Bird Box

I needed a small gift to bring as a hostess gift and wanted to make something special. I painted this little wood box a metallic red and rubbed the edges with Rub N Buff to age it. The script is stamped on the box as well as gold paper. I painted and glued on the little legs. For the top, I found these great wood birds on ebay and covered one in scrap cloth. The inside of the box is lined with the same cloth. The Blessings tag, I made in clay.

Tumbled Marble Coasters

My sister-in-laws and I decided to do handmade gifts this year for Christmas. I got the idea to make marble coasters online. They were so fun to make! I want to do more! I rubbed the edges of the coasters with gold Rub n Buff to antique them and stamped them with pretty stamps. I added color by using pigmented powders. After sealing with polyurethane and adding cork to the bottoms, I'm all set to give them out. Oh yeah, and I found the coolest wrought-iron holders that work perfectly.

Origins

One of my forays into true mixed-media. A smallish canvas that is painted and layered in paper, old sewing pattern and pencil. I painted an image from my Dover book as the lovely odalisque. The butterflies are made in clay and I hammered in nails with various beads around the edge to change the silhouette of the canvas. My little parrot provided the red feather from his tail- one of many that fall out and litter his cage. The whole thing has kind of a tribal, Darwinism kind of feel and that's how I came up with the title.

Glass Ornaments

I glued some images from my cards (as well as a picture of my niece...) onto the back of some circular and square glass blanks. I added ribbon and beads and they are ready to adorn some packages that I plan to give. The glass gives them a nice weight and allow them to hang nicely.

Gin Transfer on Polymer

These tiny little polymer tiles were made using a gin transfer method. I printed out the text on my laser printer. Then rolled out white clay. I rubbed the back of the print out with really cheap gin and voila! The text was transferred onto the clay. I added some gold and blue pigment powders to accent the edges and then baked them. I can't wait to use these little gems in other mixed-media pieces.

Paper Towel Collage

My poor blog has been neglected for too long. Here are some paper towel collages that I put together. The colors are so vibrant and the paper towels stain up so beautifully with acrylic paint that has been watered down. I didn't want to cover up all that texture with imagery.

Fall Leaves

Sometimes I'll make something and not care for it very much. I put it away in a box and come back to it later. This morning while looking for some inspiration, I came across these crazy leaves that I made back in the spring. On this cold, rainy morning they are working for me.

Polymer Tile Box

I was so inspired by a recent craft book purchase that I had to dive into one of the projects. A small wooden box elevated on painted legs. The lid and inside panel are painted polymer clay. The brass frame is real and holds a tiny picture of a butterfly from one of my cards. The textures were created with rubber stamps and I used small seed beads to make some of the thinner stripes. The swirl part is covered with gold leaf. Lots of steps to this fun project!

More Pendant Prototypes

These glass pendants are so fun to make. All of the paint and imagery goes on the back so the front is smooth except for a flatback crystal here and there. I love how they all turn out so different. I gave some and kept some and definitely plan to make more.

Painted Pillow Gift Boxes

We had a lot of Birthdays in the family one month, so I just went ahead and got everyone gift cards for ice cream. I don't like giving gift cards that are loose because they can get lost. Luckily I had these pillow boxes amongst my supplies. Some quick stripes of paint and corresponding ribbon really spruced up the gifts.

IF- Cocoon

Everyday she checked it's progress. It will be soon, she decided.

Cocoons make me think of metamorphosis and change. My 5 month old niece is just learning to roll herself over. She is changing from a sleepy newborn into a darling little person with her own character and lots of opinions. Soon Jilly Bean will be watching for butterflies too...

First Retail Order!

If you happen to be near Green lake, WA be sure to stop by Birch Paperie . Tamara Gellert has graciously offered let me be the guest designer for the month of April. You can find Pickadoo Card note cards and individual cards for sale. She has lots of other beautiful designs available as well. I am very happy to be a part of it and have my first retail experience.

Ooodles of Envelopes

I'm making a huge bunch of cards for a fun project. So I spent the day stamping colored envelopes with my carved stamps. Soon, they started to look good together and I wished I could put one of each with all the cards.

Wooden Houses

My 4 yr old daughter and I had a fun craft day and got to use up some supplies. She picked the color scheme and loved gluing all the ribbons and buttons. The one with the door has real hinges that open the door to reveal her picture inside...

Bingo Bird

I'm very inspired by various works I've seen regarding Bingo boards. I actually transferred this board to a wood panel and then distressed using blue and white paint. Perhaps this will turn into a Bingo Bird Card series.... hmmmm

Valentine goodies

I made some fun Valentines. The wood was painted and text was transferred to create a soft background. Then I added polymer hearts, birds and vintage buttons and tied with a hand-dyed silk ribbon. For the pendants I used glass blanks and transferred vintage photos and hand-tinted the color. For a dimensional accent, a tiny flatback Swarovski crystal was added to the front.

Flower Zen card series

My neighbor has a beautiful yard that blooms every spring with an amazing array of lovelies. Last year I took my camera over and snapped some flower shots. Finally was able to use them in a vellum, paint, paper, collage. The dots give cohesion and serve as a motif. A versatile new series.

Evening of Art

Last night I got to go to an art event for the art docents at my child's school. It was hosted by Susan Cyr at Seahorse Studio. Susan does beautiful silk paintings and specializes in undersea scenes. She also teaches art classes. She led us through an exercise for producing abstract work- and it was thoroughly fun.

Gratitude card series

Working on a new series where I start with an acrylic wash. Then I add text and object elements. I took the photos of the hydrangea and cupcake myself then enhanced with white pencil to give a sketchy look. Not sure what another word/theme could be since I like to have a trio in each series...