Watercoloring and Cards

I'm a little behind in posting some of things I've been up to the last few months, so I'm posting several of my favorites.

The above was my attempt at making a card-sized bouquet, but it kept getting bigger and bigger until it took up the entire 8-1/2" x 11" piece of watercolor paper. So I put it aside and thought I would use it during one of my die-cutting sessions, maybe make some butterflies and leaves.

While I was making this card (inspired by a couple of photographs of flowers with these colors; the person I was making it for posted them on her blog), Valerie discovered the big one and claimed it as her own. She called me to her place and when I saw it on her wall, I was taken aback. It actually looks like a piece of art! Framing and matting makes quite the impact.

These are a couple of cards I made. I need to practice my signature and find a better color to sign my work.

This double page spread is in my just-for-fun art journal. I always wanted to try using a page from an old book as a background. I love the results and will definitely be doing that again. The flower on the left was created using a rub-on and gelatos. The one on the right was cut from the image from the rub-on left behind. I found the center for the flower in my scraps (cut from deli paper), and adhered it on top of the layer of gesso and the spritzing I did. I like flipping through my art journal and seeing this.

I have a deck of cards that was my sister Martha's, and I've been altering them like people do with ATC's (artist trading cards). I use things like gesso, tissue paper, paint, ink, molding paste, ribbon, twine, and whatever else I feel like experimenting with. I usually grab one when I want to clear my head or in the mood to make something just for the fun of it. I've given a couple away as bookmarks, and I'd like to put a few in a shadow box I picked up for this purpose.

One more picture. I made these cards for a Dachshund rescue group as a way to thank people for their donations. I love the background paper with the sewing on it, it gave it such a nice touch. One of these days I'd like to try my hand at sewing on the paper myself. But right now there's no place to set up my sewing machine; it's all I can do to find room for my paper crafting.

I'm currently working on a note card order (!), all dog-themed. I sent an on-line friend a sympathy card for the loss of one of her dogs and she asked if she could order some note cards. I've made 12 cards so far and I'm on the final two (they're bonus cards). I'm nervous as all get out because I rarely sell anything. Maybe this will give me the confidence to finally start putting things on Etsy like my daughters have been encouraging me to do forever.

Happy birthday to meee!

Art Journaling, Molly, and Fruity Deliciousness

I made this from a stamp Valerie picked up at a craft expo she and Dawn went to in August. I was going to join them and a friend, but I came down with the Shingles a couple of days before the expo. I may have cried a little.

But the girls made up for missing it by bringing home lots of crafty goodness for all of us to play with! Valerie picked up several of these beauties and I immediately stamped all of them. This one is now in my mish-mash art journal. Note the crackled background, it's another cool stamp Valerie picked up while she was there.

This reminds me, joining the Journal52 Facebook group has brought such crafty joy! We're on week 37 and my journal is getting nice and fat. I encourage you to look up this group on Facebook. Lots of encouraging, talented crafters hang out there; it's become a bright spot in my crafting life.

I played around with clear copier labels and, according to Dawn, it was a success! It's her new favorite craft of mine. So, of course, she got to keep them. I covered the ones I stamped with books with Glue and Seal first and stamped a few without the coating. I wanted to see what difference it would make. I discovered the uncoated ones wouldn't dry, but I managed to make it work. They're great for art journaling and mixed media projects. I'll definitely be making more.

See those little wooden flowers and leaves? They came in this plain wooden holder, but I fancied it up. We used half-off coupons for 2 rolls of Tim Holtz's tissue paper, something that's always been out of my price-range. I thought, what is the big deal about his tissue paper? I use regular printed tissue paper all the time and I love it. Well, I discovered I've been missing out on something pretty fantastic all this time. I'm still glad we waited for such great coupons, but I'm telling you, go buy some, now. It's stronger than regular tissue paper and is more sturdy when decoupaging. But how it reacted to the ink I spritzed on it impressed me the most. Just look at those yummy colors all coming together so perfectly! I'm searching for tiny things to display on the little shelves and will be hanging it in my craft studio. I think I have a few nekkid inches somewhere on the walls.

Punk or princess? Molly says she is versatile.

This was my daughters' August birthday pie. I'm kind of freaking out about being the mom of 32-year old women, but my pride in them overrides it all. I wouldn't mind having one of these pies for my birthday if they can't manage a Texas Sheet Cake. (Which is seriously asking a lot. It's difficult to top my sister's prowess at making a slice of delicious chocolate heaven. Speaking of Heaven, I sure do miss her, dang it.)

Two New Things & An Expo!

On our way to someplace else, Dawn and I came across a rummage sale at a church. We hadn't seen one of those in eons, so we thought we'd check it out. It was good and junky and we made out like bandits. My favorite find was this wooden footstool. I'd been looking for one to put under my craft desk out in my studio, and when we spotted it, I knew it was going home with me. I sanded it a little to get rid of a few splinters and intended to paint it, but it was in such good shape I went ahead and started using it as-is. I'll eventually do something creative with it, but in the meantime, practically speaking, it's perfect.

I often come across recipes on Pinterest and tuck them away in one of my folders. But when I followed a link to Happy Slip's recipe for rice-cooker mac and cheese, I made it on the spot. It turned out even better than I thought it would be! Seriously, it's a must try.

My life-long friend and I are attending this expo next month. We're soooooooo excited!!!