Esther Rae's Place to Shine

Rabbi Card

2008-02-13T23:27:00.003-05:00

I made this card for the rabbi and the rebbetzin of our shul. The hubby and I wanted to send a little 'note of appreciation' since they are so very warm, fuzzy and wonderful people. We are very greatful to be able to be friends with them and to have such wonderful influences in our lives, and the lives of the community.

Okay, and it's like the second jewish card art I've done...!!!

Wish Upon a Star

2007-12-18T12:30:00.000-05:00

I liked this one a lot, I'll have to recreate this page for myself in one of my own books. She has 3 wishes - please let me find my price, and we can live ina big castle, and live happily ever after!

More Faeries in altered books

2007-11-15T01:13:00.001-05:00

NIck Bantock inspired collage

2007-11-14T23:02:00.000-05:00

A Bit of Everything Doll

2007-11-07T10:16:00.000-05:00

A little this, a little that...then poof! a doll. She was fun to make. Hand sewn dress, color dusters for feet, yarn for a body, clay stamped head, vellum and handmade paper wings with stars, something for a belt, can't remember what it's called, raffia i think - it's organic! Those cool flower things for back of head, hair type stuff. Hope her new owner likes her!

Rrrrreeeeeeddd.....

2007-10-09T19:05:00.000-04:00

Random Art

2007-10-08T11:55:00.000-04:00

Just some awesome random art, most is all altered books, one is a clip board...and it's an awesome clipboard!

Altered Journal

2007-10-08T11:50:00.000-04:00

Arg, new scanner at work doesn't have a big enough scanning screen, but this will do... so the point is that I've started the journaler with ideas of what to write and some room to write it in! I had some fun with these. I probably could have done another 5 spreads with the ideas I had. So much fun, Kev, I hope you like!

High Holiday Sadness

2007-09-23T13:56:00.001-04:00

The "High Holidays" are always a happy time. There is nothing better then feeling totally crappy for everything you did wrong, really regretting and wanting to change into a better person, setting new practical goals, "casting" your sins away, and if you've done it right - getting forgiven and being inscribed in the book of life for another year.

What's the problem with that, nothing really. The problem is feeling it. I just didn't feel it this year. I wasn't able to connect to anything, most of the time. I wanted to be crying like the others, regretting like the others, etc, but I when I wanted to feel like that, it felt like my heart turned into a stone. I think a part of me was afraid to feel all the bad stuff because inside I knew that I would have totally lost it and broken down, and then I would have been embarrassed. In front of who? All the other blubbering jews that are able to connect to all this??

Don't get me wrong, I do feel bad for all the loshen hara (gossip, and speaking ill of anyone) that I said, and all the other nasty little things that most people without blinking an eye at it. But during Viduy (sort of like a confession, but that's not the right translation of that word, it's really more like a meeting with myself, holding myself accountable for all the things I know is wrong, but did anyway), I just couldn't feel it.

I really should have learned more this year before Rosh Hashanna. Had a better knowledge of what was going on, maybe then I would have connected better, maybe. That usually helps, but this year, well last year, everything got away from me. Plus, last year I was really davening (praying) for something. This year, I had nothing to pray for, nothing to feel undeserving for. Because what I wanted to change was me, but in order to do that, I had to really let go and want it. I had to face the ugly part of me, and I didn't want to own up to that, at all. That's probably why I didn't allow myself to connect to any of this year. Who wants to face that?

Bad me....

Challenging Beliefs

2007-09-23T11:18:00.000-04:00

It's very interesting all the things that come up that challenge a person's faith. And it changes from day to day, week to week and month to month. Last year at Rosh HaShanna, I wanted to marry that man that I loved who wasn't Jewish. And I did, but he became Jewish (I like to call our relationship rabinically and halachahily approved). The ride wasn't easy. And it started some seven years ago. But that's a story for another day.

But lately it's the superficial things that driving a serious wedge between what I know to be true and what I want to do anyways. Like singing, and covering my hair, pepperoni pizza, and yard sales on Saturday mornings with my mom. Or having lunch with co-workers.

So let's start with the food. I've been craving pepperoni pizza like no ones business. That and seafood. A little while ago I was sitting at a red light in White Marsh after visiting my favorite art store, and on my left was a red lobster. I started drooling just thinking about shrimp cocktail, king crab legs and lobster tails. I remember taking my best friends out to a seafood restaurant in Ocean City and getting into a snapping crab leg fight. That was so much fun! Light turns green, someone beeps and off I go. And with one quick Tori Amos song, Silent All These Year, I've forgotten all about it. But it's dawned on me lately what the real issue is behind the food. It's not the food at all. It's all the memories, and the new restrictions. Now I've been keeping kosher and keeping shabbos for a little more then a year now. And it never bothered me until recently. And just before Rosh Hashanna came the thunderstorm of what I really am missing.

Monday - car broke down. Well, it wouldn't start. My husband comes over tries to jump start it, no luck. Checks this and that, no luck. I'm not upset at all either, this happens no problem. But then he says, "Sorry honey, we'll have to have Dad look at it and if he can't figure it out, we'll have to find the money to get it towed." I said okay, and asked for a ride to work. After all, it is bowling day at work. I do love my job. We're having our company outing today... He said it would cost too much to take me to work and back to Baltimore, and back to get me and back home. And since he makes more money then I do, it's cheaper for me to stay at home. And of course, he's right. He's right to any logical person. But I'm a woman. An emotional being who really is hearing, my job is better, I make money in this family, you stay home since you don't make crap for a living. Yuck!! I should have listened to HaShem and my husband....but I didn't, so here's the rest of the day...

So I call my boss and he doesn't want me to miss bowling day either, so he comes down to pick me up and takes me to work. Now, we get their around 10:30am and do some work. And when it comes time to figure out what we're doing, a co-worker says, I have to leave a 3. Since it's now 12:30 that's enough time to go bowling if we don't want to eat lunch. So we decide on lunch. Or they decide on lunch since I work in Westminster where there is no kosher anything anywhere. I was fine with this decision because they could get carry out and have lunch at the office and all sit around the table and laugh and joke and gripe about things. But they didn't. They went to Applebees. One person didn't want to get carry out. They wanted to sit down and eat there. And they know I couldn't go....but they chose that anyways.

So i didn't go.

They went out on a company outing and all had a great time, released some steam, and I sat in the office, crying my eyes out with the decision I made to keep kosher and all that it entails, while eating some tuna. I didn't start out kosher when I worked there either, so I used to go with them. Applebees has great cheese sticks.

These decisions I make separate me from everyone. My co workers, my family my friends. Who doesn't go out an eat whenever and have a great time. And they don't understand. And why should they?

That's what hurts. That's the challenge. To stick to your beliefs when it comes to something as simple as you stay at the office alone, when they go out for lunch. I know it's petty and really silly, but it still hurts. And it makes me question what I'm doing, and why.

I don't usually stay in this frame of mind for long, but I've been here for about 2 weeks....

Shipping tags

2007-09-21T12:16:00.001-04:00

Thorn Hailfrost

2007-09-04T21:03:00.000-04:00

Your fairy is called Thorn Hailfrost

She is a protector of the lonely.

She lives in brambles and blackberry bushes.

She is only seen during the first snow of winter.

She wears purple and green like berries and leaves. She has cheery turquoise wings like a butterfly.

Get your own fairy name here!

I love these things

My New Altered Journal - Soul Catcher

2007-09-03T23:45:00.001-04:00

More Altered Book Pages

2007-09-03T23:43:00.001-04:00

Soul Journal

2007-08-03T13:41:00.000-04:00

So I'm really into these art journals, it's great therapy for cheap, and I feel great afterward. This journal which is about to leave home today is for artists to express feelings deep in their soul and left out some fun, dark, whatever art comes out! Can't wait to see what comes home....

Dreams and Fantasies

2007-08-03T13:34:00.000-04:00

This is such a fun book...it came back home, thank you g-d, I did a couple of spreads and redid the covers and now she's going back out!

I'm Back, I'm Married and I'm ready to alter!

2007-07-29T23:40:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone,

Well, I went away for a while, but all for wonderful reasons. I got engaged the beginning of March, married May 6, moved out of my apartment, went to Israel for 6.5 weeks, came back and moved into a new apartment with my husband!!

I'm starting to work on a few projects once my art table is in order (this week if he puts up the shelves tomorrow!!):

Altered Bras
Altered Wands
More altered books and Journals
And Faeries trapped in little bottles - thanks to Lisa Vallroth

More to come soon,
Copper

Iron Gates and Sunflowers AB

2007-02-14T11:58:00.001-05:00

Seasons AB Spread

2007-02-13T11:03:00.001-05:00

Cinquain and Haikus

2007-01-30T00:22:00.000-05:00

More Little Pieces of Art

2007-01-30T00:21:00.000-05:00

How Many People Have Your Name?

2007-01-03T21:13:00.001-05:00

HowManyOfMe.com

There are:
0
people with my name
in the U.S.A.

How many have your name?

White

2006-12-28T00:13:00.000-05:00

Paperdoll Mermaids

2006-12-19T18:04:00.000-05:00

Top is the left side, bottom is the right. I had sooooooooooo much fun making these really cool paperdoll mermaids. The theme for this book was Paperdolls. I didn't know what do since I am NOT a doll person. So I took the idea to a different level - and since the owner of this books loves mermaids, I think she'll like it too!

Here's my sign in tag, the fibers covered up her face during the scan, oh well!!

Cheers Dahlin'

2006-12-19T18:01:00.000-05:00

AAO has turned one years old! Here's an ATC I made for the anniversary ATC book some of us on the group are participating in. Can't wait for the book to come home!!

My Precious Pins

2006-12-08T00:41:00.000-05:00

I think these pins turned out very cool. The scans, once again, do not do these justice. The top four are my new stamps from www.TheEnchantedGallery.com Which is a very cool website with great original stamps and molds . The bottom two are done on stampbord. Cool stuff!!

Pretty Faerie

2006-11-27T12:43:00.000-05:00

Check Out My New LINKS!!

2006-11-27T12:23:00.000-05:00

YAY!! I finally figured out how to add links to my blog. I have been trying to this off and on for months. I just was not computer literate enough to get all this blogging stuff down, but not anymore!! I have mastered the art of adding links!!
Please go enjoy linking to some of my favorite artists. Just look to the right and scroll down a teeny bit... have fun!! If you want me to add your site to my links, send me an email.
:O)

Claudine Hellmuth - I LOVE YOU!!

2006-11-14T22:06:00.000-05:00

I really love it, when I buy an artists technique book, try an actual technique right out of their book and it works - on the first try!! Thanks for the great instructions on peeling paint Claudine Hellmuth!! I really like the way this spread turned out. I WILL be duplicating this technique again! :O)

Zettiology??

2006-11-14T21:59:00.000-05:00

Okay, here is my first attempt at 'Zettiology'. I'm not sure if I've got it yet, but I have decided that I do like, and those striped arms and legs stamps are pretty fun.

Found Objects Doll

2006-10-20T11:33:00.002-04:00

She was a mermaid waiting to be made from odds and ends that I found around the house and on my desk! This is my first attempt at really making a doll. I think she came out really nice. She is made to be hung on the wall. I kind of wanted to keep her. But, it's for a swap, so out she will go! Have fun at your new home!! I can't wait to see what comes back.

So, from head to fins, she's made out of:
Ribbons
Wires
Vellum Tags
Formica Chips
Metal Stars
Misc Papers
Beads
Metal Square
Used Bottlecaps
Acrylic Paints
Fibers
UTEE
Sequins
Stones
Buttons
Paperclips
Clay

Doors and Windows

2006-10-12T01:55:00.000-04:00

So, they didn't scan the greatest, but the images are all stamped onto transparencies (except red spread) then they have alcohol ink behind them, and then a layer or two of white paint so you can see the stamped images. Looks neat in person ;O)
copper

100 one by one inch Collages

2006-10-06T17:13:00.000-04:00

I've really lost it this time. I did 100 1x1 inch collages. It was fun though. So this is for a swap, I think there were like 25 or 30 people involved. We all did 100, so I'll get back some of mine and some of theirs. Then I will mount them on something, 10x10 square rows/columns. The swap isn't due until the middle of November, so I'll just have to wait for a while and see what comes back!

The Rarest Flowers....

2006-09-21T17:32:00.000-04:00

I really like this page, I think it is so pretty in person. It didn't scan the greatest, there is no murky dark spot. And everything is coated with a beautiful pearly white with some silver glitter. I really love the vintage lady. The stamps are all from Close to my Heart, not a company I use a lot, but I really loved these stamps. Of course, they were from last years catalog. Enjoy, I can't wait to get this chunky book back!! White is my new fa

Brown Chunky

2006-09-17T23:44:00.000-04:00

Front and Back pages for a Brown Chunkybook. I think this one turned out nice, and the glitter was a really nice touch.

Fabric Painting

2006-09-17T23:42:00.000-04:00

Well, this is my second attempt for Fabric Painting. I actually swapped this baby out....I think it would look good framed on a wall....
:OP Copper

More Altered Books...

2006-09-15T12:51:00.000-04:00

I think this is such a cool cover! I had Ben Cut the outside of the book into the shape of a moon. But only the front Cover. The Back is rounded, but the inside isn't cut out. Then I cut the inside pages at a curved angle to add more interest. It's really pretty in person. When I get my altered books ready to go, I do some of the cover, a sign in page and one spread to set the tone. I try not to go over and beyond because then I get attached to my book, and I'm always a little nervous that I won't see my books again. I have that with one round robin now...

This book is about dreams and fantasies.

This is going to be my Alphabetica book. The cover isn't much to look at, but it is purple velvet with paint at this point. The emphemera for the cover is pretty bulky, so I do that when it comes home.

Since I don't know how many people will work in this book (it's going for a few rounds) I made the sign ins pretty simple.

I think this spread is much nicer in person. There is beading all done around the edge of the left that didn't scan. And pretty glitter on the flower!

Collage Canvas' for Wall Hangings

2006-09-13T21:12:00.000-04:00

Dark Brown, Magenta, Beige and Antique White
Yellow, Plum, Pink and Pearl

Orange, Blue, Red and Brown

Beige, Rust, Green and Ivory

Green, Yellow, Sepia and Turquoise

The idea is this: two groups, 10 people in each group. Each person chooses a color. I chose Sepia for one group, and for another I chose Pearl White/Interference Colors.

Then, each person does a 4x4 collage using the colors each person chose in their group. When finished, we mail them to the awesome host, who will punch the corners and arrange them in a pattern so that when we get them back we will have a wall hanging - consisting of 10 4x4 done in your choosen color by everyone in your group (including your own).

I'll take a pic when it comes home!!
copper

Where Have You Been?

2006-08-31T19:39:00.000-04:00

Another spread in an altered book that I did recently. I'm trying to work on my collages, making them simple and not so cluttered. What do you think? I think this one turned out pretty good! :O)

Mother Earth Spread #1

2006-07-18T11:44:00.000-04:00

I like this one, a lot. This spread is in a Mother Earth Altered Book that I'm working in right now. All the colors on the right are lumiere paints. The burgundy is just gorgeous.

I have another spread almost done, I just need to finish the tags. It didn't scan the best, it's brighter and there is no green it in!!

Then, I have one more spread I'm going to work on using Stamp Zia's ladies and symbols. It's going to be fab!

The Recipe for Beauty

2006-07-11T18:05:00.000-04:00

The quote is beautiful, sorry for the blur. Handpainted frame, watercolor background and hibiscus flowers and watercolor and twinkling H20's used on the lady. Little square mirrors for accents - and viola - a nice hanging birthday present for a dear friend!

D is for Dreamers

2006-07-11T17:57:00.000-04:00

I'm in a new group on yahoo - clothpaperstudios. We're doing a 4x4 paperbased alphabet. 8 people in each group, with each person choosing 3 letters and doing 8 of each letter. I chose D, M and Q. Here is my D!! I really like, it's even brighter in person.

Front (left):
Hand painted backgrounds with acrylic paint and washed with some water.
Hand stamped designs, embossed in clear.
Hand painted and hand glittered mesh - or drywall tape!
Watercolor painted glass slides over the one image and glued down to get blur effect.
Hand stamped with acrylic paint letter D.
Star brads.

Back (right):
Hand painted backgrounds with acrylic paint and washed with some water.
Hand stamped designs in brilliance white, embossed in clear and looks like a watermark. It's the design on a moon, in a circle with stars - did not come up very well in the scan, but looks really cool in person.

Photo Slide Book

2006-07-05T14:13:00.000-04:00

This is a Photo Slide Book that I worked over the weekend. I really liked it alot, it was sooooo incredible hard to let this one go. But I have more slides, and the techniques used was not hard at all. Now, it's really straight, but it's too long for the scanner.

1. Painted slides with 4 colors acrylic ink, yellow, lime green, light blue and pinkish/purply color.

2. Stamp womens faces on transparencies.

3. Used alcohol inks on back of transparencies for added color.

4. Used white acrylic paint on the back of the alcohol inks (when dry) so you could see the images.

4. Glued images into slides.

5. Punched Holes into slides and added star brads.

6. Glued slides to piece of fabric.

Done! Now I need to go make more....

Altered Canvas

2006-06-28T22:18:00.000-04:00

It's the new rage - everyone's doing it...

It's a shame, because these are so much brighter in person.

Esti's Picasso

2006-06-20T18:47:00.000-04:00

Click on this link:

http://www.mrpicassohead.com/canvas.html?id=00abbc3&skin=original

More Textured Puzzles

2006-06-12T23:25:00.000-04:00

So i have this really cool stuff called 3D molding paste. And for the first time - I put that baby to use! I have a great brass cherry tree stencil and smeared the stuff all over it. Then I just painted colors on top to whatever the person wanted. I like the one puzzle standing alone the best.

Worn and Hopeless Jeans Swap

2006-06-12T23:14:00.000-04:00

I joined another swap (surprised?) where i take a piece of demin, and alter it to fit a person's theme.

This month is was birds. Not exactly my forte - but alas, I have done it.
Once again I achieved perfection.

:O) Just playin!! :O)

I'm so not a bird person, so I really winged it on this one. LOL, didn't mean for the pun! "I'll fly away" was a song I heard by Alison Crouss the whole time I was paintin my birdies, so I felt it right to include those words. So here it, enjoy!

Altered Shirts

2006-06-12T20:06:00.000-04:00

I've, done it - I've altered my clothes. Have I lost my mind?? Last month I had some friends over for some fun times. I have really wanted to start painting on clothes, and this was my first attempt. I had so much fun. More time went into planning then anything. I had the darnest time trying to do a straight square shape with the tape, so I went for a trapazoid and then a stain glass effect. I think it turned out great - remember, this was just my first attempt - they always get better!!

This is me in my shirt. I can't believe i posted a pic of me. Okay now, stop laughing and just look at the shirt.

This is one of my good stamping friends and the great sweater she did. Isn't she and her shirt just gorgeous?!?

More to come in time...
...nothing is safe from my hands and paint!

Watercolored Spring Spreads

2006-06-09T12:00:00.000-04:00

Okay, so it's almost summer now, but I got these great zia stamps, and I HAD to use them!! I love her stamps, and her color wash jewels - that's all I used (okay, and a little bleach!) to do these spreads.

First is the sign in. It's the size of an ATC. You've got the front, and the back.

Next, the first spring spread. Light colors, spring flowers and spring chinese symbols. I really like the fluidity of watercolors, and felt that it was perfect for a spring spread.

I really like her cherry trees branch, it works with so many things.
Of course, in person, these spreads really pop! There is a lot of intensity with these watercolors that you just can't scan in. Words are all handwritten for the effect of fluidity - that's a fun word, i wonder how many more times i can use it....

Okay, these filled with more symbology for spring. We've got the zodiac signs, some water and air symbols and more watercolors and flowers. Aren't those water lillies gorgeous?

I had a bit of trouble with the dragonflies, they turn out quite the way I would have liked, but they are still lots of fun and very colorful! I got to intense with the wrong colors, so I used some bleach and backed out those colors.

These were a lot of fun to do, even though my heat gun died on me!! Hope Kevin likes them!!

My Faerie Tale Altered Book

2006-05-19T14:16:00.000-04:00

I've started another round of altered books. My theme - Faerie Tales. These are the sign in pages. What I'm having each player do (there are 12) is choose a faerie. Then they have to write about why they choose that faerie!! They can add anything they want to the pages just as long as it doesn't interfere with anyone else's page. Here are the faerie pages, I'll upload mine as soon as I finish! I think they will LOVE this - at least, I hope they will. I think this was a pretty clever and original idea for sign in pages. :O) The pages are all in order too, so as you scroll down, it's like flipping the page.

Stampboard

2006-05-18T17:27:00.000-04:00

StampBoard is pretty cool. Here is one that is the size of at ATC (2.5 x 3.5). I used a direct to stampboard inking with versa magics blues and greens, then I used a davinchi lady stamp that i have and stamped her in black staz on. Heat set with my blow dryer because my heat gun died :O( then used the tool to scrap away the color I had added so where I scrapped - it's white. I put magic tape around the outside edges and dipped it in purple glittler - you know how I like to make things sparkle!

I tried to make her whole head stand out from the backgroud and then just accent her features and hair. I made 2 more for my "Art By The Month" group. I hope they like it!!!

These Hands

2006-05-18T09:39:00.000-04:00

Hello, I did a really cool swap where our Hands were the size of the book. I did the covers and my own pages. Since there were only 5 participants, including myself, doing 5 sets of left and right hands, front and back and all origionals was not that difficult.

This is the cover, the inside has everyone who participated on each finger. They are made out of very thin cardboard, or chip board and just hand painted. Everyone has the first letter of their name and the 'H' in hands done with flexible wax and the rest are stickers or hand done.

These are my outside pages. I call my spreads "Eclectic Oriental" LOL!!! I used Stamp Zia's oriental chop stamps, and then just lots of asian emphemera that I had lying around. Each page is a little different depending how many of what I had. I really liked the fortune cookie sayings a lot, they were perfect for the fingers. I used Stampin Up brushed copper cardstock - SU has the BEST cardstock hands down!

And these are the insides. I really like them, I used lots of silver and verdigo embossing poweders (they made such a mess in my living room - my vacuum has never been prettier!) I used Stamp Zia's Ginko and Luna Moth Stamps, and filled them in with puffy fabric paints.

They were a bit time consuming, but that was mainly in the planning, I had a lot of fun though. Can't wait to see what comes back!

Spring Seasons Spreads

2006-05-10T14:28:00.000-04:00

Hello, I've been at it again, here are my spring spreads for the season's round robin. This is the first page of the spread. It's on the right side of the book.

When you flip the page, you see the full spread, here is the page on the left.

Here is the page on the right.

And here is the page on the back. What 'Who Has Seen the Wind' poem is one that I had to memorize in the fourth grade!

Loop and Ladder Bracelet

2006-05-08T15:03:00.000-04:00

My very own, loop and ladder bracelet. I did this at The Queens Ink with a wonderful teacher - Anne Townsley. It took be about 12+ hours, but I had a lot of fun, and I can't wait to show this baby off!!

Altered Puzzle Pieces

2006-05-05T17:51:00.000-04:00

These are some altered puzzle pieces. They were a lot of fun to do, cheep to get and look great as pins, or put back together in a puzzle. The single peices were all part of one swap. 12 of us got a 12 peice puzzle and mailed out 11 of those to the other participants in the group. We had to choose a color and put that on the back of the peice as well as which side up the top. (I choose "cool colors") This swap was called Texture Puzzle. The goal was to have some sort of touchable texture on each peice. I used either UTEE or gesso and paint as my textures to use. It was fun!! Then there is one whole puzzle I did some time back thrown into the mix here too.

Puzzle Piece

2006-05-02T16:26:00.000-04:00

Here's an ATC that I made today. I made 10 of them for a swap I'm in. I used black cardstock, then painted swishes of lumiere paints. Stamped the card in brilliance and stamped the puzzle pieces with staz on and then painted over with some lumiere paints. Hope everyone likes it!

Winter Spreads

2006-04-26T11:26:00.000-04:00

Another spread completed!! I received 3 books from across the pond last week, and I've completed one spread for one book out of the three so far. I only did one spread because I used 5 & 1/2 pages of the book!
These are for the Seasons RR I'm in. I don't want to bog down the next lady, so I'll send her a book every week or so and that will get the group going again. Can't wait to finish this round and get my book back!! I miss it...sniff...sniff...

I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON I WON!!!!

2006-04-24T16:08:00.000-04:00

This is about 7x9 and in my living room!! IT's not a card, it's on 2 peices of mat board.

Click here: http://www.rubberstampsclub.com/winners-march06.html

Vintage Spreads

2006-04-24T15:44:00.000-04:00

Sniff...sniff... these are the last two spreads for one of my Round Robins. I'm sad that it's over, but it was great. We had some awesome themes, I think the "In a Galaxy far far away" was one of my favs...I really had to go find stuff for that one! Oh and the beatles book!

This spread was done with me aging the papers with walnut inks and embossing powders. I used handmade paper and the chick is on a transparency held by those cool paperclips. The right side is all cut out. About 15 pages worth, and the middle thing is a pin that i found in a thrift store, I covered it with those micro beads for texture, and added fringe to complete the page.

When you turn the middle thingy over, you get the travel part of the vintage travels page. I used tons of misc stuff, stickers, mirrors, papers, aged the book part of the paper, and embossing powders for texture.

Okay, this is spread is a little bead happy!! I called it "memories of old" There just tons of old stuff on it. Old pic of people dancing, which I aged myself, old stuff on the Cd, The backgroud is this thick ribbon i found, which i heat set and it got all holey and aged looking, and the beads are just for fun!!

What have I done....

2006-04-09T02:00:00.000-04:00

I started my own group on yahoo....

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thealteredartgroup/

I'm really excited about it!! If you're into altered books swaps, or anything altered art, chunky books, card swaps, atc, come check us out. It just started, but we are going to be doing an Altered Book Round Robin. Choose your own theme, BUT it's a technique book!! Ahhhhh, how cool is that? Ton's of techniques in whatever theme you choose. I chose fairytale.. It's going to be so much fun!!

Copper

Altered Journal

2006-04-04T09:37:00.000-04:00

Here is the front of an Altered Journal I did for a swap. I sent this to someone who really inspires me and sends me some of the most beautiful swaps.

I'll post the inside cover and the back as soon as blogger allows me too!!

In a galaxy far far away...on the front and back of a CD anyway!

2006-04-02T13:13:00.000-04:00

This one's for you CM, I hope you like it!!

Faerie Cd front and Back

2006-04-02T11:09:00.000-04:00

Another one I didn't want to give away....

Life is better today :O)

2006-04-01T13:15:00.000-05:00

Okay, I feel much better today. Eyes are okay, I'm back to working on my swaps. I've even done a couple today that I think are pretty good!! Check 'em out:

This is a spread I did for a Beatles book. I picked my favorite song, Blackbird, and did an abstract painting.

Here's the tag I made for the book, I added fibers after I scanned it:

And here is a Dance Cd I made for an altered cd swap. It didn't scan very well, I almost don't want to mail this one!! This cd is the one making up for a cd I didn't really mean to send out. I hope she likes it!!

Will add more stuff later!!!

I need a hug and some chocolate....

2006-03-30T23:39:00.000-05:00

Okay, I think I have now completely screwed up so many things, i don't even know what to say, every time I try to say something, i just sound rediculous. For instance - I've sent swaps out the weren't completed. What the hell? That's not me. I'm behind on a few swaps because I just can't seem to get inspired. I keep joining new ones because I can't resist and I keep thinking - my muse will come back...and hopefully it will bring my brain back with it!!

I don't know what the real deal is with me these days...i think it's the migranes. They're horrible. I went to the eye doctor, she said bifocals...bifocals at 25 (in may)...rough. So I got bifocals, I had them a week...getting kind of used to them, but not really. I can't consentrate on my swaps to long because it hurts my eyes, which hurts my head...which makes me want to cry because doing the swaps is my own personal therapy (can't afford a real one, that would take up my art money).

I do have an appointment with the opthmologist - eye surgeon, because my eye doctors thinks there is some serious issues with my eyes - high pressure...blah...blah...blah...migranes....my eyes ache... I hate the eye doctors, I hate what they put you through....I can't even put drops in my eyes...hey, some people hate needles...i hate eye doctors. Ben is going with me to hold my hand...i love him.

Last weekend, I couldn't find my car charger, I had someone trying to hook up with me for some fun stamping or just hangin out time, had to rely on emails and hoped she got them so she wasn't thinkin i was ignoring her. Found my cell phone charger after the weekend, in the same place i always put it so I don't loose it. !!?&*?!!

I don't get it. I want my normal brain and my normal patterns back. Damn it!!

I'm staying home this weekend to get my swap life back in order, i have a beatles altered book, some cds to alter and some cards to make...they will get done...and they will be fabulous!

Two more Chunky Book Projects Done

2006-03-22T12:43:00.000-05:00

These are my chunky pages, the left is the front, the right the back.

This one is for 'Angels Amoung Us'

This one is for 'The White Chunky Book'

Yeah, there are other colors, but they help to bring out all the great vintage white colors!

More of what I have been up to these days...

2006-03-22T12:34:00.000-05:00

This was for an ATC swap called Doors, Windows and Portals.

These were some altered Cd's I was doing.

This is just a really cool glue resist doen with watercolors.

2006-03-22T12:16:00.000-05:00

I'm Back!!

2006-03-16T09:05:00.000-05:00

Hi everyone, miss me? A lot has happened since December. I've moved into a bigger and better apartment, with a hallway, and a bedroom and a bathtub!! Oh and closets - 3 HUGE closets!! One with a built in shoe rack - very cool.

I've also been working 12 hour days - TAX SEASON. Not to bad, this was my first and it's going pretty good. Lot's of clients, lots of hours = lots of art spending money for me!! Tax season is starting to slow down now, which is good. It's nice to come home and the sun is still out, even if it is ready for bed.

I've still made time for my art. Although I'm getting a little upset about some of them. I'm in a cd swap that is really not the level I was expecting. Luckily, I'm in another one which the work is a lot better. That's the thing though about swaps, you don't know what you're going to get!! Unless of course you know the reputation of the group...I didn't!! :O)

The Round Robins are going the same way, one group I find the art work to be fantastic, the players are timely, communitive and nice to talk to! The other group, I haven't seen a book in 3 months. And apparently we have someone hording 3 books for whatever reason... and has had one book since the end of last year. Stuff like this is very difficult to deal with, and it makes Round Robins so incredible hard for the lot of us who are honest and are willing to partake.

I've also been involved in some awesome chunky books. The themes were: Angels Amoung Us and White. The White was challenging, but I'm very happy with what my end result was. I'll upload them soon. I'm just joing a chunky book called - Ya Ya's!! I'm so excited about that one, my Ya Ya name is Queen Giggle Box!! I just see a ton of fibers and beads hanging off these pages. Another very cool project I was asked to join is an altered wine journal. More to come on that.

Happy Altering!! Copper

Just some more pics of my babies

2005-12-28T17:59:00.000-05:00

It's a sad day for me...

2005-12-23T15:33:00.000-05:00

As most of you know, I have 2 cats - Sophie and Sammy. Well, not anymore. Because of my financial situation, I could not afford to move into a place that would allow me to keep my furry babies, unless I wanted to put down another $400... That was just no possible. I do trust in G-d and I know that he gives me what is the best thing for at all times, so when this apartment became available, I took it, and that meant giving away my precious babies.

Today was that day. After many emails, and a phone call or two, I found a family whose 2 cats have passed away, one after 15 years, and the other only a few precious months. They said they would love to have both of my cats so they can stay together. This was an answer to my prayers. I had a lot of people interested in just my girl, and that was fine, but when this lady said she would take them both, I just couldn't refuse.

The pictures of Sohpie, the tortie cat is from a month or so ago. The gray one is my Sammy, and this was when he was just a few months old. This was his favorite position, next to sleeping next to mommy's head at night!

I'm really going to miss my little kitties....

Some Misc Art Stuff I've Done...

2005-12-22T09:52:00.000-05:00

Here are some odds and ends stamped art that I have made that are some of my personal favorites. The Butterfly Fairy was the first pin I ever made. Everything stamped on a white cardboard square, and then covered with utee. The girl on the bed card was a gesso and alcohol inks background technique. Long thin cards are my favorite shape!! The one with all the awesome fibers was a tags on tags swap I was in. I miss this one a lot!! The cd moon shape is my second pin I ever made, but the first CD pin I made - got that?!? I stamped on the cd, the letters are on regular printer paper I just cut them out, and the topped everything with utee and sparkles. The last is a card that made a LONG time ago - maybe 2 years. I was really just getting into stamping, and this is one of my earlier cards. I really liked it.

In a Galaxy Far, Far Away...

2005-12-21T20:48:00.000-05:00

These are the two spreads that I did for another round robin swap I'm in. I liked the theme for this book, "In a Galaxy..." I thought it was very original and a 'far out' theme. I had a little difficulty on what I was going do. My main source came from magazines. Hope you like CM!

WinterWonderland

2005-12-21T01:37:00.000-05:00

WinterWonderland spread - the next spread in the seasons book.

Okay, so this is what I did in a nutshell - the background is papertowels. I used them as clean up in some color wash sprays I was using, and the papertowels were so pretty, I had to keep them. When it came time to do this spread, these were perfect!! The flowers are from a tissue box, Then I put random embossing powders all over to create texture - Tim Holtz ditressing weather paine - I think, some silver and a touch of something deep brown. I added the fibers with cool dangily things at the top to give it a nice touch.

Copper

Frido Cd

2005-12-20T21:00:00.000-05:00

Cd Dolls

2005-12-20T19:51:00.000-05:00

OKay, so another wonderful scan!! These are my cd dolls. All the body parts are made from cd pieces that I boiled and then cut up. I painted with lumieres, versamagic and staz on. All glued with E6000 - which smells horribly! I added some fibers and some page pebbles for added glitz. I hope whomever gets these lovies take good care of them!! Copper

Altered Clock

2005-12-20T19:38:00.000-05:00

Okay, so this is my altered clock. Well, it's not mine anymore, because I made this as a gift for one of my secret holiday swaps this month. I used lumiere paints - olive green, bronze and burgundy and just a touch of the halo blue gold. I used yellow and blue (understatement) stickers from the Sweetpea Jack collection from basic gray. The stamp on top of the clock is from Beeswax - I think! ANyways, this really is gorgeous in person, and I really hope she loves it!!! Copper

The Butterflies Break Out

2005-12-11T09:01:00.000-05:00

This is a gift I made for the Altered Art Club that I am in. Today is our 'holiday party' and we are having a Handmade Gift Exchange. I used Stamp Zia Luna Moth stamp and her color wash jewels, and then stamped and embossed the luna moth with silver on the black mat. I really hope whoever ends up with this likes it!! I think it's really cool how I only used one stamp. That was something Zana taught us. Thanks Zane - you are so awesome!! Copper

Self Portrait Chunky Book Page

2005-12-07T01:24:00.000-05:00

Okay, at the last second I decided to join a chunky book swap. The book is called Self Portraits. Here is what I have created. They are 4x4 inches. The left side is the front, and the right side is the back (see the little gray area between the metal Femme and the other page down at the bottom? That's the space between the two pages, I'm just not the best at scanning!!). I really like this one, I feel fairly confident about it. Hope everyone likes it too!! Copper

Pages I did in OTHER People's Seasons Book

2005-11-25T15:06:00.000-05:00

These are the left and right pages of the second and first spreads that I did in another Artists' Seasons book. Since I live in Maryland, I found some neat pictures of the tress from my own city in the newspaper one day. SO I cut them out and put some sugarbeads on top. I think that's what their called. That was my friend's Donna idea - Thanks Donna!! On the right side, you open the doors to another beautiful spread of Maryland fall tress. The right side didn't really seem to scan all that well, it look much better in person, I think!! The first set of left and rights are some really pretty November poems I printed out on vellum and put over some crazy fall backgrounds that I made. I hope she likes what I did!!

My Altered Poetry Book

2005-11-25T13:34:00.000-05:00

Here is the cover:

This is inside the covers

Sign in Pages:

Up close at my tag:

Behind the Sign in Tags:

And the Back Cover:

Note to Players:
Well, I'm at in again!! In another online art exchange swap group, I am hosting a Round Robin. There are 6 of us in the group, and we all are picking our own themes. For my book, I picked Poetry. I found a really cool make it yourself little book kit at Michaels that I'm using for my base. Everyone will have pages that they work on, and when I get the book back, I will bind it myself. So Cool!!! Anyways, here are some starting pages of my book. These pages are pretty much finished, and I will be posting as I continue to work on them.

Last Page for Fall

2005-11-01T21:52:00.000-05:00

Okay, this is the last page in my book that I'm doing before I mail it off for others to do. It's not finished, and it's also on the left side.

Notice the brush stokes? They are all over my book!! I just dipped my paint brush in lumiere and added some shimmer to my pages.

BYE BOOK!! I hope you make it back safely!!

Copper

Sign in ATC Front and Back

2005-11-01T21:51:00.000-05:00

This is my sign in page, nothing fancy, just that cool punch again, done on metallic sticker stuff and then some info about me on the back...

Seasons RR

2005-10-26T01:10:00.000-04:00

Okay, so here is the sign in page. I just did some paper weaving. The background is painted with lumiere paints. And stickers for letters and then some metal leaves for bellies...

...and this is the right side of the sign in page! The sign in spots are the size of ATC's, with covers. The stripes and dots papers with numbers and leaves on them act like hinges

Last Page which will be complete upon return:

Let Side Do's:

Right side which is don't. And of course, more lumiere!!!

I'm in this Round Robin with an online group, the theme is Seasons and this is my cover... so far!
The book is a composition book which I'm a little worried about as it's a bit flimsy, but hopefully will hold up with all the mailings.

I want to add a transparency over it and some stuff in the middle and of course...Fibers and beads and dangly things!! I'll probably wait until the book comes back to me so I don't weigh it down to much for shipping. Plus, I'd like it to come back to me in good shape... Oh I will so miss this book...

Will post more pics of some of the spreads I do in other books as they come. Copper

My First Post

2005-10-11T13:24:00.000-04:00

Okay, here it is...my first post. Can I
handle it? I don't
know. Let's give it a try... Okay, not bad really. Like
the fairy? She's a 2x4
foot ceiling tile I did for my local stamp store. I
think she's awesome.
But
there is more to come...
Copper