Vintage Markets

No idea what I'm doing with these

Yesterday was gorgeous. Windy, clouds moving across the sky, in the low 70's to start, just a beautiful fall day. To take the edge of their energy, I started at the dog park and let Frick and Frack run around for 45 minutes. Then we got back in the car and headed to Advance, IN. I know, few people have heard of it. A tiny, very old town on Route 75 heading north. I didn't know this until a few days ago, but the first Saturday of spring, summer and fall months is an open Vintage market. They set up in a parking lot behind a downtown building which contains Boone County Uniques. This is a combination antique, junk type store. Well, junk to some people. Treasures to others, and now I am kicking myself because I didn't buy the rusty scissors they had on display.

One of the vendors outdoors, Black Barn Vintage, had a bin of old rusty pieces. 2 bucks each. A woman was standing there, sorting through the spigot handles. I asked what she was making, and she said a garden sign. She was choosing pieces that resembled flowers. So I let her go first. I just wanted a variety, because when I looked into that box, I saw Seth Apter's work in my mind's eye.

An interesting market that suddenly had a variety of dealers because of Facebook. Lots of customers. I plan on returning next spring. This was the last set up for the season.

By the way, the blue in the background? My finished kitchen table. No, I have yet to do the chairs. Yeah, I know.....
Linda

Done. I think. Yes, done.

close up of center detail

Side detail

the entire piece

Because I am on Instagram and see other art daily, I have a list of people that I follow. Some I read their blogs, some both blogs and Facebook, a few only on Facebook, and almost all on Instagram. One of the artists I stumbled across is Gwen Lafleur. She is a designer for Stencil Girl Products, and her detailed stencils are unique and inspiring.  You can find her here.

Gwen recently did a journal cover that was beautiful. It was that post that inspired me to do this project. I started with an 8x8 inch regular canvas. I used the Tim Holtz small square stencil to apply molding paste around all four sides, leaving an empty square in the middle.

The circle is a brilliant idea I completely stole from Gwen. Go to the florist section at whatever big box store, and buy a MDF florist arrangement circle. I paid $1.49. Covered that with gesso, then took a  Gwen stencil from Stencil Girl, and applied molding paste around the circle. The stencil is a 6x6 inch, with a circle in the center that I did not use. I was totally after the 8 point star work that is encircled. Set all of that to the side to dry and cure.

Cheap water color paper can be used for so many projects. I cut out 8 layers with a die cut on the Cuttlebug. Put each on top of the other with white glue, and let them set overnight. Then applied molding paste thru another Gwen stencil. The painting of all of the various pieces was done in layers. Lots and lots of layers. I didn't want a heavy hand on this, but subtle shading. The very last step was shading with the Big Brush Pitt Pens. The center embellishment is out of the jewelry aisle at Hobby Lobby. The entire piece is glued with E6000, my go-to glue for anything heavy.

And there you have it. I'm keeping this one. I named it Antiquities from Hobby Lobby. Why yes, I am nuts.
Linda

Special Request

Wood plaque style frame from Michael's

Amos, the crafty dog

I made one of the in yellow tones to sell.

The original, which is now on my living room wall

The day before our sale a few weeks ago, Cathy was here. She pulled this out of the stack of items that had price tags and said "I wouldn't sell this. I would hang it in here." I told her I loved it, and was really hesitant to let it go. So I didn't. I make art because I like the process, but also because I love unique items that no one else has. By the end of the sale day, Cathy had requested one in tones to match her "Kelly Rae" wall in her family room. Kelly Rae art has a lot of magenta/pink/pale green tones, sometimes dark, but mostly in mid tones and values. So I came up with a four colors that I thought would work. We both love it. This measures 5 inches wide by 18 inches long. An unusual size, but works well for this style.

A lot of artists/crafters don't realize this, but online Michael's has a ton of products that are not available in the store. The coupons can still be used, and if you order $49 or more, shipping is free. Just thought I'd pass that along. The Avon store never has more than 2 of this wood plaque in stock. I went online with a 30% coupon off everything, and ordered 5. Had my order delivered within 3 days.

Have a great weekend.
Linda

Canvases 2

5x5 inch gallery canvas

close up of the grunge

The entire canvas, 5x5 inch

These smaller canvases are like popcorn or Jay's potato chips, you just can't stop at one. So much fun.

I used a Seth Apter Spellbinders steel die to cut the image for the first canvas. This is one of my favorites of all that he has done. Just love the design. I cut 3 layers of water color paper, then used craft glue to put them together one on top of the other. Let that sit for an hour or so before painting. Side note: when doing this, the water color paper absorbs the paint, so sometimes it is necessary for a 2nd coat.

The gears for the bottom canvas were cut with a Sizzix Big Die from Tim Holtz. It is one of my hobbies, supporting Tim Holtz. We just can't let him go hungry, can we? Seriously, I could open a Tim Holtz store. Anyway, I had the much smaller gear set and it is a royal pain to cut. Lots of little, tiny pieces that you punch out after cutting. Not fun. When I saw this Big Die, I grabbed it. Another find from Ohio. I left a lot of money in Ohio. You are welcome. Same concept, used 3 layers of water color paper. The small washers in the center of the gears was a lucky find at a flea market during Covered Bridge Festival last year.

Onward. SO much to do, just not enough energy or time to do it all.
Linda

Rain, Rain, go away already

So not done, and now the black stamping has been removed

Also not done, and not sure about the black marks

Jake, waiting his turn for a back massage

Gracie, wondering what Jake is doing behind her

We had a "get ready for the storm front" type of day yesterday. I had a rotten, whopper headache all day long, that seemed to intensify last night. So not a lot was done in the studio. What was done, I am not happy with. The first photo shows what I did in the morning. By 10am, I had removed most of the Archival Ink that I stamped with rubbing alcohol, then painted over the marks with the same paint. Even though I had glazed the piece with Golden black paint, it all will remove with alcohol.

The center designs on both frames are cut up gel prints I did Monday, and I really like them, just not sure they go with the frames right now. It could be the headache. Or, I might end up putting those pieces to the side and doing something else entirely.

I am always, always second guessing myself. There are very few works I do that I am completely satisfied with upon completion. I used to throw projects into the garbage if I hit this point. Now, I will do whatever I can to fix it. If it can't be fixed, then it gets pitched. These two are fixable, just maybe not today. Or not until we have continuous sunshine and my head calms down. I also have Lesson 3 to do in the Jane Davies class, and that may also have to wait.

Somebody want to do a sunshine dance? This crap is hanging around until Sunday. Could be worse. It could be snow!
Linda

Assemblage

close up of the right hand side

close up of the left hand side

8x8 inch wood frame

The center art work

I have learned so many techniques of late. My hope is that I don't forget them all, and use them repeatedly. One is using deli paper to impress wet paint on a canvas or art journal page. I did this recently after painting a journal page completely black. When it came time to choose something for the center of this frame, I moved the frame around one of the deli pieces, and settled on the above design. What you get depends on what elements are under the wet paint, and how hard you rub. Love the randomness.

The gears are Golden light molding paste thru a stencil. The odd metal pieces are washers and jewelry elements. The larger metal piece with "connective" is from my stash. I think it was a Basic Grey metal embellishment from way back. I painted it white, then affixed the typed word with gel medium. Tore off all the edges, let it dry, and added some Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge. All of the metal parts were glued down with E6000.  The black printed deli paper is on a piece of white water color paper.

When I get stuck on one aspect of art or crafts, I simply move on to something else. This happened with the faces from the Fabulous Faces class. It was time for a break from faces, and a return to grunge fit the bill. Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Assemblage

8x8 inch wood frame from Michaels

close up of center

love the grunge!

When I have one of those "20% off your entire regular price purchase" coupons from Michael's, I try to swing by the wood aisle and pick up a few frames. They are great to have on hand to play. I had two sitting on the table when the mail arrived on Wednesday with my two new Seth Apter dies from Spellbinders. The other die is up next.

First of all, this is all one set. There is a larger square with rounded corners, and then the smaller, inner square with the rays. As a bonus, if you are careful in the placement of the inner square, you will get a third, medium size cut out. Looking at the above photo, I cut 2 large squares (the darker gold and red), then used the medium square to fit inside the red one, so the inner square had a surface as a base. All were adhered with Liquitex Gel Medium. I used 140 pound water color paper, and at first used water colors. The intensity in color that I wanted wasn't there, so started layering Golden Fluid Acrylics. The shiny accents are Golden's fine gold paint, and Dina Wakely's Penny paint.

Stamping was done with a Tim Holtz grid stamp and Vermillion Archival ink, and I stenciled some with Payne's Grey paint and a new stencil from The Crafter's Workshop.

Just a side note here: I purchased 200 plastic jewelry tags to hang up my stencils. I know I have lost a few along the way, but not many. I am almost to the end of that package, which means I almost have 200 stencils. Seriously considering starting a 12 step group to STOP BUYING STENCILS!!! Yeah, right. That is not going to happen. Artiscape weekend is approaching, and Stencil Girl Products will be there with a mini store. Oh, baby.

Enjoy the spring weekend. It has to warm up, right? Right???
Linda

Sunshine makes me happy...

8x8 inch wood frame

Stack of small canvases waiting to be finished

This is the third of the assemblages that I finished this week. Again, had a lot of fun with this. I used a craft paint as the base, Golden Light Molding Paste through a Stencil Girl stencil for the texture. When dry, I glazed over the entire frame with Golden Raw Umber and Golden Acrylic Glaze.

About a month ago I purchased a Tim Holtz Sizzix Thin Die of gears. Some of those suckers are quite small, and all of them have a zillion pieces that have to be carefully punched out once cut. I grabbed some done in a dark blue cardstock, and painted them Antique Copper with Prima paint from the Finnabar line. It had just arrived in the mail. Got to say, nice paint. I really don't need to buy any additional paint (see previous posts about me buying shit), but I wanted to try it. One coat does it. Attached those with Liquitex Gel, let them dry. Then lightly went over the top with a cosmetic sponge and Distress Ink in Rusty Hinge. The center piece is antique book paper (Thanks, Klara!), Dylusions Paint, wash of white paint, then Rusty Hinge on top.

Back to using up old supplies: I have had these gallery small canvases on the closet shelf forever. Monday I covered them with scrapbook papers and book text. Went back to using Mod Podge, and it worked better than the Matte Medium I had. They will be finished within the next few days.

Sun is out, we are heading to the dog park. Enjoy your day, and thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Assemblages

8x8 wood frame

repeating patterns

Again, trying to repeat patterns

I purchased 3 of these wooden frames at Michael's a few weeks back. The wood was painted with Americana craft paint, allowed to dry, then lightly sanded. I used Golden Light Molding paste thru stencils for dimension. When dry, a glaze of Golden's Raw Umber was applied. That is pretty much the base for each of these I do. From that point forward, anything goes. If I am not inspired after going through my collection of random crap, I will set them aside and come back.

So. All three were sitting on one of the tables, when I looked up from die cutting the other day and realized that the square Seth Apter die from Spellbinders had the same geometric shapes as the stencil I had used with the molding paste. Ah Ha! Then the circle/squares suddenly sprang out from the other frame, and I was off and running. The third frame will go in a different direction due to what is already on it.

If you are wanting to make these, may I suggest you look for random crap in every single department of Hobby Lobby and Michael's. The small circles above the Tim Holtz metal bar on the first piece? Yeah, those are jewelry findings from Hobby Lobby. One never knows.

Have a great day. The dogs are going to Puppy Playground. I may get another puppy hug today.
Linda

Oh, Baby!

Moose to the left, me, Ruby to the right

Look closely. Moose is kissing Ruby

My face looks like crap, but look at the puppy faces. OMG!

Snuggle bunny

OH, yeah, I finished this yesterday

Yesterday afternoon I worked in the studio for several hours. Realized it was time to go pick up Frick and Frack from the Playground, so took off. I was in a great mood. The sun was peaking out and the day had warmed up to 54. Spring is in the air.

When I walked into Puppy Playground, Corrine said "You can't leave". I probably looked at her blankly, but she added that Miranda was on her way in with the two Australian Shepherd puppies she is fostering, and she wanted me to see them. Gracie, my very own Aussie, is one of the favorites at the Playground. She hugs and kisses everyone on greeting them, and when she leaves. Do I get hugs and kisses? Hell, no. But everyone at the Playground does. My little social butterfly.....

I waited about 10 minutes, but it was so worth it. Look at those babies! Moose weighs more than Ruby, being the male. His paws indicate that he will be a big Aussie, probably around 55 pounds. Moose has a long tail, Ruby, like Gracie, was born without one. They are both beyond adorable. For reference purposes only, (HA!), I give you Gracie at a young age.

I do love my dogs. Enjoy.
Linda
PS: I will post more about the assemblage tomorrow. Finishing up another few today.

X Marks the Spot

The first layers were attached

Then came the tricky part

Gracie May Sue, reclining on pillows in the exact middle of my king size bed

Jake, left to make a pallet out of 2 quilts on top of the bed

To say my dogs are spoiled is an understatement.

I had a blast making this assemblage. From discovering the rusty look to putting it all together, it just felt right. I am starting another one today. This is a canvas board from an economy pack at Michael's. On the board itself, I put 4 stripes of paint in complimentary colors, and when dry put a light wash of white gesso over some of it. Then started glazes with different complimentary colors. When completely dry, I ran a Distress Ink pad in Rusty Hinge around the edges and onto some of the board. Did a splatter of black paint, which pretty much was covered up.

The rusty cardboard I explained in a previous post, along with the rusty die cuts. The foreign language text old book pages are from my friend, Klara in Cleveland. We trade ephemera. Love it. The smaller old text pages are from an antique dictionary that I glued to a large manila tag, then cut out with Spellbinder dies. That would be the circle to the left of the X's, and the X in the center. Except for the circle dies, all other dies are from the Seth Apter collection. Bo Bunny scrapbook paper was used for the green, textured part. I ran that through the Cuttlebug with a Seth Apter embossing folder for the squares. Then lightly touched a Distress Ink pad in Vintage Photo to highlight the embossing in spots.

At the top is a metal bracket from a pack at Hobby Lobby, the Paper Studio brand. Cheap when on 50% sale, and there are 3 in the pack. I typed the word Discover in American Typewriter font on the computer, then lightly ran Vintage Photo over that. Except for attaching the bracket with metal brads, the entire project was affixed with Liquitex Gel Medium. I did have to use bulldog clips to hold the base papers down overnight before starting the layering. If you are going to try this, weigh the pieces down until dry. I learned from my first assemblage effort that if you glue too fast, curling of some papers will ensue.

We have snow moving in this afternoon, so I am staying home to work on another board. Thanks for stopping by.
Linda

Assemblage

Final version

First try

Close up of the stamping

So. I have been trying new techniques on water color paper, with the intent to use these pieces as part of assemblages. I found the gold/red piece of paper in a stack (there are stacks of papers everywhere in this room), and thought the colors were a nice contrast to the blue frame. Liked the way the key stamp turned out, and if you notice, there is a faint hint of french script in the background as well. Cut the paper down to size, and put it in the frame. Took the above photos, and put the frame away thinking I was done.

Then I looked at the photos, and realized that you have to look closely to see the stamping, and that is NOT what I wanted. Went hunting for another piece of water color painted paper that would match, and tried again. That worked.

I have always used Ranger's Archival Ink Pads as my go to ink. It's permanent, dries quickly, and doesn't come off, ever. But lately, as in the past 4 or 5 months, I am finding that it is not stamping like it used to. The images are not vivid. And in mixed media projects, you want both a vivid stamped image, and those that are a whisper or ghost stamp. Background vs. foreground. I have no idea if Ranger has changed the formula because I have found this to be true with the black Archival ink pad I purchased last summer. Because of this, I am changing back to Staz On black permanent ink when I want a bold stamp. Staz On is a much juicier ink pad, and needs more drying time. Just thought I'd mention that, but there is a definite difference. The keys on the green background were stamped with a 10 year old Staz On stamp pad. Yep, 10. Year. I don't leave the lids off, so it has never been over exposed to the air.

Hope this helps. Have a great day.
Linda

Random Thoughts

Finished assemblage

Very old metal embellishments

I love doing these. The boring part is applying the paint and molding paste, then waiting for it to dry. Once you get that done, it's time for fun. And, the best part, I am using up all types of very old scrap book embellishments. In fact, I am rediscovering a lot of stuff that I forgot I had. Good times.

So I just spent a half hour going through my Facebook wall and deleting posts. I also made a comment, respectfully, on a friend's wall this morning, then deleted it. The entire concept of Facebook is to share your life with people you know. I know a lot of distant "friends". Classmates from high school, associates from work, people that I have meant through my art classes. Relatives. Lots of relatives. Dog people. Some are vocal about their beliefs, some are not.

In my 69 years I have seen great turmoil. I lived through the Vietnam War, saw people I went all the way through school with die in that war. I personally witnessed men who returned so damaged, so deeply scarred, they were never the same again. I vividly remember the Civil Rights Movement, the 1968 Democratic convention in Chicago, Black Panthers, the assassination of JFK , Robert Kennedy, and Martin Luther King Jr. The attempted assassination of George Wallace and Ronald Reagan.

The murder of John Lennon.

The point of this stroll down memory lane is that I am not now nor have I ever been sheltered from events. I have buried loved ones, been physically attacked, robbed, violated and I survived. But this. THIS daily fear, THIS unheard of dishonesty, blatant disregard for all people in this country, THIS has me in chaos. Internal and unrelenting chaos. All I can do is keep doing. Exercise, art, hugging dogs, whatever it takes to get through one more day.

How many more are there like me in this country today?
Linda