Vintage French Pierrot Marionette Clown Puppet

I have been so crazy busy! I did do a couple new collage sheets for circus theme art and gosh the examples the ladies on the list made are extraordinary! I have also done a new vintage puppet sheet with this guy on it.... now available in my little etsy store.


 

 

Three Little Maids

 

While in town today I got to see some dear friends. So I am going to dedicate this card to them :D I am calling it "Just Friends" and I am naming these three little maids... Carolyn, Inka and Barb... you can guess which one is which... lol. It had been some time since I had seen them so it really felt good to sit and have coffee, chocolate and chat a bit.

Dark .... 4 Blissful ATC 's

With the theme this month being "Dark" over at the Blissful ATC Swap. I went tip-toeing through the murkiest part of the dark woods.... and what did I find there! All things creepy, crawly and scary! There were spiders and bats and things that go bump in the night! I was afraid so I put what I found on these little ATC's and sent them off to my partner DeeDee so she could get the shivers too! I could not decide which one to send so I just had to send them both. I just did not think they should be separated! At least this way they could comfort each other when the lights went out at DeeDee's house :)) Do visit my partner DeeDee's blog because I think she took better pictures than I did ....lol
 

Now for a peek at the darkest thing I can think of .... The picture is scary enough so I hope I don't really see this guy !!! ..............besides my soul is already taken 0;-)

The layers are amazing! The bloody frame really seems to drip! and I love how she used torn cardboard for the background. Where the paper is missing gives so much depth and texture too! I just love this spooky treasure! He will be joining the Halloween section of my little ATC binder.... but wait.... that was not all! I also got the most stunning card! If you could only see it in real life! There is an amazing tea bag fold on the front of it and I could not capture the texture it has in the photo! Thank you so much DeeDee! I feel so honored to have met you and will look forward to the next time our names meet on the swapin list.

Steampunk Heaven

Yes ... I have died and gone to Steampunk Heaven! This is the first two ATC's I have made with my new stamps from Scroll Works When my daughter in law called me and told me that her new plate of steam punk stamps came in, I jumped in the car and headed right over. I think I am the first to get to stamp with them too! I had specially requested the new gear stamps and the men. I am so excited that she chose Jules Verne because he is one of my favorite authors! Of course my favorite ATC of the two features him. I call it... can you guess... "Collaborators"...lol. I made it so that it opens too and one of the little gears works as a latch to hold it closed. Below is both opened. Do click on it so you can also get a larger view of the stamps I used on the inside!

Detail Note:
I also wanted to point out the difference you can get with different papers. The ATC on the left is stamped on card stock so I got a really crisp image where as the one on the right is stamped on a page from a very old book. Same ink but it bled into the paper and created a more photographic look.

Eye Candies from the Artistic Souls

I have lots to share today! Once again we had our monthly meeting of the Artistic Souls of Eagle Idaho :) What a treat it was to visit with such special friends! Barb made the most wonderful lunch and then we snacked on goodies as we created the eye candies that I am sharing today!

I will start with my challenge this month, now I brought these with me to the meeting.... I was to make ATC's from a Magenta's Charming Little Girls stamp. The looked like little windows so of course I had to give them a house. I covered the chipboard houses with real antique papers that I took from an antique ledger paper available at my little etsy store. Then I used wavy copper tape for the roof and a copper metal file tag for the window. Of course I have to age everything...lol so I used some aging solution to darken the copper. The rest of the stamps... florals and wording are from Scroll Works. Oh and that reminds me ... you really should visit there. She has a new steampunk sheet of rubber stamps due in any day... but she has them on her website. I had to order every one... lol.

Then we all brought a shoe box with a project... so the cards to follow I made but they were projects brought by members of the Artistic Souls.
 

My shoe box project was this cute little ATC ... It was done by coating real score sheets from Word Yahtzee with watered down paint then stamping and adding the letters from a travel scrabble game. The crown is from my hats sheet at my etsy store

This is the shoe box project brought by Judy Johnson ... Don't you just love that! She had just taken a Tim Holts class and shared the distress ink technique. That is how the background was done. The stamps I used are script and outlined leaf are from Hero Arts The oak and maple leaf are from Rubber Stampede
 

This one is the shoe box project brought by Barb Crowell... our fearless leader :)) Her card came out much better than mine. However I don't have a picture of her beautiful card so you will have to settle for my crooked version. We stamped velum with the fern leaf from Stampin up then it was sliced and woven ... mine was straight then I messed with it and got it all crooked : / anyway ... then we stamped the crane from Judikins cut it out and applied it to the front. I just love the serene feeling of this card!
Carolyn Summers brought this fun little daisy punch card. The stamp in the center is from Scroll Works.

Then this is the project Merine Heberger brought. The stamp is poppies from Hero Arts We stamps red on red cardstock and then brown on a cream card stock to create this beauty!

Remembering The Butterflies

 

When I was a child there were no video games. We had to actually do things to keep ourselves entertained ... lol. I grew up in Cambria California... we lived in the woods in a log cabin but we were also just a mile from the beach so there really was a lot to do. When we were not at the beach we were running through the walking paths in the woods. One of my most favorite memories is when the butterfly's would migrate and the woods would be filled with them. It is one of my most precious memories that I will always treasure!

Mixed Media Monday....memories

Play Things ...

  

This week at Mixed Media Monday the theme is Play Things. Having grown up on the central coast of California, I spent hours and hours on the beach playing with sea shells and beautifully polished stones. In fact the first craft I remember doing was making pebble people for every visitor that came. Our family was large and living in a resort area they took turns visiting often. Needless to say I made lots of pebble people. Our house was always full of people, laughter and love. All the stamps are from Scroll Works ... my favorite company :))

Wedded Bliss for Something Blue

This is the last week of the wedding theme sayings over at Mixed Media Monday and since I have done nothing with a wedding theme I did this little wedding card. I also did this one because I wanted to share a technique I have been playing with. Crackle paint can be so expensive but this is a Fun inexpensive alternative to crackle paint and glaze.

This easy technique is done with cheap Elmer's school glue ...really any cheap white glue works, I even tried the stuff from the dollar store. I discovered glue crackle on the internet but found the explanations very limited. I not only wanted to crackle paint for backgrounds but I also wanted to crackle clear glaze to use on my images. As hard as I searched I found nothing on crackling clear glaze.... sooo I did a lot of experimenting with different glues and glazes and found that the cheep white school glue works best for this technique. There is no difference if you use the clear or white. Most any water based glue will work however Mod Podge doesn’t work at all

To crackle paint:
Step1.
Using acrylic paint, choose the color you would like your cracks to be and paint the surface of your project. Let it dry completely. This works on wood metal paper and even cloth. If your doing this on paper you can just use unpainted card stock in the color of choice so just skip this first step.

Step 2.
Cover the painted surface with glue. The thickness of the glue will determine the size of your cracks. A thin glue layer will result in a fine crack, the thicker the glue the larger and wider the crack. For a very fine crack it is best to thin the glue a bit. I found using my hands worked better than a brush for spreading on the glue. You have to work fast... I got a more even coverage and I was able to control the thickness of the glue much easier. It also eliminated brush marks.

Step 3.
Do not let the glue dry completely. It must still be tacky if you want it to crack. For thin glue let it dry about 3 minutes and for the thicker glue about 5 to 8 minutes. Once tacky cover the surface with Acrylic paint. Again I found using my hands worked best. The cracking starts pretty quickly and it is really fun to watch.

For a clear crackle over an image
Step1.
It is done much the same, cover the printed surface with glue. I used a lazer print. I think the ink would run with an ink jet image. Again, the thickness of the glue will determine the size of your cracks. A thin glue layer will result in a fine crack, the thicker the glue the larger and wider the crack.

Step 2
Once the glue is tacky, paint on a clear water base varnish. I used the Delta Ceramcoat satin interior varnish. I also tried several others and they all worked well.

I enhanced the cracks for my example because they did not show up great in a photo. However on a small image with a face your cracks may not look so great enhanced. I had to do the image above several times before I had an image where the bride did not look like she was crying ...lol. In real life the cracks are really visible without any enhancement.

Once upon a time .... Wedded Bliss

 

 In the land of Gothic Arches there lived a little fairy princess. She longed to one day wed but in the land of her birth there were only girl fairies. One day her fairy god mother stopped by and saw that the little fairy princess was so sad. "Let us go on a glorious vacation" she said. "This will cheer you up" So with a flick of her magic wand they were off, whirling across the sky. Looking down fairy godmother saw a beautiful green island and knew instantly this was where they were to vacation. They landed in a beautiful circle of trees and it looked as though it had been made just for them.... hmmm... I wonder..... anyway as the day wore on they became sleepy and fell into a deep sleep. Suddenly they were awaken to the sound of a beautiful harp and and yes ...it was a male voice singing softly in a deep Irish brogue. The little fairy princess could not believe her eyes! There before her was the most hunky guy and he had wings!!! "Are you a boy fairy?" she asked "Certainly not" he replied... I am a he ... which could loosely be described as a ...er...a boy fairy...but in the most masculine of ways" . The little fairy princess fell into giggles and into love. Long story short they were soon married and lived happily ever after.

Eyes Wide Open...

 

 This week the theme at Gothic Arches is Openings. I think this theme could go in so many directions and I can't wait to blog surf the list and see what everyone has come up with. For mine, I think my title says it all ... I started with the large face stamp from Scroll Works but I only stamped the eyes. Then I chalked the skin tone and added feathers at the top. A piece of a broken necklace made the headdress and a heart shaped gold paper doily for the collar. Some ribbon and beaded trim finished it off.

These are a few of my favorite things »-(¯`v´¯)-»

This week over at Mixed Media Monday the theme is Personal Symbols and Myths. Wow does that leave it wide open. Your suppose use a theme or symbol that you use a lot in your art. It did not take me long to figure out what symbols and them was. First of all I use a swirl stamp from Scroll Works on just about everything... you can see it in the background and then I love fairies so they are in about 80% of everything I do :))

anyway here is my entry

Artic Souls with Carolyn

The local group of Artistic Souls meet once a month and we take turns hosting projects. This month it was Carolyn's turn. Recently she had been fortunate to be able to attend one of Michelle Zindorf's brayering classes so she shared what she had learned. These are the cards I did but I really did not do so well. I think my brayer had a flat spot on it because I had so much trouble with lines showing up where I did not want lines :)) But at least I know how the technique is done so when I get a new roller my cards should come out better. If you go take a peek at Carolyn's blog you can see what they really should look like ...lol

Thank you so much Carolyn! your an awesome teacher!!!

Sky Castles

 

Today is the local meeting of Artistic Souls. Every few months we all bring a stamp and then we swap it around until we have each had a turn with each stamp. This is the end of this round and my turn to use the stamp I brought. I brought the castle from Scrolls Work and this is the card I made. It was really hard to get a picture of because the center of the card folds like little steps then you put your images and words on each little step. I really love how it came out :)

Childs Play for Mixed Media Monday & Free Vintage Printable Graphic Baby's Bath

I use to love participating in several fun challenges. Then I got busy in several online clubs and running my business that I kinda fell away. Now that I am no longer running a business and have a little more time, I decided to let myself just have fun. One of the challenge sites I really enjoyed was Mixed Media Monday. Although I have not participated in a long time I kept them on my Google reader thinking next week, next week. Well next week is here :))

This card was really simple but I love the way it came out. I cut down an actual vintage card and layered it onto cardstock. Then embossed a swirly floral image around the edges, glitzed it up with some stickels a touch of ribbon and a couple of charms.

Before I cut it up, I scanned the vintage original of course :))

Feel free to pin the thumb above but please do not pin the actual download. I would like everyone to stop by here to download it so they don't miss all my other fun free downloads

Enjoy!

Over The Roof

I missed "The wearing of the green" :{ I am soooo bad and it really makes it worse since hubby and I were engaged upteen years ago on Saint Patrick's day :/ Things just got so busy with our little holiday and club meetings... But I did get this weeks card done for the Created Byhand Challenge The theme is "My Heart Dances" I had seen a similar card a while back and I had it stuck in my head. I figured I just could not get it out of my head until I made one ...lol

 

 

Oh almost forgot to say ... all the stamps are from

Scrolls Work. As many of you know I use to own Inka Stamps so these are the stamps I have also since my Daughter in law now owns Scrolls Work I get all her new stamps too... lol

Stuck on Steampunk : /

Ok ... I admit it...I am stuck on Steampunk

My entry for the Created Byhand Challenge this week "You Go Girl"

Update: March 11

What is Steampunk? I have had several inquiries. The best way I can think of explaining it is, if you were able to travel back in time to the Victorian industrial age....when so much inventing was going on, and tried to create items from our era with the materials available then. You would end up with strange flying machines, computers that had the look and feel of an old typewriter, maybe a dishwasher made of an old ice box and so on.

I felt this card fit the theme because in those days most of the inventors were men. While the women stayed at home taking care of the children and house hold chores. But my lady is not content with sitting in the parlor watching the men have all the creative fun. I punched stars in the lens of the goggels to dipict the stars in her eyes as she sits with goggles in hand at the ready to meet the sky.

Letter to my friend....

OK ... so I messed up with the Created Byhand Challenge and posted too late : ] I got the day the new challenge is posted mixed up... so I am giving it a go again :) This week it is "Letters to friends"

 

The stamps are Scroll Works and the background is from my old books collage sheet. I just enlarged it.

One if by land...

Two if by sea

...but no body mentioned this! What to do??? :))

 

It has been a long time since I entered any challenges but this week was things that fly over at Created Byhand Challenge so I decided to play :)

I used that new one step crackle paint for the background, the newspaper is from a real old newspaper and the stamps are from Scroll Works

Dead Tree Christmas Card

For the past few months one of the local stamp clubs I attend has had a round robin stamp challenge. Several months ago we each brought a stamp and each month we have rotated them so that each person has a turn with each stamp. Our sweet Judy brought a dead tree stamp and we all bemoaned our turn with it. However month by month we were amazed with what the designated person came up for it. I actually think it challenged us more than any of the other stamps as we really had to contemplate our design. We had more fun trying to come up with something different. Anyway I was last on the list and this is what I did with it. I first stamped the nest from Scrolls Work Rubber Stamps then I masked it off and stamped the Cardinal... also from Scrolls Work. Then after those were masked off I stamped the dead tree from Stamps by Judith. It does look a lot better in real life... you can't really see that the cardinal has black stickels and a seed bead for the eye. I also added white stickles here and there on the branches, in the end... I really liked it! 

Rusting Technique

  

This is not my favorite style, I am just now a western kinda gal :)) but the theme for our shoebox project at my local stamping club last Friday was fall. The only fall saying I had was kinda western so there ya go. The real reason I am sharing this card is the rusting technique I used to make the oval sayings plaque. Some time back I had purchased some metal ovals that I loved. After using them up and not being able to find them again I decided I could make some. I punched mine from matt board then I used a brown marker on the edge but they really look like metal.

Here is how ya do it! First you will need some metal filings. If your hubby has a grinder he can make you some but if not try going to the local machine shop and ask if you can sweep some off there floor. Most of them will hand you a dustpan. Then just mix about 1 part metal filings with 2 parts black acrylic paint. Now you can paint whatever you want to look like rusted metal with that. Once it is dry mix 2 parts bleach with 1 part vinegar and paint it over your entire piece. Repeat this step until you have the desired amount of rust.