Another mixed media and happy mail

Well I managed to get to the library and dropped some art off and I can't tell you how excited and proud of myself for seeing my art displayed on the library walls. It was so exciting. I can't thank all my blogger friends enough for believing in me, nourishing me with their knowledge in art and encouraging me and inspiring me to try new things. 

On that note, here is a little mixed media canvas I did  Monday night to take in and this will be displayed by my profile page the library was going to do to introduce who I am. I call this "Discover" it has special meaning to me, I am discovering my drawing abilities. I am discovering I am an artist. I am discovering I have boundless creativity. This drawing has been in my sketchbook for quite a while and I finally broke free and applied colour to it and I am so happy. This piece is not for sale but I told them at the library that I will do some on request or something similar that no two pieces will ever be the same. Mixed media is not a big thing here yet, seems  in my area things take a long time sometimes years to become popular.

 And I am so excited to receive Happy Mail from my blog friend Tee over at The Altered Paper.

As you recall from a previous post that Tee and I did an easel ATC swap. Neither Tee nor I had done such an ATC before and we both tackled it. I really like them and I see Tee does as well.

Below is a little altered notebook that ties at the side with a pretty image, I will probably tuck this into my purse for those times I need to make a note of something. The tag is a little beach them with cute shells and fish on it. Tee has added some glitz to it here and there. Click on any of the pictures to get a larger version to see all her details

 Here is the ATC easel card and a lovely little envelope it was tucked inside. Isn't that the cutest bird and girl. Tee you did a wonderful job on this. It is going to be displayed on my corner cabinet in the living room.

Next up is a bundle of tea, a Marie ATC and at the bottom are scrabble tiles altered with scrap paper then I think Glossy Accents applied and a magnet on the back. Such a cute idea. They will be put to good use. 

And here is Marie with her hair flipped up and Oh La La underneath, isn't that clever?

 

Last but not least a cute little organza bag filled with lovely flowers and goodies and some papers and a personal note from Tee that really touched my heart. Thank you so much Tee for the lovely swap.♥

I am finishing up a couple swap items then I am back to painting. I finished up 4 snowmen heads for wreaths (did I tell you that already?) and on to more projects. If I disappear for any length of time you know where I will be but I will try to pop in now and again. I am signing up for another craft show tomorrow so now I have 2 to look forward to.

Thank you for dropping by and never quit discovering what you are capable of doing.

♥♥♥

Paint but mostly paper

OK now that I have your undivided attention. As I told you a few weeks ago I wanted to get an early jump on my fall painting for craft shows. Well I had good intentions and I have been painting a bit but I got a little sidetracked. Sometimes I can't  help myself and I am drawn back to either paper or mixed media.

So here I will show you what I have been up to and will explain along the way. 

First up, another sign with houses on it for sale this fall, think I will do a few more of these and try to put the word Welcome along the bottom. This was a fun and quick pattern to do. I love these signs from the Dollar store although they were 2 dollars but hey, saves buying, cutting and sanding. Price of wood these days this is a good deal as far as I am concerned.

This picture looks a bit bright so you can't see the shading around the edges of the wood and I  shade a lot. Some patterns do not call for shading and if I see something I want to shade, I go for it. I love shading and detail. Just the artist in me I guess.

  Next up is a chunky ATC. I have seen these around blog land and on sites but never tried one. We all know that the standard paper size for ATC's is, 2 1/2x 3 1/2, which this is, but ,it is made out of a cut 2x4. I am not sure why they call them 2x4's because they really aren't if you happen to measure them, which I did ,and, to my luck it was only 3 1/2 inches in width. Anyways I covered the wood block with torn dictionary pages. Painted with washes  of acrylic paint. I stamped some designs using Stazon and added some white gel pen accents. This angel is a recent mini drawing I did. I painted her mostly with watercolours but her face is done with Prismacolour pencil crayons the Suzi Blu way. I have a lot of drawings in my sketch book, some are favourable for art some are not but it is all a learning process for me. I have found if I trace these drawings onto regular white paper as described in Suzi's book, Mixed Media Girls, I lose some of the proportions so I am scanning the images then colouring them. It is still my original drawing but the fun part is I can also make them any size I want. This Chunky ATC is still a WIP but I wanted to show you my progression. 

 And another one of my sketches, I applied to a canvas board background using a faux batik technique I found on Pinterest. You put glue onto the canvas, let it dry. Paint using a minimal number of colours, I chose my fav summer colours this year, lime green and turquoise and the white is the original canvas colour. Then when paint has dried peel up the glue. I added dots with my stylus and white acrylic paint. The large dots are glue and the smaller dots are stylus. This was fun. I just love the background, you should try this. And I did the same thing with the girl except I found in my stash come nice paper for her dress, real lace for the collar cut to fit. Grunge letters I coloured with complimentary colours. I may still bling them up with Stickles, not sure yet. This girl is going somewhere, but I can't say to whom or where yet....it is a secret.

 Another canvas board skinny. I painted her hair with watercolour and just dropped in a tiny bit of blue here and there. This is computer paper I did the girl on so I couldn't soak the paper like w/c paper but I got the job done. I used stencils, acrylic paint, marker, paper, pencil crayons, texture paste so this is truly mixed media and I have so enjoyed it. I found the word "Fraulein"in the dictionary, it jumped out at me,  so,I cut it out and put it on her dress. Rubbed some metallic paint over it to tone down the white paper then traced around it with white gel pen. So much fun. I am in a trade with a girl from Eastern Canada and she got Suzi's book but has not done much drawing yet so I hope I can inspire her to do some more. Once you let go and say I can do this....you will be amazed at what you can accomplish. I know I did. This is not part of our trade just an added something. 

 And I am also into these ATC easel cards. I made a few of them and just can't stop. Mona is printed on canvas paper to give it a more artistic feel. I cut out a frame from black c/s and ran through my Cuttlebug, then I inked it with gold ink heavily. then I made the easel and thought more about what to do. 

See that mini paint brush...I made that. I used a round tooth pic, cut a bit off one end, I cut a tiny piece of foil  duct tape for around the ferrule, then I cut an old paint brush and use the hairs, the brush was toast anyways and I reused the bristles, added some glue then wrapped the tape tightly around and the hairs are in there good. I found some paper gears, and then I looked for a hand charm and glued that on to make it look like Divinci just completed Mona. Behind Mona is a dictionary quote. Oh love how this turned out. Someone is getting this and if she comes by for a visit don't look Amy......

 and here is a close up of the bottom. This took some thinking but I pulled it off and I am so pleased. 

Oh and a bit of news...I was called this week from the librarian of our small local library which I frequent every 3 weeks and have been asked to be their artist of the month. Now this came about because the library organizes the craft show in the community and I left my name, blog addy to check out my work. 

Well the craft show is filled up but they would like me to bring in some artwork of mine to showcase it for this month. Now this month is almost over but hey I am willing so why not. Who knows someone may want to buy or get a look at what I make. I am a little excited

Yippee Skippee dance here.

Well I have some snowmen on my table that are almost done...big BBQ on Sunday with my MIL and it is supposed to be hot and humid again. 

Have a wonderful weekend and thanks for stopping by

♥♥♥

Take a peek

A blogger friend of mine, Tee over at the Altered Paper, received a swap I sent her and in my haste I did not take pics to show on my blog so if you care to take a peek over at her blog just click on her link.

I have not received Tee's swap yet but when I do I will be showing you.

http://creationsbytee.blogspot.com/2012/08/easel-atc-trade-goodies.html?showComment=1345255354260#c388212142543978472

I found in my blog travels ATC easel cards. They are so much fun to make. I emailed Tee to show her and gave her a link to how to make them and then we decided we would do a private trade. I made her 2 even tho we were only to make 1, but, I can't usually stop at one of anything. When I get on a roll I go for it.

I will be trading soon with another blogger friend, Amy Jo, and you never know what will be in the works. Our theme is Divinci inspired for an ATC and the tag we are swapping also is game or game piece inspired.

So between my painting which is going on rather slowly I enjoy stopping and playing with paper now and again.

I also am feeling a little blue as of late. My Auntie Lesley is not doing very well. I pray for her but there is no more the doctors can do . I am so blessed to have met her in person and talked to her over the years on the phone. The miles are too far when it comes to these hard times. I hope she knows I am thinking of her and love her very much.

PS did you notice I have a little buddy on my blog now???? Isn't she the cutest?.Looks like my fat Rosie, as a matter of fact, Rosie will stay with you and follow you around and make sure you feel at home while visiting my blog.

TTFN, ♥♥♥

Did you know?-Tissue Tape tutorial and happy mail

I know I started a "Did you know" idea back in the fall then I sort of dropped it while I was scrambling to do my craft shows but I got thinking the other day, I am going to try to do a tutorial or lead you to info that you may not already have or to refresh your creative mind, we can always use a little help now and again.

Today I want to say....Did you know?... you can make your own tissue tape??? well you may have  or maybe just never bothered, but, once I show you how easy it is and how little materials you need you will be happy I showed you this.

Here in Canada Tim Holt's tissue tape is very pricey and I do like Ranger products, don't get me wrong, but, I find sometimes you are limited when you buy some of these things and can only use things on grunge projects or not so feminine looking things. Well, I have some great news, you can make your own tissue tape, just enough for a special project, or, you can make some to have on stash or just make some blank ahead of time when you need to  make that card in a hurry and you need a little pizazz.

OK enough gab about it...here we go....

All you need is double sided tape, I buy mine at the dollar store and you can get different widths, this size is about half inch and I got 3 rolls for under 2.00, tissue, you can use dressmakers tissue, gift tissue or even a nice napkin with a pattern on it, tissue comes in a variety of colours or just use white and you can see how quickly you can transform it. You may need ink, stamps, scissors and that is it.

Not sure why but my picture loaded sideways, but you get the idea, the green card stock is just for a contrast in colour so you can see the tissue.

 Roll your tape onto the tissue, try to keep it straight and the paper smooth, if you do get a few wrinkles, it just adds a bit of texture to the final result. Make as many strips as you like so you have some on hand in a hurry. If you look a the bottom of this picture you will see I left a little tissue overhanging, that is so it makes it easy to peel back the backing of the tissue tape, you can trim that bit off after you adhere to your card or project and tidy it up.

 Now trim the sides of the excess tissue.

Next I had made my own shamrock stamp for another project and I am in another swap for March so I made my partner some tissue tape for our Shamrock theme. Before I stamped the tissue, I just lightly inked the tape, don't worry if you don't get the inking perfect, it adds interest. Next stamp your stamp. I have made some tissue tape in a collage style using numbers, small clocks etc. Try anything, it really is fun and quick.

 And below is the tissue tape that I stamped on the left and the middle and right side are napkins. Remove both layers of that white fine paper from you napkin and you may want to press the napkin with an iron or just lay it out and place your tape on the opposite side of the design. Trim and you are good to go. Remove the backing and place carefully onto a card or altered project.

I hope you enjoyed this little tutorial....Did you know?.....you can make your own tissue tape for a fraction of the store cost and you can make it more suitable to your theme.

After I made the Shamrock tape, I took a gel pen and just outlined the shamrocks, made them pop a bit.

  And below I want to share a beautiful Spring theme ATC I received from a long time follower of my blog,   Amy Jo from Art from the Heart. Around Christmas time we decided we wanted to swap art and well the holidays are always a busy time of year and lately we have both been saying how we are anxiously waiting for spring. So we decided to do an ATC in the theme of spring. I received this lovely ATC and below the pic is the backside just as beautiful as the front. I wonder how she knew I love sunflowers, they are my favourite. I also had a pic of the goodies Amy sent along but the pic was sideways and I wasn't going to leave posting.

Thank you Amy and I hope you get my little package soon. I hope you like it.

Til next time friends. I am working on a little whimsy faces booklet for my dear Aunt in England. I just need to work on the pages and it will be done soon.

If anyone has any great quote sites that makes one smile or makes one feel good on a not so good day, could you please let me know. I would like to add some sayings or quotes to my little book.

Thanks all for dropping by.

♥

A couple ATC's

Hello friends,

No I haven't disappeared off the face of the earth, just been doing a bit of catch up and sort of laxing on the creativity. You know when you sit down and you do something and later it doesn't seem like you accomplished much??? I have been kind of like that, although I did get all my ATC backgrounds done and sent off to Jenxo in Australia for the background technique swap. I can't wait to see what comes out of that trade. I did 4 backgrounds to add to our books. Wooohooo

And I had to redo my February matchbox for Jan in the UK. Apparently when I went to the PO last week the girl filling in put the code UK in the computer and said oh this is going to the Ukraine? I said no, it is going to United Kingdom, England. Apparently our great Postal system says the UK is Ukraine and GB is Great Britain but all this time when I have sent things out it went to England, but, Jan did not receive my first matchbox and it has been long overdue, usually things get to the Great Britain (UK) in about a week or just under, faster than our friends below us in the US (United States). LOL

I seem to have to clarify where things are going in case someone from our Postal system reads this, and of course I did not save my receipt after one week because I have never had a problem before til now. So Lesley is out postage.

Oh well, on to other things.

And, I have been sketching, no I don't have any more to show you today but yesterday I took a book from the library that I have here at home and saw these sneakers so I had to tackle it. It was very detailed and I think, if you know me, that is what attracted me to it was all the detail. I am a detail person and well I was quite pleased with the end result, another day for sketches, I didn't want to bore you all with them.

And...I am doing an ATC swap with another blogger who has been following me for quite some time, and I am not sure if she will be looking so I won't mention any names yet. I am doing a matchbox swap as well for March and so who knows where these or which one is going where.

I love the fairy ATC, I added some wired music wings to her and crackle painted the gate behind her. Added some flowers with Stickles,I really like how this turned out. The fairy is raised up off the card with some foam tape. She turned out better than I expected....I wonder where she is flying off to next???

This one is titled " In my Garden"

 And this card is called Migration. I used K and Company scrap paper, the background is a faded map of North America, the bird is from the Graphics Fairy, thanks Karen, the word "migrate" is from a dictionary I use when I want definitions in my art, some burlap and I had a shrink plastic wing charm that I wired through the burlap. Birdie is migrating to somewhere, I wonder where.

I haven't made too many ATC's of late and I really enjoyed it. I really think mine out, they don't just happen over night...it is a rather long process with me, sometimes too long.

Well I have several projects in the works, one is going to take quite a while as I am designing it for the Gecko Galz Guest Artist spot in August.

Another project I am working on is an altered tin with an accordion book inside, I  get a newsletter from Paper Whimsy and Nancy Maxwell James has done it again. My book is going to be a bit different but that is what I like about art, you make it how you like with the help of inspiration by others willing to share their ideas.

Well that is it of now my dearies.

TTFN

♥

ATC Technique Book

Hi everyone, winter has finally reared it's ugly head. Once again we had freezing rain then turned to snow. The ground is white now and more to come.

I have been doing a few arty things but this is not what this post is about.

I want to guide you over to Jenxo's blog and read her post about the ATC Technique book.

A few years ago Jenxo and I moderated a beginner ATC group and Jenxo came up with the idea to make a little book of techniques. People would sign up and say which technique they would do with a description on the back as to how to do that technique. It was a huge hit. If there was 10 of us you make 10 of the one technique you signed up to do.

We sent our ATC's to Jenxo, she made the front and back covers with techniques of course then sent everyone a book back with the ball chain and holes in the book. I am not sure she is planning on doing that part for any newcomers to this but anyways I am directing you over to her post and you can read all about it there. It is nice to have techniques on hand when you need some inspiration or are stuck in your muse, which happens to all of us at one point or another.

Jenxo has started up the idea to add to the existing books we have or you can sign up and start one of your own. Depending on how many sign up you will get that number back.

So go read, sign up, and you will be so surprised at how many techniques are out there.

Til next time....stay crafty

♥

More items for craft show

Hi there, paints flying and a bit of ink too.

These are some ornaments I painted using an e-pattern I got from my friend Marie over at Marie's Country Woodcrafts. Marie does beautiful painting and cuts her own wood. Thanks Marie, these were fun, quick and cute to paint, love that snowflake brad.

 And these are Cyndi Combs Santa 6" Clothespins used for notes, recipes etc. These were fun, love the curly beards

 And this is a Halloween swap I received from Donna my partner from the Altered Paper Halloween swap hosted by the wonderful Tee. Donna sent me these 2 lovely ATC's along with the fab little envies she made to tuck them inside and some wonderful ephemera for other projects. If you drop by Donna, thanks so much, I love them and making ATC's were fun, haven't done that in ages. I really miss it.

 And over at Bella Creations there was a challenge to stamp on a non paper surface, so since I am going key chains for the scrapbook store and maybe a class in October I thought why not kill 2 birds with one stone and make a challenge and stock up. I used alcohol inks, StazOn inks, images,rub ons and an Asian image I had in my stash. Any time I can do anything oriental I do.The STazon really doesn't like the alcohol inks so I had to stamp after I did the AI as it made the StazOn bleed. The Dream key chain I actually stamped then used a permanent marker to make it really black. I used Stream, Lettuce, Cranberry and Butterscotch AI's to colour these. I like the translucent effect from the rub ons on top of the colours. I hope I am able to sell a few of these, they are fun and so useful.

And one final picture to show you. My dear hubs is a great photographer, he often takes pics of the yard which he is quite proud of, he loves it outdoors and gardening, a real natural green thumb. Anyways to my surprise he took these morning glories the other day along the rail fence near the veggie garden, I just love that blue.

Til next time, thanks for dropping by and as always I love to hear your comments. I can't always drop by your blogs and some I do and don't leave comments but I will be back in action soon.

Take care and be creative.

Weenie ATC's and more ornaments

The paint is flying but every once in a while a piece of paper distracts me and I have to get the scissors out and play. Over at the Altered Paper Tee is having a Halloween ATC swap. I generally don't do Halloween but this time I had a play with the Gimp program, made my own images then put them to use on my ATC's for the swap. I have a die for the CB and made this distressed fence, placed an Eco shape crow from Artchix on it then place my 2 witches with the moon behind them in a bottle cap and applied it with GA.

The 2nd image is a girl with zetti striped leggings sitting on her pumpkin with her witchy hat. So cute and fun. I am loving Gimp but lately haven't been devoting time to it much as painting is keeping me busy.

 Speaking of painting....here is an ornament that was fun but I sure need practise with my fur on the coat. This design was in the last issue of Painting the ornament issue and I just had to paint it. Thank goodness hubs is patient at the scroll saw, he is doing all my cutting for me right now. Yeah....

 The next 4 ornaments are painted on scrapbook paper. You can see the blue paper behind the snowman, the Santa coat is actual paper. I cut the shape of the ornie out of a cereal/cracker box, covered both sides with scrap paper. If the paper was double sided I chose the opposite sides for the back. I then painted the designs according to the directions. I have been painting for years and I realized I love painting on paper. The will make great little tree ornies and you could also use them as gift tags and the recipient could then hang them on the tree so it is quite useful. And...this year I bought Diamond Dust glitter and ooooo I just love the sparkle it has when the light hits it. So different than the usual glitter, it is actually made of ground glass. I have to take precautions when I use it so little Rosiecats doesn't get any on her paws.

 More glitter and glitz. You can't see the Joy on the hymn book but it is there in gold gel pen.

And the little green branches on the angel wings are a stamp I used.

 And this little fella is from an old paint book I have had for ages. I used chipboard to make the window instead of wood, I sealed it well, painted it and then put this all together. As you can see I took the pic outside, I don't have a tree set up yet to take ornament pics so it was a bit bright out today but you get the idea.

And today hubs cut out more ornaments for me so I have another pile waiting on my desk. I should have them done by next week as long as nothing stops me in my path. If I could and didn't require sleep I would paint during the night then I could have all day to do my usual day stuff. Oh well I work it in when I can.

Thanks for dropping by, see you next time.



Got some catching up to do

Hello my dear friends,
I can't believe how quickly the summer is passing by. The leaves are starting to change colour. I hate to say it but I have even had my flannel PJ's on a few nights when the temps have dipped.
The garden is still producing tomatoes and we still have to harvest potatoes, squash and herbs but there is still lots of time to do that.
I have been getting busy for a couple craft shows and doing a bit of painting and trying to tie loose ends up for a couple of swaps.
Today I am going to show you a few things I have had done and some matchbox swaps and ATC's I have received. Nothing like getting fun mail, it's like Christmas at my house. Sometimes I set the box on the table and stare at it like I am waiting for the clock to turn to the actual correct time, not that any time is more or less correct, sometimes I can't wait to tear the box open, it all depends on how eager I am to rip it open. Most of the time I do just that and I am just dazzled lately at what the generous folks I have traded with have sent me.
Here is a beautiful matchbox from Miss Peach who sent me this in the theme of  " My Favourite Things" over at the FlickR group Monthly Matchbox swap. We were to find out our partner's favourite things then decorate and then fill her box with goodies she could use and like. Miss Peach made me this wonderful Oz Cabinet Card as I truly love the Wizard of Oz. I could watch that movie over and over. I even have the tape here at home to watch whenever I please. Not sure hubs would care for it that often but it is I would say my favourite movie. And I also like butterflies so Miss Peach made this box and inside was this beauty encased. Miss Peach said this was stuck to a grill of a truck or car and it is preserved so perfectly. Now it has travelled all these miles to Canada and I will keep it here safe and sound. And look at all the goodies she sent me as well. Thanks Miss Peach. This next month I have her name so I will be posting a pic of her matchbox but the pic was blurry so I have to retake it .

Next is a matchbox I got from JoScraps over at the Vintage Dragonfly's Grandma's Attic swap. We were to make a vintage type of matchbox and use mostly vintage items. Jo certainly filled this box and then some. Take a look at the flowers, the card and all the goodies inside. Even the string is vintage. And I just love that beautiful antique image in the frame. Thanks so much Jo. I hope you feel better soon, sounds like you had a rough summer.

Next are a couple Teacup themed ATC's I did a trade with Wendy from BlissAngels. We started this trade before the Canadian Postal strike so that delayed us sending back and forth. I did finally get these ATC's.

Well after the postal strike and they seemed to have sat at the Customs Office for over a month. Now they are here for me to enjoy with Wendy's cute little fairy children sitting in their teacups. Thanks Wendy, they are wonderful.

And finally here are my bird canvases I had mentioned a couple posts ago and a fairy canvas I just made for someone special.

I used the TH birdcage die and embossed and painted to make them look old and worn.

I have used a canvas on the back with layers of cheesecloth and lace. I painted them with burnt umber, black and metallic bronze paint slip slapped all over.

I used corrugated cardboard with the top layer ripped off and then painted with antique white slip slapped for a worn look as well. The more rustic the better and I wanted to keep a nature theme going. I also used some burlap at the bottom corners underneath the words. I had the birds from a card or something in my stash so I could finally use them. I think these would look nice in a sun room on the wall or even a bathroom if you have a nature theme going on.

And here is the most recent canvas I created using another die cut birdcage but I cut it to make an arbor for this little fairy. The top piece on the canvas is chipboard painted with cheesecloth and antique white paint then I took a touch of Timberline green on the corner and just brushed it here and there around the edges just to add a bit of colour and going with a theme of nature again, green brown. the top of the arbor is a brad that I found in my stash with the prongs removed or just gone so it fit nicely there.

I used some fungi images I believe are from the Graphics Fairy, some butterflies, roses I made and a rolled canvas flower I added some distress stickles to. All in all this turned out better than I expected and I hope that I will surprise one of my recent swap partners.

Well that is it. I hope you haven't fallen asleep. I will try to post a bit more regular now.

I won't be doing much swapping or paper crafts as I need to concentrate my efforts on painting for my craft shows.

And....I am looking for glass glitter, clear so that I can use it on some paper painted ornaments for Christmas. If you have a resource you can share with me that is economical could you please comment or email me. I am looking for some but I know a lot of you peeps may have better resources than I do or can find.

Thanks for dropping by.

Always love hearing from you.

~♥~

Inkurable Stampers ATC swap

I got some wonderful mail yesterday, I have been patiently waiting for these due to the Canadian Postal strike was on and now these babies are in my hot little hands, all the way from Down under. Sara our gracious host set up a swap for the theme in Black, White and Orange. Were were to make 10 ATC's all the same and then send them to Sara to exchange and send them back. Well I was pleasantly surprised to see all the variations in the cards and such lovely work I must say.

I even got a few ATC's from blogger friends I have been following for a while and a couple I have swapped with in groups.

So without further adu here are the cards I received. We got one of our own cards back to mine is the slide with the butterfly scene. Thank you ladies for the lovely ATC's and a special thanks to Sarah for making this happen.

Thanks for dropping by.

I have become a Digi Monster

Ok so it took me hours and days just to crop the backgrounds and learn to make the backgrounds transparent and now I am trying layering and working with multiple images. It hasn't been easy but this afternoon while I had some time to myself uninterrupted I tried this.
The rabbit had a totally white background, I took all that away, in between each spoke of the wheels although you can't see it now but I cleaned that up. Then I placed some gears from Dezinaworld collage sheet I just purchased a few days ago and added them to the tires of the bike. I also added the time piece behind the rabbit and I found another collage sheet with a clock looking background. And this is what I came up with. Over at Gingersnap Creations they are having another challenge with gears and watch parts but I think I will do an actual hand made ATC for the challenge. The challenge just got me playing with Gimp again. I told Heather Hudson over at Bella Creations she has created a Digi Monster.
Til next time, thanks for dropping by and leaving me all your encouraging and inspiring comments. I always smile and it gives me such pleasure to know others like my blog.

~♥~

My very first Digital ATC

Over at Bella Creations there is a new group called  Début des Techniques Graphique. Our kind hostess Heather Hudson is teaching us how to use the Free Gimp program. I have been very interested in Digital Art although I love cutting paper, gluing etc I am always fascinated with the art of digital manipulation of photos. Anyways Gimp is Free and you can download it but you will have to go online to use the manual. All the information is on the Gimp site and there are many tutorials on YouTube.

Ok that being said, I struggled and struggled with just getting unwanted backgrounds to disappear but finally after messaging Heather back and forth and looking at vids and reading, and ,well just playing I finally got the layering part. I got the backgrounds to disappear, cleaned up an image, and put all my images on top of a free Paris background I had on my computer. I believe the girl is from the Graphics Fairy, the bird from a collage sheet from Lisa's Altered Art images. I added "Paris" from the Gimp program and this is how it came out. Wow was I amazed and so excited. My very first digital ATC and I am also posting this in the Group challenge. Use 3 images and try putting text on your design. I hope this passes, if not it sure was a lot of fun.

Thanks for looking. Now off to do some artsy stuff.

~♥~

I have to brag.....I am a Ginger Again....

If you recall the Spicy Supply Challenge at Gingersnaps Creation blog we had a challenge to use packaging in our artwork???? My arch made of egg carton, packing tape etc was chosen as a Ginger Gem. Woot Woot. You can see the post regarding all the wonderful creations here.

Gingersnaps always takes me to new heights in my artwork, I truly enjoy the commeraderie and the inspiration this blog has to offer.

Thanks again for chosing my artwork Gingersnap Gals and congrats to all the winners of the packaging material challenge.

Gingersnap Random Redhead Challenge and Mail

GC107-is Bags and Tags. I had a bunch of these kraft gift bags in my stash waiting for something so when this challenge came up I thought...bingo, I can use this for the challenge.
I have some beautiful K and Company paper packs and I found this vintage looking wallpaper paper to apply to the bag. I first distressed the edges with my scissors then I used Jumbo Java ink to age the paper.
I cut out both flourish die cuts from Tim's Sizzix die then painted it with copper, burnt umber and a bit of turquoise acrylic paint in a slip slap manner. After that was dry I applied Diamond Stickles to the flourishes and set them aside to dry.
I then made these white roses out of handmade paper using Tim's Tattered Florals die cut and they turned out better than I expected, wish I had more of that paper, it had flecks of little bits of lavender and leaves in it in case you are wondering what some of those things are on my roses. I then lightly tinted them with some Tea Stain DI, just to tone down the white and to age them a bit. I also found some pink roses already made in my stash and added them and I used some of that twisted paper to make leaves. I added some bling with the colours that were in the paper  and just placed them here and there. I also made a tag using the opposite side of the paper on the bag, stamped a Love Flourish stamp in Jumbo Java from Stampology. Then just placed a little white tinted rose along the bottom and attached it to the bag. Now I have a lovely bag to put a gifty in for the future. This was fun and I think I will have to make a few more.

And now that the mail strike here in Canada is over it is fun to get the mail again.

Today I received a much anticipated trade I did with 2 online friends.

Wendy over at BlissAngels asked Jeanie and I if we wanted to do a trade in the theme of teacups.

So I made 3 cards of 2 different designs for the 3 of us .Today I got Jeanie's cards and here they are, they look like china, she has applied Glossy Accents over top of the images and they just shine. I had a bit of a time separating them because of the humidity but no damage was done. Just a bit tricky and delicate surgery but all is good.

Thanks so much Jeanie and thank you all for visiting.

Sorry Jeanie and Wendy I didn't add your links but please take a look along the sidebar to visit both their blogs.

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ATC's from South Africa and another matchbox

As I posted yesterday I want to show you what I received in the mail from 2 trades I recently did.

First up are 2 ATC's from Bella who lives in South Africa. Bella was visiting my blog after I had posted

one of my Geisha cards for a Gingersnap Geisha challenge and asked if I was interested in trading it?

Well usually challenges I don't do much with the piece, except ,put it in a box or drawer only to wonder what to do with it later or give it to someone ,but, after finding out Bella lived in South Africa and I don't have any ATC's from Africa I surely wanted to trade. We also agreed to do an ATC that reflected something from the country we lived in. So sorry I did not take

a pic of the cards I sent to Bella but she will probably post them on her blog.

Here are the cards that Bella sent to me including this wonderful greeting card done with foil card stock, alcohol inks and embossing. It is so lovely. Bella and I decided after the Rotating Postal strikes are over we may plan to do another swap.

I haven't swapped ATC's in a while so it is nice to get back to it. I always feel refreshed after not doing something like that on a smaller canvas.

Thanks again for a great trade Bella.

Next up is my matchbox from JoAnne's FlickR group Vintage Dragon Fly. I received this lovely matchbox with all kinds of goodies inside and out.

Melissa spoiled me and she also wrapped everything in this beautiful tea towel that has shells and gold threads in it.

Take a peek at the spool she altered, wrapped some lovely lace around it, then put a decorative pin and added a gold glittery shell button to it and on the top is a

collection of shells and beads. The matchbox itself has a lovely mermaid on it and also more goodies inside. I was blown away.

Thank you Melissa. After a week like I had last week and worried about my car this was such a nice treat to get mail that was fun and full of arty goodness.

You certainly meet some wonderful artisans online who are generous and in most cases like minded.

Today was very hot and humid and we just got over a thunderstorm with hail and winds and lots of lightening. We surely needed some cooler weather after the day we had today.

I was up early and got the vacuuming and floors washed so needless to say I was sweating buckets by the time that was over.

My exercise complete along with a cleaner house.

Well that's it for today folks.

Thanks for dropping by, I always read your comments and I do try to visit each of you even if I don't leave a comment.

Blogger has been a tad bit ornery lately.

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