Wednesday, June 29, 2016

Eat Cake - some watercolor and some mixed media








My last challenge layout for June is for
ScrapAfrica
the challenge was to use aqua, pistachio, pale pink, and pale yellow
I have also been painting a lot with my new Prima
watercolors and had painted the macarons
earlier in the month
but couldn't decide what to do with them
Then a couple of days ago I created the canvas
with gesso and aqua, pink, and green
Then what to do with that
AND THEN
magic 
I began playing off the macarons -
French, Marie Antoinette, frilly, frivolous
(I think people take their artmaking way too seriously -
have fun - it's just paper and paint
and believe me, it really doesn't matter if it's acid free or not -
none of us are creating Rembrandt's
we're just being children again
and isn't that the whole point??)
I painted the shoe
and searched in my stash for 
vintage crystal cuff links and the little rhinestone dog broach
some Prima flowers and a fussy cut chandelier,
some 7gypsies rub-ons,
some hand-dyed ribbons
totally frivolous and fun
hope you like it
ttfn

Saturday, June 25, 2016

art comes from the heart



made for the More than words mini challenge
to create a tag with the word "art"
the big canvas corp heart has been covered with
selvage edge labels from fabrics - sewn onto the tag
Prima watercolor labels from some of my brand new paints
alphas painted and/or cut out
the tag itself is a regular shipping tag that I covered with 
the remains of the book cover that I used
for yesterday's mixed media piece.
What a fun fun day I had!
ttfn

Friday, June 24, 2016

the unimaginable





This creation is a bit of a departure from my comfort zone
but wow! did I have fun playing and making it
It was inspired by a challenge on the More than Words blog
to make something with the word "imagine" and 
you had to get messy
WELL .....
I had all kinds of ideas in my head but nothing really jelled
until earlier this week
when I read this incredible quote by Mary Oliver,
"keep some room in your heart for the unimaginable."
But still I wasn't sure how to make this visual
then yesterday it came to me
and I created this heart full of art supplies
but with some room for the unimaginable.
The background is an old book cover that I gessoed
and painted and scraped and scribbled on 
then I added an old paint brush
and other things that just appealed to me
I stamped the quote and sort of 
played with the visual aspect of the quotation -
i.e. like texting.
Come back tomorrow and see the "art"
tag that I created for the More than Words mini challenge.
ttfn

Tuesday, June 21, 2016

Even more yellow and ...:


Playing around with the colors for the wordspaintery challenge
yellow and blue
painted the vase and used a photo that I took one evening
in our living room - the shadows were amazing
I used some pieces of the IOD molds that I made from some really old
paper clay (note to self - get new paper clay)
they sort of broke so I thought why not just use the pieces
some paint chips, buttons, a vintage Maya Road flower
all adhered to a recycled book cover that is covered
with tissue paper and beeswax
And while I'm on the subject of yellow

Monday, June 20, 2016

Prima June BAP - Salvage District





I went positively crazy with this layout for the Prima June BAP.
When I saw the page map, I knew that I wanted to use some of the vintage
Prima laces that I had won a long time ago.
I particularly love the Salvage District collection 
and knew I had the perfect photo
of the open doorway to an antique shop in Asheville NC.
I used some IOD Baroque 4 molds and paper clay
to make the architectural elements onto which
I adhered the photo - at an angle so it give perspective to the layout.
I layered lots of Prima laces with some sequin waste
and added Salvage District flowers and some cut outs 
from the Chateau paper and the cover sheet on the watercolor pad.
Originally I was going to use
another Salvage District paper for the background 
but the photo had so much gold and brown that instead
I used Timeless Memories Everlast.
I painted some of the papers with gold pigment
and used the water soluble oil pastels
to make them more compatible with the background and the photo.
I then added some vintage Prima buttons and 
some other little embellishments that just seemed to fit.
Finally I typed the journaling on my little Royal typewriter:
"the salvage district where you discover
treasures, magic, and mystery."
This layout was a labor of love
Hope you like it
ttfn

Saturday, June 18, 2016

A Color Challenge - yellow and fuchsia


the June Color Challenge at Scrapbook.com
I pulled out anything yellow or fuchsia from my stash
which wasn't much as neither of these is a favorite of mine
but
it all came together
as it usually does
and the concept morphed into
Paper Girl
then I had lots of problems with the photo
as the yellow paper looked almost cream
so I had to pump up the yellow to get that right
and then some of the fuchsia pieces look a little orange-y
oh well
By the way, have you seen Daphne's Diary?
I was in West Palm yesterday and stopped at B&N to look at magazines
and found it
It's a bit pricey(from the UK)
but WOW wow and wow
I could look at the pix at day long
so much inspiration!
Check it out
ttfn

Friday, June 17, 2016

The Memory Nest Make It Mondays 61 and 62

 Memory Nest 61 
I'm not big on large titles so this one is a bit different for me
I forced myself to use paper with an edge (again not my favorite)
and fussy cut the flower to insert my photo
Then I messed up doing the title with rub-ons and had to 
figure out how to fix it - actually I think it looks pretty cool
so I guess you'd say it was a happy accident!
Number 62
this one I created the background with glimmer mists
using a cut out butterfly as a mask
I then cut out the butterfly in the upper left corner
this layout was a fun one as I saw this fantastic footstool
in a catalog and loved it
but it is so absolutely totally not my style
my house is done in whites and creams
and I use a few colored accents during the seasons
like now some blue pillows on the couch etc.
It's good to push yourself
so try it sometime
You just never know what can happen!
ttfn

Thursday, June 16, 2016

White with one June challenge - Opera Mauve


Playing with paint
my DH was replacing the soffits on our house
and I took some of the old ones that he was throwing away
to use as stencils
I think they worked great
This was certainly a challenge to use just white and opera mauve
I mixed the color by combining Cheap Joe's Janet's violet rose
with Holbein lavendar
I love how the watercolor moved and left areas
where the colors merged and then diverged
I also painted the wooden die cut and the Prima flower.
the photo is a favorite of mine that I have used before
added a candy wrapper, novelty yarn, leaves, and a metal title
Now off to link to http://whitewith1.blogspot.ca/
ttfn

Wednesday, June 15, 2016

Kiss and tell

Just a little post for my DH
who is having surgery today
this photo was taken some years ago when we were
in Bermuda - a fun day riding a scooter
ttfn

Tuesday, June 14, 2016

Graphic 45 #UNIQUELY YOURS challenge


for the Graphic 45 #UNIQUELY YOU challenge
a photo of me in an Audrey Hepburn type pose (LOL)
surrounded by photos from an old Vogue magazine
and fussy cut Graphic 45 images and stickers -
 Communique and Halloween in Wonderland
the background paper is On the Dot from the Communique collection
I wanted to keep the palette soft but with a little pop of color
so I made the flower from some aqua patterned ribbon 
and added a few flowers and a butterfly
ttfn

Monday, June 13, 2016

Prima June PPP challenge








This is entry for the Prima June PPP challenge -
the colors are peach (copper) and banana blue
I printed out one of my watercolor paintings of Hana 
onto heavy card stock and played around with some pieces
of Prima papers that I have 
and then WOW when I placed her on this sheet of
Vintage Emporium Opera Seria
and saw the little bird, it was magic.
Pulling out Prima flowers - some vintage Madrigal flowers
in peaches and nocturne blues, and Finnabair alterable flowers
that I painted with watercolor paint,
and then fussy cut flowers from a piece of
Fairy Belle Collection Le Toulle,
which I also painted,
and finally some from a piece of vintage Prima paper
that I no longer have the name strip.
I used some vintage blue Prima lace
and for the tree, I used  a winter branches grape piece
that I twisted and glued to the little branch printed on the paper
I enhanced the branch and bird with a brown Pigma Micron 05 pen
This layout probably took the longest time of any I have done
but it was a joy, and the time passed so quickly.
Hope you like this one - back tomorrow with another layout.
ttfn

Sunday, June 12, 2016

Catching up




Back from a short trip to the "left coast"
of Florida, that is
and catching up with some layouts I created last weekend
for a sewing challenge, a mixed media challenge,
and a sticker challenge.
I did some plein air sketching while in Sarasota
and hope to spend some time this week 
using my sketches as reference for larger
watercolors.
While in Tampa, I went to IKEA and found some
awesome cards for altering, tags, brushes, markers, 
and a really cool easel -
I love IKEA - so much inspiration!
Now to finish 2 layouts that are almost done -
one for a Graphic 45 challenge
and one for the challenge at the White plus one blog
(I painted white paper for this one and it buckled so right
now I am pressing it flat with books on top of it.
The perils of watercolor!!)
ttfn

Wednesday, June 8, 2016

A thousand thanks


A quickie card (well actually sewing the buttons to the paper
took a while but who's counting?)
to say thanks to everyone
who has read my blog, 
who has commented on my ramblings,
and who has inspired me.
And of course, thanks for all of my blessings.
Everyday I say thank you for my 
husband, my son, and my life.
A thousand thanks is not nearly enough!
ttfn

Friday, June 3, 2016

Scrapbook.com challenges - a two-fer


Sometimes participating in challenges is truly a challenge for me
The above layout started out as an entry for
June's Inspired by a Word
(summer, night, and insect)
and then suddenly expanded to the
June 5 ingredients + yours
(stamping, sewing, punching or cutting edges, 3 photos, and large word plus)
Somehow I did it
although the word GROW isn't very large.
the word summer is there 4 times, night once, 
and insect 3 times.
the bee in the upper left is stamped, the ribbon is sewn,
one of the papers is trimmed with pinking shears
there are 3 photos
and I guess the plus are the insects I put on
or perhaps the dictionary pages that I like to use.
I had fun figuring out how to get everything in
so off to Scrapbook.com
to post it.
ttfn

Wednesday, June 1, 2016

San Francisco in my memory nest

A layout
for the memory nest challenge
(I reversed the sketch)
some vintage paper
and fabric scraps sewn to the paper
along with ribbon and Prima laces, 
a few stickers, a Jenni Bowlin butterfly,
some feathers,
a Maya Road chiffon flower
and
a photo of Brian and me 
on a trip to San Francisco in the 80s
Good memories
ttfn