Using Claudines Sticky-Back Canvas at Art and Soul

I took two classes from Claudine Hellmuth at Art and Soul this year. In the first class "The Frayed Edge" we got a chance to play a bit with her Sticky-Back canvas.

In the photo on the left I painted the canvas with Smidge of Blue. I then stamped with a watermark pad. After that I painted with Traditional Tan to get a great weathered denim look. The tan puddles in places to look like an old pair of jeans that got stained.

In the yellow photo on the right I used various yellows of Portfolio water soluble oil pastels and some of Claudia's Yellow Pastel and Dab of Yellow paints. When it was dry I ran it through a Cuttlebug embossing folder. The simmer/bling look was achieved with Perfect Pearls. A spritz of water and it was set.

Until my next post,

Diane

Art and Soul really rocked this year!!

I had seven classes at Art & Soul this year. Two on Thursday and Friday and one each Saturday, Sunday and Monday. I met a lot of wonderfully talented and fun people. The staff of Glenny and Bee were the best. Maria, Richard and Jen set up the best store in the state for those five days. Here's some photos of me and the instructors I had. Later I'll show you my finished pieces.








My Thursday day class was altering a band-aid tin with Lesley Venable.








Thursday and Friday evening I had Traci Bunkers as my instructor. Thursday evening we made our own "silk" screens and Friday was spent making our own stamps.








Friday and Sunday I had classes with Claudine Hellumth. Friday was The Frayed Edge and Sunday was Adventures in Color.











Saturday I had the class Five Books in One Day with Jill Berry.









Monday I ended with Longstitch Variations taught by Chrissie Hines.





Until my next post,
Diane

Another Card for Sid

This is card I sent to Sid in the UK this month. Tomorrow you get to see the ATC's. I selected the theme for our monthly ATC swap this month and I chose Tanda Stamps. Now this card only has Studio G stamps on it. I just love those $1 stamps. I made my own background and then highlighted each stamp. A pretty simple card but I think it looks OK.

Until my next post,

Diane

Stampers Corner ATCOTM Babies

This month our theme for the ATC of the month at Stampers Corner was "babies". I don't have any stamps for that so I got a download of an image from the Graphics Fairy. There are some great images there and they are free. That is tied for my favorite four letter word -- the other being "sale". Anyway I used some scrap papers and Ranger Distress Inks to make them look old. The stamp is from Tanda Stamps a UK company that makes some nice images. I waited and waited until the dollar was competitive with the pound then was able to take advantage of free shipping AND a sale. What more can you ask for? I used an image the seemed to combine with the clip art, tonic and pills. Hope the recipient likes it.

Until my next post,
Diane

TGIF Flowers ATC

The theme for this weeks TGIF ATC at the Altered Designs Yahoo group is Flowers. The stamps I used are from Inkadinkado. I stamped them with VersaMark ink then embossed with clear embossing powder. I used Ranger Distress Inks with the pen nibs to color in the flowers. The little embellishment was from the bargain bin at Michael's.

Until my next post,

Diane

My attempt to recreate Albie's papers

After taking two classes from Albie Smith and really liking the results of what I had created I tried to replicate my work at Art & Soul in 2008. Early last summer I purchased some of the materials that Albie listed on her work sheet. I played and played and played. I've actually got about five sets of papers to create more books for friends and family members. I think I did a good job...now I need to assemble these papers and make them into books.

Until my next post,

Diane

Day 4 at Art and Soul last year

Art and Soul is a five day event running Thursday-Monday but I didn’t take a class on Monday so this was my last event of last year.

This class was taught by Chrissie Hines (not the singer from the Pretenders) but a paper crafter. This little sturdy book was made by using Omni Gel and a really ordinary household item along with some thin paper. You could use decorator napkins, tissue paper or other very thin paper. We stamped the front and back covers and colored them in with metallic paints. The pages are just half of an 8 ½ x 11 piece of paper. Chrissie brings loads of stamps, inks and paints so it was great to stamp quotes on the pages that go in the book. The neat thing about this is that you can replace the pages when you fill them up. Think of this as a book you put in your purse to make notes to yourself and then replace with new pages when you’ve filled up the book.

Until my next post,

Diane

Art & Soul half over - vendor night tonite

Day 3 at Art and Soul last year

While I’m at Art and Soul for the next few days I’ll show what I made last year at this time. Hopefully it won’t take me another year to photo what I am currently making!

The class I had last year today was taught by Daniel Essig. I had made signature books before BUT I had never done the Coptic stitch. This little book had a lot to it. It is two books in one with three covers, one that is shared. You can see in the photo that it opens one way from one view and another when you turn it over. One side was a two needle stitch and the other was a four needle stitch. I’m really glad I took the class but I don’t think I’ll make this type of book again. It was confusing and a wonder I didn’t stitch myself to the book – wait I did -- and had to undo it – how embarrassing. This book has mica covers over some pretty paper bugs on one side and dragonflies on the other.

Until my next post,
Diane

Day 2 at Art and Soul last year

While I’m at Art and Soul for the next few days I’ll show what I made last year at this time. Hopefully it won’t take me another year to photo what I am currently making!

Here’s the photos from my second class with Albie Smith. This class was a two-fer, we made two art books for the price of one. The first was similar to yesterdays but without the paste paper. We decorated both sides of the paper with the watered down gesso with other art paints. When that dried we picked one side to decorate with stencils or stamps using the gesso and paints at full strength. After that dried we made a fold and the secured the pages one to another with a very strong tape.

The second book used black paper as the background along with the full strength gesso and art paints. We then “made” the book by trimming the full sheet and attaching sections. Again, to preserve original design I won’t go into more detail but if you take one of her classes you’ll get all the secrets.

Until my next post,
Diane