Baby shower gifts

This weekend I went to my friend, Amanda's baby shower. I bought her a couple cute gifts at Walmart, but I also made her a Survival Kit for New Mothers, and the card below:
I love buttons, I like to buy the mixed button bags at Hobby Lobby, I've been trying to cut back lately, because not only do they have the cool buttons like I used in the card above, they also have a lot of boring ones. The pacifier, bib, rattle and stork are from one of those bags. Across the top I attached a "clothesline" with mini brown brads. On the bottom in the middle is a baby image from a piece of vintage baby wrapping paper I had. I also attached a tag in the corner with the words "Welcome, baby" stamped on it. Inside there is a stamped quote about babies being from heaven.

Survival Kit for New Mothers

I got this idea out of the book The Ultimate Paper Crafts Collection published by Primedia, the projects and ideas in the book came from Papercrafts & Stamp It magazines. I got the idea for the "bag" from here. I attached the black and white floral paper as accents on the front and back of the bag, as well as on the sides. For the handles, I found a piece of pink plastic mesh and attached it with some "studs" I took off of a belt I bought awhile back.
The tag sticking out of the bag says:

The New Mom's Survival Kit

Hershey Hugs - for you and the baby, because you both deserve them.

Clock - to remind you that time will pass by too quickly, enjoy every moment.

Mirror - to remind you that you are important, too.

Marbles - to replace the onew that you will lose.

Rubberband - to remind you that flexibilty is the key.

Lifesavers - to save you from one of those days.

Tissue - to dry those tears, the baby's and yours.

Lollipop - To lick all your problems away.

Eraser - t0 reminde you that every mom makes mistakes.

Puzzle Piece - Because you are an important piece in your child's journey through life.

I didn't have a clock, so I took a chipboard one, added some hands with a brad and layered it on a piece of matboard.

I also took a round mirror and framed it on matboard.

This is a downward view of the front of the bag.

This is the back of the bag.

Also, a question for everyone reading this, or just passing by. I noticed when I uploaded these photos, I'm apparently using 94% of my allotted space for photos. I find that kinda weird, as I have way more photos on my other blogs. Does anyone know if there's a way I can save my pictures on my computer, so they take up less space?

May Flowers

I chose flowers as May's theme.
Clockwise from lower left corner: This one was my favorite and I kept this card. I love how the colors work so well together, the rose is a plaster rose that I painted with black and silver paint, the leaves underneath it are a sequin, they are a dark green metallic color. I used the rose and sequin from my packet;
I've been hanging onto the yellow flower piece for awhile, looking for the right thing to use it in, and I finally found it. I used the purple paper in the corners from my packet;
This one didn't turn out as cute as I imagined it, but I still like it. The big blob of green is actually a lot of little tiny malachite (I think that's what they're called) stones, and in the middle is a 3D rose sticker. I used the rose sticker and the ribbon daisy in the corner from my packet;
This last one didn't quite work out like it was supposed to either, but it's still pretty cute. I had planned on having the daisy in the upper right corner encased in some diamond glaze in a watch body, but I didn't think about putting something behind it to actually encase it in the body, so the diamond glaze never really dried and when I flipped over the watch body it sorta oozed out, so I took it out and just glued the flower, with the brad center to the card. I also have a pretty cute little button as the center of the sunflower in the corner. I used the daisy, the sunflower and the purple vellum flower from my packet.

Clockwise starting in lower left corner: I accidentally put this card on sideways. I liked how the wallpaper flower looked behind the pumpkin and wanted to use that along with some more color on the card, so I colored the flowers in the corner and glued them on. I used the piece behind the pumpkin and the heart charm from my packet.
I love the simplicity of this one. The scalloped flower piece was in a collage packet I bought, it's a piece of old ledger paper, I glued the pink flower button on top of that. I used the purple mulberry paper in the background from my packet.
This one's really cute too, I felt the copper/blue piece needed something layered on it, so I found a silver button and brushed it with some copper ink and then sealed it with diamond glaze. I used the copper/blue piece from the packet.

I decided to make flowers in a field for this one. The two butterflies are from the same collage package as the scalloped piece above. They are also on some old paper. The blue and white flowers are ribbon, and the pink flower was a button. All three ribbon flowers had stems, so I punched holes in the background card and "planted" them in the field. I used the two flowers on the bottom from my packet.

This one was a nice old looking piece. The book paper is from an old book I had, the picture of the guy on a bicycle was from a clip art book, I distressed it with some brown ink. I needed a leaf for the calla lily, so I cut one out of some green paper that went nicely with the colors on the card. I used the calla lily (which is made out of clay) from my packet.

April Fun

In April, I stamped various images onto patterned paper. The images were ones that would be recognizable no matter which side of the paper you looked at.
Clockwise starting from lower left corner: I love the colors on this card, I used the heart image from my packet. I don't know if you can tell, but all the centers of the pink flowers are different colored brads and the flower in the bottom right corner is two layered sequins with a brad for a center, I used the purple iris from my packet. The colors in this one came out really nice as well. I used both suitcases from my packet. This one was so cute, the hat in the corner is 3D and stuck out from the page, I was trying to make it as girly as possible, there's a piece of lace on the right side, and pearls as a belt or trim on the dress, I used the dress form from my packet.

Clockwise starting at lower left corner: The envelope actually opens, so I stuck the "Olde Keys" tag that I received in a collage pack I bought inside it also the "W" piece is a domed sticker, I used the tag in corner and the "W" sticker. I wanted to make this a whole tag piece, so I looked through all my tags and created the piece, I think I might do a tag swap in the future, I used the tag mounted on orange paper from my packet. This was my favorite from the swap, I used a plastic blue cowboy hat, a pair of Ronald McDonald shoes I cut out of a playing card and a metal 3D revolver that was a pin on this card as well as the cowboy boots that were from my packet, I titled it Ronald McDonald's alter ego. I wanted to show the gorgeousness of the green in the ginkgo leaves and ironically, the mini calendar page I picked was April when trees have all their leaves and people start looking at them again, I used the ginkgo leaves from my packet.

Starting with top image: I wanted a really cheery piece for this one, so I used the dancing girl from a clip art book I had along with a leaf cut out of a piece of paper and three flowers in the corner from my packet. This one was supposed to kind of look like fish in the ocean, I used the stamped fish image from my packet.

March Metalics

OK, I'm a little behind, I just noticed today, that I hadn't posted my CollageAtcs since February, so I'm posting March (this post), April and May's cards today. They'll all be separate posts.


Left to right: In this one, I thought it might be cute to add circles to the middle of the flowers on this paper. The items I used from this swap are the purple circle and the brad with the faux clear jewel in the middle. On the second card I used the star bead and the faux jewels.

On the purple card, I wrapped the printed scalloped piece in a gold cord I was given and then added the gold foil at the bottom to tie in the gold colors, both gold pieces were in the packet. On the butterfly card I used the little red flower. On the tag card, I used the faux jewels.

On the heart card I used the white heart under the green button. On the gold card I used the gold foil background, I love the look of this card. The sunflower in the corner was used on the girl card. The "Sew" card was my favorite, I used the pink fabric in the corner, and then "sewed" on the buttons with a piece of copper wire from my package.

More past pieces

Art Heart

This an altered tin, I received the tin filled with chocolates for Valentine's Day one year. The paint has been burned off by holding the tin over a gas stove, until it started peeling off and then wiping it down with a towel*

After removing the paint, I layered Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel on to it, heating and adding more embossing enamel until I achieved an even layer. I allowed it to dry, heated it up again and started adding colored embossing enamel (silver, purple, green glitter, and blue) until I achieved the color combination I wanted. After letting it dry again, I heated it up and stamped the word "Art" in black ink, a pine bough and a heart button into the warm enamel. I colored the imprint of the heart button with a turquoise paint pen. To tie in the turquoise color, I added some turquoise faux jewels around the arches of the heart.

This is one of my favorite altered tins. I don't have a gas stove anymore so I have to find other ways to alter tins by adding paper/fabric/paint to them like the butterfly tin below.

Blue Butterfly Tin

This is an altered tin, I received the tin in the mail with junk mail in it. It measures 5 3/4" wide by 5" tall by 1/2" thick. I painted it with a blue Lumiere Jacquared paint. On the front I attached some blue suede printed with a texture stamp. In the corners I have a round bead on top of a gold jewelry finding on top of some glitter. In the lower left and upper right corners, the bead is clear. In the lower right and upper left, it's blue. In the center is a piece of blue suede with butterfly stamped in gold ink framed with a gold paint pen, layered on a piece of glossy gold paper, layered on another piece of the blue suede. I have also used the gold paint pen to frame the blue suede. The lid has some beige fiber around the lip. On the bottom, it is painted with the blue paint with a piece of blue lace on top of it. Inside the tin, I have a 5" long by 4.5" tall journal. The cover is blue paper stamped with a butterfly stamp, covered with a piece of blue vellum, then laced togeter with a piece of navy blue ribbon. The six pages inside are parchment paper measuring 4 1/2" long by 4" tall. I have also included a tiny metallic blue gel pen.

Blue Lady

This piece I did on a stamping trip, my mother and I took through Stamp Lovers, a store that used to be in Ankeny, IA. We got to travel around to various stamp stores in Iowa and make crafts at them. This piece is a matboard silhouette and a matboard hat. This piece was pressed into a stamp pad and then covered in embossing powder and heated up. The silhouette is covered in clear embossing powder with a blue metallic glitter, the hat is covered with a light metallic blue highlighted with the same blue metallic glitter. The embellishment on the hat is a piece of semi melted ribbon and a blue gemstone.

At the store where I did this, I bought the matboard set that had the silhouettes and hats and created another piece, which I will feature in another post.

Blue Stars
This is an altered CD. I scraped the covering off of it and then paintedit with black Neo Opaque paint. After that dried I stamped some stars in a metallic blue ink and embossed them with a clear embossing powder. I added some black and gold micro beads for texture. On the bottom of the piece is some eyelash fiber dangling down. It has a pin back on it.

Create

I have no idea when I did this piece, but I love it so much. It started out as a 4 2/8" by 4 2/8" matte glazed square tile. I painted it with copper and light gold Lumiere paint and black Neo Opaque paint both by Jacquard. I then stamped the dragonfly image in copper ink and embossed it with clear embossing powder. I glued the fabric Asian dragon image on the lower right corner, balancing the opposite corner with some fiber tied into a tassel and glued a Singapore coin on top of it. Above the dragon is the word create painted with the same copper Lumiere paint and bordered with the black Neo Opaque paint. In the middle of the tile, on the copper painted piece, I glued four teal green square glass beads. Also, below the dragon in the corner is a silver colored "faith" charm. It doesn't go with the rest of the piece at all, but I used some good glue on it, and it's not coming off.

*If you choose to do this, please use metal tongs with some kind of plastic or insulated handles. When wiping off the paint, you have to be careful as the tin will be very hot. DO NOT do this around young children. DO NOT let young children do this technique.

My business cards

I also wanted to mention something else to do with the art walk, kinda. I figured I needed some business cards, and since Etsy was doing a special with Moo.com, I looked at theirs. Unfortunately, I didn't pay attention to the ending date and got my order in a day late, but I still think it was a good deal. At Moo, you can pick a size, not just business cards, add your own photos, pick a template for the back, add your own banner and information. I ordered 150 cards for around $75 dollars, with all the pluses of putting your own things on them, I decided it was a pretty good deal. Here's a couple of the ATC's I put on the cards:

"Surprise"

I made this piece for an exhibit at the Ankeny Art Museum last year. There's a star mounted on a paper tag mounted on some melted Angelina fibers layered onto a piece of striped paper. I also affixed a Surprise embellishment on the bottom.

Keeper of the Key to Remembrance

I made this one for a collage group (the actual group I host and own on Yahoo!) In the background I have a piece of paper I bought, it kinda looks like wrinkled up paper. I added a piece of brown fabric on the corner and a domed sticker with the word remember on top of that. In the top corner, there's a picture of a Victorian baby (I got that out of a picture frame), around his/hers neck is a key charm on a cord. On the left side is a piece of gray and silver napkin, this piece of napkin is what I got to use for the collage swap.

I Got the Blues

This card was also for the same collage group, under a different owner. The theme of this swap was a scavenger hunt, I had to find something blue, music, and a postage stamp. The blue background paper is some kind of mesh glued to a heavier paper. I have a picture of a guy playing the big violin (don't quite know what that's called). There is a wooden heart with UTEE colored with blue and purple embossing powder in the corner of the picture. Underneath the picture is a blue postage stamp of a bi-plane with a piece of blue plastic layered on top of it.

Fun Flowers
This card was done for a white swap of the collage group, a swap that I ran. The items given were the lace in the background and the white flower in the middle. To make this card I first painted the background paper with a spray water-based ink. I attached the lace with flower and round brads. I glued a chipboard flower in the middle and layered a red punch flower on top of that with a yellow brad through the hole of the white flower bead provided.

Faces of the Past

This card has found pictures layered on top of peach paper that's on top of a yellowish mulberry weight paper layered on a foreign book page on a plaid orange background. In the upper right corner is a piece of red and orange plaid napkin.

Drive to the Stars

This card has metallic star stickers affixed onto a paper tag that I colored with green and blue ink. The tag is layered on top of a brownish paper background. The lower left corner is wrapped in a green fabric, the lower right corner is wrapped in a handmade paper. There is a found car picture in the upper right corner.

Dream

This card has a background that I painted with semi-metallic paint. There is a strip of butterfly/silver ribbon diagonally across the card. On the top right corner, the word "Dream" is affixed. Opposite that on the bottom right corner is a grouping of beads. There is a purple bow on the middle of the card.

Art is Therapy

This card is colored with green and blue ink, the same as the tag in the "Drive to the Stars" ATC above. I have layered a piece of blue and green squares paper in the middle of the card lengthwise. Across the bottom is a piece of green/blue plaid ribbon. In the middle of the card is the typed quote "Art is therapy" colored green. In the top right corner is a blue/green bead.

Ancient Book

This card has a cardstock background with a table image and a book image on the table. There is stamped words on the book.

I also added these images to three other cards: A CD piece, an altered tin, and a pin, all listed in my etsy shop.

On the back of my cards I have my banner from my store, name, title, my etsy store addy, and the addy for this blog. The background is green with the information printed in white. I think they look pretty cool. And I'm very excited about them. I've been pretty much showing them off since I got them.

Some of my art history.

I am participating in a local event here in Ames called Art Walk on Friday from 5 to 8 pm. I was looking around for pieces other than my numerous ATC's, to give people a look at what else I do. By looking into that I found a few pieces from further back in my life, a few pieces from before high school even. I thought people might be interested in seeing them, so I'm posting a few photos today, and will continue to post a couple more.
As usual the pictures are backwards. This first one is a close up of part of the 2nd one. This is a piece of matboard covered with ultra thick embossing enamel until it became even thickness throughout, then colored with a blue sparkly embossing powder, and stamped into with a woman's face stamp with black ink.

When I was a senior in high school I took a class called British Literature. After reading something by William Wordsworth, we had to do a project about him (I'm sure there were more requirements, but hell if I know what they were). Anyway, I chose to illustrate the poem The Reverie of Poor Susan.

The Reverie of Poor Susan by William Wordsworth

At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears,
Hangs a Thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years:
Poor Susan has passed by the spot, and has heard
In the silence of morning the song of the Bird.

Tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? She sees
A mountain ascending, a vision of trees;
Bright volumes of vapour through Lothbury glide,
And a river flows on through the vale of Cheapsie.

Green pastures she views in the midst of the dale,
Down which she so often has tripped with her pail;
And a single small cottage, a nest like a dove's,
The one only dwelling on earth that she loves.

She looks, and her heart is in heaven: but they fade,
The mist and the river, the hill and the shade:
The stream will not flow, the hill will not rise,
And the colours have all passed away from her eyes!

If you click on the picture, it should enlarge for you. I cut a picture frame out of matboard, placed a typed version of the poem inside and decorated the frame. In the left hand corner is a stamped image in some ultra thick embossing enamel, she's looking up a sign post that says Wood St with a bird sitting on top. There are white circles going from Susan's head up to some stamped mountains, like a thought in her head. On the right side of the frame is a stamped cottage with a "river" traveling up to it. The river is made out of paper. I honestly have no idea what I received on the project, but I want to say it was a B or above. That could be wishful thinking, but I remember my teacher loving my art work.

This next one is also from my senior year of high school when I took a 2D art class and we made paper.

Originally I had this piece as a card with a couple windows cut out of it. But, if you look at it closely, you can see how thin the sides are. My teacher suggested I leave it folded up and mount it so it wouldn't come apart. This first picture is a close up.

I have layered the back page with mulberry paper and an Asian character stamped image mounted on it. The window in the second layer of the piece has mulberry paper around the cutout and covered with a piece of acetate, so it looks like a window. On the front of that piece I have mounted a face stamped in brown glued onto a piece of white mulberry paper. You can't see it very well, but there is a ticket on the corner of this piece with a stamped image on it, I don't remember what it was and I can't tell without taking apart the frame and I'm not doing that. On the front piece, there's a flower punched image on the top and on the bottom there is a bow tied in a reddish yarn.I entered this piece in my senior art show and won first place for best in show in mixed media I believe.

I also entered it into art at my county fair and it won a purple rosette to go to state fair where it won a blue ribbon.
Somewhere in there, most likely before I entered it in my county fair, and after my high school art show, I had it framed in a really nice green frame that really brings out the green mulberry paper in the back of the card.

The last one is just a random piece of artwork.

I also used the matboard/Ultra thick embossing enamel process on this one. The top layer is colored with a lavender embossing powder with silver and peach mixed in. The image is of a line drawing of a leaf stamped in silver. It is layered on brown and white mulberry paper on top of black paper. It's nicely matted in a mat that's had silver ink sponged on top of white matboard and then framed.