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

Gathering Quite a Pile of Halloween Cards

 

Here's my newest Halloween card for the "Halloween & Other Occasions Challenge blog. If you're looking for a cool way to have a stack of cards ready for a holiday, choose a challenge blog and enter a card each month with the same theme, like Halloween for HOOC . There are several Christmas challenge blogs as well!!

My card today features a stamp from Queen Kat Designs. She no longer offers stamps, but has renewed her inventory to include crocheted animals and "Adults ONLY" coloring books. Look her up on Amazon.

Meanwhile, I used a few die-cuts I found while organizing my craft supplies. using one to frame the stamped image. I used an old punch on the corners of my cards The witch is a puffy embellishment I found on my basement floor while packing away Halloween for the year! 

The rest is cardstock and patterned paper. I hand-printed the greeting on the front, as well as the sentiment on the inside that reads:

 "Don't wait dinner on me. Traffic is a nightmare."

 

 

Stella Says Sketch at Bugaboo Stamps

 I had sometime to relax this past weekend and colored up a Bugaboo Stamps image I picked up at the STORE recently. It's called simply "Morning Coffee." I was struck by how much the image looked how I felt before that first drop of caffeine hit my system. I think many of us can relate.

 I am again trying to make some headway into decreasing my stash, so all papers are snips and snaps of former projects. I colored  my morning glory with Copics that still had ink in them, and used a couple punches for the sentiment. All the jewels were leftover on the same clear piece of acetate that I could finally throw away in the trash.

I designed my card for Bugaboo Stamps "Stella Says Sketch" challenge #705.

Using a little artistic license, I turned my sketch onto its side. The challenge is up until Sunday, March 17 for your chance to win prizes. Here are some other Challenges I am Entering:

Crafty Friends - Ladies/Girls

Craftyhazelnuts Patterned Paper - Anything Goes w/patterned paper

Creative with Stamps - Friends

It's Winter at Scribbles Challenge Blog

Here is my DT make for the November 1 challenge at Scribbles Designs. The theme is Winter is Coming, and you have until the 14th to create and link up your projects for a chance to win a gift certificate to the Scribbles Store.
My card uses a sweet digi called "Frosty's Christmas Trees." Do you buy a real tree or have an artificial one? I had to buy an artificial one due to allergies. I suffered for a long time as a kid, one year having problems sleeping so took the couch and ended up with a serious sinus infection over the holidays!
However you interpret Winter Is Coming, create with love, and don't forget to link up with Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog for your chance to win some goodies!!

Challenges I am Entering:

Die Cut Divas - Anything with a die-cut Goes

Digi Doodle Studios - Winter/Christmas

Fabrika Fantasy- Winter/Christmas

Merry Little Christmas - Anything Christmas Goes

Sheepski Designs - Anything Christmas

Tag! You're It at Ike's World Challenge Blog

Have youchecked out the new challenge at Ike's World Challenge blog? We're at the midway point in the TAG! YOU'RE IT challenge, and I created my DT make to inspire you. I colored up a digi image called Celebrate. You can get it at Ike's Art with or without the word Celebrate.
After designing my card and putting it together, I thought it looked a little lacking, so I added another tag after distressing it and adding faux stitches. I like this "double vision" look better, don't you? My girlfriend's birthday is coming up in October, and this tag will be attached to her present. Speaking of presents, I got a few craft kit goodies last week. I am stretching out of my comfort zone with leather working and wood projects. So far I've made a cool bracelet with charms out of leather, and have started to create a wooden pen.

You have one week left to create something for the Tag You're It challenge at Ike's World Challenge blog. I can't wait to see what you create!!

New Challenge at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog

Mason jars are all the rage now where I live. You see them at restaurants, parties and stores. They're painted, be-ribboned and decorated.They hold flowers, candy, fireflies, jams and vegetables, and iced tea.
This month the challenge theme at Scribbles Designs Challenge Blog is to create with a mason jar. There are quite a few fun and whimsical images at Scribbles Designs store, but you aren't required to use a Scribbles image for the challenge.
I used two images, Mason Jar (which is empty) and Crayons, which was a freebie on the challenge bog a couple months ago. After coloring three sets of the Crayons digi, I "placed"them in my jar and fussy cut the filled jar. Everything on my card is from my stash--the good news is I haven't had to go to a craft store in months as I have owed to use up my stash. The bad news is I haven't been able to justify going to a craft store in months... LOL
What will you put into your mason jar? Or how will you decorate your jar? What will you create this month for Scribbles Designs Challenge blog??

Anything Goes at the Outlawz Monday Greetings

Today brings us a new challenge at the Outlawz Monday Greetings. And they also have two sponsors-that's twice the prizes offered this week! My first card uses the digi "Wine Bottle w/Glass" from Angie's Cards & Digis. My sentiment was inspired by the theme song from the movie "Cabaret." However, the theme this week is Anything Goes!
After coloring my image with Copics, I added a little dimension with white gel pen. My papers, die-cuts and embellishments are all pulled from my magic bag of leftovers (magic because it seems to be bottomless). I think my color scheme of pink, green and ivory work well here, don't you?

Challenges I am Entering:

Crafting when We Can - Based on a song (Cabaret)
Corrosive challenges - Girls, Ladies, Women (girls' night out)
Great Impressions challenges - Ladies Night

Crafting with Friends - Anything Goes
Cute Card Thursday challenges - Add a Quotation (misquoted from Cabaret)

My second card today uses a digi image from Creative Bug Designs, also sponsoring the Outlawz Monday Greetings this week.

I colored an image called "Look at Me, Lolly." I love that he's peeking through a hole just to greet us! I found this fabulous paper (again, stash is endless) and popped him smack in the middle of the "rays" of sunshine, thereby inspiring me to continuously hum "Hello Sunshine" by Aretha Franklin from 1968.

I adhered tiny jewels around my circle of sunshine and added some sequins for sparkle. After adding some fiber for texture, I die-cut my song-inspired sentiment, and my card is complete. Now if I could just get the song out of my head...

Challenges I am Entering:

Not Just Cards challenges - Anything Goes
Crafting from the Heart - Anything Goes

Time OUT challenges - Celebrations w/optional die-cuts or fussy-cutting)

Although my art today was inspired by songs, the theme at the Outlaw Monday Greetings is ANYTHING GOES, so go create and link up with us for your chance to win this week! 

New Challenge Sponsored by Bloobel Stamps and Melonheadz

Today brings another challenge from the Outlawz Monday Greetings. One of my newest favorite companies returns as our sponsor this week, Bloobel Stamps. I have a slightly warped sense of humor, and I find these Bloobel Stamps to be in tune with my humor (check out my second card and you'll see what I mean).
But first, my card above uses an image called My Cup of Tea, which i colored with Copics nd shimmered with metallic gel pens. After choosing the sentiment, I pulled out some subway graffita-themed patterned paper as my card's background to emphasize the gap between the real world and the world while enjoying a cuppa.  I created a 6x6 square card, as that is the Outlawz Greetings challenge theme this week.

Challenges I am Entering:

Creative Loops challenges - Floral Inspiration (I just discovered this blog & will come back often-lots of creativity & inspiration here. I was inspired by this challenge to cut up asst'd flowers from my stash so that they'd "play well" with card-making, cutting off leaves & trimming blossoms so that they would look & fit well on my card)

If You Give a Crafter a Cookie - Photo inspiration (I decided to pull the vivid red, white & black coloring from the photo for my card)

I was so lucky I got to play with another image from Bloobel, this one called Mustache Ballerina.

If you wonder why I would give a man a birthday card with a guy in a tutu, check out my inside with its "punchline" below.

I know exactly to whom I am giving this card, and he is going to laugh out loud when he reads the inside. Again, I pulled papers from my stash to create my card, and even found a piece (less than half!) of a paper doily that I had saved to frame out my image. Instead of flowers, I sprinkled "manly" stars around my tiny dancer to embellish.

Challenges I am Entering:

Simply Create Too - Make it Funny

4 Crafty Chicks - Humorous

Crafting with an Attitude - Anything Goes

Our second sponsor this week, Melonheadz, offers fun image sheets like the one I used on my card below. It's called Apes and I had a blast creating with the images.

 I closed my eyes and pulled out some embossed brown paper as well as pieces of Kraft and patterned papers. My junk drawer yielded some leftover twine, trim and a couple buttons. I added my sentiment on a die-cut oval after inking the edges. What do you think? Is it a hit or a miss? LOL
Challenges I am Entering:
Aud Sentiments challenges - BINGO grid & a sentiment (I used the third vertical gridline-embossing, lace & die-cut)

Digi Stamps 4 Joy - Anything Goes/Add an Animal

Remember that it's hip to be Square when you craft this week (and to link up at the Outlawz for your chance to win this week). Awesome pries to be won from

AND

Prosperity Fairy Promises a Good Year

Today I created a wall hanging for my house. It's a mixed media on wood that I call The Prosperity Fairy. She is my reminder to keep hope alive and believe in good things to come this year.
We ended 2015 very poorly, and yet we had a wonderful Christmas with family, my sister got married, my grandson started talking babbling to me online (he's only 4 months), and my boss made an offer which, while dropping hours, allowed me to keep the family insurance. On the down side, my husband came home and let me know that he had been let go!
So 2015 went out with a balance of good and bad, stress and the power of love. My artwork will be a constant reminder that life is a balancing act of good times and bad, pain and peace, sadness and joy. Without that bit of adversity in our lives, we could not appreciate the prosperity headed our way.
So I will hang my Prosperity Fairy in my bedroom, so that I can go to sleep under her watchful eye, as well as waken to her promise to come.
How do you balance your life between the good times and the bad? The Path of Positivity challenge blog offers the theme of Prosperity this month to all crafters. Carve out some time to create and then link up at the challenge blog for your chances to win prizes from the guest sponsors, The Stamping Boutique and Limited Runs. My artwork uses a digi image from the Stamping Boutique called I Love you This Much Cynthia Fairy.

Challenges I Am Entering:

Not Just Cards - Anything Goes

Sparkle n Sprinkle - Anything Goes w/loose glitter (around the edge of my wooden frame)

That Craft Place - Anything Goes

Crafty Time challenges - Make It Sparkly

Rhedd's Creative SPirit - Anything Goes

Creaine challenges - Bingo grid

May The New Year Be a Prosperous One!

My card today follows the new theme at the Path of Positivity challenge blog, which is Prosperity. Guest sponsors are The Stamping Boutique/GlitterBabe and Limited Runs.  I got to play with this fun-loving digi from Limited Runs called Juggling Snowman. It takes a great deal of balance to juggle, and he looks like he's doing a great job!
New Year greetings always seem to include a wish for a prosperous new year. Prosperity can include wealth, good fortune, easy living and success, so it can mean different things to different people depending on their needs.
And it seems that people who have need can appreciate prosperity all the better for being without for a time. After all, how can you appreciate happiness if you've never known sadness? Would a piece of rich chocolate cake be as tantalizingly delicious if you ate it every day?
So my wish to you is Balance, so that the adversity you face throughout the year is tempered with the prosperity you so deserve.
I have to admit that my "quote" really isn't an old Irish Blessing-I just made it up as I created my card, but it sounded like an Irish Blessing, so let's credit the Irish with this one, too. LOL
You have a month to create a project that projects your take on the word Prosperity. Link up with the Path of Positivity for your chance to win these great prizes!

• 2 images from The Stamping Boutique (3 if you use a TSB or Glitterbabe image), one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
• A $10.00 gift certificate from Limited Runs, one of our guest sponsors this month, for a person chosen in a random draw based on all entrants.
• One digital image from Creative Bug Digital SnapShots for each person chosen as a DT Delight.

There will also be:

• A small selection of digital designer papers from Décosse's Dynamite Doodles for one lucky person who leaves a comment on posts published during the challenge time frame.
• One digital sentiment for every single person who enters the challenge. 

Firdt Challenge of the New Year at the Outlawz Monday Greetings

Happy New Year, crafters! The Outlawz Monday greetings challenge blog welcomes you into the New Year with a New Challenge. We want to see a TREE somewhere on your card. Now, don't get the chainsaw out! LOL Just create a car with a tree in the patterned paper, in the background, hand drawn, or maybe even an image of a tree.
This week's sponsor is Kitty Bee Designs,

and I've used the digi image called Owl. My trees are part of the patterned paper from the Green Stack by DCWV. I had this last piece left in my stash. I was very good in 2015 with using my stash up, and not purchasing any new papers. Unfortunately, I must extend my purchase ban this year as my stash is pretty hefty--still!! Did I say I was a paper-holic? Too true!
In fact, everything on my card is from my stash. The only thing new is the digital image. Which leads me to a very important question--did you receive any crafti-licious presents this Christmas? I received a roll of baby pink vinyl for my Cricket machine, and in fact, I was gifted with the "other" half of the Cricket. My DIL and I went in together to buy one to share, but she released her half to me for a wonderful gift (this is in addition to the awesome grandson she gave me earlier in the year LOL).
Whatever you received, or didn't receive, I hope you have fun crafting this year, and link up a project or card with the Outlawz Monday Greetings this week!

Starting the New Year with Thanksgiving

I received several gifts from families in the program at which I work, so now is the time to create my thank you cards and send them out. What a lovely way to start the New Year but with reminders of the people who thought of me this holiday season. I am gifted with so many caring and generous people - those with whom I work, teachers who volunteer their time, and families whose children come to learn their faith. My own faith is strengthened by the job at which I work!
Today I created this lovely Thank You card using a digital image from Sandi Samples, who is sponsoring the Outlawz Progressive Freebie challenge blog's first challenge of the year. The challenge is always anything goes, runs monthly, and rewards you with a free digi every time you create and link up a card or project using the image of the month. If you haven't started yet to play in this challenge, you can purchase the image at Sandi's Samples. It is called Cabbage Rose. Link your card by the end of January and the next month's image will be sent to you at no cost. Continue through the year and snag every image we get from our sponsors in 2016!!  I have never heard of a person who didn't like FREE! LOL
Continuing  with my promise to use up my stash and simplify my crafting needs,I found the dark blue embossed card front in a file drawer, and die-cut the leftover part of my cardstock to frame my image. I kept the embellishments simple,with a couple jewels  and a small spray ti give the card some shimmer. I have a few more Thank You cards to create. How about you? Did you get what you wished for this Christmas? My wish for you is a healthy and prosperous New Year.
And as always, crafters, have fun!

BINGO! with Bugaboo

Time to get your game on at Catch the Bug challenge blog. There isn't much time left to play, and the theme is BINGO. I chose the vertical row of Bling, Pastels & a Bugaboo image:

I colored my Bugaboo image, Ava Latte, with Copics and framed her with a die-cut, adhering her onto embossed and inked cardstock. My card base is white cardstock with a stitched-border frame.

I Stickled parts of my image, and added jewels for that touch of bling. A punched flower and sentiment finish off my card.

 Other Challenges I am Entering:

Hiding in My Craft Room - Freestyle
Suzie B's Blooming challenges - Use a Die or Punch (I used both!)
Our Creative Corner - Colour Your World (Blue skies, partly cloudy, yellow daffodils)
Scrap It with a Song - (pop song Shake it Off-NOT until I have my coffee!!)