Sew What?

Recently I got a compact (small) sewing machine from a yard sale. I don't particularly plan on doing any clothing or household sewing. Then why do I want a sewing machine? To sew on art and crafts, or course! I like to sew on greeting cards, tags, and and other paper creations. Since I recently started making ATCs, I'm looking forward to sewing on them, as well. Here is what my mew used sewing machine looks like.

Fish ATC

This is my entry for the Wednesday Stamper challenge - better late than never, I always say! As you may notice, the theme is fish. I didn't have any fish stamps, so I used other stamps for the background and added the fish afterwards. Stamped green paper is layered on tan cardstock. The ATC is embellished with a strip of scrim (airy, linen-like fabric) under the fish and two spiral clips on opposite corners. It's a wonder you can see the stamping under all that, but thanks for looking! :)

Gold Gothic Arch

I decided to try the gothic arches challenge this week; the theme is gold. I created an arch ATC on cardstock layered with gold flower print paper, gold cardstock, gold mesh ribbon, wrinkly gold handmade paper, music sheet, angel image and gold brads. I like the ATC-size arch; it's not too big, but there is still space to put on plenty of stuff!

TMTA Challenge

The TMTA challenge theme this week is Coca Cola. It might have been kind of difficult to use a Coca Cola theme on an ATC, but I happened to have a picture of Coca Cola bottles just lying around! :) My ATC has four bottle images and red/white polka dot paper layered on red cardstock, with white corrugated paper, red flower punches and white mini brads on two corners. Fun, and not too complicated! Have a great day! :)

Blog Inspiration

I wasn't going to post today (thought I had nothing to write), but I got a bit of inspiration from a couple of blogs that I visit regularly.

First, I visited Nance; in her post for yesterday, she showed a piece of her art work with a quote about patience. This made me think, because I haven't been having much patience lately, least of all with myself. I've been having some back pain, and I've been impatient to find out what's going on with that. Now I'm impatient for the therapy to start working, and I've only had one therapy session so far (insert sheepish grin here)! Also, I've been impatient with myself to get important projects done, not wanting to give myself time to think and play, and if I do stop to think and play, then I feel guilty! Well, I know better than that, I just needed to be reminded! Thanks for the internet butt-kick, Nance! ;)

Next, I visited Kira; her post today was about choosing an art journal, describing the different types of journals, papers inside, etc. I agree with her, heavier papers are easier to work on with a variety of media. (I hate excessive paper warping!) My two "gathering" journals (one for art/craft ideas, one for inspiring images) are both 9" x 11", spiral-bound. The idea one has medium-weight pages that are blank on half, with writing lines on the other half. The inspiration journal has very heavy pages, which is great when I decide to remove something - I can just peel it off and cover the place with something else! My art journal is spiral-bound, 5 1/4" x 8 1/2", with strange, thin pages. I had it lying around, and thought the pages were too thin, so I'm painting both sides of the pages with acrylics before decorating (I have a description of this process in a previous post, you can find it here). The colorful backgrounds shown here are waiting to be decorated. :)

Inchies for a swap

I made this set of inchies for a private swap with a friend, I put them in the mail today. The background is printed lightweight cardstock, two layers ( one layer as backing). The images were cut out from a large sticker sheet. For embellishment, I added words (they are song titles) and white pearl dimensional paint. I'm really hooked on inchies - they are SO small, but lots of fun to make! :)

Slide Mount ATC

This week's TMTA challenge is using slide mount(s) on an ATC. My red slide mount framing an old cowboy imageis layered w/red plaid paper, black mulberry paper, metal gun charm, square metal brads and thin jute over tan cardstock. Since I missed last week's challenge (the theme was men), this one would that theme as well! :) Thanks for looking!!!

Fun Mail!

Today I received a wonderful ATC in a swap with Alice K. Her ATC has some beautiful purply-blue tones and metallics, with plums and a leaf attached with a brad. Very elegant! And not only did Alice send the ATC, she also included some awesome extra goodies, seen in the second photo. I always say, one can never have too much ephemera! (Of course, I also saved the great Finland postage stamps from Alice's envelope!) Thanks, Alice!

Good Old Junk

Yesterday and today, I found some cool stuff at yard sales: some 1960's magazines, rubber doll face, plastic doll head and hands, mini buttons, and paper doilies, among other things. Those doll parts will come in handy for mixed media projects! Great images in the old magazines, and I read some of the articles, too! Check out these stylish hairdos from a 1960's magazine. :)

I'm looking forward to making some more inchies for swaps, and also some ATCs, but first I have a must-do project I need to finish. I'm going to try to get as much done on it as I can this weekend. Need to go to the dentist for some fillings on Monday - arghhh!

Wednesday Stamper Sampler

I'm too tired to do what I think of as a "proper" post today, but I had to write just this one thing:
My entry for the Wednesday Stamper "blue" challenge was chosen for the sampler! To see the actual post of my blue project, go here.

Obsessed With Pink

Crusade No. 12 for the GPP Street Team is called "Crush On You". The challenge is to tell about one or more things that you have a crush on, are obsessed or infatuated with (in a good way, of course)!

One of my current obsessions is the color pink. Although I do have a few pink clothing items (my favorites being pink pajamas and slippers), I love pink in my art and small items around me. Here's some evidence: The luggage tag is canvas, colored with pink fabric marker and stenciled with black fabric marker. The handbag was woven with flat ribbon-style yarns. (For a recent pink-influenced art journal page, see this post.) I've used pink-printed business cards and brochures , I even have a pink/black carry-on bag. (No, I don't have pink luggage yet - my red luggage is getting worn, so I can buy pink the next time!)