Guest Artist on StampersQuest

I wanted to share that I am the guest artist this month on www.stampersquest.com. Thank you Bea and Stephanie!! I am sharing one of my projects from the book, Exploring the Latest Trends in Mixed Media, Volume I.

All Decked Out for a Party!

Here is a funny photo taken at my husband's cousin's 50th birthday party. They had us all have our photos taken as we entered the restaurant wearing silly party stuff. Who knew 50-year-olds could have so much fun?????

Arttechniques Spring Skinny Book Swap

Here are samples of the cover for our Spring Skinny Book Swap, plus the more elaborate version of my page fronts (using the butterlfy punch and sequins) and the "I am getting tired of all these steps" version using a strip of decorative-edge paper. I took the photo on the cover page three years ago when I got to go to the Skagit Valley in Washington state to see the tulips in bloom. This was at one of the tulip farms where they also had some indoor exhibits. Seeing fields of colorful tulips all in bloom is a spring sight to behold!!

Playing with Photoshop

Here is a photo I took as Dan and I were driving to Eureka over a week ago. I played with my Wacom tablet to add a signature to the piece. I wanted to make a brushed edge, but, with the gradient layer I couldn't quite figure it out. I will keep working on this. I posterized the tree shape and added a drop shadow and an embossed edge. I took a few more photos I will play with and post in the next day or so.

Off to watch House or Gossip Girl- love having a DVR!!

More of the Last ATCs

Here are two distinctly different ATCS for two of the last Arttechniquesatcs swaps. The one on the left uses Fred Mullett stamps. The fish are painted with Twinkling H2Os whose company is sadly going out of business. Hopefully a buyer will step up! www.luminarte.com.

The one on the right was for a house/home swap. It has a magazine photo that has been gessoed and stamped over. Molding paste was added to the top with a layer of Pearlized Mica Flakes (a Golden Medium). The little twig is from my lemon verbena. The reflective little bird was sent to me as a hostess gift. This ATC is called, "Home is for Nesting."

I am busy putting together the second volume of the Exploring the Latest Trends in Mixed Media Art book series; Recycled, Reinvented, Reinspired. Should be available in early fall!

Last Swaps at Arttechniquesatcs

Here is a sample of one of the last ATCS I am making for the Arttechniquesatcs group. Due to an increasingly busy schedule, I have chosen to close the group as of April 1. It was also frustrating to have over 400 members but only a few participating in the swaps. We will perhaps do one swap a month at the mother group, Arttechniques. There's a time for all good things to come to an end.

A Second Winner!

I had my hubby choose another number for the blog party drawing. Linda Greiss is now the winner of the Serendipity Heart pin. Congratulations, Linda!

Blog Banner

A new blog banner! The butterflies are from www.cottagearts.net. The image is one I have had on my computer, not sure of the origin.

SASKIA- WINNER OF SERENDIPITY HEART!

I hope Saskia looks to see if she won. I don't have her email addy, so, if I don't hear from her I will draw another name. One of my Serendipity hearts may be making its way to Belgium! Congratulations Saskia!

Free Vintage Images for Valentine's Day and a Random Drawing!! Welcome to the Blog Party!!

Here are two images from my own collection for you to download for use in your art. I will also be doing a random drawing for a Serendipity Heart pin from those who leave a comment on Valentine's Day. Spread the love around!

Valentines 2009

Here is my Valentine design for this year's cards. I used one of Laura's Layer of Colors stamps for the flourish, and then used my Sizzix die-cutting machine for the heart and the mat behind the heart. A text stamp was used on the mat. I figured I needed to get some use out of my die-cut machine!

FEBRUARY NEWSLETTER

The Latest Trends February Newsletter is now available for your reading pleasure. Check out my fun Valentine project of Serendipity Hearts!

http://www.thelatesttrendsinmixedmediaart.com/. Click on "February"

Book Review

www.scrapfriends.com did a review of our book, Exploring the Latest Trends in Mixed Media Art, Volume I. Check it out!

2009 Fat Book Swap for Arttechniques

Here are two individual pictures and a group sampling (30) of my 2009 fat book pages. I made a total of 124 (4 extra) for this swap. Arttechniques has the best fat book swaps! I used my own technique- Magazine Scrunchy Technique. I revised it a bit for this swap. I added some gessoed bubble-wrap markings and left off the metallic embossing powders. This is great for backgrounds and great to scan to use as backgrounds where you want the background flat rather than textured. No two pages are ever the same. Pretty fun!

Playing

I took a few minutes to play with a huge box of ephemera, etc that is in my art room and came up with this card. The flower stamp is from www.layersofcolor.com. Love Laura's stamps!

Susan and I had an art day today. I was working on my fat book pages. Why is it that I always choose a technique with so many steps to it????? I am doing my own Magazine Scrunchy Technique and forgot it has so many steps!!

A Valentine

I made this Valentine using a leftover skinny page background (serendipity paper technique), one of the lovely Layers of Color Stamps (www.layersofcolor.com), some antique lace, a cute little boy image, a couple of confetti hearts, and some magazine text. The wings were from a hostess gift.

VALENTINE BLOG PARTY!

Don't miss out on the Valentine Blog Party! Check www.flatwoodsfolkart.com and join the fun! Flatwoodsfolkart is Lesley Venable's site; she is one of my co-authors of The Latest Trends in Mixed Media Art books. We will be giving away freebie images and other fun stuff in February. Be sure to check back!

Book I am Reading

I am reading the most interesting book right now. I had bought it for my daughter for Christmas and she has lent it to me. It is called "The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society." It is about The Island of Guernsey during the German Occupation in WWII. I highly recommend it!

Here's a sample of 4 of my Winter Skinny Pages. Each one has a different background, and arrangement of the haiku and the snowflakes. Still completing most of them.

Arttechniques Skinny Books

I have been working on my skinny book pages with the theme of Winter. I should be able to post pictures in a day or so. I decided I had to join all 3 groups, so have 75 pages to make. I know, I am crazy, but I love to get a sample of everyone's work!
I have done a serendipity paper background, am adding punched snowflakes, a haiku I wrote myself, and the backs are embossed and distressed. Whoever invented serendipity paper did a good thing! I love to make it.
As soon as I finish the Skinny pages, I need to start my 120 pages for the 2009 Technique Fat Book. I will be making my Magazine Scrunchy technique. I'm happy I have a stack of magazines in my art room; I will need them for those 120 pages!! After this swap, I will have 240 pages of different techniques! Then it's finding the time to incorporate them into my art!
Hope your January is filled with warmth and fun projects!