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.

The Art Abandonment Project and Just For Mom

I have been reading about the Art Abandonment Project, a project where artists "create and share random acts of art." I know there's a book about it out there and Facebook group devoted to this, neither of which I have investigated yet, however, I did, in the process of making a bunch of mail art recently, set some aside just for abandoning. This week I did abandon five pieces of art, using those advertisement post cards often seen in the mail in various sizes. You know the ones I mean- those that get tossed in the garbage or recycling bin. I worked on about 8 cards, used three for mail art and on my way home from work this week, while running errands, I discreetly left the rest of them in public places. Leaving them in public places discreetly was like I imagine playing spy at the airport. I had to find an area or aisle where no one was around to place it in a spot. Several times I stood at the end of an aisle or nearby to see if I could spy someone spying the card, but no one did. I was too tired to wait around. Placing it and then quickly photographing it without someone seeing me added to the feeling of playing spy. On the back of each card I had written the following: Hello! If you have found this card it's your lucky day. If you don't want it please pass it on to someone who might like it or need some kindness today. It was created by an artist who wanted to share it for free. Taking a quick, clear photograph was not always easy. I intend to make more. IN fact I intend to make it happen often. This idea came to me as I was experimenting with new colors and design for something I wanted to do for my Mother. Before she moved to her new home in CT she mentioned something about wanting to change the color scheme in her bathroom. Like maybe a new shower curtain. Something maybe with turquoise she had said. No problem, I thought. I love turquoise. In fact it's one of my favorite colors. So a new shower curtain was born!!! I snapped this picture on my Iphone as it's shown on Society6 so it's not very good. You cans go here and view it much better. I also thought it looked pretty awesome here. Again, you can see more of this design and others I have created by going here By following me or liking me on Society6 would be greatly appreciated. Or perhaps you might be in the market for a new shower curtain or pillow? Either way, I am pretty tickled with the way it looks and even more tickled that my Mother really likes it and will be redecorating soon. Thanks for stopping by and for your support and kind comments. Happy Paint Party Friday!! I hope you have a great weekend.

An Accordion Book Giveaway

I took a piece of watercolor paper and cut it in half and made two little accordion books. I covered the paper with pieces of torn paper, maps, journaled and old book pages, tissue and music paper. I used joint compound with a stencil to give it more of a raised effect. Joint compound is a lot cheaper than heavy gesso and it goes a lot further. I sprayed the paper with several spray inks, added a homemade stamp, washi tape and doodled with some paint markers and gel pens. Here's the backside of one of them. Here is another one. and again, the backside. Can you tell I love these colors or should I say this color combination? So I'm thinking that since I am approaching the 3/4 mark on my blog in terms of followers, I am going to give away one of these accordion books. I will give the 75th person that joins to follow my blog here and goes here me one of these books. Please send me comment with your snail mail address if you are the 75th person. I will mail internationally if you like/want the book. I haven't been to the party for several weeks so I'm headed over there. If you haven't been there do check it out. You'll find wonderful art and community. One more thing I wanted to share. Look what sweetness I got in the mail recently from "Fuzzie Fingers" in the United Kingdom. I love the card and her art. You can see more of it by going to the party. Thanks for stopping by.

Happy Paint Party Friday

Ok. So. I got this really cool mail art today in the mail. It's from my talented and witty friend Robin who hangs out over here.Even though I got a couple of bills in today's mail, it didn't seems quite as painful because of this happy mail art. How sweet is that?! Wouldn't it be great to get a piece of mail art every time we got a bill? I've been busy with a bunch of things the last several weeks. I discovered how to recycle 3 ring binders by watching a bunch of vids on Utube.(of course.) I just happened to have a few binders laying around my house. Basically you cut the vinyl off the front and back with box cutters and take out the book board and put it back together. I also cut the width down so it wouldn't look so much like a binder anymore. After I finished the masking tape layering I slathered the tape with matte medium. I am looking forward to working on the covers even before I get to the insides. Moving on.... Remember these that I did about a year ago? and These were made with distressing National Geographics with Citra Solv. So, I thought they would look pretty cool here. Well, you get the idea. You can see more of my work here Today I also want to show you my latest art on wood. Acrylic paint and collage and jewelry, specifically one lone earring. I think it looks kind of "folk arty," and I might have to try putting this on a tote bag or pillow as well. Lastly, remember all those ICADS I did in June and July? I altered a little book with ICADS for my daughter for her 23rd birthday which was on the 21st. MY daughter is coming to my art journaling workshop tomorrow at AC Moore, so I'm kind of tickled. I'm sorry about the lengthy post. Whew! I had a lot to share with you. Thank you Robin, for thinking of me and thank you for stopping by. I am headed over to the party where there's a bunch of really great folks as well as wonderful, awesome art. Hope you have a good weekend.

The End of the Challenge

This is the third year for me participating in Tammy Garcia's the ICAD challenge. I have made 61 pieces of art on a 4x6 index card, to be finished on the last day of the month. I am showing you the remaining ones in case I am too tired to post on that day. And that would be kind of a bummer, you see, as I would be a bit annoyed with myself if I didn't show you on the "due date." lol. I have to laugh at myself. So, I am showing you this before the due date. So, here are the last 3 (if I counted right. ha ha ha ) At some point in the next two days I will lay them all out and see if I can get a picture of all of them. I remember someone one year had displayed her ICADS so beautifully in a mosaic kind of lay out. I wish I could remember the name of the program. It's on the tip of my tongue but I am having a brain fart. If you've been reading my posts you know I had my first two art journaling workshops at the local AC Moore craft store last week. It was fun. Tiring but fun. I have scheduled 3 more back to back in August. I am looking forward to it.Also thank you to those who have been to my Society6 site and have become followers there. Your support is much appreciated. Thanks for visiting and your comments mean you support me and that feels very good. Thank you......

Happy Paint Party Friday and Other Stuff

A new piece.......... gesso and watercolor crayons, paint and paint markers. The thin, gridded lines are made with the bottom of an old pair of sandals. I just had to see what it would look like on a pillow at Society6. LOoks pretty cool if you ask me. And we're on the home stretch of the ICAD challenge. Here are a few more which makes me up to date. Wonderful to be off from work today and to spend some of it with my daughter. Tomorrow I am off to AC Moore to do a demo and try and spark some interest in some art journaling workshops. Wishing you a wonderful, creative weekend. Thanks for stopping by. I am going to the party here and here where this month's theme is flowers.

From Me To Me

Look what came in the mail today. It's my art on a tote bag. It's one thing to see it on a computer screen but another to see it and hold it. I had to order one for me just to test it. I think it's perfect for a summer bag. I think I might have to try a pillow next. If you would like to see more go to .Too bad they don't give discounts for the artist. I finished this. Here's a couple of closeups. I am still working on the one similiar to this on a larger canvas. My hope is to try and finish it this weekend. I am joining the wonderful crew over at Paint Party Friday. If you want to see what artists all over the world are creating and sharing stop in or better yet, share what you've done or are working on. For several years I viewed this blog. I was too shy, too scared, too critical, thinking what I had created was not good enough. I was good at talking myself out of showing anything. The artists there are not only wonderfully supportive, but they are seemingly good souls as well. I love to see what and how other's have created. And when I leave the party I leave with something that will spark a new idea. Thanks, Kristen and Eva for hosting this wonderful party and thanks for visiting here.

More In the Garden

I seem to be creating a lot of art with flowers. I have decided to call it my "In the Garden" series. I like that you can use gesso and crayon as resist with water color and spray inks. Sometimes I do a bunch of throwing stuff down on lots of card stock at one time and forget about them. I'll forget what I have done. I'll come back to it at another time and it's sometimes pleasantly surprising. Like here. And here. I thought I had just picked up a plain white piece of cardstock because at first I didn't see the white gesso where I'd smeared and scraped in to it, nor the white crayon. I love the results when "slathered" with water color on top. In this ICAD I knowingly used the white crayon and water color. Started doodling some flowers and then left it. Declared it finished. Go here if you'd like to see more of my In the Garden Series. Thanks for stopping in.

Playing and Working Hard

I have a few things to share with you. Still playing with art on index cards. Tammy Garcia hosts this challenge every day until the last day of July. You can still jump in and you can learn more about it here. Here are a couple more. Both were done pretty rapidly actually, making more mess in my already messy studio. Seriously, I hate to admit it. My studio is much like my house sometimes. I would rather be making messes in my studio than cleaning up messes in the rest of the house. It gets to a point and I cannot stand it and the mess becomes too distracting and I cannot focus. I think it's coming soon, like this weekend. The first one was made with acrylic glaze shimmering paints (from DreamingInColor.com and a few stencils. The second one is acrylic paint on top of gessoed stencils and a face was drawn with a water color pencil. I am also plugging a long with some art journaling pages, filling up an old sketchbook I turned in to an art journal. I add something every so often and those every so oftens add up. I can see my growth because the journal pages are mixed with old and more recent additions. I'm getting a bit better at drawing. Here are a few pages. And now I have a surprise. I've been working hard at my art and working hard to get this finished. While it's not finished, it's a good beginning. I am excited to show you my art like this. And this. And I love the way my art looks here. I want to buy them all. lolAnd lastly, If you'd like to check out more of my art please do go here. It would be wonderful to have your support if only to add your name to "+follow." Also, please do note that the cost of each item is not what goes in the artist pocket. In fact, it's only about 3% in most cases, maybe less that actually goes in mine. But, it's a pretty wonderful feeling seeing it out there in frames and other items. Please go there and check it out. This was a long one tonight. Thanks for sticking around. Thanks for supporting me with kind words. I'm linking today to the wonderful people and artists here. Happy Paint Party Friday!!