Note Pad Jacket

 I've had the best opportunity to decorate this cute notepad jacket.  Ingeborg (flickr) has made lots of these notebooks and invited me to swap art with her.  She sent me the orange painted base paper sheet and the notepad for inside.

 

 

When I got some new rubber stamps in the mail, I knew right away I wanted them on my new notepad.  So, a little bit of stamping, some washi tape (on the binding fold), a bit of purple ink, a length of Perle cotton, a brad and some evening play time and DONE!  So FUN! 

 

I don't know if I'll ever actually use it for notes, but I LOVE having it decorate my desk! 

 

Ingeborg's art package to me included this notepad she made for me.  (The colors are much more vivid in real)

photo from Ingeborg's flickr photostream

 

I was thrilled!  And so excited to have the basic beginnings to make my own.  I think these pads are so awesome.  Being the recipient of one, I can say first hand it's a great little gift idea.

 

I love having both these pads to decorate my desk!  I think my post-it note pad needs a jacket too.  I also think the tri-fold with the cord wrap would make a great unique greeting card.  hmmm, I might try that next.  Oh, the joy of inspiration!

 

xoxo

Annie

 

 



Journaling

April 2014

I'm now journaling in this journal book.  I love how the pages lie flat together without spiral binding.  Very nice indeed.

 

 

The top of the page is not cut off.  I stamped April so that it would be partly off the edge.

 

I've started out ok and with some art...even though it isn't my own art, but then the next two pages turned out more like a diary look with smattering attempts to spruce it up for interest...which didn't work and is not what I'm after.

 

It seems that scanning these pages leaves them looking dark and blotchy...which they are not in real. 

I'm rectifying the "art" part of this journal beginning May 1st.  The struggle I have is with ink coming through to the opposite side.  The pages are not thin, but it still comes through. 

 

  So, while I finish filling in the next two-page spread, I'll leave you with most of April to snoop through.  It reads like a lullaby to put you to sleep.  I'm looking forward to doing some snooping myself with fellow bloggers who also play with an art calendar journal.

 

xoxoxo

 Annie



Bicycle Tag

This fortnight's challenge at Dragons Dream, Tag It On is the letter B and to include a flower(s).

 

I miss my bicycle terribly.

 

It didn't turn out quite as planned and I made attempts to fix it up, but not quite to my satisfaction.  I can live with it though.  (I couldn't face cutting out another bicycle to start over)

 

This is the back.

 

I'm especially enjoying making tags from mat board.

 

Thanks for the challenge Dragons Dream!

xoxoxo

Annie



Music Postcard

The theme this week at Sunday Postcard Art is

 

Music

 

 

I've had some postcard backgrounds started that have not found their direction yet.  When I saw the postcard challenge theme of music for this week, this background suddenly found direction.

 

xoxoxo

Annie

 



Still Life Postcard

The challenge theme for Sunday Postcard Art (SPA) is

 

Still Life

 

 

I wanted to use this bottle stamp and I wanted to use postage as the bottle labels.  Marei has shared with me generously some stamps from her collection.  Among them were these awful bug stamps.  I don't like bugs on anything.  With the exception of cute artsy bugs like dragonflies and butterflies.  I wanted to remove them from the pile...without actually throwing them away.  Bug Juice came to mind.  Which made working with them more humorous than creepy.

 

Now I need to make this bug infested postcard go away.  Let me know if your are a bug lover and would like to find it in your mailbox?

 

Hugs,

Annie



Bird Song Tag

Still wanting to play with tags, I once again took on the challenge at DragonsDream, Tag It On.  The challenge theme is the letter S (sing and song) and the color blue.

 

 

I stamped the harlequin diamonds on the tag.  I would have liked them to be a bit lighter.  I photocopied a piece of Artists' Paper onto tracing paper then cut out the area with the trees to fit my tag.  The alphabet at the top is Washi Tape and I stamped the music at the bottom.  The bird is stamped separate, cut out and glued on.

 

The back is another section of the tracing paper copy then the harlequin design stenciled and the bird and branch are also stencils.  The words and graphic are a piece of Washi Tape.

 

All very easily done and makes me look like an artist, don't you think?  LOL

 

xoxo

Annie



Art Journal 2014 - March

March 2014

Art Journal

 

 

I'm feeling incredibly flighty with this project.  Although I like best how March turned out, in April I am once again taking a new direction with this daily journaling thing.

 

Thank you Chris for another great art journal page!

An update on my Paint Tin envelope....I've added a paint brush.  It felt unfinished or incomplete to me and now it feels complete.

 

Now if only I could paint for real!... **sigh** ...oh well, I can do other things well instead.  Variety in people and talents is the spice of life.

 

xoxoxo

Annie



Luggage Tags

She recognized her own luggage immediately.

 

 

I have those two suitcases and have been wanting to make decorative tags for them.

 

I love that face stamp but never know how to use it.  I decided to try and figure a way with it.  When I saw the challenge at Dragonsdream Tag It On, I decided to take on the challenge...make a tag illustrating a word beginning with the letter Z and include a face.

 

My word is ZANY

 

I was after a bit of a steampunk look for her.  I think zany fits steampunk.  As there are two suitcases I needed a sister tag for the other one.

 

 

 

I always do something with tag backs too.

 

 

These were a challenge as well as fun to create.  Not to mention making it easy to spot your luggage.

 

 

.. 

Now I'll have to think of more ways to use this face stamp.  But not right now.



 

xoxoxo

Annie



Water Colors Envelope Art

I felt like a real artist. 

I don't normally call or categorize myself as any type of artist.  I just play is all.

 

But while I worked on this piece of envelope art, I actually felt like an artist.  Maybe that is only because I was recreating an artist's paint tin.

 

I am going to say it out loud.  I'm pretty pleased with myself.  This is SO not me.  And although there are several things about this envelope that I would change, I'm surprised I got this far with it.

 

I saw some altered paint tins in the magazine, Artists' Café, made by Connie Govea Stuart.  I LOVE them!  And I thought I could maybe make an envelope art.  I started with just dividing the envelope in half.  Then I drew lines and rounded corners.  The lines are not precise.  Shocking for me!

 

Anyway, the paint pats are too big, the words are too high and I'd like to find a paintbrush ephemera or clip art to add to it, but other than that, I'm so surprised I did this!

 

I want to mail this envelope, but not for awhile.  I have to enjoy it, as I still don't feel like I made it.  I'd like to try another, but I'm not very good at making some things more than once, and the second usually doesn't turn out better.

 

Thanks for indulging me with this post and sharing my moment with me.

 

xoxoxo

Annie

 



  

Art Journal 2014 - February

February 2014

Art Journal

 

February is already gone by the wayside and we're well into March.  I considered not posting these anymore, but I think posting them will help me find the creative direction I'm chasing with this project.  Hidden secrets always seem to show up in photos where we see them more clearly than we can in real.

 

 

As was the case previously in January, I started the month with an artfully created journal page by chrisg62.  To that side I added loads of little hearts in various sizes and styles and I created that cute little tracing paper house.  I'm very lacking so far with the pages I've done trying to compliment Chris' artwork. 

 

At the end of the month, I wanted to continue the page with March.  But nothing I could come up with seemed to fit.  So I really junked it up with a bunch of stamping at the bottom to fill in the space.

 

The only good thing about the bottom of that second page is that I get another chance at it with March.....AND every month following that.  LOL 

 

Eventually I will find my direction.  Trial and error always gets me where I'm going.

 

xoxoxo

Annie