B Yourself

Set the Black Cat to the task of doing the cutting on multiples of a Paula Best rubber stamp, the "B Yourself Mannequin". I scanned a print of the stamp at 100% and traced the outer edge, cut multiples in cardstock, and then hand stamped using a stamp positioner. It was a little off in places, requiring a tiny bit of trimming, but not much. 

There's probably a better way to do this, but I haven't investigated yet.

It's hard to see in the pictures, but I cut three images for each tag to paper-piece

them together: basically the bottom is the whole stamp, the middle is the

mannequin minus stand and wings, and the top is the head and rabbit.

So that's a lot of mannequin that I didn't have to cut out by hand.
That is an excellent thing.

I tweaked a basic tag shape in the MTC program, and cut tags from Donna Estabrooks'

"the Colorful Life" 8x8 cardstock pack, and then cut a shadow layer in black.

On some of the tags, I used the
Tim Holtz Pickett Fence Distress Stain to tone the colors down.

The "B Yourself" figures were partially colored first with various Distress Stain 

colors and then over-colored with Copic markers. Some of them got a final distressing

with the Picket Fence stain. Added ribbon and a little key charm to finish.

These three also got a "believe" stamp, embossed in white detail EP.

I also used the cutter to design and cut an envelope for the tags, which were then embossed with the cuttlebug and finished with a tiny 3D letter "B" sticker. Some of the mannequins got brown faces, for all of us Mocha Divas (saw that on the TLo blog commentary recently, and it tickled me), and the rest are bit more fantasy face.

How does your garden grow?

This year not so well. Guilty of outright neglect.
Next year will be better. Pinkie promise.
Right this very minute I am making a cold cucumber soup with fresh dill. Not from my garden, which has mostly never had veggies or herbs in it anyway. Unless you count the mint that threatened to take over the city. But still.
And I am trying these zucchini fritters from whipped to go along with.
(100 Proof Press (veggies), Herbarium or Leavenworth Jackson? (guano bag)
I cannot tell you how I ended up with a bag of dancing guano (that's bat ... fertilizer). Well, actually I can tell you how I ended up with it ... it came in a grab bag purchase. I don't think even I would willingly buy a stamp of a bag of dancing guano. It is kind of cute, though.
I cut the stamp outline and the shadow out with the Craft Robo.

From the Archives: Soft Block Carvings

Duke Ellington


The Tempest (sweet airs) - carved on one block, the instrument on the large surface and the bow on the side

The Arboretum (originally designed as a letterboxing stamp)

From the Archives: Fun with Art Stamps

Zettiology (flying creature, alpha, cloud),
100 Proof Press (buildings)


Ma Vinci's Reliquary (numbers), 100 Proof Press (ribbon)
and?



ERA Graphics


Paula Best


hmmm... Redhead?



100 Proof Press (dancing elephant), Leavenworth Jackson (shell), Gumbo Graphics (cityscape), Stampscapes (stars)

Zetti Ornaments

Ornament for a ZettiZoo exchange ~

Sewn taffeta body (stamped with Stampers Anonymous text stamp U1-722), domino face (stamped with Zettiology 0101E face), alcohol marker coloring.

ArtGirlz crown. Collar beads are a modified "gift tie-on" from Target Christmas season '07.

Didn't find any more in this year's selection... but I did collect some glass chandelier drops there this year, so didn't feel so bad then...).

Orizomegami

A couple of pics of orizomegami papers that were made by 3rd-5th grades when I was teaching elementary art. (Actually, I called it orizomegami, as that is what I did in an after-school class once upon a time, but really we did a combination of orizomegami (folding only) and itajime (sandwiching the folded bundles in clothespins and binder clips and the like). A book I used for reference is Paper Art, by Diane Maurer-Mathison. We made some things out of the papers... some japanese stab-bound books, little holders for seals they made. And some of them were simply mounted on paper for display. These papers were some of the leftovers that kids bequethed to me (or I fished out of the trash can ... for them it was all about the process, which is something I should get back to! I'm going to see if I can find some of the pictures of the ones we mounted... many of them were stunning. I've used a few of these scraps as backgrounds for cards, like the one below. The bird was designed by my friend Mary for Prickley Pear.

Iris Folding

My first attempts at iris-folding cards for graduating seniors and a birthday. The papers I used for the last two were thin glossy paper from a book of Japanese print giftwrap papers. The top one was origami paper. The addition of a thin gold line at the edges of the folds helped to define the pattern of the iris. I cut the frame shapes on the Craft Robo, though that would have been pretty easy with an x-acto. But these fancy gadgets have to earn their keep somehow...

the sight of stars

A card done for an IOSCA exchange (Images of Color Stamp Art yahoo group). The Somali Woman stamp is from Stamp Francisco, and the star background is Stampscapes. The text stamp is from Penny Black, the bottom portion is cut off. The whole quote is "i know nothing with any certainty, but the sight of stars makes me dream" (Van Gogh).

Catrina

For a Letterheads paperdoll swap, I made a Catrina (Day of the Dead) paper doll. This is her traveling case. The saying on the front of the case translates as "When we live with hope, we die happy". The ribbon closures tie at the side, and a pair of eye milagros adorn the front of the case. That's an Acey Deucey stamp - the one with the guitar.








On the side of the case, the words translate roughly as
"There is more time than life".

When the case is opened, there is a top layer with a coffin-shaped piece tied on with string and a heart milagro. Marigolds, flowers of the dead, were constructed of dyed paper flowers and glued to the case and the coffin piece. The hand milagro lifts out the portion of the case that covers the paper doll's clothing.


















The skeleton body was manipulated in Photoshop from clip art and printed on cardstock. Her articulated limbs were attached with the tiniest of eyelets. It was a little tricky making the eyelets tight enough so they weren't floppy, but loose enough so she could be posed. Her makeup was done with Prismacolor color pencils.


















Before she went off to her next round robin destination, I made two outfits for her. They were attached at the back with little bendable copper strips. Her dresses were primarily constructed of decorative paper glued to a paper base, with various trims attached. The trim on her ruffled dress is a lace-stamped tissue paper, her boa is also made of tissue paper. Her bridal veil is fabric trim, along with the pearls accenting the gown, and she carries a simple bouquet of calla lilies.


















Doesn't she make a beautiful bride? She's off on a round robin. I'll post her new duds and bibelots on her return.

UPDATE:

Cris P. added THE most inventive and beautiful items to Catrina's wardrobe!

All manner of tissue paper Dias de los Muertos miniatures, including a little booklet with a sugar skull recipe and the tiniest papel picado banner...

















Queen of the Rodeo...


















The traditional Catrina hat...


















An envelope of faces...













And more! Thanks again, Cris!

Handcarved Stamps for Center

These were all carved very quickly - an hour or so one night in preparation for the opening of a mini-printmaking center the next day at school. I had a bunch of dollar store erasers from long ago (I don't think they make them anymore) and they are a dream to carve. Nothing drawn in advance, though I did mark the center or divide the stamp into quarters with a pencil. Simple but great fun.


The 3 stamps in the background were used in the repeat patterns below. If you match up the edges, (I marked them for students with a permanent marker on the sides of the stamps), new designs emerge from the edges and at the corners of the prints from the positive and negative shapes in the stamps.

60 Books Project

This is my first page for the 60 Books Project. Sketched with a pencil and then a micron pigment pen. Used watercolor pencils and an alpha rubberstamp set. (There's a message in amongst the letters. Pay no attention to the word "stork" though... that happened before I realized that it's much easier to spell words when you're not trying to than one might think. Why I'm not better at Scrabble I don't know.)
Funny that I heard about the 60 Books Project through a yahoo group - Everydaymatters - even though it takes place in my own hometown. I looked up the details on the Wisconsin Book Festival site, though. My book group went to see Isabel Allende (http://www.isabelallende.com/) when she lectured as part of the Festival. We read "House of the Spirits" prior to seeing her, and will be reading another of her books for our January meeting.

Melanie's page

Melanie participated in the 60 Books Project, a project modeled after the online 1000 Journals Project (http://www.1000journals.com/). Books were made by the Bone Folders' Guild of Madison, Wisconsin, and distributed via the public library system to be journaled/drawn/painted in etc. I made a sticker for her of acetate/gold leaf with a rubber stamp she bought in San Antonio last summer. Her page in the book was published in the newspaper last month with an article about the project. After a year of circulation the books will be exhibited for the next Wisconsin Book Festival.