/* */ Beulah Bee: March 2018

March 31, 2018

Erasable Memoranda

 

The paper used for this tag was cut from a vintage (1916) portrait cover (a graduation photo of my great aunt Ada). It's a light mustard color with an embossed stripe texture and because of its age, it's a bit friable and easy to distress.

I built a collection of boxes filled with various bits and mounted it on top of ephemera from the Tim Holtz Collector Layers. The ruler came from the Dapper paper stash and I embossed the end with metallic powders.


I tinted the metal star and index clip (Tim Holtz) with metallic white and butterscotch alcohol inks and that's a distressed Remnant Rub on top of the clip. 


I made it for this week's Monday Challenge Blog at Simon Says Stamp which prompted crafters to do something "Inside the Box." I enjoy working with the prompts because it gets me creating things I've always wanted to try but might not have otherwise.

My little boxes are not an original idea and I must give credit where credit is do. Rebecca Sower is an artist I've been following since I discovered this magazine article (Somerset Studio) in December, 2009. I didn't realize until just this moment that an altered book I made recently may have been inspired by her too!

March 14, 2018

Limited Edition


Inspired by a mood board for Simon's Monday challenge this week, I have created a tag that is a very literal translation. But I just couldn't help myself as something about a cracked egg as a vase for flowers resting inside a tea cup really spoke to me.

I didn't have a tea cup stamp so I printed an image of one and the flowers were cut from the Wallflower paper stash. The background stamp is by Heidi Swapp, the tinting is Walnut Stain Distress Oxide and regular Distress Bundled Sage (on watercolor paper) and the text is a Remnant Rub.

March 11, 2018

Cool in the Shade

My favorite teachers? The passing of time, experience, practice, experimentation, mistakes. Case in point this tag (made for Simon's Monday theme "Whatever the Weather"):


  1. Learning how to use Photoshop's recompose tool to crop this photo without losing the photograph's border frame.
  2. Experimenting with Tim Holtz Distress Oxide Ink technique on glossy paper with mixed results (too much water, not enough ink?).
  3. Applying crackle medium to paper, the product I use has to be applied really thick--it was too thin this time to show up.
  4. The benefit of delaminating some Idea-ology paper stash to reduce bulk when collaging (text piece is full thickness, report card area was made thinner). Each time I try this, I get better at it. The trick is to gently rub off the back with a little water after peeling away as much as you can.
  5. The flowers (Idea-ology ephemera) were also delaminated because they are easier to refine with cutting when the paper's not so thick.
  6. Proved again that for me, the best way to tint a photo is still using a dab of ink from a gel pen with a little water (the turquoise in the wallpaper behind the teacher, for example).
  7. Appreciating that without adding a little whimsy to the piece an observer might think it too serious and wonder about my mental state. (Perhaps you should anyway.)
The weather connection is in the Idea-ology text from the Memorandum paper stash. I do believe this teacher is cool in her shades. Also note the Red Precipitate Ointment which is a nice touch--don't you think?


By the way, my favorite human teacher was Mrs. Jennings who had the patience to work with me in the 5th grade when I refused to learn multiplication tables and provided comfort from bullies.

March 05, 2018

Realistic Watercolor for Beginners

 Watercolor Workshop

Just a quick post to let you know about a free workshop that starts today for Beginning Watercolor sponsored by Strathmore.

I'll be following along (and perhaps post something from the lessons), I've taken these free workshops in the past (and I love the price), and I can't wait for the Robert Burridge session that starts in September.

Have a great week!

March 03, 2018

Sketchbook Project

Six years ago, I completed several collages for The Sketchbook Project. The theme was "A Record Year for Rainfall" which resonated with me since I live in a desert (an area with extremely low rainfall amounts).

I've been cleaning-up/reorganizing my studio, came across remnants from this project and decided to post the work here on my blog for perpetuity.

The book was titled, Into Each Life Some Rain Must Fall, and I included the poem by Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. The images were cut from various magazines and books and pasted with a glue stick.