Karen's Muse and Musings

Spooky Trees

Okay, it's time for a change of pace. Still in the tag mode, but I'm off in a different direction. (For a while. I still have plenty of watercolor paper prepped with coffee by Bobby. I wonder what his preschool teacher thinks when she gives him paint, and he asks for coffee!)

Here's the story behind these tags. Yesterday I went for an inspiration visit to "my" rubber stamp store, Rubber Stamp Fantasy here in Marietta, and I dsaw some really cute Halloween cards. They were stamped on paper printed with trees and other designs. Well, I love to paint trees, so I came home and did my own version. First, I used Tim Holtz's Adirondack Alcohol Inks in Butterscotch and Terra Cotta with just a touch of Espresso on coated, glossy cardstock. Then I stamped the script with VersaFine Vintage Sepia Ink. Since this was a coated cardstock, I dried it really well with my heatgun. Next step was the fun part — painting the trees with Golden Fluid Acrylic in Carbon Black. I didn't sketch them out or anything — just jumped in and started painting. [Author's note: having a glass of wine really helps this process along.]

On my first tag (not shown — I did a total of three) I stamped some birds on the bottom right, but it was too heavy and TOO black. I decided just stamping one word was enough because it let the background shine through and didn't compete with my trees. All right, I'll show you the bad one. Here it is.

Well, it's not totally a waste. I might use it in something, but I think the tags without the birds are much better. Warren just called, and he's on his way home. Guess I'd better cook something!

Whimsical Skinny Booking

It's late on the night of Mother's Day, and I'm tired, so this is going to be a short post. However I didn't want to go to bed without sharing my next round of pages for the skinny book swap. These are for Connie, and her theme is Vintage/Whimsical Children.

I have more to share about Mother's Day activities, some cool finds plus my erosion bundle, but I'm nodding off as I type. Check back soon. Hope you all had a great Mother's Day.

On the Dark Side

If you scare easily maybe you should close this window — quick! But, if you are like me and enjoy a good old scary movie or ghost story, then go ahead and look at what I've done today.

This is my entry for this week's Gothic Arches theme — Orange and Black. Before I made the arch, I did this ATC, and it scares even me!

 

Look closely behind and to the left of the girl's head. Do you see that face? Another one of my dictionary pages turned ghostly.

The image of the little girl is from PaperWhimsy.

Another Halloween Banner

I had so much fun creating banners for Aileen's Halloween Banner Swap that I decided to do more. Here's one I made for a friend. Notice the ghostly faces at the top of each just like I did before. (For details, click here.) I cut the letters out with scissors after I printed them on cardstock. The font is called LD Cottage, and I love the Gothic look of it. The cool charms and ribbons are from Paula's Kit Club.

 

I made this house for a swap with my Oh My Gothic group. Last year, we traded arches, but this year we're doing houses. This one is for Cat. Here's the reverse side.

A Funky Tree

I attended a painting class the other night where we all basically painted the same tree. I painted this one at home the next day, using acrylic paints like we did in class, but adding LuminArte's Primary Elements and some distress inks.

Think Like a Tree

by Karen I. Shragg

Soak up the sun
Affirm life's magic
Be graceful in the wind
Stand tall after a storm
Feel refreshed after it rains
Grow strong without notice
Be prepared for each season
Provide shelter to strangers
Hang tough through a cold spell
Emerge renewed at the first signs of spring
Stay deeply rooted while reaching for the sky
Be still long enough to
hear your own leaves rustling.

I Have No Mouth, and I Must Scream

Years ago I read Harlan Ellison's short story with this title, and although the story has faded a bit from my memory, I'll never forget the title. From what I remember, the human body had evolved into a blob with a functioning brain but no limbs ... or mouths! I felt a little mouth-less a few days ago. My cellphone died a quick and merciful death, followed closely by the demise of my modem. I was cut off from the world! Yes, it's true, I had contact with nearby family and friends, but what about my online friends? How could I survive not knowing what they were up to? Or, how could they survive not knowing what I was up to? What did we do before this world of instant communication? Yes, it has its pitfalls. Sometimes, I wish I could escape the ring of an ever-present phone. But ... when I don't have that phone, I'm nervous about driving without it. What if my car breaks down? What if I have a wreck? Thankfully, the cellphone and the modem have been replaced. Once again, I have a mouth, and I can even scream ... if I need to.

(Yikes! I've been cleaning house all day, sat down at the computer for the few available minutes I have before starting dinner, and my husband calls. "I'm on my way home. Didn't get to eat lunch. Fix me something." Hmmm ... maybe I need to rethink this need for a cellphone.)

Gothic Arches — Wee Witches!

Here's a little digital art I cooked up for this week's theme at Gothic Arches.

Looking In

This is a combination of digital and traditional collage. I photoshopped the woman (Laura in my collage sheets) into the window image, printed it out and proceeded to get my hands all messy with acrylic paints and gel medium. (Isn't it fun to peel that dried gel medium off your fingers? Kind of like when we were in elementary school playing with Elmer's glue.) I also used stamps from Layers of Color and Stampers Anonymous, Distress Crackle Paints, and Walnut Ink Antiquing Solution by Tsukineko.

Dans ma maison il y a ... du orange!

Translation: in our house there is orange! That's the theme for this week at Dans Ma Maison.

Purely by accident, my piece ended up being very autumn-like. Or maybe it wasn't an accident — this is the time of year I begin to long for fall. Changing leaves, plump pumpkins, brilliant blue sky, and a chill in the air. Makes me want to go to school again. Well almost.