Steampunk Marie!

Sue's Marie Antoinette journal has the theme of "Marie's Dreams," and we're to do pages of anything Marie might have dreamed of.  Lots of wiggle room for interpretation here, and boy did I ever wiggle.  My Marie's dream took her all the way from Versailles to Victorian England, and she may have encountered Jules Verne or H.G. Wells along the way.   Here is the result:

Marie's body was done with a rubber stamp, her head is from a PID collage sheet.  I added some real string to her corset, and gave her some steampunk-ish accessories....a keychain necklace, watch parts earring, and thimble hat.   I found a steampunk drawing of a bicycle and printed it on a transparency and that is what you see overlaid on the bottom.  (Click on the photo to see these details).  The hot air balloons in the background were in the original photo I used as the backdrop, but the three smaller ones in the foreground are actually a rubber stamp, done on separate paper, colored, cut, and attached with foam to make them dimensional.

On the journaling page.....underneath it all is a dictionary definition and illustration of a steampunk device.  I know you can barely see any of it, but I know it's there, LOL.  I gessoed over it, then added the color with my beloved Portfolio water soluble oil pastels.  The writing was done with Sharpie water-based poster paint markers, which are great because they're very opaque and give great coverage over just about everything.

The Victorian looking man with the birdcage hat is from a Tim Holtz stamp set, and the very steampunky  metal embellishments on both pages are also courtesty of Mr. Holtz.

Frida!

I've been fascinated by the art (and the life) of Frida Kahlo for a long time, and when my Australian friend Lee proposed yet another collaborative journal with Frida as the inspiration, I jumped at the chance.  Yes, even though I'm currently in four other journal groups and have an overflowing plate.  Couldn't resist.
I decided on a compact size (6x6), as we are a very international group, and concerned about postage costs.
Here is my newly completed cover art:

I drew a (deliberately) crooked border and filled it with colorful doodling, my version of Mexican folk art.  Wasn't at all trying to be authentic, this is just what Frida's art inspires in ME.

Inside the frame I created the background with Portfolio water soluble oil pastels and torn paper used as a mask.  After buffing it with paper towels, I painted over it with gold mica paint, which I'm sure doesn't show up in the photo, but it is nice and shimmery.

The picture of Frida began with some clip art.  I put into practice the drawing technique Jen taught us on the retreat.  I lightly gessoed over the image of Frida and then drew and colored over the gesso, so the original image served as a guide.  Since it was a portrait, I added the skirt (which has dimensional flowers) and scarf (a piece of ribbon).

The wonderful letters that spell out Frida were stamped with black ink, using a great Tim Holtz foam alphabet set (sadly, no longer available), which I was lucky enough to get last year on the Mexico cruise.

The Queen & Her Cake - A Marie Antoinette Collaborative Art Journal

The most recently launched art journal group I'm in has Marie Antoinette as a theme. (Click HERE for details of this project).
This week I received two to work in, and have completed the pages for Daisy's.  Everyone picked a specific angle on the Marie theme, and Daisy's is "Fashionista Marie's Couture."  Daisy did some beautiful pages of Marie in various backdrops, wearing the most magnificent clothes, fashioned from paper, fabric, and lots of trimmings.  Tough act to follow (I'm the first to work in her book), but I've been accumulating loads of frou frou, so felt up to the task.
Here is page one of the two page spread:

The background is a photo of a period room, printed in black and white, with parts tinted with pastels.  I took a Marie paper doll as the base and fashioned her dress and headpiece from bits of fabric, ribbon, lace and other trims.  I covered her hair with lots of champagne stickles, glittered her shoes, and added pearls and other bling all over.  The text, printed on the computer, cut apart and edged with gold embossing, says,  "the dresses are lovely, but....."

What's the but?????   Well, fancy dresses might be nice, but for me at least, it was always, "all about the shoes."  Or, as Sue, our resident French expert told me, "il s'agit des chassures."

Oh, I did have fun with this page.  Shoes, shoes, and more shoes. The tiny one on the bottom is completely dimensional.  I found a pointy shoe pattern on the internet, and reduced it in size and made this little gem....I think that took longer than anything else on these pages.  Working in miniature is NOT easy.  But I'm really happy with the way these pages came out.  This style, as I'm sure you know, is so not me, and yet, so much fun to play with.

Now, on to Sue's journal.  Her journal is all about Marie's dreams.  Daisy's pages for her are great....Marie dreams of being a can-can dancer in the Moulin Rouge.  Haven't decided yet what my Marie will dream of, but I'm leaning towards something very 21st century.  Should be a hoot to do.

I Dream In Colors

Time out from my Key Largo posts.  I just completed pages for Jen's journal in our I Dream in Colors group.  Her color palette is chocolate brown, robin's egg blue, and lilac.
Not my usual colors (except for the brown, which I believe goes with everything), but had fun with it, and guess what?  Those who know me well won't believe it, but I sewed on it!  Me, sewing!
I have disliked sewing but love the look of stitches on paper, so a few weeks ago I went ahead and bought a basic machine and put it in a closet.
Something made me take it out yesterday.  I just knew it would end with much tears and cursing, but miracle of miracles, it really was as easy to thread as promised.  Can't believe it!  Not that I did anything elaborate, just some freehand stitching and attaching ribbon, but this is a very big deal for me.  I've always believed that I am totally incapable of using a sewing machine.  Yea, me!
Anyway, here is the first of the two page spread:

I used some of Tim Holtz's gorgeous new paper.  It's the right shade of blue, and I overpainted it in some areas with lilac paint.  I used the bracket from Tim's "Hanging Sign" die as the holder for the cage from his "Caged Bird" die.  I didn't use the bird from that die.  The smaller one is a stamp, inked and stickled.  The larger one is from the "Nature" grungeboard set.  I used Val's inlaid embossing technique on it.  Covered it with light purple embossing powder, then used a floral background stamp (Wendy Vecchi) over top, embossed with blue powder.

The second page is the one where I really tried out the sewing machine:

I LOVE Tim's "Fanciful Flight" die.  That butterfly is great, isn't it?  I put blue vellum under the chocolate card stock outline.

I chose the words I used, after searching for hours for a suitable quote about flying, because of the word "fairy."  If you read my post yesterday about the retreat, you know that each night we were visited by the pillow fairies (aka Gina and Marita).  I thought that whenever Jen looked at these pages she'd also be reminded of our wonderful days together in Key Largo.

Jen included some tags with her journal for us to use as a sign in.  She asked that we include a photo of ourselves.  I found a vintage NYC postcard, (well, a reproduction) Bethesda Fountain in Central Park in the 40's (I think), and used that as my base.  Here it is:

And no, I did not make up that corny caption.  It was actually on the bottom of the postcard!

The Keys 4 Art

The countdown has begun.....well, actually, I've been counting days for a while now, but since it is less than a week away, I'm really excited.  What am I talking about?  A fantastic loooong weekend in Key Largo with some of the best friends I've never met!

You know from my blog posts that I'm in several collaborative art journal groups, and our ringleader, Elena, lives in Key Largo, has a large home, owns every art supply ever invented, and somehow made  a random remark turn into reality.

A year or so back, when the first journal got underway, and I was so thrilled with the art being done in them, I commented how great it would be if we could actually get together and have some quality art time as a group.  Sounded like a nice fantasy, but Elena is a very determined woman, and she is making it happen!  I leave for Florida next Wednesday and don't return until Sunday night.  How cool is that!   Elena has lots planned, and several of us will be sharing techniques.  We also expect that some of our sisters-in-art who cannot be with us physically will join us on Skype!

I've been busy gathering together things to take, mostly art-related, but I will bring some clothes too, and finalizing my plans for what I'll be teaching.   I also made a little commemorative somethin' somethin' for everyone.....all 12 of us!

You can be sure that once I get back I'll have LOTS to share here.  Key Largo, look out!

Oh, and the very impressive logo above,  is courtesy of one of the women who is coming....the very talented and generous Valerie.

I Dream In Colors

About a year ago the I Dream In Colors collaborative art journal group began.  I've worked in many books with a wide range of color palettes.   This past week I've been creating pages for Sarah's (one of my friends from Australia) journal.  Her colors are red, black, and white.  These are the pages I came up with, and the book will be heading for Jacquie in Florida today:

The pages are 8x8".  I went through my stash, but primarily took elements from scraps.  The elaborate headdress I added to the figure was cut freehand from a scrap of embossed Ten Seconds Studio black metal.  The bird on the second page was punched from the same metal.  The birdcages are die cuts I received with an online order.  Most of the papers I used to create the collaged background were also from the scrap pile.

I did a bit of doodling with my black and white Sakura glaze pens.....love them!  They add instant shine and dimension and write over virtually every surface.  

The quote, of course, is from the Maya Angelou poem, "I Know Why The Caged Bird Sings."

The Queen & Her Cake - A Marie Antoinette Collaborative Art Journal

 

As my first collaborative art journal (Through The Eyes of An Artist) nears the end of its year+ journey, I am getting ready for the start of our next project: The Queen & Her Cake.  We'll be interpreting the Marie Antoinette theme in a variety of ways.  My choice, Marie's Scrapbook.  Everyone will do 2 page scrapbook layouts in my journal, imagining Marie as a scrapbooker, inserting pictures, memorabilia, embellishments, and journaling fit for a queen!  I am very excited about this group.  There are 17 of us, and we represent the United States, Canada, England, Australia,  and Belgium.  

 Our launch date is March 10, and I am ready.  Here is my cover (an 8x8" fabric covered scrapbook that I have altered):

 

I do have an introductory page, but for some reason, blogger refuses to upload it.  Onward....I took the advice of many in this group, and decided to use the Marie paper doll I made the other day in my own layout for my journal.  Here is Marie enjoying the gardens of Versaille:

 

I added a bit more bling to the doll.  And here is the facing journaling page:

 

For someone whose usual style goes toward the darker and grungier, this has been a fun challenge for me...I'm really unleashing my inner Marie, frou frou and all!

Another Journal of Dreams

It snowed again today....all day.  So, I stayed indoors again and worked on the next journal, which belongs to Lillian.  Carla's was a petite 6x6", but Lillian's is much larger; she altered an existing book, something I've done and am partial to.  No worries about binding when you use an altered book.

 

Lillian included a note with her journal, in which she mentioned some things she is partial to......foreign languages, architecture, anything French, vintage, rust.....  I did my best to incorporate many of these features in my page for her.

I was thinking about dreams of travel.  As an experienced traveler, I am usually prepared, know what to expect, and through careful planning, don't miss much.  When I was a very young traveler, too dumb to be cautious, I just went where the spirit took me, with very little in the way of preparation.  At first, I was going to say that I miss the spontaneity of my youth, but do I really?  I wouldn't want to be that girl again.  Not really.

Well, be my travels well thought out or spur of the moment, my message is the same.....it's all about the journey, not the destination.

I started by spraying watercolor paper with several colors of homemade mica spray, then inked the paper and added strips of music sheets and old text (in a few languages).  More ink.  Combed my stash for exotic images and architectural elements.  Added a central image of a 40's pin-up girl (why not!), and some bling.  Oh, and I just noticed that the charm dangling from that little chain was turned backwards when I took the picture.  Just so you know, it says "journey."

More snow is expected tomorrow, so I just may get to Lee's journal as well.

Journal of Dreams

My collaborative art journal drought has ended!  After months with none reaching my door, I suddenly had three to work on.  All from the Journal of Dreams group.  Today I worked on Carla's.

I used the spray starch technique for the background, and almost everything else on the page came from my scrap pile.  So there are leftover bits of embossed metal, old text, scraps from various techniques,  and cut off pieces of collages.  Also, LOTS of shimmer from distress stickles.  The mermaid is from PID, though she didn't start out as a mermaid.  I made her tail from glitter paper which I then embossed and distressed.

Through The Eyes of An Artist

Can it be?  No more tags!  Fortunately I have plenty of other projects so I didn't have withdrawal.  Much.  The first item on my non-tag to do list was pages for Sue's TTEOAA journal.
I realized today that what I am calling the "background" is really the piece.  I get so involved in it, and put so much into it, there really isn't much to add at the end.
I began with fabriano paper which was sprayed heavily with various colors of homemade shimmer mist, then collaged with various scraps.
I cut long strips from the leftovers of another project and attached them over the collage.  Some inking, stamping and then the addition of the clip art (which I colored with water soluble oil pastels) and text.
Thanks to Valerie!  I raided her awesome collection of images for this one.

 

Through The Eyes of An Artist

The first collaborative art journal group I joined was Through The Eyes of An Artist, and this wonderful journey is almost at an end.  This weekend I did pages for Tracy, and I am the last in the circle for her book.  So when this beautiful journal leaves NY, it will be heading home.  I know Tracy is excited, and when she sees the pages in person, she will be thrilled.
Here is my contribution:

 

As I've been doing in all my journals lately, I begin by creating a collage background with bits of random scraps of paper, including music sheets, old text, advertising, scrapbook paper, etc.  Then I'll add some paint,  including metallics,the water soluble oil pastels Lynne Perella turned me onto,  stamping, and whatever other embellishments I feel belong.

Although the look is very different, I used the same technique on Sharon's pages.  The color palette is just more vivid.

Here is the two page spread:

Page 1:

And page 2:

My art goddess is a stamp from a Wendy Vecchio set called Art Rules, and I love the image. I just gave her some color and bling, and a rather voluminous cloak.  Are you really an art goddess without a voluminous cloak?  I think I like the word voluminous.  It kind of rolls off the tongue.  And it's not every day you get to use the word cloak in a sentence.

Before I digress even further, let me end this now, and as my (new) friend Wendy Vecchio says, "Go Make Art!"

Collaborative Journal

One of the collaborative journal groups I'm in, Through The Eyes Of An Artist, seems to be at about the half way mark.  I received Karen's book last week and there were so many wonderful pages already done to look at and relish.
In some of the groups our journals have themes or color restrictions, but TTEOAA is totally "artist's choice."
I so enjoyed working with beeswax on the cruise, so decided that my pages for Karen would use this medium.
I also included some of the leftover dress pattern paper from Wendy's inspiration board project, some vintage papers and other embellishments I bought in the market place on the ship, and some of Tim's idea-ology pieceds as well.
So, like I told Karen, although the work is mine, there is also a little bit of Tim and Wendy in these pages:

Art Journal Pages and More

One of my circle art journal groups is called I Dream in Colors, and the other day I received Karen's journal to work on.  Her chosen colors are brown, orange and cream, and in addition, Karen has a circus theme going on.  As in, life is a circus.  Which it often seems to be.
The theme took me in an unexpected direction, and the fact that I own a fun stamp set called Life Is A Balancing Act also dictated where to go.  Here are my pages:

I also finally finished my cabin door art for the cruise:

And managed to do a card for the ArtHaven October Lottery.  The theme is the moon:

I used a scrap circle as a mask on glossy white cardstock, then inked everything with both dark blue and gray.  The trees were stamped with black pigment ink and then heat embossed with black embossing powder.

Journal of Dreams

Last month I posted about my latest collaborative art journal project, Journal of Dreams.  The other day I received Daisy's precious book and have been working on it almost non-stop.
Although still heavily influenced by Lynne Perella's work, I realize how much I'm making her collage style my own, and each piece I do seems more authentic.  How's this for bumper sticker philosophy:  "Be Yourself.  No One Else Is More Qualified For The Job."
Anyway, here is the page I did for Daisy:

I began with watercolor paper, gessoed it, added some texture (too much, as it turned out....have to revise my way of doing that....too lumpy), and lots of color with the water soluble oil pastels.  The cityscape was made from some free clipart I downloaded, but mostly random bits of leftover paper from other projects. 

In this journal we decided to do one page, so the reverse side could be whatever we wanted.  Again, gesso, texture, color, images,  and a few words from me!

More of Through The Eyes of an Artist

I just received Elena's journal from Valerie.  It is really quite beautiful.  Everyone who has worked in it so far has done such wonderfully detailed pages.  Elena had requested that a key be included, so most of the pages have a key/door kind of theme.  Mine too.

I'm still really into the collage style, and a funny thing happened.  I thought Elena's pages were 8" square, and that's what I did.  When I went to put them in the journal, I discovered that they should have been 7"!!

I remembered something Lynne Perella said at her workshops.  Some of her favorite elements to add to her collages were the little scraps she'd cut off of other pieces.

So I trimmed my pages down to the proper size, and cut up the trimmings and added most of them to the piece.  And I actually think it looks even better this way.

As with my last pages for Valerie, I used lots of gesso (white, this time), acrylics, those water soluble oil pastels, tissue paper, clipart, many random objects for texturing,  and some actual rusty old keys.

I already posted the pictures on our yahoo group, and got the thumbs up from Elena.

A very good day in the art room!

Through The Eyes of an Artist -- Circle Book

With no appointments, and plenty of food in the house, I was able to spend the day working on pages for Valerie's Through The Eyes of An Artist journal.

Still creating under the influence of Lynne Perella's workshops, I did two very heavily layered and textured pages, using black gesso, water soluble oil pastels, acrylic paints, some clipart, rubber stamps, embroidery floss, stencils......in other words, lots of supplies.

I'm pleased with how these pages turned out, mainly because they came so naturally and easily to me. I do think I'm settling into my art niche, a collage style that really speaks to me.

Hopefully Valerie will feel the same!

Journal of Dreams

I have signed up for yet another collaborative art journal. Elena, my online friend, sister-in-art, and all round instigator of good ideas, is again the driving force behind all this. This time we will be making art and journaling about our dreams....nighttime dreams, daydreams, dreams for the future, any and all dreams.

Many of the same women from the I Dream in Colors and Through The Eyes of An Artist journals are in this group, as well as some new artists.

A week ago I was a real mess.....first I cut my paper wrong, then I had an issue with the cover, then after binding the whole thing I realized the cover wouldn't bend. Oh boy, I was tempted to bow out very ungracefully.

Then I went to the Lynne Perella workshops and suddenly there were no problems. I found an old book downstairs in the trash, altered it, gessoed it, and turned it into my latest journal.

You can see Lynne's influence in all the texturing I did. And I used my new Portfolio oil pastels a lot.

I had been certain I'd never be ready by our September launch date, but I have my covers done, my introductory pages done, and an art page done. Not only will I be ready, I'll be early!

I started my journal with this page, that expresses a dream I've always had of visiting the far east:

I Dream In Colors Art Journal

After weeks of not receiving a journal to work in, today Tracy's arrived, sent by Carla (who did an awesome job, by the way).

Tracy's colors are browns, creams, and a touch of yellow. Nice earthy tones.

I was recently looking for images of medieval towns for a completely different project, and found a photo on Flickr that was just shouting at me, "use me in Tracy's journal!" So, I listened and simply printed it out on regular copy paper, Then I adhered it to cardstock and used a lot of colored pencils on it for shading and highlighting. Now I think it looks more like a drawing than a photograph.

I don't normally use fairy images in my art, but it seemed to fit the background.

As for the text, well, since Paul McCartney just performed here in NYC, I figured I'd use his lyrics. That does look like a long and winding road in the picture, doesn't it?

Round Robin Book Home At Last!

My book has zig-zagged across the country and is back home now, complete and gorgeous. This is the one I did in the All Things Tim (that would be Tim Holtz) yahoo group. Click here for my earlier post about this project.

My theme was "Flight" and I love all the different interpretations.

Here are the wonderful pages done for me by 8 talented artists from Florida, Montana, Arizona, California, Oregon, Indiana, Illinois, and New Jersey:

Astrid:

Deb:

Nancy:

Gloria:

Barbara:

Laurel:

Sandi:

Estrella: