.....altered book studio.....

Paper Beads Play Date

2012-02-06T20:02:00.000-08:00

Last weekend i had yet another fun play date in the city (that would be San Francisco) with friends to create paper beads. Sadly our guide for the afternoon took ill and had leave right way, but she did leave us with some samples and inspiration. The first step is to cut long triangles of thin paper - about one inch at the wide point to 12 inches long made a good sized bead.

Next you wrap it around a wooden skewer you have first rolled in embossing ink to lubricate it.

Next you dip it in melted UTEE - ultra thick embossing enamel - which has been melted in a Ranger melting pot. I've had these things for years and NEVER USED THEM! When the beads come out they get all bubbly - which probably means we were doing something wrong. But D. discovered that blowing on the while twirling and cooling, reduced the bubbles and bumps.

After you dip (or before) you can wrap the beads in thin wire or metallic thread. You can dip them again and again - which builds up the size. You can also dip or sprinkle on micro beads or glitter.

I think these are D's beads - she worked really fast - flicking the beads off the skewer after the first dip.

I think these are L.'s - she used alot of powders and colours to make interesting beads.

These are K's. She did a very neutral palette of book paper and copper wire. They would combine nicely in a necklace or bracelet.

And i think these are Z's beads. She used some map paper which gave a colourful effect.
Sorry the images are not that great - and yes - they do rather look like larvae!

Rememeber the Creative Outlet play date? Here is Dorothy's magnificent finished piece. She is absolutley channeling her inner Michael DeMeng!

2012 Altered Calendar Round Robin

2012-02-06T19:21:00.000-08:00

Sorry - something happened to the picture - i'll fix it tonight!

After a year of having no round robin altered book swaps, my group of creative friends started up a new project for 2012. D. purchased a bunch of 2011 calendars (actually she got them free) at SCRAP, a San Francisco depository for cool cheap art supplies. They are all the same, with B. Kliban cat illustrations on postcards within the book. Spiral bound and quite small - they measure about 5" by 6".

Here are the interesting themes we chose for our own books:

1. Beach House

2. Dance

3. Beach Glass

4. Maps and Mustaches

5. Under the Sea

6. 1963

Yes - as you can see, three of us chose beachy/water/sea life themes - but there is just enough of a difference to make the round robin an interesting project for this year. As i work on each of the books - i'll show you images of the covers and my pages.

For my book - the title is Beachouse - mainly because i only had one "H" in the cute blue sparkly letters. I am actually a master at turning letters into other letters when necessary, but in this case, it just fit so perfectly to spell it wrong!

On my intro page i asked the participants to think about their "dream beach house" and create spreads based on that, keeping in a cool clean colour theme of blues, sandy beige's and white.

Each month we will swap books, and since there are 6 of use - we'll each work in our own books for January and July. At the end of the year, we'll have a book filled with collage and artwork representing our chosen theme!

I only did a "half spread" here - because our rules say that if the page has more days of the following month, then that page belongs to the next person.

This is what the blank spreads look like - we have the choice to add some journaling - or like i prefer- just to add pretty pictures.

It is always a good idea to add your contact info in case the book goes astray.

My sign in page features some seahorse stickers that the artists can sign and alter however they like. Maybe they'll add some pretty plumage-like fibers and some bling!

Here is the back cover of my book. I took a window from one image, a beach scene from another, and cushions from two other magazines and collaged it all together. The final touch was to add some pretty ribbons and lace to the spiral binding to add some texture.
I work on "Dance" next - here is a sneak peak:

Altered Composition Book Swap

2012-02-04T19:52:00.000-08:00

I participated in a swap this month - whereby you were matched with two other people and had to create two altered composition books. You mail one to each person, and they mail one to you. Simple! This was hosted by the same person who holds the altered matchbox swaps.

I started with two plain old dollar store composition books - black speckle on the outside, ruled pages inside. From conversions with my swap partners i knew i would stay in a fairly vintage theme - with one person requesting orange and other would default to my go to blue. the orange was a challenge at first - do i have enough orange? I sure do! It became clear rather quickly that i could make the theme all about butterflies. this would be a nice counterpoint to the second book about birds.

Here is Beth's book. I covered the cover of the composition book with assorted papers and lace and added birds cut from wrapping paper. A silk ribbon is tied around the book with a pretty bow.

Inside the cover i did a collage of 4 papers, including some french dictionay pages with birds on them, and added a pretty tag.

To carry the theme throughout the boog, on subsequent pages i stamped, collaged or added little birdie details like this.

My goal was to make each page a delight. But i did not decorate ALL the pages! there were many left blank!

Here is the back inside cover - using a page of handpainted deli paper and a few stamped birds.

Sorry this is tilted - but this is the back cover of the book. Vintage wallpaper, sheet music and a collaged bird.

Here is gretchen's book - she said orange was her favorite colour. The cover of the book was done with a collage of papers and some sticky borders, a few lace medallians and a nice big butterfly wall sticker! The hand dipped silk ribbon is tied around the center of the book.

Inside the front cover i used a beautiful page from an anthropologie catalogue -a damsel surrouned by butterflies. The facing page has some vintage ephemera and more butterflies.

On subsequent pages i stamped and added more butterflies and envelopes.

Inside each envelope was a little treat - some stickers or stamps.

Inside the back cover was more hand painted deli paper (did i mention it glues beautifully?)

The back cover was left black and white with assorted book pages and some alphabet washi tape.

Before putting the books safely in priority post flat rate envelopes, i wrapped them as "presents" with pretty coordinating wrapping paper, ribbons and for Gretchen, adorned with a glittery butterfly.

And here is Beth's book in the soft blue and aqua pallette i love so much. This is the same wrapping paper i used to cut the birds on the cover of her book. pretty organza ribbon and wee bird charm complete the package.

I'll write about the lovely books and goodies i received in return soon!

More Altered Photos

2012-02-04T18:51:00.000-08:00

I spent a lovely afternoon altering photos with a lovely group of ladies a few weeks ago. Yes - i "cheated' on my regular play date group! An old friend, D. saw my altered photos HERE and asked me if i could give her a lesson. Then she asked if we could get a group of gals together for a potluck lunch and a day of crafting.

The supplies are simple: you need a bowl of water (i used cake tins) and some sugar free Koolaid. I had cherry, orange and grape. But if you can find blueberry or lime - i would get those too! My grocery didn't have them. You also need some kind of sand paper and an awl. That's it! Oh, plus a bunch of photos you'd like to alter. Remember when you used to get doubles at the drugstore because it was only a buck extra? Well dig them out and start creating cute little works of art!

Here are the impressive assortment of photos altered by the gals. The technique is simple. Just send me $10 in a self dressed stamped envelope and i will send them to you. hahaha Seriously - it is SO simple - just read!

Take a photo back and white or colour, developed at a photo place - ie NOT from your home printer, and NOT from a kiosk. Sadly really old BW photos don't work as well.
Get it wet in a bowl of plain tap water - just a few seconds is plenty.
Then start sanding. Sand off whatever you want - the sky is a good place to start - because you can colour it something else. Or sand off people you don't like, or ugly things in the background that mess up your composition.
Use the a pointy bit of sand paper to get in close to an object you want to keep.
then use an awl to add detail to the photo - like the architecture of a building, or the branches of a tree.
Then drop the photo in a bowl of koolaid. I used two packets to about two cups of water. You can leave it in as long as you like to get some nice deep colour - maybe 5 - 10 minutes?
Take it out and dry it with paper towels. You can sand or scratch some more, and even soak it in a different colour.
Then you can add you owl details with watercolour paint, water soluable oil pastels (my favorite), markers and even collage elements like paper, tapes and rubber stamps

I especially like how architecture works - with the details highlighted with an awl.

The old photos did not "sand" very well - but they did absorb the purple koolaid in a really cool way - purple mountains majesty, anyone?

Aren't these cute!?

What a fantastic assortment of altered photographs from a talented goup of ladies!

Scrabble Tile Jewelry

2012-01-12T19:36:00.000-08:00

I spent a very relaxing afternoon with two friends making jewelry with wooden scrabble tiles and assorted collage materials. K. made 6 tiles with different coloured Queen Elizabeth postage stamps. Z. made some tiles with small maps and boats. (sorry no pics!)

We started with a kit purchased from Pick Your Plum - a daily "buy it now" website that sells craft supplies and accessories. Each kit came with 6 wooden tiles and 6 brass bezels. You have to sign up and they'll send you an email with the daily deal.

I cut images from art stickers, stamps, dictionaries and books and glued them on the tiles with glossy accents adhesive. then more adhesive on top - to create that glossy look. My friend had some coloured tubes as well - used to colour the blue fish above and the green background for the bird.

It was too much fun to stop after we'd completed our 6 tiles - so i created 5 more using slightly smaller scrabble tiles. Each tile got two or three coats of adhesive so that it was slightly raised. Some of these will become jewelry - some can just be used as embellishment in a mixed media art project.

Here's how i created jewelry out of some of the tiles. Here i added some beads and metal findings and threaded it on waxed linen thread.

Here i used some gunmetal ball chain to make a long pendant. This tile also has a little raised flower in the corner.

Here i used a thick black cording to create a choker length necklace that can be adjusted by sliding the knots along the cord. it took some trial and error to tie the knots right - but it works perfectly!

This actually a little bracelet on a brass coloured chain.

This is an experiment - but i used some soft wire to create a necklace with a simple clasp. Probably TOO soft - they make wire specifically for this type of jewelry. But i didn't have any handy! BTW - this was made with a Columbian postage stamp with a volcano image - i added the word 'foreboding'.

And finally my favorite - also on a thick black leather cord with the knotted adjustable ends. My pretty red head with the word 'beloved' cut from a dictionary.

Happy New Year!

2012-01-05T12:49:00.001-08:00

Have a Robin's Egg Blue Christmas!

2011-12-25T10:58:00.000-08:00

Here is the angel on top of my bird themed tree, It is the creative outlet i told you about HERE.

Here is our petite table top tree with silver and white birds, pearl and mercury glass garland, and jewel toned ornaments. It looks really sparse here - it looks fuller in real life somehow!

I've had this painting for a while, up in our guest room. i got the idea to stencil "peace on earth" watching Emily Henderson's christmas special (Secrets of a Stylist). She stencilled "joy to the world" on a vintage map as a fun holiday decoration. She suggested peace on earth as an alternate expression. I just love how the robin's egg blue balances the theme of the tree.

Here you can see my new caged Santos - i need to find a crown for her head. (Jim finds her hideous) Also you can see i went a little nuts decorating our 75 drawer apothocary cabinet with glass picture frames, snowflakes and more garland.

I was blessed to receive some lovely things from my friends - here is a mini tree made with sheet music and burlap squares - topped with a wee birdie, from Z.

And K sent me this amazing 3-d christmas card in a padded envelope.

My friend L was moving and gave me a bunch of empty boxes. She does packaging design - so had a quite a collection. Here are three that i wrapped up with beautiful decorative papers and embellishment. They can be used again and again. The book was a gift my my sister to my husband, we were not supposed to unwrap it - but the amazon box was sooo ugly. besides, doesn't it just blend in beautifully with my theme?

And here is one of 5 origami birds i made, using a tutorial my neice posted on her blog HERE. I used these cranes to give my husband gifts we need to go and pick out together. I printed images of the items on 8 1/2 by 11 printer paper, then cut the paper into an 8 1/2" square. It took me a while to get the hang of the folding - but by the 5th one i think i figured it out!

For christmas eve, we went out with friends for a lovely gourmet dinner. Afterwards, we invited them in for egg nog with Grand Marnier and nutmeg, enjoyed some carols and the lovely ambiance of our decorated room. I hope your christmas is memorable and shared with good friends and family....!

Creative Outlet Play Date

2011-12-05T13:23:00.001-08:00

Six artsy girlfriends spent Sunday afternoon doing something creative. With an outlet. Yes - an actual electrical outlet. Get it? A "creative outlet"!!

Micheal deMeng's Creative Outlet

D. has taken many classes with the altered art genius, Micheal deMeng and purchased one of his Creative Outlets so we'd seen a sample of what was possible. Click HERE to see more examples of his work. Even so, there was some intimidation about how to get started, what to bring, what if you don't like his "dark" style? But as always seems to happen at these lively gatherings, we all feed off of each others muses, share each others loot, and end up with a fantastic array of art projects.

When gathering up my tools and materials the day before, i saw an angel evolve - with a optical lens face, and brass and capiz shell wings. The body of course, would be the outlet itself! I just kept layering and layering until i felt it captured the spirit of a DeMeng piece - with the interesting juxtaposition of materials so prevalent in his work. Albeit with a prettier and softer pallet of cream, gold and touches of blue.

Here is after i glued the wings and shell to the back of the outlet, and wired the lens. The adorable face came from a copy of a vintage christmas card - so angelic. And here is my finished angel! She has porcelain arms, a copper ruffled collar, a snowflake hat, a blue crystal bodice with a blue wire bow. Her skirt is a set of carded buttons, a piece of mica and some ecru lace. I honestly had not planned on one, but a bird quite literally landed in my work area, so was added to the final piece, i glued it onto one of the buttons strung on a piece of wire to create a golden halo.

Keeping in mind these projects are at various stages of completion, i'd love to share my friends' work with the blogsphere. Here is Z's outlet turned face, complete with blue hair barrette eyes and some bling-y earrings. The metal face part was found in a parking lot! Treasures are everywhere you look....!

Here is L's whimsical framed box, with an assortment of fimo clay elements adding to the fun. She has a striped snake tail slithering into the central compartment covered with charms and a piece of measuring tape wrapped in wire. Two metal hands give this a high five, twice!

Here is S's deeply layered outlet, with an open work vine covered round tin box, a faucet crank, a protracter, wings and leaves and flourishes, topped with a locket. She will probably paint the whole thing and make it look quite different than it does now.

Here is D's creation. Well - it is hard to really capture it. It started as a protractor framed outlet with wings and gears and a watch and a spoon and a baby. Then it got added to a wire airplane sculpture. and here it is on a tin box, waiting for the glue to dry. As you can tell - she has the most experience with the DeMeng style!

Here is K's piece, still waiting for the carousel horse to be painted and final assembly. Love her assortment of metals - silver, brass, and her signature copper. It is fascinating how you take such disseparate items and make a pulled together art piece.

Since i finished my angel pretty quick, i went ahead and created a second creative outlet. Would you like to create one of these for yourself, or as a gift for your wacky sister, aunt, friend?

Ask your husband if he has any extra electrical outlets in the garage/basement. Oddly enough, most of them do. Or go to the hardware store. I do NOT recommend you actually remove one from the wall!! (yuck yuck) Then grab two forks (or spoons or a spatula or a whisk would look cool) and wire it to the outlet. Then add whatever you have in your junk drawer with E6000 or 7800 glue until you have enough. Whatever "enough" means, it is kinda in the eye of the beholder! Then you can paint or stain it to make some of the elements more cohesive. I just used alcohol ink and a Q-tip to add a golden glow to my metals. Some bright pink craft wire, and some white buttons dyed bright pink add the whimsy. My little baby is painted gold and dipped with pigment dust and sits on a fork tine stage, behind a western style belt buckle proscenium arch. Hell yeah.

A Curio Christmas

2011-11-28T19:06:00.001-08:00

A few weeks back i spent the day at my friend Karen's house for yet another fantabulous play date. Along with three other crafty friends we enjoyed Karen's gracious hospitality and all created dozens of Christmas cards. I got off to a quick start with this kit i picked up at Ross (of all places). It is the Curio collection from Basic Grey papers. I just loved the assortment of vintage patterns mixed with flowers, birds and butterflies.

Here are how the 8 cards looked made almost exactly like the kit! Needless to say - i was WAY ahead of my friends, although it wasn't really fair since all my pieces were pre-cut!

Because i loved the papers so much, before the play date i ordered a 12x12 kit from the same collection online. It came with some matching stickers and borders, and even a page of letters.

What i loved most about these papers is that they were DOUBLE -SIDED! - think what cool cards these would make! (the card kit above, is NOT double sided, they are plain white inside, but still quite nice!)

You had to think hard about which side to put on the outside they were so darn pretty.

I did a bunch of 8 x 4" tall cards.

And i did some 5 x7", a couple of squares. Since i had an assortment of envelopes, figured i would mix it up!

As you can imagine, created cards out of 12 x 12" paper leaves alot of nice scraps. Check out this lovely pile!

So, i had no choice but to make more cards! I used a stack of pale olive green card stock Lucie gave away at the play date to create standard 5 x 7" folded cards.

I paired up two or three coordinating patterns amongst the 24 or so cards.

Then i glued them all on in a pleasing patchwork. Perhaps not the most "christmas-y" of pallets, but the soft pinks, greens and browns all worked so nicely with the card stock.

Then i added embellishment with stickers, lace, birds, butterflies and flowers. On some i added "merry christmas in copper embossing, but i found melting the embossing powder caused the cards to curl and separate.

When i counted up all my cards i had about 50 - but i need 60-70 to cover my annual christmas card list. So i turned to this cute bird themed kit i picked up at Anthropologie.

It contained 24 postcards, three rubber stamps, red ink, and a stack of cute stickers.

I used plain cream card stock, folded in an 8 x 4" card. I bordered the postcards on some more scrap Curio paper and glued to the top of the card. On the bottom i added a snippet of sheet music and some ribbons and more embellishment.

I would have LOVED to add three dimensional objects like buttons and charms to these cards, but in the interest of safe (and cheap) mailing, i went with all flat embellishment. Now i just have to write a personal note inside each one, stamp and address the envelopes and we're done for another year!

Happy Halloween!

2011-10-31T08:11:00.000-07:00

Here are some simple collage cards i made a few weeks ago. Instead of actually mailing them to anyone - i used them as wall art to decorate my office for the month of October.

Most of these cards were made with the Graphic 45 Halloween in Wonderland 8x8 paper collection. Each card is an 8x8 sheet of scrapbook paper just folded in half, for a generous sized card. The papers are also double sided - so they are just as cool on the inside!

Here is the complete paper collection! Special thanks to my friend Karen for sharing!

Altered Photographs Play Date

2011-10-30T20:24:00.000-07:00

I spent a fun afternoon Saturday altering photographs in a style my friend S learned at Art Unraveled this year. She took a workshop with Karen Michel and learned various techniques she shared with us. I started with a picture i took of the Wentworth by the Sea, an abandoned grand hotel in New Hampshire i took back in the 80's. After wetting the photo i started to sand off the edges with fine sand paper.

This is what the hotel looks like today - i just googled it - back in 2003 it was rescued and returned to its former glory! This makes me very happy.

But when i took this pic - it was just sitting there - sad and alone - perfect material for a creepy altered photo!

After sanding off the edges i scraped into the trees and added details with an awl. Then it went into a coolaid bath (unsweetened!) to turn this ghostly red colour!

Next i took two picures of my neice and nephew sitting on my mom's back patio steps. The pictures were taken one year apart.

Here they are after wetting and sanding off all the background. See below how they look with some added colour.

Here they are after their coolaid bath and some rubber stamping.

Here is a beautiful victorian house, or Queen Anne perhaps? taken in Kennebunkport.

Here it is sanded down.

Here is my sister and BIL on a mountain top skiing. I added some stamping to this you can see below.

Here is a "before" shot at christmas about 16 years ago. I felt quilty erasing my mom out of this one, but it isn't like i don't have hundreds of other pictures with her in them, right?

Here is an array of L's altered photos. She went with interesting graphic designs and lots of hand painting.

Here is a closeup of two of her pictures. Aren't they magical?

Here are S's and D's shots.They added collage materials and lots of vibrant colour to transform the mundane snapshot into something artistic.

Here's Z's images - not quite finished - but really cool how you can take something and turn it into something else!

Here are more of mine with the sanding and colour tint added.

Some landscapes.

D's image of a quilt altered to hightlight this gorgeous tree.

My husband's family at christmas - they'll all be getting fun and kooky looking paper hats!

Jim and I with our respective mom's in front ot our old flowering apple tree on Mother's Day back in the 90's. Both these ladies are alive and well!

Check out the bottom left house and scroll back up to see the before - too cool! I added more colour to these with Caran D'ache crayons and a bit of water.

We just loved how cool those circles look on this image!

Here are all 16 images i altered yesterday - so much fun to spread them all out the next day and see them with fresh eyes. I need to add some finishing touches, some captions, some stamps - but aren't they cool! Thanks as always to our host D for another creative play date. And to S for showing us how to do this. Fun times!

Craft weekend Teaser

2011-10-10T13:09:00.000-07:00

Here are some shots of my craftastic weekend with Karen.

Matchbox Swap - What I Received!

2011-10-02T22:36:00.000-07:00

Here are the two matchboxes i received from the Curiosities Swap. The top one from "jay" and the bottom one from "ell". J's box was so charming and vintage looking with the tea stained floral fabric and gently aged floral lace applique. L's box was more traditional halloween colouring with graphic patterned paper and nice crinkled ribbon holding a date charm.

Imagine how wonderful it is to take the first peak inside! These babies are jammed packed with goodies!

Here are L's contents - i love the crisp colour palette especially the addition of the chartreuse. Along with the paper medallians were some scatter sequins, two brass name plates, some creepy potion labels, spider web playing cards, black wings, feathers and beads.

I thought this was a clever way to "trade" washi tape. Attach to a glossy card for easy removal.

Like me, both gals added some "extras" that were not inside the matchbox. Ell included a six pack of glitter, some sparkly foam stickers, pipe cleaners, pencils, ribbons all contained in the coolest halloween goody bag!

Here are the contents of J's box - some lovely vintage lace and ribbon, a collection of shell beads, mini acorns and pumpkins, a spool of linen twine and a sweet little metal salt shaker.

J's little "extra" was not so little! She cleverly used a charming book cover to sandwich a stack of goodies, tied with rayon seam binding and a vintage key.

Inside the bundle was an assortment of fabrics in rich tones, a cabinet card, a cool brochure and a couple of those illustrated items from Michaels - in this case some key rub-on's and a notepad with biniculars.

Thanks to both ladies for participating in this swap! Sound like something you'd like to do? Stay tuned to Heather's website and blog for the next Petite Inspiration Matchbox Swap! Maybe we'll be swap partners!

Curiosities Theme Matchbox Swap

2011-10-02T20:11:00.000-07:00

I participated once again in Heather's Petite Inspiration Matchbox Swap. The theme was "Curiosities".

You could choose to do black and white, halloween, or just vintage. I chose to do a sort of halloween steampunk collection of goodies - and used Heather's graphic as my inspiration, even included a large faux vintage key!

I covered my box with text and images from an old Sear's catalog (reproduced) with various potions and elixers. I added some purple and black ribbon to the edge and applied purple lace with a black button to the end of the box.

Here is the array of doodads i wanted to put INSIDE the box! I pulled together an assortment of cool vintage, metal and halloween themed items.

Here is a cool idea - stamping on muslin. The spectacles and bicycle are stamps from Michaels dollar bins.

I purchased several containers from TAP Plastics to house the little things like buttons and metal findings. You can see them in the middle above, little plastic vials, the clear purple box, the flat box, a square box. And no, you are not seeing double! I always make sure each of the two boxes contain the SAME items! Not required - but it makes it fun to set my own restrictions! Or else i'd never know when to stop!!

Here are some small vintage-y images i put in a glassine envelope with a cool eye sticker.

Here are large items that would not fit in the box - but i added along for the ride. The vintage illustrations attached to a sheet of orange trading stamps are rub ons from Michaels. I put them all in the black paper goodie bag with the cat's eyes. The orange "happy halloween" is one of those foam cut outs.

Here are more of the papers, napkins and transparencies i included.

Here is how everything looked when it was ready to get packed up. The purple coffin is some kind of putty from CVS - more "modern" than i like - but i liked the colour matched my theme. I just love that butterfly ribbon. You can see what fit into the box, including a porcelain doll arm and some ribbons and lace.

Here are a few more shots of my completed box. I created a black tulle ruffle along with some purple shimmery ribbon to create a "nest" for a black raven bird from Michaels. I made a crown out of a gold wire star, by bending it into a crown shape - then added some additional bling with sticky rhinestones.

My final touch was another muslin printed with the word SECRETS tied with a bit of ribbon and loosely draped over the bird.
Be sure to check out examples of the other participants swaps here on flickr.
Here is my swap last year.

Card Making Play Date Part Two

2011-09-05T22:11:00.000-07:00

Back in August on vacation, i painted a bunch of birds and other winged creatures. Some on cards and some on muslin. Yesterday at the second day of our play date, with a "work on your own project" theme - and i thought this was the perfect time to finish the cards.

Here is the first group i completed. The birds were stamped onto nice watercolour paper postcards using Martha Stewart stamps. Then hand painted with guache paints. Yesterday i added the script background with light sepia ink. then grounded the artwork with a collage of old letters, wallpaper, decorative florentine paper, bits of lace and stamps and butterfly stickers.

Here is a closeup.

Here is my second batch - using birds and bugs painted on muslin, which i talked about HERE.
The birds were painted and cut out of the fabric and used in collage on the watercolor cards with the same type of ephemera and decorative papers as the first batch. Once i have a sort of 'recipe' i like to make quick work of cranking them out assembly line style. I plan to use these as thank you cards (long overdue!) from my birthday party last month.

Mini Shadow Box Play Date

2011-09-05T13:16:00.000-07:00

My friend and neighbour Z. hosted a craftapalooza play date weekend. She started by setting out supplies all around her spacious kitchen. Including artfully arranging snacks! how cute is this "paint pallet" of m'n'm's in a muffin tin? we enjoyed a nutricious breakfast of fruit, yogurt and pastries and then got to work collecting supplies.

We were given instructions to not bring anything - that she wanted us to share her loot. Here are all the chunky doodads in little dishes and jars displayed on a painted cabinet.

Here are the ribbons, flowers and lace. K. brought her collection of paper flowers to add to the festivities.

Here was our project "before". two mini shadow boxes about 7 inches square. From the DOLLAR STORE! - Yup, a dollar each.

Here is my box - not assembled - just trying things out for size and pattern placement. I kind of cheated. Another artsy friend gave me a stack of ATC's she no longer wanted - so i just cut them into 2" squares and used them for backgrounds.

Here are the ATC's and other pretty papers cut to size and glued into the compartments. I should mention i gave the shadow box a quick coating of white gesso.

I picked up a blank paper weight at an estate sale on Friday - so i created this background while taking a break from the shadow box. Pretty background paper - a bird cut from a stamp, another bird charm, some script paper, a vintage postage stamp, and a section of Z's grandmother's tatting.

Next we broke for lunch. On our place settings was a gift of some pretty napkins - perfect for future collage - especially with beeswax!

Z. prepared a delicious unconstructed Salade Nicoise.

After lunch i put the finishing touches on my bird themed shadow box. Yes - it is terribly cluttered - but filled with all sorts of fun things. There are bird stamps, bird charms, bird nests, bird images and plenty of non-avian things too. A light dusting of brown ink around the edges, touched off with a bit of metallic paint addeed a nice aged effect.

And here is my finished paper weight. These things sell for big bucks at fancy gift shops. I am so pleased how mine came together for about $2!

Here is the start of my second shadow box, with a slightly different configuration. A light coat of white gesso to get started. I had planned to use an assortment of vintage office supplies - cute little boxes and tools - but alas they were all too big for the small compartments. I had already done a vintage neutral background - so i turned it into a masculine monochromatic shadow box. Which incidently my husband loves!

Here is the finished product. I used three authentic vintage photographs along side an assortment of ephemera - sears add for formaldehide, a cancelled bank check, the table of contents from a law book - which just happened to have my family name listed. Then all the chunky elements like a watch face, optometrist lense, buttons and a key. The phone and train locomotive are printed on transparencies. It is hard to see from the photo - but everything is nicely layered for added depth.

Here is Z's feminine box in progress. She used an assortment of Melissa Frances papers for backgrounds.

She carefully chose all the elements to place inside.

And here are the results - a pretty tribute to baby Sophie. Z even made the tiny copper wire nest with pearl beads!

L. made this fun beach themed box complete tieh rick rack trim, shells behind mesh, a little vial of sand, some pebbles and pretty rosey hues - what a nice change of pace from traditional blue.

L. also made this contemporary styled box with some of the compartments painted green. Love her white painted stitching and the use of measuring tape. Those french vocabulary pages add a bold graphic statement.

K. made this shrine to all things bling! She stained her box and added faded background papers that evoke wall papers from a bygone era. Then centered a piece of vintage jewelry to each section. She cannot decide whether to give it away (the original plan) or keep it for herself!

K. also made this charming shadown box as a tribute to her husband who is spending the summer traveling to race car events all over the country. yeah, like the Indianapolis 500 and Bonneville speedway. Each of those maps is a place he has been, enjoying the fruits of his retirement. She is not finished adding cars and gears and other many embellishments - but what a fun way to document a memorable vacation!

Canvas Swap Play Date

2011-08-29T20:25:00.000-07:00

I spent another lovely day creating wrapped canvas collages with three friends on Saturday. Dorothy and Karen had just been to the Art Unraveled retreat in Arizona, so they were full of exciting tales to share, show and tell projects, cool swaps and this idea for the day's project.
We each created four 4" by 4" wrapped canvas collages using a pile of shared materials. We had limited paint - just blue, yellow and orange, some gesso, white or black, some matte medium and an assortment of papers and ephemera.

Here is a stack of 4 different canvases - they look so cool - i think i like to create a set of stacked boxes - using the same technique. Some of us had thick canvases, some were thin. Some were very boxy and rigid, some had more curvy and rounded edges.

Here are Lucie's 4 canvases. As a graphic designer - she has an innate sense of colour and shapes and how to create a cohesive arrangement - usually without a central focal point. I just love how she puts disparate items together. She also added some paper tape and zig zag rub- ons.

Here are Shelley's canvases. She started with black gesso background and built up paper, paint, tissue and stamping as a background for her sweet vintage dancers. So much wonderful depth. Unusual words and phrases cut from a 1967 newspaper added some fun dialogue.

Dorothy created her set using paint and orange paper, accented with punchinella stencils used with white gesso. If you've never heard of that - it is the metallic-y plastic ribbon waste from making sequins. Her imagery came from a vintage Sears catalog along with trading stamps and words to tell little stories.

And guess who did these? Let's think...they are mostly blue and they have birds on them..? Yup - they're mine. I started with a background of blue and white paint applied with a credit card. Then i added some vintage text and some brightly coloured medallions cut from a napkin.
I added the birds - which were from a sheet of German scrap - ie mostly cut out - just had to trim the connector bits. I brought the optometry lenses from my prized collection of things i never use to share with the girls. The glue wasn't quite dry yet when we took these pics - but it should dry clear. Most of the words were actually movie titles cut from the '67 newspaper entertainment listings like : Ship of Fools and Stop the World I Want to Get Off. The orange dots are painted on.

Look how colorful and dynamic they look as a group! Once we were done, and we had selected which of our own pieces we would keep, we each took turns picking out one of each other's canvases to take home.

Here is the group of 4 that i took home! They don't necessarily "go together". But nobody said you have to hang them as a group! Although it is a great memento of a fun artful day shared with friends - so i probably will!

Here is another shot of my canvases showing the sides and more of those napkins and tissue papers. My advise to anyone show tries this? Be patient! Let each layer dry before moving on to the next - or have a heat gun nearby. Wet glue and tissue paper just LOVES to stick to your fingers and tear! Try it and have fun!

Fun with OdoSketch

2011-08-15T09:39:00.001-07:00

Whimsical Bird Painting

2011-08-14T21:26:00.000-07:00

I painted two large canvases this weekend - here's how i did it!

I started the project on Saturday - and finished on Sunday. Working outside on my sunny deck (where the acrylic paint dries very fast) i got started working on the background - mostly white paint with a little blue and a hint of green seemed to give me the perfect robin's egg blue, you know i am so fond of!

I quite literally just slapped it on with a cheap bristle brush. It is just resting on my round patio table - i guess 36 by 48 inches - with the nice thick "gallery" style edge. No drop cloth (don't tell my husband - who wasn't here!).

The second canvas went a bit faster - since i only painted half of it!

I should at this juncture point out that i was copying a painting diptych i saw in a magazine - i swapped out the pink for blue. The artists name is (to be filled in once i find out her name!) I saw it in a Chatelaine magazine, back around christmas at my sister's in Calgary, Canada. I thought it was cute - so whimsical with the large bird and the dots.

Here is the first canvas done. I used a foam roller in white gesso - watered down to give some transparency - for the blocks of white. More watered down paint for the drips. YES honey - for this i did put down a plastic sheet to protect the deck. Sadly it did nothing to protect the bottom of my feet - which are now white.

Here is the other half - with large dots painted with a nice flat wide brush in a deep teal. I added some pops of bright pink with more drips. Working outside, the drips would get about halfway down the canvas then dry up! I used a chopstick to add drops of more paint and to "urge" them to run all the way to the bottom. Once it was dry i added more drips running the opposite direction.

And here is how they look all done on the deck - with the sun far into the west, creating a deep shadow.

I think they will look perfect over our bed - with the new duvet cover and cushions i picked up at T.J. Maxx. In a twisted turn of fate that almost never happens at one of the discount home stores, they actually had all the cushions to match. My husband hasn't see this either! I hope he likes birds as much as i do!

Re-Purposed Jewelry

2011-08-14T20:58:00.000-07:00

A few years ago i got some nice jewelry at a company sample sale. This particual necklace is so pretty - with crystal beads and ecru lacey flowers. The only problem - it weighs about 15 pounds! But i kept it knowing that one day i could "fix it".

I gathered up some embroidery floss, needles, linen book bining thread and some crochet hooks.

Then i dismantled the necklace - look at all the cool pieces!

There were 9 different class stones - including some irregular nuggets and smooth balls and faceted beads.

This is what i made! I wanted the piece to have the look of the crystals and the flowers - but to be lightweight. I left lots of room in between the elements. I like my necklaces LONG - this about 36".

I started with embroidery floss and a needle - but gave up when the needle didn't go through the smaller holes - so i started over with the waxed linen bookbinding thread.

Next i made this one with a thicker cording - it was easier to tie the knots. As you can see i added some pretty aqua blue beads.

Next i tried another one with the linen thread - but used TWO strands - which in some ways was easier - since you could tie a normal knot. But then you had to struggle to fit both strands through the little bead holes.

Here is the finished necklace.

And all three!

And look! So many leftover beads and ecru flowers -enough for MANY more necklaces!

Play Date - Nichos!

2011-07-25T15:44:00.000-07:00

My artist friend Dorothy was just back from San Miguel de Allende with a bunch of these -Nicho's - little tin niches with glass doors. they are about the size of a cell phone 3 1/2 by 2 1/2 inches tall.

Here you can see the plain one and how utterly FABULOUS they turned out when 4 creative individuals had their way with them.

We tried many angles and lighting to get a good picture - so i apologize they are not all clear. But i think you can get a sense of their exuberance!

The orange one on the right is mine - they called in an Indian Circus - complete with a mini painted bronze elephant, a paper circus tent awning, mandala sticker and mirror inside.

We all used bits of paper, stickers, beads, metal findings and elaborate painted dots and stripes to adorn the nicho's into works of art. Oh and a bunch of cheesy earrings came in handy - pulled apart with needle nose pliers and attached with e6000 glue.

Play Date - Hand Painted Birds

2011-07-17T18:48:00.000-07:00

A friend of ours wanted to try creating something she saw in Somerset magazine - Forget Me Nots - cute little vintage collages featuring hand painted birds, by Traci Lyn Huskamp. See a link to her blog for a sample of what was in the magazine.
http://thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/2011/02/unforgettable-simple-pleasures.html
Here is a tutorial showing how to paint a butterfly and create a card.
http://thereddoor-studio.blogspot.com/2011/05/artful-card-tutorial_18.html

Stamp by Martha Stewart
So to get started we each stamped birds and butterflies onto two types of muslin - bleached and natural. We had two different sizes of the stamps show above.

Next we started painting the birds and branches with guache paints.

I chose to try to give my birds layers of feathers - just going over and over them until i got them right!

Z. stamped onto water colour paper and tried several soft ethereal techniques.

K. went for an assembly line approach - what a lovely array of colours. It was all very 'zen' - the three of us painting all day.

Once the birds were painted i cut them out with my favorite tiny scissors. Be careful if you do this - the muslin can easily fray. Next time i might coat the back with gel medium before cutting to give it extra strength.

Once i got the hang of painting the stamped birds i tried to do some freehand - the two hummingbirds above were copied from photos i found online. Stamping just about anything on muslin looks really cool - try it!

Next i pulled together some vintage scraps and made cards on nice pre-folded water colour paper. Emulating Traci Lyn's style - a bit of a letter, some ecru lace, a scrap of vintage wallpaper - and a painted bird - make an adorable card!

Here are the hummingbirds - the beaks fell off when gluing - so delicate (as wee hummingbirds can be) - but a dab of glue and a dab of paint and it is patched back together.

I should have mentioned that the day was lovely in so many respects. We began that morning with coffee, a delicious almond coffee cake that Z brought, plus an assortment of berries and my new favorite thing, non-fat Greek yogurt. For lunch we had a crispy chicken Cobb salad with bacon and hardboiled eggs. And for our afternoon tea we had these delicious individual chocolate cream surprise cakes that K. made.

Back at work i made this collage on a larger piece of paper and backed it with a dictionary page. The birds nest was a stamp - but it came out badly - so i hand painted it as well. I just frayed the edges of the muslin.

And finally all my cards together - with some finishing touches from K's box of goodies - some fibers and some bling to complete my cards. What a fun relaxing day we had - thanks ladies for spending the day with me!

Mail Art

2011-07-06T10:11:00.000-07:00

I received a cute postcard in the mail from a fellow paper artist. it was a request to participate in a mail art swap. Sorry i did not capture the "before" - but here is the "after". The card - a large math flash card, was painted soft green and had the die cut birdcage and some sunflowers on the cover. I added the bird (cutting carefully to "fit" him inside the bars! I added the Polska stamp, the flower sticker on the right, and the text from a vintage legal document. I also added some lavender ink around the edges. On the back i added the sender's address on a pretty label, another birdcage and some flowers and mailed it off.

I decided it would be fun to send her a card of my own and ask for her own personal artistic touches, and to send it back to me! I took a vintage file card in heavy blue paper and added a paper border, a napkin nest and the label from a local store's stationary. On the back i added a little note and some decorative stamps. If it looks "empty" - that's on purpose! The other artist will add collage elements to fill it in.

While i am showing these postcards - i thought I'd share a birthday card i made for a friend back in April. Just found the image on my phone. I took two gals from a sewing pattern, cut them out and added them to a collaged card with pop dots. A little sepia ink around the edges finishes them off nicely. The only other thing i added was two large flower "corsages". it was around Easter, so they had to be dressed in their Sunday Best! The recipient of this card is known for her stylish and eclectic tastes. So the dictionary page i chose for the background was apropos - it has the word eccentric!

Beeswax Tapestry Workshop a Big Hit!

2011-06-22T12:19:00.000-07:00

With a broad assortment of decorative papers, solids and patterns, vintage ephemera, illustrations and photographs, along with a vast array of embellishment, i hosted the beeswax tapestry class in my dining room this past Sunday.

Two enthusiastic students got right to work diving into the materials to gather things that "spoke" to them. As they emerged from the piles - their plans developed. For one - an homage of sorts to her father and his interests in books, architecture and art. For the other, a gift for a friend who lives on a magnificent property on the coast of Maine.

And i tried NOT to use birds in my tapestry - a sort of botanical frolic with butterflies and flowers. But as you can see - one did sneak in. But i should get extra credit for staying away from my typical robin's egg blue theme, choosing instead to stick with greens, yellow and orange!

Working on 16" x 20" stretched canvases - i drew out a 2" grid to help the students with their placement. I also created a bunch of templates in various sizes to help cut out their papers.

Both ladies had some requests for additional papers and elements which i was happy to supply from my vast stash. C. asked for something red - and i gave her a roll of two sided wrapping paper with stars on one side and boats and windmills on the other. It could not have been more perfect ! She chose to create a band across the canvas with the stars. She had fun adding a few images of bathing beauties to evoke a fun summer time beach experience.

Once all the papers and laid out the first coat of melted beeswax is painted on.

Then a quilt iron is used to smooth the wax and give it a glossy shine, which we likened to Venetian Plaster.

Here is my canvas all laid out - "pre" beeswax and final embellishment.

Here you can see C.'s finished canvas with the addition of her chunky embellishments and oil pastel "grout" for the tapestry. She chose a grey blue which worked perfectly with the blues in her piece. The flash washes out the colour a bit - it was much more fabulous in person!

And here is mine. I tried a grey outline for my grid, which was interesting but too flat. So i layered on some soft brown. The results were quite pretty.

Here is J.'s almost done.

And the almost finished product minus the oil pastel outlines - which she chose to add later at home. Below is another shot without a flash. She layered on some mesh fabric that creates texture without bulk. All the elements she chose relate to her father's interests. She gave it to him that night - and he loved it!

Beeswax Tapestry Workshop - Change of Venue

2011-06-13T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Beeswax Tapestry class will be held this Sunday, June 19th in Novato, CA - please contact me if you would like to sign up! We'll spend time gathering papers and imagery to create your personal tapestry composition. We'll create a grid on a large canvas being careful to balance the elements for weight and colour. After a break for lunch we'll adhere the papers to the canvas and apply a coating of melted beeswax. Finally we'll add three dimensional found objects.

This full day workshop is sure to provide you with all the skills you need to create many more personal collages to adorn you walls and give as gifts!

Advanced Altered Book Workshop...a whirlwind!

2011-06-05T08:27:00.000-07:00

Yesterday's advanced altered book workshop at Liquid Marin, in San Rafael, CA was such a whirlwind that i forgot to take any pictures! But here is a run down of what we did:

created a text block in a vintage book
painted, glazed and stamped three sheets of deli paper
crinkled, folded and inked three sheets of paper to make cool backgrounds
used color mists, from outsidethemargins.com to create colorful splatters on vintage paper
tried out walnut ink to add age and character to book pages
created a faux licence plate with foam letters and metal duct tape
created a copper leaf sticker with slug tape
added metallic touches to a modern art image with gold or silver leaf
added a tag to a book page with a slit and hidden pocket
added an image of a door to a page, cut the opening and added mini bradd for door handles
added an image of a window to a page, and created an opening to see beyond
cut out an opening for a gate printed on transparency
cut out a niche in the text block we glued at the start of the class
created a pop up with a large star gazer lily flower printed on matte photo paper
created a faux vintage photo from a modern glossy printed picture

phew - what a ride! It was a three hour creative adrenaline rush! I had fun and my students did too! Hope to see you in the fall for more altered book classes!

Beeswax Tapestry Workshop

2011-06-03T08:27:00.000-07:00

Please join me for an exciting new workshop at Liquid Marin, and create your own Beeswax Tapestry, Sunday, June 19th from 10 - 4.

This full day workshop includes creating your layout on a large format 16" by 20" canvas. Next we'll select images, background papers and documents to create your grid. You can incorporate personal papers and photos you bring along. Then you can layer on tissue paper and decorative napkins to create interest and depth. A coat of melted beeswax seals in all this beautiful collage. Next you add three dimensional elements and embellishment. Finally black (or any colour) edging creates the final grid to seal your tapestry together.

Bring a brown bag lunch or visit one of the charming local eateries in downtown San Rafael.

fun with alcohol ink

2011-06-01T22:12:00.000-07:00

I had another play date on Sunday with two friends. We spent the day experimenting with Ranger Industries Alcohol ink - known as Adirondak ink. The pice above is is a transparency.

If you have never used them - they come in packages of three and are sold at places like Michaels.
I first learned about them when i took a class with Tim Holtz. He showed us how to use the rubber stamp type handle to hold a piece of felt, how to apply the ink and "pounce" it on paper.

The blending solution is used to thin or help move the colour around. They say plain old rubbing alcohol does the same thing - but honestly i have never tried it!

This piece was glossy photo paper. Some paper is glossier than others - you can experiment to find what works best. You essentially need something that does not absorb the ink right away - so you have time to work it to create the granite-y effects you are after.

This piece was stamped onto to clear matte sticker paper - so i can cut in into shapes and apply it like a sticker onto a project.

Here is another glossy photo paper - it sort of faded into a very muted effect. But has some nice depth.

Here is some glossy paper with the addition of metallic paint - i used lumiere - but you could use paint pens or acrylic paint.

And finally we have some actual THINGS made using this cool effect! The top three are dominoes - with alcohol ink as a background. The images all came from postage stamps. As you can see they will be made into cool conversaion starting pendants!
The small squares are "style stones". They were a bit too absorbant - the ink was sucked into the stones - so they did not create the cool stone effects that you can get on dominoes. But i applied some birds and butterflies - and i'll make it into a bracelet.

Speaking of bracelets - here's one i made with 5 dominoes that came pre-drilled in a kit. I applied ink in blues and greens and stamped a script stamp with Stazon ink. I strung them together with elastic cord and beads and spacers. I may or may not apply some collage elements.

Decoupaged Vases

2011-06-01T08:30:00.000-07:00

I had a very crafty weekend starting with a play date with 4 friends on Saturday. We created "mosaic style decoupage vases" in the style Lucie created at a previous decoupage play date. (see also end of post) Above are two that i made. The "genie in a bottle" shape was a blue glass vase from goodwill. I added my signature robin's egg blue papers in organized rows. The band around the middle was tissue paper with script. The square vase was one of a dozen that Karen's husband sand blasted for us! The sanded surface made it really easy to paint with black gesso. I added the same colour papers - cut into squares with a few butterflies thrown in. Both these need a few coats of gloss medium to make them shine.

Here are Dorothy's two vases - both sandblasted and painted them collaged with assorted torn papers. She used mainly tissue papers which are really easy to apply to curved surfaces. They remind me of beautiful greek pottery.

Here is Karen's vase decoupaged with vintage doilies. yeah - those yellow-y ones? thats authentic age - no colour applied! She said it was like working with lace - cutting all the little bits and rosettes. Interesting contrast between the rectilinear lines of the vase and the curves of the doilies.

Here is another one of mine - an interesting bottle shape from the goodwill - with a large dictionary paper flower and cubes of paper filling in. This one was not sandblasted- so the black gesso did crack in spots - but i could touch it up - or apply some more. The little votives were an experiment with glass marble stones and The Ultimate glue. It took FOREVER to dry - and had to be placed upside down so they did not roll off.

Here are Shelley's two vases - the one on the right was done without a black gesso base coat - just overlapping tissue and hand painted papers. It will look fabulous with a candle inside!

And here is a close up of the intricate detail on her decoupage on her second vase, which was sand blasted and gesso'd in black. I believe this was tissue paper. Doesn't it look like an ancient relic?

And finally here are Lucie's latest works. Just like her to come up with an exciting NEW technique when we were copying what she did a month ago! On the right is another square vase with a gesso base and gollaged papers - not so much in a mosaic style - but an interesting vintage collage with stamps, music and butterflies.

On the left - wow - isn't that cute? She cut a bunch of circles out of paper and tissue and possibly napkins and overlapped them in the cylindrical vase. That would be a fun technique for those tall mexican candles - think how pretty they would be flickering and casting colourful shadows on the walls!

Thanks Dorothy for hosting us - it is always a pleasure to create in your studio!

Here is a reminder of our original inspiration - Lucie's decoupage vase with flower.

Altered Books - Advanced Techniques Workshop

2011-05-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

Please join me at Liquid Marin for a class filled with new and exciting techniques for your altered books. Take them to the next level! Class is this Saturday, in San Rafael, CA.

Please contact me or Lucie@duclosdesign.com to register.

Happy Anniversary Sweetie!

2011-05-28T09:29:00.000-07:00

May 28th, 1988

Altered Book Workshop

2011-05-22T21:02:00.000-07:00

Today i had the pleasure of sharing my knowledge of altered books with 5 ladies new to the artform, plus two friends. The 8 of us created 5 different structures in our vintage books - and completed three spreads using colourful papers, ephemera and embellishments. Above is a shot of our "show and tell" after the class - where we all get a close up look at each other's pages.

This was my "Vintage Birds Sing" spread. I used portfolio oil pastels to add extra color to the pages.

Next we have our Nature Walk theme - complete with stunning photography from a Sierra Club magazine and glittered butterfly wall decals. YES - you can use those wall decals in books! We created a sewn pocket and all used different techniques to sew up the pages before creating the collage.

Here is a closeup of my page.

Finally we created an Asian Theme spread on two pages - plus two triangle points - using an assortment of red and black mulberry textured paper, origami paper and asian text.

And my page.I like to keep all my collage materials straight and geometric with this style of spread - as i told the class - it is my own self inmposed rule - no torn edges - everything crisp and layered. Not that there are rules of collage! Just guidelines i like to follow that can help you get started if you are new to collage. Because - truly - anything goes!

We had a great class today and i hope to see everyone again at our Altered Books - Advanced Techniques class, coming up in June. Please check out the Liquid Marin website for calendar details.
After the class three of us went to a local estate sale - just before closing, to see if we could find any treasures for future projects. In fact they had started packing up - but what was left was 50% off.

I grabbed three interested documents - a deed of sale from 1931, a telegram from 1919, and an honourable discharge from 1919!

Next i spied a page from a photo album with these 5 images.

And finally i picked through the "expensive stuff "- you know the jewelry and coins they keep individually bagged, right by the check out table at an estate sale? Well - at 50% off - these things were a bargain. Two pretty pins, some vintage buttons, and a fork and spoon in a pretty rose pattern, plus everything else i bought cost less than $10 - um - in total that is!

What a great way to end the perfect day!

intro to altered books class DATE CHANGE

2011-05-06T08:43:00.000-07:00

Ok, so it turns out doing an altered book class on Mother's Day, was not so popular. So we are moving the class to Sunday May 22nd. Oh i promise - it will be worth the wait!

We'll take vintage books and create three fabulous collaged spreads using tools and materials provided. Please contact lucie@duclosdesign.com to register - and check out all the upcoming workshops offered at Liquid Marin.

There will be an advanced techniques class for the altered book students offered in June - so please sign up for the Intro class so you can take both!

altered book workshop san rafael

2011-05-01T08:42:00.000-07:00

I will be teaching an altered book workshop this sunday, May 8th at Liquid Marin in San Rafael, CA. There are still places left - so let your family know that you love them and want to spend a few hours on mother's day exploring your creative muse. Hey - why not treat your mom to a class? Or take your daughter? Fun for the whole family!

These are pages from an altered book round robin swap i did a few years ago. I created a flip book inside a larger book - and used tissue paper to create a colourful assortment of wine bottles. The labels are paper napkins from wineries! This is just an example of the kind of fun you can create with vintage books.

I'd love to see you at the workshop. We'll be holding an advanced techniques class in June - so we want to have as many students as possible for the intro class this Sunday. Check out these great images from last class HERE.

Check out all the upcoming classes at http://www.liquidmarin.com/

Please contact lucie@duclosdesign.com to sign up.

Fun with Dominoes...!

2011-04-19T08:30:00.000-07:00

Sunday afternoon i met with more creative friends for Fun with Dominoes. How much fun can you have with dominoes, you might ask? LOTS! Here you can see all the dominoes the five of us created. PLus some copper discs that K wanted to make weathered looking, by applying some adirondak ink.

Here are some of D's fun and funky styled smaller vintage cream dominoes. She stamped with Staz-On ink and added colour and whimsy with Sharpie pens.

Here are some of my larger white dominoes, new from Target - about $4 for a tin of 28 dominoes. I stamped with a script stamp in assorted colours of Staz-On ink. Then i added birds cut from foreign postage stamps. I added some text from an old book and copper tape around the edges. A little rhinestone adds a touch of bling.

Here are some that B created. She created collage using several stamps on multiple dominoes - how cool is that? I love the combination of the teal and purple inks. She found some images in my stash - that women in the white bathing suit is my mom!

Here are K's with an assortment of stamping of faces and eyes. She used alcohol inks to create the marbled stone effect.

Here are L's dominoes. The top row are from a bracelet kit - she will string them together with beads to create a stunning one of a kind jewelery to wear. The metallic ones shown are actually bamboo faux dominoes - taken from a bamboo placemat.

Here are more of D's showing the options for applying alcohol inks and rubber stamping on top.

Here is an assortment that illustrates how many different looks you can achieve. Stamping black on white, adding colour with Sharpies, edging in coloured tape.

Wow - it really is quite remarkable all the different styles we created that day. So what to do with them all? I'm sure you are asking yourselves! Well - you can drill holes and create pendants. Add a pin back and create a brooch. Add a magnet and create a fridge ornament. Use strong glue to add the decorated dominoes to a mixed media art project. or just toss them on your desk or nightstand and enjoy!

Decoupage Play Date...!

2011-04-19T08:06:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of spending my Saturday with three dear friends for a day of decoupage. I decided to create three collaged canvases with ephemera and napkins. I started by placing randomly torn assorted text pages on the canvas using a foam roller and watered down decoupage medium.

Here is Lucie creating her decoupage vase. First she painted it with black gesso. Yes! You can buy black gesso. Dried super quick out in the sun on Karen's deck.. Lucie tore bits of patterned paper in a mosaic style pattern. and glued the pieces to the painted vase.

Z. used three nude sketches as her focal point for three collaged canvases. She scanned and printed her drawings onto matte photo paper and used delicate tissue to create an ethereal effect.

Karen worked on a small wooden table. here she is laying out assorted printed napkins to decide which ones to use.

Here are Z's backgrounds drying on freezer paper.

Karen was the hostess with the mostess - here's a shot of her kitchen counter, where she arranged all the art supplies for us. Look at all those napkins!

Here is the dining room table set for a delicious lunch - complete with easter themed treat bags!

It was perhaps the most delicious lunch i have ever eaten. Two types of wrap sandwiches, mini BLT sliders, couscous salad, carrot salad, papaya and olives. Oh and Cala Lily Sandwiches! So cute and SOO tasty!

And a there was a choice of lemonades or citrus punch. What a pretty plate!

Now back to crafting! Here are my finished canvases drying on the patio.

And a few close-ups:

Almost everything used here is a napkin.

Here are Z.'s sketches drying on the deck. So soft and pretty - they're for her newly remodeled bathroom!

Here is Lucie's finished vase. i just love how she created the pretty flower with dictionary pages. She glazed the completed vase and will add a coat of gloss medium or varnish to make it shine a bit more.

Lucie also decoupaged the cover of this vintage book, she'll use it as a art journal to try out new techniques.

She also decoupaged this little box - it will make a cute shadow box for her husband, a music lover. Probably finish it off with a little ukelele or something!

Here is karen adding the flowers to her table top.

And Z. adding some finishing touches to her canvases.

To finish off the most wonderful of craft play dates - i decided to decoupage my old blue cosmetics case - which i use to carry around my basic art supplies and tools. I used an assortment of brightly coloured napkins in stripes, dots, paisley and hearts. Then added flowers and some black and white flourishes. And a B for Bouchard. Since it was on a napkin in Karen's vast assortment!

The little suitcase has a textured finish and the napkins were absorbed right into the grooves. It dried a little bit darker. If i had painted it white first the colours would have stayed bright. But it looks cool and vintage and fun!

Thanks Karen for hosting our little group and creating the perfect environement for creativity. Supplies? check. Great food? check. Great drinks? check. Great friends? check.

Intro to Altered Book workshop coming soon...!

2011-04-14T16:54:00.000-07:00

12 happy students had so much fun at my last altered book class at Liquid Marin in San Rafael, CA. Wouldn't you like to find out what it is all about? We are having a second class on Sunday, May 8th. Yes it is Mother's Day - wouldn't this be a great treat for you - spending a few hours having creative fun. Or bring your daughter along for a satisfying family activity.

See images from the last class HERE. I'd love to see you.

Please note - if you already took this class, I will be offering an Altered Books Advanced Techniques class in June. Don't hesitate to contact me with your questions.

Liquid Marin ATC Montage Class Photos

2011-03-27T23:12:00.000-07:00

Lucie and I had the pleasure of teaching our ATC Montage class at Liquid Marin in San Rafael on Saturday. The students had the benefit of learning two ATC styles - i taught the 1-2-3 collage method with vintage images and ephemera. Lucie taught the students how to create painted backgrounds and develop a more abstract modern style.

Here is Lucie demonstrating how to arrange the two styles of ATC's on a black gesso'd canvas.

Here is my finished work. By blending my collage style with Lucie's, you can create a dynamic yet composed artwork.

Each student created up to 10 cards - 5 in each style. Here is a student's work in progress.

Another student's cards laid out on the canvas. Notice she chose to do some cards in the "landscape" orientation.

Yet another student - still has a couple of cards to complete. We each played around with our compositions to balance colour, form and content to create a cohesive piece.

Everyone sure had fun playing with the supplies we provided.

Lucie's finished canvas.

And mine again.

And a student's.

And another students - not quite done - but a great start!

Can you spot the two styles of cards?

Just amazing to see the talent in our classroom!

And my two finished canvases proudly displayed on the wall in my living room.

I hope our students had as much fun as we did - and are showing off their masterpiece in their own homes!

If you are enticed (rightly so) to take a class with Lucie or myself, or one of the other talented instructors, please contact Liquid Marin or check out their website for details.

http://www.liquidmarin.com/

ATC Montage Sample

2011-03-21T14:45:00.000-07:00

Lucie and I made a sample of the class project for all to see!

Here it is online - or visit Liquid Marin to see it in person.

There are still spots left in class for those in the bay area who want to spend a few happy hours creating something fun and decorative for your home.

Artist Trading Card Montage

2011-03-18T13:31:00.000-07:00

I will be co-teaching an Artist Trading Card Montage class with Lucie at Liquid Marin in San Rafael, CA on Saturday, March 26th. Students will benefit from TWO teachers and learn TWO ATC styles! Each student will receive a large canvas to prep for the montage. You'll create at least 9 cards during the class. Your finished cards will be adhered to the canvas for a delightful piece of art, ready to hang on your wall as soon as you get home.

Altered Hangers

2011-03-14T20:07:00.000-07:00

Yes. Hangers. Altered.
See details below. I hung a bunch of random items on twirly bent wire hooks. I think this needs some editing.

Saturday afternoon i had my monthly play date with my creative friends in SF. Sadly Shelley could not make it, but Dorothy and Karen and i did something NO MAN HAS DONE BEFORE. At least i doubt it. Karen found an assortment of vintage wooden dry cleaning hangers cleaning out her MIL's house and found this cool idea in a book called Bent Bound and Stitched.

You can see here on the pages inside the book, that you first create a coil out of wire, by wrapping it around a dowel. Then you flatten it out to create a flattened coil. Duh.

Then you drill holes in the wooden hanger and SEW, yes SEW the flattened coil to the hanger. Here you can see Dorothy had some fun stamping dots and swirls onto her hanger before the sewing with thin wire.

Here is a close up of Karen's meticulous coil.

And a close up of mine. Oh look Birds. I wonder where they came from? I was allowed to dismantle one of Dorothy's necklaces to use those cute little beaded and shell drops. Thanks to her sweet hubby for drilling my holes for me.

This is Karen's almost completed project. After you create the altered hanger, well, you HANG stuff off of it! She created some cool loopy hooks and ties (not complete here) to hang a collection of vintage items. She plans to make one for each member of her family - creating a sort of alternate to a shadow box. That's her husband's baby shoe and baby rattle with the shell handle.

Here is Dorothy's finished hanger. Well, well. She must have finished this after i left her house, i did not get to see it at this stage. What fun she must have had searching for all these deliciously interesting goodies to hang from her altered hanger!

Altered Book Workshop - 3-13-11

2011-03-14T19:33:00.000-07:00

I had the pleasure of sharing the joys of altered books with 13 lovely ladies at Liquid Marin in San Rafael, CA on Sunday afternoon. After creating 4 basic structures in their vintage books, we got to "play" with the collage kits i provided. The first theme was, you guessed it, Vintage Birds. Their kits included assorted ephemera, printed papers, stamps, buttons, lace and leaves.

Here are the students books all lined up after class for "show and tell". Please note i rushed everyone along - so most people were not completley finished with their spreads. But even so you can see the talent in this group. It is always amazing to see how the same materials in an individual's hands, can turn into something so different. It is great for the ladies to see what everyone has created - we can always get new ideas!

The second theme was a riot of colour with flowers and butterflies. I used one of the structures, where i created "tags" on the pages in the middle of the spread. Punch a few holes, add some flirty fibers and you have a very fun interractive idea.

Oops that green glitter flower on the left must have gotten unstuck from the pink flower on the top right in this photo. Glue dots to the rescue! BTW - the flowers are dollar store specimens, just taken apart and glued to the book. Much cheaper than those prepackaged tins of flower petals from the craft stores. I also used a bit of the new Washi tape on these pages.

Here is the dazzling array of creativity from my students. Most used the tag page idea for this spread as well. I think the pretty colors just cried out "spring party" - so lets use tags to celebrate the season.

The final theme packet contained asian inspired elements like textured mulberry paper, asian text, origami paper and mizuhiki cord. A structure was created using folds to create three dimensional triangle flaps, that even hide a secret pocket.

I had so much fun with this group - i think they had fun too! Thanks to everyone for a fabulous afternoon. And to Liquid Marin for creating this great local space for artists and crafters to learn and create!

Intro to Altered Books - still a few places left!

2011-03-05T19:41:00.000-08:00

I have been busy preparing for my Intro to Altered Books workshop to be held at Liquid Marin in San Rafael, next Sunday, March 13th. Each student will receive a vintage book and learn all about prepping the book for colourful and creative collage.

Here is a sneak peak at some of the goodies. This is a kit filled with an assortment of paper in pretty pinks and oranges, fun fibers, doodads and butterflies.

This kit has my signature vintage ephemera, including sheet music, dictionary pages and postcard text. It is all in a sepia and soft blue pallette and has birds!

The third kit is Asian inspired with bold red and black, with handmade mulberry paper, origami paper with assorted patterns, Chinese text and even a Haiku!

Please contact Liquid Marin to register for next Sunday's class. Don't hesitate to contact me if you have any questions!!

Matchbox Swap - Flea Market Theme

2011-03-05T09:51:00.000-08:00

I participated in yet another petite inspiration matchbox swaps last month. The theme was "flea market" and we were paired based on our response to this question:
Please select which best describes your "Flea Market Style":

    (a) Neutrals, whites, aged, chippy, rusty
    (b) Victorian, pastels, florals, foof, cottage
    (c) Bright, bold, kitsch, retro, funky
    (d) Anything goes!
Although i picked "a" - i actually like anything goes! Anything that is that is vintage and pretty and i can use in collage or assemblage.

I received two lovely boxes from Erica and Michelle. They both went with a primarily white and ecru theme. it still amazes me how much fun a person can back into a tiny little box!

Erica covered her box with vintage sewing pattern images and lace. Inside was a nice chunky piece of chenille - probably from a bedspread. Also some doilies and little spools of lace and a lovely vintage gold pin, some dominoes and a pretty little heart charm. Inside two vellum envelopes were a nice assortment of buttons and pearl beads. She used that cool new printed washi tape to close the envelopes.

Michele sent a more eclectic mix, including buttons and lace, interested bits of paper, a plastic tin of goodies, some victorian scrap, and some some vintage christmas embellishments. her box was decorated with sepia toned paper with lace and stickers and golden goodies.

You can see more pictures of other people's creatively decorated and lusciously filled boxes on the flickr site HERE.

I went with a vintage office theme - using my latest paper acquisition from Cavallini. I just adore their papers. I went to the infamous Flax store in San Francisco and had to exercise great restraint and only purchase 4 sheets of paper! One sheet was filled with reproductions of vintage ephemera, including two ads for typewriters. I cut them out and glued them to the boxes. I added some vintage red Cotton seam binding to the edges and added some two tone twine with a jaunty bow.

To enhance the "office" theme i added each girls initials with old typewriter keys. And a plastic rosette pin set that off nicely.

Inside the box i was challenged to fit everything i wanted to add. Then i realized that my boxes were a bit smaller than the ones i received. no problem - they'll just get a little bonus stash outside the box! The loot included ads from an old magazine, stamps and stickers, flash cards, buttons and floral doodads. I stayed with a red/orange/yellow theme. That helps decide what to include! Inside little key tag boxes are some , you guessed it, keytags! plus old spinner erasers, brass tabs, watch faces, playing pieces and buttons. I also threw in some parrot embroidered napkins, little tubular pencil lead boxes, rick rack, striped paper coin holders, some linoleum samples and a large plastic number.

I hope the gals love their boxes as much as i love the ones they sent me!

Valentine Week Wrap Up

2011-02-19T09:51:00.000-08:00

Well, other than the unceasing rain and cold and bleak weather here in not so sunny California, it was a lovely week with Valentine's Day kicking it off. And check out all the lovely little bits of joy i received in the mail! I participated in a Valentine Card swap. I showed you my cards HERE. Here is a stunning orange and fuchsia card and matching envelope i received from Shelley. Inside was a special treat - a Ghiradelli chocolate!

She did not participate in the swap, but my niece Erica made this card for me. Click to enlarge - because that multi coloured heart is made up of dozens of TINY little hearts! So nice to see Erica's beautiful handiwork. Check out her blog HERE.

This unique card was from the swap - courtesy of Alicia. Don't you just adore the red crochet border? Apparently that Victorian lass is having steamy thoughts..!

This was actually a RAK postcard from one of my online CAG buddies - Marie. That's California Art Girls in case you were wondering! Oh, and a rak is a "random act of kindness" - isn't valentines day a perfect time to send a happy little thing like this to your friends? Thanks Marie!

This intense black, red and gold card was from my friend Karen, as part of the online swap. The gold foil heart is removable. Ya gotta love cards that are interactive! Her husband is a car fanatic - do i see a checkered flag influence here?

Here is another RAK - this one from Janene - another CAG buddy. Isn't it adorable? Thanks Janene! Note to self - postcards only require a 28 cent stamp!

Here is another card from the online swap group - this one from Becky. The buttons are speared on a beaded pin and poked under the vintage postcard image - how clever! Love the soft palette.

This was my "bonus" card from Karen - have you ever seen anything so original? She got a little scratched in the post, but i think she is just as cute as can be!

This was the first card i received as part of the swap - before i had even created my cards. Let me tell you - this certainly put the pressure on to create something "worthy"! Jen created this substancial heart with pleated ribbon and rosettes. Love the red sparkly clothes pin!

This lovely two part tag and sleeve came in a matching envelope. Pam must be a master with computer designed graphics - everything matched beautifully. I love the little tag on the ribbon - it says Molto Bella.

Thought i would throw this one in - yes - it is STORE BOUGHT - but it came from my own sweetie. One of FOUR cards he gave me after our yummy cheese fondue dinner and chocolate fondue dessert. Note to self: buy stock in Papyrus.

Here is a clever card from my friend Lucie, who also participated in the swap. Lucie is French Canadian, and so the touches of French make a perfect accent on this queen of hearts card. Inside was a special treat - lips shaped bath confetti!

I was going to say "last but not least" - but i am still missing a couple of cards from the swap. One gal has had an illness so will get the cards out sometime in the near future. And one card has gone astray. Either due to the post office, or my pathetic pile of bills and junk mail might be holding it hostage! So stay tuned....

Beeswax Collage Workshop with Lucie

2011-02-19T09:05:00.000-08:00

My friend Lucie taught the first class at Liquid Marin in San Rafael, CA last Saturday. 14 delighted students created an 8 x 10 beeswax collage masterpiece under her guidance. We have started a new program of craft classes and it was a great way to kick off the series.
This is my piece - using a combination of pinks and neutral papers for a background - i went with a couple of birds (what else?) on branches made from dark purple handmade paper. I just love how Lucie's technique to add colour with solid tissue paper creates a colourful border. And the two toned string created a striking counterpoint to the collage.

If YOU would like to take a class with Lucie or me - please check out the Liquid Marin web site for details. The next beeswax class will be offered on Saturday, April 2nd. If you would prefer not to wait that long for an opportunity to "get creative" with paper, there will be an Intro to Altered Books class on Sunday, March 13th and an Artist Trading Cards class on Saturday, March 26th.

In my altered book class you will learn all about this exciting and often collaborative medium. I will provide the vintage book and all the tools and materials to get you started creating collage inside a hardcover book.

In the ATC class Lucie and I will share our different points of view for creating these lovely mini collages - so you benefit from TWO instructors. Hope to see you there!

happy valentine's day!

2011-02-14T09:30:00.000-08:00

Faded pink sweetheart roses from Trader Joe's. Thanks Sweetie!

Valentine Card Swap

2011-02-12T09:10:00.000-08:00

A couple of years ago i participated in a valentine card swap. It was so much fun to get 10 or so cards in mail - each one from a stranger across the country. I made a pretty Victorian style card with vintage postcard images and pale blue ruffled streamer paper. you can see how i made them HERE. This year i was invited to join again - and i had so much fun the last time - so i asked some of my crafty friends if they wanted "in"!

4 of us ended up in the same group - completely at random, from the 60 people participating. Here is my card design for the swap. Normally i would "save" this until they were received - but i think the images don't really do the card justice - so they will still be pleasantly surprised!

I started with a plain white card - pre-scored - probably from Michaels. I layered a pink square, a pink and white heart, some torn pink mulberry paper, and a wee little heart cut from a book called The Art of Love! I sewed, yes SEWED this little stack of pink goodness onto the card with some flower shaped ribbon, and left the threads to dangle. I didn't measure or fret - just stacked, positioned, and sewed.

In some ways the outside was meant to be a tease! The real good stuff is on the inside! There i positioned a fun garland of assorted paper hearts, in descending sizes, also sewn together. I added a little pink seam binding ribbon at the top and used a tiny glue dot to attach it inside the card. I accordion folded the hearts in the card - they look a little like butterflies!.

The idea is that when you open the card, the garland of hearts will flutter down creating a gasp of joy for the recipient.

My wish is that the participants of this swap will gently remove the top heart from the card and use the ribbon to hang it somewhere. Preferably where a soft breeze will gently swirl the hearts around with delight.

Finally i wrapped the cards in hand painted deli paper and created envelopes, simply glued together with rolling micro mini glue dots. I printed all the addresses - including mine, on sticker paper - cut them out and positioned on the front of the envelopes. Added stamps - and they are on their way - little visions of pink loveliness floating through the mail, like cotton candy.....

San Rafael Art Walk Friday Night

2011-02-08T14:48:00.000-08:00

Please join me at Liquid Marin on Friday, Feb.11th for the 2nd Friday Art Walk. Dozens of galleries, restaurants and boutiques in San Rafael are participating in this month's REDception themed event. I will be exhibiting my large collection of altered books - many of them showcased here on this blog.

You can flip through the pages and marvel at the diversity of the art contained in the pages of vintage books, calendars, and journals.

Jim Cahill will be playing music from the American songbook for our listening pleasure. Refreshments will be served.

Beeswax Tapestry

2011-02-08T14:24:00.000-08:00

I created my second beeswax tapestry collage on Sunday, at a play date with my artsy play date buddies. My camera died and my phone camera decided to be petulant as well. So i only have mine to show you. Once the gals put their finishing touches on their pieces, i'll get a second chance to photograph them.
My tapestry came out of searching through my stash looking for inspiration. I planned only to NOT use any birds. Yeah - i am trying to break out of my comfort zone! I originally planned to use a cabinet photo as the center piece. But nothing, as they say, "spoke to me". So i went instead to a drawer of vintage photographs and grabbed the three shown above. The church on the left is a postcard. the woman and girl was from a book of victorians with their pets, and the couple in the car with a young boy was an actual photograph.
From there i thought ok, how about a house for this family? How about a floor plan of the house? I have several house plan books - i love looking through them and imagining i live there. From there i thought some vintage ephemera - actual bills and legal documents (bought on ebay), one shows a jewelry store receipt. Then i found the little book on marriage and ripped off the cover. Then i saw the paris monuments book cover (a copy) and liked how the orange-y and reddish colour story came together. From there i invented a trip through europe - perhaps on their honeymoon? I added maps, monuments and postcards.
Once the entire piece was laid out, i trimmed all the papers and glued them to the canvas. Then coated it with beeswax and added three dimensional objects like the old key, a little spoon, buttons, and lace. A bit more beeswax, some black oil pastel to outline the patches and voila! A Family Beeswax Tapestry!!

Here is a much nicer picture of the beeswax collage tapestry i did a few weeks ago. You can see all the lovely birds!

Photos curtesy of Lucie Duclos.

Anyone local to the bay area? Lucie will be teaching beeswax collage classes at Liquid Marin in San Rafael. Please check out their website for information about upcoming classes.

Paper Quilts

2011-02-07T13:25:00.000-08:00

Here are the finished quilts made by my artsy friends, which i wrote about here. This is Karen's stunning black, white and rust quilt. In fact - that is REAL rust - as in the fabric was purposefully stained with nails and wire mesh. Each of her circle/squares was cut into 4 wedges and mixed up for added interest. She further embellished with rick rack and corrugated metal strips. It is mounted on foam core - and will ultimately receive a nice square wooden frame.

Here is Shelley's gorgeous metallic quilt. Much smaller circles than Karen's, some left "whole", while others are cut in two, creating an interesting diamond effect in the center. Nicely framed in a dark wood. Each quilt square was embellished with metallic accents that play up the gold and copper tones of the paper.

And finally here is Dorothy's. Or should i say ONE of Dorothy's whimsical and colourful paper quilts. She made NINE of these - all framed in either black or white 18" wood frames. Stunning. She added beadwork to each quilt - the details are quite something. She plans to sell them at the upcoming quilt SF show.

And so where is mine, you might ask? You can see it here - pretty much looks the same as when i made it a month ago - except it was tacked to the wall in the hallway. It needs some repair before it could possibly be framed. But you know how it is, i just need to want to do it badly enough.

Grid Collage with Beeswax

2011-01-31T13:34:00.000-08:00

I had the pleasure of spending Sunday afternoon with two girlfriends for a crafty play date. I made a nice salad with toasted almonds and dried cranberries, Z. brought BBQ chicken pizza, and K. made these delightful strawberry cupcakes - complete with pink heart shaped marshmallows dipped in white chocolate. Aren't those lace-y paper cups adorable?

We each created a beeswax coated collaged canvas in the style of Lisa Kaus's "gridlocked" workshop. It was challenging to get the grid going - but once you had it all laid out - it came together beautifully. This is K.'s canvas board - her theme was her husbands vintage Dodge and all things automotive. Isn't it fun how found objects can "represent" other things? Like the black checkers evoke tires. The yellow playing pieces could be traffic cones. Fuzzy dice?
Sorry about the bad camera phone images. My real camera chose to be uncooperative. The canvas was not as dark as it appears in the image above.

This is Z.'s canvas with a theme of family.This one still needs the coating of beeswax - which will smooth all the sharp edges.
Also - she might add more colour with some oil pastels. The flash card was altered to read 2 + 2+ 2 which equals 6 - a large number 6 will be adhered on top of the sea glass tiles. That's for the 6 people in her family. Actually only 5 - but one on the way!

And this is mine. I went with a lovebirds theme. Yes - i am obsessed with birds, but i also added a few images and some dictionary pages to represent my husband. I think the central section - underneath the 3-d Victorian window, needs something stronger. there is a page from a book about Mozart and his love for his wife Costanza. But the skeleton leaf on top is a little pale - maybe a touch of aqua oil pastel will bring out the texture...?
I especially love the effect where i layered napkins overtop of text. Even the birdcage is from a napkin. The bird inside - from another paper. Please click images to enlarge.

Be sure to check out the world wide web for other examples of Lisa Kaus beautiful work with paper, paint, wood and wax. And even artwork from students who have taken her workshops and posted images on their blogs.
I'll be doing another one of these collage grids next week with my altered art group. I wonder what i should do? How about a moratorium on birds and robin's egg blue...?!

Paper Quilts - a Play Date...!

2011-01-10T23:09:00.000-08:00

Sunday afternoon i had the pleasure of spending time with three creative ladies, two of whom are expert FABRIC quilters. We each created (or started) a paper quilt. What is a paper quilt, you might ask? Well, it can be many things - a combination of fabrics and papers or just paper, sewn or glued into shapes and arranged in a pleasing manner. Here i created 9-8" squares each with 4 concentric circles, in my increasingly predictable robin's egg blue and sepia colour story. I used scrapbook paper, wrapping paper, painted deli paper, tissue paper, book pages and vintage ephemera to create all the textural interest. I lightly glued the circles to the square then cut them in half down the middle. Then i rearranged the halves to spread out the blues and beiges across the piece. Then i sewed each half together with a zigzag stich on the sewing machine. Then i sewed rough (very rough!) circles along the edge of each paper circle. Let all the loose threads stay! Up to that is the "easy" part. Then i had to sew the squares together. This is where the heavier weight papers held up nicely, but the thinner papers kind of let me down. They slipped, or tore or puckered. But hey - it turned out really cool and you can't even tell from the picture! The next step, according to the workshop that my friends took, is to further embellish with beads and buttons, etc - to create even more texture. That will REALLY help cover up the mistakes!!

This beautiful quilt (unfinished) is Dorothy's. She first ironed fabric to freezer paper for stability. Then she layered on her paper circles. Whereas i cut my circles in half - Dorothy's were cut into quarters. This allows more variation of the pattern and colours. Notice she even used paper doilies!! Next month i'll get a picture of her finished paper/fabric quilt.

And here are Shelley's luscious squares. She used a blend of neutrals and metallic papers to create very uniform almost coin-like components for her paper quilt. she will cut some in half or quarters, and leave some whole when she arranges her quilt. Possibly on a muslin backing with spaces in between. Stay tuned for pictures of the finished quilts, along with Karen's (sorry no photo yet) our master quilter. Her larger circle/squares were in rich neutrals with a lot of strong geometric black designs.
You have got to try this!

Altered Book Blitz - Frida Kahlo Calendar

2011-01-10T22:46:00.000-08:00

On the weekend i worked on some long overdue projects that piled up before christmas. Here are the pages i did in the Frida Kahlo themed calendar. CLick here to see what i did last summer in the same book. This spread started with a colourful painting of Frida with two birds. I added the circles wrapping paper all around and added some rooster stickers and two yellow chicks on her head. FRIDA and DECEMBER are added in more color with letter stickers.

This spread had Frida as a wounded deer on the right. I added some pages from an Anthropologie catalog featuring slanted birch trees. I thought the girl looked somewhat "southwestern". I just added a quiver and some feathers to her outfit to create the huntress look.

Ok - i'm sorry but i really don't get some of Ms. Kahlo's art. This one is called Broken Column. So i looked for columns in my clippings and found a 4 poster bed and some ruins. The stained glass window has a sort of "broken" effect - so added that to the page. The blue green stained glass echoes the blue sky and green fields, and makes up in colour what the religious figure lacks, in this black and white photo.

So, to really disrepect her individuality, i thought i would like to see what she would like with normal eyebrows. I painted over them in gesso and tried to to paint on skin colour to match her face. That didn't work. So i decided to just pretend we captured Frida, mid-wax job. I love the grey and cream colour story here. And i think she looks great!

To finish off the last page of the December calendar, the last book in this 2010 round robin swap, i thought i would compliment this lovely painting with a simple christmas tree shape with faux postage stamps in the same red, gold and black colour theme. A dab of stickles glitter adds some nice texture to the collar and cuffs. And it is a few weeks late, but Merry Christmas everyone!

Altered Book Blitz - Bloom Book...!

2011-01-10T22:21:00.000-08:00

I was long overdue on TWO altered calendars for the round robin swap i have been participating in for the last year. I created 8 spreads in two books on Saturday! The first book is SHelley's flower themed book, Bloom. I gathered up all my floral magazine clippings and started with two bouquets of yellow roses. The backgrounds are vintage ephemera, a wall paper-ish floral paper, and some copper flocked wrapping paper. A few butterflies (always the perfect compliment to flowers)finish off the page. Oh yeah - this was for November! Better late than never!

For my next spread I started with a delightful illustration from a Nordstrom ad. Her pretty blue dress (and cute blue poodle) called out for a Parisian scene. I had to create her hat - since her head was cut off in the magazine - my gold mesh paper from Anthropologie was just the ticket, with a silk blue ribbon. Buckets and buckets of flowers, cut from various magazines create the "marche".

Remember those flower photographs i picked up at an estate sale i wrote about here? I purchased a whole bag of precut flowers and used all the red ones back in September's calendar. The yellow ones create a whimsical spread with these two little girls from a Children's Place ad. I flip-flopped the yellow hot air ballon - it was originally behind the girls on the right side. But the seam barely shows. The giant blooms are attached with thick glue dots.

For some variety in flower selection i went with a unique cactus spread from a magazine - splicing them together. The lady in white was cut from another ad in a magazine. To add interest - i create a blouse out of the cactus flower remnants to coordinate with the background. She is urging us to C'mon get happy!
Let's do just that!

Holiday Crafting

2011-01-01T17:52:00.000-08:00

I came down with a terrible flu bug the week before christmas and ended up not putting up a tree or decorating in any way. We were planning to spend the holidays with my sister and her family anyway - so by the time i was feeling better - it was time to board a plane for Calgary.
As is our tradition, my niece and I did some crafting projects. First we did some Martha Stewart glitter kits - butterflies and flowers. They are super easy to do - with pre cut sticky backing that you apply the glitter to one colour at a time - like with paint by numbers.

Next we created a large "paper quilt" on foam core. We cut rough squares from some colourful printed paper i was gifted by an art buddy. We arranged them on the foam core and glued them with foam brushes and mod podge glue.

Next we cut some leaf shapes out of card stock with my niece's snazzy cricut and applied them randomly over the squares. Then we added some gold filigree paper cut into leaf shapes.
It could use some final touches - like Portfolio water soluable oil pastels to add some shading and to smooth the sharp edges - but overall i think we did a great job!

Thanks Erica for another fun holiday creative play date!

Cookie Exchange Party....YUM!!

2010-12-14T15:49:00.000-08:00

I participated in a lovely cookie exchange holiday party last Saturday night.  We were asked to bring 3 dozen cookies to share.  Look at all the goodies! About 8 different types of cookies with all manner of spices and chips and fruit and nuts.  There was even little spice cake loaves, key lime fudge and gooey chocolate caramel squares.

This was my contribution. My Award Winning Snickers Surprise Cookies. ON A STICK! I made these a few years ago for another cookie exchange party where we had to taste each cookie and vote. Mine won first prize - appropriately enough, a cookie cook book. Nothing special to making these, just wrap a mini snickers chocolate bar in peanut cookie dough and bake. A few weeks ago i made them with store bought sugar cookie dough - just as good, but i like the peanut butter - nut - caramel combination better. For an added fun twist this time i added the sticks - they are Wilton, purchased at Michaels. And no, they don't burn in the oven. Just stab the snickers bar and wrap with a ball of dough. They spread and flatten as they bake - so leave space.

And here displayed on a pretty wicker tray provided by our lovely hostess Karen, are the cookies i got to take home! She set up a cookie decorating station for the kids - but i had a blast creating my sparkly snowflake and Christmas tree shaped treats.
Karen also prepared a tasty dinner for the party and had all her beautiful Christmas decorations around the house. Including three full size trees decorated in different themes!

Play Date - Altered Bird Houses

2010-12-06T09:00:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, i had the pleasure of spending a rainy Sunday with three artist friends. We were told we were going to alter houses. Bring some stuff. Not sure what to bring - i chose my standard ephemera and robin's egg blue assortment of papers, and grabbed a few metal embellishments. The houses turned out to be wooden bird houses - designed to hold a wine bottle that Karen's husband made. These were leftovers from another project. We had the option of using corrugated metal roofs, or using foam core. (sorry for the grainy phone camera pics - i'll update later with better ones)

It is fascinating to me to see what 4 people will do with the same canvas. Here you can see how varied our houses turned out to be! Mine is mostly pale blue and cream, bird themed of course. Dorothy's is an eclectic mix of collage and chunky three dimensional objects. Shelley's is a deep rich blue with metallic accents. And Karen's was created with an assortment of white gauze and ecru lace glued onto the white box.

On this side you can see some of the house numbers we added. And the lovely beaded fringe on Shelley's eaves.

(note not all of us were finished!) On mine you can see i tried a photo collage where an image of a house was cut into cubes and spaced apart. A cool technique i'd like to try again. Dorothy's face has the eyes and lips of a different magazine image - also very effective. Karen plans to paint one side of her house to match another painted row house.

On this view you can see the cherub i have sitting on the brass key i stuck into the house as a perch. Love Dorothy's use of gears and game pieces on her house. Shelley's roof was gold metallic paper printed and embossed to look like eyelet. Karen isn't finished her roof of shingles and lace. and she plans to add buttons.

Those eggs are cut from a napkin - so the papers underneath show through.

Here's a better shot of that house cut into blocks. The flower applique is a metal finding that was meant for a wine bottle.I glued some ecru lace around the top edge of the box and sat the corrugated metal roof on top. I painted it white and added some blue splotches.

Deli Paper Blitz

2010-11-30T10:53:00.000-08:00

Last night i went on a blitz painting deli paper.  As you may know, this is my favorite medium for background paper for altered books.  Better to paint and get messy OUTSIDE the book, and glue the lightweight paper into your book.  Deli paper glues beautifully.  if you don't know, deli paper is thin paper sold in boxes of hundreds or even thousands at places like costco or the grocery outlet.  They come in different sizes - these were about 12" square. They are fantastically cheap, about $8 for a thousand sheets! And yes - they are used in deli's to wrap sandwiches.  Not to be confused with wax paper.  these are just plain and have a matte or dry side and slightly shinier side.  You can paint on either.

I created about 30 sheets of paper in about an hour or so. Using three sheets at a time i squirted in rough stripes of acrylic paint and smeared and blended with my favorite expensive art supply tool - old credit cards. Or in my case brand new credit cards as sent from the credit card companies in the mail. As if holding an American Express card with "your name here" would excite me so much that i would instantly sign up for their program. It did excite me, you know, but not in the way they intended, 'cus a crafty girl can never have enough art supplies!

I worked in a limited palette of reds, green, white and blues. Creating three more or less the same in one batch. Moving them to another part of the dining room table, and then starting another batch. It does not take long to run out of room. If you have space - you can put newspapers on the floor and lay them out to dry. Or a clothesline would be cool! But i just butted the sheets together - paint to paint, stacked them and hoped they did not stick together. They didn't. But i cannot guarantee that. I am sure it depends altogether on the type of paint and how much. I focus on scraping OFF all the excess paint with the credit card, so they will dry quickly.
After they were mostly dry they each got a final coat of silver metallic paint. Just scraped on with the same credit card. A handy-wipe would have worked even better. But that would have meant a trip back upstairs. If there is one thing i can share with my readers - it is fast and easy tips. Work with what you've got!

So why? Why did i spend an evening painting 30 sheets of deli paper when i could have been watching the 49er's trounce Arizona with my hubbie? Because i created a slew of Christmas cards - and i don't have matching envelopes! You can see a mock up here of what the deli paper will look like when it is folded into an envelope shape around a Christmas card. Cool, eh? I could stamp onto them at this point - or just add the address labels. I could cut them out with an envelope template - or just glue them on and add a decorative sticker. We'll see when i get to that point. I'll be sure to share!
For more exciting deli paper posts click here and here and here and here.

Antique Amulets

2010-11-14T20:55:00.000-08:00

Today i had the pleasure of reconnecting with my old altered book workshop buddies in San Francisco. We used to meet monthly, swap books and do a project or learn a new technique. Today they were creating "antique amulets" based on class one of them took at Art Unraveled with polymer clay wiz Laurie Mika.

I have only used polymer clay once before - so it was fun to learn something new!

This was my first pendant. I softened the black clay and rolled it to about 3/8th of an inch thick. I stamped it with a gothic texture stamp and created a niche with the frame. I added an image and some metal findings. then it was baked for about 20 minutes in a toaster oven. When it came out i added some metallic glazes and gold paint to highlight the raised areas.

This was my last piece - you can see i had a little whtite clay left which i swirled with black to create this border.

Here are the original inspiration! These were the samples created by Laurie Mika - not by me! But i think i did a pretty good job emulating her style.

Christmas Gift Tags

2010-11-14T20:40:00.000-08:00

After making christmas cards this weekend, i thought i would make some tags. They might end up attached to cards. They might end up on gifts. They might end up hanging from a tree or even a banner. They are so fun and fast and easy to make! For these i used an assortment of vintage themed scrapbook paper and some lovely Florentine inspired prints. I cut the birds out of a scrapbook paper and the dragon fly and moth are two dimensional stickers with vellum wings from Joann's dollar selection.

These cute little tags were copied from my friend who had the idea to cut out these ornament shapes from a sheet of scrapbook paper and attach them to tags. I just loved the colours - a nice variation from traditional green and red.

I used background paper that was already sort of patchwork-y or added my own blocks and stripes. I glued down the "string" of the ornament to the tag, and placed a foam glue dot underneath to lift it up. Then comes the fun part of selecting assorted ribbons and fibres to tie through the hole.

Click on photo to enlarge to see the sparkley details!

Christmas Cards 2010

2010-11-14T20:16:00.000-08:00

I got together with some friends this weekend to make christmas cards. I actually took Friday off work for a special playdate! I had gone to Paper Source a week ago to get some inspiration and buy supplies. For the card above i used a robin's egg blue card and matching envelope. I added the japanese paper that i tore with a ruler for a gentle edge. I cut the birds out of old novels and darkened the edges with a bit of walnut ink pad. A little blue gem eyeball adds a touch of bling.

We had a long conversation about my self imposed rule that all my christmas cards have to be the same. Why? They don't really. So after making the cards above (about 50 of them!) i went on to create these different designs. These gold trees were cut from paper from Anthropologie. You HAVE to check out their selection of papers and tags - so cute and different.

I copied this card from a sample my friend had saved from last year. The original was made with pretty bright coloured felt squares with some stitching, rather than the snowflakes. I liked the simplicity of the design. Cute and modern!

For these cards i simple cut out a tree shape from multi-striped hand made paper. The green is from Paper Source. The blue is from Anthropologie. I attached them to long cards and will probably add a bit more something - not sure what - maybe some gemstone ornaments or some sparkley garland.

Next, one of the ideas i had been mulling over was to create cards with christmas tree shapes made out of old postage stamps. I have HUNDREDS of these, but limited myself to christmas themed stamps from various countries, and stamps with kings and queens. For no other reason than i had a lot in red or green.

I also added some "faux" stamps cut from wrapping paper. I applied the stamps with a mini glue dot roller. It went really fast and easy. I love how they turned out!

Finally - here is a shot of the rest of the wrapping papers from Anthropologie. Aren't they gorgeous? The pink flowers are actually glued to a mesh background - so they are light and ethereal. I can't wait to come up with more projects for these papers. Um, no. I will NOT be wrapping any actual gifts with them!!