Collage and thrifty couture

I did this collage for the Collage couture class that I won from SIS. I gessoed the watercolor paper and added a piece of tissure paper that had been stamped. When dry, I painted it with 3 colors of w/c paint. I used gel medium to transfer the image of my favorite Picasso painting and finally added some cutout pears (that I had painted on a practice w/c piece), the feather, the selvage edge of some fabric, and some vintage buttons. It seemed to need something on the left side so I covered the image with some paper and then used the same stamp to stamp the Chinese characters along the edge. This was so much fun and the collage is so liberating. I also love incorporating things I have made into the collages so I never throw any paintings away.

I did this layout inspired by the Thrifty class - I used a vintage paisley postcard, the actual packaging for the set of postcards, a strip from a vintage children's book, and made yo-yos from some Amy Butler scraps. The orange felt flower, the scallop, and the blue paper I got from Angie Bracken as a RAK on NSD.

For this layout, I used a round sponge and watercolor paints to do the background. I made a soup of paints on my palette and just laid the sponge on it and then on the paper. Parts of the flowers and the saying came in the RAK from Angie and the postcard is vintage. I have been making layered flowers like mad lately and have really depleted my flower parts. Pretty soon I will have to switch to a new embelly or just make funky flowers from papers and fabrics. I made three flowers using some Japanese fabric and gel medium (Martha's instructions in the Thrifty class) but I need to figure out what to use them on.

My last watercolor class for this session is tomorrow so I need to play a little today with my paints. AND I will be doing a tutorial on the Year of Color blog in August showing how to make my tessellations wallhanging. So far I have done one in lavendar and green(lilac inspired), red and green(poinsettia inspired), and the latest in yellow and green(sunflower inspire). In August we will be doing multicolor so I have planned a multicolor wallquilt to be like a summer garden with various flowers and leaves. I went through my stash and found the perfect inspiration fabric and I actually have enough to do the border. Then I went through and pulled out every fabric that might work (about 40) so now it's time to begin the layout and cutting of pieces. I am taking photos of the process to go with the tutorial.

Have a great Sunday and I will post some more layouts this week, and maybe a painting?!?

the nest

When I went into my SIS Collage couture class on Friday, for some reason (I am assuming an admin error on SIS's end) the opening screen was open in the Claudine Hellmuth Home is where the art is class. So, obviously I read through the class notes and decided to make my own version of her little house wallhanging. I couldn't begin to make one like the one in the class as I don't have even half of the supplies - her paints, various types of mediums, embossing stuff, funky papers, etc. - so I used what I had on hand. The bottom center piece is a sample of Anthropologie wallpaper, one piece is a scrap of a watercolor painting I did. I painted a couple of other pieces (all on scrap watercolor paper - actually the backside of the cover of a pad of w/c paper. I decided to call it "the nest" rather than "the house" or something like that (her title) and I added some bird cutouts, a bird charm, some buttons, and a sticker. I went with soft greens, peaches, and yellows but they don't show up very well in this photo. I didn't have any eyelets or jump rings so I just punched holes in the corners and used some craft wire to make my own jump rings. You can't see it in the photo but I also made a hanger out of the wire also.
I then went into my collage couture class and watched the videos and read the lesson. I did lessons 1 and 2 on my big canvas, and after making this wallhanging, am really into the bird/nest idea so the basic ideas are spillling over onto my canvas. Can't wait to see the next lesson!

I have done very well this month with regard to not spending money. I have not bought any clothes or scrapbooking supplies or painting supplies. I did buy some fabric for my quilt ($25 for 2 1/2 yds) and I have not enrolled in any classes (just finishing up my w/c class). I plan to enroll in an intermediate w/c class in the fall - there is nothing available in the summer here. Vero is very much a retirement destination and our population doubles in the winter. I was lucky enough to win the collage couture class on NSD and also some great supplies from Angie Bracken also on NSD through SIS so I am very thankful and keeping busy. There are several books I would like to read (painting and sewing) so I have requested them from our library - hopefully they can get them. I have been reading quite a bit (rereading old Mary Stewart's and I read the new one by Laurie R. King and decided to go back and reread all of her books.)

Have a great holiday.

ATCs and other stuff

I finished my ATCs for the year of color ATC swap - May - green. I scanned a green art journal painting and then printed it 9 up. I added ribbon flowers made from some old Lil Davis ribbon that I purchased at Big Lots about 2 years ago.

These are for June - yellow. Again I scanned a layout but this time created flowers as accents.

A quickie watercolor painting on Yupo paper. It is a synthetic paper that has a shiny finish. You can actually wash the entire watercolor painting off of it and repaint. Once you have completed the painting, you need to spray it with fixative. My instructor had bought some samples of various paper for us to try. I doubt if I buy any of this type of paper as I did not enjoy painting on it.

Here's my easel with my best critic napping just beside.

And here she is - Hana, my favorite classic cinnamon tabby.

I also finished a layout for the Creative Type challenge but I will post it tomorrow.

More rain this afternoon - we actually had 2 1/2 inches yesterday.

Minding my p's and q's (painting and quilting that is)

I painted this yesterday in my watercolor class - it is painted on masa paper, which is sort of like rice paper. You crumple up the paper, soak it in water, and then glue it with Elmer's onto a piece of cheap watercolor paper. You can paint it wet on wet or let the paper dry. I painted the flower wet but the bee was done on relatively dry paper. It sort of has a batiky look. I bought a big piece of the masa paper from the instructor and painted this on half so I can play some more at home.

I painted an abstract and my instructor told me that it was really 2 smaller paintings so I cut it apart and played a little with the one part. The painting was a weird size so I wanted to get it up to a normal size for a frame so I cut it into even more pieces and mounted them on some scrap w/c paper and then cut out a branch from some unusual paper that I had bought at a thrift store.

This is the other half of the abstract- it has a very landscrapey look to me.

Here are some pieces of the beautiful fabrics I purchased Sat (on the left) and some from my stash. I am cutting out a new quilt for our bed.

Here are some of the blocks cut out on my design wall. Right now I have about half of the quilt cut out.

I am almost finished with a scrap layout for the newest Creative Type challenge - numbers. Right now I am waiting for a drawing I did for the layout to dry - I soaked it in coffee.

It is finally raining here - we had a really really dry winter and spring so the front that came in yesterday and is stalled over us is very welcome. It rained quite a bit yesterday and this morning when I went out to my car, I could actually see that the grass had grown overnight and the plants have fluorescent green tips as they are shooting out baby leaves. Hopefully I can get some photos of the incredible colors in the next few days.

Have a great day!

Collage Couture Creation (say that 3 times fast!)

I did this collage for lesson 1 of the Collage Couture class at SIS (I won the class on NSD). I painted the paper with gel medium and then painted with 2 colors of acrylic paint - a light blue and a turquoise, and finally rubbed some espresso acrylic paint on a paper towel and spattered some droplets. The collage section has many fabrics (new and vintage) sewn to a piece of paper. The swirl was cut out of an old 70s craft book on decoupage and the butterflies are by K&co (purchased yesterday morning on clearance on Michaels). I purchased the frame and double mat at a thrift store yesterday morning for a dollar and repainted the frame (it was lime green). I can tell that I will really enjoy this class and feel so grateful that I won it. I am really trying to keep my spending down but I love to play, and the toys can be expensive. LOL!

I did this layout for Scrapping across the universe - together. The photo is of my DH, his twin, his other brother, and his cousin, all being pushed in a wheelbarrow by his dad. I added the William Carlos Williams's poem as it seemed so appropriate, and I have always loved the purity and simplicity of his poetry.

This layout is for Inspired by Amelie - alter ego. I used some Making Memories and Heidi Swapp papers that I had from last fall, some Amy Bulter fabric(the cut out flower), some lace, a paper doily, K&co raised stickers (including one I used like an earring on the vintage magazine ad), and the tag from a necklace stand I got from Urban Outfitters a couple of years ago. Don't we all have wild dreams about how we wished we looked or place we wish we could go or .... but I know that I have a great life and I am trying to remind myself of that every day.

I have started a still life watercolor and hope to have it finished this week. Tomorrow I have class but I don't know what we will be doing. I have also begun to lay out a new quilt for our bed and will take some photos to show. I had hoped to have enough fabric in my stash to make the entire quilt but I only had about half enough in the color scheme. I stopped at the quilt shop yesterday and picked up 5 half yards of some beautiful fabrics so now I can finish cutting out the blocks. Summer has truly arrived here in Florida and I find myself retreating to my studio - I become an A/C hermit in the summer. I guess our indoor/outdoor seasons are pretty much the opposite of up north. I really love having the house open all winter and although I love hot more than cold, I have to admit I get pretty tired of the heat as it lasts sooooooooooooo long.

Mother's day and a new painting

I had a lovely Mother's day weekend: my son drove over Sat and spent the night - he took us to Carrabba's for dinner on Sat. He also gave me Keith Urban's new cd and a giftcard to B&N. My DH got these beautiful roses for me - they were buds and then opened to stunning full roses.

This is my latest painting - I am very happy with the background but the flowers didn't come out quite the way I had hoped. I will try some other ideas in my next painting. I am thinking of painting roses in my next painting. I have taken quite a few photos of the roses my DH gave me and also did some sketches. This way I will have a variety of rose shapes and maturities along with the incredible color variations. Today in class we will be working with a variety of surfaces on which to paint - this will be a real education for me as I have only painted on watercolor papers.

Have a great week. I hope to do some sewing this week and the plan is make a blouse first - I have some gorgeous Liberty cotton that I purchased last fall in Asheville and it will make a fabulous summer blouse.

National Scrapbooking Day

I have been creating scrapbook layouts like a crazy woman this weekend, and now I am exhausted - and still have to finish my ironing and make some dinner. Enjoy my layouts and I will be back probably tomorrow to show a new painting.

Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

One of these would be so perfect to use when I am sewing or quilting. Don't you want one too?
Art Nest Pincushion RingGIVEAWAY!!!!

Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!

Be sure to check this out! The dress is so beautiful.
Picnic Frock GIVEAWAY!!!!