Postcar #3 Part 2-Rose Collage

First, there was a bunch of rose flowers on our florabunda rosebush!!!! My hubby has the green thumb in this family.  I like to take photographs and that is about it!!!

I had a chance to grab some petals that had fallen off in the wind.  I put them on a release paper sheet, actually re-used the wrapper that our photocopy paper comes in at work.  I often drag them home to use for art projects!!  The girls at work think that I am odd, but that is okay with me!

I didn't wait for the petals to dry; I just applied gel medium on them right away.  I think I used fluid matte medium to be exact.  I coated one side and then the other.  I did dry some others that I had picked and I will see how them are in a similar project.  I think I rather like the petal this way since they are not exactly flat and creates visual texture.

You can see them on the right edge of the photo below.  I just used more gel medium to apply them to the postcard.

So for this rest of the postcard I used:

• applied black gesso to a re-cycled junk mail postcard
• re-used a sewing pattern and seam binding from past projects
• bingo sheet
• paint colour swatch
• painted and glittered dryer sheet
• stamps made from around the house items

I also used one purchased lace patterned stamp that is in behind the sepia coloured dryer sheet.  In addition, on the top left you can just see a piece of paper cut from a magazine of something looking like  zebra's.  The image was distressed so not much of the image is really left but just the right amount for this project.

Although it had been my intention to stamp FUN on each postcard; because they were fun to make, I decided to omit that from this one.  I like a bit of busy or should I say "organized chaos" but there is a point of no return.   I just knew that I wold not be happy.

Oh, I just wanted to mention that I got a nice comment from a woman out in the worldwide web!  Nice comments are always great to receive.  Who know that a woman from the U.S. would  1. find my blog and 2. take the time to comment!!!  Thanks to all who do, I appreciate it!

Postcard #3 Plus Grandbaby

Finally after close to a month, we are visiting our daughter and gran-daughter!!!! She is such a beauty and has learned how to sit on her own, reach for and grab things and squeal with delight I thought I'd best post my third postcard! I would have had more photo's but through my own stupidity I made a mess of the upload so I don't have any!! Very frustrating!! It seems that blogger for the iPad won't let me upload so I will have to try again when I get home! I will have to find out what I mist do ..... I hope that I don't have to stand on my head or anything ridiculous!!!!

Happy Canada Day!!

I have been a bit negligent with this blog so I will endevour to keep up as much as I can this month!!

We were busy at work last night but not really as busy as I had anticipated!  Regardless, I am glad that I am not working overtime again tonight!

I was able to complete a mixed media "doodle" of sorts especially for the occasion!  This is certainly not my favourite doodles for Canada Day but it is the one that I did this year ..... so be it, here it is!!!

 I had fun doing this doodle because it kept me awake during the slow times.  I had some cheap dollar store tape with me and so I used it as a border.  The stuff is so awful that it is hard to remove it from the roll in one piece.....so, I just "went with it"!!!! 

Then when I came home this morning, I was resting in my car after working all night and glanced out the window.  This is what I am calling my Canada Day bunny!!!!  Very cute, almost as cute as my grand-daughter!

2nd Postcard Swap - #2

I love making these little pieces of art!  I love to see how I can mix different and disconnected things and put them together in a pleasing manner.  Well, I guess that really is in the "eye of the beholder"!!!!

I especially like to recycle, re-use or re-purpose from around the house:

For this FUN postcard I used.

Again, I tried to lay it out to find a good design or at least see what "pleased my eye"!!!!  I like things that are busy; it might be my ADHD coming out in me even after all this time.  I like to have lots to look at and try and figure out how it was accomplished.  It always makes me laugh when I start I have a vision of what my "right side up" will be but in the end that changes.

I used a recycled card from our junk mail!  I applied layers of gesso; black on the one side and white on the writing side!

My embellishments are: slice of old unwanted book, leftover seam binding from my sewing days, paint chip card, purchased washi tape, cut tissue paper, and my absolute favourite - painted dryer sheet with added glitter!

I also added punch out flower shapes from some unwanted magazines, and painted orange bandage "paper" tape.  My around the house stamps were soda pop bottle lid, a piece of corrugated cardboard from a hot coffee sleeve and the "not so pointy" end of an old paint brush to make the dots.

Yes, this was fun to make!!!

2nd Postcard swap #1

OMG! I haven't blogged for over a month! Wo what the heck have I been doing??? First, I went on holidays in the Thousand Islands with some old time friends (lots of fun!), then I was recruited by my union to get back on the Executive to assist with bargaining our next contract with our employer (hard times are a'comin"!)  Now...I'm working night shift and there has been lots of overtime in the mix - past, present and future!

I think that this is one of my favourite pictures from the Thousand Islands and it is all about the juxtaposition of the people and objects - the very large objects, those ocean going ships.

I had to laugh when I saw that I had taken the above!  When I took it I was only actually "seeing" the ocean freighter; when I saw the snap on my computer I then saw the couple fishing on their little boat and the people on the white speed boat almost overtaking the ship.    As it turns out, there was much more going on than I had initially realized!  Love when that happens, when the composition of a photograph makes itself!


Below is a snap of some "artist tape" that I made.  I do have purchased washi tape but it is expensive and I live in the boondocks and it is not always available!  I have to drive an hour to find some and that just doesn't happen very often. I used "paper tape" that you find in the bandage isle in your drugstore, dollar store or department store.

I painted them up with acrylic and used some glitter paint on some of them as well.

I tried to set up a n appealing design prior to glueing everything down with gel medium.

I have to admit it!  I am a recycler, re-user and a repurpose type of gal!  I still think that you can make lovely creative things regardless of the tools that you use.




I used some found lacey ribbon, a strip of a page from an old unwanted book, paint chips, painted dryer sheets, left over netting from another project, around the house mark making stamps!!  I used a corrugated cardboard from a hot coffee sleeve, the not-so-pointy end of an old paint brush (from my university days) to make dots and a cap from a soda pop bottle to make the circles.

This postcard for the postcard swap really was fun to make!  I do enjoy experimentation.  Each postcard I make I like but then when I make the next one; I like it better.

Thinking of Sandy

I thought I was done but apparently not.  I have tinkered around with the card since my last post but I think now that it is now complete.

To make the mixed media art postcard I used:

• recycled junk mail card
• magazine images, text and punch cut-outs
• organza ribbon
• acrylic gesso and paint
• sharpie pen
• oil pastels
• paint chip colour swatch
• glitter glue
• bingo card 
• glitter sticker paper 

I had a lot of fun making this card!!!  Not everyone will comprehend the reason for some of the imagery but that is okay since it is very personal. 

This and That

I'm home alone!  I love having the house to myself!  My old guy is off fishing with the boys and I am on holidays.  Sweet!

I woke up at 0300 hrs this morning and I tried to lie down again but I got up to see who had sent me a text message.  It was from my daughter of course!  We had a good chat and a plan was made for me to go south to see the family on Tuesday.

I wanted to take this time to do some art.  It was my intention to get quite a bit done on the postcards for the next postcard challenge that is about to begin.  I don't really have much to show for myself yet but these to pictures.

The first is a drawing of a male face that I found in a recycled art journal that I started some time ago.  I just liked the green and blue colour and finally after looking at it for a time; I saw what looked like a face. I just followed the lines and this face formed.  Fun!  Not a lot of effort but fun nevertheless!

I hope that it isn't similar to the face that was found in the toast.  It isn't meant to be anything serious, it as just kinda cool to actually see something on a gessoed page that was just plastered with leftover paint.

The next picture is a postcard that I am making for a friend who has cancer!  I thought I would do up a "thinking of you" card.  Just because - just because I can!

It is a mixed media piece using a re-cycled mail card that I keep getting in the mail.I gessoed it too and slapped on some paint.  Then I doodled on it with a Sharpie.  Cut out some images from magazine pages along with some text that I hope she takes as a positive message.  There is also one piece of a National Geographic that I had treated with CitraSolv for it didn't really cut through the ink (I must assume that I didn't apply enough liquid to the paper).   I will pop this into a gift wrap envelope that I have cut yet and mail it out on Tuesday before I head to Toronto.