art from the well

yesterday someone asked me whether there were any highlights to 2010 for me.  i realized that a big highlight has been joining the world of bloggers and engaging with this generous, talented community of people.  thanks so much to all of you for all you do and i wish everyone a glorious 2011!

ooo-wee gang this year is just about gone.  i'm just savoring these final days of 2011 and making a note to be more mindful in the coming year.  i've had what i'll call a luxury this month.  because i had surgery at the beginning of the month i've been off work all of december.  although the early part of the month i wasn't up and about, since then i've had the opportunity to read a lot, laze about, enjoy my family, make things and think about how to have more sanity in my life once i return to the busyness that awaits me in january.  we've also had a number of ups and downs this month and i'm grateful i've had the space to deal with each thing in a more relaxed way.  thus my hopeful pledge is to make more time for art, for meditation, for kindness and for patience in the new year.  i've also decided to do the "52 prompts for 2011."

i learned about this via stunning artist dale anne potter's wonderful blog http://daleannepotter.com/blog/ and she got it from emily falconbridge's fabulous blog http://embers.typepad.com/.   if you are interested you can download the 52 questions for 2011 from daleanne's blog here http://daleannepotter.com/blog/page/4/.  or try this: http://daleannepotter.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/12/52-Prompts-for-2011.pdf. as an example, the question for the first week is "list something you are proud of", the next week is "what is powerful to you?"  you respond to the questions by doing an artful journal page or a tag or ATC or whatever fits your fancy. dale anne's blog is full of lovely examples, i've followed her 52 answers all this year. so i'm planning to play along and we'll see how it goes. this will be challenging as i've got to both decide the answer and deliver the answer artfully.  like i said, we'll see!


'til then here are 2 more new years cards to share.  again we've got 2 different cards utilizing the same image from http://twistedpapers.com/. i also did a layer on both cards with the "marker tapping" technique from the good technique junkies newsletter. http://www.techniquejunkies.com/.  the green splotches on the background of the second card are just random ink pad splotches, nothing unusual.  the rest of the embellishments are from the all-familiar stash.  since i was a little slow with the christmas cards i'm having fun sending out new year cards.

enjoy, and love to all.

hello all.  i hope everyone is well and happy and being safe in the winter weather.  i came across a sketch challenge at the technostamper sithttp://technostamper.blogspot.com/2010/12/monday-lunchtime-sketch-challenge-154.htmle  and decided to try the sketch for one of my new year cards.  i also noticed that sweet pea stampers had an "anything goes" challenge at http://sweetpeastampschallenge.blogspot.com/ so i am entering this card in both challenges.  it is on a 6x6 brownish card stock with various delicious papers from my stash to make the sketch design.  the focal image is a sweet pea stamp designed by Ching Chou Kuik.  i colored the stamped image with markers primarily but then filled in the skin tone and background with colored pencils. the saying came from the same Ching Chou Kuik stamp.  a flower and a couple other embellishments seemed called for...  so here she is.  please enjoy.  and of course i wish the blessing to all!  along with... love to all.

now it is time to make new year cards and thank you cards!  here are two cards using the same image from http://twistedpapers.com/.  the first one is glued onto some fancy colorful card stock (came from a card kit, origin unknown) and embellished with a butterfly and flourish from a pack of goodies obtained from http://www.alphastamps.com/.  the second is on simple white card stock with a blue card stock layer.  this one is simply embellished with a very sparkly raised butterfly sticker.  i hope to mail these out shortly.  more to come soon!
love to all.

look here http://www.alphastamps.com/blog/?p=1086 because every day starting today and until january 2 there is another chance to win gorgeous goodies from alphastamps. these products will make you drool artfully -- which is the best way to drool.  enjoy and love to all!

greetings.  another of my favorite christmas images is the wise men bearing gifts.  here are two cards with wise men.  focal images are from twisted papers with various papers from the stash including an odd bit of wrapping paper, k &company borders and bo bunny papers.  oh, and a hero arts sparkling star.  enjoy.
love to all.

thanks for all the nice messages about our loss.  i got back last night from california.  DH will be back in a few days.  it was his dear mother who passed away.  although we are so sad about it she was very ill and was suffering.   it was very good to be together with all the family.  i was also lucky that we could stop in to visit my dear grandmother.  she fell and broke her hip right after thanksgiving and it has been a terrible time for her as well.  but she is in rehab and although it was dicey at first she is now doing wonderfully and has even taken a few steps.  so onward.

i guess all my christmas cards will arrive late but hopefully they will be well-received.  peace on earth is one of my favorite holiday messages.  these two cards feature the same image from twisted papers, just layered and embellished with different little treats. 

enjoy.  love to all.

 

more holiday cards!  these two santa cards both feature images from http://www.twistedpapers.com/.  my son said these reminded him of a classic coke advertisement. anyway one has a border from k & company along with a "merry christmas" message that i removed from a commercial christmas card received long ago.  the other has a background layer of paper from making memories, a small bit of the same border used on the other card and the merry christmas message is a rub-on. i'll be off line for a few days as i sadly have to travel to a funeral. there is no good time to lose a beloved family member.  all we can do is gather together in love to remember that person and all the good she brought to our lives.  she was in pain and now she is released from it.

more cards next week.  love to all.

good day all, here are a couple of goodies employing techniques from technique junkies http://www.techniquejunkies.com/.  technique junkies is the place to go if you want to learn a huge number of techniques to make your cards more interesting and fun.  the bi-monthly newsletter is a total treat.  some techniques are easy-peasy and others take a little more effort.  two of these fall into the latter category because they required a lot of cutting and adhering. 
i've done the pinwheel technique before but i thought it would be nice for a christmas card.  usually you stamp on every other layer but i had this lovely textured gold paper from  https://www.papertemptress.com/  and i thought stamping would be too much.  the image below the pinwheel is from http://twistedpapers.com/.  gobs of delicious images there for your artwork.

the other card uses the new brick wall technique.  i was able to eliminate some of the labor by using a punch -- but i couldn't find a rectangular one so i used a square punch and then cut the squares in half!  anyway the snowflake stamp is from rubber moon and the "merry christmas" stamp is unknown. the paper that i stamped the images on was actually one of those pale white opaque envelopes you get from the post office when you buy stamps.  i thought that would be something a little different.  both stamped images are embossed in platinum.

finally the wise men image (also from twisted papers) is layered on a sheet employing the fossil stone technique.  if you've visited this blog before it may give you a chuckle because i made a huge amount of fossil stone in that red and pink and it has shown up in several cards.  i think i've used the last of it now.  the shiny snowflakesare from hero arts.

wishing lots of holiday joy; love to all.

yesterday i got my entry in for vicki's "here comes santa" challenge just before that challenge closed.  and now i'll enter her next challenge "o holy night" on day one.  cool!  http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/.  vicki asks us to depict the true meaning of Christmas in our entries.  the central image on this card is from a painting by Marianne Stokes entitled "madonna and child."  i received this little image in the mail along with a request for a donation to a local charity i support.  it was so lovely i also scanned it so i can use it again.  the expression on her face is so sublime, i just love it.  the base cardstock is a very shiny beautiful gold and the red layer is from a small sheet of opaque red paper i had laying around.  on the actual card you can sort of see the gold thru the red.   there are little graphite pearls on three corners. the butterfly is a clip art from stampington and co.  i liked it because of the color match but more importantly because the message of the butterfly is tranformation.  deep in the meaning of Christmas is the call to be transformed -- to living with a heart of love.  i think about this a lot in a world that sometimes seems fueled on hatred.  the reason i always end my posts with "love to all" is because that is my wish. so enjoy the card.  and to vicki -- hey, i made15 cards yesterday!

love to all...

vicki at cheerful stamp pad has a dual challenge right now. you can pick "here comes santa" or "twas the night before christmas"  http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/


i've chosen "here comes santa" and here he is. i call this post "odd bits" because this is yet another bits and pieces creation. the santa and the ribbon were both "harvested" from previously received commercial christmas cards (2 different ones). pale green cardstock makes the base with a darker green layer from the stash and the printed layer from who knows where. the "joy" is a rub on.

this is the first christmas card i made this year!
love to all.

hello friends, after way too long away. i had surgery on the 3rd and was down for the count for awhile. now that i'm feeling up to moving around and creating i've made many christmas cards today. before i start sharing from my new batch of goodies i want to share something that came from a friend. thanks to the wonderful world of facebook and art blogging i rediscovered an old high school buddy, Megan, who is quite an artist and blogger. what a treat to find an old friend who has a similar passion to mine! she sent me some goodies in the mail and i'd love to direct you to her blog:  http://peacockpaperie.blogspot.com/ to see her many creations. she's a major cricut and copic expert. she sent me this beautiful "hello" card and also this "moulin for michele" (as she named it) ATC. gorgeous huh?

enjoy, and love to all.

greetings all. a long time ago i promised to post the second mono mosaic card i'd made. this is a wonderful technique from www.techniquejunkies.com. the details:
dragonfly: renaissance art stamps
japanese script: madrat rubber
all other: stampendous.
i'm sorry that when it scans the foreground is very clear and the background is less so. but you get the idea. my scan is also off center and i just couldn't get it right!
anyway, enjoy; love to all.

howdy all! here's a response to the latest sweet pea sketch challenge at http://sweetpeastampschallenge.blogspot.com/. the image is a Ching Chou Kuik from a crafty purple frog digital sheet (pre-colored). http://thecraftypurplefrog.blogspot.com/

the colored papers were created long ago and stored away but were done with a make-up sponge and various pigment inks. the dream stamp is from inkadinkado.

seriously i am sure i will start making christmas cards very soon. i hope...
enjoy; love to all.

hello good people. today's card will be entered in 2 challenges, gingersnap's GC77: Haute Couture, http://gingersnapcreations.blogspot.com/2010/11/gc77-haute-couture.html and truly scrumptious' Challenge 46 - Think Pink, http://trulyscrumptiouschallenges.blogspot.com/2010/11/challenge-46-think-pink_24.html which is both a sketch challenge and an optional extra to use pink. i found this sketch challenge thanks to GC founder Sharon Bris' rogue redhead blog http://rogueredheaddesigns.blogspot.com/2010/11/sharon-briss-pretty-in-pink.html.

the deets: hot pink 6x6 card, layered background design is the "fossil stone" technique from technique junkies http://www.techniquejunkies.com/ done with red and pink inks. the focal image is from a collage sheet by Rachel Emilie Jackson. ribbons pearls, "memory" die cut and side punches from the ever-present stash.


i looked up haute couture and the definitions suggested "exclusive fashion design" and i am not sure our girl's clothing is "exclusive" but the reason i think she qualifies is because of her simple, lovely sense of style and that pink flower in her hair just rocks it all in my opinion.

so that's my card.
grandmother Dear is doing remarkably well; thanks for all good wishes. keep 'em coming.

love to all.

for the crafty purple frog "let your creativity blossom" challenge. http://craftypurplefrogchallenges.blogspot.com/2010/11/let-your-creativity-blossom.html. the task is to use flowers. which i already often do... and resisted the urge to use thousands of them but just did my best to accent this lovely craftypurple frog digital "oriental guardian" decoupage sheet image. the bottom layer is a batik background from twisted papers. the paper that the digi is adhered to was spritzed with starburst stains in blue and green shades. i added sparkly swirls and flowers. i dedicate this to my grandmother who is having surgery today. as you know if you've visited here before, she is my dear love and inspiration but she is having a difficult time just now. i hope to go visit next month.

much love.

it is so cold out (18F this morning) but i have a warm place to stay.
so many are struggling right now but i still have a job.
those really rise to the top just at this moment, though there is so much more.
i'm also really grateful for the community of art bloggers who are always so kind and so helpful! and so talented. i'm in awe of you folks every day and humbled that you visit me too. so here are 2 more thanksgiving cards. even if you are outstide the US and this is not a holiday you observe, i still wish you much to be thankful for.

more vintage images from twisted papers and embellishments from here and there...
by the way, i acquired all the twisted papers images when i posted to their facebook page and was randomly selected to win 500 downloads. can you imagine? totally grateful for that. i highly recommend their awesome collection of goodies at www.twistedpapers.com. there are also some awesome vintage images from clearly vintage downloads http://clearlyvintage.blogspot.com/ and digital two for tuesdays http://digitaltuesday.blogspot.com/. i apologize that my live link thingy isn't working.


enjoy; love to all.

that is if you consider all the turkey day cards the "regular programming." for now at least!

last week i was the lucky winner of wildfrog creations blog candy giveaway. http://wildfrogcreations.blogspot.com/. there were 2 winners and 2 prizes. Terry from http://terry2dogs.blogspot.com/ won the blog candy goodies and i won the stamp of my choice from http://www.wildfrogcreations.com/. i picked the "african violet" woman. my stamp arrived today (thank you Shelley!). i was so delighted to get it that i put it to use right away. of course it helped that work was closed due to icy roads.


so here are my two treatments with the stamp. in both cases it was stamped with black versafine on plain cardstock. then colored with colored pencils, cut out and mounted on colorful cardstock. some little embellishments -- not too much since the stamp has so much going on -- to finish off.

that was fun. back to work tomorrow. and more t-day cards tomorrow...
love to all.

so we're snowed in here for today. which is okay by me. i can do some work from home but i can also relax some and chill out (tee hee) and i need the break. been putting in many hours. who knows? i might blog twice in one day! watch out world.


i recently discovered the "take a word" challenge and right now it is "men". http://takeaword.blogspot.com/. so here's mine. this is another twisted papers vintage image. this was a free download from their monthly newsletter -- i would not have been drawn to this image otherwise. but here is this pilgrim-y guy going out to shoot some fowl i guess. i was thinking he was hunting in the snow. the bottom layer card was a card i'd long ago spritzed with zia stamps chroma jewels. i had the blue on white polka dot paper in my stash and it was reminiscent of a snowy day. and the die cut from k & company was also snow-like. so here's your guy out in the snow. now here's a funny for you -- i could not send this to anyone because in my creative frenzy i decorated the card upside down -- so it opens to the left instead of to the right. oops.

love to all.

it is snowing like crazy in seattle!

i said i'd be at it every day with thanksgiving goodies and as promised here i am. most of the thanksgiving cards i've made use vintage images, embellishments and no stamping. these two are the exception and they both use the same focal stamp, the lady cornucopia (as i call her) from madrat rubber. in the first, she is stamped on a background with my super-fancy technique of rubbing a stamp pad around. ha ha! that piece was cut and affixed to black card stock. final card is embellished with silver leaves and pearls. DH liked this one best.

the second was originally intended to be a technique junkies "warhol" style technique featuring just the turkeys (from a hero arts thanksgiving stamps set). but lady cornucopia was still on the table and i ended up making her the focus and adding the turkeys in for fun. some k & co. ribbon rounds that one out at the bottom.


which do you like best? enjoy. see you tomorrow!
love to all.

another thanksgiving greeting. i like the colors on this one. another www.twistedpapers.com vintage image. more fun papers and the border is from k & company.

i'm also entering this in Drunken Stampers Challenge #43 ~ No Stamps for you! challenge. http://drunkenstampers.wordpress.com/2010/11/20/drunken-stampers-challenge-43-no-stamping/ since there are no stamps here!

and hey, today we buy a turkey.

love to all!

but we especially acknowledge it in the US every november. so i'm a little late getting the thanksgiving cards going and can only hope the ones i mail on monday will arrive on time. meanwhile i'll have some to share with you dear readers every day until the turkey reveal. (well, i probably didn't make enough to last until thursday but that's okay too)

here are the 1st two. all vintage images come from www.twistedpapers.com.
for cordial thanksgiving the bottom layer card is actually a technique junkies background called chalk lines. see http://www.techniquejunkies.com/. then i have some cardstock that already had that nice diagonal cut on it and some autumn leaves stickers.


the sweet thanksgiving lady is on a bottom layer that was colored with starburst stains (applied with cotton balls) in opal sea oats and cocoa bean. the ribbon is from k & company and the flowers are from my stash.


i hope that every day you find something to be grateful for.
love to all.

sometimes you've just got to stamp. even when you should be getting ready for bed. this is one of my favorite stamps, from character constructions http://www.characterconstructions.com/ and i wanted to do something focused on her. no fancy background stuff -- just a stamp pad rubbed on the cardstock, our tea lady and some fleurs. that was satisfying.

enjoy and love to all.

i just felt like stamping away. but i had to keep it simple. it was about 10:30 last night when i got started... but i had seen the drunken stampers sewing challenge http://drunkenstampers.wordpress.com/2010/11/13/drunken-stampers-challenge-42-sewing/ & i thought it was a perfect opportunity to pull out the good 'ole technique junkies patchwork technique. http://techniquejunkies.com/


all the stamps are from a hero arts sewing set. i chuckle because the only way my stitches could have been less straight would be if i'd actually used a sewing machine. i purt near flunked home ec. anyway it felt good to do a quick and fun project. even if i did stay up too late on a work night doing it...

i really need to get going on my thanksgiving cards though. all those great vintage images await me. perhaps this weekend.

love to all.

i don't like it when i'm too busy to make and blog. so here are a couple oldies but goodies so that you all won't give up on me. i don't know when i did these because i haven't made an atc for a long time -- though i'm inspired by what i see on other art blogs. for now please enjoy these simply stamped goodies. the details--
face stamp: ducks in a row
butterfly stamp: hero arts
little heart: unknown
egyptian stamp: auntie amy
sun stamp: uptown rubber


love to all!

visit http://going-buggy.blogspot.com/2010/10/win-entire-range-of-148-promarkers.html
to learn how -- it is a complete set of markers and to win this amazing prize there are only a few simple steps --
1. Leave your name on the giveaway post
2. Link to the contest from your blog please
3. Visit Going Buggy every day to see the video links and tips.
fabulous! I could really use some markers -- so nothing ventured nothing gained...
love to all.

this is not an exaggeration -- yesterday i was cutting paper for hours! i wanted to try the technique junkies mono mosaic technique (december 05) and i also wanted to get lots of papers cut to do some new pinwheels (also TJs, i think summer 2010). check out technique junkies for more info: http://techniquejunkies.com/

after all that cutting (and gluing!) i only ended up with 2 completed mono mosaic cards and 3 constructed pinwheels (but not the finished cards). if i get some crafting time today i'll have to do some short and simple goodies with more immediate results!

so here is one of the completed mono mosaic pieces. i wish the scan had come out better because i think the results on this were actually quite fine. the background stamps are all either stampendous or great impressions (the big swirl). the focal floral stamp is from connor's collectibles. the iridescent blue background paper comes from paper temptress https://www.papertemptress.com/.



the second mono mosaic i made can be posted later. i'll be sending it to my november "just one" partner and i always like to wait until my partner gets the card if i can. might not get back to finishing those pinwheel cards for awhile but i'll tell you that i got the idea to use that format for some holiday cards because with the right papers you can get a snowflake effect. so stay tuned for that...

meanwhile happy november and love to all.

yesterday i decided to get a "woman" themed creation done by sunday so i could make the tonight's midnight deadline for vicki's challenge at http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/2010/10/im-celebrating-and-starting-challenges.html (sorry, my live link thingy isn't cooperating). i had also been blog hopping yesterday and came across some one's entry in a "sketch for you to try" (SFYTT) challenge. http://iheart2stamp.com/2010/10/16/sketch-for-you-to-try-47/. the sketch had an oval shape at its center and i had two images of women that were ovals so i decided to answer vicki's call and the SFYTT call together.


i've posted the sketch pattern along with my two creations. my two creations are timely for vicki's challenge. but after i finished the cards i happened to notice the date on the SFYTT site. i was a week too late for their challenge. they have a new challenge now (with a lovely round shaped focal point). maybe i'll make something else for that. i was a little disappointed though. lots of you fancy bloggers manage to enter 1 card for 4-5 challenges and here i try to do it and didn't realize one of the challenges had expired! oh well. i had fun and the cards are cool. hope vicki likes them!


just a couple quick descriptions. the black and white creation features a vintage image from twisted papers. the colorful entry features a digital image from the crafty purple frog http://thecraftypurplefrog.blogspot.com/, the artwork is by ching-chou kuik for sweet pea stamps. the decoupage sheet is called northern most serenity.



p.s. special thanks to amy from crafty purple frog for letting me know i could enter this card on her challenge site too! now i really am entered in more than one challenge with this post. art bloggers are the best.
enjoy and love to all!

hallowe'en cards -- because i've got two more. vintage images from twisted papers as usual, random goodies from all around as well. i have to say that the one with the jack-o-lantern guy cracks me up. i was pleased with the spooky background achieved just by rubbing black ink over card stock (and adding some silvery inkdots)and i was happy with the leaves and layering but it needed something at the top left. i shook some goodies out of a k and company pack and saw that gypsy woman. she just belonged! i'm not sure what she is saying to the jack-o guy but i think he's been hallow-naughty and she's giving him a little message from her other-worldly land. i don't know. just makes me chuckle.



i have two more hallowe'en images that i printed out awhile back and haven't made anything with yet so there might be more to come. but i might be ready for something else. and i'm already getting excited because i have some cool thanksgiving images too...

have a happy day; love to all.