My July ATC cards for my Flytribe group, Barbie and Skipper

I have been on vacation so it give me time to do art... One thing about magazines is looking back on older issues and finding something you want to try. I was looking at my Cloth, Paper, Scissors issue from September/October 2010 and there was an article about making your own stamps for faux silkscreen so I thought I would give it a try doing my July Flygirls ATC.

Here is my butterfly drawn on a craft foam sheet...

I then cut it out into separate pieces....

(I should of taken some more pictures of the stamping process) Here are the butterflies after I stamped them and painted them and added some detail. I need to buy some more stamps because I had old ones and had to had a little paint to them....

I then did some echo stitching on them....

And then the finished card....

Ready to send in the trade...

One of my favorite blogs is Jamie Fingal Designs - she has fun quilts and her Barbies help her out... I had told her one day I needed to get mine out and here they are... Barbie ans Skipper from the 60's (they were mine that I played with).

I am going to try the foam stamp process again but use a stylist instead of an ink pen to make the indentations, get some more stamps and make sure when I stamp I leave a little space in between. It was fun to bring my Barbie and Skipper out, my sister and friends used to play for hours with them in our backyard making a town. Skipper's dress was crocheted by my Grandma... good memories.

Well, thanks for stopping by and looking. Hope you have a great day!

On-line class 5 Days 5 Canvases

I have been taking an online class by Kelly Hoernig, her web site is http://www.kellyhoernig.webs.com/ - this is my first canvas... creating a background:

and here is my final piece:

I have been teaching myself how to paint so it has been great to take this class, I am learning some new things. The pear itself is scrapbook paper, I learned how to use saran wrap to create the background, and how to use a number 6 round brush - painted the leaves and bees with that one... also used molding paste and a stencil. Now I am working in canvas number 2... will post when I have that one complete. I tried to start it after watching the video and had to laugh at myself when I went back and reviewed the video... I have done it backwards... that's what is great about paint, you can paint over it.

Thanks for stopping by and looking... have a wonderful day!

Wine bottle torch or lantern as I call it....

I have been trying to squeeze in some projects and actually made one for out side... I started with this:

I purchased from an art gallery ceramic ball/wick, hardware store and feed store the pluming supplies and re-bar post.

And this is how they turned out:

I was inspired by this web site:  http://www.gerardotandco.com/blog/recycled-bottle-torch/ but had to modify since I didn't want to attach them to the wall.... I love how they turned out.

Thanks for stopping by... have a fantastic day!

a bit more done on my zentangle....

a quick post before work.... a few more details done on my drawing....

My inspiration for the detail as come from looking at pictures of wrought iron....

Well gotta run, time to go to work.  Thanks for stopping by and looking. Have a fabulous day!

zentangle in process....

I have started drawing again... here is my zentangle in process:

I was working outside.... I love summer mornings when it is warm out and quite to draw...

Just a quick post, thanks for stopping by and looking!

June ATC Cards for my Flygirls group...

I got my cards done for my Flygirl ATC June trade... the theme was Mellow Yellow:

I painted a background on an old book page and then drew my design.

I cut it in to four cards...

My idea was the sun....

Yellow has always been a bit of a challenge for me but, I think I am getting a bit better at using the color. It is growing on me.

Well that is it for now... In a few days I will do an update on my latest zentangle...

As always, thanks for stopping by.

Stop the madness....

I was doing my time card for work Friday just like I do every couple of weeks and since February my hours have been any where from 95 to like this weeks 106.5 - I am working to much overtime and not enough on the things I enjoy.... I have been trying to work on this zentangle:

And... this Letter K for a baby shower:

My daughters best friend is having her first baby and they had everyone that was invited to bring a letter so that she will have the whole alphabet to hang around her room. The shower was yesterday and all the letters were so cool. It is a great idea.

It felt good to be creative instead of working at home yesterday... I have also been running, doing couch to 5K - yesterday ran outside instead of on the treadmill and did 2 miles in 23 minutes. It is so different running outside, need to learn to pace myself. I am going to run a 3k in September and actually do a mud run in August. It does help with the stress of my job.... I need to find that balance with such a demanding job. Yikes!

Well, thanks for sticking with me and stopping by...