PhourPhinny

Paperbag Studios August Challenge

2009-08-14T11:54:00.000-07:00

Paperbag Studios (my fav rubber stamps ever!) is hosting another challenge for August. Details are here. The challenge is called Mix and Match: choose two stamp sheets and choose two stamps from each set and merge them into one piece that creates a definite message or feel!

Here is my interpretation of the challenge.

I've been cleaning and packing for my move tomorrow (eeep - so much to do yet! lol) and I came across an old favorite collection of papers from K & Company, Ancestry. The first PP is an image of a family tree which sparked my imagination. I was inspired to stamp a bunch of the girl images from the PBS sheets and then put them in the family tree frames to represent not my family of origin, but my family of choice - my art girlfriends! So that was the inspiration for this art journal page.

I used images from the Imagined and Flourish PBS um stamp sheets.

Stamps and Process:
I used just the edge of The Heart (Imagined) to create a torn notebook border around the whole piece.
I stamped Belle, Companionship and Being There from the Flourish set and Ace from the Imagined set onto white-washed vintage text pages and cut the faces out. I adhered each of the faces to a frame from the Ancestry PP.
I stamped Star Scallop (Flourish) in Shabby Shutters randomly on the whole B/G.
I finished by stamping the Flourish (Flourish) in opposite corners in Timber Brown Stazon.

There you go - my tribute to my true family, my art BFFs.

~

Art Journal Page - Books

2009-08-11T11:07:00.000-07:00

The ladies over at Opus Gluei have done it again. They've come up with a freakin' cool theme for this weeks challenge - books! Get the details here.

I created a journal page to document a love story with books that spans a lifetime.

One of my earliest memories is of going to the li-bary and struggling to carry out a load of books to read. To this day I go to the li-bary a minimum of once per week.
I haven't owned a television for more than 15 years. Who needs TV when you have books?
When I was in graduate school, I could read up to 400 pages per day. I can still read a book per day now.

I am so grateful that I love to read because it has opened up whole new worlds to me of personal interests and academic studies. I {heart} books! :)

Supplies and Process: The base layer is vintage book pages white-washed with gesso. On top of that are decorated images of classic, Renaissance book plates. Using stencils, I cut letters from a printed a pic of books in a bookcase for the word books. The rest of the title is made from stickers and doodling. Some hand made flowers and corner stamping finishes the page.

Enjoy!

~

Phinny Prompt #6 – Reflections

2009-08-08T16:19:00.001-07:00

Create art on the topic of: REFLECTIONS
Phinny Prompt Guidelines are here.

I will be moving a week from today so this is a good time to reflect on this past, really hard and painful year as I get ready for a new chapter in my life. I'm sure this art journal page is symbolic, but I didn't really think about it as I was creating it. I just let the process flow... and this is what I came up with.

Supplies and Process: First I created a BG using Distress Inks and two sizes of punchinella my good friend Theresa sent me (thank you!!). The next layer is Bo Bunny dotted paper punched with an EK Success border punch (I love these new ones!). Over that I layered squares and rectangles of kraft paper and Jenni Bolin, the European Collection, and other papers with some punched Stampers Anonomous stamped images, images from my stash of collage sheets and a magazine ad image. Ribbon and alpha stickers from my stash.

What will your Reflections piece look like? Be sure to add a link the the comments here if you make anything with this prompt.

~

Heavy Metal

2009-08-08T16:03:00.001-07:00

The challenge over at Opus Gluei this week is Metal! Here is my contribution.

Supplies and Process: kraft card base, metal sheet by Pixie Press as BG (from my sweet friend Karen!), metal flowers (from Roni!), Basic Grey PP from the Motifica collection, Crackle Accents by Ranger, ribbon and mesh from my stash and the focal image is a glass slide transfer tile that I made using a toner-based copy of art postage stamps and Glossy Accents. I edged the glass tile and card with a gold Krylon paint pen.

You can check out the challenge or the gals over at Opus Gluei here.

Have a safe and happy weekend, all!

~

Phinny Prompt #5 – What's Next?

2009-08-05T12:11:00.000-07:00

Create art on the topic of: WHAT’S NEXT?
Phinny Prompt Guidelines are here.

As always, the Prompts can be interpreted any way you like. I chose to focus on the next stage of my life as I just had a milestone birthday and I am moving in less than 2 weeks. The next chapter of my life is starting very soon so that's what I decided to focus on for this art journal page.

You can go as deep or symbolic as you like, too. I take some prompts at face value and with some I go deeper. On the B/G for this journal page, for example, I thumbed through an old dictionary and ripped out the definitions for some ideas or concepts I want to take with me on my journey to a new life, such as faith, faithful, new, god, goddess, prosper, prosperity, miracle, glorious, good, etc. These became my background.

Supplies and Process: Stamp border around all 4 edges with Timber Brown Stazon solvent ink. Glue down vintage sewing pattern and dictionary torn pages with Collage Pauge. Apply watered down gesso to white-wash B/G. Once dry, affix Basic Grey letters, crepe paper, ribbon, flowers and image of butterfly from my stash. (if anyone recognizes the butterfly, please let me know in the comments so I can give credit. I found this on a blog, I believe.)

Thanks for stopping by!

~

Happy Birthday to Meeeee!

2009-08-02T13:19:00.000-07:00

Yup. Today is my birthday... and it's one of those really big milestones, too. Wah! [sour face]

I got some fun goodies and an absolutely amazing, decadent charm bracelet from my art BFFs along with some cashola from mom which I already spent at my LSS. lol

My mom is also a Leo and her birthday is coming up on the 18th of August. I've already made her gifts and wanted to post a pic of her birthday card here (she's really into roosters at the moment... don't ask.... lol):

Process and Supplies: card base unknown, PP and butterflies from the European Collection that I mentioned in a previous post, brown seam binding and butterfly antennae from my stash and Hero Arts stamp.

I am loving the technique of cutting out the butterflies, attaching them to my card with dimensional glue dots and then covering parts with Ranger's Glossy Accents. I sprinkle a tiny bit of chunky diamond glitter on when the adhesive is still wet to give a touch of sparkle. When dry, these butterflies look like glass, so delicate and shiny. (click on the image to make it larger for detail) These elements are so simple to create, but they really make the card, if ya kwim.

I'm off to play with my new goodies. Take care!

~

Art Journal Page - Home

2009-07-30T19:55:00.000-07:00

(click to enlarge)
I discovered a fun July Stamp Challenge over at the Paperbag Studios blog on the topic of home. You can check out the details here. I love this topic for art journaling so I decided to have a go and this is what I came up with.

Unique to Paperbag Studios: I incorporated several Paperbag images in this piece. First, I stamped the sky / clouds and the roof line with stamps from the Flourish set. (One of my very favs of all time!) Next I used the baby girl image and texture images of the peeling paint and the wood as the roof and body of my house. These are all free downloads from Robin Marie's blog / site so I thought they'd be especially fun to use here.

When I trimmed the Flourish um stamp sheet, I had some nice, long left over rubber edges. I kept them and since they were on ezmount foam, it was super easy to line them up on my block and stamp them as uneven and distressed lines around the page as a frame or border. I think that added a nice touch to the page, too. You can see those best in the upper right hand corner.

Other Process and Supplies: My first layer is a V-shape cutting from a vintage pattern adhered with Collage Pauge. All other layers are built on top of this one so it's a bit hard to see. The door on the house is a snippet of the gorgeous European Collection of Scrapbook and Collage papers by TweetyJill Publications. (I splurdged and bought this for myself for my birthday, which is Sunday. And oh-my-gosh is this ever worth it! Stunning papers. You just have to see for yourself, but I highly recommend.) The doorknob, brads and cat image are all from my stash 'o' stuff. I used lots of Ranger paint dabbers in Pool, Lettuce, Pitch Black and Snow Cap. Also, Inkadinkadoo clear alpha stamps - which are not easy to clean when you using lots of thick, black paint! (lol). I stamped with Stazon black and Colorbox Chestnut Roan chaulk inks. I used gesso and Golden glaze as layers.

That's it. And no, I am not sure what lead me to put a big, giant cat behind the house. All I can say is that I allowed myself to follow my impulses and just let it happen when creating this page. Hence the big, giant cat. lol [grin] H/she kinda fits on the page, though, huh? In some, strange way....

Enjoy!

~

It's All in the Details

2009-07-29T15:22:00.001-07:00

Hello again! Here is a card I made for two challenges, this time: Opus Gluei (music) and Simon Says (distress)! Two of the punched squares are of a musical score and, as always, I use lots of my wonderful Distress Ink by Ranger, this time in Brushed Corduroy.

The flowers are from a silk plant tossed in the trash; I rescued a few blossoms for this project. The PP is Memory Box and Creative Imaginations with ribbon by Making Memories. The card base is some luscious faux suede paper I got at Joann's. Brads and butterfly image from my stash.

The details: I coated the little butterfly with Glossy Accents (which dried in like 8 minutes in this crazy heat!!) and used my tweezers to pick up some chunky Diamond Dust glitter and drop it only on the butterfly's mid-section. (It's hard to see in the pic, but it really sparkles!) I also decorated the inside of the card and the envelop. I cut down a vintage book page white-washed with gesso and added a strip of the same but stamped with circles (Adirondack pigment ink in Butterscotch) and permanent black pen doodles. For the envelope, I simply used my glue stick to adhere several of the 1" square punched pieces of various PP left over from the card up the side.

Taking the time to do just a few more steps elevates a nice card into one that is extraordinary, IMO.

Oh - and like this one, I've been making more cards without sentiments lately because I will be moving in August and, unfortunately, won't have my studio for a few months. I am stock piling lots of blank cards and notebooks and such to take with me. This way I can quickly and easily stamp a sentiment on the cards as I need them.

Thanks for stopping by!

~

Phinny Prompt #4 – The Color Red

2009-07-27T20:26:00.001-07:00

Create art featuring THE COLOR RED.
Phinny Prompt Guidelines are here.

I created an art journal page for this prompt. First I stenciled the whole page spraying candy apple red Glimmer Mist (yum!) over a brass stencil. Then I stamped lots of butterflies in black Stazon all over the page. I used vellum for the main focal image.

Here red to me means vibrancy and transformation. It is a passionate, vital color and I tried to go with that as I created this spread in my art journal.

Now it's your turn. What does red mean to you? How does it come alive in your artwork?
Jump in and play along anytime. Everyone is welcome!

~

Phinny Prompt #3 – Postage Stamps

2009-07-24T22:49:00.000-07:00

Create art using or featuring POSTAGE STAMPS

Phinny Prompt Guidelines are here.

This is an ATC made from a collaged postage stamp BG. It's super easy to do. I have a bag of canceled postage stamps that I got off of eBay some time ago and I just sifted through them to find a bunch I liked and that seemed to coordinate well together. Using a glue stick I simply adhered the stamps onto plain white cs in a grid pattern. I made a large masterboard (mb) collage, approx. 6"x8". For this piece, I cut the mb down to ATC size (2.5"x3.5") and spread Sepia Accents by Ranger on top and let it dry overnight. Easy peasy BG!

I came back and edged the sides with a Krylon gold leafing pen and added the CI mat and image from my stash. The finishing touch was the tiny, single rose silk flower, also from my stash, that I first stapled and then glued on with Tacky Glue to make sure it stays in place.

Now it's your turn. What will you come up with using postage stamps?

Christmas in July

2009-07-23T13:43:00.001-07:00

Eesh... lol. Is it only me that groans at the very thought of Christmas right now??

But I'm a trooper. Once I remembered I just got the new-to-me Fancy Pants holiday 8x8 pad (which has great all year round papers, too), I started to feel some inspiration.

Here is my card for the Opus Gluei Christmas in July Challenge. Details here.

The sentiment reads, "Blessings."

Do you create coordinating envelopes with your cards? I do. I think it adds that extra, special touch. Since I have the papers out and usually have lots of scraps and left overs, it's no big deal to slap some onto an envie, right?

Here is the matching envelope for this card:

Fun!

Process and Supplies: card base by Bazzill, PP by Fancy Pants, vintage book page of music score white-washed with gesso, ribbons from stash.

~

One Way to Organize Your Phinny Prompts

2009-07-19T21:40:00.000-07:00

Come on in - the water's fine! :)

Just a reminder to jump in anytime and play along with the Phinny Prompts I am posting here. There are no rules about what you have to make or when it has to be done. You can't get more low pressure than that, huh?

Guidelines for Phinny Prompts are here.

I mentioned that I am working the prompts in an art journal. I decided to create a journal dedicated to these prompts so I can keep them all in one place and go back anytime and look at my work and process. I transformed a nice, big sketch journal I had into my Phinny Prompts art journal. Here is the cover:

Supplies and Process: PP is from the gorgeous Bella, Bella collection from My Minds Eye and alpha outline stamps from Stamper's Anonymous.

Please don't feel like you need to dedicate a separate journal to this process if that is not your style. Depending on what you prefer to work on, whether your substrate is 1" square, ATC size or 12x12" or larger and whether you work in 2D or 3D and even your personal organizational style will dictate the best method for you. Some will work project by project so their system will be totally different of course. Do what works for you. I just wanted to show my art journal as one possible way to keep the prompts all together in one place.

Now get busy and go make some art!

~

Phinny Prompt #2 – Alone

2009-07-19T19:31:00.000-07:00

Create art on the topic of ALONE

Phinny Prompt Guidelines are here.

For this prompt I created a journal page. I admit that it's a bit melancholy, but it represents a life lesson hard learned. After too many failed relationships to count and a catastrophic divorce, I was deeply scarred and thinking that there really are no guarantees in life. Suddenly a voice in my head said, the only guarantee is god and I started sobbing. Driving down the freeway one anonymous afternoon, there I was sobbing my poor broken heart out. It was sad and comforting at the same time. I never forgot this lesson and this is what I chose to journal about for this prompt.

Supplies and Process: Basic Grey Black Tie PP, Prima flowers, Creative Imaginations rub ons and bird heart, alpha stamps from stash (unknown - gift), Diamond Stickles and image (does anyone know the site this image came from so I can give credit? thx!) and brads from stash.

Now it's your turn. Link here in the comments if you create anything using this prompt.

Simon Says: Summer Fruits

2009-07-18T14:41:00.000-07:00

I don't have any fruit stamps so I did a tribute to fruit colors in this card - blueberry, tangerine, strawberries and lemons (oh my!). And dontcha just love this new Basic Grey collection, June Bug? Yum - it's all about the sweet, fruitful days of summer.

Supplies and Process: I found an amazing LO over at the Two Peas site and I wondered to myself if I could make a card from it. I am searching for the LO now so I can link and give credit where credit is due. [edit: here it is! ] I used a Bazzill card base, Basic Grey June Bug papers, Prima flowers, Deja Views clear stamps and did faux stitching using my tim holtz ruler as a guide and inking the faux thread with my white Inkessentials gel pen. Love it!

The Simon Says challenge is here if you want to play along, too.

Have a safe and happy weekend, all!

~

Phinny’s Prompts – a Cornucopia of Creative Connections

2009-07-17T23:31:00.000-07:00

I have created a huge set of creative prompts over several months time and I will be featuring them here starting today.

Are creativity prompts new or innovative? Nope – this idea of creativity or journal prompts has been around for hundreds if not thousands of years. OK, maybe not, but for a really long time. My version is, of course, my take on the subject. Also, and this is the important part, I spent hours and hours and hours (and that is NOT an exaggeration) over several months thinking of and gathering several hundred prompts for myself and for you. So at minimum, I have saved you lots of time creating the prompts yourself so you can just jump in and get started. Yay for that, right?

So I’ve been thinking about how this would work here on my blog. Here are some guidelines and please feel free to make suggestions. This is a very fluid process and all input is welcome.

How to participate?
I will post a prompt and then my creative take on it and you are welcome to play along if you like. If you do, there will of course be prizes. All you need to do is post a link to your project in the comments section of this post. Remember not link your blog, but the actual post that contains the creativity prompt art.

What to create?
Anything that relates in any way to the current prompt. It can be a card, and ATC, inchie, twinchie, arch, LO, art journal page, etc. 3D or digital. It can be something completely different, too, like a recipe, poem, painting, photo or a tattoo. It can be collaged, sewn, stapled, painted, inked or drawn with kiddie chalk on the sidewalk in front of your house. In other words, all projects and ideas are welcome.

When and How Often?
What do you think? Weekly? Daily? What do you think?
The only thing I do know is that there is no time limit on your art. You can send it to me or post a link at any time and I will a) acknowledge it and b) with your permission, post it here on the blog as well. Just let me know which prompt your art is for and I will do the rest.

What kind of prompts are these?
Here are some samples just to give you an idea. The themes are things and concepts as well as techniques.

Create art on the topic of: MISCHIEF

Create art featuring or using: A PAINT CHIP SAMPLE

Create art using FABRIC somewhere on your project

Create art on the topic of THERE’S A MONSTER UNDER MY BED

Create art featuring or using the topic of: PERFECTIONISM

Create art featuring or using the topic of: THE COLOR ORANGE

Questions? Comments? Suggestions? Please leave me a comment. Otherwise, let’s get started. The first every Phinny Prompt is in the post just below this one. Have fun!

~

Phinny Prompt #1 – Layers of Embossing Powder

2009-07-17T22:58:00.000-07:00

Create art using layers of embossing powder – regular or UTEE (think chipboard shapes, bottle cap or charm filled with clear embossing powder or embossing words or images).

Phinny Prompt Guidelines are here.

My take on this is the art journal page above.

I’d been eyeing (ok – coveting, lusting after…!) these Memory Box 6x6 paper collections. Here is a link. Aren’t these yummy? I finally gave in and got a few and I am glad I did. I am not disappointed at all. In fact, I lurve them even more in person. I also had been wanting to order from Ellen Hutson’s shop because I follow her technique blogs (she has several and my fav is the Classroom – lots of fantastic techniques to check out over there). Well, I ordered my Memory Box papers from her shop and I was super happy with my order. I do quite a bit of online ordering since I am currently living in a small town with very few options. Most of my ordering experiences range from OK to frustrating so it is really nice to find excellent service like this. The shipping was fast, the service excellent and the little extras and personal touches in my package will make me a long term loyal customer. I was very, very impressed and I highly recommend shopping with her.

So this art journal page was inspired by the image paired with these papers from the fernbrae paper collection.

Supplies and Process: vintage book pages whitewashed with gesso and PP from the Memory Box fernbrae collection, images of girl and birds from my online stash [the focal image was a free digital image from an online challenge site – does anyone know what it is so I can give credit?], I layered about 5 or 6 coats of Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel (UTEE) over the main image to give it a thick, glossy appearance, almost like glass and alpha stamps by Creative Imaginations.

Now it’s your turn. Remember to link what you make in the comments section!

Chick Card

2009-07-13T11:47:00.000-07:00

Happy Monday, all.

Supplies and Process: Bazzill card base, Pink Paislee Pop Fashion and Scrapworks patterned papers, Creative Imaginations border, Dover clip art image colored with Prisma pencils and Gamsol, vintage book pages whitewashed with gesso, alpha rubber stamps from my friend Roni, and vintage lace and a chipboard heart from my stash. The heart is painted with white paint dabber then covered in Glossy Accents and dipped into dazzling diamond glitter and allowed to dry. It's very chunky and sparkly and fun!

Have a good week!

~

Simon Says Paper Piecing!

2009-07-09T23:15:00.000-07:00

What a fun challenge this is! It's super fun to get back to basics. I love how this simple technique creates such striking results. I was having so much fun I couldn't stop with just one card so I made two.

This first card stumped me for awhile, but I find that the ones I struggle with generally turn out the best in the end. That was exactly what happened here. Adding the flower behind the ribbon with some Diamond Stickles in the center really transformed this card from "nice" to "wow!"

The bird stamp is from Dawn Houser, the flower from Prima, paper from MME and ribbon from Making Memories.

Second is a flower paper piecing using a classic Autumn Leaves stamp set and shabby yet elegant MME papers. Easy, simple but striking.

Enjoy!

~

Art Journal Page - Treasure Mapping

2009-07-04T00:09:00.001-07:00

This is a page from my treasure map journal. Treasure mapping is a fun way to align your thoughts and energy with the things you really want in life, your deepest goals, dreams, feelings, etc. The technique is simple: create a picture of what you want and a positive affirmation to go along with it and then put it somewhere you can see it every day. Some people cut and paste images and words from magazines to create their treasure maps. I've done that too, and now I am dedicating an art journal to my own personal treasure mapping. So this page represents one of my life goals that I would like to see manifest.

Oh - and about treasure mapping? I can't tell you exactly how or why it works, I just know from my own experience that it does work. Here is a link to a Wikipedia article on creative visualization, which treasure mapping was born from. Try it and see for yourself....

Supplies and Process: Basic Grey paper from the Recess collection, Maya Road Chipboard, Ranger paint dabbers and Prima stamps.

Enjoy!

~

Simon Says Lemon, Orange, Apple Green and Pink!

2009-07-03T23:59:00.000-07:00

Ta-da! Here is my first, only and (probably) last Copic marker coloring experience.* Details on the Simon Says weekly challenge can be found here.

I've been cleaning and organizing my studio so I apologize for not having a supply list for this card. Everything used here were bits and pieces from my stash.

* If anyone is interested I have a great, very gently used 25 marker + blender pen set for $60.00. I bought it off of eBay from a very reputable seller and have used them twice. Please contact me for a complete color list and more information if you are interested. Thx!

Enjoy!

~

New Art Journal!

2009-07-02T22:03:00.000-07:00

I am so freakin' happy with this journal! I love how it turned out. (Though I am not sure I am quite done with it yet.)

I've been wanting to make a black journal - you know, black inner papers that you write on with white opaque pens or a white Ranger/Inkessentials gel pen. So today I decided to have a go. I dug out my Gypsy Market papers from 7Gypsies, which are unbelievably gorgeous, and decided that they would be perfect. Take a look at the collection here. Yum!

I covered the journal front and back with these papers using my fav Collage Pauge technique: first mist the papers with water and then adhere them to the mat board by coating both with decoupage glue. Misting with water allows the paper to stretch so you will end up without wrinkles! I cut up a bunch of black inner papers and put the whole thing together with 2 large binder rings at the top using my beloved Cropadile. Then I decided to collage the front and back with some images from my stash. The whole thing came together super fast and super easy. I did this start to finish in one afternoon. How cool is that?!?

I am so thrilled with this journal. Now... what to use it for...? Any ideas? I like to dedicate my journals to a subject or theme. Like I have journals dedicated to a color (white, blue, etc) and I have journals dedicated to a theme, like gratitude, art techniques and inspiration, quotes, A-Z about me, etc. I see this one as more of a notebook for thoughts and such. What do you think?

Thanks for stopping by!

~

Opus-Gluei Challenge - Create Something in White

2009-06-30T10:59:00.000-07:00

And we're back again with another Opus-Guei challenge, this time to create something special in white. Since one of my many art journals has a white theme, I decided to create a new spread for the project this week. Here is what I came up with (I wish you could see this IRL, it is so, so, SO MUCH better in person. Sorry about the lousy scans!).

Supplies and Process: First I brushed some of Ranger's white crackle paint over Basic Grey patterned paper in strategic spots. Let dry just until you see cracks beginning to form and then you can use a heat tool to speed the process. I inked the sides and crackle paint areas with Antique Lined Distress Ink. Next I worked on the design. I punched 1 1/4" circles from Bazzill Swiss Dot paper in Salt and inked with the same Distress ink. With a 1" circle punch, I punched gesso'd vintage book pages and several images from my stash. I adhered these with a glue stick.

Next, I threaded two vintage buttons with twine and secured the knots with Glossy Accents (GA). For the sparkly buttons, I spread GA on the top of some clear buttons and then dipped them into Dazzling Diamonds and let dry. The buttons were attached with glue dots.

The center of the large Prima flower in the bottom right corner is a clear epoxy bubble sticker. I peeled off the backing and dipped into the Dazzling Diamonds glitter, pressing into the adhesive back. I punched some aluminum foil and used GA to adhere to the glittered epoxy circle. Neat, huh?!? The small Prima flowers were adhered with Glue dots and I added Diamond Stickles to the centers.

The title, "So Grateful," was stamped with my fav alpha set from Hampton Art. Each letter was punched and glued on individually. The glossy, embossed look is from adding a nice, thick layer of Papier Glaze on top.

Some hemp string and a small mother of pearl charm finishes off the embellishments.

Simon Says Challenge - Happy Mail!

2009-06-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

The challenge this week is to make one or more cards for a charitable organization that connects card makers with kids who suffer from long-term debilitating or terminal illness. What a wonderful way to send some love and support to kids who dearly need it, huh?

Check out the challenge and the organizations here.

I was on a roll this morning so I made three cards. Super simple, and super fun!

Supplies: Daisy Ds Wonder Years and Me and My Big Ideas Activity Book patterned paper, Hero Arts acrylic stamps.

~

Another Ink Stains Sketch

2009-06-27T10:05:00.000-07:00

Here is the Ink Stains blog sketch:

And here are my cards:

I was amazed at how quick and easy these cards came together. What a fabulous sketch - you know it's a good one when the cards practically make themselves!

Everyone knows how much I LOVE paper. Well, I recently got a super deal on several Daisy D collections. They have been on the market for quite awhile, but are new to me. I got Wonder Years, Chloe Marie and Beacon Hill. I had these great images in my stash and I had been waiting for just the right project. Well, they fit perfectly into this sketch. And since all of the design work - the thinking part was done, it was super fast to select some papers from Chloe Marie (ooooh - they matched perfectly!) and make these cards. I love how they turned out. (Well done, Roni! Nice sketch)

Supplies: Daisy D's Chloe Marie collection patterned papers, image from stash, studs from stash.

~

Opus-Gluei - Patriotic Challenge

2009-06-25T10:40:00.000-07:00

Well, the lovely ladies over at Opus-Gluei said I could go outside the box. I don't know if they meant quite this far outside the box, but oh dear - this is where my muse took me. So rather than not participate in this week's theme, I am taking a risk by talking about some non-arty things.

This very crude, simple collage is about America - land of the free, land of the brave, land of the All You Can Eat Buffet, land of capitalism and "simple" luxury (running water is a luxury to 80% of the world) and land of the patriarchal bullies who are so arrogant, they don't say, do it my way or the highway, they say - my way IS the highway.

We are a country with too many amazing gifts to count, and some glaring flaws. That's all. That's what I really wanted to say.

Yet for the first time in my life, I am hopeful and optimistic. Barack Obama being elected as the President of the United States makes me feel proud and, yes, hopeful. It's time for a change and I believe with all of my heart that he is the right person to lead our country along a better path. The path of doing the right thing because it's the right thing.

So there. I am done now. Back to your regularly scheduled art-y programing. *wink*

~

Backgrounds!

2009-06-24T13:14:00.000-07:00

These backgrounds (B/Gs) are so easy and simple to make. I love how crisp and clean the pattern is yet it can be really stylish, too, with a mix of coordinating papers. These remind me of patchwork quilts.

With the B/Gs done, it's super easy to make a quick thank you card!

Supplies: 7Gypsies, Basic Grey and MME patterned papers, Martha postage stamp square punch and Lehoo glue stick (thanks, Kitten!)

Enjoy!

~

Ink Stains Card Sketch

2009-06-22T09:14:00.000-07:00

There is another sketch challenge over at Ink Stains and here is my card for this sketch:

I have to admit that this was a tough one. I fiddled and futzed and stressed and strained a bit before I found something I liked. I wanted to use the postage stamp collage (in the lower right portion of the card) so I chose my colors and elements around that.

So here is a super fun technique - make a postage stamp collage / mosiac. I am not a collector of stamps per se, but I do grab them off of eBay when I find a good deal and use on my projects as ephemera. So I was digging through my stash the other day and I found two bags of postage stamps. I thought it would be fun to glue a bunch onto cardstock and then use that as an element in my projects.

If you don't have a bag of old stamps, no worries. You can always start a postage stamp collection yourself by cutting them off of mail you receive. It's super easy and green, too.

Here is how I made my collage: I sorted through my postage stamps and selected a bunch that I liked and that I thought coordinated. Then I used a glue stick to adhere them, slightly overlapping, to a 6x6" cs base. That's it! And now I have a great collage element I can cut up, punch, use for mats or whatever else I can think of in my projects.

If you make one yourself, please let me know in the comments. I'd love to see what you come up with!

Supplies: Bazzill card base, MME paper, Crafty Secrets clear image stamped on glossy paper inked with Ranger's new Citrus alcohol ink, Prima Flower, Olive Vine Glimmer Mist by Tattered Angels (yum - love this color!), and rhinestones from my stash that I colored over with a dark brown permanent marker.

~

Simon Says Happy Birthday!

2009-06-21T12:25:00.000-07:00

This card was SO FUN to make! It will be perfect for a family birthday coming up in July. HAPPY BIRTHDAY to the Simon Says Stamp Blog!

ETA - Thanks for the comments on the hanging hearts - aren't those fun? And so easy to do, too. Just punch two hearts and glue together for a finished front and back, punch a 1/16 hole and string silver thread through. The frame was adhesive so it was super simple to just press the silver thread into the back and position on the card. See? Easy peasey but it looks a lot more complicated. *smile*

Supplies: Bazzill card base, patterned paper and metal frame by Daisy D's Wonder Years (love this collection!), hearts made from my own custom inked vintage book page, silver thread from my stash and Ranger's Stickles.

~

Opus-Gluei

2009-06-17T17:45:00.000-07:00

The challenge this week over at Opus-Gluei is Growth. What a wonderful topic!

My card is about growth on two different levels. Trees are what I think of when I think of growing. There is something so stable, secure, grand and beautiful about trees. (IRL I am definitely considered a "tree-hugger" - have you hugged a tree lately?) Second, on a much more personal and spiritual level, trees symbolize peace, stability and solitude to me.

(Click on image to see detail)

Hence my version of growth for the challenge. I felt that embellishments would detract from the symbolism so I left it very plain. To me it turned out simple yet profound, IHMO.

Process and Supplies - I sprayed lots of Glimmer Mists and Moon Glow mists on some vintage book pages to make my B/Gs. The tree is from a gorgeous clear stamp set by Tattered Angles, called Blossom. I used Colorbox chalk ink in chestnut roan and finished off with some simple die cut letters using the Quickutz Squeeze.

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Background Layers

2009-06-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

I wanted to be sure to scan and post this b/g I made before I move on to next steps and possibly screw it up. LOL Well... you know what I mean. Have you made something that is turning out really well and then suddenly become nervous about moving to the next step because you're afraid to ruin the work you've done? That's what I mean. That's where I am with this B/G.

(double click to see larger image)

This will be an art journal page when it's finished. Not sure what comes next, my only vision is of birds and a quote of some kind. I am mulling right now and waiting for inspiration to strike.

Process - Here is how I made this B/G. I cut a piece of 12x12 MME patterned paper down to 9x11" and then used a glue stick to adhere the vintage torn music papers and bird cage image and small design squares cut from a magazine. Then I layered Ranger's Picket Fence (white) crackle paint on top in certain areas. I let that dry a bit. When I saw cracks starting to develop, I hit it with my heat tool to speed the process. Then I dipped the tip of an old, scruffy paint brush in gesso and dabbed it around the images and torn papers to blend. Last, I brushed gesso onto some new-to-me Making Memories foam stamps called Floral/Dings (thanks, Theresa! :)) with a foam brush and randomly stamped several flourishes. This is not meant to stand out, but to add depth. Love the effect!

And that's it... so far. See how easy it is to create a wonderfully complex-looking B/G with only a few supplies? Ah ha! I just had an idea. I am going to dip an old tooth brush into some Glimmer Mist and splatter some brown-gold ink over the top. OK-see ya - bye! *grin*

P.S. Sorry the scan is too bright. IRL it's more of a muted, soft moss green. Double click the image for a closer look.

~

An Art Journal Page

2009-06-15T17:33:00.000-07:00

I want to beg you, as much as I can, to be patient toward all that is unsolved in your heart and to try to love the questions themselves like locked rooms and like books that are written in a very foreign tongue. Do not seek the answers, which cannot be given you because you would not be able to live them. And the point is to live everything.

Live the questions now.

Perhaps you will gradually, without noticing it, live along some distant day into the answer.

~Rilke (1878 – 1926)

Simon Says Pink and Brown!

2009-06-12T09:25:00.000-07:00

There is a fun, easy challenge over at Simon Says this week, here. The challenge is pink and brown so of course I grabbed my fav Basic Grey collection, Bittersweet, and made a card.

I created the design with this first effort using Basic Grey's Offbeat collection (above). I'm liking the symmetry, plus the design is a great way to show off coordinating patterned papers and it's fun to make.

Enjoy!

~

Simon Says Tim Holtz!

2009-06-08T21:47:00.000-07:00

The challenge this week over at the Simon Says Challenge blog here, is to use Tim Holtz products. Well, how easy is that?!? I am pretty sure I have them all - lol, not that I am a groupie or even a hoarder, of course. Well, OK - so I am both, but how could I NOT be? He is talented and so kind and generous and all of the Ranger and Tim Holtz products are super high quality, innovative and fabulous.

So here is my card. Notice the words "free" and "grace" on the vintage text pages (from an old dictionary) that I highlighted with a gel pen for an additional layer of meaning.

Enjoy!

Supplies: Tim Holtz / Stamper's Anonymous crackle bird stamp and Empression Obsession clear stamps for the text, Ranger's archival ink in black, papers from Prima's Flirty collection and vintage book pages, Bazzill card base, Sakura gel pen, Tattered Angel's Glimmer Mist and ribbon, lace, tissue paper and brad from my stash.

~

She Sells Sea Shells...

2009-06-07T21:27:00.000-07:00

... for the Opus-Gluei challenge this week, the topic is sand and/or shells. When I first read the theme, I though to myself, "no way. I am never going to be able to come up with something for this." Sand, salt and sea are just not my usual themes. (I guess that's why it's called a challenge, hmm...? *blush*)

And then 20 minutes later I remembered that I had the perfect image - one I had just cut out the night before to use on another project but it never got used. So here was this sad, lonely image sitting on my desk and there was the O-G challenge spinning around in my head and... well, of course I put the two together for a very happy ending.

The card came together in about 20 minutes, which for me happens seldom. Usually I fuss and struggle and strain for an hour or more and sometimes into the next day. So it was a happy coincidence how this whole project came together.

And here are the details: Bazzill card base, 7Gypsies Gypsy Market paper (yum!), Artchix image, studio g tiny alpha stamp sets (love these - perfect for small art like ATCs or gift cards), Ranger ink, Bo Bunny ribbon and Martha's border punch.

~

Ink Stains Card Sketch

2009-06-03T21:14:00.000-07:00

So y'all know my favorite blog in the whole world is Ink Stains, right? Huh - you don't?!? *shakes head* This blog is THE place for distress, grunge, Ranger and Tim products, great projects and tutorials. Check. It. Out. That's all I'm sayin'....

So my good friend Roni (a la Ink Stains) is resuming her card sketches starting now.

Check out the sketch here and some fun design examples here.

I've found it really nice and relaxing not to be doing swaps or trades or any group projects. I tend to get so involved with them that I lose sight of my own art. So it's nice to relax and breathe and pick and choose the challenges I really do want to do. KWIM?

So I am going to go sit down at my workspace and make this card from whatever is in reach. My desk is a disaster area so I will have lots of options, no worries. LOL OK - here I go. I will be back with the results.

*******

And here we go!

Supplies: paper by MME, unknown bird stamp colored with Prisma colored pencils and gamsol, tag stamp by Stampington and Co., sentiment "friends" by Inkadinkado, Prima flowers and lace and faux brads from my stash.

namaste

~

My New Love - Super Seal!

2009-06-02T20:35:00.000-07:00

Guess what I found? I found the new greatest thing since Clorox Wipes. Yup - it's a spray sealant called Super Seal made by Creative Imaginations. And this stuff is amazing. Say goodbye to good old Krylon sprays (and I have several).

Now when you need to seal your ink jet images so you can ink, paint, glue or do anything wet to them, this is the can you will reach for.

The next time you make something with lots and lots of glitter, this is what you will grab to seal all that sparkly goodness in so it doesn't leave glitter on your hands, on your sweater and on your cat. That stuff gets everywhere, doesn't it? Not anymore!~ Whoot!!

The next time you use your chalks and want to smudge-proof your card, this is is gonna take care of you, baby!

The next time you've made something brilliant and want to protect it from moisture, dirt or practically any threat to it's pristine beauty, this is what will do the trick.

And it does more than that, too, like make a surface you can write on with dry erase markers or chalks and such, but my focus here is on sealing my ink jet prints and art.

Oh yeah... and did I mention that it's environmentally friendly?!? That is huge! Yay!

Gotta love the geniuses over at CI for coming up with this stuff. And no, I don't have any affiliation with CI. I stumbled on a YouTube demo of Super Seal and was impressed enough to look it up on the CI site. I liked what I read there, too, so when I found it at my LSS, I snatched it up faster than you can eat a Reeses Peanut Butter cup. (Well, faster than I can eat a Reeses Peanut Butter cup - I don't even bother chewing I love them so much, I just inhale then swallow! *grin*)

So I did an experiment using my old friend Krylon Crystal Clear acrylic coating and Super Seal. I printed the exact same group of bird line art images on my ink jet printer, sealed the first one with Krylon and the second one with Super Seal. Heck - I even gave Krylon the edge by spraying 5 or 6 light coats with plenty of dying time in between (one of my complaints is how long it takes to get a decent seal)! With the SS, I just gave one good mist starting from off my paper, spraying about 6" above it at a 45 degree angle and then ending off my paper again like it's recommended in the directions. (I read the directions - can you even believe it?!? lol) Then after both were thoroughly dry, I water colored one bird each (lower left) and then used colored pencils and gamsol on the other (upper right). Take a look:
Krylon

Super Seal

I know it's hard to see the small details I am talking about on these scans, but IRL there really is a big difference. The Krylon paper on the left felt kind of chalky and my water colors beaded up while my color pencils and gamsol were a bit streaky and the color not nearly as vibrant as the SS example. On the right I am hoping you can see how vibrant and smooth the coloring is using both color mediums. The paper itself felt more natural, too. I knew as soon as I started coloring on the SS paper that this was the hands down winner. But don't take my word for it, read some info on the CI site and on blogs, watch a video or two and by all means, go get a can yourself and start playing!

There are some demo videos on SS, too. Check this one out if you'd like a good visual.

The only downside to SS that I can see is the cost. It will run you between $13-$15 whereas I've found Krylon Clear Acrylic and the Workable Fixative for around $7. But the cost of the SS doesn't bother me a bit for three important-to-me reasons - 1) It works!, 2) I use significantly less (one good spray vs. 5 or more coats of the other) and 3) it is environmentally friendly.

If you've been agonizing over how to get your ink jet images to work with wet media in your art like I have, this may well be the answer. I am so, so, SO relieved to have found something that works! So try it out for yourself and let me know what YOU think. As always, don't take my word for it - try it yourself!

~

"Off Color" Challenge

2009-05-30T03:28:00.000-07:00

The challenge over at Opus-Gluei is Off Color,* meaning to create something in colors that I wouldn't normally choose. I'm not much of a challenge joiner, but these ladies are a hoot. I love their sense of humor and style and well... their j'oi d'vivre. How could I resist? What the heck, I decided to jump in.

Anyone who knows me knows that I love, love, LOVE Basic Grey. I wish I could say I have all of their collections, but alas, I don't (but I may die trying. *wink*). The collection I chose to use for this challenge is Two Scoops - fun, pastel, pretty and... decidedly not me. I'm an altered artsy, vintage-y with a dash of shabby chic girl. So there laid poor Two Scoops unused (but not unloved - it is Basic Grey after all). And, to make it even more of a challenge, I forced myself to pass by the greens and blues of the collection and instead grab the yellow and pink papers. Yup - yellow and pink.

*shudder*

Inspiration struck. I had a design I wanted to try, the papers were already selected so the card came together fairly well. Even more surprising is that I really like the result.

And the best part is the Opus-Gluei card inspired me to make a second card - this one a bit more in my color palette and style. (please forgive both pics, I still haven't found my darn camera so the scanner distorts anything dimensional.) This one features the luscious Basic Grey Porcelain collection - yum! I made the accordion folded embellishment strip with paper from Jenni Bowlin.

I love to make what I think of as girlfriend cards, or in current lingo - "BFF cards!" *smile* By using a simple sentiment like "Hello," the card can be used for a whole host of occasions from a just because to a g/f or to be sent along with a swap package to thank the host - even a birthday or just to let someone know I am thinking of them. I keep a box of handmade cards so I can just flip through my stash and find just the right one for the current need. I also leave the sentiment off sometimes to make a card even more versatile, but that's harder for me because the card just doesn't look done to me. So now I have two more cards to add to my stash. Fun!

Thanks for looking.

Supplies: Bazzill card base, Basic Grey and Jenni Bowlin patterned papers, Hero Arts and Crafty Secrets clear acrylic stamps, Prima flowers and brads, lace, ribbon and pearl stick pins from my stash.

**Er... the challenge last week was "off color" - d'oh! - I didn't post in time. Sorry!

~

Show and Tell - Birds on the Brain

2009-05-27T23:45:00.001-07:00

... or am I just a bird brain? *wink*

OK, here are some very recent pieces. I am way into birds right now and the only way I know how to exorcise this obsession, is to make bird art. Lots and lots and lots of bird art.

First up is a series of ATCs made for the Simon Says Challenge this week here. The theme is Animals and since other participants selected birds, I decided to take the same liberty.

The backgrounds are made by smooshing several Distress Ink pads on my craft sheet, misting with water and then laying my vintage book pages over top, swirling around randomly. I dry with a heat gun and repeat until I like the color, depth and layering. The main image is by Dawn Houser with Inkadinkadoo - an impulse buy on eBay that I do not regret in the least. I inked with Adirondack pigment ink in black and clear embossed. Then I filled the birds in with FolkArt Papier Glass Finish in Sepia and let dry overnight. Flowers by Prima, several custom dyed by me with Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists and Distress Inks. Platinum Stickles are my fav flower center accents so this was added as a finishing touch.

Next is a library pocket design I was playing with based on a template from Bo Bunny (of all places!). I used papers from My Minds Eye (Yum!), Prima and other misc. ribbon from my stash and vintage images.

And last (below) is a new background design I am experimenting with. This is the yellow version. I made a three tone pink version, too, that turned out quite well. I already cut that up for ATC backs, though, so I can't show it here. For this I use my trademark vintage book pages whitewashed with gesso, Adirondack pigment ink in Butterscotch and a fine Sharpie permanent pen for the doodles. I think this design will work well with my artsy collage-y pieces as backgrounds or paper pieced elements.

More to come... enjoy!

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Whoo loves ya, baby?!?

2009-05-20T22:22:00.000-07:00

Just checking in to share a card. This is a bit out of character for me, but I think it's fun to make something different once in awhile. It kind of shakes up my creative muse. So here is a card with nice, bright colors, flowers and a darn cute owl.

Supplies Used: Card Base: Bazzill Basics 45 cards and envelopes; K&C Company Que Sera Sera; Clear Stamps - Tattered Angels Tattered Blossoms; Flowers - Prima; Flower Centers - Ranger Stickles in Platinum

I have two new favorite products to pass on that I used on this project. First, I LOVE these cards and envelopes. They are nice and heavy weight, perfectly folded and just take a look at the yummy the colors (no "off" colors like neon yellow or bright orange - yay!). These are high quality cards. If you've ever used the $5 pack of cards from Michael's or Joann's, you will totally know the difference right away. This pack is a little spendy (I got mine for $17.99 here), but worth every penny, IMO. I will use every single one of the cards in this pack so I don't feel bad about spending a little extra.

Second, I've been a fan of Tattered Angels for quite awhile now. I love their Glimmer Mists and Glimmer Screens especially. When they came out with some clear acrylic stamps, I did the happy dance. And the minute I saw this set, I feel hopelessly, madly in love. I am super into trees and birds right now so this was a "must have." TA is another company that puts out really high quality products so again, expect to pay a little bit more. At $9.99, this set is totally worth it. Love it!

I got these products at Lil LambsBoutique here.
(I am not associated with this shop in any way other than being a happy customer. )

namaste!

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Blog Candy - Yum!

2009-05-13T22:27:00.000-07:00

Oooooh... check this out! Open through May 19th.

Congrats on 1 year blogging, Lorelie!
(Psst... that's my mom's name, too. Lovely!)

Enjoy!

~

Glossy Accents Transfers!

2009-05-07T11:14:00.000-07:00

My good friend Roni over at Ink Stains* turned me on to a new, exciting, super cool transfer technique. Check out her posts here and here (examples) and here to see for yourself. I won't repeat the steps exactly here so go ahead and read through Roni's amazing tuts. I'll wait. No, seriously. It's ok.

doo doo doo doo... la la la... (insert game show music here)

Back? Ok neato tut over there, huh? Now, what I want to talk about and show here are my results. I've done this technique twice now and there is a world of difference in my results so I thought I would go over what NOT to do as well as what worked really well for me.

Tips: Now, as Roni explains, this technique works for all types of images, including ink jet. I found that to be true, BUT I also found that my toner images worked better. And my FRESH toner images worked like magic. I ran to my local office supply store and had color copies made of the images I wanted to use on my second batch. On those, the paper backing rubbed off like butter. Seriously. There was an amazing difference. So if you want this process to be easy and smooth, DO consider using fresh toner copies for your images.

1. Apply a thin layer of Glossy Accents to the back of your clear piece and then lay it snugly on top of your image to be transferred, making sure there is good contact and working out any air bubbles and wrinkles.

Let dry.

Tips: DO: Apply a thin layer of GA to cover your base. DON'T treat your GA like ketchup - more is definitely not better in this case! On my first attempt, I used too much of the Sepia Accents (you can use Glossy Accents or a similar product), which made the paper on the back wrinkle as it dried. It also took 2 days to dry really well. And I'm pretty sure I rubbed more than a few layers of skin off my fingers trying to get the paper off the back, too! Also, if I rubbed too hard, some of the image came off with the backing paper. So DO go slow and be gentle when rubbing off the backing paper.

2. When completely dry (I prefer to let dry overnight to be absolutely sure), apply warm water and gently rub the paper off the back with your fingers.

Tips: DO use warm water to dunk your transfer pieces when you are ready to wet the backs. Or, fill your spray bottle with warm water and just spray on, re-wetting as needed. If you do your rubbing over the sink, DON'T let your paper bits go down the drain or the paper could clog your pipes. Use a strainer over your drain or catch your paper bits in a paper towel or similar so you can scoop them up and dispose of them in the trash.

3. Your transfers are done! At this point I like to add a backing paper such as vintage book text or a patterned paper. I think this really shows off the gorgeous transparent quality of the transferred image. All of the examples shown here are backed with papers using the same method as in #1. Meaning, I spread a thin layer of the GA across the back of my piece and then smooshed it onto my selected backing paper and let dry. When completely dry, I cut off any over-hanging paper and then simply edged the sides with a gold Krylon pen. Easy, quick and stunning!

Tips: When the transfer is complete and before you do anything to the back like add paper, DO use an emery board, nail file or very fine grit sand paper to gently rub the sides of your piece and the back to remove any fuzzy bits of paper backing that still remain. This just smooths everything down nicely and allows for a nice, even application of backing paper or any other layers. DON'T rub hard or use normal sand paper or you could rub your image right off!

Here are some final tips and suggestions:
* ... leave off the backing paper and a) use your transferred image piece as is, b) run gold leaf Krylon pen over the back instead of paper for a rich, regal look or c) back your piece with another material like foil, Stickles or glitter glue or anything else you can think of - the possibilities are endless!

* ... make a pendant, necklace, charm bracelet out of your transferred piece. Or, how about making a refrigerator magnet, sun catcher, book mark, key ring or car visor charm, or even a tag for a gift bag?

That's it. This is a super easy technique that gives absolutely stunning results that are almost foolproof. It has several steps and I found that it took me 2 days per batch of transfers but that's only because of the drying time. Now it's your turn! Try it for yourself and share your results with us. If you have any questions or comments or, better, if you have a link to a project you did using this technique, please leave a note or link in the comments here.

Have fun!

* Ink Stains is the best. blog. ever. So if you haven't been there already, go now and check it out. It's filled to overflowing with Ranger slash Tim Holtz products, which of course we love. She does amazing tutorials and projects. This is a must see. Really. I'm not kidding. Go. there. now! *wink*

~

Be Extraordinary

2009-05-04T23:13:00.000-07:00

...because you ARE extraordinary!

This is one of my more extreme projects. That's not quite the right word, but you know what I mean. It's flashy and splashy and sparkly, in a dark way.

Take a look:

I was playing with my Tim Holtz / Ranger alcohol inks and I made several acetate and transparency backgrounds. I used lots of greens and yellows and some gold to coordinate with my current fav paper collection - Gypsy Market by 7 Gypsies. Yum! I used some Dresden gold stars for an embellishment and finished with text from my current fav stamp set called Tiny Wise Words by Clearly Wordsworth. I love this set because the words are tiny, which is great for ATCs, inchies, charms and so on. It was a great eBay find!

Here are some technique notes. For the raven (from a Paperbag Studios um set called Flourish), I stamped him on the AI'd acetate with black Stazon. This is a solvent or permanent ink that works great on slick surfaces. When he was dry, though, I thought the black wasn't deep or dark enough so I filled him in with a super thick layer of Crystal Lacquer (you can use Glossy Accents, Diamond Glaze, DG3 or similar). Then I sprinkled some extra fine art glitter over the top and let the acetate dry over night. Oh yeah, baby! Now we're talking. Wow - I can't get over how what a difference that last step makes. Adding a dimensional glaze to a stamped image can turn a ho-hum image into a rock star like Mr. Raven here.

Here's a great tip for you on how to make alcohol inked transparency backgrounds pop. The trick is to use regular, old kitchen foil on the back. Yup - it's super fast, easy and inexpensive. Here's what you do: Tear some foil off the roll, crinkle it just a little bit so it catches the light and adhere it to the back of your transparency with a glue stick. Yup, that's not a typo. I said glue stick. It's quick, easy and doesn't leave any adhesive showing when it drys. I wouldn't have believed it either had I not tried it myself! So simple, but really adds dimension and movement to your clear alcohol ink backgrounds.

Enjoy!

~

For the Birds

2009-04-29T21:11:00.000-07:00

I am having a love affair with birds right now. I can't get enough of them. They speak to me in some creative, fundamental way. So I have been including them in a lot of my art. I will need to ponder the *symbology behind birds, but for now here's my version of a blue bird of happiness. (The scan has washed out the colors a bit - IRL there are many shades of blue)

This ATC is one of my first attempts at water coloring, which is why I am so thrilled with it. The bird is from a darling Crafty Secrets stamp set called Bird Notes. The text is from a fun text set that has words small enough for ATCs and Inchies (yay!), Tiny Wise Words by Wordsworth. The base is mat board with gesso'd vintage text paper layered over top.

Enjoy!

* symbology - a term I coined to mean my own personal symbols - things that have particular meaning in my life. My lexicon of personal symbols shows up in my art and in my life. They are ever changing and evolving... and never boring. Symbology is a way to go deeper. Instead of admiring a pretty picture, I look for clues about what draws me to the piece and what it might mean to me on this journey.

~

Send Me An Angel

2009-04-29T20:56:00.000-07:00

I found myself watching some technique videos in German today. No, I don't speak German. No, I don't know why I do things like that. I'm so quirky I don't even "get" myself. *grin* I also surfed some cool German blogs and found some really nifty tips and techniques, which I will share here once I get some projects made.

On my travels I discovered a fantastic free image blog that I wanted to share. You don't have to read the language to appreciate the amazing photos. It's altered arts-y collage-y heaven. I just spent an hour scrolling and downloading. Yay!

Check out the Shabby Chic Papirskatter here.

~

Two of My Favorite Things

2009-04-22T02:03:00.000-07:00

How about some more PaperBag Studios goodness?

I checking out some older posts on Suze Weinberg’s blog and I came across a new tutorial by the great Tim Holtz. I decided to combine my favorite things, Ranger Distress Inks, Perfect Pearls and PaperBag Studios rubber art stamps! Here are the steps and for more info and pics, you can check out the tutorial here.

PEARLIZED DISTRESS TECHNIQUE by Tim Holtz

1. Ink tag using the blending tool in a light color Distress Ink.

2. Dry completely with a heat tool.

3. Stamp image using a Distress ink pad in your choice of color but be sure it contrasts with the color you inked your tag.

4. Immediately brush Perfect Pearls over the stamped image. Remember the ink dries quickly so act fast. The PP will stick to Distress ink if you move quickly.

5. Dust off excess with a fluffy paint brush.

6. Set the PPs by lightly spritzing with water from a Mini Mister. This will make the Distress ink you stamped bleed out a bit. The water won't affect the PPs, just the underlying ink. How cool is that?!?

7. Use your heat tool to stop the process once it looks as you'd like it to. The PPs remain in place and only the ink under it is affected.

First up is the card at the top of this post. I love the Raven from the Flourish PB um stamp sheet.

I inked him up with Walnut Distress ink and stamped onto a gesso’d vintage text page. Then I followed the steps listed above and Viola - a gorgeous, shimmery bird. (It doesn't show the beautiful shimmer in the pic, but IRL it is really stunning!) I simply inked some ground for him to stand on, ripped the text paper into a square, matted it onto some green DP and layered over some coordinating vintage lace to my brown card base. Easy peasy card!

Next are two tags I did following the same steps. I used Companionship and The Gate from the same PB set. Again, IRL the shimmer and shine of the images is really striking with the Perfect Pearls. I used the same PPs on all three images (Patina Green, Patina Blue and Antique Gold) but using different colors Distress inks underneath makes each look so different. I think my favorite is the lovely green of Peeled Paint Distress Ink.

The tags are embellished with fibers, buttons from the Basic Grey Recess line, Rubons from Prima, Creative Imaginations epoxy stickers and a Inique Boutique word rubber stamp.

Don't forget the Stamper's Appreciation Promotion over at the PaperBag Studios blog runs through the month. There's still time to make and post some projects for a chance to win some PB stamp goodies! Details here.

Enjoy!

2009-04-20T17:15:00.000-07:00

OK - let's talk about happy things today: STAMPING!! I love, love, love paper.

Take a look at this baby:
<-----------------------------

I now have every single one of my "must have" Basic Grey paper packs. The last were Recess and Motifica. Yum! Recess is a school theme, which I love. Ledger paper, giant graphic letters, cool alphabets, pencils and notebook designs in yellows, oranges, greens and browns - oh my! *grin*

I made a cool button cards with the cool new-to-me Recess paper collection. I was inspired to try the tutorial from the April 2009 Basic Grey Newsletter. I won't post the tutorial here because they did a great job with it and you can view the newsletter to check it out. I thought the design was super cool and wanted to see if I could do it.

The first button card took hours - lol, but I love how it turned out. The second one went much faster. They both use the Recess paper I talked about above. Also, the pics are of the outside of the card plus the inside b/c the button window shows on both inside and out because it is made from transparencies.

Notice the awesome papers? Yum! I am loving this new trend of ledgers, school papers and office supplies. I have some great journaling stamp sets that go beautifully with this style too. They are everywhere and I am just thrilled.

Second card:

If you make a button card, please post a link in the comments. I would love to see what you make

Enjoy!

~

2009-04-14T14:53:00.001-07:00

Here is a page I did in one of my art journals featuring my very favorite Paperbag Studios um stamp sheet, Flourish. Robin Marie and her amazing creative team are putting out some fantastic digital products now, but if you're like me and haven't taken the leap into the world of digi yet - her rubber stamps are amazing! She is running a Stamper's Appreciation Promotion for the month of April here so if you have any Paperbag stamps, get 'em out. It's time to play!

I had fun using the Flourish stamp in a new way - I stamped parts of it multiple times in two colors of green to make the tree leaves. Cool, huh? ;) I used The Roof and Segment for the house. The papers are my new fav Basic Grey collection, Recess. I also used Technique Tuesday alpha stamps and some of my famous gesso'd vintage text pages over-stamped with texture.

It doesn't take much convincing for me to get inky with my PB stamps. I had to finish up a couple of other commitments first, but now I am ready to play. This journal page is the first of many to come. Enjoy!

~

2009-04-11T22:05:00.000-07:00

This is me after 12 minutes of cleaning ---->
Well... I swept the floor, does that count??

When it comes to cleaning my studio, I have the attention span of a gold fish. ("Oh look, a castle... oh look, a castle... oh look, a castle... oh look, a castle... oh look, a castle...! :)) But for me, it's more like:
"Oh look, chipboard letters! Those would work on that journal cover.... " *sits down and starts playing with shiny objects and glue* "Oh look, I found my alcohol inks! Let me see how they look on this acetate from the recycle bin...." *sits down and starts playing with shiny objects and glue*
"Oh look, sheet mica! You know, you can emboss on mica for a cool look." *sits down and starts playing with shiny objects and glue*
"Oh look, paper! This stack is so tall it could be a fire hazard. I better sort this paper by color and then alpha by company.... " *sits down and starts playing with shiny objects and glue*

You get the idea! :)

*Sigh*

~

The Big, Fat, Scary, Overwhelming, Paralyzing MESS!

2009-04-08T19:50:00.000-07:00

OK - what's it gonna take to get me to get up and clean and organize my studio? Sheesh. I have been wanting to and trying to for months and months and months and... nothing. Well, maybe a few half-hearted attempts, a few good starts that quickly fell by the wayside and lots and lots of thinking about it and getting mad at myself for NOT doing it.

For example, if I would have kept the promise I made to myself back in January to do just one thing a day, it would probably be done by now. It's...er, APRIL for good-golly sake! Errrrgh. I get so, so, SO MAD AT MYSELF.

I dropped my life last August and ended up putting my furniture and most of what I own in storage. I moved into my mom's house to care for her and brought only some clothes, my computer and my whole art studio - which is still packed willy-nilly in boxes in the garage. I have a really great studio space in the garage - which has nice, big benches, good light, windows, a fridge and my cat. But it's such a pathetic mess that I can't find things I need and though I've been able to create some wonderful things over the past 6 months, its finally gotten so bad that I can't ignore it anymore. (As the self-professed Queen of Eqypt {read: denial} if I admit that I cannot ignore it anymore, you KNOW it's got to be pretty bad! :)) Even my cat can't find anything!*

OK - enough with the hitting myself about the head and shoulders with a big stick. I hereby commit to you - my friends in blogland, that I will at least make a start right here, right now, tonight. And I will come back and post an update on my efforts. Nothing else has worked so maybe posting about it will.

Oh - and if I could find my dang camera under all this mess, I would take before and after pics, too. That might shock me out of inactivity. It's ugly, I tell you - UGLY!

Rant over. I am going to go now and Just. Do. It. (!)

*check out my fav place on the whole interwebs, Icanhascheezburger.com Some days it's the only thing that can make me laugh. Try it, you'll like it. :)

~

2009-04-05T22:43:00.000-07:00

Time for some ATCs! I just completed my second stamp-a-thon over at a very cool site: ATCsForAll. It's a great site for swaps, trades, tutorials and just chatting with like-minded artsy-type people. Anyway, here are a few of the cards I made. Simple (for me) but humorous (for me - :))

1. Text reads: she had not yet decided whether to use her power for good or for evil (Stamp Camp and Inque Botique, gesso'd vintage text paper, image and gold outline sticker)

2. Text reads: she would show him naughty... (Stamp Camp text and unknown b/g rubber stamps, gesso'd vintage text paper, image and ribbon)

3. Text reads: could mother have been right? (Stamp Camp text and Hot Off the Press b/g rubber stamps, gesso'd vintage text paper, image and ribbon)

3. Text reads: could mother have been right? II (Stamp Camp text and unknown b/g rubber stamps, gesso'd vintage text paper, image, crepe paper and ribbon)

Now I am off to prepare envelopes for the Post Office. These cards are heading to Germany, Australia, the Netherlands and Arizona. My art is waaay more well traveled than I am, that's for sure! LOL

Love and Light,

~phinny

~

2009-04-02T12:36:00.001-07:00

How about another card? The scan is a little distorted, but hopefully it captures the card. I am a 3D gal - I just can't NOT add dimensional elements to anything I create. This is using the same gorgeous Fancy Pants Botanical papers mentioned below and a fun image from Red Lead.

Of course, the inside says, "loves you." Corny but oh-so-appropriate for the image, wouldn't you say?

Happy Spring!

Paper Obsession Continued....!

2009-03-31T22:07:00.000-07:00

Yup - I'm still salivating over lots of luscious, gorgeous, elegant and grungy paper. My latest find is not new, but it's new to me - Fancy Pant's Botanical line. I made a fun, shabby chic card with it today that I thought I'd share. I got a great deal on eBay on the paper and it came with rubons and some decadent ribbon. Very, very cool. Take a look:

Coming soon - I think I've come up with a new technique. It's one that I've never seen before anyway, although there isn't much new under the sun so I wouldn't be surprised at all if it's out there somewhere. Anyway, it's a twist on the traditional forms of embossed resist. I am putting together a not-quite tutorial with pics of my experiments so look for that soon.

It's still chilly here in the Pacific NW, but I think Spring finally decided to take off her coat and stay awhile. The dogs and I are enjoying our walks a lot more now that the air is softer and everything is clean and green and starting to bloom.

2009-03-08T19:40:00.000-07:00

Hello! I thought I'd share an ATC series I did for a couple of swaps I am in. One is on a great site called ATCsforAll.com. If you love Artist Trading Cards, check this out. There are forums, galleries, swaps, trades and challenges - oh my! Lots of ATC goodness for all.

This series is called "Go Green," about the global environment of course. (Oooooh noooo! I only scanned 2 of the 6 before I packaged them up and mailed them to the swap hostess. I thought I had scanned them all. Drat, drat, drat! *sadface*)

Happy March! We had our second freak show storm in 2 weeks here (in NorthWest WA USA), but I am convinced (hoping??) that Spring really is coming. I could sure use some sunshine and love after the last 6 months of sadness and pain.

(((( hugs ))))

~phinny

~

2009-02-25T20:12:00.000-08:00

Hello! I've been away for about 6 months now due to a family tragedy. I've started this first post several times, but just couldn't bring myself to hit the publish button. I guess I wasn't ready, huh? Well, now I AM ready to get back to the world. I've been through incomprehensible grief, shock and stress and spent most of the last 6 months in crisis mode; living only moment to moment.

I big, heartfelt Thank You to all of my art friends who were there for me in e-mails, on the phone, sending cards and sending prayers and support. This I know for sure... I could not have gotten this far without you. There aren't words big enough to tell you what your love and support means to me. But thank you again. You know who you are. (((( hugs ))))

OK, let's move on, shall we? I will talk about some of this as I move forward, I'm sure, but for now I am just happy to be back posting, sharing, making friends and showing some art.

Is anyone out there as into paper as I am? (Silly question, I know. Of course you are!) Well, I have gone totally nuts over Basic Grey. I've always had BG paper, but when Blush and then Bittersweet came out, something clicked with me and I became obsessed with almost ALL of their collections. I've been doing the eBay thing and getting some great deals. I got Porcelain the first week it was out and, oh-my-gosh, it is even more gorgeous in person. Seriously, I could eat this paper up with a spoon!

Here is a list of the BG paper collections I have so far:
Bittersweet
Porcelain
Blush
Urban Prairie
Archaic
Black Tie
Boxer
Cupcake
Euphoria
Eva
Perhaps
Periphery
Phoebe
Romani
Scarlet's Letter
Stella Ruby
Sublime
Sugared
Sultry

And that's not all of them, believe me. But I have gone crazy here, haven't I? *blush*

How about you, which collections do you have? What are your favs?

I had to drop out of my swaps to deal with family stuff, but thankfully I have been able to do my art daily. I started art journalling and that has turned into my therapy and my solace. Here are a couple of art journal pages using yummy Basic Grey papers.

The tag (front and back views) at the top of this post was made with the Blush papers, the first 2 journal pages with Porcelain, and the last journal page with several different BG collections - mostly Periphery and Boxer, I think.

OK - that's all for now. I will be back to blogging regularly now and I hope to see you again soon.

Fat Book Swap - Cowgirls Sneak Peak

2008-08-10T00:30:00.000-07:00

I am so excited about how this project came about that I wanted to give a sneak peak of my Cowgirl's set of the Woman Themed Fat book swap hosted over at Ink Stains.

I wanted to share my process on the Cowgirls page, too, because I am so tickled pink with how they are turning out that I am just beside myself.

I've had my concept for quite awhile and I found an unopened pack of 12 tags in my stash that fit perfectly so that went smoothly. I wasn't sure what to do about the back, though, so I just gave myself some time to think about it. I'm so glad I did, because this is what I am so excited about.

When I fist got the list of topics, I started my research - collecting images for each theme, thinking about designs, supplies, techniques, paper, etc. So, I've had some time to collect a number of cowgirl
images. Quite a lot actually, as I also found a really great deal on some cowgirl collage sheets. I obviously didn't use them all on my front page.

Well, I was also getting frustrated with the repetition of assembling 10 of each design. So, I decided to cut out the cowgirls images I liked the most from my stash and do a different one for each page with a simple design.

And that's when the cool thing happened. I thought - why don't I name each image? Meaning, each back page is of a different cowgirl image and the text on the page is her cowgirl name! I won't use them all, but I brainstormed a bunch of fun cowgirls names yesterday and came up with a list to have in front of my as I work. You'll see what I mean as you scroll through the pics.

OK. Here we go:

Prairie Rose

Six Gun Sally

Clementine Kate

Two Gun Tess

Tennessee Ruby

Wild Horse Hannah

Montana Molly

Sure Shot Sadie

There you have it! A little taste of whats in store for the Cowgirls set. (Oh - forgive the signature and date, too. This is the back of my page so I had to include it!)

Supplies: Fleuriste paper by Cosmo Cricket (my very favorite in the whole world!), Tim Holtz Distress Inks and various collected collage images.

I'm working a bunch of new things, including a tutorial on Twinkling H2Os, so check back soon.

~phinny

~

Stacks! - How to Make Layered Text Embellishments

2008-08-04T14:11:00.000-07:00

Well, I really thought I discovered a new technique. Something that no one had ever done before, only to find out *eeeeeh* Wrong! LOL I've been reading a few books and the newest Stampington mags the past few days and everywhere I look, it seems, I see these little text embellishments. My theory is that there really isn't anything new under the sun so I never worry about someone copying me or copying others. Anything that is authentic will have the artist's own style and stamp on it (excuse the pun). So... on to the technique.

Layered Text Embellishments - STACKS!
1. Gather lots of fun vintage text pages. Go through old books and just rip out pages that are interesting or related to the theme of your project. I have a great collection of old dictionaries- both in English and also several foreign languages. Other great sources are vintage text books (I have math and physics), children's books and encyclopedias. Any text will do. (Optional: I like to also punch some in heavier weight card stock. I use these as the base and find it makes each embellishment a little sturdier and easier to hold and punch the tiny holes for thread.)

2. Take your favorite punch and go to town! Punch more than you think you'll need because you'll see that once we start layering them, it takes a lot of them to get that cool dimension! You can use virtually any punch (or cut them out by hand if you are really into boredom, I guess. lol), like flower, square, circle, butterfly (wouldn't that be great??), etc. Pick one that you really like.

3. Now comes the fun (read: messy!) part. Gather your ink pads, re-inkers, ink sprays (like Color Wash, Glimmer Mist, etc.). Be sure to include at least one metallic for pop. Now set up a spraying area like an old box or box lid, your craft mat or outside on newsprint. Place your punched pieces in the box and spray A LOT! I mean, soak those babies. Just saturate them with color. The more the better in this case! (When those puddles of color dry, you will have gorgeous, deep, rich iridescent color!) I used Turquoise and Lime Green Glimmer Mists and Iridescent Gold Moon Glow Mist for the ones in the above pic.

Now, you can use virtually anything to color these, but just be sure your medium is translucent so the text shows through. Acrylic paint is not a good idea because it is opaque, but I do want to point out that there are lots of options besides the color sprays that I used. Try dye ink pads or re-inkers, Radiant Rain or walnut ink daubers, Perfect Pearls mixed with water and Distress ink works great or how about water color / Twinkling H2Os? If your favorite medium is translucent, go for it!

(Optional: You can color wash your text pages first and then punch if you like. The order really doesn't matter. If you prefer to do your punching after the color has been applied, just switch #2 and #3 here.)

4. Leave to dry overnight. I know, I know... we artist's are impatient. You can use your heat gun to dry. I'm not only impatient, but lazy, too, so leaving them alone overnight to dry works for me!

5. Now comes another fun part. Find some old buttons and a needle and thread (regular thread, book binding thread, embroidery thread, twine - whatever you have.) Now stack your text pieces on top of each other to the height you like (4-9 layers is good). I like to start with a cs piece to give the stack some sturdiness.

I used a very small hole punch to punch twice through the layers so my needle and thread could glide through the stack like butter. Now place your button on top of the stack and push your needle down from the top and then up again through the second hole from the bottom. Leaving plenty of room to tie a knot, cut the thread. If you are using wax linen book binding thread, you don't need to use any adhesive to hold the knot. But for the others, I do recommend a dot of glue or adhesive of your choice (I used Glossy Accents) just to keep that knot in place. Clip the ends of the thread and move onto the next one.

6. Now, you can stop here or if you're making Inchies (see July 24th Post HERE for Inchies made with this technique) or just want more bling and zing, there are lots of fun things you can do like:

~ Use clear buttons, metal buttons, different sizes, shapes and colors of buttons.

~ Cut small words from a vintage book to add a fun text element.

~ Use clear adhesive (like Glossy Accents, Diamond Glaze, Crystal Lacquer, etc.) and sprinkle on glitter, glass glitter, micro beads, small rhinestones or even small pieces of ribbon. You're only limited by the size of your stack and your imagination.

~Make different shapes. I especially liked making my Inchies with this technique. I used my Marvy Clever Lever 1" square punch. For inchies, I like to glue the stack down to a chipboard or mat board base (same size and shape). Once that was dry, I edged it with a gold Krylon pen and then signed and dated the backs for a swap.

~Most important? Have fun! These little buggers are so much fun. It looks like a lot of work and there are a lot of steps, but I had a blast making them and I think you will too.

Let me see what you come up with, k?

Look up!

phinny

Thank You Card

2008-08-03T12:04:00.000-07:00

I had an epiphany recently around my design style. Specifically, simple is good.

I'm a more is better person and, let's face it, we live in a more is better culture. But in design... not necessarily. So, here is a back to basics card. It's done in colors a bit outside of my comfort zone, but aren't they lovely? I've been attracted to a palette of blues and greens lately.

Oh... and what do you think of the layered flower in place of the "a"? Nice, huh? Well, I consider that a phinny technique and I am preparing a tutorial on how to make them. Look for that soon!

In the meantime, look up!

~phinny

~

Women Themed Fat Book Swap - July Pages

2008-07-31T16:22:00.000-07:00

Time for some new pages from the 4x4" swap I am doing with the gals over at Ink Stains.

The first theme is Driven women, meaning someone very ambitious and focused on her career or success. I admit I went through a number of different ideas, including the cliche of a women, a car and a bunch of old license plates. But I decided that while that idea might be fun, it would be disrespectful to the artist who chose the topic. I didn't want to deliberately misinterpret her theme for the sake of a fun and easy page.

So, I dug deep and I came up with a woman whom I have had a relationship with my whole life. No, I didn't know her. She was actually dead long before I born. What I mean is that her life, her passion and her story moved me.

I was first introduced to Eva Duarte Peron through Andrew Lloyd Webber's amazing musical, Evita. I fell in love with a true hero. A woman who believed in her people and her country. A woman who used what she had (her husband's political career) to do good - to put Argentina on the map, known finally to the rest of the world. And her death at age 33 moved me as well. The back of my page shows Eva in all her glory - working tirelessly for her people. And the text simply says , "Many believed that her body just wore out. b1919 - d1952."

The entire country came together in grief as this beautiful soul passed.
Above is my tribute to the beautiful, the driven - Eva Perone.

The second theme was a Retro Ad and I had a lot of fun with this one. I went on website after website, looking at ads from the early 1900s to 1970. Oh the ridiculous attitudes and outdated language! I could write a book about it here... but I won't. Suffice it to say that every stereotype about women was alive and well and shouted from the roof tops - the girl housewife who cooks, cleans, takes care of the kids and tries to please her man. You know, vacuuming in high heels and pearls? Yup - gag me with a place setting, Martha! lol

Although it was tempting to create my page around gender stereo-typing and discrimination, I quickly realized that there is far more material here than space allowed. A 4" x 4" page simply could not do it justice. So I am saving my research for an entire altered book of its own. Like Virginia Slims says, "We've come a long way, baby!" Well, we really have and I believe we owe a debt to the women of generations past who fought for our rights. I think we forget that so my altered book on the subject will be both a reminder and a tribute.

But enough about that. What did I do for the Retro Ad page? I had fun with it! I created a mosaic of ads from the 1960-70s in the color palette of yellow, pink and orange. (Yuck! lol) I played on the Austin Powers-esque "Groovy, baby!" for my tag line. This is my light-hearted romp through the 60s and 70s! Take a look!

Techniques: These pages were fairly simple. Lots of gluing and pressing pages with heavy books to get my chip board bases and papers pressed and to straighten out the warping that happens with any wet adhesive.

The Evita and the Retro women images are popped up dimensionally, although it's had to see here in the scanned pics. I used mounting tape in a roll so I could cut small and odd sized pieces. I also used glue dots and attached the Groovy model's hand on the front page with a small glue dot. It was really thin and quite tiny, but it needed some support. I also used Krylon spray to attach the women images to card stock first and then cut them out closely. The cs gave a little more support to the image and allowed me to pop them up dimensionally.

My only real tip here is to be sure to use a workable fixative (I use Krylon for all of my spray products) or top coat on any printed or copied images or else they can bleed when inked or glued. I ran into that problem with my first set of pages so now I do at least 2 coats and allow plenty of drying time before working with the images.

That's all for now, folks. I hope you enjoyed this sneak peek into our woman-themed fat book swap. There will be more to come as I am this very minute neck deep into the Cowgirls and Independent Women pages.

Bye for now!

Tim Has Outdone Himself This Time!

2008-07-29T23:04:00.000-07:00

Wow. I have to say that I am excited about A LOT of the new products that were launched at CHA Summer 2008 last weekend, but Tim Holtz has simply outdone them all (and himself!) this time, IMO. Take a look here to browse through many of his new releases.

My favorites so far are the new Circles and Ovals Fragments, Charms Fragments, Nature Grungeboard shapes and his new border masks.

Oh the things I could do with these products!

Now I admit I already have waaaay too many supplies. But I am thinking real hard on how I can justify ordering these new products, too. Drat! What a rotten time for a spending freeze!

Please feel free to contribute to the Phinny Phund, accepting $ or products now. Operators are standing by! Phinny doesn't need a new pair of shoes (I'd gladly wear my flip flops all winter if need be), she needs some new Fragments and Grungeboard! *grin*

~

Exciting New Inchie Technique!

2008-07-24T23:54:00.000-07:00

I am a reader. Anyone who knows me knows that I a) don't have a TV, and b) I am a voracious reader. (Love, love, LOVE the li-bary, as I call the library! lol)

Well, I was recently reading Beryl Taylor's book, Mixed Media Explorations. She does mostly sewing and fiber, which I don't do so the book is mostly eye candy and inspiration for me. Anyway, I came across a pic in there of some amazing stacked inchies she did (hers were added to a card) and that's where I got my idea. It looks like she water colored text pages and then stacked 7 on top of each other and sewed through the bottom with a button. Simple yet gorgeous!

So I decided to try my hand at that design. Of course, what I ended up with is completely different, but I am in love with this style. I added more embellishments (different buttons and added words, ribbon, glitter, etc.). I also experimented with different papers and color techniques.

The basic recipe is to punch lots of 1" squares from many different papers, stack 7-9 on top of each other, embellish the top, sew a button from the bottom, glue to a mat board base, edge with gold Krylon and then sign the back of each one. Whew! A lot of work, but so fun. I really got into it!

It took my almost 10 tries for some reason to get a decent pic. My digital camera has so many knobs and buttons and settings I feel like I need a college course just to use the darn thing. But I somehow stumbled on the right setting so I can share them with you. Aren't they just darling?

~

My New Favorite Shop!

2008-07-13T14:41:00.000-07:00

I am crazy in love with Coffee Break Design stencils. I don't know if you've heard of them or seen them before, but I love that they are very sturdy, come in great sizes for smaller altered art pieces and the designs are "artsy," not "cutsey."

Well in my journeys through blog-land, hopping from one gorgeous art blog to another, I came across Kristen Hubick's blog here. And what did I find? Not only a very cool Gallery of altered art, but a neat little shop that offers all sorts of great supplies and blanks for ATC, collage, assemblage and... yup - Coffee Break Design stencils! Of course I ordered right away, but check this out: she just got more in!

For me, there are two parts to loving an online shop - products and service. Well, I already told you about some of the products. Now let me tell you about the service. Kristen herself is wonderful. She e-mailed me right back with the answers to my questions, let me know when the new stencils arrived and shipped my order ASAP and included a fun goodie! Now that, my friends, is good service.

So, you can see above what I ordered from the Retro Cafe. Right now I am finishing up my July swap pages, but once those are complete and posted, I am going to play with my new stencils.

And, since I am a technique person, I wanted to share a couple of things. Roni over at Ink Stains has some great stippling tutorials that work perfectly with Coffee Break Design or any other stencil or mask you may have. (Are you like me and have about 6 of the Heidi Swapp masks, too?) You can check those out here and here.

Also, here is a great tip I learned from my online research. Preserve your Coffee Break Stencils for use over and over again by applying a thin coat of Microglaze (Judikins). You may have used Microglaze already as a resist or as a final coat over your finished pieces. Well, this is another great use for a great product.

OK - reading this over it sounds like I have stock in these companies. LOL I really don't. I just love to pass along good products and shops that I have had good experiences with personally. Enjoy~!

~

Symbology - Part I

2008-07-12T23:03:00.000-07:00

I am in a process of discovery now of learning my own lexicon or meaningful symbols. I call it "symbology," but I don't know that that is a word! If it isn't, well - we're making it one now.

In this ongoing process, I am identifying and adding personal icons (symbols) into my art. I am creating a lexicon of images and things like numbers and letters that are personally meaningful to me to add to my art to take it to the next level symbolically. Do you do this, too, either consciously or unconsciously?

One's own symbols are, of course, very personal and meaningful and it is an ongoing process of discovery. Here are a few that I have and use in my art: the pear to me represents femininity, the moon represents emotional or intuitive sense, the sun represents my outward personality, the number 8 is my life number and also the symbol for infinity, and so on. Some of these things are universal symbols, meaning that scholars and historians generally agree to the meaning, and some of them are purely my own - taken from my life and life experiences.

And now to the ATC art I have selected for today's post. This was given to me in a swap by my dear friend Karen who knows that the lion is one of my personal symbols. (THANK YOU, dear!) The Lion represents me because I am a Leo, I am a very strong personality, I am like a cat in my relationships (*blush* lol) and my mom is a Leo so it represents the mother / daughter relationship to me.

(Note: Look - even the word she chose is perfect for this topic. "Explore" I find that this process is deeply intuitive and lots of synchronicities pop up along the way. Watch for them!)

So symbology is this is a whole process that I am becoming more aware of and consciously cultivating in my art. My art is personal and cathartic and adding a lexicon of symbols adds yet another layer.

Do you have symbols that you use in your art either consciously or unconsciously? Do you gravitate to certain images, like a house, hearts that are ripped down the middle or even the color blue? What things do you reach for over and over again? What do these symbols say to you and about you?

As you start to ask and answer questions like these, I think you'll find that your own personal symbology is an ongoing process, but so, so valuable. After all, it's really about layers upon layers, right?

~

ATC Swap

2008-07-10T11:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a couple of the ATCs I made for the July About.com ATC swap. ATCs are artist trading cards that are fun and simple to make. There are only two rules - they must be 2.5 x 3.5 inches and only traded, never sold.

There are as many ways to make ATCs as there are artists, but I will talk about my process here.

Technique: For these two ACTs I started with a mat board base I got here: www.stuff4atc.com
I like using mat board because it's thick and sturdy and the back is a nice, clean white to add my contact info at the end. Best of all, it's very inexpensive because I order in bulk from the shop above.

First I cover the front with designer paper (Stella Ruby by Basic Grey) either by using sheets of double sided adhesive cut to size or Perfect Paper Adhesive (PPA), which does not wrinkle the paper. (Note: I will be doing a product review article on Adhesives for August so look for that coming up. Adhesives can be very confusing - which one to use for what??)

Next, I like to dry brush white gesso or any thick, light color of acrylic paint. This makes the strong background of the designer paper recede a bit and not be so loud or over powering to my design. It also adds another layer of interest as the paper design peeks through the paint strokes.

Then I simply add an image that I've cut from a collage sheet or found somewhere in my never ending search for art. I complete the ACT with a dimensional element (here the gold heart) and, last, a (usually) computer generated text. Most of the time a saying will pop into my head when I see the image and before I even start to create the piece. Those are the best, IMO, because the idea is already fully formed and the whole piece is more organic. Sometimes, though, I fall in love with an image or a technique and I dive right in without having a saying for the card in mind. In that case I usually leave the card out on my desk until I am totally sure of the right saying. I try some ideas on for size. I think an interesting or quirky saying can really make the difference between a good ATC and a great one. In these two examples, I immediately had the wedding couple saying of, "Now what?" before I started the project. The first one, Butterfly picnic, I let sit for awhile until I found something suitable.

Sometimes my art comes all in a rush (which is why I have an art journal - to capture ideas and techniques when they come!), and sometimes it comes in slow, agonizing layers. Sometimes I even put things away because I get stuck. Right now, for example, I have a shoe box with partly done ACTs. Cards that I started, but then didn't know where to take next. That's OK, though. I periodically sift through the unfinished ATCs and one of two things will happen: 1) an idea will come and I scoop the card up and finish it, or 2) I decide I don't really like it or it just doesn't work so it lands on the scrap pile to become an element in future piece. Both results are OK. I don't have to create art every single time I sit down in my studio. I've given myself permission to mess up and NOT be perfect and that has freed me up to make some really great things, if I do say so myself! *grin*

So, now it's your turn. Cut yourself a piece of 2.5 x 3.5" cs or, better yet, pick up a deck of cards, grab one from the middle of the deck and go make yourself an ACT~!

What's So Great About Summer?

2008-07-07T23:39:00.000-07:00

I am originally from MN so I really hated summer - it was too hot, too humid and too buggy! But now that I am in Seattle, summer has become one of my favorite times of year. I love the long days, wearing sandals, drinking Mint Mocha Chip Frappachinos from Starbuck's (I am a Seattleitte now *wink*) and driving my BMW 325i down the freeway with the stereo blasting and the windows down. I love how summer smells, too, and taking midnight walks under the moon, listening to the animals busy in the night.
In other news, meet Sandra - my new Great Aunt. I've been adopting some ancestors - collecting vintage photos of unknown people and then making up stories about them as I use them in my art.

Ooooh - that's a lot of leg, huh?

Woman Themed Fat Book Swap Pages

2008-07-03T22:16:00.000-07:00

Here are some pages from the 4x4 swap I am participating in with the gals from my favorite blog - Ink Stains. The topic is Women and each person picks a subtopic like Bombshells, Poets and Writers, Cowgirls, Independent Women, Retro Ads, etc. There are 10 people with 10 subjects and 2 categories are due each month for a total of 20 per month (100 total for the book). It's a big commitment of time and supplies!

Maya Angelou
My first page is for the topic of Women Writers or Poets. I chose Maya Angelou because she is the epitome of a talented, spiritual and strong woman to me. Artistically, I designed the page to highlight the person - Maya, but not clutter it up with a lot of words or ideas. What she means to me was easily expressed in one simple word - inspire. She inspires me and she has inspired countless other women and men in how she has lived he life and how she expresses herself on the page.

The back, unfortunately, does not scan well because it is too dimensional. Here the paper is a printed version of her poem, "I know why the caged bird sings." in a lighter charcoal gray so it would blend with the background. On top is a stapled transparency with her name (remember, I did not even put her name on the front of the piece), highlighted with Ranger's Cranberry Alcohol Ink. The black beaded trim runs from front to back to show that even though this lady is classy, elegant and poised - she has a WILD side that I love. Her spirit is amazing and I am grateful to have woman heroes like Maya Angelou as role models in my life. Maya is truly a gift to the world.

Veronica Lake
For the bombshell page, I chose Veronica Lake. Not just because she was gorgeous and talented and every inch the bombshell, but because she had a tough life and I resonated with her story. The text on the front of this piece reads, "you say bitch... like it's a bad thing?" That idea pokes fun at the not-necessarily derogatory term "bitch," but it also subtly points to the insidious gender discrimination still alive and well in our culture. When a man is successful, opinionated and forceful, he is generally respected. When a woman achieves success and has those same traits, she is likely to be called a bitch. The German Scrap on the page gives the design a feeling of glitz and glamor - remembering a time of sequined dresses, mink stoles, champaign and Cadillacs.

Fans of the Ink Stains blog may remember the 10 Ink Blending Tool Techniques Roni Johnson featured recently when they see the back of this page. Here I created a collage of quotes floating around the glamorous bombshell. I went back to each of the 10 pages and, using ink blending foam, added Mustard Seed, Red Brick and Antique Linen highlights a la Tim Holtz' Distress Inks. Fun!

Veronica Lake died a poor, lonely, sick women. Her Hollywood peers were hard on her and she resented the label of sex symbol, stating rather that she was a "sex zombie." Sadly she was an alcoholic and died of the disease. I have so much compassion for her. I can only imagine what it was like - her meteoric rise to fame, the pressures she faced and the ignorance and hopelessness of being an alcoholic. I, personally, haven't had a drink in 4 years now. I raise my glass of Diet Coke to this great legend and send a prayer out to all who still suffer from the disease of alcoholism.

Last, I just want to point out how two artists can start with the very same subject and theme and come up with two completely different pieces. Unknowingly, Roni and I both chose Veronica Lake as our Bombshell for this swap and our results are completely, totally and stunningly different! (You can see Roni's version here.) To me, that's yet more proof that art is a living, breathing thing. A genuine artist takes any subject, makes it her own and what ends up living on the page is truly unique.

NEW: Product Review Articles for Purple Faerie Paper Crafts

2008-07-01T20:30:00.000-07:00

Each month I will be writing an product review article for Purple Faerie Paper Crafts. The first one just came out now for the month of July. Take a look!

Glazes and Top Coats... by Phinny
The topic of glazes and top coats is one of my favorite topics! Why? Because a glaze or top coat is what you use to finish off your project. It will give your ATC, 4x4, Inchie, card element, art journal, altered book page...just about any paper arts project that you can think of, really, a nice, smooth, protective top coat. It looks finished and professional and protects your hard work. What could be better?

The Krylon costs more (about $10 to the DecoArt's $5 per 4oz jar), but you do get what you pay for. Since it lasts such a long time, I recommend the spending a few more dollares on the Krylon brand only because it is easier to work with. Both are great for adding a nice, thick glazed ceramic look to a variety of hard surfaces like paper, boxes, picture frames, etc.. Because it is extra-thick, only one coat is needed, but it looks as though you added 3-4 coats of the more traditional top coats. Like the other products discussed here, these dry to a clear finish, resist cracking and you can use on paper, wood, wicker, plaster, resins, dry bisque, paper mache', painting china, pre-primed metal, jewelry, artificial flowers and whatever else you can dream up!
(TIP: you can get the Krylon brand at any reputable art shop or chain like Ben Franklin or online. The DecoArt version is more accessible, you can find it at the super stores like Joann's or Michaels.)

The one's I like the least are the Aleene's Paper Glaze and the Jo Sonja's brand. Nothing wrong with them , but just not as good of a quality as the others in terms of coverage and usability, in my opinion. The Aleene's dried filmy white with a heavy coat and not clear like I had hoped (even after 3-5 days drying time) and the Jo Sonja's was watery and sticky.

I use all of the rest regularly and just pick the one that will give me the effect I am looking for. I like Glossy Accents, DG3 or 3D Crystal Lacquer for super dimensional top coats on charms and embellishments. I use Diamond Glaze a lot for acetate and a nice thin top coat. I reach for my old friend, Mod Podge for decoupage and collage, which I do a lot of. For top coating ATC;s and small pieces, I use the Triple Thick. (See ATC at right)

Last, there are spray top coats you may want to consider (I use in a box lid outside on my patio to avoid harmful fumes and messy overspray.) Krylon and several of the other brands have good aerosol versions. Don't expect the Triple Thick spray to give you the dimensionality of the brush on version, though. These versions are all meant to be sprayed lightly (8"-12" away from the project) in thin, even coats.

I hope that helped take some of the confusion out of the many options and brands on the market. A glaze or top coat is a tool, so like any tool - you'll have best results with the one best suited to both your project and your preferences.

Oh...and one final tip! Always - no matter which glaze or top coat you use, allow plenty of drying time. I like to leave mine overnight to dry. I've gotten in the habit of applying my glazes last then leaving them alone until the next day. The times I have not done this, I've inadvertently added another, less desirable element to my artwork - a big, sticky thumb print.

Yellow-Green

2008-06-29T00:06:00.001-07:00

I'm deep into the Stampington book, True Colors, about an art journal swap hosted by Lynn Perella. These artists (like Michelle Ward) are my heros. Wow. (Check out Alphabetica, too, by Lynn - good stuff) I love to read and be inspired.

I created a new background technique the other day. Then when I sat down to read for the night, I turned the page in True Colors to the Yellow-Green and Copper art journal. Synchronicities everywhere!

Here's the technique: I started on a Strathmore 9"x12" canvas-texture pad. I stroked ink from the dropper of a bottle of yellow-green colored calligraphy ink onto the page (I bought it because it looked lime green in the bottle, but it's definitely yellow-green) and then brushed it out with a large, soft paint brush. On a Styrofoam paint pallet, I squeezed out a good portion of white gesso and added about 10-12 drops of the calligraphy ink and mixed well. I suggest using gesso because it is a thick paint. Adding runny calligraphy ink would make a regular acrylic too watery, I would guess. I swiped the paint mixture across the page liberally using a stiff bristled paint brush until I liked the effect. The strokes are very random and the stiff bristles give extra texture. After letting it dry for 5-10 minutes, I went back and did the same thing, only with regular white gesso and not as much. This was to add back in some white highlights for interest. It's important to let it dry some before adding the white or else the paints just mix together and end up looking like a yellow-green blob. Last, I let it dry overnight.

For me, half the fun is playing with inks and paints and glues and mediums and varnishes and... well, you get the idea. I like to learn how a product or technique works first, and then I open the door wide to any crazy idea I can think up. I love to experiment and stretch. So, I've never seen or read anyone mixing gesso with calligraphy ink... until now.

*grin*

with love phrom
~phinny

Flouriste!

2008-06-28T23:58:00.000-07:00

Yum!

I have been really in to designer paper lately, which is strange because I am such a technique person that I usually like to make my own backgrounds. Maybe it will turn out to be a phase, but in the meantime I am having lots of fun with these gorgeous papers.

Enjoy!

Sketch #3

2008-06-26T22:21:00.000-07:00

If you know me, you know that I am a voracious reader. Online, I especially love to read blogs of artists and crafters who inspire me and, most important, share techniques. (I love eye candy, but that's not enough - I want to know HOW a piece was made, too, you know?)

That's just a short introduction to my favorite blog in the whole world - the only one I read every day religiously, that features my favorite products (Ranger Industries and Tim Holtz) and one that focuses 80% on technique, Ink Stains. Roni has a new feature where every other Friday she introduces a new sketch. She invites readers to use the sketch and send in their results. So, here is the card front I made for Design Sketch #3.

I especially like learning new designs because I know now that good design can be learned. That's right. I did say "learned."

See, I used to think you either had it or you didn't, whether "it" was artistic talent, athletic skills or managerial skills, etc. You get the idea. But the more I read and learn from others, the more I realize that a person like me (hopeless with color and placement, I thought) can actually learn those skills. Because while there is talent involved, there is skill, too. That means by doing the work of learning, practicing, making mistakes and getting it right sometimes, too, I can indeed improve my design skills.

(BTW, I just looked up the work skill in my online dictionary and the definition is: "... an ability that has been acquired by training." There. See? By training - doing the work, practicing.)

So, I am consciously working to learn good design and increase my overall artistic skills by participating in sketch challenges like this one and by really looking at other people's work and examining what works and what I like. I never "copy" other people's work, but I do model my pieces sometimes based on design, cool elements, colors, embellishments, techniques, etc that I pick up along the way. If you are authentic and have integrity like me, then every piece you create with be in your own voice, whether or not you got the original idea from a book, a picture or out of thin are. Besides, there really is nothing new. It's all been done before... but that's a dissertation I will save for another time.

Namaste!

~phinny

June Inchies!

2008-06-25T22:02:00.001-07:00

I am in two inchies swaps - one for my online Yahoo Group over at Hannah-Grey and one for Inchie Lotta, a new local group sponsored by my LSS, Stampin' In the Rain.

Honestly, I don't have the patience to make and decorate one inchie at a time. Instead, I make a large collage and then punch interesting areas with my Marvy 1" square punch, glue each onto sturdy mat board, edge them with a gold Krylon paint pen and finish by signing and dating the back.

Here is the Phinny method of making inchies, using this month's yellow inchies as the example. I start with a large piece of cover weight paper and glue torn papers down with Mod Podge. I select 2-4 different papers based on my theme, in this case yellow. I used the black and white flourish paper for contrast and interest and then added a gorgeous Japanese hand made paper in yellow and gold as my feature. Let dry. The next step is to dry brush white gesso over the top with a nice, stiff paint brush. I love the look and it also serves to unify the design into a cohesive, organic whole. Let dry again. (Note: you can use other colors based on your design. For example, for the pink inchies I did a couple of months ago, I dry brushed gold paint over the white gesso and that turned out lovely.)

Next I stamped the dotted circles (unknown) in two sizes over the top in black archival ink by Ranger. In one collage I made, I stamped a beehive background stamp (SA) in yellow over the paper layer before the gesso for another layer of interest. I don't like to go overboard and use too many different or contrasting stamps or images. I prefer to add design elements sparingly and only if they add to the composition. Once dry, punch, glue, edge and sign as above.

Now, the finished collage piece is called a Master Board and rather than cutting up for inchies, it would also make a terrific background for an altered book page, ATC or virtually any type of piece.

I like the abstract inchies. In the past I've included images of people and text, too, so there are as many ways of doing this technique as there are artists. I really do admire people who can come up with a design for each individual 1" square. But if like me, patience isn't a strong point, give the collage method I try.

Love and light,

~phinny

2008-06-21T21:15:00.000-07:00

Is this not the sweetest photo ever? It's my dad and his little girlfriend in the early 1940's I believe. They must be 3 or so. Darling!~

I must do something wonderful with this image. Any ideas...?

(Psssst... do you see a person peeking out the window, too?)

2008-06-20T23:27:00.000-07:00

It was a riot of color and scent this weekend on the peninsula. I ended up with about 20 good pics of mom's flowers. It's hard to take a bad picture of blooming flowers and, save for a few out-of-focus ones, I took quite a few keepers. I might even (*gasp*) do a layout of these for mom. Maybe for a large birthday card - a collage or something?

Seattle is the best kept secret ever. In the summer, it's 70-80 degrees and sunny with no humidity and no mosquitoes. Heaven!

Inchies!

2008-06-19T15:47:00.000-07:00

Inchies are 1" pieces of art that can be swapped or traded in much the same way as ACTs. I am in a Inchie group sponsored by my LSS store, Stampin In the Rain, and in a year long inchie swap by the Yahoo Group from one of my favorite online shops, Hannah-Grey. Here is an example of some inchies I did for April 2008.

Technique: I created a "master board" using a 12x12 piece of designer scrapbook paper. Dry brush white gesso over the top. Decoupage small images (I pick a theme of 3-4 images to repeat for consistency) to the sheet with Mod Podge or similar. Mix a vibrant pink using various acrylic paints and mix in some gold and magenta PearlEx for glimmer. With a small paint brush, smoosh the pink color acrylic paint into the paper with the tip of the brush to make similar sized dots, blots. Dry overnight. Then using the 1" Marvy Clever Lever punch (one of the only ones that make a true 1" square - and the best quality punch, IMO, because it's so easy to work and doesn't clog up), punch interesting compositions from the master board. (I turn the punch up-side-down to see the paper and punch when I find a visually interesting area.) Then glue each square to pre-cut mat board for strength. Edge with a gold Krylon pen and sign and date the back!

Vintage Ad

2008-06-18T00:57:00.000-07:00

Fun!

I am thinking of a cool paper doll piece for this. I was browsing a few sites looking for ideas for women topics for a Fat Book (4x4") swap I am in now and I came across this image. We'll see what will come of this, eh?

Enjoy!

ATCs

2008-06-18T00:54:00.001-07:00

Here are a few ACTs I did for a swap recently.

NEW and IMPROVED Phinnyart

2008-06-18T00:42:00.000-07:00

Hello! It's good to have a new home.