Wednesday, July 29, 2009

butterfly chunky swap


i'm participating in a butterfly chunky swap. when i think about the swap i usually get a very vague direction of where i want to go, but how the piece ends up is always a mystery in the making. i knew i wanted to do something with a tie dye effect, mostly because i just love tie dye, but because butterflies come in so many wonderful colors. the swap has us making 5 butterflies and we will get to keep on for ourselves, so i decided to make them all different colors. when you look at the end product it appears simple to make, and i suppose there was nothing really hard about them, but they were so time consuming. i worked on them all morning and afternoon.

here's how i made them:

i used white craft ink to stamp a large medallion on white paper and then embossed it with clear embossing powder. i cut a long strip of yarn that i sewed with a zig zag stitch to secure for the body of the butterfly. i used tan ink to distress around the edges of the butterfly. i also took some dark gray ink and did the same with that. i took tim holtz distress inks and laid out 3 color patterns on a craft sheet and did his watercolor technique, using a different set of 3 colors for each butterfly . once all the butterflies dried i stamped a swirl pattern in those same inks around the top and bottom of the wings. i used black ink to stamp spots, a saying, and a little companion butterfly. i edged the butterfly with a similar color in an opaque paint pen which i outlined in black marker. i used krystal effects around the entire edge and sprinkled that with seed beads. once that dried i used my crop-a-dile to punch a hole through all the layers to fasten 2 colors of wires to use as antannae.

Friday, July 24, 2009

and the winner is

Blogger Outstanding Stranger said...

Ah...since I am the last I should be at the top of the jar and you will probably pull my name out....


congratulations on winning my print!

Thursday, July 23, 2009

nature journal


i'm participating in a nature journal swap with some really clever artists. our first part of the swap was to get our covers made for the journals. this is going to be my cover. i still want to put the words "nature journal" on the front but haven't decided on just the right spot yet. i was really excited about this swap because i'm such a huge fan of nature. i can't wait to start receiving some pages!

Wednesday, July 15, 2009

win a free print


it's been quite a long time since i've offered up something free to win, so today is as good a day as any. i'm going to give away a free print of one of my favorite journal pages - it's time to sing your own silly song. if you'd like to enter for a chance to win this print all you have to do is t leave a comment. i will draw a name at random and announce the winner next week on friday, july 24th.

Tuesday, July 14, 2009

journal page


i'm still making journal pages for an alphabetica journal swap i'm hosting. the thing i like about hosting is it gives you an extra week to get things finished because you don't have to mail them out to the swap hostess. i wanted to get six pages done for the swap and this is number five. the deadline is tomorrow and i have the last page started. i am waiting for other participants' pages at this point so i might actually get the last one done and in on time. this bird was made as a result of a happy accident on another piece of artwork i was doing. i just loved the shape of it. i think you might see this little shape in some more of my artwork. it just makes me giggle, and anyone who knows me, knows i'm a sucker for anything that makes me giggle.

Sunday, July 12, 2009

zetti time


there was this zetti chunky swap that i really wanted to try to get cards made for because i love that zetti genre. i started working on some cards last night and finished them up today. i made 5 in total but this is the one i'm keeping. i love how that fringe looks like her hair at the top and it makes me giggle. some days my hair looks just like that!

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Friday, July 10, 2009

the visit


hello everyone. it's been some time since i posted any art because i was away for the week visiting my son in south carolina. it did this old mom's heart some good to hug him and hang out with him for a few days. we had lots of fun together. he didn't think it was too much fun when i beat him in poker and stayed neck to neck to him in mini golf but he finally smiled when he beat me by one stroke. a little friendly competition does the heart good. as it is said, all good things come to an end, it was so sad to say goodbye. i did my best to not be a blubbering idiot at the airport. thank goodness for skype so i can see his cute little face in a couple of days. i got home around 3pm yesterday and immediately headed for my art room. i dug right in and started to work on some art for upcoming swaps. this card is a sample of what i've done for a swap i'm in called wings in her hair. i have quite a bit of artwork to do and not too much time to finish things so i am already feeilng the effects of what a vacation can do your time schedule. i hope all of you were well while i was away and had a great fourth of july and enjoyed your family too.

Friday, July 3, 2009

making time for art


life has been very busy around here lately and i've really had to scramble to find time to make art. i'm going to visit my son in 2 days and i really wanted to get some things done for some upcoming challenges so i'm making a mad dash back and forth to the art room inbetween all the other things i have to get done today. there is an alphabet challenge taking place and we are on the letter h. i made this postcard specifically for this challenge and now i think i want to keep it. gosh darn it, sometimes it is hard to let things go once i make them. i don't know if it is because of the amount of energy you put into a piece or if the piece once completed just speaks to you, but i have to decide today so i am feeling a little pressure about it.

Wednesday, July 1, 2009

digging out some rubberstamps


i needed an atc for a rubberstamp challenge. in the challenge you have to use at least 3 different rubberstamps to make your piece of artwork. i enjoy this challenge because i really love to rubberstamp. it's hard to tell but all the leaves are hand cut out and glued on. i'm thinking i still might machine stitch around the words on the side of the card. sometimes i just never know when to stop.