Paint. Paper. Play.

tutorial tuesday: street fashion: graffiti alphabet

2012-01-17T12:13:00.003-06:00

this tuesday i will be showing you how i created a graffiti alphabet for my street fashion series.

1. silhouette on white background, surrounded by collage. the collage was adhered with liquitex medium gloss gel (over and under collage elements) when that was dry i washed black paint over it to pick up the brushstrokes.

2. white wash over background

3. pencil sketch letters. (before doing this on your piece, you may want to practice lettering in your sketchbook or journal, as the pencil does not erase well on the painted background.)

4. outline letters with black sharpie poster paint pen, fine tip

5. start filling in letters with acyrlic paint, one color at a time (fill loosely with one color, let dry a little, do next color, repeat until satisfied). i used two shades of blue (liquitex basics light blue and artist's loft turquoise) and two shades of pink (liquitex basics medium magenta and quinacridone magenta). tip: use your finger to smudge a little as you're applying the colors.

note: before filling in the letters, i went over the background with a bit of watered down black paint, heavier around the edges of the picture and around the silhouette.

6. fill in silhouette with paint, again use finger to help smudge colors together.

7. when satisfied with the painting of the letters and the silhouette, use black sharpie poster paint marker to outline letters again and to outline the silhouette.

(you can thank blogger for the weird spacing in this post. i've fixed it repeatedly but it never sticks on the published version. grrr.)

my new journal

2012-01-16T09:27:00.009-06:00

soooo....i made this nice little slide show in windows movie maker of my new journal and blogger will not upload it, i keep getting an error message. therefore, i'm giving you one really big, picture heavy post to show off my new journal.

it's a spiral bound book with card stock covers. the front cover has a fabric collage piece. the fabric collage was sewn separately onto a piece of batting and then sewn to the cover. the pages are a mix of scrapbooking paper, my painted papers, found papers, and magazine pages (from anthropologie and free people catalogs). the biggest pages are 12" x 12" the covers are 13.5" x 12". i bound the journal with my bind-it-all v2.o.

these photos were taken after i had started working in the journal, so a few of the pages have journaling on them, or the beginnings of journaling.

(click on photos to view bigger.)

street fairy

2012-01-15T09:52:00.000-06:00

i made this fairy collage while working on my street fashion series. i used dyed paper towels on the background, as well as some text transfers. i used a bit of watered down black paint over the piece when the collage was finished. the fairy is a photocopy of a drawing i did years ago. the photocopy was included in one of my bundles, which is where the color and distressing came from. i used liquitex gloss gel to make the text transfers (printed from an inkjet printer), as well as to adhere the paper towels and the fairy photocopy. i use the gel under and over the pieces that i'm collaging. once it's dry and you go over it with a wash of watered down acyrlic paint, the paint highlights the brushstrokes.

journaling

2012-01-14T21:15:00.000-06:00

a quiet evening journaling, with a cup of hot tea, toast with homemade jam, new pink polka dot duck tape, and new pink gel pen (sakura, medium tip). ahhh...

images from my studio

2012-01-08T12:12:00.000-06:00

left: journal page, practicing graffiti lettering; middle: using up leftover paint; right: completed piece

very full journal

bits and pieces

fun duck tape

my beautiful girls

2012-01-06T19:27:00.001-06:00

street fashion #7

2012-01-03T09:58:00.000-06:00

street fashion #6

2012-01-02T10:13:00.000-06:00

street fashion #5

2011-12-31T10:14:00.000-06:00

new journal

2011-12-30T15:39:00.000-06:00

i'm making a new journal for myself. this quilted piece is going to be on the cover and an assortment of these papers will be inside. i plan on doing some stitching on the pages and spiral binding the book. (the quilted cover will be stitched to colored cardstock with room on the side to punch the holes).

on my desk

2011-12-29T19:44:00.000-06:00

look who's 6 months old!

2011-12-28T07:42:00.001-06:00

six months already! growing so fast.

street fashion #4

2011-12-22T10:15:00.000-06:00

street fashion #3

2011-12-20T10:16:00.000-06:00

street fashion #2

2011-12-15T10:17:00.002-06:00

street fashion #1

2011-12-12T10:18:00.004-06:00

i've been working on a new series of art work. they are mixed media pieces created on posterboard, most are 12" x 12". the pieces were inspired by silhouettes, fashion, grafitti/street art. they were inspired by the work of hush, alisa burke, and some of my past work - here,

here, here, here, and here (my art, third photo down under see what's inside). all of these pieces were created with collage, gel medium, and paint. also, they all feature the same silhouette. i've created eight so far, #1 is featured below and i'll be showing the others one at a time over the next couple of week, in between other posts.

Street Fashion #1

the scrap of target bag seen here came from one of my bundles. it has some ink transfer on it from a photocopy that was under it in the bundle (see photos 24 and 25, in this post), also, the yellowing of the circles is from the sun.

pinterest lemon blueberry bread and blueberry danish

2011-12-10T07:30:00.002-06:00

it's no secret i love love pinterest. i have many boards full of pins. one of those boards is my food and drink board. on this board i've pinned many foods that look yummy, with the intention of trying all of the various recipes. i'm working on that...today i'm sharing with you photos of what i made from two of those recipes. the first is lemon blueberry yogurt bread. um, yum! this bread is more like a cake and it is moist and delicious. i used vanilla yogurt, instead of the plain that the recipe calls for, and i skipped doing the lemon syrup (but not the glaze, i did that). i just didn't think that i needed the syrup too (and i didn't). this is delicious cold.

the second recipe is for a strawberry cream cheese danish. i used blueberries instead. again, very tasty, although i think this is best right after it comes out of the oven, while the danish still has some crisp to it, later after being refridgerated, it gets soft, still good but softer.

christmas cards

2011-12-08T09:51:00.000-06:00

i made these little christmas cards last year. simple stencil and spray paint. there are four cards with the christmas tree on them (sprayed directly on the card) and two with the snowflake on them (sprayed on separate paper, cut and glued to card), the snowflake ones also have teeny tiny stickers (making memories) that say let it snow! all six cards are available in my etsy shop.

scrappy note cards (tutorial tuesday)

2011-12-06T06:10:00.000-06:00

as you know, i'm alway looking for new ways to use my many many scraps. recently i came up with these fun little note cards. they're oh so simple to make and each one uses up quite a few scraps. i had a lot of fun making these cards.

Materials Needed
blank note cards (michaels)
scraps (fabric and paper)
sewing machine/needle and thread
scrap paper
pencil
scissors
buttons
double sided tape (scotch)

Directions
1. make a rectangle template from your scrap paper that is a little bit smaller than the front of your card
2. cut several of these rectangles from your scrap paper.
3. sort through scraps and pull out a handful that catch your eye.
4. arrange and sew scraps to rectangle.
5. sew on button, if desired.
6. using double stick tape, attach stitched rectangle to front of card.

these cards are perfect for a handwritten hello or thank you note. they would also make great gifts. if you make some, i would love to see them! leave me a link in the comments section.

don't have time to make some cards? all the cards seen in this post are available in my etsy shop.

published!

2011-12-05T09:54:00.002-06:00

i have two new articles out this month! one in sew somerset and one in art quilting studio (both available from stampington. the article in sew somerset is on two of my mini journals, this one and this one. and the article in art quilting studio is on my mini quilts and the book i made to keep them in.

chicken pot pie

2011-12-02T13:18:00.001-06:00

now that the cold weather is upon us, i've started making this delicious and simple chicken pot pie again.

Ingredients
2 cups of pulled chicken (i use the rotisserie chickens from the grocery store, leftover thanksgiving or christmas turkey will work too)
2 cups frozen mixed veggies
2 (18 oz) jars of gravy
1 tube of crescent rolls
salt and pepper

Directions
1. Combine chicken, veggies, gravy, and salt and pepper in a deep skillet.
Cook until everything is hot.
2. Pour mix into an 11" x 7" glass baking dish.
3. Unroll cresent rolls onto a plate. Do not separate triangles. You should have 4 rectangles total. Lay 3 of those rectangles over filling mix.
4. Bake in a 375 degree oven for about 15 minutes or until the crust is brown and is not doughy underneath.

(You could also use a 2nd can of crescents and lay 3 rectangles in the bottom of the pan to make a bottom crust. If you do this bake the bottom crust by itself for about 5 minutes first.)

now you may have realized that you are going to have 1 crescent roll rectangle left over. i like to take that left over rectangle, separate it into the two triangles and put a dollop of cream cheese and a dollop of jelly in each, roll them up (be sure to tuck the sides in as you roll, so that the filling doesn't ooze out), and bake them with the pot pie. please note that these little jelly rolls need a little less cook time than the pot pie - 10-12 minutes for the rolls instead of the 15 for the pot pie.

cream cheese and jelly rolls

baby shower scrapbook

2011-12-01T08:37:00.000-06:00

back in may, the girls at work threw me a baby shower. i got tons of awesome gifts for miss maddy and a lot of really nice cards and my friend tanya took a bunch of photos. i finally got around to doing something with everything. i made a little scrapbook.

i had loose photo album pages for a 3 ring binder type of photo album. they had a spot at the top for a photo, a memo spot in the middle, and a spot at the bottom for a photo. i cut the page apart, carefully removing the memo section so that i had a page that held one photo on each side. i put all of my photos in the photo pages.

then i punched a hole in all of my cards, two card size pieces of paper cut from gift bags, a napkin from the shower, and two pieces of cardstock big enough to cover everything.

on one piece of cardstock (the back cover) i stuck part of a balloon to one side of it and to the other piece of cardstock (the front cover) i stuck an invitation to the shower that someone had saved for me and one of the gift ribbons (curly with dangly heart beads).

then i used a binding ring (found at staples) to hold it all together. to the binding ring, i tied another curly ribbon, a pink bow, and the little pink booties that were on the cake.

and voila! simple, cute, scrapbook!

front coverpagesphotos and cards

booties

face paint

2011-11-30T07:30:00.001-06:00

saturday, zoe went with her nana to a winter/christmas festival. they had face painting there and zoe got her face and hair done. the face paint glowed under a black light that came with the face painting. when she got home she was so excited about it and happily posed for a few pictures.

Black Friday sale!

2011-11-23T04:39:00.005-06:00

hey all - just a quick note - check out my etsy shop this friday. i will be having a big sale for black friday - 40% off the whole shop. the coupon code is BLACKFRIDAY40. (the code will not be active until friday). happy shopping!

FTB goodie swap

2011-09-11T10:58:00.001-05:00

the members of the full tilt boogie group on yahoo did a goodie swap. each participant filled 10 bags with 10 goodies, mailed them off to jessica, who then sorted them and packaged them and mailed each participant a package filled with 10 bags of goodies. fun, fun, fun. i totally forgot to take a picture of my bags before i sent them off, some of the things my bags included: vintage book pages, vintage playing cards, my painted papers, dyed paper towels, embroidery thread, vintage wooden type. i had a lot of fun putting them together and am thinking of maybe making more for my shop.

anyway...here are the bags that i received. i love how not everyone used a plastic ziploc bag; there's a paper bag, an awesome wax paper envelope, a manilla envelope and a fabric bag.

here's a sampling of some of my favorite pieces.
thank you, fellow swappers, i love my goodies!

2011-09-10T11:20:00.000-05:00

meow!

out of the journal challenge: weeks 3 & 4

2011-09-09T14:20:00.000-05:00

i was definitely slowing down at the end of this challenge. i only have two canvases to show for these two weeks. the first one i had started in week two. i played with it, added more paint, played some more and just didn't like it. so i painted over the whole thing in black paint and then used white with a smaller silhouette mask and repeated her over the canvas (i think this would look awesome done on fabric and quilted, must try this) (photo 2). much happier with this. for the second canvas (photo 3) i started with a black background and used light molding paste to mask out the two silhouettes, i also used the paste through punchinella and a polka dot stencil. i created a lot of heavy texture, obvious thick brush strokes. when all that dried i went over it with watered down acyrlic paint and then after that dried i covered the whole thing with glossy medium. the last canvas (photo 4) is just the first layer, playing around with leftover paint. see more week 3 and 4 canvases here and here and here and here and here.

weathering hurricane irene

2011-09-08T13:30:00.000-05:00

zoe spent a good part of the long day cooped up inside, hanging out in this fort that dave built her. scooter kept thinking that it was for her too. :)

published!

2011-09-07T10:26:00.000-05:00

i have an article in the new Somerset Holidays & Celebrations. the article is on my scrappy patches. i love the way it turned out!

zoe's first day of school - 1st grade

2011-09-06T11:30:00.001-05:00

zoe, heading out the door for her first day of first grade, also her first day of SACC (school age child care - for after school). this was also the same day as the earthquake...which happened at the end of the school day. they closed the school and i had to pick her up from SACC right away instead of after work like i normally would have. very 'exciting' first day....lol!

my textbook

2011-09-05T11:21:00.001-05:00

i'm taking human growth and development, it's the first of two education classes that i have to take to get my 90 hour certificate so that i can teach at the daycare center i work at instead of just being a teachers assistant. this is my textbook. it's huge. the first chapter was 50 pages long....yawn...i'm juggling taking this class (one night a week), working part time, and then all of my wife and mother duties and trying to squeeeeze in a wee bit of time for art.

journal page, 8-2-11

2011-09-04T11:15:00.000-05:00

etsy update

2011-08-19T13:33:00.005-05:00

hello! just a quick post to mention that i updated the shop. i am in the process of doing some cleaning and destashing so i added some vintage childrens books, an airbrush set and i will be adding a couple of art books.

i also revamped my painted paper packs. there are now two sizes - a large pack ($5) where the pieces are assorted larger sizes and all fit into a gallon size ziploc bag and a small pack ($2.50) where the pieces are assorted smaller sizes and all fit into a sandwich size ziploc bag. i really enjoy making the painted papers but i always end up with waaay more than i need so i'm sharing the wealth!

Out of the Journal Challenge (weeks one and two)

2011-08-13T11:42:00.008-05:00

When Dina posted this challenge, I knew I wanted to participate. I wasn't sure how many canvases I would manage to get done, as my art time is a bit limited these days, but I was eager to try.

I had piles of canvas boards laying around. I really hadn't painted on them since high school. All of them had some amount of paint on them already so the first thing that I did was to paint over them with white or black paint. I decided to play with one of my favorite silhouettes and combined her with my favorite pattern, polka dots. I like that even though each piece looks different there's still a cohesiveness to them from using the same silhouette and the same pattern.

These were done over the course of the first two weeks. Once I started I couldn't stop! The ideas were coming faster than I could keep up. The first canvas is 8" x 10", the other three are 9" x 12".

Next up I want to explore this same silhouette really BIG and really small. I also want to play with her on fabric and create an art quilt. I want to play with my molding paste and crackle paste. I love this feeling of the wheels turning and the ideas just flowing.

This last one is a work in progress, I'll share her again when she's finished. The canvas is 14" x 18".
Go see Dina's canvases on her blog, she also has a list of participants here and here.

FTB inspiration journal (4)

2011-08-08T11:53:00.000-05:00

FTB inspiration journal (3)

2011-08-07T13:00:00.000-05:00

FTB inspiration journal (2)

2011-08-06T08:30:00.000-05:00

FTB inspiration journal

2011-08-05T08:00:00.000-05:00

recently i've been working in the journal that i made for full tilt boogie. as you'll remember from this post i've been inspired lately by feathers, fringe, headdresses, dreamcatchers. that's why i chose this particular book cover when i first made this journal, because of the headdress. i printed out a bunch of my pinterest images and collected images from my magazines (mostly nylon and in style) and stuck them in the journal. i used doublestick tape or gluestick. i used various scrapbook papers for backgrounds (mostly the free ones that come in somerset studio) and on a few pages i used paint (turquoise with krylon black webbing spray on top). i embellished some of the pages with tape. i'm re-showing the cover here because i decided to cut the tie off. this is the first batch of pages, i'll be showing more in the next week or so.

studio

2011-08-02T13:30:00.003-05:00

before maddy was born we re-did the room that my studio was in. it was a big long room that had been two rooms years and years ago. we put the wall back up, the door back in, put down new carpet and had the walls painted. zoe moved into one room and maddy into the other.

dave and i moved our stuff into what was zoe's old room. it's a bit smaller than the space we were in before. we had to really downsize. before our room held two armchairs, tv, dave's table with his cb radio equipment, my 3 art tables, a small bookshelf, two things of plastic drawers, the dog's crate, two small side tables, a big computer desk and grog (a mannequin my husband built to display the post-apocalyptic suit of armor he was building). the room also had two closets, one that held dave's hunting gear and one that held my art stuff.

now our room holds two armchairs, one table for my art, one table for dave's cb equipment, the dog's crate, tv and my art stuff is in the closet along with small bins holding dave's small hunting items. my sewing machine is now in the kitchen still on its table, one of the tables that i used dave took to work, the big computer desk is being stored in pieces in the garage (the computer's kaput), the printer is hooked up to a different computer in the living room. grog is in the garage. etc. basically lots of downsizing and squishing. i still haven't gotten my stuff completely set up or organized. but here's a look at what my studio looks like.

this is only the table. the closet is full of stacked bins and the two carts of plastic drawers.

zoe's birthday

2011-08-01T10:40:00.000-05:00

tuesday was zoe's birthday and among other things, i gave her the remains of the day journal that i made her. as you can see, she loved it!

breakfast

2011-07-07T08:22:00.003-05:00

these days breakfast is had at the computer, either on pinterest or watching full tilt boogie videos, with madelynn on my lap having her breakfast.

coffee and homemade blueberry cream cheese danish.

maddy and her breakfast.

practice FTB journal

2011-06-27T13:00:00.003-05:00

i found some time saturday while madelynn was napping and made my first practice journal for full tilt boogie. mary ann demos the practice journal without covers but i decided to do covers. i plan on using the book as a sketch/inspiration book.

the cover is from a children's alphabet book, the tapes are fabric and the tie is part of a leather belt that i removed from a sweater. the pages are a mix of white paper gift bags, old computer paper, sketchbook paper, with a couple pieces of painted paper thrown in. there's also a couple of envelopes taped in. the tape i used is paint splatter duck tape, bought at michaels. it's also available right here.

i enjoyed making this journal, mary ann's instructions were simple and easy to follow. i definitely need more practice, though. :) i didn't glue the signatures together as straight as i could have, my holes didn't line up great, i also didn't poke some of them all the way through and then had trouble finding them when i was binding! lol. oh well, that is why it's called a practice journal. all in all, i am pleased with how it turned out and look forward to playing in it.

inspired by....

2011-06-19T15:18:00.007-05:00

currently i'm feeling inspired by feathers, fringe, headdresses and dreamcatchers. below is a journal page that i did with some sketches and collage. the three little sketches on the post its were inspired by the feather headbands and headdresses that were worn by characters on a recent episode of my little pony (no, seriously.) the two strips of lace are adhesive paper ribbons by k & company (purchased from etsy). there's a little scrap of the inside of a security envelope (wavy blue lines) and a piece of a paint chip. the big doily thing in the middle is from a print a day (it was a free download of an illustrated note pad but it looks like that stuff is not available anymore :(

this is a pile of clippings waiting to be collaged into an inspiration page.
i've been spending a lot of time pinning stuff to my boards on pinterest. some of my favorite sites to pin from: free people (both the catalog and the blog), other boards on pinterest, we heart it, as well as from the blogs that i follow.

some of my favorites (all of these are on my pinboards on pinterest). all photos are linked to the location that i pinned them from, just click photo to go there.

look who's here...

2011-06-15T12:09:00.002-05:00

madelynn rose loughrey was born sunday morning at 11:27. she weighed 9 lbs., 5 oz and was 20.47" long. she came home monday. so far she's been quite a sleeper!

creative (and green!) gift wrapping idea (tutorial tuesday)

2011-06-07T13:30:00.001-05:00

last year for my sister's birthday i gave her this journal. i also gave her a tank top with little tiny birds printed on it. i decided that instead of wrapping the two presents separately that i would use the shirt to wrap the journal.

step 1: lay the shirt flat and place the journal in the center of the shirt.

step 2: fold over each side of the shirt. step 3: fold up the bottom of the shirt. step 4: fold down the top of the shirt. step 5: tie package with a ribbon. done! simple and cute!

beyond the baby bump

2011-06-05T09:11:00.001-05:00

pictures of me and zoe. i'm beyond the baby bump, now it's the baby mound - i'm huge! any day now...i'm ready. :)

CPS Fabric Swatch Exchange

2011-06-04T09:05:00.002-05:00

i recently participated in the cloth paper scissors fabric swatch exchange. i decorated a piece of fabric (blogged about here) and then cut it into 8 9"x 9" squares. the squares were sent off to cloth paper scissors, they kept two and then sent out the other 6 to other participants. one of those participants that received my fabric swatch was jill eudaly who blogged about my swatch and others here. earlier this week i received my 6 swatches and here they are.

this first one is from penney klaproth. i love the color (which photograhed a lot bluer than it actually is) and the spiral stitching. penney has a blog and an etsy shop.
the second one is from barbara k. johnson. it's acryilc paint stamped and scraped. i love all the circles and the bright colors.

the third piece is from beth atkinson. again loving the colors and the circular designs.

fourth is this awesome stenciled leaf from joyce harrah. i'm a huge fan of stenciling especially that overspray/splatter look. love.

fifth is this sunny piece by beatrice hummel. she batiked the fabric and then stitched on one of my favorite art materials: paper towels! she used the paper towels to clean her brushes and then cut them into shapes and stitched them to the fabric. great idea.

and lastly another piece with swirls, this one by darcy lanz-sage. she decorated both the base piece of fabric by dying it and the swirl fabric which was screenprinted. loving the swirls.

i'm so excited about each one of this fabric swatches and i can't wait to sit down at my sewing machine and make something with these gorgeous pieces of fabric. i'm so happy that i participated and hope that maybe cloth paper scissors will do this again!

zoe's remains of the day journal

2011-06-02T13:45:00.003-05:00

my daughter, zoe, has long been asking me when i'm going to make her a book. so i finally did. i made her a 'blank' journal following mary ann moss' directions from her remains of the day class. the journal measures about 7" x 7". the cover is made from strips of pink, purple (zoe's favorite color) or green fabric. the book has three signatures made from sketchbook paper that i lightly embellished with fabric, paper, paint chips, photos, buttons, etc. i kept the page embellishing to a minimum so that zoe would have plenty of room to play. i plan on giving her the journal in july for her sixth birthday.

front cover, tied

front cover, untied

detail of the end of the tie

front cover, open (one of my mother-in-law's friends created the piece of embroidery with zoe's name on it).

back cover

video of me turning the pages. (i haven't installed video editing software on this computer yet, so there is no audio).

first page

page detail shots

my mother's day bouquet

2011-05-15T07:54:00.002-05:00

on mother's day zoe picked this little bouquet for me from the backyard. the vase is a little blue glass one that my sister gave me for christmas a few years ago.

roni's journal

2011-05-06T12:53:00.005-05:00

here's another fused plastic book. this one is a blank journal that i made last year for my sister's birthday. the cover is a piece of batik fabric stitched to a piece of fused plastic (again using alisa burke's technique from the jan/feb 2009 issue of cloth paper scissors). the front cover was embellished with a scrap piece of a dyed paper towel, a photo of my sister and her boyfriend, a scrap of dyed cheesecloth and a heart cut from a traci bautista collage sheet. the journal has two signatures of sketchbook paper. each signature has a wrap of scrapbooking paper (from basic grey, from the periphery collection) and a couple skinny pages of blue lined paper.

antique photo albums

2011-05-01T15:30:00.003-05:00

mary ann moss has a new class coming up in june and as soon as i heard that i knew i would be taking it. no matter that i'll be home with my brand new bitty baby (i'm due june 14) and my 5 year old daughter and i'll be sore and tired with probably no spare time. mary ann's classes are formated to start whenever you want and she keeps the content up so i'll just drool over everything until i have time (and energy!) to work on it. i have taken every one of mary ann's classes and will probably take every future class that she offers. she is a fun and entertaining teacher and her classes have opened new and inspiring creative doors for me (spray paint, stencils, sewing). anyway....in her teaser for the upcoming class she said to be looking for antique photo albums. i found these two (sold together) on ebay for a great price (i paid more in shipping). when the albums came in the mail i figured out why the shipping was so high - the albums are massive and heavy. i can't wait for the class to start and to find out what we're going to be doing with the albums.

red and gold photo album

8.5" x 10.5"

front cover

back cover

orange photo album

6.75" x 15.5"

front cover

back cover

my art dolls in art doll quarterly!!

2011-04-27T14:17:00.003-05:00

two of my art dolls were published in the paper personas column in the new art doll quarterly! they look great and i'm so pleased with the little article they wrote. :) also, the doll on the left i blogged about here.

spiral journal

2011-04-22T09:30:00.000-05:00

awhile ago i participated in the bundle project: the disintegration collaboration and after unwrapping and drying out my bundle scrapes they all went into a bin never to be seen or heard from again. well i finally did something with some of my disintegrated bundle pieces. i created a small spiral bound journal (finally using my binding machine too :). i used 6" x 6" chipboard covers that came with the binding machine, painted both sides with white acyrlic paint and then on the front cover glued down scraps from the bundles, including my favorite stitched piece and some rusty washers that had been tied to the bundles. i cut out squares of watercolor paper for the pages. then i used my sewing machine to sew bundle scraps to the pages. lastly i used my binding machine to bind it all together. to see the evolution of my bundles from day one to spiral journal see here.

this journal is now available in my etsy shop.

new art doll (purple and green)

2011-04-12T14:22:00.000-05:00

new art doll (bright pink)

2011-04-11T14:55:00.000-05:00

fused plastic mini journals

2011-04-06T14:12:00.002-05:00

i made these mini journals by first fusing together plastic bags (following alisa burke's directions in the jan/feb 2009 issue of cloth paper scissors). then i machine stitched the fused plastic to fabric (smaller journal, 4.5" x 5.5") and a dyed paper towel (bigger journal, 6"x 7"). then i machine stitched in one small signature in each journal. these are both the perfect size to throw into a purse, pocket or backpack and are now available in my etsy shop.

to see another fused plastic book i made go here.

baby bump!

2011-03-25T15:21:00.003-05:00

cps fabric swatch exchange

2011-03-25T13:18:00.008-05:00

the fabric that i created for cloth paper scissors' fabric swatch exchange.

i used cotton (quilting weight) fabric. i didn't have any white fabric so i used a patterned fabric that i had a lot of and painted over it with white acyrlic paint. i meant to take step by step photos and forgot but if you're interested here are the steps that i took to create this fabric.

(note: all paint used is acyrlic paint, i use the liquitex basics, sold at michaels)

1. start with a piece of patterned fabric. paint over the whole piece with white paint, heavy in some areas, watered down in others. let dry.

2. paint over the whole piece with watered down aqua green paint. let dry.

3. randomly scrape fabric with violet paint. let dry.

4. randomly stencil large black circle outlines on piece. let dry.

5. randomly dry brush with pink paint (i used a 2" brush).

6. randomly stencil messy white polka dots over whole piece.

7. spray/splatter whole piece with watered down black paint.

the fabric cut in 9" x 9" squares, ready to be sent to cloth paper scissors.

i'm pleased with how the fabric turned out. i was a little frustrated with not being able to use spray paint (being pregnant and all :) because that would have been my first choice for painting the fabric. but it was good that i couldn't, it was a creative challenge that i think i did quite well with; i'm only disappointed that i didn't make enough to save myself a swatch! :P

see the other fabrics created here.

more fashionista work

2011-03-13T09:44:00.004-05:00

today's my birthday, the big 3-0, so i thought i'd celebrate by posting to this here poor neglected blog. :) these three pieces were all created for traci bautista's fashionista class.

this first one was done with a soft charcoal pencil and was inspired by the art in this post on the art dolls only blog.

this second one was done with a regular #2 pencil

and this third one is mixed media. the girl was drawn with a black ball point pen, her face was colored with colored pencils, her lips, hair and the oval behind her were painted with acyrlic paint. the flower was cut from scrapbooking paper and the flowers in her hair are a rub on from basic grey. the girl and the oval background were done in a 9" x 12"sketchbook, cut out and glued to a plain piece of 12" x 12" paper, then the scalloped border was glued down (created by punching circles from scrapbooking paper and cutting the circles in half). the scalloped border was outlined with black acyrlic paint. the whole oval, border and all, was cut out and glued to a piece of scrapbooking paper, black ribbon was glued to the edges of the scrapbooking paper. when the glue was dry i stitched over the ribbon, the oval frame and the scalloped border.

next up i think i'm going to make photocopies of the pencil and charcoal drawings and play with them.

fashionista inspiration pages

2011-02-22T13:15:00.004-06:00

i'm currently taking traci bautista's fashionista class and i am waaay behind on the lessons. the computer that i've been using (mine is kaput) has a printer but it's older (than mine), currently needs ink and cartridges for it are $40! (i only pay $20 for my printer). anyway, so i haven't printed out any of the pdfs and i just haven't gotten around to watching the videos (don't know why). but this being week 5 of the class, i am determined to buckle down and start watching the videos and i think that this weekend i'm going to hook my printer up to this computer and get all the pdfs printed out ('cause my printer has plenty of ink :). so long story short, in an effort to get started, i created a few inspiration pages yesterday.

the pages were created on sturdy paper in a 12" x 12" book. i had previously cut out all of these images and i sorted them into piles that worked well together. then i glued, doublestick taped, or sewed them down. i tore the pages out of the book and used 12" x 12" scrapbooking paper to create borders for the pages that i stitched on. on the pages i included fashion images as well as texture images and color swatches. i have a fashion glue book that i usually put all of my fashion images into but for this i really wanted to do things differently and have these pages be a little more 'finished', more of a themed collection on the pages. i had fun creating these pages and can't wait to start exploring the class lessons and start doing some sketching and painting.

sweetheart cupcakes

2011-02-13T15:53:00.000-06:00

scrappy valentines (tutorial)

2011-02-13T10:38:00.007-06:00

still haven't figured out what to do for valentine's day? or just need a little something extra? here's a quick, easy last minute valentine's day project. i call these scrappy valentines. they are a spin off of my scrappy patches.

To make scrappy valentines:
1. cut out heart shapes from scrap paper. i have a set of graduated templates (found at a quilt shop) that i use but you can always fold the paper in half and cut the heart out.
2. gather paper and fabric scraps and photos. i have two cigar boxes that i toss all my scraps into. here i've pulled out a handful of scraps that fit my chosen color palette (mostly purple, with a little pink).

3. sew scraps to heart. i have no plan in mind when i do this, i simply grab the first piece that catches my eye. sew scraps down until heart is covered (i use lots of messy stitching), add a photo, use tape to secure a piece of ribbon to the back of the heart and stitch around the edge of the heart a few times. lastly, hand stitch on any additional embellishments (i added buttons). and done!

for additional valentine tutorials check out:
valentine cards: a new twist on an old classic by alisa burke

award ribbon valentines by alisa burke

handmade valentines - little gift pouches

valentine's day

2011-02-10T12:57:00.003-06:00

with valentine's day coming up i've added two new packages of scrappy heart patches (see photos below) and three stuffed punk valentine hearts to my etsy shop.

quilted snowflakes (tutorial tuesday)

2011-02-01T09:47:00.007-06:00

today for tutorial tuesday (the first one in a loooong time :) i'm going to show you how to make what i call quilted snowflakes. they are fairly simple to make and consist of a layer of decorative fabric, a layer of batting and a layer of backing fabric. the picture below shows my journal page (left) where i brainstormed the snowflakes. there's notes and thoughts on how to make them, small paper punched snowflakes, an outline of my chosen snowflake shape and a swatch strip (i sewed scraps from the various fabrics and ribbons that i had gathered to a strip of posterboard). on the right are my finished snowflakes on a white paper background laid over one of my stenciled backgrounds.

now onto the tutorial. to make quilted snowflakes you will need:

assorted fabric/ribbon/paper scraps in silver/blue/white

thread

sewing machine (or a needle if you want to try this by hand)

scissors

batting

white flannel
snowflake stencil

pen/marker

my gathered pile of scraps.
my snowflake stencil.
white flannel and batting (i recycled a printed white flannel by using the plain reverse side).

1. outline the snow flakes onto the white flannel.

2. loosely collage the various fabrics onto the batting.

3. stack the loose collage, batting and white flannel and stitch in place.

4. flip to the backside and stitch the snowflake outlines. (i don't have a free motion foot or anything special, i just went slow, it's all straight lines).

the stitched snowflake.

5. cut out the snowflake, cutting just outside of the stitched line. this is tricky cutting, use good scissors and go slow.

and that's it -you're done! i haven't decided what to do with my snowflakes yet but i'm envisioning garlands of snowflakes or snowflake mobiles, snowflake ornaments... if you make some snowflakes i'd love to see what you do with them!

close-up look at my journal page.

close-up look at the finished snowflakes.

playing around with the scraps i made this scrappy patch star. (scraps are simply sewn to a piece of posterboard cut in a star shape).

journal pages

2011-01-29T14:59:00.002-06:00

a handful of journal pages. the first one was done for traci bautista's art journaling daily, prompt #1.

hello

2011-01-25T13:43:00.001-06:00

hello! i feel as though i've abandoned this poor blog (not to mention my etsy shop, which i noticed the other day was empty - all my listings had expired - oops!). a quick update on where i've been - i went through a long creative dry spell, during which i found out that i'm pregnant which no doubt contributed to the fatigue that i was feeling and then there was the nausea...bleh. so now i'm through the first trimester, feeling better, trying to get back on track.

getting back on track - i renewed all of my expired listings on etsy (and sold something two days later!), i am working on a new tutorial, i'm planning on participating in traci bautista's art journaling daily, and i've signed up to take her fashionista class. i'm also cleaning out and reorganizing my studio space as it's being moved into a smaller room to make way for the new baby.

so that's what's been going on with me.

studio tour

2010-10-15T16:03:00.005-05:00

cloth paper scissors virtual open studio tour

my studio area takes up about half of the room that it's in. the rest of the room contains two armchairs for my husband and i, the tv, the computer desk and all of dave's cb radio equipment. the room has two closets (it's one big room that used to be two really small bedrooms), one closet holds dave's hunting gear, the other closet is in my studio area. my studio is L shaped with one table that divides the room in half and creates the bottom part of the L and two tables along the wall under the window.

1. this is the table that divides the room, it is our old dining room table. it now holds my sewing machine (a bernina 1008). behind the sewing machine are a couple of bins holding in progress projects and fabric bits and pieces. there's a stack of books, a (blank) travel coffee mug that's modeling my new coffee cozy (more on that in an upcoming tutorial), halloween ribbon, spray painted paper, zoe's old ballet slippers (waiting for the right shadow box), some finished mini journals.
2. sewing machine, book shelf. this is the first table that is against the wall, this one is right under the window. it has a book shelf on top of it. the top of the book shelf has my computer disks, coils for my binding machine, and an empty jewelry box. the top shelf has various journals and books. the lower half of the bookshelf holds a stack of 12" x 12" bins that hold scrapbooking papers and collage materials.
3. the desk under the window. a stack of magazines, papers, things to be filed etc. my journal. a box of paints, old family photos. under it all is the newspaper that i use when i'm painting.

4. the third desk (tucked into the corner to the right of the window, formed by the wall and the closet). this is where i work in my journal, pay bills, thumb through magazines. my pens, pencils, rulers, scissors, etc. are kept here.

5. the bulletin board above the third desk. i post deadlines and things that inspire me. to the right is the art doll that i made for the ado wonderland blog event.

6. my closet. lots of boxes and books. my binding machine, FULL journals, photo albums, sketchbooks, finished artworks, etc.

8. my other bookshelf, to the right of the closet, in between the closet and the computer desk. top has finished artworks, knick knacks. lower shelves hold buttons, scrap boxes, labels, sharpies, etc. bottom shelf holds art books (sabrina ward harrison, lynne perrella, traci bautista, lk ludwig).

so that's it, that's my studio. i also have (not pictured) two plastic carts with three deep drawers that hold some of my fabric and paint. they are stacked one on top of the other on the wall opposite my desks. at some point soon i will be purchasing a small shelving system to go against that wall as well. i also have out in the hallway a tall dresser full of more fabric.

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i'm loving this current studio arrangement. i previously had the two desks against the wall but not the third table. it was in the room but just had stacks of stuff on it and my sewing machine was on the table in the kitchen and a large amount of my sewing supplies were in the kitchen too. i came home from work one day and dave had cleared off the table moved it to where it is now forming the L and had moved my sewing machine into my studio and all my sewing stuff. love love.

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hope you enjoyed the tour! the last one that i did can be found here.

painted canvas mini journal (tutorial tuesday)

2010-10-12T05:49:00.014-05:00

today i have a mini journal that i made from a painted piece of sticky back canvas.

you will need:

sticky back canvas
needle and thread/sewing machine

fabric (i used fabric recycled from an old t-shirt)

acrylic paint

cheesecloth
two buttons
skinny ribbon

assorted papers, scraps

1. paint the canvas.
2. cut it to size. (mine is about 6" x 6", closed)

3. peel off the backing and stick it to a piece of t-shirt fabric.

4. stitch the two pieces together. fold in half.

5. make the pages. play with scraps (envelopes, paint chips, paper gift bags, etc.) and sew together.

6.fold the pages in half and tuck them inside of each other.

7. sew the pages into the book
8. make a wrap-around tie for the book by layering a scrap of painted sticky back canvas on top of a dyed piece of cheesecloth and sewing those two pieces to a scrap of the t-shirt fabric.
9. stitch the end of the tie onto the front cover. wrap around the book.
10. sew two buttons onto the tie. tie a skinny piece of ribbon to the button, then wrap around other button to close.

hand cut page titles (tutorial tuesday)

2010-10-04T12:29:00.009-05:00

today i have a simple tutorial for you on cutting letters for page titles (for journals or scrapbooks). this is a simple, creative alternative to letter stickers.

you will need:
a scrap piece of paper of white paper
a scrap piece of patterned paper
pen
pencil
x-acto knife
tape

1. start out by drawing your letters on the scrap piece of white paper. (i used a pen and didn't give it much thought, these are my basic doodle letters).
2. outline each letter with a pencil.
3. place the scrap piece with your letters on it face down on the back of your patterned paper. tape down and use your pencil to rub over the whole back to transfer the letters.
4. use an x-acto knife to cut them out.

if i had placed my periods right i could have used this piece too.

5. add the letters to your layout.

the tutorial for attaching the photos can be found here.

for more cut letter inspiration see here, here, here, and here.

giveaway winners!

2010-09-29T20:26:00.003-05:00

sorry for the delay everyone! and the winners are: janelle eller (giveaway #1) and ani hearts japan (giveaway #2). please email me your addresses and i will send your packages right out!

thank you!

alphabet books

2010-09-23T12:50:00.004-05:00

check out these super cute books i scored! a couple of my coworkers were getting rid of some of the books in their classroom and gave me this stack of alphabet books. it's not the whole alphabet but there's still a lot here. my favorite is the q book. love love the quilt pictures! so pretty and colorful. i plan on turning these books into art journals, probably spiral bound. i mean it's about time i learn to use my binding machine (the bind-it-all v2.0), i've only had it for what a year?! ha.

also check out this post. i'm one of this month's featured sponsers on the blog run with scissors. i'm offering a giveaway there too. be sure to check out the rest of this month's sponsers too!

tutorial tuesday: to dye for

2010-09-21T12:41:00.010-05:00

for this week's tutorial i had fun playing with more of my leftover dye. you may remember in my last tutorial (tote bag transformation) when i laid out the tote bag for dying i laid paper towels around and slightly under the tote bag. i did this to catch any excess dye off of the bag. also, when i was finished dying the bag it was soaked with dye so i took paper towels and wrapped them around the bag and wrung the bag out. i did this repeatedly until all of the excess dye was out of the bag and i had this stack of dyed paper towels. the great thing about all these paper towels: they can be used as is, or peeled apart which gives you two identical dyed paper towels.

i had so much fun dying my tote bag and the paper towels that i decided to play with the dye that i had leftover.

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you will need:

dye (in squirt bottles, mine are from a tie-dye kit)

trash bags

gloves

a plastic dishpan or other shallow plastic container

things to dye (i used dryer sheets, cheesecloth, tulle, sheer fabrics, white cotton fabrics, sheer ribbons, lace, coffee filters, paper towels

1. lay one trash bag inside of your plastic dishpan and one out on the table.

2. in the dishpan place a stack of things to be dyed (4-8 pieces).

3. squirt dye on the pile.

4. pick pile up and squish dye around into the pieces. add more dye as needed.

5. play, experiment, have fun!

white on white fabric-the dye brings out the designs.

more white on white fabric.

lace, lacy ribbon, white on white fabric

white on white fabric, sheer fabric, paper towel

i discovered that while the sheer fabric was wet if i laid other wet things (lace, cheesecloth, etc) it created interesting patterns on the sheer fabric.

sheer fabric, coffee filter, white on white

coffee filter

tote bag transformation (tutorial tuesday)

2010-09-07T14:10:00.000-05:00

for today's tutorial i'm going to show you how to transform a boring plain tote bag into a beautifully embellished tote bag. i had this tote bag that was the perfect size for everday use, the straps were a great length to carry on the shoulder, but the bag itself was very plain. i decided to dye the bag and then create a stitched collage to attach to the bag. both sides of this bag had a logo on it so i designed two separate collages, one for each side.

to dye the tote bag you will need:

a trash bag

plastic gloves

paper towels

dye

a note about the dye:

i used leftover dye from tie-dying. i don't plan on this being a washable bag so i didn't worry about soaking the bag in soda ash or setting the dye. if you want to be able to wash the bag follow the directions in any dye kit/package. also i used the dye out of bottles and squirted it onto the bags, you can do this or buy rit and put the whole bag in a bucket of dye.

dying the bag:

this is best done outside. i spread my trash bag out on the ground and laid the tote bag on top of the trash bag (1). i laid out paper towels around the bag (more on this next tuesday). the i got my dye bottles out and ready (2.) and pulled my gloves on. using the bottles i randomly squirted dye onto the bag. use colors that work with each other (i used purple, blue and pink), so that if the colors mix you aren't left with a muddy mess. with my hands (here's where the gloves are verrrry important!) i worked the dye into the bag until the whole bag was dyed. when one side is done, flip the bag over and do the other side (3,4). if you don't want the dye to soak through the bag to the other side put a plastic placemat or a trash bag inside of the tote bag. once the bag is covered in color, let dry.

2.
3.
4.

embellishing the bag:

once the bag was dyed i went inside and rummaged through my fabric stash and pulled out anything i thought use on the bag (1). i made myself a simple squareish pattern with a sheet of printer paper so that i knew how big i needed the collage to be to cover the existing logo. then i played with the pieces until i had a composition that i liked. for the first collage (2) i printed my blog banner onto sticky back canvas and stuck that onto polka dot fabric, added pink tulle and a strip of pink t-shirt fabric. once everything was where i wanted it i stitched the composition together on my sewing machine. because the polka dot fabric was thin i reinforced the composition with scrap strips of sticky back canvas (3) before i sewed it to the tote bag (4). after sewing to the tote bag i added two buttons to the collage. for the second side of the tote bag i collaged together t-shirt scraps and buttons (5). for the polka dot collage i managed to wrestle the bag under my sewing machine and sew it on, i hand sewed the t-shirt collage on. (and if your using t-shirt scraps for your collage, i highly recommend using sticky back canvas on the back of the t-shirt fabric before sewing. my t-shirts were very stretch and difficult to sew.)

1.

i hope everyone enjoyed today's tutorial! if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me. also if you make a tote bag by following this tutorial please share a link in the comment section to your project, i'd love to see!

etsy update and labor day sale

2010-09-03T15:36:00.007-05:00

just a quick note to say that i added tuesday's clutch purses to my shop. also i am having a sale in the shop this weekend, starting today and ending monday at midnight. the three new clutch purses are 10% off, every journal will come with a free (surprise) packet of painted papers, and there's free shipping on EVERYTHING in the shop.

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and now for a little sneak peek at what i'm working on for tutorial tuesday:

tutorial tuesday: scrappy clutch purses

2010-08-31T12:57:00.010-05:00

for today's tutorial i'm going to tell you how to make clutch purses from scraps. all three purses were made with fabric from upcycled/recycled clothes: clothes that no longer fit me, thrift store purchases, jeans that were worn out.

sparkly skull clutch purse: the fabric for the outside of this purse came from a tank top that no longer fit me and the velvet lining came from a thrift store dress.

1. cut a rectangle out of each piece of fabric (one for the outside of the purse and one for the lining). these can be any size you'd like; for this purse my pieces were approximentely 8" H x 9" W.

2. place the fabric pieces right side to right side and stitch them together around the edges, leaving a 2-3" opening on one side.

3. use that opening to turn the fabric right side out. use a pencil (or something pointy) to poke in between the two pieces of fabric and push the corners out.

4. sew up the opening.

5. fold the fabric into thirds with the lining fabric on the outside.

6. sew the sides together.

7. turn right side out.

8. sew a button in the middle of the top flap and an elastic loop (recycled from a broken hair band) on the bottom front of the purse. close purse by looping elastic around the button.

denim patchwork clutch purse: for both of these purses you are going to start by cutting up old blue jeans and sewing the pieces together.

for the first clutch i cut strips of denim and sewed them together. i took advantage of the existing button and button hole on the jeans and used them as the closure for the purse. for the second clutch the pieces are different shapes and sizes as they were the leftover scraps from a different project. i sewed these scraps together however they would fit. after sewing the scraps together, follow the above directions on adding the lining (the lining for the first clutch is from a t-shirt that i cut up and the lining for the second clutch is from a thrifted plaid wool skirt) and sewing the clutch purse together.

all three of these clutches were handsewn (before i learned how to use my machine :). this is a pretty simple sewing project that could easily be done by hand or by machine. if you make your own scrappy clutch, please feel free to post a link to it in the comments. i'd love to see what you do with this project.

p.s. these three clutches will be going into my etsy shop on friday and they will be on sale for the entire weekend (ending monday night).

zoe's birthday scrapbook

2010-08-28T20:29:00.001-05:00

zoe turned five a month ago and i made this mini scrapbook to celebrate the occasion. her birthday seemed to stretch for the whole week with family coming over friday and sunday and then on monday she got her gifts from me and dave and then later in the week she got a package from my mom. many photos were taken and are now housed in this little scrapbook (it's 6" H x 5.5" W). the cover is a batik fabric from joann's fabric sewn to a piece of fused plastic (a technique of alisa burke's featured in the jan/feb 2009 issue of cloth paper scissors). the ribbon came off of one of zoe's packages. the photos were all edited on picnik. i used an assortment of scrapbooking and found papers, crepe paper, tulle, glitter glue, a napkin, stickers, painted doilies, a handcarved cupcake stamp, blue masking tape, and ribbons. the entire book was sewn together on my sewing machine (a bernina 1008).

etsy update and sale

2010-08-28T11:37:00.003-05:00

ok, so i know i said i'd be updating the shop on fridays but i didn't have anything ready to go this week. however, i am going to renew some expired listings and i'm putting everything on sale until monday night: 10% off of the entire order. you pay for the order and i will paypal you back the 10%. here's a sampling of a few item for sale in my shop:

Tutorial Tuesday: Water Resist Painting

2010-08-24T20:24:00.008-05:00

today's tutorial is more of an add on to this post.

you will need:
paper
acrylic paint
old gift card
rubbing plate
plastic knife
spray bottle of water (i use an old windex bottle)
newspaper

1. cover your table with newspaper (things are going to get messy).

2. use your gift card to scrape paint (a thin layer) onto a sheet of paper.

3. quickly scrape a second, darker layer of paint over the first layer.
4. immediately spray water onto paint.

5. use dry gift card to scrape over top layer of paint. the water acts as a resist and removes the top color where ever it's sprayed.

6. variation 1: place a rubbing plate under your paper and scrape over it.

7. variation 2: scrape paint with a plastic knife instead of a gift card.

bundles unbound

2010-08-21T23:18:00.008-05:00

here, finally are my bundles, unbound. it was fascinating to open these up and see the different pieces and how they reacted. some pieces changed very little and others changed a lot. i love the tattered, dreamy, sort of ghostly look that some of the pieces took on. now that the bundles are unbound i can't wait to sit and play with these newly transformed materials.

bundles update

2010-08-21T23:15:00.004-05:00

so, i'm moving on with the bundles. i removed them (thursday, i think) from where i had them tied. these pictures are of the bundles still tied in place and then pictures of the back sides after removing them.
now, on my way to see and remove the bundles, i spotted zoe's plastic pool full of rainwater and little flowers. so i impusively decided to dunk the bundles into the pool after i took them down. here they are in the water.

i let them sit in the water for a couple of hours while i ran errands. when i removed them from the water i threw them onto the ground in an area of our yard that is just dirt. then i stepped on them, squeezing out the excess water. i also threw them at the fence a time or two, then sat them down to dry.

next post: the bundles opened up and fully revealed.

2010-08-20T20:06:00.004-05:00

hello! just a little note to say that i haven't gone totally awol! it's been a busy month. i've been busy at work, busy with zoe's birthday, busy getting zoe ready for kindergarten, then i was sick, then zoe was sick, now i'm having issues with my computer and the keyboard. so i'm typing this from a different computer but it's not mine where i have all of my photos. i can use mine to upload photos here and then this computer to type on but i have a feeling that will get old fast. not to mention that i won't be able to use picnik on this computer or update my etsy shop...

anyway enough complaining! i'm doing some planning and i want to start doing a weekly post on tuesdays called Tutorial Tuesdays. it will be just what it sounds like, a tutorial every tuesday; anything from a painting technique to making a piece of jewelry, a clutch purse, an art doll etc. the first tutorial will be posted this coming tuesday, august 24. i will also now be updating my etsy shop every friday. some weeks the update may be only one item, other weeks it will be multiple item, either way i will add something to my shop every friday. additionally, the item(s) that i add that friday will be on sale that day, saturday and sunday at 10% off. i will also be holding some kind of sale black friday weekend and will post more details as that gets closer. i have some other ideas for themed posts, maybe another weekly one, nothing firm yet but i plan on posting a whole lot more often!

note: i have no etsy update for today (see computer/keyboard issues) but will have my first friday update/sale next friday, august 27.

until next time!
xo jessica

pages from mini R.O.D. journal #2

2010-08-01T10:29:00.004-05:00

here's a look at some of the pages from my second mini remains of the day journal. in the fourth photo, the little panel labeled tuesday is from here, the black and pink flower print is from a card making kit i found in the dollar section at target, in the last photo the strip of polka dots is from the packaging for that card kit and on the right page the transparency is also from target (the top is not stitched closed, so that a photo can be slid in there). the rest of the pages are painted, recycled and there's a few scraps of scrapbooking paper mixed in. the little envelope came off of a gift, it had a little gift tag inside.

check this out

2010-07-29T20:02:00.001-05:00

check out this post by pokey bolton on her blog. very interesting and inspiring.

mini R.O.D. journal #2

2010-07-28T20:35:00.002-05:00

mini R.O.D. journal

2010-07-18T15:49:00.003-05:00

book is 5" H x 3 1/4" W when closed

bundles, then and now

2010-07-12T20:51:00.004-05:00

a quick look at the bundles. the first photo is of the bundles wrapped and ready to go outside. the second photo is of the bundles as they looked saturday, the last time i photographed them. i'll have to get out tomorrow and photograph them again since we had a big thunderstom today with heavy rain. they've been outside for 11 weeks now! i'm itching to take them in and look through them, every time i photograph them i can't help but try to peek! :) not sure when i'm going to bring them in, probably going to give them a few more weeks. i already have ideas for another set of bundles!

pocket scroll

2010-07-11T15:18:00.007-05:00

there's an article in this month's cloth paper scissors on making pocket scrolls written by leilani pierson. following her directions i made this scroll. i painted the canvas messily with acrylic paint, then added the polka dots with spray paint and a stencil, added a couple quick sprays of pink and some black splatters. the scroll rolls up onto a stick picked up in my yard. the pages are made from envelopes and lined note pad paper. i sewed (instead of glueing) all my pages in, i left all the threads long and hanging and i sewed on two ribbons so that one wraps around one way and one wraps around the other way and then they tie closed. this was a very simple, fun project. the materials it called for were things that i already had on hand, i didn't have to go out and buy anything, there were no long and involved directions. i finished this in two days, only because of letting the paint dry. all in all, a lot of fun and i see many more of these scrolls in my future, i'm already envisioning all sorts of variations...check out cloth paper scissors for leilani's article and step by step directions, you won't be sorry!

scroll all rolled up
scroll open, inside

scroll open, outside
scroll rolled up on top of article in CPS

queen of hearts

2010-07-09T15:46:00.004-05:00

for the ado wonderland challenge i chose to do the queen of hearts. there's a tutorial here with my basic technique for making my art dolls. you can also see two other dolls that i made using the same doll illustration: here and here. okay, now go to ado and visit the blogs of the other wonderland participants! and enjoy!

p.s. this aceo came in the mail today, from abi monroe. it's my 'ticket' for her drawing to win one of the two dolls pictured. 100% of the money raised will be going to Rescue The Animals of Abilene. go to abi's blog for more info. you have until sunday night to buy one. for only two dollars you get this lovely aceo, you're entered to win a lovely doll, and you're raising money for animals; what's not to love?! go, now!

Stitched Journal (updated video)

2010-07-03T11:40:00.003-05:00

this is an updated version of my stitched journal video. i used windows movie maker to put the original 3 videos together with transitions, a title and credit sequence and i added music. the music is steady rollin' by two gallants off of their album what the toll tells. a special thank you to hanna andersson for telling me about windows movie maker!

bundles update

2010-07-03T09:45:00.003-05:00

gridlock

2010-07-02T22:21:00.005-05:00

originally blogged here.

more here, and here, and here.

inspired by fashion

2010-06-22T13:05:00.007-05:00

go check out this post on drawing inspiration from fashion magazines. nancy has a lot of great ideas on how to turn fashion inspiration into paper projects (in her case scrapbook pages and cards) and when you're done reading that click on the link at the end of her post to go to her blog and read the rest of her inspired by fashion series. for more fashion inspiration check out the new issue of somerset studio. this month's theme is (you guessed it!) inspired by fashion. i haven't finished reading the issue yet but it looks great. and i love love the cover artwork by anahata katkin. gorgeous. and in the spirit of all this fashion inspiration, i thought i'd give you a peek at my fashion gluebooks. these are 9" x 12" spiral bound sketchbooks. when i finish reading my fashion magazines i clip out any images that inspire me and paste them into the sketchbooks. the one on the left is completely full and i've been filling it since i was a teenager (i'm 29 now). the one on the right is getting close to being full.

sneak peek

2010-06-20T08:39:00.003-05:00

a little sneak peek of my doll for the ADO Wonderland blog event. there's still plenty of time to sign up and make your own doll. check back here on july 8th to see the rest of my doll.

stitched journal

2010-06-18T18:32:00.006-05:00

i recently finished my new journal. it was inspired by mary ann moss' remains of the day class. this journal's a little different from the journal she teaches in the class (i highly highly recommend the class and any other class by mary ann). this journal is 11" x 9". the cover is made from a piece of canvas that i dyed and then spray painted. the inside of the cover is a piece of purple quilting cotton and there is batting sandwiched between the two fabrics. everything is machine sewn and each signatures is bound by two sets of three hole pamphlet stitch. i apologize for there being three videos, i kept stopping the camera and not meaning to. at some point i'd like to refilm it as one entire video. i also don't recommend watching the videos with the sound on as i don't talk during them, you can hear the tv in the background as well as a few throat clearing and hmming noises. lol. :) when i get around to refilming it i'll do it with music in the background! :) so enjoy, let me know what you think. (eventually i'd like to make more of these to put in the shop.)

bundles

2010-06-08T21:13:00.001-05:00

just wanted to share this. and new photos of the bundles.

studio destash sale- books and magazines

2010-06-05T14:39:00.011-05:00

in an effort to make some space in my oh-so-crammed studio, i've done a bit of destashing. in this post i've listed the books and magazines. all prices include shipping.

The Ephemera Book (some images have been cut out) $11

Scrapbook Trends: Stamping $9

Vintage Ephemera (some images have been cut out) includes a CD $11

Combination Crafts $11

Making Handbags: retro, chic, luxurious (includes 4 pull-out master patterns for making more than 36 designs) by Ellen Goldstein-Lynch $11

Crafting Personal Shrines by Carol Owen $9

The Rubber Stampers Bible by Francoise Read $13

Altered Books 101 by Beth Cote and Cindy Pestka $10

Haute Handbags, Premiere Issue $8

all issues of Legacy, Somerset Memories and Stampers Sampler are $4 each

Legacy, Feb/Mar 06

Legacy, April/May 06

Legacy, Feb/Mar 07

Somerset Memories, April/May 07

Somerset Memories, June/July 07

Stampers Sampler, Dec/Jan 04

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