Mixed Media Mania - Altered Egg Carton

Join me next Tuesday (April 8, 10 am-1pm or 6pm-9pm) at the LBH for our spring Mixed Media Mania class.  Mixed Media doesn't always have to be dark, grungy and "steampunky" - this month we will do it up in shabby chic just in time for spring and Easter.

We will alter a little egg carton with paints, inks, glitter, papers, lace etc for a sweet little addition to your Easter home decor.  There's even a bit of hand-sewing - I promise it's easy enough for anyone to do!

Drop by the LBH or call (817-431-7930) to reserve your seat. Hope to see you then!

It's Crunch Time!

New class projects will be revealed at the "Falloween Project Premiere" event at The Little Blue House next Saturday, Sept. 21. So, needless to say, I am hip-deep in paper, glue, paint, Stickles, ink etc. busily creating! And, I can't share any of this until after "Falloween," so I will share photos of a project from another swap I was in recently.

This was a one-on-one swap for an online group and it was for an altered slide mailer and slide(s). These cardboard mailers come with one, two, three or even four openings to insert a glass slide. They open like a book. The theme was simply "garden."

This is the cover of the one I sent to my partner. I painted both front and back with green metallic paint and attached part of a pretty iris napkin, edged with gold Krylon pen and coated with a sparkly glaze to give it some shimmer. The spine is covered with a strip of washi tape and I added an old stamp.

Front cover

Back cover

 Here are a few shots of the inside. I used the same metallic green paint inside and continued the washi tape along the spine to reinforce it.  I stamped the definition of "flower" on the left side.  I decorated both sides of two pieces of cardstock the size of the slides (the left is a watercolored stamp and the right one has a "real" stamp, a bird rubon and the word iris cut out). I sandwiched them each between two slides, wrapping the edges with gold tape to enclose them. In order to keep them in place, but be easily removable, I used a glue dot on the back of each.

Here is the lovely mailer I received back (thank you Nancy!). The entire mailer is painted and then layered with papers. I love the quote on the cover.

Front cover

This is the inside. Love that fairy image! Both slides were enclosed in the mailer slots and tiny microbeads surround them - really pretty!

Inside "pages"

And, for a little extra, Nancy included this gorgeous encaustic wax tag - beautiful!

Girlfriends encaustic tag

If you've never joined a swap before, it's great fun and a good way to exchange art and ideas with others.

More Student Projects from my Mixed Media Mania Class

My second altered cigar box class at The Little Blue House was as successful as the first! Everyone's projects came out fantastic! Take a look at these wonderful boxes.

Julie's "Create"

Laura's

Linn's

Mary's (she was visiting all the way from Chicago!)

Michelle's - not quite finished - she added red burlap in lower left corner which insisted on remaining red! She wants to change that a bit but the rest of the box looks amazing.

Susie's "Junk"

I love teaching this kind of class where the students just take off on their own, making unique color choices and combinations of embellishments. Every one comes out different yet beautiful.

Looking forward to Mixed Media Mania classes again in September!

Mixed Media Mania Class - Altered Cigar Box

We had a great response for my Mixed Media Mania class on Tuesday.  And, because it was also the first day of school, many were not able to attend so we have added another date for two more classes next Tuesday, Sept. 3, 10 am - 1 pm or 6 pm to 9 pm.  You may call the LBH at 817-431-7930 to reserve a spot.

I wanted to share some of the results of the students. I forgot to start taking photos until after a few had left, so this is just a small sampling of the gorgeous boxes everyone made.

Debbie's - before the final highlight coat of white

Ellen's - before the beautiful dark green and blue sprays

Hilary's finished box

Karen's - for some reason I was unable to crop or edit this photo but the true colors of her finished box were beautiful soft greens and blues

Lynette's finished box

Susan's finished box - love the wings!

This class was a blast! Please join me next week if you can!

Another "Game On" Project

This is the project I created with "Chip" the mini-clipboard included in the Front Porch Kit.  I was hard  to cover the cute kraft-with-white-polka-dot background Chip came with, but I ended up using two of the bright patterned papers.  I'm going to use this as a "Goal List" and, because I used the chalkboard tape for the little banners, I can change goals as needed!  The colorful filmstrip embellishments were perfect for numbering the list. The #4 didn't quite match the color scheme so I "painted" it lightly with red ink.

I used the foil tape included in the kit to cover Chip's clip.  First I embossed it with a harlequin folder to match the argyle paper, then painted it black with Distress Paint (which works really well for covering non-porous surfaces) and sanded it down slightly.  The tape is great for conforming to curves and irregular shapes. "Focus" was cut out of a larger journaling card and popped up on the clip.

This was a fun project! I hope it will help me focus on my goals - #1 and #3 will be easy, #2 and #4 not so much!

New Vintage Art class

Next week I will be teaching my latest specialty workshop at The Little Blue House called "Christmas Magic Trinket Tins." The class will be given at two different times: Wed. 6:30-9:30 pm and Fri. 10 am-1 pm.

Come join me in this technique-filled workshop and create this darling altered muffin tin wall-hanging. Each compartment is magically transformed into a tiny shadowbox filled with trinkets and artful treasures. Pictures don't do it justice so stop by The Little Blue House to see it in person! You can also call the store to sign up for class.  But hurry, there are limited seats available.

I hope to see you there!

I started a local stamp group with some friends several years ago and we have now grown to nine members, including 3 out of town. Our latest project has been an altered puzzle. I saw these neat wooden puzzles at the Target $1 Spot with exactly nine pieces and decided they would be a perfect project for us. We each determined our own theme and altered one piece in that theme. Then we swapped the other pieces with everyone so we each altered a piece for every other person in their theme. My theme was "Faces" and this is my own piece above.

The other themes were: western; music; crosses; ladybugs; Dick and Jane; Asian; heritage (family tree) and friendship. Our swap is not yet completed so I will post the entire finished puzzle later. Here are the pieces I altered for everyone.