Thanksgiving cards

I got these from friends Pat and Char from Folsom and in Fair Oaks. Thanks for my Thanksgiving treats, gals.

More holiday decorations

Here's the latest batch of finished oraments. The little stockings are stamped and embossed, then colored with watercolor. The birds are on Watercolor paper, collaged, painted with gesso, rubbed back and stamped. I've done these before and used them for bookmarks. Guess they'll look good on the tree this year.

Rubber stamps

i guess I've fallen behind in posting pics of my newer carved stamps. I tried the self portrait again. I like the first one better. Here are some others that I'll find useful. Particularly the little mail man.

rubber stamp carving

I don't think I shared a little something I learned about carving rubber eraser stamps. Or the plastic type erasers. I found mine stuck to each other sometimes, and could not figure out why. I joined the Rubber Stamp Carving Consortium online and asked the question if others had experienced the same problem. Immediately several people responded with horror stories of how their had stuck to drawers, or each other. Seems some plastics and rubber can react to each other and one melts into the other. Some of my white eraser scraps stuck to the bottom of a plastic waste basket by my desk. Stuck firmly. In fact, welded themselves to it. So, the word is, plastics and rubber don't play nicely together. Be careful how you store them. I'll have to go back to the messages I got to see what storage methods people were using that didn't present any problems.

By the way my friend Roberta is starting to carve. I knew she'd have to try it sometime. Check out her work and the rest of her blog. She has long interesting posts with lots of pictures. Here's an old pic of her at the art bunglow a few years ago.

Self portraits

Here are a couple of new one's I've played with in the Adobe Photoshop Elements program. An old version. I see no reason to upgrade, there's so much that can be done with it.

Tis the season

My goodness, here it is again. Holidays and all the associated activities. One of mine this year is to make ornaments for the tree the art center will show at the Festival of Trees at Micke Grove Park in early December. Volunteers anyone? Up went my hand. It has a mind of it's own sometimes. Here is the first batch.

Quilt show inspirations

This week there was a quilt show right here in Stockton. The Tuleburg Quilt Show. You can bet I was there with some friends. We are all mixed media gals, and Sandy actually is the quilting arts diva of the Lodi Art Center. Her work took two ribbons in the show that is there now. Here are some pics. Bobbi, Sandy, and Phyllis are the friends you'll see here. The gal behind the table working is Elinor Peace Bailey of doll pattern fame. She was a kick. She was teaching people how to paint faces on fabrics. One of my favorite things was the self portrait quilt done by a group of friends. That puckered purse was done with a new product that when steamed, shrinks by about 30%. I"m going to get some of that for sure. Do you see the cats in the veggies? It was so clever we had to look twice before we noticed that they are veggies. I could not get a full pic the way it was hung. But, what I could see, I loved. I'm sure patterns for these things are available online.

Thanksgiving post cards

I decided to make a batch of post cards with Thanksgiving as the theme. Here are some of them ready to go. I carved the give thanks stamp and used it on each one.

Collaborations - going back

I'm sending collaborations back to the artists who sent them back to me. Here's the twist. They are going back to different artists. So everyone will get a little piece of art from another artist, perhaps one they don't know. Here's today's stack.

Tip of the day

At our Mixed Media group in Lodi today, one of the members during show and tell, showed us her method of attaching fabric to paper. I don't know why I had not read it somewhere along the way, or seen it demonstrated. Vivian applies a light layer of liquid gel medium to the back of her fabric, then allows it to dry. Having the medium on the back makes it stiffer so it is easy to cut. Then she simply irons it onto her paper piece, book cover, page, or whatever. The glue melts enough to make the bond. What could be simpler? When I think of how many products I've tried and how confused they make me, each one needing a little different heat, or which side to use.... I often avoid making things that require using them, it's such a headache for me. But now, I am going to use a lot more fabrics on post cards. Just watch your mailboxes!!!! Thanks to Vivian and our sharing times in our group. We learn so much from each other.

We were so chatty today and had so much to share - we didn't have any time left to work. LOL

Mail art - in box

I've been waiting for the card from Nancy. Others have said their's arrived, but mine was no where in sight, until Nov 3. Here is her Halloween card. Spooky. Thanks Nancy
The same day I received a card from Carroll Woods. I'm showing both sides cause her skeleton stamp is awesome. Thanks Carroll. Suzanne in Sac sent me a starter card for another collaboration. What fun. Thanks S. I'd better get busy I think I have half a dozen starters to add my work to before they move on.

Post cards - in the works

It is November and time to start thinking of Thanksgiving. And post cards. Here are a couple things I played with today. I don't know if I'll use either of these ideas. I often try several things before the right one grabs me.

A blustery day on Cypress Ave.

It's a Winne the Pooh kind of blustery day. Noisy with the wind chimes, wind in trees, and dry leaves blowing around. Each time I go outside I have to brush myself off. Buddy is having a very slow day, so our little walks in the garden are taking longer than usual. While I was waiting for him I picked an armload of Mexican sage for my DIL and for my own table. If it rains tomorrow as forecast, they will be leaning over with the water weight added. They are about 7 feet tall now and reaching across the paths, even though I trim them every few days. Here's a pic. oops. This post was meant for my home blog. Sorry, but maybe you like flowers too.

Catching up - In box

I've been working on the receiving and database for the Small Works show in Lodi. Finished up today so have time to check the inbox. Guess what I found? Here they are. A beautiful watercolor card from Diane in Texas. Love , love, love it. Also a cool card from Beth - take a close peek. Here's a piece of tag art from my friend Sally, who loves all thing Tim Holtz. I'm particularly fond of her paper flowers and the overall look of it. It goes on my Halloween tree. I know, it was yesterday, but I didn't put it away yet. Thanks gals for these fun things. Another piece came in from Punwit, which I will alter and return for a couple rounds of collaboration. I'm showing the back and the front. Cool, huh?

catching up