Thriving Art

 Oh what fun these two pages were! I embossed for a resist, painted, gessoed and inked.  I brushed, smeared, dripped, squirted and stenciled!  So there are a lot of layers.  I have watched quite a few videos on You Tube and they use the neatest stuff, that I can not go out and buy ( even if I could find it locally, retirement sucks when it comes to that LOL ) So I came across this saying on Pinetrest and it fit so I borrowed it. I usually keep what Halloween crafts I do on the cutesy side, but this year my dark side keeps running through my fingers.  Wait till I post the ATC for the swap......maybe next week. These two pages were just some play time with the Cricut and paint.  I bought this cartridge late last year and really didn't get a good chance to use it.  I realized I do not have any black paint, but the purple was better so the black cut-outs would show.  I love both of these fences and couldn't make up my mind so I used them both....

Friday afternoon my cousin and I went "junk-n" ( that is what we call hitting the thrift shops ) I found this small straw wreath for 50 cents.  Then we hit the Dollar Store and I bought a hand full of silk flowers and leaves to decorate it.  I haven't made a wreath in years and realized just how rusty I am at it.  This is a little on the small side for the front lattice, but it does add a POP of color to the front of the house. Here is a close view of it.  I didn't even glue the stem in place, just shoved them in and they stayed.  I did have to glue the hanger in the back for obvious reasons.....LOL  I didn't wait quite long enough for the hot glue to set before trying to hang it......wooooops there it lay in the flower bed!  Since I hate to wait on glue to set, or paint to dry I had Mr. O take me out to breakfast.  When we got back it was ready to hang.  There was no challenge for this project, except for the glue to dry LOL ...

This has been a crafty weekend, and I have really been having a good time. This morning I finished two scrapbook pages, but this post is for the layout challenge over at Let's Capture these Sketches.  I'm still trying to get this youngest one's album caught up.  Her Mom hasn't seen but the first three pages, so I'm thinking of giving it to her for Christmas.  It will take her through the first 2 years.    I liked this layout so gave it a try.  Check it out at: http://letscapturethesesketches.blogspot.com/ So off to add a few more posts of what I've been playing around with this weekend.  Thanks for stopping by and having a look. Inky Hugs Krisha

So whats new? Yes I decided to jump clear out of the box and make a lilac pumpkin card.  As I tell my Granddaughter, Hannah, "When your the artist you can make things any color you want, unless your getting paid to do different" LOL Her poor teachers are going to have a field day with her art!!! The scan turned this into more of a lavender, but that's ok too, even though the challenge is Lilac, navy, and white over at Rouge Redhead Designs.  The checked cs is some I have had stashed from when I sold Scrap in a Snap, love that it is card stock and not just paper.  So the card itself is the checked pattern.  The images is from a $1 stamp I bought at Michaels, masked and stamped three time..  The navy background is a piece of old stash, a little white trim finished it off.  Purple, lilac or lavender pumpkins? Why not??  This challenge is going until Oct 7 so you still have time to enter, but remember I did the purple pumpkins first! LOL Check it out her...

sings George Straight, and myself will be singing it again today!  Ever since I checked in at All Sort Challenge Blog and saw their challenge this week is to be inspired by a song.  I knew immediately I was going to use this stamp and sentiment, and have been humming "I Just Want to Dance With You" for almost 3 days now!!!  Granted I do love that song, but time to move onto the next catchy tune.  Well, anyway, this image was on Betsy ( that's what I named my work desk if ya didn't catch that on WOYWW )during WOYWW and drew quite a few comments.  The die cut is embossed with music lines, ( doesn't show well on scan ) the background was one I made with inks many, many years ago and am now down to the last bits of it. My dancing couple is from Her Rubber and the sentiment is from Stampa Rosea.   I really need to note this info before posting instead of popping up to check. LOL I really like the way this card turned out, even though the dancers are hard to...

GOOODNESSS, it's THAT time again for Whats on your work desk?!! So after having a good go at a cleaning binge I finally got things ( well, ok maybe not everything ) put in it's place......sort of. LOL Once my desk was cleaned off I had to keep fighting with Mr Mojo to hang on for a day or two more, but he would have none of it, so here's Betsy ( I've decided to name my work desk Betsy ) So what are ya looking at? Left to right: my note book for jotting down challenges I'm interested it, with a couple leaf images on top, two cards I made this morning above the note book, Halloween stamped across the middle, dancing images in the middle for a challenge, my glue bottle, glasses, scissors and in the right rear are the ATC for the swap that have to go in the mail tomorrow.  Julia, our den Mum, asked for us to keep it short, well I usually go on about, but tonight it's a shorty for sure.  Well, off to see what the WOYWW sisters have been up to, Oh! you say you'd...

Colorado Aspens Aspen trees are by far one of the most colorful trees in existence. The leaves of these majestic trees change from a summery green to a pale gold to a rich deep red. People flock by the thousands to the Colorado high country to see and photograph this annual autumn spectacle. A trip through the Colorado mountains to enjoy the changing of the aspen leaves can be a joyful and memorable experience for young and old alike. So this is my inspiration for my card I made this morning.   In the fall when driving into Grand Junction, from the west you can see these trees lining the Colorado River, what a sight! I've also seen them along the Rouge River in Oregon, in full color peeking out from between the evergreen trees. The image is from Stampassions, and has been around for eons!  I have three different leaf stamps from them with the name of the leaf in the background.  The layout is for the Critter Sketch Challenge 134.  The upper backg...

Fall colors, what's not to love about them!!  This is my favorite leaf stamp, had it for years and every year I make at least one card with it. It is from Rubber Stampede This year I chose to use watercolor pencils on it, then a damp brush to blend and to add the shadows. The background colors were chosen around the plaid paper.  I love the way the leaves turned out, and the die cut shape around them, just not really happy with the overall card, a little too busy maybe???  The layout is for the Sketch N Stash challenge, so all the papers came from bits and pieces of my stash. Want to play along? Check it out here: http://sketchandstashchallenge.blogspot.com/ Hows the cleaning and sorting going?  Wellllll, stay tuned for WOYWW Inky Hugs Krisha 

Saturday morning I did get hit with Mr Mojo bright and early. Guess he is tired of me ignoring him for cleaning and sorting for a week.LOL I got out my journal and decided to play along with the challenge going on over at Unruley Paper Arts, fun bunch of gals I must say. It is a collage challenge and this is what I created. The words were printed on velum the glued to the pages. I did start with a clean desk.  Thought I'd take a quick pic. before starting, who knows when it will look like this again. LOL Fun challenge, love collages.  Want to play? There is still time, hop over to:   http://unrulypaperarts.blogspot.com/2012/09/september-2012-reader-art-quest-2-glue.html Until later..... Inky Hugs Krisha  

Are you excited for our Halloween Party starting TOMORROW?!??   We'd love your help in spreading the word, and because of that we're offing another prize on top of the already HUGE pile of goodies we have to giveaway! http://vivalas.blogspot.com/

    Since I can't share what I've been stamping,( cause it's a secret for an ATC Swap) I thought I'd share the Zentangle I finished last night. Last week Michael's had a 50% off coupon and I could not pass that up :)  I was surprised that what I had originally gone in there for was 50% off already, so cursing around I found these Visual Journals.  This is the front paper cover, they are hard backed and the pages are just wonderful.  They are made for mixed media and acid free! So I bought 2 of them, one for Zentangles and one for an art journal ( my old art journal is nearly thrashed as it was a cheap scrapbook to start with and pages not meant for mixed media ) So of course I had to test one out right away ( just like getting new school supplies at the beginning of the year LOL ) so I 'tangled every night for about 15-30 minutes.  After reading up on Zentangles a little more, on the "net" I found they are originally supposed to be ...

Well its THAT time of the week again.  Hope you arrived by way of http://stamping-ground.blogspot.co.uk/ , if not, that's OK Welcome to my blog and WOWW, Whats On your Workdesk Wednesday.  The UK starts Wednesday earlier than we in CA, USA so I post on our Tuesday night..........so nuff if this chit chat... on to what you came for............. So here is what she looks like tonight, a really mish mash of stuff.  I'm still on my cleaning binge and have decided that all the CD cases I just empty ( all 250 of them ) will now be used to store my stamps.  So what is here? My label machine, there is front, well used cutting mat,Stamp mount,  and my extra eyes! ( yes there is that AGE thing again LOL ) Along the back are my lights, since I work in a closet space. A tool caddy, pot of glue bottles, more stamp mounts, a little ATC I made for a challenge some time ago, and just about out of the pic on the right is a little mess basket with this mornings work.......

  Good Sunday morning Bloggers ( still a.m. here ) Just a quick post this morning, since I have yet to get dressed and my stomach is starting to grumble......LOL I actually made this card for a different H.H. challenge, but didn't make the dead line.  So why am I posting it now??? Well this weeks challenge is show YOUR gift or ANYTHING GOS!  Since I do a lot of painting ( of many, many, many things ) I am usually the first one family and a LOT of friends call.  A gift? or a curse? LOL Sometimes I really do wonder. The mouse is a digi colored and trimmed out, the square was something I had been paying with and had set it aside, until this little guy showed up.  The background is a computer print out.  I used Puffy paint for the word and drips. Want to join the challenge?  What is YOUR gift? Check it out here: http://hambochallenges.blogspot.com/ Thanks for stopping by, have a GREAT Sunday ........until later Inky Hugs Krisha

It's Friday again ????/ what happened to the first part of this week?  I had so much planned...... oh ya, I finally broke down and cleaned house, went to the market and replenished the fridge.  I did take an evening and played in my journal ( finally ). I did gesso the complete left page before I began.  The left page I just swiped the gesso is a curvie ( yes curvie is a word in our house ) fashion,  since gesso will block your medium from soaking into the paper I wanted both effects.  I painted them with acrylic paint, then used some inks from Posh Impressions and a straw and made myself dizzy......LOL!! All the white designs and words were made with a White Out pen. This is the computer desk in our office/craft room, and where I am right at this moment.  I have been on a cleaning binge that I hope will not last much longer.  I started here yesterday, such a mess of papers and programs and CD w/ pictures stored on them and back in the right ba...

...Oh ya, that was a bad pun LOL.  so for those that stopped by last night and today to check out WOWW this is the card I had laying there, only finished. I used two leaf stamps from JRL Designs on cream colored paper then took different inks and wiped them on.  Each layer is cut from the SAME original stamped sheet, they backed with a purple cs and layered back together.  Just something different.  I was so excited when digging through my stash to find a background paper of leaves with the same colors!!! A sheer purple ribbon with glitter dots on it tied it all up ( ooooh groan ) This second card is a stamp from Stampassions I have had for eons.  I stamped and embossed it on a coppery brown cs, then took a paint brush and some bleach to the outer edges. Cool huh? I embossed a background paper and rubbed some stamp pads on it.  The pretty striped paper was gift from a swap, my last little bit.  Over this past weekend I had a chan...

 There it is in all it's glory........my work desk! Did you come by way of Julia's blog? If not you can peek at other's work spaces by going to: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/   I'm heading there myself  after I hit the Publish button......LOL   I haven't had a stamp in my hand for 6 days!! So this evening I had to have a fix.  I'm working on a fall leaf card that layers up.  I had my art journal with the pages gesso'd and ready to go.  That cup in the upper right corner is going to be my inspiration for my next journal page, my souvenir from Sea World this last weekend ( more on that tomorrow )  I was going through some grunge paper and there were all these negative pieces that were interesting so they are piled on the journal.  Under the art journal is my journal of 'tangles. ( I take this to bed for a 15 minute "Zen" period every night )  There is my new crystal from Sea World in the upper middle, turned black from the f...

Just a quick post for those we lost on 9-11.  It is a re post, from 2010, a swap I was in at the time.  This is one that I sent out.  Just seems fitting for today.

  Thanks for all the comments on my WOWW post.  I did have a few requests for close-ups of my journal pages, so here they are: At the moment I have two going at the same time.  This first page is from the journal I have posted about in the past.  I have had this tissue paper with pocket watches on it forever and have used it to the last piece, which is on this page. ( If I ever come across it again I will buy it all .)  I gesso'd up the page and added the blue ink, then the printed tissue paper making sure it had wrinkles in it.  Up at the top is a piece of black hand made paper that I just brushed with a silver marker.  The mesh is what is used when repairing dry wall, confiscated from DH.  I added some stamped images from Reflections and watch parts from some old wrist watches I banged apart, and some Vintage Honey ink.  At the last minute I grabbed some packing bubbles, ran it across the ink pad and pressed it onto the p...

Hope you got here by way of http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/  , if not pull up a seat anyway and stay awhile because it's; An other WOWW.....well it's Wednesday in some places, and will be here in about 1 hour!!  So here is my work desk, two of my art journals that I have been working on this week and yes it has been cleaned up.  It all started with the need to get some wine put away. So what does that have to do with stamping you ask? Well here is a shot from a few feet back.  On each end is a wine cooler, the tall black boxes! The little white tags name what is on each shelf........only THEY are out of date. I didn't re tag tonight, just needed to get the wine out of the boxes and off the floor....LOL So once the wine was put in the coolers I started to clean and rearrange my foot space, then it worked my way up.  Needed to go through the containers and sort things out and regroup...... I found not one but FOUR of my drawing...

While having my morning coffee I usually check my blog and see what challenges are out there that spark Mr. Mojo.  Yesterday is was the challenge from Crazy 4 Challenges' color challenge - orange, purple and green- Halloween colors.  This digi image from Bearywhishes was already printed and still on the printer tray, the colors just seemed to fit the image, so I went with it.  It is just a wee bit early for me to get into the Halloween theme.  I used colored pencils and markers to color the image, some great papers for layering and rhinestones for a touch of bling .  By my third cup of coffee it was finished! With that much "go" juice in my system I proceeded to deep clean our bedroom ( as in strip down the window panels, throw them in the washer, clean the mini blinds, which I hate to do, wash the window, eeeuw, wipe down the walls and dust everything !)  Then into town for lunch w/ DH and a short shopping stint.  We ended the day at a birthday pa...