A Very Merry Unbirthday Swap Art Share

 

Isn't it Gorgeous!  Lisa Bivona of Creating at Pearl Avenue Studio's was my partner for the Very Merry Unbirthday Swap hosted by Tabitha of Creatie Wings.

 

 

Everything Lisa did screams Vintage Dirty (which was the group we were a part of).  Old bits of silk, gorgeously preserved dried roses, vintage bling, old pearls the list goes on and on and those are just a few of the details she played with on this creation.

 

 

And just look at all the fabulous goodies she stuffed the box with!  I was so spoiled. 

 

Lisa's creation has a new home on my sewing table, the perfect place for me to look at it everyday.

 

 

Tabitha has a new and very exciting swap open for sign ups right now.  It's a nut cup swap.  So head over and read the details and join the fun.  I am!  Just click on the image.



Autumn is in the Air, or at least the Farmers Market

Look what is now at my local Farmers Market!  I am so excited about Autumn, cool weather, Football, S'mors on the outdoor fire pit. 

 

What's your favorite thing about Autumn?

What's Black and White and a dash of color????

 

My creation for the latest Circle of Friends swap, Anxious Annie.  It's hard to see but her lips and the highlights of her dress are a pale pink sparkling H2O.

 

The hostess, the fabulous Sandi M.  is going to bind all the participants pages into a circle journal. 

 

 

 

The Three Muses, also have black and white with a dash of color as the challenge this week, so I am joining them.  Off to get a cup of coffee and check out everyone else's creations. 

 

Hope you enjoy!



Marie as the Bee Keeper

It's my latest MAMA project! This time around we were to decorate a matchbox and domino with a lot of bling. 

When I was done with my matchbox I didn't feel like it had enough bling, so I built a table for the "bee hive" to sit on that I could add more bling to.

I didn't plan on slitting the side, but the inside box wouldn't slip in and out nice and neatly, so I improvised and actually think I like it better this way.

The entire design was inspired by the bee pin, which I found on Ebay.  It was my first ever bid that I won!

We had to incorporate an image of Marie somewhere and I chose inside.  Originally she was going to go on a single domino but it was too big.  So again, I improvised and really like it better.

I find the picture that I captured of the domino here absolutely stunning, I think it is better than the real thing. 

On the back of the domino's I had to have some bees.  The images and stamps used on this project are all from Alpha Stamps, the bling is from various shops.

Hope you enjoy!

Gypsy Fortune Teller

The Gypsy Fortune Teller Swap over at Alpha Stamps is in full swing.  I've received some really gorgeous pieces of art, and think this may be the best swap Alpha Stamps has had (but I think that every time LOL)

Next week, August 25th, is the final sale date for all the wonderful Gypsy themed items Alpha Stamps offers.  So make sure to take a trip over and check out the 100 goodies on sale!

I thought it was about time for me to share my Fortune Teller piece.  To see some of my other Gypsy art, scroll down through my blog or check out my Alpha Stamps Gallery.

I wanted it to appear that my fortune teller was in a booth, so I cut an opening in the banner and created a window by building up foam core around the opening.   

It was important to me that my caravan pieces move.  So I took a trip over to a local craft store and bought some wooden wheels.  I needed to bling them up so I added decorated bottle caps.  They are attached to a dowel that runs through the caravan.  One of my daughters favorite things to do now when she is with me in the studio is play with this piece because it does move.

I kept the backs simple.  Used some of the lovely papers available at Alpha stamps and their gorgeous Gypsy Rubber stamp.

I loved creating this caravan (I think it is my favorite one) and would love to see you participate in the swap. 

Thanks for looking.



Cancer Sucks, But you can Help

This is my fabulous sister running her first Marathon to fight cancer.  I support her 100% and wish that I could run along side her for this great cause.  Alas she lives miles away and I am no runner.  So, I am doing what I can.  I am sharing with you her request for support. 

Mali has offered to wear the names of your loved ones on a ribbon pinned to her jersey for anyone that donates any amount.

Please help squash cancer with us.

Here is her letter to all

Good Morning!

If you've ever written a letter asking someone for money, I'm sure you know how difficult it can be to find a good opener.   But sadly there is nothing easy about cancer.  This year will mark my second year running for the Dana Farber Team to raise money to end cancer.  Last year with the help and support of friends and family I raised $635 in memory of loved ones I have lost as well as the loved ones who have thankfully survived.

In 2011 I ran for my grandfather and great aunt.  This year I am running in Memory of my grandmother, Mama Doris.  A truly beautiful and inspiring woman who when faced with her cancer handled it with the same amount of grace and intelligence that she faced much of her life.  This death has hit me very hard but has driven me even harder to do all I can to make sure others don’t feel the pain of being robbed. 

With the Half Marathon 6 weeks away my training has been stepped up a notch.  I am putting the miles on the road as well as building my endurance with a trainer however I can’t reach the starting line alone.  This year I have vowed to raise $500 to help Dana Farber continue their research and forward thinking treatment methods to end cancer.  Donations of any size are greatly appreciated and 100% of your contribution will go towards to Dana Farber Cancer Institute. 

Thank You so much for your support!  And please feel free to follow my progress at http://nerdupruns.wordpress.com/ 

Sincerely,

Mali O

To Donate please click on the word Money or "Vowed to raise $500 to help Dana Farber" it will take you directly to Mali's donation page. 

 

If you would like to contact Mali please leave me a comment and I will send you her e-mail address or visit her web page.

 

 

French Cloth Banner Supply Swap

Look what I created using the supplies sent to me by Sandy

The French Cloth Banner Supply Swap is a MAMA swap and I am so glad I signed up for it.  We were partnered up and had to send certain items to our partners.  I posted what I sent HERE

Sewing is a challenge for me, I'm entirely self taught, in other words I spend most of my time frustrated with the sewing machine and end up hand sewing. 

I ended up using the plain fabric as the base, stamped it with french script and some birds.  But I couldn't let the gorgeous floral fabric go to waste so I cut it into strips and used it for a ruffle and the bows.

The flowers at the bottom I made out of two of the gorgeous laces Sandy sent. 

The inspiration for the phrase came from a fabulous rubber stamp set from Alpha Stamps and the banner shape is also an Alpha Stamps stamp.

I wanted the banner to appear very full so I added two layers of seam binding ruffles.  The ruffles and attaching them to the banner really gave me fits but I think it was totally worth it. 

I can't say that I had a wonderful time putting this piece together but I did learn a lot and I am very pleased with the final result and I've already hung this on my bathroom mirror.  

Gypsy Fever Blog Hop Winner!

I hope everyone had a great time playing Alpha Stamps Gypsy blog hop.  It was a lot of fun to read all your wonderful comments and see what the other design team members came up with. 

But on to more important things...which lucky visitor wins my Fortune Journal???

And the winner is...

Noreen who runs Crafty Journal

who said...

Love the wheels on your first project! And the dominoes are a perfect addition to the journal cover!

Please e-mail me your mailing address within 48 hrs at cmoh@earthlink.net and I will drop your prize in the mail right away. 



Stamping on Polymer Clay Tutorial

Some days you just have to hang your head and kick yourself in the rear.  Well, today is one of those days for me.  I worked and worked on a video tutorial for today's Alpha Stamps newsletter and then I messed up the upload so it didn't make it into the newsletter, but I'll post it here for all those who follow. 

The latest newsletter is chocked full of great things, Ice Resin, Paper Clay and Halloween.  Check out some of the things Wendy made and make sure to go view the entire Newsletter.

This is the first Gypsy piece I made for Alpha Stamps.  The hand is made out of Polymer Clay and you can see how I did it in the video below. 

Other items that I used from Alpha Stamps on this piece are some of their fabulous Collage Images, Tinsel Stars, fibers, stamps, decorative paper, the list goes on and on I just love everything that Alpha Stamps has to offer.

I kept the backs simple so I can add my personal information and swap them out in Alpha Stamps Yahoo Groups most recent swap.  Stop by and check it out. 



Let me know what you think, this is my first video tutorial ever and it was a lot more overwhelming to create than I thought it would be. 

Hope you Enjoy!

Alpha Stamps Gypsy Fever Blog Hop

Hello and Welcome to another fabulous Alpha Stamps Blog Hop.  This time us ladies on the Alpha Stamps Design Team have created some Gypsy themed Art.  

On top of all the art we are sharing, we are also playing a little game.

A Gypsy Phrase Game

If you visit all 4 Design Team Members' blogs and figure out the fortune, you will have a chance to win over $100 of art supplies chosen for the Gypsy Fortune Teller Swap!  

Be sure to leave the Gypsy Fortune on the Alpha Stamps Blog!

But the fun doesn't stop there!

GLITTER TARTS BLOG HOP GIVEAWAY

I'm giving away my Fortune Journal to one lucky blog hopper.

I learned how to bind journals/books years ago and will be sharing what I've learned in a future post.  For this book I used an image from the Talisman Collage Sheet that I transferred directly onto the decorative paper using a very simple technique.

To transfer the image you will need:

- photocopy of your image

- Blender Pen (I like Prismacolors)

- bone folder (or other hard object)

Step 1

Cut out your image and place face down onto your decorative paper.  Make sure it is lined up the way you want it.

Step 2

Color the back of the image using the Blender Pen (I do this is small patches)

Step 3

Rub the back of the image firmly.

Repeat Steps 2 and 3 until the image is entirely transferred.

To accent portions of the image I attached dominoes to it, added glitter around the edges, a glossy coat on the top and of course some rhinestones and my newest craze Liquid Pearls (available in a multitude of fabulous colors from Alpha Stamps)

Some of the other items I used on the cover are Tiny Star Sequins  Metal Flowers (Roses)  Seam Binding  Large Corner Banner Rubber Stamp

The Journal has quite a few pages, I roughed up the edges with sandpaper to give it an aged/loved feel. 

One of my must have products from Alpha Stamps are the gorgeous paper pads, like the Gypsy Sisters 6x6 Paper pad but I never know what to do with all the die cuts.  This journal is my solution and I must say I think it is a very clever one. 

I used the die cuts to decorate some of the pages inside the journal. 

I also spritzed each page with some Walnut Inks so they had more interest.  There were not quite enough Die Cuts to fill all the pages, so on the ones that still needed something I cut out some fortunes from the Fortunes Collage Sheet 

The back of the Fortune Journal is decorated similarly to the front but without all the fabulous 3D elements.  

I plan on making more of these journals to use up all the fabulous die cuts I've accumulated.  So if you don't win this one, maybe next time.  And Next time I promise i'll have a tutorial on how to make your own.  

Good Luck to all, hope you found the hidden word!

Enjoy the rest of the Blog Hop

One last thing, if you want to share some Gypsy Art with others make sure you join the Swap!

Thanks for stopping by.