making art

i did another arch this morning. this one is for a friend that i trade with on the mail art site. she asked for an arch...atc size...but i did a larger one for her. i think i'm picking up traits from my dad. if you ask him for a 2 x 2 box he makes you an 8 x 10. he's always been like that, too. i hope that never changes about him. it makes me chuckle. this arch uses quite a few products from alpha stamps. they are now carrying the atc spinner and supplies. if anyone has one and would like to set up a trade please let me know.

the backyard

after many years of begging for a fish pond my husband finally announced he'd build one. so about 4 or 5 years ago we started digging it out by hand. we thought we'd build one about 8 foot x 10 foot but as we dug we kept hitting rocks which kept the hole growing. the more we dug the bigger the rocks got. so after days of digging we were so proud of ourselves and then his brother came over and said, "did you plum it?" we said, "huh"? who knew. so the bottom end had to be built up quite a bit. it took us almost 7 weeks from start to finish. it was quite the project. what was even more amazing then it turned out to be 10 foot x 20 foot was that only once he had to quit because i was miserable and only once i had to quit because he was miserable. i believe this was the first project ever that we worked well together on. here it is, not really in all it's glory because many of the flowers don't bloom until july, but the fish don't care. they had babies!

altered spoons

i'm sure anyone who collects arts magazines had to see the altered spoons in one of those magazines. someone on the mail art site is having an altered spoon swap. i found two old spoons at the salvation army but that was all that was in the bin there. i am going to keep one for myself and turn one in for the swap. i think i'll put magnets on the back of the one i keep and put it on my frig.

passing time

i am so tired from gardening and cutting bushes today. we have these huge shears that are built for a massive muscle man that my husband gave to me to use. i laughed right out loud when he handed them to me but he said these are the best ones. until i finished pruning just the one side of the house my arms felt like jello. i couldn't do anymore. i took a break that lasted for the rest of the day! i did have time, on my break, to make another gothic arch. it seems like i am consumed with these things. i have to blame my friend mandy. she is the queen of making arches and i loved hers so much i decided to give them a try and now i can't stop. of course i'd rather make an arch then lift those pruning shears!

saturday's art

it seems that i am on a gothic arch roll these days. this arch actually depicts a few of my most favorite things; birds, flowers in bloom and the mail box. i just love to get mail art! i actually did make a few other things inbetween the last arch and this one. i am trying to make a few arches to get a jump start on a swap with three other women that starts in june. it seems that my days go so fast lately. i haven't been as productive as i had been. i find that this nice weather tends to lead me towards house cleaning, gardening and walking in the park. i just love my life.

another arch

after hours of stripping wallpaper in my bedroom i really needed to take a break. so i started to work on another piece of art for alpha stamps. i love doing these arches. it's just a bigger format than atc's and a different shape from 4 x 4 chunkies. the mice are from a sticker collage sheet from alpha stamps. the little cat is from one of their regular collage sheets. and the poison images are from their rubber stamp collections. if you haven't been to their website recently, feel free to check it out, as they have lots of new things posted.

alpha stamps project

i've been working on a gothic arch that i could use a great many of the alpha stamps supplies on. on this particular arch i was able to use a great variety of their rubber stamps, collage images, and a new item they have, which is the ability to make a collage sheet into a sticker collage sheet. the black vine along the bottom gives you an idea of what the collage stickers are like. i think they are quite fabulous myself. you cut out around the image on the sheet, peel and then stick it to your artwork. it blends in very well and you don't have to be exact with how you cut. i can think of a friend who might actually like that idea as she hates to cut out images. personally i love the tiny intricate cutting. it's sort of like therapy for me. well not that i need therapy, or do i?

journal junkit

have you ever had a connection with someone on the computer even tho you have never met them in person? i don't know how it happens or why it happens, i just know it does. i have made a few really terrific connections on a couple of the art sites and last year i started trading art with stewie, a person from england. the more we traded the more we chit chatted. i just started to look forward to the silly stories and jokes he would share. for me, there is nothing that brings me more joy then to laugh with someone. stewie can definitely make me chuckle. i made him a watercolor journal last year but he has informed me he already filled it up. i took the hint stewie, here's another one for you.

recipe round up

i managed to finish up my recipe cards for a pasta recipe swap i am hosting on the mail art site. i chose a beef-a-oni recipe i make quite often for the boys. it is one of our favorite meals. i made most of the cards with the blonde headed girl but i had one of the other ladies that i wanted to use as well. i'm not sure which image i will keep for my recipe box as i like them both. i am trying to keep my recipe cards somewhat retro but i have to admit that finding clip art to support that idea has been quite difficult. if anyone knows of some good links for some retro cooking images i would appreciate it very much.

thursday's tree

here is a sample of one of the cards i did for a tree swap on the mail artist site i belong to. the lady that is hosting it does phenomenal sewing work and i'm sure her trees will be utterly amazing. my cards are all slightly different since i used scrap paper to complete them.

cupcake conquered

after completing my cupcake page i just had to stay up and finish my cupcake book. i made the front and back cover and got it bound. i am happy with how it turned out even if it is 3 o'clock in the morning. i'm exhausted now but i think i'll sleep well knowing this project is finally finished. take a good look at the pilot in the plane. would you believe that's my dad as a teenager. isn't he so handsome? yes, my dad is a pretty amazing man , but the question is, is he better than a cupcake with lots of sweet icing?

i wish i were a cupcake

quite some time ago on the mail art site i belong to, one of the girls had a chunky page swap where you picked the theme of the pages you would like to receive. i picked the theme of zetti cupcakes. i love cupcakes in all their glory. to me if there is anything better than a cupcake, god kept it for himself. i love to sink my teeth into a mound of icing gently resting ontop a moist, decadent cupcake. yum! oh heavens now look what i've gone and done. my mouth is watering for a cupcake but my hips say no, no, no! i need to get myself back on track here. ok, so the swap has been over for some time but i had yet to bind the pages together since i hadn't created a page myself. today i had some time for myself, so i finally stopped the procrastination and finished my page for the book.

saturday spin

i finished up another atc card for my 7 gypsies atc spinner. i try to keep myself disciplined to make a few at a time so i have a little stash of them for later when some personalized swaps i do with a few ladies in california comes about the first of the month. i haven't gotten to do any of them in quite a while so my little arsenal of cards is too low for my comfort zone. i just received a wonderful package from alpha stamps yesterday in the mail. it was filled with collage sheets, stamps and a couple of sticker sheets of the collage images. anyone who knows me knows that i can't keep supplies more than a couple of days without using as many as i can possibly wrangle up. i've been busy the past few days but i was just itchin' to get my grubby little hands on some of those goodies. the city row and sun are part of the clear stamp sets i received. i actually like it so much i might have to keep this one for myself. that bunny just makes me giggle.

more art time

if i were a technology wizard i could probably add this photo in my previous friday write up, but since i am just lucky i can actually post to my blog i have to settle for my limited skills. after running errands today i had free time this afternoon to start some art projects. i made this atc from scraps i had laying around. i don't think i can ever make enough art that includes crows. there is something about them i just love.

rolo rendering

this morning i was able to finish a rolodex card i made for a trade with someone. she wanted an alphabet rolodex card. i had some vintage paper someone ripped out of an yearbook. i thought using that paper might be fun. i loved that there was writing on top of this one senior photo so i ripped that out to use as my theme for the rolodex card. i have so many rolodex cards now that i can't fit anymore into my rolo holder. i'm going to have to come up with another idea to store them or give in a buy another rolodex holder.

taking note

i've decided that life passes by so quickly and we take so much for granted that i would like to create a new space in my day. every night i'm going to write a few things down that happened during my day that i am grateful for. i've created a "grateful journal" to do just that. the heart is made from tim holtz's grunge board. i've used alpha stamp products as well. and see the green paint behind the heart? well that is something new i discovered that i love to use - children's paint in a marker tube. i found them at the dollar store. all the primary colors come in a package. that is how i painted the paper i used on the arch posted below. when they run out i will definitely buy more. i think i can add those to my grateful journal!

my first arch

i have been watching a few of my favorite artists create arches and finally gave in and tried one. well i have to say i loved working on it. i think i now have a new passion to pursue. the little skulls that go across the top are a handmade stamp i carved from my learning experience at the art weekend i went to. i have to say someone there carved some skull stamps which inspired me when i got home to try my hand at making some for myself. i'm not really into the whole death/gothic arena but i thought these were more on the whimsical side. it's been quite a while since i sat down to do any art work and it felt good to get something accomplished today. the collage image and the ribbon are from the alpha stamps website. if you haven't checked them out yet, go to: www.alphastamps.com. they are always adding new things to their site.