art from the well

lovely helene at lotsa scrap is hosting a challenge requiring participants to use an image from gecko galz which is available at her blog.  she has extended the deadline to december 24 so there is time to play if you wish.  my schedule these past few months has prevented me from very much art-making.  i'm looking forward to a few days of quiet unscheduled time after christmas.  but i really wanted to use this image and participate in helene's challenge now.  so i stole some hours on a work night and here is my little piece.


enjoy; love to all.

a little more play with the scribble borders technique from the latest technique junkies newsletter.


this weekend i'll be making christmas cards.  every year i have an idea i'll get to it sooner and come up with the perfect design and just repeat it. we'll see what happens...

love to all.

this is a new and simple technique called "scribble borders" that i learned from the most recent technique junkies newsletter.


and same basic materials slightly different presentation:


finally starting to get a little winter season/Christmas-ey...
enjoy; love to all.

i made this card for sweet cheryl at cheryls creative cards.  sadly she was in an awful car accident a couple months ago and it is taking a long time to recover.  send your love and thoughts her way. she is a dear one and such a talented artist.  we certainly must remember to cherish each moment and be grateful for every bit of health and wellness.

i'm also honoring pink saturday with this dear little tea party card.  the main image is from the dover publications free samples.

love to all.

i'm trying to slowly get my stock of mail-able cards up so that i can have something to send on short notice as needed.  the main image here came from an alphonse mucha images sheet from lunagirl vintage images.  as usual there are a few layered designer papers, tissue tape, and other good items.  i really like this one.

enjoy; love to all.

well, we had no internet for the several days before thanksgiving so i never finished posting my chipboard potion bottles.  and then i was happily gone visiting relatives in california for the extended holiday.  now i am back, our new modem is functioning, and i want to share that last alphastamps potion bottle swap creation i made...


all images came from alphastamps. the bat/moon sticker was from the stash and that fabulous textured paper came from a giveaway.  when i pick up my mail tomorrow i bet i'll have received my return potion bottles from the swap!  i hope so.  it is always so much fun seeing what others make.

i also want to share a card i made for a friend...


though the images are not specific to the holiday i sent is as a thanksgiving card.  i think i got that image from the free dover sampler, you can sign up on their website for weekly samples of goodies from dover publications. i also used other pretty coordinating papers and embellies as usual.

if you celebrated thanksgiving i hope it was wonderful.  whether you celebrated or not, i hope that all is wonderful for each of you who visits here.

love to all.

okay, i'm keeping these goodies coming.  i actually only needed 3 for the alphastamps potion bottle swap but i made 4 because of not reading the instructions carefully...  tee hee!  so here's another and then i'll share one more over the weekend.


of the three i made this is the one i elected not to send.  i like it a lot but i chose the others because i felt the other 3 were creepier and since the the theme was hallowe'en i went with creepy. i gessoed this chipboard bottle from alphastamps and then stamped with a french script stamp.  the witches brew label and the marie/witch are from alphastamps collage sheets.   additional embellishments and a silvery cord completed the piece.

enjoy.  love to all.

here's another potion bottle i made for the alphastamps swap.


the marie/witch and "i've put a spell on you" saying images and the bottle are from alphastamps.  i started by gessoing the chipboard potion bottle, did some stencil blood drips with red ink and did a strip of silver magic mesh.  i affixed the two images and added the spider and swirl stickers and also the skull.  the skull is thick so it is raised from the bottle and i put a little "blood" on the side of the skull as well.  there is a strip of black dresden border, also from alphastamps at the top, along with a little black heart.  "and now you're mine!"

and now i can't get that song out of my head! 

i had fun with this challenge.  i'll post the last two bottles in the coming days.
enjoy; love to all.

greetings all.  love and respect to veterans and those on active duty on this US veteran's day.  so i've got just a few more posts with hallowe'enie- type stuff.  i signed up for the alpha stamps chipboard potion bottle swap.  i made 4 for sending and will share one today.  that sign up is over but the due date hasn't come.  i actually finished my project early for a change!


to start i blackened the chipboard potion bottle with black distress ink.  i put a spider web and a spider sticker and some tissue tape on the bottom layer.  the gargoyle drool image is from alphastamps (as is the potion bottle itself).  i tied with some raffia string and added some skull beads on each end.  there are some tiny beads on the top.  a nice and simple yet suitably creepy piece i thought.

enjoy and love to all.

hello lovelies.  i'm just taking a minute to post a couple cards i made for dear ones recently.  i'm done with work travel for a little bit and hope to get to some serious making over the next few weekends!



love to all.

here are the 4 wondrously eerie ATCs i received as a part of the unruly paper arts ATC swap this month!

this first one is by the talented cathy calamas at  a surcee life.  i love that green and the zentangled background!

 eerie indeed! such a great effect by krisha of krisha's keepsakes.

we know how much shar briss of ill tempered ink loves poe!  her work is always wonderful.  that hat rocks.

this last piece was wonderfully multi-dimensional and was provided by electra..  what a great owl! one of my favorite creatures.

good night and i hope everyone's all hallow's eve was happy, safe, spooky and delightful!
love to all!

hello friends -- october has been a busy work travel month so i haven't been blogging or visiting the way i like to.  i'll be back at it in november.  meanwhile i'm finally getting around to sharing the beautiful ATCs i received through the retro cafe art swap.

this scary cutie is by lisa robinson, no blog link available.


i love this hallowe'en princess and am sorry my scan didn't do it justice.  it was made by melanie jo from hearts n bloom.

this is such a great 3-dimensional hallowe'en scene by tracy delisle, no blog available.
these creepy spiders are on a 3-dimensional ATC by trent miller, no blog link available.

these were all so great to receive and are good scary fun.  just yesterday i got back in town and saw i got my envelope of ATCs from the unruly paper arts eerie ATC swap so i will get those scanned as soon as i can. 

meanwhile fr those thinking ahead to christmas, retro cafe art has two pretty cool swaps coming up for that holiday as well.

take good care all, especially those impacted by the recent earthquake, tsunami scare and hurricane.  be careful out there.

love to all.

i haven't played along with the pink saturday party crowd for awhile.  this week's theme is fall/pumpkins or pink.  so i'm providing some of both.


this is one of the ATCs i made is preparation for the eerie ATC swap at unruly paper arts although i didn't send this one off for the swap (i always make extra).

i made this card to send to a dear one recovering from illness.

happy pink saturday and happy fall.  there is that golden autumn hue on everything these days and though i enjoy the warm sun of summer, the beauty of fall does speak to the heart!

love to all.

this must be the season for ATC swaps.  i also participated in the unruly paper arts eerie ATC swap for hallowe'en.  as with most swaps i make more than i need and then decide which to send.  i probably made 6 for this swap of 4.
these two made it into the swap.  i have a lot of poe images but i'm pretty sure this one came from gecko galz, along with the phrase "bump in the night."  the dancing skeleton stamp is from inkadinkado.
and as usual other random eerie goodies like stickers, tissue tape, magic mesh and such.
more to come soon.
love to all.

but not the last of all things hallowe'en! 


i enjoyed working with the masonite tombstone ATC bases from retro cafe art.
more spooky ATCs to come in the coming days.
love to all.

oh what a busy autumn season it is already!  much work and not enough art or blog hopping...
and i almost forgot to keep sharing my tombstone ATCs made for the swap at retro cafe art.  the swap is closed now so in a week or so i'll be receiving some ATCs from other players.  here are two more of the ones i made.


my base is one of the masonite tombstone bases from retro cafe.  i gessoed it, stamped it with script and added this image from gecko galz, a rather spooky little trick or treating girl.  i added some "scary words" and a black flower with a pearl.

i adhered hallowe'en themed designer paper to this masonite base, used another gecko galz image, a stick on raven, black pearls and black magic mesh.

more soon!  now i'm working on ATCs for yet another swap -- the eerie ATC swap at unrulypaperarts.  there is still time to join that one!

have a wonderful week; love to all.

here is a sneak peek at one of the tombstone ATCs i made for the retro cafe art hallowe'en tombstone ATC art swap.  the only criteria is to use the special masonite ATC bases available from retro art cafe and then whatever other spooky goods you wish.  the deadline to get the ATCs in is september 22 so there is still a bit of time if you want to participate.

for the swap you provide 4 tombstone ATCs.  i've made 6 total and will decide this week which 4 i'll mail off.  i won't share any more until after the swap is complete but i decided to share this one now as i'd like to also enter it in the drunken stampers challenge #96: "the birds."

details: i gessoed the tombstone base and stamped it with a french script stamp.  i distressed around the edges in black.  i used a torn scrap of designer paper from my stash.  the poe image and also the black wings came from a free collage sheet at retro cafe art.   i added a raven sticker of course!  it is a raised, textured sticker.  it is a sombre little creation!

this will be my first retro cafe art swap and i'm excited.  it isn't my first time joining the drunken stampers but i was recently pleasantly surprised to get their "life of the party" badge for participating in their last challenge.  thank you drunken stampers!

have a happy week; love to all.

this piece is for a challenge at the drunken stampers challenge blog: "think peach for endometrial/uterine cancer month." 
unfortunately there are too many in my world who are receiving treatment for various cancers.  i will send this card to one such person.  the stamp sentiment here is from penny black and it is stamped on origami paper (with cranes, for hope)  the background butterfly paper was a free sample from dover publications.  

enjoy; love to all.

i saw an awesome tutorial on making paper bead bobby pins at wendylynn's paper whims.  i seriously thought i would make some.  instead i visited her etsy shop and for a very reasonable price got some already made!
and while i was there could not resist this steampunk skull necklace for hallowe'en!

and let me tell you it is gorgeous in person. i'll take my picture wearing it later.  anyway, just wanted to share -- especially because the bobby pin tutorial is such a great idea and i still might get around to making some of my own!

love to all.

one of my favorite art teachers is carla sonheim.  i found her when looking for independent art teachers in my area. interestingly enough the class i took from her, a drawing class called "the art of silliness," was an online class and i've never actually met her even though we do live in the same city!  she is all about freeing yourself up, being silly, being happy, loving your artist within.   i continue to follow her blog and found this fun "animal in tape" tutorial. 


you start by randomly placing tape and then you examine your random placement for an animal hiding in there -- her blog post gives all the details.  on this first piece i don't think i quite followed her directions but i still had fun.  anyway i gave it a second go:


so yeah, silly indeed, but very enjoyable.  her post offered a wonderful invitation for playtime and today was a good day to play.  check out her blog post and her blog (there is also a giveaway...) and notice her book on my sidebar on the right.

happy week folks.  love to all.

today i'm playing along with another stampsmith challenge blog challenge -- the theme in august "anything goes" -- so long as you use at least one stampsmith stamp.  i used a stamp from the mj hopper set at stampsmith.


i love this stamp and enhanced the stamped image with colored pencils.  i used origami paper, fun tape and other goodies to create my card.  the creations by the stampsmith challenge blog DT are pure beauty and style.  and stampsmith stamps are gorgeous.  check it all out.

love to all.

hello friends.  here is another steampunk-inspired tag featuring an image -- steampunk cinnamon -- from the octopode factory.  i'm providing miss cinnamon in hopes of enticing you to play along with week two of the "steampunk" themed challenge at the cheerful stamp pad.



i colored the digital image with pencils.  i made my own tag with some stiff cardboard and covered it with paper torn from a pamphlet advertising a WWII airplane museum.  in this scan you can just barely see the simply drawn airplane designs in the background.  i added some old-style newsprint with a steampunk feel.  finally i attached a wheel image which i embellished further with a silver sharpie.

come on along and join the fun.  a randomly selected winner will get a treat from our challenge sponsor...:


i'll also mention that the company often offers freebies on their octopode blog.  you're a winner either way!
have a wonderful week.

love to all.

here's an ATC for the "whooo loves owls" challenge at wicked wednesdays. 

the gorgeous designer paper in the background was painted by an artist and was included in a giveaway package of goodies i received long ago.   the owl stamp is from gray wolf graphics; i stamped it and did some coloring with pencils.  the rest -- leaves, eggs, dragonfly, and words are various stash items.  i chose the words since owls are known for wisdom.  as mother goose said:

A wise old owl sat in an oak
The more he saw the less he spoke
The less he spoke the more he heard.
Why aren't we all like that wise old bird?

love to all.

every year about this time i make a deco-themed birthday card for a dear co-worker who loves that style.  here's what i made for her this year:


the main deco image was a free download from a lovely blog called artfully musing.  the music sheet "alouette" came from dezinaworld. the other simple embellies came from ye olde stash.

enjoy; love to all.

we've got one last two-week challenge at the cheerful stamp pad before we go on hiatus for the rest of the calendar year.  the challenge is steampunk and the challenge sponsor is the octopode factory.  octopode factory has some wonderfully fun and funky images and plenty of good stuff for steampunk creativity.

i made a tag featuring octopode's "steampunk siouxsie."  the beginning of this creation is the tag background which i made by creating a digital collage with images from a steampunk set from dezinaworld.    since the background was already pretty busy, i kept things simple with the digital image siouxsie and merely inked her with yellow distress ink and outlined her in red marker while giving some additional accents with colored pencils.  i gave her wings by gluing her onto a flat wooden yellow butterfly. i confess i had no idea how this would all turn out but it was fun to do.

once upon a time i loved seeing steampunk creations but was apprehensive as to whether i could also create in this unique and fascinating style.  i urge you to give it a try if you are new to it or, deliver your steampunk greatness if you are already experienced.  creating in this style seems to use a different part of your creative brain and it is wonderful play.  i hope some of you will join our challenge at the cheerful stamp pad.   and no worries -- we'll be back again with bi-weekly challenges starting in 2013!

love to all.

delightful orange is the colorful theme for the latest cheerful stamp pad challenge.  you have one more week to play along.  our challenge sponsor is lunagirl vintage images.  can you say "awesome?"  you will if you go check out their images.  a randomly selected winner will get some goodies from their shop.
i decided on a gothic arch for my week 2 DT creation.  to make the orange in this lovely lunagirl image pop, i cut my arch from some green designer paper.  the sheet was one i got in a giveaway some time ago and was hand painted or inked.  i picked embellies from my stash that had the same vintage feel and which kept the orange connection alive.  there's a bit of script tissue tape behind the image as well.
the color orange is bright and inviting my my view.  if you like it as well, please consider joining the challenge.

love to all.

at long last i am posting the gorgeous 3x3 "thrinchie"creations i received as a part of a recent swap sponsored by unruly paper arts.  the theme was garden party.  unruly paper arts is a blogozine dedicated to discovering the messy and magnificent in your art.  i was lucky to receive 3 pieces each from 2 artists whose blogs i've long admired.  and now i have their scrumptious art in my own inky hands!


the talented shar briss from ill tempered ink was the co-mastermind (along with ali manning from vintage page designs) behind the gingersnap creations blog, (no longer active) and is the founder of unruly paper arts.  she is also the owner of a wonderful vintage-inspired rubber stamp company rogue redhead designs.  the three thrinchies above are her work and the stamp featured in the center creation is a rogue redhead designs stamp.  gorgeous, yes?  truly.  but wait, there's more...



these three beauties are the work of another wonderfully talented and inspiring artist and blogger, trisha too of easily amused hard to offend.  i just love the name of her blog!  she designs for numerous companies and constantly posts lovely art.  i implore you to visit both their blogs if you aren't already a follower-fan because either blog could give your mojo a serious boost.

whew!  company is gone, the house is almost back to its regularly messy state and i'm feeling okay.
enjoy; love to all.

The newest challenge at the cheerful stamp pad is an invitation to use the color ORANGE.

our challenge sponsor is lunagirl.  oh my friends if you love vintage and victorian images visit this site and drool.   i used an image from the mucha 1 sheet by lunagirl.  as it turns out. orange was my late grandmother's favorite color -- along with gold.  so those were the card stock colors i chose for this piece.  the shininess of the gold piece doesn't really show in the scan but it is very sparkly.   the image itself is so beautiful that i kept this design simple and used minimal embellishments. 

i hope you enjoy this card and even more so i hope you will join the challenge!
love to all.

it is week two for the "give me five" challenge at the cheerful stamp pad. the challenge is to have an image that has a foot, a hand, fingers, paw, or claw. in other words, your image should show appendages or extremities. the challenge stays open until monday, august 6 at NOON.



our challenge sponsor is meljen's designs. they have lots of darling digis including the humpty dumpty image i colored with pencils and used for my DT card pictured above.  i layered it on two different designer papers and i loved that i had a paper that resembles a brick wall!  our DT team would love for you to participate. 
 
have a wonderful week; love to all.

happy birthday to dear beverly of pink saturday fame!

this is the beginning of a new two week challenge at the cheerful stamp pad: "give me five."  for this one show a hand, foot, paw -- you get the idea -- in your art.
our challenge sponsor is meljens digital designs.  a randomly selected winner will get some freebies from this fun company.  my frog is from meljen's designs.  i colored him with pencils, matted him on designer paper and added some bugs for him to eat.

have fun with our challenge! 
love to all.

i thoroughly loved making these 3x3 creations for the "garden party" themed art swap at unruly paper arts.  here are two more of the goodies i made.  i was also delighted this week to receive 6 in the mail in return for mine.  i have sweet family company this week and haven't had a chance to scan or photograph the gorgeous creations i received but i will get them posted some time next week i hope.

the fairies featured in my thrinchies came from dezinaworld.
i'm linking up to pink saturday.
and to passion parade friday.

love to all!