IA tag swap

I participated in the Inspiration Avenue (IA) tag swap a few weeks ago.  I received 3 absolutely different and lovely tags.  IA is hosting a blog hop so we can all see the range of talented folks who swapped all these cool tags.  It was my first tag swap and I really enjoyed it.

Here are the tags I received.

On the left with all the party ribbon, the tag also sports a row of pearls, a feather and a dimensional heart - this lovely is from Kim P.  In the center, the blue tag has a beautifully drawn image hiding in the layers of paint - on the other side (also decorated) is the quote "A light heart lives long", and is from Maggie N.  On the right is a card of stamped goodness in a bright deep red (not the orangey red shown) with "Always follow your heart" on the back and it's from Nancy G.

Thanks so much ladies for making my first tag exchange such a rousing success - I love each and every one!

february hearts

One of the ways I thought of to help me focus (word of the year for me this year) my direction is to select a personal motif for each month.  Whether I work in my journal, mail art, or an external challenge, I'm going to try to incorporate my personal motif - this month HEARTS (big surprise, right?)  I'm hoping that by limiting my focus on the MANY directions I can go, it will help me really explore a topic/motif in all the media I enjoy.

I started a little early and used hearts for my International P/C Swap sponsored by Shannon.

Stitching, practice my lettering, stencils and stamps, heart cut from cardboard.  - I had one extra so it's going to Featuring Magazine in their call for mail art (read more here). You have a few days longer to get one in the mail if you'd like to participate.

Three heart tags for the IA swap using foil on the background, paint, washi, cardboard hearts.

poppy

Inspiration Avenue is back with their weekly themes and this week's is poppies.  I'm dragging myself out of my sick bed to join in - I'm not up to attempting to draw anything but I have some photos I've taken that I just love - here's my poppies......

These 15' tall poppies are a spring display at the Bellagio in Las Vegas.  They were of some clear acrylic stuff that sparkled in the sun.

Join in - share your poppy story.....

APR and IA

Once again my two favorite challenges have meshed in their themes.  Artists Playroom (the 29th week!) hosted by Jenn at Just Add Water Silly is encouraging us to do something botanical.  Over at Inspiration Avenue, the theme is rose.  W-e-l-l......first I did something digital with one of my bazillion rose photos (layers, brushes, splotches, color, cutting & pasting):

I used this photo and a separate one of just leaves as the starting point:

If you like roses, here are a few more of my fave shots:

Okay, enough of that - but then I realized that wasn't enough so I printed a couple more pics and decided to see what I could do with collage.  

These smaller two collages I started with scraped paint backgrounds made at Jane's class at Art and Soul; the top one is on a large Michaels sale postcard, gessoed and stamped/painted, etc.

Hope you'll join in when you can - Inspiration Avenue (IA) and Artist Playroom (APR) are welcoming, encouraging communities of creative folks who want to support your artistic efforts. So come play with us!

juicy dragonflies

No, not really - I'm just showing you my entries to two challenges - dragonflies for Inspiration Avenue and something juicy for Artists Playroom #26.

I haven't participated in either one for a couple weeks so it felt good to have ideas percolating around the back of my brain til I felt like I'd found the right one.  For IA, I drew my funky little dragonflies on a sheet of spattered scrap paper then doodled on them a little.  The background is an advertising postcard (8x5") that I covered with crumpled foil then painted with acrylic - then I lightly sanded the paint off the tops of the foil creases for a great, subtle shine with the bits of silver showing through (which totally does NOT come through on the scanner).  The little teal 'frame' was sent to me by a generous mail art friend.

Doesn't the foil make amazing texture?  I held it to the postcard with matte medium.

Then Jenn's juicy challenge.  I struggled more with this one because most of the juicy things I could think of, I'm unable to draw.  So I retreated to one of my faves.....the pear.  However, I did sort of try a different look....it's on watercolor paper, watercolors, oil pastels, stamp ink dots.

Join either or both of these challenges - each week they give great suggestions and such fun people join in.  To see what others have done for the challenge be sure and check out the links at each site.

happiness is: a pretty door

Inspiration Avenue chose one of my favorite things to photograph this week as its theme:  DOORS.  Travel with me as I show you some of the doors I've photographed over the years.

As recently as last week on vacation, this doorway in Nanaimo caught my eye.

Church doors in Indianapolis, IN

Sometimes it's the closeup version of a door that is intriguing.

Beijing, China - we learned about all the symbolism in this doorway, but I'll be darned if I can remember it.

A Madrid bookstore - one of my favorite types of doors.

Nothing here to give scale, but these doors were massive - 3 panels = the standard door height.  Taken at Alhambra castle, Spain.

This church door in Barcelona was tucked away down a quiet alley - we found it totally by accident (aren't some of the best finds done that way?)

I love this door of a small merchant's stall to a souvenir shop in Rabat, Morocco.

Across the street from the capitol building in Montpelier, VT is this surprising door.  Dan was taking photos of the capitol building and I turned to this instead.

As you can see from this (and from the posts from other participants who all have equally fascinating door images/drawings), doors come in so many shapes, sizes and colors.  Each one has a story and if my imagination worked that way, I'd come up with a clever story of what's going on behind one of these doors.  But alas, my brain is creative in other ways, so I hope you're happy just seeing this selection of really cool doors!  Be sure to visit Inspiration Avenue to see more.

APR and IA share the art

Amazingly I was able to combine two of my favorite challenges - APR (artists playroom) and IA (inspiration avenue).  Jenn (APR) challenged us to illustrate a word.  I mulled all week on what word and how I'd illustrate it...summer, sunshine - nope, been there, done that.  Peace, Love, Happy - nope, no illustration inspiration.  Then I checked on IA and found their challenge is "if you could be anywhere".  W-E-L-L......  I considered my first choices:  home, w/ Dan, tropical beach - nope.  Then, it popped into my brain.

If I could be anywhere (with Dan), we'd be on a Baltic cruise....we've wanted to go for several years and keep planning it and then having to postpone (they're kind of pricey).  So, my simplistic illustration of a word is BALTIC!

I used my spritz color wash colors to evoke the feeling of the Baltic sea (though I imagine it's a darker blue rather than the bright teal of the Caribbean) and then tangled my letters.  Join us aboard ship anyone?

IA: teapot

Inspiration Avenue theme:  teapot.  Well, I can't draw a teapot.  Not and have it look much like a teapot.  All symmetrial and even and dimensional.  Unlike some Aussie friends I could name (Tracey!) - this is totally in her wheelhouse.


But, I do have a beautiful teapot we bought on our trip to China.  I have a camera.  I have PS Elements.  I make art! :)

I haven't used my camera artistically in months - it might be time to pull it out and remind myself why I love it so much!

art journal & baseball nut

Two challenges accomplished though I wasn't sure I'd get around to them this week.  At Twinkle Twinkle, the summer of color continues, each week based on an ice cream flavor.  The flavor of the week is Baseball Nut - never heard of it (I'm not much of an ice cream person, remember?) but the colors are DE-licious!  I'm right at the tail end of posting for this, partly because I couldn't figure out what to do with the color combo.  But I finally just pulled out a piece of paper and started.....and you know what? I like it!

Inspiration from Kristin:  Baseball Nut ice cream


My efforts:

Black raspberry, vanilla and a touch of caramel, 5x7 on watercolor paper......

Inspiration Avenue had the easiest prompt ever:  art journaling.  I have a few pages I did a week or so ago AND I bought a new art supply (shocker, I know!) and added black gesso to my table.  So, I had to try it right away - in my art journal of course.

Double spread using black gesso, stencil of laser cut scrapbook paper spritzed w/ white, duck tape, stripes of light yellow made of ripped cardboard, silk flower bits.....I love black backgrounds so this will get lots more playing!

 Using one of my many window/door photos as a starting point and trying to figure out how to integrate it on a page....

 Trying to save a BAD scribble start....

Digging out my watercolors and playing - skills definitely a little rusty....

Please visit both of these sites/challenges - there's a wealth of talent and inspiration to be found.

postcards mailed

Hooray - I finished my Inspiration Ave postcards for the swap and all 5 are in the mail in the morning, winging their way around the world (Australia, Germany, Canada, US).  I'm sure looking forward to getting mine starting any day now..... :)

No pictures just yet as I don't want to give away what they'll be receiving to those who might read my blog, so I'll share in a few days.  My envelopes look like this:

So if one of these shows up in your mailbox, it's from me! :)

IA hands and may flowers #12

This is one of the rare times I'm able to combine challenges - somehow my brain doesn't seem to multi-task with creative prompts....I make something new for each one (very time consuming), but this time I combined Inspiration Avenue's HAND prompt with Lori Moon's FLOWERS prompt and came up with this.  Oh, and I incorporated Diana Trout's free collage method from my 21 Secrets course..... (all in my art journal so I can accomplish that personal goal of working, playing, trying to deal with banish that inner critic)

A little clean off stencil stamping, tracing my hand, floral collage (from a seed catalog), stamps and washi tape fingernails! :)