Quick and Easy Christmas Cards

                                              

There is a kind of long story about these Christmas cards.  Last year around this time, I went to Michael's and bought stuff on sale to make Christmas cards.  Two days later I was totally sick.  I think I picked up a bug while I was among the other shoppers at Michaels.  I didn't ever use any of the stuff I bought because by the time I was better, it was too late to make any Christmas cards.  I dug this stuff out this weekend and got busy.  I really like the Jenni Bolwin 12 x 12 Christmas paper that I'm stocking at Collage Stuff.  It's made into 4 different 6x6 patterns - perfect for Christmas cards.  I especially liked the December calendar pattern.  These are all very simple, but they are still handmade by me!  The Jenni Bolwin 12x12 paper that I used is on sale at Collage Stuff, so stop by and pick up a few sheets! You'll be glad you did!

Madonna and Child Swap

A Madonna and Child swap is being hosted at the VPI Yahoo Group.  I love religious imagery and religious icons, so I decided to join.  This is my entry.  My muse was not cooperative this weekend, so I am lucky to have these done! The base is some text scrapbook paper (thank goodness for my ever expanding stash of scrapbook paper!) overstamped with a scrolly stamp and embossed with gold detail embossing powder.  The Madonna image is from the Collage Stuff "Madonna" collage sheet.  I used 2 German scrap items from Collage Stuff - the Gold Churches and Gold Tiny Dot Border.  I just realized that the churches are perfectly sized for ATCs last night when I was making these. I have found that gel medium is the best adhesive for German scrap.  The gold churches German scrap has the churches, the halo, the angel and several other little coordinating items.  I added the blue gems to break up the gold.  I think I will also use this design for the Collage Stuff November ATC swap as it has a Christmas theme. Thanks for stopping by!

Cemetery ATCs

The October ATC swap theme at the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group was a cemetery angel theme.  I finished my ATCs for this swap last night.  I used vintage lotto cards, white doily flowers and red butterfly stickers from Jenni Bolwin (available at Collage Stuff).  The angel image is from the Collage Stuff "Angel Baby" collage sheet.  The small gold swan wings are available at Collage Stuff. I scanned in a vintage dictionary page to get the angel definition.  The angel was colored with Copic markers.  Thanks for stopping by!

November 4x4 page

For November's page, the recipient wanted a wedding theme.  So here it is!  I used a bunch of items from Collage Stuff:  The Family Weddings Collage Sheet, Victorian scrap, Gold German Scrap Frames, Gold Daisy Braid Border, 4" white doilies, and May Arts white floral lace.  I picked up the background stamp a while back on sale and used gold detail embossing powder.  Thanks for stopping by!

April Calendar Page

At the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group, I'm hosting a 2013 Handmade Calendar Swap.  This year, I am doing the April page.  Here's one of the April pages.  I used an image from Crow About Studio B at the Deviant Scraps website, Dylusions background stamps, a The Crafter's Workshop heart template,  Ranger Archival Inks, Pitt Artist Pens, sequin waste, washi tape, a computer generated calendar and little letter/number stickers.   This swap is my favorite swap that I host each year.

New Journal Pages

A couple of recent journal pages!  The second one uses images from Crow About Studio B at the Deviant Scrap website!  Enjoy and thanks for stopping by!

Canvas Board Collage

I am thinking about hosting a mixed media canvas swap at the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group, so I thought I should make some new canvases.  This is an 8"x 8" canvas board. I love the quirky images offered at Crow About Studio B at the Deviant Scrap website and used some of them.  If I have time, I will create some more new canvases and offer them for sale.  Creating art is very therapeutic for me. It seems to de-stress me and I need that.

Halloween Art

I host monthly ATC swaps at the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group.  This is my entry for September.  I love doggies and I love Halloween!  The doggie, hat, and  Halloween definition are from a Hidden Vintage Studios (Deviant Scrap website) image kit.  The papers are from the Chillingsworth Manor 6x5 paper pack available at Collage Stuff.  

I like to send Halloween cards to close friends and family members, so I turned some of the ATC's into greeting cards.  Each greeting card is very similar, but changed up a little bit.  The ribbon used on each greeting card is also available at Collage Stuff.

 

Thanks for stopping by to take a peek at my Halloween art!

October 4x4 page

For this monthly 4x4 swap, I've been getting my pages done at the first part of the month.  It's good to get them out of the way.  The theme for this month was "The Blues" and it is to be interpreted as each artist saw fit. The woman is from the Collage Stuff "Beautiful Blues" collage sheet.  It's one of my favorite collage sheets.  The background paper and Eiffel tower images are from TumbleFish Studio at Deviant Scraps.  The flowers are from a sheet of floral Victorian scrap available at Collage Stuff.  The beige May Arts lace and Eiffel tower charm are also available at Collage Stuff.  Thanks for stopping by!

New Postcard

I created this new postcard by photographing a page in my art journal.  I love doodling these funky flowers.  This postcard will begin shipping with orders in a few weeks.  Thanks for stopping by!

Asian-themed Art Journal Page

I finished up this page yesterday.  This page includes a bunch of Asian ephemera, vintage Japanese vocabulary cards, washi tape and an Asian themed playing card.  I used a yellow heavy body acrylic around the margins of the page to add some texture.  Thanks for stopping by!

Halloween ATC

I signed up for a Halloween ATC swap on the VPI yahoo group.  This is my design.The woman, hat, owl, clock, words and lace images are from a digital kit by Hidden Vintage Studios at the deviantscrap website.  The thin ribbon is from Collage Stuff.  Thanks for stopping by!

Art Journal Pages with Image Transfers and Doodled Flowers

 This is a page in my larger art journal.  It's about 9" x 12".  This one started out with a bunch of image transfers that are mostly covered up now.  The images were 2 postcards, one woman and a page of butterflies.  I used Gelatos, acrylic paints, gesso, gel sticks, Christy Tomlinson She Doodles, She Art Text, and News/Classified rubber stamps, Pitt pens, rub-ons, The Crafter's Workshop templates and sequin waste.

I have never really doodled flowers before, but doodling flowers was one of the lessons in the art journaling class I'm taking online from Christy Tomlinson.  This is my smaller art journal.  It's about 6" x 6". I got out the black Pitt pens and drew the flowers.  I colored in the flowers with colored Pitt pens, and Copic markers.  The yellow background is a yellow Pan Pastel.  The red border is done with a red Pan Pastel.  The final step was using a white Souffle pen.  The Souffle pens are dimensional.  I will add the journaling later.  The lesson here is that you don't have to know how to draw to draw some funky flowers.

I'm really enjoying this art journaling.  It's allowing me to try new things and just play!  There is no right or wrong way to art journal. There are a lot of online resources to get started art journaling.  Don't be afraid that you can't art journal.  You can!  Thanks for stopping by!

Art Journal Page with Ephemera Background

I've been wanting to work on this page since I got the background glued down.  The background is different pieces of vintage ephemera including a couple of photos that my friend Lin sent me.  Thank you, Lin! I drew the red hearts using a red Pan Pastels.  Wow!  This is the first time I've used my Pan Pastels and they are amazing.  The color is rich, but transparent.  Thanks for stopping by!

Art Journal Page with Gelatos

I used Gelatos to make the background on this page.  The flowers at the top were cut out of patterned  paper and colored with Gelatos.  I used ink sprays, various markers and paint pens, rubber stamps, and sequin waste as a stencil.  The final step was to add strips of a vintage dictionary page.  I'm loving this art journaling!  It's all about me!  Thanks for stopping by!

Vintage Halloween Chunky ATC Swap

There is a Vintage Halloween Chunky ATC Swap going on at the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group.  This is my entry.  It's very simple.  Thanks for stopping by!

Art Journal Page with Acrylic Paints

Here's a page that I finished this morning.  Weekends are great!  Time to actually do something besides work, even though I work at keeping up with Collage Stuff every weekend.  The background is acrylic paints.  I used a The Crafter's Workshop template, Christy Tominson She Art stamp, various other stamps, washi tape, flower trim and Pitt artist pens.  I'm really liking this art journaling.  It's art just for me.  I'm experimenting and that's always fun.  I'm taking an online art journaling class by Christy Tomlinson and I highly recommend it!  Thanks for stopping by!

Larger Art Journal

This journal is 8.5" x 11".  I used gelatos for the background color, acrylic paints, a Dylusions stencil, rubber stamps, black Pitt pens and a white paint pen.  The main image is from Crow About Stdio B at the deviantscraps website.  Thanks for stopping by!

today's art journaling

I've  been   thinking about how some big changes are going to be happening to a family member in the next few months.  The changes will be resisted, but they cannot be avoided.  Butterflies seemed perfect for an art journaling spread about change.  I used lots of stuff  for these pages - vintage chinese vocabulary cards, scrapbook papers, liquid pearls, paint, gelatos, rubber stamps and Pitt artist pens.  I started out with just yellow and green, but after I got the butterflies down, I added the blue with a Gelato.   Thanks for stopping by! 

Art Journaling

 I started this background on Monday night and last night added the images.  I used Dylusions spray inks, a Dylusions template, rubber stamps, Pitt artist pens, Liquid Pearls, vintage text, UK bus tickets, gesso, and Gelatos.  The images are from Crow About Studio B at the deviantscrap website.  I'm finding art journaling to be very cathartic.  Thanks for stopping by!

Art Journaling

I've been thinking about starting to art journal.  Today was a very stressful day and I decided that this was the perfect day to get started.  I've had this blank journal around for years.  It's about 6" x 6". The pages were too thin, so I glued a couple together.  I used acrylic paints, liquid pearls, Dylusions and The Crafter's Workshop templates, stamps, oil pastels,a white gel pen,a  black Spica glitter pen and gesso.  The girl image is from Tumble Fish Studios at the deviantscrap.com website.  I printed out the words and colored them with a Copic marker.  Thanks for stopping by!

September 4x4 page

This is my Halloween themed 4x4 page for September.  At the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group, we're sending 4x4 pages on a monthly basis.  For September, I needed a Halloween theme.  Halloween is my favorite holiday!  The background paper and little pharmacy labels are from the Theresa Collins Haunted Hollow 6x6 paper pack.  The background was made by using Pumpkin Liquid Pearls and The Crafter's Workshop Swiss Dot Template.  I placed the template over my text background, applied some Liquid Pearls to an old credit card and swiped the credit card over the top of the template. Remove the template and you're left with these cool shiny dots! The black spider web German scrap and Orange Scalloped Lace Border German scrap are from Collage Stuff.  The witch image is from Hidden Vintage Studios at deviantscraps,com.  Little orange, black and clear jewels were added.  To finish off the sides of the page, I edged them with a black Copic marker.  Thanks for stopping by!

Mostly finished mixed media ATCs

I made the backgrounds for these ATCs earlier in the week.  The backgrounds are very textured and colorful.  I decided that the final design had to be something simple.  Here are two examples of the designs I ended up with.  I still have to glue these to a sturdy base and then they will be finished.  A scrap of vintage lace, a large brass charm and a dictionary definition were enough.  This isn't the kind of ATC that I usually create, but it's good to step out of my comfort zone, good to experiment, and good to try something different!  Thanks for stopping by!

Backgrounds using modeling paste and templates

                 I bought some modeling paste so that I could play around with modeling paste and The Crafter's Workshop templates.  I started with Collage Stuff chipboard ATC blanks. I used the new Swirly Garden The Crafter's Workshop template.  I used an old credit card to apply the modeling paste over the stencil.  I let that dry.  I used Dylusions spray inks next.  I added a little water with a mister so that the colors would blend.  I blotted very gently with a paper towel.  After that dried, I sprayed a gold glimmer mist.  This is the original outcome of the experiment.          

I wondered what this would look like if I outlined the raised areas with a black Spica glitter pen.  Here's the result of this experiment.

  Of course the next step was to completely fill in the recessed areas with the black Spica glitter pen.

 For this one I filled in the recessed areas with a pale gold Krylon pen.

 I used a white gel pen to fill in the recessed areas on this one.

All of these examples started out basically the same, but by varying the recessed background, you can have totally different looks.  One thing I still want to do is to is to use a  dictionary page for the base and apply modeling paste.  I will be using these backgrounds to make ATCs for the Collage Stuff August ATC swap.  Thanks for stopping by!

July ATC Swap

The July ATC swap at the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group had a number theme, the number 3.  I am behind on getting mine done as usual.  I started out with a text scrapbook paper.  I overstamped it with the Collage Stuff Stylish Background rubber stamp and embossed with gold detail embossing powder.  The image of the women is from the Collage Stuff Two or More collage sheet.  I colored the women's dresses with Copic markers.  The bottom border is composed of 4 parts.  The very bottom layer is floral scrapbook paper die cut with the Tim Holtz Vintage Lace die.  Next is some vintage trim from Collage Stuff.  I added some Pink Mini Dot German scrap border from Collage Stuff as the third layer.  The last layer is the small brass flower charms from Collage Stuff.  I find that a gel medium works great to glue down things like the lace, German scrap and the charms.  I printed out the words glued them down.  The top embellishment is more Pink Tiny Dot German scrap and more of the little flower charms.  I edged the ATC with a gold Copic marker.  So there are 2 sets of 3 flowers, 3 women, and 3 words on this ATC for the number 3 themed swap!  Thanks for stopping by!

August 4x4 Page

I wanted to get my August 4x4 done for the Collage Stuff 4x4 page swap.  The first design I tried did NOT work, so I decided to go back to my normal collage style using lots of vintage ephemera.  I finally used my Tim Holtz Vintage Lace Die.  I've had it for ages, but never used it.  I don't have a Vagabond or all the cutting plates, so I always have to rig something up to cut dies in my die cutting machine.  The background is a doily pattern scrapbook paper.  I die cut a yellow 1950's-60's vintage bank check (Collage Stuff)  with the lace die.  The top left corner is a little piece of a white doily (Collage Stuff) that I colored green with a Pitt Artist's Pen.  The girl and the crown are from Tumble Fish Studios at the Deviant Scrap website. The crown image determined the remainder of the collage elements.  It has a butterfly and a flower.  The butterfly on the right is from a vintage dictionary page (Collage Stuff) and I colored part of it yellow with a Copic marker.  I dabbed a little Sandal paint on the playing card to tone it down.  The cigar band label, jewels and bird charm are all from Collage Stuff.  The words are from a vintage Japanese vocabulary card (Collage Stuff).  I have a ton of washi tape, so I used some on this page.  On the right side are two little pieces of a red/white No. washi tape.  The flower postage stamp image is also from a roll of washi tape.  Thanks for stopping by!

ATC Swap Returns

Some good mail today!  I got my swap returns back from the VPI Yahoo Group (Vintage Photo Image) "Road Trip" ATC swap.  Enjoy the wonderful art from the talented group members and thanks for stopping by!

Three More Dylusions Tags

Here are three more Dylusions tag for the Dylusions Tag Swap I'm hosting at the Collage Stuff Yahoo Group.  I decided to use the same images (mostly), but change out the colors.  The backgrounds are also made differently from the tags I made yesterday.  These are big tags!  They are around 4" x 8".  I think this large size tag is perfect for the larger Dylusions stamped images.  I will add fibers and ribbons to the tags. Next week I will have #8 and #10 manila tags in stock at Collage Stuff.  Thanks for stopping by!  Which tag is your favorite??

Last Dylusions Tag for Today

This is the last Dylusions tags for today.  The three tags are very similar, but not exactly alike!

Second Dylusions Tag

Here is another tag featuring Dylusions products and techniques!