Art Creations Friday - background

In tribute to my sister whose birthday is in May, I created this piece using the beautiful background provided by Art Creations Friday. I took the colors in the background plus gold and added them to a png image of Stef's flower. I hope you can read her tee shirt.

Rainbow Lady 's Challenge - Alice

Alice in Wonderland is the theme for this week's Rainbow Lady's Challenge Blog. I had a bit of a time finding public domain illustrations to use. However, this illustration by Sir John Tenniel is in public domain. The background is a digital pattern I made and changed the colors.

Tag it On! - Distress

Here is my tag for Tag it On! I have used Tim Holtz's Distress Ink in photo and Distress Powder in tan. I also used Stampendous gold embossing powder. The medallion was made by using the cuttlebug folder and then embossing it in various golds and cutting it out. My stamps are by Hearts in Touch and All Night Media. I hope this is what distressing means. It was fun to make.

The Three Muses Challenge - Music

This lovely lady is my very talented granddaughter. The frame is from Dover. The theme for this week's The Three Muses is Music!

Fun with ATCs (Moo on ATC)

Using a moo on an ATC is the theme for Fun with ATCs challenge. I started with watercolor paper I had sprayed with Moon Shadow mists (both the ATC and the moo). I stamped both with my new Stampin' Up stamps. The flower is also a SU stamp, colored with le Plume markers. The embossing was done with Moon Shadow embossing powders in colors of emerald and purple.

Tag Tuesday - Glitter

Last week I made a bunch of background material on watercolor paper using watercolor crayons, pencils, and paints. This is a tag I made using that background. I have put blue Stampendous glitter in the top right side and on the left. I put gold Stampendous glitter in the lower right. The stamps are Stampin' Up. The embossing powder is Malachite MoonShadow. Louise at Tag Tuesday has a great inspiration tag and has challenged us to get out our glitter.

TMTA - transfers

This ATC was made for Think Monday Think ATC challenge. I used an alcohol inked background. My stamps are by Stampendous and See D's.

I took one of my earlier works, reduced it to fit an ATC and printed it via my inkjet printer onto some Sheer Heaven transfer paper. From there I transferred it directly onto the alcohol inked background.

Sheer Heaven is one of the most versatile "papers". I love to play with it. Since it does cost a bit, I usually print off a number of things onto a sheet of it and cut them apart. One thing that isn't advertised, of course, is that SH is reusable. A squirt of alcohol and a quick rub will wipe the image right off and the SH is ready to be reused.

Metallics for One Stop Challenge

This card has metallic HVAC tape that I embossed in a Cuttlebug folder and then colored with alcohol inks. The embellishments are also embossed with the Cuttlebug folder.

Using metallics is the challenge for One Stop.

Art Creations Friday

This one really evolved, starting with the lovely image given to us for the Art Creations Friday challenge. I used my Li'l Redhead image and put the hair and hat onto the ACF image. The background is a digital brush of a barn and some apples and grapes. The same image of grapes and apples is in her pail and in her left hand.

Now this actually looks like our granddaughter did as a young girl.

April Showers - Rainbow Lady's Challenge

I've always heard that April showers bring May flowers. When asked if I'd like to be one of the guest designers in April, I immediately thought of April rains, and then I thought of my oil painting of Stephanie playing in the rain.

I have taken the painting and printed out a small copy on glossy photo paper. The raindrops are a stamp and  I added drops of Glossy Accents to make the rain sparkle. Then I scanned that image into my computer. From there on, it is a digital art piece.

I am so eager to see what sort of April showers art all of the Rainbow Lady's followers create for the Rainbow Lady's Challenge Blog.

And congratulations to Cynthia for this, her 100th challenge!

Black and Red - Theme Thursday

Red and black sound so oriental to me so that's the image I wanted to portray in my 4x4 digital work for the Theme Thursday challenge. The woman is from Dezinaworld. The character means Beauty. The "bamboo" is one of my digital brushes.

The second one uses my newest digital brush of real bamboo (not palm leaves).

Wednesday Stamper - Created by Hand

This card was made for Wednesday Stamper using watercolor paper, watercolor pencils, crayons and tube paints. Parts of the card were embossed with garnet EP. The brown is Moon Shadow's Mulberry Ink, which uses mica powders in walnut ink. The stamp is by See D's. In the sky is the theme for this week.

This reminds me of a hymn in our church hymnal:

For the Beauty of the Earth by Folliot S. Pierpoint, 1864

For the beauty of the earth, for the glory of the skies,
For the love which from our birth over and around us lies,
Lord of all, to thee we raise this our hymn of grateful praise.


Edit: I note that this is ok for Created by Hand, too, so I'm entering it there as well.

Tag Tuesday - recycle, reuse, repurpose

Here is my tag for Tag Tuesday. We are reusing or recycling stuff, something that I grew up doing, only we didn't know the word: recycle. It was just the way of life back in the 40s.

This tag is from materials I got out of the art room trash can, for the most part. There are a few things that I've been saving to reuse, like the stamp and the button. The flower was cut out from a magazine page. The background is a leftover piece of cardstock topped by a colorful paper napkin. Personally, I think it is rather weird looking.

TMTA - triangles

I made this background last night not knowing how I'd use it. I used watercolor paper and put down some color using watercolor pencils and crayons. When that wasn't enough I dipped into some real tube watercolors. The brown is from Moon Shadow sapphire ink. The sapphire doesn't show in the scan but the walnut ink part looks ok. The stamp is from Stampinback and the embossing powder is Stampendous garnet. I tried to place the flowers in a triangle. The gold triangle touches all 3 flower heads.

Triangles is the theme for Think Monday Think ATCs.

I will probably make this into a greetings card with a sentiment placed in the upper right.

Eggs - Gothic Arches

The theme for Gothic Arches this week is Eggs. I found this wonderful birds image at Graphics Fairy. The background is one I created via Photoshop Elements.

So Artful Challenges - Shy Beauty

This is Julia, who has just received a love note from her secret (to her parents) beau. She works hard on the Montana ranch helping her mother with all the women's-work chores and longs for the day when she will be able to have a place of her own with the young man she loves. In the meanwhile, she sees him twice a week at the church meetinghouse but only for the briefest of encounters.

This gorgeous young lady comes as a prompt for the So Artful Challenge. Behind her is a window by Dover Publications. Behind that is a watercolor painting I did. Somehow I chopped off the top of the window when I posted. It's just too hard to go back and redo the whole thing, so just imagine the window top.

Art Creations Friday - 70

Using the gorgeous image provided by Art Creations Friday, I have made this paper collage. The papers are from the Timeless Romance set of Tapestry by C. R. Gibson Co. Ben Franklin Crafts had these fabulous 12x12 double-sided papers for 10 cents each. I couldn't resist.

Rainbow Lady's Challenge - Trees

Trees is the theme set by Ujjwal from India for the Rainbow Lady's Challenge of this week. Trees are important to me and I could never live in a place that had no trees. My house is set down in the middle of a small woods so I get to look at trees whenever I gaze out any of the windows.

I have used all Dover images for this one, starting with a lovely painting of a bare elm tree. The inscription at the bottom says that the illustration was painted by the author. I have no idea what book this was in originally. I do like the look of the old elm. I added all the figures in the foreground: rooster, girl, bunnies, and dog.

The second is a watercolor painting I did of a girl flyfishing in a stream that has small trees beside it.

When I saw the theme I immediately thought of Joyce Kilmer's poem: Trees. We had to learn it in school. Kilmer was a sergeant in the 165th Infantry. He was born 1886 and was killed in action near Ourcy in 1918.


Trees by Joyce Kilmer

I think that I shall never see
A poem lovely as a tree.

A tree whose hungry mouth is prest
Against the earth's sweet flowing breast;

A tree who looks at God all day,
And lifts her leafy arms to pray;

A tree who may in Summer wear
A nest of robin's in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain;
Who intimately lives with rain.

Poems are made by fools like me,
But only God can make a tree..

Theme Thursday - Crowns or Hats

With apologies to Leonardo, I have sent Mona on a trip to Venice. (Both Mona and Venice are Dover images.) Since Theme Thursday has as a challenge for us to use either crowns or hats, I have chosen to use the image of my ancestor Mrs. Sallie Rhea. I think Mona looks great in her very fine hat and dress.

Wednesday Stamper and TIO

This tag was made for two challenges this week: Tag it On (Under the Shadow of the Moon) and Wednesday Stamper (Wild Animals). I have used black cardstock and stamped the elephant and grasses in clear embossing ink and embossed with detail opaque white powder. The moon is a googled moon that I printed and pasted to the tag. The tree branch is a digital brush, added last. If you look carefully you can see a baby elephant beside Mama's leg. Is it better without the tree?

Mice ATCs

Here are two mouse ATCs. The top one is for the colors given for Paper Minutes (Red, Rose, Green, Brown).  The second one is for Fun with ATCs where the challenge is to use the sketch given. It uses the same colors so it can also be for Paper Minutes.

TMTA - Triptych

This ATC triptych was made for Think Monday Think ATCs. I first sprayed and dabbed my craft worksheet with MoonGlow mists. These contain walnut ink and various mica powders. I laid the triple width ATC down in this (both sides). The flower stamps are my new Stampin' Up ones that Lisa gave me for being a hostess at her latest workshop. The flower images are colored with watercolor pencils. The first photo is the folded up ATC. The second shows the inside or what you'd see if it were set up. The third photo is what it looks like on the back.

So Artful - white embossed paper

For the So Artful challenge this week we were given a white embossed paper to work from. It looked very Asian to me so I searched through my Dover freebies and came up with this fantastic Japanese woman. The bamboo stamp is a digital brush.

Art Creations Friday - #69

This beautiful girl (looks like a Waterhouse) was given to us for Art Creations Friday challenge this week. I am placing her with a Dover stained glass window.

Rainbow Lady's Challenge

Rainbow Lady's Challenge this week is to use the colors of red, black, and gold... and a touch of Asian. This is a simple piece using a Dover image of a Japanese woman. The character means "beauty".

Colour Create Challenge

Colour Create Challenge this week is to make something using the colors of lilac, gray, and white. Quite a challenge since lilac seems to be the only real color.

I started with an original watercolor painting of mine and scanned it to the computer, where I removed all the color. Then I added back the lilac to the petals. The leaves and the writing are gray. I hope this simple card is acceptable for this challenge.

Tag it On! - City

Here is my collaged tag for the Tag it On Challenge. We are to make a tag with the theme: In the City, and we have to use at least one real stamp. I got this city view, the map, and the cathedral scrap from a travel brochure. Dream is my stamp. Other entries for this challenge can be seen at Tag it On!

Nature's Awakening ATC (TMTA)

The theme for Think Monday Think ATC is Nature's Awakening. I am really stretched for time this week and won't officially enter the challenge. I just needed to have a chance to do a little art today. This is a flower from our yard.

Irish Teddy's - sketch

This is the first time I've entered Irish Teddy's challenge and it is a sketch, something I am not at all experienced in doing.

The background is alcohol inks on glossy card stock.

So Artful - Fashion Finery

This is one of the two beautiful and fashionable young lady images given to us by Jeanette at So Artful challenge to use in our art work today. As a background I am using a portion of a church (photo by Patty, used with permission). Image was supplied by Dorthe.

Art Creations Friday - Butterfly Image

Art Creations Friday has as its theme this week an image of a gorgeous butterfly. I used a personal background (blue crayon resist + dark blue stamp of my front yard). The flowers are from a photo of a bouquet my dh brought me. Several of the PSE filters were used.

Awards from Doreen

One of the fun things about the challenges is  getting to know other art bloggers. In the olden days we had pen pals and it would take weeks, or even months,  to exchange letters with overseas friends. Now with the internet it is a matter of seconds, minutes, or hours.

Doreen is one of my internet friends and  I do appreciate her so much. She is such an encourager and is herself a very talented cardmaker/ artist.  Today she has encouraged me even further by giving me two blog awards. Thanks so much for this honor, Doreen.

I have difficulty picking out favorite blogs. They are all so different and so beautiful in their own way. I have given out many awards in the past. If I missed you, please feel free to take one or both of these. One of the highlights of my day is visiting my blogging friends. Let me know if you pick up the awards.

Through the Window - Rainbow Lady's Challenge

This is my entry for Rainbow Lady's Challenge.

I used a black and white stained glass image to eliminate the white and to insert transparent glass colors. The background is a photo of my garden.