Twenty Two Years

 

 

 

Today is my 22nd anniversary.  I have been married 22 wonderful years to this gorgeous hunk of man.  For our anniversary we will be going to Stinson beach, which is close to San Francisco, for the weekend. We'll spend the day at the beach, then have dinner. Later, if we can find the place, we'll go dancing to some blues music at a local pub.   We don't go out dancing but once or twice a year but when we do, we cut a mean rug.   :)

Very little art this week

I’ve been in the middle of a work related project this week and haven’t had much time for art. But work didn’t stop me from signing up for a couple of ATC trades at ATCs for all. I made the ATC on the left for one of the trades. The other was just something that started out as an abstract and evolved into a doodle.

The journal page below stems from a week full of cloudy days that was making me feel gloomy. I consider this the opposite of a rain dance and it made me feel a bit better. I gesso’ed the page, painted it pink, then used a bunch of rubber stamps and scrapbook letters. Easy but effective in brightening my mood.

How is your week going? Any plans for the weekend?

Using a New Tool

I recently found this new (to me) tool for transferring laser printer images.  It’s called the ChartPak Colorless Blender and it is the coolest thing.  You take your image, place it face down on the substrate you want it on and run the colorless blender over the backside of the image.  The blender “wets” the image to transfer it from the printed page.   

I’ve had a great time with this tool because it is so easy to use.  I started with ATC’s because I can try a variety of things in a relativity short period of time.

The first is on Pink Prismcolor marker background with the image transferred on top of the marker.  The second image is transferred on top of sewing pattern tissue. 

            

The third, but the fist one made, is on scrapbook paper.  The image was a scanned antique photo that transferred very lightly and I colored in with colored pencils.

 

The only problem I had with the colorless blender was the smell. The smell was hard to take.  I had to step out of the studio for a few minutes. 

Edited to add: I probably should have posted that the pen is only 2.50 through Dick Blick art supplies. It's a great find

Learning Digital Collage

I’ve been taking a Digital Journaling class from Christy of  The Average American Girl.  The class focus is on designing, maintaining a blog and hopefully make it more interesting.  Christy’s class is being held at ArtisticAvanteGarde which is a ning site. The first lesson is learning  to create a digital collage image for a blog background. 

So I’ve downloaded the trial version of Photoshop Elements 7 for use in the class and I’ll tell you, the program is not that  easy to figure out. It has so many functions, which is great, but I think I’ll need to buy a manual to learn how to use them all.   For many years I’ve used Ulead’s PhotoImpact and have gotten quite proficient in it.  However, the version of the program I use doesn’t work on Vista and it doesn’t use layers.  Since the class requires the use of layers, I had to try something new.  Thus Photoshop Elements. 

While waiting for the second week’s lesson to start up I have been busy downloading all the cool brushes I could find.  There were tons of free brushes made for PhotoShop but usable in Elements.  I used some of them to create this digital collage.  All the flourishes were created with the free brushes. I just love them. 

 

What imaging program do you use? 

Do You Wave at Strangers?

I consider myself a friendly person and I don’t have any qualms about waving to people as I’m walking or driving down the road.  Nice thing is that most of these folks will wave back and smile.  It makes me feel good and, if nothing else, I have made someone smile for a minute? 

However, I have a neighbor who I have lived down the street from for the last two and half years.  When he is outdoors, I wave hello to him every time I leave the house.  This guy never does more than just look, not even a smile.  He appears to be of Middle Eastern descent  so it may be his culture not to speak to strange women but it doesn’t stop me, I still wave. . . . Maybe someday he will wave back.

But in the mean time I dedicate this journal page to him.  

How about you, do you wave to strangers?

Lookie at what I received in the mail today

 

When I opened the package, I felt like a kid in a candy store.  Oh I knew it was coming but I was excited just the same.  Where did it come from? No, I didn’t order it from Amazon.com or an online bookstore.  I’d been wanting this book for sometime so when my friend Jennifer Williams from Trial and Error announced the book would be part of her monthly blog giveaway, I signed up right away.  Imagine my surprise when she emailed me to say I won.  I’m not kidding when I say I’ve never won anything before so this was quite a happy surprise. 

 

Jennifer, thank you very much.  It is so appreciated!!  Any if the rest of you dear readers haven’t been to  Trial and Error lately, visit very soon because another blog giveaway is going to be announced very soon.  Good luck, I hope you win too!  

Well, I have to go; I have some reading to do. Ta Ta for now.

Are You a Thrift Store Shopper?

Except for 2 trips  to the post office drop box and a Friday night dinner out, come Saturday, I had been house bound for 6 days straight.  I get a little stir crazy when I don’t get out every once in a while to stimulate my creativity (also known as Artist Dates.)   So yesterday I broke loose and I went to visit my local Joann’s fabric and craft store and two thrift stores.  While at Joann’s I bought some rubber stamp ink pads in a various colors, a ‘Rejoice’ rubber stamp, some journaling tags, and a few other things.  I got out of there with a bag full of goodies for about $13.00, and that included a Reese’s candy bar (Shh! don’t tell because I didn’t share it with anyone.)

From Joann’s I made my way over to the closest thrift store where I found a lovely wood box with flowers carved into the lid.  I also found a primitive handmade clay vase hand carved with little hearts and bunnies.  You can’t see the vase very well because the lighting sucks.

 

Below is a full picture of the box.  If you open the lid you’ll find that the center is actually a frame where you can add a photograph.  It needs a little tender loving care but I love it.  I lucked out with 50% off on Saturday’s sale and got both for $2.00.

 

From there I went to the local Goodwill store where for $3.00 I bought these little gems:

I love these pink glasses. I have them filled with paint brushes now but I will probably use them as vases in our guest bedroom because they look so romantic.   Wouldn’t they be sweet filled with Hershey Kisses or fragrant soaps atop an antique dresser?

And in the back is a coffee (?) cup with a head painted on it that I plan to use as a vase.  Have I ever told you that I have a collection of ceramic heads/vases ?  OK before this I only had 2, so that doesn’t  quite qualify as a “collection” but this makes three. 

As I brought this little girl into my studio I realized why I had been so attracted to her at the store and why she was so familiar.  Well, it’s no wonder, not only does she look like the big sister to one of the two vases already in my collection, she was made by the same artist.  Duh!  As my girl would say, I’m such a nerd. 

All in all I got a bunch of goodies all for less than 20 bucks.  Isn’t that cool?  Are you a thrift store shopper?  If so, what do you consider a “real find”?