Sketchbook

I'm Still Here ....

I haven't been posting much lately.   That doesn't mean I haven't been creating though.   Just been side-tracked a little from posting to my blog.

A couple of cards that I made the other night.   The first card was stamped using Hero Arts and StampinUp stamps.  This card was made for a teenage boy.  I hope that it works for him.

The second card is stamped using a Stampington stamp.  I stippled the background.  A second butterfly was stamped onto a printed paper and cut out.   You can't see it really well, but it's wings are curled back.  When I attached it to the card, it looks as if it is flying.   Beautiful textured card and sentiment are Hero Arts.

Are you game? ...

I just finished up working on some altered book pages.   These are for a fellow artisans altered book entititled "Are You Game?".

My first layout is all about Child's Play.   I tried to include some of the simple games and activities we did as kids.  From tic tac toe to hangman, from puzzles to card games.   Even a chain made from paper clips.  Remember those?   If I had had gum wrappers... there would of been a chain made from those too.   

In this layout, I just wanted to show some different card and "table" games.   I cut a niche into the book on the right page, and inserted real dominoe tiles.  Below that are two niches... one for a bingo card/marker, and one for some miniature wooden dice.   The left page uses two HUGE, oversized playing cards.   

This is my Monopoly layout.   I lightly painted the pages with a silver glaze.  The pages on the right were folded to size, with every other page being inked in black.  If you hadn't figured it out, it is suppose to look like the bars of a jail cell.

I used chipboard, alpha tiles, and stamps (Purple Onion Designs) to spell out "Go To Jail".    I added copies of vintage Community Chest and Chance cards between the cell bars.   I inclued an image of the original Monopoly game diagram from 1935.

All of these pages were fun to do.  I hope you enjoy them Carole.

Sparkle Birdie ...

The bird image is from Stampendous.   It has a floral spray following the bird.  I extended and enhanced the spray by adding various sized punched holes, bling, and glitter dots (glitter pen).  The purple layer behind the golden layer of cardstock, is shimmer paper.   The irredesence from the shimmer paper shows through the holes.   The image is stamped with Brilliance ink.   Background paper is from Memory Box... LOVE their paper!!!

Simple Cards ...

Just a simple card that I sent to a friend.  The bird image is Hero Arts, and is colored with the MCP technique (colored pencils).  She was punched out and put on pop dots.

Below is another simple anniversary card that I made.  Stamps are StampinUp.

My Other Hobby ...

I know this isn't art related, but I thought I would just slip in a few springtime photos of my garden.  This is my "other" hobby.  I really enjoy playing in the dirt.   It does take away some of my "art" time, but it is really worth it.  Unfortunately, I think spring has left us here already and summer has set in.   The heat and humidity are already gastly.

My easter lily finally bloomed in late May... it was really late this year.  But, it was beautiful and HUGE this year.  This one stalk had 13 giant trumpets on it.   Just gorgeous.

Here is my "busy" flower bed in the back yard.  Has alot going on in it.

My two "frog friends" live in this flower bed under their sun umbrella.  They are in the buff sunning themselves and reading a book.

This is my giant scarlett mandevilla that survived the cold winter.   Currently, it is absolutely covered with red flowers, and will be until winter.  Love this plant.

I am so happy with my clematis.   I planted this last year, and it barely made it through the season.  Thought it wouldn't be alive by spring.   Well, it surprised me.  I have had to add a 6 ft. trellis for it to climb on.   What a beautiful greeting at the gate.

A little color in a front flower bed,  that will last all summer.

Birthday 4x4's

One of my online art groups recently celebrated its 6th birthday.   Members of our group sent our wonderful leader birthday 4x4's that she could make a fat book from.    Here are some of the pages I sent.     

   

Happy Birthday Ron ...

This was the birthday card I made and sent to my brother.

I colored this using Prismacolors and the MCP technique.

Altered Pages - "Sea" Theme ...

I am currently in an altered book round robin.  I just finished working in the first book.  The theme of this book was "the sea".    The theme was wide open for interpretation.   We were suppose to do about 3 altered spreads in each book.  When I first started on this book, I was kind of stuck creatively.  But, once I got the first page done, there was no stopping me.   I ended up doing five altered spreads (and I could of done more but I ran out of time).   I hope "Pat" enjoys the finished pages I created in her altered book.

I call this first page "beach findings".   It has a vintage feel of a day at the beach.  Used everything from old sandpaper for the beach, to transparencies, mesh, dimensional shells, and old photos.

What is the sea full of???   Fish of course.   It was only appropriate to do a "fish monger" page.  I found these old fish labels, and then painted my own little fishie.

"Romance on the High Seas"... what more can you say.   Nothing much more romantic than love at sea.

Sea horses are a unique and interesting sea creature.   They shouldn't be forgotten.   I put a little humor into this page.   Our art group is about to have a "western" themed art gathering.  How appropriate to have a sea "horse" that sais "giddy up".   

A sea themed altered book wouldn't be complete without a mermaid or two.  This mermaid image is one of my favorites.   She is just the beautiful essence of a mermaid.   She is the "jewel of the sea".  The background if shimmery, stamped and glittered.

Pat, I had a great experience working in your altered book.  I hope you'll be pleased when you get to see your book in person in a few months from now.

Row House Canvas ...

Here is a teaser...

Please check out my latest project for Buzz and Bloom.   Be sure to check out all of the design team projects, and Buzz and Blooms latest release of chipboard products.

Garden Button Fairy ...

This is a project that I recently did for Buzz and Bloom, and had posted on their blog.  New chipboard products were just released.   Check them out at Buzz and Bloom.

With spring upon us, I felt it was appropriate that I make this "button fairy" to watch over my blooming garden. 

I don't know if everyone is familiar with button fairies or not.  They are a fun, quick, and easy project to make.  Mine are usually simply made from collected buttons, wire, flowers and a face.  This button fairy is a bit larger than most, but that shouldn't hamper the job she has to do.  She is a bit fancier too, with her soaring wings.

For this button fairy, I used ...

• Buzz and Bloom chipboard - Spin Me Round: Swirls and Heavenly
• printed paper
• button assortment - various colors, shapes and sizes
• wire - 22 or 24 guage
• assorted beads/charms
• flowers
• metal rimmed tag/photo

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I started out by prepping my chipboard pieces.  I inked the chipboard with chalk ink.  I traced the wing shape on printed paper and cut out.  I glued the paper onto the chipboard and trimmed where necessary.

To make the "body" of the button fairy, cut an 18" to 24" piece of wire.  Start at one end of the wire and make a flat spiral.   Add a selection of beads and/or charms.  Thread the buttons onto the wire one at a time.  It as if you are sewing a button with wire instead of thread.  Start with the small buttons, and work up to the largest button. 

As you can see in the photo, on buttons with 4 holes, I cross the wire in an "x".   Make sure that the buttons fit snug against each other as you progress up the wire.  Notice how I added a small metal butterfly bead to the wire of the yellow button.  You can add any glass bead on top of, or between buttons.  Think about adding small ribbon bows between buttons too.  Be creative and make this your own.

Once you have the fairy's body made, it is time to construct her.  In other words, it is time to bring her to life.

As a base for my fairy, I punched a 1" circle out of heavy watercolor paper.  I glued the two wings to this disk, leaving enough room to run the wire between them.   I glued the wire in place.  I added a second 1" paper disk on top, gluing it in place. The second disk will give you something to attach the head securely to.

While that was drying, I assembled my fairy's "head".   I layered the chipboard piece, white flower, polka dotted flower, and the pink flower.   I punched out a 1" face and glued it to a metal-rimmed tag, and attached that to the stack.   To add a bit of glimmer, I added dots of glitter glue to the ends of the chipboard spirals, and edged the wings and pink flower with a glitter gel pen.

 

After the wire was securely glued in place, I snipped off all but about 6" - 8" of wire.  I made a small coil in the wire, added more beads, and a larger metal butterfly bead.  At the very top of the wire I made another flat spiral for my fairy to hang from.

The only step left was to glue the head to the body.  When you attach the head, make sure you slide the lower edge of the chipboard/flowers under the top button, so that the button lays on top near the face.  Feel free to bend her wire body in the shape that you like.    

Your button fairy is now finished and ready to watch over your garden.

Tips - There are endless variations when making button fairies.  Make smaller fairies with only 3-5 buttons.  Use paper flowers, fabric flowers, real flowers, or anything "round" as the "head".  Use flattened bottle caps to hold your face. Use photos of people you know to personalize your fairy.  Button fairies don't "need" wings, but fly best with them.  You can use loops of wires as wings.  Use paper for wings.  Use colored wire.   Buttons come in many shapes, sizes, and colors.  Add ribbons wherever you wish. 

Use your creativity and whatever you have in your current supplies to create a personal button fairy.  Each button fairy takes on a personality of their own. 

Thank you ...

Two basic thank you cards.   The first one uses printed paper, and stamped cardstock with glitter highlights, for the background.   

This card uses Stampin Up stamps in the background.  The main image is Hero Arts.  I used glitter glue over the top of the flower petals.

"Which Hand Are We Playing Now???" ....

This month for my Glue, Art & Paper project, I personalized one of the newer small sized vertical albums especially for one of my other "hobbies"... playing cards/games.

I love to play cards and board games.   On occasion I play cards with a group of friends.   We always play a game where each hand played is different than the one before it.   We are constantly asking "which hand we are playing now?".

 

This size of vertical album is perfect for displaying the list of hands for our game.   It is small enough to sit on the table and not get in our way.  Now, no one needs to ask "what hand is it".  Instead they can just quickly look at this handy piece.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Here is what I did ...

The vertical album that I used holds pages approximately 3" x 3".   It is perfect for holding a favorite photo, a meaningful personal quote or verse, important phone numbers or dates, etc..   It is a great compact and practical size.  It is perfect for a desktop or anywhere you may have limited space.  There are so many uses for it.   Just personalize it to your likes and needs.   The possibilities are endless.                                          

My vertical album has a front "cover" so that when not in use during a game of cards, it can sit on a shelf as an attractive display piece.   No one would ever know what it's actual use is.  Behind the cover, I included the list of hands for both the quick and long versions of our card game, and the basic rules for each.  Each version is "tabbed" at the bottom.

To make this vertical album, I first painted it with acrylic paint.   I then applied ribbon to the edges of the upright pieces.  I applied coordinating paper strips to the edge of the base.    I embellished with Prima flowers and bling.   The front "cover" is a piece of Memory Box printed paper, with a bird image stamped onto it (StampinUp!).   The interior pages were printed on the computer and stamped with some swirly images (StampinUp!).

Make sure you check out projects by other Glue, Art & Paper Design Team members... 

Dawn

Susan

Suzy

Jen

Postage People ...

Recently, I hosted a "Postage People" mingle with one of my art groups.   It was a wonderfully successful and FUN swap!   What a creative and witty group of artists.   We all had a great time.   

All you need to make "postage people" is a postage stamp with a head on it, and your creativity.   We made our people on ATC's.   The body can be a stamped body or a photo/picture of any sort. 

Here are a couple of the ones that I made.  I wish I could share all of the ATC's the entire group made.

   

Black Bird ...

I don't own many Stampin Up sets, but this card is made with some SU stamps I recently acquired.  I have always been into birds, so it was only appropriate I purchase it.   I stamped the bird with black lightening Brilliance ink... has that nice golden sparkel to it.   The rest is using the pearlescent olive Brilliance ink.   You can't really see the irresdescence in this photo... but it is there.   The ribbon is black velvet, and the background paper is Basic Grey.

Hopefully you can see more of the beautiful irredescence in this photo.  It really makes the card in my opinion.

Who am I...

I have had two secret sisters who will soon know my identity.  These are the cards I sent to them revealing who I am.

The first card is stamped with copper/gold/silver brilliance ink.   The background is an irredescent printed cardstock from DCWV. 

This card is stamped using a blue/teal/lime brilliance ink.   Not as sparkly as the first card.  Lots of layers and an embossed felt flower.

I know I have been missing lately.  I've had too many things on my plate lately.   But, there is finally breathing room in sight for more art.  Hooray.  I'll be back here soon with another post.

Winged Button Fairy ...

Check out my "winged" button fairy on Buzz and Bloom's blog. This was my Art Challenge for the month. I have more pictures and detailed instructions posted on that blog.    Lots of other fun eye candy posted there too.  Enjoy.

Button Fairies ...

Recently, I was in a "Button Fairie" swap.   I don't know how many of you are familiar with button fairies, but I wasn't until recently.   They are a fun thing to make... a nice change of pace.   Here are the ones I submitted for the swap.

       

     

      

The next one is the first one I made, and is my personal favorite.  I selfishly kept this one for myself.  I brings a smile to my face.

Get your wire, extra buttons, beads and doodads out, and make yourself a button fairy.  I made mine so that they can be hung up, but you could easily attach a magnet to the back too.  Have fun.

Bird Heaven ...

This wall hanging was so much fun to create.    I have it hanging in my house right now!!  My friends know that I have always been a bird freak, so it was very fitting of me to make something "bird" themed.  I debated on whether to make a nice jewelry tray for my bedroom, or this wall hanging.  It was a hard choice (although I will probably still make my "tropical" themed tray too).  I guess the nature side of me won out. 

It all started with an unfinished wooden 4-compartment tray from Glue, Art & Paper Studio.   I decided to make this tray into a dimensional wall hanging.   I started out by lightly sanding the tray, and painting it with a base coat and then a solid coat of brown paint.    After that dried, I adhered a piece of polka dotted paper to the top surface, trimming out the open squares once the glue was dry.  Squares of a muted green striped paper were added to the back of each open square.

Once the "construction" basics were done, I was ready to alter this into my own little personal "birdie heaven".

I tore out a piece of a bird illustration, and a piece of sheet music and added it to the first square.   A little moss was added, as was a small green "mushroom" bird sitting on the ledge.                                                                   

In the next square, I took a piece of corrugated cardboard and tore off the paper on one side of it.   I tore the piece to shape.  I inked it up with some brown ink.   

The eggs are flat sided wooden eggs that I painted to look like real eggs.   I stamped labels using stamps from Purple Onion Designs.                                                                  

The third square is a birds nest lined with some moss and bird eggs.

In the fourth square, I simply added tree branches and twigs, along with a little moss and some walnut ink dyed cheesecloth.   All of the things little birds need for making a nest.   I tied a little bundle of twigs together and attached to the corner.

The final touches included putting a polka dotted ribbon around the edge of the wall hanging.  Also, I added a brown button to each corner.   Some eye hooks were added to the top edge and twine was used as the hanger.

I hope you enjoyed visiting my little "bird heaven".                                       

More Tria ...

Thought I'd share a couple more samples of what I was able to create using Tria markers (instead of Copics).   I am just very happy with the detail I can get from them, and the shading I am able to do with them.   They are working great for me!

    

Easter is on it's way ...

Hope all of you are having a pleasant Easter weekend.   I didn't have any special new Easter cards to share, so I pulled this carrot tag from my art vault. 

 

All torn layers of textured paper, chalked edges, and the sentiment is from Purple Onion Designs.

Coloring with markers ... Copic vs. Tria

It seems like stampers are busy coloring in images these days with their Copic markers.   Copic markers are quality professional markers that come in three styles (original, sketch, and caio), and come with a hefty price tag attached.   

Frankly, I wasn't sure I would even like the results of coloring with markers, when there are so many other better techniques (in my opinion).   Before I layed out a significant amount of money for any markers, I first wanted to see how coloring with markers compared to other coloring techniques such as the Magic Pencil technique, watercolor painting, pastels, etc.  I bought a handful of Copic markers on sale at Hobby Lobby so that I could experiment with them.

samples - first picture is colored with Tria markers; second photo is watercolor paints.

I found that I "liked" (but didn't "love") the results markers gave compared to other techniques.  The one thing I learned about using markers was that I would have to have the ability to blend colors ... which for me meant having alot of colors/shades available.   I couldn't color something in using just one shade.  This was going to be another expensive addition to my ever growing art studio if I went forward with this purchase. 

Everyone gets so caught up in brand names, and having to have what everyone else has.  I didn't feel that way about Copic markers at all.   Once I decided that I liked the coloring technique enough, I just wanted to find out what worked best for me.   Like I once read, if you can draw (or color), it doesn't matter what tool you use.   In other words, the brand of marker you are using isn't going to make your art look any better than the talent that is behind that pen.

I went in search of a way I could purchase professional markers as economically as possible.  I read alot of online information and reviews.   Mostly, I found information about Copic markers, and not so much about other brands.   From what I saw and read I was really quite curious about Tria markers from Letraset.   Tria professional markers have been around for many years.  Recently they revamped their pens.  They were changed from a refillable barrel design to a changeable ink cartridge design.  Personally, I like the cartridge concept better than having to buy reinkers for all of the heavily used colors.    Supposedly the ink has been reformulated, but I don't see where that is negative or positive for me.  Tria markers offer 3 nibs ... fine, brush and chisel ... IN ONE PEN.   The best of all worlds.  You don't get 3 nibs on any other pens.  This was a big plus in my book, as I use all three for different things.

The end result is that I purchased 40 Tria markers.   Instead of paying upwards of $6.00 for a single Copic marker, I paid $2.95 for individual Tria markers.  (I purchased my Tria markers from Carpediem).  I could of gotten a greater deal had I purchased them in a set (as you would with Copic too).   Although there were many beautiful sets available, the trouble with larger sets is that you usually get too many gray markers.  A couple of "grays" are necessary, but I just don't use that wide of a variety of them.   So, I chose to get just the colors I wanted, making sure I got blendable shades.

I have only had the Tria markers for about a week now, but I thought I'd share my first results with them.   The flower above, and these two cards, are the first images that I colored.  The photos are not the best , but I hope you can see the results I had with the Tria markers.   They worked very nicely!

 

Besides having the 3 nibs in one pen, the other thing I like about the Trias over the Copic is the brush nib.   The Copic brush nib (sketh marker) is quite flexible.  Almost too flexible for me.  The Tria is a bit stiffer and I find that easier to work with. To me, the ink in both markers apply the same.  In the end, I found that the Tria markers truly don't look any different than the Copics.  I found them very easy to work with.   I am very happy with my purchase.  I can see adding more colors to my Tria collection in the future.  I feel like I got good results at a great value.

 

Birthday birdies ...

I made these two simple birthday cards with this cute new bird cage and bird stamp.   The two stamps come on one wooden block.  It is a sweet, cute stamp.   The background papers are from Memory Box.

Happy Birthday to Renee ... the recipient of the card on the right.

Easter Bunnies ...

Here are two Easter cards I made using the same stamped image.   Both images were colored using pastel pencils.   The first card is colored in peachy tones, and the second in pink tones.   Both background papers are the same pattern, just in two different color palettes.   This shows how slight color changes cn change a look of a card.

Token of my love ....

This is a special Valentine project that I made recently for Buzz and Bloom.  You can read my detailed instructions here.  I wanted to share this with those of you that didn't catch it on their blog.

 

Bridal Cupcake Stand ...

My niece Mandi recently got engaged and will be having an outdoor wedding in early fall.   She has chosen persimmon and brown as the colors of her wedding.  A beautiful choice of colors for a beautiful time of year.

As a gift, I decided to personalize a 2-tier cupcake stand  from Glue, Art & Paper Studio for her.  Hopefully, she can use it at her bridal shower or some other pre-wedding event.

It wasn't difficult to make this stand, although it had a lot of "drying" time involved.   I first gave the stand 2 coats of cream colored paint .   After that, I cut two circles of printed paper to be used on the surfaces of the stand.   I adhered this paper to the stand using a gel medium.   Next, I gave the entire stand two coats of a glazing medium . This gave the stand a nice finish. 

I also took a 4.5" round box with lid, and painted it a chocolate brown color.   I wrapped a strip of brown patterned paper around the box and adhered it.  I also coated the box with the glaze medium.

Note - make sure you let each coat of paint/adhesive/glaze dry thoroughly before moving on.

Once the basics were finished, I moved on to the fun part...  personalizing the cupcake stand.   

I first took the persimmon colored rayon ribbon and "wrapped" the box like a gift.   I wrapped the ribbon on the box and lid ... separately (making sure the ribbon on the lid and box lined up).  After gluing the lid onto the box, I then wrapped the narrower brown ribbon over the rayon ribbon.    I attached multiple loops and streamers of rayon ribbon to the top of the box.   

Next, I attached the box to the center of the cupcake stand.  I glued a dark persimmon flower, leaves, and cream colored roses to the top of the box.  I added a couple of flower buds and loose petals around the base of the box.    This was like putting icing on the cake.

I added a strong double sided tape to the back of the brown ribbon and carefully applied the ribbon around the edges of both levels of the cupcake stand, making sure it was perfectly straight.   I also wrapped a cream colored satin ribbon around the center pole giving the cupcake stand  a final finishing touch.

Finishing touches are most important to me, whether it be the way the ribbons are finished off at the ends, or the way in which pieces are lined up.   I feel that how an item is "finished" either makes or breaks an art piece. 

Anyway, I hope my niece enjoys her special cupcake stand.  Congratulations Mandi.      

Supplies -

• 2-tier cupcake stand (Glue Art & Paper Studio)
• Round wooden box
• Brown and cream ribbon
• Persimmon rayon ribbon (Martha Stewart)
• Misc. silk flowers
• Printed papers (Anna Griffin; Unknown)
• Adhesives/Glaze