Magazine Collage from Ann's Workshop

Ann had us start out by taking one magazine from her table and spend 5 minutes ripping out images that appealed to us. I happened to get a Better Homes and Gardens from July, so it had lots of summery pictures of kids. I usually don't do a lot of kid-themed collages.

We then had a few minutes to tear around the designs a bit more, and then a few more minutes to decide exactly what images we wanted to use and play around with placement.

I love how this collage came together with the images and words. I added one more butterfly (today) going off the top of the page to give the idea of childhood being a fleeting season in our lifetimes. Seasons could refer to the time of year, or the time of life. The simple joys of patty-cake, blowing bubbles, playing in a sprinkler, and enjoying a parade are ofttimes left behind as we become adults. I want to keep a youthful, fun-loving spirit as I age. Facing each day with a joyful attitude of "what wonderful thing will happen today?" is how I want to face the future. For a quick exercise, I was pleased that I could find so much that is meaningful to me in this collage.

Lovely February Day

Dan and I went for a walk at a newly opened park today. There isn't a long path yet, but it was nice. There were a few fishermen in their belly boats and the golfers were wearing short sleeves and shorts. A beautiful February day! It will probably be 70 or 72 degrees today. A nice change from the incessant rain we've been having!

More Photos of the Workshop

Here is our group photo taken at the end of the work shop. Roberta sent me the photo of my work table. I tend to spread out and make a mess as I work. As Jo March would say in "Little Women", "Genius burns!" Ha ha!

Ann Baldwin Class

We had such a fun time in this Layered Collage Workshop with Ann Baldwin. Held in her lovely home studio, Ann has a gracious and easy-going teaching style. A big thank you to Roberta for putting this workshop together. Pictured is the group watching Ann demonstate, and the bottom picture is an unedited picture of the piece I made. I had a theme of "books", and the photo on the left is of my aunt taken around 1919.

Cruise to the Mexican Riviera

We recently went on a cruise to the Mexican Riviera. We visited Acapulco, Zihuatenejo/Ixtapa, Puerta Vallarta, and Cabo San Lucas. Puerta Vallarta and Cabo were the nicest. Acapulco was too big, and the merchants would not stop harrassing you to buy something. I didn't take a lot of pictures because it seems like we were always busy. We went on the trip with Dan's sisters and their husbands and Dan's cousin and wife. We did enjoy cruise life- good food, nice spa, great entertainment. We went on the Norwegian Star. Having a balcony was great. All of our rooms were next to each other, so we could talk balcony to balcony. I was hit with Montezuma's Revenge or something on our travel day home. Let's just say that Matt's bucket came in handy that day more times than I care to remember!
I was disappointed in that I never saw the cute little things I was hoping to find for art projects anywhere. All of the merchants sold pretty much the same merchandise from town to town. I was able to get some nice sterling silver bracelets and earrings, but otherwise, didn't buy many souvenirs.

ATC Fun

Another ATC made with fabric painted by Cindy Powell, and embellished with beads received in swaps. I had fun using my new sewing machine, a Viking Sapphire 850. It makes sewing a breeze!

I love the colorful fabrics created using ideas from Sherrill Kahn's Creative Embellishments book. Sherrill gave me permission to host swaps and challenges using inspiration from her book which is much appreciated!

More Creative Embellishment-inspired ATCs

These ATCs were also inpired by Sherrill Kahn's great book, Creative Embellishments. The bottom ATC uses fabric made by Cindy Powell, and the other fabric was created in Cindy's home studio in Sandy, UT. All of the beads in the ATCs posted were received in bead swaps last year and were made by a variety of wonderful artists. I thank Cindy and each bead artist for helping in the inspiration of these fabric ATCs.

Inspired by Creative Embellishments

Here are four ATCs inspired by Sherrill Kahn's book, Creative Embellishments. We are doing these in the Arttechniquesatc group and The Latest Trends in Mixed Media group. We were to incorporate painted and stamped fabric or paper foundations with wrapped pipe cleaners and handmade beads.

Monoprint Paper Quilt

I got to finish a project this week since I have been sick. This little quilt is made using the squares I received in a Monoprint Paper Quilt Squares swap in Arttechniques. I am so glad I got it finished before the end of the year! So many of my projects have had to be kept secret for our book project that it feels good to be able to share something once again! My old sewing machine broke on the paper stitching so got to buy a new one. Woo hoo! What a dream!

"Latest Trends" Group Branches Out

The Latest Trends in Mixed Media group is branching out with a new group for those who are new to mixed media. It will teach basic techniques and hopefully answer any questions people may have. You can join this group by clicking on: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/The_Artists_Circle.
Lori Roberts will be the main group Mom and some of the rest of us from the Latest Trends group will help moderate.

Avila Beach Photos

We could see the golf course from our balcony also. This was the 11th hole. Players would tee off across the water to the left.

Mission San Luis Obispo with flowers and shadows.

Avila Barn- a wonderful place to buy local produce and lots of products from CA.

I liked the light coming through the Avila Pier's posts.

We saw several surfers; some waves were pretty high!

Avila Beach Vacation

Here are a few images from our vacation.
There was a group of birds sitting on this log who looked as if they were deliberately posing for photos.
The San Luis Bay Inn where we stayed.
Interesting textures in this seaweed shot.
A close-up of a pelican.
The beach and cliff was the view from our balcony. We enjoyed this vacation so much we are returning next September!

Correction!

The image of the cute little boy and pumpkin is from Inka's Stamps, not Twisted Papers. I stand corrected! Sorry Inka!

Here are the three abstract fabric postcards I am mailing to members of TheLatestTrendsinMixedMediaArt group. Fun and fast to make! I used peltex for the stiffener, batik and hand-dyed fabrics, a hand-carved stamp image and some pigma pen embellishments. I used a patterned muslin for the back so that I could write the mailing info right onto the fabric. One of these has to make it all the way to a little island in the UK. Hope it makes it!!

Technique Junkie Newsletter

My scrunchie technique is featured in the October issue of the Technique Junkie Newsletter. A member of the newsletter asked me if she could submit the technique and I agreed. it is always a thrill to see one's name in print! Thanks Pat for publishing my technique!

Harvest ATCs

Here are 4 ATCs made with a Twisted Papers image for the Latest Trends in Mixed Media Arts group. I used a variety of Golden fluid acrylics for the background, then used leaf stencils. I sponged some interference green (YS) and then spattered some dark paint left over from painting art tissue. I found some old autumn magazine pages that someone had scrapped years ago, and tore them for a base for the image. I used parts of 2 autumn poems; one by Emily Dickinson and one by Edna St.Vincent Millay. I distressed the cards and text with Antique Linen and Vintage Photo distress inks. Lastly I tied some raffia that I then fingerpainted with a bit of copper fluid acrylic.

A Winner!

The collage pictured below actually went and won 2nd place in our Harvest Fair. I was so pleased to hear it. It was my first entry into a juried art show, and my first collage using the hand painted papers. What an encouragement to continue creating and perhaps even submitting to another show sometime.

Framed and Ready

This is my piece framed and ready for the Harvest Fair. It was a strange feeling to take it and drop it off. Kind of like leaving one of your kids at school for the first time! The lady who checked it in was very nice and really liked it. That was encouraging for this first-time exhibitor! I will let you know how it does. It is priced at $600.00; over half of which is to cover the framing costs. Live and learn regarding how to price things.

Emboss Resist Technique ATCs

Here are the ATCs I made using the Bernie Berlin Emboss Resist technique for Arttechniquesatcs. The lovely lady images are from Twisted Papers. It was fun making the resist backgrounds.

AOM for September- Monet

Here is a sample ATC I painted for the Arttechniquesatcs group. We feature an artist each month and September's is Monet. I love his waterlily paintings, and was inspired by a portion of one of his. It was hard mimicking his style in a 2 1/2" x 3 1/2" format!

In Case You Are Wondering...

I can post that the reason a group of us started TheLatestTrendsinMixedMediaArt yahoo group is that we have been working and working on a book proposal of the same name that we will be submitting to publishers for a (hopefully) next year publish date. Book proposals are very involved; but it has been a fun and learning experience. I will keep you posted here and we also will keep you posted in the group. We are VERY excited about this endeavor and hope you are also! We love mixed media/altered art and want very much for this to happen!

"Aged Paper- Fall Colors- Brass Charm" ATC swap

These ATCs were made for a swap with Arttechniquesatcs. We were to use aged paper, fall colors and a brass charm on each card. I have been enjoying painting tissue papers and layering them for backgrounds. So, that is what the backgrounds are. The brown texture comes from added coffee grounds to the paint. The leaves are either a crayon batik or a faux rust technique.

This ATC is called "The Leaves Last Act". I wanted to use these drama mask charms.

Loads of Treasure!!!!

I wanted to share more about the TREASURE HUNT for the group TheLatestTrendsinMixedMedia Arts. Terrific sponsors are filling up our treasure chests with bounty! Hannah Grey, ArtChix Studio, Twisted Papers, Outside the Margins, Time to Stamp, Altered Pages, Vintage Charmings, Altered Arts, Julie Andrus- your favorite vendors! Be sure to click on the link to become a charter member of this fantasitc online art group!http://groups.yahoo.com/group/TheLatestTrendsinMixedMediaArts.

Treasure Hunt Coming!

TheLatestTrendsinMixedMediaArts is planning a treasure hunt! The link to join this group is in my links list at the right side of my blog. Great prizes will be awarded! You don't want to miss out on this and other fun happenings.

Colors Over Wine Country

This is a handpainted paper collage I have been working on to submit to the Harvest Fair. The colors are a bit brighter in person. There are metallic paints, antique text, antique maps, glitter, gold mica flakes, coffee grounds incorporated into the painted papers. It is 15 x 20 unframed. The framing is next!