overhaul: verb

to make necessary repairs on; restore to serviceable condition

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I brought home one of my wall hangings from the Art Mob, intending to tweak it a little bit as I was not happy with it. This is what it looked like when it came home:

 

It got a lot more than tweaking, it got a complete overhaul, and now this is what it looks like!

I'm not sure what happened to my thought process when I began removing ( ok, ripping and tearing them off is a more adequate description ) items, but I think the Fall air and rustling leaves might have something to do with it! lol Whatever the case, I do like the changes better, but then it's a whole new piece! The only 2 things I kept were the Maya Road flowers and the Really Reasonable Ribbon bow. The letters are from Sandy Lion and Colorbok, the flower stems from an old arrangement and I used a brick stencil that I got from Donna Downey. Inks were all from Tim Holtz.

entering this into:

Anything but a Card - Challenge 4, Halloween or Fall Theme, or just Fall Colors

( obviously I chose the Fall colors )

beakless: adjective

absence of a beak ( like duh, huh? ) lol

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Well, this wall hanging had a whole 2 days in the Art MoB store before it sold! I didn't even get to blog about it and it was out the door! AND, I didn't even realize until today that I had forgotten to add their beaks, lol OH MY! It sold anyway! Amazing, lol So anyway, here it is...my beakless owls!

It all started with being bored one day, I had these Cricut owl cut outs, left over, and decided to give them a dunk in my Tim Holtz Melting Pot, nothing like being bored and having a melting pot!! Then I played around with a little zen doodling with my new Pitt Pens. I did have to spray them with my frosted glass spray because the inks were rubbing off :( But the frosted spray gave them a nice wooden appearance, so I was happy. You can see the shine on the left and the duller look on the right.

And what do owls need? A branch to perch on, of course! Which led to a tree branch ( yes, I keep branches in my craft room! ...don't you?) and snipped them to create somewhere for my owls to hang out! You can see how that branch is bowing out, I used Helmars 450 adhesive and hand stitching to hold them down flat. It worked out very well!

Did you know that Gesso and paint can bubble up when exposed to excessive heat gun play? I did, but I thought I'd show you a picture of what it looks like, results = texture galore! Did I mention I was bored that day? Watching paint blister is a fun way to while away the time!

I love Donna Downey's usage of old rub on's. She just takes the whole sheet and randomly rubs them onto her piece. Now that was fun. You don't see a lot of them in the finished piece, but they do peek out from under the paint. This is going to be a favorite technique, as I have a lot of letter rub ons that I haven't used ( too hard to do and a pain in the you know what to cut apart and rub on! )

rubenesque: adjective

 

of, relating to, or suggestive of the painter Rubens or his works; especially: plump or rounded usually in a pleasing or attractive way

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Hi to all my lovely WOYWW ladies!!

How are you doing today? Here is the picture of my desk today, if you want to see the mermaid I created with all this mess, ( although mine looks clean compared to Julia's desk, lol ) then please venture back tomorrow for it. It's a little picture heavy and I didn't want to bore any of you that want it quick and fast....

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Just Add Water Silly's challenge this week..something JUICY...hee hee, and what can be juicier than this naughty little cupid? This is my first time with a digital stamp and I haven't colored in anything in ages but I could not resist the images from Squigglefly that I won a couple of weeks ago. They have such fun images that it took me forever to pick out the ones I wanted! lol

Mine are colored in with watercolor pencils, accented with stickles and a rhinestone on each finger! I also got to play with my Faber Castell Pitt Pens that I got when I went down to see Donna Downey's studio, and I LOVE them, waterproof and tiny little tips for getting all those details, and such pretty colors. The wings, feet and head are all propped up with Helmars Liquid Scrapdots ( also available at Donna's store )

 hee hee, I just love this rubenesque cupid!
She is entered in CARDS TV :
Design Team challenge #14 Happy Holidays ~ Pick One
my pick - Valentines Day
cloud cut from Everyday Paperdolls
sun cut from Happy Hauntings cartridge
Martha Stewart doily
Uniball white pen
Ranger's stickles

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Project Pinterest for September is up and running, I do hope you stop by and play along with us!



stalkerish: noun



Know what some one is doing,
when their home,
where they are,
But its not full out stalking so its stalkerish

 

;0

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Dear Donna,

I just want to say how sorry I was that I didn't get to meet you when I visited your store on Friday and wish I had planned on seeing if you would be there before I made the trip out...( but not in a stalkerish kind of way ), lol I didn't think the trip would be as worthwhile without meeting you, however I was wrong. The intent of my trip was to hand deliver my brush to your store, which I did and then I got to see the brushes that had arrived in that day's mail.

 

I got to wander around your store and talk to your wonderful Melissa. When I admitted to her that I had never tried Pan Pastels or Gelatos, she immediately and enthusiastically invited me into the classroom to try them out for myself.

 

She is very knowledgeable about the products and it was so much fun to sit and try out some products that I had only seen you playing with on your weekly videos, ( which I love watching and usually cannot wait for Wednesdays to come around so that I can see what you have created! )

 

I enjoyed walking around your studio just to see your art adorning the hallways...

 

 and especially enjoyed seeing the decorated bathrooms, that's a whole lot of push pins!

 

and of course, the popular brush bathroom! I had to ask Liz about her brush in particular ( the drip brush for those of you that don't know ) and to tell her how disappointed I was that she didn't have a blog as I had tried to find out how she created those drips! I never could replicate it and I tried!

 

I REALLY gave her a hard time about not having a blog, and was astounded that she doesn't see herself as creative! I think you have rubbed off on her more than she realizes, but please make her create a blog...like a job requirement! She did tell me how she made the brush though, and I appreciated that.  ( She needs to be out on the creative end, and a raise for just being such a good sport! )

 

And I LOVED her little peel off drips she created ( which I heard even fooled you! )...great detail!

 

And of course Melissa was quite the enabler and with her helping me out, I found lots of goodies to buy while I was there! ( She deserves a raise and a set of her own business cards! )

 You have a great store/studio Donna and the ladies who work with you are SUPERB!!

sincerely,

Sandee

 

PS.

Hopefully my stalking skills will improve and will meet you one day ;)



mirror image: noun

A form that is identical to another except that it is reversed, as if viewed in a mirror

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Pause Dream Enjoy - Challenge #35, You're so tweet

Artist Playroom - pick your favorite color

Unique Crafters Challenge blog - September, Anything Goes
Recycle, Re-Purpose & Reinvent - Anything Goes

Just getting under the wire for one of my challenges, whew! I loved picking my favorite colors to create with, I am a pastel girl, any color that's soft and dreamy is the color for me.

Prima - flower

Ranger - stickles

 

I cut my bird and branch from the Cricut French Manor cartridge. The brown paper ( heart ) is recycled wax paper that came from the bottom of my spray box! I love all the little speckles from the sprays on it, this photo really doesn't show it very well.

 I used a water tearing technique to make the heart, put a layer of gel medium over it and then Tim Holtz Candy Crackle. Maybe too much candy crackle as it lifted and curled but I loved the effect so I added a clear glaze to the affected area to hold all those little curls in place. You can't tell from the picture because it's still in the drying process ;)

I added a lot of layers, paint, gesso, torn hearts from a book, sprays and inks. I used my finger to apply everything, ( felt very Donna Downey!! lol )... it was very messy but gratifying and fun!

I used a wax paper transfer for the sentiment. Very cool, run the wax paper through your printer               (sentiment in mirror image ) and then gently press down. Be careful not to press too hard as it will smear, but on gesso'd background it wipes off easily if you need to try again ;0 After it dried I went over the sentiment with a pen just to make it bolder.  Got this idea from Pinterest ( of course, right? ) and here is the tutorial so you can check it out, maybe do it and link it up for Project Pinterest on the 10th!! ...::nodding head:::...

Now, before I do anything else to it, I want to ask...would you ink the edges of the sign in a soft brown? or outline in a charcoal black or dark brown? I'm torn between the 2....so let me know which one you think would like better, please!

Minnie Pearl: comedienne 1912-1996

Pearl's comedy was gentle satire of rural Southern culture, often called "hillbilly" culture. Pearl always dressed in styleless "down home" dresses and wore a hat with a price tag hanging from it, displaying the price of $1.98. Her catch phrase was "How-w-w-DEE-E-E-E! I'm jes' so proud to be here!" delivered in a loud holler.

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Embracing my inner Minnie Pearl

yep, that's what I kept thinking about while working on this project. Not that I think it's tacky or gawdy but knowing there are people out there who hate glitter, shine or bling... and those people make me feel guilty for loving the glam! I admit I wouldn't want to wear anything this beaded or glittered, well.....when I was a young girl I had dance recitals and I got to wear those costumes on stage....and OK, there was a short stint as a ballroom dance instructor as an adult where I wore costumes so beaded they weighed more than me....::eyes gazing over, drooling::

OK, enough already!!

 I am a rhinestone version of Minnie Pearl! lol

 I love every gawdy, tacky, beaded, gemstone and glitter element...I could wallow in it and be happy as a pig in slop!

So making this altered paint brush really brought it out in me. At first it was subdued, ladylike even as I decoupaged tissue paper and flowers, added gesso...you can see the beginnings on the handle of the brush...very feminine, very soft....

 

and then BAM,

 the beading and glittering started, first it was the bristles of the brush where I spread stickles on...

attached the lace where I sewed the beads into the open holes, added a layer of medium and then married the beads over it. The butterfly that I triple layered ( with one paper and the other one gemstones ) with a finishing touch accompanied with the gemstone swirl. The word ART is nice and fuzzy to touch and I think it flows nicely with the paint brush theme.

I love a project like this that can be made as bumpy, or dimensional as possible. You can go wildly

overboard!!

entering this in

PanPastels's  #32 challenge - Decoupage

Just Add Water Silly -Artist Playroom #23- Illustrate a Word

 

You can go here, to see ( gorgeous )paint brushes that have been altered for Donna's studio :) 

 

goodies that I used:

Daler Rowney gesso

Golden Matte medium

Prima butterfly, gemstone swirl, trim

Really Reasonable Ribbon lace, Hemp Cord

Ranger stickles

beads - misc.

American Craft Thickers - sticker letters

glue - Aleene's Tacky Glue, Glue Gun

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Project Pinterest awaits you!

 

reciprocity: noun

 A mutual or cooperative interchange of favors or privileges

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Hi everyone, it will be short and sweet this week, I know, surprise! lol

I can do short and sweet...

I CAN!

~ Hey, whose giggling out there?

Anywhooo....I'm working on my paintbrush from Donna Downey's Altered Brush project...I can't wait to personally deliver it to her studio, if I am lucky I'll get to meet her too! ::crossing fingers:: Even if I don't get to meet her, I'm excited to see her new studio, sure wish I could afford to take some of her classes!

So WOYWW is all about reciprocity, go visit, leave a kind word and I'm sure there will be people visiting you too! awwww...group hug! Now go on, get outta here....you're making me blush ;)

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And if you're a pinner, link up something you created at Project Pinterest!