Well, after a very minor earthquake and some minor floods from hurricane Irene, things around Pennsylvania have calmed down. It was quite a week. We rarely see such events in this state, especially the quake. My thoughts are with those less fortunate states and the people who have been hit with real tragedies due to these events.

This is a small collage on plywood pieces I got from Dollar Tree; it was a pack of 12 or 15 for $1. In the background there's stamping, paper and also crepe paper which I also stamped.

  

This tag was made using images sent to me by

Inka from Altered Artifacts for examples to use in her Etsy site.

 

This is also with an image from Inka, the backgroupd Lilas one.  The canvas is a recycled CD.

I love Old Hollywood stars, so this is one of many others I have to put together in a book.

Thanks for visiting and stay safe out there.

Collaged Mother Goose and Wax video

New collages and mixed media I worked on recently using images from an old Mother Goose child's book that was falling apart:

Love the crackle here

Finally tried wax on this one

 I "stamped" thick gesso with a recycled paper tube here

 

Scrunched dress pattern tissue here 

If you want to try beeswax on your pieces, here's a great video from Stampington.  This link takes you to their video.

Many other good videos at their video library as well.

Here's wishing you're enjoying your summer!

Paper Bag Mixed Media

This is my second mixed media book done with lunch brown paper bags.  Lots of fun!

 This one I sent to a swap partner for a swap I joined at the Yahoo group Altered_stArt.

 

After giving each bag a white paint coating, I used paper napkins, stamps, glimmer mist, rub-ons, pearls, gesso, lace, vintage images and photos, stickers, acrylic paints, Silhouette die cuts, book pages, tags, ribbon, paper doily, silk and paper flowers, a coffee filter and a piece of air dry clay that I stamped, painted, sprayed with glimmer mist and sealed with clear varnish.

The completed book

Front Cover

That big pink flower is a paper napkin

Here's a piece of air dry clay, on the 2nd page, which I used acrylic white paint, a blue glimmer mist and clear varnish.  I used the same foam stamp to produce the indent embossing that I used on the background and also embossed one with pink glitter powder.  On the left, I used a paper doily as a stencil and sprayed it with glimmer mist for the effect on the background.

The papers here was a background paper I made a while back painted with acrylics on the background and the purple stenciled images are done with a dimensional paint.

Love how the library card turned out.  More embossing, this time with a white powder.  The fish strip is fabric from a ready to cut and sew craft of some sort that I've had for years.

Magazine cutouts I loved.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Had to include some beachy graphics.  AHHH!!!!

In the middle of these 2 pages is the cone coffee filter which I painted in a pink wash.

 This is the other side of the coffee filter with paper flowers I cut with my Silhouette

 

Crepe streamers stamped and some corrugated cardboard with a crackle effect and prettied up with an antique earring.  The Italian quote says: What beautiful thing have you made?

On the left is an attempt I made to transfer an image with Mod Podge.  Not all of it transferred; still it gave it a cool effect.  I think I was too anxious to see the result and didn't wet the image enough and it was my first attempt. 

Tag tucked in one of the paper bag pockets

A butterfly I printed on vellum and tucked inside one of the pockets.

I also painted and decorated the inside folds of the bags

Back and front covers

If you haven't tried working with brown sandwich paper bags, you should. It's so much fun and you can make it into something useful if you embellish it with family photos or something beautifully artsy to enjoy!

I'll post photos of the paper bag that was sent to me in return soon too.

Have a great week!

Miss Mary Challenge -- Natural Beauty

As part of being a preferred blogger for CSN Stores, I am doing a product review in the next few weeks.  I'll be reviewing an office chair which I'm looking forward to trying out.  CSN has become quite known in blogland, so its no surprise that they has over 200 website stores offering just about everything you need.  But did you know they even have headboards as part of their arsenal of products?  

Well, stay tuned for my review and see how their office chairs are, perhaps you need one too.  

Mary Green of Green Paper is hosting the Miss Mary Challenge for which she provided 3 delightful images to be used in the creations.  So, I decided to join in and I'm offering this as my entry.

 Tin bucket which I painted pink first and collaged all around. Front side.

Back side.  I added a rub on border at top and a piece of lace upcycled from a wedding gown.

Here's one of the other images given for the challenge with a rub on I used with a memories quote, memory is a way of holding onto the things you love, the things you are, and the things you never want to lose.

Another rub on with C'est La Vie and a paper rose

Glitter for the dress and metal bling for the waist.  The metal butterfly is decorating the stamp which I cut in 2, another of the images given by Mary.  Both metal beads are from an upcycled bracelet.

Pink rhinestones, more upcycled bracelet beads for the handle applied with thin wire

Lots of pics, thanks for indulging me.  Now, go to Mary's blog, Green Paper and check all of the entries so far.  I've seen some exceptional pieces.  There's a prize.   Wish me luck!

Have a wonderful day,