Valentine peeky party

Today at the Altered Pages Artsociates blog, I'm sharing peeks at a buncha Valentines--here are couple for you:

straight up collage--you could make these today!

leftover cut out images = stick them on the envelope!!!

Some of them fit into these super cute glassine envelopes, and they all fit into business sized envelopes.  What?  You say those glassine envies look like something you got your last hotdog in?  Don't be so observant ridiculous!  For the month of February, we're also sharing tips for organizing your art space, and I'm really enjoying the helpful hints.

Have a great weekend!
:)

A mail art postcard

featuring Altered Pages Vintage Text Collection and collage image

A little mail art today--my favorite type of background, all that yummy ephemera--

more on the Altered Pages Artsociates blog today!

PS--Please let me apologize to all my bloggy friends for being woefully behind in
visiting;  still painting the house, putting down flooring in the living room next.  I'll
be back to blog snooping visiting again soon.

Have a wonderful weekend!

still with the spring thing . . .

Are you tired of grey and winter?  I'm guessing that's why I'm subconsciously leaning toward greens and brighter colors right now.  Here is just a peek at a spring colored piece that's up today on the Something Tattered blog:

collage image from Altered Pages

The wallpaper strip has a golden shimmer to it:

See?  Shiny!

Of course the glow doesn't show well in the photos, but I hope you'll stop by and say hi anyway--it's my first official Something Tattered post, and I'm pretty excited about it.  See you there?

easy altered jewelry box ornament tutorial

If you've stopped by here before, you probably already know I have a
thing about candy--like it.  A lot.  No big surprise, then, that this elfy candy
label got me going on a little Christmas crafty:

collage image from Altered Pages

Made a little candy box from a small cardboard jewelry box to hang on the tree,
oh yes, gonna fill it full of goodies!  It was so easy, I couldn't make just one . . .

It was super easy, simple enough to make with children.  I got the idea from some
gorgeous ornaments a friend made years ago, but hers were way more fancy fine--
here is how I made mine:

Stuff you need:  small jewelry box, patterned paper, collage image, glue stick,
hole punch, ribbon.  I also added some ink, a bead and some glitter, all totally
optional.  You may want to add even more embellishments.

First and Second:  Cut out a collage image that will fit on the front of the box, and
cut a piece of patterned paper that will fit all the way around the box.

DON'T glue the collage image on!!!

Third, or somewhere along the line:

Punch a small hole in the box, in a spot on the box half (NOT the lid) that isn't

covered by the lid when the lid is on the box.  Does that make sense at all?

Thread a piece doubled piece of ribbon through the hole:

AND TIE a knot in it, so it won't come through the hole.  If you want,
thread a bead or two onto the top (outside the box) ribbon:

totally optional bead

Fourth:  Wrap the patterned paper around the box, creasing it at each edge,
leaving plenty of overlap to glue the paper together.

DO NOT GLUE THE PAPER TO THE BOX!  But DO make the paper
tight enough that you must physically slide it off (like a matchbox), not so loose
that it just slips off of its own accord.  That way you can still open the box, see?

Simple, right?  Big enough to hold something fun, but small enough to
be an ornament.  Easy to add extra embellishments, too--I added some
Glitz pen glitter, but wouldn't these be cute with some German scrap,
or using wire and glass beads instead of ribbon.

PS--Playing along with Inspire Me Monday!
and Lunagirl Moonbeams Hidden Things challenge

mail art!

I REALLY like mail art.  Years ago, before e-mail and blogs and facebook, all the
envelopes I mailed were enhanced with a little (okay, yes, it was a LOT) highlighter.
While that may not have been mail art in the strictest sense, it was fun.

Nowadays my favorite mail art is postcards, and this month at Unruly Paper Arts,
the blogozine theme is Postcard Parade.  Here is just one of the postcards I created
for my latest Unruly column,  Mail Art en Masse:

 text from Word Art Wednesday

Would you like to create some mail art?  Would you like to receive some mail art?
Check out my article, I'd be delighted to hear what you think.There are two Reader's
Art Quests happening, as well;  Postcards From the Edge and Vacation Postcard 
Art.  Everyone is welcome to join in the challenge, and what better way to try
something new?

Coincidentally--at least I think it's a coincidence, but there could be some
conspiracy happening, unbeknownst to me--one of the themes for the upcoming
issue of AlteredArts Magazine is, in fact, mail art.  (The issue should be out any
time now.  Seriously, it may be out at this very moment.  UPDATE--It's out!) 
Anyway, here is just a sneak peek at an oversized postcard I created for
the magazine:

tell me that seahorse looks like he's flying outta that ocean wave!

You can almost see the sparkle on this one--I used my hand carved ocean wave 
stamp on Gelli Plate monotype prints.  The seahorses were stamped on monoprints, as well.

Have a great week, everyone--I hope to see you in the Postcard Parade this month.

is there such a thing as altered, altered art?

For the second son's wedding, I altered some large canning jars in that Rustic
Elegant style which is so popular right now--these were used for candle holders
at the rehearsal dinner and reception.  You would think I'd be sharing those with
you for my Altered Arts show today, but hey, why not alter the altered?? 

I wanted some centerpieces for our 4th of  July Independence Day celebration--
it was so simple to stamp up some tags:

background stamps from Rogue Redhead Designs

And then dig in my stash for some red/white/blue trims and laces, adding some
great collage images (NO fussy cutting, going for fast and simple here):

You can see where I tied the trim right over the already-there burlap, jute, and key.

collage images from Altered Pages

Once again, just tied that blue midi braid and tag right over the first go-round of
trim and embellishments.  I won't bore you with all nine jars, but how 'bout one more?

Took the burlap off for this one, but kept the heart and blingy button embellishment.

In their altered-altered state, these are going to hold wildflowers and a flag.  A very
Happy 4th of July to all my stateside friends, and, well, a happy fourth of July to
everyone else, too!

Count me in for these patriotic themed challenges:
Simon Says Stamp Challenge:  Patriotic
Cuttin and Stampin Challenges:  4th of July
Our Daily Bread Designs:  Patriotic or Red, White, And Blue
Party Time Tuesdays:  Patriotic
Ribbon Carousel: (use spooled item) heritage, country pride, celebrations
Shopping Our Stash:  Red, White, and Blue

it seemed like a good idea at the time . . .

So I'm making these atcs for a swap, yes?  

For some reason, it seemed particularly amusing

(at the time, anyway) to juxtapose the cheerful stamped

sentiments with the serious expressions on the photo faces.

You can kind of see the shine on this one.

It reminds me of the old saying, "You can't judge a book by its cover."

Yep, Gelli plate print backgrounds . . .
 

Lots of layers of colors . . .

Like I said, it seemed like a good idea at the time . . .

Anyway, in addition to a little spring-ish post for

Altered Arts Magazine (the spring issue is fixin' to come out!),

these are going away for an atc swap.  (Wait, I already said that!) 
But the point is, I liked the challenge of giving them the appearance of dimension,
without adding bulky, hard-to-mail embellishments. 

Well, yes, painting and coloring are flat out fun, 

that might have played into it, too . . . ;)

Oh, yes, thank you--I do feel like a challenge or two!
Simon Says Stamp Challenge--April showers or Spring flowers
Creative Inspirations Paint--Spring Colors
Scrappy Frogs--Think Spring
Fab 'n' Funky Challenges--Spring Colours
Word Art Wednesday--always anything goes, with an inspirational sentiment or quote

a set of three atcs

Here is a set 
of three atcs,
all using 
backgrounds 
made
from Gelli Plate 
prints.

(Gelli Plate printing is,
in fact, addictive--they
should come with a
warning label!)

The images are stamped 
on papers colored with watercolor washes, using
images from the Grunge Collages  set.

Isn't that a sweet stamp?
These are going out for
a blissfulART atc swap. 

Got that autumn theme going on,
but with non traditional colors . . . 
what do you think?  Too bright? 

I have to add

crayon around the
edges, don't you
know!  And tulle,
almost always 
some of that, too.

The German scrap
and bling, those
are bonuses . . .

Have a great 
Sunday, everyone!







Some challenges? Well sure:
Challenges 4 Everybody:   Anything Goes
Creative Inspirations Paint:  Anything Goes
Joanna Sheen Challenge Blog  Autumn Breeze (the center ATC with the leaf)
Scrappy Frogs:  Fall or Halloween (the center ATC with the fall leaf)
The Hybrid Chick:  Fall/Autumn  (you guessed it!)

pinktober!

So it's Pinktober (is that
just in the USA, or is that
in other countries, as well?)
and here is an all girl pink
tag, this one with a great
Altered Pages image.  You can
see more of it, if you like,
HERE.

Yummy Pink Prize Package at Altered Pages

Hey, with that fun pink prize package, it's definitely time to Think Pink, right?

Some more great challenges--count me in!
Anything But a Card--definitely not a card!
Desert Islands Crafters Challenge--use three "P" words from list, mine are
Pink, Pearls, and Photo
The Craft Garden--recipe challenge, I used pink, ribbon, tag, and sparkle
Happy Campers Craft Collective--use a tag
Paper Crafting Journey--add some bling

Have a great weekend, everyone!
:)

hand bound, origami wallet book--inside!

center layout, pockets full of ephemera and tags

Here is the inside layout of the hand bound book with origami wallet signature.
It was SO much fun to make, I'm thinking about doing a tutorial for it . . . the images
on the pocket fronts are from the Sewing and Vintage Light and Form sets. The trim
is silky seam binding, that stuff is a delight to play with.

first pocket, tags and ephemera pulled, first side

Here you can see various tags and ephemera (from Altered Pages) pulled from
the first pocket--these are stamped with various images from the Years Ago set,
Vintage Illustrated Birds set, and Nature Medallions.  Lots of ribbon and buttons,
lace and sequins waste with paint, too.
 

Here are the same tags, flipped--that script background I use all the time is from
the Years Ago set , the images are (you guessed it, right?) The Sewing Set.

Here is the other pocket with the tags pulled--wish the shot of the faux postcard
was closer, that postcard/postage stamp image is amazing!  The flowers are from
the Honey Bees set, and the insects are Nature Medallions.

That was a lot of pics for one post, at least for me--I hope you enjoyed this book
as much as I did making it.

Oh, yes, a challenge, please:
addicted to stamps--one or more pins (each tag has a lightbulb pin in the top)
Creative Inspirations--butterflies (second pic, two tags feature butterflies)
Gingerloft--vintage
Let's Ink It Up--use favorite embellishments (pins, sequins waste, seam binding, those velvet leaves!)
Quirky Crafts--something you'd see in the sky (bird, butterflies, ladybug, bees)
Stampalot--bingo (first row across)

Have a great weekend, everyone!

:)

Love looks not with the eyes . . .

Hello, everybody! Have you missed me? (Probably not!) Been busy here
with spring time activities, graduations, etc. Here is another layout from the
hand bound book featured in the latest Altered Arts--this one uses the beautiful
Spread Your Wings collage stamp found HERE.

Love looks not with the eyes, but with the mind, and therefore is winged cupid 
painted blind.  (Tempest, Act I, Scene I)

Happy Weekend!

Challenges?
Make It Monday--Anything Goes
Addicted To Stamps--Black, white, and another color
Sentimental Sundays--Whimsical
That Craft Place--Monochromatic

Faith, Hope, and Love, plus the cover of a magazine

Been playing with my all the yummy ephemera from Vintage Page Designs again!  This is a six by six canvas, the sheet music and bird image are vintage ephemera from Vintage Page Designs, plus some  paint, crayon, the text printed on vellum, a little tulle and lots of silky seam binding around the edges.   Speaking of seam binding, if you enjoy using it as much as I do, you may want to check out the VPD Bird Challenge . . .

Can finally share this all the way for real, yay!

A flower cannot blossom without sunshine, and man cannot live without love. 

Here he is, the Rose Boy, he always makes me smile.  (You may recall I went through a crazy Valentine making spurt using this fellow. You can see, ahem, several cards featuring him HERE), and he's available at Blockheads

Anyway, the spring issue of Altered Arts is out, and you can see this layout on the cover, so I don't think I'm giving away any secrets by showing you here.  The hardware you see peeking out from the next layout, that is a fantastic set, with keys and doorknobs and keyholes--you can find it HERE.

Happy Weekend, everyone!
PS--I'd like to join my friends at Word Art Wednesday, and for the first time at Little
Birdie Blessings with the faith, hope, and love piece.

:)

two "firsts" and woyww 152

(If you wanna see What's on my Workdesk, Wednesday, except it's really Thursday
right now, just scroll past all that yammer there . . .)

Well, it's time for my first column at Unruly Paper Arts.  When I joined the Unruly
team, I was so excited, it sounded great, yay, go team.  Now it's more like, "WHAT
HAVE I GOTTEN MYSELF INTO??"

the latest issue of Unruly Paper Arts--Wedding Wonders

Do me a favor, will you?  Check out my column, and let me know--kindly, please--
if I'm even shooting at the right target.  More tutorial-y?  Less wordy?  Don't drink
two cups of coffee before writing the next one? I can make stuff all the live long day,
but write a column . . . hmm.

Here's my second first, if that makes any sense at all--my first finished design team
project as a real life Rogue Redhead--YES!  (This definitely falls under the category
of "make stuff," whew!)

Finished off the pocket book I'd started a while ago:

Relish Reading

 You may remember this layout, it was finished a while back . . .

Tuesday Treasures--the railway tokens and velvet leaves!

 

 

 

 

 

Some of my favorite vintage bits right now--the lightbulb pins, railway tokens, and
the velvet milliner's leaves--see Tuesday Treasures if you'd like to share this week!

Here you can really see that fabulous background stamp, also in the Relish Reading:

Relish Reading

Beach Babes

Beach Babes

These sets both have large background stamps that go perfectly with the
images--large enough I stamped the background of both these tags at the
same time.  Want to see more pieces made with these stamps?  Check out
the Rogue's Gallery and Customer and Guest Gallery at the RRD blog site.

What's on Your Workdesk Wednesday?  152

Vintage Page Designs--spring bird collage

Do you love using vintage papers in your art?  I do, but honestly, sometimes it's a little hard for me to rip into an old book, especially ones with lovely pictures.  And what is it about dictionaries?  I have a stack of dictionaries sitting on our fireplace, and another in the dining room--at least twenty, but I just can't bring myself to tear them apart.

This is where Ali is awesome--her etsy store specializes in vintage ephemera, no reproductions.  Some things Ali has made herself, but she also has sets of wonderful papers all ready for creating--no tearing necessary!

That gorgeous bird page, and the text behind it, came in one of the Vintage Bird Kits.  It was full of wonderful papers, SO many beautiful bird images, and all of them authentic ephemera.  All of the papers  used in this collage, aside from the corners of patterned Glitz, are from VPD, even the tiny tag.  The egg image is from Blockheads, from the Vintage Illustrated Birds set (I use that one a LOT!), but the tag is actually from the VPD packaging:

You can barely see it right here in the corner, but you can see what a lovely package of pretties this is, and that real thought and care went into each set.  I appreciate those extra touches, don't you?  Congratulations to Ali on her new venture;  I'll have several more pieces made from Vintage Page Designs papers to share with you in the next week, and you can find more information and inspiration on the VPD blog.

:)

springtime page, what's on your workdesk wednesday #151

 This is what's on my workdesk this Wednesday, no editing, to tidying for you, just straight up here it is!

 And a little bit bigger view.

And a peek at one of the pages in the book I was starting to work on last week.  The cover is in my post from yesterday, just scroll down a bit if you'd like to see.

I don't speak French, but I do know how to work Google Translate.  However, I've sometimes the translations are a bit odd, so tell me, if you know, does this REALLY say, "She loved Paris in springtime."  Cath, if you're out there, let me know . . .  :)