Butterfly Memorial Project

The Holocaust Museum Houston is sponsoring a project to remember the 1,500,000 children who died in the Holocaust.  They are collecting 1.5 million handmade butterflies, one in memory of each child, for display in the spring of 2013.    For more information go to hmh.org/ed_butterfly1.shtml.  They want the butterflies to be no larger than 8 x 10" and they should not have any glitter nor food product such as beans, rice macaroni.  Two-dimensional butterflies are preferred and they should be sent to the museum so they arrive no later than June 30, 2012.

This seems to be a unique project (wouldn't it be great to actually see it?!) and something in which we could all participate.  Copy the template provided here, or make your own.  Just do your own thing and have fun.

Sidewalk Art

When I went into the doctor's office last week, I noticed the pattern and color created when seed pods from trees filled the cracks of the sidewalk.  I took a photo of some of them, thinking it was a unique look at a natural composition.

Tag Card

Tags have been around for a while but I still enjoy using them occasionally.  This card started with the background which was crayon shavings ironed between sheets of waxed paper - quite colorful and no way you can influence the result.  The tag was done with Distress Inks and a stencil.  I added some stamped text and polka dots,  Martha Stewart punched butterflies, black brads, strings of beads and miscellaneous fibers.  The bigger flower is overstamped with text and colored with Distress Ink.

The Variation

Here's a second interpretation of yesterday's card.  I used the same image and background technique.  This time I rotated the image and embellished with a ribbon bow, bands of white cardstock and a punched border.  To add a little more interest I punched out the black flowers and added small dots in groups of three using a black marker.

One Stamp With A Variation

I white embossed this Inkadinkado image on a page from an old dictionary then colored it with a sponge applicator using Distress Ink.  I added ribbon borders and bow and punched out the small flowers and butterfly.  Come back tomorrow to see a variation of this card - same background technique and image but different look and design.

Cloisonne Vase

The vase is a cloisonne rubber stamp by Michael Strong.  It's a great image because it can be cut a number of different ways for different looks.  I colored it using Distress Inks and a sponge applicator and added some punched out flowers.

Collage Card

I enjoy doing collage, adding bits and pieces in layers.  I never know where I'll end.  This one started with text paper for the background.  The middle layer is a variety of ephemera and I embellished with a bottle cap that I powdered embossed and then embossed with a rubber stamp.  I also added a brad and a"zig  zag" of silver acrylic paint.  This one turned out to have a masculine flavor.

Flourish and Flower

Sometimes it's fun to try cards in a different size.  This one fits in a business-sized envelope.  The border punch is Martha Stewart and I embellished with some punched flowers.  The flourish was cut with an electronic cutter, as were the various layers of the big flower.  I added some dimensional paint near the flourish.

Teabag Folding, Kinda

This fold is a bit like teabag folding but it uses circles.  I punched the corners and flower embellished with a rhinestone.

Tim Holtz Image

It was fun to play with stamped images with matching dies and I was fortunate to have the "gear" dies that coordinated.  Since the image seemed to be on the masculine side, I choose colors that were also masculine.  I embellished with ribbon and a button.

Copics Are Nice

I don't have a lot of experience using Copics but I enjoyed working on this image using them.

Spring!

I took this photo in the garden yesterday and thought it as a sign that spring is here!  The wind and overcast skies didn't exactly enforce that opinion but I'm going to be optimistic anyway.  

Welcome, spring!

I'm doing an art challenge with 100 themes and have chosen to make small artist trading cards which are 2.5 by 3.5 inches.  This one started with a photo and "Lemon Tree" as the theme.  I applied a "oil painting" and other filters.  The lemons were added last but I didn't apply any filters so they would "pop."  It isn't like any lemon tree you'll actually see, but it resides comfortably in my imagination.

Circular Punching

If you search YouTube for "circle grid for corner punches," you'll find Veronica's tutorial for using corner punches to make circular designs.  It's quite easy once you get the grid she recommends and it worked for all of the punches I tried.  The flower and leaf image are from Hero Arts. I added rhinestones, lace and ribbon  embellishments.  Think of the possibilities! - and if you can't, I may be showing you more.

Distress Ink

We spent two stamp club meetings playing with Distress Ink.  For this technique we put the ink on a craft sheet directly from three pads, inked up a stamp from that ink, spritzed the stamp and then got three images from that one inking, spritzing between stampings.  We found that a stamp with more solid area worked best.  This is my finished card.

Going Back

I've gone back in time a bit to revisit techniques that I havent' done in a while.  What prompted my return to teabag folding was a visit to http://www.mardarsprintables.com/ where I found lots of printable designs for this purpose.  I did a simple fold but all of the folds are beautiful.

Ocean art

I love the beach - the foamy water, the salty smell, the little bits left behind by the water, the small, smooth rocks, the bits of wood and, of course, the sand.  This digital atc started with a photo I took of some sort of seaweed.  I used a poster edge filter to bring out the detail.

A Favorite Eatery

I have a new little Canon camera that I carry in my purse so I can take photos on impulse.  Today we visited one of my favorite eateries and I took a photo of the doorway.  Watch for it to show up in a future post in a different form.

A New Beginning

I've resisted starting a blog as it seems a big obligation to keep it current and I don't lack for things to do. But it seems to open up possibilities that aren't otherwise available so I decided to go for it in a small way. I expect I'll post just weekly for starters but we'll see where this takes me.