Nail Polishing Mat

I have done a small bit of very simple basic sewing!  

My cousin-in-law and I got together and had a few hours of a private mini sewing retreat.  We made fabric boxes.  But that was all it took to get me into the sewing mood again.

My daughter has a fetish for nail art.  Her nail polish collection can rival any store display.  It really is fun.  She normally puts down an old towel or just paper towels to protect her table surface from any mishaps with those oh-so-pretty little bottles of color.  When I saw this fabric, I could not resist making her a fun surface to work on.

Personally I think if she gets some polish smudges on the mat it will only add character.  

This was only the beginning to more sewing of a few more small pieces that are still being worked on played with.  For me, sewing is play, never work.

Un-Mailed Envelope Art

I've said it before but it's true.  Sometimes I make something that even surprises me that "I" made that!  When that happens, I have to keep the piece around for a time while it sinks in that yes, "I" made that.

In this case it is a couple of altered art envelopes.

I did eventually decide to mail them but could never decide on a recipient.  I just couldn't choose one artist friend over another. 

Both envelopes were created in 2014 and are created with rubber stamps and Distress inks.

I always thought I'd share them after they went traveling to new homes.  I've spent too much time frustrating myself over who I would choose to send them to.  So here I am sharing them finally, but they still live with me.  And I still love seeing them. 

I love my vintage men stamps.  They're my secret boyfriends.

Happy Un-Mail Day!

Watercolor Experiments

I've taken a couple of watercolor experiements and turned them useful.

This one turned into a postcard and went off into the mail.

Even the address side was stamped using watercolor paint.

This one turned out nothing like it was in my mind.  I wasn't sure which way I would use it.

Turned the opposite direction I saw a blue forest across the lake.

I needed a birthday card for my granddaughter who loves skulls at anytime of the year.  And blue is her favorite color.

This is what the blue forest turned into.

I'm glad some of my experiments are being useful.

Twinchie Art

My very first ever Twinchies (2" X 2" art pieces)

I joined in a facebook group Twinchie Swap as I hadn't ever made any and wanted to try my hand at them.  I do have an on-going Inchie project.  A one inch art space is pretty challenging.  Which is why it is still on-going.   A two inch space is much easier.

I started with a Color Burst base cut from my many testing pieces.  I then white embossed a design on each watercolor background.  From there I added punched or die cut pieces also from the Color Burst testing pieces.

This was a really fun project.  It took me a bit to decide how I would mail them.  The Twinchies are placed on this backing card with removeable tape.  My partner can remove them easily, rub her finger over the tape residue and it comes right off.  I love the stuff for temporary positioning.  It leaves no mark behind.  I added a little watercoloring along the edge of the backing card to dress it up some.  I love the effect it created.  So fun when we try out our "what if I do this" ideas and they work!

Of course I had to make an artsy envelope for the Twinchies to travel in.  The harlequin design is done with regular watercolors on a mixed media paper.  The flourish is stamped with Archival Ink and the dots are some black watercolor through a stencil.

I had a blast making this whole swap item!  There are some Twinchie starts set aside here.  I'm toying with an on-going Twinchie project now.  

Like I need another project in progress!

Happy Mail Day! 

Color Burst Butterfly

It seems that if I haven't worked a piece to death, it isn't going to make me happy.  This 4.25" X 5.5" piece began as a card front with a background stamp of lines crisscrossing.  Then I painted over them with a yellow Neocolor crayon.  I liked the start and it sat waiting for what should be next.

The next came when I thought I'd like a Color Burst butterfly stamped on.  I put some Merlot color burst powder on a plastic surface, spritzed with water, then set my butterfly rubber stamp in the puddle, lightly dabbed some water off on a newsprint pad then stamped on my piece.  I liked it well enough until I decided to add some illegible writing.  I stamped that on and immediately was sorry.  It hit the trash right away.  Later I removed it from the trash to try and fix and save it.

I'm not a big fan of gesso, but I thought that might lighten everything and help.  Too light.  I also don't like the way gesso feels and I don't like putting a clear protective finish over it.  I took an emery board and ran it across the whole thing.  Better.  I can live it.  After that I got out the Yellow Ochre color burst and painted what you see now.  That I like very much now.  For some reason I like the sloppy look of it.

I thought I'd stamp words of somekind on it for a card, but I can't seem to decide what kind of card.  Then I decided I really love it and want to keep it.  Maybe I should start an art journal for these small pieces that surprise me.

But here's the thing.  I only am pretending to be an artist.  So I can't decide whether it is finished or not.  Whether it needs something more or not.  I'm also afraid to mess it up again.  What do you think?  Any advice?

When I look at these photos, I don't see anything special.  But when I look at the real piece, I still love it.  That is confusing.