More Art Journal Pages

Here are some art journal pages that I've done this last month. Some were inspired by writing I did prompted by The Awe-Manac and others were inspired by other things in my life right now.

In other art news, I'm gearing up for Artfest in April. I just completed my 32 ATCs for a book one of the other Artfesters is making. This is the first time I've made this many ATCs just for one project. I don't think I've made more than 6 before for swaps, so this was a lot of work.

I'm also making mermaid magnets for trading. I actually made 32 magnets last weekend. And I'm not tired of making them yet!

One World One Heart Giveaway

Why is it so much fun, so fulfilling, to give things away? I don't know, but here I am, giving some things away. Below are two sets of little things I've made that I'm giving away for the One World-One Heart Giveaway. In order to win, you must leave a comment on this post. The winners will be chosen randomly on February 12, 2009.

If you click on the badge above, you can also see all of the other bloggers who are involved in the giveaway. I hope you'll take some time to check out their blog giveaways.

These are some sweet little marble magnets. Mmm, I could lick that cupcake...but I won't.

These lovely glittered tags can be used as book marks or gift tags or anything else you can think of!

I will be adding things to the giveaway as we get closer to February 12, so there will definately be more than two winners.

Oh, and those people who I owe things to for an earlier giveaway, I have them done! I'll mail them to one person and probably show up unannounced at another's house. I hope you like what I've made for you!

So, leave a comment and win!

Art Journal 2009

I know you've all been dying to see some more art, so here are a few art journal pages I've done recently. Right now the art journal and other "artsy" stuff occupy TSH's side of the bed. What will I do when he gets back?


I think the above journal proves once and all that I should stick to glueing things to paper rather than drawing. But it was fun, nonetheless. The poem can be found in a slightly more legible form on My Meandering Musings.

I enjoyed practicing my little squiggly lines on the above page. I haven't played with squiggly lines in years. I forgot how good I was at them. Ahhhh, if I could just have a career based on squiggly lines, I would be set!

I'm Going to Artfest!

I'm so excited!

Yep, I just did the happy dance because I'm so excited to go to Artfest in April! I've never done anything like this before, but I'm glad I'm doing it. I even got all of the classes I wanted, including one taught by the author of Poemcrazy, my current favorite book about writing poetry. Oh, I must go get started on making things to trade with other Artfesters. Must fly!

Some Halloween Fun!

Yes, it's only the second week of September (week number 3 for school!), but I've already started to think about Halloween. I bought costumes for the two boys who care about that kind of stuff yesterday at Joann's before they went on sale. I got to use my 40% off coupons and they both got dinosaur costumes (yes, they're exactly the same. You'd think these little guys were twins if they weren't different heights and looked almost nothing alike.), so that was a good deal. And I've been crafting Halloween stuff for the last few weeks, inspired by Artsymama's Sweet and Sinister Halloween Swap (which a couple of things in this post are actually going towards, but I won't say what! He he!). It's been a blast!



Here's one that I made based on a tutorial from the swap blog. I'm rather pleased with it. (I didn't make the cute little "Treats" box. I bought it and its companion at T.J. Maxx.)



For this one, I painted a frame from a thrift store with black acrylic paint and stamped the witch and the Boo! stamp (both from Martha Stewart's craft stuff from Michaels, which you can now use coupons on!) on vintage text from a story about a witch's birthday party.



This one is candy corn fabric stretched across a canvas (which I bought from the thrift store and it had a picture of a flower on it, but it was super-cheap) which I traced an outline of a black cat on and then painted black around the cat. The last step was to apply glitter around the kitty (I used Martha Stewart's onyx glitter and her glitter glue; I'm totally in love with her glitter right now).



I made this banner using pieces of a photo book kit I bought at the dollar store. I painted all of the chipboard pieces with black acrylic paint, then painted the dots on with more acrylic paints and different size cotton swabs. I then added some glittered chipboard letters and bats punched out (with the bat punch from Martha Stewart, of course) from the same vintage text about a witch's birthday party. Tied together with black ribbon sets it off nicely.

So, there's the fun stuff I've been working on. Once I get done with Halloween, I have to start on presents for Nicole, Heidi, and Jenn, who won my Christmas in July giveaway, but I've just barely now annouced! Hey, you lucky ladies. Congratulations!

New Store at Cafepress.com!

I've been busy playing the last few days creating items for my store at Cafepress.com. It's kind of fun to see your own art on a journal or made into notecards. Here are two items that I've added with my art on them.

I blogged about the House in the Sky collage last month. I have to say I think it's darling. (Of course I have to say that! It's like saying you think your children are beautiful.)

This card/collage was made using a copy of a picture of my great-grandma. I made it last year for a family reunion auction, and I decided to keep it. (If you read about my birdhouse, you might think that's common for me. I'm just a little possesive. Again, my art is like a child, I guess.) But now everyone can enjoy the piece on a notecard! Fun, fun, fun!

Quilt Detail--Shades of Inspiration

Quilt Detail--Shades of Inspiration
Originally uploaded by La Dama de Collage

This is the detail of a quilt that I saw at the Quilt Museum at This Is the Place Heritage Park. I'm awed by this person's talent.