ATC's for swap using background Techniques from Artist Trading Card WOrkshop by Bernie Berlin

It was getting to be time to get these cards done. That meant that I had to chose a background technique from Bernie Berlins book. I decided to do the Fused Fiber technique with my own twist of course!! Here are the supplies that I used:

I used cardstock cut to 2.5x3.5 inches. Then I glued a piece of painted paper towel down and placed snippets of all of the fibers, painted netting and sequins that you see in the picture above, on top of the painted paper towel. Then I sprinkled on clear embossing powder and placed a 1 inch wide strip of fusible webbing over all. I covered the whole thing with a piece of parchment paper and ironed it on the silk heat setting of my iron. Once it had cooled, I removed the parchment paper and sprinkled on cut up bits of Crystal Green Angelina fibers. Then I replaced the parchment and ironed for no longer thatn 3 seconds. These backgrouds were the results of my melting playtime!

The Angelina fiberr fuses to the whole thing and gives the cards the sparkly shimmer!! I love this technique!!

I added a red tulip cut from cotton fabric, a stem cut from some painted paper and the word "grow" that I had stamped on another piece of the paper used for the stem and leaf. Then I sewed everything down onto the card and did a zigzag stitch around the whole thing!

Here are the resulting ATC"S.

These is a technique that I know I will be using again and again!!

Illuminati of Creativity

I have created another found/discarded object art doll. Let me first say that this creation was put in motion when I saw a doll created by a very talented gal from the Southwestern United States. i cannot take credit for the use of the light switch. The rest of the doll evolved as I was working on her.

Her body is a used electric light switch that moves "on" and "off", that was purchased at a Habitat for Humanity Restore for .25. The switch is lashed to honeysuckle vines from the yard, the Blue Jay feathers were gaathered in the yard as well. Her face is polymer clay. Her robes are made from a burlap rice sack and painted cheesecloth.

She is my Talisman of Flowing Artistic Energy who will infuse my art space with light and good creative spirits.

The fabrics, cotton yarn and cheesecloth were painted with Lumiere paints.

Close up photo shows the Spirit Flow in the conserve position.

I know that many of you are probably shaking your heads and thinking that I have gone too far 'round the bend this time. But when you next visit my art space you will feel the positive creative karma that she exudes! Don't knock it till you've tried it!!

Play time with Paint!!

After finishing my Panda Black and White witha Splash of Lime work in the altered book, I had a pile of scraps of paper left over. I am trying very hard to cut down on clutter (ok, I hear y'all laughing) So instead of stuffing the scrps in a drawer I glued them all down on a piece of sketch paper.

Next I put several colors of acrylic paint down on a meat tray (my favorite pallette) and picked up some of each color on a credit card. Then I scraped the card with paint over the collaged black and white papers.

And here is a second sheet that I did in exactly the same way. Once you start with this technique, it is hard to stop so it is best to have lots of paper at the ready!!

The papers that I used included old sheet music, pages from an old french dictionary, the insides of security envelopes and the bar codes from luggage tags from air travel.

Next I was off to paint some fabric!

I am prepping to make several small beaded Goddess dolls as samples for a class that I will be teaching. I wanted to paint the fabric as the first dolls that we will make in the class will not be entirely encrusted with beads. So I painted some fabric so wherever the bads were not placed there would be some color interest.

First I placed my muslin down on a sheet of freezer paper and wet it down with water. Then using a medium sized paintbrush, I put on lumiere paints in different colors. (I am addicted to Lumieres, but regular metallic acrylics in the little bottles would also work very well for this same effect.) I spattered on some Blue Pearl paint as a last painting step. By this time the fabric was well stuck to the freezer paper. It did not take much paint as the water really moved evrything around quite well and I did not want the fabric to be stiff in the end.

Next I took a handful of Kosher salt and sprinkled it over the wet painted fabric and left the whole thing to dry overnight. Here are the results!!

I peeled the fabric off of the freezer paper and flipped it over and this is what I found!!

Sorry about the glare. I am equally thrilled with the wrong side of this piece!! The shineyness is caused by the sticking to the freezer paper but that is really not too aparent in person. This side has much more of the watercolor wash effect. This will work out very well as the background for my Goddess dolls! Yes, I will post pictures of her when I finish her!!

More Altered book Spreads

I have just finished up working in one of the books for the "True Colors" style RR that I am participating in. This book was sent out by Wanda from Arkansas and her color choice was Black and White with a Splash of some other color. As we started planning this Round Robin back in June, I was on the look out for things to use in the books. Let's just face it, I will pick up and save just about anything!! After a trip on the Washington D.C. Metro system, you are left with a fare card. As there has been a baby Panda born at the National Zoo and he is way more popular than any political figure, there are pandas printed on the fare cards. you guessed it! A Keeper!!

The colors that I chose for Wanda's book were Black and White with a Splash of Lime. (It also makes me think of hot summer afternoons with a tall Gin and Tonic!!) The whole layout revolves around thie Metro Fare card, of Course!!! I used fabric and sheet music, interiors of security envelopes (they have really neat black and white patterns on the insides so people can't see thru the envelopes), paper measuring tapes and ribbons, candy wrapper foils, buttons and pages from a french dictionary. I also did some stamping and I put the whole thing together on the sewing machine- I didn't use any glue. The stitching adds a whole other layer of texture. There is some glare from the flash on the plastic window that I placed over the fare card. I decided to make use of the window that already existed in the envelope. These layouts were great fun to put together and I hope that Wanda likes my work.

THis RR project has been really good for me. I know that my art is being pushed in directions that I might never have gone if I had not started this project.


Under the picture of the panda,on the left, is a pocket made of fabric. Hanging from different ribbons are different black and white things. A collaged domino, a quote from Margaret Mead, A stamp from Dubai and some black and green beads.




















This is the second spread. i painted the green paper using the scraped paper technique and then overstamped the fern image.








































This is the sign in card that I created for the front of the book. Each artist was asked to create their own tag and include their name and e-mail and snail mail addresses.
This book will get sent off to Florida to the next artist, tomorrow.

Warning-Double Posting!!

Sorry everyone, I don't mean to bore you!! I did not realize that I had already done a post on the Birthday Art doll. The class that I taught over the weekend really wiped out my data bank- the one in my head at least. The second part of the latest Art Doll post IS NEW however. So just go on and skip right thru the Angel Birthday Doll portion. I must try to be less scattered- YAh RIGHT !!!!!

It's a dog's life!! (At least it is at our house!)

Buddy ,the rat terrier, has found the optimal spot for absorbing the maximum amount of morning winter son. Now all he needs is a pair of shades and a sun reflector thing to tan under his chin!!

Of course , if Dad is willing to stand ther and scratchmy head and behind my ears, all the better!! One must ask, "Who is running this house anyway?" Is there really any doubt???????

Vanna, (no Mitzi) does painted paper towel!

I got together with my friend Mitzi last week and I taught her the terribly challenging technique of painting paper towels! We had more fun than three year old's with gallons of finger paint!!

The next time that we get together I am going to start her on her first altered book. We

had a blast!

We did several different methods. the first was just wiping the paint loaded brush onto the damp paper towel. The second method was squirting paint directly on freezer paper and then we took"prints" from the paint with the wet paper towel. In two hours we had a giant stack of papers that we will now use in all sorts of wonderful creations. More fun than a person should be allowed to have!!!!