Easy Christmas gift idea...

Here's an easy-peasy, inexpensive gift idea that takes very little time to make--



I bought a wreath, 3 garland sprigs and Christmas ribbon at the dollar store. The images are from theMoonlight Journey website--

http://www.moonlightjourney.com/HolidaySheets.html

I used a glue stick to glue the image sheet to an empty cereal box to give them sturdiness, then after cutting the images out I added glittery detailing with glitter glue found at Walmart. FYI, I used a glue gun to attach all the elements to the wreath. Wrap the ribbon around the garland, glueing it in a few places to secure, make a simple bow and glue that on as well. Attach the garland elements (I cut the wire stems off with a wire cutter), then hot-glue the images around the wreath. You could add little ornaments or candies if you wish--or keep it simple like I did.

Here's a closer view--shows the glitter a bit more...


And there you have it--a quick gift that's easy on the budget!

Have a wonderful holiday and thanks for stopping by. =)

Theme Thursday challenge

The theme this week is "Art Words"--I chose one of my favorite inspirational words:

The background is actually a wet-wipe that I used to wipe up some paint. I loved how the colors blended together so I left it on top of the washer to dry, then cut it to fit a playing card. The flowers and letters are stickers, the image is from a magazine makeup advertisement. =)

Hope you are realizing your dreams every day...

Theme Thursday blog--

http://themethursday.wordpress.com/

Thanks again for visiting!

Collage Obsession Weekly Challenge

The theme was "Stairs" this week, with a great supplied image of a cold and lonely crumbling old archway and stone steps leading off mysteriously. I tried all week to come up with something for the challenge until this morning the idea just crystallized. The man with his bags packed is from an advertisement for "Death of a Salesman" and the woman is an altered Dorthea Lang photograph. The poem about loss of love is from Countee Cullen.

Collage Obsession blog--

http://www.collageobsessionchallenge.blogspot.com/

Thanks for visiting today.

Art Creations Friday

The challenge for this week was to create something with the above image from the talented digital artist Rian. I used the top half of the image, and those humongous feet for my entry:



Poor old Matilda--no wonder she looks a tad unhappy here--those feet must be killing her (I know they are killing me!).

Thanks for stopping by. =)

Art Creations Friday blog--

http://artcreationsfriday.blogspot.com/

4x4 Friday theme: Mantra

Just repeat along with me....'ommmmmhhhhh.....' and take a deep breath. Now, don't you feel better? =)
Here is my entry for this weekly challenge. I used some old book paper, tiny flower stickers, a Chinese coin with beads attached, and a picture and words from a magazine I'd saved awhile ago.



Hope you are having a calm, stress-free day and making time to create something you enjoy. =)

4x4 Friday--

http://4x4friday.blogspot.com/

Theme Thursday and 3 Muses...

I combined two challenge themes (is that kosher??) for this week. Theme Thursday is "Flourish" and I've been wanting to use these great chipboard flourish designs I got awhile back in a scrapbook kit, so I traced around them with patterned papers and added them to the background of this piece. For 3 Muses this week, it's all about men, so I added some oogling gentlemen who think our sweet Elinore is quite the sexy dish when she dances the night away.

Theme Thursday--

http://themethursday.wordpress.com/

3 Muses--

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

Have a great day! =)

3 Muses Architecture Challenge...

I wasn't sure what to do with this challenge until I found this great old house photo--there's something sad and lonely about a dilapidated old house isn't there? The poem is The Old House by Amy Levy:


In through the porch and up the silent stair;Little is changed, I know so well the ways;--Here, the dead came to meet me; it was thereThe dream was dreamed in unforgotten days.
But who is this that hurries on before,A flitting shade the brooding shades among?--She turned,--I saw her face,--O God, it woreThe face I used to wear when I was young!
I thought my spirit and my heart were tamedTo deadness; dead the pangs that agonise.The old grief springs to choke me,--I am shamedBefore that little ghost with eager eyes.
O turn away, let her not see, not know!How should she bear it, how should understand?O hasten down the stairway, haste and go,And leave her dreaming in the silent land.

3 Muses blog--

http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

It's Monday....

...and that means I missed out on two Monday challenges, for Mixed Media and Think Monday ATC. I meant to post these when I got home from work last night, but I was just too tired to blog. I am going to post these anyway, even though it's late. The theme for Mixed Media was "Giggles"--I found an image of a prissy school-marm type who just begs to be plopped down in the middle of all these women and girls having a great laugh. Her pursed lips and stiff manner in the midst of all this improper gaiety made me giggle. =D


For Think Monday ATC, the theme is "Dance" and I chose some freebie images from Graphics Fairy and Vintage Moth--some old sheet music, a lovely ballerina, and an old rose-covered postcard, plus a coral fabric covered button I found in a an old bottle of buttons at a junk shop.

Mixed Media--
http://mixedmediamonday.wordpress.com/

Think Monday ATC--
http://tmta.wordpress.com/

Thanks for visiting today!

More Challenges--Gothic Arch, Sunday Postcard, and Collage Obsession...

I was able to get 3 more challenges finished tonight--

This one is for Gothic Arch' Steampunk theme:



And this one is for Sunday Postcard, for the chosen theme of "Twins". Jimmy and Will used to be so close--did everything together until Jimmy lost his heart to Francesca in Vegas...



And finally, an Oriental theme for Collage Obsession:



Had alot of fun working on them--time seems to both fly and go slow when working on an art project--why is that? Now, it's back to work, but I hope to have more time to create on Monday. Thanks for visiting my blog. =)

http://www.collageobsessionchallenge.blogspot.com/

http://gothicarches.blogspot.com/

http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

4x4 Friday Challenge

This is the first time entering this challenge--the theme for the week was "Crow Lady". The background and crows are from PaperWhimsy and the damsel in undress is from Art-Zine (I think!). The 4x4 Friday blog is here:

http://4x4friday.blogspot.com/

Have a good weekend!

Theme Thursday Challenge

This week's theme is "Girls' so I chose some favorite images from ArtChix again, as well as some cool Eiffel Tower images I got from KeeperOfTheNest on Etsy. This little Parisian angel wears her heart on her stomach instead of her sleeve (hee, more room for it there). I like how the patterned paper shows through the image of the little winged fairy girl. The metal rose fell off a ring I used to wear all the time. Now it has a new home in this collage. =)

Theme Thursday:

http://themethursday.wordpress.com/2010/02/17/thursday-challenge-girls/

KeeperOfTheNest:

http://www.etsy.com/shop/keeperofthenest

Thanks for stopping by today!

3 Muses "Nature" Challenge...

Made this up for the 3 Muses challenge theme of "Nature" this week--used some ArtChix images (our Miss Flapper certainly qualifies for being 'au naturale'--thank god for sequins!), some tiny daisy appliques, a pretty yellow and black bird feather I found one day walking my dog, a paper butterfly from the lawn and garden section of Walmart, and some bits of ribbon and old lace. It all fits into an empty CD case so I can store it on my art shelf and keep it free from dust bunnies. Not that I have any....*cough*... =)

You can find the 3 Muses blog here--
http://thethreemuseschallenge.blogspot.com/

and the ArtChix shoppe here--
http://www.artchixstudio.com/shop/home.php?dir=home

Wishing you a great creative week!

Gothic Arch and Mixed Media Challenges: Carnivale/Masquerade/Mardi Gras

Mixed Media Mondays and Gothic Arch both have Mardi-Gras for their theme this week. I recently made this ATC that I thought might fit the bill. Here it is for the Mixed Media challenge--




And here it is after I added an arch behind it that I colored with q-tips dipped in lime and turquoise pigment ink pads:



You can find Mixed Media Mondays at the following link--

http://mixedmediamonday.wordpress.com/

And the Gothic Arch blog is here--

http://gothicarches.blogspot.com/

Off to get some more creating done--I love days off with nothing to do but artsy stuff, don't you? =)

Tag Tuesday Challenge #39

The tag theme this week at Kard Krazy is "Cutsie", and I was really stumped as to what I would use for something appropriately cute enough to qualify...finally settled on a digital scrapbooking kit that I got recently from ScrapArtist.com with little Kewpie-doll type fairies. I chose one and added some this n' that from my embellishment bin, and there you go--a cute little tag that I can probably use for an Easter basket. Thanks for visiting my blog today. =)

Kard Krazy--

http://www.kardkrazy.blogspot.com/

ScrapArtist.com--

http://www.scrapartist.com/

Three Muses challenge: Postage Stamps

This is the first time entering The Three Muses weekly challenge and I knew it was going to be late (busy week at work), but I finished it late last night anyway just in case anyone was interested in seeing it. Awhile back I saw an ad in the back on one of my home decorating magazines where you send in a dollar and get some stamps. One of those stamps was of Henry O. Tanner, and I chose that stamp to use for my collage after doing a little searching about Monsieur Tanner. Here you can find more about his life and legacy:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Ossawa_Tanner

And here are some quotes attributed to him:

http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/authors/h/henry_ossawa_tanner.html

I chose my favorite for the collage--"I will preach with my brush"--I love that! He found a home in Paris and created some beautiful, thought-provoking works of art. Anyway, hope you enjoy visiting here today--thanks for stopping by. =)

Tag Tuesday: Monogram

Hopefully not too late for this week's challenge theme of using some sort of monogram on a tag...

Altered CD/The Romance of Flowers

Well...this was supposed to be my entry for Mixed-Media Monday's art challenge (see blog here)

http://mixedmediamonday.wordpress.com/

but due to working later today than I'd planned, I missed the boat on that one. So now, after searching a bit, I found a place where this courtly couple can find a new home--for the "Theme Thursdays" blog challenge of "Flowers" instead. How nifty is that? I'm thankful I decided to go ahead and add on those 3 small pale pink buds around the Valentine greeting, because I really debated on leaving them out. Fate is with me apparently (at least this week!). The images are from a LunaGirl CD (here's the store on Ebay)

http://myworld.ebay.com/lunagirl-images/

You can find the "Theme Thursday blog here--

http://themethursday.wordpress.com/

Have a great creative week and thanks for stopping by!

Cute, easy Valentine gift bags

Yes, I realize that Valentine's Day is only about 24 hours away, but if you are pressed for time, or are the Queen (princess/duchess/handmaiden) of Procrastination like I am, these quick, easy-peasy, cute (I think, anyway!) gift bags might do the trick. I whipped these up for friends/co-workers in about an hour tonight--

I used little gift bags I got from Walmart, then filled each with an assortment of Valentine candy. I printed out (ATC-sized it) this lovely freebie image I got from the Art-Zine website:

--which you can find here--

http://www.art-e-zine.co.uk/

I cut the image to fit just inside the bag, and touched up the tinted roses with a bit of pink, green and yellow glitter glue. Then I made tags from this pretty little bird image from The Graphics Fairy:

I photo-shopped it a bit to change the "Birthday Greetings" to read "Happy Valentine's Day" instead. I then tied the tag onto the ribbon closure from the bag and voila!--a sweet gift idea. Reaction from said friends/co-workers has been great (they're my best critics, lol).

Here's the link for The Graphics Fairy blog--lots of freebies, inpiration and ideas here:

http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.com/

I used newsprint wings that I got from this really cool digital scrapbook kit at

ScrapArtist.com--

http://www.scrapartist.com/

Thanks again for stopping by, and have a wonderful Valentine's Day. =)

Collage Obsession Challenge

I found another blog that challenges my creativity--a relatively new one by the talented team of Elegia and Itkupilli--called "Collage Obsession"--

http://www.collageobsessionchallenge.blogspot.com/

They do a weekly challenge on a chosen theme, and generously supply a cool vintage image to use if needed. This week the subject was "Longing", along with this lovely image of actress Marceline Day:



She certainly looks like she's pining away something awful, doesn't she?

For more information on Ms. Day's career, you can read here--

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marceline_Day

The photo reminded me of someone lonely and sad--missing her special someone who was far from her and had been gone for a very long time. She writes to him of her pain and longing:




Thank you for visiting today. =)

Sunday Postcard Art challenge

This is the first time I've entered, and I went for a 'whimsy' slant on this week's theme of "Cats" (wanted something more cheerful after feeling a bit maudlin over poor Elsie and Helen). I chose images from Land of Nod--3 cute kitties were my 'Muse" this week.

Sunday Postcard Art blog:

http://sundaypostcardart.wordpress.com/

Thanks for stopping by! =)

New Gothic Arch theme....

The theme this week was "Crackled"--something old, cracked and faded. I recently tried a new technique I'd found in one of my Stampington magazines where you stamp on top of Ranger Crackle paint, and so I used one of those pieces I'd attempted. It looks to me like an old photo that has been glued onto a board, and then charred. Perhaps, Elsie finds this picture after Helen dies in a tragic fire and saves the memory of her life-long dear friend and sister, to cherish and place in a little keepsake box under her bed...

You can find the Gothic Arch blog here:

http://gothicarches.blogspot.com/

Tuesday Tag Challenge

Yay! I found another challenge at the Kard Krazy blog:

http://www.kardkrazy.blogspot.com/

Louise offers a weekly tag challenge and this week's theme was "A touch of red". I am just barely getting it under the wire, as I found the challenge a bit late, then hemmed and hawed until I came up with an idea. Of course, once I tried that idea, and found it didn't come out like it was in my head (how many times does that happen to you??), I had to come up with another one. Thank heavens for old issues of Marie Claire magazine--lots of inspiration in those pages. And I just had to use my all-time-favorite stamp from Zettiology too. I kind of like the end result (but what do I know, lol)--


Thanks for stopping by. =)

Gothic Arch Weekly Challenge

As I searched the internet for ideas and inspiration the other night, I stumbled upon this blog--

http://gothicarches.blogspot.com/

--where you are offered a weekly art challenge to do with a theme in some sort of gothic arch-shape. This week's challenge theme is "Correspondence". Just the impetus I needed to get those creative juices flowing! I dug through boxes, drawers and files for various collage papers, saved images, bits and doo-dads until I had the perfect mix of what I wanted it to look like:

It didn't scan very well, but you get the idea. I used images from TheGraphicsFairy, PaperWhimsy, and KeeperOfTheNest on Etsy--and had alot of fun creating! I'm looking forward to future challenges. =)