Autumn Hathaway

Valentine's Day Free Collage Sheet, Week 26-27

2012-02-12T21:45:00.000-05:00

Okay, bloggers I have officially missed a whole week of my weekly Freebie Collage Elements...printables.

So, it happily gives me a chance to make it up to you with a whole full sheet of free digital clip art.

I am including nice richly colored distressed panel to use in layers of your own collage building.

Maybe you will make time to get reconnect with your creative spirit print this page out and create.

It will certainly help in making your own Valentine's Day crafts.

Thanks for everyone who has been checking in on my blog, I appreciate it.

Happy Valentine's Day

to download simply click on the image>

then right click,

> click to save

Stamping on Fabric

2012-02-09T10:33:00.000-05:00

Playing with my hand carved stamps --- I do love flower imagery.

I discovered this lovely linen type fabric from Joann's and used it to stamps some flowers.

The red is stamped with Jacquard Neopaque acrylic paint. (be sure to clean stamp immediately)

This black pattern was stamped with Memories dye ink (I think?) or it could be Brilliance Graphite black. Either one would fine.

Just remember the ink is not washable, the paint is after heat setting....just follow the instructions.

Making a Journal from a Wall Map

2012-02-06T06:00:00.000-05:00

I was going through my shelves of journals, mostly hand made and found this one that I made eight years ago. My friend had given me several vintage wall maps she picked up at a garage sale. They were folded and the creases where they were folded were the perfect size for a book page. I got the idea to make one of the maps into a journal. This is the result. The brown paper I created myself using clip art images that I enlarged on a black and white photocopier, then I washed the paper with matte medium mixed with walnut ink and when that was dry I stamped more black collage detail. The spine cover is scrapbook paper and then I added a ribbon for a finishing detail.

Here you can see the inside cover. Again, I stamped paper to make it unique and colorful

This is the inside of the back cover. By clicking on the photos it will take you to my Flickr account where you can see all the pages.

I think it is time to fill the journal up.

Art Journal Page by a Busy Girl

2012-02-02T13:41:00.000-05:00

This is how I have been feeling lately. I have so many art ideas and the time gets away from me

Click on the picture above and go to my Flickr to see how this page started.

I hope you are finding time in your life to make art.

Happy Ground Hog's Day.

Blog Freebie Week 25 of Collage Clip Art

2012-01-29T20:47:00.003-05:00

Here is my

Week 25 of Free Collage Elements.

If you are getting Ready for Valentine's Day and want some fun heart themed collage elements to create and play with, this is for you. I created this design with one of my hand carved stamps using gesso to stamp out my heart design. When that was dry I water colored the paper. No it was not watercolor paper, I think it was a large blank index card.

To digitally play around with this Collage Element

paired with this past Collage Element freebie, I opened up Photoshop and started pressed buttons.

Basically, I layered the two elements, but first.... On the one with the grid I removed the color, then used the photocopy filter to make it look more distressed and then colorized it to the red, then moved it to an Overlay on the the heart Collage Element. And here is another Photoshop effect.

This one is simply the grid Collage Element with a slight hue adjustment then I moved it to "overlay" on top of the hearts collage element with the opacity adjusted to the right level.

These make great collage papers.

I hope you are inspired. Thanks so much for stopping by.

I appreciate comments and of course followers.

Friday Freebie Blog Giveaway, Hand Carved Stamp Design

2012-01-20T18:40:00.000-05:00

Happy Friday everyone. I don't know about you but I am certainly glad it is here.

This week I got to another carved stamp, a simple design but as with all my carved stamps....I love it.

Here is how I started. First sketched the design on a piece of grid tracing paper. Next burnish the tracing of the image onto the rubber. Then carve. EASY and relaxing. I love doing this.

This simple design looks like playful floating pillows when stamped in a row. So this is my Week 24 of Free Collage Clip Art.

Naturally, this stamp was worked into one of my journal pages. Since I wasn't much for journaling while working on this page I simply included one of my favorite quotes. This is a great way to build a page without spilling your innermost thoughts or recapping the recent events.

Here are more of the pictures. I hope you enjoy. Leave a comment if you wish and certainly feel free to share.

2012-01-13T19:09:00.000-05:00

Hi there,

Happy Friday the 13th. I am happy to be posting and giving away another blog freebie...

Yes, another!

week 23.

Collage elements, journaling ephemera what ever you want to call it.

I am feeling a bit collage-like so this freebie reflects that.

This is layered and collage with stamping (I heart stamping) and I like the way it looks.

It makes a great printable. So print it out (several times) and use it in your art journals and collage away. BTW, this is from previous creation....

see it here

For personal use clip-art,

To download this image..... which I created using my

own hand carved stamps...thank you very much....

simply right click on the

image and click "save as" in your computer.

Thanks for stopping by I hope you have a great weekend.

Blog Giveaway, Free, Collage Element Week 22

2012-01-06T18:31:00.000-05:00

Hi there bloggers. Today I have week 22 of my free clip art blog giveaway.

That's right week TWENTY-TWO!

That means 22 free clip-art giveaways.

I will have a sidebar up soon with a complete page with all of the Free clip art assembled.

Due to my current love for the Japanese washi tape I received an order from another Etsy shop today and decided to create a simple "collage element" for my weekly giveaway.

I collaged this piece on an index card. I guess you cannot really see

the lines underneath as I was hoping.

But I thought it would be a simple and usable element for any collage lovers and of course scrappers.

This would be perfect for a many applications.

Here, I added some numbers in Photoshop. It makes for a great element

to make a list of things you love,

or your favorite events of the day.

It would also be ideal for scrapbooking. And, of course you could double or triple the image and make many more rows. Anyway, I am certainly feeling the simplicity of the style. You gotta love the washi tape....I know I certainly do.

For personal use clip-art,

To download this image..... which I created using my

own hand carved stamps...thank you very much....

simply right click on the

image and click "save as" in your computer.

Art Journal Page

2012-01-04T19:19:00.000-05:00

Here is a page from one of my art journals. Here it is at the beginning. Color, stamping, imagery. I have found I don't have to have super bold colors on every page. Sometimes, some easy soft colors with random collage elements that don't need to be explained or even "worked into" the page are all I need.

And here it is with my journaling and more stuff. I am sure it needs more...maybe some colored edges.

Notice the cool page tab at the top left? It is from this previous post see it here.

Happy art journaling ya'll.

Collage Time

2012-01-02T10:55:00.000-05:00

Last Friday I was able to get over to Ink About It and take a Play Time collage class by the very talented artist Kelly Kilmer. It was terrific fun and I explored a new style of collage. She directed us through several prompts and methods to make journal pages. Here is my first page.

I used a bunch of tape. I adore the tape across the top with the wet circles. Who am I kidding? I adore all the tape and she had a bunch for us to play with.

My next page was on a royal blue background, more tape and some souffle pens and stencils. Fun.

My third page and I used my own stamp.

Many opportunities to fill these pages with more imagery and words.

As I was in my studio (ahhhh....) yesterday enjoying a reconnecting experience with myself, I came across an old altered pocket calender I had from 2009.

My husband received from work through a vendor who had their name on the cover.

I covered it with collage and gel medium. The numbers we stamped on small pieces of paint chips. I also added some rub-ons.

It held up well. I am hoping for another mini calender to find it's way to me this year. Even though so many of us use our electronic devices for organizing our time....something about using a paper calender that is better for me. I altered another marketing calender last year too, see it here

Thanks for stopping by.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T17:25:00.000-05:00

Happy New Year!

Sending this blog post you followers with many blessings of New Year's dreams and happy creativity throughout the year ahead.

I actually had time most of today to get into my studio and make some stamped imagery.

It was very satisfying.

I hope your New Year's Day was just as delightful for you as well.

Here is to another exciting year before us.

Happy Holidays & Blog Freebie, Week 21

2011-12-30T00:01:00.000-05:00

The week in between Christmas and New Year's Eve is always a breath catcher for me.

I hope many of you are enjoying some peace and relaxation. I created this Christmas Angel last year and wanted to get it posted this year....which is better than next year. Anywhoos.

Here is my Week 21 Blog Freebie, clip-art, Collage element, Journaling Tag....

whatever you want to call it. It is your's to creatively play with and make some fun.

For personal use clip-art,

To download this image..... which I created using my

own hand carved stamps...thank you very much....

simply right click on the

image and click "save as" in your computer.

Happy New Year!

... here is another way to use this clip art. After I hand water colored some circles

I added the Collage Element in Photoshop to create this 2012 banner,

I think it turned out nice and

I make no apologies for my love of the the color purple.

I eagerly look forward to the upcoming year to see what surprises the future brings.

Peace and love to you and yours.

Collage Elements Blog Freebie Week 20

2011-12-27T21:59:00.001-05:00

Well, here we are a few days after Christmas and I am getting my blog freebie - Collage Elements

from last weekend, up now. Thanks for your holiday patience people.

For personal use clip-art,

To download this image..... which I created using my

own hand carved stamps...thank you very much....

simply right click on the

image and click "save as" in your computer.

These snowflakes will work for many designs throughout the winter. Although we have not any snow here in New England to speak of yet, at least we collage artist can create our own. Right?

I decided to play with these guys and add some background designs in Photoshop.

Here is one with a hand painted background effect.

and then this one with some vintage post, colored and added to the background.

Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have a wonderful holiday week.

Blog Freebie, Free Collage Element - Week 19

2011-12-20T16:48:00.000-05:00

It is such a busy time of year and here we are

after the weekend and I am late for getting this to you.

Oh well, I do what I can and I am certainly not the only blogger in the world who

doesn't get posts out when they expect to....so enough about that.

So here I give you a swirly tree colored in a subtle multi-toned blue.

I like blue trees and think this is nice, somewhat elegant and it has many uses for collage.

I hope all you bloggers are finding time to create something lovely, I know my days are full.

But regardless, enjoy the season. I hope to have next week's free collage element up in time.

Let's keep our fingers crossed.

For personal use clip-art,

To download this image..... which I created using my

own hand carved stamps...

simply right click on the

image and click "save as" in your computer.

Blog Freebie Week 18

2011-12-11T17:00:00.001-05:00

Here are some boughs of holly, free clip art. I used this one to create a design on Pingg.com

which you can view here.

I hope you bloggers and followers have more time than I do these days to

make some fabulous paper and fiber creations. :/

Thanks for stopping by.

For personal use clip-art,

download this tag which I created using my

own hand carved stamps...

simply right click on the

image and click "save as" in your computer.

Freebie Week 17 Holly Tag

2011-12-04T20:55:00.001-05:00

Time for gift giving and some great tags make it even more fun.

Here is a simple and adorable holly hang tag.
Print out a bunch and cut up and add some lovely string or ribbon. Happy Holidays.

For personal use clip-art,

download this tag which I created using my

own hand carved stamps...

simply right click on the

image and click "save as" in your computer.

Freebie - Week 16

2011-11-27T07:23:00.001-05:00

Happy Thanksgiving (weekend)!

I hope the holiday found all of you sharing some great food with your family and friends.

Since my birthday was Friday I decided this week's free collage element should

be something for me. Yum!

Cupcakes are so popular these days, both imagery and in real life. Yes, this is from my own hand carved stamp, but this one is altered a bit in Photoshop.

I have a set of tags I created with this stamp available in my Etsy shop.

To download this adorable cupcake

for personal use clip-art,

simply right click on the

image and click "save as" in your computer.

p.s. Thanks Adrienne for the scrumptious cupcakes you made for me. They were really fantastic,

Freebie Friday Week 15 Harvest Tags

2011-11-18T19:00:00.000-05:00

For my Freebie Friday Clip-Art this week I wanted to use my last harvest colored theme before we jump into Christmas and Winter motifs.

So here we go....

Warm orange, earthy brown and vibrant plum make this swirly design resemble of fall.

So many ideas to use for these tags. Let me know what you think.

To download, click on the image, then right click

and save the jpeg to your computer.

Oh, why yes of course, those are my own hand carved stamps

that I used to design this ;)

Quilted Tissue Paper

2011-11-17T05:56:00.001-05:00

Recently, I had to wrap a present for a gift I was giving to a friend.
I impulsively grabbed some tissue paper and folded it in half.

Next I picked up one of my hand carved stamps and some

pretty pale violet dye ink and started stamping.

Knowing that this was just play, I let myself experiment, explore and see what developed.

When the piece of tissue was covered with my stamping it looked so pretty how
the ink soaked into the paper and gave it such a soft water colored look.

I decided that if it was to be used for

gift wrap then maybe I should reinforce it by stitching all over it in a quilting manner.

I added an extra piece of tissue paper inside the fold and went to my sewing machine.
I used a straight stitches and ziz-zag stitches in a grid pattern.

It turned out unique and pretty.
Quilted Tissue Paper! What a great idea for the holidays.

Freebie Week 14, Blog Giveaway

2011-11-13T20:33:00.000-05:00

This week I have another freebie collage element for you followers.

Very casual and with soft and bright watercolor effects on a mixed media background with some

some fuchsia and butterscotch colored buds rising from the ground.

As fall is quickly bringing us its finality with Thanksgiving nearing I am resisting any of the

standard autumn imagery for this blog's collage freebie, such as leaves, pumpkins and turkeys.

Yes, I know that fall isn't officially over for yet another month, but you will

find that once the Thanksgiving meal is over the Christmas holidays have suddenly begun.

Just turn on the t.v. or open a newspaper, or as we all know happily know too well, open up the internet. Oh well enough about the holidays, right now it is still fall.

So, enjoy this richly colored journal tag or collage element.

Print this image a few times and adhere into your own art journal and you instantly have

a lovely fall background for any journal. Actually this came from my own art journal.

To download, click on the image, then right click

and save the jpeg to your computer.

Oh, why yes of course, those are my own hand carved stamps

that I used to design this ;)

Felted Wool Strips Make Colorful Stripes For Fall

2011-11-10T20:56:00.000-05:00

I do love wool and here it is fall and I am normally rug hooking some kind of primitive

something or another. But, this year I have no time to get busy hooking

anything warm and homespun. However, I just couldn't ignore my

many piles of felted wool strips that

I use to hook with that were beckoning me.

I decided to answer the call and create something with them

that was fast and beautiful.

After pilfering through my many piles of wool strips and putting

together colors that satisfied my fall aspirations I pulled out my sewing machine, grabbed some

card stock and created some colorful and primitive cards.

But my real yearning was to make a pillow from this very simple method.

I made one for a gift and loved it so much I made one for myself.

Did I say simple? !!

Stitching the strips on a natural linen fabric, one after the other.

Random, effortless and I changed the thread occasionally for more color.

What could be easier and with such cheerful, warm and cozy results?

When I cut my wool, I don't worry about keeping the widths consistent.

The more primitive the better which is more my casual style when it comes to wool.

My wool collection is from various sources....I love to get recycled, 100% wool, from old clothes and over dye them. Spot dying and ‘stewing’ assorted wools together is another fun way to make new colors. I also use new, white mill wool and dye them with Cushings Perfection acid dyes.
My process for dying these wools varies, depending on my mood and desired colors.
No matter what method I choose, I am always so delighted that I have created some marvelous colors,
of lovely warm felted wool.

So even if this fall passes by without any of my rug hooking dreams manifesting,

I will still have indulged my wool passion.

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 13

2011-11-06T08:46:00.000-05:00

Hi followers, here is week 13 of my

free journal/collage tags.

This is a pretty fall colored mixed media distressed image...

perfect for journaling in a scrapbook or creating a spot in

your art journal for a heading or a title.

To download, click on the image, then right click

and save the jpeg to your computer.

Oh, why yes of course, those are my own hand carved stamps

that I used to design this ;)

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 12 - okay, so it's not Friday

2011-10-30T08:17:00.000-04:00

Hi there. Here is your week 12 of FREE collage elements

and or journal tags, clip art or whatever you want to call it.

This piece has a real collage feel. Graph paper, paint, a stamped border...

all in soft earthy colors.

To download, click on the image, then right click

and save the jpeg to your computer.

Oh, why yes of course, those are my own hand carved stamps

that I used to design this ;)

This journal tag would work just as well turned horizontally.

Thanks for stopping by...Please leave a comment.

Stitch Alchemy, Blog Giveaway and I won!

2011-10-23T13:19:00.000-04:00

Several weeks back I entered a blog giveaway from

Kelli Nina Perkins

and then danced the happy dance when I found out I had actually won.

Kelli generously sent me a big stash of her original "paper-cloth" right after

I was notified of winning this giveaway.

Along with Kelli's gorgeous stack of paper-cloth originals,

Interweave Press publisher of Kelli's new book,

Stitch Alchemy

also contributed to the giveaway

and sent me a copy of her book.

Also available as an e-book.

btw, don't you just love the cover? I do.

Here are pictures of the original paper-cloth pieces Kelli sent me.

The layers are truly rich and plenty.

Kelli also sent me a small bag full of paper collage ephemera. Yum and yes some of it has already been consumed.

And her awesome business card which I just had to show you.

I just got the book last week and dove right in so I could share it with you.

This paper-cloth that Kelli presents in her book is made with layers of printed papers adhered on top of muslin. Next it is colorized with paints, inks and other colorful applications. Then more imagery is added such as stamping. In my stash I did see there was a lot of embossing powder used, which I love.

I was so inspired by the colors Kelli sent me and was pulled to create some fall leaves.

Cliche, I know but, ..... it is that time of year.

This paper-cloth is right up my mixed media alley, using layers of paper, paint and fabric to create collaged imagery. The finished paper-cloth pieces are very fun to build, collage and create with. I even loved cutting it with scissors. This may sound odd, but some things are just more satisfying to cut with scissors and this is one of them. Of course, paper-cloth also responds well to crafting blades.

When I started stacking the cut out layers I really enjoyed the piecing together aspect of playing with the cloth-paper. I certainly did not want to throw away any scraps. So here I have my first leaf, made from scraps and practicing getting use to sewing the paper-cloth.

I appreciated the common sense advice Kelli gave about stitching these layers together and that it is not for the demure sewing machines. I could feel my machine struggling a bit. But if you use sharp new needles on your machine you should be fine for small projects.

I will also understood when Kelli tells the reader that smaller pieces are harder to work with.

Trying to maneuver the smaller pieces through your machine is tricky but as long as you go with the casual freedom of collage, and just appreciate the serendipitous results of creating with paper-cloth, you will certainly enjoy yourself.

Speaking of serendipity, Kelli named the second chapter of her book Serendipity.

she writes, ..."there are no disasters, no accidents, and no failures. Paper-cloth is about layers of creativity."

This last leaf is the largest of the four from above, and this was before I cut it away from the many layers of stitched and cut up paper-cloth.

Then this leaf found a home on a journal page.

This was such a fun process, now I am ready to create my own paper-cloth.

I already have tons of ideas. Here I made the scrappy leaf from above, into a card.

Here are more of some of these beauties in my art journals.

The scraps also make great page tabs.

Kelli's book was very inspiring and entertainingly written. There were many other aspects of Stitch Alchemy to offer inspiration other than the over eighty (yes, that is right eighty) design recipes with photos of each for making this rich layered paper-cloth. Ten project ideas for creating with the finished paper-cloth are in the third chapter. Other features in Kelli's book include Thread Sketching, a game page of matching quotes with famous creatives, Right and Left Brain Exercises for Artists, a Workspace Feng Shui section, a Gallery with contributing artists and much more.

I want to thank Kelli Nina Perkins and Interweave for offering this blog giveaway. It has been a whole bunch of fun to discover more mixed media projects to share. This book would make a great gift for yourself or any creative person you know.

And now,

no I didn't forget. This week's free clip-art, blog freebie.

To download, click on the image, then right click

and save the jpeg to your computer.

Oh, why yes of course, those are my own hand carved stamps

that I used to design this ;)

Sunflowers

2011-10-16T17:11:00.000-04:00

I was playing around with a stamp of mine that inspired

a small salute in my journal to the fading sunflowers of fall.

Okay, so I have yet to see reds and purples in sunflowers

so let's just call this creative license.

Thanks for stopping by.

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 10

2011-10-14T22:59:00.001-04:00

Happy Friday!

I am so glad you stopped by.

Just for doing so here is a Blog Giveaway. Make that

Blog Giveaway #10.

Yes, we are ten weeks into a year's worth of free clip-art.

Call it a journal tag, a collage element or just a friendly piece of decorative paper.

Simply download this image and have fun creating.

To download, click on the image, then right click

and save the jpeg to your computer.

Oh, why yes of course, those are my own hand carved stamps

that I used to design this ;)

Here is one of the fun ways to play with this collage element in PhotoShop.

Using the cookie cutter tool to create a frame. Drag and click.

Easy.

Play around with your own PhotoShop program and see what you come up with.

I think this would make a great frame or turn it vertically,

draw some lines and journal away.

It is ever so much fun to write on crooked lines.

Very cool. Oh, and I make no apologies for

loving my favorite color purple.

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 9

2011-10-07T21:13:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday.

Here in New England

we get Monday off for Columbus Day. Don't be hatin.

Anyway, have a great weekend

and enjoy this pretty floral border clip-art freebie,

created with watercolor from one of my hand carved stamps.

Designer News

2011-10-05T15:55:00.000-04:00

I wanted to share some interesting happenings I am seeing on the internet in the Designer arena.

First, and very cool is Hambly Screen Prints in looking for a new Design Team. I love their products and used piece in my Quilted Collage Journal. This sounds like a fun endeavor with so much to choose from in their product line. BTW, now they have washi tape, my new addiction. So go to their blog for more information about submitting for Hambly Screen Prints Design Team. Maybe you or someone you know would be one of their next Designers. Did I mention they now have washi tape?
Now this is for east coasters like myself. I'm happy to share this book signing announcement of the fabulous fabric designer, Jennifer Paganelli, who will be in Westport, CT in three days. I love her fabrics they are colorfully majestic...go see at her website SisBoom if you can't make it to Connecticut.
Well, now I'm certainly inspired. Gotta go create something.

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 8

2011-09-30T21:23:00.001-04:00

Now on today's Friday Freebie I give you

some colorful fall leaves. Stamped from my

own hand carved stamp,

water colored and perfect

for a border or heading. Have fun.

Hooked Wool Images on Flickr

2011-09-25T19:24:00.002-04:00

Hooked Wool, a set on Flickr.

I have added some pieces I have created from the recent past of my wool rug hooking. I would love to get do some more hooking but it doesn't seem to call me these days. Ahh, but I will always love wool....hand dyed wool-even better.

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 7

2011-09-23T23:10:00.000-04:00

As promised, here is the Freebie Friday

Collage Element.

I love this blue bird.

I thought it would be

cute to duplicate the image and flip one horizontally so that

the two birds face each other and then I added a

warm background. Fun with Photoshop and clip art.

SMASH Books

2011-09-19T20:16:00.000-04:00

In case you do not know what a SMASH book is, take a look. Leave it to K&Co. present this great idea. Different than an art journal and certainly not a scrapbook.

Doesn't it look like fun? I like the idea of quickly storing my inspirations and dreams without a lot of effort. Oh, and that addictive washi tape is perfect for it.

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 6

2011-09-16T18:43:00.000-04:00

Now a collage element piece that is rich with fall color and a spark of playful pink flowers. Actually, this is a book cover....okay I'll admit it, a SmashBook, my own version. I bought the canvas board covers from Zutter and created this surface design.(This image is obviously before I punched the holes for binding).

I thought it would be nice to reduce it down to 5 inches wide and make it into a journal tag. I think the random colored pencil lines across the mid horizon lend itself to journaling, or maybe a large playful quote or phrase.

To download, click on the image, then right click

and save the jpeg to your computer.

Oh, why yes of course, those are my own hand carved stamps

that I used to design this ;)

BTWs.....anyone else into SmashBooks?

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 5

2011-09-09T23:17:00.000-04:00

Today's

Friday Freebie journal tag or collage element

is here bringing some fall like flowers.

Okay, at least a hint of some fall colors.

I can think of many great ideas to use with this collage element.

If you download this element you can change the

milk chocolate background to another color, or

many different colors. ; )

Mixed Media Stamped Backgrounds

2011-09-06T17:21:00.004-04:00

Mixed Media Stamped Background in my Art Journals
Getting more pages ready for my words. Here is a look.

Feeling a bit like mixed media grunge.

This started like this above and ended like this below. More is sometimes better.

This last one is just a start but I am thinking an embellished wool page tab will be added.
Check back later.

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 4

2011-09-02T19:15:00.000-04:00

Have fun with this basic frame element. This simple design measures 6 x 3.75" and can be used with so many ideas. I did want to make it Red White and Blue since it is Labor Day.

I like how this blue has a tinge of turquoise.

The summer months lend themselves to this color trio.

Clearly because of the the way the summer holidays fall;

Memorial Day

July 4th

and

Labor Day.

So now we say goodbye to summer and start to welcome in the fall.

Try changing this frame into different colors in PhotoShop.

Have a great weekend.

**Remember to save, right click on the image and Save Image As into your files.

Friday Freebie Journal Tags Week 3

2011-08-26T19:21:00.000-04:00

Happy Friday, here is another Journal Tag/Collage Element I created.

Here is last week's collage element

that I played around with in PhotoShop, this is what I came up with.

I had some painted text which I scanned and used as torn paper lines.

When using this in my journal I would for sure grunge it up some more.....or not. Hmm?

And from the last round of journal pages

I was working on that I showed last week....here is one that I quickly finished the other day.

I love the word allow. It says it all.

Have a great day!

Friday Freebie Journal Tags

2011-08-19T18:11:00.000-04:00

FREE Journal Tags!

Well as promised here is another Journal/collage tag for FREE....created from my own hand carved stamps.

A playful group of paper doll girls standing in a summer field.

Painted with lines and some subtle stamped pale pink sunbursts in the sky.

Print this out and use it in your art journal or scrapbook pages.

Let me hear from you when you do.

To download, click on the image, then right click

and save the jpeg to your computer.

Art Journaling Pages Backgrounds & Stamped Masking Tape

2011-08-15T21:56:00.000-04:00

Here are some more of my art journal pages prepped and ready for my journaling.

If you have seen all the fabulous printed washi and fabric tapes available on Etsy and other craft stores, then you no doubt have been tempted to buy them. I resisted buying them and played around with making my own.

Here are my masking tape experiments...

This first one I stamped one of my own hand carved stamps with teal Staz-on ink and

drew a white line with a Sharpie along the edges.

Here is a close up

Next I used my teflon sheet to stamp out the patterns on the tape to make it easier on myself, stamping on a flat surface makes a big difference.

This one I used a manufactured stamp and used many layers of the tape.

Here is the close-up

And finally another one with my own stamps.

I think they turned out fun. Let me know what you think.

And I wanted to congratulate Kristine for winning my

Blog giveaway.

Remember to check back each Friday for a new

FREE collage element clip art.

Blog Giveaway

2011-08-12T15:44:00.001-04:00

More to celebrate my blog birthday,

I am sharing free collage elements/ journaling tags

not just once or twice but for THE WHOLE NEXT YEAR!

That's right every Friday I will post some free clip-art images for

you to use in your own personal collage experiences.

So here is first of a fun line of Collage tags I make from my hand carved stamps and other mixed media.

Let me know what you think and be sure to follow this blog so you can get all the freebies

that are coming your way.

*To download simply click on the image and then right click the image to save.

2011-08-11T20:27:00.000-04:00

Blog Anniversary Giveaway!

Today is my second birthday of this blog and to celebrate I am giving away my fabulous

Quilted Collage Journal E-Tutorial, pdf

to one lucky winner.

This is a very easy and detailed sewing how-to for making this rich quilted fabric book including two quilted pockets on the inside. This e-tutorial is complete with over 75 photos and 57 detailed pages. Perfect for scrapbookers, art journaler, travelers, brides or new mothers.

See more photos here in my Flickr. Also in my Etsy shop.

All you have to do to win

is leave a comment with your email. I will draw the lucky winner Sunday night using Random.org.

Good luck.

Summer Journal 2011 - 10th Anniversary, More Pictures

2011-08-07T18:02:00.000-04:00

Well, here we are with August in full swing and I promised more pictures of this year's Summer Journal, created in the style of my Quilted Collage Journal (PDF Tutorial available here). But with this edition I used a lot more patchwork piecing. Clearly I was in a green kind of mood and I chose all the fabrics that I love.

Above is the full front cover and below is the full back cover.

If you look closely you can see I embroidered the number ten on the back commemorating my tenth year of this Summer Journal (it is green thread on green fabric, so it is somewhat hidden). I outlined the number with metallic floss, which is a bit tricky to work with and then I added ten french knots using olive floss and one strand of the metallic floss.

Above is a very small green metallic star my teenage son was kind enough to stitch, see this blog post for his other two embroidery contributions. My daughter couldn't be bothered this year, but at least she put her mark on last year's journal, you can see that blog post here. And if you want to see my husband's contribution, just pick up Jane Davies' latest book Adventures in Mixed Media where she features my Summer Journals and you will see my husband's handwritten entry in 2009. He is always is happy to do Summer Journal entries complete with is much loved drawings of his stick figures representing our families activities.
Here (below) you can see a very thin layer of Angelina Fibers that I stitched across the front cover. I was going to add a title here but I never found the right lettering.

These numbers are from Tim Holtz's Grunge Board collection (Mixed Minis), painted with Olive Metallic Lumiere, they are stitched on two layers of a sheer two-toned organza ribbon.

The last pictures are of my quilted pockets which are on the inside covers.

More accents with Angelina Fibers.

As you can see I use all sorts of embellishments, threads, stitches, beads, charms and sequins to create a real quilted 'collage'. And of course I stitch on the pages. It makes for a rich art journal.

Thanks for stopping by and check back this week as I will be celebrating the anniversary of my blog with some giveaways.

Angelina Fibers Tutorial

2011-08-04T17:25:00.001-04:00

I had some Angelina Fibers sitting around in my studio that was given to me by Jane Davies awhile ago to experiment with, and I just now got inspired. We use boxed matches a lot in my house especially for candle lighting and it is nice to have something that is pretty and can sit out.

Now I have to admit the majority of the fibers I had were not the most attractive color....

Fluorescent pink and yellow...wow. So, I decided to paint it. That's right paint it. When you use these fibers as you may know, you must take a cluster of the fibers and heat bond them in between a teflon sheet with an iron. *If you don't know about working with these sparkling pretties, just Google Angelina Fibers tutorials and you will get a ton of information.

Now I started with prepared sheets of the above bright colors and used acrylic paint, primarily because I knew when it was dry the color would stay put when coming in contact with glue. Also this fiber is synthetic and non-porous so I needed color that would grab and stay put. I wanted a non absorbent surface under the AF sheet so that as it dried the paint did not soak away from the the AF sheet. I used a cellophane package from one of my paper craft items.

First, get the AF sheet very wet with water and then start applying the acrylic paint of your choice with a wet brush. The paint moves across the AF sheet better with water and the thinness of the paint allows for the iridescence to shine through.

Of course you want to your colors that work together, like this Quinacridone Crimson and the pink and orange below for the bright pink AF.

And this cobalt blue and the purple work well on the pink.x

Below you can see I used a Phthalo Teal on the yellow and it made a lovely rich green.

Also I tried using wax paper as under liner but I found it dulled the finish of the painted AF sheet. So stick with the repurposed cello packaging.

I even tried using the wonderful shimmery Lumiere Metallic Olive and it worked quite well. When you have your AF sheets painted set them aside to dry fully on the plastic. While they dry give a coat of gesso on the empty matchboxes. They don't have to be fully covered. One coat will do.

Here is a selection of the colors and I used a flower punch on one of the AF sheets. These colors are so much more usable than the other colors. The very bottom blue was white AF painted blue and you can see the rich color of the metallic olive on the bottom left. You can see some of the sheets are cut with a straight edge and some have a loose ragged edge. You can use it either way as you will see below.

Next you adhere the AF sheets in small pieces to the dried gesso covered matchboxes.

I used Glossy Accents by Ranger. Judi-kins Diamond Glaze would work well too. I applied a good amount and used a flat brush to smooth it across the entire surface and placed square AF piece on top and brushed with more of the Glossy Accents. Now do not try to make the AF piece fit the box, it is actually better to have it hang off the edge of the box. You will cut if off later after it dries.

Below you can see a nice effect of using thin feathery layers to create different color combinations.

And finish with a good coat of the Glossy Accents to smooth the top surface.

I tried using GLOSS gel medium which worked well too. Remember to only use something that has a gloss finish when it dries. If you use a matte finish it would dull the iridescence of the AF.

Set them aside and let them dry over night before cutting off the extra.

When they are well dried you can now trim away the excess over hang of the AF. I found this was easiest to cut the piece with the scissors on top cutting the fiber underneath, like below. That way you can use the box as the cutting guide and see it well.

Here are the finished boxes. Of course shooting iridescent surfaces is always tricky. But I am sure you get the idea of their shimmery beauty. They would be a terrific functional handmade item to give with a candle.

Thanks for stopping by, have a great day.

Summer Journal, A Look Back

2011-07-26T11:12:00.000-04:00

How about a peek at my last year's Summer Journal? I didn't post many pictures of if last summer so now you can have a look.

The cover was lacking in my opinion. I opted for more masculine colors and I do like the fabrics.... but I don't know.... it isn't one of my favorites.

The spine is stitched with two colors of waxed linen and I randomly threw some beads on one stitch along with an Adirondack chair charm.

Next, a bit of the back cover. Can you see the tiny embroidered flowers? I do love the 7 Gypsies printed twill tape...which they don't make anymore. Why they discontinued it....I have no idea. Does anyone know?

The full front cover...I just didn't go all out on embellishing the cover. But it does hold special memories so I'm glad about that.

The inside cover with a quilted ruched pocket. I do like this inside cover, the yellow fabric is leftover from years ago when I made my kitchen valances.

Below, is the back pocket, I usually make it larger to hold pamphlets and bigger items.

And now a look at some of the journaled pages....

I actually saved some confetti from the Boston Pops Fireworks Spectacular and attached to the page.

Thanks for stopping by. I hope you are enjoying your summer.

Remember if you want to make one of these beauties yourself see my Quilted Collage Journal E-tutorial in my Etsy shop.

July 4th, Playing Catch-Up

2011-07-06T14:06:00.000-04:00

A bit late, but that's okay. We have had a busy week. I am still catching up on my Summer Journal.

This is what my family and I were doing Monday (all day) in Boston, which has

THE GREATEST July 4th celebration in the country.

Yes, we got there EARLY...don't ask.

We had amazing seats even though this looks far away, trust me we were close. So close we were getting texts from our friends saying they just say us on TV.

If you ever decide to come to Boston for the Pops Spectacular, email me and I will give you the low-down. It really is worth it and what you see on TV is just a fraction of what goes on.

As we were leaving our teenage kids told us how much they loved doing this. Looks like we're coming back next year. I hope you are enjoying your summer. Thanks for stopping by and now I'm getting back to my Summer Journal.

More Summer Journal 2011

2011-06-29T18:12:00.000-04:00

Now that in our house it is officially summer...the Summer Journal has began. I start it the day the kids are out of school and can you believe it (?) our last day of school was Monday June 27th!! So, now I can show several pictures from what I created for our 10th Anniversary of this family tradition. Please go to my Flickr to see many images of the stitched pages, or should I say collaged pages. Thanks for stopping by and I hope you have many summer activities where you might get a chance to document one way or another!

Summer Journal 2011 - 10th Anniversary

2011-06-25T20:21:00.000-04:00

Hello friends. Well, I'm almost finished with the construction of the

Summer Journal 2011 10th Anniversary Edition.

I decided to go with a mix of greens for my fabrics and other relative embellishments.

Here is a glimpse of the outside cover. More is coming, but for now you can see a bit more on my Flickr.

If you didn't know by now, I'm a carefree quilter and I just go with the flow of hand or machine quilting and the embellishments get the same treatment. I am pleased with my normal wonk of creating things. Notice the green beads stitched with coral floss, it looks like rows of vegetation of some kind....flowers or vegetables. My son stitched the two (get the magnifying glass) coral stars as his contribution. At least he was sweet and cooperative in the process. He did another, with a shimmery thread...I'll save that grand reveal for another post...

lol.

Thanks for stopping by go see my Artist Profile interview on the Sketchbook Challenge Blog.

And remember....you too could create one of these quilted beauties with my

Quilted Collage Journal tutorial (ePattern)

Collage Journal Therapy

2011-06-24T07:57:00.000-04:00

Collage journal therapy is what I experience when I want to commemorate the ending of a project and release any leftover energy from this creation.

After finishing up my first E-pattern for my Quilted Collage Journal,

I reserved some scraps of the fabric I used when quilting the outside and the papers on the inside. I opened up a page in my Moleskine journal and collaged a journal page for posterity.

Of course, there were so many scraps and it only took a few to fill a journal page. Since I am always working on more than one journal at a time, this page also received a swash of paint from another journal page, and this was simply by unloading the residual paint left on the brush before cleaning it.

..... this is a picture of the Quilted Collage Journal

The page started with the pink paint, and I knew that would be the right page, of my several working journals, to hold a collage of my Quilted Collage Journal remnants. I saved many pieces of fabric and paper I used in the creating of my tutorial. You can see the paper strip on the left was stitched on, this was used to test certain stitches before committing them to the quilted cover, or elsewhere on pages. Using the left over gel medium that I had adhered all the remnants with, I unloaded that brush onto the top of some of the patterned paper to make transfers. You can see those adhered on the bottom right. Next came some gesso to balance the tone of the page. Moleskine's have a beige page that sometimes need covering up.

I then added more accent color, green metallic acrylic ink, a journaling tag, stamping...of course, and then finished my words. Now I must say that with this being the last page in my Moleskine, it was showing the side effects of a well loved journal. The book block eventually gave away from the spine. I can fix that...... just another handy use for gel medium. All you collage artist know what I'm talking about.

Thanks for stopping by. Remember I love comments and please follow for more great paper and fabric inspirations to come.

Have a great day!

Welcome the First Day of Summer

2011-06-21T23:24:00.000-04:00

I want to welcome in the first day summer for all you web friends out there. Since this is the 10th Anniversary of my very own Summer Journal I wanted to be sure you know I am underway with the special 10th edition. I know I made one for my sample of my E-pattern the Quilted Collage Journal which you could easily make too. Or you could make it a garden journal, it's never too late. My personal one for my family is still in the works. Hey my goal is to have it finished when the kids are officially out of school and after this past winter that means next Monday. Geesh. But my promise to you visitors is to have images of it within days. So check back and in the mean time go see my Flickr for more Summer Journal ideas. Or you can see a few of my Summer Journals in Jane Davies' new book Adventures in Mixed Media: Collage, Stitch, Fuse, and Journal Your Way to a More Creative Life.....buy it here.

Happy Summer!

Pathway Pages from my Art Journal

2011-06-21T11:13:00.000-04:00

A special thank you to all of you who have shown support with my new

E-Pattern for the Quilted Collage Journal.

After realizing that we're halfway through the month and wanting to participate more in the Sketchbook Challenge, I got busy with their theme for June, "pathways". I wanted some ideas to come organically and then looked back on some pages from earlier this month, then I noticed they were already along the theme of pathways. Hmmm...thank you Universe. The above shot shows more of a hill side pathway. Below I was building a city scape with left over papers from the Quilted Collage Journal I had just finished. Accented with gouache and and a black watercolor pencil. I certainly created some pathways here.

Next is a page made from a scrap on far right, that came from an artisan bread I received as a gift and since I adore blues and browns.

Then I drew pathways of painted lines where my writing would go. When looking at this I noticed how my words on my journal pages always seem to create their own pathways. Painted or drawn lines give an easy landing place for words. Sometimes I fill the lines with large words or squeeze in many....all depending on what I have to say at the time.

The next page below was stamped out with "pathways" in mind. I had a little leftover gesso another collage and decided to use it by stamping a pattern in a pathway along a blank page in one of my journals. This journal was made by my daughter as a Mother's Day gift and has many different types of paper in the binding. The page on the left is plain printer paper which is tricky to try to watercolor on, but after I stamped and clear embossed the paper dolls I played with purple watercolor. Sorry for the poor color of the pictures, the page on the left is lavender. You can refer to the above picture and you see the same lavender page on the right.

Okay, now I really have to apologize for this next shot, I didn't check the shot before moving on, but you get the idea. I simply painted swirly lines all along the horizon of the page in yellow gouache.

Now you can see better, the way I created pathways with my words.

I guess I have always been doing this with my journaling and I can't resist noticing the metaphor of 'writing pathways' of our lives. The paths we've been on, the paths we are on and the ones we are making. But I also appreciate the pathways created with my artistic journey.

BTW there a many very cool images on the Sketchbook

Challenge Flickr. Go see here.

2011-06-18T21:48:00.000-04:00

Well it has been one week after announcing my new E-tutorial. If you have not seen it than please

click on over to my Etsy shop to check it out.

Quilted pockets, embellished pages.....

Well it is just a fantastic coming together of mixed media.

Share the love and tell all your friends.

Now let's get summer started.

Announcing My New Quilted Collage Journal, E-Patten for Download

2011-06-13T11:52:00.000-04:00

I am so pleased to launch my first E-book, Tutorial PDF,

THE QUILTED COLLAGE JOURNAL

Celebrating the 10th Anniversary of the Summer Journal. As many of you know my Summer Journal is kind of a big deal in my house and this summer I will be making the tenth one. So, in honor of this cool summer tradition and to inspire anyone into making their own gorgeous Quilted Collage Journal, I am offering this fabulous PDF in my Etsy shop. It really is fabulous. Take a look.

This quilted journal is so awesome and I just can't say it any

clearer than that. Luscious quilted fabric collage, quilted pockets inside the book mixed media pages complete

with stamping, painting and more stitches.

Embroidered, beaded, quilted pocket. (below)

Another quilted pocket with paper flowers and buttons

The Inside cover is quilted too. It just doesn't get any better than this.

Embellished pages

The finished journal measures about 8x11. It starts from a watercolor paper pad that gets fully utilized in the whole process of making this journal. With your basic sewing knowledge this tutorial will show you the ease and and carefree fun of creating this lovely collage quilted book. Whenever I teach this class, the students always LOVE their finished books. If you love to explore mixed media with fiber and paper then this project is for you. It is an "Embellishers dream" because the opportunity to add more is on every page.

This is just the beginning of me sharing this project with you, I plan on talking about this all summer.

Consider yourself warned, besides more cool pictures are on their way here soon.

So please, tell all your friends, family, friends of friends, friends of family, family of friends. One and all.

There are quilters and crafters all over, so whoever you may know please pass it on.

Thanks for your enthusiasm and please leave me a comment.

I would love to hear from you. And if you Follow this blog or my Twitter you can keep up with more updates. It is going to be a fun summer.

Now if you will excuse me I have to go make the real life Summer Journal for my family. Yeah, I know what your thinking. Would you believe my family said the same thing? "You mean this is not the family's 2011 Summer Journal?" No I made this particular beauty solely for the E-Pattern.

I'm thinking of sage greens for this year's journal......hmmm?

Check back soon.

2011-06-11T16:28:00.000-04:00

Big news is coming within days...stay tuned!

AutumnHathaway's More added to my Flickr

2011-05-25T00:09:00.001-04:00

AutumnHathaway's photostream on Flickr.

Of course, I am just now getting on with the Flickr . Go see some random additions.

Art Journaling Pages

2011-05-21T13:03:00.000-04:00

Finally sunshine after a long rainy week here in New England. It felt good to be in my studio with the sunshine coming through the window and slider. Here is a glimpse of some journal pages, some new, and some not so new.

This image is more from my hand carved stamps, stamped in gouache and accented with colored pencils.

Here is the whole two-page spread.

And this next one was created for the Sketchbook Challenge. This month's theme is resist and it really speaks to me and creating with resist techniques. I did this one with clear embossing ink and clear embossing powder and after embossing I added a layer of dark blue watercolor. I think it turned out lovely and it is ready for my writing.

Have great weekend. Thanks for stopping by.

Blog Goodies for Free

2011-05-20T09:19:00.009-04:00

There is a great site ShabbyBlogs.com which offers bloggers fun buttons, banners and more all for FREE. That is where I got my "follow me" button. They have beautiful blogging goodies

Their latest post is of an adorable turquoise framed chalk board button which can be used even with a picture inside.

Go check out ShabbyBlogsBlog. And share.

Designing with Stamps

2011-05-18T09:33:00.000-04:00

Hi there, I just wanted to share some of my designs. I have been working with my own carved stamp collection making designs and altering them in Photoshop. I think they are interesting with a lot of movement.

Ahh, stamping is so dear to my heart. Let me know what you think.

I think I will put this card in my shop. Thanks for stopping by and have a great day.

From Art Journaling to Art: Drawing, Watercolor, and More Techniques for the Mixed-Media Artist with Jane LaFazio (Download) - Interweave

2011-05-13T20:56:00.001-04:00

Welcome back Blogger....we missed you. Wow, many people were very bummed out about the recent Blogger breakdown, myself included. But I must say I am very happy it is back up and running. I am also very thankful that this is a free site, so I will try to not complain.
I wanted to share this video from the Interweave store the people who bring us Quilting Arts and Cloth Paper Scissors. This was simple technique but Jane LaFazio really inspired me I hope it does the same for you. This link shows the free preview, sign up to their newsletter and receive many freebies.
From Art Journaling to Art: Drawing, Watercolor, and More Techniques for the Mixed-Media Artist with Jane LaFazio (Download) - Interweave

Fabric Flower Brooches-DIY

2011-05-06T12:53:00.001-04:00

FABRIC FLOWERS for MOTHER'S DAY

Need a fabulous Mother's Day gift idea to make this weekend? Well this beautiful fabric flower brooch is just the answer. This DIY gift is easy and economical and will delight any mother as she wears this on her clothing, pinned on a hat or tote. She could even secure it on a contour hair clip and wear it in her hair. And the great part for you the crafter is this is quick and fun.

Supplies:

scrap fabric-must be polyester or mostly polyester

needle & thread-matching

beads or pearl beads

pin backing

felt

Quick Grab Tacky Glue

candle

bucket of water

I started with a a white crinkle polyester blouse that I got at the Salvation Army. After I cut it up I used two pieces and painted one piece to give it a two-tone yellow orange color and another a soft yellow tint. I simply did this with my Lumiere Paints and water. I will remember to give a how-to on this process later. But really you could use kind of poly fiber and even printed fabric. Look through you old clothing you might be surprised to find the perfect thing. I'v even used a old pair of pajamas.

Next you cut several random and varying sizes of circles and don't worry about making them perfect, imperfection is better. These will be your petals.

Then light your candle and lightly and very carefully holding one of the circles near the side of the flame to singe the edges of the petal circle.

DO NOT TOUCH THE FLAME WITH THE FABRIC!

Turning the circle to singe the whole piece. Work slowly and keep the piece moving. This step takes a bit of experimenting. Careful not to burn yourself. You may also try carefully holding the petal above the flame, again

NOT TOUCHING THE FLAME.

Also know that different fibers will singe easier than others. You could get a wrinkled egde too this makes for a nice petal.

If it catches on fire simply dip it or drop it in your bucket of water.

*** Be careful when doing this and never leave the candle burning unattended

When you are finished, of course depending on your fabric it will somewhat look like this.

Do all your circle petals at one time and blow your candle out.

Starting with a large petal, stack them one on top of the other, starting with largest petals and stacking to the smallest. Then with your thread start from the underside and come up through the center of the cluster of petals and add beads. Secure each bead by stitching all the way through the stack of petals, finish underneath with a knot. Next sew a pin clasp to a small circle of felt and finish it by gluing the felt circle to the back of the flower.

And there you have a beautiful fabric flower brooch. How easy was that?

I hope this inspires you to make something special for you or your mother on

Mother's Day.

Thanks for stopping by.

Building Art Journal Pages

2011-05-04T08:37:00.000-04:00

A very easy way to create art journal pages is to start with adhering torn text, music paper or graph paper to a blank page. I usually use gel medium but a glue stick works well too as long as you are heavy handed with the application.

When this is dry you can add washes of color like acrylic paint. I like using the economical craft style acrylic paint versus artist quality acrylic paints on my pages because they are less glossy and therefore the pages don't stick together. When applying color go lightly with the color in some areas with the paint to create different values of the color. And when using two colors that will muddy when mixed, like purple and green place them right next to each other to avoid mixing them and ending up with a lot of brown on your page. This keeps these contrasting bold colors vibrant.

Other than that rule, I really allow myself to be carefee about color placement and just play. Using different colors along edges of the page ads a sense of grounding and gives the eye a nice landing place. This can be top, bottom or sides or any combination of. Add some random stamped imagery, in this case I used my own hand carved stamps with gouache. Here again, I think if you work along the edges of the page you give yourself a nice area for a focal point for your writing or if you chose a large image like something from a magazine or both.

And remember it is certainly okay to build page after page in your journal even if you don't write a single word. Because let's face it there is a sense of satisfaction one gets from playing with paper, paint and glue. Oh yea, and of course stamps. ; ) And that process itself, is an artistic expression that you should be proud of. I hope this inspires someone out there, thanks for stopping by and please share this with your creative friends.

Sketchbook Challenge

2011-04-28T16:18:00.000-04:00

The Sketchbook Challenge has been distant in my focus this month. But as I found time to create a page or two to contribute or 'meet the challenge' I started this page and had an instinct to draw a tree. Now please believe me when I say I did not check on the Sketchbook Challenge site this month yet to see what the theme was, I was just too busy.

Above is my initial sketch in my moleskine journal. You can see the tree on the right. I wanted to paint the tree and the stenciled numbers in acrylic to make sure when I added a wash of watercolor all over the page, (which I regularly do on my pages) that the tree and numbers would stay put.

By the time I added stamps and a quote which is personal to me, I had checked on the SBC site to see what the theme was well, obviously I was happy with my inutition. Now, I just have to add my own personal thoughts and my page will be finished. But undoubtedly I will be adding more small images, doodles, stamps or collage. Ahh.... a journaler's page is always long in the finishing. Which I guess you could translate into more branching out? hmmm.

Thanks so much for stopping by.

"Adventures in Mixed Media"... I'm in this book!!

2011-04-26T18:40:00.001-04:00

Well I am happy to announce that my work is featured in Jane Davies' newest book titled "Adventures in Mixed Media". She presents another playful and inspiring book that will invite crafters to delve into their creative spirit. With many ideas starting with making collaged papers and even making fabrics from these papers, Jane gives several ideas for making fun items from these colorful papers and fabrics.

Such as boxes, shrines, paper dolls and of course books and journals and speaking of journals, that is exactly what I contributed to this volume.

Similar to the Quilted Collage Journal above aka The Summer Journal. Check back later for big news regarding this particular project I have in the works. But for the time being go buy Jane's book here.

Thanks for stopping by and for sharing with your friends.

Art Journaling from the Past and Video Gaming Gibberish

2011-04-13T12:45:00.000-04:00

I am not sure how it has already been two weeks since my last post. What makes me feel better is that I'm one of tens of thousands of bloggers who bemoan overdue blog posts. So let's move forward. When I had my girlfriends over last week to work on our collage on canvas project, I was showing them some of my many art journals and came across some older entries.

What I like is that they are all positive and inspired entries. Times when I lift myself up with affirmations or applaud myself for being in a really good place. Either way, I like the feeling I get when I read these and remind myself of the power of my positive attitude. Helps me maintain more of the same.

Whatever the excuse I use to feel good it works and I think these pages are a nice representation of those good feelings and the dreams I am inspired by. Let me know what you think.

And now, because I absolutely know

I'm not the only mother who is totally confused by her teenage son's video gaming vernacular

I wanted to share this quick story. The other night while cooking dinner my son Abraham was nattering on and on (and on and on....) enthusiastically about a new PS3 game. I only heard blurred doublespeak and became even more confused as he tried to sincerely explain more details of Black Ops, Modern Warfare, Zombies, Map Packs, World at War, Call of Duty, MMO and I'm not really sure what else. I told him if he wanted me to understand what in the gaming hell he was talking about he had to draw me a picture. So we did just that on the kitchen chalk board. Sorry it is fuzzy but you might get the idea. I think I did....umm, a little bit.

There is so much to know and what game is related to the others, which ones they play online with their buddies using their bluetooth, which ones have volumes I, II and III and on and on. And he doesn't play during the week, how do they learn all this stuff? Whew, well at least I got a little bit of an idea and as my girlfriend says, "When the Zombies come and invade the Earth we know our teenage sons can protect us and our lives will be spared!"

No doubt I'm safe and so are all you other patient mothers (and grandmothers) of teenage gaming sons.

And if you want the recipe for making your own chalk board, here it is from Martha Stewart.

Have a great day....and BTW, I love followers.

Journal Fodder Junkies

2011-03-31T11:15:00.000-04:00

Journal Fodder Junkies is a website by two artist and journalers who have a terrific straightforward book about art journaling. The Journal Junkies Workshop written by Eric M. Scott and David R. Modler, published by North Light Books in 2010, is a perfect inspirational, how to for anyone, and I mean anyone who wants to express themselves by combining written and visual elements in any sort of notebook or sketchbook. This user friendly compendium invites readers to easily engage in a relaxed approach to creative journaling. Scott and Modler deliver several simple techniques and easy methods to chronicle your journeys on embellished and colorful pages using any type of book. However you choose to express yourself this book has no uptight rules, just genuine inspiration to go have fun in your journal...on any page at any time.You can also find some good how-tos on their blog. Now, I am headed to my journal to try a few of the techniques I learned in The Journal Junkies Workshop. And seriously, for all you art journalers out there? You have to admit this is a a great title.

Altered Calendar

2011-03-26T12:36:00.000-04:00

Spring is here - yay! We had a long brutal winter here in New England, but I am not complaining. I still love this part of the country. I had a bit of time this morning and the sunshine inspired me to do a quick little altered project. I had this promotional calendar from a local bank and wanted to use it but wasn't fond of the advertising displayed on the the base. So I decided to alter it with very own stamped pattern.

*ugh, one of these days I am going to have fabulous pictures on my blog :(

Anyway, when I was finished, I cut the cute springtime pattern into strips and adhered them to the bottom of the calendar on both sides using gel medium.

And created this cheery little calendar that I am to display anywhere in my house.

Thanks for stopping by. I would love to hear what you think so why not leave a comment, and please, please share with your friends. Enjoy the sunshine, and if you are somewhere today that the sun isn't shining, just know that it is there and finding its way to you soon.

Art Journaling

2011-03-24T10:43:00.001-04:00

Art journaling is such a relaxing and inspiring process. I have my friend Megan coming over today to do just that. I always have pages ready to be filled with words and more imagery. Below are painted pages from several different journals. This one is from a journal I made with large blank index cards. This page has a light coat of gesso, papers adhered with gel medium, stamped images and a wash of watercolor.

This next one in my Moleskine was just watercolor with an image stamped in gouache. The same stamp and gouache that I used in the journal above on the left. Almost hard to notice

Watercolored page with random doodles.

Another journal that I adhered envelope papers to the pages first. You know the insides of all those envelopes that come in the mail have such great designs. Then a bit of dry brushed gesso, stamps, paper and the outside wrapper from a book of postage stamps.

On this page I adhered some paper and added acrylic paint.

Then with a some stamps and a watery coat of gesso it gave it a whole different look.

These pages are ready for my words and more imagery.Which is what I did on these following pages. The first one had a big portion of printed paper and a chipboard frame.

I do enjoy the process of stamping out my words, it is very meditative and relaxing.

Thanks for stopping by, I hope you are inspired to pick up your journal and have fun.

Happy Birthday Twitter

2011-03-21T16:55:00.001-04:00

Well, I am now tweeting. I am not going to say how I resisted it for so long and always wondered what the big deal was (okay, maybe I just did?). But I am going to say how much I like that it connects me to people interested in the same thing I am, designing with paper, fabric (wool included), inks, paints and oh yes, stamps. I like to follow other random people and companies too. I carved this stamp awhile ago and used it yesterday and was inspired to create some blue bird Twitter type designs. And what did I discover this morning? Twitter is celebrating their 5th birthday today! Well, that was all I needed to throw this fun blue bird of twitter happiness together to fly right into my Etsy shop. A set of five blue bird items for five dollars....really? And with all that handcrafted detail....well this is a huge bargain. Go see it in my shop here and be a sweet tweeter and let me know what you think. And if you are not tweeting...well, thats ok, I am just glad you stopped by.

Never Send Naked Mail

2011-03-17T13:28:00.001-04:00

When ever I send any correspondence in the mail I make sure to use a lively stamped envelope. Of course this was the thinking behind my line of Legally Impressed stamped envelopes available in my Etsy shop. I think it has a happy influence on everyone who comes in contact with the transport of the envelope. Hopefully the mail carriers enjoy it as well as the recipients. It simply seems like such an easy way to uplift and bring a smile to those who see the envelopes on what ever journey they are taking. The journey of the envelopes and the people.

This morning I was in a hurry to send some items out, one by mail and a hand delivered payment to my kid's piano teacher who works at the school and thought I would drop it in her mailbox there. I didn't have any stamped envelopes available and I had the thought to send these items out in blank envelopes! GASP! What was I thinking? But I quickly came to my senses, and ran down into my studio and stamped these lovelies. It took me about two minutes (literally, if that) and made me so happy to do it and I just know others are going to be delighted in the receiving of them. I reminded myself of a motto I garnered many years ago...."Never Send Naked Mail", because anyone can do that and millions do. But I will be the one in millions who takes a moment and shares the art.

Note to self: Go stamp a stack of these and keep them within reach .

Have a nice day and thanks for stopping by.

Going Tag Crazy.

2011-03-13T15:20:00.001-04:00

available in my shop

We all seem to be going tag crazy. Let's face it tags are so popular. Just look on Etsy and they are being sold by the boat loads in shops all over. I remember when tags first gained popularity in the stamping world about ten years ago and I couldn't figure out what the big deal was. Well, it certainly didn't take me long to fall in love with these little paper gems. So many uses; card making, gift giving, bookmarks, love notes, scrapbooking, journaling spots, table numbers, place cards. So many embellishment ideas and let's not forget, they have a hole for tying on your favorite fiber or ribbon.. You can even attach more embellishments to the ribbon attachments. Oh, the creative fun!

I am always adding tag items to my shop. Go see and don't forget to leave a comment about your love for tags.

Gingersnap Creations Challenge-Jewel Colors

2011-02-23T07:15:00.000-05:00

As I approached my last creation this month for Gingersnap Creations color challenge I knew I wanted to play with this stash of paper I have had for quite awhile, by Penny Black and yes, she still offers it on her site. It is a gold foil filigree on a white background which would be perfect for wedding designs. With the background white my instincts were to simply colorize it with instant bold color.I used my markers and made casual lines of vibrant jeweled toned colors. Then I had to wipe off the excess ink to better reveal the gold. I trimmed the panel with a gold paper charm border that I toned down with a black marker.

Then I place this panel on a black card stock that had been brushed loosely with a gold leaf sizing medium and I used gold foil on that. I then mounted a stamped image of the heart and crown from A Stamp in the Hand (I have always love this stamp company!) which was accented with

gold and purple foil. Shooting metallics is always tricky.

Here is an image of the paper as I was coloring it.

Thanks to Gingersnap Creations and their creative team for inviting me to play along and to all of you who stopped by to see my work.

Carving Stamps - Flowers Brighten the Day

2011-02-18T12:35:00.002-05:00

Well, here it is mid February and we have had so much snow and cold, but today is much warmer and sunny so I am celebrating with flowers to brighten the day even more. I uploaded this image to VistaPrint for some customized notepads for my daughter's upcoming birthday. (No worries about her finding out about her gift here...lol!!) The original stamped image I stamped with a watercolor effect, using markers and a water mister and the flower was only stamped in red. I altered the other flower colors in Photoshop and filled in some of the leaves with more green. I will let you know how my first custom order from VistaPrint turns out. They get lots of ravs on blogs and Etsy. (edit) I decided to add this design to Pinng.com. If you haven't been there yet, go see all the fabulous e-cards. Here is my design.

I hope everyone has a great weekend.

Crown Collage for Gingersnap Creations Challenge

2011-02-16T00:05:00.007-05:00

This week's challenge on Gingersnap Creations was to use crowns in our creations. Now, I know that crowns are everywhere in designs, scrapbook supplies and other things. But I wanted something different, not the vintage, French elements collages that are everywhere, however nothing wrong with these designs, they are romantic, beautiful and very appealing. As I was looking on Etsy for inspiration and perusing the countless digital collage sheets available I came across this one in a shop called Gallery Cat. A great shop that even offers some of those lovely romantic collage elements I mentioned above, but when I saw the hen, a bird and even a pig wearing a crown, well that was it for me. I purchased the download, printed it out and got busy creating a fun, colorful collage complete with a sassy crowned hen. I assembled other small elements like a piece of a Paris map, a stamped crown from Cat's Life Press and made a tag from a Hampton Arts stamp of a bird egg study and colored it with Prismacolor pencils. The design under the hen is a toner transfer image of clip art. This collage was playful and carefree and even as I was creating it the song King of Anything by Sara Bareilles came on the radio. I though it was perfect so I had to share.

Happy Valentine's Day

2011-02-14T13:54:00.001-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day

I stamped this sweet floral heart

with one of my favorite small stamps

and one color ink (cherry, by Marvy).

This is the same stamp used in

my blog banner.

SketchBook Challenge Two

2011-02-11T08:56:00.004-05:00

Well, this Sketchbook Challenge has been exactly that for me. This month's theme is 'Opposites' and I was wanting to do some actual drawing in my sketchbook. As I was looking around my studio and thinking about what sort of opposite subject I could draw, it occurred to me that my "highly prized" stamps sit around looking at me carved side up and showing their opposite side. Pardon me for stating the obvious, but when you look at the rubber side of a stamp it is in reverse, ok let's just say 'opposite'. So there was my logo stamp and since it is already on the first page of my sketchbook I decided to draw it just as it is.

The image on the left I drew free hand. My drawing hand is really out of shape, it was a bit uncomfortable at first. Next I stamped the image on some tracing paper, flipped it over ( to make it opposite) and used my light box to trace the actual stamped image. I wanted to compare my free hand drawing to the traced drawing, in which I reversed the negative and positive spaces, adding more of an opposite factor. It was an interesting process. I think I am going to have to keep that pencil (and eraser) closer at hand and try some more, good old fashioned drawing techniques.

Charmed Heart ATC

2011-02-09T00:33:00.001-05:00

When coming up with an idea for a Gingersnap Creations Blog challenge for charms, well I could not resist this perfect charmed metal heart as the focus for this ATC. Making these little works of art that express your mood are immediately satisfiying, it is no wonder they have been so popular. Reproduction feed sack fabrics are rightfully getting a lot of attention these days. Their little patterns make the perfect background for ATC's (which are approximately the size of a playing card and ideal for swapping with fellow artisans) as well as quilt projects. This ATC has a background of a sweet sky blue feed sack fabric, a small golden gingham check fabric and the well-loved ric rac woven trim. I brushed red acrylic paint around the edges and then adhered the endearing puffed metal heart with a few words of printed text to declare my love for creating with fabrics and paper. I added a red gingham ribbon tied off at the top of the charm which easily announces Royal Americana.

Blue Heart Card

2011-02-06T10:30:00.000-05:00

Getting ready for Valentine's Day. A blue collaged heart card I made recently for a friend's wedding. I stamped the heart with Chablis embossing powder and watercolored over it and edged it with black opal embossing powder. Thanks for looking.

Royal Pair, Visiting Art for GingerSnap Creations Blog

2011-02-02T08:16:00.000-05:00

I am happy to be invited to be a visiting artist this month for Gingersnap Creations Blog. The theme is Royalty and the first challenge is King and Queen. As I started digging through my stash of ephemera I originally was thinking of playing cards, but I came across some neglected collage sheets from Teesha Moore and when I saw the image of Einstein well, I knew I was off in another direction. He had to be King and I knew Mona Lisa had to be Queen (she came from an old collage sheet from Design Originals). I wanted to make some ATCs because I had not made any in awhile and making two is just as easy as making one. I started with some Golden acrylic paints, printed papers, metallic papers, text papers, and one of my carved stamps of a crown which I embossed with Egyptian gold powder.

The other crown was from Teesha as well. I glued down some papers, added paints and some gel medium transfers of tiny playing cards. Of course, some fiber, black lace for the Queen and houndstooth for the King.

The heads and the crowns needed to be mounted on black cardstock to make them standout against the collaged paper. This gave me the perfect opportunity to give Mona a new 'do'... so I gave her some hair extensions, a bit of make-up too (colored pencils), I am sure she would be wouldn't mind.

I adorned their crowns with foil, Stickles and a few pieces of bling, then I added some additional bling and other paper bits.

What I had forgotten that I enjoy about making ATC's is all the detail that you can just keep adding and adding and adding. Check back for next week's challenge.

SketchBook Challenge One

2011-01-30T17:10:00.002-05:00

I was wanting to work on the SketchBook Challenge sooner this month but it just never happened. Jane Davies' post the other day helped to inspire me. So I grabbed one of my empty wire bound journals and started on the first page by adhering some dress pattern tissue, and a few bits of torn text pages.Starting the first page of a journal can be intimidating so I always like to use my name as an intro. And since I had carved a logo stamp several months back, it just seemed right to use it. I smeared some Adirondack Cranberry ink around and stamped a few things. Art is just another way of keeping a diary is a stamp I have had for many years from Stamper's Anonymous, I love it and stamped it at the top and it is not very clear, but I think that makes it even more interesting, plus it seemed appropriate. I was down in my studio which is not where my computer is, and my memory of the theme of January's challenge was 'beloved', the actual theme is 'Highly Prized' but I am going with it. What is highly prized and beloved to my creative process is without a doubt stamps. Rubber stamps, carved stamps and even silicone stamps. Rubber stamps hold a special place in my heart and I love proclaiming to my family "Life is all about stamping!" It is my metaphor for discovering something the you love and takes you on many adventures. That is what stamps have done for me.

I grabbed several of my favorites off the several walls of stamps I have displayed on shelves (I don't like keeping them in drawers because I want to see them, love them and be inspired to use them) and I proceeded to stamp a two page collage with my beloved, highly prized stamps. Kudos to all those wonderful stamp manufacturers who through the years have indulged my love for stamps: Hero Arts, Stampington, Judi-Kins, Stampers Anonymous, Cat's Life Press, Magenta, Michelle Ward, Amuse, Paper Bag Studios, Acey Ducey, B-Line Designs, Invoke Arts and dozens more and some that are no longer around. So if you have trouble with your sketchbook page....grab a stamp and see what happens.

Paint Brush Box Altered

2011-01-10T12:33:00.000-05:00

For my birthday in November I got a boxed set of very nice 'faux sable" paint brushes which came with a set of small acrylic paints in tubes and a few other items like pencils, a stylus and eraser. Since the paints were not of superior quality I just played with all the colors one day, on some copy paper and used them up to get dispose of them.

Look, I know that sounds funny but often the manufacturers just throw in a set of paints to make it look fuller and then the color palette they use can't even mix up a decent spectrum of colors. But if they were Golden, Liquitex or some other fine brand I would have kept them. But as I look at this side where the paints were stored I saw potential for storing other paints and supplies. So, I did what any artistic crafter would do, I altered the box to my needs.

I removed the plastic tray that held the paints and lined the inside of that side of the box with fabric. I do adore black houndstooth. Then I added some strips of foam core to run along the inside edges and sit low enough to allow a piece of matte board to rest on top to form a lid. I cut it just snug enough to make it stay in place and cut a notch along the side for easy removing of the lid.

Now, I have the perfect travel case for my set of fine brushes and I can add my own supplies as needed and of course some stamps to take along.

I think it turned out to be rather clever, if I do say so myself. Now, I am quite ready to take this nifty little art case some place fabulous this new year.

Bright Lights for the New Year

2010-12-28T21:31:00.001-05:00

With Christmas day behind us I am enjoying this slow week
before New Year's Eve. I was playing with my camera the other evening and was reminded of a fun trick that my Mother-in-law taught me using the auto-focus mode on my digital camera.

Start with something like Christmas lights and just point and shoot, hold down the button and move the camera around while shooting. The auto-focus keeps the lens open while trying to find the focus, and thus.Creating these dazzling images. These pics are of the lights on our tree.

They turned out quite cheery and bright. I added a colorful greeting....

And created a fancy looking image.

Perfect for sending a New Year's greeting to your friends and family.

The only limitation is your imagination and of course computer space. It doesn't take long before you end up with about 50 or so of these playful pictures. What did we do before digital cameras?

To all of you, here is a New Year's greeting of peace and prosperity and of course many colorful lights.

Leave a note and let me know what you think.

Drive-By Blogging

2010-12-19T17:45:00.000-05:00

I know I am not the only person short on time these holidays. So here is a quick glimpse into my paper adventures within the last few days. Music paper ornaments with a Victorian flair.

I used some old music paper and I didn't need to distress this paper.

But I did find working with this paper is delicate and had to handle it gently.

And more gift tags came out of my little workshop.

I hope you all find some moments to put some handmade items on your list, whether you make them or share those made by others. Handmade means more.

Partridge in a Pear Tree

2010-12-12T12:58:00.001-05:00

I get together once a month with my Hooker friends (yes that is rug hooking) and in December we do our holiday party. We do a gift swap with a different theme each year and this year the theme was 12 Days of Christmas. The gift has to be hand-made, either by yourself or another artisan. As much as I wanted to do some kind of fiber art pillow or table mat in a primitive style that our group loves so much, I just couldn't get myself to the place of creating something inspired.

So, I let myself be pulled into a natural direction of something I do love....yes, that certainly would be stamp carving, and there I again found my inspiration. I played with several ideas after I got my partridge and pear carved. The fiber did call me as well, I used some of that fabulous wool thread to machine stitch onto some manila shipping tags. I tried different attachments to the tags, brown satin ribbon or strips of this green damask fabric I stayed with the satin ribbon and included this set of four tags in my gift. Using several colored inks on one stamp gives a great detail to the stamped impression.

Then for some quick and easy pieces I used the partridge and pear stamp and one of my flourish stamps for the tree branch. A similar stamp is available for sale in my Etsy shop. After stamping the text background I simply used one ink color for each stamp and edged the tags with creamy brown chalk ink. For these I couldn't resist adding glitter, I sprayed each tag with a light coat of matte sealer and sprinkled with some clear iridescent glitter, it was the perfect bling effect. You may see it slightly in the photo below. This set I gave to our hostess.
The gift that I ended up making was a set of eight Christmas cards, that have a folk art style tree made from strips of brown tweed wool. I stitched the tree down on a white panel got busy stamping. I used the wool thread for attaching the panel to the card. I love the fibery look of the wool thread. The partridge even got some shimmer with an accent of blue foil on her wings, sorry you cannot see that here. After I was done making the card I didn't think it looked very much like Christmas.

My son was visiting me in my studio right after I finished the set and asked him what he thought and he suggested stamping a holly sprig in the upper right corner. I wasn't sure it would work in the composition. I had a sample card I was working on and he got me to try it and it worked beautifully.

Thank you Abraham, you were right the holly made it look like a Christmas card. I used the excess card stock scraps and created some more tags. We all need gift tags this time of year and I made these quickly. These tags make great, easy gifts as you go for holiday visits and get togethers and you need something uniquely yours to give.

I hope you are all inspired to make something for giving this season.

I love Etsy this time of Year.

2010-12-04T09:38:00.000-05:00

Oh, how I do love thy Etsy this time of year. Well truthfully, I love Etsy all year long. But, this time of year I am really pulled between making items and listing every day, in order to play the addictive Etsy game of entrepreneurial pursuits OR shopping in the endless worldwide store of hand-crafted. This time of year, they change the front page several times a day, and I don't want to miss any of the gems that land there. As much as I want to shop I was able to list some Holiday & Christmas items.....

Tags are the best thing to make and give as gifts themselves, everyone needs cool gift hang tags, ok not everyone but the cool people do. lol.

So if you are looking for some truly inspired gifts to give this year, try Etsy. You certainly don't have to be a seller to enjoy this shopping experience. Simply become a free member and use your Favorites section to stash your favorite shops and items. If you make that account open to the public your family and friends will always know where to shop for you. Sweet!

Shopping on Etsy is never dull, you can shop several different ways. The Treasury, a ton of listed collections curated by members; the TimeMachine2, where you can see what was just sold or listed; the Pounce page where you where you get random doses of the undiscovered sellers, and the Colors page where you choose by color, this is a great one for kids or the kid in all of us. Okay, that is enough for now. I won't even go into the Blog, or the Virtual Labs, or anything else in their huge online creative communtiy, because I don't want to scare anyone. Etsy is big, but if you visit there often you can easily discover this thoroughly one of a kind phenom in cyber land.

Deck the Banner with Boughs of Holly

2010-11-28T13:23:00.000-05:00

With the holiday season officially here, I decided to deck my Etsy banner with some holly boughs and flourishes.
I like the idea of grid/graph paper as my background of my hand carved stamped images. And a touch of Photoshop. Go see all the fun, cool, unique items for sale all over the world of Etsy, as well as some great things in my shop too. Tell your friends.

Collaged Card

2010-11-23T18:46:00.000-05:00

Making collaged cards is always so much fun and making them for guys is more interesting and far more challenging. No flowers, butterflies or hearts, just good old masculine stuff. My daughter was going to her friend's 16th birthday party and I put this card together. I love rusty pieces and hardware like the fasteners. I added his initials in a few spots and I even found a way to include some fabric and a button.

I do love collaging and I could go on forever. Thank goodness I didn't have much time or this could have gotten out of control. And yes, the envelope was stamped nicely too. Don't be afraid to try collage style cards for the men in your life, you might surprise yourself. Thanks for stopping by.