Take Flight

Well, it's time for another blog challenge over at Paper Traders and this one is featuring hot air balloons.  I had a lot of fun making this collage.  I printed the large balloon image onto vintage text and layered it with scrapbooking paper for the background then added gesso and crackle paint for texture, using water and alcohol inks to make it look more distressed.  After layering my other collage pieces on, I added some scribbles with my Pitt pen then a little more gesso and some charcoal pencil for shading.  The title was done with a brown Sharpie marker and white touches with my fabulous Sharpie paint pen.  It turned out much more distressed than I had originally imagined but I'm happy with the end result.

This was such a fun challenge!  Join in the fun by heading on over the Paper Traders blog and you just might win recognition as this month's Trader Treasure!

Love Notes

Cathy recently hosted a vintage Love Notes Envelope swap in our Paper Traders group.  I still need to make my covers to bind together the pages that I received...  I'll try to remember to post another photo once I've got that assembled.  These are the envelopes I made using vintage sheet music overlayed with pretty napkins, doilies, and vellum flourishes.  I added rub-ons for some pretty touches.  The notes inside said:

Love
is just a word
until someone comes along
and gives it
meaning.

c

Updated:  Here's my finished book!

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...

Blog Challenge: American Indian

The theme for the Paper Traders Blog Challenge this week is American Indian.  I made another greeting card using some native dancers that I trimmed from a vintage postcard.  The dreamcatcher featured here is actually a clear sticker.

The blog challenges are easy and fun!  Come on over and play along...

Vintage Circus

Over at Paper Traders, Lynda is hosting a Vintage Circus mini book swap.  She will take one page from each artist and bind them into books for us.  These pages are 4" wide and 3" tall.  Most of my images are from Tumble Fish Studio and iTkUpiLLi, with a few other randoms things thrown into the mix.  The "C-I-R-C-U-S" pennant actually hangs on a string attached to the card and is not glued down.

Altered Cabinet Cards

Jeri is hosting a deco book swap on Paper Traders using altered cabinet cards and the theme "Time".  For the backgrounds, I trimmed around the people in the photos and then layered in papers from DCWV's Tattered Time paper stack.  Since the theme required to use a timepiece in some manner, I layered wings behind various clock faces and attached spinning clock hands with a brad; each card also features a grandfather clock.  These are pretty simple paper collage - no fancy techniques - but I think the end result is still good.  Once Jeri receives pages from all the participating artists, she will take one page from each and bind them into books for us.

Vintage School Memories

The Paper Traders blog challenge this time is "Vintage School Memories" and I think it's such a fun theme!  I made this canvas by starting with some pretty scrapbook paper, which I scratched and sanded before rubbing with Distress Inks.  Then I layered a transparency over a page from an actual student reader printed in the 1800's... and added a few school-themed elements to finish it off.

These blog challenges are a lot of fun and open to everyone.  So hop on over to the Paper Traders blog and show us your stuff!

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!

Saturday Swap Meet

It was time for another scavenging trip to find more steampunk playthings.  Above is a photo of what I found today.  Stay tuned to (hopefully) see these items featured in some new art soon!

Valentine Steampunk

 Utilizing some of my recent swap meet finds, I completed these Valentine Steampunk assemblages for Cathy's swap on Paper Traders.  These were a ton of fun to make!

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!

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.

A Little More Steam

I had a request from one of my arting buddies, to do a private swap of one of my steampunk cards. Since the ones I posted earlier were already committed, I made a couple more for her to choose from. I think she made the right choice in picking this one (my personal favorite =)
I entered the other one (below) in the Paper Traders monthly winner-take-all lottery for July.

The Great Escape by Holly Hinkle

On my way home from work today, I stopped by a downtown boutique that was displaying art by a local mixed media artist, Holly Hinkle. I thought her work was absolutely lovely! It's on display all month at Terra Verde on Tejon, if you live in the area and want to stop by:
http://edificegallery.com/index.php?option=com_events&task=view_detail&agid=32&year=2009&month=06&day=05&Itemid=48&catids=24

Circus Train

This ticket is my sign-in tag for Abby's tip-in journal on Paper Traders. Her theme is trains and I thought it would be fun to do a circus train. I used a copy of a vintage circus poster, trimmed it with my gold foiling pen, and added animals with 3-D pop ups. It's simple but cute... I hope she likes it!

Bird Post

This is the spread I did Pam's tip-in journal on Paper Traders. Her theme was birds, eggs, nests, etc. I used a vintage letter twist with this spread. It was fun to do this for someone who is stateside so that I didn't have to worry about feathers and stuff... I used real feathers in the next and for the quill as well as real spanish moss on the nest.

Remnants of Olde

I have come across many interesting blogs and sellers as part of the OWOH event... the folks over at Remnants of Olde have some of the most unique pieces... you really should check it out!

Altered Dominoes

I made both of these altered dominoes for a swap on Paper Traders. Both of the images were sealed with crystal lacquer and then I dropped the gold items into the wet lacquer to attach them (the key, bow, and gold micro beads). The pear one has pretty little rub-ons around the edge while the key one has a ribbon glued around it.

Vintage Family Holidays

These are the hanging ATC's I made for Teri's "Vintage Family Holidays" swap on Paper Traders. You can barely see the ribbons behind that are the hangers for these cards, which can be used as ornaments. I was very limited with images and inspiration so I relied heavily on these gorgeous rub-ons from The Paper Studio.