A card for a friend

Just a new card idea because of this fabulous sunset like paper I found at the local paper store! Excited to use this one in many projects in the future. I don't usually make cards unless I have an occasion to give one out but think I will be adding these to the mix in the future.

So close I couldn't wait...updated :o)

So close I couldn't wait to post it...

I am just so thrilled to have a piece so close to completion after weeks of working on the same thing!

This is an 11" x 14" piece that I am really, really happy about. I spent a lot of time on the flowers and I think it was worth it. The branch is from a cool sort of sand textured/looking piece of scrapbook paper. I do not normally use scrapbook paper but I always look at the specialty stuff because it sometimes has interesting patterns or textures. I have used this paper in both of my recent branch pieces and won't be surprised if I use it again. I added a bit of shading to the branch with a medium brown acrylic paint but not much. I try to let the paper do most of the talking. I'm not sure exactly what kind of paper the yellow flowers are made of, I just happened to have a lot of it. I put tiny punched flower centers of orange indian batik and then added 3 white/clear beads in the center of each. All that's left to do at this point is the final coats of UV gloss.

I have played around with beads before as I have a lot of them around from many years ago. I've been trying to use stuff I already have and not buy anything new for a bit....so hard! I have a bit of a paper addiction ;o). But I do like playing around with all kinds of techniques and mediums because you never know what you're going to get. I brought some brown, krinkled up, packing paper home from work the other day because I want to try twisting it into branches and see what happens. I am excited to try more textural ideas and see what I come up with.

Oh...so little time for all these ideas in my head!!

Oh, Craft Time How I Miss Thee

Many events besides my new full time job are keeping me from both my art and my blog. Life has been a hectic, often stressful, and sometimes in need of a good blubbering pity party, table for 1. Things are thankfully getting back to normal.

Not to disapoint, I do have a new piece in the works, I just never know these days how long something is going to take. A piece that I could have completed in days is now weeks. Its frustrating for someone like me who loves real, visual progress. That being said I am working on a new branch piece that I am getting excited about. It is another 11 x 14 blossoming branch but the flowers are quite a bit smaller and in more abundance. The leaves on this one will be much more prominant as well. I am also using yellow, largely because I am on a tight budget and I had it on hand and partly because I think it will be pretty. I am planning on this being quite an intricate piece, no skimping on the details and I am also going to make it as textural and 3D as I can.

Now, I know I haven't mentioned the art show. As you can probably guess, I did not get in. At first I was really upset and did indeed have myself a good blubbery pity party....I know, really, that initial reaction was just the plain old sting of rejection and who the heck likes to be rejected. On the positive side, I accomplished something; I can count on one hand how many times I stared my fear of rejection and failure in the face and did it anyways. I have to give myself a pat on the back and remind myself that I am definitely on the road to being the better me that I envision even if the road there is a little steeper now :o) And....I sold my first piece, the one with the mountains and the two cherry blossoms!!! I couldn't have sold it until November if I had got into the art show and we sure could use the extra money right now. Its weird, but I am having a bit of seperation anxiety, this is the first piece I am letting go that never was intended for any specific person. I think its good though, it means my heart was in the piece and the piece is in my heart.

Miss you all and I'm sorry for not responding to comments all of the time! Everything is so unbalanced right now and my correspondence and blogging time has gone out the window! Can't wait to have a new piece to post!!

Remember me?

Hello blogging world...remember me? Finally a new project complete! I am slowly adjusting to this whole schedule thing. Working full time sure changes things! I am about to move on from trees for a little bit but I snuck this one in. I know its off season but I have only ever done Fall trees with stormy skies so I wanted to do one for those beautiful, barely a cloud in the sky kind of days.

I am getting ready for a whole new genre for me. I have stuck solely to branches an trees at this point but am feeling the urge to try something different. I am working on a set of two pieces for my daughters room. I plan on doing two mermaids, one sitting on a rock and one swimming through the water. I am going to keep many of the papers the same for both to keep them looking like a set. Pretty excited and a little bit aprehensive to dive into something so different but it will be fun no matter what. I may have to do some actual drawing with the faces and that always makes me nervous.

I am guessing that I will have other new pieces pop up before I finish either of these mermaids. I will need some new punch shapes for this one unless I come up with some brilliant plan using the tools I already have. Purchasing anything new is on hold for a little while. I have a lot of papers to play around with for these ones and doubt I will have to buy anything new and that's a great bonus.

I miss working on my crafts daily and checking my favorite blogs, etc. but I am happy at my new job and I know it will all come into balance after I give myself some time.

Take care all and happy crafting!

Art Jury and New Pieces

The art jury itself was a little underwhelming...I don't know what I expected but it wasn't that. I showed up with the form already filled out and there was hardly anyone there yet. They asked if I could leave it all for an hour and then come back. I drove down to Fairhaven and window shopped for a bit and then headed back. A few compliments and a "We'll let you know in 7 to 10 days." and that was it. So we'll see.

The biggest thing about it though was that I DID IT! Another sign that perhaps all this soul searching for the past 2 years is really starting to pay off, I was never very good at finishing something I started, especially where rejection could be involved. I really didn't think I was going to make it, Thursday morning I busted my butt and got everything from Plan B done and then suddenly I found myself working on the blossom branch that I had given up on. Well, after working on it non-stop I finished it with only a half hour to spare! I couldn't believe it!

So here they are, the completed 18x24 I have been blogging about and my 11x14 spring branch. I probably would have kept working on the big one but I just ran out of time and blossoms!

And the branch...

That was one of the most exhausting weeks I've had in a long time! The job is going good, everyone is nice and they haven't thrown anything to scary at me yet. Just sooo not used to working at all anymore, nevermind full time! I miss my kids but I have to admit the time I do have with them is so much sweeter. I know its only normal that they'll a bit off with me...after all I have been present most of their lives and have never been gone for 8 hours a day...ever...but its still a bit hard. When my daughter wouldn't come to me the second day I have to admit I had to sneak away for a moment and shed a few tears. Its already getting better though and I had a really good time with them last night before bed...lots of giggles.

Oh, and I know many of you are far beyond this point but I have 10 followers!! Thanks to everyone, I appreciate each of you so much! I might just have to do a little giveaway soon, I'm just too exhausted to think about it yet ;o) All last night though I kept feeling like I needed to get over to my work station out of habit.

Off to enjoy the sun with my little monkeys!

Today's the day

Have I mentioned how tired I am? Between the new job and the art show I am exhausted. My biggest hope for today's art jury is that I don't get emotional...its been a long week and stress and exhaustion have a habit of leaking out of my eyes if you know what I mean!

Getting burnt out with all the changes did not help my situation for the art show. Last night as I sat at my little workspace I had a moment of reality, I could work all night and I still wouldn't finish, I was feeling bummed and then at light went on. I had wanted to enter a fall piece with a stormy sky but time was not on my side. It occured to me that I did have an old piece that I wasn't totally thrilled with but could probably fix up. So I went back and did some work on it and its now my 5th entry. I am also using another old piece that needed a bit of fixing up. I just ran out of time. Its not quite what I had hoped to enter but I decided that I need to do this regardless. The jury starts at 4:00 today!

I was also disapointed to find out that the pieces I have juried are the ones for the show. I thought since the show was so far away (November) that I could do some new pieces and spend A LOT of time on them. It is what it is.

Anyway, just a note to all to say that I will be posting pictures soon its just been a mad, mad, mad week! So glad I asked for today off as part of my hiring as I was up until 3:00 last night, felt like I had drank a bottle of tequila when I woke up and had to do my final gloss coats this morning.

Miss my blogging!

Spring!

Have I mentioned how much I love Spring?! Well, If not, I LOVE SPRING! Went for a beautiful walk down to the neighbourhood park today. Surprising because we had a pretty crazy storm last night and were expecting rain this weekend. Well, we awoke to a beautiful day and decided to go for a walk. While I am not a photographer by any means I have begun to carry our camera with us whenever we are out, you never know when inspiration is going to strike! Just can't believe all of this is right out my door!

I am working like a madwoman in the rest of my time trying to get my pieces done for the show. I hope to have most of my 18x24 done by the end of the night and I have a bunch of the components for my 4th piece prepared and ready to go. I start my new job tomorrow so we'll see how we do. Happy creating everyone!

I got the job!

WOW! This beautiful May morning has brought me sunshine and a new job! I got it! Can't believe it.....finally we can breathe a bit easier in this crazy, scary economy! Only problem is I start on MONDAY...yes, this Monday! Talk about jumping in with both feet!

I was able to keep my Thursday open for the juried art show. I am freaking out a bit now about the time frame. I only have 2 fully completed, am working on the big 18x24 which I hope to have done by the end of the weekend. But then I need one or two more. Thankfully I had an epiphany moment yesterday and realized what I could do with a piece I gave up on awhile ago. Its 2/3's done! Yay! So I think I can have 4 pieces done but 5 might be a stretch...good thing they said 4 or 5!

Anyway I better get back! Lots to do in a very short period of time!

#2 For the Art Show Complete

I am so pleased to present to you this 12"x16" (30.4 cm x 40.6 cm) beautiful tree that I am so proud of. I love her! I had it in my mind that I had the perfect green (Indian batik jungle green) to compliment the beautiful paper I bought for the trees themselves. I wanted to do one piece where I really just made the tree my focus with no background to detract from it. I am contemplating the idea of putting a little bit of ground cover flowers like buttercups or tiny daisies but I may just leave well enough alone.

I am going to go back to finishing the big mountain/cherry blossom piece because the ideas for the next ones aren't fully formed yet.

I had my first job interview today! I was surprised at how well I kept my nerves in check. I just feel so rusty since I have been a stay at home mom for almost 2 years now and was only part time shortly before that. I wish I didn't have to go back, this wasn't part of the "plan" we but we have to do what we have to do these days don't we?! Last night I had to make a mad dash to the store as I realized while I did have pants to wear that I had no tops! Thankfully I was able to find something (and some nice new shoes on sale!) because I hate shopping for clothes...I'd much rather be buying craft supplies :o) I had a really good feeling about it and I think the interview went really well. I'll know something by Friday. Fingers crossed!

A little 9x12 and some news

Here's a newly completed little 9x12 (22.9 x 30.5 cm). I am once again bummed by the photo quality as the moon and the sky look sooooo much better in person. I created this piece by layering blue lace paper over a gaudy glitter paper, in person you can see a little bit of glitter and shimmer through the blue giving the illusion of stars. The moon has texture and looks a lot more natural than in the photo.

So in my little mini break from my big 18x24 I've been blogging the process about has presented me with an exciting opportunity. While perusing local news and events on Craigslist I discovered that there will be a juried art show in Bellingham (15 minutes away). I inquired and found out that they are actually jurying the art in 2 weeks even though the show is not until November!!! I AM ENTERING! So if I don't blog or leave comments for anyone in the next little while you know why!! I have exactly 12 days to get 4 or 5 pieces done!

I have no expectations, maybe some hopes but I am realistic. I have no idea what the calliber of artists are in the local area but I want the experience. If nothing else I will get a feel for how these juried shows work and get exposure to the other local artists in the area. The Art Director that I was emailing with was very intrigued and said they have never had a paper artist enter and this is their 40th show! This for me is a giant leap forward. I am a totally fear based person, I am not adventurous, I don't jump off cliffs without knowing there is a safety net. I'm more excited than nervous at this point but I know that will come closer to the day when I have too much to do and not enough time. Good thing I work well under pressure! Wish me luck!

Burnt out

So yesterday moved at a snails pace. My arm, shoulder and hand are sore from all the blossom work. I feel antsy and was not at all motivated to keep going. Break time.

Instead of doing nothing, I have begun planning out all my cards, gift boxes and smaller art pieces. Did a bit of sketching. After this big one, I think it will be time to work on some smaller pieces that are quicker to complete. I am getting ready to work on something other than trees and have been thinking a lot about art for kids rooms, etc. Getting excited by the ideas in my head. Slowly but surely an idea for a children's book has been brewing in my head but I am going to let that one progress naturely.

I also took some steps to ready myself for selling my stuff. I ordered boxes and envelopes for shipping my work from the post office and started figuring out my price points. This is a huge leap for me, its one thing to create its another to sell. I am a little bit terrified of how people will respond to my work or if anyone will bother to buy it. Its not why I make this stuff but what's the point of making it if its just going to sit in my closet and collect dust?! Thanks to all of you who follow and/or take the time to comment...it definitely helps.

Major Progress

Well, I did not think I would be posting anything regarding my latest project for awhile. I was going to work on all of the ground details, etc. but decided against that. Instead I thought it better to get the trees glued on and get the leaves and blossoms done first so as to not over do it and end up with a crazy, chaotic mess of things to look at. The process of putting on the leaves and/or blossoms is probably the single most time consuming thing I do and I have surprised myself at how much progress I made over the weekend.

First I punch out hundreds of tiny flowers (I got this punch out of the dollar bin at Michaels). Luckily I had already done a lot of this previously so I could get right to it once the trees were glued on and dry. Then I take each flower and make them 3 dimensional with a sheet of thin craft foam, an embossing tool and a circular motion (tired hands by the end of the day). I kind of go back and forth, I'll curl a bunch, then glue them on, curl some more, glue some more, etc. I go through once and place one flower on each branch tip, I call these the anchors.

Once the anchors are dry I go back and press 2 more flowers into them with that same embossing tool to create 3D bunches. I'll do this until I am happy with the result. The below picture is after I have gone through and made each anchor into bunches of 3's. I will go back and fill it in some more later.

I though I'd add a close up. Later I will go back and put a tiny bit of detail paint into the centers of each flower.

I am very excited about how this project is coming along. I hope that the details I add to the ground along with the fence will help add dimension to the overall piece but I am thrilled with the progression of my work in each new project. Stay tuned, I may get finished much sooner than I had anticipated!

Note to self!

I am reminded today about how important it is for me not to get ahead of myself. Today I decided that before I put on any of the details that I am going to put the trees on and get the blossoms done (a very long, tedious process) before anything else. A little voice started nagging at me just before I started the process of gluing the trees on the canvas board and I remembered that I had not tested the tree paper beforehand. GOOD THING!!! This paper is hand painted, as soon as I touched the UV gloss to the paper I could tell the colour was running. No biggie - just have to UV gloss the trees carefully and let them dry BEFORE I glue them on so when I go to do the final coats of gloss they don't bleed onto the background! Phew!

Thankful for small nagging voices in my head today that's for sure!

Phase 4 continued - Background Complete!

Background complete. YEAH! Very excited about how this turned out and can't wait to start putting in all the details. Shrubs, groundcover flowers, etc.

I seem to be moving very fast on this piece but I am VERY excited about the progress I've made so far. Had a bit of creative adrenaline today and am now frustrated that I have to stop and wait until tonight or tomorrow to continue. This baby needs some good solid drying time (lots of glue!!!!).

Lots of questions and second guessing going through my head right now. Are the trees too big? Should I cut new, smaller ones (I'd hate to but....)? Where am I going to put the fence? What colour should my groundcover flowers be? How many shrubs should I put on it? Am I going to run out of glue? Blah, blah, blah.....its comes along ;o) Really having a hard time deciding about the trees though. I love these trees but they just might be too big and they'll fill in once I put all the cherry blossoms on. MMmmmmmm......I guess we'll see.

Happy creating everyone!

Phase 4 - Glue, glue and more glue

Okay, this morning I made some progress and took some photos even though the glue is still wet. Yesterday I applied the snowcaps to the mountain cutouts. Very messy and tedious trying to get it all lined up right. The I glued them onto the canvas board once they were dry. This morning I added the road and started gluing on the grass. I did not glue the top grass panel all the way on in case I need to add more background and want to tuck it behind the panel. The trees are still not attached (just there for effect). I will be working on the background trees and foliage and the fence next. Oh, and adding details and shading to the two main trees will be in there somewhere before I glue them on. I haven't decided if I want the fence in front of the trees or behind yet but I am leaning more towards having it in the front. We'll see.

If you haven't noticed I did not curve the road like in the sketch. I realized that I am still not totally comfortable with proportion, etc. and didn't want to deal with the added stress of trying to figure out the different dimensions of the fence boards, etc. to make things appear bigger as the got closer. I figured since mountains, roads and fences are all new elements for me I would reign it in a bit until I study drawing more and feel more comfortable. Baby steps.

Once I get to the end of this project I will post close ups as well. The paper I used for the roads is actually cork paper and looks like tiny pebbles. The photographs don't do my pieces justice, you just can't see the texture and details. I choose papers to use based on colour, pattern and texture...texture being a HUGE part of it!

Mountains, etc.

So the pieces are starting to come together although nothing is attached at this point. I just thought a picture of it with only the bare bones components would be helpful to see. I cut the mountains out of blue and gray papers to add depth. My next step is to add the snowcaps on the mountains before I attach to them to the canvas board so if any of them don't turn out right I can do it again. I plan on doing that tonight.

I may add some puffy white clouds in the sky but haven't made up my mind yet. If I do, I'll apply them to the sky before I glue on anything else. Then its messy time ;o) I will glue on the completed mountains, the dirt road and the grass next.

Once that's done it will be magic time and my favorite part...all the details! There will be another layer of foliage and background stuff between the mountains and the trees, the fence needs to go on, ground cover flowers in spotted areas, etc. Then the trees and ALLLLLLLL the blossoms and leaves on the trees. There are some details to figure out still but they will be based on how its looking as it comes along.

As they projects come together I seem to get more done in a shorter period of time, excitement = adrenaline = more productivity!

Phase 3 - cutting the trees

This is the paper for the trees.

I freehand draw the tree on the back of the paper. You could draw it on the front too I just don't trust my drawing skills enough yet. By drawing on the back I do have to keep in mind that the tree will be in reverse....

And then I cut the tree out with an exacto knife. I will go back and apply fine details to the tree with acrylic paint before gluing them onto canvas board.

I have already made an error. The second tree (not shown) was supposed to be smaller in scale to give the illusion that it was further back than the one above. However, after drawing and cutting it, it really doesn't look much different in size. Its not the end of the world though, I had already planned on reworking the fence and road so now I will continue to adjust the picture as I see appropriate.

The Lemonade Award

Thanks so much to Vania for nominating me for the Lemonade Award for great Attitude/Gratitude. Normally this would be the part where I pass this wonderful thought onto others. However I am so new to blogging that I haven't really built up a repore with many other bloggers yet and am not following enough blogs to reciprocate. To those of you I have communicated with or are quietly following my blog, I thank you from the bottom of my heart of showing your interest and following my work.

But to all of you out there....All you mothers (and fathers for that matter), crafters, artists and soul seekers I say keep at it. Keep putting your work and thoughts out there for others to find you. Its been a long road getting myself into the mindset of being part of the artist/crafter community and not just an outsider looking in with admiration. I am finding more and more that I am not so different from many of you and that's a nice feeling.

I find myself in a position I had hoped to never be in. I am just at the beginning of this path of following my passion and pursuing my dreams and now the reality of the economy is setting up a roadblock. My husband's industry is dead (construction) and he finds himself out of work for the first time in a decade, on the other hand, I used to work in accounting and there is always work.

As a highly emotional creature my first instinct was to mourn the death of my dream, the logical part kicking in says its not a death but an obstacle. The question is how do I balance work, my kids and my passion if I do, in fact, end up going back to work? I am now determined to find away...how can I give up on the dream now that I have allowed myself to pursue it?! I will find a way, I have to...for myself and for my kids. I want them to believe their dreams can come true if they just work at it. I have been lost for too many years to let go of the final missing piece from my life.

Keep dreaming and creating everyone! Your blogs and your work inspire me and feed my imagination! I'm off to make lemonade out of my lemons!

Phase 2 of new 18 x 24, Template and picking paper

I'll apologize in advance for the terrible photo quality. I am apparently not a photographer ;o)

This is drawing #2 for my new 18 x 24 and would be the one I consider my template. I drew this one at 9 x 12 so I could easily figure out the dimensions of the components in the picture. For example, in this picture the larger tree is approx. 4.5" x 6.5" so I doubled it and cut my paper. Mainly I do this because I don't have a proper work area and most of my paper comes in large sheets. You can't read any of it but in the sidebars there are notes about what papers I will be using for each component.

Here is a photo of all the paper I have on hand for this project and the canvas board I have already started.

I am still missing the paper for the larger mountain and the snow caps. I will have to get this paper before I start assembling anything so I will continue to work on cutting the components until I get it.

Sarah - I will post continual updates on this project. I had thought about doing it at some point and this seems like a great project to do it with.

I do not use embossing techniques at this time but I haven't ruled it out by any means. I do have a concern about how the embossing imprints would hold up when I apply the final coats of UV gloss and that it might just make the paper soggy and lose the texture. I will have to experiment with this at some point. I do however use a 2 ended, ball-tipped embossing tool for a lot of my assembling (it looks kind of like a pen). I find its a great little tool for giving the blossoms dimension, applying them to the piece and for tiny dots of paint in flower centers, etc. Handy little tool!

It all starts somewhere

This little sketch (3"x4"ish) is the beginning of my next major project. I drew this on a scrap piece of paper while watching my daughter rip and smoosh a PB&J sandwhich into a million pieces before actually consuming it....oh, the glamour ;o)

These rough sketches don't usually represent what the actual paper piece will look like but they give me a starting point. I never bother to draw the tree foliage or other smaller details because they're not really necessary at this stage and the less prep work I can do the better! I am always too anxious to get going on the next step.

So here's the plan. This little sketch will eventually be an 18 x 24 spring blossom scene. I have only done one other piece this large. The ground will be mulberry, the trees will be cut from some really special paper I found that has the look of bark (at $9 a sheet! Ouch! but well worth it). Leaves and blossoms will be indian batiks and any ground cover I do will be from hemp paper my mom found in a dollar store of all places (GREAT stuff)! The fence will be made from an off white crackle-looking paper (pealing paint) and the road will be made from cork paper that I thought looked like a million little stones. I'm not sure what the mountains will be made from, it depends what I have on hand or if I have to order something.

I am really excited about this piece. For one, I really take my time on the larger ones, I get to do more detail and its a cummulation of a lot of components I have tried in other pieces, lessons learned and a few new ideas. I have not done mountains, roads or fences yet.

Also in the works right now is a Cherry Blossom branch that I am currently frustrated with and ignoring until I come up with some brilliant plan.

Oh, I meant to share my typical tools. I don't rule anything out but my main tools and supplies, besides paper of course, are:

Paper punches (leaves and flowers)

Exacto knives (trees and detailed pieces)

Modge Podge (assemblage)

UV Acrylic Gloss (preservation)

Paint brushes (fine details and for applying water for torn fiber paper edges)

Acrylic paint (fine details)

water (thinning glue and wetting paper edges to be hand torn)

You can teach an old dog new tricks

So as I continue to grow and learn in this new paper art journey I find myself re-examining so many things about myself.

I knew I had a little bit drawing ability and have done some decent pictures in the past but I usually found the experience frustrating and gave up for the most part many years ago. I began getting back into it about 8 months ago when I started trying to draw my own trees. I figured out that, once again, this is an area where I gave up too soon as a child. I had a very bad habit of giving up on things that I couldn't figure out right away and chalking it up to the lamest of lame excuses, "I can't." More and more I realize I was never patient enough, never gave anything a real chance, never took the time to pratice, practice, practice.

So anyway, I have been studying drawing and I am finding myself growing increasingly excited. The creative juices are flowing fast and I'm going to have to start journalling all my ideas or risk losing them in the chaos of my mind. Within the first five pages I finally understood how to easily draw thing proportionately throughout a scene. I am also coming up with some great ways to add more dimension to my pieces by applying some rules from sketching. I can now see how I am going to build the more complicated, challenging pieces that I want to tackle in the future. SO much more to learn, so much room to grow! It's such a mood booster!

gift box - 1st attempt

Awhile ago I started cutting celtic knots (which I love almost as much as trees) but I couldn't figure out what to do with. I have a binder with clear plastic sleeves where I have all my cut pieces that have no home yet. Here I have applied a teal silk paper to the top of a paper mache box then carefully stippled modge podge on top of the paper to set it. Once dried I added a second layer of modge podge and applied the celtic knot, stippling the brush over it as well to get out any bubbles and seal the paper. Finally two layers of UV acrylic gloss were applied, this gave the paper a beautiful marble look that I was both suprised and pleased with. I am thinking I may add a stone or something to the center of the knot and add something that I have yet to come up with to the bottom of the box to jazz it up a bit.

I loved the end effect of the silk paper but I would not recommend it unless you are ready for a mess. Silk paper is VERY fiberous and can take a beating just by handling it. Adding glue to the mix made a MESS and was tedious work. That being said, the end result was better than I could have hoped for and I will probably do it again. :o)

I was going to add a silver outline onto the celtic knot but decided that the lines of the knot were too thin and thought that the silver might overpower it. I will try that on another one where the lines of the knot are wider.

Before the Wind Came - Fall series 9x12 & 12x16

So here are the two that were awaiting their final coats of gloss for far too long.

With everyone struggling economically I have been playing with different ways to do some things to keeps costs lower and therefor more affordable. This yellow leaved fall tree (9x12) was one attempt. I kept the background simple. One single green piece of mulberry for the ground and one piece of sky blue fiberous paper for the background. Keeping the background simple allowed me to put my typical amount of work into the tree.

This one on the other hand was more complex (12x16). The stormy sky is multiple colours of gray and white fiberous papers torn into pieces and overlaid until I was happy with its overall look. I am still trying to find the paper I originally used for clouds but this search continues to be fruitless. This was my first attempt at doing small silhouetted trees in the background. I love the idea but am not totally happy with the results on this one (mainly the trunks). Will keep trying though as I love the idea, I think I will also try cityscapes in the future. Two pieces of green mulberry were used for the ground although this picture makes it hard to see that. The leaves were many colours of indian batik (100 gsm) paper and a bit of other scrap paper I had laying around.

Waiting...

Been awhile since I posted any pieces. Just wanted to leave a little note saying I have two basically done but I ran out of UV gloss and haven't been able to get into the store lately. Hope to have them done by the end of the weekend and have new posts early in the week.

I am getting ready to try some new ideas. A friend took me to the paper store and let me pick out a bunch of paper on her (could it get any better?!). She also went through and randomly picked some papers that she wants me to incorporate into pieces in the future. I look forward to the challenge! I love my trees but its time to mix it up a bit! Going to try adding elements like stony paths, water, cliffs, fences, cityscapes, etc. in some of my upcoming projects. Nervous but excited! Oh, and I have been playing around with some ideas for kids room art and gift boxes. Stay tuned!

Spring Blossoms 12"x16"

I have just completed this latest piece. Have been wanting to do a tree sort of like a Cherry Blossom for awhile as my favorite time of year is Spring when they are in full bloom. Growing up near Vancouver (BC) was a treat and I am sure this is not the last time I will do one! I realize that in most cases Cherry Blossom tree leaves are usually deep purple but I am not one to necessarily follow the realms of reality (and I know there are some varieties with green leaves too). Besides, these days with the economic situation pressing in our wallets too I try to use what paper I have on hand before ordering any new stuff. I had been itching to try out the gilded batik I purchased a couple of months ago and had it in mind already.

I love this piece. Well, the tree anyway, not so pleased with the ground cover flowers this time but too late to go back now. I drew and cut this tree from kraft paper cardstock. Used a crackle patterned stamp for the bark and then went back with acrylic paints and a tiny brush for the rest of the details. The leaves are made from gilded silver deep lime green 100gsm batik and hunter green 100gsm batik. The blossoms are made from 100 gsm victorian rose batik.

I am still perplexed by the varying feel of the batik papers. I can order a dozen sheets in varying colours but the same gsm and some just feel different and lighter. I can't always use the lighter ones as they won't punch easily and that drives me crazy. This was the case with the Hunter Green and I spent too much frustrating time while trying to punch what I needed (deep sighs and small pieces of paper don't mix!). I would rather use a different paper since most batiks bleed when I gloss coat them but I have yet to find another paper that is in the same price range, punches as well and has the lovely subtle textural (looking) pattern that they have. If you have any suggestions let me know.

The sky was painted with 3 pieces of tissue overlayment. I like the tissue for its addition of texture (creases and such) and the fact that it tones down the colour a bit but if you make a mistake - FORGET IT! Pulling it off once its soaked with modge podge is an icky mess of soggy paper and glue everywhere! I would like to find another paper for this as well but so far nothing else gives quite the same effect. I will keep searching to see if something else I deem worthy is out there but in the meantime I'll stick with the tissue.

The ground is once again 3 colours of 15o gsm green textured mulberry with yellow batik torn into tiny, tiny pieces for the ground cover. As I mentioned before I was not so happy with the result of that on this one. I need to find a better paper to work with and play around with my technique some more.

Cards

I always have a hard time translating my work onto something a little more commercial. I have a friend who makes beautiful cards, always simple but, man, does she know her colours, patterns, etc. and what will go with what! Sense the tiny bit of envy. Alas, I am not much of a card maker but I do find that they work best when I put what I do into them. Here are a couple of examples of the cards I have made using my trees (branches). They are 5 1/2"x 5 1/2" and I use brown, recycled kraft paper envelopes to go with them.

Autumn - 11" x 14"

This is my first piece after the big 18" x 24" so I was able to incorporate some of the lessons learned. This is my first attempt at doing a stormy sky and I have to say I was quite pleased. I painted the canvas board with a medium to light gray acrylic and then slowly began to add torn pieces of tissue, mulberry and other fibrous paper mostly in white but also some gray-blue as well. Some papers had a bit of a yellowish tinge to them (which wasn't really noticeable until they were applied to the piece) but I was able to cover the bad spots with other papers as I built the sky. I really love how the glue and gloss affected most of the papers, giving the clouds a much more real and textural effect. I was saddened to find out my supplier for the best of this paper cannot get it anymore and can't find out who their suppliers source was. Hope I don't have to buy it online too but after checking 2 of the 3 other store options with no luck it looks like I might.

I have posted pictures of this piece before and after I added leaves since it could be done either way. This is the first tree I have drawn completely freehand, which is great! Cuts my prep time way down from my previous process.

Photo quality :o(

I have to say I am not thrilled about the photo quality of any of my pieces (the two night sky ones aren't too bad). Doesn't seem to matter what I try, they never seem to come out that great. Someone commented today that the photos do not do the original justice and I completely agree. I had sent them a picture but they came by today and saw it for the first time. I am not sure if I will ever be able to convey the textural quality of my pieces through photographs but I am sure I can do a heck of a lot better. Might be time to invest in a better camera.

Spring Tree Trio - 18"x24"

This is my first big baby. Unlike all the others tree/branch pieces, that were much more simple, this one I worked on off and on for over 2 months. There are a few visible problems and I may never try to sell this piece but overall I was pretty thrilled with the results.

The sky was painted with the same colour of acrylic blue but I slowly added white as I got closer to the ground, once finished I overlaid with a layer of tissue. I used 3 different colours of green textured mulberry (150 gsm) for the ground and tore it to the right shapes for a softer, grassier looking edge. The trees were cut, once again from a standard brown cardstock,if all the leaves fell off, there would still be trees with ALL the branches underneath, I do this to get a more real, organic feel with the leaves and then accents were added with acrylic paints. The leaves are two different colours of Indian Batik (100 gsm) punched with a craft paper punch. Flowers on the trees were punched from a pearlescent white paper and accented with paint in the middle. The clouds were a white fibery paper torn by hand. The ground cover was tiny torn pieces of yellow batik.

Major lessons learned on this piece

1) If you are overlapping mulberry be sure that the pieces underneath cover the entire area of ground all the way to the bottom of the piece. I used lighter greens over darker greens and you could see the lines from the paper underneath (easily remedied next time).
2) Mulberry is very absorbent, ended up with weird discolourations from the glue all around where the ground cover flowers (yellow) are. Coat the ground with acrylic gloss first to get a more even look of the mulberry, that way, when you go to add the flowers the glue won't soak into the paper thus avoiding the weird glue discolourations.
3) TEST your paper. Some papers' colours will bleed. I almost ruined the whole thing by applying the gloss on the trees finding the green of the leaves bleeding into the blue of the sky. Quickly switched tactics to just applying the gloss on the tree, letting it dry and then applying coats of gloss to the entire picture once it had dried and sealed. Next time will either gloss the whole background first so I can wipe off any colour bleeding without any trouble or gloss the entire tree before applying it to the piece - whichever works better for on the next occasion.

Night Skies and Black Silhouettes 9"x12", 11"x14"

Two pieces - I painted the night sky with acrylic navy blue paint and then used a very fine tip embossing tool to dip in paint and added stars using a pearlescent white acrylic. Then overlaid with white tissue. I cut the trees from standard black cardstock, and cut the moons from a natural white, fibery paper (same as white flower). The ground on the second piece was done with a gray blue fiber paper and a white fiber paper. Both were finished with 2 coats of UV gloss.

Spring Blossom Branch Pair - 2, 6" x 8"

I have now switched to canvas boards. This is my first attempt at a pair, branches, etc.

The background is two layers of tissue - first turqoise, then white to tone it down. Tissue goes fairly clear once put on glue, and I like the textural look I get from the paper creasing in areas. The branches are cut from standard brown cardstock and painted with acrylic paint accents. The leaves are punched from an 100 gsm indian batik. The blossoms are also an indian batik with 3 small white beads as the center of each. UV acrylic gloss to coat.

Second Flower - 11 1/2" x 11 1/2"

Loved the paper for the petals on this one much more than the last one. Used a natural, uneven, fibery paper. I only had to put 4 coats of modge-podge total on this one to get the desired texture and mallability and I really liked the way the glue affected the paper. The yellow center has a lot more dimension. I also like using the brown craft paper for the branch more than the previous flower, it gave it a more natural branch look. I was not overly thrilled with the way I painted the branch but will try something different next time. I did however make the mistake of using a wet glue to adhere the background paper to the cardboard I used as the backer and that caused the backer to bubble. Note to self - use spray adhesive to adhere full sheets of paper to anything that will absorb glue.

First Project - first lessons

My first paper art piece is was inspired by my mom and was the first paper art piece I made. I am not generally a flower kind of person but thought this would be an interesting first test of the ideas in my head.

It is 5 deep red, 24 petal flowers on a teal background with green vines and leaves. The petals were coated with matte modge-podge and the final piece was given 2 coats of UV acrylic gloss.

The flowers were by far the hardest part of the project and were meant to be the showcase. I made all the templates from scratch, cut each petal out by hand, coated each one (all 120 of them) with 8 layers of modge-podge 4 on front, 4 on the back, folded and shaped each petal, and glued them on. Including drying time I could even guess how many hours this took (first time remember!). I do not know the gsm of the petal paper but I would guess 35 to 50 (pretty thin).

The centers of the flowers were made with just standard black cardstock cut into 1/4 inch strips. The smallest one was made from 2 1/2 feet of paper, the largest about 4 feet. I used the quilling technique to wind the paper up into the centers but cut the paper every 1/8" (approximate - I didn't measure) beforehand.

Things I would do differently:

1) Use thicker paper for the petals to cut down layers of modge-podge and thus less waiting for glue to dry.

2) Was not overly happy about the vines, think I will try a different colour next time, perhaps more brown.

3) I would put the acrylic gloss on the background teal colour before applying any of the other components to prevent bleeding of colour onto other parts of the project.

Overall I didn't love the end result of this piece but learned a lot about building a flower. I have no idea how well the shape of the flowers will hold up over time I guess we'll see.