Beauty in Bronze

Every month, our Paper Traders group has a winner-take-all ATC lottery and this is the card I made for February's entry.  I used a leftover "failed" background from my CNY cards (it was a "fail" because the colors were too blended and brown - the ones I used for that swap were just black & red).  The scanner never does very well at picking up the shimmery bits but this card has a gold sheen and some touches from my gold foil pen.

Cameo: Chinese New Year Revisited

I am so excited (and spoiled!) because I received a new Silhouette Cameo as a gift this past week!  I've barely had a chance to use it but I think it's amazing.  This is my first electronic cutter and now I can see why it seems everyone is obsessed with these things.  I have only cut out a few test items - a gift bag with scrolling heart handles and a Peter Rabbit print-and-cut... both of which I neglected to photograph before giving them away.  And the third thing I cut were these amazing chinese dragons!  These ATCs are for another swap on our Paper Traders group.  Look at the intricate details in the cutting!  I love it.

The backgrounds on these cards were inspired by Dina Wakely's "warm ups" which she talked about in Nathalie's Creative JumpStart Summit this month.  I dipped vintage asian text into black & red alcohol inks and then spread on some gold acrylic paint using a palette knife.  So simple and I love the look.

As an added bonus, these cards fit the theme of the current Paper Traders Blog Challenge as well.  Anyone can join the blog challenge and you might be recognized as the "Trader Treasure" of the month!

Blog Challenge: Chinese New Year

It's time for another fun blog challenge over at Paper Traders!  The theme this time is "Chinese New Year."  As many of you know, I am a big fan of asian culture and art so this is a fun one for me.

Hop on over to the Paper Traders blog to participate in these challenges - Anyone can join in and they're easy and fun.

Happy Arting!

My Stuff, Your Stuff

 We held a really fun swap on Paper Traders this month.  It was a "stuff" swap and we sent our swapping partner an envelope full of random ephemera; then their challenge was to make one ATC using some of the items, sending the finished card back to the person who's stuff they used and keeping the extra ephemera for themselves.

Well, I was having so much fun, I couldn't stop... and I ended up making THREE ATCs from the stuff I received.  I forwarded the top two shown here back to my swap partner and am entering the card shown below in this month's winner-take-all ATC lottery.  (For this last card, I added the picture from my own stash.)

Asian Influence

 If you follow my art, you probably know how much I love asian themes in my art.  Here are some items I've done recently - all for Paper Traders swaps.  At the top, small chipboard houses using some really great joss paper I found for backgrounds.  Above, some paper thread bobbins for a tiny bobbin book.

Below is the triptych and handmade envelope I created for another swap.  The lady in this one is a pop-up... a little trick my mom taught me  =)

Recent ATCs

Our Paper Traders group hosts a monthly ATC lottery.  Here are some recent ATCs I made for them.  Now, if I could just remember to get them sent off to the corresponding winners!

Asian Charms Box

Just wanted to quickly share a photo of the box I made for my 16 color charms...

The wooden frame that I used for the base was a dollar store find!

In the Spirit of Crayola

Liz is hosting a token/charm swap in our Paper Traders group.  Her theme is the 16 colors that come in a box of Crayola crayons: red, red-orange, orange, yellow-orange, yellow, yellow-green, green, blue-green, blue, blue-violet, violet, red-violet, carnation pink, brown, white, and black.

I gave mine a common theme by using various asian papers for each one.  I got the idea from vintagepix' button charms that I saw on Flickr.  It took a little trial and error but I finally figured out the secret for doing these without too much mess...

I adhered the paper behind the clear buttons (which I got from Stampin'Up!) using crystal lacquer (diamond glaze, papier glass finish, etc.) but I had trouble with it oozing out through the buttonholes when I pressed them together.  My solution was to cut the ends off of some cheap cotton swabs that had plastic stems (like tiny straws) - they fit perfectly in the holes and the excess glaze oozed up inside the straws instead of all over the front of the buttons... then I placed my finger over the top of the straw when I removed each one, creating a tiny vacuum that sucked out the excess goo!

All I need to do now to finish this project is to make a cute little storage/display box...

One World One Heart 2010

***** COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED - I'LL BE DRAWING OUR WINNERS SHORTLY...

Lisa "oceandreamer" Swifka started the ONE World-ONE Heart event in 2007. The original idea behind this giveaway event was to bring bloggers together from around the world who may never ordinarily meet. It closes the gap of the blog community and enables us to interact, discover new and wonderful people and, in the process, possibly win a prize along the way. This is more than wanting to win something - it's about finding kindred spirits. It transcends geographical location, social economics, political affiliation, religious beliefs... it's a coming together like the giant community we are on this planet. If only it took a simple giveaway to create PEACE everywhere! In the meantime, here we give from our hearts. We are not solving the world's problems nor are we curing anything nor are we changing the world. We are merely generating a closer community between humans through blogging. The mission of this event is to meet new people and them meet you. It is almost like being in a huge convention room where you meet and mingle - only the "hello my name is" badge is each persons blog.

I participated in this last year and it was so much fun! However, I almost didn't do it this year because I have been so busy but... I just couldn't help myself =) This year, I'm giving away some of my "stash" - fun items for paper collage. I laid these out on my bamboo floor mat for the photos... I guess that's kind of like a magic carpet, right?
There are 3 prizes up for grabs.

PRIZE #1 - Asian Ephemera:


PRIZE #2 - Specialty Paper Collection, includes handmade, mulberry, rice paper, etc:
(This prize will not be awarded to an international participant due to the real leaves, petals, seedpods, etc. that are in many of these papers)


PRIZE #3 - Tissue & Napkin Assortment:


You do not have to be a blogger to enter; just leave a comment below along with some way for me to contact you if you win (a blog link or email). I will draw 3 lucky names from all the comments on February 15th.

Please take some time to view my blog (or bookmark it for later =) and make sure you visit all the other OWOH participants! Have fun and GOOD LUCK!!

***** COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED - I'LL BE DRAWING OUR WINNERS SHORTLY...

Fabric ATC

Connie is hosting a Fabric ATC swap on Paper Traders and I made 5 cards like this one. Originally, I had thought to sew a lantern that was puffy but damask fabrics have such a tendency to ravel that I settled for a flat version attached with Stitch Witchery fusible webbing instead. The scan really doesn't show the richness of the colors and the shiny nature of the fabrics - much prettier in real life, I promise!

Soul Journaling

One of my new year resolutions was to start a personal art journal this year. The problem was that I didn't have any idea where to start. One of my dear art friends told me about Sarah Whitmire's Soul Journaling prompts and so I have decided to jump right in! I know I won't be able to follow along daily but will try to work on this project as regularly as I can.

The first two spread are my take on Sarah's first prompt - to cover my pages with text, then pick out words that describe how I am feeling, circle them, and write down some of my thoughts:

The next step was to get out the gesso and cover up all of my words, taking time to contemplate on them as I painted them out. Secondly, I needed to "claim" my book by putting my name all over the first page...
Finally, I needed to create my "soul armor" and decorate it using words that describe how I can protect my creative spirit. Those of you who know me know I love asian things so I just had to use this samurai on my page... I decorated the background with a piece of gold-printed joss paper and some kanji rub-ons. I will probably go back and add more detail to my armor but this is what I've gotten done so far.

Double Happiness

This is the spread I did for Susan's "How Great Thou Art" round robin journal on Paper Traders. Here theme was not about religion but about the things that you love and what inspires you to create. I have done a lot of asian stuff lately but this was the perfect time to do more since it is my favorite theme =) The red envelopes each hold tags, which are displayed in the second photo. Thanks to all my arting friends who lovingly send me the bits and pieces of asian texts and images... almost everything that went into this spread was an RAK from someone else!

Pretty in Purple

As you probably know, I really love asian-styled things. I made this ATC for last month's Winner-Take-All lottery on Paper Traders. I used the torn paper background technique as shown by Barb Thomas and Bevlea Ross on their blog. Isn't she pretty?

Monochromatic Me

This is the spread I made for Letha's "Monochromatic Me" round robin journal on Paper Traders. I chose an asian theme because I love all things asian!

Asian Collage

After spending all day yesterday cleaning and organizing my art room, I was anxious to sit down today and create something... so I made this ATC for the monthly Winner-Take-All lottery on Paper Traders. I think this card turned out very nice (of course, I'm very partial to all things asian) but I am stumped for a title - what to call her???

Beau"tea"ful Birthday Surprise!

My birthday is this weekend (well, Monday, actually) and I received a package from one of my dearest friends. She called today to tell me to open my package early. Inside was this gorgeous tea set! My dishes are a matching Blue Willow pattern and this set is such a beautiful edition. I am very excited to have this wonderful surprise - I LOVE IT!!!

Crowned Crane

I made this ATC for the monthly Winner-Takes-All lottery on Paper Traders. Still struggling with my muse but anything asian is always a favorite for me.

Asian Houses Redux

As I mentioned earlier this week, I haven't been satisfied with the quality of my recent artwork. So I decided to remake my asian chipboard houses. I didn't start over from scratch but did take them down to the background paper and rebuilt them up again, adding more features, more distress ink, and adjusted the layers. I am much more satisfied with the results:

Pushing through

Last Friday, I had the WORST migraine! And ever since then, I've been exhausted... and that seems to have left me unmotivated and muse-less. I have been pushing through the artistic block and trying to create something each day. This week, I managed to do these chipboard houses - all with an asian theme (one of my favorites). Unfortunately, I'm not loving what I'm creating.... but still pushing on...

Between a Rock and a Hard Place

My friend and fellow Paper Trader, Keron Lee, sent me some photographs she took of stones along the River Hutt on her recent trip to New Zealand. I am playing around with some ideas for my upcoming Sticks & Stones swap. Here are a couple of playful attempts:

I call this first one "King of the Mountain" (for obvious reasons =)


This is the chinese symbol for "strength" which was the only word that was simple enough for me to draw and was somehow related to stone... hahahahaha!