scissors + paper + glue + pen(s)

just a few recent journal pages to show that you don't really need a boatload of 'art' supplies to do art journaling, depending on your artistic style and/or mood. Sometimes I really like making pages loaded with layers-- paint, stencils, stamps, collaged paper, tape, images, etc. etc. And then, sometimes I really like just the basics (well, my basics, anyway): paper, scissors, glue, and pen(s) or marker(s). 

Hello, Kitty!

This page is mainly strips of patterned scrapbook paper, a floral design cut from SB paper, and a cute Japanese kitty I got from somewhere (I think it was Japanese note-paper or something), all glued down with a glue stick. (In all honesty, there is also a bit of lime green ink edging the kitty, but that wasn't really necessary.) I may write on this page later, I may not- but I probably won't add much of anything else to it design-wise.

Umbel

To be perfectly truthful, while the page above is 'only' paper, glue, and pens, there's a lot of different kinds (of both pens and paper). The papers range from origami to handmade imported, scrapbook paper, vintage book text, and hand-made marbled paper (on the right edge of the page). The pens used on this page are mostly Sakura gelly roll glaze pens, along with my trusty Signo white gel pen. My art supply collections have evolved and grown over time (helped along by the fact that I also scrapbook- and the fact that I'm a bit of a packrat, lol!). 

But, you don't need a huge collection of supplies to art journal; you can make journal pages with only plain paper and a ballpoint pen or a pencil if you want, or if that's all you have. (I have quite a few doodled pages in my journals that started out that very same way!)

Quote

Another page made with various papers, pens (only 2 to 3 pens were used here), and my trusty glue stick. I made the page frame with various papers, wrote the quote with a black pen, embellished a few of the paper designs with colored pens, and did a bit of doodling with the black pen. A couple more things I want to point out on this page: 1) I made a mistake on this page! I mis-wrote the word 'talk' in the quote, so I re-wrote it on a separate piece of paper and glued it right over the top. 2) my writing is not 'perfect' or 'artistic'  here: I can't write straight, and no matter how much I might try, I don't have a 'flowy, artistic' style of handwriting. 

Just a couple more lessons for me (and maybe you, if you're reading) to take to heart: it's your journal, and it doesn't have to be perfect. It has to reflect your moods and your (current) artistic style, and be full of supplies and techniques that you like. 

what?!? really?!? why yes, it IS another SB page!

In fact, it is the second in the series of pages from my ArtFest trip. (yeah, I know, I need to blog about two of my classes yet... and now that I think about it, I never did blog about the Three Day for the Cure yet, either... bad blogger!! but, I have to go with the inspiration when it hits, you know??)

I think I've finally got over my expectation that I need to scrap chronologically... finally!! That's how I worked when I started scrapbooking, and it really felt "forced" after a while, you know? Somehow, it made the page layouts feel really boring: day 1 of a trip, day 2 of a trip, etc. Day one of my trip to ArtFest would have been: traveling to Seattle, driving to Fort Worden, and walking around the fort. It makes for a good story, but I just didn't think all those photos would "go together visually" on the same page. For instance, this page is titled "snippets" and is photos of different things I wanted to include in the SB layouts, but they were taken at different times during the trip. The finished page is below:

22222222222222 < <---------- Ariel the cat says hi!!

There are photos from the ferry trip on the first day (me, the skyline, and waiting for the ferry), the video game was from the ferry ride as well, the Tsunami evacuation route sign was from later that day, and the photo of my dorm space was from the last evening, when I had to pack everything up. Pics of different things, which is why I titled it snippets. The snippets theme is how I came up with the page border idea, too-- bits and pieces of the different paper patterns in the set that I'm using for all these photos. Again, sort of blending the styles of "art journaling" and scrapbooking / hiliting the photos. (...do you think it's working?? I think it is, at least for these photos!)

(as an aside: $1 a play!?! when did video games get so expensive? I was going to play a game of PacMan for nostalgia's sake, but not for that price!)

A closeup of some of the border details; some of the things are popped up with 3D foam tape, the strips were all cut by hand, so they don't all fit together perfectly, and I've doodled on some of it with my sparkle and glaze gel pens. I like it-- and that's what matters, right?? 2 pages down, and 4 or 5 more to go. (from this trip, that is... lol!!)

some crafting has been going on...

I just haven't had much "crafting mojo" lately, but I have done a couple things. (I've got a lot of things half-finished; it's completing them that's the issue, as usual, but more so lately.)

I got out my collection of cigar bands again, and decoupaged them onto a glass saucer I scored at the thrift store. The saucer is only 6 inches across, but it still took a fair number of cigar bands to fill in. I stuck with a more limited number of cigar brands, to make a fairly symmetrical design with a somewhat more subdued color palette.

I started by printing out a clip art image from my computer for the center design, but our printer ink isn't water-resistant, so I had to change my idea. I like what I ended up with, though: two Indian Tabac cigar bands that I trimmed to fit the center part of the plate. These plates take a while to decorate, and are actually quite messy to do (I get gel medium all over everything while I'm working on them!), but I really like the way they turn out when they're done. This plate is for sale in my Etsy shop, so if you know a cigar aficionado who needs someplace to put paperclips on their desk, or something to corral their loose change on their dresser, this is a perfect gift for them!! (another reason to check out my Etsy shop: the site recently changed the formatting for individual shops, so it's been redesigned a bit to make the format wider, with larger pictures... the design isn't quite final yet, but I think it shows off the items nicely! And of course, all sales right now will go towards my 3-Day for the Cure fundraising for breast cancer!!)

These tags are part of a huge pile of manila shipping tags that I hand-dyed over the last couple weeks... I have a somewhat limited choice of inks to use, but these were made by mixing butterscotch yellow and a barn red, to come up with a nice fall-ish orange color. I stamped them with Pumpkin StazOn ink, then added a couple touches of vintage dictionary paper.

I love the glowing orange color; it reminds me of autumn. (Which isn't here in AZ yet, unfortunately- it's been hot and humid, with very infrequent monsoon storms. The storms don't even clear out the humidity.) These tags are also for sale in my Etsy shop- check them out, along with others, in the Tag and Bookmark section of my shop. Look for more crafting soon. if I can remember to post the pictures, that is... :D

if you love paper, you have to check out...

...this blog on paper quilling. Some of the completed project photos are amazing!! Yet another thing I could very easily get sucked into!! (at least the paper and supplies are small, though, right??)

Kelly Kilmer weekend fun!! (edited)

last weekend was such a great time- Kelly Kilmer was in town, and taught her first two-day class!! it was so much fun!! Two whole days of paper, glue, ribbons, fabric, and creative inspiration mixed in with a lot of catching up, jokes, and laughing! (oh, and a Sprinkles cupcake was in there, too...) We made a journal from scratch, then worked on collaging some of the inside pages. I didn't take a lot of pictures-- I was too busy making things-- but Debbie has a few more on the Frenzy Stamper blog. This was the "before" pic of my workspace-- it's pretty clean, there! (it didn't stay that way for long...)

This was towards the end of day 2, when we started cleaning up-- you can still see Jeane and Jane doing some last-minute touches to their journals across the table, and Kelly's journals off to the left. The woman at the right (I don't remember her name, unfortunately) came from Santa Fe to attend; she said she'd only found out about Kelly's work a couple months ago. It's always fun attending classes; you get a lot of inspiration seeing what everyone else is working on, and although we all started out with the same basic journal and page concepts, the completed books and pages were all really different. I'm always interested in seeing Jane's work, too, because she adds fabric and sewing to her pages, which gives them a different dimensional aspect. (I haven't gotten that brave yet with my own pages, although the fabric and ribbons is a good start, which I don't usually do in my journals.

We decorated the covers inside and out before sewing the journal together, which is such a simple idea, and it made everything so much easier! This pic is the inside back cover of my journal-- I was drawn to lots of pinks on Saturday, and Kelly has a great collection of ribbons and trims! I also used some of her great collection of paper tape, and a piece of (pink) fabric along the edge.

More pinks on the inside front cover!! I never get around to writing my name and address on the inside cover, but I really should, so I left a space for it. The "bliss" ticket is actually covering up a mistake (I snipped the fabric right on the edge), but it turned out good, I think.

The front cover and the spine-- even more pink!! I love this Japanese paper with the gold accents. I'm going to add something more to the cover-- just don't know what yet. I love this journal!! It turned out really nice (I did a pretty careful job with my gluing and trimming), and it's a nice size- not too large, not too small, and the square page format is different than any other ones I have right now. The only problem is, I really want to work in it right away, but I have another journal I also need to work in-- I guess that would be a good incentive for working in the 3-ring binder journal, so I can finish it up!

edited to add: The woman from Santa Fe is Krista-- thanks for commenting, Krista! I'm glad you had a good time!!

image borrowed from Debbie's Frenzy Stamper blog (since I was too busy to take pictures!)

crafting crisis!

okay, so I wimped out on the Crafting marathon... I don't even remember what I was doing that weekend, but it wasn't crafting. Today, though, I have a crafting crisis. (My crisis is that I have to pick all this up before Tom gets back from his business trip tomorrow night... haha!!) I decided to see if my sewing machine still worked, and hauled it out of its cabinet a couple days ago...when I mentioned the sewing machine, Tom said, "didn't we sell that ages ago??" I guess that means it's long past due for some use, hmmm? Pandora can find a comfortable place anywhere... but why does it always have to be in the middle of my stuff?!?

the hallway between the kitchen and the laundry room is doubling as my ironing station.

I couldn't find just the right shade of green fabric, and then I opened up the pantry where I saw the set of green napkins sitting on the shelf-- unfortunately (for the napkin, anyway!) it was the perfect shade of green. (there's still three left to use-- as napkins, I mean-- or maybe for something else.) This photo of the kitchen island shows you that I follow the law of crafting physics which says "crafting supplies expand to take up all the space available."

the kitchen table: Tom says that before he left on his business trip I promised I would clean this off by the time he gets home-- I don't remember saying that at all! I probably did, though... unfortunately, my crafting inspiration didn't hit till the last possible minute-...which means my crafting has to be kicked into high gear so I can follow through on my promise by tomorrow evening.

Butters doesn't want to be left out, either... she had quite a fun time playing with all the dangly fabric threads that were flying everywhere! This photo is a sampling of proof that my sewing machine does, indeed, work! The photo colors are terrible, but the mini-quilt on the left is really a nice shade of pink. Upper right is an ATC base, and the lower-right thingamabob will hopefully turn into a sewn and embellished necklace pendant. (notice that I also sewed a couple pieces of paper into them!! Probably not the greatest for the sewing machine needle, but I wanted to sew paper, and now I can say that I have. And this won't be the last time, either-- it was pretty fun!)

This is another mini-quilt base that will eventually end up embellished with tons more paper, buttons, stitching, beads, and whatever other fun bits and pieces I can find to go with it. I saw these mini collage-quilts in the latest issue of Stampington Art Quilts magazine... (I also saw the sewn pendant in the same magazine issue). Now that I have the major machine sewing done, I need to get out my buttons, embroidery floss, ribbon, and all the cigar boxes of interesting "stuff" in my craft studio. I better pick up the kitchen table first, though. (...but before that, I think I'll sew a couple more pieces of fabric together...)

it was a cut and paste weekend again...

...since I've migrated down to the family room with my supplies. I do the painting up in my room on the floor (because the desks are both piled full of stuff), then I do my collaging and gluing in the family room while we're watching TV. I have two boxes with papers, and a Container Store travel cube (it works so much better than a large zipper bag- thanks for the tip, Kelly!) that holds my pens, markers, and tape. (obviously I don't have enough tape yet, if it fits in the same container as my pens... LOL!) When I work, I sit on the floor with papers strewn all around me. (Tom is constantly amazed that I can spread out to take up any available space.) The dogs and cats have to be careful of where they step, too. (so far, I've kept them from licking the gel medium, or chewing on any of my papers.)

This page may get more decorating; I'm not sure yet. For now, I like it the way it is-- collaged magazine image, scrap papers underneath, and a swirly gold Hambly rub-on up in the corner.

these two pages are my homage to the spring weather we have going on right now... both are totally collaged backgrounds, with gel pen, laser-cut sticker borders, and other assorted bits. The bottom page has a bit of charcoal pencil shading around the bird-- not sure if I like it; I can't decide if it gives it depth, or if it just makes the page look dirty. (This journal has different sized pages, so you can see other pages behind-- I like that a lot; it gives a taste of what's coming up, and makes it more interesting.)

this pic is a really unfinished page, but I love this new stencil! (I think it's a 6 x 6 Crafter's Workshop stencil, but I'm not sure- I can't see anything on their website that exactly matches.) The base of this page is one of the dividers from the gardening book; I like how some of the printing still shows thru the paint.

Another totally collaged page-- I love how this one turned out! the red and purple patterned paper is flocked, and the black, white, and silver paper is glittered. And I just love that vintage shorthand textbook paper! Collaging may make a mess of the floor, but it certainly makes watching TV more fun!

journal background bonanza

Last Saturday, I took my journals and supplies off to Frenzy Stamper in Scottsdale (my favorite store!), to take advantage of Debbie's work area. She has open lab time whenever there's not a class or event scheduled. (here are pics of the store's work area taken during a class... I wish I could spread out like this at home!) Of course, I schlepped totally too much stuff with me- two tote bags full of paper and markers, and my pink Artbin case (it's so cute- check it out here- and useful- it holds quite a bit of stuff!) full of paint, stamps, gel medium, etc. I say too much paper because I didn't even LOOK at most of the paper I took, but if I hadn't had it available, I am sure I would have needed it!

It was really nice to spread out (I took up about three entire tables- LOL!) and work without fear of cats or dogs getting into my stuff... I worked for a few hours, and completed about 8 backgrounds in two different journals. Of course, I had to buy a couple small things while I was there, but I controlled myself; I did NOT buy any of the new Tim Holtz stamps (yet) but there's always next time! (He just introduced 12 new stamp sets... check them out on his blog. I really like at least 4 of them, but I think I've narrowed it down to just the one or two that I like best, and will get them eventually.)

What do you do if you don't like a background you've painted?? why, you paint over it again, of course!! these pages were originally done a few weeks ago, and were a strange brownish-pink color, with some light blue stenciled and masked designs... I liked the designs, but hated the color, so I painted over them, leaving enough of the original design peeking thru so you can still see it. The underlying design on the lefthand page was made using snowflake-shaped paper doilies from the dollar store (you can sort of see them in the middle and towards the bottom of the page), and the righthand page was made using letter stencils (upper right corner, underneath the exclamation point) and a dot stencil (lower right corner). Now I love the colors, and the pages look way better with more layers of paint. for me, the moral of the story is: when in doubt, keep adding layers! These two pages are from my composition book journal (one of those black and white notebooks you can pick up for 99 cents at back-to-school time). The lefthand page is covered with various papers in one of my favorite color combinations, with a couple black acrylic paint stamped accents. The origami paper is from the Kelly Kilmer stash I bought a few months ago- would you believe I hadn't actually used any of it till I used these small pieces?? (Wow, I hadn't realized I bought that paper way back in October!!) I was "saving it" for something special (as so many of us artistic types do- I collect lots more things than I will ever be able to use) but finally decided it was time to start using it! (my pages are special, right?? LOL! that's a bit of a joke, but it is true- why NOT use the good materials for my own projects?!?) The right-hand page has a gray painted background, stamping, and a bit of scrapbook paper on... These two pages don't "go together" at all, but I kind of like that, actually- they don't need to match; those colors and papers were what I felt like using at the time.

This page is also covered with paper, along with a bit of paint and black acrylic stamping. The mulberry and lime green color combo is NOT something I would have thought worked at all, but with the gray and black added, I like it a lot! And, I've already finished up two of these pages since then, too! Since I usually work on backgrounds and the actual "journaling" separately, it's especially nice to have backgrounds ready to use when I feel like writing... I will definitely have to have another "background bonanaza" soon! (edit: I just realized that 4 photos don't exactly make a "bonanza" but I didn't want to make this post any longer... for more pics, check out my Flickr page.)

AU swap page madness

This was the scene in our house last week as I scrambled to finish my pages for the Art Unraveled Technique chunky book swap. I was very ambitious in my page design, so it took more time than I thought (of course, like everything). I made 30 pages total, 4 x 4 inches, but they were painted on both sides (all slightly different abstract designs), and each page also had an ATC-sized (2.5 x 3.5 inches) mini-book containing 10 pages, decorated with art related quotes and other ephemera.

So, the last night before the mailing deadline, the dining room table looked like Hurricane Paper had hit, and it was definitely a Category 5! Every space was covered, and most of it was more than one layer... I was looking for my collected postage stamps, or the cigar bands, and would have to lift up four or piles of paper, scraps, and dyed paper towels before I'd find them. I work best when I can see my supplies (unfortunately, though, working this way means everything ends up piled around my work space).

But I got them finished, and packaged for shipping, as you can see below. (I would have liked to do more decorating in the mini-books, but I had to draw the line somewhere.) The return pages have already been sent out,; I got mine already (since the hostess is in the Phoenix area) and they're great!! All the pages are inspired by techniques learned in various classes, and they range from funky fabric bead decorations to etched metal and aged patinas. The swap hostess even made wonderful decorated covers for us, so all we have to do is bind the book together, in any fashion we choose.I don't want to show them just yet, though; I want to wait a little longer to give the mail a chance to catch up to farther-away participants! (so, you'll have to wait, but I promise to show them soon...)

I also have been working in my journals, since I had all the paint and paper out... the pages below are decorated with a very simple stamp that I got for free- a wine cork! Well, okay, not free, technically, since we had to buy (and drink!!) the wine, but they do make great impressions. Some people also use corks to make some pretty neat carved stamp designs, but I haven't ventured into this yet; it's a pretty small space for carving, in my opinion.

I use coated paper plates as paint palettes; I squeeze 4-6 colors onto the plate, and leave small spaces for mixing the different shades. Eventually the colors get a bit mixed up, so these circles are swirls of marbled acrylic from the paint leftovers on my "palette" (the paper plate).

I may do more (painting, stamping, etc) to these pages before I journal on them, or not... I tend to prepare backgrounds, then let them "sit" for a while till I get inspiration for journaling on them, or inspiration for the next layer of color.

more treats!!

My collage pack of paper finally arrived from Kelly Kilmer!! I've been on pins and needles waiting for this package to be delivered. It was really difficult, but I actually managed to wait till we got the groceries put away and made the guacamole before I opened the box. (it sort of prolonged the anticipation, since I knew it was finally here and I could open it whenever I wanted...) Kelly always has a great selection of paper whenever she teaches classes, and picks up paper from the local stores when she travels... occasionally, she goes thru her stash and puts together grab-bag selections of paper for sale. I was really excited to see the sale announcement on her blog again, since I missed out the first time around. a great selection of exotic patterned handmade papers, vintage book pages, collage images, labels, and more... a couple papers even have a flocked pattern. At the top of this picture is a really neat piece; it's very thin, and has a wax design applied to make a batik resist pattern... the wax makes the pattern transparent. wonderful printed tissue paper, colorful Japanese floral patterns, and some really cute Japanese notepaper... do you see the pink tissue with the roses there in the middle, under the vintage road map? I love that pink piece; it's probably a wedding themed paper, but to me, it says "retro-1950s" journal page.

It ended up being a really colorful avalanche across the dining room table, once I got it all spread out. I looked thru it once, but I'm sure I missed seeing a few things, so I will definitely go thru it again before I put it away. Tom asked "so, do you know what you're going to do with it?" which is a question I don't really have an answer to, of course (other than drool over the wonderful colors and patterns, that is), but I have lots of ideas starting to buzz around in my head. There are some great floral patterns, so maybe I'll get started on my altered book, since the theme I have in mind for that project is nature and flowers... then again, I do want to make a couple journal pages... or I could make a couple mail-art postcards... So many choices; so little space on my crafting table to start any of these projects! (I guess that means I'll have to finish something I'm already working on, and maybe even clean a little, huh?!?)

all at once...

my latest journal pages... lots of stuff seems to be happening "all at once" here, so I journaled about it in my composition book. It's a messy-looking layout, but I wanted it that way, and did it on purpose, to visually express my feelings about everything that's been going on. Mandatory overtime at my job, possible Saturday work (ick!), Tom gone most of the week on a business trip, car trouble requiring a tow truck, etc. etc. Basically there was too much to do, not enough time to do it, and it all came about at the same time. I know that's not really true- it's just easier to focus on the "bad" things so it only seems that way, but still, I'll be glad for a boring, non-eventful span of time...

• This page is made with a lot of layering- the first layer was torn strips of scrapbook paper (light green, tan, and a burgundy stripe, if I recall correctly). I left it that way for a couple weeks, till I decided what to do next with it.
• The second layer ended up being acrylic paint, applied during the class I took with Kelly Kilmer... I think I was trying to use up my paint before lunchtime, and started painting lots of pages by randomly layering color and scrubbing them with paper towels to expose some of the layers underneath. (Plus, I decided I didn't really like the torn scrapbook paper by itself, anyway, and wanted to cover it up.)
• The third layer was stamping with StazOn jet black ink around the edges- a few random-looking pattern stamps including an abstract floral pattern, a criss-cross pattern, small black stripes, and a small circle pattern.
• Fourth layer: magazine image (she's from a Gap ad, I think- I looked thru all three of the magazines in my collaging stash to find an image that fit with my page idea; if I hadn't found her, this page would probably have turned out really different). I glued her down with gel medium, not being careful with the gel at all; after all, this page is about how messy life can get, right?? I also smudged her with some of the black StazOn, and different colors of watercolor crayons. The watercolor crayon also picked up some of the texture from the dried gel medium, which I think is pretty cool. (oh- I made the stop sign from SB paper to cover up some text from the magazine page that I didn't want to show... necessity is the mother of invention, after all.)
• The last layer(s) were created with pens- writing, and many, many scribbles with paint pens and souffle pens to also emphasize the "messy-ness" aspect. Plus, the scribbling was actually really fun to do!! Whenever I had a couple free minutes, but not enough time to work on anything more involved, I just added some scribbles to these pages- I highly recommend scribbling as a form of art therapy!

These two pictures are closeups, showing all the layering of paint, stamping, and pen scribbling...

Overall, I'm really happy about how this turned out- now, I'm looking forward to creating some tranquil, peaceful journal pages, because that means that things will have calmed down at our house! They already have calmed down, some... the car is repaired, Tom got home from his trip safely, and well, the overtime will help to pay for the car repairs (and some crafting supplies, of course- LOL!)

road trip!

Yesterday I had one of those days where I had to go tons of different places to run errands... sooo, as long as I was out, I stopped at a couple stamping/scrapbooking stores in the area. I started my day in Scottsdale, at Cigar Warehouse to pick up a few cigars for Tom, then hit Frenzy Stamper, one of my favorite stores in the Phoenix area. They have an awesome selection of stamps, altered arts supplies, and unusual stuff... at least an hour later, I finally had to leave before I bought out the store! (it wasn't that bad, really...) These are a few of my purchases from there- two new Heidi Swapp masks ("reverse" stencils, really... the design sticks onto the paper, so your paint or ink outlines it (instead of filling it in, like how a stencil works). These designs are a little more ornate than the previous ones I bought, so I tried them out with ink rather than paint. I tried them out in a little book I also bought there- it's a hardcover book, cut down to 4 x 4 inches... they had all sorts of shapes, like houses, pears, etc, but I stuck with basic square. I think I'm going to decorate the pages and use the book to display some of my ATCs, to get them out of the 3-ring binder they're now hiding in.

I also bought some more Adirondack acrylic paint daubers... (before, I only had black). From left to right the colors are Espresso Brown, Denim Blue, and Gold. I have been using the black one for edging cards, which gives them a really nice effect, so I decided to get some more colors. I also picked an ARTitude Zine, the third issue of Artful Blogging (which I still haven't opened-such restraint!), a really cool stencil, and a couple new sets of unmounted stamps from Invoke Arts (Tres Santos and Build Your Nest). I'll show those later, hopefully after I actually try them out.

After finishing up my shopping- pet store for cat food, chewies, bones, and a present for Sedona (oh my gosh, she's three!!!), grocery store, etc. I finally got home to relax for the evening with Tom, some homemade tacos, nachos, margaritas, and a movie. It was a good day!

some of my favorites made with paper, glue, and paint

some of my favorites made with paper, glue, and paint Originally uploaded by crimsoncat05

just a little Flickr fun- a mosaic made up of some of my favorites!! (Click on the photo and you will be taken to the Flickr page; then you can click on any one of the links for a closer look at any of the individual photos.)

Favorite kinds of art: ATCs, journal pages, inchies, mail art, collages...

Favorite things: birds, cats, butterflies, nature...

Favorite colors: soft blues, greens, reds, and pinks...

so, what more is there?? (well, lots, actually- I have over twenty pages of pictures marked as "Favorites" on Flickr, so far. There's so much to be inspired by! And I have been, actually; I have five or six things in progress in my craft room right now... well, I'm off to see if the paint is dry enough to continue!

(in other news: yesterday I had my second lesson in learning to drive a manual transmission... I'm managing quite well, I think, although driving 75 mph in 6 lanes of traffic on the interstate is still a ways off!)

art project pics as promised...

...although a little late. Life intrudes at the most inopportune times, doesn't it?? I was planning on posting these pictures yesterday, but I had an extra-long day at work (FDA auditor + Monday... 'nuff said!), and didn't feel like doing anything once I got home except falling asleep on the couch in front of the TV after eating Filiberto's leftovers... it's a sad way to spend the evening, isn't it? I agree, but sometimes, it's just what happens. Today is another day, I left work at the normal time, and the audit is now over, with no observations- yay! Anyway, these pictures are from this weekend's crafting... I spent the afternoon cutting, pasting, and painting (I still have some acrylic paint underneath my fingernails... note to self: be extra careful with the black paint!) I am still not comfortable working with overly-large projects, so these are 4 x 6 inches, postcard size. These first two pics are a technique I saw on Flickr (I think from Jeannine P, although I don't remember for sure- there is such wonderful inspiration everywhere on that site!)

The colored sections are regular old Crayola crayons, scribbled onto a piece of watercolor paper. While I was doing this, Tom had to smell them, to reminisce... I think I heard somewhere that crayons are one of the most recognizable smells anywhere- I know they are for me. After the crayon scribbling, I covered the entire thing with a coat of barely-diluted black paint, then wiped it off the crayon areas, to create a "resist" effect. The circles are "stamped" with white acrylic paint, using lids off a couple drink bottles. (I have quite a collection of these odd things going; unfortunately, sometimes Pandora finds them, and we're woken up in the middle of the night by the sound of her shooting them across the kitchen tile...) The quote is a rubber stamp- that portion of the card was covered with a clear sparkle glaze, which was done to cover up a bit of a smudge, actually... but don't tell anyone!

These two pieces of paper were just to test out a couple of my newest toys, Heidi Swapp masks... they're cut-out images made of adhesive-backed plastic, and you use them like a stencil (only it's the opposite: the paint ends up around the image, leaving the image itself blank). I just realized this combines some of my very favorite things: books, the color blue, and plants and birds- funny how that happens, even when I'm not trying to do it. These bits of paper will be used for something- not sure for what, though...

This picture is also pieces of 4 x 6 paper, and it's another technique I've been wanting to try , seen in a recent issue of Somerset Studio magazine. It uses torn strips of regular masking tape and torn strips of magazine pages. The strips were attached to the background paper in an alternating pattern- the lighter strips are the tape, and the darker strips are the magazine paper. After attaching them, you get out the acrylic paint, start painting, and see what happens- the colors of the magazine paper are affected differently depending on the paint colors used... I also added some clear glitter glue for added interest, too. It was a bit futzy to do, but I like how they turned out. Here is the pink piece, finished off with a bouquet cut from a catalog and an edging of blue watercolor crayon. Now, I'm off to work on inchies for a swap, and maybe cut a few more pieces of 4 x 6 inch watercolor paper... (maybe I'll even mail some of these, seeing as they ARE postcard size!!)

root canal part 2... and crafting, of course!

Root canal, part 2... worse than the first, I think because I knew what to expect. Not pain (although it did take 3 Novacaine shots to make everything numb), but because I knew I'd have to sit there with my mouth open for more than an hour. By the time he was done, my shoulders and back hurt (a lot!), just from being tensed up for so long. And, it took quite a while for the Novacaine to wear off- I was numb up past my ear, and practically all the way up to my eye, on that side of my face. But, at least I can eat without worrying about the temporary filling falling out, now... I'm still not done with the dentist, though- the cracks in my tooth are still there, so I'm not out of the woods until the crown gets completed. I have no idea what caused my tooth to crack, but I think I'm going to try and stay away from the hard candy from now on. (I'm one of those people who has to chew a Lifesaver, or any hard candy, for that matter, to bits as quickly as possible... probably not the best for my teeth!) These are yesterday's collages... I worked on designing them in my head all day long... on the way to work, I listen to NPR- I don't remember what the subject was, but someone used the phrase "circles of knowledge" during a story, and that was my inspiration. These took me lots longer than 30 minutes, though... first I prepared a few pieces of watercolor paper, and let it dry while I dug through my stash of papers... the paper I used for the circles includes vintage music, a diagram from a nature book, a page from a book in German that I got in a trade, and text from a couple other vintage science books. It's hard to explain, but the "plant" is loosely based on a giant tree in one of the alternate worlds in the 2nd and 3rd books in the Golden Compass. The first collage is 4 x 6 inches, and the second is ACEO sized. Since my dentist appointment was this morning, I took a personal day off of work (by the time I would have made it to work, it would have been just about time to come home). I stopped at the video store on the way home, and picked up a couple movies... I now have the urge to get out my watercolor paints, because I watched the movie Miss Potter, starring Renee Zellweger as Beatrix Potter. I have absolutely ZERO chance of painting anything remotely as cute as Peter Rabbit, though, so I know better than to even try. Instead, I'll probably get out some rubber stamps, paper, and glue, and see what happens!