Ribbon Dolls

This month, I hosted a ribbon dolls swap in our Paper Traders group.  These dolls were inspired by a project seen on Ten Two Studios.  For this swap, I only needed to make two but they were so cute, I couldn't stop myself and I had to make a couple of extras.  I'm keeping the orange gypsy for myself and her sister in pale pink will be an RAK for someone special.  =)

White-on-White

I know my blog posts lately have been sporadic at best.  I really have been working on several things recently so I will try to get them updated here soon to show you.

This past week, I finished my spread for Cathy's tip-in journal in our Paper Traders group.  Her theme is White-on-White so this is what I came up with... let me just say that it was somewhat challenging to place that tulle on the page using gel medium!

Snowflake Tags

Recently in our Paper Traders group, Pam hosted a snowflake tag swap.  I was having so much fun with Cat Kerr's technique that I decided to try it with white paint instead of a dark color.  The result isn't quite as striking, but still pretty...

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.

Lost Poetry

Occasionally things don't always turn out in my studio.  This week's epic Fail came while working on my Found Poetry canvas for an upcoming swap at Paper Traders.

I have seen this technique gaining popularity and was anxious to try it myself.  I had read online that another artist used MasquePen to block out her words so she could paint over the rest of the page and then remove the masque when she was done.  Sounded perfect!

The paper I was using was quite old so I tested the MasquePen in several methods: straight paper, over clear gesso, over clear acrylic sealant, and over clear gesso covered with clear sealant.  The last seemed to work wonderfully so I prepped my pages and went to work.

Below is what happened to me when I tried to remove the masque...  Two section of masque pulled the paper right off the page and my words with it.  So sad!

I decided I will salvage this piece by reprinting my poem and gluing new words over the top.  But will have to start from scratch on a new piece for this particular swap.  Live and learn.  (For my next piece, I'm going to try using Post-It Notes to cover my words...  I'll let you know how it turns out.)

mourning

love,

thrown aside,

and

Haunted forever by

all

which is not to be

In Stitches

We're doing a stitched canvas technique swap in our Paper Traders group this week.  This was a bit of a challenge for me because I really hate to sew.  My stitches on this piece are not very good but the overall effect is nice and the loose threads give it a shabby chic look.

My take on Art Nouveau

Recently, Cathy hosted an Art Nouveau ATC swap at Paper Traders.  I made these cards using some classic Art Nouveau images and a pretty frame I cut using my Silhouette Cameo.  I added some art glitter and pretty brads (they're gold, not black, but the scanner can't pick that up).  These are simple but pretty and I love the color combinations.

Does this dress make me look like a cow?

Cathy is hosting a Moo Card swap over at Paper Traders.  The theme is Vintage Fashion.  I was lucky enough to have a whole page of fashions through the ages that I snagged from a thrift store book.  The backgrounds were made by layering actual sewing pattern tissue over cardstock.  Once everything was assembled, I topped it off with a shiny coat of Glossy Accents.

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.

Mardi Gras Masquerade

I recently hosted a Mardi Gras themed ATC swap in our Paper Traders group.  I made my backgrounds by using blue and purple alcohol inks on aluminum foil, then overlaying that with a piece of iridescent punchinella. They're really much more colorful and shiny than the scan shows.

Vintage Working Women

There's another blog challenge opening this week over on the Paper Traders blog.  The theme this time is "Vintage Working Women" and I choose to make another greeting card using a vintage image of a nurse.

Blog challenges are easy and fun!  Come on over to Paper Traders and play along...

Altar Shrine

I'm hosting another swap over at our Paper Traders group.  Every year about this time, we celebrate the anniversary of our group with a special project.  This year we will be making altar shrines.  I created mine using a small 1x2x3-inch wood block for the altar and attaching a taller 3x7-inch chipboard piece to the back to make the shrine and glued beads to the bottom for feet.  I covered everything in pretty scrapbook paper and added a beautiful public domain image of Cordelia by Arthur Rackham from "The Tales of Shakespeare" by Charles & Mary Lamb.  I got this image from my Green Tiger Press stash  =)  I dressed up the shrine with german scrap, graced our lovely lady with a regal crown, added some words on friendship, attached some floral sprigs, and placed six offerings on my altar (in  honor of the sixth anniversary).

Halloween Flip Book

Connie is hosting a Halloween Flip Book swap over at Paper Traders.  We made a twinchie (2" square) page for each section of the body: head, middle, feet.  For the middle, she asked us to put some kind of Halloween image instead of a torso.  I used vintage paper dolls for mine and added spooky features - blackened eyes, witch hats, etc.  For the center piece, I used the MyMemories digital scrapbooking software to collage a little Halloween image.

When Connie receives all the pages from the other participating artists, she will bind one page from each into a fun little flip book!

P.S.  There's still time to save $10 off your own copy of the MyMemories Suite -PLUS- get an extra $10 credit toward any purchase... that's a $20 savings!  Just use my promo code: STMMMS53179

Assemblage Art: Time Heals All Wounds

I have been waiting for weeks to be able to show you my newest steampunk creation.  The Gingersnap Creations blog challenge for this week was to use gears, cogs, and watch bits so I created this assemblage, which was a lot of fun!  I may have found a new art addiction  =)   Stay tuned because I have another assemblage to show you next week...

The Gingersnap Creations challenges are fun and anyone can play along so come and join in the fun!

Christmas in July

It's time for another art challenge on our Paper Traders blog! This time I made a greeting card for the "Christmas in July" theme using a transparency layered over sheet music and adding a pink flower rub-on:

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

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.)

Live in the Sunshine

My friends and family are having a chilly Spring but here in San Diego it's mostly sunshiney and getting warmer all the time.  Soon the heat of summer will be here (ugh!) but until then, I am enjoying the pretty blooms all around me and the mild weather of the season in Southern California.  Happy Spring, everyone!

A couple more ATCs

Every month, our Paper Traders group hosts a "Winner Take All" ATC lottery.  It's a lot of fun - everyone puts in one ATC and at the end of the month, we draw a winner who gets all of the entries... and then it starts over again for the next month.  Entering just one ATC is not a big risk but when you win it's like a party in your mailbox! 

These are the two ATCs I made for March and February.  The latter is pretty simple but the first one took a couple of days to layer up the background.  This was a variation of Jill Geraghty-Groves' "decaying background" technique as shown in the Mar/Apr 2011 issue of Somerset Studio.  I didn't have the distress crackle paints she recommended so I used an all over clear crackle instead but I still think it turned out pretty nice.

Fashionistas

Recently I hosted a "Fabulous Fashionistas" canvas swap on our Paper Traders group.  For these, I used a pre-printed texture paper background and then I glued printed napkins over the top using PPA (Perfect Paper Adhesive).  When everything was dry, I used some rubons for added details.  The ladies' clothing is a combination of papers and fabrics and lots of glue  =)

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  =)