ATC Swap

April

For this month's ATC Swap, we had to have a fold in it.  We were also given all of the supplies to make our ATC, but we could add other elements to our ATCs.

The green paper was one, which I used for the ATC.  We were also given the green mesh, and butterfly paper, which I chose to cut out individual butterflies and attach them to the green mesh.  The Baker's Twine was one of the other elements that were given to us that I used as antenna's for the butterflies.

The fold was the little ATC size booklet I made and glued unto the card.  You open the book and unfold the paper inside.

The book  was made the same way as the one I made with Charlotte Carpentier at CharKat Creative Insanity.  Of course the book itself is a fold.

Next month's ATC?  

Art Deco.

Mandala Mondays

Lindisfarne Gospels

Went to "Mandala Mondays" at CharKat's Creative Insanity where we proceeded to create this Mandala.  By drawing lines and circles and using a bit of math, you can create this design.

However, as you can see, I just could not get the corner swirls to complete the design.  I must say, though, creating this was lost of fun!

Here is another one I did last month with Charlotte Carpentier.

I took this idea a step  further and created this one with a map and a gold border.

Here is a close-up.  

The ship was not on the map, so I had to superimpose the image onto the map.

Looking forward to next month!

Calendars 2017

APRIL

Did you know today is April's Fools Day?  

Did you pull any pranks on your friends or loved ones?

Although the day, also called All Fools' Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery.  Some historians speculate that April Fools' Day dates back to 1582, when France switched from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian calendar.  People who were slow to get the news or failed recognize that start of the new year had moved to January 1st and continued to celebrate it on April 1st became the butt of jokes and hoaxes.  

Some newspapers, magazines and other published media report fake stories, which are usually explained the next day or below the news section in small letters.  Although popular since the 19th century, the day is not a public holiday.

Did you know that April is the fourth month of the year in the Gregorian Calendar, the fifth in the early Julian Calendar and the first month to have the length of 30 days?

Did you know April's birthstone is the diamond?

Did you know the birth flower is typically listed as either the Daisy or Sweet Pea?

Did you know the zodiac signs for the month of April are Aries (until April 19th) and Taurus (April 20th onwards)?

Did you know April is Jazz appreciation month?

Did you know April 9th is Palm Sunday?

Did you know April 12th is Spy Wednesday?

Did you know April 14th is Good Friday?

Did you know April 15th is National Banana Day in the US, Tax Day and World Art Day?

Did you know April 16th is Easter Sunday?

Did you know April 17th is Blah, Blah, Blah Day?

Did you know April 21st is Day of Silence in the US?

Did you know April 22nd is Earth Day and Holocaust Remembrance Day?

Did you know April 23rd is German Beer Day in Germany?

Did you know April 25th is DNA and Red Hat Society Day?

Did you know that April 26th is Hug A Friend Day?

Did you know April 29th is National Shrimp Scampi Day in the US?

Did you know April 30th is Honesty Day in the US?

Did you know I had fun playing pranks on my friends and loved ones today?

Well I did!  And they did too!

ATC Swap

March

This month's ATC Swap had to have a flower or flowers and the theme was "Spring"

Here I made made a banner using black cardstock.  I took a toothpick, wrapped wire around it,  and glued the two together on the ATC, giving the appearance that it is hanging.  I punched out the flowers adding rhinestones to the center.  Added some words, and there you have it.

I took the "Spring Thing" literally and added a spring to one of the flowers, making it a little more dimensional.

Next month's theme?  It has to have a flold.

Art on 30th

8 Objects 8 Ways

A few weeks back I took an art class with Jane LaFazio called "8 Objects 8 Ways" in San Diego, CA.  The class was held at the studio Art on 30th.  This class was so much fun and I learned a lot in the process.

#1 was to draw an object using just a pencil.  You can see my poor attempt at drawing a sea shell.  I chose this because I thought it would be the easiest, but it turned out it was the hardest.

#2 were the berries.  We drew it in pencil first and then went over it with a water soluble pencil. Then we went back in with a waterbrush and lightly shaded. I thought those little berries turned out really cute

#3 was the pear.  Drew in pencil first, went over it with permanent ink and then watercolored the object.  I think I could have done better.

#4 we used pencil only and then watercolor.  I think this was my best one one.  It looks realistic to me.

#5 was the object in the lower right hand corner.  Using a pen only, I did a contour drawing of some sort of a succulent.  I don't know what kind it is.

#6 was drawing an image on a book page with ink and then watercoloring it in.  Once it was dray, we glued it onto our mixed media paper.

#7 is the lower middle section.  We did a light wash of color and then drew in another object once the watercolor was was dry.  We were suppose to then add additional color to our drawing, but I ran out of time.

#8 was drawing with a tombow maker, which is water soluble, then go over the drawing with a water brush lightly coloring and shading it in.

And there you have it!

Objects 8 Ways

Alcohol Inks

Playing Around with Alcohol

This past weekend, I took a class at Piecemaker's Country Store in Costa Mesa, CA with Danna Phelan.

We were given a couple of piece of Yupo paper to practice on before we got started on our tiles.  Then we were set free to play and create to our hearts content.  These are regular tiles that you get at Home Depot.

Here are the first four tiles I created.   The flowers in the lower right hand corner was the first tile I made.  To me they look like little baby cabbages.  Next was the landscape in the upper right hand corner.  The forest in the lower left hand corner was next and last, but not least, the fuchsia flower in the upper left hand corner.

You have to understand, Alcohol Inks do not like to be controlled.  Creating with them is a hit and miss. They like to flow and go where "they" want, but with a little bit of coaxing, you can manage them into submission.

Here are some additional tiles we got to experiment and play with.  The two outer tiles were about 2" X 2" and smaller tiles were about 1" X 1".  The one on the right is a mini landscape the small 1" X 1" tile on the left is a mini, mini landscape.  I had fun experimenting and seeing how small I could go.  Pretty small I would say.

If you have never played around with Alcohol Inks, you are surely missing out.

Paper Flowers

Beautiful!

A couple of weeks ago, I took a class at Hobby Lobby on how to make paper flowers.

The one on the left measures about 18" across and the one on the right measures about 14" across.  

The instructor who taught, made the class so much fun and the flowers were not hard to make.

A few weeks back I posted a paper quilt using my painted papers.  

I used some of the those papers to make this flower.

This flower was made with the supplies the instructor had for us.  The class included everything to make the white flowers; templates, paper, and even glue sticks.  I brought my painted papers to use for the other flower.  

Wouldn't these flowers be so much fun to make for a DIY wedding or prom?  

How about a backdrop for photos?  So many possibilities for these flowers.  

How do you think you would use these flowers?