Think Monday - Think ATC - Alice in Wonderland

Another quick little post to show the ATC I finished last night for the Think Monday - Think ATC theme of "Alice in Wonderland".

The stamps are all from the Whimsy plate by Non Sequitur, colouring by Tombow pens, and an ancient piece of background paper from when I first started stamping! The plastic flower sequin isn't the right embellishment but that top left corner needed something and this was all I could come up with. Maybe I should have left that decision until morning when I might have had a better idea!

Planning for lots of creative stuff this weekend - in between domestic responsibilities of course - so I expect I will be posting again later today.

TMTA - Headwear (& Other Assorted Stuff)

I had a lovely day - Joseph made me breakfast in bed so I started the day with a leisurely read of the latest Quilting Arts and Issue 2 of Fibre & Stitch. Both provided heaps of inspiration for the day which was a much nicer day, weather wise - sunny but not too hot. Josh and I did some cooking but I also had lots of time to play in my sewing and craft rooms.

So first off, I made my ATC for the current Think Monday Think ATC "Headwear" theme. It is based on a scrap of paper that was underneath another paper when I was spraying Color Washes. I love these colours! I dyed the white ric rac using a Starburst Stain. The text image is an Oxford Impressions stamp that I use a lot and it is stamped with a Versafine Blue Lagoon inkpad. The paper heart lace at the top is self-adhesive and comes in packets of four designs - a brilliant idea I think.

I also finished a couple of postcards. The first one is based on some of my rusted fabric and is a DAK (deliberate act of kindness) for Anna who has been doing a lot of give-aways on her blog. It is stamped using Fabrico ink and the image is printed on fabric.

The second one is for a trade with Val. It is silk fusion in a pink/orange mix with some gold angelina. It is stamped with an Acey Duecy text image and I have added some lace I dyed/painted, another fabric image and a few beads.

I made good progress on some other things as well (including the long overdue replacement jigsaw pieces so I will post them as soon as they are finished) so all in all, a nice relaxing but productive day! Pity there isn't a public holiday tomorrow - I feel as though I am on a roll...

Think Monday - Think ATC - Houses

Here's my Friday night effort for the current theme of "Houses" for Think Monday - Think ATC. Great theme - it has given me an opportunity to use one of my chipboard houses from Julie van Oosten's "Collections". Actually I have just realized that the "cherish" strip, typewriter number and also the tiny writing image that is stamped on the house are also from Collections.

I love mini black ric rac (is that spelt right??) and I am running out of it. This sort of shopping has to be done online (or at least it does where I live) so why don't I write down where I buy it so that the next time I need it, I can easily order it???? I don't understand why such easy organizational things are such a problem for me in my away-from-work life!

I have a very full weekend ahead but I am hopeful that I will get a couple of decent chunks of creative time as I have so many things I either want to work on or need to work on!

Think Monday - Think ATC - Hollywood

I had a bit of trouble with this theme but I didn't want to skip it so I have made my very simple ATC using a movie star photo stamp and a text stamp from a Stampsmith plate. It is mounted on a green "Wizz Bang" paint chip - love this colour but can't imagine having the guts to paint a wall with it!! Or perhaps I can't imagine living with that wall day in day out!! I'll settle for my neutral walls and green couches..

NB - Sorry about the horrible rainbow effect on the scan - why does that happen??? Because of the semi-gloss card, maybe?

I'm off on a work trip to a community out of Meekatharra tomorrow morning but it is a relatively quick trip (only 14 or so hours driving there and back for a 4 hour meeting) so I will be back Tuesday afternoon. Hope it isn't too hot - I like warm but not hot, so of course I live where it is incredibly hot.

Think Monday Think ATC - Moon & Stars

The theme at Think Monday Think ATCs is "Moon & Stars" this week.

I had fun making the background on this one but most of the effects don't show up in the scan - one of the most frustrating parts of using iridescent colours is that the iridescence isn't visible in scans! Anyway the background is a dark but bright blue acrylic glaze with a spray of Moon Shadow Mist in gold, some blobs of a blue Starburst Stains and a text stamp. I've used a plastic "jewel" moon and some sequin stars as well as mini letter tiles from Collections.

Think Monday - Think ATC - Mask

I am not one of those people that like masks and I find a lot of them quite scary really (must indicate something deep and meaningful on a psychological level or something!!) but I didn't participate in last week's Think Monday Think ATC theme (which was pirates) so I didn't want to miss two in a row.

I made this ATC tonight while I was at Annie's having our Wednesday night creative get-together. I have used an Acey Deucy image that I really like but which I hardly ever use. It is stamped on a background collage paper that I made from a zillion (slight exaggeration) tiny pieces of papers in the cream and white colour theme. I liked it so much I photocopied it so I could get maximum use from all that effort! It makes a nice subtle background I think.

Think Monday - Think ATC - Smile

I haven't had a chance to make an ATC for the current Think Monday - Think ATC theme of SMILE (it changes today so this is very last minute!!) so I am using an ATC I made for a swap last year with the Juxtaposed Group. She has a small smile happening!!

The images are all from Melanie Sage's Juxtaposed limited edition series. Talking of these, the latest couple of mini plates have recently arrived and look great - I must cut them out and use them soon!!

Spent my spare time yesterday doing the finishing touches on my jigsaw pieces for the swap - what I want to know is how can finishing touches take so long??? I obviously don't make decisions about embellishment placements quickly enough! I had a whole pile of other stuff I was also expecting to get done yesterday but needless to say it didn't happen...

A very warm spring day here yesterday - it motivated me to to get out all our summer clothes out of storage and to do the big annual wardrobe clean-out. I am quite excited as Joseph has decided to chuck out a really nice old cream wool sweater that I am now going to use for felting experiments!! I can't wear wool, so all my sweaters are cotton which is no use in the felting department.

I'm off to have breakfast and then to finish a series of fabric postcards.

Think Monday - Think ATC - Slide Mounts (& Other Stuff Too!)

So far I have had a great Sunday! The current challenge on Think Monday - Think ATC is to use a slide mount on an ATC. A few years ago when I was in Brisbane for the Stamping Down Under Convention I was lucky enough to find a very old box of plastic slide mounts while on a foraging trip through some op shops with Gaye Triggs and some other stampers. As a result I have a lot of slide mounts to use!!

I decided to do a very bright ATC this week so I have coloured the plastic mount with Adirondack Alcohol Ink (Wild Plum), Schminke gold powder and purple Moon Shadow Mist. I've used a favourite Hero Arts text stamp on the frame and also on the backing (also coloured with the alcohol ink and the mist) but it isn't overly visible. The stamped layer has been painted with Golden Green-Gold acrylic paint and glazing medium. This is my favourite colour from the Golden range. The stamp is also a favourite and is by Melanie Sage from her "Juxtaposed" limited edition range. I've punched out numerous size holes in the top layer so that the wild plum layer shows through. Not sure why I did it - just one of those "on the spur of the moment" things I guess.
I have also finished my six tissue paper "studies" for a swap I am participating in with the Surface Design group. Basically we had to do six inch squares using tissue paper as the main element - other than that there were no real restrictions. I've gone into a bit of detail regarding the technique in case any of the people I am trading with are interested. I started these ages ago when it was still quite cold and wintry and I was wanting to achieve an old rich but worn leathery "in the firelight" look. I have only uploaded one of the six as blogger is proving to be very uncooperative this afternoon!

I have used some of Dale Rollerson's Frescoes and Fragments techniques as learned at her workshop in March. My six pieces are all slightly different but are made the same way - a piece of crumpled tissue paper (I used printed kraft tissue paper by 7Gypsies) have been fused to coffee coloured felt. I have then sprayed them with various Adirondack Color Washes (butterscotch, pesto and wild plum) and walnut ink and mopped and sponged them until I was happy with the colours. They have then been sealed with Mod Podge and then sprayed lightly with gold and black webbing. I have cut out images of wine bottles from some decorator napkins and lightly painted the back of the top ply of the napkin images with diluted acrylic paint so that they would show up on the dark background. Once the were dry I used Mod Podge to adhere them to the tissue/felt layer. They have then been stamped with text and postmark images in permanent black ink and sprayed with gold Moon Shadow Mist. I fused vilene to the backs and stitched around the pieces. They are nice and light for international posting and can easily be mounted once they get to their new homes.

I have also finished another Lutradur & Lace experiment that I started a couple of weekends ago. I painted the back with gesso and it didn't seem to matter what I did to the front, it stayed too pale for my liking. I have used a huge range of paints, inks, shiva sticks, color washes and moon shadow mists on this one trying to get a colour intensity that I was happy with. These experiments are the result of a challenge on the new Fibre & Stitch yahoo group for subscribers to the new zine. On this one I used the embellisher to secure the lace and muslin pieces to the base rather than a sewing machine and I think it has been an interesting result. I would definitely use lutradur again as a base for the embellisher. In the end yesterday I also used color washes and moon shadow mists to colour the back as well. I finally think it is OK and I will use it as a base for fibre ATCs or postcards. The scan has come up a lot darker than the real thing. I quite like the texture of the back, hence the urge to try more embellishing on lutradur.

I'm off now to do domestic stuff and hopefully, later on I will get a chance to do some more work on my giant jig saw exchange pieces. So far all I have done is select backgrounds and images - I still have all the fiddly bits to do! Jenny Crossley is one of the artists in this exchange and she has finished hers - have a look here - it is stunning!

Think Monday - Think ATC - Men

It is the last day for the TM - Think ATC theme of "Men" so I thought I'd have a break from some stuff I am working on and upload a scan of an ATC I did a while back in a themed exchange that ran for a couple of years. The scan is a bit blurry and there is a lot of glare because the biggish brad means it doesn't sit flat! Sorry about that.

This ATC is made out of a piece of thick red vinyl that I bought very very cheaply in one of those recycling (reverse garbage) places. It was hard to stamp on because the stamp sticks to the vinyl so the image is not a good example of stamping technique but I really liked doing something a bit different. The ATC is actually a lot darker and a much deeper red than it shows on my computer/scanner. The "General Failure" stamp is by Paper Artsy and its one I love. I used thin leather thonging and a bright red brad with Letraset numbers to create the X and darkened the edges with Black StazOn ink.

Now to get back to the six tissue paper studies that I am currently working on...

Think Monday - Think ATC - Metal Art (& my mail today!)

I know, two posts in a row on Think Monday - Think ATC is probably a bit much, but the new theme is Metal Art and I have a couple of ATCs that I previously made that I can post for this challenge in case I don't get an opportunity to make one specially this week.

The first one is totally metal - a wire mesh backing, sheet metal folded to form a tag pocket, stitched with wire and with a rusty old blade inserted (entitled "edges" - the appropriate sub-title would be "sharp" or "handle with care"). The word "edges is stamped with metal stamps and black ink is used to accentuate the letters.

The second one has a stamped background that relies on some Brilliance inkpads for some metallic effects. The circular frame is metal, as are the eyelets and the plumber's tape on the top and bottom is of course metal as well. The screw in the middle is a sticker.

I had a quick trip to Perth today - it seems weird to fly 600kms for a couple of meetings and to be back home on the same day. I had about 50 minutes between the two meetings so, apart from buying a sandwich for lunch, I used the time to buy some healthy dry foods (pictured below - something different for this blog!) that are either unavailable here or over-priced. I am on a bit of a health kick - I recently had a "reminder" about the importance of fibre and wholefoods. The bright green beans are wasabi beans - they are new to me but they looked so vibrant I had to try them!

When I got home I found that I had some lovely mail waiting for me - in addition to the latest Stamper's Sampler (which looks really nice, lots of colour) I had received the Roma Beeswax ATC swap back. The range of ATCs from that swap is terrific and Kimberley Hopkins, the hostess, also sent a really nice beeswaxed ATC "Wedding Veil" along with some arty goodies so I am itching to get creative. My entry was posted here a while back.

The ATCs are by Kimberley Hopkins, Kari Worsham (two),
Hulin Pacsale,Carolyn Brady, Bobbi Godding and Pat Smith.

Beeswaxed ATC by Kimberley Hopkins

Think Monday - Think ATC - Music (plus bits!)

Once again I am just going to scrape in before the theme changes tomorrow! The current theme is "Music" and my ATC shows two lovers dancing to their own music (or at least in my mind that was this sexy looking pirate and his lady are doing!). The stamp is by Acey Deucy - its a favourite of mine but I don't use it a lot for some reason.

My sister Marrijane has now received her belated birthday gift so I can post a photo of it - it is a Maya Road Vintage Purse Album but I used the pages as affirmation cards. I had a lot of fun with this but it was a lot fiddlier (I doubt that is a real word) and more time consuming than I anticipated. I did lots of background stamping on the pages but the gessoed / colour washed surface just absorbed the inks so a lot of the backgrounds are very subtle. I used some really pretty scrapbook papers for the covers and backs of the pages.


Today I have been playing with my embellisher machine making some postcards for exchanges - I am experimenting with all sorts of fabrics and fibres to see how they react - my favourite so far is layered panne velvet. I'll post some pictures as soon as they are finished. The photo below is of red felt with layers of hot pink and blue organza plus red and black netting - I just love the way the fabrics mesh! I think I will be on an "abstract" bender for a while. I'm still sewing on beads so it may be a day or two before they are all finished especially as tomorrow I have to be at the airport by 7:10am for a day trip to Perth for meetings. Those sorts of days are draining so I need to get to bed tonight at a reasonable hour.

Final thing - there is a new art challenge site starting up today - of course I have to join this as well - have a look if you haven't already - Gothic Arch Challenge!

Think Monday - Think ATC - Numbers

This is my Think Monday ATC for the current week's theme of "Numbers" - I am just scraping in before the new theme is announced tomorrow! All of the stamps used are from Julie van Oosten's Collections range and I have used one of the oil pastel backgrounds I made last week. You can't see it in the scan but it has a lovely golden glimmer from the Moon Shadow Mist (Medieval Gold).

Well like all good things my holidays finish tonight and I am back to work tomorrow. Getting a cold has slowed me down a bit creatively but overall the last couple of weeks have been a great break. Yesterday was quite warm and sunny, so in between loads of washing I made several sheets of fabric paper (a la Beryl Taylor), coloured some small fabric pieces with Adirondack Color Washes and painted canvas backgrounds. I also lost several hours in the evening reading "The Divide" by Nicholas Evans. I really like the way he writes and I couldn't stop myself from finishing it, even though my intention had been to make it last a week. So tomorrow on my lunch break I will be off to the second hand book store or the library in search of a good novel.

Today (after attending to domestic duties of the most mundane variety) I have finished my mini clean-up of the sewing and craft rooms so that I feel a bit more organised. I ALWAYS regret starting these clean-ups as they ALWAYS take far longer than I my original estimate and I start to feel as though I am never going to finish. I have probably "modified" what constitutes "finishing" but I have stopped and the rooms look a lot more organised than they did a week ago. Several piles of things have just been boxed rather than sorted but if they are lucky they will be first in line for the next clean-up!




The photos are of various stages in my fabric paper making frenzy. No pictures of the final results - I'll see what I can do about that tomorrow night. I think I have made my paper too firm again compared with the effect Beryl achieves - it will be usable but it certainly isn't very pliable. I obviously need to dilute my PVA glue more but 50/50 just seems so wet and sloppy!!

Here is a photo of the canvas backgrounds - needless to say I was having a bright day! I don't know about anyone else but I find it a lot easier to start a specific piece when my background or the canvas is already started. I guess it is my way of handling the white canvas syndrome. Anyway I find it very relaxing to just splash paint around because there is nothing specific intended at the time I am painting. I have a great big bag of painted canvases "ready" for projects - the initial colour quite often becomes irrelevant as I often completely change it once I am underway.

Think Monday - Think ATC - Holiday

Seeing I was the last entry for last week's Think Monday - Think ATC Challenge I thought I would make a super effort and make my ATC for the latest theme on the Monday!

The theme is holiday and in answer to the prompt "What are your thoughts upon hearing ‘holiday’?" my initial response is always to think about all the car travel involved over the last 14 years since we have lived here in Kalgoorlie.

Family holidays always mean at least a day, if not a day and a half, of driving to get to either Perth or Margaret River. While Josh and Zach have always been great travellers and able to entertain themselves during long drives, when they were young it was of course inevitable that "Are we there yet?" would get asked at some point on the drive! So my ATC relives those moments.

The main stamp used is by Tin Can Mail and I have only used a portion of it as it is a large stamp. The transparency section is by Design Originals. Other things used are a texture stamp, sequin waste as a stencil, walnut ink, scrapbook paper and my favourite Moon Glow Mist in Gossamer Gold.

Think Monday - Think ATC - Asia

Well it is the last day for the Asia theme for Think Monday - Think ATC so I am just scraping in.

This is my ATC which is painted canvas paper stitched to felt. The stamping comes from the very large Asian script (Above the Mark) which is in the background and the main image is from a favourite decorator napkin - I love the transparency of napkins. This ATC is similar to some I have made before because I did a whole background sheet and I am progressively cutting it up and turning it into postcards and ATCs!

I worked on several pieces yesterday but didn't finish anything except the ATC so here is a scan of some of the tags I painted with Radiant Pearls - fabulous paints that I love but tend to only use occasionally as they are not sitting on my desk so they get forgotten a bit. Unfortunately the radiance and depth of the paints doesn't show up very well in the scan but they are beautiful in the real thing - the paints blend beautifully and dry by absorption so they tend to be slow drying if you are layering. I hear some people say they don't like the slowness but I think it really helps get the lovely blended look.

Now to go to work - last day of the school holidays for my son so no doubt there will be lots of doom and gloom around here this time tomorrow!

Think Monday - Think ATC - Faces

I like the idea of getting back into making ATCs regularly so I am going to try and do at least one a week by joining in the Think Monday - Think ATC challenge! Not likely that I will actually get it made on the Monday though.

This is my ATC for the current theme of "faces". I have used Dimensional Magic all over the card to get a glossy finish and to adhere the three little sequins. It intensifies the colours nicely (the colour being Adirondack Butterscotch Color Wash on a softly coloured scrapbook paper).

I love this image which is from Stamp Francisco - I have only used a portion of the whole image as it is a large stamp. Here is a photo showing the whole image - from an altered book page I did some time back (and I might have shown this page before!).