Pretty Lady and Peace Cranes

The pretty lady in the atc is from the March collage sheet for the ZNE Design Team. The cool background paper is from the ZNE Store "Za Lotta Grab Bag". The text is from an Asian newspaper and it could say that I have a used car to sell, or looking for cute single men. I don't know. I altered the image with the mosaic texture on Photoshop Elements 6. I like that look.

Now..below .....no laughing please, is a fun mobile I made with stuff from my ZNE Za Lotta Grab Bag, great asian stuff. The cranes are from oragami papers I received in that stash as well as the little drum with bells, the back scratchers that became the top of the mobile, (incidentially, I used my cool, dremel tool to drill holes, my father would be proud) and the flappy things. The cord, and beads were from my stash. Who doesn't have a craft stash somewhere in their house? ( If you said yes, I have some great stuff to share with you.) I wanted to take the mobiles photo outside...alas, it is snowing again in St. Louis, there are of course no leaves on any trees, the wind was blowing about 20 mph with 30 mph gusts. I didn't want to chase the mobile down the street, my neighbors think I have lost my mind already, I think it's the pink bowling ball in the flower bed, but hey!

Click on the photo to see an enlargement and a close up of the cranes and other cool trinkets.

I have to see what else I can come up with from this great stash of stuff. I'll post the stash photos later.

Asian Art on the ZNE Network

I remember fish stories. When I was little , say 5 years old, my dad would take me fishing at a pond in a neighborhood park that had been stocked with little sunfish and bluegill. I fished with a bamboo pole, and a little tiny hook and a worm. Dad would put the worm on the hook. One day a fellow was wandering around the pond with a magic fishing pole. He said you would catch a fish on his pole everytime you said Coca Cola. He let me try out his fishing pole. If you caught 5 fish he would give you a button, which probably said something like " I caught 5 fish with the magic coca cola fishing pole. I caught 5 fish and got a button. I just remember that day. When I see fish art, it makes me think of that day with my dad.

I liked doing things like that with my dad. Missing him lots.

This atc has an asian flair and a fish. When I see fish in art, I always think of my dad and that trip to the park. This atc is made with some asian background text, and collage ephemera from the ZNE store. Check out the ZNE Design Team site.

I'm working on some asian projects for something special coming your way over on ZNE. Don't miss out. It is still a secret until March.

More teasers to follow.

ZNE Design Team - Asian Art

New and exciting activities are happening over on the ZNE Scene. Be sure to check it out. As you know I am on the Design Team for year 2 and hope to do a creative job for them. They are a great group of artists to work with. My assignment for March is to do a product review. I don't want to give away all the details until they are released in March, so here are some
ATCs to spark your interest.

First I have no knowledge of any Asian language, and I am going to trust the source of these materials. Take a peek at my first ATC which has images from a graphic novel, funky asian, decorated pink tissue, and lettering from an asian newspaper, and then the same ATC altered with Photoshop Elements.

More to follow!!!

Illustration Friday - Multiples

Check out the fun stuff on Illustration Friday. An interesting art blog with a Friday Challenge. The new challenge of the week was posted on Friday, February 22, 2008. MULTIPLES. And here is my response.



The clock photo was taken on Canal Street from the streetcar window. We took the street car to the end of the line and I shot pictures from the window as we went. This clock was on Canal Street near the French Quarter. I converted it to black and white and did some extreme settings on the contast and played a little with the color blending. (Does it sound like I know what I am doing???)I printed several sizes of the image, but liked these three of the same size the best for this piece. I then searched the internet for poems or quotes about time, for something that might be appropriate. Here's what I found.


Not one
but twenty-four selfgiving hours
Everyday I have
For my use.

Sri Chinmoy


Multiple clocks, multiple hours, perhaps multiple meanings.

Collage Unleashed / Let Go & Just Do It

Collage Unleashed by Traci Bautista is the book for February for the ZNE Book of the Month Club.
Our first assignment was to experiment with inks and paper towels, to use for backgrounds. I used rubber stamp pad ink refillers on top of the shiny side of freezer paper, squirt your ink on the paper and splash with a bit of water, then go for it.




Traci explains her philosophy around collage and the act of creating in the introduction to her book. As part of our assignment we were to think about writing our own book about the act of creating art - what would the title be and why.

“Just Do It” comes to mind.( I know, it’s been used. ) I know we all struggle with things wanting to be perfect, the best, most original. I need to remind myself ,in many areas of life, to go ahead and just try, it doesn‘t have to be perfect, sometimes just showing up is enough. Yeah, we all want to do more than show up, but you have to start somewhere Once you show up you are on your way. Go for it…just do it..

Sometimes we feel like we have to have special equipment or the right art space to make something creative. Just experiment and give it a try. Use what you have,. Learn by trial and error, when all else fails read the instructions, and really only do this when everything else fails. (Now I wouldn’t want the brain surgeon trying this method)

I also think, too about 12 step programs, sometimes I feel powerless in a creative issue, I really want to control the situation, I find sometimes that something more powerful than me is in charge of the project, and I have to let the “spirit” guide me. Then something inside tells me…it’s just right. Call it the Holy Spirit, “Sophia” or some other entity.

So…. my title would be Let Go and Just Do It. It might work as a title.

Madness in the Spring

A little madness in the Spring

Is Wholesome even for the King (or Queen)

But God be with the Clown -

Who ponders this tremendous scene

This whole Experiment of Green -

At it were his own!

Emily Dickinson c. 1875

This is a page for a spring book swap with Red Lead, St. Louis , Yahoo group. http://redlead.typepad.com/ this is their website. The back side of my page has the Emily

Dickinson poem above and some "royalty" stamps from my vast ( too vast) ephemera collection.

And on the subject of spring....just where is it? It's 17 degrees here in St. Louis, and we have what seems like several inches of sleet, and more to come. Winter's last hurrah, I guess.

Stay warm and stay safe!

It's clouds illusions I recall....

Dream on! Keep your head in the clouds....you'll be the first to know when it rains, and in the best position to see the silver lining. (from 1,001 Smiles by Marion Kaplinsky).

I was playing some more with Adobe Photoshop Elements, cropping and trying filters. The photo was taken from the Steamboat Natchez on the Mississippi River in New Orleans, September 2007.

Over on http://www.inspiremethursday.com/ Inspire Me Thursday, they are talking about illusions. I immediately think of the Judy Collins song, Both Sides Now, which I hope is at the top of my play list below.....but in the song she reflects on life,love, and clouds, and the good and the bad, the rain and the snow, the heartache and happiness, the reality and the illusion, and what she remembers most is the illusion.

So here are my cloud's illusions (think shade on a hot sunny day, especially in New Orleans in September,) and my experiments with Photoshop Elements.

Butterfly Altered

"May the wings of the butter-fly kiss the sun,

And find your shoulder to light on.

To bring you luck, happiness and riches.

Today, tomorrow and beyond."

an Irish Blessing

A beautiful summer time West Virginia Butterfly. Taken in July 2007 in Welch, West Virginia in SawMill Hollow. Our church group was on a mission trip there.

I recently purchased Adobe Photoshop Elements 6. I hate to read instruction books. So I am going to just play. Here is one of my first experiments.

Sunday Best Paper Dress

Almost ready for mailing!! My submission for Lennea's Art In The Word "Sunday Best Paper Dress Swap" http://www.onceuponacottage.blogspot.com/

This is a link to Lennea's blog, we met as members of the ZNE Design Team http://www.znedesignteam.com/ be sure to check our team blog here!

ZNE Design Team !!

I made the team!! I will be a part of the ZNE Design Team, for the second time! I am thrilled, excited, honored and ready to go, check back here for more details and exciting art work.

Here is the second image.... and the final image for this project! I kind of like the circle copper tag.

On the ZNEnetwork we are working on the end of our January Book Club selection, The Complete Guide To Altered Imagery by KAren Michel. It has been a fun book to work with. On this project we altered an image with the computer. You'll see the photo in my avatar altered for this project.

I converted it to black and white and then took the contrast and brightness to extremes, adhered it to a scrap of mat board, applied gesso around the image, then used one of those cool multil-lead water color pencils to apply color around the image.

Then I stamped over the water color with an image of a star and angel, it is hard to see in this photo....I can't decide which version I like best.

Christmas Gift 1955

Christmas 1955

1. I made scans of photos from my mother’s collection of my brother and me from Christmas 1955. The photos came out with a blue/green cast to them. I decided to take advantage of that and not force the photos onto traditionally colored Christmas paper. Teal seemed to be the best color to compliment the monochromatic effect of the 50s black and white photos. The teal is layered onto Bazzill, raisin colored card stock. The purple, sort of, complementing the teal in a pleasing fashion. ( at least to me!)

I found a great piece of Basic Grey patterned paper that picked up the teal and off white, and it still gave the layout a monochromatic black and white effect. It at least didn’t compete with the images in the photos.

I adhered a scrap of the pattered paper to a chipboard label (Joann Fabrics and Crafts) The edges of the tag were distressed with versa mark ink and then embossed with silver embossing powder. Several layers of embossing eliminated a bumpy look. I also embossed the year 1955 with silver embossing powder.

I stamped the tag with the words “having a very merry time”…inking only “having a very merry…” from the stamp set “Very Merry” from the Holiday Spotlight Collection. Next stamped the word “Christmas from “Burst of Christmas” from the Holiday Spotlight Collection. I couldn’t decide if there should be some red color there, but finally decided on the teal ink. I put a brad on the tag as well as a layered tree from the “All About Christmas” stamp set from the Holiday Spotlight Collection. Punch out the tree with a circle punch. The tree was stamped with teal craft ink and embossed with iridescent ice embossing powder. Layer the circle with same sized circles in raisin and teal and off set to the right.

Before attaching the year 1955 stamp a circle with the outer border circle from “All About Christmas” using a burgundy ink, stamp the tree from the same set with teal. Distress the edges of the circle with vesa mark and emboss with iridescent ice embossing powder. Layer the circles with same sized circles in raisin and teal. Off set the circles to the right. Attach the stamped circle to the background with adhesive, Attach the 19 with double faced foam tape and attach the 55 to the circle with adhesive.

When photographing the layouts, chipboard items cast some interesting shadows to the layout. It’s worth pursuing this for future layouts.

Dear Santa

Dear Santa Scrapbook Page

1. Use the large star stamp from “Jesus is the Reason” (Holiday Spotlight Collection from Inque Boutiqe) to stamp stars on a sheet of white card stock. Using a teal ink stamp off the ink once on scrap paper, then stamp image a couple of times before re-inking.

Emboss Resist

You can also stamp directly after inking and then stamp a couple of times. You are trying to achieve a stamped background with stars of varying intensities of color. Leave some space for stamping versa mark images. Clean star stamp and stamp a variety of stars in versa mark, feel free to overlap some of the other stars. Emboss the versa mark stars with clear embossing powder. Using a sponge or dauber or paper towel, color the entire page with the teal ink, buff the emboss stars. This is sometimes referred to as the emboss resist technique. It is one of my favorite ways to use stamps, I really like the effect.

Vintage Santa

2. Make a copy of a vintage Santa and child photo (this one is mine, 1955). Mount on teal card stock leaving a border and then layer onto black card stock, leaving a border. Use a scrap of the black card stock to make a strip along the bottom third of the background, layer a red & white textured ribbon on the strip of black. Stamp the Magical Memories image from the Holiday Spotlight collection in black on circles of red cardstock. Position the stamped circles behind the photo so that “Magical Memories” peeks out of the top left and bottom right of the layered photo. Adhere the photo with circles onto the teal stared background.

3. Print your letter to Santa, with your non dominate hand, on white cardstock with a red marker. You can, also, scan an image of your child’s letter to Santa, enlarge the print, if necessary and darken with red ink. Cut the words out individually and space in a pleasing manner along the right side of your layout. Be sure to put some hugs (O) and kisses (X) along the ribbon to the right of the photo. Stamp three of the large star image from “Jesus is the reason” onto scrap cardstock with versa mark and emboss with silver embossing powder. Cut out the stars and adhere to the layout with double face foam tape.


I like the project. I had submitted this page to Inque Boutique, as part of my portfolio when I applied to be on their design team. These Holiday Spotlight Stamps were the only ones I could obtain locally on such notice. I'm really liking these stamps a lot and have sinced ordered some from an on-line source ( which will be a topic of another post later.)

A fun ATC for the ZNE Design Team project! Don't you love the word torrid?