Lynne Perella

I just spent the most amazing two days learning from the wonderful mixed media/collage artist, Lynne Perella. There is so much to tell, I think I'll divide it into several posts so no one has to plow through pages and pages of my gushing all at once.

First, click on Lynne's name above, and see what she's all about. Then come back here and see what she gave to me and everyone else in the workshops.

One of the things I loved about Lynne is that her art, while gorgeous, is also low-tech and low-cost. We painted on red rosin paper, the stuff that contractors put on your floors to protect them. It can be found at Home Depot for a few dollars a giant roll. We used inexpensive water soluble oil pastels and cheap acrylics. We used common objects for texturing.

We began with some mechanics. Our paper had to be coated with gesso, and at this phase we were to add lots of texture -- I embedded tulle, cheesecloth, and tissue paper into the gesso. I added further dimension with sequin waste, and made marks with a plastic fork, an old credit card, stamps and stencils.

We hung the paper up to dry:

While it was drying we gathered in a circle and talked a bit about who we are and what brought us there. Lynne said it is important to know your "community" -- the people who share your passion and truly "get" you. For some people in that circle, workshops and online groups are the only places where they're understood.

Then we did a great warm up exercise. One that Lynne uses every day in her studio. We looked at a copy of a Durer woodcut and each of us selected one image from it and using a small piece of black construction paper, either cut or tore it to represent the image we chose. We then took our images to a blank wall, and arranged the silhouettes:

We weren't finished. Lynne then had us go back to our tables and take all of our leftover black construction paper and add that to the wall. One of her favorite elements to add to her collages are the scraps she's cut off of other pieces or the paper she's wiped her brushes on. She wanted us to have a higher regard for what others might see as trash or waste.

Following this lively and interactive exercise we broke for lunch. This is how both days began. More later.....

Jewelry Inspired by Tim Holtz

Wednesday night I co-taught a jewelry class at Heidi's meetup group. I did these pieces as samples, but encouraged everyone to do their own thing, and they did some fabulous work.

The first two pieces were done with Tim Holtz's ornate plates. This one was colored with alcohol inks and decorated with some of Tim's foliage (also colored with the AIs).

The next one I left uncolored. The image is from Suze Weinberg's wonderful Instant Art collage book. It's covered with a coat of Glossy Accents, and blinged out with some crystals.

For this one, I used one of Tim's keyholes and a philosophy tag. The little clock I had in my stash, and the key is an old rusted one that I dabbed with a bit of gold alcohol ink.

This might be my favorite, because I love bird images. The charm is a Ranger memory frame. The image from my stash; can't recall where I got it. The roof is one of Tim's corner pieces, and I used one of his trinket pins to make it wearable. The little bird charm is from Fire Mountain Gems and Beads, and I toned down the original brass color with some blue alcohol ink. I made the little bird's nest with 24g wire and some white "pearls." After making the nests I saw a tutorial for them. Turns out there's a better way to do them, so my next batch should be even nicer.

Metal Challenge

This week's challenge at PID is metal, and as usual I did an ATC and a piece for the miscellaneous album. This time I did a journal. Not long ago, at my friend Laurel's meetup group, I learned how to do Japanese stab binding from the awesome Pooja (one of Laurel's members).

I used this technique to create a small journal, and then embellished it.

Both pieces feature the faux metal technique I first saw on one of my favorite blogs, Melstampz.

It's so simple and the result is always impressive.

Glue a piece of aluminum foil onto a piece of cardboard or heavy cardstock. Run it through the embossing folder of your choice, then leave it alone or color/distress it with alcohol inks, stazon ink, even acrylic paint. You can also sand it in spots.

For the ATC I used black alcohol ink, and for the journal, I combined the black with metallic copper AI.

Circle Circus

I LOVE this new Stampin' Up! stamp set. Yesterday I attended my friend Heidi's meetup, and we did three great cards that showcase the versatility of this set.

In this card we stamped random circles from the set on glossy cardstock with versamark ink, which we then sprinkled with clear embossing powder and heat set. Then, using a brayer, we covered the whole thing with ink. After it dried (quickly), we buffed the paper with a napkin. The resisted circles pop. Great and easy technique. Some Basic Gray taffeta ribbon and a circle brad complete the card:

The lattice die for the Big Shot was used in this card. The openings in it are perfect for some of the circle stamps to peek through. A little glitter adds some sparkle. The brads are actually SU's kraft colored ones which we dyed with reinker to match the cardstock. Cool idea.

In this card, we used the circles to form a topiary, and part of the large tag punch to make the flower pot.

Looking at the topiary, I thought about a snowman. When I got home, I fiddled around and came up with this card. I used white craft ink on Night of Navy cardstock, and heat embossing. I made his arms from the word window punch and his hat from about half of the designer label punch. For the snowflakes, I used the asterisk stamp from the Hello Again set we received at convention. I think it has a kind of vintage Russian look to it.

I'm Back!

Convention was such fun! I think I enjoyed it even more this year. We flew in two days early and had time to do some sightseeing. We were also in a nicer hotel in a better location. The photo above is my team -- The Gotham City Stampers. The guy on the right is a SU photographer. We made it to the convention video montage that they showed on closing day. You should have heard us screaming!

One of the biggest thrills for me was seeing some of my work on display in the Gathering Place. Several of the pieces I'd submitted for the Artisan Award, (which sadly, I did not win), and even one of my swaps from last year made it to the display boards.

Here are two of the cards and last year's swap that I found posted at convention:

And two scrapbook pages:

No more posts for a while. On Monday I'm heading for Utah with 9 of my fellow Gotham City Stampers for the Stampin' Up! convention. I have so many things to do before I leave, I doubt that I'll have any new art to post.

We had such a great time at convention last year, and I'm really looking forward to this trip. Even though it is way hotter there than here (and it's pretty hot here).

We made team t-shirts to wear on opening day. Pat designed the back:

And I designed the front:Hope to learn some new tricks and have a lot to share when I return on August 9th.

Keep cool, and make art!

Lots of New Art!

I've been busy busy lately. Too hot and humid to spend much time outdoors, so have been holed up in the studio making all sorts of things. Also have done some stuff at Heidi's.

First, the second journal page I did for Tracy's book in the I Dream In Colors circle book. I continued using medieval town images, angels, and rock lyrics. Just think they go together.

Heidi and I altered picture frames to turn them into displays for jewelry. Very cool project. Decorated the frames, and substituted some wire mesh for the glass.

I co-taught a jewelry class with Heidi and did my grungepaper flowers. Everyone did great pieces. Heidi's project was bangle bracelets made from chipboard. We covered them with ribbon, metallic cord, bling, and LOTS of mod podge.

The theme for the weekly PID challenge is Rainbow of Color. I did an ATC:

and this crazy piece. At least I think it's a little nuts. But had to use that new Tim Holtz circus set. Even though I'm not too fond of clowns. And these clowns are admittedly creepy. But little Sebastian is so sweet he kind of offsets them.

I still have two book swaps to work on, a rolodex swap, a pastel swap, and OMG 160+ swaps for the Tim Holtz/Wendy Vecchio cruise in October!

Great Blog and Giveaway

Take a moment and go visit my friend Shelly's blog. She's having her one year blogoversary, and is giving away some really great stuff (all handmade, of course) to celebrate. Shelly has crocheted cuffs, beaded necklaces, beautiful papers, and more. Just post a comment after your visit and you may be one of the lucky winners.

Here's an example of Shelly's gorgeous work:

More Grungepaper Flowers

Don't know about you, but I love all the things that can be done with grungepaper. Earlier I posted the business card holders I made with them, and I've been doing flowers all along.

On Sunday I'm co-teaching a jewelry class with my friend Heidi. I'm doing grungepaper flowers which can be made into pins or pendants. These are some samples for the class. The flowers were either die cut on my Big Kick or punched with a SU! punch. I inked them, stamped backgrounds on them, then inked some of them again with clear ink and heat embossed them. I added either brads or GP leaves or some Tim Holtz idea-ology hardware.

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?

L'Amour

At the Stampsmith yahoo group a cool challenge is going on. Estelle has a wonderful Paris full sheet, and the challenge is to use one of the Eiffel Tower stamps in a project. We just wanted to see all the different ways one image could be used.

I got the crazy idea of putting Miz Scarlett and Rhett Butler in Paris! Well, why not? Both very romantic images, yes? I got even crazier and stamped the passionate pair in an unexpected color -- Crushed Curry, one of the new SU! colors.

I think the combination of black and this yellow/golden color is very elegant.

And I just love the entire line of Stampsmith's photo-realistic stamps.

Altered People Challenge

This week's challenge at the PID yahoo group is "altered people." As usual, I did an ATC:

I used the image of Abigail, from the "inchie kids" collage sheet. Cut out that tiny head, arms, and must confess, borrowed those tiny legs from another image. The butterfly is a very cool die/embossing folder combo from Cuttlebug. The background was leftover from another project, and it is the emboss resist technique.

The other piece is for the miscellaneous album. For that, I did a skinny (3"x5").

I stamped the cool mermaid (from Sideshow Stamps), cut out the face with a craft knife, and inserted another PID image, this one, Jean. The background was made with the Tiny Bubbles Cuttlebug embossing folder, and the mermaid was colored with SU! markers. I glued some small shells to the bottom, and covered them with a hair net, which I hooked over the mermaid's tail. Fun!

This and That

I haven't posted any creations for a while, and realized I've done a few things lately that haven't made it to my blog. Here are some.

This week's challenge at PID is "lace," and I did both an ATC and a little wall hanging.

I recently joined a new yahoo group (with a big long name that I'm shortening here) called ARTHaven. I joined two swaps immediately. One was to make a travel themed Hangie Danglie. Oh, that name cracks me up. Just means the piece has to have something to allow it to hang, and something dangling from the bottom. My piece was done on one of those laminate samples you can swipe from Home Depot, and it is Parisian. This is the front:
And the back:
The other swap was a vintage themed ATC. The car is a Tim Holtz stamp, and the image is from PID.

PID Blog Roll Contest Winners!

Sorry about the delay (I've been away, visiting my mom), but it is official: the winner of my Mona Lisa necklace is.....Nancy Bemis, one of my PID sisters-in-art. Congrats, Nancy!

And the grand prize winner, selected by Melissa of PID, is Ann Divelbiss, another PID member, who is getting my Marie Antoinette necklace (and a great shopping spree at the PID shop!)

Big congrats to Ann as well.

You can see pictures of the two necklaces here.

Generosity

I have been thinking about this word ever since Tracy was sweet enough to pass on the Karma Award to me. A generous blogger shares ideas, doesn't look for fame or fortune. Some have the skills to post videos. Many offer generous giveaways in the form of contests or blog candy, or random drawings.

Is this the only way to be generous in the blogosphere? I think not, and though I love to share my ideas and often give my stuff away, I think I have been as guilty as many others in one very important area. Which is the reason for this posting. You know I normally just upload a photo of a project and give some information about how/why it was made and credit to the stamp company/collage image creator, etc. This kind of post is different for me, but I hope you will continue reading.

How can I be more generous? Every day I receive updates in my mailbox from feedblitz. Usually over 20 at a time. I scroll through quickly, read the posts and move on. Useful, a good time saver, but when I don't actually go to the blogs I miss the opportunity to show a truly generous and grateful spirit. I miss the chance to leave a comment.

I am not speaking for everyone, but talking to other bloggers I know I speak for many when I say how much comments mean to us. It makes us feel like we're not talking to ourselves (not always a bad thing; I do it all the time), and that we have, however briefly, touched someone out there.

How many times have I read an amazing blog post and did not take the time to let that blogger know it was amazing to me?

I know, I know, you're busy. We all are. But my vow is to improve myself on this score. If something I read informs me, touches me, tickles me, inspires me, even annoys me, it's all good. It means it made me think and/or feel. So I will acknowledge that posting with a comment. I will take the time. I will let someone know I value what was written. I will let someone know someone was out there listening.

How about you?

The Karma Award

I had a big surprise and an even bigger honor tonight. I opened my email and discovered that Tracy, one of my favorite sisters-in-art has given me The Karma Award.

The wording for this award is as follows . . .
The Karma Award: These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind of bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers. Deliver this award to eight bloggers who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award.

I am to deliver this award to eight bloggers, and that won't be easy. The list of blogs I subscribe to grows daily, and there are just so many generous unpretentious bloggers out there who deserve this more than I. However, I will name 8 who have inspired me and helped me, whether they knew it or not. Some of these bloggers I know quite well, and some know me. Others will probably be in shock. Who is this woman giving me this award? Well, that's because I don't always stop to leave a comment, but know that I do always stop by to read your blog, and that it has touched me.

1. Betty

2. Wanda

3. Mel (of Mel Stampz)

4. Heidi
5. Teri
6. Shelly
7. Barb
8. Valerie

Do visit the above blogs and you'll see why I feel their authors embody the spirit of The Karma Award,

Art Dolls!

Dianna is hosting an art doll swap at the PID yahoo group, and I have found making these fun dolls to be totally addictive!

Here is my fashion plate doll:

And this vintage woman seems to be channeling her inner John Travolta:

Last of all, I couldn't resist having kewpie join the circus as a clown:

The doll torsos, and the faces for fashion plate and kewpie, from PID.

PID Blog Roll Contest

The contest is over, and I've closed that posting to further comments. We're all in the process of selecting winners, and they should be announced within a day or so.
Good luck everyone who entered on this and the blogs of the other participating PID designers.