As I continue to catch up, here is my entry for this week's Wednesday Stamper. The challenge is to use scraps of newspaper. I recently bought two issues of the New York Weekly Witness, one from 1881 and the other from 1882, and I thoroughly enjoyed reading them and having a glimpse into history. {Imagine paying only 4 cents for a newspaper!} This was the perfect opportunity to use these treasures. The frame is a rubber stamp from B Line Designs.
I'm back home after a week at the beach. Since I haven't blogged in over a week, I have a lot to share. I made an ATC for this week's Layers of Color Challenge — Summer Respite. Since I've been home, I've been playing catch up with mail, e-mail, bills, the garden, housework, the list goes on and on. I think I now need another respite!
The quote is paraphrased from Henry James. In a letter to Edith Wharton, he wrote, "Summer afternoon — summer afternoon, to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language." I stumbled across these words in my latest copy of Victoria magazine today, and I thought they were perfect for the theme.
My stepdaughter, Dana, is having a baby boy in September. Her baby shower is this Saturday, so I had to get busy and finish up a little outfit I was making. (I'm always trying to get my kids to read my blog, but they never do, so I feel fairly safe that I'm not spoiling the surprise for Dana. I hope this won't be the one time she decides to check it out!)
Here's the little cap that goes with the romper. I need to shop for a little applique to place on the cap.
And here's the card to go with the gift. I used a Keepsake Embossing board to make it.
Last, I have a couple of photos from our vacation to share. The shot of the birds was taken while Warren and I were having lunch at Boss Oyster in Apalachicola.
Here's a really cool photo. I found this tree in Apalachicola that had all these old dead vines wrapped around the trunk. I love the colors and think it will make a great background for some art.
We're off to the gulf coast of Florida for a week at the beach with our grandson, Joshua, and his parents, Maggie and Geoff. See you in a week!
Here's a sweet card I put together today for Layers of Color Challenge ... Cake! A complete change of mood for me today and pink too! I don't do pink very often, but it suited the yummy, confectionery theme.
My latest kit from Paula's Kit Club came in handy for the cupcakes, the cake ribbon, and the papers. The stamp is from the Layers of Color Flower Child set.
I must tell you that it is very rare that I begin a piece of art knowing exactly where I'm going. I might have a particular image or just a word or a line of poetry that I want to use, but there is no blueprint in my head of how it will look when finished. Sometimes not even a clue! This piece was the exception. I didn't know precisely how it would look, but I had a pretty good idea when I began work.
It all began as I was using the last scrap of my "Invocation to Saint Cecilia" music. I was struck by how pretty the cover of the music was. I was looking through my stash of old choral music for other covers when I saw Anthems for Mixed Voices. Immediately an idea popped into my head — a chorus of birds with an angelic choir director. In the background are bits and pieces of old hymns, German text and the Hallelujah chorus. Oh, and I took the border from the cover of old choral music — right where I began.
(Mixed voices in music simply means soprano, alto, tenor and bass. I'm sure you know that, but since my smart and well-read husband did not, I thought I would add this note.)
Okay, so what is a twinchie? It's a 2" square of art, and it's the theme of the week at Wednesday Stamper.
Here are my twinchies — Golden Voice and Chère. I used Layer of Color Art Stamps from the Beaded Frames and the Fleur Heart sets in my backgrounds. The little girl is Clara from my collage sheets. Oh, and the bird is a blackbird. Really! He's a rusty blackbird. Isn't he beautiful?
Well, it is definitely exciting for me, and I hope you will be excited for me as well. Laura Campbell of Layers of Colors Art Stamps has asked me to join their design team, and I said yes! I have been using these stamps in my art for the last few weeks, and I love them. Not being a rubber stamper per se, but a mixed media artist, I am happy that these stamps can be incorporated into my art for texture and interest. Of course, for you card makers out there, they are perfect for that too. In fact, for my recent card-making spree, I enjoyed using these gorgeous stamps.
For these gothic arches, I used Layers of Color Signature Art stamps from the Gothic Crosses, Architectural Blocks, Flower Child and Renaissance Hearts sets.
SAFE in their alabaster chambers,
Untouched by morning and untouched by noon,
Sleep the meek members of the resurrection,
Rafter of satin, and roof of stone.
Light laughs the breeze in her castle of sunshine;
Babbles the bee in a stolid ear;
Pipe the sweet birds in ignorant cadence,—
Ah, what sagacity perished here!
Grand go the years in the crescent above them;
Worlds scoop their arcs, and firmaments row,
Diadems drop and Doges surrender,
Soundless as dots on a disk of snow.
– Emily Dickinson (1830-86)
This poem was my inspiration for my artwork above, a spread for Paula's Stone Angels book. I used a photograph taken by my sister, Lauren, during our recent trip to Myrtle Hill Cemetery in Rome, Georgia.
It's been kind of a crazy week with not much time for art. I did not get to participate in Wednesday Stamper, so today I decided I would make time to take part in some of the challenges.
Above is my entry for the theme, Balloon, at the Layers of Color challenge. I am in a group that trades Gothic Arches, so I decided to make mine in that shape. It's for Caryl so I hope she likes it. I stayed with my new color obsession, baltic blue, olive and black. I used Nicholas and the goose from my collage sheets, along with stamps from Layers of Color. The words were clipped from a book — a necessity since I jammed my husband's printer trying to print on vellum. He doesn't know about it yet, so shh! This week's Gothic Arch is "any theme", so this is also my entry for that challenge.
Next I turned to Dans ma maison il y a ... This week there is a sun in our house!
As I worked on this piece, I kept thinking "man, is this thing bright!" but hey, sunshine is bright, right? The poem is from Robert Louis Stevenson's A Child's Garden of Verses, one of my favorite sources. I need to hit the used bookstores and try to find more copies.
I'm loving this color combination. Here are two cards I just completed. (It's really hot here — best to just stay inside and play in my studio!)
Both the Baltic Blue and the Olive acrylic paints are made by Liquitex. I also played with some brand new stamps from Layers of Color. I love these stamps — they stamp beautifully and are perfect for incorporating into mixed media art.
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