I am sooooo behind on my posts but you will see why in a minute! Here is what I have been up to in November!

I entered the "Tea Bag Hag" ART doll in an ARTchix Teapot Lottery and won! So then I became host for the next one and I chose "Journey" as my theme. It was an amazing experience with 24 fabulous entries! It was fun to host but I am happy to pass the hat on to Nessa Math! I made this "Journey" ATC for the person that put the first entry into the lottery.

Here are my ATC's for an ARTchix lottery called "The Year I Was Born" which for me was 1960. How fun to look back at that year and see what was going on. Actually, there were so many events in 1960 that it was difficult to choose. But here is what I ended up making:

I submitted these matchbox ornaments for an ARTchix swap this month. I made a few extras and sold them at the boutique.

AC also hosted a holiday charm swap so you KNOW I had to get in on that! Can't wait to see what I get back. There are some very cool charms being made...gave me all kinds of ideas for the next time.

ATC's made for a personal swap with LuAnn Kessler.

ART doll made for a personal swap with Gina Wise.

A new group for me is Paper Whimsy. They are celebrating their first year anniversary with a "My fairy lives" Anniversary project. I made an entry and we will swap out on November 30th. My fairy lives in "the Forest". My first real assemblage. What fun! It is approx 9"x8".

In the ART doll group I made four dolls this month. The first one is "Zenna" my inner muse entered in the November Challenge. I used the zentangle process to make her and she has the 7 Chakra symbols on her body. Lots of fun to make and she was very strong-minded in how she wanted to be created. So I listened very carefully...wouldn't want to make the must mad now would we?

For the November Swap we were to make two holiday ATC dolls so I made Father Time and Baby New Year. Love them!

The final swap in the group was to make an ART doll using the theme of "King, Queen, Prince, Princess". I started two other dolls before I finally ended up with the Young Prince. Used lots of distressing powders and my new Crop-A-Dile. Delish!

I made Z'Clown for a personal swap with the talented Gina Smith and got a lovely Mercat in return. I am so hooked on paper dolls!

A doll I made on Thanksgiving...just for fun!

Whew!!! Think I'm all caught up now on November! :-)

Technique #5 Inky Layers

Oh my goodness! I love any technique that involves layers and this one is a real winner! This week Patricia & I are doing "Inky Layers" from Bernie Berlin's book "Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap" and I think the results were awesome! I used paper from a dictionary, sheet music, magazine (glossy), & scrapbook paper. I didn't have any translucent glittery ink or paint so I used a drop of silver alcohol ink and rubbed it around. I like the results! Here are a couple photos of the finished products!

Technique #4 "Leafing Pen Resist"

This week Patricia & I worked on "Leafing Pen Resits" which is Technique #4 from Bernie Berlin's book "Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap". Bernie states that this technique works best on watercolor paper so that is where I started. My pages turned out really cool so I decided to try the same technique but using alcohol inks on semi-gloss paper. Woah! Totally different look but equally exciting.

Here are the watercolor pages using just two monochromatic colors. Imagine what they would look like if I would have used 2-3 complimentary colors. She also recommends using a stamp design over the top of these which I haven't done yet. But I did stamp the alcohol ink sheets and used them for the legs on this little fairy doll! Pretty cool homemade design huh? I may never buy scrapbook paper again!!! :-)

Techniques 2 & 3 Watercolor on Baby Wipes & Paper Towels

This week Patricia & I are working on Techniques 2 & 3 from Bernie Berlin's book "Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap". I'm excited to say that another artist, Cheri Phillips, is going to join us in this process. :-)

Patricia did hers first and made some amazing backgrounds on baby wipes using spray mists (which she's already used). I tried that and wasn't as pleased with my results...maybe I didn't wait long enough for the paint to dry but the sheets were very dark and not worth showing.

Next, I got out the watercolors and made 4 pages rather quickly. What I did was layer my sheets; bottom later was cardstock, then 2 layers of paper towels and then the top layer a baby wipe. ( I told you I'm not very patient, wanted to do them all at once - LOL)

What I liked most about this technique is that I didn't have to worry about too much water. If I didn't like the depth/amount of color I had...I just added some water and the color went on through to the next layer under it. When I was pleased with the top baby wipe layer, I used a brayer to "push" the paint through to the layer underneath. I removed the baby wipe layer and did the same thing to the paper towels. A really cool thing happened on the bottom layer...the paper towel left the color on the card stock in a waffle-weave type pattern like the pattern in the paper towel. Very cool side effect!

Thanks, Bernie, I love this technique and will use it again & again. Here is a photo of the final results and the beginnings of an ATC using the paper towels & wipes as a background (they are torn up and stamped). One of my new favorite things to do.

The layers in the photo are from top to bottom: an ATC made with torn up pieces from all the others with a paisley pattern stamped on it, cardstock showing the waffle-weave design, a dried-out kitchen wipe, 3 sheets of paper towels & a baby wipe (with teddy bear!). You can click on the photos to see more detail in the background if you want. Enjoy!

Okay, just a few more! LOL

So many techniques to try. I have been really working on my backgrounds, I think they really make the art. Patricia & I are doing the 2/3 technique from Bernie Berlin's book this week so will be posting those soon. Patricia has had GREAT results and I can't wait to try them both!

Turquoise German Scrap

I got really carried away with the Turquoise German Scrap this week. Here are my new ATC's! I tried several new techniques: crumpled tissue paper for the background, explosion front & chalk/watercolor/spray mists backgrounds. Lots of fun, especially the explosion front! Woah!

My Precious Pet - "Hello Cat Series"

I decided to send Gigi (Gingersnap) on an international journey; China, Germany, Spain, France & Italy. Here are the ATC's submitted for the "My Precious Pet Faux Postage" ARTchix contest. :o) I love them all but my absolute favorite is "Hola Gato". I love her face, isn't she adorable?

Three of the five photos were digitally altered; black/white with layers, light contrast with sepia tone & the acrylic painting of Hola Gato which I then watercolored her eyes and nose. Maybe that's why it's my favorite.

Microglaze & Mosaics

I have been having such a good time with my Microglaze from Judikins and here is my favorite use (so far) for it. I took a fine paintbrush and lightly applied the microglaze to a rubber stamp. Then I pressed the stamp firmly down onto my watercolor ATC card. I set it aside a bit to dry and then applied a transparent green watercolor. Where the microglaze was, the paint just balled up. Very cool, don't you think. I can't wait to try it on something else.

The second ATC is just simply a bunch of 1/2" squares and rectangles made into a mosaic. Not very original but a really fun process. Kind of like making a puzzle!

A Very Artful Labor Day Weekend

After all the hours spent getting ready for the fundraiser, I decided I had better sit down and get some items ready for September Swap deadlines. I had a couple of late-nighters this weekend but once I got started, I couldn't find a good stopping point until I was done. Here are some ATC's I made for the ARTchix Sepia Card Swap (plus a few extras to keep) :o)
I have two ultimate favorites from this series. Which one is your favorite and why?

Technique #1 Intuitive Watercolor

My friend Patricia and I have decided to do the techniques in "Artist Trading Card Workshop: Create, Collect, Swap" by Bernie Berlin.

The first technique is INTUITIVE WATERCOLOR and I must admit that I was a bit dubious about this. I am a very "creative" person but am not very "artistic". For example I couldn't draw a pig but could see one in the clouds. :-)

So I sat down with an 8x8 canvas, my watercolors and a bottle of water. I mixed water and paint together to make a very transparent color. I used 3 colors; blue-green, lime green and turquoise. I swirled the colors onto the canvas with the brush and then splashed some on by "flicking" the brush over the canvas; causing splatters. Then I twisted and turned the canvas letting the paint swirl around. If I needed more paint, I added it. If I wanted more color, I added more paint to the water. I tried a hair dryer and a craft heat gun but found the best way to really move the watercolors over the canvas was to blow on it...sometimes soft and sometimes hard.

When I was satisfied that I had a good mix of colors I sat back and looked at it and couldn't believe what I saw. Sitting there perfectly was a bird... in a nest... in a tree. It was amazing. So I got out my fine-point marker and outlined what I saw. Here it is!

I painted the branches grey and added some color here and there to enhance areas. Then I added glitter, feathers, an ATC card with quote, raffia and the hanger. All in all, a very fun technique and one I want to try again. I definitely recommend this book and this technique although I think I might have had a bit of beginners luck! LOL
Here is the finished piece.