Life happens!

 My life has become so crazy lately! We are about to leave on a month-long trip to Italy to celebrate our 50th wedding anniversary and I just returned from a week in Mexico to finish up some dental work. We return on the 30th and leave again two days later to babysit the grandboys in Albuquerque while their parents go to Patagonia for two weeks. It seems I won't have any free (art) time until almost Thanksgiving! Needless to say, I won't be updating the blog for a month or two and just wanted to let everyone know.

In the meantime, here are a few of the last weekly Margarete Miller collage challenges I've finished (which is about all I've managed lately!) 

Week 35

Week 36

Week 37

Week 38

Week 39

"See" you in November sometime.

August Junk Journal Page Swap

 The base of my August junk journal page was cut from a master board made of lots of leftover scraps from previous projects. It measures 5" x 7" with a floral focal point cut from a magazine. I also added a portion of a doily, a few labels and a butterfly before adding a vellum pocket. I sewed around the edge and added another butterfly and label to the front of the pocket.

Two tags fit into the pocket. The larger one is made from a paint "chip" layered with a tag, a few labels and stickers and a butterfly. The smaller tag is a manila tag decoupaged with book text and a napkin. A butterfly and label were also added.

This is the front of the page with the tags in the pocket.

The back is covered with a vintage invoice. The corner pocket is made with a piece of sheet music. The corner is folded down with a piece of handmade paper and a cut out butterfly embellishing it. Inside the pocket is a fold-over card decoupaged with multiple paper scraps, floral and butterfly images and a few labels. 

Here is the closed tag inside the pocket. The birds are stamped on a piece of sewing pattern tissue and glued to the top of the card along with a small label.

I'm Back and Catching Up

 My mother had a TIA in early August and I spent a few weeks with her in Vermont to make sure everything was ok. She recovered very quickly and has little or no lasting side effects, thankfully! She turned 94 in June and is remarkable, still living at home and getting around by herself.

Needless to say, I did no art for those several weeks! I'm happy to be home again and have been catching up on swaps I'd joined.

Here are the last three weeks' of collage challenges.

Week 32

Prompts:

1) a contraption (dictionary diagram)

2) a piece of postcard, either side (vintage postcard of a hotel)

3) something that starts with letter F (fern)

4) a barcode (lowered of page)

5) a date or anything from a calendar (dates on labels)

Bonus: something from a magazine (paint color swatches from magazine ad)

Week 33

Prompts:

1) "electronic", whatever that means to you (headphones)

2) a security envelope pattern (brick-like pattern in two places)

3) something with a star or stars (stamped and embossed star pattern, upper right,

and "camera" washi tape)

4) a doodle (upper left corner border)

5) something industrial (machines in factory)

Bonus: text from a book page (upper left)

Week 34

Prompts:

1) "light", whatever that means to you (sunset)

2) any kind of tag ("Salty Cow" tag from delivered food)

3) paper that is stained or has a stain (tea-dyed paper in background)

4) sand or stone (not used)

5) something that starts with the letter P (peony)

Bonus: a sticker (butterfly)

Collage Challenge - Weeks 30 & 31

Week 30

Prompt:

What do you think oof when you imagine a secret code? Is it a string of random numbers? Is it a strange looking alphabet? Is it symbols in a strange order? Create a collage with something that could look like a secret code.

I was at a loss on this one but I had recently done an afternoon session of gelli plate printing, so started by using some of the prints I'd made to collage the background. The diamond die cut was a leftover and I had used it as a mask in the printmaking when I used gold paint. It was so pretty I added it to the collage.

For the "secret code" I decided to use up a sheet of black alpha stickers - the remaining stickers didn't spell a thing so I just placed them randomly down the center of the page.

There's no solution to the code, but I was happy to use up some leftovers!

Week 31

 

Prompts:

1) something with a spine (bear)

2) a path or road (bicycle path)

3) your least favorite color (orange - paint swatch strip)

4) a formula (mathematical formulas from old book - top of page)

5) a crossword or newspaper/magazine puzzle (bottom right)

Bonus: a (dried) leaf or flower (skeleton leaf)

I also added an old rub-on border to finish off the page.

Collage Challenges - Weeks 28 & 29

 Week 28

Prompts:

1) something related to coffee (didn't use this prompt)

2) anything with a bit of pink (lots of pink!)

3) something in the shape of a hexagon (3 punched hexagons)

4) a photo or portion of a photo (photo of tulip I've had forever)

5) ink - whatever that means to you (India ink bottle)

Bonus: a piece of dictionary page (upper left corner)

Week 29

Prompts:

1) something that turns of spins (clock hands)

2) a key or keys (paper in upper right corner; key rub-on)

3) a ticket of any kind (vintage bus/train tickets)

4) a portion or a brochure or advertisement (Texas ad)

5) a building (church)

Bonus: a place (cityscape, left side of page)

July Junk Journal Page Swap

This is my page for the July junk journal swap. 

I covered an old greeting card with scraps for the base and  made an envelope with a 

page from a botanical book. It is glued to the front page on three sides to form another pocket behind. I trimmed the placket with a bit of lace and added some washi tape and a few labels to decorate. 

Inside the envelope is a mini-notebook "matchbook-style" made from a green paint chip and decorated with a botanical sticker and some music paper.

The pocket behind the envelope holds two tags. The larger one is cut out from a master board I had made with scraps and decorated with a torn floral image from the same botanical book and a few labels.

The smaller tag is a clothing tag covered with green paper and a bit of dictionary page. It also has a small floral image torn from the book.

The recipient likes the color green and botanicals, so I hope she enjoys this page.

 

Collage Challenges - Weeks 26 & 27

 Week 26

Prompts

1) something that emits heat (hibachi grill)

2) a pair of something (two quilt mosaics)

3) a face (Japanese chef and face on stamp)

4) something royal (English stamp)

5) a bit of green (washi tape; strawberry leaves; butterfly)

Bonus: text other than English or native language (page background)

Week 27

Prompts

1) something with a bumpy surface (embossed paper)

2) anything that can blow in the wind (balloons, flowers)

3) something in shape of a triangle (tee-pee)

4) lined paper (notepaper, upper left corner)

5) a number or numbers (black stickers)

Bonus: instructions (lower left of page)

A Crazy, Busy July

 Where has the first half of July gone? We have been traveling and spending time with grand boys.

We spent July 4th weekend in Austin with our daughter's family and then brought the two kiddos home with us for a week. As soon as we put them on a plane home (they were very excited to travel as unaccompanied minors!), we boarded a flight to Albuquerque to spend the weekend celebrating another grand boy's tenth birthday. So much fun, but exhausting as they keep us running the entire time.

I've been playing catch-up on art swaps and challenges since I returned.

This was the project I made for a "flamingo" challenge. I made a little flip-up matchbook-style notepad with a pink paint chip. Several small pieces of plain paper are stapled inside. The flamingo and leaf are stamped on tissue paper and colored with water-based paint pens. The "smile" is a stamp, white-embossed on black card stock.

Next is my "summer house" for a quarterly house swap (we make one for each season). This is my beach hut. The house, roof and door are papers. The bathing beauty is fussy-cut from a copy of a vintage photo and the starfish is a sticker. The little banner is from a scrapbook paper and I added the pennants individually to a piece of baker's twine. I embellished with tiny shells and real sand glued to the bottom.

For this swap we had to use the magazine image transfer technique with a gelli plate and make it into a card. After about 15 failed attempts I finally pulled this print from a magazine image from a travel brochure. I need to practice this more - there are many variables and the whole process is trial and error!

Instead of using black acrylic paint as the base color as most of the instructions said, I used a magenta paint and I really like it.

Collage Challenge Weeks 24 & 25

Catching up on the Margarete Miller weekly collage challenges.

Week 24

Prompt

Do you have a favorite song, artist or style of music? Create a collage

with this as your theme.

One of my favorite songs is "Ave Maria" - it was played at my parents' wedding, my 

wedding and my father's funeral. One of my favorite music artists is Andrea Bocelli and at 

the beginning of Covid he performed this at the Duomo di Milano, outside with no one present. 

It was incredibly moving. It was live streamed on YouTube and actually broke the world record for YouTube with 28M views!

I used some papers that had an Italian feel and some Italian script in the background. The Madonna 

image is an old Christmas card and, of course, I had to add an image of Bocelli and the Duomo. 

I am glad I was able to document this wonderful performance on this page.

Week 25

Prompts:

1) a map (map at bottom of page)

2) something found underwater (shark image from magazine)

3) a flag (flag poster from a printable)

4) a picnic item (ants image from magazine)

5) the sun or moon (background - from a magazine)

Bonus: your handwriting (around the shark image)

I added some summer washi tape I received on a letter at the time I was

working on this page and the color and theme suited it.

 

Washi Tape/File Folder Notebook

I'm back from Vermont. It was cool and very green - absolutely lovely. And now that I'm back in Texas with triple digit temps, I will be spending a lot of time inside my art room working on projects!

This is a small notebook I made before I left. I used an old manila file folder cut 8 1/2" wide by 6" high. When folded it is approximately 4 1/4" x 6." One side was covered with strips of washi tape. I had recently been in a swap of handmade washi tapes and my partner sent me the one on the bottom and the two above and below the ribbon. (This is a great way to use up lots of washi tapes!)

I cut miscellaneous papers/printer paper slightly smaller than the file folder and folded them in half into one signature which I stitched into the cover with a three-hole pamphlet stitch. I added an eyelet on the front and tied on a piece of ribbon for the closure. Super simple and quick!

 

We are going to Italy in October and I am using this to keep all my research on transportation schedules, lodging, sightseeing places and hours, etc. in one handy place.

June Junk Journal Page Swap

I am out of town again - this time visiting my mother in Vermont who turns 94 today!  I'm thankful to have escaped the HOT temps in Texas. 

Since I finished this journal page for the swap and sent it off before leaving, I decided to post it while I'm gone.

 

Front page and tags

Journaling flip-up

The base journal page was made by collaging scraps to an old greeting card which happened to be the right size (5" x 7"). Then I made a triple pocket by folding a sheet of music paper. The three tags fit inside the pockets. The music pocket is glued to the front of the page on three sides so there is an additional pocket underneath. Inside this I added a top-folded 4" x 12" scrapbook paper for a journaling spot. The closure is a label which is only glued down halfway so the top flap can tuck under.

Back page with double pocket

The back of the page is covered with tea-dyed copy paper. Made a double pocket from a recycled envelope that had two windows. I covered the inside with scrap paper, glued the top and bottom and then sewed down the center. It is glued to the page and the two small tags fit inside the pockets. I added a bit of book page and a fussy-cut butterfly to decorate the top.

Collage Challenge - Weeks 22 & 23

 Week 22

Prompts:

1) a tag (tag in upper left corner; also Knox Rose clothing tag)

2) something seen in the sky (bird)

3) something with wheels (wheelbarrow)

4) something sharp (real safety pin added to tag)

5) washi tape (floral/bird tape in several places)

Bonus: money (3 real foreign coins)

Week 23

Prompts:

1) song lyrics/song title (Moonlight Sonata)

2) red (tissue paper and red shoes)

3) a road sign (Rt. 66)

4) something with wings (butterfly)

5) tissue paper or napkin (black and white stripe and red tissue papers)

Bonus: rubber stamping (didn't use)

The only extras I added to this collage are the gold sequins. It just seemed to need a bit of bling.

Miscellaneous Cards

 In my last post I mentioned random weekly challenges. Last week the challenge was to use Twinkling H20 shimmery watercolor paints that were popular years ago. I pulled out mine from my stash and made this card. 

The background was made by swiping four different paints from the blue family onto small pieces of bubble wrap and then "stamping" them on to a watercolor paper base. This was layered on an orange piece of card stock, machine-sewn and then layered on a dark blue card.

I also "painted" a pretty coral color directly onto the heart stamp and stamped on another piece of watercolor paper. I cut this out and mounted it in the center of the card and attached a bow.

This past week I got together with two art friends and we made seven cards kitted by one of the friends (thank you Cathy!). These were simple cards, but very pretty and I now have a nice assortment for different occasions. These all use Stamping' Up stamps and card stock.

Mushroom Challenge

 I participate in a weekly challenge online - it can be just about anything. Recently it was to do something with mushrooms.

I used a page from a botanical book that happened to have mushrooms on it and folded it in thirds to make an envelope. Before glueing it together on the sides I machine-sewed a narrow vellum pocket to the front.

I corner-rounded the top flap and added some book text and a few labels to decorate.

I added two small mushroom cards to the front pocket.

Inside the larger pocket I added an old library index card decorated 

again with a strip of book text, a label and a fussy-cut mushroom.

I sent this to a friend as a RAK to be used in a journal or altered book.

Collage Challenge - Weeks 20 & 21

Week 20 

Prompts:

1) thread(s) or piece(s) of a fabric (yellow print fabric on left side of page)

2) a famous person (Penelope Cruz)

3) something you see through the window (flowers & bird)

4) postcard or letter (postcard at top)

5) a date written out (on blue invoice at bottom)

Bonus: something blue (blue invoice, ticket & stamp)

Week 21

Prompts:

1) a zoo animal (zebra)

2) portion of a food/drink label (Tony's chocolate label)

3) handwriting (on pieces of paper at upper right and lower left)

4) a sticker (Goldbelly sticker, lower right)

5) something found in doctor's office (not used)

Bonus: something in three (three puppies)

I added some thin washi tape to finish off the collage.

May Junk Journal Page

Because I was out of town part of May I only signed up for one swap this month - the Vintage Junk Journal Page.

This is the front of my page. I used Tim Holtz packaging as the base and left the flap at the top intact.

There is a flip on the right side for which I used more packaging as the base.  Attached to the flap with a tiny paper clip is a paper and fabric cluster with a small flower.

When the flip is opened, there is a pocket at the bottom made from part of a paint "chip". Inside are two tags - one is a book page collaged with scraps and cut into a tag shape; the smaller one is a clothing tag which is also collaged.

On the actual page, I collaged book pages on part of the base, used a strip of the paint chip on the left side and added a floral image as the focal point.

The back page is very simple. I covered the base with tea-dyed paper and a few strips of

drywall tape. The I created a tuck spot diagonally across the top left corner with a piece

of "snippet roll" I'd made previously. I tucked in a small fold-out booklet.

This is the little booklet, made from one piece of paper. It's a tri-fold with pockets. I decorated it with a bit of lace and a vintage image.

Here is the right flap open.

And this shows the entire inside with two pockets in the middle and on the sides, two side pockets.

I added more vintage images and two journaling cards with vintage and floral images.

 

London/England Travel Journal

 Since returning, I have been compiling my travel journal to document the memories of our trip and using much of the ephemera I saved. (It's interesting that there are not many paper tickets anymore - everything is bought or reserved online!)

I made a travelers' notebook-type journal, about 8" tall by 4" wide because that was the approximate size of many of the brochures I picked up. I had bought a cheap shopping bag as a souvenir that I intended to use as the cover. My son and husband used online map apps with their phones but I had to buy a paper map - I have recycled it for the inside covers.

Once all the pages were assembled, I stitched them into the cover with the 3-hole pamphlet stitch and a fine black thread. I used the same thread to use as a closure.

I will be happy to look back at this in the future and remember the fun times we had.

I'm back and catching up!

 We had a lovely time in London and England and now that I've re-acclimated to being home, I'm ready to get back to making art.

Here are a few more weekly collage challenges.

Week 17

Prompts:

1) something round (the die cut cogs)

2) a piece of map (background)

3) a shoe (pair of shoes at bottom of page)

4) a tool your grandparents would have used (vacuum)

5) a postal litem (postcard and stamp)

Bonus: one of the elements torn apart (the map)

Week 18

Prompts:

Find a special photo that can serve as the focus of your collage.

Look for additional papers that can enhance what you see in the photo.

The photo I chose is a photo of Paris my son took a few weeks ago when he

was visiting France. I used an old map of  Paris, a vintage postage stamp, an image of the Eiffel Tower, a portion of a guide book for the Eiffel Tower and a few rubber stamps to add to the collage.

Week 19

Prompts:

1) dancing (vintage image of couple dancing)

2) a label (Louvre label)

3) the next noun you hear someone saying (I didn't use this prompt)

4) something in black and white (tissue paper background, dancing image)

5) a geometrical shape (honeycomb shapes)

Bonus: something stapled (the dancing image stapled to page)

I added the vintage car and bees to balance the collage.