Trees Tip-In pages

I am participating in the Tip-In Journal project over at Paper Traders.  This month, my assignment was to do a spread for Heather's "Trees" journal.  My first attempt was nice but just not quite 'artsy' enough for me:

This is one of my favorite quotes and the page is much prettier in person - metallic gold background with lots of texture and color variation, multi-hued glitter on the tree, etc.  Still, I felt that Heather deserved something better (as she is a very accomplished artist) so I went back to the table and created this:

It's very simple in style but I think the overall effect is gorgeous.  The background was made by reconstructing paper from little torn bits using Aleene's matte decoupage medium.  The colors are so rich - I love it!  I hope Heather will too.  But I'm sending her both sets of pages, just in case she wants the first set also.

Altered Rusted Tin

Over at Paper Traders, Cathy hosted an altered rusted tin swap inspired by her recent tutorial on various rusting techniques.  I used my own variation of these to rust my tin...

First, I sanded ALL of the paint off of my Altoids tin lid, then sprayed it down with straight vinegar and let it dry in the sun (I did this about 3 times on each side)... it was already starting to rust with just the vinegar.

Then (wearing rubber gloves and a face mask, just in case), I mixed 4oz of 3% hydrogen peroxide with 2oz of the vinegar and about 1 tsp of salt, stirring carefully to dissolve completely; then I carefully poured it into my spray bottle. I sprayed the tin and left outside to dry, turning and repeating about 3 times on each side... I got lots of rust coating the entire tin. In the areas where the solution pooled because I sprayed a little too much, it took longer to dry but turned out really textured and dark in those spots.

Finally, I sprayed the whole thing with a coat of matte acrylic sealer and let it dry before creating my collage.

I have been wanting to try this for so long and am surprised at how quick and easy it was to do!

Poetry Found

My second attempt for this Found Poetry swap was a bit more difficult but much more successful.  This time, I used pieces of Post-It Notes to cover my words and only had a tiny little tear which I was able to fix.  The hard part was trying to find the right words for my poetry.  In the end, I had to change the word "ignorant" to "ignore" and then it all came together.  The image for this piece was re-purposed from a postcard I received and I want to give credit to the original artist Wendy Paula Patterson for her beautiful imagery.

art

like

a party-colored dress

promiscuous

and hard

to

ignore.

Gives me Goosebumps

I made this project using a few newly acquired art supplies - Goosebumps clear texture spray and Prima resist canvas shapes.  You can read about this technique and my product review on the Paper Traders blog here: http://papertraders-art.blogspot.com/2012/05/product-spotlight-goosebumps-texture.html

Ornaments

I made these paper ornaments for our 12 Days of Christmas swap on Paper Traders.   It's hard to tell from the scan, but I hand painted a pearlescent top coat to highlight specific elements before layering on the chipboard and paper punched pieces.

I also made some ornaments for friends and family... these were done by gluing vintage sheet music to wooden forms and then layering the bird images from napkins.  I got the idea for these cute button berries from Sassy & Sweet Notes - aren't they cute?

Blog Challenge: Party Hats

It's time for another blog challenge over at the Paper Traders blog and the theme this time is "Party Hats."  I decided to make an actual hat for this one...

Blog challenges are fun to do.  Hop on over to Paper Traders and take on the challenge!

Imaginary Garden

This is the last spread for the current round in the Paper Traders Round Robin Journal swap.  We'll be starting a new round after the first of the year.  This last book that I worked in belongs to Heather and she chose a beautiful theme: Imaginary Garden.

For this page, I used the watercolored paper she had included in her book, sponged ink around the edges, and glued a printed floral napkin over the top.  I then added dimensional aspects with silk flower petals and punched paper flowers.  Finally, I used my fingertips to spread glitter glue to highlight certain flowers.  The butterflies and birds were actually rub-ons.  Since hummingbirds are a rare thing for her to see up in Canada, I think she thought it was a real treat to have them in her book.

Let's Go Traveling... to Balboa Park

For our Round Robin Journal project on Paper Traders, I'm working in Janne Ryan's book this month.  Her theme is "Let's Go Traveling" and I chose to feature San Diego's own world-famous Balboa Park, which is one of my very favorite places.  I love the beautiful gardens and breathtaking architecture, the wonderful concerts and plays, and all the fascinating things to see and learn about in the multitude of museums.  Located in the heart of San Diego, it is a treasure of the city with many free attractions and free parking, too.  You can learn more about the numerous things to see and do here by checking out their website: http://www.balboapark.org/

Assemblage Art: Train

All aboard for another week of steampunk-inspired assemblage art for the Gingersnap Creations challenge.  The challenge this week was "Planes & Trains" and I had a lot of fun making this train from all of my swap meet junk.  This abandoned engine has become a home for some cute little birdies.

If you feel inspired to try some steampunk-style art, I encourage you to check out the Gingersnap Creations blog and take a go at some of their challenges for this month.

Pin It

Red, White, and Blue Bird

It's time for another art challenge on the Paper Traders blog!  The theme this time is "Red, White, and Blue Bird" and I decided to go with a decidedly patriotic theme in honor of Flag Day this week.  I actually made the background a long time ago when I was practicing some new techniques.  This one was done by using clear embossing powder to stamp the framed words onto blank card stock to create a resist for the watercolor.  After painting, I then reheated the embossing until it soaked into the paper to create a batik effect.  The eagle image was trimmed from an old birdwatching book I found at the thrift store  =)

These challenges are so much fun!  And they're open to all art bloggers so check them out and come play along: http://papertraders-art.blogspot.com/search/label/Challenges

Catching up on the past six months...

Moving back to San Diego has been terrific although I still feel like I'm in my adjustment period.  It took me several weeks to find a new home and even longer to get unpacked... I still am not completely settled in but I'm getting there.  I found a cute duplex in the suburbs and am blessed to have a nice landlord, a friendly neighbor, my own laundry room, a garage, a yard, and the best part - a whole room to dedicate to my art studio/office!

I used my birthday gift cards to buy shelving for the studio and I am almost done getting everything put in its place.  I would have been done ages ago if I didn't keep hauling stuff out and making messes (along with art) along the way.

Shortly after moving into my new home, I discovered this nest of baby birds right outside my window.

I've really enjoyed catching up with old friends and making new ones since coming back to San Diego. 

Sadly, my best friends relocated to the Monterey Bay area shortly after I arrived.  I was lucky enough to get to spend a long weekend with them over Halloween.  On the way home, I took the scenic route down the famous Highway 1...

Being back in Southern California gave me the opportunity to attend one of my online artist friend's art showing... and to finally meet her in person.  Kate Carvellas was as sweet in person as I'd come to know her online and a talented artist too!

Although I went home for Thanksgiving, I spent a lovely quiet Christmas at home this year.

I'm looking forward to the new year and good things  =)

Creepy Cottages

For Halloween, our Paper Traders group had a Creepy Cottages swap.  This is my creation, featuring a cute birdie from ArtChix.

Out with the old... In with the new...

On the day before leaving town to visit my family for Thanksgiving, I managed to total my car.  The accident was my fault and an embarrassingly stupid move on my part.  Thankfully, no one was seriously injured - it could have been so much worse - but my subcompact 2004 Hyundai Accent didn't fare too well against a Dodge Ram pickup!  I finally got out of my rental and into a new (at least new to me) car - a 2010 Hyundai Elantra with power, cruise, and lots of nice little amenities I had been doing without.  Alas, they came with a car payment attached but at least I have something nice, newer, and reliable to get around in.

On a lighter note, I had a wonderful time visiting my family in Wyoming over the Thanksgiving holiday.  I arrived just in time for the traditional dinner, sacrificed sleep for some Black Friday shopping deals, had a Harry Potter movie marathon with my nieces, went to kindergarten with my youngest niece, watched another niece perform admirably at her swim meet, helped my mom rearrange her art studio, and managed to read a novel and complete an art piece in the process.  Not a very restful vacation but definitely a fun and special one!

This is the art piece I completed on my vacation.  It was my birdhouse-themed contribution for the Fifth Anniversary swap on Paper Traders.  The couples featured are my grandparents and great aunt & uncle  =)

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!

Secret Valentine Birdie

I'm just barely finishing up all the Christmas candies and treats and now the stores are full of tempting valentine sweetness! Makes it very hard to stick to my healthy eating goals...

In our Paper Traders group, we are having a secret valentine swap and this is the front of the card I made:
I made the background by tearing pieces of vintage text and music and layering them with some Perfect Paper Adhesive (love this stuff!). Then I covered it all with a layer of flower-printed tissue paper and added some rub-ons from EK Success. The little birdie was a pre-made embellishment from Prima but I made the lacy heart myself.

This background technique is my favorite - I've used it on several projects - it's super easy and always turns out so pretty!

Fuzzy Chicks

A few of you wondered what those fuzzy yellow things were in the middle of my stash... well, here they are - aren't they the cutest?

Anniversary Shrine

Every year around this time, our Paper Traders group makes a special project to swap. This year we are constructing mini matchbox shrines. Because this is our fourth anniversary, the theme was to use the number 4 in some way - mine, obviously, is Four Seasons. The "leaves" on the trees are made using FlowerSoft - such a cool product! The text paper I used for the background came from an old book I got at a local thrift store that was printed in 1796. I love how they used an "f" instead of an "s" like we do now.

June Birdsong

These are the pages I made for Barbara's tip-in journal on Paper Traders. She wanted a monthly art quote and I had June so I tried to make a page that fit the season. It's simple but, in my opinion, very pretty and right along the lines of what she had asked for. The color in the scans is a bit off, though. I also made a sign in tag for her, shown below:

Barn Swallows

It is Spring here in Colorado and the birds have arrived! They're up very early every morning, singing their songs and making sure no one oversleeps. They tend to congregate on my patio, shuffling and fighting over the best spot on the ledge over my sliding glass door. Needless to say, the subsequent mess on the concrete below is a pain to clean up!

I have been contemplating what to do to keep them from assembling there... until today. It seems that a pair has taken over the space and chased off all the other interlopers. I believe they are barn swallows - very colorful with bright red (male) and bright yellowish-orange (female) bellies with black wings and long split tails... they're really quite beautiful. I hope they honor me with a nest of chicks to make up for the inevitable mess they'll leave behind.

They're very LOUD! If you want to hear what they sound like, I found a clip here:
http://www.allaboutbirds.org/guide/Barn_Swallow/sounds

Soul Journal Inchies

Continuing on with Sarah Whitmire's Soul Journaling prompts... Going back to yesterday's page, I trimmed out my soul armor with a gold foiling pen - it's a lot of bling, but I'm worth it =)

The next exercise was to search magazines for specific images... some were generic items, like "a bird" or "a flower" whereas others were more personal, such as "eyes the same color as yours" or "something you want (which is NOT the picture of money - LOL)"
Actually, one of the prompts was "something comfortable" which I couldn't really find any picture for... so I picked the money as "something I need to be comfortable" because, well, don't we all?

First, I made a wash of some dark purple acrylic paint (which turned out pretty light once I watered it down), then I spread it around and blotted with paper towels. When that was dry, I pasted on the inchies and applied another wash of a lighter colored paint (ochre). Lastly, Sarah had us add some words and draw around some of the inchies.

A few personal things here? Well, the "40 September" was my last birthday, the beautiful mountain scene is from right here in Colorado where I live now, the snowy branches are my "something you have" since I really appreciate having winter seasons again after living in California for twenty years. The banana bread is one of my favorites and reminds me of my grandmother; the hand represents my current round robin journal which is still winging it's way around the world; the aspen leaves are another Colorado specialty; and the purple swirl represents my favorite color (hence the purple background, too!)