STEAMPUNK ARTIST TRADING CARDS

Working on the little steampunk teddy.  I am still really liking the "Bottle Of Ink In A Pencil" watercolor pencil.

Happy Valentine's Day! A huge thanks to all my new swap bot friends! Thanks so much for visiting my blog and leaving comments. I really appreciate all the kind words and thoughts. LOVE YOU GUYS!! xoxo

All Done!

Steampunk collage...these were harder than I thought they would be.

Not sure I am completely clear on what steampunk is?

 I sure like the idea of it.  Gears and clocks and steam and things from the late 1800s!  

ARTIST TRADING CARDS

These were hard for me!  I can see all the mistakes now that they are loaded on the blog.  Not sure what my problem was.  They took a long time and things didn't line up, glue right, dry right or look quite like I wanted when they were finished.  Really having an off couple of days art wise.  I wonder if people have those kind of days when they try an art project and then never try to do it again. 

MORE ATC GOOFINESS

Two more ATC's for swap-bot. I love the bird punch! I love a little touch of sparkle. Collage is fun on these little ATC's but still tricky for me on a large scale.

ARTIST TRADING CARD GOOFINESS

And still another artist trading card for swap-bot! I copied this little guy from a greeting card.

I love doing art on pages from old books. These otherwise unused, unloved and really uncared for books become one of a kind art. A little messages behind the colored pencil. So, have I convinced you it's okay to tear apart a book?

Still seems strange to do! Years ago I joined an altered book group, I never had the chance to alter a book for the group but some of the work they do is so amazing. Really unique art form!

LAMPS!

I did these three lamp artist trading cards for various swaps on Swap-bot! I love Swap-bot, it always gets me to do something new and different. What is "Swap-bot"? Check it out: http://www.swap-bot.com/ The lamp on the right is the one I have in my bedroom. I can tell I had a reference when painting it. I think it looks better than the other two done from my imagination. Can you tell?

ARTIST TRADING CARDS

Here are some ATC's I've done recently. The robot (above/left) is my favorite. I was going to hand draw a little robot guy but it didn't turn out very good. Instead I used a gold and silver pack of ephemera I received as a swap years ago. Super inspiring little packet!

I just found this great bird punch for the birds and heart ATC (above/right). I am LOVING collage right now. I have a good assortment of paper scraps and trinkets.

I've even found a use for the butterfly feathers from my sisters wedding (right). Of course most of my work has at least a little glitter!

COLLAGE ATC'S

 Here is a picture of the altered playing card collage ATC's I tried for another swap bot swap. I don't usually do collage, I really like it, however it's too time consuming for me. I rethink and rethink the design for so long I feel exhausted by the time I'm finished. I would rather draw. I need to stop signing up for swaps that aren't just drawing/painting. I'm going to get in trouble for being late! BUT, it's good to stretch yourself and try something new all the time. MUST NOT AVOID WHAT'S HARD, (I'm telling myself ) and so I better sign up for what looks interesting.

On another note, thank you to Claire http://clairesheartspace.blogspot.com/ for the wonderful Kreative Blog Award! I love your blog and I visit on a regular basis. I've already listed my 7, or rather 8 favorite things in the previous post.

Below are my seven people who deserve this award! Remember to copy the award to your blog , list seven things about you and seven people who deserve this award!

http://thingsandplacesforkids.blogspot.com/

http://worksofartbysara.blogspot.com/

http://whatsinyourdrawers.blogspot.com/

http://whatthehellwednesday.blogspot.com/

http://whimsy-girl.blogspot.com/

http://debvandetdesigns.blogspot.com/

http://thearthermit.blogspot.com/

There's my seven, you deserve it guys, enjoy!

TEDDY ONE, TWO, THREE...

These little guys were made for an ATC swap. They are drawn on paper bag material with colored pencil. The paper was thin so I used chip board to back them up. I let the chip board show through for added interest. Not everyones cup of tea, I guess. I love drawing the bears. I've never done a panda before. Panda's are my favorite right now.

DUM DUM VALENTINE ATC

This is the Valentine ATC I did for the swap on Swap-Bot. Sort of simple.



The boys are not real big on valentine's and how "lovey" the event is. They are getting to big for those Transformers or Power Ranger premade Valentine cards. So this year we went with Dum Dums and an attached tag that reads, "Valentine's are for Dum Dums." Funny. I found the idea in a magazine.

OWL BOOKMARKS

These little things are my bookmark submissions for the Owl Bookmark Swap on Swap Bot. I've been having fun with that site! I also discovered Atcs For All, another site I didn't know existed until the other day! So much fun!

DECORATED ENVELOPE SWAP

Here is a postcard and an envelope, front and back, in the theme of winter for the Decorated Envelope Swap over on swap-bot. I made a boo boo and sent the darn thing without checking the address. It needs to be sent to Canada, and I forgot to put the appropriate postage. Darn it! I'll need to come up with another little sumthin sumthin for my partner in the mean time.

RAIN

Pen & ink, watercolor ATC done for a Nervousness swap. April showers was the theme. I used wet on wet technique which was hard to control. I wanted to keep the white on the flowers. I could have picked up some of the color off the little flowers after the paint dried but I was afraid it might look muddy.

It's still raining here in Oregon! STILL RAINING!

THE GROWING SEED

I did this pen & ink watercolor for a Nervousness swap called "April Showers". I played around with different rain effects. Turned out okay, I think.

My first grader is learning about the life cycle and processes of seeds to plants. He really appreciates this piece.

Thanks Tommy!

MY OWL AND MORE!

Above is an owl stamp I carved for letter boxing. Not sure I really want to let him go into a letter box. I think he turned out okay! I'm keeping him! I still have an idea for some baby owl carvings.

To the left is the stamp I carved for Christmas. The little penguin is pointing to a Christmas tree which is hard to see. It has a star on it.

To the right is the stamp I carved for My Owl's In Orbit website. Owl's In Orbit is dedicated to letter boxing.

OWL DECO

Below is my pen and ink owl. I did this one for Trish Adams owl deco. This owl is one of the first pen and ink, watercolor drawings I did last summer. I have a collection of Just pen and ink drawings I did during the boys baseball games. I just need to figure out how to get them in the computer. the scanning process didn't do well. They turned out blurry.

CRAZY CREATURE CHUNKY BOOK

The first chunky book I have hosted. Not the last. I have plans to start 3 more very soon! On the tag to the right is a hand carved stamp I created for this book. The eye is suppose to resemble my, "one eyed, one horned, flying purple people eater". I wanted to post every one's page on this site but it turns out I'm not that good at blogging so I'll just stick with a few of my own. Below is the front of my 4x4 page.


I used pencil to sketch the image on paper then I went over it with pen. Next I used watercolor pencils and then added water to blend the colors. After I got the image all done I took the 4x4 page to Kinko's and copied it 20 times. I glued the front and back covers together with purple fibers between them. Whew! Lots of work! I was so impressed with some of the participants work! The time and creativity were amazing and inspiring!

NEW HAND MADE STAMPS

Hand carved stamps I made for the Embellished Circus challenge. The fish themed stamps were inspired by the new childrens menu at SHARIS. Very strange inspiration! I never thought something like that would inspire me but it did. I really like working on the stamp blocks instead of the rubber erasers. Also using the stamp carving tools instead of the exacto knife makes a world of difference. The right tools for the right job! It's like magic.

FISH ART

I draw fish, especially when I can't think of anything else to draw. Fish or trees. This fish below is one of my hand carved stamps. I drew the fish on a pink rubber eraser and carved him with an exacto knife. The image stamps well. This deco was made for Destiny Art Decos Fall Challenge.

These fish are watercolored. This time I played with watercolor pencils. They work great for details. I cut out the fish and pasted them on card stock. I used bead clamps to get those beads to stay on! I've finally discovered bead clamps! They work excellent. I wish I'de had them all along.

KIT SWAPPING

This is a surprise project sent to me via: Kit Swapping, a yahoo group. All the papers and images including the rock were sent through the mail. I added a few things of my own but most of the supplies were included in the kit. This was a fun project to do. It's always challenging to see what you will receive and figure out how to put it together.

One of the projects I sent this month included polymere clay and magnets to make 3 little magnets. This didn't go over very well. Even sending the kits can be challenging!
Image is titled: "TOMMY TRIES TO WALK HIS PET ROCK"

MAIL ART

This is an example of some of the mail art I am working on. I am a member of a few art groups that swap Deco's (mini handmade books) and ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) They are fun to make and force me to keep creating and learning new techniques.