Fright Night!

I LOVE Halloween!  Ever since I was a little kid and dressed in a hand-me-down Mighty Mouse costume, no doubt flammable in those days.  Then I graduated to the gypsy costume because my mom had old full skirts and beads and I could rouge my cheeks and put on lipstick.  Next was the vampire stage which lasted for more than one season, and I could still put on bright red lipstick plus the added bonus of plastic vampire teeth! I was fascinated by that set of fangs and it seemed like I would be Count Dracula forever...

But then, that fateful day when my mom dragged me to the fabric store to buy material for a groovy smock she was sewing for me. (The smock is another story entirely.) Anyway, nestled among the bolts of polyester and chintz was a rare beast I had not seen before: FAKE FUR!  Oh my, I was mesmerized by this Cousin It of the fabric family!  I negotiated with my mom (in other words, 'whined') and she relented into letting me take home a swatch of the long, black haired hide.  

Now, I wasn't willing to forego the fangs for fur, so, brilliant (haha) child that I was, I combined the two for a werewolf costume.  I use the term costume loosely, because by time October 31st rolled around in Montana, the body of the costume was most likely a snow coat. No worries, I was mainly concerned with my fur/fanged face.  

Logistics: how to adhere fake fur to your face??  I had no idea and pleaded with my solve-all mom to help.  She was also stumped, but finally came up with the idea to put peanut butter on my face in order to 'glue' on the fur.  And it worked!  I looked fabulously werewolf-y!  Out I ventured with my best friend and our pillowcases in search of some sweet loot.  But then, trouble!  As the temperature dropped, the peanut butter hardened and cracked.  I shed my fur like a shaggy dog, with only clumps hair stuck here and there in the cold, cracked lumpy peanut butter.  Yikes!  I remember one of the last houses we visited, the man who answered the door called his wife over saying, "I don't know what she is, but she sure has a scary face"!  

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Here I am, many years older and still so excited about Halloween!  Of course, I had to do a Mixed Media Assemblage Canvas for this spooky season.  

I started with framing-in the sides of my canvas with stakes I'd bought at my local hardware store because I wanted to convey the feel of 'something wicked' on the verge of coming through a window or door. I textured the stakes with my homemade paste and used white crackle paste on the upper half of the canvas.  The texture in the lower half is done with torn paper strips and string.  Everything got a healthy dose of black gesso, with the upper half rubbed partially off with a baby wipe in order to conserve the crackle.

Next - assemblage.  I went through my bins of found objects (some of which is considered to be trash by the general public) and adhered all sorts of goodness, like gears and plastic skeleton bones, beads, caps, springs, screws, broken toy pieces and the infamous orange zipper.  While these goodies were drying, I began forming my polymer clay accessories.  To name a few, I created a voodoo doll, a jack-o-lantern, a scary bone fish (which I named Kyle, don't ask me why), eyeballs, and a hand digging out of his grave - ooooooooo!  After baking the clay, all the polymer pieces were painted with black gesso.  

I know I am not alone when I say clowns give me the creeps!!  So of course, that's the focal point of 'my nightmare'.  From Modge Podge, foil and torn paper, Mr. Twinkles came to be.  Then black gesso, crackle paint, acrylic paint, polymer clay and, yes, fake fur fine tuned him to all his glory.  I wanted my clown to have skeletal hands, but saved that clay challenge for last, as I was quite intimidated by modeling them.  Once they were formed and baked, the hands got the gesso- crackle-paint treatment.  Quite by accident, my gnarly tree came to be from the leftover paper mache torn paper.  I was wadding the strips of paper to throw out and noticed one almost looked like a branch.  I set to work twisting and turning the paper until my tree  (warning, bad pun ahead) 'took root'.

I loved (ok, love) hidden pictures!  It was THE favorite part of my childhood Highlights Magazine. So, in the phrase from the scary movie Saw, "Wanna play a game?"

Find:

2 monopoly houses, a zipper, a birthday candle, 10 items in a sewing basket, 8 cocktail forks and 8 hands!

“HAPPY HALLOWEEN! GET YOUR SPOOK ON!”

Supply List

Prima Art Alchemy Métalliques:  Deep Waters, Fresh Orange, Black Berry, Dark Velvet, Steampunk Copper, Ancient Coin. Lindy's Starburst Sprays:  Screaming Banshee Black, Black Orchid Silver, Bayou Boogie Gold, Opal Sea Oats.  Dylusions Ink Spray:  Ground Coffee.  Deco Art Americana Acrylic Paint:  Snow White, Light Buttermilk, Lamp Black.  Prima Art Basics:  Modeling Paste, 3D Gloss Gel, Texture Paste White Crackle. Prima Art Ingredients:  Art Stones, Mini Art Stones. Liquitex:  Black Gesso.  Ranger:  Inkssentials Glossy Accents.

I would like to enter Fright Night in the following challenges:

More than Words Challenge Ombre & Change (I changed, or 'altered', many items on this assemblage piece.)

A Vintage Journey Make It Spooky challenge.

More Mixed Media Challenge "Anything Goes" + Optional Orange.

Dream in Darkness Challenge #13:  31 Days of Halloween! 

Beneath The Rust in I Wonder Land

I like to live a very upbeat life, but the stress of seeing my sweet mom lost in the memory-robbed darkness of Alzheimer's disease can be overwhelming at times.  Art is my therapy on so many levels, one of which is the fact that my love for creating started at a very young age via my mom.

I remember a wonderful time with my mom.  She had read in one of her magazines (Family Circle? Women's Day? Better Homes and Garden?) about an art project to do with your child that involved melting crayons in a pan on the stovetop...

So, there was a fire...

Anyway, what a fond memory of rushing to the sink with flaming paper and trying to erase all evidence of smoke and ashes (and colorful melted wax everywhere) before my father got home!

Beneath the Rust in I Wonder Land

Isn't oxidation beautiful?  Yellow Ochre, Burnt Sienna, Burnt Umber, the blues and greens of patina...  I wanted to create a piece that incorporated the colors of age; of rust in all it's beauty.  I also wanted to convey a sense of wonder, by taking a peak through the rusted 'break' in the wall at the mysterious machine beneath.

Stages of the canvas: Texturing, Assembling, Reassembling...

After applying black gesso to my canvas, I began adding texture.  There is a veritable banquet of texture on this piece. (Yes, that's right, I just wrote 'banquet of texture' - remember my art studio doubles as my kitchen.) Along with Prima's Art Basics Modeling Paste, I used about five or six different stencils including TCW's Mini Gears, Penny Black's Oscillations and Tim Holtz's Measured.  I applied Prima's Texture Paste White Crackle to the upper and lower sections of the canvas along with a heavy textured gesso concoction I mixed up to give the effect of corrosion.  I love the look of dry wall tape, so that went down the center of the piece. While this texture overload was drying, I tore some card stock into pieces to make my 'rusted broken barrier'. This also received a heavy application of my homemade textured gesso goop. I decided barbed wire would be a good addition, so a grabbed a coil of craft wire and began snipping and twisting until I fashioned my own version of mini barbed wire. 

And now for MORE fun!  I began building my machine.  There are a few purchased embellishments such as Tim Holtz's Idea-ology Pen Nibs, Kaisercrafts' Metal Padlock, Finnebair's Mini Art Stones, but, for the most part, my machine is made from orphaned parts and pieces.  Look and you'll see latte straws, a parmesan cheese lid, a bread bag clip, clock parts, electrical parts, bicycle chains, vintage lace and tool box treasures. (I was concerned that my usual choice of adhesive was not going to be up for the heavy metal challenge.  I researched and experimented with three different glue products and discovered that Weldbond is amazing.  I mean, this stuff is super strong, yet doesn't have that brain-cell-suffocating fumes of other permanent adhesives.)

Next up: Color!  This is my comfort zone palette and I used a mix of my favorites like Prima's Color Blooms in Cobalt, Tea Stain and Worn Leather; Ranger's Dylusions Black Marble & Melted Chocolate to mute tones in their vibrant Dirty Martini, London Blue, Postbox Red, Fresh Lime and Lemon Zest; Shimmerz Sprays in Tuscan Sun, Don't Be Suede and Don't Rain on my Parade; Tattered Angels Woven Burlap GM and Gold GM; Americana Acrylic Paint in Bittersweet Chocolate; and an ancient bottle of Creamcoat by Delta in Mocha Brown (I couldn't believe this old relic still had plenty of liquid-y life left in it!).

Paint, spray, dab, repeat. Repeat again.  I love, love, love making my own colors by mixing different paints; it is so fun pretending to be a 'Paint Mixologist'.  I created a huge puddle of my rust-mix and then kept adding a touch of this and a touch of that to bring out some subtle tone changes.  'Rusting' the brass padlock, key, chains, Prima's Screw Heads and the barbed wire was the final touch. 

Another memory was brought to the surface when I sat back and looked at the tones.  The shades at the top reminded me of a childhood adventure I was on with my parents in the mountains of Montana.  My dad took us to this rustic, abandoned mining camp/ghost town.  The area was richly colored in a coarse reddish sandstone with strands of green sandstone and shale  by Neihart quartzite, and was one of only three places in the world where it could be found.  The abundant mineral deposits including ore stained the earth and the water an array of colors.

I showed my project to my mom today and told her I've discovered I have a passion for rust.  She smiled and said, 'You've always been my funny girl.'  Love you Mom!

I would like to enter this piece into The Mixed Media Monthly Challenge for September;  Rustic (and Rusted)!

I would also like to enter the Canvas Corp Brands September Challenge.  Their Tattered Angels spray in Woven Burlap and Gold were part of the 'cast of character in this canvas.

And, of course, the fabulous challenge MMW#19: Assemblage/Altered Art over at Mixed Media World!

Write here...

Two Tickets To Paradise

“Got a surprise especially for you
Something that both of us have always wanted to do
We’ve waited so long, waited so long
We’ve waited so long, waited so long

I’m gonna take you on a trip so far from here
I’ve got two tickets in my pocket, now baby, we’re gonna disappear
We’ve waited so long, waited so long
We’ve waited so long, waited so long

I’ve got two tickets to paradise
Won’t you pack your bags, we’ll leave tonight
I’ve got two tickets to paradise
I’ve got two tickets to paradise”

— Eddie Money, "Two Tickets to Paradise"

Well hello blog, have we met before?

After an unintended absence, I have to reintroduce myself to...myself, or rather my blog-self.  

In mid-July, my husband came home from work one Monday and said, "Can I ask you something?"  Now I've been married to this guy for 3 decades, so I said, "No, you may not."  You see, when he starts a conversation out-of-the-blue with this question, it means he has a crazy notion about something we should do, or buy, that generally is not on my 'well-planned-in-advance' agenda.  

So, he rephrases:  "I'm going to tell you something."

And it was a big something!

He had secretly planned (and booked) a trip without my stamp of approval.  Not only that, we were to leave in 4 weeks!!  I was speechless!  Okay,  not speechless - I had plenty to say!

 "Isn't this something a husband and wife should talk about first!?!"  I sputtered.

 "Yes," he replied calmly, "but you would have said no."

And he was right; I would have.  I am a well-nontraveled individual; a "Staycationer".  There are projects to be done, money to be saved, dogs to be attended to...   But mostly, a mom to be near.  I have not taken a vacation in 10 years in order to be available for my mom who is in failing health.  I just couldn't imagine being miles away and  have something happen.  She has been in Assisted Living the past three years, but still...

My daughter said, "Mom!  You need to get away!"  

My son said, "I'll check on Grandma everyday."

My friends said, "Are you nuts?!?  I'll go in your place!"

So where was this sneaky, surprise trip?  ....   Hawaii!!  I WAS GOING TO SEE THE OCEAN!!!!!  Only a month prior, I had created a Mixed Media project called Imagine the Inky Depths. I remarked that I had never been to the ocean; it was something I had only dream of doing; and now, that dream was going to become a reality.  Kauai was the destination: 111 miles of coastline!

This was craziness!  Certainly we weren't really doing this, were we?   I only had 4 weeks to research every nook-and-cranny of Kauai.  My husband does not believe in planning things to do.  He is an easy-going, live-in-the-moment kind of traveler, telling me to relax and get an Island frame-of-mind.  Get serious man!  I also had arrangements to make, obviously some shopping to do, and a home to remodel!  By that I mean, when I do go on vacation I deep clean and deep organize EVERYTHING - basement to attic.

Big mistake...

Day 1 of my gut-the-house itinerary, I partially tore the long head of the bicep tendon.

I fussed, I fretted, I wore a sling...

And you know what?  I finally relaxed!  And when I arrived on Kauai 4 weeks later, I was indeed in an Island frame-of-mind. 

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I have decided to do a souvenir canvas of my first time to the ocean.  I experienced so many wonderful textures on Kauai - the contrast of silk and grit of the sand. the velvet waxiness of tropical flowers, the whispery light frothy touch of the tide retreating around my ankles.  I love creating texture, texture and more texture on a black canvas. I began with white gesso followed by light and heavy modeling pastes. I tore crumpled fast-food napkins to apply as 'waves' for the tide.  The beach in the lower quarter of my canvas was a heavy layer of modeling paste mixed with, that's right, sand.

When my thick application of texture was dry. I began the painting process.  My coast was painted with two shades of DecoArts Acrylic Americana Satin in White Birch and Bittersweet. While the paint was still wet, I sprinkled white glitter to mimic the sun dazzled sand I saw at the beach. 

Next up, ocean.  I applied Prima's ArtAlchemy Metalliques: Deep Waters & Rich Turquoise with Prima's ArtAlchemy Opal Magics:  Blue-Pink and Green-Gold.  The crests of the waves were accented with Dylusion's White Linen.

Off the canvas, I sprayed Prima's Color Bloom's Worn Leather onto a scrap of fabric netting.  Next I set out random scraps of paper and sprayed those with Lindy's Stamp Gang's Starburst Sprays in TiffanyLou Blue and Tainted Teal Love.  A touch more Of Prima's Worn Leather spray and may papers were ready for layout in the upper left corner.  

I wanted to feature souvenirs from our trip to Kauai:  the glass bottles (Tim Holtz's glass vials) contain small beach stones from Kealia Beach on the eastern Coconut Shore, sea glass from the southern Glass Beach and sand from the northern Ke'e Beach.  I added more keepsakes such as beach-combing treasures like driftwood and stones and part of the shell lei husband received  at the luau we attended.  My painted netting, some jute and my version of a plumeria blossom were added to the lower right corner.

I included two memory photos:  Glass Beach (I could have relaxed, listened to the surf and 'sifted' sand treasures here all day) and Wailua Beach at Sunrise - my very 'first time time' walking into the ocean!  An 'Oh Wow Moment!'  

Hawaii, aloha a hui hou kakou... Hawaii, fond farewell until we meet again...

(And to my husband, Mahalo nui loa. Aloha Au la 'Oe.)

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I would like to enter my Two Tickets to Paradise canvas into the following challenges:

Mixed Media Place August challenge - Creative Gym #20.  The prompt quote "Dreams, if they're any good, are always a little bit crazy", is perfect.  Like I said in my blog, I never dreamed I'd be walking in the surf watching the sunrise over the waves!

Mixed Media World MMW#17: Summer/Sea/Nautical challenge. 

Bee is For Box

Recently I was browsing the aisles at a local discount store looking for treasures. I happened upon a small box in a color I can only euphemistically call Pepto Bismol Pink.  A phrase on the top of it said 'Beautiful'.  No wonder this unwanted orphan was on the death row of aisles, The Clearance Aisle, aka the 75-90% Off Aisle.  For $1.39, I decided to take it home.

Now what? 

It sat there. Staring at me. 'I'm already beautiful. See, it says so," it taunted.

So I painted it green.  

Yikes, that didn't help matters.   I planned on using this little box as storage for words/sentiments I had in my stash, and I needed some inspiration. 

Design Teams to the rescue! I decided to search some blogs for inspiration and two of those caught my eye. Anything But Cute's current challenge was 'Birds and the Bees' and Simon Says Stamp had a wonderful Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge going on. The Tic-Tac-Toe was such a clever idea, I knew I wanted to play along, and I thought 'Bees' would be a fun theme.

For the Simon Says Stamp Challenge, I chose the top row: Sequins, Gold, Stamp

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I covered the green I had carelessly applied to the box with white gesso and Prima's Modeling paste through an old stencil I had on hand.  Prima's Art Alchemy Steampunk Copper and DecoArt's Champagne Gold came next as a base layer followed by Lindy's Bayou Boogie Gold and Clam Bake Beige sprays. 

While my base was drying, I made my bees out of Polymer clay; baked them, painted them and glued them to wing nuts for wings.  I'm a bit afraid of bees (read, terrified), so making them 'winged nuts' was a psychological bandaid to my illogical (or so I'm told) fear. I also made flowers from scrapbook paper, foil and netting using Tim Holtz 'Tattered Florals' die and a Sizzix Big Kick machine.    I painted the paper and foil flower layers with the same paints and sprays used on the box plus Lindy's Burnt Umber; smaller florals and greenery were created by painting blooms from my stash.

Since this project will be a storage box for words and sentiments, I decided to make my bees 'spelling bees' by stamping and embossing letters on the box.  I used the Stampabilities Typewriter Background Stamp, Ranger's Clear Distress Ink and gold ZING! embossing powder. Continuing in the 'spelling' theme, some of the flowers have a petal layer cut from text.

I adhered the components, including a honeycomb I cut out of cardstock and painted with Prima's Art Alchemy Steampunk Copper. The wood frame is painted with DecoArt's Champagne Gold.  Gold sequins (honey drops) are scattered here and there on the arrangement.  

And one last thing: A honey pot!

Products used:

Prima: White Gesso, Modeling Paste, Art Alchemy Steampunk Copper acrylic paint; DecoArt: Champagne Gold acrylic paint; Lindy's Stamp Gang: Bayou Boogie Gold Starburst spray, Clam Bake Beige Starburst spray, Burnt Umber Moon Shadow Mist; Ranger: Clear Distress Embossing Ink, Perfect Pearls Perfect Gold, Glossy Accents; Tim Holtz: Idea-ology Tiny Vials, Tattered Florals Die, Diamond Plate and Riveted Metal embossing folders

I also used a Sizzix machine, Fimo polymer clay, ZING! embossing powder, Stampablities Typewriter Background Stamp, stencil, DCWV paper, netting, gold sequins, aluminum foil and wing nuts.  

Some Kind of Wonderful

I am underserved by my community.  Don't get me wrong, it is a wonderful place to live.  But, darn it, my art supply options are scarce! It's truly an injustice.

The good news is, a present came for me in the mail!  Isn't that exciting?  Inside was some new, utterly gorgeous Prima paints and products!!  I have no idea who sent them to me!

Okay, it was me.  That's right, I bought these lovelies for myself.  What can I say, I'm a very giving person ;)

I have been wanting to add to my meager Prima stash, which had consisted of ArtBasics Modeling paste, 3D Gloss Gel, a couple of bottles of Color Bloom Spray and a jar of ArtAlchemy paint.  All of which I love; the modeling paste and gel are my 'go-tos' when I start creating a canvas.

I had recently sampled my solo jar of the ArtAlchemy paint on my last project and I was transported to a wonderful, creamy paradise.  This stuff is...well it's wonderful.  So I've used the word wonderful repeatedly, haven't I?  I might as well call my next canvas Some Kind of Wonderful! 

After applying gesso to my canvas, I used stencils and modeling paste for texture.  I absolutely adore texture and can't imagine not incorporating it in all that I create.  Laying down my background colors was the next step.  I am a diligent stalker of the Prima blog and saw the beautiful (wonderful) peachy/baby blue mood board they had displayed for their June challenge and decided to play along.

My new jars of ArtAlchemy included Opal Magic Rose Gold and Opal Magic Pink Blue which I used along with Color Bloom sprays in Cobalt, Tea Stain and Frost.  The Prima flowers I had ordered were more pink than peach and more turquoise than pale blue, but they tinted beautifully. I adhered them with 3D Gloss Gel.

And then there is Finnabair's Art Stones.  I'm in love!  They add such a fabulous dimension and are lightweight on the project. (But if anyone knows how to pick up these little rascals when they spill on your craft mat, let me know.  The ones I tried to capture, just kept scurrying away on a frenzied flight of static.)  

I always seem to want to repurpose an item in my creations, and again, I chose a zipper. The humble zipper...Isn't it just a marvel of human engineering?   I also tore strips out of an old music book and embossed the edges for a vintage feel.  In addition to repurposing, I try to add an embellishment that I've made.  In this canvas, it's the blue fan in the lower left corner.  I wrapped a beaded fishline in peach colored beads around the base of the fan to incorporate both colors of the challenge and finished it with a tiny floss tassel.

Metallic thread, a Prima Vintage Ephemera image and the word 'Wonderful' finished my shabby chic project.

I am entering this into the Prima PPP June Challenge:

Prima PPP June Challenge