Handmade gift tags

In the last few days I’ve been working on some gift tags (14-15 so far). Nothing as fancy as the ones I made last year but I’ve had fun with them and that’s what counts.  I don’t really have time to show them all but here are a few.

I had to use the naughty or nice stamp for the picture on the left because my G was pretending to eat dry leaves (this past fall). We made a game of it where he’d put the leaves in his mouth and I’d pull them out and say no no no! and we’d laugh as if it was the funniest thing on earth.

On the right is a more current picture of G with his Santa hat on…..Luckily I managed to take a picture because he only keeps the hat on for 10 seconds before he rips it off his head.

The rest are a little less personal but as I said before, I’m having fun with them. The “To” and “From” go on the back. 

I also made all of my Christmas cards this year. Forgot to take pictures of them before I mailed them out.  But alas, no hand made gifts this year.  No time.

Well, this may be my last post of the year so I’ll say:

I hope you all have a very

Merry Christmas

and a

Prosperous New Year.

See you in 2012!

Recycle old Christmas cards

I thought I’d share a link to a cool tutorial named “Making Boxes Out of Christmas Cards”  The boxes are great for gift cards, jewelry, or anything that fits into a small slim box, etc…You can find it here:

Making Boxes Out of Christmas Cards

It’s very easy to do. Take a look at the one I made from recycled Christmas card from last year.  Because the card was a used card, it had writing on the inside. I covered it up with scrapbook paper as suggested in the tutorial. Made the box look very elegant.

If you follow the tutorial and use glue, I suggest using tiny clamps to hold the flaps in place until the glue is dry. Otherwise, it was a fun little project.

Taking risks

I can’t say I’m much of a risk taker. I tend to play it safe a lot of the time. To this day I still kick myself for not investing in AOL when I knew I should.  That was back in the mid 1990’s.  I knew it would take off and make stockholders a tidy sum….did I listen to my own advice?…Nooooo. 

Not sure how risky it was to choose this color scheme….Yellow green, Purple and Red (with a little white and black)…or in the color theory terms…a split complementary.  Look at my last post, there is a link to a discussion on color theory.  Anyway, the yellow green isn’t as cool in the picture as it is in person andI think the experiment was successful.

Not sure why I love this shade of green. With the exception of Hunter green, green itself, has never been a favorite color.  I few years back I found a craft paint `in a lovely shade named simply “Pear”.  I used that until it was gone and I could find it no more. Now I use Masters Touch brand acrylic paint called Olive green.  I’ve never seen olives that particular color so I’m renaming it Pear. :)

This journal page is for Karen in the Traveling art journal group.

Promise me

Another  journal page for the Traveling Journal group I’m in via Facebook.  This one is for Laura and the theme was Strength and Encouragement.

I used a double complementary color scheme with the colors phthalo blue and violet as the main colors and added orange and yellow as the complementary colors.  Wow that sounds so color snobby. But I confess that I used my color wheel to help me determine what a “double complementary” actually is.

So what is a “double complementary” color scheme? It is two adjacent hues and their respective complementary, which is the color directly opposite it on the wheel.  The complementary color for blue is orange.  And the complementary color for violet is yellow.  Does that sound as dry and boring to you as it did to me? It’s hard for me to write about but to read more on color theory visit: The COLOUR Theory Tutorial

Does the quote sound familiar? It was said by Christopher Robin to Winnie the Pooh. I love Pooh Bear.  I wish my grandson did as well because I could watch it over and over.  Have I mentioned that I have Pooh Bear PJ’s?…I got them for Christmas several years back and I still wear them….so comfy.

Thanks for visiting.

Potholes in the road

Where has the time gone?  I really wanted to get back to posting more often but life sure is getting in the way. I’ve been working on Christmas cards for the family but nothing I can show.  This year instead of making one card and then making prints, I am making the cards individually.  That’s taking a while but I’m enjoying it.

Here is a journal page I made and it seems apropos.  It ain’t pretty that’s for sure but then some of life’s bumps aren’t pretty either.

Beginning a Junque Journal

Earlier this year wrote a post named 365 Creativity - An Altered Journal Cover about breathing new life into an old composition notebook cover.  While I’m not much of a written journal keeper, (I like visual journals much better), I have managed to fill that one up (almost…I’m within 8 pages of being done.) And because it’s almost filled I need a new one. 

Not long ago I found this cool Youtube video named Junque Journal Introduction by tangie baxter and loved it. It’s a three-parter so if you have time, take a look see. My first journal was strictly a white page written journal.  The new one will be a junque journal and will be more colorful and filled with all the ticket stubs etc…that I get on a regular basis that I keep but just never seem to make it into my art journal. 

This is the front cover and I adore the rabbits in the center.

The back cover:

The inside front cover with a tag for my name and address in case it gets lost. I like to take my writing journal to coffee shops and I know one day I’ll probably forget it there. Hopefully someone will be kind enough to return it if it has my name in it.

In the video, Tangie discusses the need for shoring up the binding, which I’ve done here with ribbons.  I love the variegated ribbon shown and have used it many times in other projects….in fact some of it is now holding my steering wheel cover in place….but I digress.  :)

I’ve inked many of the pages but that’s as far as I’ve gotten to date.  I expect it will be an on going process.  I don’t think I will add the tabs shown in the video but you never know. 

Is the idea of a junque journal new to anyone or am I late to the party? either way, I think it will be fun.  My first addition to the book will be the stuff I gather from our upcoming trip to Ojo Caliente.  See you later….I have to go pack a glue stick and some pens. Bye!

I’m Back !!

If you will recall my posts, stretching out over several months, whining that I didn’t have a space to call my own for art….well, no more whining (well not about that subject anyway). We’ve moved and I have my own space again.  Yay! 

It took me about a month to find the “right” rental house. By “right” house, I mean big enough, cheap enough and in the right location. The more inexpensive rentals were on the west side but neither My Guy nor My Girl wanted to live there…too windy and dusty. But now were are close to Little Man’s daycare, and both My Guy & My Girl workplaces and in an area we all like.  Little man is loving having his own room, with enough space for all his toys, and not sharing with Nana’s office.

So, now I don’t have any excuse to not make art.  So this is my first piece in the new space …. trying to get back in the groove again AND work on the next Traveling Art Journal. I’ve only had that journal in my hands for a month.  (sorry but I did have a good excuse…moving)

 

Yellow is a happy color isn’t it!  I feel happy to have my own refuge again. 

Who Am I?

Another page for the Traveling Art Journal. The theme this time is self portraits. The journal belongs to Valerie, who is the groups leader.  I hope you like.

If you’re a reader of my blog you’ve probably seen this stencil before.  It’s one I created when I took Maryann Moss’ class on stenciling. 

As I said before the theme is self -portraits and we’re also supposed to tell something about ourselves.  I used collage elements to do just that.

The barcode below was from a concert I attended and I’ve included it because it left a big impression on me, hic…

All I want is an umbrella in my drink and served to me in Hawaii, Italy, Greece, Fiji, or Tahiti.  Or any where on an ocean beach. (I thought I’d better say an ocean beach before someone reminds me that we have a “beach” in town called Tingly Beach. Unfortunately, that beach is nothing more than a refurbished ditch bank.)

Every Girl Needs a Pet

Another page for the Traveling Art Journal.  This page goes to Julie coon.

Gypsy Spirit

A new page for the Traveling Art Journal.  This page is for Fadwa whose theme is The Gypsy Spirit.

I used a quote from the book, the Gypsy Spirit, by Margaret Elizabeth Sangster (1838- 1912):

“Just around the end of September the feeling begins to grow on us. There is something about the tragic splendor of the dying leaves and the fading summertime that touches a vagabond chord in the heart.”

 

For the background, I glued calendar pages to the substrate and then colored them with Ranger ink Distress stains (color: Forest Moss). It didn’t go on like I expected but I liked it anyway. Some spots were definitely MUCH darker than I originally wanted. I also add some light green crackle paint (color: peeled paint) in select spots.

One More Day

Another page for the Traveling Art Journal.  This one belongs to: Paula K.

The theme is music lyrics

The song is One More Day by JD Fortune from the album Death of a Motivational Speaker.

One More Day by JD Fortune

The page:

The background is colored with pastels as set with a fixative.  The sun and stems and leaves are painted with acrylics. The flower is created from a book page and colored with stamping ink. I also used a charcoal pencil to outline the flower. The title is made with purchased precut letters.

One more note: I know my family is going to give me a hard time for using a song by JD. I can’t help it that I’m still the oldest teenage fan girl alive. :)

On Handsome Lutes

In my June 10th post, I mentioned that I, along with 20 others, had joined the Facebook group called Traveling Art Journal.  Here is my second page for that group.  This page will go into Ashley’s journal. I hope she likes it.

The “poem” is created from 3 little words taken from separate areas of a book page sent to me by my very good friend Aimeslee - Paper Paisleys blog.  If you have been a part of the 21 Secrets ning class, you know that 3 Little words is a “secret” class taught by Aimee from Artsyville.  So I used Aimeslee page to find 10 or so three word groups to play with. I worked with them until I came up with something I liked.  

It was serendipity that I found a vintage image of a girl clutching a lute. In fact, I didn’t realize what I had until I finished the page and looked up images of a lute. Low and behold… it’s a lute.

The background came out of a spray paint stencil negative scrap paper.  I was spraying through the stencil and when there was too much paint on the stencil, I turned it on to a scrap paper and pressed the excess paint onto it.  Well, I ended up liking the negative (excess) painted page better than the original sprayed page.  When I was done spraying, the scrap paper background was still white and a little too stark.  So I covered the spray enamels with clear gesso and let it dry.  Then used some yellow and yellow-gold watercolor on the white areas.  Finished the edges with brownish pastel. 

OMG, Has it been a year?

One year ago today this little guy made his first appearance.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Since then he’s grown so much:

At 1 month: Here’s what I think of Skype.

2 months - A Post it, really? Sorry G, it’s tradition.

3 months - Shssh, I’m getting my beauty sleep

4 months - I love these fish

5 months - Tell Santa what you want

6 Months - Yes. I eat carrots, what of it?

7 Months - Mom, don’t kiss me in front of my friends.

8 Months - Just as long as it’s not bedtime after this bath.

9 Months - Yes Nana, I did brush both of my teeth.

10 Months - There has to be more toys in here

11 Months - The guys say I look cool in these duds.

12 Months - Finally, my own slice of pizza.

Happy Birthday Little G !!

Reaching for the Stars

Here is a new journal page using a quote I found recently. It’s the first page for the new Traveling Art Journal Facebook group. 21 people have joined the group and all will have a chance to work on a page in each others journal.

Stretching his hand up to reach the stars, too often man forgets the flowers at his feet. By Jeremy Bentham

“Big” Abstract

Because I don’t have enough on my plate, this weekend I signed up for the 21 Secrets online class and spent most of Sunday watching videos.  Then after watching Connie Hozvicka Abstract Adventure videos I tried one of the projects. 

Unfortunately I had to cheat a bit.  Her demo called for large paper, meaning 22” x 30” or larger, (thus the name “Big”).  The largest paper I had was 11” x 15” but rather than not do the excercise, I used what I had and came up with:

It’s similar to what I have done before but I enjoyed it anyway. I think I may use it as a journal cover.

Next time I’ll show you the second painting from that “Secret.” It’s almost done.

I Was Chasing Spring

 

It’s my first journal page in quite a while. It was inspired by the weather here in New Mexico.  It’s been an odd year so far (to me).  I do believe we have gone from Winter right into Summer, skipping Spring altogether. We have been going back and forth between hot weather and cold.  Just when you think you’re going to have a good day, the temperature turns cold and very windy. 40 miles per hour gusts type of windy.  Blah!

What the heck happened to Spring?  We had snow on May 1st; it was rainy and windy and in the low 60’s up until two weeks ago, then the last few days have been windy and in upper 80’s and low 90’s. I need just a few weeks of 70 degree, windless days to get over my restlessness.  Is that too much to ask?  Yes, apparently, it is.  

 

Just Playin’

It’s been a while

It’s been a while since I blogged. It’s not a self imposed stoppage, just been so busy with other things that I haven’t gotten around to it.

Here’s what been keeping me busy 8 am to 5 pm most days:

However, last weekend I was asked to help out at booth at the Oasis Gift show, a wholesale show. It was a 2 day show with set up the day before.  The booth next to ours was one named Poetic Earth and they sold the loveliest leather handbags and journals.  Well, I’m not one to turn down a good deal on something I love so I bought this, at wholesale no less. It’s a 7” x 10”, 220 pages of handmade paper, book full of Awesomeness! Regular retail price is $79.00 and I paid $35.00, making it even more wonderful.

I also scored a walnut flute for My Guy.

So in an effort to get back in the groove of creating art I worked on this background page.  I figure if nothing else, I can work on some background pages. I’ve got another one in progress but not so far along that I want to show it.

The journal paper takes paint well, without tearing or pilling. My last journal, while I loved the feel of the paper, it didn’t hold up under scrubbing or erasing. This one appears to be much better. 

24 Years and Loving it

This weekend I had a wonderful excuse for not creating art.  This weekend my guy and I celebrated our 24th wedding anniversary. We drove to Santa Fe for the weekend and stayed at the La Paloma Bed and Breakfast, visited a lot of wonderful art galleries and ate some great food, and just had a wonderful time in general.  Having two whole days alone with my husband and best friend was simply awesome. We have already planned on visiting again on our 2nd 24th anniversary. (our 48th) LOL. 

365 Creativity - Day 8

Well I’m so far behind on my 365 creativity art journal it’s not even funny.  I haven’t had any creative play dates in quite a while.  Too many other things going on to be make art.  Oh hell, that’s a lie, with the exception of the busy weekends, I just haven’t felt like working on art.  I’m feeling stifled and I can’t concentrate on it.

I’m feeling like the person in the anecdotal story told by Julia Cameron about the artist she knew that couldn’t create because he didn’t have a large art studio and the space he did have was too small for him to paint in. And a year later when he finally got the studio space he wanted, he started painting tiny works of art. And yes his original space had been large enough to create the tiny works -- had he found the motivation to actually work.  

I’m very much like that. Half of my art supplies and my office equipment are sharing a room with my precious grandson but if I don’t get the supplies I need from that room before 7 pm, well, I’m out of luck. When I feel that I may get stuck without the supplies I need, I think ‘why start if I may not be able to use what I need?’ It’s a damn excuse and a lousy one at that. I’ve moved enough of my supplies to the dining room to make due and yet still I can’t work.  Why? Another excuse -- The dining room is not “my room”, know what I mean? 

Damn it, I miss my California studio. It was tiny (8 x 10) but it was mine. It was messy but the mess was mine and I didn’t have to clean it up immediately if I didn’t want too. All my art stuff was where I could see it. Now some is still packed away in boxes in the garage, some is in the Nursery/Office/NoLongerStudio and the rest in the dining room hidden in the buffet or desk.  Everything all put away so it looks neat and tidy.. Choke, choke ARGH !!! 

And yet the following pages say everything I need to know in a few words….If only I would really listen to the message. I need to start seeing my flowers again.

These flowers are a rubber stamps on math book pages, colored with watercolor pencils. The colored circles on the left and right side of the pages is also a rubber stamp on math book pages and colored with gel pens. The challenge was to transform an old book into something new. Obviously I didn’t use a whole book just enough to get the spirit of the challenge. Some of the flowers were stickers from the $1 bin at JoAnn’s. 

What excuses are you using for not being creative? I want to hear yours.

365 Creativity - Day 7

Oooh I’m really falling behind. Day 7 is creating a stencil to use in your art.

My stencil was made using my Cricut cutter and Make the Cut software.  Love them. The reason I actually bought the darn Cricut was to make stencils and I’ve used for everything but. 

Feeling a little quiet today so I will show only the journal page.

I was arrested last night

I woke up this morning thinking about the dream I had last night.  It’s rare that I remember my dreams, but I guess this one made a big impression. In my dream, I was trying to go into the local library to look for a certain art book but they required you to have a purse to enter the building.  (Yeah, it was my dream but it didn’t make sense to me either …. in the dream or now.) 

So what do I do?  I borrowed some woman’s purse without asking.  I was just going to run in, get the book I needed and come right back out and give it back.  Before I could get very far, I was arrested. LOL. Apparently purse borrowing is a federal offense. I told the FBI, that I hadn’t opened it and I fully intended to give it back. They didn’t believe me. Thinking about it, I probably wouldn’t have believed it either. As I was sitting handcuffed, all I could think of was that I was going to have a felony on my record and I wouldn’t be able to get a job.  Weird dream. I wonder what book I was looking for?

Maybe it was 365 Daily Creativity Journal so I could work on Day 6. The prompt for day 6 is work with the first fruit or vegetable you see. Fresh, canned or juice.  Yeah other than potatoes I’m not into using food in art.  Plus, even if I was, I haven’t been shopping in a while, so I didn’t have any. So I found some cool images online and came up with this journal page:

I love love love chocolate strawberries! I love two twice as much!

365 Creativity - An Altered Journal Cover

In case you’re wondering if I’m losing track time because it’s not really the fifth day since I started …. Nope, I haven’t. :) I really do know it’s more like the 7th, 8th, or is it 9th day? Hum… well, it’s day 5 in the book and I was stumped on what to do for day 5.

The challenge is to create something with the items I collect.  In my head, I only had one “collection” (Hearts) and they are still packed since our move from California. So for a few days I sat frozen with the same  ‘what to do, what to do???’ thought. What can I say, I’m slow. :)

Then I re-read my last blog post and it hit me like I shoulda’ had a V-8.  You know, the post where I confessed that I collect “scrapbook paper” even though I don’t scrapbook? (Although now that I have a grandchild I really should start. But until then I’m not a scrapbooker.)

At the same time, I decided to join the Journaling Saves “Walk in This World” group that starts on March 1st. This is a book by Julia Cameron who also wrote “The Artist’s Way.”  We will be doing morning pages in the group and therefore I needed a journal to write in.  I decided to go with a plain composition notebook and dress it up. It started out looking like this:

This is how I altered it using little bits scrapbook paper and ribbon, of which I have plenty. I used gel medium on the paper to adhere it to the cover.

This is the back cover:

The inside front and back covers were covered in photocopies of previous art journal pages. Notice it’s just notebook paper on the inside. No art in this journal, only my witty repartee. Yea, OK who am I kidding?

Then I realized it need a ribbon or elastic to keep it closed and away from curious eyes.  So I added this thick red elastic with a black and white patterned flower that I’d made some months ago.  That will keep everyone out, right?  Yeah, I thought so too.

I think I like it.

By the way, if you’re interested in Julia Cameron’s book “Walk in This World”, try the public library.  I found the book at my local branch. Great way to get a feel for the book without laying out some cash. 

PS: I got the idea for the notebook from iHanna’s blog. Check out this tutorial.