art from the well

greetings friends.  i'm still playing with the free downloads from the fripperies and butterflies blog. 

i love to work with vintage images; with a few simple embellishments you have a one of a kind card to share.  for this one i used simple cream colored card stock, a decoratively cut piece of green cardstock for contrast, some leafy greens adhesive stuff for a border, and some cream colored dots.  not sure to whom this shall go but i'll be ready when the need arises!

love to all

time for my annual art deco birthday card for my art deco loving friend and co-worker ann.  i'm late this year (which she is kind of used to) but the gift i got her is awesome -- i brought back a beautiful handmade one of a kind glass and copper angel made by an artist in nevada (found while on vacation this year).  it will be perfect over her desk (or wherever).  also while on vacation i was blog hopping around (yes even on vacation) and found some lovely vintage vogue image downloads from the fripperies and butterflies blog.  the images were all a perfect fit for a card for her but i had to choose one so this is it.
i kept it simple:  i placed the image over a nice burgundy colored circle i had in the stash and finished out with some die cuts and dots.  i think she'll like.

enjoy; love to all.

these are the remaining 2 tangles i did while on vacation.  as i get settled back at home (and to work, sigh) i should do a little of this during evenings and see what comes up!  anyway i am enjoying this exploration.

love to all.

just got back last night from a wonderful week away. it was completely wonderful but can i say that one week just wasn't enough?  sigh.  i love you lake tahoe.

okay so one thing i tried while away that didn't have anything to do with being on the water (joy!) or shopping for gems (joy!) was zentangles.  i've been interested to try for quite awhile and picked up a nice book several weeks ago by suzanne mcneill, zentangle basics.  armed with this slim volume, a pencil, pad and micron pen i gave it a try.  first effort:

i'm getting the hang of it.  i have a few more but my scanner is giving me trouble so i'll post again soon.
once i get a comfort level with this i'm looking forward to incorporating zentangles into my stamping and collage.  stay tuned!

peace and safety to all affected by storms and extreme weather.
love to all.

is... portraits and people!  the opportunity is to share art involving people or animals.  check out the cheerful stamp pad for more details.  the challenge sponsor is a fabulous stamp company, the stampsmith.  the stampsmith also has a cool challenge blog, the stampsmith challenge.

i have a number of stampsmith stamps -- the stamps are mosty photographic, relating to "times gone by."
for my DT creation i traveled back in time to the 60s, to grab a stampsmith image of the supremes!  stop in the name of love!



the supremes are the original "dream girls."  i colored the image with markers to stamp it and then enhanced the stamped image with colored pencils.  i cut out my image and placed it on designer paper that had a sort of 60s feel.  the hearts by diana are by hero arts.  sure their story has its ups and downs but these beautiful women "dared to dream" and live their passion -- so many of their songs are still favorites all over the world.  may we also dare to dream and live our passions!

love to all.

the latest challenge at the cheerful stamp pad is petals -- a chance to play with flowers!  the challenge sponsor is glitterbabe digis, a wonderful shop of digital images for your art.  the challenge closes soon -- on august 21 -- there is still some time to enter.  my DT creation starts with the collaged circles technique from technique junkies.  i used a digi from glitterbabe called calla lilies and colored that with colored pencils.  i have some ribbon, a lovely little bird sticker and the word "wonder" to express my awe for nature.  this was fun to make (though it took more punched circles than i thought it would!).

enjoy, and love to all!

oo-wee i'm under the wire but hoping to get this in on time.  so this creation represents a 1st and 2nd event for me.  it is my 1st somewhat steampunk inspired creation.  it is my 2nd ever canvas.  this is a random redhead challenge over at gingersnap creations.  i love love love gingersnap creations but haven't done a challenge in way too long.  i'm a little intimidated by the whole steampunk thing but i wanted to apply this idea to my planes and trains (ok, just planes) canvas.

the background is an almanac cover, a free download from the wonderful blog at clearly vintage.  you can't see much of it but is is a 1908 encyclopedia/almanac cover which really set the mood for me.  i have a tim holtz clock face, some airplane images i ripped from a brochure for the flying heritage warbirds exhibit (a museum here in WA state), a pilot face girl from dezinaworld, steampunk wings from moonlight journey and a few other random bits (left corner and butterfly on far right) and that's mostly it.

i kinda like it.  and most importantly it was a delight to make.  i'm always so happy when i can be at my studio (also known as the kitchen counter).  such joy.

love to all!