summer has flown…

the talented and prolific Valerie chose INDIAN SUMMER-GOLDEN OCTOBER-AUTUMN as October’s Art Journal Journey theme which sends my mind in lots of directions…

just when I think summer might go on forever it turned cooler which is perfect for open windows and warmer clothes...

we finally got some much needed rain too…

soon I will give up running barefoot around the house and get out my cozy slippers…

autumn makes me think of golden leaves andgolden sunsets so I added lots of gold to my scraped paint pages which was tricky to capture in my photos…

the WONDER page on the right began with an index card that I had made awhile ago…

~* Happy October *~

“Autumn carries more gold in its pocket than all the other seasons.”~ Jim Bishop

change of seasons…

Spring is trying to make an appearance here in northern Virginia…

but we still have a way to go as there are some lovely snowflakes falling again today…

perfect weather for playing in my art room that is a wee bit neater after doing a little clearing recently…

fun to uncover ingredients like scrap backgrounds and postage stamps just waiting for attention (above are two quick index cards I made)…

a nice day for sipping hot tea dreaming of spring

(glad I cut some daffodils and brought them in before the snow came this morning…they are opening nicely)…

joining Elizabeth and Bleubeard to wish you a happy T day full of fun discoveries…

“Weather is a great metaphor for life — sometimes it’s good, sometimes it’s bad, and there’s nothing much you can do about it but carry an umbrella.” ~Terri Guillemets

remember to play everyday…

using one of the index cards I created a while ago along with my most recent gelatin monoprinting on Fabriano 140 lb hot press paper that I had stitched to use as a journal (I came across a couple of twelve page  7.5 x 11 inch BLANK journals I had stitched together in a great Misty Mawn 2012 online class that had been waiting for attention)…

there was just one problem with the monoprinting that worked better than I imagined directly onto the stitched journal pages…

I liked them so much I really didn’t want to cover them up…

however I was eager to participate again in Art Journal Journey’s August SQUARE challenge so I got busy and carved a couple of square stamps (thanks to Dawn for inspiring me to use some of the big school erasers that are plentiful this time of year)…

using my square stencil to add a few painted squares and to outline the squares with a bit of stamping on top (the pink rubber above is called Speedy Carve by Speedball)… …

so here are what the BEFORE pages looked like…

and the AFTER using my new Sharpie Fine Pen shown in the photos above which was great for adding some finishing doodle touches to my journal pages…

still a few more days left in August for you too to join in the Art Journal Journey challenge or at least stop by to enjoy the wonderful creations from around the globe…

more index cards…

a new month and I am still playing with 3×5 card collages…

above are some background cards I made a while ago that helped get me going…

washi tape on stenciled painted background with catalog image, cigar box paper and a piece of Flimmerstern…

the lady was printed with ink running low in our printer and too good to waste,  stamped book text, striped tissue paper created on top of the ‘coat room check 351‘ card  in the first photo…

created on the black and white card with the house and garden diagram letting the TruBlu label colors lead me using Lumiere paint along with Distress Stains (one of my favorite things these days)…

swirly stamped background with torn pieces from a paper bag that held delicious Grasmere Gingerbread from our trip to the UK in June…

stencil and plaster with some of my favorite decorative tissue papers, music and “Persuasion” book text…

using a few favorite rubber stamps,  sari ribbon and a US postage stamp…

got brave and used all three of these wonderful Swiss stamps from a special friend with a little doodling and stamped ink spots…

I will have a few more cards to share next week…

♥Happy August Dear Ones♥

Index Card Fun…

there has been a buzz in blogland lately over ICADs which stands for Index Card A Day…

the recipe card size of 3 x 5 inches does speak to me as I find it is a great way to use some of what is handy on my art table working quickly not thinking too much…

here are a handful of links from friends with some of their recent and inspiring ICADs:

Linda of Linda Jo’s Obsessions…

Christie’s Flickr…

Dawn of Girl Unwinding…

Elizabeth of Altered Book Lover…

some years ago we called the 3×5 format “Skinny’s“ …

I got hooked playing with ICADs again a couple of summers ago and almost filled an old metal recipe box with new cards I created…

some were sent out as RAKs as I find they make nice little “note cards” or tuckins…

I have not gotten back into making one a day but I did get to play the other day and make a couple…

the card above used one of my ready to go backgrounds with a bit of security envelope torn at the bottom, a piece from a journal page that I created and copied and printed out … the “Organic” sticker is from some yummy British Lemonade…

the mermaid tail was stamped on some scratch paper that had been on my desktop for quite some time…

I used several ink sprays and misted each layer with water to make the background run and blend and bead up…the words “from the deep” are glued onto broken pieces of a wooden coffee stirrer…

my cards are straight rectangles…it might be time for me to start using a tripod for my photos 🙂

♥ many thanks to so many of you for inspiring me again and again in special ways that you may not even be aware of ♥

angels and demons…

a handful of my index cards so far for the changing season …

best viewed by clicking each for the closeup …

feeling autumnal and

a little Béla Lugosi …

thanks to some Recollections Lenticular Stickers…

other ingredients are pieces of my Citra Solv treated Nat’l Geographic magazine pages … tea cup from Dover … Black Cat firecracker label … assorted rubber stamps and the perfect freebie word sheet from Pennywise Arts…

and to balance things out a bit here is October’s quote from my “Angel Spirits” The Art of Sulamith Wulfing 2011 Calendar:

“I have been with you from the moment of your birth, precious child, and I will be with you to your journey’s end – and beyond.  Close your eyes and feel my presence, strong and sure and eternal.  Know that I keep you safe and whole, every day and every night, now and forever.” ~Guardian Angel, October 2011

I would also like to share these three angels as FREE DOWNLOADs from my photo collection

taken at the Washington DC Congressional Cemetery…

these are for your personal use only…

not intended to be made into collage sheets or sold…

Enjoy OXO

Paper Stacks a Plenty…another Seth Apter Collaboration

Seth of The Altered Page is at it again …

ever the master of art collaborations he put out a call to post photos showing our stacked journals

… papers

… handmade books and more …

the bigger the pile the better…

I must admit the pictures above show just some of my creations…

in talking to Mr Magpie about paper stacks…

he took a few paper photos too…

it seems piles of paper play a big role in our lives…

the other evening we rescued the paper bits below after having a bite to eat…

we found we only needed half of the heavy duty paper napkins provided and the paper doilies are always too good to pass up… a wonderful collage ingredient…

many thanks to Seth as always for joining the on line mixed media art community together…

I am looking forward to visiting all of the Paper Stack Project participants linked on Seth’s blog here

…95 participants and counting…

Goodnight Irene

this soon to be altered metal recipe box has been kicking around for awhile now…

it is perfect for holding my 3×5″ index cards…

my attempt at creating an earthquake card did not work out…

 but I did want to share some of the other cards I created recently…

with a short description of what went into each…

I so enjoy putting bits of this and that together…

playing with scissors and glue never gets old…

it seems my blog has turned into part of my memory…

you may notice that there are underlined words in most of my posts…

I try to add links to provide further info and of course give credit where credit is due…

there is a handy tool on my sidebar marked “Looking for Something” … typing in a word or two oftentimes takes me where I need to go…

for a clearer view you can click on the pictures…it helps sharpen them…I should really take the time to get out the tripod…

here goes…

Citra Solv background…scraps of paper doily and graph paper…copy of a TAP transfer piece I made with beaded and stitched silk frame…Goddess stamp …

Citra Solv background…stamping…gold Krylon pen…scrap paper from garden catalog…faux leaves and flower colored with Sharpie…center brad…gold napkin for bottom trim…the image was in a cigar box with some pages I cut up for text…not certain where she is from…

mini me…age two in Germany on a paint scraped and doily gesso background…German book text (thank you Margaret I finally got brave enough to rip those nice pages) …text washi tape…and rubber stamps from Catslife Press…really Loving the “Remember to Play Everyday” freebie stamp from them…

another Citra Solv background…some you hardly want to cover up they have such great colors and design…the Polish postage stamps really inspired me on this one…a Debbie Warren free microscope size image trimmed down with a little more graph paper at the bottom…

I had scanned a piece of green and black collaged background paper that I created some time ago added a little gesso stenciling with a plastic doily…along with my favorite Paper Whimsy sun face…dotted piece from a recycled envelope…black rubons and the word “luminous” cut from a paint sample…

another piece of my scanned background glued onto my pink index card…I decided to print it larger which made it a little different and interesting…my favorite “Art Helps Me Breathe” stamp again from Catslife Press and the fan stamp enhanced a bit with my white Signo gel pen…

our house is on high ground here in Northern Virginia…

still not sure what to expect with Hurricane Irene…

they are throwing the “historic” word around again…

we are hoping for just a tropical storm here in the Washington DC area…

it will be nice to say “Goodnight Irene“ after this weekend…

sending best wishes for everyone’s safety…

may each of you stay out of harm’s way…

OXO

index card swap with Sandy

the lovely and talented Sandy is back in blogland after a bit of a break…

both she and her creativity were greatly missed…

Sandy got excited when she saw some of the index cards on my blog recently…

so we decided to swap a couple of cards…

here is what I took to the post office yesterday…

be sure and visit Sandy here to see the beauties she made for me…

some fun mail on its way back and forth across the ocean

index cards keep happening…

not tired yet of making 3 x 5 inch collage cards…

in fact some days it is easy to make four…

they make nice greeting/note cards…

one of the sunshine girls jumped into two photos … two of the cards above have National Geographic CitraSolv backgrounds…

the Paper Whimsy sunshine face helps make any body look better I think…

it can mean lots of fussy cutting…

but I enjoy that…

the little “houseguest” above is holding a 3D vintage flower…

the word was cut from a large print book

…all of my photos are better clicked for a closeup…

some new unmounted stamps I ordered from Catslife Press arrived and I couldn’t wait to play…

Catslife Press is the creator of one of my all time favorite rubber stamps: “Art Helps Me Breathe”…

the card below was made with the surprise freebie stamps included in my recent order…

“REMEMBER TO PLAY EVERYDAY” is a brilliant motto and something I do actually try and live by…

I used some of my paint scraped book pages for backgrounds with some of the other new stamps I ordered…

delivery certainly was speedy and the postage was very reasonable…

it is also nice having the choice of wood mounted or unmounted stamps…

I have no affiliation with Catslife Press…

just a very happy customer…

hope you get some time to PLAY

August daze…

not flaming with creativity at the moment…

*lady and moon from The Graphics Fairy … always a brilliant and generous source of free images*

feeling a little betwixt and between…

I do keep making 3 x 5″ index card collages…working quickly…not thinking too much…

also getting a little reading in…

here is this month’s quote from my “Angel Spirits” The Art of Sulamith Wulfing 2011 Calendar:

“You came into this life with a sacred purpose, entering into the stream of your destiny as a boat is launched trustfully upon a great river.  Attune yourself to that divinely guided flow, and all will be well.  Follow your heart and offer yourself as a vessel of goodness.” ~Spirit of Purpose, August 2011

~* OXO *~

…I am just like me

“I am completely authentic. I don’t pretend to be what I am not. I am what I am, and I accept what I am. I am just like a flower, just like the ocean, just like the sun. I am just like me.”  ~Don Miguel Ruiz

reading that inspiration from Don Miguel Ruiz reminded me of my word of the year AUTHENTIC … on my sidebar … 

here we are over half way through the year … I am finding out that it is pretty challenging being completely “authentic” all the time…

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

my art cave gets the morning sun and likes to hold on to the heat into the afternoon on these hot hot days …

even our nights have not been going below the 70’s (20+ celsius) lately…I certainly do NOT treasure the heat 😉

(left card: scrap papers, washi tape, paint, inks “Treasure” rubber stamp… right card: citrasolv background paper with black marker highlights…the card actually says “The HEAT wears me out”…but the ‘wears me out’ was lost in photo taking along with the lower border of the image…sunshine making trouble on our shady back porch too…my fav photo spot usually … images from Alicia’s Altered Bits collage sheet)

I have managed to get up in my art room and play a little with my pink index cards (or skinnies as they are also called) a few times …

(left card: my artwork transferred onto fabric and stitched onto scrap paper decorated with rubber stamping, rubons and fabric bits… right card: torn papers and dictionary page, paint and rubber stamping)

hard to make just one as one seems to lead to two more and so on…

(left card: some Sunday’s we split a salty and sweet caramel chocolate square with our coffee…it comes on a nice brown paper square that I always bring home…the bag is too good to waste too… right card: a piece of torn map from a trip to San Francisco inspired me on this card…we Love SF…a flower stamp seemed perfect too)

I work quickly on these using what I have on hand…

I sure do miss Wednesday Stamper…Wednesday’s are just not the same…

Footnote: this is my 1,400th post

make time to play…

there is fun buzz in the blogosphere about the index card a day project (ICAD)…along with SO much creativity…

 Dianne and Terri are a couple of artists that greatly inspired me with their index cards…

while I do not plan to participate in the challenge daily necessarily…

I do enjoy a good challenge and having a chance to play…

at first I could only find the larger size of index card in my stash and ended up with a postcard size creation…

a sweet surprise package from my dear bloggie friend Suz provided the perfect crepe paper ruffle…

I just knew I needed to use that in something special using one of my favorite vintage postcard ladies as a TAP transfer on fabric…

a little stitching…some vintage velvet ribbon…lace bits and more and it was complete…

I save all of the papers that protect my table top from glue … rubber stamping ink and paint … they make perfect backgrounds …

some 3 x 5″ cards did surface in a recent studio cleanup so I got busy…no matter that they were pink to start out with…

a new tin of Cavallini animal stickers made a nice focal point for my first couple of cards…

I do see more index cards in my future…it is a perfect way to use up scraps and what you have handy on your work table without a huge time commitment…

“You can discover more about a person in an hour of play than in a year of conversation.” ~Plato