Valentine Project Update

Been working on the valentine picture for Doug...was getting real frustrated waiting for the gesso to dry i might add...I've included the original pictures that I was using...at least the ones of Doug and myself...



















these are the really cool tyvek leaves that I painted in Lumiere halo blue-gold, pearlescent emerald, pearl turquoise and halo violet-gold and then heated with the iron. They are truly too fun for words to do!! They were attached with beeswax to the tree. My mixed media collage on the other hand has been a war with the devil!!













Gesso didn't want to dry so I took the dryer to it...cardstock started to curl (yet again) but that mostly got worked out...beeswax was really interesting to work with and I really liked it. I guess my project was still too big 8-1/2 x 5-1/2"...it was more manageable this time and does look better (to me anyway)...

the tree still came out too dark, so I painted it halo violet-gold to lighten it up...I've used the halo blue-gold, pearlescent emerald and pearl turquoise in the background too. I also mixed some utee with green angel hair, pink scrim and polysparkle and kaleidoscope transparent embossing powders in the background.











The LOVE stamp didn't turn out as well as I would have liked but I had heated up the beeswax as much as I could stand too and decided to leave it this way instead...I also used red paint on the tree for the 'kim loves doug'.
















Both pictures of Doug and myself were coated in Diamond Glaze last night and left to dry. I really love how they turned out...very glossy and cool. They really stand out against the natural beeswax over the rest of the picture. I may add a note to the front too...we'll see...

I coated the back with the beeswax as well. It was fun and I went in an entirely different direction with the picture than I had originally planned but I think I like it better this way...I just wish the stupid deer would have come out better...at least one of them anyway!!

A Case of the February Doldrums

I guess with all the damp, wet, cold, uckyiness (yes uckyiness is a word - ask any small child) of the winter months, I am having a case of the doldrums.

January seemed to start off so well, continuing the productivity of the Christmas rush when I went with the quilters to Hickory Knob. I was so thrilled with the projects I was able to finish up on and those that were ready for new stages too.

Since getting home I've finished another top and gotten quilts pinned, new ones started and have dabbled in new areas too like the collage project for Doug.

Maybe the issue isn't that I'm not getting anything done...it's that I'm not getting anything finished. That's not entirely true but it sure is feeling that way. I did finish beading the pin I made for Gloria while I was at Judy Twitty's workshop on Monday.

Hopefully I will be able to blog some pics of finished projects soon...in the meantime I will continue to move forward, one stitch at a time.....

Valentine Project for Doug

I wanted to create something special for hubby Doug for Valentine's Day. I was off to a wonderful start when the idea for a special picture came into my mind 2 weeks early!! That's where my troubles began.....

Project is to be for a mixed media collage using pictures taken when we lived 'way up north' (in maryland) and drove down parts of skyline drive in virginia/w.virginia....the pics were of our skinnier days (especially mine). I started out making copies and blowing up some of the pictures...the idea was to take Doug off of the rock he had been sitting on and place him in the branches of an enlarged tree by an enlarged deer...okay so far...


well when I printed the pics I used the better quality (heavier ink) and that began part of the problem...it was dark...



I placed dryer sheets on top of cardstock and glued them down (my hope was for texture under the picture), the pictures were then placed on top and coated with medium and embossing powders (i love glittery stuff) in butterscotch, enchanted gold, polysparkle and kaleidoscope transparent....let me add that the butterscotch is a solid, and dark, and not see through and should be used on lettering and i didn't like it at all for this particular project (it just made things darker).


(pic at the beginning of heating with utee and embossing powder mixed)



I had sprayed some Adirondack lettuce color wash on the picture to hopefully brighten it some...besides I just love the lettuce color.


I didn't have clear/transparent UTEE (Ultra Thick Embossing Enamel) so I used the interference blue (the only alternatives at Michael's were brown and black). Well after all the heating and reheating to help thin it out (this was my first try remember) these are the results I got. The cardstock also warped with the heating of the embossing gun and won't go flat (guess I should have gessoed it first). Mostly it was a learning process and I'm glad I tried it after all.







(the whole 8-1/2 x 11 pic)











It didn't turn out as well as I hoped and this will be saved to cut up and reuse at a later date and time for another project instead.


It wasn't a total loss as I really do love the protection the UTEE seems to offer. I also learned more about the embossing powders and which ones are better for which projects...




(doug up a tree...gee i make myself laugh)






so it wasn't a total loss....of course now I'm only 3 days away from Valentine's Day and making a mad scramble to start over again and differently on the project...oh and I might as well add...it's going to be smaller...that was another thing...I didn't like how big the original turned out either....



(me in my skinny days)





oh well, hopefully it will be dry and done before he gets home on Tuesday...**grin**

More Pins

I've really enjoyed making the little pins. The clay is always fun to play with and being able to incorporate it with fabric and beads (have I said how much I love beads???) is just too cool...




I think this coffee mug one might just be my favorite....














these are the last of the pictures retrieved off of the dead camera....I used ribbon which already had the beads on it for the gold swirl....



















the coffee mugs are just too cool...
















I love the face and included a frosted clear bead in each eye for light....she might need more beads though???



















Diva will definetely need to have more beads added but I'm not sure which ones yet....




















this is the mug one I wore at Christmas...the bow is making me crazy with going flat so I think I'm going to BEAD it into submission...




















the face is a really cool clay piece and I love how fun it looks with the bright and colorful beads...I was also able to incorporate some of my flower beads into it....

I used Lumiere paints on this as well as a small piece of copper mesh to decorate it...not sure exactly how I will finish it...I may even add onto it and make it bigger...we'll see. Thought about possibly adding more beads in the top of the glass...it just seems to need something...could just be my need for more beads...lol

Used the gel pens on these and pastels for the blush on the girls faces. Margaret and I split a gigantic box of gel pens...

More Book Pics

Note to self: Put batting or heavier stabilizer on lighter weight fabrics.














Love the pocket picture too.



















Haven't quite finished the page and went a wee bit bead happy on the school picture.

Book for Donna

This Christmas' special project is a memory book for my sil, Donna of her mom. I never had the opportunity to meet my mil as she had passed away the year before my husband and I met. This project has given me the chance to get to know her through her pictures and stories I have been told. It's funny how attached I have become to her and what a sense of loss I feel not to have had the opportunity to have met her. So much for sad, here's what I have accomplished so far:

This is going to be one of the first pages and is of Donna and Pat. Pat loved cats and I've tried to sneak them in some of the pages. Keep in mind this is no where near complete.

A picture of Pat, her Mom, brother Chris and older sister Mary.

Here's one of Pat as a little girl and one of Donna and my hubby Doug. Donna really looks a lot like her mom.