Celebrate Spring

There is another swap "Celebrate Spring" for which I have been playing with an idea.
I drew out a bird from a template I found on the Internet. I did direct-to-paper with Colorbox pigment inks and added some Smooch ink around the edges.

I stamped some images and coloured them with Prismacolor and Lyra pencils. I added some stickers that my friend Cathee sent me in a recent swap. I cut the end of the tail and the wings with some scalloped scissors. I added the "spring" quotes (Hero Arts) and the little butterfly on the tail. The eye is a flower from a cheap dollar store bracelet.
I was not completely happy with this piece so I made another one and am much more satisfied with the result.

The second one was done by applying scrapbook paper to both sides of my template, then doing direct-to-paper over it with Fluid Chalk inks.

On the Blue & Yellow side I stamped a Magenta Flourish stamp with Vivid green. I took a butterfly shaped Grungeboard piece, covered it in Glitter Ritz and embossed it in the Cuttlebug. The word Fly is also Grungeboard, coloured with Mustard Seed & Peeled Paint distress inks and Yellow pigment ink. The bird and tulip are stickers and the eye is a piece of confetti and a gem.

The orange/red/coral side was stamped with a Magenta border flourish stamp with Versafine Satin Red. The flower is a sticker and I added a scroll die cut and the rivet eye. The brad was added to cover the end of the "wings" on this side.

The wings are Cuttlebug leaf die-cuts, which I coloured again with the Fluid chalks on both sides and added the Hero Arts "spring" words with the same inks that I used for the body.

April Quote of the Month

The April quote is: "Hold fast to dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly."Langston Hughes

I really struggled with this quote for some reason and looked through a lot of pictures, stamps, stickers and things on my computer.

First Attempt: The background image and the frog are stickers, and the little girl on the bird is from Lisa's Altered Art. This was my first attempt and I was not happy with it, so back to the drawing board!

Second attempt: The canvas was completely stripped and painted over with gesso then painted in a deep red, brown and a smidgen of black acrylics. I added some lace at the top and some text paper at the bottom with a bit more of the same paint and some acrylic pewter paint over it. I am still not happy with the overall effect.
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Third and Final: I had some worksheet paper that I had on my desk that was covered in paints, inks, Krylon pen, embossing powders, stamped images and glitter. I decided that I preferred this to the previous backgrounds, so adhered it to a piece of 130 Lb card stock.

I lightly stamped a few more images on the background with Ancient Page Coal; stamped the "Believe" stamp with pigment ink and embossed it with Pearl embossing powder.
I attached the picture of the little girl (flickr-chicks 57)then added the transparency with vellum tape and attached the quote. I am finally happy with this and can now sign up for the swap.

Game Pieces

CC Swaps is running a swap using game pieces; any type can be used. The only game pieces I have are dominoes, so that is what I decided to use.

I covered a domino with 3 different colors of pearl embossing powder and heated it. I then added an image from http://paperflowers1.blogspot.com/ , covered the whole piece with clear embossing powder and embossed it. I had some old jewllery so took one and painted it silver with a bic marker and added it along with a cuttlebug embossed piece.

To be honest I had no idea what to do with the domino at that point and almost considered removing myself from the swap. Then the lightbulb went on-I remembered that I had made an ATC background with plumbers tape, embossed in the Cuttlebug and alcohol inks applied, which coordinated well with the colours in the domino.

I decided to make a notebook for the swap. I took some volcanic ash cardstock and cut it to size for the front and back covers. I embossed Magenta swirl stamps with silver embossing powder, then attached the ATC background and domino. I cut down some lined pages to fit inside and put the whole thing together using my Bind-it-All. It's too bad that shiny or glittery objects don't show well in pictures, as the AI's on the plumbers tape are really pretty.

March Quote of the Month

This month's quote was -" In all things of nature there is something of the marvelous" Aristotle

I decided to use some of my stamps that I have not dusted off for a while.

I started with 130LB card stock and stamped the wolves on it. I then did the "stamp smoosh" technique with Fluid Colorbox inks. I masked the wolves (Coronado Island) and added the scene (A Stamp in the Hand) and the Pine Trees (Stampscapes).

I cut around the stamped piece and made a frame. I attached the stamped image to a piece of charcoal card stock then added the frame with double-sided foam tape.
I stamped the wolves again, cut them out and attached them on the previously stamped area with double-sided foam tape.
I had some chipboard bookplates so decided to use one to frame the quote. I adhered some Sookwang tape to it and then added some Glitter Ritz. I attached it with some brads to hide the holes.
I thought it still needed "something", so I punched out some maple leaves from a piece of mono- printed card stock that I had made, then stamped them with a Magenta stamp that had some texture. I adhered the punchies with some metallic thread to give the look of a vine.

This will be mailed off to Debbie along with the It-Girl gift for April.