Pinkie

I sure do like to cut out photos then place the subjects in a different background. I guess it's a way of creating more focus and emphasizing the characters. So now these adventurous girls wander through blue green waters surrounded by my own exotica.

Starting with green scrapbook paper that I stamped with leaves, I used flower and leaf cut-outs from another paper along with colored pencils and distress stains for tint.

I'm linking to Simon's Monday blog challenge where this week's theme is just a hint of clover.

Here's what the original photo looks like (click for the larger, light box view). How sad that their story is now lost but what a day it must have been!

For Joseph

Click to Enlarge

Joseph Cornell was a brilliant artist and a pioneer of assemblage. If you are not familiar with his work, it's well worth your time to look him up.

Prompted by a challenge at Art Journal Journey to create something "inspired by the Masters," I collaged a page that mimics his Medici Princess box creation.

I used a frame from a magazine advertisement for a background filled with more magazine scraps, some rub-on letters and numbers, paint, gel pens, colored pencils, and embossed stamping.

I wish I could use symbolism more effectively in my art to give it a strong voice and invoke introspection. This is a skill Joseph Cornell mastered in a subtle, understated way and is what I appreciate most about his work.

Update:  I modified the original journal page posted here. Something was missing! The black vertical and horizontal lines in the original work were left out unintentionally. This simple addition made a difference and now I'm happier with it. (1/21/2015)

Together

"Make New Friends and Keep the Old" is the Monday blog challenge this week at Simon Says Stamp. It's also the name of a song I learned in Girl Scouts which was sung "in-the-round" (like Row Row Row Your Boat). I hadn't given it a thought since I was a Brownie xxx years ago ☺ and now I'm having major flashbacks. For you youngsters out there, here's what our uniforms looked like back in the day:

Imagine girls (of any age) wearing gloves today and why did the Brownies wear a manly bright orange neck tie? Strange, yes, but I liked them. Mom, not so much as they were a pain to iron.

The challenge prompted using something old or new so I grabbed the very first stamp I ever purchased, a vintage sunflower from Inkadinkado. It is based on this original engraving:

Click to Enlarge

I applied an image transfer of the girls to a blank tag and before rubbing off the paper, I stamped the background. This way the transfer acts like a mask and saves a step or two. I used distress inks and colored pencils to tint and washi tape for embellishment.

The "new" feature on this tag is the Tim Holtz Remnant Rubs text which I recently acquired and used for the very first time.

If you'd like to know more about the image transfer technique, you can find my tutorial here.

Rose et Noir

As the year comes to a close, I've begun my annual clean-up of the many bits of paper left-over from art projects made during the last 12 months that were saved "just in case." Some will be tossed, a few will be kept but most will be pasted on journal pages to commemorate, I suppose, what amused me this year.

This page began by randomly pasting old calendar stickers and later, dabs of white paint onto a pink tinted background. I used an adhesive silkscreen for the first time (by Martha Stewart) and it worked really well (lower left corner). You'll also see a bit a random stamping (Lace by Anna Griffin) and script (made with a homemade stencil) along with lots of tiny dots (Zig paint pens).

One thing led to another (which is my favorite part about working in art journals) and even though the end result would look better cropped, I'm happy with the color scheme just the same. The are no rules in art but I seem to prefer abstract collages with a stronger focal point than this one has.

I'd be curious to know if others save their scraps like I do and how they manage them. I could easily keep everything but the risk of being buried alive forces me to purge now and then. Now all I have to figure out is where to keep the accumulation of art journals that stand in their place. Pity the poor relation that will have to toss it all when I am dead and gone.

(I'm linking this post to Art Journal Journey, a blog I've just discovered that offer's monthly challenges for artists worldwide and a most clever way of displaying the work via Pinterest.)

Duchess

Click to Enlarge

My post is titled "Duchess" because it is the name of the scrapbook paper (by Kaiser Craft) that I used to make this greeting card. There's no sense providing a link to it as I bought it awhile ago and it is now out of production.

But I can show you what the paper originally looked like:

I cut out one of the design elements and pasted it to metallic bronze card stock after creating a border with a paper punch. Then I went to task embellishing it with colored pencils, Stickles and Scribbles (a 3-D paint). I mounted it to olive green card stock which was folded for use as a greeting card.

I plan to use it as a Christmas card and have linked it to the Monday blog challenge at SSS where the theme is ornaments.  I will admit, I'm getting excited about the upcoming holiday season because there's no better time to use my Stickles and I do love them so!

Remember Paris

Inspired by Tim's November tag, I created this one using some of his techniques and also everything but the kitchen sink.

Oh wait! I did use the sink to wash off some ink at one point...

Click to Enlarge

It all started when I hand-cut a flower shape from corrugated cardboard, filled it in with paste medium and after it dried, added an image transfer on top which was then covered with clear crackle paint.

Ink pens, acrylic paint, oil pastels, and colored pencils were used to add color along with some splatters of gold embossing. The letters were hand-cut and then distressed with paint and crackle.

Tim's tag reminded me of inlaid parquetry and I was inspired to experiment!

Treats

The image I used for this tag shows a little girl dressed up in costume and I'm pretty sure it wasn't for Halloween but instead, illustrates the Victorian obsession with fairies.

The following explanation came from a book review on Amazon:

Clap if you believe in fairies! The Victorians did, writes Carole Silver in Strange and Secret Peoples: Fairies and Victorian Consciousness, but she's not exactly talking about Tinkerbell here. Silver prefers the more gruesome and treacherous species of fay: changelings and vampires, brownies and goblins. The Victorians took these creatures very seriously, indeed, and according to Silver, this belief tapped into some of their society's most fundamental anxieties. Fear of physical deformity, of women's sexual power, of racial or class difference: these were the true bogeymen that haunted the Victorian imagination, and they responded with a flood of art, literature, and theater that portrayed these imaginary creatures with equal measures of fascination and horror.

Now days, Halloween has become an extremely popular holiday and rivals Christmas or Easter with its enthusiastic decoration and celebration. Is it because we suffer from similar anxieties?

About my tag: A cutting from Tim's Wallflower paper stash was used for the background. I love the lithographic quality of this paper and brought out some of the details with Gelly Roll pens.

I further embellished with Stickles which I store upside down to keep the thick solution close to the tip and always ready for use.

A light touch with colored pencils helped to tint the little fairy's dress and provide a shadow for her to stand on.

I'm linking this post to the Monday blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp where this week's theme is treats. Happy Halloween, everyone--I hope it's full of sweets!

Aporia crataegi

I've never seen a Black-veined White Butterfly (except via You Tube) and I think they are quite nice.

Inspired by this this photo, I created a tag by printing it, cutting it out, pasting mulberry paper behind the wings, tinting it with paint, ink and colored pencils, and pasting it to a distressed background.

I'm linking it to the Monday blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp. This week's theme is "witch kraft" and while it may not be apparent that I used kraft paper--it's there, as a background, now covered with layers of paint and ink.

A happy accident caused by using too much Seedless Grape distress stain to darken the kraft paper compelled me to sand and rub at it with the hopes of making it lighter. When the top layer of the paper began to peel away, I gathered up the bits and pasted them back on and spread a layer of thin white paint on top.

Antoinette

Did you ever wonder why brown paper bag-colored card stock is called "kraft" paper? It's not a clever take on the word "craft" but instead, comes from the "kraft process" a term used in paper making. Others must have wondered about this too because there's a Wikipedia entry for it. And did you know that manila paper was originally manufactured in the Philippines, which is how it got its name.

Click to Enlarge

To celebrate this new found knowledge, may I present a tag made from both manila and kraft paper which I'm linking to the "witch kraft" challenge at SSS.

I pasted the kraft paper onto a manila tag, stamped it with archival ink, transferred an image using polymer medium, tinted it with distress inks, stains and some colored pencils and added strips of printed kraft paper to the border.

The light-colored image plays nicely off the kraft-colored background and this week's challenge was the perfect excuse to finally use it.

Mariquinha

The image of this lovely lady, Mariquinha Junqueira, was found here and was my inspiration for creating a tag to link-up to the Tim Holtz blog.

His monthly tag for August has challenged participants to create something that showcases our own personal muse and reminds us that each of our artistic voices is unique and we must embrace it.

He also shared some great techniques including a personal favorite which is taking advantage of the resist quality of his tissue tape to retain white space.

My technique was similar to his--I used tissue tape, distress stains and Tim's burlap stencil with texture medium. The house (LaBlanche) was stamped on to deli paper which also has a resist quality. A bit of colored pencil was used to create a shadow under Mariquinha's dress to ground her to the page (keeps the image from looking like she's floating).

I love finding images that inspire me and then trying to place them in a composition using stamps and other collage elements. I created this tag for the pure joy of it and give thanks to Tim for a great suggestion and for time well spent.

Sweet Summer Dreams

When you live in the desert as I do, Summer ain't so sweet. Dreaming becomes essential to survival and, prompted by this week's Monday blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp, I've created this tag.

Working on it was good medicine. My disposition improved and I'm sending a shout-out to the design team for the mid-summer dream theme, it was a great suggestion!

I used a variety of ink colors to stamp the leaves, some were outlined with a fine-tip marker, the background tints were made with colored pencils, and the sleeping kitty is from Stampendous.

Sun Tarot

Design team member Dan has proposed a magic theme for the Monday blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp this week. Dan uses a lot of face stamps in his work so, to honor his theme, I've made a tarot card that was inspired by this image.

The background came from the Idea-ology Destinations paper stash, the borders were cut from French Industrial. The face stamp is by La Blanche. I used a fine-tipped marker, acrylic paint and colored pencils to draw and tint the sun rays.

Possible meanings associated with this fortune-telling card are:

Optimism—Expansion—Being radiant—Positive feelings

Enlightenment—Vitality—Innocence—Non-criticism

Assurance—Energy—Personal power—Happiness

Splendor—Brilliance—Joy—Enthusiasm

And so, since you are here -

My tarot tag has now predicted all of this for you!

Artistamps

From Wikipedia:

The term artistamp (a portmanteau of the words "artist" and "stamp") or artist's stamp refers to a postage stamp-like art form used to depict or commemorate any subject its creator chooses. Artistamps are a form of Cinderella stamps in that they are not valid for postage, but they differ from forgeries or bogus Illegal stamps in that typically the creator has no intent to defraud postal authorities or stamp collectors.

The Monday blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp is The Artsy Stamp and I decided to take a bit of a twist and make a collection of artistamps instead. I used tiny bird stamps, some colored pencils for tint, a black fine tip marker to mimic the perforations, and a vintage envelope for the background (which had an interesting embossed design).

The Wiki article further states:  While the method of production is entirely the choice of the artist, creators who exclusively or primarily use rubber stamps are occasionally held in contempt by members of the artistamp community, some of whom refer to such producers as "bunny-stampers."

Well, I don't care if they call me a bunny-stamper because these are actually birds (duh) and they were really great fun to make. The hard part is getting a realistic looking perforation--I opted to use a less authentic (but easy) method by making tiny black dots along the edges.

Monopoly

I couldn't let the letter M challenge at SSS go by without one more entry since I've had more time to play this week and found this theme easy to work with.

For Christmas, I received a collection of miniature stamps by Tim Holtz and they remind me of the place markers from a Monopoly game.

So I found a great image of the patent application submitted by Charles Darrow in 1935 and added a few new place markers to his design.

I give much credit to Stampers Anonymous for these tiny stamps as they have an incredible amount of detail. So, how about this for a title?

Modified Miniature Monopoly Markers by an M Maniac

(I think I better take a break...)

Cabbage Salad

Click to enlarge

I stumbled upon a person who collects images of women's fashion from the Civil War era and I've begun to follow her board. This discovery has prompted me to create collages using similar images. I hope to work out a series and this tag is my first go at it.

I'm also curious why, in many vintage photos, the subject looks so serious. Did no one say "cheese" when the photo was taken? I expect the grumpy face on this lady is why I chose to use her.

I began with a variety of papers including store-bought scrapbook paper, pages from a dictionary, a vintage cookbook and sheet music which I cut into small pieces and pasted on the tag.

After printing the lady, she was added to the tag using my image transfer technique. A homemade stencil was used to trace the outline of a frame with a fine tip marker and several areas were tinted with colored pencils to provide color and contrast. For framing, I cut thin strips from black and white striped paper and pasted them along the edges.

Why Cabbage Salad? For one thing, it's her expression and her face is rather round. And, if you look real close, you'll see that the cookbook's menu page has a listing for cabbage salad aka cole slaw.

Slate-colored Junco

I've got a thing for tags and make a lot of them. I also make greeting cards but I guess I feel more liberated working on tags and I like the challenge of this odd-ball format.

The long and narrow space used to feel confining but it doesn't bother me anymore and the manila cardstock is tough and can take my abuse.

For this tag, I cut birds from an old book, used book text for the background and a 12" x 12" stencil from Crafter's Workshop called Branches. It's a favorite of mine and I highly recommend it. There are two versions, a positive (208) and a negative (251). The leaves were stamped and filled in with colored pencils.

I made it so I could link up to Tag It, the Wednesday challenge theme at Simon Says Stamp, for a chance to win the random drawing.

But I can't let this challenge theme go by without sharing my all-time, most favorite tag.

In his September, 2012, tag post, Tim Holtz did a demo on an embossed metal background and I used this technique to make a steam-punked version of my cat, Howie (click to enlarge it). His goggles were made from polymer clay and the scarf was made from cheese cloth. It was crazy fun!

Mrs. Wheeler

A Cameo Appearance is the theme for Monday's blog challenge at Simon Says Stamp and I am inspired!

This tag was made from a Claudine Hellmuth chair stamp, a vintage photo, some scrapbook paper and a bit of colored pencil.

Mrs. Wheeler (making a cameo appearance on this tag) is a good example of how I'm interested in exploring composition, balance and the use of negative space.

She's not traditional
but very original
and perhaps
even one of a kind.

Take Time

I made this to commemorate the first Tim Holtz tag of 2014, where he reminds us to take time to do something creative.

While I lack all the nifty die-cutting equipment and assorted goodies, I did receive a collection of miniature Tim Holtz stamps for Christmas that I was happy to use on this tag.

The background is from the French Industrial Paper Stash that I enhanced with Distress inks, a bit of colored pencil, and rub-on text.

Taking time to create is how I escape from daily stress and all the problems in our world that I feel powerless to fix.

I am so grateful to have this time and wish it for all those who seek it.

For Thelma at Christmas

My good friend Jan aka Thelma (I'm Louise), acquainted me with rubber-stamping a few years' ago and back then, I never would have imagined that, someday, I would have an entire drawer full of stamps myself.

We always exchange a card at holidays and this is what I'm sending her this year. The stamp is from the Tim Holtz Components Collection and the paper is from the Merriment Paper Stash by Idea-ology.

I've entered this card in both drawings over at Simon Says Stamp (Monday challenge is use a stamp, Wednesday challenge is "bling it on").

If you haven't seen a side-by-side comparison of Distress versus regular Stickles, I've used both on this card. I used colored pencils on Santa and Tea Dye Distress Stain to age the appearance.

Now I'd better get it in the mail, there's only five more days till Christmas!