April 30, 2008 at 11:01 pm (Make It Monday)
Tags: collections, Make It Monday, Quotes, Studio Astarte
I just LOVE quotes! So when Make It Mondays challenge was for a piece with quotes in it, all other projects were pushed aside. This project started as a series of ATCs, but as I’ve done a few of those lately, I decided to join the ATCs together to make a concertina book. Here are the pages.
The quotes are “Well-behaved women rarely make history” by Laurie Thatcher Ulrich and “Life is either a daring adventure or nothing at all” by Helen Keller.
Brown border and medallion stamps by Collections. Images from Digital Collage Images - their free pages! Quotes stamps from Studio Astarte. “Muse” stamp from Eclectic Images.
I am so pleased with these pages. I’ll turn it into a book when over the weekend. I like the sparse pages as they help to bring the main two images forward.
Michelle
3 Comments
April 30, 2008 at 10:42 pm (VicStampers)
VicStampers’ Kathy Thompson held a “Vintage Children” MOO card swap. Here are the cards I received:
The Artists are
Top row (L->R): Kathy Thompson, Barb Dare, Debbie Larcombe, Claire Kelly
Bottom row (L->R): Monika Hodkinson, Anne Thompson, Margaret Byrne, Michelle Brown
These MOO cards are very small - 2.8 x 7 cm. More MOO card information can be found here.
Many thanks to Kathy for hosting this swap.
Michelle
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April 30, 2008 at 10:28 pm (4x4 Friday)
Tags: 4x4 Friday, Elegant Butterfly, Florals
This weeks challenge for 4×4 Friday is Florals - not flowers, but florals. So my aim here was to do something “florally”, not just with flowers. I’ve just bought the “elegant butterfly” stamp, so I thought that was a good start; the right size too!
Background painted purple and stamped with Flower Sketch by Rhonda Farrer, in Brilliance Pearlescent Lavender. Music added to corners and sponged in purple chalk ink. “Elegant butterfly”, by Stampington & Co, stamped in black and lavender, then layered and the butterfly glued with its wings up. Kaiser gems added to corners. All edged in lavender ink.
All very purple, but I’m pleased with it! Especially since it’s so different from my first thoughts for “Florals”.
Happy Creating,
Michelle
3 Comments
April 26, 2008 at 4:20 pm (Make It Monday)
Cartoons is the theme for this weeks Make-It-Monday. I don’t usually do a lot of drawing, except with my two boys. But this week I was inspired by a picture story book we had borrowed from the library; “It came with the Couch” by David Slonim. This book has us in hysterics and it was very comic-like, in that the pictures told more of the story than the words did. It opens with “We needed a new couch”. . . . What the pictures showed was the dog ripping it up and then the couch coming out of the window, with a trail of flames behind it. So the family finds a couch with this character on it; they tried to removed him but he was stuck, and he soon becomes part of the family.
Our family spent the next few days referring to the book; Did he come with the television? Did he come with the bed? The three-year-old was particularly taken with the idea of this blue guy becoming part of our family.
So here is my tribute to David Slonim’s “He came with the Couch”.
Michelle
2 Comments
April 23, 2008 at 2:56 pm (Mixed Media Monday)
Tags: Buzz and Bloom, hats, Mixed Media Monday
Diane at Mixed Media Mondays has outdone herself, yet again, with the great topic of Hats for this week.
I’ve gone again for the trio of ATCs, proudly adorned by the Buzz and Bloom stamps “Girls and their Hats”.
Purple background painted by me and enhanced with white and silver Autumn Leave swirls. Girls by Buzz and Bloom and coloured with chalks, for a soft effect. Highlights with silver Kindy glitz.
If anyone is interested in swapping, please let me know; with all of these challenges, I’ve got bits and pieces coming out of my ears!
Happy Creating!
Michelle
14 Comments
April 23, 2008 at 11:43 am (GPP Street Team Crusade)
Tags: GPP, Crusade, 19, Stencils
April’s GPP Street Team Crusade this month is Stencils; what fun! how easy! fantastic results! Here’s what I did.
1. Decided on a large flower, which can be used as a stencil and mask/template. As I’m doing more altered book layouts, I need bigger images than I had been using. I created one petal, folded in half to get symmetry. I then used this one to create seven in total. I stuck these to the back of my cutting mat with on/off tape. Each petal is about 2″, the whole flower, just over 6″ across.
2. Using a recycled beauty product box (knew it would come in handy for something!) I traced the flower onto the plastic sheet with a Sharpie pen, then cut out with a craft knife (didn’t even know you could get a “Stencil burning tool” until Michelle told us!) This gave me a stencil and a template for each petal. I numbered each petal and template so I could line them up later, if need be (I AM an engineer, remember, lol)
3. To use the stencil for a layout, I used chalk ink and a sponge to lay down the bottom layer onto a prepared page. Using each template, I cut out text and music and an old engineering maths book (oooh) and sponged one side with the same chalk ink. As the templates have writing on them, it made it easier to line up the petals, so the text or music would be straight in the final design. Stuck the petals on with Xyron. Added text “Stillness”, which was the theme from this morning’s meditations, a border and petal highlights with a Tombow pen.
There, all done! I’m pleased with the outcome; quite tranquil. I might add that the reason I’ve got so much time to create and meditate at present, is that my company is out on strike, so I’ve had lots of time on my hands.
Hope you find some time to create, and be still!
Michelle
9 Comments
April 18, 2008 at 10:20 am (Make It Monday)
I’ve managed to get my Make It Monday challenge piece finished by Friday - hoorah for me! This week’s theme is Music. For those who haven’t yet had a look around the Go Make Something site, it’s definitely worth a visit. There isn’t much you won’t find there!
Background made using the credit card paint technique, with two shades of blue and copper paint. Musique tissue by 7gypsies. Stamped images by Limited Edition (left & centre) and PSX (right) and stamped with Adirondack Denim. Words made with an old fashion alphabet set that gets pressed into a wooden, grooved mount. Highlights with Krylon copper leafing pen.
I think I’ve done all my challenges for the week. I’ve even started my Mothers’ Day cards.
Michelle
3 Comments
April 16, 2008 at 4:07 pm (Mixed Media Monday)
A challenge with a different theme for this week at Mixed Media Mondays; “Girls and Dolls”. The sample piece has a gorgeous image, by Glenda, but I didn’t think I had anything to compare. However, I came across an image I had cut out for something else, two girls playing dress-ups with their dolls, and decided it was the perfect ATC size.
Background painted by me. Lace left over on my table from the 4×4 challenge, “Family”. Letter tiles from Collections. Swirl stamp by Autumn Leaves. Hand written text by me!
See, one can create something simple and still enjoy the results (and the time spent doing it!)
Michelle
10 Comments
April 15, 2008 at 9:30 pm (4x4 Friday)
The lovely challenge site of 4×4 Friday has a theme of Family this week.
Alphabet and children image by Collections. Keys from Grungeboard with Vintage Photo Distressed ink. Lace aged with coffee.
Happy Creating!
Michelle
4 Comments
April 8, 2008 at 9:56 pm (Make It Monday, Mixed Media Monday)
By some bazaar coincidence, both Mixed Media Monday and Make It Monday (Go Make Something) have the same theme of Paris, only a week apart. I had lots of fun making this piece.
The background is made from credit card technique, with three colours and gold. I added the black card border to cover up the rough edges. Images on LHS from unknown source. Image on RHS from Flickr. Words added rub-ons with gold stickers. Swirls from Grungeboard and painted gold.
Michelle
3 Comments
