Friday, March 28, 2014

Art Journal Entry

Hello All!

I'm sharing another entry in my art journal. This is a drawing I did sometime in 2013 and I finally got around to coloring it and added a poem from an unknown author. The drawing was done on  mixed media paper and was colored with Prisma color pencils and blended with gamsol. I used my chalks and colored the background. 

Here it is.....


Love is like a Butterfly: it goes where it pleases and it pleases where it goes.

Hope you enjoyed and thanks for stopping by! Have a beautiful day and create something today!

~Karen

Tuesday, March 25, 2014

Art Journal Page

Hello All!

I sure hope your are getting some Spring weather! Winter has really been trying to keep a hold on our weather here. We've had crazy roller coaster- like days...warm and sunny one day and then cold winds, gray skies and snowfall. I have to say that Winter sure is giving Spring a fight, LOL.

So I've had some time to finally work in my art journal. The problem with me is that I love to work with all kinds of mediums, hence, sometimes not getting too far in the creative process. The one thing I have done since I was a little girl is draw. I use to draw paper dolls and 'mermaid' paper dolls for my sister and our friends, just drawing on any kind of paper. We would color them, cut them out and just PLAY! So I am finally getting back to my drawing and I'm enjoying it.





.I've started out by drawing the lady's face and then watercoloring her. I then watercolored my background and added drops of alcohol to represent spots of 'sparkle'.  I cut the lady's head out and adhered her to the background. I added stickles, glossy accents and sequins to the background and added the title 'find your SPARKLE'. 

This entry has really sparked the itch to do some more drawings...I definitely will be squeezing in some time to do just that!

Thanks for stopping by and create something today!

~Karen

Monday, March 17, 2014

Card Share

Good Morning All!

Three more days until the first day of Spring...I am so looking forward to it! We have been up and down, where I live, with snow and then warm sunshine. My tulips are poking through the ground and I've noticed some tiny green leaves emerging from the mums. Blue skies, warm days and a slight coolness to the breeze will be so welcomed! : )

Onto my latest card I made. It's a birthday card for my brother. I have such a hard time thinking of 'masculine' card recipes, since I love all of the beautiful flowers, gems and laces out there to adorn our cards and scrap pages. I do think it came out ok, and he let me know he liked it . 

Here is the card...


I did have fun making this card and it came together pretty quickly. The only thing I had forgotten was my brother was turning 40!!! Oh well...I guess I should have had a V8...LOL...when I phoned him on his birthday I explained my forgetfulness and he reassured me it was alright (his next birthday I'm really going to have to make his card really special).

So there you have it folks! I hope Spring has sprung where you all are and go ahead and create something today!

Enjoy the day~

~Karen

Monday, March 10, 2014

Altered Clipboard Swap 2014...take 2

Good Day to All!

I'm enjoying another Spring-like day today and hope you, too, are having a wonderful day! I thought I would take a moment and write before I get on with my day of errands and chores.

As promised, I wanted to share the clipboard I received from the Altered Clipboard Swap I participated in with the scrapbook group I belong to. My partner was Jodie, the Douglas County Scrapbook Group's organizer and one of my friends. Let me just say...GORGEOUS! Jodie asked me what style or theme I would like my clipboard to be and I said I really like shabby chic, I also like color, but not dark colors and to just surprise me. Wow...did she surprise me! 

Take a look...


Isn't this sooo pretty? She covered the clipboard with a beautiful pink paper that has a white flocked motif. Two rows of bling line the top and a dainty paper lace border lies below it. A dramatic blinged out clip is so gorgeous and I still can use the clip to hold a photo or small calendar. The bottom is adorned with bits of a crochet doily, paper roses, pearls, sprays of flowers, rhinestones and beads. A butterfly, rhinestone crown and birdbath with birds are tucked among the roses with a sparkly feather-like accent and a soft white feather, too.


Can we all say OMG?!?? Every bit of this clip is blinged out with pearls and rhinestones! So much yumminess clustered together. : )


Here is a close-up of the bottom of the clipboard. Beautiful paper roses she touched with gesso and sprinkled with glitter. Notice the pretty floral sprays that climb up the sides of the board along with the touches of pearls, special accents and doilies? I can tell so much love was put into this project and I'm so honored to be the recipient of this masterpiece!

Thank you Jodie for my clipboard!  : )

 To see more detail on this clipboard, and other great videos, you can go to Jodie's YouTube channel....
MissPurplePotato

Enjoy your day and thanks for stopping by!

~Karen





Sunday, March 9, 2014

Altered Clipboard Swap 2014

Hello All!

I welcomed the sunshine and Spring-like warmth today and I'm relishing it while we have it. It is a happy pause in between the days of snowfall, which will be heading our way, again, in a day or two...sigh...

I attended the monthly get-together at the scrapbook club that I'm a member of (the Douglas County Scrapbook Group led by our wonderful and talented organizer Jodie) two evenings ago. She hosted another fun swap that challenged me creatively, which is always good, for I need to expand on new techniques and sometimes be pushed outside my comfort zone.

So this swap was an 'Altered Clipboard Swap' and we were paired with a partner, according to the order in which we signed up to participate. The rules were pretty much carte blanche...use a clipboard of any size and ask your partner what theme/style she would like to have on her clipboard. Oh what fun this was! My partner, which happened to be Jodie, wanted a wedding theme so she could display a wedding photo of her son and daughter-in-law 'to be' from their upcoming wedding this June. Let me tell you, the ideas and thoughts that started swirling around in my brain had me sketching out some 'recipes' for the clipboard. I finally came up with a plan and gathered my supplies. Intimidated at first, I began to trim, paint, glue and bead...yes, I said bead.

So let me show you some photos of my finished project!


This photo doesn't do it justice, but it is done in whites, creams, a touch of pale lt. blues & pale lt. pinks. The frame will be able to hold a 4 x 6 photo. I asked my mother to please crochet two 3" doilies for this project and she graciously did. : )  My grandmother worked most of her adult life making wedding gowns and I acquired some of the bridal trims she had used in her works. So I had to add some of the trims, of course, to this wedding themed clipboard. I came across a wonderful and super fun technique on Pinterest for what I call 'faux' porcelain roses. I will put the link for the tutorial from this very creative lady's blog at the end of this blog entry. I will also include some of the supplies I used to make this project.


This is a close-up of the flower cluster that includes some of the 'faux' porcelain flowers & leaves. A handmade stick pin, Prima clock face, some rhinestone sprays, small glittered dove and handmade seam binding finish off this cluster.


A close-up of the beaded chain I made and then I added a white chain, clip and some charms from my stash along with some Art-I-Cake charms I took apart and revamped.


A look at the back of the clipboard. I punched some borders out of paper and added a lace panel, another addition from my mother, and made a pocket from some paper doilies I actually received in a goodie box from Jodie. I thought it would be sweet to type up a short wedding poem which I found on the internet. I cut it into a tag and tied some tulle through the punched hole at the top. On the back of the tag I wrote what items my mother and grandmother contributed to this project for Jodie.

The group has already swapped the clipboards and let me say that not only did I LOVE the clipboard I received, but was amazed at all of the talent and ideas the other ladies came up with. I will post the clipboard I received on my next post.

Happy crafting to you all and thanks for stopping by!

~Karen

Flower tutorial: One More Time Events by Tammy @

Supplies:  clipboard from Wal-mart
                    papers: Basic Grey's Little Black Dress 'Best Dressed'
                                Teresa Collins Family Stores 'Noted'
                    paints (white, bubble gum pink, pool blue & banana yellow): Apple Barrel
                    metal photo corners: Momenta
                    charms: misc. and parts of Art-I-Cake (Charm Me 'I Do' charm added later)
                    silk flowers
                    plaster of paris: DAP
                    handmade seam binding made from white batiste fabric
                    dove
                    white chain
                    silver findings
                    6mm glass pearls
                    balsa wood frame from Michael's
                    crackle medium: Weathered Wood by Americana
                    large white flower with pearl center: Recollections
                    handmade stick pin
                    rhinestone sprays from Hobby Lobby
                    white crochet doilies: my Mother
                    assorted laces & trims: my Grandmother, Hobby Lobby & misc.
                    charm frame from Michael's
                    clock face: Prima
                    flat-back pearls: K&COmpany