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I submitted my little bird house to the Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine "Home Sweet Home" challenge.  I recently heard that it was picked as a finalist.  I sent it in and am hoping that it will be among those selected to be published in the magazine.

This birdhouse measures  2.5" wide x 3.5" high x 2" deep - tiny, tiny!  I chose to construct it using silk, felt, beads, buttons, sequins,  miscellaneous hardware, paint, molding paste.  It is machine embroidered, free motion quilted and hand stitched.

Go to Pink Saturday for more inspiration!

Dream Big!

The Texture Tuesday challenge this week is to use any of Kim Klassen's textures and the word prompt "dream".

Yep, that's me when I was a little girl.  I added Kim's "She Loves You" texture to my photo; a warming filter, wings, adhesive tape  (brush), drop shadow.  The font is "Sunshine in My Soul".  The background is "dark pages" from Playing with Brushes.

The Sketchbook Project 2012 - continued

As promised, here are the rest of the sketchbook pages for The Sketchbook Project 2012.

(14) and (15) glass beads, acrylic paint, water color, embossed, rubber stamped, glitter

 (16) paper, ink, resist; (17) water color, acrylic paint, paint pens, glitz

 (18) aluminum foil, alcohol inks; (19) water color, acrylic paint, paint pens, puff paint

(20) paper, molding paste, cloth-paper, stenciled, rubber stamped; (21) acrylic paint, water color, dimensional pen, petroleum jelly resist

(22) water color, acrylic paint, acrylic glaze, molding paste, acrylic skin; (23) water color, acrylic paint, gesso, paper, rubber stamped

(24) water color, acrylic paint, image transfer on tissue paper, acrylic skin; (25) water color, paper, rubber stamped, image transfer, charcoal pencil

 (26) water color, acrylic paint, stenciled, paper; (27) water color, paper, Joss paper, found objects

(28) acrylic paint, mono-printed; content description

content description continued

There is still time for you to take part in this amazing project!

Go to Pink Saturday for more inspiration.

Aurora edition

The challenge for Texture Tuesday this week is utilizing Kim Klassen's "Aurora" texture with any photograph.  In this case, I used a photo I took of some glorious flowers at a market in Provence.  I love the way this turned out

(mouse over to see the before)

What I did:

1.  opened my image

2.  duplicated image - multiply - opacity 70%

3.  Added Kim's "KK2" texture - screen - opacity 73%

4.  Added Kim's "Aurora" texture; made a levels adjustment - opacity 65%

5.  added bevel

(This is the first time I've tried adding the rollover feature to my blog.  I hope it works!)

The Sketchbook Project 2012

A couple of months ago, I signed up to participate in The Sketchbook Project 2012.  Each participant receives a blank sketchbook that will be exhibited on the 2012 tour and catalogued permanently in the Brooklyn Art Library.

As you know, I've been experimenting with surface design techniques.  I used those techniques on the sketchbook pages and subsequently altered many of the pages.  Some of the backgrounds you may recognize from previous posts.  Others are completely transformed - hard for you (and me) to detect what's underneath.

The each sketchbook page measures 5" wide by 7" high.  The book was stapled together - I took the staples out to work on the cover and pages.   To reconstruct the sketchbook, I used a simple 5 hole pamphlet stitch (knotted on the inside).  The sketchbook will not lie open flat, of course!  It was necessary to make a strap with magnetic snaps to ensure that it will stay closed while it tours around the country.

Over the course of the next couple of weeks, I will show you the inside pages.

paper/fabric, charcoal pencil, gesso, acrylic paint, image transfer, zigzag stitch, hand stitched

printed image, acrylic paint, paper, acrylic ink

(1) masking tape, molding paste, image transfer, acrylic paint

(2) acrylic medium, acrylic paint, paint pens, paper; (3) water color, Krylon spray web, found objects

(4) water color, gesso, paper, hand carved stamp, stamped image on water color paper; (5) acrylic glaze, acrylic paint, misted rubbing alcohol, bleach, stenciled, molding paste

(6) acrylic paint, Saran wrap, rubber stamped, Lazertran image transfer, paint pens; (7) acrylic paint, rubber cement resist

(8)  rubbing alcohol dripped over acrylic paint; (9) water colors, stenciled, rubber stamped, paper, image transfer

(10) water color, image transfer on tissue paper, acrylic skin; (11) water color, freezer paper resist

(12) water color, acrylic paint, stenciled; (13) acrylic paint, crackle paste, paper

Go to Pink Saturday for more inspiration!

Gadsden Museum of Art

The 53rd Annual Gadsden Art Association Juried Show opened on July 10 and runs through August 27.  There are 160 pieces in the exhibit from 13 states and 22 cities in Alabama.  I am very happy to have two art quilts in this exhibit - "Should I?" and "Listen To Your Conscience."  This morning I learned "Should I?" was awarded first place in the Painting-Mixed Media category.  A nice bit of news to wake up to!

"Should !?"

"Listen To Your Conscience"

The Gadsden Museum of Art is located at 515 Broad Street, Gadsden, AL  35901.  If you're nearby, please stop in and check it out!

Laundry Day

I took a break from surface design techniques to play with Photoshop Elements.   I have a large collection of photos I've taken of different textures.  The one I chose for this project is a street surface in Freiburg, Germany.  I found the dish towels hanging in a little shop in Zurich.   I also used one of Kim Klassen's textures "Granny's Cupboard."

I experimented with making a displacement map.  This is the result.

Another version sans the displacement map.

The theme this week for Texture Tuesday is "pink".

For more inspiration, visit Pink Saturday and Texture Tuesday!

Texture Tuesday...

This collage was created in Photoshop Elements using two of Kim Klassen's backgrounds: "golden" and "granny's cupboard".  The theme this week was "3".  These challenges are a wonderful way to learn more about working with PSE software.

This is my first venture into Kim's Texture Tuesdays challenge.  Kim generously offers free backgrounds of her own design for use in the Texture Tuesday challenges. Why not join us?!

Surface Design - Add Ons #2

More examples of surface design techniques.  Paper was first painted with either watercolors and/or acrylic paints.  Various media was added thereto.

tissue paper

masking tape (left), molding paste (right)

acrylic paint monoprint

hand carved stamp on background - same stamp 

on watercolor paper, painted, cut out and adhered to paper

found objects/joss paper

aluminum foil stained with Adirondac alcohol ink 

(aluminum foil adhered to paper using soft gel medium)

gold Krylon spray-on webbing

These experiments are so much fun!

Go to Pink Saturday for more inspiration!