A Little Fishy

Well, I guess I liked the ATC that I made for the Paper Traders WTA lotto, a little too much, that I had to make one for myself to keep. So here it is. It is a bit different, along the same lines, with the same products, but of course each one is an original, so it is unique.

Go Fish

Here is my latest little art piece. It is an ATC. I have been really sick the last 3 days, and I think I am going stir crazy. At first I thought it was just allergies, but now I think I have a really bad sinus infection, because I can't breathe, and my throat hurts so bad. Anyway, I can't lay down because if I do, I really can't breathe, so I decided if I am going to have to be vertical I am going to do something with myself. So, I tried doing some art.

I didn't get very far because I am having a hard time thinking clearly, but slow and steady I made this little ATC for the Winner Takes All Paper Traders lotto. I am calling it "Go Fish".

The fish on the left side is set with pop dots, which gives him a little dimmension, and his little bubbles are epoxy letters. The fish eyes have been touched with crystal lacquer and the leaves have green glitter on them. Both fish are embellished with metallic gold pen, to give them that shimmer as they "swim". The entire card is then trimmed in gold as well.

This House Is Me

This is page two in my art journal. The journal prompt was to draw or create a house that shows the essence of you. I guess I was feeling a little childish when I colored my house, because I made it very rainbow, and I colored it with cheap little kids watercolor paints from the department store. I intended to make flower boxes under the windows when I got done with coloring it, but then I wanted to keep it really simple, so I didn't draw them in. I was also feeling rather dreamy as I was drawing- hoping for someday to have a home. Not a large home, but one with a pitched roof, and foyer. (Not a mobile home like we live in now.) I know they are big dreams, but they are dreams, and if I don't dream, then I will not have anything to work for right? Now, I am not sure that I want a rainbow colored house. No! I think maybe a sage, or gray colored one, with white trim, and maybe a white picket fence. Very traditional looking, but I am not really picky. I suppose if someone gave me a rainbow colored house I would be thrilled, and I would save my pennies and repaint it someday!

Tin Box

This page is the third page in my art journal. My first digital page. The prompt was to journal something that you are grateful for. At the time, I was feeling rather bummed out because it had been raining non-stop for almost two weeks, and we had this stupid hole in the roof because of the old air conditioner (that didn't work mind you) that leaked like a sieve. Our family is crammed in a trailer house and I had this stupid bucket full of water sitting in the middle of the hallway floor. Needless to say, I think this prompt came at just the right moment, because I needed to really dig inside myself.
Even though I cuss it often, I am truely grateful to live here. We have a HUGE yard, and we are able to do just about anything we want to with the place, and the landlord did fix the hole in the roof- he just couldn't fix it while the rain was pouring because the tar wouldn't seal if it is wet, or cold.
I took a picture of the "ugly" door that is covered in bathroom tub surround- it is interesting to say the least, but now at least it is waterproof. :0) I do have a lovely pot of flowers that was a gift from a friend for helping with her daughters wedding reception. They are so lovely that they look so out of place there, but I love them so much, I don't care!

Art Journal Prompt

I am a member of an all womens Yahoo group, and we have been working on some Art Journal Prompts. This is the information on the prompt:

A Spiral - Art Prompt

~the spiral is seen as a universal symbol for growth, movement, and change.

What does the symbol of a Spiral mean to you?

*Paint, Collage, Doodle, Sculpt, Quilt, Journal, Digitize ... a spiral that originates from deep within your heart center and spirals out into your world surrounding you.

This is the spiral I created, it originated with a photograph of my daughter printed on canvas. The spiral is then done with oil pastel, and some white gesso. I also used some gesso and colored pencil to achieve the flow for her hair. I added the gem for a necklace, and the rhinestones, wings, and crown for accents.

Bog of Eternal Stench

I have not had a chance to put anything up on my blog in quite awhile. I have been so busy lately! I have been doing a lot with art, but I have not actually gotten a ton completed. One of the things that I NEEDED to get finished was the pages for Nadines Mythical Creatures Round Robin Journal for our Paper Traders group. She has so many wonderful pages so far, that I was feeling REALLY intimidated by them, and was having a hard time finding my muse. I ended up doing part of it, and then setting it aside for awhile, and then picking it back up and finishing it. The Hoggle character on the left side and the Ludo character on the right side are raised with foam tape, and there are places on the bog that are brushed with a "soupy" green metallic watercolor wash. The owl is watercolor washed with gold.

In the top left corner I attatched, with green eyelets, a "melted" transparency that was also sponged with the green metallic color that was mixed with gel medium so it would stick to it. Printed on it is a conversation from the movie "Labyrinth" that occurred between Sarah, the main character and Hoggle, her "best friend" but the one who is supposed to be leading her astray, but doesn't have the heart to do anything mean; and Ludo, the large creature who doesn't really know very many words, but also has a kind heart, and is trying to help Sarah to reach the castle in time to find her baby brother Toby.

Mothers

(I am not sure who to give credit for this image, but it is lovely!)

Today is Mothers Day. A day for my mom to be celebrated. A day of thankfulness, for gratitude for that special lady that gave me birth. I am so blessed to have her in my life, and to share special moments with. Thank you mom for all you are to me. I love you!

Altered Journal - cover

Hi all-

This is the cover to my art journal.

It started out as a baby book. It was printed paper, light blue with darker light blue printed baby words. For one, I don't have babies at home anymore, and I never did have a boy. But I found this little book in the clearance at a shop that was going out of business, and it is the perfect size for me to play with.

SO....I altered it.

First I gave it a going over in streaks up and down and side to side with white gesso.

Let it dry, and then started adding things.

The letters are adhesive rub-ons, (you rub them on, and then when you pull the top paper off, they are sticky) I then glittered them.

I put down the images of the birds, and then the chipboard flowers in the corner.

When that was all dry, I gave it all a wash with pearlescent watercolor.

I did not really like the way it covered up the glitter, so I took a wet paper towel and tried to remove the watercolor from just the glitter letters. It seemed to work out ok.

When that was all good and dry, I added some glitter heart clear backed stickers here and there.

It looks quite pearly in real life, but I realize it is hard to see in the scan.

Because of the rings, it ended up getting a lot of light in on the left side, and the pearl finish doesn't really show.

It was pretty easy to do, but was kind of fun to see it just come together. No planning- just "plopping" as I call it.

Anyway- Hope you like it.

Girls in Hats

This is an ATC I made to give away. It is actually for Connie who won the Winner Takes All lotto on Paper Traders. She already had one of the cards that I put up, so I made this one as a replacement.

A Day of Reflection

Easter is upon us. It is such a great time for reflection. The following picture is one of my favorites. It just makes me feel humbled.

Bottled Fairies

Connie is hosting a swap on Paper Traders. It is pretty open-ended. Just make two fairies tucked in a bottle. You can decorate them however you want.

I guess I was thinking blue when I made mine. (I also made an extra as a gift, but it is red.)

My FAVORITE Song - (right now anyway)

I am sure you have all seen and heard the new JCPenney commercial. I just had to find out who sings that song, because I absolutely love it! I love this YouTube video.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LJCtpBNsQlI
Please go check it out! It is beautiful. I have included the lyrics below.

Killing The Blues
by Robert Plant and Alison Krauss

Leaves were falling,
Just like embers,
In colors red and gold, they set us on fire,
Burning just like a moonbeam,
In our eyes.

Somebody said they saw me,
Swinging the world by the tail, bouncin' over a white cloud,
Killing the blues.

Now I am guilty,
Of somethin'...
I hope you never do, because there is nothing,
Sadder than losing yourself in love

Somebody said they saw me,
Swinging the world by the tail, bouncin' over a white cloud,
Killing the blues.

(music plays)

Now you've asked me,
Just to leave you,
To go out on my own, and get what I need to.
You want me to find, what I've already had.

Somebody said they saw me,
Swinging the world by the tail, bouncin' over a white cloud,
Killing the blues.

Somebody said they saw me,
Swinging the world by the tail, bouncin' over a white cloud,
Killing the blues.

"Owls"

I am posting a couple of pages that I have done lately for a Round Robin Journal swap, for Paper Traders yahoo group. Below is the "Owls" I did for Marion's book Deep Sea of Poetry, and then the "Chooks" I did for Jenene's book Backyard Chook Shed.

I have been busy lately trying to catch up on some Round Robin Art Journals. There was a bit of a mailing mix-up, and the journals got stuck over the Christmas package overload. Anyway, I received three to work on, and to get done quickly. I have finished the second one which is for Marion. (The first was Jenene's chook shed.)
I chose to do the pages with these beautiful pictures from an old childrens educational book. The images are gorgeous, but had absolutely no color. They were just rather flat, so I spent some time chalking them oh so carefully. The eyes are a rich gold color, and the feathers are several tones of browns. The beak is a grey and brown mix, and the branch is a sage and grey mix. It was a lot of fun to see these birds come to life.
The background of the page was also a ton of fun to do. My mom taught me how, by taking white gesso, and brushing it on with a prickly paint brush. It was fun how the bristles make the cool stroke look. Then when it was all done and completely dry, I distress inked the edges, to give it that old look.
Then I added the birds and the fun owl poem.

"Chooks"

I finally finished my pages for Jenene's Round Robin Journal. I loved the topic of the Backyard Chook Shed. In Australia, the chicken is called a chook. I really enjoyed doing these pages. The background images are from 1913. I thought they were perfect for this topic. The roosters in the forground are rub-ons. I thought the quote was quite funny as well.I included with the book a little gift for Jenene. It is a small stuffed rooster. I tied a tag around his neck in case she wanted to string it on the book. I also added a rub-on to the tag, and included the following poem on the back.

Chook-Chook-Chook

Chook, chook, chook-chook-chook.

Good Morning, Mrs. Hen.

How many children have you got?

Madam, I’ve got ten.

Four of them

Are yellow,

And four of them

Are brown,

And two of them

Are speckled red—

The nicest in the town!

Some of my Art

I have added a preview to my Flickr site on the right side of this page. It shows a preview of some of my latest art. You can click on any of the images and it will take you directly to my flickr site, where you can see several pages of what I have been up to lately.
Thanks for looking- Enjoy!

My Header Art

This is a collage that I made in the late fall of 2007 for a calendar submission for the yahoo group Paper Traders. I had so much fun cutting out photos of flowers from magazine articles, and pasting them down onto a flowered scrapbook paper. Then I used a clear gel medium to decopage over the images. I then cut out some victorian scrap of flower fairies, and started tucking them here, there and everywhere amongst all the flowers. I finally added a large orange silk flower with a decorative brad as the center, then I tucked a couple more fairies in amongst the petals of the silk flower. It was such a fun project. The calendar can be purchased from Cafe Press until the 2009 calendar is produced. Below is a full picture of my original art.