Thriving Art

This is my latest page from my art journal.  I'd love to give you a tutorial on how it came about, but the fact is it took me over two weeks to finally get to the point of being finished!  I'd lay down a layer and then have to ponder a bit ( usually a day or so ) then add an other layer, well, you know how it gos if your into art journaling.  Sometimes it is more of a thought process, even if it looks like I just threw the paint and ink onto it! ( which sometimes I do ) I CAN tell you what I used on it: acrylics paint, gesso, modeling paste, stencils, black SstazOn ink,background stamps from Rouge Red Heads and Rubber Monger, and gold leafing....and I think that is about it. There are two pictures because of the leafing.  It is so hard to photograph anything metallic, but the effect on this page is one that needs two photos.  This bottom one gives you the view of the ink over the leafing.  So it has two effects depending on how the light hits it. ...

Time for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  I you got here from   http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/2013/02/whats-on-your-workdesk-wednesday-195.html Then you know what it is all about.  If not then it is a world wide snoop of all kinds of crafter's work desks.    So here is my Betsy this week, a little bit of everything piled on it.  Not much stamping, cause it is DT work and had to be put out of sight.  To the front left are a few things I picked up at Office Depot for some future DT work. My note book, a stamp that needs to be put away, so pendants made from plastic spoons, my glasses, a large black ceramic tile I use for embossing, baking clay and etc.  Here is a close up of the pendants drying Last week I had my metal letters on Betsy, well here they are painted and put up.  I took down the framed items I had up there and put up some tags, wall hangings and gifts from other bloggers.  I still have some ATC an...

We are on week two of "Anything But a Card" challenge over at:   http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/    This week I did a little purse, and pinwheel. with my GD Hannah in mind.  She is all about LIGHT blue and bling!!   She hasn't seen it yet (thank goodness her parents won't let her use the PC yet, so I'm safe )  The sponsor for this challenge is "Creative Cuts and More" and you still have time to join the fun.  Have a great day!

A  quick post this morning before heading over to the beach with my cousin, Marty.  Just a quick day trip to get some papers signed, have some lunch, little shopping and home before dark.   I want to thank everybody who has been popping by and leaving me wonderful comments.  I did get my letters up over Betsy along with a few other things.  I'll get pic posted later.   I came across a bag of flowers I had trimmed out, way back when I was working and thought I need to get something made with these.  Ya know how that gos?  So I spent the afternoon making some quick cards to have in my stash, and thought I would share them.  It really was an enjoyable afternoon.  The scanner washed them out a bit, but you get idea.   I came across an old shadow stamp and used it for the background.  Loved the effect on this card. Simple background and sentiment.  The flowers are on pop dots to give some depth. I used m...

If you follow my blog you will have seen this canvas on WOYWW a couple of times.  I made it for my DIL's birthday, which was Feb 14.  I try not to mix her birthday with valentine's, just isn't quite fair.  I had painted the background with acrylics, then pondered how I wanted to put the numbers on it.  I finally decided to cut them with the Cricut and glue them on.  That was working, but not the colors I chose Hummmmmm!  I chose a second set of colors and re-cut the numbers and stacked them.  THAT worked for me!  What are the numbers you ask?  Well they are birth dates and their wedding date ( the red and gold)  The top two are my son and DIL and the bottom two are the girls' birth dates.  I took her out to lunch last Friday and gave it to her, yes she loved it.  I cannot take full credit for this idea I saw it on Pinterest, but can't find the link again to give credits, sorry!

I finally finished my mixed media canvas.  This was really a fun canvas to make, thanks to YouTube!  The picture in the middle is my GD Hannah taken last summer.  She was walking along the water line singing and dancing when I got this shot.  Thanks for taking a moment to look, do hope you'll leave a comment. Inky Hugs Krisha

What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday is back again!!  Thanks to Miss Julia Dunnit, it has become the Wednesday phenomenon of blog-land!!  Miss Sandee ( from the hills of North Caolina ) asked for a full picture of Betsy, since I let it out that I work in an altered closet.  First photo is the best I could maneuver without getting DH's work desk involved. LOL  The dark black cabinets at each end ( under the counter ) are wine cabinets, and yea they are full.  The white roll about is printed papers sorted into colors.  On top of the roll about are 2 - drawer space keepers with small solid color papers in them.  I do use that white foot stool while I work.   This photo shows what it looks like with my trolley pulled in front of one of the wine coolers.  In front of the cooler to the far right, and almost out of sight is a microwave cart.  The wooden top is where I keep my paper cutter, now under 2 white space keepers.  The two ...

The new challenge over at The Cheerful Stamp Pad is "Anything but a Card" and sponsored by "Creative Cuts and More"   I used their little milk carton for my project: using their pattern to cut it out of a light green cs, then used a couple of Inkadinkado stamps and some Memories soft leaf ink to give the little carton some personality. I just love the soft effects of these inks, and have had them for years. Here is a closer look at the top where I did trim it with a small lacy trim.  I used a cream cs for the oval and the same leaf green ink, and two pearls to mount it.  The satin ribbon is from Anna Griffin, it just happened to match....LOL  It will be used for a small Easter thank you gift.   This challenge will run for two weeks so everybody has time to join in.  Juts hop over to: http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/  

Ms. Julia Dunnit, as every Wednesday, is hostessing Whats On Your Workdesk Wednesday.  It is THE great "SNOOPING" day of the week, where we hop from blog desk to blog desk around the world, being the curious people that crafters of all kinds are.  So Here is my "Betsy" fully loaded this week.  I am working on a canvas for DIL's birthday, which is tomorrow!  I saw this on Pinterest, it is just dates of importance on a canvas, and I thought it was such a cool idea. So far there is their wedding date, in red and both daughter's birth dates in a light tan.These are the colors in their house  Above the red will be my DS and DIL birth dates.  Since the red is not standing out( the way I visioned it ) I am thinking of adding a top layer of numbers, maybe in a gold, then I'll Decoupage the whole thing a couple of times.  Will be a busy day. So what else is there? maybe I should list what is NOT on there....LOL   Far lower left corner is just ...

Front I made this valentine envelope for a friend of mine.  I used a 12" embossed scrapbook paper, so it is very heavy duty.  It is all in how it was folded. I learned this from Lindsey, the Frugal Crafter.  The tutorial is here: http://thefrugalcrafter.wordpress.com/2012/12/08/todays-the-day-craft-fair-time/ Back  I lined the inside with red Mulberry paper and let the edges feather out under the lace, and then across the back with the same.  I will tuck some chocolates in it and get it to her at work.  She was my chocolate companion when I was working.  This is the end of my making valentines for this year.  My DIL (that lives here) birthday IS Valentines Day!!  I still haven't started the canvas I want to give her so I better be getting busy. Inky Hugs Krisha Open

AAAH YES! It is Mardi Gras time again!  Love it, all the beads and colorful masks, someday I'll make it to the real thing.  But for now I'll just dream and craft about it ...LOL!  I drew around one of the GD's maskes then tangled it.  After some pencil shading I colored in the mask.  When I showed it to a friend of ours he said "I get it! It's the invisible man!Because there are no eyes" Okay Randy.  Some friends ARE priceless!!

 Looking into the corner where her bed will be  Branch where her name will hang Happy Monday to all in blog-land.  What a whirl wind weekend I had. Went to San Diego Thursday and stayed through Sunday morning, this was the weekend for my DIL's baby shower.  Thursday afternoon we got our visiting done and talked about what she wanted painted on Danica's bedroom wall.  She had gotten a picture off the Internet of what she had in mind.  The picture of the tree was all in white, but we decided on doing it in color, with a few alterations..... you know me, I have to put a different spin on everything. It was a tall skinny tree, so that is the way I went, and it worked! So all day Friday I painted!! I had forgotten my art brushes so this was all painted with those sponge brushes.  I had to trim a couple them down to about 1", but it got painted.  I did get DIL to give me a couple Q-tips to make the dots in the center of the flowers.The bra...

 That's right, it is time to show you the mess on Betsy, my work desk AGAIN!!  And I do mean a mess!! I've been working on a mixed media canvas, so that means lots of "stuff" has to be on the desk top for me to filter through and find what I want....LOL. Piles of trinkets, bottles of glue, grunge boards, phone glasses, pliers everything but the kitchen sink!! I have a picture to put in that large bare spot.  As soon as the primer dries I'll give it a coat of Gesso, then spray some inks and acrylic to give it some color, before adding the photo. So what am I going on about, and why show you the mess?  Well, it is WOYWW over at Julia's and I want to play a long.  How about you? Brave enough to show us your space??  You can link up at: http://stamping-ground.blogspot.com/

The Unruly Paper Arts Yahoo group is in the midst of a coaster swap, with "Dream" as the theme.  These are the four I created.  It was open to interpretation so that just threw the door wide open. LOL! I chose to go with texture, metals and bling.  I used a lot of modeling paste, Gesso, acrylic paint, metal leafing, rhinestones and trimmed them all with a copper metal tape.  Some of the copper tape was colored with a sharpie pen to match the color schemes a little better. Once I got started I had a blast making these. They are 3 1/2 x 3 1/2  with a cardboard backing.    Now to sit and " wait " for the mail man to bring me four different ones.......THAT'S THE HARD PART!

Just Some Lines has some of the cutest digi images for making great Valentines.  This is the DT card I made for Cheerful Stamp Pad's challenge 53: "You Have My Heart" challenge and the sponsor is Just Some Lines.  Yes you read right I have re-joined Vicki as a DT! I colored the image with markers then fussy trimmed it out.  I made the quilted heart from some snippets and did a fuax stitch around the pieces with a black marker.  The background rectangle is a re-cycled piece I found digging around in the drawer ( I really do need to organize those scrap drawers a little better.....well maybe later LOL ) I also used a paper doilie and snatched a sticker from Hannah's stash for the sentiment.  Great fun! Joing the challenge here: http://cheerfulstamppad.blogspot.com/ Grab an image here: http://justsomelinesblog.blogspot.com/ They also have some free images to try before you buy, so there is no excuse not to play along with us. Inky Hugs Krisha

Ya know, I have been doing this type of thing for years, but never with a picture or on a canvas.  See where Youtube can take you?  Here is where my coffee stained flowers ended up, along with lots of lace, trims, silk flowers, buttons and pearls all mounted on a vintage paper and then splattered( the spray bottle was not on the same wave length with me this morning ).  Edges were ages with TH vintage photo ink.  The picture is of my Grandmother and her second husband "Grandpa Jeff"on their wedding day, no I don't have the date at my finger tips, but it is in the family stuff somewhere.  I tend to be the one that all the family tree type stuff gets left to, so I have a LOT of family history filed away, from both sides of the families.  Someday I'll get it all in order for my sons........someday.    There is an other mixed media canvas I am really wanting to do, way more involved, but I need to gather a few more items for tha...

Stella, from Bugaboo, did just that.  So here she is printed out on a full 8x11 1/2, then colored and trimmed out.  She is mounted on an art journal page that I smeared pink paint onto then sprayed some red ink and water splats.........you know the drill.  I had this red felt trim for a long time and it just suited Stella so that was added along with the red feather on the arrow.  Glitter around the glasses and at the tip of her wings to finish it. I have sent this by text to a couple of my "working" friends that I know could use a laugh right about now. Inky Hugs Krisha

Since my dog decided she needed to go out side early this morning, I thought I might get some catch-up posting started.  Can you believe it is the February 1st already?  I remember bits and pieces of January, but not enough to fill 31 days. ( couldn't be my age......LOL !).  So during football playoffs, when my team wasn't doing their jobs, I did a quick tangle of hearts.  I left this one more open and lighter. Since my profile picture is old enough to make a few of you wonder about me really being married for over 30 years ( thank you so much, you made my days, weeks, and months!!) I felt it wasn't fair to lead you on.  That profile picture was taken 8 years ago, at my 25 year class reunion!!! Yes, that would make me 63 this May! The one below was taken this past Christmas. OH YES, I do keep my hair colored religiously, comes from all those years of working in a beauty salon. LOL and vanity. I am usually the one TAKING the pictures, s...