It's Friday already?

This week flew by!

Saturday was spent with friends downtown while the auction went underway for the Bearfootin' Bears. This is a small clip which I still have more editing to do on it and you can go to the YT Channel to see Part 1 or more of my bears I've painted if you want.

Sunday was spent binge watching The Walking Dead on Netflix to get ready for this seasons premiere.

Monday we got gobsmacked with rain and the creek behind my place flooded. The water has risen a good 3', it's now coming up on the "high" ground.

Had to go out in the rain and pull back my fountain 
( which is the last gift my mother gave me right before she died) 

Needless to say, I was wet and muddy by the time I pulled it out of harms way! It stopped raining shortly thereafter with a few of my friends having lost their power so they had it worse than me.

Tuesday I reverted to being a lazy teenager...still not sure where it came from but I didn't make up my bed, ate a PB&J for lunch, ate Manwich for dinner and ice cream in bed!
What a bum!

Wednesday found me back in the craft room to make something for today so I could link up to Paint Party Friday! I don't  normally do Halloween art in my journal per se but I couldn't resist this sentiment! 

And of course, the bedazzled horns didn't show up so I had to go outside to get some sunlight on them!

Thursday was errand day which included picking up my Christmas cards from the printer... will share them on another day. :)

Which brings me full circle to Friday and I wanted to share an upcoming coupon for the most unique mixed media store ever!

Gwen's going to be having a birthday and Halloween sale in the shop next week! In celebration of her birthday, she's having a sale on the entire store on sale for two days only -
 October 30-31! 

(Coupon code required )
Pop over on Monday and I'll give you the code!

Sense of self

This post finds me in washi tape heaven!

In Japan, it's known as masking tape (マスキングテープ) and the most renowned brand of washi tape is simply called mt - which stands for "masking tape". The term "washi tape" refers to the fact that the tapes are made from Japanese rice paper and differentiates it from typical masking tape you might find in the hardware store.

Vintage Stamps, Ransom Numbers, Wide Black Calligraphy, Star Woodblock stamp, and Old Letters & DaVinci Writing

Washi tape is actually usually made from natural fibers (like bamboo or hemp) or the bark of trees native to Japan such as mulberry, mitsumata shrub or the gampi tree.

But let's start at the beginning, this is my art journal page that I created.

And this is how it began...

I had some backgrounds pre-made ages ago using the Decorative 6-Petal Flower Screen stencil by Gwen Lafleur. I loved the backgrounds so much that I could have left them as is.

But then the washi tape was whispering my name in my ear...and wow, does Gwen carry the most beautiful designs! And oh look, one of the Darn Good Sari Yarn Sample Packs jumped out to join in all the fun!

OK...so my typing skills still haven't improved but while I was pecking away I couldn't help but notice this little person hiding among the splattered paint and coaxed him/her out of hiding with a little pen work.

I then laminated the piece, punched in some holes and tied it into the journal with the Sari ribbon. Have I mentioned that silk yarn is sublime? 

I doodled with the Star stamp and some Rubbermoon stamps and used my Overstitch wheel/pricking wheel through the paint to create the star trails.

 Thanks for stopping by! I really do appreciate you and will return the favor.
I promise!

When you stop by it makes me feel like I've been crafting with friends versus being by myself and I love that sense of camaraderie between artists.

One of the Turkmen jewelry parts

See you soon, I can't wait to see what you've been up to this week!
linking up with
Paint Party Friday

A plethora of prints

StencilGirl & Tim Holtz Ranger Blog Hop - Day 1!

I love making prints using Tim Holtz Adirondack Alcohol Inks and StencilGirl stencils.  You can just make oodles of background papers if you like...

...or create art journal pages like I did here with Kae Pea's Celestial Grove Stencil and some of her stamps from Rubbermoon. 

As you can see I got 2 completely different pages even though I used the same inks and stencil, check out my video to see how and what I did!

I can't wait to see what the other creative geniuses made with their inks and stencils! Hop along to see and get inspired! I know I am!

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN a prize from StencilGirl!!

October 18: Adirondack Alcohol Inks

Mary Beth Shaw

Debi Adams

Cindy Gilstrap

Carol Baxter

Sandee Setliff

October 19: Distress Oxide Ink Pads 

Gwen Lafleur

Belen Sotelo

Tina Walker

Karen Gaunt

Louise Nelson

October 20: Distress Crayons 

Sherry Canino

Torrie Gass

Mary C. Nasser

Kiala Givehand

Janet Joehlin

GIVEAWAY

One lucky winner will receive a $50 Gift Certificate to StencilGirl Products!

Sign Up for The Scoop for your chance to WIN!

Then visit the blogs of Team StencilGirl and comment for MORE chances to win!

The more blogs you comment on, the more chances you have to WIN!

One winner will be chosen at random from The Scoop subscribers and blog comments!
(One comment per blog please.)

You have until Tuesday, October 24th at 11:59PM Central Time to leave your comments.

Winner will be announced on
StencilGirl's Facebook page on Wednesday, October 25th.

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This week in review :)

1. ATC created for the Japanese themed swap for Grumbacher. 

Used a tiny bit of my hoarded newsprint from Japan.

2. Completed, sent and received my Rubbermoon swap.
Made shrinky dinks for the first time in ages, had forgotten how much fun they are to make. 😋

3. Made a flip through of the above journal.

4. Sent my friend her birthday present complete with glittery mail art. 

Am totally crushing on this huge angel wing stencil by StencilGirl.

5. Made more mail art for 2 birthday RAKS. 

Also learning about phone filters.

This filter is "Prisma Artist." 

Have a favorite filter? Let me know!

6.  Halloween card for a friend plus mail art, still playing with filters...

7. Halloween card and mail art for my grand-nephew. And you guessed it. 

More filter play! lol

Hope everyone had a great week and a here's to a creative week-end. 

Thank you so much for stopping by!

Linking up to

Paint Party Friday

Namaste

Linking up to PAINT PARTY FRIDAY

While there are variations of the literal meaning of the word “Namaste,” I favor the definition given by Mahatma Gandhi: 

“I honor the place within you where the entire universe resides; I honor the place within you of love, of light, of truth, of peace; I honor the place within you, where, when you are in that place in you, and I am in that place in me, there is only one of us.”

We were given the challenge to use Kuchi patches in our art:
Tikka medallions or Kuchi patches are made by the Afghanistan gypsy people. All the visible embroidery or needlework is done by hand so there may be some missing beads, loose threads, etc. because they are vintage. 
Awesome, right?

I admit it took a little thought to figure out what I wanted to do with them until I remembered the wire head I had created last year...or was it the year before? Once I laid out all my pieces on a 6x12" canvas I knew instantly it was meant to be. I rarely do "assemblage" type art but I fell in love with this!

Testing to see how it looks

Even though I loved the bright colors against the white background I just felt it needed a little something extra and by adding some texture with molding paste and the Decorative 6-Petal Flower Screen stencil by Gwen Lafleur gave it just the right touch!

Most favorite stencil, like ever!

 Once I completed the texture part I was left with a border so I "framed" the canvas with some Four Seasons washi tape. This tape is sooooooo pretty. 

This beautiful tape features colorful illustrations of scenery throughout the four seasons.

 Next, I began figuring out how to attach the wire head to the canvas. I wanted to give it extra dimension so that it would stand off the canvas while at the same time giving me a way to secure it o the canvas.

So I added some wire to the frame and then ran the wire through a large wooden bead which I secured with glue to help hold it together while I worked.

 I also glued some foam board to the back of the canvas to create a floating frame, once everything was dried I threaded the wire through it and the canvas, and twisted the wires together.

I also took some of the Tibet Jewels yarn And loosely knotted it to form a flower which  I adhered to the canvas with glue.

Ribbon made from recycled silk saris

 Some beauty shots :)
Did I mention how pretty this washi tape is?

Love the vibrant colors!

The finished piece!

I intentionally tried to keep the piece gender neutral to portray the "Hidden" meaning behind the quote so that it applies to a conscious thought.

The glasses read:

"It's not what you look at that matters, it's what you see."

Henry David Thoreau

Thoreau tells us to not only view the world around us from a sensory input means, but more importantly to see beyond the shapes, colors and lighting to the inner meaning and beauty contained in the world around us. Thoreau wants us to understand that it is often the “unseen” or the “perceived” that is far more important than the “seen” or “input from our eyes”. We must take in the world around us with our mind’s eye rather than just our physical eye.

Namaste