Blue Girls

More Art Journal pages...or, using up the two colors of blue paint left on the palette...attempting to fill the space with interesting brushstrokes and shapes with no prior planning as to the composition...I always seem to fall back on the female faces...ever since I was a teenager I've done these...

I am not sure these pages are finished yet...I think that it needs some other papers of similar color collaged onto it...enjoyed just slapping the paint on there and creating the suggestion of faces with just a few brushstrokes.

And would you call this blue, periwinkle, purple...or even "purplewinkle?"

Pastel Heart Ornaments

Pastel Heart Ornaments-

Materials Needed:

Scrap paper or cardstock to create pattern

Scissors - (NOTE-it's best to have sewing scissors & paper

scissors kept for separate use. cutting paper rapidly dulls scissors & will chew up fabric!)

Fabric for hearts-(I used mint green & light pink)

Needle & Thread

Polyester fiberfil

Lace scraps

Ribbon-coordinating colors & various widths

Buttons

Seed beads

Fabric with flower designs in the print

Narrow ribbon for hanger

Directions:

Create a pattern for the heart by folding paper or cardstock in half, and cutting out half of a heart-shape. Open paper for your pattern. I made a tall narrow heart for my ornaments.

Place the pattern on the wrong side of doubled fabric (with the right sides facing to the center) and trace around pattern in pencil.

Cut 1/4 inch outside of traced line.

Sew on pencil line, leaving a one to one & half inch opening for turning. Clip curved seam allowances, and trim bottom point of heart close to stitching to ease turning right side out. Turn heart right side out.

(I sewed my hearts by hand, but you could use the machine & it would be faster)

Stuff with fiberfill & slip stitch opening closed.

Decorate one side of the heart to be the front. Hand-stitch & Embellish with pieces of lace, cross-stitch remnants, flowers cut from printed fabric, buttons, seed beads or whatever you have on hand that goes with your colors.

I sewed my embellishments by hand, but you could also use hot-glue gun or craft glue.

I sewed beads, buttons & bows on last. Add a ribbon hangar to the back of the ornament, making sure it is centered to hang evenly.

Sign the back of the ornament and write the year in a permanent fabric marker. This is nice when the recipient may receive an ornament from you several years running.

(Paper images & embellishments could be glued on since these are Christmas ornaments & will not need to be laundered, though acid-free would be best.)

These could also be year-round decorations, hung from drawer pulls or cupboard handles, or as sachets if you use scent in the stuffing.

Holiday ATC's

Here are holiday Artist's Trading Cards in non-traditional colors...light green and pink background in craft acrylics. The paint was applied by crumpling up a napkin and "stamping" the paint onto the card; the green was applied first, then after it was dry, accents of pink were added. Copyright-free images, a scrap of music, lace, fabric flowers, and stars stamped onto the background. I also glued on a single white sequin & seed beads for a bit of sparkle.

Green ATC's

Sometimes it is difficult to get into the spirit of the holidays so just making a little art helps...here are two Artist Trading Cards that are one-of-a-kind. On the left, watercolor was used over gesso to create the pastel background. On the right, white tissue paper was painted with green & yellow watercolor, then applied to the gessoed card when dry. For some reason I am using non-traditional holiday colors--pink and light green--instead of red and green! the rosebud on the right is a color copy of a watercolor that I did myself. I often like to add vintage lace when it fits the feel of the work. There is a tiny bit of tatted lace on the card on the left, bought at an antique store.

The bottom card is business card sized , with my contact information on the back. I was not completely satisfied with the composition on this one, so I will need to do a few more of this size to improve a bit.

These cards were sent to a good friend who has helped me in my art journey...

Tagged

I have been tagged by my friend Elizabeth K. Her blog is
http://alteredbooklover.blogspot.com/

I was also tagged by my friend Linda K. Her blog is
http://alteredvisions.typepad.com/altered_visions/

Here are the official rules…

• Link to the person who tagged you.

• Mention the rules.

• Tell six quirky yet boring, unspectacular details about yourself.

• Tag five other bloggers by linking to them.

• Go to each person’s blog and leave a comment that lets them know they’ve been tagged.

Five people I am tagging are:

• Linda at http://my-littlebit.blogspot.com/
• Pamela at http://pemohon.blogspot.com/
• Elizabeth G. at http://thelastdoordownthehall.blogspot.com/
• Inge in Belgium at http://web.me.com/pinkepinke
  
• Darlene at http://blanchesdaughter.blogspot.com/

All of these blogs are well worth a visit; they share the gift of creativity!

And now for the Six Quirky Things About Me:

6. It's easier for me to draw something myself than to try to figure out how to do it on the computer.
5. I like to drink my coffee with chocolate in it.
4. I rarely leave the house without earrings...I think naked pierced ears are unattractive.
3. My car keys get lost at least once a week!
2. I tend to use an odd number of elements in my collages. I am not big on symmetrical composition--I prefer asymmetrical.
1. My favorite artist is Michelangelo.

**I am having technical difficulties getting Inge's link correct. When you click on the link, for some reason http://web.me.com/pinkepinke/pinkepinke/blog/blog.html comes up automatically, then an error message. Remove the second /pinkepinke/blog/blog.html from the address and you should be able to reach Inge's Welcome site. I don't know what I'm doing wrong...sorry for the inconvenience. **

Give Thanks

May we all be aware of the many precious gifts that we have in our lives, and give thanks for them, not just once a year but each day of our lives.

Artist Trading Cards

ATC's from
2006,
2007 and
2008.
All are
originals
with some
elements
copied.
Includes
watercolor,
pen, fabric,
thread and
assorted
ephemera.

If you are
interested
in trading,
please leave
a comment.

Art Journal Pages

Art journal pages inspired by Kandinsky...
ball point pen and watercolor...

DESSERTS

Make-it-Monday challenge for Nov. 3 on Go Make Something was the color Purple...so my art journal page is a celebration of that color...with a humorous quote thrown in...

Mixed media artists are susceptible to artist's block, doubt, the need for inspiration... Quotations are a source of inspiration that often give me a boost, a prompt for creating an art journal page, or just a reason to smile...hope you enjoy these...
***
"Next week there can't be any crisis. My schedule is already full." --Henry Kissinger
***
"Believe in yourself! Have faith in your abilities! Without a humble but reasonable confidence in your own powers you cannot be successful or happy." --Norman Vincent Peale
***
"It's not what you go through that defines you; you can't help that. It's what you do AFTER you've gone through it that really tests who you are." --Kwame Floyd
***
"No matter how good you get you can always get better and that's the exciting part." --Tiger Woods
***
Success in life is a matter not so much of talent or opportunity as of concentration and perseverance." --C.W. Wendte
***
"We can do anything we want to do if we stick to it long enough." --Helen Keller
***
"It's not who you are that holds you back, it's who you think you're not." --unknown
***
"Finish each day and be done with it. You have done what you could. Some blunders and absurdities no doubt crept in; forget them as soon as you can. Tomorrow is a new day; begin it well and serenely and with too high a spirit to be encumbered with your old nonsense."
---Ralph Waldo Emerson
***
The person who makes a success of living is the one who sees his goal steadily and aims for it unswervingly. That is DEDICATION." --Cecil B. DeMille
***

Apple Pie

Altered Book spread using scrapbook papers, calligraphy marker, watercolor, pen drawing and colored pencils...the challenge was to use fall colors in the composition. The book itself has been an exploration of the holidays and seasons, and this is the September spread...I am a little behind, obviously. So many projects...so little time! The recipe is for sugar-free apple pie, very tasty and great if you are diabetic or watching your calories. The image of the apple is a watercolor that I did ...and then I got to eat the model!

For some reason, I tend to do the covers of my altered books last instead of first...how do you progress with your altered books? Comments welcomed!

ANDY WARHOL EXHIBIT

ANDY WARHOL
Other voices, other rooms
Wexner Center For The Arts
The Ohio State University, 1871 North High St., Columbus, Ohio
Sept. 13,2008--Feb. 15, 2009

"Other Voices, Other Rooms sheds new light on the celebrated pop artist and focuses on the ideas at the heart of his work: embracing consumer culture, exploring sexual identity, challenging social conventions, and erasing distinctions between high and low culture."
-excerpt from Wexner Center calendar of events

I visited the Warhol exhibit today and found it both intriguing and disturbing. There is no doubt that Warhol was a master of many mediums, and his images have become icons.
Warhol's films are somewhat repellent to me, as I am not desiring to witness the sexual identity exploration that they are purportedly about...but I found the drawings, paintings, ephemera and even TV shows quite entertaining and often amusing. He did some TV shows that had quite a lot of runway fashion show in them, very quirky interviews...there were recurring images of women's shoes--often with stiletto heels...
silk screen posters sprinkled with diamond dust,
fluorescent hued camouflage,
drawings and cartoons,
all exhibited in the architectural grandeur of the Wexner Center...
I highly recommend the exhibit to modern art enthusiasts.
***
"In the future everybody will be world famous for fifteen minutes."

"if you want to know all about Andy Warhol, just look at the surface of my paintings and films and me, and there I am. There's nothing behind it."

"I never read I just look at pictures."

"Think rich, look poor."

"I am a deeply superficial person."
--Andy Warhol

Winner of the Giveaway!

The Winner of my
Blog Giveaway is
pamela e. mohon!
Hope you enjoy the goodies
and have a colorful and creative autumn!

Jolly Halloween

Thank You to all who stopped by and visited my Halloween Blog Party!
There's still time to leave a comment and be in the drawing for the giveaway.
I will randomly draw a name for the Jolly Halloween calligraphy sign (below)
and the ATC's on Oct. 31st. I will announce the winner here, so check back!
Your comments are so appreciated and give me joy...
Have a colorful, creative autumn!

Jolly Halloween Blog Party!

WELCOME
to my Halloween Blog Party!
I'm so glad you stopped by...
Many thanks to Collage Diva for the invitation to join the Soul Journal Halloween Blog Party!

The Jolly Halloween sign above, in watercolor and calligraphy, and the three Halloween ATC's, will be given away to someone who leaves a comment at the end of this Blog Party entry. Please leave a comment and your email address. I will randomly draw a name by Nov. 1st and contact you via email.

Come in...
enjoy the Art, crafts, and colors of the season!

Pumpkin Head Jack, the paper doll, is hanging out
with his buddy, Skinny Legs Squash.

A vintage-style cat and pumpkin grin as you walk by...
they're painted on paper mache' boxes.

Jack is happy to spend time with
the Country Angel doll and the Crow & Goblin Queen atc's.

The Art dolls are joining the party too...
painted & stuffed "cocoon" dolls on each side of the clown paper doll.

Jack has lost his ghost costume!
He's dancing around the candles...
good thing they're not lit right now...

In another dark corner---
Don't worry if the drawing doesn't make sense...
it's surrealism.

-W-I-C-K-E-D- tags

The Egyptian party girl is wearing her party hat...
a witchy woman is lurking in the haunted house
with a bat and a raven...

Do you think the paper doll realizes that she
could be in danger?

Egyptian party girl...

Swirls and glitter...
Do you believe in MAGIC?

Mini-pennant tag...

BOO!

It's turning into a black and white Halloween...
Art journal pages, acrylic and collage.

behind an elaborate wrought-iron gate
swirls turbulence of...?

...a darker time...the origins of our quirky, fun, Jolly Halloween are thought to be from the Druids' observance of Samhain...

If Druids Spoke From the Dusts of the Past...

Beneath my feet, layers of time passed,
scented by dry leaves and rich earth,
they cushion my way as I walk
in misty darkness.
The sacred oaks embrace my Druid sisters and I
as we approach the hidden place of our secret rites.
The clouds discourage the moon's silver swath
as she welcomes our worship of her glory.
The Seer whispers to our mother, the earth
who birthed all mysteries
and cradles the graves of the dead.
We are priestesses of life,
believers in the cycle of the seasons.
The music of rustling leaves
floats above us in the violet darkness
as the hour of midnight approaches.
The creatures of the night search for prey
and the owl glides through the vapor of the night.
The flight of birds on the wing
points us to primeval prophecies.
We are one with the forest and honor
the gods of sun, moon and earth.
Our praise of creation is here recorded
on the stones of our alter.
--DBC

Enough of darkness...come into the light...!

Embrace the future
Learn from the past
Enjoy the present!

Thank you to all who visited!
Please leave a comment so I will know you stopped by...
leave an email address with your comment to be entered in the giveaway.JOLLY HALLOWEEEN!

Jolly Halloween Mail Art

Here is a postcard I sent to my friend Lou...her art is awesome and she shares her enthusiasm and joy of creating with everyone. Visit her blog at Metamorphosis.

****

Halloween is coming quickly and I'm looking forward to the Halloween Blog Party that I will be having on Oct. 26, 2008! Stop by to see Pumpkin Head Jack, an Egyptian party girl, Druids from the past, and other enticing goodies! It will be fun and I hope you will join in! If you would like to participate in the Soul Journal Halloween Blog Party on your blog, just click on the spooky red icon on the top right. I also recently visited a mysterious and extravagant blog party on Vanessa's site, and you can see the sights at A Fanciful Twist. Jolly Halloween!

Art Journal Pages

Art journal pages in mixed media collage: scrap paper with columns of numbers, watercolor, images clipped from magazines, and drawings in gel pen. Inspired by Go Make Something challenge to create something using a face. Since I love to just make up these women, this was a natural process for me...I've been doing it since high school. One of my friends called them "princesses." Maybe they are Barbies...I am not sure where they come from...maybe they are the girls I always wished to look like...

Mail Art!

I love receiving Mail Art, and I was delighted to find this postcard from Diana in the midst of bills, advertisements, and political propaganda...so refreshing to find art when you least expect it! Diana creates beautiful dyed papers that she has for sale through her website, and I believe this postcard was created using some of her paper. I love the tiny white dots that she's added with gel pens...really makes the design POP! Thank you Diana.

Halloween Blog Party!

COME TO MY HALLOWEEN PARTY ON OCTOBER 26TH!

I will have vintage-style Halloween art & decorations to share, and maybe some spooky things as well...if you want to be a part of the Halloween fun, visit Collagediva.com to get the details, or click on the spooky red Blog Party logo in the right margin.

I have not done a blog party before, but I understand that a list of participating blogs will be posted, and then on Oct. 26, you are invited to visit the participating blogs to enjoy the fun! I am looking forward to seeing everyone's decorating ideas and autumn art. Also, I am going to have a GIVEAWAY --I will create some Halloween art to be given to someone who leaves a comment, a random drawing...

So visit my blog, Art Beneath the Cottonwoods, on Oct. 26 to see Art Journal pages, ATC's, vintage Halloween paper dolls, decorations, recipes and other treats. This will be so much fun! I hope you will join me...
Have an artful day,
Dianne

Mini Collages

The cover of my Mini Collage Book: some of the first "inchies" I created.

These collages were created in an index card spiral notebook. They are small--3" x 5".
The idea (which I read about and can't remember the source) was to use the spiral index cards to take along with you and make mini-collages wherever you are. It doesn't work that way for me usually, though...I like to use paint, and that's not always so portable. I end up doing these while I watch TV in the evening. Painting while you wait for your doctor's appointment might get a bit messy...but the small size does make the work go faster and you can finish one pretty quickly. I have taken this with me on weekend trips, along with painted paper scraps, scissors, glue stick & pens...well, you get the idea.

I used a glue resist technique on the page above. Apply white glue to the page in lines, any pattern, and let dry. Raised edges form when the glue is dry. Can be painted over with acrylic or watercolors as long as you don't use too much water and cause the glue to soften again. I also added a little pen drawing in fine point marker.

Colored pencil, fabric, pen drawing, images from tissue wrapping paper.

Photocopies of images of men and a boy. I think this needs
a caption, but I just haven't come up with the right thing yet.
I'm open to suggestions!

Stamped image, (above) tissue paper, acrylic, copper spiral, and beads

Tissue paper images added to the acrylic painting.