Ceramic Hearts

Several years ago, I purchase a book called Fanciful Furniture: Decorating with Paint by Anita Rosenberg.  I love painting furniture and this one really caught my eye for inspiration.  The author also paints ceramic accessories using acrylic paint instead of the traditional method of glazing and firing using a kiln.  When I saw some ceramic hearts at the local hobby store, I knew I had to use them for a valentine swap.

The hearts were painted with red acrylic which was slightly watered down.  The hearts really soaked up the paint and I found it easier to work with several thinner layers of paint.  I used a rubberstamp for the design and stamped using white acrylic.  I didn't really like the starkness of the white and went over the hearts with a light coat of Folk Art's oak stain.  The stain is waterbased.  A clear coat of varnish, a ribbon and a button completed the hearts. 

Main Street Block Swap - Block Three

 I once again used photos from a trip to Mackinac Island for my third building for the Main Street Block swap with the In This House and Garden yahoo group.   We really enjoyed spending time at this little coffee house by the water so I couldn't resist using it for one of my buildings.

A quote along with coffee bean embellishments adorn the top.  Only two more blocks to go!

Main Street Block Swap - Block Two

This is the second block I've done for the Main Street Block Swap for the Yahoo group "In This House and Garden".  The front of my antique shop features the picture of a window that I took while on Mackinac Island.  It's outlined with pencil and then smudged.  The jewelry is an old earring purchased at a flea market.

The back of the antique shop features another shot from Mackinac Island.  I love this pink bike with a basket on the front.  The bike and the quote are also outlined with pencil and smudged.  Be sure and check out "In This House and Garden" where there's lots of creative things going on.  Only three more blocks to go for this swap!  Later...

Happy To Be Featured...

I'm so happy to be the featured artist today on http://www.petitebookstore.com/blog/ .  Please take a minute to check out all the wonderful things you'll find here.  Happy Monday and thanks to Tedi Mercer for the feature!

One World One Heart

It's that time again! In 2007, Lisa of A Whimsical Bohemian created this event. The mission is for bloggers to get better acquainted. In doing so, each blog will host a giveaway which will end with winners being selected and announced on February 15, 2010. I will be announcing a winner at 6:00 P.M. on February 15.  My current favorite thing to do is make collage papers using deli wrap. I'll be giving away a baker's dozen of those along with some sheets of deli wrap so you can make your own. Here's a glimpse of a few of the sheets you'll receive...

All you have to do is leave a comment for this post.  Be sure that you have a blog so I can reach you or leave an address that I can email you in case you're the winner.  For more information and additional blog links, visit

Let the fun begin!

By Request...A Painted Deli Paper How-To

There are many possibilities for painting paper or deli wrap.  I've shared just a few...Enjoy!  Hold the mouse over the photo if you want to slow the slides down...they're a bit fast.

Valentine's Day Project

I've had some time to play and decided to work on Valentine's Day projects.  This hanging heart is made using painted papers as the base.  Three Rock Candy  products were also used: "To Dye For" hand-dyed silk ribbon (American Beauty), french border dresden foil in red, and the image is from the Girly Girls Collage CD.   The words are from magazine clippings.

    

The back of the heart shows the pattern of the painted paper as well as the stitches that add a bit of interest.  A thin piece of batting was used between the front and back layer.  It adds a little cushioning and a tiny bit of weight to the piece.

This close-up shows the dot pattern in the paint as well as some of the handstitching.  A blanket stitch was used around the edges and a Smyrna cross stitch was used over some of the dots.  The dots were achieved using a piece of gutter guard which was discovered at a home improvement store by my friend Alice Arterburn.  Thanks Alice!

Love the Dresden foil border...

The painted paper begins as white computer paper with a coat of gesso on the front and back.  Layers of color and pattern are added using acrylic paint, stamps and stencils.  This shot shows off another one of my favorite 'stencils'..paper doilies.

Paper doilies are wonderful stencils and can be used later as collage material.

Another closeup...

Diamond pattern bubble wrap was used for the above portion of the heart.  I think I received this in a goodie bag in a class and I'd love to find a source for it.  Anyone know where I can get some more of this diamond-shaped bubble wrap??

Wallpaper is another great way to decorate painted paper.  This great piece came from my friend Allison Revetta.  Thanks Allison!

And finally, a close-up of the image from Rock Candy.  The image and words were all outlined with a Pitt pen.  Love this little girl!

The key to the painted paper is to add layer upon layer of paint and pattern.  This paper has seven or eight layers and it was hard to stop! 

Another sheet of painted paper was made using the same colors but the base was deli paper.  The deli paper is quite thin and would make great paper for collaging but I decided to mount it onto white cardstock to use on another project.  More later...

License Plate Books

THE party of the year is our art club Christmas party...I'm still talking about it!  One of the gifts given this year was a license plate book kit from Alice Arterburn.  The Zutter was used for making  holes in the plates as well as the pages.  The photos I'm sharing  are of both my book and my daughter's book.  The above shot is a side view of my book.  It is divided in sections and features calendar pages, a notes section, address pages and papers for sketching.  Scrapbook paper was used to cover the inside of the tags as well as the divider pages.

This is a front view of Clarissa's book.  All the plates are from the great state of Tennessee!  TennGRITS (Tennessee Girls Rubberstamping in the South) was organized over ten years ago and so it was fitting for all the plates to be from Tennessee.  The "perfect closures" used are from Zutter.  The leather strap comes in a light tan color but we stained ours with black Stazon.  These would look great in a multitude of colors especially when paired with a different coil color.  The coils are 1 1/4" due to the bulk of the book.

Alice created all the pages in the kit.  If you'd like to know more about the pages, feel free to contact Alice for more information.

I love the detail of using brads in the holes of the tag.  Great touch!

This was a great project for our January meeting and such a great idea to give as a kit.  I think there's several more license plate books in my future!

It's A New Year

"We need to find God, and he cannot be found in noise and restlessness. God is the friend of silence. See how nature - trees, flowers, grass- grows in silence; see the stars, the moon and the sun, how they move in silence... We need silence to be able to touch souls." - Mother Teresa

No, I'm not becoming a hermit in 2010.  But I will come to terms with my need for solitude and embrace it as often as I can.  Hopefully, it will be guilt-free.  That's another area I need to work on.  Solitude with guilt isn't really very rewarding and the purpose is pretty much defeated.   I'll never be the life of the party; the truth is I usually don't even want to go to the party.  Can you tell I turned 50 this year?  It's time to be honest.   I don't want to do the expected anymore; I want to be myself.  My best work is created in solitude, my best decisions are arrived at in solitude and I thrive in solitude.  My head clears and my mood improves after time alone.  I'm a better person when I give in to being the way God created me instead of fighting to be someone else.  And if it makes any sense at all, I'm much more sociable if I get my solitude!

So here's to a wonderful 2010!  May God bless us all.

Main Street Block Swap

Over at 'In This House And Garden', a new swap is gearing up.  This is the first block I've worked on for the Main Street Block Swap.  I think it  needs some embellishments but I'm going to let it sit for a few days while I try to figure it out.

One of the sides with a quote by Thomas Jefferson...

The back of the block with a tree for a touch of scenery while trying to stick to my bank building theme.  There's still time for signing up!  Later...

Christmas Memories

With Christmas preparations and work, I haven't blogged much this month.  This morning in the quiet, I took in the tree and the decorations, and I realized how many memories are represented on the tree each year.  I thought I'd share a few...

Isn't this the most perfect wreath?  I admit I can't remember if it was Tyler's or Clarissa's but I cherish it either way.   It sure brings back some fun memories of both of their elementary school years. 

Another elementary school decoration and this one is Clarissa's.  Popsicle sticks, buttons, wooden cutouts and fun foam...does it get any better?  So to all those teachers that take the time at Christmas for ornament making: thank you! 

I made nine or ten of these in 1983 which was during my cross-stitch phase!  This one was for my husband but I also have one that says "Baby-Boy or Girl?"  Pregnant with my oldest, I wouldn't know until he arrived what we were having.  Ultrasounds weren't used as freely as they are now so the mystery remained until April when we welcomed Tyler.

This ornament is just two years old but the picture was scanned from when I was five years old and my brother was only two months old.  I'm still working on a series of family star ornaments and the collection grows each year.  Thanks to my friend Jane Harrison for the idea.

Another school memory and this one is from Tyler's high school years.  He loved doing stats and helping with the girl's volleyball team and this ornament always reminds me of those times.  He's gone on to be a TSSAA volleyball referee as well as a certified national line judge.  Good memories!

This is one of my favorites and it was a gift from my friend Pam Seavers.  The photo is of a young 'me', but the work is all Pam's.  I think of her and the sweet person she is every year when I hang it plus I love the ornament...thanks Pam!

This is a 5X7 clear acrylic box frame and it was Clarissa's gift to give at our annual art club gift exchange.  The insides of the box are coated with gesso and covered in glitter.  The snowflakes are from a Martha punch and the whole thing is glittered.  When I see something Clarissa has made, I'm reminded of how she used to stand in the door as I'd drive away to club and now she's old enough to go with me.  This piece is sitting on the mantle...just a bit big for the tree!

The last shot I'll share from my morning musings are of the snow men that also grace my mantle.  "Peace" and "Joy" were made by art club friend Allison Revetta.  The snowflake snowman was another Clarissa gift.  These were big last year when Cloth Paper Scissors featured the bottle snowman on their holiday cover.

From my home to yours, Merry Christmas. 
May your happy memories be many!

One World, One Heart 2010...it's coming...

This yearly event is just around the corner.  I participated last year and it was so much fun to explore so many blogs.  If you want to know more, check out http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/one-world-one-heart.html for complete details about the 2010 event. 

Christmas Cones

Yesterday was the Christmas party for the TennGRITS club I've been a part of since its beginning. We began as a group over 10 years ago now; it's still fun and we still like each other!  Although originally a group of rubberstampers, we've evolved more into the mixed media world although we still put a stamp to paper now and then.

 I used the metal frame of a Dollar Tree tinsel tree to make hanging cones as my gift this year.

I removed the tinsel from each frame and used muslin strips to cover the frame.  I wove the muslin into the frame twice each time I wrapped a piece around the diameter.  The weaving, along with hand sewing, secured the muslin to the frame.  My original idea of just covering the frame with muslin didn't work at all.  Once the frame was covered and the cone was turned upright, the muslin wouldn't stay put. 

The wrapping process continues.  After all the frames were covered with muslin, I handstitched a fuzzy white fiber onto the muslin and also added a coffee stain here and there to give the pieces a slightly aged appearance.

An inside view

The handles were strips of muslin and fiber and were sewned onto the frame.

The image used is from a Luna Girl image CD.  Muslin was attached to a piece of computer paper and the images were printed using my laser printer.  A bit of coffee staining was added to the corners.  After adding lace and buttons to the top of the cone, the image was attached and a bit of fiber was tied on for accent.

The bottoms of the cones were dipped in coffee and once dry, they were finished off with glitter on the tips.

These were fun to make and I'm happy with the way they turned out.  I had my doubts along the way!

Sisterhood Book Published

I did the happy dance last week when I came home to a complimentary copy of Somerset Studio's Winter 2010 Gallery. My "Sisterhood" altered bookboard is featured in the Special Book Section.

The images and quotes were printed directly on muslin and heat set with an iron. The vintage images are all from Rock Candy Studios. Rock Candy has a variety of supplies for mixed media art as well as image CDs and sheets.

This shot shows the shape of the bookboard.  The back of the bookboard is longer than the rest of the pages and that is what initially attracted me to this particular board book.  I wanted to put something on the extended page that would tie the book together since it is visible at all times.  "Sisters are different flowers from the same garden" -Author Unknown- was the perfect quote and cutting the muslin into an oval shape made it a bit more interesting.

Various fabrics were ripped and attached to the book board using gel

 medium.  Lots of handstitching went into this book as well and I enjoyed every stitch! 

       

 

Buttons, beads, flowers and charms all add to the book's appeal.  All muslin pieces are backed with quilt batting.

 It's always a thrill to have something published.  I hope you enjoyed looking!

Blue Book

The event that I look forward to every fall is the TennGRITS' art retreat.  We've been doing this for years now and I think we just keep perfecting it. There aren't many events in Tennessee that cater to the mixed-media artist, so it's a real treat to be a part of this art group.  This year's retreat was the best yet and plans are already underway for next year's project!  I worked on the autumn book that I previously posted and started another one in blue.  I hope to do some journaling in the blue book rather than just having decorative paper. 

The beginning: I decided to go with cool shades of blue and see where it would lead.  I've added some soft lavender, gold and brown.  The brown on the pages will get glazed over to soften the look.  The designs on the covers were either stamped or stenciled using gesso on dyed muslin.  My desire is for this book to reflect faith, calm, and security.

Here's a few glimpses of the pages I've worked on so far.  There's still some glazing and additional layers to go plus many more pages to be made.  I decided instead of doing complete sheets and then ripping them down to book size, I ripped first and then treated each piece as a page.  By doing this, I was able to do some sewing on the pages and used that as part of the design element.

I'll post the book when it is completed.  Later...