Last Night was a GREAT Night!

I finished work at 1:45 and by 2:15 I was deeply engrossed in art! I worked nonstop for hours. I totally lost track of time. It was sooooo great!!!! I didn't look up at the clock until my back started hurting and then realized I had been hard at work for 4 hours!

I had received the final altered book from that round robin. The theme seems to be oceans/beaches. Being an ocean lover this just called to me.

It actually arrived during my lunch break so I spent much of the rest of my work day mentally picking out stamps to use.

I began by painting the left page with acrylics. I then painted a piece of paper the same way to use on the right side. I wanted to preserve the photo of the woman holding the shell which is part of the book. I tore out the hole for this image to show, I wanted it to be a bit rough.

I then began stamping onto the painted pages. The moon and sun are stamped directly into the book. The moon is from Inkadinkado and the sun from Custer's Last Stamp. I used Prismacolor pencils so I could get nice, rich coverage over the paint.

I stamped the mermaid (JudiKins) on paper, colored her skin with pencils and then used Twinkling H2Os for everything else. I love the shimmer.

When I put her on the page she needed something....friends? So, I stamped the fish from Fred Mullet.

It is a real star fish in the bottom corner and some pearlized beads in the upper right.

After dinner, it was back to the art desk! I am participating in a Puffy Heart swap this month. We have to make 3 hearts. These were fun! I pulled from my scraps tucked into the cracks of my shelves! And I hit the button stash....I love buttons! I think my favorite is the one with the pink buttons. I had purchased that flower applique many years ago for a different project and then ended up not using it. I pull it out frequently but until now it just kept ending up back in the box. It looks so feminine.

Color Combos and True Colors

The Color Combo swap in the BadBaby group ended this month. A year of color combinations. I sent in 4 pages every month and kept one of my own for myself making a total of 60 pages! Plus the front cover I created for a whopping 61 pages!!!!

Below are a couple pictures of the finished book. The first is the book showing the front cover. This is as "closed" as it gets!

Here is a view from the top. Doesn't it have a lovely rainbow effect?

I used a Zutter Bind It All to hold it together.


I just began a True Colors journal round robin in the Eccentric Pastiche group. I received the first book today. The color theme is "blue". I didn't want to just do a totally blue page so after much thought I decided on bluebirds.

I had a sheet of heavy scrapbook paper with music on it. I painted the birds directly onto the paper using acrylics. I did each one individually and when I was done I put them side by side and found out the branches met exactly forming one complete branch....couldn't have matched them up that well if I had tried!

Below are close up photos of each bird.

Fabric Postcards!

Ok, so I gave in and joined the swap! What can I say, I am weak! LOL

The theme is "Flowers". I was going to paint some flowers on muslin and as I was browsing through my photos looking for ideas I thought....Why don't I just print some of my flower photos onto fabric? So, I did!

Isn't this pink rose beautiful? It grows in my front yard. I ran out after a light rain and captured the petals still covered with droplets.

As I have stated before, I love fall. So how could I not do a fall card? These sunflowers grow at the local pumpkin patch (Pheasant Fields Farm). I take lots of sunflower pictures every year. They are the only yellow flowers I like.

This tulip came up out of nowhere this past spring. We figure the bulbs must have been dormant for years and when we dug up the entire back yard and moved all the dirt around they got rejuvenated! Such a beautiful surprise!

On the first card I used cotton batting but on the other 2 I used a plain 4x6 index card as the stablizer. I think I like the feel of the card better but like the "quilt" quality the batting creates. I wonder which the post office will prefer.

Halloween is coming!

I have tons of Halloween stamps! This weekend I plan on getting ALL of them out and playing!!!!

As I was digging through my Fall/Halloween/Thanksgiving stamp box today, I came across these oldies but goodies.

The large skeleton is one I carved over 20 years ago. I challenged myself to fit a full skeleton onto a 2x3 inch carving block with as little waste as possible. (thus the odd pose). I stamped him with white pigment ink but it came out looking light and chalky so I drew over the lines with a silver gel pen then highlighted him with a white pencil.

The dancing skellies in the background have been living with me for a long time too. The block says 1988 PSX! They are stamped in Brilliance Cosmic Copper. Aren't they cute?

The stamped leaves are from Fiskars.

And finally, some leaf eyelets.

ATC #3

Here is my third Halloween ATC that was still drying last night when I posted the others.

I used another photo from one of my clip art cds. The web was drawn on by hand with a fine line sharpie.

The jack o lantern is part of a Stampin Up stamp. The woman is standing "in" the pumpkin but once I added her skirt (which is made of feathers BTW) it looks like he got a fright when he looked up her dress LOL

The woman is holding the spider by his web. The spider is also from Stampin Up.

It is almost FALL!!

I love Fall. The leaves, the brisk air and PUMPKINS!!!!!!
And I love the color orange (but only at this time of year LOL)

I would have pumpkins sitting around my house all year round if hubby would let me! Something about the shape. I have lots of artificial ones...ceramic, wood, plastic...you name it! And come fall, I wander happily through every pumpkin patch in the valley on my quest for the perfect pumpkin. I usually end up with at least 6 or 7 real pumpkins. A couple get carved into intricate works of art for Halloween but the rest get to live out their days being enjoyed in their natural state.

So, as we make our way to the first day of Autumn, I am in the mood to create!

I was flipping through the Holidays Somerset Studio and the Halloween bug bit.

I made 3 Halloween ATCs. Two are here, the third needed some extra goodies and is now drying.

On this first one, I stamped Martha Stewart's Halloween fence. I then stamped the ghost from Fiskars Halloween set. The tombstone is from Stampin Up and the pumpkin on the fence from Fiskars. These were both stamped on paper, cut out and glued down.

Boo! is from an ancient Inkadinkado set that is over 20 years old. It is attached with a bat eyelet.


Miss Spooky was fun. I printed her from a clip art cd. I used Distress crackle paint for the first time. It is the beige background color. It was much easier than doing traditional crackle but the cracks are a lot smaller than I expected. I'm not sure which I prefer...traditional or this new paint. I rubbed walnut distress ink over the cracks and that made them stand out a bit better.

The bats and "spooky" are both from Fiskars (I bought the set last year after Halloween and never got a chance to use it). The moon is from When the Rubber Hits the Road.

Fabric Postcards?

Fabric postcards seem to be the "in" thing right now. You can find them posted with tutorials on the web and lots of groups are now participating in swaps.

I thought I would give one a try.

This would have been much easier if my back wasn't hurting and I could have lifted my sewing machine up onto my desk. Instead mine is a combo of hand stitching and glue. But, since I really don't plan on mailing mine it didn't have to be that sturdy.

I stamped my image (Embossing Arts) on muslin using permanent ink and then colored her with pencils.

I then hand stitched the lace on her dress following some of the lines on the stamp.

I stitched this panel onto a blue background fabric and then glued the white lace around the edge.

I used a piece of chip board for my stablizer.

I finished it off with another piece of muslin on the back and a "stamp" created on muslin using my printer.

I am happy with the results and have a feeling that once I get that machine up on my desk I may be making more.

What to do with a Visor?!

I went to my company's picnic a couple months ago and among the goodies they gave us was this plain white visor.

Now, I rarely wear a hat and NEVER wear a visor. My hubby took one look at it and said, "you're gonna alter it aren't you?" He knows me soooo well LOL


I really wasn't sure what would work on a visor. I decided to try stamping with permanent ink. I was surprised at how well the ink adhered to the fabric surface. I then heat set the ink with my embossing gun just to make sure it didn't smear when I colored the images.

Next came the dilemma of what to use for color. I was going to use paint but sometimes, if the fabric is too porous, the paint will bleed. Plus, with a chipboard insert in the visor I wasn't sure exactly what would happen if it got too wet. I finally decided to try colored pencils. Hey, it was a free visor....I am not out any expense!

The pencils worked great! I was able to blend and shade almost as easy as if I had been using paper. I like the soft, watercolor effect they created.

I am still trying to decide if I want to add more to the brim but for now I am done.