Karen's Muse and Musings

Another 4x4

My second page for the 4x4 fatbook swap is for Leslie Anderson whose theme is "Wings". Naturally I was very happy when I saw her theme — another chance to use one of the birds I recently painted. I wanted to add a special touch so I created little egg "buttons" out of polymer clay.

Every Inchie Monday — Heart

A poor torn heart, a tattered heart,   
That sat it down to rest,   
Nor noticed that the ebbing day   
Flowed silver to the west,   
Nor noticed night did soft descend
Nor constellation burn,   
Intent upon the vision   
Of latitudes unknown.   
 
The angels, happening that way,   
This dusty heart espied;
Tenderly took it up from toil   
And carried it to God.   
There,—sandals for the barefoot;   
There,—gathered from the gales,   
Do the blue havens by the hand
Lead the wandering sails.

– Emily Dickinson (1830-86)

Sunday Postcard Art — White

At this time of year, the word white brings dogwood blossoms to my mind. Our street turns into a fairy land of white for a couple of weeks. It's glorious!

Taking the postcard challenge a little literally this week, I painted with fluid acrylics right on top of a vintage postcard, well a reproduction of one anyway.

Oops! I forgot to add a link to Sunday Postcard Art. For those of you who see this on Facebook, sorry for posting twice!

Got envelopes?

This is the story of how I thought I had wasted a couple of perfectly good hours on a perfectly beautiful day. I could have been outside soaking in the spring sun and well, the pollen, but I had this desire to play in my studio. I took an envelope, stained it with coffee and blew it dry. Then I cut out 4 egg shapes and laid them down on the envelope so I could rub ink over the top for a reverse stencil. Unfortunately it just did not have the impact I wanted. So I thought I'll stamp some script over the eggs. Still not enough. Then I thought, why not use one of the birds I've painted this past week? Now the problem was how to get the bird onto the envelope. I thought about painting it again, but I'd already done that, and I am trying to find ways to reuse the paintings. So I scanned the coffee-stained, stenciled envelope. My new plan was to position my bird on the envelope in Photoshop, then put it in the printer and print the bird right on the spot I had chosen. Easy, right? Well, it would have been except I had the image of the envelope on one layer and the bird on another layer in Photoshop. When I put my envelope into the printer, I forgot to remove the bottom layer, so it printed like a double exposure. I tore it up and threw it away!

Feeling disgusted with myself for wasting this time, I wondered if I could make something out of my scans. I decided to print the envelope - really just a rectangular image - and then use the paper around it to create an envelope.

You might want to try this too if you want to reuse some art you've created in the past. After you've digitally or manually arranged your art in the middle of a sheet of paper, just open up an envelope to use as a template, place it on top of your art, trace the edges, cut it out, fold and glue. Unique envelopes ready to go!

A New Look

I was tired of my old banner at the top of my blog and decided it was time for a fresh look. I recently changed the fonts I used, but I still wanted a new banner. This morning I painted the Carolina Chickadee and thought I would like to use it. So I painted the tree branch on a vintage French document and Photoshopped them together. I hope you like the new look.

Crabapple Tree

Every spring I look forward to the explosion of colors in the trees and shrubs in the Atlanta area. (Not so much to the pollen, but with the good comes the bad, right?) In our yard, I especially enjoy the crabapple tree in the back and the cherry tree in the front. Early yesterday morning I was inspired by the light playing on the crabapple so I came inside and played with acrylics. This painting is the result.

 

Carolina Wren

This week I've been painting birds, thanks to Tracie Lyn Huskamp's article in the latest Somerset Studio. I've been wanting to do this for some time, but I just couldn't get started. Her suggestion to trace the outlines from a photo onto muslin gave me just the right start. After painting him with Golden's Acrylics onto the muslin, I cut him out. Not sure what I will finally do with the wren, but for now I placed him on an old envelope and letter.

The Carolina Wren is a frequent visitor to my birdfeeders, and he's one of my favorites. Some may think he's not as colorful as some of the other birds, but I am drawn to the rich shades of brown and buff. Who could resist that chubby little body? The white eyestripe gives his face a clever and inquisitve look. For such a little fellow, he can sing awfully loud. Maybe that's why I like him so much — people say the same thing about me!

Every Inchie Monday — Endless

Which came first the chicken or the egg? The debate on this could be endless, but I was thinking more of the continuation of life — chicken, egg, chicken, egg, chicken — or egg, chicken, if you prefer. I painted this tiny nest and eggs, and although they are not chicken eggs, you get the idea.

Piece of Cake!

No time for paper arts this weekend, but I did whip up this cake for a baby shower for our soon-to-arrive grandson. Big brother Bobby loved those lollipops! The inspiration and recipe for the Lollipop Garden Cake came from the Martha Stewart website.

The Great Studio Cleanup!

 

What's this? An actual empty space to work on!

I've spent the day trying to put this studio back in order. It was so bad that I dared not take a before photo to show you because you might faint. I am not finished, but I have made progress.

My art table, although not yet neat, is vastly improved over its condition this morning. There were piles of papers, stencils, vintage photos everywhere with a little bitty space front and center that I could actually work on.

While cleaning I found this last bit of cool German scrap I've been looking for. (You can get this from my friend Lisa at Collage Stuff.)

Also a basic hole punch that had disappeared.

This cool glass glittered Eiffel Tower that my friend Kathy gave me.

And I found this badge from the now defunct Altered Jubilee. It's dated 2004! Now I know I've cleaned this place since 2004. By the way, I really miss Altered Jubilee. It was the one art retreat held right here in the Atlanta area.

With more and more space appearing, I had to take a short break and make a couple of envelopes so I could mail long overdue cards.

But I still did not find my rounded corner punch! Until I remembered that it might be in my traveling art bag.

Yep!