The House That Love Built

I made this collage for my sweet step-daughter, Tori, for her birthday. I didn't have a plan in mind when I started it. I wanted to try some new techniques, well new for me, for the background. I painted the background and then did some "glazing."  I added a page from an old book and removed part of it and glazed with another color. I wasn't too sure I liked it until I turned the canvas around and suddenly saw a tree evolving. It was then that I got EXCITED!

The rest just took off from there...

The House That Love Built

The tire came from a model car my hubby was building.
It was a "spare!"

My Grandsons, Riley and Blake
Aka: Rooster and Hootie Bob!

Tori and WONDERFUL hubby, Chris!

Eldest grandson, Jon!

So happy you like it, Tori!

                                                                                 

Let Your Heart SOAR!

I may have failed miserably at my 30 day challenge of things I love, but I DID finally complete this collage! And...I must say I LOVE it! My life has been quite stressful this past month, so this was my escape. I got lost in a sea of *delightfulness* and tuned out all that "other" ugly stuff. You should have seen the mess I made! In my world, one cannot be creative without making a huge mess. It also forced me to organize my studio, which is spread out between my office and guest bedroom. I dug through plastic storage containers and boxes and the stuff I found that I forgot I had make me scream with joy! BEAUTIFUL fabrics and books and patterns to inspire and cure whatever might ail you! Now, if I can just calm myself from the circuit overload I'm feeling and move on to the next project, I'll have it made!

The idea for this collage came from my previous post about the layered heart. It just reminded me of a kite and I envisioned a smaller version being flown by a paper doll! This paper doll is an original, not a copy, from the 50's or 60's I'm guessing. She even has an old piece of cellophane tape around her wrist, which looks like an ace bandage! I pretty much covered it up with her kite string, though.

Isn't she the sweetest thing?

She's flying her *heart* kite and letting it *soar*

The sun is vintage flocked wallpaper and half a doily I spray painted.

I found these letters in my stash and wired them together with rusty wire. 

There are so many fun elements to this; paper, fabric, ribbon, lace and all sorts of little doodads!

I had so much fun with these little houses. Just snipped paper in various sizes. The windows are plaid ribbon!

Even added a little *doodle* here and there!

Oh, that tiny ric rac!

The finished project!

I hope you let your heart SOAR!

Children are the hands....

I recently discovered the wonderful artwork of K.c. Willis. The moment I saw it, I fell in love. I then discovered she offered online classes and I was over joyed with delight!!! More than that...I've come to know her a bit, via the wonderful world of cyber space and she's giving and fun and has this wonderful way of looking at objects that most of us would just toss away. Well...not me! I have more junk, but now I'm seeing it's not exactly the "junk" I wish I had...rats!







As you've probably guessed, I signed up for her collage workshop, along with another class. The workshop was a pre-requisite to the other class. I can see why. There's a lot of information and instruction regarding technique and such. I had to watch it a few times to absorb it all.





My goal with this project was to only use what I have. No more buying! Use up what I have. I thought, "oh this will be easy"...not when you want MORE! lol! I stuck to my guns and this is how it came out....VIOLA! I must admit, I'm very happy with it. I'm sure I had moments where I spent too much time "analyzing" instead of just "doing."


I hope you enjoy the layers of love I put into this collage. You should see the MESS I turned my dining room into, not to mention my office/studio. I can barely walk in there. I'm thankful I have a husband who doesn't mind the mess, because he loves to see me creating again. It's been a long time.



Thank you, K.c. for sharing your gift of collage with me and the rest of the world. You are truly an inspiration!

A Perfect Day

Last summer, before I got sick, I paid for 2 online classes in mixed media. I started one and never even got to the other. Since then, the website has shut down and has opened up into something new. Those 2 classes lost forever. This is what I started in the first class and have NO idea what I was supposed to do with the rest of it! lol It's been sitting in a closet just waiting for me to attack it.




I pulled out some tricks of the trade and just started putting things together. I have so much junk! My goal is to use up what I have. No more buying unless it's a supply I need like glue, ink, etc. I have a huge jar of gesso, so I'm happy about that!





I just started playing and laying things out on the canvas. I found the tree image on the Internet and the other images came out of an old book, as did the print the birds are made out of. I used a really cool technique of putting clear packing tape over the printed page. Then you run water over it and rub the paper off and the print stays on. I then took my bird template and cut them out. I really like the effect it gives to the piece.






I used pieces from an old sheet music. The #5 is stamped from an old printer's block I have. The "stick" with the jewels, which are old earrings, is an old "cake tester" that my bff sent along with all the lace, from my previous post. The piece at the top is also from that collection. The costume pearls are an old necklace. I used a charcoal pencil and distressed ink to highlight and give depth here and there. The last thing I did was paint some melted beeswax all over it.



I hope you enjoy my "A Perfect Day to Fly"...as much as I enjoyed creating it!

Frog Hollow Collage

WOW...It's been 7 months since I've written a post for this blog! So long that I had to go back and refresh myself with how to do it! Good grief, Charlie Brown!!! Anyway, I think I have it figured out now, soooooooooooo...

I owe this first new post to my sweet friend, Vickie, who made me the nicest, most thoughtful creation for my birthday last June...my very own collage of my blog! Check it out! I instantly fell in love with the 50's paperdoll, as I love ALL things paperdoll, especially the 50's and 60's! She incorporated all my special doo-dads off my blog...my family, my creations, etc. She put so much love into this and it now hangs in my studio. I promised her I would blog about this waaaay back when, but Vickie...better late than never! Love you so much for this!!!






This was an award I got for one lovely blog...*sigh*!

50's Paperdoll Collage

I bought these cute vintage paperdolls awhile back and wanted to do some sort of a collage. I started with a blank 8 x 10 canvas and dove in...head first!

The canvas is covered with vintage wallpaper. The cute little pups peeping through the window came from a vintage get well card. The couch is from an anthropologie catalogue and the other pups from another greeting card. Embellish, embellish, EMBELLISH!!! The little crown on the peeping pup says, "be bold." How appropriate for a peeping pup! There are swavorski cystals on Jackie's cute little dress.

To finish it up, I painted melted beeswax over most of it. Everytime I look at it, it makes me smile. Hope you enjoy it, too!