October Altered Trading Coins -- and purging

I've been "missing" for awhile. I spent a long weekend babysitting the grands in Albuquerque. Once home, I finally decided to tackle my art room. I've been putting it off for years and really haven't done much except add to the "stuff" since we moved into this house 13 years ago! Every time I start, I find all kinds of treasures and get side-tracked into working on projects.

I am starting with the six-foot standard closet in the room which is stuffed with sewing and needlework supplies. I figure that once that is cleaned out, I will have much more room to store my current mixed media supplies.

Most people don't know that I was an addicted needlepointer (and cross-stitcher) before moving to Texas 20 years ago. It was something portable I could do while my children were younger and still keep watch over them.  I became a needlepoint teacher and was certified by the National Embroiderers' Guild of America. I taught at seminars throughout the country and was even named "National Teacher of the Year" in 1996 by the EGA.  All this to say that I have a lot of supplies, personal as well as for all the class kits!

And, since I'm knee-deep in a huge mess, I haven't done much crafting. I did finish my altered trading coins for the October swap. The theme was "Fall is in the Air." They are very similar, except for the card stock layer. The background is heat-embossed leaf stamps with Distress ink sponged over. The heat embossing resists the color. Then I stamped and punched the sentiment from scraps of the same paper. Simple, but "fallish."



I hope to be back with more projects soon, but still have a long way to go before my art room is functional again!

I won!

Soon after I finished my Mixed Media Tree Canvas (see below), I saw Echo Park Paper's Project Challenge on Facebook. Since I had used "The Story of Fall" paper collection, I decided to post a photo and enter the challenge.

To my surprise, I read today that I was one of the three winners! Yippee! I'm so excited to win an entire paper collection - I chose the darling "Story of Christmas" collection. Can't wait to receive it. Thank you Echo Park! (Check out all their paper collections on their website here.)

This canvas is a workshop at The Little Blue House in Keller. If you are interested in taking the class, check out more information on the website here and stop by the store or call 817-431-7930 to sign up!

New Mixed Media Canvas

Here is my newest mixed media canvas class which I will be teaching this fall at The Little Blue House.

I used Echo Park's new fall paper collection, "The Story of Our Family." The colors are fresh and bright and very fallish without "screaming fall." It's hard to see in the photograph but there are mica products on the trunk and grass giving the piece some glimmer and shine. This was a fun canvas to create and I hope to be able to share it with many students soon.

All our new classes are on display at the store and we are taking signups even if you missed coming to our Open House yesterday. There are projects for everyone!

A Fall Card Swap

I'm late at posting this swap that I hosted for my online group in November. The "rules" of the swap were to make a fall card inspired by the November 2014 Tim Holtz Tag. 

This was the original tag created by Tim.

This was the card I created. I did not have his large leaf die but I had the Tattered Leaves set of three. Of course they wouldn't fit on a card front  so I had to improvise. I ended up using two leaves (the negative of the die cut on corrugated cardboard) and then added the third leaf as an embellishment. I also don't have an of the Distress Stains yet so I improvised on that technique also by adding some reinker and water to a mini-mister.  The "fall" title are some old stickers which I added to twill ribbon.

This was the card I received from Linda S (thanks!) which is a very close interpretation of the original tag. I love it!

New Halloween/Fall Class Projects

The last few weeks I've been busy creating lots of fun Halloween and Fall projects for our new classes at The Little Blue House. They debuted at our Open House last Saturday.  I will show my projects here, but be sure to head over to the LBH blog to see all the wonderful projects available!

First a layout - "Fall is Simply Delightful"

Last year we started making "treat jars and lids" for every season.  You create the jar once and then the lids and wraps are interchangeable.  This is the new Mummy Lid and Wrap for Halloween and the Scarecrow Lid and Wrap for Fall.

The pumpkin mixed media canvas is a companion to one I did two years ago. That one was round and done on a 12x12" canvas. This pumpkin is taller and done on an 11x14" canvas.

And, back by popular demand, is the Halloween Haunted House canvas from last year. This was the first in a series of four seasonal house canvases I did. Many people didn't start until the spring house and wanted to finish out their series. This is actually last year's sample - the new version will be very similar but will use current papers.

So many projects! And next week we'll be starting our holiday/Christmas ones. Can you see why I've not been blogging?

New Fall Classes

I'm busy creating classes for the Christmas classes for the LBH Preview on Nov. 2 (next Saturday) and I haven't even shared the fall classes here yet!

This is the Halloween double layout, "Fright Night," I created using the gorgeous Halloween collection from Teresa Collins.

Crepe paper rosettes

A scary skeleton using Clearly for Art

And lots of washi tape!

 My spooky Mixed Media "Beware" canvas has been very popular. Everyone has had fun with all the paints and "lotions and potions" used on this project. I love that every canvas has come out just a bit different, but all great!

I also designed a new set of tags for our popular blocks and base set. These are non-seasonal and can be on display at any time. I used beautiful burlap fabrics and lace instead of the usual patterned papers. I love the simplicity of them.

Lace, pearls, twine and metal - a perfect combination!

These classes are all being currently taught at The Little Blue House, so if you are local, stop by to visit or call to reserve your seat!

After next weekend, I will be able to share the Christmas projects - right now they are all WIPs!

Join us for "Falloween" on Saturday!

DON'T GET SPOOKED!

Come join us at The Little Blue House

118 W. Olive St.

Keller, TX 76248

817-431-7930

on Saturday, Sept. 21, 20l3

10:00 am - 5:00 pm

Check out all the new fall and Halloween class projects!

Cute free Make-and-Take!

Refreshments!

Blue House Art Group

Wednesday and today I taught all about alcohol inks at my Blue House Art Group classes. We had alot of fun playing with many techniques.  One was a resist technique using Archival black ink (for whatever reason this seems to only work with that ink).  In a nutshell, you apply one or several colors of alcohol ink to acetate or any clear, non-porous surface.  Once this is dry you stamp an image with Archival ink. Let the ink set on the surface for a minute but do not let it completely dry and then wipe the ink off.  The ink will remove the alcohol ink below the stamped image.  This is one of my favorite techniques and it's fun watching the clear image appear.

Once the class practiced this a few times, we made little charms/pendants with Ranger acrylic fragments.  This was my sample:

We also had a fall-themed ATC swap.  I used alcohol inks on a larger piece of glossy paper and then stamped the pumpkins with black Staz On.  I cut these out and popped them on a fall-colored plaid paper over a small piece of frayed burlap.  The stamp is an old Hero Arts stamp embossed with a "Chile Red Pepper" powder.  I punched the tiny maple leaf in the upper right corner and edged the card with Krylon gold leaf pen.

These are the other ATCs that were swapped. I love how everyone interpreted "fall" differently.

Next month we will be creating a 10"x10" Christmas canvas. Can't wait to teach all the techniques I'll be using on that project.

Family, Home and Heritage

The remaining classes for the current feature are centered around family, home and our heritage.

This is the heritage layout I designed using the Vintage Blue paper collection from Glitz Designs.

"Cherish the Past" Layout

A beautiful shadowbox made from an old drawer - perfect for showcasing special memorabilia from the past.  Or, it could also be used for college or baby or wedding memories, or whatever you choose!  Our home decor projects are always customizable.

Altered Drawer Shadowbox

This is our gorgeous designer wooden cross. Isn't it beautiful?  Again, it can be decorated in your choice of colors and finishes.

Designer Cross

And last, but not least, is our set of three frames using Ten Seconds Studios Art Metal.  These are perfect for your house number, a favorite family photo and the "Bless this Home" sentiment.

"Bless this Home" Frame Set

So you can see we've been busy, busy, busy creating some fun projects.  If you would like to sign up for any of the classes, be sure to call The Little Blue House (817-431-7930) to reserve your seat while they last!

Fall Class Projects

We created two fantastic wreaths for fall classes.

The first is a beautiful burlap wreath with "pin-ups" to change out from season to season.  The Halloween pin-up is a large black bat and there will be a fall pin-up as well (still in the works).

This welcome turkey wreath for Thanksgiving is my personal favorite.  Isn't he adorable?

These are the fall pumpkin toppers that can be changed out with the Halloween toppers I showed in a previous post.  So cute that you can even add photos of loved ones.

And here's our autumn minibook.  It's a darling flip book filled with lots of textures and colors of the season (display stand not included in class but they are available for sale) which could be used for photos or even special fall recipes.  I think it would also be perfect to add notes from all family members of what they are grateful for during the Thanksgiving season.

Still more classes to share tomorrow!

Art Quilts

I created these two non-traditional small art quilts for the fall lineup of classes at the LBH.  They are each approximately 9"x11" on a canvas foundation.  They are displayed back-to-back on a neat wooden display stand, but are two totally separate hangings.  The idea is that you could change them out for each season or holiday.  Both quilts are very textural, combining fabrics and papers with many different types of embellishments. And for non-sewers, there is very little sewing!

The first quilt is Halloween-themed. Just love that spider and web!

And this one is for fall with a variety of leaves and even a real acorn.

Sorry for the not-so-perfect photos!  If you're local and interested in these classes, call The Little Blue House at 817-431-7930 to sign up while there are still spaces available.