So You Think You're an Artist

 

After a super busy start  to Spring, I am finally able to catch my breath and create something new, This piece is a collage I created with mixed media from my water color journal. The background was water colored with a cheap box of water color tubes which, after finishing it, I promptly threw away. Most were dried up, but it only cost me a dollar at a garage sale.

After drying I tore (literally) threw a few magazines that my sister gives me when she and her neighbor read first (because I cut and tear whatever I want from them when they're done with them). I found the most delicious words to flavor my collage that pertained to being or becoming an artist, as you can see.

Some words were given dimension with dimensional tape, while others were glues directly onto the page. I found the very colorful woman's face in another magazine for my canvas' centerpiece. After choosing the right words to their most descriptive matches, I highlighted their importance by using arrow-shaped sticky notes and outlining them with white a Posca marker. 

For a little extra oomph, I cut out a penned Zen drawing, drawing in the shadowed edges with colored pencils to match the water-colored background. All that was left was to fill up a few empty spots with colorful items from other mags. I did use the white marker to create musical notes, my copyrighted logo under the woman's face, as well as a few tiny flowers above the paper vase on the left. The circle on her hat is a button I inherited and the butterfly is a leftover die-cut  I created at a scrap meet (a long time ago in another galaxy...)

There you have it. Enough media for the pickiest of artists. I think my message conveys what all artists need to be and do, don't you?

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

AAA Colourful - Colourboard #17

 CSI: Color, Stories Inspiration - Case File #458

Mix It Up- AG/optional  Mixed Media

Morgan's Art World - AG

We Love 2 Create - Anything Mixed Media Goes

Something Old, Something New

 

When I was growing up, my Gramma and Mom were always crafting. Gram because she was a frugal German, and my mom because she was a Girl Scout leader for several years. One of their earlier projects was a kitchen shadow box. It was filled with botanicals, uncooked beans and whatever else they could fit into the small cubbies. The beans (Pinto, Navy, Split peas, etc.) were coated in Mod Podge, an up & coming craft supply that quickly became a household name. Sealed behind glass, their boxes  made lovely, homemade decorations for the kitchen. In fact, after Gram passed, I inherited her shadowbox...

...which gave me the inspiration to create a new" shadow basket". Using a shallow basket (maybe it's the top to another container?), I gave it new life by adhering bright, blue tissue paper as a background (with Mod Podge, of course).  I then arranged flower blossoms and petals and blossoms and adhered them into my "garden."

To make it more earthy, I stuffed green moss, into the empty pockets between the flowers. To tweak the scene, I used a small piece of a succulent in the corner, and then added a butterfly to finish off my basket shadow box. It's now hanging on my own kitchen wall. I'd like to give a shout out to my Gram and my mom for passing down their crafting genes. Gram also had the greenest thumb in the county, and Mom wrote poetry as  well as crafting projects for family, Girl Scouts and in her later years, craft fairs. Love you both, miss you with all my heart...

Challenges I am Entering:

Dragonfly Dreams - Butterflies

We Love 2 Create - Anything Craft, Card making & Scrapbooking Mixed Media

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Florals Goes with Optional Mood Board #29

Morgan's Art World - Anything Goes

The Crafting Challenge - Anything Goes

The Four Seasons - Summer season

Welcome to the 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 30

 

Today I'm upcycling one of my own pieces of art! Last year I tried Acrylic pour canvas painting. This is one of my pieces, a 6x6' stretched canvas for Halloween. Nice, but boring...

I reached into my bag of Halloween tricks and pulled out a plastic skeleton (I bought so many of these throughout the year that I haven't had to purchase any in forever). Using his lower legs and a larger one from another bag, I formed the latter "B"., brushing it with white paint before adhering it with hot glue. 

A couple black silk leaves and white felt flowers formed the letter "O" twice, and now my artwork has a title, "BOO". I added a few die-cut leaves and a small wooden gravestone to finish off my project. I hope I didn't overload the canvas, but I am NOT a fan of "white space". It's difficult for me to stop when it comes to embellishments. I hope you've enjoyed the 31 Days of Halloween here at 'Patacake's Pages. I have one more day to entertain you with my imagination and creativity this spooky season. See you tomorrow.

Challenges I am Entering:

Welcome to 31 Days of Halloween - DAY 2

 

Last year I found a bundle of dream catchers for a steal at a thrift store. This year I put one of them to good use. I first sprayed it with black spray paint, including the outer rim. I pulled out three large black flowers and covered the middle of each with a plastic skull. Before adhering the flowers to the catcher, I slipped a Fall leaf behind each black bloom. After gluing on the sparkly orange bow, I decided it needed something extra. I rummaged around my button jar and pulled out several stars and ghosts and glued each onto the "web" part of the dream catcher. I added a tiny skull to the bow and now I have a Nightmare Catcher for Halloween this year! 

Do you dream in color or black & white? The first time I realized I dreamt in color was when I woke up remembering my dream of bright billowing purple smoke coming out of the fireplace (which I don't have, by the way). Ever since then, I've tried to pay more attention, but most mornings I forget my dreams very quickly.

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Unicorn Challenges - Autumn or Halloween

Halloween & Other Occasions Craft all year 'round - themed card or craft

New-to-Me Technique - Hammering Flowers

  

Today I wandered around the neighborhood, looking for inspiration. I can always find it in nature, sure enough I was admiring all the bright colors blooming in neighbors' yards. Asking for permission first, I gathered up a few glowers and/or petals and brought them home to try something new (to me) - hammered flowers.

I decided to use a T-shirt, and prepared it by soaking it in a mixture of milk and Epsom salts. I used a hybrid version of a binder for improving the colors and staying powers of the flowers' imprint. Most Pinterest posts said using soy milk or ash for tie-dyeing but I had none.  

I placed my shirt on a king-sized cutting board I inherited from my mom, then covered my soon-to-be canvas with parchment paper since I had no wax paper. Next came the hammer, and I had a good, intense workout pounding the flowers into my shirt. 

After allowing the flowers to dry a bit, I removed them to admire my new artwork. Hmmm! Maybe haphazard was the wrong way to place the blooms. And the red left a brownish dye color. And the leaves didn't leave their mark much. And some of the prints were unrecognizable. And maybe I should have practiced on watercolor paper first...

Anyway, I learned a new technique and am going to practice what I preach and try this technique on watercolor paper (arranging the blooms artfully). A little progress every day adds up...

Challenges I am Entering:

  Creative Fingers - Anything Goes

  Creative Inspiration - ANything Goes

Whimsical Muse at Work

I love finding metal artwork at the thrift stores. I don't really care about the color scheme...I just want to bring it home and paint it myself! The decor above is 3'x3' and was painted black, olive and red?! That had to change, so it came home with me that day.

I spent a couple days sanding then giving it a nice clean base coat. Then I took out my brushes and acrylics and started with the sunflowers. I eventually added other colors and started filling in backgrounds. It reminds me of the Disney animated movie "Alice in Wonderland". After sealing it with pouring gloss varnish, I hung it on the back wall of my deck. My deck is slowing coming to life, with fake potted plants in the corners, new cushions for the chairs, a newly-painted metal table and other artwork. I just need a day where the temperature is under 90 degrees so I can sit and relax and sip my iced tea and read a cozy mystery...

Challenges I am Entering:

Through the Purple Haze - Anything Goes

My Time to Craft - Summer Florals

Ellibelle's Corner -(I Spy w/my Little Eye) Something Blooming Lovely

Sisterhood of Crafters - In the Garden

Painting with Me, Myself and I

I love when Spring rolls out its lush carpet to welcome Summer. I get truly inspired by all the blooms and blossoms every time I walk out my door. So after finishing a canvas for an upcoming Arts Festival, I pulled out a couple small stretched canvases and let Mother Nature guide my brush.

I used several shades of green with light sweeps of the paintbrush. Once dry, I tried a new to me technique that's been showing on YouTube for a while. Using a balloon of=r plastic bag, I dipped it into a select variety of paint colors. I then pressed the painted (crinkled) bottom of the bag onto the canvas and these awesomely abstract flowers bloomed in front of my eyes. If you like to paint and haven't tried this technique yet, I highly recommend it! It's fast, easy and fun!!

Challenges I am Entering:

Dream Valley - Summer Colors

Beautiful Blossoms - Anything Flowers Goes

Mirtillamente - Anything Goes

Pinspirational - Flowers

 

Something Fun and Different

 

After spending a short time decluttering (again), I uncovered a small wooden box with a cut-out top. Just a plain old unfinished wood box measuring about 7"x9". I still had a small pile of designer papers from which to choose my framed cover, and cut out small pieces from another paper (bird, heart, thing in right bottom corner) before covering it with glass.

I painted the sides with Posca markers, but left the top unfinished wood. I added a line of small pearls around the top border, and added a line of adhesive dots to the inside top of the frame. I could have stopped there, but...I had a packet of flowers and a glue gun plugged in. So I created a spray of sunshine and added a set of charms with the theme of Wanderlust.

My box now has a place in my bedroom for trinkets and stuff.  It was totally worth taking the time off from decluttering my stash or creating cards from the leftovers. Tomorrow I'll be back to work creating an organized craft area. 

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 30 - Skull Lamp

 

Today brings a little light on the subject of altered items. Namely, a cheap pumpkin light from who-knows where... Here is the lamp unaltered:

I removed the pumpkin and, after cutting a hole through the $ Store skull I had in my bag o' Halloween tricks, hot-glued it to the fixture just below the lightbulb. Oops, before I attached the skull, I pierced a hole thru a styrofoam pumpkin and placed it all the way down the lamp post.

Once the pumpkin and the skull were in place, I glued on some Autumn flowers and leaves on top of the pumpkin. To set the scene, I placed more flowers and leaves around my new skull lamp and added a  Unicorn skeleton (just for kicks).

 So, tomorrow is THE DAY. I hope you have fun, get all the trick-or-treaters you have candy for, and enjoy the day. Happy crafting, y'all!

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 26 - Golden Skull Wall Art

 

My make today features the golden skull. Why did I italicize those words? I don't know, it sounds like an Indiana Jones movie title. Anyhow, the skull came off a Dollar Store skeleton. Since he was dead already, I cut his head off his body and took off the back half of his skull. Then I painted it gold.

The "canvas" is one of the few boxes I got from the Dollar Store via the thrift store. I peeled the Easter Bunny decoration off the box and used Mod Podge to adhere part of a Halloween napkin onto it to create the background. 

As I was painting the sides of the box, the gold paint over-ran onto the front, so I made sure the gold made a sort of border. After my skull was dry, I used hot glue to adhere it onto my canvas. I pulled out a piece of laced burlap and some twine. I added some Fall leaves and a sunflower and my project is finished.

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Try It on Tuesdays - Halloween

Unicorn Challenges - Halloween

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 25 - Day of the Dead

 

Today's project is a re-do from one I created last year. Evidently the bin I had placed my DIY Halloween decorations wasn't closed properly and some of them got ruined or needed emergency care. This is one that I salvaged, scraping off the old and adhering a new felt Day of the Dead skull. I added new ribbon, flowers and gems to freshen it up.

Did you know that, here in the States, Halloween is almost neck to neck with the Christmas holidays when it comes to decorations and parties?!

in house decorations and parties 

31 Days of All Hallows Eve - Day 21 - Day of the Dead Skull

 Today I decorated a Dollar Tree skull and created a sugar skull for Day of the Dead. Anyway, this holiday is getting more popular in the US, especially with movies from Disney like the "Book of Life" and "Coco". It originates from Mexico, and really is more related to the Catholics' All Saints Day and, more so, All Souls Day. It is a day to honor those who have passed before us, except instead of going to church to pray for their souls, families gather together either at home or where their loved ones are buried. They celebrate with flowers and food and bring up good memories, celebrating their lives so they won't be forgotten.

The skull I found was colored with a bokeh-effect over the color silver. I filled the eyes with adhesive jewels, then surrounded each eye with a circle of yellow jewels, and another of pink pearls. After looking it over, I decided it was much too sparkly, so I attached a flower into each socket - much better...

As I filled the face of the skull, I added jeweled flowers, lines of pearls and jewels and finally flowers to cover the scalp. I had to use my Posca paint marker to color the nose socket black, as well as outlining the teeth. My partner, the hot glue gun, was a huge help! LOL

Since the teeth were the swirly rainbow on silver color, I painted them white. My sugar skull, named after special candy sold only on November 1-2, is a bright, beautiful decoration. If I display it my window, it really sparkles in the sun!

CHALLENGES I AM eNTERING:

Crafting Happiness - Halloween 

Simon Says - Spooky

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 13 - Spooky Sunflowers

Today's make is deck decor. I spook-cycled my deck planter into a frightful floral decoration. The skulls glow in the dark! 

I only used craft supplies that I already had on hand. These include glow-in-the-dark paint spray, large faux sunflowers, my trusty glue gun and the vase formerly holding beautiful red tropical cannas. The skulls were left over from previous Halloweens projects. I can't wait to see them glow this evening!

Did you know that the sunflower is the official symbol for ALS? I didn't know that fact until my husband was diagnosed with the disease. Two out of every 3 people diagnosed with ALS, which has no cure< are veterans. Both my husband and I are veterans. My daughter got a tattoo of a sunflower in memory of her father. Every May is ALS Awareness Day.

On a lighter note, according to Google, sunflowers symbolize unwavering faith and constant orientation to the sunlight. It originated in the Americas, has been known to grow up to 30 feet tall, and its seeds are edible. I had one growing at the edge of my backyard, but I cut the flower off before the seeds were ready. Next year I will be more patient...

CHALLENGES I AM ENTERING:

Alphabet Challenges - N is for NATURE

365 Days of Halloween & Christmas - Most magical anything goes for Halloween/Christmas

My Time to Craft - In the Garden

31 Days of Halloween - Day 11 - Hallow's Eve - Boho Design

 

I love me some boho decor, so naturally I had to create something with a Halloween twist. I have to admit that I haven't done macrame since college (a long time ago in a galaxy far far away). So when I saw this tiny macrame hanger in the clearance bin at Michael's last month, I had to buy it, and its three mates (that's four altogether).

I reached my arm deep into my Halloween tub o' crafting supplies to find a pumpkin small enough to fit into the "hammock" part of my hanger! I also dug around my flower supplies and found a handful of sunflowers whose size matched my pumpkin. I painted the yarn a coppery color using acrylic paint and hot glued my pumpkin into the cradle, so to speak.

Then I "planted" my sunflowers and added a little greenery between the blooms and the pumpkin. As you can see, my project is very small, hanging from a table lamp in the living room. Therefore, I will be making several of these for this celebratory month.

Nothing spooky, just Fall fun! 

Speaking of Fall, or Autumn, I live in the US in a state that sets their clocks back one hour in the Fall. Do you live where the time changes twice a year? Falling behind one hour in the Fall, and speeding ahead one hour in the Spring? 

How do you feel about this habit that Benjamin Franklin founded? I, personally, could do without it. It's hard enough to keep track of time without going back and forth! And pets like my Morkie, Honeycomb, don't do well with it, especially with meal time and getting up in the morning! Some states have repealed the law and don't change at all, which makes it even more confusing. Inquiring minds want to know...

CHALLENGES i AM eNTERING:

   Tyr It on Tuesdays - Autumn

Unicorn challenges - Autumn/Halloween

 Farmquest Challenges - Anything Goes/optional Autumn colors

 (p.s. this year it falls on Nov. 5)

31 Days of All Hallow's Eve - Day 3 - Spooky Door Decor

 Hello, witches! My project today is a welcome wreath, Halloween-style. I unearthed a wire wreath form I had bought from Dollar Store last year and tried to weave black tulle around it. That lasted 20 minutes! So then I pulled out some leftover orange canvas and wound it around most of the form. 

Continuing to pull from my Halloween craft supplies gather over the years, I found a bare wooden haunted house sign that I just painted black...

and a wood and wire fence I painted grey...

and some foam flowers...

and foam ghosts that used to be part of a banner...

and a few miscellaneous pumpkins/jack o' lanterns.

My hot glue gun saw some serious action. I want to be able to show this off for the next several years.

Do you decorate for Halloween? Is it just outside, or do you do the inside of your house, too? My neighborhood goes crazy at Halloween. There are some neighbors' houses that my kids (when they were younger) would not go up to their doors for candy! Coffins and gigantic spiders and zombies, etc. I just like to put my artwork in the windows and on the doors, and a large vase or two of altered flowers/plants.  

Challenges I am Entering:

Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes, no cards

Crafting Happiness - Halloween

Get Creative - #126 Purple, Black, Green and Orange!!!

 Mirtillamente Challenge #25 - All about Halloween

 Two Old Bats - Halloween Mood Board

The Four Seasons - Anything Fall Goes Mood Board

Quill Power

 

Today's post features a Hedgehog using a Scribbles Designs digital image. After coloring my buddy with a light pink Copic, I pulled out my container of paper flowers and arranged them on my hedgehog's body. Afterward, I realized I wanted to create a background, and to do so, I had to remove all those tiny flowers! 

Once I drew and colored the flowers and grass. I adhered the flowers onto my pet (again) and then adhered her onto my new background. I found a cute hedgehog quote on Pinterest, but then thought to  add the "disclaimer" at the bottom. It reads, "not really. I walked thru the flowers, got scared and came out this way." Those quills are pointy and sticky, aren't they?!

You can find at the Scribbles Design Store HERE. It is actually a FREEBIE at the moment, and is called F#188 Dust Bunny. This artwork is a page in my Art Journal. I really like her, and shall name her Dusty.

Be your Own Version of Beautiful

 

Let me introduce you to my very fashionable friend, Lucy. She is her own woman female, uh, gastropod. She doesn't follow Fashion. She IS fashion. And she insists on standing out in a crowd.

Lucy is a digital image from Scribbles Designs (the image is not called Lucy, that's my pet name for her). After printing and coloring the image with my Copics, I dug through my stash of sequins. It's a good thing Lucy and I are friends, because adhering each tiny sequin to her fabulous ensemble was pain-staking work. I even gave her earrings with a few sequins. Her dress was created from paper doilies, and her necklace is a piece of leftover trim.

I wanted her to stand out as well, so I adhered her using dimensional tape. She is walking sliming (?) her way up the path of positivity, which I created with floral stuff and a couple roses. Speaking of the Path of Positivity, their challenge this month is to create something inspired by Fashion. I hope my canvas inspires you to enter their challenge. In the meantime, have fun crafting!

Challenges I am Entering:

Critter Crazy - AG/with a Critter

Arty Divas - Anything Goes

Classic Design - Anything Goes

Crafters' Cafe - Colors of the Rainbow

Your Scrapbook Place - Anything Goes

Impatient for Spring

I used to hate anything to do with flowers in crafting. I'm allergic to real flowers, and I used to say that my allergies included fake flowers, coloring flowers, the whole shebang. But somehow the "flowers" started to grow on me sorry, (couldn't help the pun). Since I'm more comfortable with using images and flowers in my crafts, I've created wreaths, painted  watercolors and painted pots and filled them.

This is one of my newest projects. I received some garden-themed stencils and thought an old clay pot would be perfect to try them out. First, I painted the pot black, a nice glossy black. Then I used a stipple brush and decorated the rim and the front and back with chalk paint. I have to say that the stencils I used were pretty easy to keep in place while dabbing. They are made by Folk Art.

I already had the flowers in my stash downstairs (which I must clean out and minimize).I don't know how good I am at arranging the flowers, but they look nice in the corner of my kitchen, so I'm happy and I don't care if it is the middle of winter...! 

Best Friends

During the last few months, I've been keeping in touch with my friends, sending them handmade cards. Today's card features a digi image from the Queen herself, Sandra Caldwell. It's called Puppy and Kitty Friends, and I used colored pencils to give them their colors. I inherited a bag full of paper flowers, so I went wild with them on my card. Our dog, Wilson, loves to stop and sniff the flowers. His favorite is to walk headfirst through the dandelions that have gone to seed, where just a slight breeze sends the tiny light seeds floating through the air (except those that get stuck on Wilson's face).

Sandra's image showcases the widely different match-ups when it comes to friendships. Some people's personalities go together like coffee and donuts; others have people wondering, "how the heck did that happen?".While working at a local church, my co-worker and I were (and still are) total opposites. I never would have believed back then that we would become the best of friends, our relationship lasting through work conflicts, job loss and personal tragedies. Go figure!!

Will It Be Brads, Buttons or Bows??

We're finally seeing nice weather, and flowers are starting to show off their colors. Trees are budding, bushes blooming, grass is growing and I am sneezing. Don't you just love seasonal allergies?! But I do so love the colors of late Spring.
Hopefully my card captures some of Spring's fashion show. I used flower buttons floating in a sea of green, while my bunny, an image from Scribbles Designs, is hopping with joy. The digi is called #408 B Bunny Joy, which I colored with my Copics. My background was created with a paper from CTMH and torn pieces of cardstock in two different shades of green.  The sentiment inside is from a rubber stamp and reads:

"May your day bloom

with wonderful surprises"

Today marks the midpoint of Scribbles Designs newest challenge, "Brads, Buttons or Bows". Obviously, I chose buttons, but you can use any or all to use on your project. And it doesn't have to be a card. Use your imagination, try something new, have FUN! Just don't forget to link up your creation with Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog for your chance to win a gift certificate to the Scribbles Store.

Good luck and happy crafting!

Challenges I am Entering:

2 Crafty Critter Crazies - AG w/a Critter

Classic Design - AG

Crafty Animals - AG w/an animal

Digi Doodle Studios - AG

Paper Craft - Spring/Frühling

B-T/Tinker-Dream - Flowers/Blumen