The Mailman Delivers

Last week I received a note from the fabulous mixed media artist, Pam Carriker, that I had won a giveaway she was offering on her blog. It was a wonderful surprise on a day that had been grueling (as I was working on a house project that has been plaguing me for quite some time). The goodies she sent me arrived in my mailbox on Saturday and I couldn't believe the treasure trove of artsy goodness that the envelope contained. I love Pam's work and getting so many handmade items from her made my day. Each of the items are gorgeous but I think my favorite is the cat ATC. It fits my sense of humor and it was so incredibly timely because I have been talking with my son about idioms (he is just starting a project in his class on the subject) and here was a fun example to share with him. Pam, in case you are reading this, your artwork will be shared with his 5th grade class in the very near future (although first I need his teacher to assure me of its safety). Don't you just love a GOOD MAIL DAY?

Playing with Glazes

I had joined ZNE Book Club last June when they were working through the Claudine Hellmuth book "Collage Discovery Workshop" but wasn't able to keep up with all the assignments, so when I saw one of the Art Techniques ATCs Yahoo Group was doing an ATC swap based on the book I thought it was the perfect opportunity to do some more work with the book. The first swap was to use a glazing technique with acrylic paints. I had bought some red rosin paper before Christmas and had used it to make a glazed background that I've used for a few other projects. Since I had the background made so long ago, I don't know why I procrastinated on making the ATCs. But in the end I finished them up and mailed them today. Now I will have my fingers crossed for them to get to California by Friday. Here are the four ATCs I made for the swap.



I'm also working on my first entry for a Green Pepper Press (GPP) Street Team Crusade. Hopefully I will finish it up tonight so be on the lookout for another post soon.

Stampbord Artist Trading Cards

First of all, can you believe that I'm actually posting a second entry in one day??? WOW! You can tell I must have had a very productive and creative day. Anyway, I finished up the last of my Stampbord artist trading cards for a swap I'm participating in through the Art Techniques ATCs group on Yahoo. This was one of those swaps were I did three totally different pieces. I am so glad that I am not the swap host. I would have such a hard time assigning pieces to each participant. Hopefully, no matter which ATC each of my fellow swappers receive, they will be happy. I have to say that I love all three and couldn't pick a favorite.


In case you haven't noticed from my last post, I'm using a new way of posting my photos on my blog. My brother just started alpha testing his company's new photo sharing service. I love how I just load my pictures one place and I can arrange them in portfolios to create slideshows. If you are interested in learning more about it, check it out at FocalPower.com When you see the multiple picture icon at the bottom of the photo, it lets you know there are several photos (so click on the photo and use your arrow keys to see the rest).

How quickly a month can pass

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything for over a month. What a bad, BAD blogger I am. Hopefully, I will be building this into my routine, just as I have been making more time for making art. I finally got to play with the Daylab last week and did a couple of image transfers. These I did according to the instructions although I decided to use cold press watercolor paper for the image transfers so there is much more texture to these. I'm still trying to decide if I prefer the look of the cold press paper versus the smoother hot press paper.



This is a picture I took at the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco








This is a picture of the State Capital building in Madison.




Even though you separate the polaroid paper early when doing image transfers, the pictures were both developed enough to allow me to try my hand at emulsion lifts. Thursday night, I had time (and the distilled water I needed) to try it for the first time. I am in love with this technique. I did both of the same images but using hot press watercolor paper for the base.


Emulsion Lift of Palace of Fine Arts (San Francisco) photo







Emulsion Lift of State Capital (Madison) photo




That was the end of my playing with the Daylab for now. I want to read more about the various techniques that can be done with Polaroid film. I got a book that was recommended by Carol Wingert and Tena Sprenger during a chat at The Scrapbooking Society. The name of the book is Polaroid Manipulations by Kathleen Carr. I have skimmed through it and found so much that fascinated me that I need a weekend to dedicate to reading it. Maybe when the boys have spring break...

Yesterday, I did get a chance to play in the studio. I needed to make 9 ATCs for a swap at The Scrapbooking Society. I decided to try a new background technique called paint scraping. I felt like such a kid swooshing paint across the paper! I love the results and plan to make some more (including one that I plan to use for the background on my blog). Anyway, I ended up making 10 ATCs (the number you can make from an 8 1/2" x 11" piece of cardstock. This is a scan of the one that didn't make the cut for the swap (I didn't get the word "Easter" aligned where I wanted it).



And with that, I say goodnight....