Paintings

I spent the last couple weeks doing some mixed-media pieces. Paint, collage, oil pastels, gel medium, mists and masks. Thought you'd enjoy looking them over. I'm struggling with deciding if a couple of them are finished or not.  I think we all struggle with this one.

Let me know your thoughts!

You can click pics for larger image

  I also had a new friend visit me this week. Her name is Reghan and she is truly a work of art!
Congrats Rita, Adam and Chi!

What a difference a day makes

I forgot to post this after I wrote it last week. Duh.

Old news but anyway, I'll share it cuz I took the time to write it.  I also finished up this week a piece for a friend who is getting married. I'll share it here:

Whew! Yesterday I became ill. It hit me out of nowhere and I ended up in urgent care.  I woke up at 5am with a weird neck ache, took some ibuprofin and went back to sleep.  Later, I got a 101.7 fever and chills, just couldn't get warm (it was 82 degrees here yesterday). Come to find out I have a lymph node infection. They put me on some meds that they give people who have been exposed to Anthrax (not the band).
I cannot remember the last time I felt that horrible. A day later, fever has been gone since last night and I feel better. Thankful!

Paper Stash - Kraft Resist Paper by Tim Holtz

I'll admit that I broke my resolution by missing a couple weeks posting. We were out of town for the last two weekends, and I was so obsessed with my current projects that I have not allowed time for my blog. Nevertheless, I am happy to be finished with one of my projects and am going to share it with you now.

I was chomping at the bit to play with some of my newest Tim Holtz toys, so I started working on a few tags using the Kraft Resist Paper titled "Paper Stash" from Tim's Idea-ology line.
The papers are a light weight kraft (think brown paper bag) card stock with embossed images already printed over the patterns. I could not find a weight on the information, but it is heavier than scrapbook paper, but lighter than 65 lb card stock. The patterns are very vintage and cool and coordinate well with the tissue tapes, stencils and stamps in the Tim Holtz line.
I began by using my Sizzix Movers and Shapers Tag and Bookplates Die. I cut several tags out on my Cuttlebug, from a variety of the Kraft Resist Papers. The die cut them very well, using two B plates to run through my machine.
I wanted to try a few background techniques to see how the paper would look. I started with the Distress ink onto the craft mat technique, rubbing a few pads onto the the craft mat and spritzing the ink with a fine spray of water. Then I pressed the tag face into the ink and dried with a heat gun, repeating the process until I was satisfied with the results. At first I was disappointed because when the paper got wet you could not see the color. Once it dried you could definitely see the color as well as the cool resist patterns of the paper. I will caution you that when you get this paper wet it curls and waves. I placed the dried tags under a book overnight and this solved the dilemma.
Here is a cute tag I finished that used that technique:

You can really see the resist pattern behind the image of the stamped princess, and the yellows and oranges of the ink I applied to the paper. I embellished with Tim's "Cherish" Philosophy Tag, grunge shapes, a flower and a Jolie's 3d fleur dis lie sticker.

Here is another tag with the Distress Ink technique which was finished with Tim Holtz Stampers Anonymous cling mount stamps, Salvage Sticker, Leather "W" embellishment and vintage image.

I also used Tattered Angels Glimmer Mists over some of Tim Holtz' Advantus mini-masks to get a background with areas where the Kraft Paper showed through. The mists worked great on the paper, but as with the Distress technique, I had to weight the dried tags down to flatten them back out.

 Tissue Tape and ribbon flowers, rubber stamps and vintage images create my "Time flies" tag.

This one is adorned with Tim's Stamps, Salvage Sticker, Adage Ticket, Mini-Rosette, vintage image, Idea-ology light bulb altered with Ranger alcohol ink, Trinket Pin and Sprocket Gear.

This is another spritzed tag but I added oil pastels to highlight the background over the dried ink. I added vintage images, Tim Holtz Salvage Sticker, mini-rosette, Tim Stamps, rub-ons and topped it off with a rhinestone, button and Crystal Accents over the heart.