Mail Art

I spent most of my day today in the studio restocking things--ATC backs and cardboard cut to size for stiffening those, and then making more of the little decorated glassine envelopes.  After lunch I wrote a couple of letters on my washi tape enhanced ledger sheet and graph paper stationary.

When I looked in my drawer for a fun envelope to put the letters in, I came up empty handed, so I got out a very old map of the Tulsa area and made a few envelopes out of it.

Of course they are also Washi-enhanced. :)

Bug Jar ATC

This is the second ATC for the swap "Something Orange"  It is called, "Bug Jar."  The color is just really off on the tablet, and even after adjusting the tint and saturation it is still sort of funky.  At any rate, you can see the main idea.  I used a new stamp by Amy Tangerine for the jar, and my little bug stamp on a scrap of paper I had used my twinks on.  I layered it by stamping the jar on velum first, then on clear transparency film.  I cut both out and colored on the velum with a gold sharpie marker to make the lid the right color.  When the transparency was put over the bugs and gold lid, the markings of the jar stood out better. There is a book page behind, and another bit of the corrugated I used on the last ATC I made.

Something Orange

Most of the rest of the group has been making Halloween themed ATCs and I hesitated to join the swap because of that, but a little peer pressure and a note from the host saying she would be sure I didn't get a couple of witches in the mail and I decided to join.  Here is my first one:  Peace on Recycled

Ornery was going through some of his stuff over the weekend and he kept bringing me stuff--old credit cards, corrugated paper, little bags of some sort of cushioned material used for packing... I had to try some of it on a project, so that is where the background came from.  The theme of the swap is something orange, and I also wanted to use my new polka dot stencil on something.

Map ATC

This is for a swap called, Map It! and the only requirement was that it have a map on it.  I started with an old National Geographic (1960's) map of Europe. I used QuicKutz to make the airplane with red cardstock, a real wood propeller, and vellum for the canopy.  Then I added the fortune cookie insert which set the tone for the rest of the piece.  Do something unusual tomorrow

• take a trip (airplane)
• try a new food (muffin)
• listen to something different (music note)
• spend time reflecting (stars)
• celebrate something obscure (party blow whistle)
• move in a different way (bicycle)

I made a second one using a aviators sectional map, a similar red airplane and an old lapel pin Ornery found when he was a kid with wings on either side of a propeller.  It will go into my collection. :)

Recycled Revelation #12 Swap ATC

For this ATC, we were to select four items from a list of elements to include.  The ones I chose were:

• something silver
• wrapper from something
• dictionary definition
• something music related
• any brad

Yeah, I can count, but since it was on the list... Anyway...

The silver is mylar from a flight simulator mirror that exploded before it was fully installed.  These things are terribly expensive, but once it is torn, it is not worth anything to them, so Ornery brought a piece of it home for me a couple/few years ago.  It's been waiting for a role to play in my art, and TADA! :)

The wrapper is the nutrition information from some Newman's Own Black Licorice Twists. 

The dictionary definition is the part of the tail end of a 7 Gypsies twill with Friend on it. 

There is a die cut eighth note tucked under things there, that is my something music related.

Obviously the brad is at the center of the little flower which I added because everything just looks better with flowers on it, although I haven't ever seen a black one in real life...  I also added a strip of some of my new Washi Tape!  Woot!  

Once I got started with all the components I realized it would look good if I stuck with a black and white theme, so that is what I did.  I think I will name it "Friends aren't fattening." 

More Cards...

The goal was to send 24 all occasion cards as a gift. I already had two made, so in the last three days I have made 22 cards.  Here are the rest of them... I was pulling from the blue/green scrap bin for most of these.

And here they are all boxed up and ready to go. :)

Three Dimensional Mixed Media Art

Today I got some silks and a canvas out and decided to experiment.  Here is what I came up with.

Below is the piece I made for Elizabeth from an old shirt she had worn out.  It was a favorite and now she can hang it up and remember the fun times she had while wearing it!

Decorating my Studio

I have been doing a bit of work on decorating my studio lately.  We moved the ribbon rack to the inside of the closet door...

Painted one wall orange and made this fun bunting,

Created another bunting for another wall, then made these mixed media pieces,

Here are some close ups of the two pieces on the wall with the dahlias...

Then I covered a clock in feathers,

 made a kite,

 painted and glittered a Scrabble rack and put together the word Sparkle with some crystals on it,

 and covered another rack with fabric for my own nick name, Super TaDa.

Now I am working on a shadow box for my granddaughter...

I still have a long list of things to make.  I think my next mixed media piece will have one of our cute little yardstick airplanes incorporated in it and have a saying about living from your imagination. Stay tuned!

Recycling Coffee Cans

I continued working with tins today, and these twelve one-pound coffee cans with Christmas fabric and ribbon. I used ModPodge to adhere the fabric to the tin, and photo tape to attach the ribbon. Inside the lid, I have placed a single glue dot to the center and attached a piece of holiday paper cut to the inside dimension of the lid. You can see the paper through the lid, but not real clearly.
Inside these tins, I plan to put bags of home made granola. I haven't decided if I will add additional embellishments to the tins, but I will be printing out an ingredients list and sticking it to the bottom. I like recycling things to a new purpose, and these not only will serve as packaging for my granola, but also can be reused to gift cookies or store holiday items in once the granola is gone.

Ten Tins

Well, there are only nine shown here, but I actually made ten... They are recycled lozenge tins, and come loaded with a little coupon book for you to fill in with heart felt gifts of time or services.

The tins are metal, and have a unique design in that to open them you press on the center of the lid, and to close them you squeeze the sides of the lid.
Each coupon book has ten blank coupons in it. The tin is lined on the bottom with a coordinating paper. A label on the bottom of the tin gives opening instructions. :)

These will sell for $6 each.

Map THIS!

Armed with a whole shoe box full of old maps, I decided to make some blank note card sets with various maps cut apart. The three sets pictured here have from 8 to 15 cards in them, depending on how many usable pieces I could get from the map. So far I have five complete sets, with about three more planned. I put two cancelled stamps on each card in one of the sets, but I haven't decided whether I will add those to the other sets or not. I have a go-zillion cancelled stamps--maybe I'll make a few sets with just map pieces and a collage of stamps... hmmm.

New York has 8 cards-- $12.

North Central US has 15 cards w/stamps -- $25.

Europe (1969) has 12 cards-- $18.

Southeastern US (1958) has 12 cards -- $18. SOLD!!

Northeastern US (1959) has 13 cards-- $20. SOLD!!

Leather and Lace Journal

There has been a lot of experimenting going on in the MMD studio today!

1. I hand cut leather flowers
2. I sewed on seed beads
3. I used a wood burner

This journal was very time consuming, but I was on a substantial learning curve!  I don't know how true the colors are on the screen, but it is pretty bright and cheery, and it has that handy pocket on the front to store a pen and notes or whatever.