Betty Page

Glitter seems to be my latest addiction, it's finding it's way into all of my spreads recently. The Prompt a Day class begins tomorrow and I don't know if I'll be able to wait till the weekend to start! I retried the video and found out it is actually my webcam that makes the sound mess up so I'll have to try for a fifth time with my digital camera. We will get this right!

Kelly Kilmer's A Prompt a Day

I've been promising myself that I would join altered book artist Kelly Kilmer's online class, A Prompt a Day for some time. I just learned last night that she isn't going to be teaching this specific course next year so I got my treat early! We start December 1st and I can't wait!

You should go check out her blog, she posts daily and always has fun links to explore:

http://kellykilmer.blogspot.com/


She's very sweet, I made a mistake on my application form and had to email the correction. She responded within an hour or so saying everything was fixed and sent me the approval to the class. Talk about customer service!

New Background Ideas

It's been difficult coming up with new background ideas so when I saw a forgotten coloring page at my work after closing and loved the colors the child used, I decided to take it home with me. I gessoed the spread and then glued down the picture. Once it dried I glued down this patterned tissue paper and went over the circles with different media such as gel pens and watercolor crayons.

Webcam woes

I tried recording today and I think I've worked out most of the kinks. The first time I tried to make the video I actually did the whole thing without pressing the right button so nothing got recorded. The second go around my father interrupted; I thought I would be able to splice it together but then I learned that the tractors outside rattle the glass in the windows, which then messes up my sound. So we'll try again soon, I really want to get a more personal media involved in the blog and I think a youtube channel where everyone can sort of talk "face to face" would be a great way to do that.

In the mean time, this spread is from the Buddhist ceremony performance I attended. Don't laugh at my childish "sketches," drawing isn't my strong point.

Halloween Spread

Senoritis has set in. I've been skipping classes and reading craft books when I should be writing term papers. Here's what I've been reading lately





Mostly sewing books, I am trying to get inspired to start needlework again. I haven't done any fabric/embroidery projects in at least 6 months and there's a whole role of cross stitch fabric waiting to be used.

Lastly, a Halloween spread that honestly looks better in person. I had mixed a deep purple with gold so it is dark but shimmers. The trees were a stencil that was sprayed with walnut ink. The playing card is from a much abused, to-be-thrown-away deck at my day care center that I colored with dye inks and then rubbed away to highlight the wrinkles and tears.

Ode to Shrink Plastic

When I visited the Visionary Art Museum, one of my favorite pieces was the free standing journal pages made of shrink plastic shrunk down. I've been dying to try this myself and I have been playing around with some ideas. I think I've finally settled on the concept of home and homelessness, inspired by a homeless acquaintance of mine. I'm thinking the pages will get cut into house shapes and I'll use a variety of stamps, markers and maybe acrylics.

Lesson to be learned: Heat guns are not ideal for shrinking entire pages of shrink plastic/shrinky dink paper- it's hard to get it to shrink evenly without folding in on itself, which is what I had been aiming to avoid by using the gun in the first place. No amount of reheating and pressing could fix this puppy. It also appears the heat partially melted the piece as well, there was some discoloration as a result.


Heat Gun + Full Shrink Plastic Sheet = Disaster

The heat gun purchase wasn't a total loss however, I use it all the time to get my pages to dry quicker so I can keep working.

My birthday spread:

I am only partially happy with these results- I wanted to do a crayon resist with watercolors and I like how the letters came out but I feel like I didn't do enough with the background. I ended up using those sticker reinforcements that you put on notebook paper but I regret it now. They look like an afterthought (which they were). The birthday flap and cake are both from the multiple Barnes and Noble gift card envelopes I received.

I am really excited about the idea incorporating plastic bags into my spreads because it allows me to add 3D items and other stuff I want to be able to handle and not commit to the page. I am buying some more of these next shopping trip, you can find them in your craft store's jewelry section.

Venturing into the Unknown

I get a lot of my ideas while driving. I thought about the last spread I posted and a conversation I had recently with some members of the craftster Altered Journal-Along- I am going to try making a youtube video (my very first!) about the idea of sad/personal/"ugly" journal entries. It'll probably get made sometime around this weekend after I go gush over Taylor in New Moon and go to bingo. =)

Who knows if I'll be able to get it posted, but we're sure going to try! If it flops I'll just write it up as another written blog entry.

Here is the inside cover my Autumn art journal (I seem to fill one up with each season.) I included my contact info (tactfully blocked out) and I have since added label maker tape to include my email address. The stars are a cute little series of stamps my sister made for me, I love the spunk they have. They aren't uniform- I just love their quirkiness. The raven stamp is from one of those $1 Halloween stamp sets from JoAnn's impulse purchase section by the registers.

The spread on the right is one of my favorite collages I've done, all the images are from National Geographic magazines. Yes, the woman was actually carrying the birdcage on her head- the texture of her clothing is great and I love the color.

Where/how do you get most of your craft/art ideas?

The Hard Stuff

Sometimes you have to write about the hard stuff. My mom passed away last year on Halloween from emphysema complications due to smoking for over 30 years. This is a spread from 2 months ago on her birthday.

I like how the circle insert turned out. I white washed the page along with the postcard we got in the mail and one of the memorial cards from her viewing to give it a consistent, dreamy/sad tone. The "mom" was torn from one of the notes mom would leave me on the island (this one asking me to wake her whenever I got up on some random weekend). I miss her so much.

Undead Prom Queens, Slutty School Girls, and more!

I've been a bad blogger, I know. This past week was all around the week from hell- over time at work and multiple assignments due each day at school. The very delayed photos from the Visionary Art Museum:

The other side of the museum

This year's exhibit was based on the individual's pursuit of happiness.

I have fallen in love with the museum logo

It seemed like I had more but I guess that's it... Moving on: Halloween was spent at Krystal's for a Halloween/birthday party for yours truly. I was a zombie prom queen, of course!

My sister is the terrified slutty school girl but I think I make a pretty convincing undead person. The fake blood in the tube was pretty neat- I put too much on and it was getting in my eye; sadly, once it dried it peeled off very easily from talking/eating/smiling/existing. I used white grease paint for my face and light blue eyeshadow on my lips to make me more undead. And in case you were wondering, fake blood does not taste good.

I've got pages drying right now in both my normal altered journal and my new "experiment" journal. Soon there will be new photos, I promise.