Vintage Cage

I enjoy attempting to replicate the look of worn and old paper. For this card, I used one of the alcohol ink backgrounds I posted the other day with justjohanna images. Following Godeleive's lead for gold embossing, I embossed the edges of the AI background. On the bird and cage, I used paper that I dyed with Scattered Straw distress ink and then stamped in Walnut Stain distress ink. Before affixing the elements to the card, I stamped the scroll and also aged the edges of the cardstock.

Stop back by tomorrow; I'll show you what I made with the other half of this background. See you then!

Poem

I start to sweat
I get the shakes
When I see
Your buttery flakes

This must be love
You’re so perfect and round
I take every precaution
Not to let you fall to the ground

Oh Ritz cracker
You’re so delicious
According to your box
You’re even nutritious

Light and crunchy
Toasty golden brown
If I had a million dollars
It would be Ritz all around!

This magic moment...

I had an "experience" with my friends, the alcohol inks last night! Look at this cool new technique I learned in the Ink Essentials book! Of course the scanner doesn't pick up all the beauty...I think I'm in love!

Our apologies...

Our regularly scheduled "80's Tuesday" will return to its time slot next week. We apologize for any inconvenience.

Shipwrecked!

Artword: Chair

Somewhere in my imagination, there are some birds quietly afloat on a beautifully upholstered chaise lounge waiting to be rescued.

I covered this 3x5 canvas board with paper I hand painted with Dr. Ph Martin ink. To obscure the color a bit, I washed a little Gesso over it and then attached the chaise. The birds are stamped onto a page from a vintage French Saint directory and covered in 3d Crystal lacquer. The last step was to age the corners a tad using Ranger Distress Ink in Peeled Paint and Broken China.

Oh… the birds do get rescued. They always do.

Images: justjohanna rubber stamps

CPS Sketch #9

I used Wild Asparagus and Foof-a-la papers for this quick card. Image and sentiment: justjohanna rubber stamps; Ranger Distress Ink in Shabby Shuters. Card size: A4. Sewing machine.

To view this week's CPS sketch, click here.

Thanks for stopping by today! See you tomorrow.

May I have your attention, please:

Happy Birthday, Bigbadmike!

and many many more....

Happy Easter!

From the Luggage archives, Easter 2006. The Carry-On and First Officer pose for a photo-opp on the couch. Happy Easter to all!

Martin Luther Cupcake

Watercolor on canvas. Image: justjohanna.

This is a 6x6 canvas I made this week whilst the news was recounting the anniversary of MLK's death. I stained the cardstock by soaking it in coffee for a few hours, then let it dry. I then created the text on the computer and ran the coffee paper through my printer. I used "Amazing Glaze" embossing powder for the broken glass look and then painted the canvas with my watercolor ink. Since the watercolors are so vibrant, I inked them with Vintage Photo and Frayed Burlap once they dried. Thank you so much for stopping by!

Happy Easter!! (almost)

Did you miss me?

How presumptuous, I know. I am aching to get back to normal here; whatever normal is. I have not been on a trip or anything, just taking a break from this blog to clear my head and get some maintenance done. The good news is that I should be back to posting some “art” tonight or tomorrow.

I am a tough customer. God bless Mr. Luggage. Our computer was very old and had been giving me some trouble for the last few months. I told Mr. Luggage not to get me a new computer because I wanted to make the move to San Diego with the old one so I could buy furniture around the new PC, etc. Well, I couldn’t take it any longer, so he built me what we refer to in Luggage Land as “The Ass Hauler”. This term of endearment is normally saved for fast cars, but I feel it fits this new beauty nicely. There is a kick ass new wide screen monitor (unfortunately, I have been informed that sticking ‘decorations’ to the new monitor will not be tolerated), all the brand new programs and even a subwoofer. I have to get used to a new keyboard (wireless and flat) and all the normal editing goodies are out…time to learn new stuff. Windows Vista is pretty and nice, but mama mia, Word is going to take some learning. Everything is so fancy, but at the beginning, fancy comes with a headache. (I will learn to love Office 2007. I will learn to love Office 2007. I will learn to love Office 2007…….)

I hope that everyone enjoys a beautiful day with their families tomorrow! We’ll be out of town for the day, but back in the evening for two very important events: The Sopranos and Entourage! Don’t have HBO? Today is the day to make that call!

Thank you to everyone for sticking around during the hiatus!

For Wallis (in yellow)

Quick post from "vacation" for the weekly challenge on "Artwords". Canvas collage painted with Ph Martin inks, beeswax. Thanks for stopping by. We now return you to your normally scheduled programming....

Spring break...be back next week.

Weekend Recap

Greetings from beautiful California! What a fantastic weekend we've had. I can't remember Friday, but I remember Saturday and Sunday...

Saturday Morning was the annual pancake breakfast and Easter egg hunt at the local park. The Carry-On got one egg and was very happy. The Commander on the other had was again appalled by the behavior of the locals here in Orange County. The greed does not stop at anything. Parents ignored the announcer and let their older children hunt eggs during the toddler hunt...and many parents ran into the field to help their kids gobble up as many eggs as possible. I feel mortified with the possibility that some of the children did not walk away with any eggs. It was a disgusting display at the park that morning.

I had the opportunity to fulfill my Executive Chef duties in Escondido again this weekend. Luggage was very happy to have been able to help on Saturday afternoon and into the night.

With great difficulty, I woke up this morning to meet bigbadmike at the flea market. We were both excited to be able to get to this flea market. It was not an excellent day for finding treasures, but I was able to come away with a few things I can wreck in my beginning attempts of mixed media art. My favorite find was the 1966 Spanish Grammar handbook that was used by the Border Patrol. There are also 4 mini red leather books, some funny Mexican postcards from the 50's and a tourism book for visiting Hong Kong. All have great illustrations and potential.

Since I have been exploring the possibilities of mixed media, I have been much more aware of the materials that can be used in making this art. Therefore, it has also been a busy week on the 'bay for me as well. Take a look at these great Madonna and child vintage postcards I got for a steal! I also bought a bunch of miligros which are outside now starting to rust.

I think I am going to take some time to find myself this week...Spring Break if you will. Hopefully we'll be back up and running towards the end of the week. As always, I appreciate you stopping by the blogs! To all my friends new and old, have a great week