i tangled!

Happy Halloween!

well we survived hurricane sandy - sigh.  in reality we live to far inland to have been in any real danger of anything other than a strong windy rain storm.  we WERE prepared to be without power though which seemed a likely possibility.  we installed a generator years ago because we lost power so much when we first built this house.  of course, we have never lost power again and this time was no different.  having been through several major hurricanes on the coast of louisiana i know how bad it can get and i feel for all of the people who were hit hard with this one and my heart goes out to those that died. 

pezza will be happily back in school today - she seems much better since our foray to the ER thursday - now THAT was an adventure.  schools have been closed anyway but she was happy about it because she would have had to stay home anyway and this way she knew she didn't miss anything.  because heaven forbid she who never sleeps should miss anything right?!?!  i knew something was up when she got home from school last wednesday, curled up in front of the tv and DIDN'T MOVE.  she even asked me at one point if it could be bedtime - it wasn't even 5:30.  this is NOT how pezza usually is!  the ER adventure was amusing NOT.  of course it didn't start until after bedtime.  she had a bad case of croup which i had never dealt with before but she was not just coughing she was having trouble breathing at all.  a steamy shower fixed it for about 20 minutes and then it came back worse along with a sudden fever that shot up to 102.3 so off we went to the ER.  when we got there the fever had hit 103 so we headed to a room pretty quickly.  turns out for croup they can easily get the swelling down and relive the problem with a dose of steroids and a breathing treatment.  well, the nurse comes in with the meds and hands the cup with the steroids in it to pez, she drinks it and promptly spits it out all over the nurse and yells OMG that tastes like car tires!  the nurse is all shocked and taken aback.  i was trying not to laugh but man it was funny.  the nurse did not think it was funny though but i mean come on!  if you are giving a 5 year old nasty meds come in with a plan right?  and leave it to pezza to be generally obstinate about anything anyway right?!?!  next up breathing treatment which she wasn't overly cooperative for at first either but i got her to do it

she eventually thought this part was kind of funny.  she has had a congested cough lingering but by yesterday she was well enough to drive her dad and i bananas - she has basically been cooped up in the house for 5 days straight!
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newsies - a new mixed media challenge starts TOMORROW on color me creative and i hope some of you will join in!  I have 3 mixed media classes up and running on CMC so if you haven't done any and want to get started JOIN ME AND JUMP RIGHT IN!

also - Leslie - the creator of all of the gorgeous shimmering Luminarte products i love so much just released NEW COLORS for the Silks and Twinkling H2)s.  i have used them and they are oh so gorgeous!  i will have a few of them featured in my next post!  see them at Dreaming in Color.
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so what else have i been up to?  well, i LOVE LOVE the look of doodles/zentangles - the zentangle style has been around far longer than the term zentangle but i know most people recognize "zentangles".  my mom has been doing this same thing on china for AGES.  i really want to be able to do it but i really struggle with it!  i do not find it relaxing as i tense up and over-think it!  however i started a piece in my art journal quite some time ago and have been working on it little by little while i wait for pezza in gymnastics.  it is finally done!

what do you think???  overall i am pleased.  the perfectionist in me has issues with it but i try to shut her up as often as possible!

 i began by covering my page with a wash of twinkling H20s so i wasn't working on stark white.  then i drew my squares and got to work.

i did not keep track of the names of all these designs but you can find loads of designs right on the zentangle website!  for FREE!

of course the kitty in the corner is my fave part!  you will probably see one form of this kitty or another pop up on some other things!  i did get a bit better and more relaxed as i went and i may even start another one......think i should?

halloween paper mache fun!

hi all!

i am reporting live from the frankenstorm.  not really!  yes it has been raining all night but no i don't live on the coast.  we are quite a bit inland from where the storm will make landfall.  HOWEVER, you would not know that by the insanity in the stores on friday and saturday.  OH. MY. WORD. doing a regularly scheduled shopping for groceries and such was a bit of a nightmare.  why people are freaking out this far inland is beyond me.  yes will probably have stormy weather.  yes there will be some wind. yes we could lose power.  no it is not an apocalypse nor is it going to be a repeat of hurricane katrina right here in loudoun county :P  now we have a generator so we are lucky.  we did not go out to buy it the day before a big storm though.  and why so much toilet paper people?  whenever a storm is coming people buy enough water and toilet paper to last for a month.  why?  i did my weekly shopping because i will use the same amount of stuff in a stormy week as any other week.  having spent most of my life on the southern most part of the coast of louisiana i have been through hurricanes - tell me about 140 mph winds and be concerned.  not 50 mph winds (which is what we could have where i live).  i do feel for the people on the eastern coast but am thankful it is not a more severe storm. i am sure there will be some casualties and lots of damage but that is always a risk with a storm.  however i would also like to appeal to people - prepare sensibly, prepare ahead of time - not the day or two before a storm - it breeds panic and price gouging and you risk not being able to be prepared at all.  as for the folks on the coast who ARE actually in danger i hope they stay as safe as they can and i hope for the best for them all.

the threat of the storm did not deter me from making the trek out to maryland to The Queen's Ink for a class with one of my most artists dina wakley.  i have taken a class from her online as part of the 21 secrets workshop and her's was my favorite class - you can see more about that HERE.  my book is not done so i have no pics yet but i will! in person dina was great fun and a great teacher.  if you have a chance to take a class with her do it!  if not take her classes online.  that being said i am beginning to think i am not a class taker - in person anyway.  i get more out of them when i do them online - my own stuff, my own pace, but i do love meeting these artists in person or seeing them again in person.

and now for a halloween project - it's almost here!  if you subscribe to Through the Craft Room Door i wrote an article in there on making your own paper mache items at home.  it's EASY! i am always frustrated at not being able to find the forms i want so me and pezza made our own!  and i finally got around to finishing them (pezza is still working on painting hers a rainbow of fruit flavors).

i started with a ghostie

we gave it a coat of gesso and then some fabby Luminarte Silks Ice because a ghostie MUST shimmer.  oh who am i kidding everything possible must shimmer but especially a ghostie yes?  now pezza and i had some creative differences on the ghostie.  i made three items and she made 1 and then she insisted my items belong to her as well.  i don't think so kid!  hahahah!  so she wanted a purple ghost.  i compromised with some viva decor Inka Gold - amazing stuff and perfect for the rough textured surface of paper mache - i made it rough on purpose.  so i took a it of inka gold on my finger and rubbed across the ghostie so it caught all of the raised surfaces.

you can really see it here - isn't that cool???  this is the biggest reason i love paper mache!

next up is my witch's hat - i love the way this turned out - the shape turned out better than i could have imagined! 

SO much fun right?!?  so the hat got a coat of black gesso and then some gorgeous shimmering Luminarte Silks for the design.  and the piece that started itall - my witch's boot

oh i am so in love with it.  i want to make a host of shoes now and i am not even a shoe person!  pezza's is a tiny version of this and she made it completely by herself so it isn't hard.

of course it started like the hat with black gesso and then luminarte Black Ice Silks.  I sponged on more Silks (though later i wished i had done some inka gold instead - ah well.)

my fave part - a total fluke when i was applying the newspaper layers but i swear i have real boots that look like this!  hahaha!

the lacing was challenging - it took hubby and i a number of attempts with different things to get it done.  he drilled the lace holes for me - thank goodness because i don't know how i would have made the holes :P

the boot is partially hollow so i can put candy in it or flowers - whatever i want.  i suspect we will be playing in more paper mache - once i decide what i want to make next!

suzi blu fun!

hi peeps!

anyone else in love with online classes like me?!  i adore them.  i have taken a few classes in person - including one two weeks ago with wendy vecchi and i have another this weekend with dina wakeley - but online is the BEST! my pace, my color choices, my supplies - i can go faster or slower or skip around.  HOWEVER, there is still a time limit and i am coming up on a time's over for my suzi blu classes so i decided i better get back to it! so that's what i did this week and here is the result

this is nearly identical to the one in the lesson which i usually don't do but i thought perhaps i could try and be a "good" student and go step by step!  see i am the kinda girl who has HUGE issues with following the rules or doing what i am told - hell i rebel against MYSELF!  it's ridiculous really!  of course there are a few differences - suzi's girl is a rodeo girl with a cowboy hat, skull balloon and a pink bunny.  i objected to the rodeo part and pezza immediately objected to both the skull and the bunny. 

so i drew the girl and colored her in using colored pencils and suzi's pick of colors

and pezza drew her signature kitty for me which i also colored with colored pencils

the background is a fun collage of papers and such ala suzi blu that was outside of my usual mode but i stuck to it and followed her and i like the end result..  collage is awesome because i can use old papers that have been sitting around forever.  i even went so far as to put the beeswax over the final piece!  early in the class i tried two pieces with beeswax and really struggled and hated it but this one i had a better time with.  though i am still not sure if i like it.  my BIGGEST struggle with mixed media projects is the layering - which is funny since it is ALL about the layering.  i have SUCH a hard time covering something up!

all in all i had a great time with this one - i hope to have a few more in the next few weeks!  but maybe looking a bit more like my own work just using suzi's techniques!  perhaps minus the beeswax...but then i need to find something else that can protect my pieces.....hmmmm....

so what do y'all think of it?

calling all stampers...

hi all!

i am not sure how many readers i have or how many i have from my original blogging days but once upon a time my claim to fame were Studio G $1 stamps.  This led to opening an entire online store but I have since let that go by the wayside.  HOWEVER, i have inventory left I am hoping to sell.  and i am going to list items here from time to time at a savings too.  so to kick that off i went through my studio G stamps and pulled out what i have left for halloween and christmas to list here.  these are not complete sets but extras i could not sell as complete back in the day.  i also want to be sure you know that these are excellent stamps - many folks tried to say these stamps were too cheaply made to work but i can assure you that is not true and i have a video demo on that if you are interested:

The stamps are 25% off so 75 cents a pack!  quite a deal! these are the perfect little stamps for cardmakers and a great way to get a holiday collection of images to use without breaking the bank!

$7.50 - Set 1

$12.00 - Set 2

$4.50 - Set 3

$8.25 - Set 4

$4.50 - Set 5

$12.00 - Set 6

 $9.00 - Set 7

 $4.50 - Set 8

I only have ONE of each set except set 4 - i have 5 of them. these are first come first serve.

a punkin' canvas with my buddy

hello all!

hooray for friday - it means hubby is coming home for a couple days!  and boy could i use that!  i do not like when he is out of town anyway and for health reasons this has been a rough week on my own! 

yesterday i had a little crafty get together with my buddy suzanne - we have been friends for over 5 years now and she is one of my FEW crafty friends around here.  not only that but we get along well with each other and have lots of fun whenever we are together.  she has been wanting me to show her how to do more mixed media stuff so we decided we would get together now that the kids are back in school.  we will probably spend most of our get together working our art journals but this time she wanted to do a fall canvas so i told her NO PROBLEM!  i have 3 very large pieces in progress at the moment but we did small 8" x 8" canvases for this project.

 here is mine and you can see suzanne's on her blog today too! it's funny we did basically the same thing with basically the same supplies but they turned out completely different!  we began with yellow orange canvases which we covered with torn fall papers and old music sheets.  Then we sponged on acrylic paint and Luminarte Silks for some subtle shimmer.

 

then we mixed some Luminarte Primary Elements into ceramic stucco medium and put it on in a few spots using a stencil.

 

i cut my pumpkin out using my black cat and then i inked the edges.  the stem is canvas painted with Silks.  to "ground" my pumpkin i mixed Primary Elements with glass bead medium and scraped it on.  i finished the piece off with doodles around the edges of the canvas.  super fun and it was nice having someone to work on it with too!  look for more posts of our joint creative endeavors in the future!

mixing it up at CMC!

hi all!

today is school picture day.  always a total toss up with my kids and pez is not likely to be any different.  she has a gorgeous smile UNTIL you say "smile" - then she makes this crazy face...pretty sure that's what we will be seeing when the pics come home!  she also left here with her hair up in a cute ponytail on top of her head which she refers to as a palm tree but who knows what state it will be in by the time the camera snaps! 

today kicks off a new mixed media challenge on color me creative - this one is to use BLING - any kind any way just bling it up!  i did a steampunk-ish journal page ala tim holtz and make it crafty:

it started with a little tutorial i saw on tim's blog for the faux metal panels - so super easy!  check it out on his blog HERE!  i used some metal foil tape i got from home depot - plumbing dept i think.  I started with a glimmering background of Luminarte Twinkling H20S.  Then added the metal panels.

Next i colored this amazing steampunk treehouse from Make it Crafty using colored pencils (sign up for classes on Color Me Creative).

i finished it off with some blingy swirls and gears

I made the swirls using a stencil and some Viva Decor Modeling paste.  While it was still wet I sprinkled on some gorgeous Art Glitter Gala Glitz - ultra fine glass glitter, glass glitter shards and glittering microbeads.  A final sprinkling of additional ultrafine glitter filled in any blank spots.

so what can YOU do?  join in the challenge and show us - you could be picked to win prizes!  A $20 gift certificate to Paper Temptress and a $15 gift certificate to Guylou's Inimitability!

new challenge for cmc!

happy super chilly saturday!  oh i am so glad to be done with the heat of summer!!!  this post will be quick because i am off super early on a little adventure with my crafting buddy Suzanne Dean.  we are taking an ALL DAY class at the Queen's Ink with the always fabulous Wendy Vechi.  and i got an email from ms. suzanne with stern warnings about not being late to her house this morning for the drive up!

the new challenge is up over on Suzanne's site - color me creative - we were to use a touch of red on our images.  the challenge is sponsored by tiddlyinks - i have always loved Christy's images!  here is my card:

i used my colored pencils for my image of course!  with a touch of Luminarte Silks on her wings for shimmer.

My background papers are mixed media papers you can learn to make in my mixed media class for cardmakers over on color me creative and they too have bunches of shimmer!

I finished it off with a neat little tulle flower/sun i made up top!

and now i better get my butt in gear so i can get outta here!!!!  i sure hope y'all will join us on CMC for our touch of red challenge!!!!!