Glitter Tart Designs

Summer on the Shore

2009-07-09T11:12:00.003-05:00

Here is the sample for this week on One Powerful Hour. The theme is Summer.

I had a lot of fun making this piece I think because it reminds me of summers on the beach with my family but also because it is so glittery and shimmery which to me of course makes it even more fun.

The image is from Altered Pages. The Sun stamp was given to me by my sister and that is all I know about it. I painted the Sun with Twinkling H2O's and added glitter to a few of the rays and rhinestones to the tips.

On the Left I sewed two strings of gold beads with some red sea shells from Paula's Kit club. The fish are also from Paula's Kit club...they were gold but I stained them blue with Alcohol Ink.

Hope you enjoy!

The Vampire Diaries by L.J. Smith

2009-07-07T12:42:00.004-05:00

I was watching TV the other day and saw a commercial for "The Vampire Diaries" a new series coming to the CW this Fall. I vaguely recalled the name and realized that it was a book I had on my To Be Read pile. So I read it.

Well, I was not into the book at all. However my complaints with the book will not bother me in a Television show.

The female character was a popular snob and the main male character seemed a bit week to me (I don't think this will be the case in the TV show). The romance also did not seem very believable, I think mainly because of Elena's personality. She goes after him as if he is a possession that she must have, not out of love and then all of a sudden she is head over heals in love with him.

As I already said the problems I found with the book will not bother me in a television show. When I sit down to watch TV (seldom) I like to be totally brain fried. I think in my reading I like my characters to have more substance and for the plot to be more believable.

When I started this book I was all set to go out and purchase the next (and last) in the series but now I think I will just wait for it. I am number 82 in line on Paper Back Swap. I do not see the Television show going beyond the first book in its first Season.

What's Your Style???

2009-07-05T18:09:00.009-05:00

Well, it has been a long time but I finally got a chance to finish up/work on a Circle of Friends Journal. The rotation is actually done for the year but since I moved the last to members said that regardless of the fact that they would get their journals back late they still wanted me to work on them.

So here is the first of the last 2 remaining journals.

The theme for this journal was "What's your Style?" Have you ever tried to answer that question? It is not so easy. At least not in my case. I discovered while working on this journal that I have two distinctly different styles. A kind of Victorian Sheik look and then a Retro Glamor. Of course I use glitter and shimmer in both though.

So for the first page, the description of my style page. I decided I wanted to have a ying and yang but stamping on black paper is impossible so I altered the symbol drastically, but isn't that what creative licence is for...

I kept this page really simple more as a time saver than anything else. There is very little stamping, just the words and I selected a background paper that I thought was pretty and not so busy that you wouldn't be able to read the words. I added glitter too the two cut outs of the symbol and used it to separate the sides. The last touch was adding some diamond glaze to my name and the word "style."

Here is a quick preview of the two very different styles that I did for this journal. They don't go side by side at all but then again I think it is fun to see them like this.

Okay so this one is a redo of a piece I did about 2 years ago that I have never been able to let go. I even hand wrapped it and hand carried it with me during the move because I didn't want it to break.

I like to work with non traditional items to stamp on, hence the pop sickle sticks. Once they were glued onto the paper I stained the wood with some various water shades of alcohol ink. Then painted over it with a cream and sanded that down to let the under layer show through. One more step before I start adding thing, I stamped sea shells randomly all over and then once again did a little sanding.

After all that I finally added the image of the mermaid (Alpha Stamps) which I covered with diamond glaze and then surrounded with some German Scrap. The final step was the fishing wire strung with sea shells and beads. Lastly I glued down a bunch of mini river rocks.

The fish ephemeral was originally gold and it was a little too harsh in my opinion so I used the same alcohol inks as I did on the sticks to add a color to it.

And here is the Retro Glam page. A much simpler and faster piece to make but in my opinion not nearly as eye catching or tantalizing.

The background was created by stippling on various shades of distress ink and then spritzing it with water to get them to blend and smooth out. Next I brushed on the Silver Crackle paint.

The butterflies are chipboard that I covered with weathered wood crackle paint. The orange jello mold extraordinaire is cut out from a sheet of specialty paper send in a Paula's Kit Club, I had been saving it and this was the perfect opportunity to use it.

All the stamping is direct to paper and then I added some rhinestones to the tips of the spray thingies.

It is hard to tell but there really is a lot of texture to this piece.

And last but not least Since I am the last person to work on her journal I thought a quick and simple "The End" was appropriate.

you can't tell but the flower is covered in diamond glaze.

I had a blast working on this journal I just wish I could work faster and still accomplish the looks I love to share with people.

Social Butterfly

2009-07-05T18:00:00.003-05:00

I got an e-mail from a frequent participant of One Powerful Hour asking me if I would share the samples on my personal blog so that she could leave a comment. So, here it is...

This week over at One Powerful Hour the challenge is "Girls Just Wanna Have Fun" not only a fabulous Cindy Lauper song but also a theme to one of my all time favorite 80's flicks.

I got the idea for this tag/bookmark after viewing a Tim Holtz demonstration on crackle paints and resist stamping. I had to try it out on my own and this was the result which I am very pleased with. The butterflies are chipboard that I painted with the Silver Crackle paint, I need more practice with the metallic crackle paints.

The background is a few shades of the Tim Holtz distressing ink all blended together. The main stamp is from one of Paula's Kit Club's isn't she fabulous!

Well, I had a blast making this and I sent it off to my sister with her birthday gift b/c she really likes my cheeky Reto pieces. I hope you do too.

Keepin it Simple

2009-07-01T00:01:00.000-05:00

Here is the latest instalments of cards for Repeat Impressions. I received the assignment right after moving so I was a bit concerned with having enough time to make the pieces so I decided to keep them very simple. Something that is hard for me but I always love the results.

This top card I think is my favorite. The peace emblems are painted using Twinkling H2O's so they shimmer, of course. Around the edge I used a Red and Yellow DMC floss.

Both of the stamps I used on this card are from Wendy's newest collection Hip Chick

This card was not one that I originally planned but after working with the Peace, Love stamp on the above card I just had to make this card.

I wanted a 60's feel about the card so I used three different ink and blended them together in what I am calling a modern tie die.

As a finishing touch I added glitter to one heart, one swirl and one piece sign.

I made a matching/coordinating envelope to go with this card that I am not going to show here so make sure to check out Repeat Impressions to see it.

This card the idea was the easiest for me to come up with especially since I was moving and needed to come up with a design to send out to family and friends.

For this card we had to use one of the Flip Set stamps. Lucky for me, and for my idea we did not have to use all the images that the Flip set comes with. I ended up only using one of the images and cutting it apart. I love how many uses these stamps have when you take a minute to think outside of the box.

Wendy wanted us to make a card featuring her favorite color which is green. Yahoo Yahoo I love working with Green.

This card is a play off of one that a member of the Circle of Friends made for a challenge All things _______ shaped.

I am really disappointed with the quality of photo/scan no matter what I did I couldn't get it not fuzzy. I think it has to do with the fact that it is very layered.

The original plan had an additional affixing to the lower right saying "Just a little note" but when I put it on I thought it looked a little to planned and took away from the eye scrumptiousness.

This card also uses one of Wendy's newest line of stamps. Quartet Series Stamps

I stamped one of the squares all over the back and then on a separate sheet of paper that I had sponged with Twinkling H2Os I stamped the coffee cup covered it with Diamond Glaze and cut it out.

The ribbon is from my cousins wedding and I thought it was a perfect addition to this card with the lovely blue rhinestones.

And of course I had to use Etta :)

I hope you enjoy these pieces, I had fun making them and look forward to the next assignment. I realized when I sent off the photo's to Wendy that I have now been making samples out of her lovely stamps for a year now! Boy how fast time flies!

Weekend Marbelling

2009-06-29T16:09:00.005-05:00

Last week a friend of mine asked if I would make her some First Communion commemorative prayer pieces. Of course I said yes! And immediately the idea of making them look like pages from an old bible popped in my mind. So that meant time to pull out the marbling supplies and get to work.

I have been wanting to make some marbled paper for a while now and this gave me the perfect excuse.

I was a little rusty but once I got in the groove ten sheets came out satisfactory. I think I might have had a bad spot in the product that keeps the paint from sinking but I'll work around those.

I did a lot of playing with the colors this time. The First communion pieces that I am making 2 are for girls and one for a boy so I needed some masculine colors and two separate feminine color combinations. I have never worked with purple or pink before and quickly learned that both like to sink but after a page or two that was easily remedied.

The red ones are my second favorite and they did not turn out quite as red as I wanted them to but hind site that is probably good because I have a lot of green on those pages also and it may have ended up looking too christmasy.

These are actually my favorites. They are not normally colors I put together, brown, blue and greens. The one on the left I made a mistake and forgot to rake my ink before adding the design but I think it looks pretty cool regardless.

Anyway it was over 100 degrees in my garage this weekend and it took me forever to make these ten pages. But boy did I have fun and I wish that I had more time to play. I think next time I will use the same colors over and over and play with different designs.

Hope you enjoy!

Roses are Red

2009-06-10T16:38:00.004-05:00

This week over at ABC Challenge the letter is R...

R is for Roses

Now I don't have a single rose stamp so I tried to find some paper with roses on it...nope none of that either...conclusion since hubby doesn't give me enough roses I must try to avoid reminders :)

I did find this image from Altered Pages and then everything started to come together. I hope you enjoy my Roses contribution.

Up and Running...Kind of

2009-06-09T12:13:00.008-05:00

Well, I am finally back. And the studio is almost completely ready. I say almost because I don't have any off the art on the walls but everything is put up and I was even able to make a piece yesterday.

So on the left is what it looked like once I got most of the boxes from the move unpacked. Below is a photo of the fabulous new tool box that my DH bought me to store all my supplies in. Believe it or not the gigantic tool box is almost all the way full. There may be a drawer or two that is empty but I've got plans for those drawers.

Back in Mississippi I was able to put most of my supplies in the closet. It was a nice walk in with built in shelves. The closet here is by no means small but it is shaped totally different and I did find it a challenge to fill it in a user friendly manner. That's why there is not a good shot of that inside of the closet, I'm still working on it.

The items on top of the desk is the contents of the most recent Paula's Kit Club. She held my May box until I got moved it...I am going to go up and play with it in just a few minutes!

When I look at the clean pictures they don't seem that neat to me, my DD has a bunch of toys on the floor and I think the angle I took the pictures at was not great but I do promise that it is nice and organized.

I mentioned earlier that I was able to put a piece together. Since the start of the moving process over a month ago I have missed out on a ton of fabulous themes at One Powerful Hour.

The current theme is Lace so I decided to make a piece about a movie that I can't even remember I just know that the Title is "Arsenic and Old Lace" it is an old movie that I saw once black and white classic. Obviously it made a lasting impression but I could not tell you if it was a mystery or a comedy. I do however really like my piece and hope you do too!

A bird does not sing...

2009-05-07T09:09:00.003-05:00

This week over at One Powerful Hour my good friend and fellow COF member has set the challenge as "In Flight"

A few months ago I went to a stamping convention and picked up a fabulous bird themed grab bag. Inside was a transparency with the phrase "a bird does not sing because it has an answer a bird sings because it has a song." I based my submission this week off of that phrase.

I cut out a number of bird shapes and used them as masks. Painting with various shades of blue metallic paint all over the card. When that was dry I overstamped using a music score stamp. Next I attached some bookprint that I had brushed with an orangish shade to match part of the bird.

The Fabulous yellow bird was part of an old celery advertisement that I received in a Paula's Kit Club. As my finishing touches I added a few yellow rhinestones and the phrase.

This card was a lot of fun to make and not counting the drying time it was actually really fast. I think I finished everything in 40 minutes total. Hope you enjoy.

On a different note this will most likely be the last piece of art that I post for a while. Next week all of our household goods will be boxed up and shipped out to CA. I am not looking forward to being without my art outlet.

Je Reve en Francaise

2009-05-06T13:52:00.004-05:00

I took another spin over to the ABC Challenge site and this week the theme is

M is for Metallic

so you just know I had to play with this one. To me metallic is anything that shimmers like sparkeling h2o's and glitter. But I decided to challenge myself a bit more than just playing with my regular toys.

Alas, the photo of the card plain sucks. All the colored paper bits are copper and the Eiffel tower is copper so is the glitter around the woman's face. The words on the black are the closest embossing powder that I had to copper and the phrase "Je Reve en Francaise" (I dream in French) was originally red but I went over it with a black permanent marker. When you look at it with the naked eye you can't see the red but the scanner sure did pick it up. As a finishing touch I added some black glitter around the edge of the copper card.

I hope you enjoy and I wish I knew how to make a purtier picture of this card.

What an Interesting Life...

2009-05-04T15:36:00.002-05:00

For a while now I have been wanting to try a "sketch challenge" a few of the women I follow do them all the time and the cards always turn out so pretty. So, I gave it a whirl today.

While searching for a Sketch site I also found ABC Challenge site and decided to incorporate their challenge: L is for List (1 ribbon, 6 brads and 3 flowers) onto my sketch.

The sketch site I finally decided on trying for my very first sketch is Creative Inspirations a fairly new Challenge site.

I had a very hard time with this sketch, maybe it was a bit ambitious for my first go or maybe this is just not how my brain works. But I did the best I could.

Over at Think Monday Think ATC the challenge for today is Peacock and I have the lovely peacock feather image but it is to large for an ATC so I used it as the theme behind my card.

The Quote says "What an interesting life I had. And how I wish I had realized it sooner." - Colette

The 3 flowers are blurry b/c I used Pearl Ex powder so they shimmer a bit but I sealed them with a matt finish and it left a bit of a film...off to see if I can repair the damage.

Hope you like my first attempt and I hope in the future after I am all settled from the big move to give it a go again.

Alien Huntress YA vs. Adult

2009-05-03T11:50:00.002-05:00

Last Summer I started Reading books by Gena Showalter. The First book of her's that I ever read was Black Listed, a yyounge adult sci-fi, fantasty book and I ate it up! When I went to look up other books by this author I discovered that Black Listed was book 4 in her Alien Huntress Series (you can see all the books HERE) So I put myself on the list for them through PBS.

The next book I received was the other Young Adult in this series, Red Handed. Which I enjoyed just as much as Black Listed. These books are fast paced, exciting, imaginative and just plane fun to read. Yes, there is sex and foul language but Gena's characters are not from top notch society and her use of some profanity and sex gives her books an element of realism even though they are set in the future.

After finishing Red Handed I just had to know what her Adult books were like. A friend of mine told me her Adult books were a bit heavy on the profanity and sex but I just had to see for myself if the story lines and action were as good. What really were her writing style differences between Young Adult and Adult.

Quick note on the story of Red Handed. I really liked that the main character was battling a bad past but yet did not come across as week. And she managed to get everything her heart desired by following some rules (emphasis on some) and still being herself without harming herself or others.

I waited until I had the rest of the series before delving into the other books. You do not need to read these books in order, I haven't. Each book has a common thread, Alien Hunting team, but the main characters in the books are different. Yes, they do show up in other books but the story told about them in their book is not key to solving the mysterying in the one you choose to read.

I read Awaken me Darkly in three days, yes, that is a record for me. I am a slow reader and in the middle of a move so you can only imagine how much I enjoyed this book.

So, what are the differences? Are the Adult books better than the YA? To be honest the only difference I saw was the sex was more detailed. And lets be honest it's not like every teen out there hasn't read, seen on TV or experienced sex for themselves. My conclusion this entire series is going to Rock.

I did find Awaken me Darkly's story line to be a bit predictable. Caution stop reading SPOILERS... the mystery portion surrounds creating the "perfect race" which in and of itself has been done before but what really bothered me about this particular one is that the Alien behind it looked one way and her perfect race looked the exact opposite, sound like anyone we know??? Can we say Hitler. To me this was a little bit to much of a parallel. But obviously it did not ruin the book for me. And who knows that may have been Gena's intent to really drive home how horrible this Alien is.

Okay I am off to start the next one...

Repeat Impressions

2009-05-01T11:00:00.000-05:00

Here are my latest pieces for Repeat Impression which I had an absolute blast making. I think this was the funnest (yes, i know that is not a word) assignment so far.

Wendy asked up to make 2 pieces using various sea life images. I selected the tropical fish and seahorse images to use for the Yellow Submarine I created.

I found the template for the yellow sub online, it was a free coloring image for children that I printed off and then enlarged slightly using photoshop. All the black lines were part of the coloring image. I did however remove the small portal windows on the image and replace it with the large portal I made.

To make the portal I cut out a circle using my coluzzle system and then silver embossed the entire circle. Next I added some very watered down black acrylic paint that I let dry slightly before wiping off. To finish I attached brads all around to look like the screws that hold the portal in place.

The Fish images are colored with color pencil and the one fish in the smaller window I reverse stamped. To finish off the sub I added the image of Etta.

Last week for a One Powerful Hour challenge of circles I submitted an entry of some circular stickers with frogs on them. Well, here is the reward chart that I am using those stickers on.

As stated in the previous post my daughter is potty training right now so what could be better than stickers with frogs in underpants?

The way we are using the chart is every time she successfully uses the potty she gets to put a sticker on that day. We are not worried about her pulling her pants down yet or flushing (which she loves to do anyway) just focusing on the actual use. Once she gets it down we will add on more tasks required for her to earn a sticker.

All the stamps using on this and all other projects in this post are by Repeat Impressions.

With this assignment Wendy sent out a collection of lovely papers...I mean absolutely stunning, I didn't want to cut into them. She asked that we use at least one of the papers on a project.

I had a billion ideas but went with the fastest since life is hectic right now. The paper I used is the pink swirl overlay.

I cut it into little squares and placed it alternately over the queens. The three queens you can see I colored with colored pencils and then glued onto the solid black background. The queens under the velum are white embossed.

To finish it off I attached the overlay with silver brads and silver embossed the saying "Now Accepting Compliments" I am really upset that even with my stamp positioner I did not get the phrase on straight.

This is the second of the two ocean themed items Wendy asked us to create. I painted a 5x7 art board using shimmery paints one blue and one a greenish gold, really pretty. Once that was dry I affixed the brightly colored fish. They are painted with sparkling H2O's and black embossed. Each fish has some blue glitter coming up from them to form bubbled.

The bottom of the canvas I glued some actual sand on and then stamped the starfish and sea shell boarder on a sand colored paper and clear embossed. Cut it out and affixed it. To finish this piece off I added some blue bead work ribbon to dangle from the bottom.

This is the last piece that was required for us to make. Wendy wanted us to do something with the Fairy stamp. We could select which one we wanted to work with.

One of the first stamps she ever sent me was the cancellation stamp for postage. And I had not used it yet so I decided that something "Fairy Postage" like would be fun.

Using a green background paper I embossed an hexagon shaped postage stamp using a greenish powder, trying to keep them nice and lined up. I stamped the flower boarder direct to paper and painted it with Sparkling H2O's. The fairy image and the dragonfly in the postage stamp I colored and cut out of white cardstock and affixed them to the ATC after randomly stamping the cancellation stamp in blue.

I am still playing with a few other pieces for this assignment. One of them is a clock using a different fairy image and then I also have a makeshift organizer for a grocery list that is proving a bit more complicated than I thought. And of course I want to play with more of the lovely papers. I hope I have time before I move.

Update

2009-04-29T11:27:00.002-05:00

Hey all...yesterday's outpatient surgery went pretty well. I am of course at home now but my computer needs a bit of surgery itself to get it up and running so i won't be updating to much.

Just wanted everyone to know that I am doing well. Have not needed the pain meds yet and don't think I will if I take it easy, something I am not going to do, oh well.

However if I ever see the anesthesiologist again that man better run. After all I did tell him I was small and that meds worked really fast on me. The worst thing about yesterday is that I think he used to much "knock you out"med. I was sick all day and sleepy all day. so much fun to wake up b/c you have to throw up. Sorry for the over share.

Anyway I should be back to normal in time to make the big move. Joy!

I'll keep everyone posted as soon as I hear back from the doc, he is biopsying the lump today.

Paranormal, Sci-Fi and General Fiction

2009-04-29T10:33:00.003-05:00

Bone Crossed (Mercy Thompson, Bk 4) is the latest in the series, alas all Briggs' fans must wait till February 2010 for the next chapter. I enjoyed this book, as I have enjoyed all of them in the series, some more than others.

This book goes back to Mercy's relationship with the Vampires which started in Blood Bound (Mercy Thompson, Bk 2) which is my least favorite. She is still getting over a brutal rape that took place in Iron Kissed (Bk 3) and if you read my review of that book Patricia Briggs handled the intense situation in an excellent manner. Also, Mercy has finally decided who she will be with Adam or Sam, so the relationship between her chosen one blossoms in this book.

As you can tell I am trying to be vague and not put to many spoilers in. After all if you are a fan it is much more fun to read the storyline than have it told to you.

Overall this book is my third favorite in the series, here is the order in which I like them most to least.
1. Iron Kissed (Bk 3)
2. Moon Called (Bk 1)
3. Bone Crossed (Bk 4)
4. Blood Bound (Bk 2)

I am anxiously awaiting book 5, Silver Borne, and if you have read them all then you will probably suspect what I do, that this book will be about the fae. Hope Patricia finally gives us a hint as to what and where Zee is.

Gone, is the first Sci-Fi book I have read in a very long time, on top of that it is a Young Adult. When this arrived in my mailbox via PBS I was so excited I had to read it right away. Alas, it was a bit of a let down.

The overall story is one that has been done before, all the adults disappear leaving anyone under 15 to fend for themselves. Of course the author does have a few tricks up his sleeves that make it more interesting.

My main problem with this novel is that I did not like the "good guys". I understand that they are suppose to have some internal struggle about doing the right thing but in this case it felt more like a character flaw/weakness than a simple moral struggle.

I do however really like how he wrote/developed his "bad guys" they are truly evil in different ways.

This is the first book in the series the sequel comes out sometime this year and is called "Hunger" I do plan on reading it b/c I think it will have some more about the "bad guys" since that was hinted at the end of Gone. There are also some unanswered questions about how all the adults disappeared and why that I would like to see how the author resolves.

I'd say if you like Sci-Fi that this is a good read since it does approach a commonly written plot in a new and interesting way, just be prepared to think that a few of the main characters are a bit wimpy.

The Covenant was our latest and my last book club book. I say my last because I am moving. And I did not like it one bit...I think if I had read it three years ago, which is how long it has been sitting on my To Be Read pile that I would have enjoyed it but it was just to serious for me right now.

Also, I found it unbelievable. There are two main story lines, one where a father and daughter are kidnapped and the other is about 4 Jewish women who were in Auschwitz together. Somehow these 4 old ladies pull their resources and miraculously find and set up a rescue for the kidnapped father and daughter (who are related to one of the women). They do this all in about 48 hours.

I am of the opinion that this failure to make the plot believable is a failure of the authors writing ability. Come on I read fantasy and paranormal and sci-fi and I find a lot more of that stuff believable than I found this book.

My favorite parts were the flashbacks to the woman as teens in Auschwitz and learning who they because after escaping. I guess when I read the back cover I expected more 0f that.

So overall this one I found a little to heavy and unbelievable. But other members of the book club did enjoy it. Most of them being about 3-5 years younger than me so taking my theory of, I would have enjoyed it 3 years ago. this probably is a good read. You just need to want to read some heavy sad literature.

Circles

2009-04-16T09:47:00.005-05:00

This week over at One Powerful Hour the theme is Circles.

I made these stickers for my daughter who is Potty Training. The stamp is one that Wendy from Repeat Impressions asked her Design Team to use. When I saw it I just knew it was perfect for Kudzoo's reward.

The paper is a full sheet mailing label that I washed with the Sparkeling H2o's then cut the circles and stamped the image on. To make them sturdier I covered them with clear embossing powder ( I wanted to use page pebbles but could not find any the right size) as a finishing touch I added some glitter.

I have also turned some of these into magnets so they can be reused!

This was a very fun art item to make and DD really loves them and that above everything else makes it worth while!

Serenity

2009-04-12T09:39:00.003-05:00

This week over at One Powerful Hour Lisa has set the challenge to use a piece of Impressionist art in our creation.

I was on vacation when the challenge was posted but I had a lot of different ideas. What I eventually made is not one of my ideas :) I am not a fan of Monet at all, Degas is more my style but when I went to my trusted old art book I saw Claude Monet's Le Bassin d'Argenteuil (Sailing along the Seine) and had to use it.

You can not see very well but I overstamped a map image all over the painting and covered it with blue pearl ex powder. Then I added the woman image since everything I have read about Impressionist art is that it had a lot of "human forms" so I thought the image needed one. Then, I got stuck LOL...

So I decided to read the paragraph about this painting and it started like this "The Impressionist were drawn to painting outdoor leisure activity, and many of their prototypical works depict scenes from resort areas along the Seine River..." Well, that is all I needed, I stamped the letters to spell Serenity and added a dragonfly (not 100% happy with its colors) To finish it all off I added photo corners, hoping to give the impression that the altered painting is still a painting.

When I went to mount the piece I really liked the excess blue instead of an even 1/8" boarder, to me it looks more like it is hanging on a wall and all the blue makes it more serene.

I had a lot of fun with this challenge even though at first glance it sounds really hard, but mine was done in no time at all, I managed to clean and scan my image and post this blog all in the one hour time limit! i think that is the best i have ever done.

Similar but yet Totally different

2009-04-03T08:13:00.003-05:00

I just finished two books that had totally different plot lines but yet a lot of similarities and I find it odd that I really liked one and not the other.

Bite Me is a Young Adult book about a Vampire Slayer who struggles with an alter personality of a demon. You Slay Me is about a woman who discovers she is part of a very paranormal world and is a mate to a dragon. So they are both paranormal.

The other similarity is that the best character (in my opinion) in each book was the Dog. Yes, they both had a dog that was a demon. Well in Bite Me it is half demon but still. And both these dogs had great sarcastic personalities and would do anything to save the main character.

I really enjoyed Bite Me, even though it was pitched to me as a "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" type book and I was not a Buffy fan. The main character of course is flawed but you still like her and feel for her.

I however did not like You Slay Me. The main character was a ditz and the romance line was out there, she is a mate to a dragon, yes he has a human body also, but she can't decide if she likes him or hates him. But yet she is all on board with how he makes her "feel" I guess I need justification for the romance line and there was none. I have no intention of reading any more books in this series as I found it shallow and stupid at best. I will however try one of her other series because I have heard good things about this author.

Maybe I just didn't want to be reading this particular genre when I was. I've noticed that since i have broadened the types of books I read that at certain times I do need a paranormal and others I need my heavy historical fiction.

View From Inside the Ballet Studio

2009-04-03T08:05:00.004-05:00

This week over at One Powerful Hour the challenge is to fill in the blank.

"View From _______________"

I was not going to enter this week since I already made the piece for the challenge site but I was working on next weeks challenge (shhh...it's going to be Impressionist Art) and had the ballerina stamp out and was struck with inspiration that I could not ignore.

So, here is the "View From Inside the Ballet Studio" I hope you enjoy and please go check out One Powerful Hour!

Apple of my Eye

2009-03-26T07:57:00.002-05:00

Over at One Powerful Hour Fiona has set the lovely theme of Eyes...

The minute I heard about the theme this design popped into mind. The couples image is from Alphas Stamps (the same one I used on the Valentine Tags a few posts ago) and the apple is from Paula's Kit Club.

I stamped the eye in brown ink and then covered the apple with extra thick embossing powder so it is glossy like a real apple (kinda bummed that doesn't show here)

To Finish I added the German Scrap and computer generated the words.

I had a ton of fun creating this!

Spring Tags

2009-03-25T10:22:00.007-05:00

The latest Circle of Friends monthly project, and the last one I'll be able to participate in until the move is compleat...pout...is a Spring Themed Tag Book.

The hostess sent us all a tag template and she will be making the books for us, we send her our tags and some fibers for her to put them together.

The minute I heard the theme I thought of the Fabulous Flower Oracle Deck of Tarot cards that I got from Alpha Stamps I have been so stingy with these glorious Victorian "flowers personified" cards. But I just knew this was the perfect use.

I needed to make 10 tags...the most participants in a swap ever! So I selected my 10 favorite and/or most likely to cut and show nicely.

I stamped a heavy white card stock with a floral background stamp and chalked it with coordinating colors for each of the different flower images. Setting this with a matt finish. Next I stamped a circular stamp with all the months and a poem that helps us remember the number of days in each month from Paula's Kit Club making sure that the Spring months were visible. I colored the "spring" section with a coordinating color to highlight it.

Finally, after cutting each flower out, I attached them, anchoring them to the lower portion of the tag. My finishing touch on the front of the tags was to stamp the Doodled bird that I love so much from Alpha Stamps, cover him with Diamond glaze and accent his movement with seed beads in coordinating shades.

The hostess asked that we decorate the backs, at least a little, so I found a light green decorative paper and adhered it to the tag, mushing the fabulous Pink/Green beaded flower fringe between the two sheets...in a hope that they will survive a bit better...I've seen this particular fringe come apart a number of times in transit...

I stamped the month stamp again, once again highlighting the spring portion. Inside the circle I glues the flowers meaning, according to the Tarot cards. To finish the back off I stamped a small ruled book from Repeat Impressions, and I filled the lines with some fun words from Another Stamp company and on the bottom line I glued the name of the flower.

I hope that everyone enjoys my tags as much as I enjoyed creating each one...even though they all have the same stamping they still seem very unique to me.

The Holt Sisters

2009-03-17T19:35:00.004-05:00

Last year I read Beauty and the Spy for a swap that I was in. When I started the book I did not know it was a series. If I had I'm not sure I would have read this book or the following two and that would have been a shame.

My mind is a little fuzzy on the first book since I read it a couple of months ago but I do remember thinking that the characters were very believable and that the romance between them did not seem to come out of left field, it was well developed.

In the first book Julie Anne Long sets the stage to reunite three sisters. Beauty and the Spy is about finding out what happened to the sisters parents that would cause them to be separated.

The book wraps up enough of the loose ends and has a wonderful romance line so that if you did only want to read one book it would be fine. But I really enjoyed Beauty and the Spy so I picked up her next book.

Ways to be Wicked is my favorite of this series when it comes to the romance.

This sister is a dancer who has had a lover in the past making her a little bit freer than her other sisters.

Julie Anne Long weaves a number of the characters in this book into the story line presented in the first. But you did not see them in the first book. It is their relationships to the other characters in book one that binds them.

The final chapter of the Holt Sister's was a bit off for me. The romance was not as good as the others, at least in my opinion. The main characters fought it a little to much and then dived into each others arms way to easily.

This book is also much longer than the others. And the story that is not part of the romance line is all about finding the girls mothers. Since in this book they are all three united.

I thought it wrapped up nicely and was well done. However at the very end when all the daughters are happy with their husbands the author did something I thought was unnecessary. These books were about the daughters and all of a sudden she throws in (only a line or two, but enough to bug me at the end) a romantic bit about the mother Anna. The book didn't need it in my opinion.

All in all these were a delight and fast fun reading. No over the top sex scenes and romance that is believable. I will read more of her books.

Sue's Season Journal

2009-03-16T16:04:00.001-05:00

Here is the latest Circle of Friends journal. This one featured the Seasons of the year. We needed to pic our favorite season and make a layout using any format and embellishments.

Can you believe that after going through seven members that not one entry had been done for winter! Well, in truth I don't have a favorite season, I can think of pro's and con's to all of them. But since Winter is about to be over, this coming up Friday, that was fast, I decided to be the black sheep and highlight Winter.

A few weeks ago for my challenge blog One Powerful Hour I made a card about my favorite vacation, which was skiing, so I decided to play off of that card.

I think what I am most proud of is the background paper. It was a solid blue that I stenciled using various mixed acrylics snowflakes all over. I then spritzed the paper with a white shimmer. To me it really does look like snow.

The other feature that I think really makes this layout is the images inside my window. I clear embossed multiple layers and then stuck them in the freezer so they would crack, it looks like ice formed on the images.

I hope Sue enjoys my Winter layout...and I'm looking forward to the next journal

Because I am Proud

2009-03-15T15:16:00.011-05:00

Last month I joined a Swap hosted through Alpha Stamps. It was a 6 for 6 valentine themed tag swap. Why did I wait to post them until now? Well, when I saw all the other fabulous tags the swappers created I thought mine looked sloppy. It took me until just a few days ago to realize that I was being silly, I put a lot of time, thought and effort into creating these tags. Yes, some turned out better than others, and a few I downright don't like. But when I mailed them off all in all I was proud of what I created and I can't let anything other artist do make me feel like I am not worthy. So, here they are at long last.

I decided to use images from two different collage sheets, Valentine Bird Hearts and True Romance. I've been doing a lot of experimenting with acrylic paints recently so all the tags got a coat of paint, some got a few based on the look I was going for.

The tag on the right I painted with black and then stamped the music score with versa mark which I then covered with various shades of pearl ex powders. Once I sealed that I clear embossed a swirl pattern on top, just to add a bit more interest. I cut the heart out of the Valentine bird image and outlined it with black glitter. Behind the heart I mounted coordinating feathers and finished the tag off with various fibers, some of them from Alpha Stamps.

This tag I used my absolute favorite image on. There is just something so romantic yet down right dirty about these two figures. The tag was painted with a pinkish acrylic. On an off white tissue paper I black embossed the music score, crumpled it and then glued it over the entire tag. Next I layered the image on top and then I stamped the word Love along the side. I added a bit of diamond glaze to the word and then sprinkled some pink glitter randomly over it so the word is not entirely covered with the glitter. To soften the edges I painted them with weathered wood distressing paint and finished the tag off with some coordinating ribbon.

The tag on the right I experimented with a bit. I started by painting the tag a deep red. Then I clear embossed a heart directly onto the tag. Mixing up a pink shade of paint that accented the image as well as used the same red on the base I then painted the entire tag again. I let this dry slightly before wiping it off, wiping in one direction only. The paint on top of the embossed heart came away instantly, and some of the other paint came off but not in its entirety which was what i was going for.

After adding some Twinkling H2O touches to the roses of the image I cut it out and affixed it so the heart peaked out between their kiss. The vine is a felt sticker that I added touches of glitter to. And I finished this tag off with a fun pink ribbon that says "Kiss Kiss" all over it.

This tag is my least favorite. I just couldn't get the vision in my mind to transfer to the tag. This is also the only tag with the entirety of the collage image on it. I embossed various shaped hearts on purple tissue paper and then glued it around the image. I added diamond glaze to the swirls that were on the image, making sure to bring them out on top of the tissue paper. I affixed some whole punched circles randomly all over the tag, I was trying to make it look like the images circles spilled out onto the tag. Finally I outlined the heart with some glitter and then affixed some fibers.

I am not one for the color purple so that could be partly why I don't like this tag, but something about the composition just seems off to me.

I really enjoyed creating the tag to the right. There are a ton of layers on it. I started with a coat of off white acrylic paint. On top of that I stamped various colors of twinkling H2O squares to mimic the patchwork pattern on the collage image. Next I black embossed the cherry blossom stamp. I then used the same technique as I did on the "Kiss Kiss" tag. Covering the entire tag with a pinkish cream acrylic paint, letting it dry partially and then rubbing it off. Finally I affixed the heart. It is coated with diamond glaze that I sprinkled black glitter along the edge. Once that dried I outlined the heart with more black glitter and sewed on buttons with a shimmery black thread. Lastly I attached a wide ribbon.

This tag is actually the first one I did. There are two layers of acrylic paint. A custom mixed color to match her dress serves as the base and then another custom mixed color is dry brushed on to match his shirt. I mixed a shimmer in each of the acrylics so there is an iridescent effect.

Next I black embossed the floral image. After trimming the couple out I affixed them and covered the bottom harsh edge with a sticker that says "All is nothing without you" To finish this tag off I clear embossed the edge of the entire tag adding some pearl ex powder to the embossing and then affixing the ribbons.

I do hope that the swappers that receive my tags like them. If not I get to take some solace in the fact that I learned a lot about mixing acrylics and layering with them. I also learned that tissue paper and i may not get along when it comes to art.

Fruits and Veggies

2009-03-06T00:01:00.000-06:00

I have the honor this week to be the Guest Designer at Make a Moo or Two

I selected the theme, Fruits and Vegetables due to my love of all things vintage, like the vintage cut outs on the veggie moo from seed packets. I also think this can be so much fun, b/c there are so many different fruits and or Veggies out there.

For the Fruit Moo I used cut outs from various decorative papers and I glittered a cherry finishing it off with a fun cherry ribbon.

The Veggi Moo as I already said has cut outs from vintage seed packets and then I stamped a stalk of asparagus on top.

I hope that this theme goes over well and that everyone has a great time making there Moo's. Thanks for looking.