Gothic Arch for Sandee

I just finished Sandee's gothic arch for our Altered Chix group...it was one of those projects that took me several days to complete because kept working on it a bit, putting it down and coming back to it later...I was trying to do one thing and my muse wanted something else...much more somber...but I finally gave in to her and this is the end result...hope Sandee likes it, her theme was earth tones & birds. :))

The front and back have lots of textures and layers...embossing powder, fibers and lace along with shipping tape transfers, paper and transparencies.

My First Altered Book Round Robin

My friend Dawn Gold invited me to join an Altered Book Round Robin with her so I did and while it has been a bit time-consuming to get the book all ready to go...I am having fun with it and am looking forward to seeing what each of the 11 other artists create in my book...and what I will create in theirs. :))

Since this is my first altered book RR I had to do a bit of research first. I found an old textbook titled "History of Art" with stitched pages and figured that might hold up a bit better than glued (based on what I had read). I mean, it's a textbook right...it has to be a bit sturdy. By the time I got a goodly chunk of pages torn out, the cover was showing a bit of wear and tear so I placed some lovely grey duct tape inside the front and back covers to give it a bit more substance in it's travels. Of course, I covered said duct tape with some even more lovely Bohemian paper so it's all hidden but hopefully will do the trick.

The theme for my altered book is "open" which means that each artist can create whatever they are inspired to do as long as they use the photos/images on the art history pages some way in their collage. To get the ball rolling, I created two "spreads" and here they are...along with the the cover page of the book (Notice the duct tape procedure? no? good, I'm happy.)

Somehow I found myself being a bit "tongue in cheek" with this first spread. I loved the dapper fellows from the Baroque period and needed to fancy them up...after I did that, I created their alter-egos who dance the night away in the salons of Paris. LOL

The "Magic of 3" is just me all over...I love these little statue faces and wanted to say something about evolving...some people might think the lady on the right is scary but I think she is powerful, the giver of life (eggs in the nest) and strong..also self-assured. As I worked, I kept thinking about these quotes/scripture and ended up including them in the two-page spread.

Now, I just need to write some "instructions" and off the book goes to travel the world to return to me in one year full of amazing wonderful exotic art. Farewell book...journey well.

New Fabric Skinny Gothic Arches!

I just absolutely love love love this new skinny gothic arch template that we are using for a fabric arch mingle over at the Paper Whimsy Art Forum. The height lends itself to so many additional creative thoughts...and techniques. I used a variety of processes and supplies including but not limited to stamping, embossing, distressed embossing & ink, stenciling, grungeboard, ribbons, rivets, brads, charms, beadwork, embossed velvet...and on it goes. I only needed to make 3 for the mingle but as you can see, I kind of got carried away. More to come, I'm sure! :)) Here are the five I made so far...front and back of each. Which one is your favorite?

Six-Word Memoir

Can you tell your life story in six words? I have been tagged by the lovely Theresa Martin to do just that.

The rules:
1. Write your own six-word memoir.
2. Post it on your blog (and include a visual illustration if you'd like).
3. Link to the person who tagged you in your post.
4. Tag 5 more blogs with links.
5. Remember to leave a comment on the tagged blogs with an invitation to play.I am tagging:

1. http://coolcrone.blogspot.com/
2. http://catworx.blogspot.com/
3. http://www.artistadicarta.typepad.com/
4. http://goldbettyboop.blogspot.com/
5. http://www.faerieluna.blogspot.com/

After pondering all my six-word possibilities, I finally decided on these important six words... "The Door Closed Hard...I Survived."

1-2-3 Swap

Sandee Hyde is hosting a 1-2-3 swap on our Altered Chix site and each of us is making a 1"x1", 2"x2", and 3"x3" collage with a similar or coordinating theme. I chose red and black and used 3 images from ARTchix that really went together. Here they are!