Experimenting with backgrounds

I went to the book store a couple of days ago to pick up some new Somerset magazines. One that I grabbed was Somerset Apprentice. There's some wonderful projects in there with great instructions. I am intrigued with Gesso & I found a project by Michelle Ward ( http://michelleward.typepad.com/) called Gesso Resist. The procedure is to apply gesso to a rubberstamp & stamp on unprepped paper (I used watercolor.) You let the gesso dry for at least one hour. Apply acrylic paint over that & spritz with water while still wet. You need to move fairly fast. Once you've spritzed with water, buff away with an old cloth......and this is what you get. I even purchased some black Gesso to give that a whirl also. Have a great day everyone!

Book Page

I am posting another page today that I put together for my nameless little book. Can you tell I love vintage images? I was thinking back to some of the fun things I remembered in my childhood. Used to love playing jacks, hopscotch & the hula hoop. I also remember my little record player that played Elvis 45's constantly. Loved Elvis, Little Richard & Chuck Berry! I hope you see something in here that brings back some pleasant memories for you also.
HAPPY MONDAY!

Journal Page

Good Saturday Morning! It's a rather gloomy in Southern California today so I think I will use that as an excuse to play all day!
This is another page I did yesterday. I used a mixture of Glimmer Mists & Memories Mist to do the background. The rest is collaged.
I hope you all have a great weekend!

Happy Birthday Brother

Today is my brother's 48th birthday...Happy Birthday, Brother!!
He is celebrating today in Washington. I hope he has a wonderful day & I sure wish I was there! This is the card I made for him. I did an image transfer of him on the front at age 2 or 3. I did an image transfer of me (inside) at age 6 or so.
Happy Tuesday!

The Runway Girls

What a great Saturday yesterday. I attended the Carson Ca rubber stamp show with friends, Minnie & Yvonne. We had a great time & all walked out with a pretty big bag of goodies. I'm so anxious to try some of my new stuff.
I am posting one of the pages I did for my book which really has no theme. I seem to just wander aimlessly until I put something together that appeals to me. Animals definitely appeal to me! Sometimes I like to go from pretty to goofy! It's more fun that way. HAPPY SUNDAY!

A bit of art from the past

These are some mannequins that I decorated approximately 2 years ago. I had such fun doing this that I did one large one (32") & 3 smaller ones (12"). I guess I never posted these as it was before my blog days. Also....I did a few little goofy things on the big one...as you can see! They were sooo much fun to do. Just recently on one of my trips to the hospital I saw a small giraffe (around 5 ft tall) that was decorated in this same manner. I would love to get my hands on one of those little giraffes. It was absolutely adorable.
HAPPY FRIDAY EVERYONE!

Kreative Blogger Award

Lucky me....I received this Kreative Blogger award from Lisa at http://mudhoundprimitives.blogspot.com/. Thanks so much for this lovely award, Lisa! I am to list seven things that I love or that inspire me.


1) The green velvet hills of Northern California
2) Sunrises & sunsets
3) Blooming flowers
4) An old building
5) A kitten/puppy
6) Music
7) Strong women

Now I will pass the award on to:

1) http://elainebarrdesigns.blogspot.com/
2)http://gotmoretimethanmoney.blogspot.com/
3)http://lorianderson.blogspot.com/
4)http://ebogie.blogspot.com/ 5) http://quilting-mania.blogspot.com/


I understand that some bloggers would rather pass on the blogger awards & I totally understand that.

Easing my way back & accepting blog awards

Good morning everyone! I am going to try & get back in the swing of things now. My husband is home from the hospital & doing much better. He will see the cardiologist Thursday for a stress test so I am hoping all turns out well. Thank you for all your kind comments. I love my blogging friends & feel very fortunate that you've all touched my life.
One of my favorite blogs EVER is, http://tweedles-georgie.blogspot.com/. This blog brings me so much joy...I LOVE Tweedles! Tweedles has passed on the Honest Scrap Award.
The rules go like this:
When accepting this auspicious award, you must write a post bragging about it, including the name of the misguided soul who thinks you deserve such acclaim, and link back to said person so everyone knows he or she is real. Choose a minimum of 7 blogs that you find brilliant in content or design. Or improvise by including bloggers who have no idea who you are because you don’t have 7 friends. Show the 7 random victims’ names and links and leave a harassing comment informing them that they were prized with “Honest Weblog.” Well, there’s no prize, but they can keep the nifty icon. List at least ten honest things about yourself. Then, pass it on!"

1) I believe in equal rights for all, regardless of color, sexual preference, religion etc.
2) I love sunrises & sunsets.
3) I love love love animals.
4) Large bodies of water scare me
5) Rude smokers irritate me
6) Rude people in general irritate me.
7) I love the smell of fresh cut grass
8) Still enjoy metal jammin rock n roll.
9) The smell of my jasmine blooming is wonderful.
10) I love the early early morning with a cup of coffee & the newspaper.
There you have it!
I will pass this one on & I want to make it clear that the recipients do NOT need to post this if they prefer not to. I understand that some would prefer not to get caught up in awards & I totally understand & respect that. My choices are:

1) http://creativesolace.blogspot.com/
2) http://kvcreativedesigns.blogspot.com/
3) http://vickiorion.blogspot.com/ 4) http://kristychristopherson.blogspot.com/
5) http://sharon-artfromtheheart.blogspot.com/ 6) http://thevintagemoth.blogspot.com/ 7) http://www.backgroundfairy.com/

Congrats to all & thank you again, Tweedles

A Little Time Off

Good morning! It feels very weird that I haven't had time to post anything on my blog for a week. I came home from San Francisco to my husband in the intensive care unit of the hospital. He had a blood clot that traveled from his leg to his lung & they are attempting to dissolve it. I am back & forth to the hospital & needless to say, I have put the blog on the back burner for a moment. They did put him in a regular room last night so that's a plus.
I have been lucky enough to receive a couple of awards in my absence & I will post those very soon. I want to thank my dear little friend, Tweedles of http://tweedles-georgie.blogspot.com/ & Lisa at http://mudhoundprimitives.blogspot.com/ I thank you both so much!

Enjoyed Ellen & off to San Francisco

We had a lot of fun yesterday even though we did not make it to the regular audience. We were in the Riff Raff room. Denise Richards was not the guest, it was actually Mario Lopez. The show actually aires today. Since we didn't make the regular audience we were guaranteed regular seats on another date. We picked April 16th so hopefully she'll have someone good that day. It was still a blast! Lots of fun loving people.
I am off to San Francisco tomorrow morning until Monday. I will not be posting until next week.
*************************************************************************************I have posted a picture I did for my sister of my lovely niece & her daughter, Alexis. It is an image transfer (ofcourse!) done with Sheer Heaven. It is 12x12.
My sister's birthday is Saturday. She's actually a leap year baby but we celebrate on the 28th.
Have a wonderful weekend everyone!

My last OWOH gift received & I am going to see Ellen today!

I received my last giveaway yesterday and I was thrilled. I received this wonderful, painted/collage canvas from Jennifer Rogers-Daniels at http://artisticallydesigneddiversions.blogspot.com/. Isn't this just beautiful? I love it. Thank you so much, Jennifer!
Gail & I are off to the Ellen show today...the downside is...I do not care for her guest today. I am hoping to be put in the Riff Raff room so I can come back another day & see someone I like better than Denise Richards....that won't take much!
HAPPY Wednesday!

Recent Dolly Birth

Good Monday Morning! My sister, Gail & I spent Saturday at our friend, Minnie's house. Minnie at http://herminnie.blogspot.com/ Is one of the most generous people I know. She is always sharing new ideas, products, & her valuable time to teach Gail & I new art techniques. We LOVE you, Minnie & thank you so much! She taught us how to create these little dollies. We made the little molds & then poured in the resin. Minnie actually learned this procedure last year in a class with jewelry extraordinaire, Susan Lenart Kazmer in Seattle. There are so many possibilities with these. You can add colors, words etc. Thanks so much Minnie!

OWOH winnings rolling in

My winnings are coming in. I have received three of the four. The first one is some great little wooden good luck pieces from Birgit in Germany at http://swappinghowdies.blogspot.com/
The next one is a wonderful princess drawing from Karla at http://daydreamstudios.blogspot.com/
The third one is the gorgeous Queen of Hearts print from Abigail at http://rustedwingsstudio.blogspot.com/
I am thrilled with everything & can't thank you all enough for this wonderful experience!

New page done with transfers

Ok, it's back to the book again. Something smaller than 12x12 canvases.
This page was done with a paper background with image transfers done over that. I have around 6 pages done now so that's not too bad.
My sister & I had a fun day yesterday. We went to see the taping of Chelsea Lately.
Fortunately, it was a short 45 minute drive & we did have fun. I do have to complain about one thing though....(of course).....& that's people that are so ignorant that they light up their cigarettes while in a huge line of people. Don't people know to step away from the people to smoke? This is just sheer ignorance & a lack of caring about anyone but yourself!! Rude smokers, wake up!! I smoked for years too but I certainly had sense enough to step away from a crowd to do it. Ok, enough!
Chelsea was very funny, as always. I love all forms of comedy & it obviously doesn't have to be clean comedy either, for those of you familiar with Chelsea.
HAPPY THURSDAY EVERYONE!

New Blog Discovery

Good morning everyone! I found a link this morning through another blog that led me to http://steampunkrings.blogspot.com/. I found a BONANZA! It is Catherinette Rings. She not only has ring but other very unusual & beautiful pieces. My favorite is in her Etsy shop under this link http://www.etsy.com/view_listing.php?listing_id=20951786 . Check out her jewelry. You'll be amazed.

Raining in California

Good morning! It's very early here, 6:00 A.M. & I can hear the rain POUNDING outside. It's suppose to be a nasty storm & I think that's right from the sounds of it.
This is another Sheer Heaven transfer using a Ziegfeld girl. I just love the side view, especially with the dog. The picture is 12x12.

Blog Makeover

Good morning everyone! I hit another jackpot this morning when I found a new site with FREE blog backgrounds. I'm amazed at some peoples generosity. There are people designing blog backgrounds for a fair amount of money. Now, I stumble across this person whose entire sites are devoted to freebies. She has a site for free clip art which is http://www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/ . She has another site devoted to blog backgrounds. That link is http://www.backgroundfairy.com/ Her site is http://www.backgroundfairy.com/.
Check out her sites, you won't be disappointed.

A million thanks to all OWOH participants.

Good morning everyone! I have to first thank Lisa Swifka at http://awhimsicalbohemian.typepad.com/a_whimsical_bohemian/ again for all her work in arranging this entire OWOH event. It was a wonderful, memorable experience. I can't wait for next year!
I was lucky enough to win 4 OWOH giveaways yesterday.I was so wrapped up in the giving end of it that I didn't even think about winning something myself. Anyway...I am very excited.
My first win came from Birgit in Germany@http://swappinghowdies.blogspot.com/ . I will receive 12 little wooden good luck symbols. Thank you, Birgit!
My second win came from Abigail at http://rustedwingsstudio.blogspot.com/. I will receive a beautiful print from Abigail. Thank you, Abigail!
My third win was from Karla at http://daydreamstudios.blogspot.com/ I will recveive a princess drawing from Karla. Thank you, Karla!
Last but certainly not least, comes from Jennifer at http://www.artisticallydesigneddiversions.blogspot.com/ I will recieve a painted collage canvas from Jennifer. Thank you, Jennifer!

AND THE OWOH WINNERS ARE.............

This is the day! The winners (#s 77 & 155) were picked this morning & they are:
Joy at http://joytotheblog.blogspot.com/

& Marilyn at http://marilynbutler.blogspot.com/

Congratulations to both of you! My thanks to eveyone that participated.
What a marvelous experience!

Last day to enter OWOH giveaway

This is it! The last day to enter the OWOH giveaway.The cut off for posting today will be 9:00 P.M. PST. I will post the winners tomorrow morning around 7:00 A.M PST.
I can't thank Lisa Swifka at A Whimsical Bohemian enough for everything she's done to organize this. I know she's spent an enormous amount of time & I'm so happy to see the wonderful response from everyone. This experience has been great for me...so great that I've decided to start doing more giveaways! Please stay tuned.....I have a lot of artwork to give away! GOOD LUCK EVERYONE & THANKS SO MUCH FOR PARTICIPATING!

New Transfers

Since I tend to do a lot of female pictures, I decided to throw in one of my favorite males. This is my son 40 years ago. I always loved this pic with our little dog, Brandy in the background. He will be 44 years old this November.
The second pic is a Ziegfeld girl.
I concentrate more on female pictures because of my backgrounds. I love large colorful flowers & a lot of things that don't seem to sit well with a male image.
These are both Sheer Heaven transfers.

TWO DAYS LEFT>>>>>>>>Don't forget to enter the OWOH giveaway. Tomorrow is the LAST day to enter. The winner will be drawn Thursday morning. Leave a comment under that particular post for a chance to win. You do not have to be a current blogger to enter. GOOD LUCK!!

Happy Tuesday everyone!

Good Sunny Sunday Morning

My sister & I spent the day together yesterday working on some art projects. Gail wanted to make a pencil holder & I finished up another Sheer Heaven transfer.
For the pencil holder, Gail bought a little wood container that she decorated with some of the GORGEOUS K & Co. paper & some rubber stamps. It turned out so cute!
My pic is done on a 9x12 canvas using Sheer Heaven. The image is from an art book cd on Alphonse Mucha
Have a great day!

Back to my Sheer Heaven Passion

I'm back doing what I think I love best...image transfers using Sheer Heaven.
This is some of the paper I purchased a couple of days ago by K & Co. I love this paper. The image is from an art book CD I purchased on Ebay a few months back.
The canvas is 9x12".
Hope you all have a wonderful weekend! I will be watching those Grammys on Sunday
as I LOVE my music!

Collaged background today

Good morning everyone! I am posting a collaged background I did last night. I took some free images I had plus some advertising clips & put a background together. You may recognize some of your freebies in there. I am going to scan it & we'll see where it goes from there.
Just about walked out on The Wrestler yesterday. The first 20 minutes or so was so bloody I couldn't keep my eyes open. Fortunately, it wasn't all like that. It was a good performance by Mickey but not sure about the Oscar worthiness.
We did stop by Michaels yesterday & OMG....K & Co. paper was on sale. I had not seen this particular paper before & the beauty of some of these papers simply boggles my mind. They were gorgeous & I could just hear them saying "Lay some Sheer Heaven down on me!" That is what I am doing today....my heart starts beating rapidly when I think about it! Silly, huh! Happy Thursday to you all!
DON'T FORGET>>>>>>>ONE WEEK LEFT FOR OWOH GIVEAWAY. Leave a comment under that particular post for a chance to win.

A Collage Page

This is another page I did a couple of days ago. The background was done with some watercolors and collaging on top. I love those old one-piece bathing suits. They look so sleek. The page is 5x7 in size. Once I get a fair amount done, I will figure out how I will put them together.
My sister & I are off to see The Wrestler today. I'm looking forward to seeing Mickey Rourke's performance. I think the Oscar winner will be between Mickey & Sean Penn. I personally think Sean Penn is a brilliant actor.
Happy Wednesday everyone.....& DON'T FORGET.............OWOH giveaway. Enter a comment under that post for a chance to win.

Happy Monday!

I wanted to touch on a couple of things this morning.
This is another book page (??) that I made yesterday. I guess I will just call it my book of some favorite pictures. It goes with the one I did last week of my beautiful little Dexter. This was done with a watercolor background & then some collaging on top.









This lovely plate of food was a breakfast surprise last week prepared by my sister's partner, Greg. This is french toast with a whipped cream cheese mixture between the toast. As you can see he topped it with some wonderful pecans & of course some SUGAR FREE maple syrup & the yummy strawberries on the side with whipped cream. One of the BEST breasfast meals I've ever tasted! To top the week off...I won concert tickets! My sister & I went to see Bill Medley of the Righteous Brothers Saturday night. He was fabulous & played all their old songs. His daughter sang with him & her voice is right up there with his. It was a great show at the Thousand Oaks Civic Arts Plaza.

Blog Award

I was tagged by Marianne so I'm spreading the love!!!

Honorees please follow these instructions and share the LUV!

1. Put the logo on your blog or post. (You can highlight the photo and text of this post and copy/paste wherever you need to...start your highlight from the bottom up to get the photo).

2. Nominate at least 10 blogs which show GREAT ATTITUDE and/or GRATITUDE

3. Be sure to link to your nominees within your post.

4. Let them know that they have received this award by commenting on their blog.

5. Share the love and link to this post and to the person from whom you received the

My choices are:

Viola

Vicki

Mar

Jen

Bren

Congratulations!

New collage

Good Thursday morning! Looks like another warm winter day in Southern California.
The winds have kicked up & that is never a pleasant thing.
I just completed this Amelia Earhart collage this morning. The picture is 12x16.
The background is layers of various paper (a lot of tissue) with a rust glaze added.

DON'T FORGET: Enter OWOH giveaway. Just leave a comment under that post for a chance to win.

A BIG THANK YOU to one of my dear blogging friends

I want to take a moment to thank one of my dear blogging friends, Brenda Seaholm-Wampler at http://memoriesandtreasures.blogspot.com/. Please check out Brenda's blog. She does beautiful work with some of her art even featured in Cloth Paper Scissors.

When Brenda saw my post about my sister moving back to California she sent me a note asking if I would let her make a pendant, using my sister's young picture, to give her for a coming home gift. I was so touched by her kindness & so was my sister, Gail. She LOVED the pendant. Brenda, we both send you a big hug for your kindness! I have included a pic of the wonderful pendant as well as the two sisters. I am on the left & Gail's on the right. I am so glad to have her home.

One World-One Heart 2009

In my blog surfing lately I have run across so many that have this One World-One Heart logo listed. I decided I would join in on this one. This has all been set up by Lisa Swifka at http://oneworldoneheart.typepad.com/one_worldone_heart/. This is her 3rd year organizing & she has over 400 participants. It is a HUGE giveaway. Please check it out & consider joining yourself.
Today I am including pictures of my giveaways. I am going to give 2 items this time.
The first is a 6x9 image transfer done on a thick canvas. I used some molding paste, rubber stamps & acrylic paint to decorate the canvas. The image was done on mulberry paper & placed on canvas.
The 2nd picture is a 6x8 image transfer done on a flat canvas with a decorative paper background.

All you have to do to win........Leave a comment on my blog (with a link for me to get back to you.) February 11th is the cut off date. The winner will be drawn on February 12th. GOOD LUCK & a BIG thank you to Lisa for initiating this wonderful event!

PEEK A BOO..........Happy Saturday

Hello everyone! I sat down last week to try & whip up something nice. I wanted to try a journal but seem to have the complete mental block when it comes to making a journal. I guess it's because there's so much writing. I guess I am not into writing or doodling for that matter. ANyway...I tore up some watercolor paper & did something with one of my favorite subjects, my cat, Dexter. It's about 6x8 in size & I probably will do a few pages of some of my favorite stuff & then put it together. I painted the background with some watercolors & then a little collaging.
My sister arrives TOMORROW!!

CHANGE WE CAN BELIEVE IN

This has been a very exciting & emotional day. I sat & watched the entire inauguration this morning & it was awesome! I am so excited to have a new leader for our country. I am just certain of better things to come. I included a picture of our new Mr. President & the first family. HALLELUJAH!

I AM SO EXCITED TODAY!

I had a wonderful piece of news yesterday. I learned that my sister is coming HOME!
Home to California, that is....We are natives of this beautiful state & my sister moved up to Washington State for the past 3 years. I think 3 winters in Washington made her realize it was not for her. She will be back in 2 weeks...2 weeks from today! I will NEVER let her leave again! I am beside myself with joy, joy & more joy!
I put a pic up this morning of her sweet little self from 19__.....hmmmm....never mind when it was taken. She's still just as adorable as ever! I love you my dear sister & I am so excited for your return!
One more thing...I'm almost done painting!!!! That makes me very happy too!
Happy Sunday!

Blogiversary & blog give away

I was looking through the blogs I follow yesterday & noticed Kathryn at http://kvcreativedesigns.blogspot.com/ was celebrating her 1st Blogiversary. It reminded me that I too have my first blogiversary coming next month. Check out Kathryn's blog. It is lovely & I know you'll enjoy looking through her beautiful work. She is also offering a blog give away. Can't go wrong there!

I tried to put a DIRECT link to Kathryn's blog but since I got my new computer I can't seem to copy & paste a direct link. It's never clickable anymore...It's driving me crazy! I went from an E machine to HP computer with Vista & it's been a bit of a challenge, to say the least. If anyone can give me some clues on the clickable link, I would sure appreciate it!
Many thanks & Happy Tuesday!

A Busy Week Ahead

Good Monday morning to everyone! I am a very busy girl this week & unfortunately, it's not doing art! I am getting things together to paint the inside of my house. We are doing the living room, dining room, hall & den. I purchased the paint & supplies this weekend so we are starting in today or tomorrow. Hopefully it will be done in 2-3 days.
In the meantime, I am posting a couple of sunrise pictures taken 3 or 4 weeks ago.
I think I may use them in a background for a piece of work down the road.
I posted my Create Every Day button last week & I am finding time to be a little creative anyway. I have Teesha Moore's "How I Journal" instructions that I've been reading. I love the way she walks through her process. I will be whipping out journal pages before you know it. I have also been doodling...something I never imagined myself doing but....I am also doodling away!
Have a great week everyone!