Next cowgirl tote bag and more

I finished the next cowgirl tote bag late yesterday.  I like this one very much, too!  Wish I could remember where I got the images from in order to give credit.  I think it was Jack and Cat Curio, but can't find it on their Flickr page.  Anyway here she is:

I created this one with more of a girlie flair to it.  Liked the lace and flowers, but kept the rusty stuff, too.

Here's the collage piece at the bottom of the tote bag.  If you click on the pictures you will get an enlargement so you can see more detail.  Still haven't decided if I want to sell them or not.  Of course, I can't use two of them. 

Hit a pretty good estate sale yesterday.  Here are a couple of the nice finds for my booth at Merchant Square.  I am posting an album on my Judy B's Shabby Chic page on Facebook shortly.  You can see all the finds I have that will be in the booth shortly.

This is such a pretty cocktail dress in burgundy.  Lacy top and just below the knee.  Size 9/10!!  Perfect for the holiday parties ahead!

You're going to think I have hit my head and lost my mind, but I couldn't pass up this rusty, crusty ammo box!  The wire baskets were a freebee from my neighbor who was cleaning out.  I see so much "industrial" stuff in magazines and blogs these days that I can't pass up a few good ones to incorporate with the girlie stuff in my booth.

And old, broken down books.  These two books and old photo album were great finds.  I love to stack the books up and put something wonderful on top to make a decorative setting.  And, if you are into altered books, what better kind of book than one that is ready to fall apart.

The old photo album on the top has never been used.  But it has a "book plate" inside typed by the owner that it was to be the third album of a trip to the Grand Canyon and the Southwest.  Wish there were photos in it!

Keepsake Album with Ruth Rae

What a lovely person and teacher Ruth Rae is!  I really am glad I met her and was able to take her Keepsake Album class at Art Unraveled 2010.  I didn't get finished in class.  But will finish the album next week.  Here are a couple of the collages I did in class:

Love the mica pieces as the burned edges of the organza.  Didn't know you could sew on mica.

Lots of pockets for memorabilia.  A pretty pin on lace.

I learned about a pour on resin that made that music paper transparent and like glassine.  Can't wait to do more of that.  This is my mom, by the way, at age 17.  I made 6 small collages that will be sewn onto the felt pages of the book and then bound.  Will show you once it is finished.

This is another of the little journals that I finished last week.  She will be in my Etsy shop in a week or so.

Prairie Doves 3

Here are the next two pages in the Prairie Doves book. This is Prairie Rose Henderson. She was a champion bronc rider!! BRONC RIDER!!! After some research I discovered that she was popular in the rodeos, made her own costumes, and dared to actually wear fancy pantaloons (which she probably made herself) when riding! Women in the early 1900's just didn't wear "pants" without a long skirt. Prairie Rose found those long skirts just didn't suit when ridin' broncs!! Now there's a real woman of the West! The quote says "Bronc ridin' is more fun than cookin' and cleanin'. Prairie Rose Henderson." I used a bit of glitz that I thought might have been on one of her fancier costumes and an old bead necklace that she might have worn. What a gal!!! Certainly couldn't picture her cookin' and cleanin'!!

Annie Oakley collage class today

Julianne and Kim joined me this morning to create their own Annie Oakley collages. Kris was scheduled to be with us, but didn't make it this morning. Sorry, Kris! We did miss you! Hope you are feeling better by now!Here they are hard at work. Kim can even multi-task while taking a class!

Here is Kim with her finished piece. Good job, Kim!!

Here is Julianne with her collage. Julieanne told me she hadn't done much cowgirl stuff, and this was a first. She did a good job, didn't she??!!

Thanks, ladies! This was a fun class today!

Journals

Sorry I have been absent for so long. With that said, I am going to share with you the journals I made with Kelly Kilmer week before last.This is the cover of the first journal we made. I love this cover. Can you guess how I made the "garden of flowers" on this cover? Inside this journal I mixed colors and painted the pages using an artist's paint brush -- it is a trusty left over from my tole painting days. I was not real happy with the way these pages turned out, but, hey, this class was for learning techniques.I did get a couple of pages collaged and I think this one turned out pretty good. Never thought to use pink and orange together, but it worked for me!This is the cover of the second journal we did. The cover of this one is made from wonderful shiny paper (although you can't see that in the photo). The edges were covered with tape. Actually the tape holds together the folded outside edge of the journal so that there is a pocket on the inside of the cover. I love the bird tape and the silver flower tape. Kelly had a big bag full of different types of tape we could use on our covers.

This is the inside of the journal. You can see the taped pocket on the left side. We used stencils to create interest on the pages we painted.

In this journal I used a different brush -- a cheap 2" wide bristle brush that I found in my husband's can of brushes he used. I liked this effect much better. I am going to buy a couple more of these brushes since they are pretty much disposable when they get too stiff and worn.

I have not done any journaling in these books yet. I think I should. I have signed up to take a journaling class with Quinn McDonald at Mystic Paper this Saturday. I am also going to sign up for Kelly's "Prompt a Day" to see if that will help me get over this "funk" I have been sinking into lately.

Sneak peek!

Here are some pics from a project that I have been working on through my cold-ridden, fogged-up mind. Yesterday, with a clearer head, I did more work on this altered book project and am getting closer to having it finished. I am going to offer it as a class, but first it has to be finished.

This is an altered house book. The idea for it came from the most recent issue of Cloth, Paper, Scissors. I decided to do a wintertime book. As I progressed through getting the pages done, it suddenly became a "flip book" yesterday. Trying to figure out how to view the entire book and not see some of it upside down, I knew it had to flip. As in once you look at it from one side, you can flip it over and look through it again and get a totally different book.This is one of the finished pages in the altered book. I know it looks washed out, but the flash did that. If I don't use the flash, the colors wash out. Hmm! Time to get out the owners manual for the camera and do some research.

Lots of techniques used in this altered house book. Collage, fabric, plenty of gesso, plenty of sparkly things, plenty of recycled vintage things, Pearl Ex (not shown), hearts, angels. The flip side will feature more Christmas items to become a Christmas book.

Of course, I am not leaving those awful red rings on this book. It needs slightly larger, regular binder rings on it. I hope to get to Staples today to remedy this.

Just helpin' out

Mike Putman, a good friend (my BFF and one who "gets it"), asked me to help him out with his beeswax class yesterday at Mystic Paper. So I did. I did not plan to make a beeswax collage with the class, I was there to help the students. However, Mike had prepped a canvas and applied the background paper on it as a demo. He then tells me I can have that one to do a collage with the class. How could I refuse!Here are the ladies in the class hard at work assembling their collages before going to the beeswax table.This is my finished piece. The thing I like most about this is the white script on the final piece. It is stamped on and I love the effect on the center photo. The other thing that you cannot see in this picture is the lovely copper/gold effect on the finished collage. It is done with Pearl Ex. It really gave everyone's finished collage that extra punch to make it special!

Somerset Studio Sep/Oct issue just arrived

Here is the latest issue of Somerset Studio. I blogged a couple of weeks ago that they had notified me that I was going to be published in this issue. I had submitted two Halloween pieces and both of them made the publication. My piece is at the lower right. I also taught this as a class last year. Some of you were in that class and have similar pieces! It is called "Awaiting Halloween."
The next piece is the one at the top. I called it the Paper Bag Costume. This was also on display at Mystic Paper last year, but I didn't teach a class. However, before submitting this piece I made the paper bag dress and attached the collage to it.
I loved the picture of the little girl in the paper bag dress. It was an ad I found in a magazine. I thought that it would make a great Halloween costume -- all I had to do was add a hat and shoes! The wording on the right side says "Her mother couldn't sew; but she was creative!"

Ah! Another goal met for the year!!

Thrift store finds

Well, I have been out scouring the thrift stores to get items for my booth at Merchant Square. I found the following this week:

I found this cool shabby white "lantern" for my booth. It is for a candle, but I have another idea for it. See below!This little birdhouse was too cute! The only thing wrong with it was that the copper roof was pretty dirty from being in someone's kitchen. A little Dawn dishsoap on a scrubber took it right off and it turned out stinkin' cute! It's at Merchant Square along with the lantern.This was my project for the day. I love this bottle now that it is finished. I plan to sell it at Merchant's Square, too. Couldn't take it up there today because the glue wasn't dry. But it will be up there soon.
My idea is to put the bottle inside the lantern. We shall see!

In addition, I bought a lot of pretty dresses on Monday -- 11 to be exact! Most of the summery ones are at Merchant's Square already and really dress up the booth! Lots of pink, black and plenty of flowers. I have a following of teenage girls who regularly shop my booth looking for cute dresses for dances. In a few weeks I will take in a black satin formal gown I found (floor length, ruffled hem, Jessica McClintock for Gunne Sax!) plus another black dress with plenty of feathers! I'll have pictures of those for you later! Really had good thrifting this week!

Annie Oakley beeswax collage

Last Saturday I was asked to assist with Mike Putman's beeswax collage class. He asked for help because it was a large class and I am familiar with his techniques so I could help others. The class was a success!!

Here you see Mike demonstrating one of his techniques for Marija, Cece and Debi during the class. If you read Mystic Paper's blog you will find out that Marija came all the way from Bosnia and took this class with Cece not too many hours after getting off the plane. It was fun to get acquainted with Marija and ask her questions about scrapbooking and art classes in her country. Check out Cece's blog for more pictures of the class and final pieces.

I have added a few more things to my final collage and am quite happy with it.

Note the hole in the middle of the 5 of clubs! Annie was a sure shot! Also note the gold star on Annie's hat. That was her lucky star and she wore it all the time.Admission ticket and tag for Buffalo Bill's Wild West Show featuring Annie Oakley!This corner of the collage has an ad for Gunsmiths Approved Shooting Irons. I thought that appropriate for Annie Oakley.

I didn't blog over the weekend because Blogger was somehow reading my blog as spam and wouldn't let me open it. However, the problem was fixed by Sunday. I have no excuse for not blogging before now!! Sorry!!

July's ATC

The July theme for the monthly drop-off swap at Mystic Paper is "red, white and blue." I decided to do the All American Cowgirl! Fabric and paper collage. Love the ticking with the red stitching! This one's for you, Kim!!!

Tomorrow's class - Mixed Media Summertime Collage

Saturday, July 12 beginning at 1:00 p.m., I am teaching this class at Mystic Paper. Today I will be spending time putting together the tools and goodies for teaching this class. There are still several spots available in this class, so if you are interested give Mystic Paper a call and sign up! It is cool and comfortable in the classroom at Mystic Paper and we will have a great time!This promises to be a lot of fun and you will learn how to use Glimmermist, see how to apply glazes to give your projects more depth and a little color, and use a few of your own summer collectibles! I encourage students to bring their own bits for the collage. It makes it so much more personal. However, I will supply a lot of things for students to use. I have a great variety!

La Mode Illustree slide mailer collage

I picked up this small slide mailer at Mystic Paper earlier this week. Decided to do a quick project with it this morning. I made this little book. Below is a peek inside the slide mailer book.
I used old images from my scrap box, pink paint, papers, fabric (the book spine cover), trim, a stamp, and Stickles. Quick to do and fun!!

Productive weekend

I have been working all this holiday weekend on what I call a "Fashion Folio." One definition of a folio is "a case or folder for loose papers." My folio is actually an altered book that won't be bound together, but tied with a pretty ribbon to keep its contents together when it is finished.The kitchen island is where I have been most of Friday and all day on Sunday.
Plus I have been at my sewing machine and sorting through my boxes of fabrics and trims.
This little doll I had made several months ago, but she has found a place in this folio.
Here you can see I have also been collaging papers and pictures to the pages of this book. Spent most of Friday hunting up paper, wall paper, and fabrics to include in the book. I have sewn or glued them to torn pieces of manila cardstock.

These pieces here were actually taken from an old altered book I made (didn't feel bad about tearing it up!) and a transfer made in a class taken a long time ago. Just using some recycled items makes this folio more interesting. The covers are from an old Reader's Digest. More on those later!

This is a "work in progress." If you look closely you can see that most of the images are held in place with a paper clip. I am still adding things, moving things from page to page, redoing, and reworking. Got lots more to add: sequins, beads, jewelry bits, more Stickles, more coloring. Hmm! Perhaps this is a submission piece in the making??!!