Blog Candy ... Just KIDding

I have two new collage sheets! I don’t even have them up at my website so this is a sneak peek giveaway! The first one is Victorian Numbers and the other is a Victorian Alphabet. It is mostly floral but there are birds. dogs and even elves mixed in. They both have a very playful feel so I have added some chidren stamps and a fun star ball.

And the winner is Ina Ftacek

I don’t notify you if you win. Be sure to check this post next week to see if you have won.

The winner must send me their address via email. If I do not hear from the winner by Thursday, they forfeit their prize and it will be added to the following weeks candy so the next winner would be a double winner.

Bling Bling!

I have been a little under the weather this week so I did not really feel like getting out to yard sales but just one could not hurt! :)) and check out what I found!

Isn’t it Romantic .··-.¸.-··.¸.··-.¸.-·

Same bracelet, same earrings but I did a different necklace to go with them for when I feel in a more romantic mood. It is made from a vintage chandelier crystal also. I did a transfer by dampening a laser print with nail polish and then I used an iron to press it against the crystal. I repeated the nail polish and iron a few times to make sure the transfer was made. Then I soaked it in water and rubbed off the paper. I now had a semi-translucent image. When it was dry I sealed it with diamond glaze and a touch of gold leaf pen around the edge. Most of the parts are vintage brass that has been flame treated to look older.

Timeless Words II

I made a similar one of these for a friend a while back. I had expressed some should have and could haves to her and she encouraged me to give it another go or I would never have made one so similar again. I am so glad I did though because now I have one to wear too :)) I called it “Timeless Words” because of the antique shredded text between the watch lenses and then the tiny bottle has old watch parts inside. I also made a little bracelet and earrings to match. I wore it to the post office today and the lady behind the counter loved it… made my day :))

Confessions of a BLURKER : /

After yesterdays post I discovered that they have a word just for me! :] I am a BLURKER! Yes I am the one who reads there blogs from a reader and rarely post. Yep, so many blogs that I am lucky to curl up with a glass of wine and buzz through the list every evening. With a business to run and a family that always seem to need my attention, time for myself and my art are extremely limited. However I do glean so much enjoyment and inspiration from all the blog I watch. Many of them I have found by checking out those that post here. I guess I could cut down on the amount of blogs I watch but I would be missing out on so much beautiful art and tons of inspiration. Now isn’t that why we blog after all… so others can enjoy our art too? I know I have a lot of great artist that watch my blog too but have little time to post. Having that problem myself, I totally understand. I am just happy that they stop by and see what I am working on and are able to enjoy my art.

Tricked out :)

I had made several of these pendants last week. I offered one as blog candy and sent several to friends too. My first thought was just to put them on a black neck cord so I called them finished but when I went to put mine together I jazzed it up a little. I had second thoughts about posting this because I worried that the people I sent them to would feel that I sent them an unfinished piece. After thinking about it though, I decided that everyone I sent to were very creative people in there own right. They might even decide to trick out there little pendant better than I have done. It can be like a creative challenge :)) anyway this is what I ended up with for mine :)

Amazing Mail!

I was so surprised when I opened the mailbox today. Inside was a package from Lynn Stevens. She is an amazing artist and your really should visit her blog. Anyway, she had asked for my mailing address the other day but I really was expecting a card. I can’t tell you how astonished I was when I opened the box to find this amazing bracelet. It is a Fairy them … hmmm wonder why she chose that for me …lol. It was just too special so I had to share :)

Picturesque Soldered Charm

I called this a charm but it is really more of a pendant. It measures about 1 1/2 inches by 1 inch wide. It is made from my new “Picturesque” collage sheet. The sheet comes in ATC size but if you want to make charms all of my collage sheets are available in special sizes. This is not two charms, the picture just shows the front and the back :)

I got waxed!

This week my newest design team member Cynthia Powell is teaching a wax workshop in her online club The latest trends in mixed media art. I had to play and this is my Encaustic Wax canvas. I work on a glass table so I did not worry about laying down paper to catch the excess wax. So after I had put my first coat on, I used my razorblade scraper to clean up the wax. The wax curled as I scraped it off the table and it looked like roses to me so I used it on the finished piece.

Playing with acetate

This past Friday was our local stamp club meeting. After admiring My friend Joanne’s acetate cards I decided that would be my project. I got the whole card ready to put together when I discovered that I had ran out of xyron adhesive. First I tried velum tape and that really looked ugly from the backside. Then I tried spray craft glue. I could not even tell there was any glue. It looked great. However I did find that you need to start spraying the glue and move your image into the spray so you don’t get a glop. You need a smooth even coat because the glop will show. I also discovered another little trick. You know how when your going to stick an image down that has spray glue or xyron adhesive on the back, you have one chance to get it in the right place because once it is stuck … it is stuck. No sooooooo :)) if you put a little “Un Du” on the acetate before you stick it, you can slide the image around until you get it in the position you like. Un-DU is a scrapbookers solution used to remove stickers and you can get it just about anywhere you can buy scrapbooking supplies. I am not affiliated in any way with this product, I just like it :)

Charms, charms and more charms :)

These are a few sets of charms that I did for a charm swap in one of the yahoo groups I belong to. My categories were fabric, metal and found objects. The fabric ones are sewn houses that I stamped with newsprint. Then I did a fabric transfer of a little fairy and cut her out and the jewel flowers are fingernail charms. I used the Omni Gel medium for the first time and I have to say it came out clearer than any other transfer medium I have tired. Sometimes I want the tattered look but sometimes I do want it clear as for this project. The little house charms measure about an inch high.

I tried to do metal etching for the metals category but it was an dismal failure : / I will have to have more practice for that. I ended up using store bought blanks that I put embossed foil on one side. The other side has vintage text from an old book and a metal letter on top of that. The text I used is a foreign language to me, I used it because the text was small and I liked the look of it. I have been told that it is not offensive and I sure hope so. It was used as an artistic element and not intend to imply anything :)

For my found objects charms I used tiny hinges and made a tablet from the same book that the text for the metal charms came from so again... I don't know what they say :)) They measure also not quite an inch high.

Peek-A-Boo Eggs!

Click on the picture to see all 4 eggs!

Photographic

If you click on the image above it will take to a view of all the pages.

My friend Joanne Wardel sent me a blank matchbook book she had made to decorate. If you click on her name it will take you to her blog where she has a great tutorial on how to make them …she ingeniously hides the staples so be sure to check it out.

Anyway it is quite a bit bigger than a real matchbook. The pages were just the right height for the ATC size frames on my new collage sheet but it was too wide…. being the butcher that I am, I got out my xacto knife and cut it a little narrower. Thank goodness she had left the staples in from the edge just enough. I am still getting this ageing thing down so I tried a bit of everything …lol.


I started by stippling the entire thing, then I drizzled ink on it. It still did not look to old so I took the sandpaper to it and roughed it up with the edge of a serrated knife. Better but not quite so next I used some gray, brown and black chalk. Once I had that done I cut the little frames out and placed an acetate window in each. Then came the fun stuff, I added cut out collage images, stamped and embellished to my hearts content :))

Theme Thursday ...Labels :)

When I saw the theme over at Theme Thursday this week, I was itching to play. Here is my entry.

ATC’s 4 Trade :)

I was looking at my ATC book the other day with a friend and I realized that it has been way to long since I have made any ATC’s to trade. So tonight I was playing around ..inspired by another friends art and did these two little ATC’s. If you have an ATC you would like to trade for them…or any of the others on my “trading page" , just drop me an email :)

Eat Crow

Braunlick Bear

Timeless Words

I have been waiting to post this because it was a little thank you gift for a friend. There have been too many times, I have let a friends words of encouragement slip by without acknowledging the effect they had on my art and me. I wanted to make her a piece that represented her words of encouragement. Although I loved salvaged art, I was so intimidated by it. I doubt I would have started this new avenue in my art with out her. Anyway …the necklace has now arrived so I can share :)) I call it “Timeless Words” because the focal point of the necklace is the crinkled text that is sandwiched between two watch crystals and also the little bottle holds watch parts.

PARTAY ...or er Party ...Yep .. the long awaited

Valentines Blog Party

...and have I got a romantic giveaway!

This is one of my perfume bottle night lights. There is even a switch on the cord that turns It off and on. …oh you say there are so many entries that you don’t think you have a chance to win it …. Well scroll down a bit and there is a free download of the perfume label I used and you can make your own! … Really … it is simple! I have the instructions on my website on just how to do it. There is also another free label to download there! Now if you want to be in on the drawing for this one…Just leave a comment and I will use the random number generator to choose the winning post :) Be sure to leave a contact email or you will be disqualified to win.

...and the winner is....Altered Route

Now once I had my label printed I spruced it up a bit by daubing on some yellow ink and gold stamping. Then I edged it with a gold paint pen.

Be sure to click on the badge below to visit all the other participants of the Valentine Blog Party! There are lots of giveaways, free downloads and soooo much eye candy you will be just stuffed full!

OWOH ... who won!!!!!

The winner is

.··-.¸.-··. (`'·.¸(`'·.¸Her Art Nest¸.·'´)¸.·'´) .··-.¸.-··.

Now I did use the random number generator but the winning number is different from the post number because of some double posts. So rather than confuse people I am just posting the winners name :)

But today everyone is a winner!

In celebration of my sweet son Jeffrey’s birthday we always spend the day eating his favorite foods, playing his favorite games, going his favorite places, giving each other gifts and of course eating birthday cake :)

So as my gift to you all I am offering a free download. This is a scan of a vintage scorecard. It would be fun for your art but it would be fun to use too! Click of the picture for the full size, print two and sandwich a number wheel in between to keep score of how many hands you have won. Make one for each player and at the end of the night you will know who took the most hands :)

A Fairies Travel Kit

I call this "A Fairies Travel Kit" because this little tin holds all her necessities. Her magical fairy dust and her magic wand. If she has those two items she can use them for anything else her little fair heart might need :)

Click on the picture for a better view

And the winner is Kimberly Johnson

Please use the email link below my picture to send me your shipping address.
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Please use the email link to send me your shipping information

I don’t notify you if you win. Be sure to check this post next week to see if you have won.

The winner must send me their address via email. If I do not hear from the winner by Thursday, they forfeit their prize and it will be added to the following weeks candy so the next winner would be a double winner.

Tiny Crowns Tip :0

Did you notice how tiny the crown was on the little fairy sitting on top of that tin .... wonder where I got that tiny crown. Well pull down your Christmas decorations and check out the tops of them… yep tiny crowns. The itsy tiny bulbs have itsy tiny crowns but if you need some bigger ones check out the giant bulbs. This is wayyyy cheaper than buying those brass charm crowns and you can find a better variety too!

Let them eat cake :D

I could not sleep so what's a girl to do? ... MAKE CAKE :)) Not being a stingy type girl, I thought I would share :)) I admit it is not fancy … very quick and very easy but oh so yummy! It is called “Top of the morning” cake and is a recipe I found in one of my vintage cookbooks.


1 cup sugar
1 cup flour
2 teaspoons of baking powder
¼ teaspoon of salt
2 eggs in a one cup measuring cup then fill to the one cup mark with milk

Topping:
¼ cup butter
¼ cup sugar
1 teaspoon cinnamon

Grease and flour a 8 x 8 glass pan. Mix the dry ingredients into a medium mixing bowl. Then put the two eggs into the measuring cup and fill to the one cup mark with milk. Combine with dry ingredients and poor into pre prepared glass pan. Put it into a 350 degree oven.

Then melt the butter. In a separate container mix the topping sugar and cinnamon. Once the cake starts to rise a little on the sides. Open the oven door and quickly drizzle the butter over the top and sprinkle with the sugar mixture. Continue baking until a tooth pick inserted in the center comes out clean…. About 20 minutes. .

Enjoy!

One World ~ One Heart Giveaway!

The idea behind this event is for bloggers all over the world to connect with artists, share stories, creations and giveaways. Well you know how I love a giveaway :)) Just leave me a comment and you could be the winner of my tiny captured fairy in a bottle necklace. Be sure to leave your contact information for this one.

Then once you leave me a comment then click on the world badge above and go down the list of all the other participants

I will announce the winner of the little bottle fairy on Feb 12th a very special day for me as it is the birthday of my second born son who past away several years ago and I think this is a great way to honor his giving heart too!

I am trying to work my way down the caravan list. If you are also playing along leave your caravan post number so I can find your post

Postcard Swap Valentines

These are the Valentine postcards for a swap I am in over at Latest Trends :)

Here is my heart..Fabric hanger <3 <3 <3

More DIY :))

I said I was going to do more blogging about my art and what I have been up to. I have put my art on hold to get some DIY stuff done in my studio. Last week I found an entertainment center at a thrift shop for $25 and it was all hardwood. It had two drawers on the bottom and even the inside of the drawers were wood. I thought it would sit in the garage for at least a month before I could get the hubby to work on it but this past weekend he volunteered. I did not want something that big in the studio so I had him cut the drawers off the bottom and put the top of the entertainment center on for a top. I then painted them black and put the little aquarium stand that was already in the office on top. I had purchased it some time back and gave it a paint job to match my other office furniture. So now I have this great little cupboard for storing all my vintage fabrics and lace and canvases. I use foam core board to divide the drawers for my fibers. I plan to put a few dowels in the bottom drawer for ribbon but I have not gotten there yet. The leftover wood was use to replace the fiberboard desk that I had attached the shutters to on the other side of the room. It now has a lot more storage as shelf’s were added where before was just a hole where the kick area of the desk had been. I have spent several days rearranging and organizing my office and now I am ready to get inky again!

Fridays!

This is just a little card I did for my local stamp club that met on Friday. We each trade stamps and then have to design a card with that stamp. This time I got my own stamp back. Then my little shoebox project was the optical lens pen or pendant. You can either put it on a chain or just glue a pin back on it. I don’t know if you can tell from the picture but it has little micro beads that swirl around under the lens

It has been a DIY week

Many of you know that I moved from California to Idaho 3 years ago. While moving I hurt my back really bad and had to have a couple of surgeries the first year I was here. So my first couple of years here were spent recovering. Anyway when I arrived my son and his wife set up my house for me unpacking the things they thought I needed. Although I had everything I needed I felt like I was living in a hotel. A lot of my furniture was new so it really did not even feel like I was home. Now that I am feeling better, I have spent this past year trying to make my house my home. Of course I started with my office and you can find pictures of that posted on my website. Then I did a few things with my living room and kitchen because that and my office is where I spend most of my time. Well this week I decided it was time for some changes in my bedroom. We had bought a sleep number bed and put it on a metal frame, I had my dresser and vanity and fireplace from California and a little corner desk that had the TV on. We really did not spend much time in there though because it just was not comfortable.

I started with the corner desk. It was really just a cheep students desk but I got hubby to build some shelf’s above by adding backing and sides and suddenly it looked like a cheep students desk with shelf’s…lol. So I used some textured paintable wall papers then painted it brown and highlighted the texture with gold. I think it came out pretty well!

But that left me with one more problem. If we wanted to sit in bed and watch TV there was nothing to lean against and we would hit our heads on the window seal : [ We needed a headboard and I wanted it to be padded so it would be comfy. Hubby cut a piece of wood paneling and we used spray glue to attach some foam and batting. I then covered that with muslin thinking I would just make a slipcover to match the bedding…. But I did not like the bedding : / It had been a gift from my mom. It was a beautiful quilt but it was an orangey red with yellow and gold flowers :P just not my colors….So needing to do this on the cheep, I got a bottle of red dye … I figured it could not get worse …lol. I actually like how it came out. The red is a much more blue red and now all the yellow flowers and kinda rose colored. Well I ran to town and picked up so red ultra suede fabric. Because the tailored look is just not me I smocked the slip cover for the headboard and then made a couple of pillow shames too.

The last little problem you can see in the picture. It is my 12 year old little yorkie. He recently started having trouble getting up and down off the bed he shares with us. I did not want to make the little set of stairs because I just think it looks stupid so I fixed that problem by adding a couple of wood boxes to the foot of the bed.

Happy New Year Everyone!

I have started mine off with a few resolutions.

To keep up with my blog a little better. When I started blogging last year it was my intention to post about my life and art. I did not want it to be about my business : / However, I love to offer blog candy found myself often offering stamps and collage sheets from Inka Stamps when I was too caught up with my swaps and such to make a piece of art for candy. Well I have resigned myself to the fact that my business is part of who I am so the blog candy will continue as it is but I do want to start posting more of my own artwork and also more about what is happening in my life too…. I thought it a reasonable compromise :)) I also want to take more time for myself to go blog hopping and drink in all the beautiful art that others have done as well as spend more time on my own art and doing the things I love.

Free Christmas Printable

With the holidays here, I am posting a free printable for everyone. You will need to save it to your computer for it to print the correct size. Just click on the picture, once it has loaded right click and choose “save as”. Then you can use your photo program to print it :) I like to glue these to a piece of magnetic sheeting then laminate the top with clear contact paper before cutting them out…. No need for the tabs that way :)

Merry Christmas Everyone!

Gingerbread Christmas

I just want to apologize for not keeping up with my blog to well lately. I have made sure to post the blog candy because so many of you look forward to it and I just can’t disappoint you :) but I have been disappointing myself by not getting my artwork posted.

However it has been the holidays and I have been so into doing things with and for my family. This is my little prince Quinton eating the gingerbread cookies I made for him. I also did a gingerbread house but he has to wait for Christmas eve to eat that with the other kids in the family… and I filled the inside of the little house with party favor toys so when they break it open there will be a fun surprise :)

Bottled Fairy

This is really a lousy picture but she is soooo small. This little bottle fairy's bottle is only 1 ½ an inch high and I could not get the picture to come out clear. She is done with my front back images so she looks cute no matter how she twirls around on her neck cord. Her wings are of acetate and stand off of her body to give her a more dimensional look.

Three little kittens ,,,^..^,,,~~,,,^..^,,,~~,,,^..^,,,~~

... are hoping for mittens :)) and since they are faithful friends they should get them too! I could not wait to play with the new Christmas hats and cats and dogs collage sheets but it was really hard to photo because I used a gold paint pen on the hats and it has sparklies all over it.

Fairy Magic Kit

We were all given these little tins at the last meeting at our local stamp club. We were told to decorate them any way we liked and we would trade them the next meeting. I decided to do a fairy but I could not send her off to a new home with out all of her necessities :)

Getting My Junk On :D

Inspired by my newest design team member Jen Crossley, I did this little fabric wall hanging I wanted to share :)