Romance Fans

Paper Whimsy group is creating Romance Fans for a swap. We signed up 5 to a group and are makign 6 blades each. When the blades are done, we mail one to each of our partners and two to one "lead" person. Each of us will create our own fan with one of our own blades plus the four others we receive. The "lead" person, in this case Patricia Schweitzer, will make an extra fan out of the extra blades and donate to PW for a charity auction to be held down the road. Other members in the group are Anne Hartman, Gina Wise and Joan Lawrence...all talented ladies!

Here are three of the blades I made, the other 3 are fairly similar. I have seen two of the other artist blades and they are beautiful! I can't wait to get them all and make one beautiful ROMANCE fan! LOL

Art Dolls - January Swaps

Each month at the ATC-ArtDoll group we do two swaps; one is a paper art doll which can be any size from 4"-12" and the 2nd is two ATC dolls which can be a doll mounted on an ATC or a doll with an ATC as the base. I kind of "fudged" this month and my ATC dolls are really more like art dolls 'cuz there's no ATC on it anywhere ... LOL...but I am sending to the moderator this month so think she will be okay with it.

At the group, there are assigned themes and January' ATC Doll theme is "Wings" and the Art Doll theme is "Snowpeople". Here are my dolls...they are already on their way to my swap-mates! Cha-cha-cha!

Gothic Arch 3:3 Swap

Here are my gothic arches for the PW 3:3 swap. I made an extra for myself and plan to make a few more throughout the year to make a little book. I even cut out the extra pages in preparation and bookmarked the link to Gothic Arch Challenge Page!

Valentine Ornaments featured in Sky Blue Pink Gallery

Woo-hoo! I just got an email from Christina Gibbs at SkyBluePink and my bamboo tile Valentine Ornaments are being featured in Gallery One on their website! I am listed as Lady Carol and I couldn't be more thrilled!

She also mentioned me in today's newsletter. This is what Christina wrote:
"NOW SHOWING - The Right Most Honourable Curator of the Royal Art Gallery is pleased as punch to announce two new Gallery exhibits for thy viewing pleasure. One of our long-time customers, blah, blah, blah...

We also have a picture from a new exhibitor, Carol Stocker. Lady Carol was enchanted with her recent Surprise Goodie pack of Big Bamboo Tiles, and she rushed off to the studio to create her stunning Valentine's Ornaments, which also feature our LOVE Keys. The Queen and all the Royal Staff love the idea of ornaments for Valentine's Day!"

Isn't that just the coolest thing? If you need any cool stuff for non-fancy prices, check them out! They have really unique items and outstanding customer service!

Doorways ~ 4x4 Lottery Entry

The ARTchix lottery theme this week is "Doorways". There is such incredible art in the lottery, I had to submit an entry. Doorways have so many different meanings. To me, they symbolize change, movement, a journey. I had the background made for something else but decided that I loved the color and wanted to use it for this entry. As a sidenote, the paper is 140# watercolor paper. I wet it slightly and using a burnishing tool, I rubbed the wet paper over an old tin that had raised designs on it so it looks kind of embossed, can you see it? After it was dry, I painted it with rusty-copper lumiere paint. I love the color and texture of it. It kind of shimmers in person. :-)

ANYWAY, I added the AC transparency, the brads and the little 3-d embellishments made from clay (another new favorite of mine). I placed the punchinella partially on/off me...er, I mean the lady, which symbolizes a door or gate...partially open. The copper frame around her face is a window...she looks out but doesn't know if she should step out or stay in...the gate is partially open...hmmm...the key is there, what should she do? She will pass through the doorway but not without a bit of fear because... she still remembers. Namaste, Carol

My Artful Hands - 8x8 two page spread

One of my groups, alteredartswaps, is doing a year-long project where 13 of us "mingle" our art. We will make our own covers and punch the holes so that at the end of the year, we will have 12 delicious pieces of art in a book. Each of us chose a theme and we are assigned partners monthly. This month I created for Barb Burkard and her theme is "My Artful Hands". She requested that we trace our left hand on one page and our right hand on the other page and then "art away". OH, and she asked for sepia tones & vintage papers.

This project was a bit of challenge for me. I did the background (notice the stenciling?)...easy peasy...then I traced my hands, no problem...then blockage! What to draw? I don't draw well...now what? I decided that it's best to just get started and let the art flow so that's what I did. Seriously, it took me almost 8 hours to draw and doodle the henna-inspired art...got a major cramp in my hand! But when I was done, it looked okay and then I added the darling little 3-D faces...one of my new favorite elements...put a little "hair" and a bow and I'm done. LOL. I hope Barb likes it, I certainly had fun...NOT! LOL...well maybe a little. tee-hee

One good thing though, I had to "stretch" a bit and for that I'm grateful. Thanks Barb!

Top Hat Mer-Cat for Personal 1:1 Swap

Now, isn't she just too CUTE! A few months ago, Gina Smith sent me a mercat in the mail and I just fell in love with the concept. I love to incorporate cats whenever I can and my swap-mate said she liked mermaids so I just combined the two.

The base is cardstock and then I just started arting using gel pens, markers, distressed ink, distressed embossing powder, microbeads and embellishments. If you have never made a paper doll, you really should try it. It's the most fun and I'm finding myself starting to incorporate the dolls into other pieces of art I do. Enjoy!!!

p.s. want to hear something really funny? When I got my doll from the blind swap in the mail, guess what it was...a mer-cat! Now isn't that odd? Guess great minds think alike.

Paper Mache Victorian Houses

Here is a paper mache Victorian House I made for a Christmas gift. I had so much fun with it...now I need to make one for myself...I plan to put my ATC's in it.

I also took some blank houses home for the holiday and my sister Diane and SIL Julie decorated houses. Theirs turned out awesome. Here is a photo of Diane's...unfortunately I didn't get a photo of Julie's but it was adorable too!

January, Day 7 - Back to the Basics

Patricia and I promised to start back on Bernie Berlin's workshop after the first of the year so yesterday we discussed the next technique "Stencils" and here are the results. I LOVE IT! Sorry, just had to shout that out cuz this was so much fun...definitely try it! I highly recommend this book, you can even click on the amazon link to the right of my blog and go purchase it there.

I used 140# watercolor paper as the base...nice and sturdy (also a favorite of mine). Using heavy acrylic paint, I painted the background a nice Tangerine Orange. Once that was dry, I used a square stencil and pounced in some semi-opaque Orange Juice acrylic paint. I let that dry completely and then added the Pure Pink acrylic stenciling using star-shaped punchinella.

I liked how that looked very much but have been itching to use some stencil paste I had so I added the final layer using the paste and various flower stencils! WOW! Once again, I'm sorry...I just had to shout. Love it, don't you?
I am going to cut these down to two 10.5" x 3.5" strips and send one of them to Patricia. That way we can use them for IttyBitty or ATC backgrounds. She is going to send me 1/2 of hers too. Isn't that fun? Can't wait to see what she creates.

January, Day 6-More Valentine Ornaments

Oh dear, I'm on this valentine ornament craze! I promise you that this is it, I have to get started on other projects for the month...like the art doll swap and an 8x8 mingle. But here you go...7 microscope slide ornaments (front & back) and 4 bottle-cap ornaments. ENJOY!

Valentine Ornament Tutorial

So many people have been emailing me about these ornaments that I thought I would post some specific instructions so that you can make them too!

Supplies: In addition to the normal supplies you use on many projects you will need to gather the specific supplies for this project; bamboo tiles, valentine-type rectangle images, 18 gauge wire, charms, german scrap & gold marker.

For the adhesive, I used a product by Plaid called Royal Coat Decoupage Finish 1401 Clear Satin Finish. I have used ModPodge on other projects but wanted a satin finish instead of the matt finish I get with MP. You can try out different products and use what you like. Gel medium would work too.

1. Cut out your images to size and take a black magic marker to outline the edges. I did this so that they would look more like a vintage photo. You don't have to do this, it's just what I did. :-)
   
2. Use a bristled paint brush to apply a light coat of the adhesive to one side of the tile then place the image on top of the tile. After the adhesive is dry, take the paintbrush and apply a light coat on top of the image and tile to seal it. This is the first coat and I ran the brush side to side horizontally. After this was dry, I put a second coat...this time up and down vertically. After this was dry, I applied a 3rd coat....this time at an angle. This process helps to eliminate the brush strokes that might be left in the adhesive. :-)
   
3. When the tiles are dry enough to touch, apply the German scrap to the side using the same adhesive. You do not need to overcoat it. Leave this all to dry overnight.
   
4. On the 2nd night, I did the same process to the back side with the other images, in my case the faux postage stamps. When it was dry enough to touch, I took a gold Krylon pen and inked the ends of the tiles in gold and left it to dry overnight.
   
5. On the 3rd night, I added the wire, charms, and hanger. For the wire assemblage, I used 10" of 18 gauge goldtone craft wire, put a loop in the middle of it, hung the charms from the loop and then ran the ends up through the two holes of the bamboo tile. At the top of the tile, I folded the wire over and made a wrapped wire loop. If you don't know how to make a wrapped wire loop, let me know and I will get you the info. I use this all the time in jewelry making and I think it really makes the ornament look professional. Anyway, I used the same wire for the hanger...6" piece coiled with a loop at the bottom to attach to the tile ornament.

See how easy this is? It just takes a couple of nights because you don't want to leave your fingerprints in the decopauge...or do you? Hugs and thanks for asking about the valentine ornaments, hope all your "valentines" are good ones.

January, Day 4 - Valentine Ornaments

Hi cyber friends! I am excited to share these Valentine Ornaments with you. They are for the Lenna Andrews Creative Swap I am doing. I love these new bamboo tiles that came from SkyBluePink. Aren't they cool? The LOVE charms are also from SkyBluePink. I used images, faux postage stamps and German Scrap from ARTchix Studio and the darling flower charms are from Speckled Egg who has the best prices on charms I 've seen anywhere! Okay, that's my promotional plugs for the day! LOL Enjoy the ornies, there are more to come! (photos are front and back of 6 ornaments)

New Year's Day - Gothic Arch Mingle

On New Year's Day I worked on my first Gothic Arch for the Altered Art Swap Mingle. It is for Barb and her theme is Vintage Children with their Dolls. I loved making this piece. Very relaxing and comforting colors (again her choice). Barb likes vintage lace so I dug these lace pieces out of the attic and aged them with coffee. Aren't they a nice color? I finished off the back with one large piece and my first poem of 2008! I didn't get the poem grunged up yet but will do that before I mail it off. Cheers!

New Year's Eve Art Doll - Wings

I could hardly wait to get started on this little paper art doll. My friend Patricia gave me the face for Christmas (along with 2 others) and I was so excited to use it. I applied a light amount of gel medium and brushed on Silver Pearl-X powder. After it was dry I added a touch of lavendar lumiere to her lips and eyelids. Two flower images form to create the body and they, along with the wings, are tipped in lumiere and crackle paint. I added a pressed pansy flower at the waist, drew the legs and arms, then stamped them and "powdered" them with the same silver pearl-x. When I was done, she asked me for a purple ribbon in her hair and as always with my dolls, I complied with her wishes. She is almost 6" tall and I think she's adorable! p.s. Thanks, Patricia, for the face!

December Art Postcards

I tried so hard to keep up with my art work in December but didn't get any of it posted. So once again, I will post them all in a lump posting and try to do better in 2008. Thanks for looking...please leave a comment if you would. Is good to know someone is out there! LOL


Art Postcards for yahoo group 6:6 swap. I really enjoyed creating these. For the base I used 140# watercolor paper cut into 4"x6" rectangles. I used a stamp for the PostCard wording on the back and drew the lines with a ruler. I still need to fill in my name, email address, title and swap name on the 4 lines but will get that done before I mail them off. The most difficult part for me at the beginning was that we could not use any embellishmemts...no buttons, no ribbon, no lace, nothing at all that was raised up off the paper. Had to be flat when done...


The most fun was just creating with lots of materials and new techniques. Materials used are: patterned paper, transparencies, ephemera (labels, postage stamps, sheet music), distressed inks, distressed embossing powder, oil pastels, fluid chalk, crackle paint, punchinella, rubber stamps, & rub-on letters. Love the layering process as you can tell from the list of materials! Anyway, here are a few of them! Hope you enjoy them!