Sunday, June 29, 2008

I'm hosting a Gothic Arch Swap

...and here are the one's I made for it. For the swap we could make 3:3, 6:6 or 9:9...of course, I'm greedy and want 9 so I had the pleasure of making 9 to swap with others. There are 19 participants in the swap and I am soooo excited to see first-hand what these wonderful artists create. Here are my nine...LOL Do you like them?

Sunday, June 15, 2008

Altered Book Pages for Patricia:Theme is 70's Music

Poor Patricia...I am flaunting her body all over her altered book pages. LOL Originally I had planned to do an Elton John song for Patricia but when I saw the photo of her in the red-stripe pj's on the bed...I just knew I had to do Hotel California by the Eagles...1976. I hope she likes it and also hope that my images/interpretation don't offend the other ladies working in the book. Sex, drugs & rock n'roll! Peace out! ~Carol

Brothers Grimm Swap

I am participating in Lenna Andrews Grimm Fairy Tale Collage Swap. If you are not familiar with the Grimm Fairy Tales, take a look at this Wikipedia entry.This swap is sponsored by Alpha Stamps and has required Alpha Stamp products. It is a 4:4 swap with one extra as a gift for the hostess. :)

I started out with 5"x5" collage board and adhered the castle transfers I made earlier in the week. Then I cut out the Cinderella images I wanted to use and other embellishments. For the golden edges, I melted clear UTEE and added some Antique Gold Pearl-X, then applied it using a floppy watercolor brush. I'm a bit disappointed with these...overall, they look fine but I spent weeks on these from start to finish and they don't look it. OH well, such is life! :))

Tuesday, June 10, 2008

September 8x10 collage for Paper Whimsy Calendar 2009

Hello friends...here is my September collage for the calendar project. I was kind of stressed about this piece because it is going to be printed in our PW Calendar for the year and I didn't want to disappoint anyone. I have been thinking about it and working on it for several weeks and am finally pleased with the results. Hope you like it too.

I knew from the start that I wanted to use a school theme for September. I know most kids now start back to school in August but in "my day" we always started after Labor Day weekend. Mom took us shopping for that new first-day-of-school outfit...got a new book bag and new shoes...just like this precious Whimsy in the photo.

The schoolhouse is a gel transfer created from a photo I took of the one-room schoolhouse in my home town. The schoolhouse has special meaning to me...several years ago my dad and some of his old school buddies got out the photos they had of their country school and had an architect draft blueprints to build an exact replica at the museum. To the best of their ability and memory, this is it and I love it! It's filled with old books from the 1930's along with school desks and original slate chalkboards and a school bell (found at another old school that was on someone's farm in Monroe County).

My great-grandfather helped build the first school in the 1930's and my dad helped build the replica in the 1990's. I am so proud of both of them and all they have done to promote education in my home town. Throughout the year, school kids from all around Iowa take a tour of the school, ring the bell and sit at the desks while the "teacher" (docent) tells them all about school back in the day. They bring their sack lunch and get to write on the chalkboard...it's definitely hands-on and they love it!

Here is my rendition of what the school would look like in the land of Whimsy... you can create your own story of what she will find inside. Will you enter? Thanks for allowing me to share the story...

Thursday, June 5, 2008

Barb's eBay Auctions


Check out my friend Barb Burkard's eBay Auctions this week. She is selling items that would be perfect for altered art; TONS OF JUNQUE JEWELRY (in all colors), VINTAGE DOLLS, ART DOLL QUARTERLY'S, MY TRUE COLORS, POCKET WATCHES, VINTAGE GOODIES and etc. This is an opportunity you don't want to miss! She has tons of great stuff at great prices! Her blog is here her eBay shop is here. Sending hugs her way, Carol xoxo

Tuesday, June 3, 2008

Gel Medium Fabric Transfer...OH FLIP!

Picture this...I'm sitting here alone tonight with my Cinderella collage images in one hand and my castle images in the other...yes I'm participating in Lenna Andrews' Brothers Grim Collage Swap sponsored by the generous Leslie Elledge at Alpha Stamps.

Okay...so I'm sitting here with my castle images and some plain fabric thinking now how am I going to incorporate these two and before I knew it I slathered some gel medium on the printed image, slapped the piece of fabric on it and brayered it together. After about a minute, I pulled the paper off and there was this freakin' cool transfer. I shouted "Oh Flip!" and Ginger looked at me like "what now you dork?"

This transfer is so simple, I can't believe that I haven't done it before. Now I am so excited to work on the next phase tomorrow night which will include the Cinderella collage sheet images I chose from AlphaStamps and who knows what will ensue from there. Can you figure out which AS images are going with these backgrounds? If you haven't tried this technique before...get going sister! You won't regret it! Not to brag, but aren't they stunning? :)) Good ole' beginners luck...gotta love it! Hugs, Carol

Row Houses for Paper Whimsy Swap

I told you a few posts ago that I absolutely had a blast creating homes for my little Whimsy friends. The talented Kathy Wasilewski is hosting this swap and it is 7:7. I have a couple of personal 1:1 swaps pre-arranged so here are the uber-cool houses I made. I have seen many of the other houses created and they are all top-notch! Whooppee! Do you like them?