All Things Altered- Part 2

Last Friday I shared with you my love of altering pumpkins. I'm showing you the photo of the two I had done this year and asked you if you could tell which was the real one and which was the artificial one. Many of you guessed right and some of you said you weren't exactly sure but pretty sure. I think if the turquoise one had a longer stem it might have been harder to tell. I have found that most live pumpkins have shorter more imperfect stems while the orange, colllaged one has a stem that looks a bit too perfect. I dunno but the answer is the turquoise one is the real one. I'm sure you must feel better now that you know. hee hee hee. Not too long ago I showed you the shower curtain I designed for my Mom that can be viewed at Society6. My Mom had relocated a couple of months ago to another state and wanted to redecorate her bathroom with some different colors, which is where I came in. The reason I am showing you this again is that I have also altered a couple more items. and Lately I seem to be in this home decor line of thinking with my art. It's weird how the same things look in different lighting. And lastly, one of my coworkers asked me if I would paint her phone case. Here is how I altered that. I was pretty pleased and so was she. So that's my chapter on my latest altered projects. I am linking to Paint Party Friday here and wish you a good weekend full of painty messes, fun and maybe something altered. Thanks for stopping by.

All Things Altered - Part 1

Two years ago around this time I really went all out. I discovered the great pleasure of altering pumpkins. Everything from collaging them to painting them to doodling on them. I gave a lot of them away to family, friends and coworkers. I had shellacked them all and the ones I kept sat on my dining room table until just after Thanksgiving. I was kind of sad when I had to toss them in the garbage. I got the itch to alter some more this year. I discovered when the fall season was over last year that you could buy artificial pumpkins so I bought a couple. Hmm. Good idea. You can leave them out until just before Christmas I thought. I wanted to show you all sides. I discovered two years ago if I gessoed the pumpkin first (because of it's slippery surface) that paint would really take hold. Otherwise you're just moving paint around and it's not sticking to anything. So between using my fingers, small sponges and paint brushes I got that paint down. I think I did several layers followed by my homemade stencils ( I made with a hot glue gun) and homemade stamps made from foam shapes glued to a piece of cardboard. Pretty simple and pretty good results if I do say so. Finally, I added some pen work and doodling with various markers and pens. I took it outside one afternoon and gave it several coats of spray shellac. This one was also gessoed in the beginning but then I decided to collage it. I had already done some painting on deli paper and then finished it with the homemade stamps and stencils and shellac. So here's the question. Can you tell which of these two is the real one and which one is the artificial one? Usually I am late for this very important date at Paint Party Friday but for once I am early or perhaps right on time. Go here. Thanks Eva and Kristin. You will feel welcome and they've lots of good treats. Thanks for visiting here.

Altered Deck of Cards

Thank you to the kind "welcome back" committee. I often worry how long people will stick around if one lapses in blogging. I tend to feel guilty when I've gone this long. Sometimes one just never knows how long one might be gone. Yesterday I showed you the first few cards of my altered deck of cards. Here are a few more. More to show you tomorrow. Thanks for dropping by and for sticking with me. I hope you are well. I am off to spend a few more last hours with my Mom who is leaving the city tomorrow morning to begin a new chapter in her life.

PROJECT 52 COMPLETED

About 18 mos ago I started a project of altering a deck of cards. I showed some of them to you here here and here. Since one of my goals for myself this year was to finish some projects before I started another (yeah right), I have done just that with with my Project 52. It was a good way to challenge myself, use up scraps and work smaller, which at times was ok (Like art in the car) but at other times, not. Like I lost or misplaced some cards and had to buy another deck. I didn't like some of them so some cards have been altered as many as three times. I can see how some of my art has changed and know exactly how/what I was feeling/doing just by looking at these mini canvases. I gessoed, painted, stamped, used up scraps directly on the cards. Sometimes I just plain glued down something I'd already done on deli paper or used that as a background for inspiration. Sometimes I was bored with the cards and left them for dead for awhile. Some I really like and some I can just let go. So, once again.......... here are the first few. I will catch up and pass the "here, here and here," for those of you who have already seen them. The bear is my mother's childhood teddy bear. I dearly love it. I needed this month long break from blogging. To refuel, to nurture me, to help my mother pack up her house. You know........ life and **** happens. I'm on a roll again. Thanks for visiting and please come back. P.S I am now on Instagram under jogatheringwild so if you would care to follow me there I would appreciate it very much. Thanks.