I broke up with my college boyfriend! *sigh*

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So, I'm freeing myself of the guilt by acknowledging all of your kind tags and award nominations!! Please don't think that I am ignoring you or being mean......!! I appreciate your thoughtfulness AND the fact that you even read my blog in the first place!!! :) :) Thank you for thinking of me...... it does mean a lot! :)

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And now.......back to our regularly scheduled programming...........

An Oldie........but, thought I would post it anyway! :) Altered Glass Plates

I made these "altered" glass plates for Christmas gifts last year. They were fun and easy and a big hit!! :) I thought I would go ahead and post them here since I don't have anything new to share right now! :) :) :)

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I used clear glass plates. (I bought mine at the thrift store for .79 cents) Everything is affixed to the underside of the plate. I used Royal Coat Decoupage Glue {interjection: I think Gel Medium would also work well here......} to glue the stickers and silk leaves onto the plates. (the leaves are some old "fall leaves" from a silk spray of flowers) Smooth out w/ foam brush or your fingers. (Remember when you use the stickers, you have to put on the plate picture side down/sticky side UP.......can get tricky to place, but the sticky-ness is overcome very easily by 1 swipe of glue.) You can reposition your leaves, stickers, paper, etc for a short while until the glue starts to set up.
**Side Note: I think coating your stickers, leaves, or any images with PYMII would be a great way to prevent smearing and/or fading of your images/objects!! You would also be able to use inkjet images if coated with PYMII!!**
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For the "Abstract Plate", I used a combination of dye inks and the glue. Smeared it around. I would recommend alcohol inks if you have them. The glue/ink combination can remain sticky even after dry. I did seal w/ 2 coats of glue and then 2 coats of polyurethane. Seemed to help tremendously w/ the sticky-ness, however the glue/ink is still "soft".

For the sticker/leaf plate. I painted over the dried glue w/ acrylic paints. I used a combination of metallic and non metallic colors and used 2-3 layers. Depending on the brush you use, you will have some "thin" areas. The 2nd coat of paint will show thru these areas. You can also leave blank areas on purpose to get a more bold color combination.

After everything dried, I used 2 more coats of the decoupage glue (Mod Podge or Gel Medium should work fine here, too) and then 2 layers of polyurethane. (do this OUTSIDE!!)

To be sure, leave the plate to cure for 2-4 days. (to make sure everything is dry and set) You may now very carefully wash the plate in warm soapy water and YES you can use the plate to serve cookies or candy or other tidbits! :)

Another idea I had (but have not executed yet......) A memory plate!! One using paper ephemera, small 3D objects, and photos from a vacation or special occasion!! FUN!!!!

Stickers and acrylic paints:

Silk leaves and acrylic paints

"Abstract": Elmer's glue and dye inks: (In the future I think I would try Gel Medium and/or Decoupage Glue for this. Alcohol inks direct to glass would also be a cool effect!)

"Dots" Altered Book Challenge

As with many of my art projects, this started as something much different! :) I was hoping to make an altered book as a baby gift......it started off OK, but as soon as I added paint to the first page I got a ton of page buckling................sigh............ (I have since ordered a cool blank chipboard book to alter instead.)

I decided to turn this book into my "Experimental Altered Book". On the new Yahoo group: The Latest Trends in Mixed Media Arts, there is a Monthly Altered Book Challenge. The October Challenge is "Dots".

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So, here you have it folks, my "take" on the Dots Theme:

* I base painted the pages with thinned Yellow Acrylic paint.

* I blotted some blue acrylic paint over the yellow with a paper towel.

* I added some homemade colorwash sprays (rubbing alcohol and StazOn Ink reinkers) in red, orange and yellow.

* I added some drops of Ultramarine Blue StazOn ink directly from the reinker bottle.

* I closed the book and smooshed the pages together and quickly reopened. I blotted the blue StazOn puddles with kleenex. Well, the kleenex stuck to the ink! LOL!!! Not to worry........acrylic wash to the rescue!!

* I went over the pages again with a thinned yellow acrylic paint wash to blend the kleenex into the page! :)

* I added a few more paper towel blots of red acrylic paint.

* I used some different sized punchinella to stencil on some dark and light blue acrylic paints.

* I glued on the images, added the wording with a label maker and finally added some White Sailor Pen dots!

Mini File Folder - *Tri-Fold* and *Triptych* Cards!

Love the look of those fabulous Triptych and Tri-Fold cards?? Here is a quick and simple way to make a one using mini file folders! Woo-Hoo! :) :)

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First, get yourself over to: Outside the Margins. Aileen has these great mini file folders to use for this tutorial! She has superb customer service and fabby supplies!

1) Take 2 white mini file folders and open. Arrange the folders so the short tabs are facing each other at the top.

2) Slide the left folder over the right and glue into place with your favorite paper glue. Allow to dry.

3) Voila! Instant tri-fold or Triptych card to decorate! :) [ok, technically, a Triptych's outer panels are smaller than the center panel. All you have to do is trim your side panels with your nifty paper cutter and you're ready to go!!]

Here is a trifold card I made using the above tutorial:

I brayed on ink all over the front and back of the card and allow it to dry. (I used an Autumn Leaves Kaleidacolor Stamp Pad) I stamped the images with several colors of Distress Inks. The main image on the outer front part of the card is stamped in Brilliance Black ink.

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The main image on the inside of the card (center panel) is a cool image from Twisted Papers printed on a transparency. I painted the back of the transparency with metallic bronze acrylic paint. I glued the image to the card and then added the key and lock brads. The photo of the inside of the card is a little funky because it was difficult to photograph the transparency without getting a lot of glare.

Closed Card:

Opened Card:

Now, just think of all of the possibilities!! You can make windows, doors, secret niches, use 3D objects, make a shrine, attach more folders for an accordian card, etc. etc. Hours and hours of fun for the whole family!!! :) :)

Framed one of my Abstract Pieces

I actually framed one of my Abstract Crackle pieces. I like how it looks and I may enter it in our local non-juried art fair. I have until Oct 1 to decide. The frame is 12 x 16 inches. I "doctored" the mat with a little rust and blue mica powder to bring out the colors in the painting.

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If I decide to enter the piece in the fair, I have to price it. Hmmmmmm....... that's a new thing for me. I can put together the subjective part of the price, (materials, time, etc......) it's the objective pricing that I'm having a hard time with. Does anyone out there have any guidelines that you can recommend??

Thanks in advance! :)

"Harvest in Blue"

Crackle Paste/Acrylic Experiments

I made 3 backgrounds on masonite today. I used some of my "oh, what a bargain!" crackle paste that I found on Ebay. It is intended for indoor decoration, but I gave it a go w/ acrylics anyway! LOL! :)

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Here they are..........
After the crackle paste dried, I layered several different acrylic washes over the boards. After the layers dried, I tried to highlight the peaks with contrasting colors. I splattered one with yellow at the end. My son says it looks like "space"......... :)

The crackle from the particular paste is pretty subtle. I guess I'm gonna have to break down and buy some Golden Crackle Paste. I can't believe that NONE of the local art stores around here carry it! What is up with that?!?
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As usual, I have no idea what I'm going to do with them now.............sigh............ maybe I'll just frame one and call him "Art"! :)

Kid's Projects! Come see! :)

My kids were inspired by the Blog: Bent Objects to make their Dad's birthday gifts. Check out the blog (very fun!!) for some great art and a terrific sense of humor! :)
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Here are what the kids came up with:


My son (6 1/2 yrs.) made a wire sculpture of our old doggie (my husbands favorite). I helped a little with the execution, but the idea and design were all his!!! :)

My daughter (12 yrs) designed this really cool skiing sculpture of her father. She worked really hard on this..............

Aren't they great?!? (Mom says proudly!!! LOL!!)

At Last!!!! Some art!! Happy Birthday, Hubster!

Quickie Update: Thank you to everyone who replied with comments and encouragement on this collage! I have made a decision to leave as is. "Whimsical" was a word used by someone ...... I like that! :)
Answer to lyrics question: Band: Styx. Song: Crystal Ball - 1976
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Whew!!! Kids back in school, a few house projects under my belt, and a little time for some art! YIPPIE!!!!
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Here is an altered canvas collage I made for my hubby's birthday. I hope he likes it. It is certainly not a unique idea, but the subject matter is quite unique to us! LOL!!!
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**This is an 11x14 inch canvas. I used several layers of acrylic paint (thinned with Matte Medium) for most of the layers. I used paper towels to blot the paint to create the textures. I (obviously) used blues and white. I did use some Micaceous Iron Oxide in the mix to "darken" things up a bit.
**I added some stamped flourishes and birds to the canvas. (Flourishes in acrylic paint, birds in Brilliance Black Ink)
**I printed the car image and the photos with my Inkjet printer and sealed them with PYMII. (Let me tell you a bit about Preserve Your Memories II sealer.....LOVE IT! I had NO smearing of the images when I slathered on Matte Medium, Gel Medium, and paint! Yeeha! This stuff is worth every cent!)
**I then added some song lyrics from one of my hubby's favorite bands. Who can tell me the name of the song and the band????
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I hope it is masculine enough......what do you think?? Is it too "foofy"? I tried to keep it pretty clean, but I HAD to add those flourishes!! LOL!!! :)

Coffee Gril Survey.........Ok, it's not art......but, kinda fun! :)

This is what I turned out to be..........a Plain Ole Cuppa Joe..........LOL!!!

You Are a Plain Ole Cup of Joe

But don't think plain - instead think, uncomplicated You're a low maintenance kind of girl... who can hang with the guys Down to earth, easy going, and fun! Yup, that's you: the friend everyone invites. And your dependable too. Both for a laugh and a sympathetic ear.

What Kind of Coffee Girl Are You?

Crayon Batik Background Technique

The latest background technique posted on the Yahoo Group: Arttechniques is:

Crayon Batik (by Glenda Bailey) It looked quick, fun, and colorful!! :)

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Here is my version!

Supplies I used:

Inexpensive Acrylic Paint

Foam Brush

Disposable Paper Cup

90lb. Watercolor Paper

Wax Paper

Crayons

Iron

Text Paper

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I started by randomly scribbling colors onto the Watercolor paper. Obviously, you could work with a pattern or specific color scheme...... use your imagination and have fun! :)

Crumple the paper over and over and use your muscles......even step on it! Get some good cracks goin' on here! :) Flatten out and lay onto heat protected/paint protected work surface. Cover with text paper and iron with hot/dry iron until crayon is melted.

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Mix a "dollop" of acrylic paint (I used purple......the darker the color, the more dramatic the veins) and a "smidge" of water. Mix with a foam brush. Slap on a good coat of the diluted paint over the entire piece. Allow to soak in for a minute. Cover with wax paper and iron until the excess paint has "evaporated" off........

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If desired (I did) you may cover with another light coat of the diluted paint and allow to air dry.

Here is what my wax paper looked like after I was done! Cool!

Here is the wax paper over text. Will be fun to play with as texture and overlays! Yeeha!

Other ideas:

Instead of Watercolor Paper use:

Mulberry paper, text weight paper, construction paper, text pages from dictionary or other books, deli paper, heavy duty paper towel, brown paper bag......

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In place of diluted acrylic paint use:

diluted dye reinker, diluted watercolors, diluted calligraphy ink.....

HAVE FUN!!!!!!

It's NOT just your Hubby's Garage!!

I was inspired by the show "B. Original" on DIY. They make some really funky stuff on that show, but I liked the epidsode when she worked with washers. These are really great for all sorts of things!! Check 0ut the episode for more fun ideas:

http://www.diynetwork.com/diy/shows_dbor/episode/0,3110,DIY_27276_45352,00.html

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I decided to do the Washer "Stencil" Technique with my Color Mists and watercolor paper. Now, you can use your imagination and think of all sorts of mediums and papers to use with this technique!!!! FUN!

For the first side of the paper, I decided to stencil directly over the white paper. I just laid the washers out in a random design and sprayed 2 colors over them.

On the other side, I sprayed down a layer of 2 colors first and THEN applied the washers over the Color Mists.

After the first side (with the white base layer) was partially dry, I sprayed some Copper Kettle over entire side. (My son helped me! :)

On the opposite side, I sprayed some Lemon Yellow over the washers. Some of the washers I laid down on this side "ink" side down and some ink side up. (these were the same washers I had covered with spray on the first side.....I did not clean them off!)

My son's comments were: "The pink and green one is pretty, Mommy" "The blue and green one is not pretty, but it's COOL! Look at all of the spots!" (LOL)

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Some other ideas for mediums:

Any color wash spray

Acrylic paints

Stamping inks- Dye and/or Pigment (use the washers as a stamp for some of the images and emboss them!)

Watercolors

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Other ideas for paper:

Glossy and/or Matte cardstock

Freezer paper

Mulberry paper

Deli paper

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Also.......check out your garage or hardware store for all sorts of stencil ideas. There are all sorts of washers, nuts, bolts, fixtures and gobs of other little gizmos that are cheap and would make interesting patterns!!!

Ann Baldwin Inspired Collage

I have the Ann Baldwin DVD - Telling Stories with Collage and Paint. (a birthday present to myself back in April! :) I really enjoyed the DVD and decided that I wanted to make an "Ann Baldwin" inpired collage for my In-Laws 50th Anniversary.

Thier party is in August and I'm waiting for some photos that I requested from them. In the meantime, I decided that I best do a couple of "practice" collages so they don't get my first attempt at this technique!! LOL!!

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Here is my first run:

8x10 stretched canvas. All of the images are from Twisted Papers. (the only exception is a very tiny image that you can't really see at the bottom of the canvas).

I pre-painted my canvas w/ a greenish acrylic base coat. I copied and cut out or tore out my images. (all inkjet printed on matte photo paper.) Then I glued all of my images down using Matte Medium.

I did some highlighting of the images with colored pencils. I added a white outline to the main image on the left. I think it makes her pop out a little more. Also added some color to her lips.

The blindfolded women and all of the wording come from one Vintage Ad image. These particular images were the ones that jumped out at me and screamed - USE ME!!! :)

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I have lots of layers of glazed acrylics and Titan Buff. I added textures with a crumpled kleenex and some molding paste, scratching with my fingers, and I also did some paint splattering. I sealed the final collage with some of my new PYMII.

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In person you can make out the words much better. They just don't show up well in the photo. You can see more detail, of course, if you click on the image to enlarge it.

Close up of men looking down on the woman on the left. The words say: "Now that her eyes are wide open"

Close up of the image on the upper right. Words: "She can't believe" "She can't see how she ever did"

Close up of the image on the lower right. Words: "Doubtful Woman"


Overall I'm pleased with my first attempt. I know I will do some things differently next time. I'm hoping to get one more practice collage done before I work on my final project! :)

I would very much appreciate any constructive feedback on this piece. I'm really trying to smooth out the look a little and I plan on my final collage for my In-Laws to be a little "cleaner". I don't think they would appreciate the excess "grungy-ness" of this particular piece. (although, I rather like it...........)

Please include your email address so I may contact you after you leave your comments! Thank you!!! :)

My Art Journal Collage..........

I signed up for an Art Journal Card swap with Belinda over at the Arttechniques Yahoo group. She generously sent out these really cool 5x7 inch playing cards to use for the collage. We are to do some personal journaling on the back of our cards for Belinda to read. I have not completed my journaling yet, but I know what I'm going to write about! :)

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This particular collage is a personal representation of my personality. It is my 2nd "life-of-its-own" collage. I knew I wanted to use the 2 main images, but the rest just sort of developed as I went along.

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Ms. Janet Leigh is my first Omin Gel Transfer. I left the "white fuzzies" on the back on purpose and glazed some acrylic color on the back before I attached her to the card. I just printed her image onto plain ol' white text paper with my HP inkjet printer. Overall, I'm very impressed on how the transfer turned out! (Thank you Queen Katherine!! :)

I used some paper towel for texture--this was some that I had used as a protective layer while spraying some Color Mists on other pieces of paper.

The funky metal object on the upper right corner is one of my treasures I found during my "shopping spree" with Sherre at the salvage yard. I just painted it with a few layers of acrylic glaze.

I finally spayed 2 light coatings of PYMII over the entire collage for a nice protective layer. (Great stuff! Check it out!)

Vintage Hawaiian Collage

Well, hello there!! :) Whew.....got the kids out of school, back from vacation, quit my job, and I'm ready to create! :) (with the kids home all summer, however, my creative time has drastically been cut until mid August) I'm looking forward to working on a few scattered projects throughout the summer and will hopefully have a little more creative time come this Fall.

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I adore Hawaii and have wanted to do a Hawaiian collage for a long time. I have been working on this off and on for several months...... I think I'm finally done! :)

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I found the main image surfing the web and I just love him! I have oodles of layers of acrylic paint, a few botched gel medium transparency transfers, and a few stamps (I have a great rubber stamp of vintage Hawaiian men......a bit of it shows on the upper right corner.) Believe it or not, there is some textured text pages hidden underneath everything........

I worked on an 8x10 inch canvas board. I mounted the canvas board to a bamboo placemat that I got at the Dollar Store! :) (I removed about 12 of the sticks and retied it) I added a few seashells and some sand from my son's sandbox.

(cat free!! Dont' worry!)

This is really my first freeform collage that went WAY beyond it's original design. I would really like to become more comfy with a more "free" syle of art/collaging.

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Here are a few close ups to see some of the detail. :)

I'd love feedback from you....... Let me know what you think! And, as always, feel free to ask any questions! :)

Don't forget to include your email address so I can post you back!

Toods for now.......off to cook some Mac 'n Cheese! :)