Pages
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Siren's Song
Our hostess this week is Caryl Hoobler who created this beautiful Gothic arch using the theme “Mermaids” which she selected. What do you think of with this theme? Sea maidens? Sirens? Merpeople or Merfolk? Whatever the vision may be we wish to see it here in Gothic form!
A bit about our hostess:
I love the freedom of mixed media art and I love the tiny canvas of a Gothic Arch. I tend to throw unexpected elements into my pieces, but there is a thought process behind what items I use in a piece. I tend to draw upon life experiences when creating and look for items that may bring back a certain memory from any given time or place. I’ve chosen Mermaids as the theme this week as Mermaids are so magical and can live in wildly colorful settings! I can’t wait to see where your Mermaids live!
You may see more of Caryl’s beautiful work on her blog:
http://carylsrealm.blogspot.com/
I don't feel like my Arch is done...I just don't know what else to do, any suggestions???
Hope you enjoy and be sure to check out the newest Challenge Site One Powerful Hour
Thanks
Caro
Friday, June 27, 2008
My Soul Lies in the Sun
This weeks challenge is Orange and Yellow!
Yellow is one of my favorite colors to see, not to work with, but I gave it a go and I am semi pleased with my piece. The face of the sun is covered with Diamond glaze as are some of the rays.
I hope you enjoy my piece.
Also if you get a chance head over and check out my new Challenge site which started yesterday. One Powerful Hour. I'd love to see your work!
Rubber Hugs
Caro
Thursday, June 26, 2008
Sleeping Beauty Castle Swap
New Challenge Site
A Tootsie Roll Halloween
This week’s theme is “favorite holiday”! Use your favorite holiday theme in your creation this week! Use collage images, photos, rubber stamps, fancy paper , embellishments or any other art supply to give your creation a ”favorite holiday” look. Add your art to your blog, then post a direct link under the comments! Please include a link to Theme Thursday on your blog! Have fun and make art!
Here is how I created this collage...
Tape Tootsie Roll wrappers into a long strand, cut off edges. Weave together with orange paper to form background.
Stamp Women (Rubber Baby Buggy Bumpers) on white paper with black ink color with colored pencils. Embellish one woman with pink glitter, dove grey flocking and white ribbon. For second woman cut out a black felt piece as the dress, embellish with red ribbon and red jewels attach devils tail using a black pipe cleaner. Emboss wings (Stampers Anonymous) with kaleidoscope powder on white paper. Paint using Silver Bells Radiant Pearls, embellish with Dove grey flocking, trim closely and attach to woman.
Emboss Decorative Leaves (Hero Arts) with various autumn shades and paint with watercolors in similar hues, trim closely.
Paint fencing with white acrylic paint and dust with browns and green inks.
Attach Tootsie Roll background to black card. Mount Women, Decorative Leaves and fence to card. Cut circle out of yellow paper, using slightly darker shade of yellow stamp Sleepy Moon (Rubber Stampede). Mount in corner. Attach Words using a combination of stickers, tin letters and mini blank circles dusted with inks and stamped with letters (A B Seas).
Hope you enjoy! And as always I am open to any and all types of comments.
Rubber Hugs
Caro
Wednesday, June 25, 2008
Fun In the Sun
I know that Summer is here with a vengeance in the Northern Hemisphere and I hope it is an enjoyable time for all. Let us see your SUNSHINE related submissions this week.
I am diligently trying to get my next set of Castles ready for Alpha Stamp so this crown is not a new piece. Some of you may recognize it as it was published a few months ago in Stampers Sampler.
Hope you enjoy...and that you are the Queen of your Sunny Day!
Rubber Hugs
Caro
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Red/Pink ATC
Monday, June 23, 2008
Mystery Tag Swap
Where to begin...
Well, the Circle of Friends have done it again. This time (May) A.L. hosted and she came up with the idea of a Mystery Tag. The Mystery was a stamp from 100 Proff Press, she gave each of us one to keep! and to make our tag with. The tags could be any size and boy did these ladies come up with some fabulous Tags.
Okay starting with N.P's
you can see more of N.P's work HERE
Her Mystery stamp is the bird featured in the center of the tag on the angled rectangle. The bird is colored and the bottom button of his vest is highlighted with shimmery paint. She added glitter to the background decorative paper, a green ribbon up the right hand side and the word stylin (I really need one of those machines...I love the look). To finish it all off she attached a brown and pink ribbon. Also, the edges of the diagonal square and the tag have been highlighted with dark ink and rubbed a little ruffly to add some texture.
S.M. our group coordinator, as always put together a charming piece.
I believe her mystery stamp is the little Casper looking ghost. But what I like the most about S.M.'s tag is the shape. Instead of leaving the bottom square she cut it along the moon's shape really making it interesting.
The tag was originally one of those that you can buy that is yellowish. She used some kind of ink/paint and colored it the purple tone and then stamped her images.
There are white/silver marks randomly all in the sky that I think she made using a pen. She accented the edges with the ink color she used to stamp the images and added wonderfully textured yarns and ribbons. I really like the one that looks like it has blobs on a thin ribbon... I know bad description...any better ideas?
And I'm sure she added the Rhinestone just for me LOL...it is a very pale pink...I love Rhinestones they make me happy!
Okay for the second month in a row I think that my favorite is S.O.'s Something about they way she has combined her mystery stamp with this fabulous background paper really draws my eye.
Her mystery stamp is the bunny in the lower right corner. She colored, cut and added glitter and diamond glaze (I think) to her bunny.
The Words "Got Carrots?" Were printed out on computer paper and then highlighted with orange ink before cut and mounted onto the tag.
The bird in the tree are stamped using black ink.
I believe the butterfly at the top in the orangish pinkish ink is also stamped and she finished it off with some blue and purple yarns.
Isn't it amazing how little stamping there is and how fabulously it came together. I wish I could look at background paper (that I don't make) and be able to build on top of it like this. To me this is what a collage artist does.
Fabulous piece S.O. it makes me smile every time I look at it.
This is E.O.'s second piece ever for our group and it is just so much fun!
You can see more of E.O.'s work HERE
The mystery stamp she received is the dog (not 100% sure what kind, I think it is a bulldog)
I have about a billion questions for E.O. Did you cut out the red paper or did it come die cut. I have never used die cuts before so I don't really know anything about them. If you did cut out all the red you go girl...you have one steady hand and you had to make 8! WOW...
Everything on E.O's tag goes together so well...and I love the fact that she did not use a standard shape (rectangle) for her base the fire hydrant shape is just to perfect for her mystery stamp. I'm sure some of us wish that we had been so lucky...but then again it was the luck of the postage stickers.
I think H.S received the largest mystery stamp. it is an ostrich (which she thought before stamping was a peacock...)
H.S. appealed to my every sparkly sense. The background of her tag is painted using sparkeling H2O's and see the Rhinestones...her and S.M. must have been in league together...
She stamped the ostrich image on velum and colored it...I think with markers.
I am assuming that the words "stepping out in style" were part of the stamp but if they were/are not then she printed them out on the velum perfectly spaced so she could stamp her image...or she stamped and scanned the entire thing and then printed it out on velum either way the spacing is perfect...
To finish it all off she attached a turquoise and white colored yarn. The turquoise is a perfect match to the colors she used on the parasol and hat.
J. R.'s tag is intriguing...mainly because she used beeswax and the more I see it used the more I want to try it myself...
Her mystery stamp was a bow which she explains on the back of the tag "rather than use it as a focal point, I used it to create the background for some doodling."
it took me forever to figure out what she meant but I finally got it. She stamped the bow using white or light grey on black mat board (not sure about the tags make up) on top of that she stamped the white flower (I think)
It appears everything else is hand drawn and I'm not sure what she used to draw it with. On top of the "doodling" she added the beeswax. The letter "c" (which I suspect is on mine b/c that is my first name) is outlined with white and the dragonfly is an embellishment.
she finished it all off with a black ribbon.
I can't stop looking at this one and trying to figure out when she did what. Did the doodling or the wax come first? I wonder if it doesn't matter kinda like a chicken or the egg question...
The simplicity of M. D.'s tag makes me envious. I don't think I have ever come up with such a wonderfully simple and yet perfect design in my life.
M.D.'s mystery stamp is the cute little pig which she stamped on a mini tag using black ink. Aged the edges with a coral colored ink and attached a ribbon to.
Than she created a tag to hold her mini tag using fabulous decorative papers. The back paper is a very soft pink stripe and behind the mini tag (I wish I had scanned this) she wrote "Oink Oink" and she has lovely lighthearted handwriting which makes you smile when you see it. The edges of her tag are also rubbed with the same coral ink.
She finished her main tag off with a brown ribbon. Babe would be jealous if he saw this piece...and I'm not sharing :)
This is the smallest tag that was made making it even better...after all aren't pigs suppose to be cute and cuddly (in our imaginations at least)
And here is our fabulous hostesses A.L.
I think her mystery stamp is the hand holding the money inside the fortune tellers ball.
She to found a perfect decorative paper to build her tag on. Everything is stamped in brown, the face, the swirls, the money amount, the fortune tellers ball the hand holding the money and the word "fortune" I believe she then went back and stamped over the words and money amount with orange ink giving it a great depth without actually making it 3D.
Part of the fortune tellers ball is colored and it is all highlighted with a shimmery ink or powder...fabulous...
The best part is on the back (not better than the artwork though) A.L. attached a real lottery ticket to the back...some of us have rubber there's and won, me, I'm a chicken and I think that I am never going to. After all it is part of the art and I kinda feel like I would be ruining it.
She finished off her fabulous tag (the largest tag made) with a lovely copper ribbon.
Thanks for coming up with such a fabulous idea A.L. I really enjoyed this swap.
this is our newest member A.P.'s contribution...
you can see more of her work HERE
A's mystery stamp I think is the mail man but to be honest I have no idea because it could also be the postage paid emblem above the mail man...guess I should ask her.
A.P. let us all know that she made the tags on white paper but her daughter (who is I think 5) told her they looked to bright so she dusted them with brown...then she didn't like them thinking they looked "dirty" I laughed so hard when I heard this...after all I make everything "dirty" I think they are fabulous just the way they are.
But A.P. didn't stop there. She asked each of us (8 participants in total) where we were from or what our favorite place we ever lived was. I spent a few years when I was a child in Spain and loved it...have great memories and would jump at the opportunity to go back so I told her Spain.
On the backs of each of the tags (this one is mine so the others are all different) she placed postage stamps having to do with Spain. They are just so fabulous!
She attached her two tags together with a really neat thread I think one of them is a multi colored DMC floss.
Great Job A.P. talk about hitting this one out of the park!
Last but not least, here is mine. I was really excited when I opened my envelope and found the golf player. The idea jumped into my head instantly but I am a little disappointed with the outcome. I wanted it to have the look and feel of an old timy magazine advertisement.
I made the paper using Tim Holtz distressing ink Weathered Wood and then stamped the "Foster Hose Supporter" image using black ink. The woman playing golf I stamped repeatedly and painted in the three colors shown. I think trimmed as closely as possible and layered them onto the tag.
Oh, of course i painted them using sparkeling H2O's.
To finish it off I attached coordinating ribbons and edged the tag with blue.
I like it but it is far from my best piece.
I hope you enjoy May's Circle of Friends project.
I'm hosting next month, "All things _________ Shaped." you fill in the blank with the shape of your choice. I have already received one entry and I am almost done with mine...
Thursday, June 19, 2008
By The Sea
Castle Swap
Published!
Yahoo Yahoo...I have been published again. This time I got two of my entries published...the one i liked the most and the one I liked the least...just goes to show, mail them all in.
Okay the lower image on the left most page of the picture above is mine, Open Your Eyes. I am an unknown artist again...sigh...don't know how that happened since this is a card and I always mark my cards with my stamp and use a sticker with e-mail address...They got the directions pretty close to correct but here they are with all the info. Oh, this one was my favorite that I sent in.
Trace Pocket template from the Dec/Jan 2008 Issue of Stampers’ Sampler onto heavy cardstock. Stamp Harlequin Background (The Queen’s Dresser Drawers) using white ink onto Pocket and a sheet of matching cardstock. Distress edges of both with white ink and set aside. On the same color cardstock stamp Eyes (Paper Artsy) with black ink, color with colored pencils and cut out, trimming closely. Attach one eye to the Pocket then mount the pocket to the prepared cardstock. Line up other eye accordingly and attach directly to cardstock. Stamp Swirls (Autumn Leaves) with black ink and embellish with glitter. On white cardstock stamp Lily (Penny Black), color with colored pencils, highlight with sparkling H2O’s and cut out. Affix one to upper corner of cardstock and place another inside the pocket. Mount finished image on dark grey cardstock. Finished image measures 4 ½ x 6 1/4
On the right hand side of the above image the pocket on the upper right is mine, Window or Key to my Heart. This is my least favorite. The instructions in the magazine leave off that all stamps are by Stampington & co.
Hope you enjoy!
Caro
Saturday, June 7, 2008
Art Deco goes Triangular
One thing led to another and I got to join in on this fantastic swap being hosted by Anne from annescraftythings.
It has been a long time since I've made an ATC without a theme. Yes, this one has to be triangular but that left open a slew of idea. So I flipped to my newest items from Alpha Stamps. The same day I discovered Zuzu's blog I also found a blog (that I can't find anymore) that taught a number of different techniques using Alcohol inks. I had spent some time reading the instructions on making your own transparency. So one thing led to another and here is my creation.
I stamped the Art Deco woman on transparency film and colored her with Alcohol inks. The background is a tapestry stamp that I covered with gold acrylic paint and stamped on white paper when that dried I sprayed it with an iridescent gold shimmering paint. I hand sewed the two images together using fishing wire and coordinating seed beads.
The swap is not due until the end of the month but I would hate to hold her up because of international snail mail. So mine will go out on Monday. Watch sometime next month for the ones that I receive...
Hope you enjoy!
Caro