ArtBella

This Blog is Closed

2008-03-15T18:05:00.000-07:00

Please check out my new one at:

www.magicmolecules.blogspot.com

Thanks!

Page for a Collaborative Calendar

2006-10-01T17:02:00.000-07:00

Allright, get ready....this is going to be a long explanation. First of all I'll tell you that this is a page I did for a collaborative 2007 Calendar. My month was January, which I asked for specifically. Second, this is the most emotional and personal piece that I have ever created. I've been wanting to find those things in my art and I think is helping me to get there. Allright, about the art...and why it is completely personal to me.

This page is about, and dedicated to, my dad, who I called Poppie. The color of this is the color blue that he loved the very most. He wore Ben Davis shirts (the monkey shirts as I always called them) and I teased him that he kept his picture on his pocket. However, he always insisted that it wasn't a picture, but rather a mirror! Anyhow...several of his shirts were in this color. I painted the blue over a dictionary page that I found with the word "Begonia" on it. This word can be found in the very bottom right of the work. It is faint, but more noticeable in person. He was the 2nd generation of Begonia Growers in Santa Cruz and the owner of Antonelli Brother's Begonia Gardens for many, many years after his father retired. All told, he worked there for aproximately 44 years! To say tuberous begonias were a big passion of his, is an understatement!

The little white house reminds me of the house he lived in on the nursery property. I believe my brother lived in that house with his family later on, too. All of our little feet ran around on that property at one time or the other! The baby in the image is my Poppie himself! Isn't he the most adorable thing EVER?! I love this picture! The man holding him, is of course, his father, my Papa (Grandpa). The year it was taken was 1943. Now, the reason I used him for January, and asked for this particular month, was becasue he was born on January 7, 1943. Sadly, he passed away of lung cancer in the same month, 2 days before his 60th birthday (January 5th, 2003). So this month is very bittersweet for me...and I still have the birthday card I bought for him on his 60th...I never did get to give it to him. But I think he knew how I felt...See, I told you this was a deeply personal and emotional piece!

The flower is not a begonia, but represents his life among the flowers in the nursery. (By the way, this image is from Bmuse if you are interested). The words "Early Blooms" is taken from a book by Mr. Veterle about tuberous begonias. This is appropriate, as the Antonelli Brothers (1st generation) worked at Veterle (forgive me if the spelling is wrong!) Brother's nursery in the early days and where they learned their knowledge of begoinas! They took this knowledge and opened up their own nursery in 1935. These words have several meanings for me. First, being a New Year baby, he was an "early bloomer". Second, early begonia blooms in the nursery were a good thing as it meant the year was temperate and folks would want to buy things sooner. Lastly, the early bloom refers to his much shortened life. 59 is much too soon to pass from this earth, in my opinion! I wish I had gotten to keep him for just a little bit longer....

The snowflakes are described below and are mostly asthetic, as it doesn't snow in Santa Cruz. Although, it did a couple of times and was a real event for all of us beach bums! :) The words on the calendar page are taken from a poem and reveal the eternal optimism of my Poppie. He always saw the positive in things, people and situations! It doesn't mean that he was blind to the problems. Far from it. Only that there could be positive sides to any situation and that if you found that side, you would come out ok in the end. It reminds me that only days before he died, bald from chemotherapy and laid up in a hospital bed from a quick and furious 4 month battle with lung cancer, he said "There is still time for the miracle". And you know, even though he died, I think the miracle was with him. He kept that positive attitude to the end and never gave up hope, even when it was apparent that there was no chance he would survive. The miracle was that he lived and was an amazing and giving person. He touched everyone who knew him and years later people still recall his generosity in all aspects of his life.

Whew...emotional. Told ya! Of course, this was a really difficult project to get through! It was FULL of problems and OOPS moments, let me tell you! And honestly, I think it was Poppie sitting besides me pulling some of his practical jokes! Originally I was trying to transfer a barren tree to the piece and it absolutely did not work....even though it did work when I tried it on something else first! The darker blue spots on the page are covering up those attempts. I think...honestly, that he knew the barren tree would be too cold and depressing and didn't want it on his page. And you know, he was right. For while I am sad that he is gone, his life was about love and celebration and sweet memories. The tree would have taken those things away from his memory.

So that's it. It looks simple enough and doesn't have a lot of complicated techniques. But it is very meaningful to me. I think I am going to have it copied and framed to give to my family for Christmas with a little letter explaining what it means to me. I think they'll like to have it as a keepsake. We all miss Poppie very much....

Calendar Page 2 For Collaborative Calendar

2006-10-01T16:58:00.000-07:00

This is the actual calendar page. The size of the whole thing is 6", the calendar is approx. 5 1/2" wide. The snowflakes are painted dictionary pages with glitter laid on top. Then a irridescent sequin was glued in the center and more glitter added to the top. The scanner didn't pick up the glitter at all, unfortunantly. It is subtle, but definitely wintery.

PAINT, GLORIOUS PAINT!

2006-05-16T01:42:00.000-07:00

I'm so amazed at myself! I actually painted on canvas! Whoooo Hoooo! Now, for a lot of you, that's no big deal as you are pros with the paint and brush. But me....I was actually afraid of painting! The self-doubt monster always told me I couldn't do it! But maybe, just maybe, I can.

I chose yellow because it is the color I want to be inside some day. I also felt that yellow just wouldn't let me down, you know? It is such a happy color that nothing could go wrong. I just played with it and other colors and splattered and swirled and covered up and just let it all come out onto the canvas. And you know what - it was freeing and amazing and wonderful!

Thank you for the inspiration, all my art-stranger-friends - Santa Cruz Soul Sistah, Jersey Girl, Small Bird, queen of yelo, and especially to A.C. , who encouraged me to experiment with paint in her book with no fear! Love you guys so much!

Watch. Listen. Learn.

2006-04-07T16:57:00.000-07:00

http://www.rosie.com/2006/04/07/all-hail-pink/

Bag & Card For Special RAK

2006-03-21T10:49:00.000-08:00

I made these two things for a special group RAK project. The bag is now stuffed full of goodies that several wonderful people donated! The card is darker than shown and the poem (From Wordsworth's "The Daffodils") was done on yellow paper matching the moon in the bag with light blue lettering. The stars are brads.

Egg Shaped ATC's For Bmuse Swap

2006-03-10T16:56:00.000-08:00

These are for an egg shaped ATC swap. This was my first time working in this shape and I loved it! The "sun rays" are cut up from images from Bmuses "Ancient Time Pieces" Collage Sheet.

Grunge Style 4x4 Art Squared Pages

2006-03-10T16:53:00.000-08:00

Round Robin Pages in Rebecca Ronco's CRAZY CATS Mini Book

2006-03-10T16:48:00.000-08:00

Page Spread in Crazy Cats Mini Book. Images are from Bmuse!

Spring Muse Paper Doll For swap

2006-03-10T16:46:00.000-08:00

"Star Flower".

Spring Muse For A RAK

2006-03-10T16:44:00.000-08:00

This is a spring muse paper doll. The name of it is: "The Birth of The Sun".

Altered Card For A Charity Auction for Bernie Berlin's "A Place to Bark"

2006-03-10T16:36:00.000-08:00

The name of this card is: "Life Lesson No. 2: Live Your Life With Passion".

This will part of a unique, one of a kind, collaborative deck of cards and will be auctioned off for "A Place To Bark"! More info soon!

My Miniature Round Robin Altered Book

2006-01-28T00:34:00.000-08:00

This book is part of a round robin in my Mini Canvas Yahoo Group. My theme, obviously, is Zinnias, Zebras & Zettiology. I came up with the name, oddly enough, not because I wanted to have Zebras and Zinnias created on the inside - although artists may certainly do that too - but because when I try to explain the Zettiology style, that is what comes to mind! Zettiology is full of faces in flowers (zinnias) and black and white striped arms and legs that make me think of Zebras. The flower face and arm are both zetti. The zebra "z" is from a playing card sent to me by one of the participants.

Tomorrow this book starts on its first journey - to Australia! It will be a well traveled book by the time it comes home!

Rules and Sign In Page

2006-01-28T00:31:00.000-08:00

There will be 8 other artists (plus me) working in this book. I cannot wait to see what each person comes up with for the theme! The rules card on this comes out (see below) and all the letters are cut out from a magazine.

Zetti Rules Card Front

2006-01-28T00:30:00.000-08:00

The flower card is a playing card sent to me by Janet H. and was just perfect for this use! The pink flower on her hat is also from a card she sent!

Rules Card For Zetti Book

2006-01-28T00:27:00.000-08:00

This is the rules card for my book. As you can see, I like to leave it to each individual artist to create whatever comes into their imagination for my book! Because there is no "must" in art!

Final Pages in Zetti Book

2006-01-28T00:21:00.000-08:00

This page was actually going to be my "Information" page. However, once I added the Zetti "eyes", I felt compelled to look for an eye quote. The VERY FIRST quote I came to was this one by Roald Dahl: "Above all, watch with glittering eyes the whole world around you because the greatest secrets are always hidden in the most unlikely places. Those who don't believe in magic will never find it." It was absolutely perfect for this last page, I felt. And is what I believe artistically! So instead, my name and info is on the back cover. :)

Round Robin Page In Sharon G's Book

2006-01-19T18:12:00.000-08:00

The theme of Sharon's book was "The Color of Music". This is somewhat done in the Zettiology style, although a little more simplistic than Teesha's wonderful creations! The blue "vein" at the top and bottom is space between the torn paper. I filled it with blue glitter that was much more shiny in person!

Bird Brains Left Side of Spread (See The Next Page Below)

2005-12-30T22:32:00.000-08:00

This is my spread for a round robin book. The theme of this book was "Ravens". The scan does not do the actual color justice, but it is pretty bright in person. The purple words really stand out on the black background, which is why I left the original black for it. Normally I would have torn up paper to collage for the background, but I really liked how the white popped against the black.

I cannot remember where I found the funny men graphic....but I remember instantly liking the image! It felt a little like deja vu and I could have sworn I had seen it before. And I was right. This image was used by Kelly (who it will travel to next to be worked in ironically!) in an amazing composition!! Once I realised that I almost didn't use it -- I didn't want her to feel I was copying her! But I just love the image so much and was so taken with her own use of it, that I had to use it! So thank you Kelly for the inspiration!

All images were printed onto either card stock or matte photo paper. The words were printed as well. All the other colors were added with watercolor pencils. This was my first use of these type of pencils and I just LOVE them! I have the small set of 12 colors, but will certainly ask my hubby to start saving for the BIG set as I am hooked! They are amazing...you color the section you want just like with normal colored pencils. But then you take a wet paint brush and swipe it over. Instantly it makes your coloring seem like it was watercolored. Next I want to try watercolor crayons, as I hear they are just as wonderful to use!

Bird Brains Right Side of Spread

2005-12-30T22:16:00.000-08:00

The quote is: "If men had wings and bore black feathers, few of them would be clever enough to be ravens". The actual quote from Henry Ward Beecher was not "ravens", but "crows", but I switched it for this spread.

It was an honor to have worked in this book for Mija, my dear Oregonian Art Friend & Santa Cruz Soul Sister! I must confess that I felt a little intimidated when it showed up as all the previous work is just amazingly beautiful! I took a long time working out what I wanted to do on "test papers" and couldn't find the right fit. Knowing that my personally set deadline to get it in the mail by the end of the year was quickly approaching, I sat down and worked it out. I had the images of the feathers, the large crow, the silly men and the quote but had no idea how I was going to put it together. I opened the book to the blank black spread and stared at it for about 15 minutes. Once I started moving the pieces around, it started to evolve. Then I really got into it and had to force myself to stop and sleep. I picked it up again today and finished it off. As is true with most of my work, it seems to just evolve into something. My compositions never turn out to be what I had in mind in the first place. I know some artists "see the finished canvas" before they start, but somehow that has never worked with me! I usually start with one image or a piece of paper or a quote or word and go from there.

The name "henry ward beecher" was put into the flying bird at the top left at first. Then I wondered, at about 9:00 pm tonight where this quote came from (what text). When I googled I found that it came from a piece called "bird brains" and voila! I knew it had to be put into the bird instead. I really like how it all came to ballance once I moved his name and added the title. With that, I was done!

Tomorrow this book starts its journey to Kelly in Southern California, where she will most certainly create a real masterpiece for it! It feels right somehow that it is going to "little bird" now! I cannot wait to see how it evolves...

Mini "Things With Wings" ATC's

2005-11-28T15:20:00.000-08:00

Vintage Holiday Themed ATC's

2005-11-28T15:19:00.000-08:00

Click On This Link...

2005-11-17T00:04:00.000-08:00

...if you want to see all the beautiful playing cards made for the WINGS OF HOPE PROJECT inspired by the Hurricane Katrina disaster.

http://www.alteredchix.com/

Once there, click on "WINGS OF HOPE" to take you to the picture trail! These beautiful cards have been sent to Oprah with our hopes that they will be used for charity. Enjoy!

Favorite Quotes Theme

2005-11-16T23:54:00.000-08:00

This card was made for a Vintage Favorite Quotes Swap. The background paper was given to me in a paper swap and I have saved it for a long time. It felt right for this card with all its texture and layers because we travel through life with those very same things. Or at least the really interesting people do!

Vintage Beach Themed ATC's (Artist Trading Cards)

2005-11-16T23:51:00.000-08:00

4 Page Spread For Circus Round Robin Book

2005-11-16T23:40:00.000-08:00

This is the opening page of "The Circus Girls" spread I did for another Round Robin Book. This page was actually created last after I realized that I had picked all circus women to display! A coincidence?! I don't think so....I myself think I'm a freak! So I must have been telling my own story, eh?!
This is the last of the four pages. The colored dots are actually clear bingo chips! I also used vintage circus tickets in this spread.
Strange Girls....why were they born?! Because we are ALL beautiful to behold! This is the third page of the spread.

This is the second page of the spread. I have plans to make a book like this for myself one day. I just love how whimsically it turned out! A great theme!

Gold Themed ATC Swap

2005-11-16T23:36:00.000-08:00

The theme of this swap was GOLD. I am really proud of how these cards turned out. They seem so "rich" and "deep". The square images in the background are actual cancelled postage stamps. Perfect for this project!

3 Mini ATC's For A Winner Takes All Lottery

2005-11-16T23:28:00.000-08:00

These were made for the winner of another WTA Lottery Drawing. She said she loved abstract and roosters. These were so fun to make! I knew right away I wanted to use Picasso's Woman with Book, as that is one of my favorite images! One day if I ever own a tiny house, I'm going to decorate a room around this poster! Anyways, these represent the first mini's that I really fell into "the groove" making. I'm thinking abstract/surreal images may be the best subjects for me with the mini cards since they are so small (1.5 x 2.5 inches).

Altered CD's For An Asian Themed Swap

2005-11-16T23:26:00.000-08:00

These are a bit blurry looking because the jewels on them raise the image off of the scanner bed. Some day I'll have a good digital to take pics with. Until then, this should give you a pretty good idea of what they look like. :)

More Altered CD's For An Asian Themed Swap

2005-11-16T23:23:00.000-08:00

ATC's For A Vintage Angels Swap

2005-11-16T23:18:00.000-08:00

The gold edging on some of these are from candy wrappers! Yes! You can eat the chocolate and then use the paper for art! What a great deal, huh?! ha ha ha! Seriously though - these cards really spoke to me and I loved making them. I hope they are watching over their new owners like good angels should.

Birthday Card and Matching Box

2005-11-16T23:15:00.000-08:00

I made these for my Sarah Bella for her 37th birthday. I thought the little girl looked like her a little bit and I just loved her silly smile under all that cake! The saying on the card is: Bella always found a way to have her cake and eat it too! Which PERFECTLY describes my sweet bella! Somehow she always comes out ahead!

Lil Freakies Paper Dolls

2005-11-16T23:12:00.000-08:00

I made these for a Miniature Halloween Doll Swap! They are only 4" tall.

2 Mini Cards For A Winner Take All Lottery

2005-11-16T23:08:00.000-08:00

Sure, not everyone is going to appreciate the Elvis card! But it was hilarious to make! The winner of the WTA Lottery in the miniatureatc group got to choose the kind of cards they wanted made for them. And this person liked Vintage (thus the nude on the right) and Satire/Humor. She said she loved the Elvis card a lot and that it was right up her alley!

But I DO like Elvis! Honest!

4 Page Spread In A Round Robin Book

2005-11-16T23:01:00.000-08:00

This is in Laura A.'s Fantastical Fantasy Book that she sent out for our round robin in the Altered Chix site. On the bottom is a picture of J.M. Barrie himself - the wonderful author of Adventures in Kensington Gardens - better known as Peter Pan! It was this picture of him that inspired me to create this spread.

3" Magnates For The Eiffel Tower Swap in Artchix

2005-11-16T22:55:00.000-08:00

The only rules for this swap were that you had to use an image from the Eiffel Tower Collage Sheet from ArtChix and they had to be paper. I decided to make little magnates. I really like how these turned out.

Miniature ATC's (1.5 x 2.5 Inches)

2005-11-16T22:53:00.000-08:00

These were for a swap I hosted called "Favorite Words/Quotes/Authors" Swap. The words themselves are from a vintage dictionary I found falling apart in the thrift store. Recycle! It's good for the earth! :)

Alternate 9 of Spades Card For The Wings of Hope Project

2005-11-16T22:51:00.000-08:00

Altered CD for a Chunky Un-Book

2005-11-16T22:49:00.000-08:00

Altering CD's is so much fun! I love the roundness!

A Fish Out of Water ATC Swap Through Paper Dollz

2005-11-16T22:45:00.000-08:00

In this swap, you had to use a fish - but he couldn't be in the water! What fun this was - very freeing to do the more surreal compositions!

Artist Trading Card (ATC) For A Time Themed Lottery in Artchix

2005-11-16T22:43:00.000-08:00

Another Way to Help With Hurricane Katrina Relief

2005-09-22T08:53:00.000-07:00

http://www.forallkids.org/

Playing Cards For "Wings of Hope" Project

2005-09-18T14:10:00.000-07:00

Joker

This card and the next were made for the Wings of Hope Art Card Project. Some amazing women artists called Altered Chix made a complete deck of playing cards and sent them to Oprah in the hopes that she will reproduce them for one of her charities. I am proud to call these women my friends and be a part of this special project!

Playing Cards For "Wings Of Hope" Project

2005-09-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

Three of Hearts

HURRICANE VICTIMS NEED OUR HELP

2005-09-01T02:37:00.000-07:00

FOR ALL THOSE AFFECTED BY THE HURRICANE:

http://www.redcross.org/

FOR THE FURRY FAMILY MEMBERS AFFECTED:

https://secure.hsus.org/01/disaster_relief_fund_2005?

Beautiful RAK From Linda K.

2005-08-31T11:18:00.000-07:00

This dreamy card is a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) from Linda K. who is a member of the Artchix community. It is called "Listen To Your Heart" and the colors are even more amazing in person! This card is so "deep" and touching and makes me cry - in a good way! It came in an amazing hand stamped envelope (which I am going to use in further art endeavors because it is as amazing as this card!) and with a paper napkin that also begs to be made into art!

RAK's are one of my favorite things about this art community! The fact that people want to share their art with others always makes me cry! It makes the world feel a little less mean and gives me hope! Thank you Linda for making my day!!

Fantasy Swap for Vintage ATC Group Swap

2005-08-24T17:18:00.000-07:00

I was feeling all pink and girly when I did these and the nudie cutie cards. When I first signed up for this Fantasy swap I imagined doing more sci-fi images, but they just didn't gel with me at the time. I guess art really is affected by your moods...

On both these and the nudes, I played with a gold metallic paint pen that I had never used and had been sitting in a drawer for years (originally bought to do christmas stuff - but didn't!). I really love the look, so I'm definitely going to play with it some more!

Nudie Cuties Swap For Vintage ATC Group

2005-08-24T17:16:00.000-07:00

Bookmark For My Friend Kathy

2005-08-23T08:31:00.000-07:00

This is a bookmark I made for my friend Kathy who is visiting today. She loves books like I do so I thought this would be the perfect giftie! The words are a stamped image from Brenda B. Thanks so much Brenda! I love this quote and knew I had to use it for this as soon as I opened your wonderful package! :)

I've Been RAKed!

2005-08-23T08:20:00.000-07:00

This came in the mail yesterday from Beth Moran - completely unexpectedly! I was RAKed! Hurah! This card is AMAZING and has two of my very favorite papers in it - the black and silver star paper, and the blue and silver star paper. The image is beautiful and I'll certainly find out her technique and share it! Thanks so much Beth!

What's a RAK? Well, RAK is short for Random Act of Kindness and it is something that is a beautiful part of Artchix and other Art Groups! Never before have I seen people with more kindness towards others and a willingness to share their beautiful art! It gives a person a little faith in the humankind! I highly reccommend sharing a little kindness today - it's awesome!

Bmuse HEAT WAVE Challenge

2005-08-17T13:41:00.000-07:00

The name of these cards, from left to right are: "It's Killing Me!", "The Devil's Sauna", and "Hot Enough Yet?!" and are my "Hotter Than Hades" series. So why did I create these skellirific, macabre cards? Well....

In one of the groups I belong to, Bmuse, there was a challenge to create cards in the theme of "Heat Wave". This was of course brought on by the recent heat wave this country has been having! I know it's been going on here with 110 degrees each day! I wasn't going to do this challenge because the cards in the photos file were JUST AMAZING! Sometimes I'm a little intimidated by the talent flying around in these groups since I'm still technically a newbie! Anyways, I overheard someone saying something in a store recently that just had me laughing out loud! It was one of those REALLY HOT DAYS and this store had NO air conditioning! Ugh! A woman in another isle said "It's hotter than the devil's sauna in here!". Well, because I'm completely addicted to art now, I KNEW I had to make a card around that quote, so I made these and decided to enter them in the contest.

And guess what?!? There were three winners out of the group chosen by all group members through a poll, and I won for "BEST ILLUSTRATION OF THE THEME - HEAT WAVE" !! Whooooo Hoooooo! I've never won an art contest before and I am absolutely thrilled beyond words!! An humbled and maybe just a tad, wee little bit more confident in my artwork! Wow! It's so cool! Or should I say HOT?!? Hee Hee! The prize was choosing three collage sheets from the Bmuse store, which is one of my favorite art supply places! I use Vickie's pre-cut atc blanks all the time because cutting those strait lines is kind of difficult for me with my goofy hands! Anyways, it was awesome to pick out some beautiful collage sheets to use in my artwork! Thank you so much Bmuse members and Vicki and the universe for leading me towards the amazing world of collage art! It's awesome!

Note on process used for these cards: The skeletons are from the Bmuse Black and Tan sheet called "Skeletons". The skeletons on "It's Killing Me" and "Hot Enough Yet?!" were both covered with a fire/flames illustration printed out on waxed studio transfer paper to get that rosy/fires of hell glow! hee hee! The suns are adorable charms from Judy's Vintage Treasures. Hades is the one holding the skeleton on the pitchfork and the background paper is from a photograph of some planet I believe, digitally altered with a color filter then printed out. "Hot Enough" has flames cut out of the same paper which are much more apparent on the actual card. The bathtub, flames, and sun in "The Devil's Sauna" were also done with the waxed studio paper. The skeleton was added last and a notch cut into the bathtub to tuck the little guy into it. I made this collage on a stark white background on purpose to illustrate the "white hot" aspect of fire.

Vintage Vamps Swap for Vintage ATC's Group

2005-08-16T14:44:00.000-07:00

All those beauties in their vampiest poses! I made these cards by searching for old movie covers that each one did and then pasted them all together to make the background. I then added the pics of each acctress and found this cool film strip clip art and added a quote from each gal. Then I added those stars, which just seemed so appropriate!

Vintage Vamps Swap for Vintage ATC's Group

2005-08-16T14:40:00.000-07:00

These were the first 3 cards I made for the vintage vamps swap. I loved working with the classic actresses in this one! It really is true that they "gave great face" back then!

Dreams Contest Chip & Large Chip

2005-07-31T20:01:00.000-07:00

Here is another formica chip, but this time a large one! I love doing these too! This one will be sent out as a RAK (Random Act of Kindness) to someone. Part of me wants to keep it because it is the first large one I have done. But I think I'll get more joy out of giving it to someone, so off she will go. The name of this collage is "Flowers in Paradise".

The small chip above has been submitted for a Dreams lottery at ArtChix. The winner gets all the cards that people created for the challenge! It's a great game and I hope someday I'll be the winner! :) The name of this one is "Dreaming of Home". Sometimes I think I enjoy naming my collages as much as creating them! Ha Ha Ha

Formica Chips For ArtChix Swap

2005-07-31T19:58:00.000-07:00

Here are three more chips I created for an ArtChix Formica Chip Swap. Again, they are a little fuzzy because they have the jewels on them. I used paper, vintage stamps, jewels, ArtChix images, and fibers on these. The words are from vintage sheet music. These can be tricky to create as the formica doesn't like glue - stuff just slides right off of it! But I found if I put a thin layer of rubber cement down first and let it dry, that glue sticks perfectly!

From left to right, these are: "Starlight, Starbright", "Longing For Summer", and "Melancholy".

Formica Chip Swap

2005-07-31T19:54:00.000-07:00

These are three formica chips for a swap with ArtChix. They are done with paper, vintage postage stamps, ArtChix images, little jewels, and fibers. The words are all from vintage sheet music, which is one of my favorite things to use!

From left to right, they are: "Little Bird", "Lighter Than Air", and "Follow Your Heart". Sorry for the fuzziness, but things with embellishments are tough to scan. :)

Party! Party! Party! Swap

2005-07-31T16:12:00.000-07:00

These nine cards were for a Party! Party! Party! themed swap. From left to right they say: "Connie was always the best charades player", "Luau", and "A lady does not macarena Barbara".

I had the most difficult time deciding what type of cards to make. Then, the day before I had to mail them in, I found these vintage images and knew they had to be my party cards! The series is called "Retro Party Girls" and I made up the wacky words to put on them. They had me chuckling to myself while creating them. And I hope the new owners like them too!

This one was my favorite of the bunch. I love the number stickers on the hats. I almost kept this one, but didn't.

The words on these from left to right say: "B 55 Bingo!" and "Margarita". The Bingo one is from a slang saying about playing "backseat bingo" which means...well, YOU figure it out!! ;)

From left to right these say: "Shirley, Marge, and Donna wore special party hats", "Helen loved pink elephants", and "Let's Go Go", which is Shea's favorite of the bunch.

Note: I used scrapbooking paper for the backgrounds on these. It is amazing the amound of cool designs you can find out there in paper. And they are so fun to tear up! Most of them also have stickers that I found in the same scrapbooking store. :)

Frida's Final Adios (For Now)

2005-07-31T16:07:00.000-07:00

Here are the final three cards I sent in for this swap. This will not be the last time that I attempt Mexican or Frida themed art. I loved the freeing nature of the colors in this type of art. And again, I was able to learn a little bit more about an artist I have heard about but never really studied. There is a connection there with Frida for me, as I too was in a horrible accident that changed my life. She painted to work through the boredom and constant pain. I create art as a way to deal with chronic pain as well. It is amazing what allowing the creative portions of your brain to work can do for your entire being. There will always be pain in my body, but creating a small work of art that I can share with others somehow makes it all a little more bearable. :)

Viva Frida Continued!

2005-07-31T16:03:00.000-07:00

Here's a very interesting note about the creation of these cards. When I sat down to start making them, I used various bright tissues (I thought!) and some tissue flowers to make the base. But I found that the colors I started with were way too dark and the Frida images looked completely wrong on them! So I dug into my paper box and found the RAK's from Lynnette and Mija and decided to give those a whirl. And lo and behold, the SUPER vibrant colors worked beautifully! It was as if Frida herself would not allow me to do anything but bright, bright, bright. I suppose this is appropriate since Frida was a great shining light in the world of art!

Viva Frida!

2005-07-31T15:56:00.000-07:00

A Frida Kahlo swap has been my latest love. I had never done Frida or Mexican themed cards and was excited to try them out. And I had a great time creating these nine cards! So much fun that I stayed up until 5:00 am to finish them! I just couldn't walk away! In these cards I used pages from a vintage spanish dictionary covered with colored tissue (thank you Lynnette April!) and papel picado, a mexican designed tissue paper with cut out shapes (thank you Mija!!). I then used various images from vintage Talavera pottery, rhinestones, vintage pics of Frida, and embroidery thread throughout.

Magritte Small Book Page Front

2005-06-16T18:51:00.000-07:00

This page that will be added to a book with other artists' pages was wonderful to create! Before I joined this swap I didn't know much about Magritte other than knowing he was a surrealist painter. Finding out about his life and creating a piece in his honor was a great education! I was asked to submit this page for publication by Sherryllynne of The Gleaner Zine. It should be published in August. I'll let you know more when I find out! I must say though...it's pretty exciting to know that something I created will be published!

Magritte Page Front Open

2005-06-16T18:50:00.000-07:00

The flower on this page opens up to reveal a Magritte quote. It is: "Everything we see hides another thing; we always want to see what is hidden by what we see". When I found this quote I knew that I had to make it a part of my page. It is so true that we always want to see what is hidden. So much so in fact, that we tend to overlook everything else but what we cannot see and end up blinding ourselves to the real meaning of what is visible.

Magritte Page Back Closed

2005-06-16T18:49:00.000-07:00

We were asked to include an ATC on the back of our pages that somehow related to the theme. It was a no-brainer to create another flower that moves for the back! :) My "signature" is done in a cloud, which is something that Magritte often used himself. The brick wall is also another Magritte-ism. The name of this page is "The Great War Revisited" because it was partly based on his painting "The Great War" below:

Magritte Page Back Opened

2005-06-16T18:48:00.000-07:00

When you open the flower it reveals another Magritte quote which is "the mind loves the unknown". I thought it very appropriate for this project.

If I were to do this project again, I would do two things different. First, I would not make all 20+ pages all by hand. This took forever and several bottles of rubber cement! Second, I would have made the colors in this composition even brighter. Magritte did love color and many of his works are so vibrant. But all in all, I am happy and satisfied with this composition. And learning more about Magritte was fantastic. He was an amazing painter with a love of mankind and as Helene from my group has said, treated the images of women with much respect. Bravo!

Card For Shakespeare's Siren ATC To Travel To Canada Upon

2005-06-08T11:55:00.000-07:00

This is the card I made for Shakespeare's Siren ATC (see below) to travel to Canada in for the lucky Mermaid Lottery Winner Andrea! And, this is actually the first greeting card I have made! I think there will be a few more in my future! Sorry Hallmark! :)

Sunset Serenade ATC

2005-06-08T11:53:00.000-07:00

This card was made for a personal swap using a vintage card (the background), paper and two postage stamps (the mermaid is cut from a postage stamp). I am currently finishing up a Rene Magritte Small Book Page for a swap book and have been seeing things in a surrealist light all week! I wasn't all that familiar with Magritte before joining the swap but am a true fan now!

"Songbird" ATC

2005-06-08T11:52:00.000-07:00

This ATC was made for a personal swap. The woman who will get this said she loves nature. She sent me an amazing ATC in a butterfly swap that is a stunning abstract piece! While this isn't abstract, the scratches on the background paper remind me of her card. The elements are paper, a postage stamp, a sticker (sing), a button, and two tiny gems.

"Song of The Sirens" ATC

2005-06-08T11:51:00.001-07:00

After making "Shakespeare's Siren" I was still in the watery mood so I made this for a personal swap! The card is made up of paper, hand-dyed fibers (netting, rik rak, ribbon flowers) from www.carma.biz.com/ (an amazing store!), a tiny shell, and tiny beads. The colors on this one are more amazing in person! The scan just doesn't do it justice! I kindof want to keep this one, but I made it especially for a personal swap, so that wouldn't be fair! :)

"Sailing Away" ATC

2005-06-08T11:51:00.000-07:00

When I was making this card I didn't even realize consciously that I was putting together another sea-themed card! I was focusing more on the maps and thinking of travel. I picked the Neptune/Poseidon stamp because of his colors! I'm really pleased with how this one turned out though! When I look at it I can feel its "movement" and it makes me want to create a whole book about traveling. Perhaps that will be a summer project!

The card is made up of paper, a used postage stamp, half of a slide/negative mailer (the square frame) covered in paper, a key charm, a bit of a golden paper doily, and the words are stickers. A Good Tip: When working with the paper slide/negative mailers, used rubber cement to attach paper to it! Regular tacky glue tends to warp the image and other glues don't hold the paper well on the plastic. And before adding the paper, I lightly scored a criss-cross design into the blank mailer so the glue could get an extra strong grip. :)

Shakespeare's Siren ATC For A Mermaid Lottery

2005-06-08T11:50:00.000-07:00

This card was made for a mermaid lottery contest in the ARTCHIXSTUDIO Group. There were 36 cards plus one awesome clam-shell Mermaid Motel made! Andrea in Canada was the lucky winner of all those sultry sirens! And to say the rest of us are green with envy is putting it lightly! Heh Heh! We are happy for Andrea though, as the only other thing she has ever won was a stuffed beaver with an attached toothbrush! Me thinks she deserves these lovelies!! Congrats Andrea, you lucky, lucky Mermaid Matron! There's going to be a rush for the Canadian Border like nothing we've seen since the results of the 2004 election! :p

"Heartaches" ATC

2005-06-08T11:48:00.000-07:00

This ATC was also made for a personal swap. It is a mixed media collage consisting of paper, a torn paper covered free-form heart cut from heavy cardstock, vintage sheet music (the "heart" word inside the heart is from the same sheet), a sticker, and a tiny heart embellishment.

I liked the "Many a heart is aching" line from this sheetmusic because it is somewhat ambiguous and provokes a little thought! It does in me, anyways! I wonder, are those hearts aching because they are desperately in love? Or maybe because they are the victim of unrequited love? Or just because they have had their hearts broken? Hmm...we shall never know! Maybe the recipient of this card will let us know what she thinks!

Celestial Dreams 1, 2 & 3

2005-06-08T11:47:00.000-07:00

These cards were made for a group swap at Bmuse. The theme was Celestial and we could interpret that any way we wanted. These ladies are images from antique french postcards and I just love them. The background paper is a waxy tissue type paper from a paper swap. I added word and star stickers and cute little sun charms from "Vintage Treasures By Judy". You can find her store on eBay. Search by seller: vintagetreasuresbyjudy. She's got great prices and bunches of stuff to use in collages and other projects! Again, no affiliation, I just love her store!

"Fortunant Friends" ATC

2005-06-08T11:46:00.000-07:00

This card is made from several different papers torn and glued for the background. The image is from an ArtchixStudios collage sheet, and the little gems and button in the corner from Vintage Treasures By Judy. And actually, this card is being sent to Judy as we speak!

If you have time, go and check out the Art Chix Studio Site! Helga has some amazing collage sheets and art bits to use in your artwork! And she's super, super friendly and professional! I belong to her Yahoo Group and it is one of the most fun places on the web! That is where the Mermaid Lottery came from! We had a rolling-good time with that one! :)

http://www.artchixstudio.com/

Again, I don't own or have any professional ties to this store, I just love it and want to share it with you! And HINT HINT her stuff makes AWESOME Christmas Gifts!!

"Destinations" ATC

2005-06-08T11:45:00.000-07:00

Yep! Another ocean like card! Maybe we should drive down to the coast one of these weekends! I do miss the lovely ocean! Anyways, this ATC card is being sent as a personal swap. It is made using paper, a paper covered slide/negative mailer, a vintage postage stamp, a word sticker, and ribbon from CARMA. The colors are so much more amazing in person, too!

2005-05-12T23:43:00.000-07:00

Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Mama's Eyes"

These next six images are all miniature Artist Trading Cards, which are a mere 1 1/2 x 2 1/2 inches in size. A pretty small canvas for my bumbling fingers! The style of the art is called Zettiology, named in honor of an awesome art studio who creates and sells collage sheets and rubber stamps! These six cards were my first foray into Zetti art and I am absolutely hooked! I love the fun and quirky style! If you want to check them out for yourself, go to their website at http://www.teeshamoore.com/collagesheetsforsale.htm

I am not affiliated with them in any way. I'm just a HUGE fan who adores their style! I hope to acquire some more of their collage sheets soon so I can create Zetti stuff on a larger canvas.

2005-05-12T23:42:00.000-07:00

Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Red Burgundy Morning"

This mini Zetti ATC was created before I found the words. They seemed perfect for these flutter-byes! The faces and background paper are Zetti. The flowers are origami paper, and the butterflies were cut from postage stamps.

2005-05-12T23:41:00.001-07:00

Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Possessed"

This little queen is a collage of all sorts of different papers - Zetti (the queen and eyes), an old wine label, part of an old spirit label, and a button.

2005-05-12T23:41:00.000-07:00

Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Lost in Space"

When I saw this gal on the Zetti collage sheet, I knew she had to be an astronaut! So I added some cool background paper, a few stamps, some tissue from a swap, some stamped star images, and a button. The words are from a piece of vintage sheet music. She doesn't look all that concerned with being lonely though, does she?!

2005-05-12T23:39:00.000-07:00

Miniature ATC Zettiology Style "Acrobat Break Time"

The guy and the words are from a Zetti Circus collage sheet, various papers torn and added, then a button. He was the first one I created out of the bunch and gave me the courage to continue on and finish the series of 6.

2005-05-12T23:28:00.000-07:00

Mini ATC Zettiology Style "Foolish Fancy"

Sorry about the fuzziness and crookedness on this guy. He didn't scan well. But I had fun making this one and thought it was good advice for anyone wanting to run away with the circus! heh heh! If you are going to run away, at least take a safe job like selling corndogs or tickets instead of being the wild animal trainer! :)

Black and White Swap ATC's

2005-05-12T23:27:00.000-07:00

Black and White Swap Last 3 Cards

The next 9 cards were created for a Black and White Theme Swap at a-t-c.com. I had a difficult time at first with the black and white theme. I kept wanting to add color! The names of these three cards are: Champagne Wishes (top right), Melancholy Baby (middle left), and Hair-Raising Ideas (bottom right).

2005-05-12T23:26:00.000-07:00

Black and White First Six Cards

I think it is safe to say that the black and white theme was making me feel a little "dark and sad", which is ok. Sometimes creating cards is a way for me to work through the sadness. And those who really know me well, know that I have both a dark and a light side to my personality. I've learned to embrace that darker side in the last couple of years! Not to worry, I'm not "going over to the dark side" like Darth Vader! I am just learning to appreciate all the facets of my true personality these days. The names of these cards, from top to bottom, left to right are: "Island Dream", "homage to Edward Gorey" (My dear husband's favorite illustrator!), "Silent Tears of Sorrow" (Thinking about losing my dad while making this one), "The Eternal Star Gazer" (Again, thoughts of my dad - looking to the stars and thinking "are you there poppie?!"), "Lost Dreams" (Can you see the face behind hers? It's a very cool sticker sent to me by my friend Heather R.), and "Bella Couture".

Four Cards for a "Time for Tea" Swap at B'Muse

2005-05-12T23:24:00.000-07:00

"Beautea"

The wonderful woman who hosted this swap has an online store called "Life, LiberTEA, and the Pursuit of Happiness". Such a clever name! So I wanted to use that play on words and create my cards in the same way. These are what I came up with. And if you want to check out her online store, here's the link: http://www.liberteas.com/. Again, no affiliation, just a cool hostess! :)

2005-05-12T23:23:00.000-07:00

"Loyaltea"

What can I say about this card except I absolutely LOVE it?! A boy and his dog - loyalty in its purest form! I'm thinking I'll have to make a duplicate of this card to keep around, since it makes me chuckle every time I see it.

2005-05-12T23:22:00.000-07:00

"Royaltea 2"

This is actually the second "Royaltea" card that I have made. The first was done for a personal swap. I feel like this card still needs something, so I may wait to send it off to the hostess. I'm not sure what to add though. Any ideas??

2005-05-12T23:21:00.000-07:00

"Sense & Sensibilitea"

This card turned out lighter than I invisioned, but I like it anyways. I absolutely love this movie and knew I had to make this card part of the swap. In fact, if I had a tea shop, I think I would call it Sensibiliteas with an Austen-esque type feel. That would be fun! :)

Three Fairy Cards For A Personal Swap

2005-05-12T23:20:00.000-07:00

These three cards were made to send for a personal swap. "Margie" has shown up before and she was the inspiration for these three. I altered a vintage photo with tattoos, glasses, and a cell phone to make her a "hip chick". "Trixie" is probably my favorite out of the bunch! The number seven was random, but I think it reveals a little bit about her personality: That she could be the number one fairy if she wanted, but it having too much fun as a "bad girl"! "Lucie" is sweet, but obviously a little bold too - just look at her eyes! She's a "new" fairy (the small wings), so I have a feeling she will be influenced by the other two as time goes on! heh heh heh. I'm thinking these three fairies will show up again with a few of their friends! Maybe even in their own book!

Dear Diary Book Swap Back Page

2005-05-03T12:28:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary Book Back Page

This is the back of my Dear Diary Page for a swap at Paper Dollz Yahoo Group. It is a mixed media collage with printed images, torn paper layered with tissue, a postage stamp and embellishments. It's 8 1/2 x 11", and the biggest collage I have created yet! It was very "freeing" to create in the larger size and I want to do more very soon. I've seen some of the art that the other swappers have created and I think this is going to be an amazing book! I'm not sure I'll be able to write in it after it arrives - I don't want to ruin the artwork with my scratchings! So I may have to use it as a coffee table book instead! :) Oh, and the quote reads: "Beauty is how you feel inside, and it reflects in your eyes." -Sophia Loren

Please let me know what you think. Constructive critisism is always welcome and encouraged!

Note: The edges of this page are decorated with stamped tissue paper, which was graciously sent to me by Kandace in a recent paper swap. Thank you Kandace for the inspiration! The whole color scheme of this project revolved around your beautiful tissue paper!

Front Page For Dear Diary Book

2005-05-03T12:26:00.000-07:00

Dear Diary Front of Page

This is the front of my page for the dear diary book swap. Again, it is mixed media collage with embellishments in the 8 1/2 x 11" size. The quote reads: "What lies behind you and what lies in front of you, pales in comparison to what lies inside of you" -Ralph Waldo Emerson

I was a last minute fill-in replacement for this book and am so glad I decided to push myself to do the larger collage. It was a wonderful learning experience!

Note: The beautiful heart and the paper used in the other three corners (the beautiful rusty peachy colored paper with the script) was also sent by Kandace in a recent paper swap! So beautiful! Thanks Kandace!

What is an ATC?

2005-05-03T11:45:00.000-07:00

Good Afternoon All!

For everyone who wants to know a little bit more about Artist Trading Cards, or ATC's, here's some info for you. ATC's are little works of art that are the size of Baseball Trading Cards (3 1/2 x 2 1/2"). They can be collaged, decopaged, painted, done digitally, etc. There are really no rules about creating them except that they should be the stated size and embellishments should be flat enough so that they can fit into a Trading Card Binder Page. The only other rule is that they are to be traded with other artists or given away, but never sold! It is a way for artists to share their work with others in a safe, friendly, encouraging environment.

Two good websites to check out ATC art are: http://www.artist-trading-cards.ch/about.htm. The gallery is great here with many different types of art from around the world. One Yahoo Group that I find particularly wonderful is CollageCats, and that link is: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Collagecats/. The artists in the group inspire me every single day to continue creating! They are amazing and I hope one day to be as talented as them!

2005-05-01T23:58:00.000-07:00

The Eggshell Queen

This was my first attempt at creating a completely digital ATC. Using Microsoft Image Pro 9, I added an eggshell filter to the image. Then I added the crown, the heart, and the words and she was finished. It is very simplistic compared to some digital art I have seen in the Yahoo groups, but I'm pretty happy with her. The quote is pretty self-explanatory I think...Let me know if you would like a copy or would like to trade a copy of one of your ATC's for her! I love trading!

2005-05-01T23:18:00.000-07:00

Butterfly ATC's for a recent swap at a-t-c.com

These cards are digital and mixed media collage. They were done digitally by manipulating a drawing of a butterfly in terms of size and color and then fitting them together in a word document. The quotes were added in and then printed. Various fibers and buttons were added to spruce them up. These were my second stab at creating cards with digital art and a fun experiment.

Shell ATC's

2005-04-30T22:38:00.000-07:00

Shells Theme for ATC Swap for ATC Society

These little buggers turned out pretty well considering I had to do this project twice because the first one got messed up! These are mixed media collage cards. The shells are stickers placed on mulberry paper then glued behind a photo negative holder covered in decorative paper. The background is also decorative paper. The words Sea Shells were glued onto small pieces of netting type fiber paper and then decorated with tiny pearl beads.

When I first started this project, I thought that it would be interesting to hand-write the names of the shells on the photo negative holder. I thought that this would make them look like little samples a shell collector would have around their house. But when I looked at them the following day after they were dry I hated them! The negative holders were so well glued that I couldn't get them off without destroying the cards, so I tossed them away and started over. Sometimes those ideas that seem really great in your head don't translate well to paper!

Africa Theme ATC Swap

2005-04-30T22:26:00.000-07:00

ATC's for Africa Swap at ATC Society

Note that some of them have "bite" marks in them! These were fun to make! I wasn't sure if I would like the theme, but wanted to push myself to try something new. And I'm glad I did because I get a kick out of these cards whenever I look at them! The names of the cards from left to right, top to bottom are: "Texture of Africa", "Hanging Around" (or "Which Way is Up?"), "African Sunset", "Here Kitty Kitty", "Wild Africa", "Photographic Safari", "Zebra Serenade", "Pachyderm Journey", and "Chomp! Chomp!". My favorite funny card is "Chomp! Chomp!". My favorite overall card in "African Sunset" because I didn't consciously choose to make this card look like a sunset. I was just decorating it and realized it looked like a sunset after it was dry.

Geisha Gals Formica Chips

2005-04-30T22:23:00.000-07:00

"Geisha Gals" April 2005

These formica chips were sent for a swap in the collage cats group. It was the first time I had tried to collage on this medium. The formica is a slick surface, and I thought it would be difficut to work with. But a thin, quick coating of rubber cement on them held everything really well!

The asian paper was really interesting to work with and I loved how the backgrounds turned out. When I first started to create these I thought that I wanted to do a blue and white theme using delft object pictures and Vermeer women. When I sat down to do them I came across my origami paper and thought "Hmm, I wonder what these would look like covered in this paper?" So next thing I knew, I was tearing up origami paper, rice paper, Japanese print, and mulberry paper and made them all Asian! I almost didn't add the geishas because I liked how the paper looked. But it didn't feel completely finished, so I added them and the fibers to complete them.