The Loves of Marie Antoinette

So reads the title of my friend Inge's Marie journal, the last Marie book I have to work in.  It took me a while to decide which of Marie's loves to use....fashion, family, Versailles, cake?  In the end, I chose jewelry, and I did have an ulterior motive.

Over a year ago, when I was still on the PID design team, I did several projects using their Marie images.  One was a bracelet, and as I was making it, it was in my mind that I would use it in one of the Marie journals.  I think we had just recently started that group.  For one reason or another, it never felt quite right in the other books, but I had a feeling it would find its way into Inge's book.  And so it did.

First, here is the bracelet.  The band is fabric, decorated with beads and other baubles and some funky fibers.  The Ranger memory frame holds a small picture of Marie which was covered with Crackle Accents.

So, my concept is, Marie loves beautiful jewelry.....especially when it contains her own image.  And here are my two pages:

I used Distress Stains, Colorwash, and Perfect Pearls mists to get the colors in the backgrounds.  On page one, I added stamping to create my own patterned paper.  The image of Marie was an internet find.....found, I think by Val.....and she is colored with markers and embellished with Liquid Pearls and glaze pens.

Both pages have a gold embossed leafy border (Wendy Vecchi stamp).  I didn't further decorate the second page because I wanted the bracelet to be the focal point.  I attached it with easily untied gauze so if Inge actually wants to wear it, she can.

So, for me at least, no more Marie journals to work in.  The queen is finished, long live the queen!

Chaos and Chunkiness

Remember the Chaos project I was involved with?  No?  Don't feel badly, I definitely suffer from CRS myself.  Just click HERE to be reminded.   Anyway.......I received my completed canvas over a week ago, and finally figured out how to display it, which explains my delay in blogging about it.....because it is absolutely fantastic, and know ahead of time, the photgraph won't do it justice.

Pam and Nancy spent the entire Memorial Day weekend assembling the 12x12 canvases for everyone in groups 1 and 2, not merely arranging the tags artfully, but adding so many touches to pull it all together.  And then the monumental task of carefully packaging everything, toting boxes and getting it all in the mail.  Bravo Pam and Nancy!

I couldn't frame the piece traditionally; I didn't want it under glass and I wanted to preserve the title on the top and the danglies on the bottom.  Oh, I could have hung it as it was for sure, but felt it deserved a grander presentation.

I found an unfinished 17x17 wood frame with a perfectly flat surface and NO GLASS.  I sanded it, applied a coat of gesso, then just went at it with various glazes and distress inks and my distressing tools.  The canvas fit nicely over the opening, (attached with some super sticky tape)  and it is on a wall where I can see and appreciate it daily.

I've also been busy doing some chunky ATCs (blocks of wood cut to ATC size, 3 1/2 x 2 1/2 AND 1 1/2" thick) in a very vintage style.  What's so cool about these chunkies is how you get to decorate so many sides....5 to be exact.  Yes, I do know that they have 6 sides, but the bottoms where they rest on a shelf are embellishment free.

Just about everything I used to make them is from Tim Holtz, unless otherwise noted.   Here's a one side at a time view.

Front

Side

(Photos inside Filmstrip Frames die cut from PID)

Back

(Photos from Tim's Lost & Found paper stack, covered with rock candy distress crackle paint)

Side

(words done with my old style Dymo label maker. All sides

were first wrapped with Tim's tissue tape.)

Top

(How could I resist using a part of Tim's At The Movies stamp set? As I commented months ago when the set was released, not only is Eileen my name, but the movie theater across the street from the house I grew up in was The Biltmore.  Was I meant to own this stamp or what?)

I plan to spend a good part of this gray and dismal Sunday working on some canvases for yet another ATT swap, and getting this week's Technique Tuesday ready.   What artful things are you doing today?

Journal of Dreams, Journal of Anything, and an Altered Book Update

I recently received Lori's book from our Journal Of Dreams (let's just call it JOD) collaborative journal project.  Maybe it's the title, but in this group I just can't help getting into my head (oh what a scary place that can be at times) and my pages for these journals are just very different than those I do for the other groups.
Another influence this week:  I was visiting my friend Teri, and met her friend (now mine too!) Rita, who brought along for the show and tell portion of our visit, a book she made in a Lynne Perrella workshop.  Her pages were full of little doors that opened and I knew my next journal pages would use that technique.
My page for Lori with the doors closed:

And opened (just a little -- what's behind them is Lori's surprise).

The background....various papers and some of Tim's wonderful tissue tape....lightly covered with gesso.....textured with cardboard and bubble wrap......colored mostly with Portfolio water soluble oil pastels......more gesso, more pastels.....and the journaling done with Sharpie poster paint markers.  The little houses are all Invoke stamps, inked with black Ranger Archival ink, colored with the Portfolios and further embellished with glaze pens.

For this journal we decided on one page rather than our usual two page spread, but we do some sort of art on the reverse side.  Here's my second side:

The background started out as a leftover page from my altered book project, one that had been sprayed with colorwash.  On to that I glued some pictures from a new PID sheet called photobooth.  Then I dabbed some gesso around and even over the photos and tinted it with some vintage photo distress ink when it dried.  I was trying to make the photos look a bit more organic....less like they were just plopped down on the background....which of course they were....so softened some of the edges with some gel medium.  I really wanted to use some modeling paste but couldn't find it so settled on the gel...which produced a shinier look than I would have liked, but it's OK.  When that finally dried I went over the gelled parts with some coffee Archival ink, then added the journaling around the photos.

When I was at Teri's we decorated journal covers with a collage technique she wanted to share with us.  When I got home I added the focal image, and here is the finished journal cover:

For the background, we covered the book with various papers, collage-style, added some color with Shiva Paintstiks (very cool product), then we used a palette knife to add some texture with gesso (I think it was gesso...all those Golden jars look alike).  When that was dry we brayered some deeper color (paint) over the raised textured areas, then kept brayering until we'd spread what was left of the paint all over.  I love how it turned out.
I added the Tim bird and cage on a chipboard plaque, some Sizzix SU butterflies highlighted with a perfect pearls spray, and a little blue rhinestone bling.


For those following along with my altered book journey, that blog was updated today with some folding techniques.  Here's a little peek:

Oh, and one other thing:   Happy Friday everyone!  This weekend, see some friends, make some art, and have some great food.  Cheers!

Tags, A Button Fairy, A Cool Technique, And More

I just got back from the optham opthomol opthamol oh, crap, the eye doctor, and had my pupils dilated, so I'm writing this with sunglasses on, squinting madly and looking generally deranged.  Well, I don't care how I look; you can't see me, but I am a little concerned about what I'm writing, basically through one half shut eye.  I'm just warning you that I'm not responsible for typos today.
First, some tags I did.  On Saturday I went to a rubber stamp expo and scored some very cool Frida Kahlo stamps and used one on the tags.

A couple of close ups:

I did two variations on the chalkboard technique.  On the tag itself, I inked it thoroughly with chipped sapphire distress ink and let it dry. Then I stamped it with white ink and a flourish stamp.  I dabbed some pastels over the white ink.  That's variation #1, and though much of it is hidden, you can see some of it on the left side of the tags.

For the second variation, I stamped the Frida Kahlo stamp with versamark on dark blue cardstock, then dabbed all the stamped areas with perfect pearls.

Frida has a necklace made from a resistor.  She's attached to the tag with Tim's tiny attacher staples.  Peeking out on the right side are a couple of strips of tim's tissue tape (which I LOVE).  Other details include some rub ons, a little sparkle in the form of flat crystals on the top left corner, and the word "artist" spelled out in tiny letters that are under little domes.

Over at PID, our weekly challenge theme is "In the Garden," and my contribution is a garden button fairy.  How I got it to fit the theme, was by attaching some little flowers to the buttons.  Pretty clever, aren't I?  (Yes, right now I really am LOL).

Those wings that really do resemble stained glass, will be fully explained tomorrow on the PID blog (Technique Tuesday, my weekly contribution).

And that isn't even the cool technique in the title of this post.  A few days ago I posted a picture of a beach themed canvas I did, and asked that the creator of the grungepaper fish I used identify herself.

Well, she did, and I am happy to give you a link to her tutorial on how to use GP and glue to make this amazing little critter.  Look to your left and check out that fish!

 Thank you Linda!  Even if you aren't interested in GP and glue (and why wouldn't you be?), go to Linda's blog anyway.  She is talented and a hoot besides.

As a designer for PID, I create projects for specified themes a few times a year.  For our June newsletter, my topic was shrines, boxes, tins...things that can be opened and closed.  A couple of these projects have just gone up on the PID blog.  Check the out if you care to.

And last of all, for those of you following along with my altered book journey, there's a short update on that blog re: making your own glazes.

Now, stop reading and go make something.

More Marie, A Day At The Shore, And A Gorgeous Giveaway

I just finished the pages for my friend Lill's Marie Antoinette journal.
(check out her blog....she does some awesome stuff)   Page 1:

I started out with some watercolor paper, which I covered with gesso, then added some torn up bits of paper doilies, then more gesso.  Added color with portfolio pastels and perfect pearls.  After that, I took some paper from one of Tim Holtz's new paper stacks, distressed it, tore it, inked it, put some rub-ons on it, and glued that down.  Oh! I almost forgot....before that I had sewed some gold tulle onto the background, but wasn't crazy about how that looked, so  it is mostly covered by the TH paper.  You can see some tattered strands of it showing at the edges, and that's OK with me.

As for Marie, she started out as an image from a PID collage sheet.  I added lots of ribbon and other blingy stuff to make her skirt and painted over her blouse.  Lots of gel and glaze pens on the hair and hat, plus a real feather.

 Page 2:

The background is the same as for page 1.  I stamped the bird cage lightly, then stamped over that with Marie on a swing, lining up the ropes so it looks like the swing is suspended inside the cage.  Marie is colored with pencils, glaze pens and gel pens.   After I took the photo I added a little journaling, but packed it all away before I could take another picture.

Lill asked for a tag from everyone, and I made this little shoe:

So much for Marie.  Now, as for the day at the shore....that's the theme of this month's PID jackpot, and this is the 4x4 canvas I did:

The background is lots of texture done with tissue paper and gel medium, colored with acrylics.  Some text, partially hidden by the gauze I used as a net.  Real shells.  The fish is something I received months and months ago in a grungepaper swap.  Yep, it's made of grungepaper, don't have a clue how, and it is fabulous!  Sadly, I have no idea who sent it to me, but if someone out there knows, please tell me so I can give credit where it is certainly due.  The bathing beauty is from a PID pin-up sheet.
Now, the gorgeous giveaway.....my friend Val is a super talented artist in many media, as well as a very generous blogger (free graphic downloads there daily).  Right now she has been churning out beautiful and eclectic charms and turning them into stunning necklaces.  One such beauty is on her blog as a giveaway, so if you want a chance to win it, hurry on over to The Sum of All Crafts NOW!!
I think that's it for today.  I really have got to do some laundry, but I guess you didn't need to know that.

A Winner, A Technique, and More

Big thanks to the folks who entered my Tim Holtz apron giveaway, and especially to the many who left comments even though they already have the apron and weren't looking for another one.

My friend Random.org was being very uncooperative with me this morning.  He kept picking people who said they didn't want to be in the running for the apron.  But, after several tries, I do have a winner.  

And, I am pleased that it is someone from one of my yahoo groups.  Someone who was just complaining about having a bad day in the art room.  So, I do hope this cheers her up and helps her get her muse back.  Sherri Auld, c'mon down!  Well, you don't have to actually do that, but make sure I have your mailing info and I'll get that fab apron off to you this week.

Every week I do a new technique on the PID blog.  Today's is super easy and I used it as a background on this piece.

If you'd like to see how I did it, visit the blog and take a look.

Also, for those of you who are interested in the altered book project, there is a new post on that blog as well.

Have a great day and go make something!

Journal Pages, A Technique, and yes, A Giveaway!

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I recently signed up to be part of yet another collaborative journal group, this one with Frida Kahlo as its theme.  The launch date is June 15, and I have done some more work on my journal.
First of all, I tweaked my cover art.   Here is the original cover:

And here is the new (and I think improved) version.  Can you spot the difference?

Well, I didn't think you could miss it.  I drew the lizard on grungepaper, cut it out, inked it and decorated it with gel pens, glaze pens, german scrap, and dimensional pearls.  His eyes are half pearls that I painted.  You can't see his tongue, but it hangs off the page and is made of a coil of wire.  Pretty cool.

I've also been drawing some folkloric images on paper handmade in Mexico (thank you Lori!  see, I finally used some!) and added some to this page, which may wind up being my back cover,  Or not.  But it will be in my book somewhere:

I needed some sort of sign-in page.  My journal is very small (6x6"), but I was determined to give the artists tags to decorate and sign.  And, I wanted to use my new friend, the sewing machine.  I covered a piece of cardboard with fabric, then sewed on strips of acetate to form pockets.  There are enough for everyone in the group, and I did one myself.  Remember, the whole page is only six inches square.  The tags are tiny!

Next, I just want to remind you that every Tuesday (that would be today) I post Technique Tuesday on the PID blog, and today we're using bleach as paint.  Hop over there and check it out.  Sneak peek:

OK. Journal pages, check.  Technique, check.  What else was I going to talk about?  Oh, yes, my giveaway. Well, yesterday I shamelessly bribed you for six more followers so I'd have an even 100, and you've outdone yourselves, people.  I'm now up to 108.  LOL!   Well, this is what I have to offer.   Back when Tim's new book came out, he was giving away very cool work aprons for those who ordered the book directly from him.  He had only a limited number, and I was one of the lucky ones to receive one.    Subsequently, I got yet

another one, a gift from my friend Elena, host of the wonderful Key Largo retreat.   So, I am giving away one of them.   It's a nice full apron with adjustable straps, two big pockets, and plenty of blank space to decorate, if you care to.

And, of course, the top is already printed with some of Tim's most popular stamps:

So, if you'd like a chance to own this limited edition piece, leave a comment on this post and I'll pick a winner next week, after the holiday weekend.  But please want this to use it.  If I see it on ebay I'll be VERY upset.  And upsetting a Brookyn-born girl is not recommended.

Marie's Closet and My Escape

When I got home late on Saturday, there was a package waiting for me.....Val's Marie Antoinette journal.  Val chose the theme of Marie's Closet, and we're to create an outfit for Marie to wear for any occasion we could imagine.  A few days before, I'd been messing around with the stencils left behind after cutting butterflies with my Big Kick.  I used them along with some color washes, inks, mica powder mists, etc. to make a background.  This inspired me to give Marie a "casual" dress for an afternoon spent catching butterflies in the gardens of Versailles.   Do I have any idea if people actually did that in those times?  No.  But it does seem like the sort of genteel activity that a queen might indulge in.

For this page, I took a sheet from Tim's Vintage Shabby paper stack (a blue one) and added some greens and purples, the other colors that appear in my butterfly background paper (which you'll see next). The paper butterflies were cut from a Cuttlebug embosslit.  I added tiers of lace for Marie's dress.  Her hat is just an oval of vellum with some tiny flowers and other bling.  The challenge was the butterfly net.  That I did with some jewelry wire, and attached the tulle with some sticky strip.  The bejeweled butterflies were part of the stash of Marie-inspired goodies that Daisy had sent along with her journal.  I've used a lot of what she sent in the pages I've done so far.  

What tickled me the most......I discovered that I actually own a stamp (from Quietfire) that says "papillon," which is French for.......you guessed it, butterfly!  I think you can see it stamped in gold in a few places.

For my journaling page, I took that background paper, added some vellum butterflies (which I inked, sprayed with a mica powder mist, and added stickles to), and attached my journaling (which was printed on parchment paper).

Val included patterns for little slippers to be used as her sign-in tags.  (Val is super organized and thinks of EVERYTHING!).  We were to decorate our shoe in the style of our pages, and this is what I came up with:

I'm very happy with these pages, and hope Val is too.

Now, over at PID, the weekly challenge theme is "My Favorite Escape."   For me, that has always been books.  This is a tag I did.  All images are from the PID shop.

If you're at all curious about the background, it will be featured on the PID blog tomorrow for Technique Tuesday.

It's only noon.  You have time.   Go make some art!

Flowers Everywhere

I was reading Suze Weinberg's blog post about seeing flowers everywhere, and it's the truth.  In fashion, in jewelry, in home decor, in scrapbooking supplies....flowers and the stuff with which to make them are everywhere lately.  I even got an email from West Elm today regarding an installation of the work of designer David Stark....flowers and flower-related items, all made from the pages of old books.

Last night I met with friends to share some techniques and make some art, and without pre-planning, we all brought flower projects.  Heidi showed us how to make some floral embellishments (I'm thinking they'll make great pins) made from twisting and rolling strips of fabric....just like the old fashioned rag rugs.  Instead of sewing, though, we used a glue gun.  Check these out (the first two are mine, the rest are pieces Heidi made for me as a gift

The great thing about this project, is you can use up some ugly fabric, because after all the rolling and gluing, we sprayed the flowers with Glimmer Mist, which totally transformed them.  Then we embellished them with leaves, feathers, and assorted other bling.

I was watching this week's Taco Tuesday video on making metal flowers and was inspired to bring this project:

It couldn't be easier.  Strips of Ten Seconds Studio metal are loosely folded, accordian style, and manipulated to form a flower shape.  A bottle cap is glued to the center.  Using a 1" circle punch, cut some paper for the inside and then cover it with a layer of Glossy Accents.  Add a pin back  for a brooch, or a magnet to dress up the refrigerator, or use it to decorate a special gift package.

And now for a sneak peek of the upcoming Technique Tuesday for the PID blog.  No directions yet.  You'll have to visit that blog this week for that.  But all these flowers are made from circles cut from a variety of papers.  

Like I said, flowers are everywhere.

Grungepaper Wallets, Rusty Keys, and.....

Yesterday I had the most fun teaching some of my best art pals how to make little grungepaper wallets.  It's always a pleasure to work with Heidi, Laurel, and Corris, and we really had a wonderful time.

This is the one I made as a class sample.  The GP was embossed and inked with two of the new shades of distress inks....Bundled Sage and Forest Moss.   Because these women are very experienced crafters, I notched my original design up and added some bead danglies.

Heidi looks happy (as she should) with her lovely creation.

Laurel, who loves all things French, chose the fleur de lis embossing folder and some lovely delicate beads.

I'd forgotten my camera, and these photos are courtesy of Corris' iphone.  So of course, the photographer didn't take a picture of her own wallet, but trust me, it was beautiful.

Yep, they had fun......and Heidi conquered wire wrapping!

Now, on to rusty keys.  I love key images and use them a lot in my creations.  I have and adore Tim Holtz's idea-ology keys, I think grungeboard keys are wonderful and their lightness and flexibility makes them very versatile.  But.....I think that real old rusty keys are just the best.  Problem is, they're not so easy to find.  This is what I usually come across (and buy) in flea markets and online shops:

Not exactly new, but also not exactly rusted and vintage either.  I was reading Tim's wonderful new book, "A Compendium of Curiosities," and there were two techniques that caught my eye.  "Chipped Enamel" showed me that distress ink and distress embossing powder work on metal, and "Rusted Grunge" pointed me in the direction of color choice.   So I inked up the keys with Vintage Photo distress ink and then embossed them using Vintage Photo embossing powder.  Check out the transformation:

They look even more authentic in person, and I can't wait to start using them in my art.

I've been really into tags lately, and did this one for a travel theme.  All images are PID.  The Eiffel Tower is a Sizzix die.  The little black decorative strip was cut with Tim's Ornate "On the Edge" border die.