Collage Stuff Calendar Swaps

At the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group, I host the ATC swaps and other swaps too, like the hand-made calendar swaps. We had enough participants for 2 calendars. This is the cover of the first calendar. I made the covers for both calendars.

January by Lori N.

February by Connie S.

March by Lisa R.

April by Dawn L.

May by Jan D.

June by Kelly H.

July by Sally B.

August by Linda E.

September by Lin C.

October by Shirley H.

Novemer by Marianne Y.

December by Vicky M.

Here's the second calendar.

January by Nessa M.

February by Susan M.

March by Debbie S.

April by Roxy F.

May by Heather H.

June by Lin C. (Lin took part in both calendars.)

July by Lynda R.

August by Martha Y.

September by Heather C.

October by Sara U.

November by Gina C.

December by Susan K.

A little more about the calendars. They are 4 x 6". Every page was hand-made. At least one Collage Stuff item was incorporated into each page. I love hand-made calendars. We'll do this again in 2010! Enjoy!

December Collage Stuff ATC Swap

The theme for the December Collage Stuff ATC swap is "Artist's Choice." I chose cemetery imagery. The woman is one of my all time favorite cemetery images. She's from the "Broken" collage sheet. I colored her with my Copic markers. The door in the background is from the "Pastel Doors" collage sheet. It's a transparency. I didn't like the way it looked on the background, so I painted the back of the transparency with manilla paint. The background is a piece of a vintage book page. I stamped a scrolly stamp on it first with black ink. I mixed manilla and yellow paint together to lighten the yellow and smeared the paint around over the stamped text. The paint is somewhat transparent, so you can still see the stamping underneath. I used the same stamp and stamped on top of the paint. This is an easy way to make a background interesting - gives it a layered look. After I glued down the main images, I used a corner rounder on the top edges and swiped all of the edges on a black ink pad. The Black Scalloped Lace German scrap border adorns the bottom of the ATC. I put Rock Candy Distress Stickles on the exposed background. The gold and black stars are actually confetti and the stickles is enough glue to hold them on. This is a simple design and that's what I need. I need to make about 20 of these for the swap.

Happy Holidays, everyone!

October Collage Stuff ATC Swap

Every month at the Collage Stuff yahoo group, we have an ATC swap. October's theme was "Vintage Children." I'm always the last one done with my ATC's. One reason this is true is because I don't know how many I need to make until all of swap ATC's come in. Usually, it's mid-month of the following month before all of the swap ATC's are in my hands. For the October swap, I need to make 14-16 ATC's. That means I have to have an ATC design that will go quickly so that I can replicate it over and over in one afternoon. It still has to be something I like though. Before I can swap the ATC's, I have to photograph or scan one ATC from each participant. Then I crop and size the photos and upload them to the Collage Stuff swaps page. Doing these swaps each month, takes a fair amount of time.

In the construction of this ATC, I used the following Collage Stuff products: Stylish Background Rubber Stamp, Samantha Collage Sheet, Nesting Collage Sheet, Cigar Trim Labels and a Brass Bird Nest Charm. I colored the Samantha image with my Copic markers.

Have you tried the Liquid Watercolors? You can buy them at any art supply store online - Dick Blick etc. I used the Gold Liquid Watercolor on this ATC. The Gold Liquid Watercolor is incredibly shiny.

Back to work on the ATC's!

Altered Christmas Collage Sheet

Here's another new collage sheet for Christmas! I like the woman with the round glasses and the boy is also on the "Calvin" collage sheet.

New Collage Sheets

I know that many people like the Collage Stuff postcards, but haven't able to get all of them with orders. This is the second collage sheet of just Collage Stuff postcards. The girl at the top left - she was only a postcard in the sepia color. I almost had her printed in the lavendar tones, so I decided to include this variation on this collage sheet.

Here's a collage sheet that's made from the Christmas Dreams postcard. When I use these images, I'm going to color the girl with my Copic markers, It will give her a completely different look.

Second new postcard for today

Here's the second and last Christmas postcard for this year. I love this little girl image. She's adorable.
I decided that I liked this postcard so much, that I am having it printed like a real postcard you can send through the mail. The back will look like a divided postcard back, with a set of lines for the mail to address and etc. I'm having it printed as a mailable postcard and as a free postcard included with Collage Stuff orders. If you like this and you'd like to send this as a Christmas postcard, I'll have them in stock soon!

Christmas Postcard

The holidays are drawing near, so that means it's time to get some Christmas postcards done. The boy is from the Andrew Collage Sheet. He's a cute little guy!

Calendar Cover Again

I sat down tonight to make my previously designed cover page and I decided that I didn't like it. I started over again. This is what I came up with and I'm running out of time. I have to come up something I like and go with it. I think this will do. The only thing I will add is a little bling - either some jewels or glitter.

Front of the house book page

Woo hoo! The front of the house book page is done. It's not dry yet. I put the rock candy distress crackle inside the frame where the woman is. That's why it looks odd. Hopefully, it will dry and look cool!

I started out with some scrapbook paper that had postcards on it. I glued that down. Next I glued down two bits of vintage sheet music. I cut the butterflies out of some wrapping paper and glued those down. I overstamped all that with coffee ink and a new text stamp that I bought at Hobby Lobby at 50% off.

The lemon image - a friend gave me this one. I sized it and glued it down.

The woman image is one that I don't have on a collage sheet yet. It's a sepia-toned image. I printed it out and colored it with my Copic markers. The background was a dark brown and I didn't like it. The scissors take care of the background - snip, snip! I always like vintage text for backgrounds, so I used an old English/French dictionary page. I used a yellow Copic marker on the frame to lighten it up a bit. I glued the woman on next.

I used a yellow Copic marker to highlight/frame the edges of everything I glued down. I used a little beige-colored Golden glaze in a few places - squirted it on my finger and rubbed it around.

I used my sequin waste as a stencil with coffee ink to make the dots. So by now, it's all looking good except I have this blank space off to the left side of the woman image. What to do? I tried several things. Some of my ideas tanked. I was going to put glue three buttons down and have the rick rack be the stems - like button flowers with rick rack stems. It didn't work. I was going to put rick rack across the bottom and then I got the idea that you see. I drew lines with diamond glaze and stuck the rick rack down on the glue. Where the rick rack crossed, I added an old button. I thought it looked cool!

I smudged the edges of the house with coffee ink. Now for the woman in the frame. I could have gone with glossy accents to make it look like glass, but I didn't. I used the rock candy distress crackle paint. It's on thick over the woman's face and it's still not dry yet, but I think it will be OK. After it's all dry, I might take some brown ink and rub it in the crackles. We'll see.

I haven't worked with brown for a long time, so it's good that I was able to work in brown for this house book page. Lately I've been working with bright colors.

House Book Page

As usual, I am behind on my art deadlines. I have to have a house book page in the mail ASAP. There is at least one thing that you can't really see in this photo. The entire background is painted with the new clear Rock Candy Distress Crackle Paint. It will be available for purchase at Collage Stuff Halloween weekend.

I can't go into detail on how I made this. I could never make this exact same thing again. I've used images from the Collage Stuff Daisy, Catnip Designs Nesting and Collage Stuff Feathered Friends collage sheets. There's a brown bingo card blank in here. The word is torn from an English vocabulary card. I've used vintage text. Daisy is colored with Copic markers. I used weathered wood disress ink and archival coffee inks. Everything is dimmed down and distressed by using a Golden glaze and manilla paint. I used my crackle stamp and a new scroll type stamp that I just bought on sale at Hobby Lobby. Love those 50 off sales!

To sum up, it's all very weathered and distressed looking. I like doing this kind of art. It's not often that my muse cooperates! Now I just have to get the other side done.

Another Halloween ATC

This is a Halloween ATC design that I had to get done today. The base is a black illustration board ATC blank from Collage Stuff. I cut a chipboard ATC blank smaller to fit on the base and covered it with this yellow-orange scrapbook paper.

I overstamped the scrapbook paper with the Collage Stuff Stylish Background stamp in black ink. The image is from the Crafty Secrets Halloween Journal Notes (available at Collage Stuff). I sized the image smaller and overstamped it with a crackle stamp and black ink. I glued it down diagonally on the scrapbook paper.

The little pumpkin in the corner is from the Collage Stuff Crone and Cat Victorian Scrap. I glued it down next and then added the two strips of ribbon at the bottom. Before I glued down the ribbon, I inked the edges of the scrapbook paper with a blank ink pad.

I added three of the Tim Holtz Mini Fasteners at the right side of the large image and spread Rock Candy Distress Stickles around the large image. I glued this completed piece on to the black illustration board base and glued the button on the ribbon down last.

Happy Halloween!

New Collage Sheets

This first new collage sheet is called "Elizabeth and Friends." These images are of Queen Elizabeth I and others. They are from vintage tea cards. This is a low resolution image. The images are all clear on the full size collage sheet.

This new collage sheet is called "Pastel Doors 2" - not very imaginative, I know, but somewhat descriptive. This door is in a Paris cemetery. I made it different sizes and colors. The original door is the white one.

This new collage sheet is called "Pastel Doors". This image is also from a Paris cemetery. I refined it to bring out the scrollwork and changed up the colors. The orinigal image is not on this collage sheet. The original is dark and one of these days, it may be on another collage sheet.

These new collage sheets will be available at Collage Stuff this weekend.

New Cover Design

I worked and worked on the previous cover design and still did not really like it, so I started over. I decided that something simpler would be better. So here's what I came up with. The background paper is actually a light pink with darker pink tiny flowers.

I further refined the color of the door until I got this. I like this better. It's lighter yet and you can see all of the scrollwork in the door better. I colored the little girl with my Copic markers. If you like to color, try the Copic markers. You'll love them.

I stamped the background with one of my favorite text stamps and purple distress ink. I only used the purple ink for stamping. The little bird stamp is from Collage Stuff - the "our bird friends" rubber stamp sheet. Purple paper in the corners overstamped with the Collage Stuff stylish background stamp were applied. The door and girl were glued down next.

I cut the "branch" myself with scissors and the bird is from a punch. I put too much glitter on really. Glitter is on the branch, the little stamped birds and the stamped scrolls on the corners. The words went on last. I smooshed the purple ink on all of the page edges.

I like this. It's simple. I can easily make 13 copies of this and get them done on time. We are all our own worst critics and my inner critic wants more stuff on this. I'm going to hold myself back this time and leave the design as is.

What's wrong with this picture???

One of things I wanted to accomplish this weekend was to get my cover design done for the second Collage Stuff hand-made calendar. This is what I came up with. I liked the background, but something just looked off to me. After looking at this for a while, I finally realized what I didn't like. The door is too dark. Everything else is light and airy. So, what to do? Change the color of the door.

I changed the color of the door in my digital imaging software, and did a QUICK cut and paste to see if I'd like the design better with a lighter door. Here it is:

Now, I think the door meshes better with the background and I like this. Problem solved!
I'm not sure if I'll keep the word "calendar" on here or not. I think I'll probably just go with the 2010 on the door. This is a handmade calendar swap, but the digital imaging certainly is helping me with the design.

Calendar Cover Design Done

At the Collage Stuff yahoo group, we're doing hand-made calendars. We have two calendars going. Here is the cover for one of the calendars! I'm always happy to get a design done.

The calendars are 4" x 6" and will be bound at the top. I like this size. It's not too big. I get intimidated by a large blank canvas.

The background is my usual. It starts out with a vintage book page. I used the Collage Stuff "Stylish Background" stamp with "Dusty Concord" Distress Ink. I stamped it around randomly covering the text. I dotted on some gold paint with a Ranger gold paint dabber and smooshed it around with my hands. Before the gold paint was totally dry, I added some "Fresco Cream' Golden Glaze and smooshed it all over with my hands. This diluted the gold and spread it around all over the text. I over stamped this when it was dry with the same stamp and the concord ink. I needed to bring some pink in, so I put some "Magenta" liquid watercolor on a paper towel and dabbed this around.

The black text and checks are Seven Gypsies Etchings Rub-ons. These are discontinued Seven Gypsies products, but I was able to order them at the Summer CHA show. I love them. I put them around randomly. They didn't want to stick to the paint very well. They would do better if the paint was drier, I think.

At the top and bottom of the page, I used one of my all time favorite art things, drywall tape. You can buy this at any home improvement store. I cut it in half lengthwise and painted it with the gold paint dabber. I also dabbed on a little of the magenta liquid watercolor.

The butterfly wings are from the Catnip Designs "Wings and Things" collage sheet (available ONLY at Collage Stuff). The woman's face (my favorite woman's face) is from the Collage Stuff "Fabulous Faces" collage sheet. I glued them down next and smooshed a little of the "Fresco Cream" glaze over them to dull them down just a bit. I added four 2mm Amethyst Swarovsky crystals to the wings. I glued down a large gold Paris clock button.

The bottom needed something and I thought of ribbon. I found this black and white ribbon in my stash. I like this as it is another graphic element that compliments the black rub-ons. I glued down the ribbon, tied a little ribbon bow and glued the bow on.

I generated the words at the Acme Labelmaker website and glued them down. I went around the edges of the page with a black ink pad.

This one, the prototype and model, will be my cover for my calendar. I have to make 12 more. When I have to make multiples of something, inevitably, they change a little as I go on. I need to finish the back. I'll glue down some vintage text and probably generate a digital image with my contact info and some butterflies to put on the text.

One more cover to design - next weekend!

Halloween ATC

The Collage Stuff swap for September is a Halloween theme. And as usual, I am late getting mine done. I tried to make Halloween ATC's last weekend and they were not so good. I like this design.

I started out stamping the cat from the Tim Holtz "Spooky Stuff" stamp set on a white ATC blank. I made a mask of the stamped image. I masked the image. I used the splat stamp from the same set and stamped it with red ink all over the ATC. I used purple ink with a blending tool and filled in all of the white spaces.

I bought several of those little $1 clear stamp sets for Halloween at Michael's and JoAnn's. The words are from these stamp sets. I over-stamped the ATC with the October 31 stamp in blank ink.

Originally, this would have been the completed ATC, but it wasn't working. So continuing on. I tore the cat image out and inked the edges with blank ink. I covered another ATC blank with a vintage dictionary page and inked up the parts that would show with purple ink.

I stamped "fright night" on the Group 9 poison label and positioned the label at the top of the new ATC background. I glued on the prepared kitty and inked the edges of the ATC with black ink.

The finishing touch is the black spider brad. I have black bat and spider brads. Either will do nicely.

The Tim Holtz stamps, brads and poison labels are all available at Collage Stuff. Plenty of fun spooky stuff for your Halloween art at my store!

Bracelet Again - Only Better!

Today I purchased some silver colored beads and smaller Stretch Magic. I had plenty of other things I should have been doing, but decided to restring my bracelet that I made earlier this week. Here it is. I like it much better with the silver beads!

Back of House Page

This page is done! I'm happy! I can get this in the mail. This page was created by gluing different scrapbook papers and vintage text on the house shape. I used my blending tool to add the Faded Jeans and Walnut Stain distress inks. I over stamped with my Acanthus stamp and embossed with gold detail embossing powder.

The Marie image is from the Catnip Designs "Let Them Eat Cake" collage sheet. I put the image in a gold oval frame German scrap. It is highlighted by gold ivy German scrap. The text is from the same collage sheet and I added a small gold crown to the text.

This page is pretty plain and honestly, it didn't turn out like I planned. My muse left me in the middle of creating this page. ACK!

House Book Page

I got in the new Catnip Designs Marie collage sheets. I've been anxious to play with them! The main image is from the "Let Them Eat Cake" collage sheet. The first photo is the finished piece. The second photo is the almost finished piece. I'm showing them both to illustrate the difference between the two. In the top photo, I colored Marie with some Copic markers. Which do you like best???

The arch is an iridescent white German scrap archway and the scrolls are the iridescent white fountain scrolls. I discovered today that the iridescent white color is very versatile. I smooshed Tim Holtz antique linen ink over the white. I let it dry and then very gently took a Tim Holtz black soot ink pad and skimmed it across the scrap. Both ink colors show up. The look is very antique, but the iridescence shines through. I love it!

To make the background, I glued down some striped scrapbook paper. I used my Acanthus stamp and stamped with embossing ink. I used Tim Holtz antique linen embossing power to emboss. I used a coordinating blue scrapbook paper for the roof and glued down bits of vintage dictionary pages. I used the Tim Holtz blending tool with weathered wood ink over most of the background.

I glued Marie on a vintage dictionary page. Next I glued on the prepared arch. I tore the entire image from the page. I wanted Marie to extend beyond the arch. I used my blending tool and weathered wood ink on the dictionary page edges of the main image. The Marie image was glued down. The "her royal highness" text is also from the "Let Them Eat Cake" collage sheet.

I used two prepared fountain scrolls; one on the left side. I cut the other putting part at the top of the roof and other part at the bottom right. I glued on aquamarine Swaroksky crystals on the scrolls in a few places.

I colored Marie's skin with a skin-tone Copic marker, Milky White and outlined her with a Snow Green marker. I like her better with a little more color.

The images, dictionary pages, German scrap and crystals are all available at Collage Stuff.

On to the back of the page next!

I can't make jewelry, but .....

I love these new religious icon beads that I just got in stock. I wanted to make something with them. Never mind that I don't know how to make jewelry. I can try and besides, this is just for me. I have a few beads and some Stretch Magic, so I went to work! It's a little big. I have these tiny stick-like wrists (and that's the only thing that's tiny about me). I like this! It's colorful and fun. Some plain silver beads would probably look better than the beads I used between the religious icon beads, but I didn't have any. These religious icon beads will be available for purchase at Collage Stuff this weekend. I'd love to see what someone that knows how to make jewelry can do with these beads.