Frankensteined Gothic Arches, Medieval theme

Well...working up to the last minute on this project. Today is the mailing deadline for the COF Gothic Arches with Medieval as the theme. I just finished the last touches and will be mailing them off this afternoon. This was a bit of a Frankenstein project. Originally there were going to be 4 different castle images (transparencies) but the 4th was too short so I had to order another transparency sheet (Alpha Stamps) and only used three of the images...all very lovely. Also, the butterfly wingers were always going to be different but I didn't know that I would be coloring the women differently. Nor did I know that I would be using different trims. The Felt trim has a long story. I ordered the burgundy felt sticker leaves from Alpha stamps thinking they were brown. When they arrived I only got one set and I was sure I ordered 2....well, I did but they were out of stock. So instead of trying to find something at a local craft store I decided to use what I had. I got through 5 leaving me 3 to find alternate trims. Well...as you can see I ended up using 2 different green felt trims...neither of which I am a huge fan of. I do hope the group enjoys these more than I enjoyed piecing them together. For some reason the mental picture in my mind did not make it to the paper at all this time...guess this one I'll try again later...see where I went wrong. Click on the image to enlarge. thanks for looking

ATC Alphabet Journal

I promised the COF that I would not open my Journal until I finished all their entries. Well I finished the last Journal today (see post below) and ripped into my Journal. If I had known what was awaiting me I would not have been able to keep my promise.

Okay so for my Journal I went with an ATC format but got very specific. I had two lists of words (alphabet style) and each member was assigned to one of the lists. That had to select a minimum of 3 words and display them on the ATC Without using the words on the ATC.

The above 3 images are the ATC from List A which was Architecture, Birds, Coffee, Door, Eye(s), Feather(s), Garden, Hat(s), Ice, Jasmine, kid(s), Love, Man/Men, Night, Opera, Paris, Quills, Reading, Star(s), Tea, Umbrella, Velvet, Winter, Xanadu, Yarn, ZigZag

The above three images all used words from List B Which was Art, Boy(s), Clock(s), Dog(s), Elegance, Flower(s), Girl(s), Hollywood, Insect(s), Japan,Key(s), Leaf(s), Mermaid(s), Number(s), Ocean, Postage, Queen, Rhinestone(s), Shoe(s), Tree(s), Undergarment(s), Vase, Wing(s), Xebec, Year(s), Zodiac

Not all the words were used and I found it very interesting which ones were not. I am thrilled with all the ATC's and can't wait to put the journal together.

Thanks to all the COF members for making this such a fun Journal!

Last of the COF Journal's for 2009

I finally finished the last of the Circle of Friends journal's for this year. I've had this one sitting around the house for way too long and feel bad about it. I'm very grateful for the patience of the member who has had to wait on it for WAY TO LONG. I hope she thinks the wait was worth it.

The instructions for this particular journal were "It was a dark and stormy night...Actually it's about 90 degrees and humid, but that doesn't sound nearly as dramatic. This journal is a mystery; or really it's about mysteries. Most of us read Nancy Drew, played clue or seen Hitchcock. So please do some mysterious pages for my journal..."

Being the last person to get this journal and not one that is into pure mysteries this was a hard one for me. I vaguely recalled a movie from my childhood "Arsenic and Old Lace" so I rented it from netFlix (shameless promotion) and sat down to enjoy what I thought was a mystery but turned out more to be a twisted comedy with a brutal plot...being at a bit of a loss I decided to use it anyway.

Page 1 (above) I used a fabulous textured background paper...the dark swirls are felt. The passages are from the start of the movie which takes place in Brooklyn, hence the skyline at the bottom.

The main spread is a combination of the setting of the movie and things that occurred in it. It starts off with a marriage where the couple lives across the graveyard from one another and then the movie moves into the murder aspect with a heavy salting of funny characters and odd twists that I wasn't able to portray well.

And lastly "The End" not just the end of the movie but the end of this members Journal since I'm the last to work on it. so sad...I wrote out the producer and the stars and when it was made, stamped a few random bats and used a Tim Holtz stencil to give the page some punch.

The COF have decided to take a break until next year at least as far as the journal rotations go. So be watching out for the newest journals starting January of 2010.

I hope that everyone has enjoyed my journal entries as much as I have enjoyed working on them.

Wedding Napkins

My little sister's good friend is getting married this weekend out here in CA and she asked me if I would make a set of cocktail napkins as part of the gift.

Of course I'll make a set of napkins...always looking for an excuse.

She wanted an elegant set that was very simple. After going back and forth on the colors we finally decided on a two toned grey napkin with silver highlights.

The main portion of the napkin is a light heather grey. I was very worried about this at first since I do not like purple at all but after putting the pewter trim on the purple kinda went away...phew...

Both the center of the napkin and the trim have the silver accents it is just easier to see in these pictures on the darker fabric.

From the very beginning they were always going to have the initial on them.

I wanted to add a tight zig zag of silver thread all along the trim and center part but for some reason my sewing machine would not cooperate at all. I wish that it had because I think it would have made this set of napkins a bit fancier. But then again it could have taken them over the edge since we wanted to keep them very simple and clean.

I hope they make a big hit in their new home...My husband said that no one gets excited over wedding gifts but if I had gotten hand made napkins I think I might have been excited...let's hope she is.

I made extras just in case something went wrong but amazingly nothing did and I am going to be selling the other set (not stamped yet) in my etsy store.

Now onto the next billion of cocktail napkin designs I have floating around in my head.

Flower Themed Charm Swap

Alpha Stamps has done it again...come up with a great theme for a swap. This time it was a Flower Themed Charm Swap where we made 6 similar charms to swap.

This was my first ever go at charms...almost every time I join an Alpha Stamp swap it is my first ever go at it and that is why I enjoy them so much.

Because of the size restrictions, 1" max, I knew that I was going to have a bit of trouble. After all inchies and I do not get along. So I decided to go with the max and selected the bottle cap to work with.

The images I used are from a Tarot Card Collection that I just love and seem to be running out of rapidly. When I looked to replace them I couldn't find them, hopefully they are just out of stock. However if not some of the images are available on the Court of Flora collage sheet.

I glued the images down with a good fast drying craft glue and then covered them with diamond glaze. While the diamond glaze was still wet I added a touch of sticklers glitter. This made them a little lumpy and I am disappointed in that but hopefully I'll be the only one that notices.

The green on two of the bottle caps is also glitter, it is the new distress glitter by Tim Holtz...not so sure how I feel about this product yet. Maybe this was not the project to try it out on.

Lastly I added the pink rose and two leaves, which were originally silver but I stained them with alcohol ink so they have a green hue. And added the green drop.

My number one mistake was thinking that my tools would work. My needle nosed pliers were to large for this delicate work and I couldn't get the loops as tight as I wanted them. So if this is something you are interested in I suggest trying it out with what you have and then investing in a good set of jewelry sized pliers.

I hope the recipients of my charms like them.

Lutradur ATC class

This past weekend I took an ATC class from Lisa at La Femme Papier

We worked with lutradur, inks and paints. The challenge was to make cards using only solid color papers...allowing the lutradur, ink or paint to add the texture. For those of you that follow my art you know that part wasn't really a challenge for me...now if she had asked me to choose 3 coordinating decorative papers I would have been in trouble.

There were a few things that she showed us we could do with the Lutradur. Burn it, stain it with ink, or use it hole. Any of these three options could be combined.

I decided to burn and stain mine and then I tried to rip it...well the stuff doesn't really rip but I did manage.

I dry brushed a bit of iridescent white Luminere (sp?) paint onto my ATC and used the other inks to stain the word "change". I had a lot of fun making this ATC and I learned a lot. And the best part was we got to exchange our ATC's.

This is the exchanged ATC that I got. Lisa, the artist, used the same procedure I did, staining and dying the Lutradur. But she used it to cover the entire ATC. She has a shimmery gold paper behind the Lutradur and it really gives it great dimension.

I grabbed a few more sheets because I think it will make great spider webs for Halloween pieces, which one of these day's I'll get around to making.

If you live in the Concord CA area you really should check out these classes. Lisa plans on holding one a month.

First Ever T-Shirt Design

In a few weeks the Spouses of the 9th ARS will go head to head or toe to toe with the Spouses of the 6th ARS. A friendly little competition with a number of different activities...think field day when you were in grade school.

So we, the ladies of the 9th needed a fun shirt to wear. After much deliberation and a lot of brain storming we came up with a design and I was asked to "make it happen" and this is what came out of my interpretation of what the ladies wanted. it is going to go on a bright red shirt.

I do hope all the ladies like it and I hope it is good enough to do to battle against the Ladies of the 6th in.

Mystery ATC Kit

After a long hiatus due to the move and me not being able to get my rear in gear I have finally completed a COF project. This one is a mystery ATC kit.

The hostess sent out different items to each participant. I received background paper with a music score, bright yellow paper, black plastic numbers and some fiber.

At first I had no idea what I was going to do but the music paper was begging for me to use it. Then the numbers jumped out at me and I though of Phantom of the Opera...don't ask me why...and the Song "Music of the Night" Well, that wouldn't work with the bright yellow paper so I decided why not play with it and make it "Music of the Day" So, here is my ATC using everything I was sent (which was not a requirement but I am really proud that I pulled it off)

The Music Score I used as the base of the ATC. The Yellow paper is the bright part of the sun, I stamped it and cut out just the center and added a bit of Twinkling H2O. The fiber is knotted through the watch. And the number is placed on the watch.

I had a great time making this ATC at a time when I needed a fun and simple art project to remind me why I enjoy creating so much.

I hope the group likes what I have done.

1st Communion Prayers

A few years ago one of the Diva's Adopted her son and asked me to decorate an adoption poem. Well, I guess she really liked my work because as a commemorative gift for her nieces going through First Communion she asked me to come up with three different designs for this poem.

Lord Jesus Christ, in the Sacrament of

the Eucharist You left us the outstanding

manifestation of your limitless love for us.

Thank You for giving this child the

opportunity to experience this love

in receiving the Sacrament for the first time.

May your Eucharist presence keep her

ever free from sin, Fortified in faith,

pervaded by love for God and neighbor,

and fruitful in virtue, that she may

continue to receive You throughout her life.

Amen.

It took me a little while to come up with three separate designs but I am pleased with all of them and think they are all very very different and because of that there is no way I can pick a favorite.

The top poem was the first one I put together. I used a dark blue solid paper as the background and randomly silver embossed the stars. The white paper in the center has been brushed with various shades of Twinkling H2O's. I broke the poems spacing up a bit more and increased the font size the further down the poem went which I think gives it a really nice effect. The clouds at the bottom are also brushed with the Twinkling H2O's and one set it slightly raised. As a finishing touch I added some flocking to the doves and used a fuzzy thread to outline the writing.

The poem on the right I used a decorative background paper on that has a few shades of blue and some swirls on it. To enhance the paper I copper embossed (half of it hand drawn) the ribbons on the sides. The angel was stamped and then colored with colored pencils. Her wings are also covered with flocking like the above doves and I used the same fuzzy thread to sew on the strips of paper with the poem typed on them. To finish this poem off I added two white feathers on the bottom with the recipients name on top.

This design is the first design that I came up with and it is what I made the marbled paper for (over a month ago). I did a little research into what old bible pages looked like. This is the closest I could get with my abilities. The background is stained an old linen and over stamped with a crackle stamp in tea die. This is the only poem that I directly printed to paper. The Letter "L" is black embossed on gold velum that I also stamped a very linear design on and highlighted portions of. The angel in the bottom left I thought was stunning and couldn't leave off even though she is a collage image and not something I made. As a finishing touch I added a few medallions that I painted with Twinkling H2O's to match the marbled paper.

I do hope that the girls receiving these poems love them and that the wonderful woman who I made them for is happy with how they turned out.

Big Sewing Project

Well, I had to wait a while to post this one because it was going to someone that occasionally looks at my blog.

This is my latest work for one of the many Diva's on Paper Back Swap. The theme for this months swap was 3rd Anniversary so we sent 3 gifts. My Diva this month collects Fiesta wear so I mad her a set of cocktail napkins that hopefully match.

I had never seen Fiesta wear in person before going and purchasing her a pitcher. The colors they had at my Macy's were not all the colors so it was very hard for me to determine if the fabric I purchased would match.

I stamped each napkin with a different female image from a set sold by Stampington & Co. known as the Unruly Girl Club which was just perfect.

This is the first set of napkins where i have not hand died any of the fabrics at all but it didn't make them any easier to sew together. I like how they turned out in the long run even if they don't have any shimmer to them. But time was of the essence and I didn't have time to test different shimmery paints.

For my Diva's daughters I put together two totally different pillows. The pillow in the front is for her older daughter and the one with the monkeys on it her younger.

I found the Monkey fabric and my DD just fell in love with it so I know it would be perfect for little Miss P.

The first initial of their name is stamped in the middle of the pillow using a block letter.

I was not so bright when I took the photo's and didn't get a shot of the backs. But they are able to open with a gigantic ribbon made out of the main fabric the ties them shut.

I hope my Diva and her daughters like them.