Golden Digital Grounds

I'm feeling a little lost on my art work. I am not sure where to go next! I want to do something different. I have so many resources for projects it's almost ridiculous. I am seriously looking toward some paper collaging. I saw this article in the recent Cloth Paper Scissors called "All torn up" by Elizabeth St. Hilaire Nelson. She calls it a "rippin' approach to collage." Her work is really quite wonderful. Her blog is: http://elizabethsthilairenelson.blogspot.com/ & her website is:
http://www.nelsoncreative.com/gallery/. Check them out.
What I've posted today is more experiments with Golden Digital Grounds. The 1st photo is my great grandmother on the right & my mother & great grandmother on the left. The photos are around 1944. Note the lovely texture in this paper. It feels almost like leather. The next two pics are my boy again...printed on a decorative paper that's almost like vellum. You can see the design coming through the paper. I don't think you can go wrong with a subject as beautiful as this boy.

A little Carmen Miranda..The Brazilian Bombshell

I'm sure there's some of you out there that can remember Carmen Miranda. She was the singer/actress from the 30's & 40's with the fruit hat. See the attached link on Carmen & her filmography: Carmen Miranda

This photo is a collage of image transfers(SH) done on a 9x12"canvas.

Friday Flower Girl

I love a collage with BIG flowers in it! I put this together yesterday on an 11x14" canvas. Everything was image transferred except the edge of the canvas. I used Sheer Heaven
for the transfers. The only thing I wish I hadn't done was to brush on a coat of Golden Glaze (gold). It really muted some of the bright colors. It was so vibrant before I slapped that on..UGH! Oh well. I'll try another one with no glaze this time. Live & learn.
Happy Friday, everyone. I hope you have a wonderful weekend!

New goodies for me!

It's all about me, me, me! I am sooo good to myself. That's a good thing, right? I am not really the "pampering" type but...boy do I love to buy new things! Check out these beauties. I get my daily etsy newsletter & one day I saw these adorable little pendants. I clicked right in to Tickle me Pink Boutique, Etsy shop at: http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=5581699. Her name is Amy & like so many others I've met through the blogging world, she is fabulous! Please check out her items. She also has a couple of websites at: http://www.ticklemepinkboutique.com/index.htm & http://thedecalcottage.com/.
Happy Thursday everyone!

A Day of Sharing Words

A friend & fellow blogger, Minnie at http://herminnie.blogspot.com/ has followed a lead from one of her first teachers, LK Ludwig (http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/) LK has suggested November 19th be a day for words. Post a poem that touches you inside or inspires you. This is what I have selected (simple & to the point) & I love it!

HERE'S TO THE WOMAN
...who knows where she's going
and will keep on until she gets there;
who knows not only what she wants from life
but what she has to offer in return...
HERE'S TO THE WOMAN
who is loyal to family and friends,
who expects no more from others
than she is willing to give;
HERE'S TO THE WOMAN
who guides and inspires
not by quoting others philosophies but by living her own good example;
who accepts both victories and disappointments with the same grace,
and who can rise above life's challenges and move on...
HERE'S TO THE WOMAN
who gives the gifts of her thoughtfulness,
who shows her caring with a word of support,her understanding with a smile;
a woman who brings joy to others
just by being herself...
~~ Author Unknown ~~

PLEASE HELP A FELLOW BLOGGER!!

Good Monday morning everyone!
My post today is a bit different than normal. I am asking all of you that stop by to help a fellow blogger. Her name is Meaghan & she is a Stage 3B cervical cancer survivor! She was diagnosed at 28 years old. Meaghan has devoted her blog to educating women about this cancer. She is a very brave young woman & I feel very blessed that she dropped by my blog one night. I want to help her! I am attaching her morning post, asking for your help. Meaghan's blog is: http://www.cancerlost.blogspot.com/. Please check it out as it is packed with great information & PLEASE, PLEASE take the time to vote for her. NOW...on to Meaghan's post:

Friends will you Help Me???

I know I have a huge community of blogger friends and supports and I need your help! I am running for a Sit Award on Divine Caroline. I would love to get recognition from this site because it would help me get my blog out to other women. That was my #1 goal when I started this blog, to reach others who feel alone like I did. My #2 goal was to document my journey through cancer and to help my self through therapeutic writing. With everyone's help I have done so much more than i could ever have imagined possible.I've been absolutely amazed by how many people I have met who are like me. How many cancer supporters, caregivers, fighters and survivors. The numbers of emails I have gotten from other women who thought they too were alone. I even met 2 women who had cervical cancer and went to the same hospital and saw the same doctors as me, what a wonderful thing this internet is!If I could get some recognition from a new forum my blog could reach even more men and woman who are currently battling alone! If you could just take one second and vote for me I would appreciate it sooo much! Help me Bring Awareness and Bring Cancer to the Forefront!!VOTE NOW

Gel transfers with freezer paper

I am posting a couple of Gel transfers that my husband & I did on freezer paper & transferred to decorative paper. We followed these steps: 1) We printed ink jet print on the freezer paper. 2) Covered decorative paper with a thin to medium layer of Golden soft gel medium 3) Laid freezer paper face down on gel & brayered paper to lay flat. 4) My hubby shot his for a few seconds with the hairdryer (I did not.) 5) Removed the freezer paper. I was flabbergasted when my husband pulled his paper off. It looked so good I almost ordered him out of my kitchen! His is the first pic shown with the lovely lady in the large hat. He had one flaw on the side of her face but I still thought it turned out beautifully. I slapped her right down on a 6x12" canvas. Mine is the polka-dot girl. I followed directions above minus the hairdryer. I removed the paper about 30-40 seconds after it was put down. I am not that lucky with gel transfers normally so I was pretty pleased with this one. She hasn't been mounted to anything just yet.
I do want to say that the woman with the large hat was from a postcard that I found on Flickr. It
belongs to Charlie Dave who was kind enough to let me use the postcard image. It was from his Mum's collection from the 20's or 30's. Have a great weekend everyone!

I was nominated you for "The Marie-Antoinette A Real Person, A Real Award" by my friend Art Lover at: http://lovetheartforever.blogspot.com/. Thank you so much ! Check out this blog for some wonderful art. Okay..the rules go like this:

1. Please put the logo on your blog 2. Place a link to the person from whom you received the award 3. Nominate at least 7 or more blogs 4. Put the links of those blogs on your blog 5. Leave a message on their blogs to tell them.

My nominations are as follows:

1) http://michirhymeswithpeachy.blogspot.com/

2)http://fififlowersdecor.blogspot.com/

3)http://abbycreek-art.blogspot.com/

4) http://herminnie.blogspot.com/

5) http://neatcs.wordpress.com/

6) http://cancerlost.blogspot.com/

7) http://bettystamps.blogspot.com/

Dog & Cat Transfers

One of my friends asked that I make a transfer for her daughter using this wonderful
picture of her German Shepherds. I still had some of this "magazine cover" paper left
so I put this together for her. They are gracing the cover of Dog Decor (the bow wow issue, no
less.) This will be a Christmas gift & the picture was taken with the two beauties laying in the
sand on a beautiful, California beach!

The feline is MY BOY! You probably can tell that I don't love him very much.
He's on the cover of Catsmopolitan! He is as classy as they come....just ask him!
Both pics done with my favorite, Sheer Heaven. They are 9x12 in size.

These papers were purchased at Makin Memories in Newbury Park, another favorite place of mine to shop!

New effects from dumpr.net

Happy Friday everyone!
This is a picture I did yesterday after looking at Diana Evans' blog at: http://dianaevans.blogspot.com/. Diana mentioned a new website that you
can actually upload your photos to make museum size pieces of your work. They
also have an Alienator page that you can tweak your colors with. I sat there for 3
hours playing with that. It was a blast! This is a pic I did of my cat, Dexter, using
the same shot but altering the color on each. I also did some museum size pics that
I will post later. I did image transfers using Sheer Heaven with some rubber stamping
& colored pencils also. The pic is 10x20. This is the link for that great website: http://www.dumpr.net/ Have a great weekend!

Sheer Heaven On Mulberry Paper

This was another Sheer Heaven transfer I did with the textured background. The image was actually transferred to mulberry paper & then attached to the canvas. I rubber stamped into the molding paste on the canvas & painted with Lumiere paints. It is 6x9.
This was a postcard image. I really like her umbrella.
Have a great day.

Santa Monica Civic Art Show

We attended an art show yesterday after the French Italian car show (photos on my Flickr). We had a full day! It was a lot of fun, too. There were around 250 vendors at the art show. We met this young gentleman, Dameon Washington, who was selling some wonderful bags, wallets, & purses. They were all done with newspaper & laminating. It's just amazing what people come up with. Dameon was a pleasure to talk with & he told us how this project all started. His story was:
What began as a school project for artist Dahli Coles is now an extensive line of accessories known as THE NEWS. Created from recycled newspaper, each unique piece has been cut, sewn & laminated with a durable water resistant finish. Handmade in Los Angeles, California.
Read it today & wear it tomorrow. If you have a moment check out his website at:http://thenewsla.com/.