So many projects.....so little time

I was in such an art/craft funk right after Christmas. I had no ideas and no desire to do anything.

Thankfully I found Gelatos and Gelli Plates.....and my Bad Babies!

These things have kept me sane and jump started my creativity again  :-)

The Bad Babies are really swapping up a storm right now!
Last week I shared my Arch shaped ATCs.

This week I joined a Postcard swap. We have to art up three 4x6 postcards and our theme is 'collage'. My mind was immediately full of ideas!  I created this first card within 24 hours of signing up. It was just screaming to get out of my head. lol

About 3 or 4 years ago I found an old photo album at an estate sale. It was full of pictures...family pictures, baby pictures, family vacations, new homes, new cars, camping trips... I asked the seller (an estate sale company was handling the sale) why the family didn't want it. He said had asked the same thing and none of the remaining family had any idea who these people were. How sad is that? So I scarfed it up for I think around $4 for about 100 photos (the album was a mess so I trashed it). When a project moves me I scan one of the pictures and give these people a new life. This happy couple looked like they had a story to tell (there were several pictures of them in the album).

I folded the photo, sanded the folds and then rubbed on some Distress Ink - Old Paper to give it some 'age'.

A month ago I was at another estate sale and found a box full of postage stamps from around the world and a stamp collecting album. We are talking thousands of stamps dating clear back to the 20s and 30s up through around the 70s or 80s. It is a huge collection. I picked it up for $5. I was excited about the stamps, I use them all the time in projects. What thrilled me even more were the packets of letters I found in the bottom of the box when I got home. Letters from the 40's and mostly from WWII. An air force man name Bob stationed in Great Britain writing home to his family. I have not had a chance to read them yet but this letter jumped out at me with the heading My dearest 'Polly'. I scanned and printed the letter (which appears to be written on a vellum paper) and I decided this woman in the photo is Polly standing happily beside her Bob.

I saturated the letter with water then dripped on some Walnut Stain.

The British stamps are also from this bundle, the Love stamp is from my prior stash.

I wanted this card to feel like these items were maybe all stashed away in a drawer together.

 
A few days later I created postcard number 2. I went in a totally different direction for this one.

I applied gesso to my card then painted the background with Gelatos.
I stamped the woman (Stonehouse Stamps) and colored her with watercolor pencils.
I dug through my stash of Japanese paper scraps and found this gorgeous paper that matched my background colors beautifully. I cut it into strips and used Mod Podge to glue it down creating a magical tree line. Lastly I used torn pieces from a Chinese newspaper I picked up in San Francisco on a vacation in 2007 (it was thankfully a huge Sunday edition and will last me many more years lol) I wanted the newspaper to create the illusion of ground.
Finally I added the Chinese lantern stamp.

I have until June 15 to get my third card done. I don't think I will need that long. :-)


And of course I had to pull out a Gelli Plate this week.

I own 3 plates...the 3x5, the 5x7 and the 8x10.
I finally opened up the 8x10 and gave it a try.

Let me start with....I love my Gelli Plates. I have so much fun combining color and get a thrill with how unexpected each print is.
This was my first time using the 8x10 and although I love the results I think the 5x7 is my favorite and this is why....
My art desk, although quite large (about 10x30), holds a lot of items like my computer/monitor, 2 Cricut machines, several cups full of pens and pencils, towers of stamping inks, stacks of art journals, a land line Mickey phone and a box of tissues. My actual work space ranges from 36x20 to 24x20 depending on how clean my space is at the time lol
To use the 8x10 I had to move out to the dining room table which means finding newspaper to cover it, hauling out all my supplies and battling Minnie who claimed the table as her domain years ago.
I spent more time is set up, tear down and moving a cat out of the way than I did printing.
Although I liked the results I think I will reserve this plate for when I know that I need a large project and stick with my 5x7 that I can use on my art desk.

But, here is what I did (well part of it)
I tried fabric printing for the first time. I had a project in mind so I needed to print up the fabrics.

I have no idea why the background fabric looks pink, I was using muslin...and I photoshopped the crap out of this picture and still can't get the muslin to look off-white. Oh well lol

I used a pink paint for the base print and then a turquoise and green blend for the top print. I then stamped the fish (Fred B Mullett's Big Pompano) in white paint. Obviously I had issues lining up my prints lol

Here I printed a turquoise layer first and then a lilac layer on top. I stamped the fish with black paint (Fred B Mullett's Menpachi and Silver Salmon) and again color issues, the black looks almost red. No clue what was up with my camera lol

And my last fabric print of the day

Just one layer of blue and yellow (which created some green areas when brayered). I used embossed papers and scoring tools to create the patterns.

Now onto the project I envisioned before I printed.

Let me start with.....I NEVER carry a purse! Can't stand them. When I was growing up I watched my Mom haul around this huge purse and my dad and all of us kids would constantly be either asking for something from it or asking her to carry something in it for us as we did not want the burden of carrying it ourselves. I swore I would never have that happen to me.

However, when I go on vacation I like to have my camera with me and a place to carry small treasures I might pick up.
This little tote is 8 inches wide and about 9 inches tall. It has an over the shoulder/cross body strap so my hands stay free. It easily holds my camera, a package of tissues (darn allergies) and will have room for postcards, ephemera or other small goodies I might find.

I used the other fish print for my back fabric. I heat set both panels with an iron so it won't be fading anytime soon.

Now I just need a vacation!  :-)

Happy Crafting and have a wonderful week.

Sometimes I surprise myself

It seems like it has been ages since I have been here but it really was just a month ago. (which is much longer than I like but...)

I felt like I just hadn't done anything so why bother dropping in and yet when I downloaded the pictures from my camera (I take pics as I work and/or complete things) I found 38 photos! Don't worry, I am not going to post ALL of them on here.....just a lot of them lol

I have been all over the place with my projects these past weeks. Partially due to new supplies (Gelli Plates and Gelatos) and partially due to missing Kitty and stress from work. I don't seem to stay very focused but obviously I was more focused than I realized HaHa

I am still in LOVE with Gelatos! How can you not be in love with paints that give you such rich and luscious color?

Here is a journal page that I have been working on when ever the mood strikes. I don't know if it is done yet but I love how it looks.

I have not Photoshopped this picture. The colors really are that rich and vibrant! And they blend so easily with just your finger and a dab of water!

I love this stamp. He comes from Abracadabra. It is hard to tell but I rubbed a little color under him as a shadow. I ended up rubbing on a bit more after the photo but was too lazy to grab my camera again. Shame on me.

I am having a blast experimenting with Gel Medium as well. This photo depicts the upper right corner, the upper left and the bottom right.
In the upper right I stamped first then applied the Gel Medium so it looks like you are looking through bubbles at the stamp image. The upper left I used the lighter blues and teals then added the gel and went over it with pinks and darker blues so the lighter colors show in the squares. I did the same on the bottom right with greens and yellows and then orange over top. I love seeing the bottom layers of color through the gel shapes.

But fear not, I have not abandoned my Explore lol

Our anniversary is coming up and I wanted a cool card for Hubby.
This comes from the SVG Cuts Hearts Aflame set.
Isn't that matchbook just the cutest?!
I used the Heartstrings paper pack from Close To My Heart. Everything but the yellows came from that set. Such gorgeous papers. I had purchased 2 packs and they are now gone and I am wishing I had bought more!

Here is what I made with the rest of the papers.

 

It is a Waterfall Folio. I plan on using it as a mini scrapbook for our mini getaway. I usually do some sort of scrapbook for our anniversary trips but since last years book is only about half done I figured I better set up something super easy to do for this year (having 2 books going is not something I want to deal with lol)

You can watch the tutorial for the folio here. They are super easy and make great gifts.


And of course, I am still using my Gelli Plates at least a couple times a week. I find it to be very relaxing after a stressful day at work.
I will not bore you with pictures of the tons of prints I have made. You're welcome. LOL

But I wanted to share a before picture with you.

I printed a couple tags.

Now obviously I knew you could print on tags. You can print on pretty much anything you want lol  But I wanted to see if I would like printed tags and if they would inspire me to make anything with them.

I have to say, the springtime ideas are flying around my head already for the green one and I know the red one will become some fabulous project for fall or Halloween.

Stay tuned for after pictures....eventually.  :-)

And lastly.....yeah yeah I am finally getting toward the end. :-)

I joined a swap. I haven't swapped with any groups in a long time. The last few times were not good experiences and resulted in me spending lots of time creating wonderful projects just to have the people I was swapping with keep my stuff and never send anything back. It made me swear I would never swap again.

BUT the BadBabies are back and swapping again! I am so excited! I have missed those people!!!

I signed up for an Arched ATC swap. All the cards have to be Arch shaped. Now being the bad baby that I am I took some leeway with the 'arch' shape lol

I had to make 6 cards, I ended up making 7 because I decided to keep one of them lol

 
I used a Gelli print for the interior of her head. See, I actually use my prints. :-)

 
Ha! Look at that! Another Gelli print! AND the houses are masks I used in one of my prints. I liked how they turned out better than I liked the print lol

 
Back to my roots....Asian stamping. I love this stamp, she comes from Stamp Magick. The kanji says Health.

 
This dragonfly is from UpTown Stamps. The lettering is from the CTMH Curlicue Alphabet D1630. The background is colored with Gelatos.

And looky there! Another Gelli print. I cut it into strips to make the nest. The bird is from the Cricut Winter Frolic cartridge. I cut him in white cardstock and then painted him.

All the 'arch' shapes were cut with my Explore from various cartridges.

And lastly, #7, the one I decided to keep.

Minnie is from the Nifty Fifties cart. I cut her in black and then painted on her white features. The Explore actually cut the eyes! I am still amazed at how intricate this thing can cut. Those eyes are less than a 1/16" of an inch tall!
The pillow is from Create a Critter.
She is decked out with rhinestones on her crown and collar. :-)

She thinks she is so regal.

This is the picture I put on the back of the ATC with the caption "As we see her". 
My crazy girl! :-)

Well, that wraps it up for this post. If you made it this far...Thank you!

And if you didn't well then I guess you missed out lol

Wishing everyone a wonderful week and Happy Spring!!!