Calendar Page

I am in a "swap" of sorts. Everyone involved makes a page for a calendar, the hostess then assembles them and we have this fabulous calendar filled with gorgeous artwork.

My month is September.

I wanted to use the colors I think of when I think of fall. Deep reds, golds, copper. The theme of the calendar is Fashion. So, since I do love asian themed stuff, I made an asian page.

I started with an 8x10 sheet of black paper. I sponged copper acrylic paint onto it. I next tore a striped sheet of autumn colored paper and glued it over top.

Now the pictures. With the theme of fashion I searched for Asian fashion models. I also used pictures of the Great Wall at sunset as well as the Temple of Heaven at sunset. Both show the rich golds I wanted as well as the clear blue skies I think of for fall.

And who else is the epitomy of fashion but Barbie! Here is Chinese New Year Barbie with her rich red dress. She has olive colored leaves behind her to help her stand out against the background.

Finally, the writing down the right side is actually the wrapper off a pair of chop sticks from some restaurant. I have had that wrapper so long I couldn't even tell you where I got it.

Something Different

Ok, I took a break from altering black balls. :-)

I am in a Jar Fairy swap on the badbabyart group. I have never made a jar fairy before, as a matter of fact, I have never seen a jar fairy before. But it just sounded fun.

So I sat and thought about it and the idea of snow kept calling to me (or maybe it was just that huge bag of fiberfil stashed in the corner). Either way, I wanted a Snow Fairy.

I found my "fairy" image on a Vintage Postcards photo cd. She was all bundled up in furs and a blue dress and was just perfect for the snowy environment I envisioned.

I created her wings from a butterfly. I printed them on transparency film.

My snow is the fiberfil that was calling to me with a frosted white, glass ornament and a couple glitter covered snowflakes.

I painted the lid rim white and covered it with white lace topped with blue ribbon. I left off the lid and inserted a piece of sheer white fabric instead. This lets light fall down on the fairy so she shows up better. Her backdrop is a photograph of the Swiss Alps.

I created the icicles on the outside of the jar using tacky glue and transparent ultrafine glitter. I will be cleaning that stuff up for years I am sure!

Below is a close-up of the fairy in her jar. It is tough to get a good picture shooting through the glass but this isn't too bad.

Still Another!!!!

Ok, so, this is number 4. You are now asking yourself, just how many of those balls did that company give her? Well... once I figured out that I could create something cool out of them, I asked around my unit if anyone wanted to get rid of theirs. I ended up with about a dozen!

So, another raffle, this one online to benefit gorillas. See: http://atomicwarbride.blogspot.com/

I covered the ball with torn strips of book pages from some book I altered years ago. (still had the leftover pages in my stash)

Once dry, I used brown chalk to "antique" the paper.

I stamped lots of images for this one. The photo stamps are from Oxford Impressions, the gibson girl, the pen and a couple of the keys are from NonSequitor and the rest of the keys and the locks are from Stampin Up.

Again, I used permanent ink. The keys were all stamped on tissue paper, I wanted it to appear as if I had stamped them directly on the ball (which is does). All others were stamped on printer paper, colored with pencils and Mod Podged onto the ball.

I used glossy Mod Podge to seal. I like using the glossy just because these balls seem to be like a paperweight and the glossy seems to help impart that feeling more (to me anyway) :-)

Below is a close-up of the top of the ball.

Another Ball!

We are having a charity raffle at work. Each unit in our building creates a basket full of goodies to raffle off. The theme for our basket is "All that Glitters". We are filling it with glittery, sparkly items.

I was asked by a team member if I would take her black ball (you know, the ones I mentioned earlier that every loves) and make it into some sort of glittery item.

Below is what I made.

I covered the entire ball with tissue paper. I then sponged on white and blue acrylic paints to create a sky. I painted white around the bottom for the snowy ground.

Using two different Stampin Up sets, I stamped snowmen. The snow covered pine was a stamp I received in a grab bag somewhere. I stamped them all with permanent ink, colored them with pencils and using Mod Podge, attached them to the ball.

I sealed the ball with a coat of glossy Mod Podge and, when it was dry, I added ultra fine glitter. (it is for the glitter basket after all). You really can't see the glitter in the picture but trust me, this thing is sparkly! As is my desk, keyboard, chair, floor and Tucker's piggies!!!!!

It really turned out nice (even though "glitter" is not my thing) I may have to make one to add to my snowman collection I put out every January.

I showed my altered ball to everyone at work and found out that very few people really wanted that black ball sitting on their desk. So, they donated them to me. :-)

I now have about 10 of them to play with. My friend Crystal said I could have hers on the condition that I decorate it for Halloween and give it back to her as a birthday gift (she was born on Halloween).

Below is her Halloween ball.

This mummy is one of my favorites. He is from Stampin Up. I just love their Halloween sets!


This moon is a brand new, I picked him up at a scrapbooking expo last weekend from a company called "When The Rubber Hits the Road". Isn't he great?

Love this witch, she is from the same set as the mummy. I thought she went great with the cauldren which was from another Stampin Up set I just got this year.

I have had this house for ages (at least 15 years) It is still a favorite! It was from PSX.

Below is the top of the ball. I hand drew the web (and made it all cock-eyed on purpose). I added the spiders hanging down just because I love that spider. :-)

Here it is, all done. It was difficult to get a good picture because of the glossy sealer.

It really looks nice sitting on my desk at work! :-)

Trash (?) into Treasure

At work they gave us this black ball. It is sort of like a "Magic 8 Ball" only it says things like "Innovative" and "In Charge" describing our company philosophy. It is shiny and black and sits on our desks. I have no problem with the company ideals but having a big black ball on my desk was just not "me".

Here is the ball.....before. heehee



I took it home and sanded it. I then covered it with a coat of gesso.

I enjoy using an Asian theme in some of my artwork. I took some of an old Chinese newspaper we picked up years ago in San Francisco, tore it into pieces and using gel medium, collaged it all over the ball. My ball probably tells all about some murder or bank robbery LOL

I stamped some of my favorite Asian images with Memories permanent ink and colored them with pencils.

I used Mod Podge to adhere the stamped images. I ended up adding some additional smaller dragonflies that are not in the picture above.

I then sealed the entire ball with glossy Mod Podge. That smell took me back to 6th grade when I took what they called a "mini-course" on how to decopage. :-)

Currently the ball is drying. I will take some pics once it is dry.

Tomorrow morning the ball will again be sitting on my desk. Only now it will fit in with all the other art on my desk. :-)

Mini Lunchbox Swap

I joined a mini lunchbox swap at the badbabyart group.

We bought the mini lunchboxes at Target in their dollar section.

We have to alter them, fill them with art supplies and then send them to the hostess to swap out.

I went with an Asian theme.

I had a Chinese newspaper I picked up on my last trip to San Francisco. I tore it into pieces and used Mod Podge to apply them to the sides of the lunchbox.

I painted the middle strip with Red Pepper alcohol inks and then dabbed gold paint over top.

I stamped a butterfly collage on the back and colored it with Sharpies.

On the front I applied a woman I stamped and colored with pencils. I then stamped the symbols using acrylic paints.

Halloween is just around the corner!

This past week I found some wood mask cut-outs at JoAnn's. They were 99 cents and then 40% off. What a deal!

I bought Frankenstein, Dracula and the Mummy.

I painted up the Mummy in the middle of the week and took it to work without taking his picture. Now I have to remember to either take my camera to work or bring it home for a photo.

Saturday I painted up Frank and the Count. You can see them below. They are heading to work with me in the morning. They will be great peeking over the edge of my cubicle.