Altered Globes

Yes  - altered books, altered hangers, altered playing cards, altered photographs, altered dominoes, and now altered globes!   

 We each brought a vintage (or vintage inspired) globe to our monthly play date.  After not meeting for two months we had a lot to catch up on.  Our altered calendars, exciting tales from Art Unraveled, and the various art projects we each brought for show and tell.

When we finally got started,  I gave my globe a rough sand then coated it with gesso. I gave up on finding a vintage globe and bought this one at Cost Plus World Market.

 I made a rought template and cut out 12 strips of paper (tapered at each end) in my favorite pallet of robin's egg blue florals and sepia tone text and script.  Since each strip was about 14" inches long (yes i looked up "pi" and how to calculate circumference!!) it was a great way to use my rolls of vintage wall paper, wrapping paper and treasured Cavallini papers.

 I gave each strip a few slits along the sides to smooth out the curvature of the globe.  My globe was small - a larger one would be less fussy.  I used PVA glue.

 After all the strips dried somewhat i added some birds cut from napkins.    It looks very messy at this point.

 Next i added stripes of ecru lace along all the seams.  A great way to hide the puckers!!

 Once it had dried it was MUCH smoother and glossy.  I will probably add a few embellishments to the top or base.  But otherwise i was done!

 Here is L's modern take on the globe altering process.  She gave her grandfather's globe a wash of blue to tone it down.  then added light blue stripes.  She added white dots and paper disc's cut with a circle punch.

 Then she continued with some stripes and cool text cut from a REALLY old newspaper.

 More circles and some bright red dots finish it off!

 Here is K's ebay globe in progress.  She has a very cool concept.  Each strip of paper represents a vacation journey some family members made across the country.  She printed each image on a printer - pre-cropping each shot to the right dimensions.  Because her globe was quite small they fit on 8 1/2 by 11 pages!

 But she is not nearly done yet.... she plans to add a train, a plane and a car to the tracks around the globe to really represent the travels taken to meet together.  Can't wait to see her vision realized!

 S. had a large ebay globe.  She spent most of the afternoon thoughtfully preparing her strips of paper - cut using a tissue paper template.  She pieced together some text pages and glued foreign stamps all over.  then she collaged some old maps with bits of geometric printed tissue.  It will be a really fabulous globe once it is all glued on!

 D went a different route.  She cut black and white images showing people of the world and randomly glued them allover the globe.  On the southern hemisphere some were upside down!

She is not nearly done, though, as she plans to paint over all the oceans in between.  Or maybe the continents (i forget which!)  And then, as no piece by D is ever complete with words - she plans to add some poetry to the globe - for a spining story!

Thanks as always to D for hosting these marvelous events. 

Have a Robin's Egg Blue Christmas!

 Here is the angel on top of my bird themed tree,  It is the creative outlet i told you about HERE.

 Here is our petite table top tree with silver and white birds, pearl and mercury glass garland, and jewel toned ornaments.  It looks really sparse here - it looks fuller in real life somehow!

 I've had this painting for a while, up in our guest room.  i got the idea to stencil "peace on earth" watching Emily Henderson's christmas special (Secrets of a Stylist).  She stencilled "joy to the world" on a vintage map as a fun holiday decoration.  She suggested peace on earth as an alternate expression.  I just love how the robin's egg blue balances the theme of the tree.

Here you can see my new caged Santos - i need to find a crown for her head.  (Jim finds her hideous) Also you can see i went a little nuts decorating our 75 drawer apothocary cabinet with glass picture frames, snowflakes and more garland.

 I was blessed to receive some lovely things from my friends - here is a mini tree made with sheet music and burlap squares - topped with a wee birdie, from Z.

 And K sent me this amazing 3-d christmas card in a padded envelope.

 My friend L was moving and gave me a bunch of empty boxes.  She does packaging design - so had a quite a collection.  Here are three that i wrapped up with beautiful decorative papers and embellishment.  They can be used again and again.  The book was a gift my my sister to my husband, we were not supposed to unwrap it - but the amazon box was sooo ugly.  besides, doesn't it just blend in beautifully with my theme?

And here is one of 5 origami birds i made, using a tutorial my neice posted on her blog HERE.  I used these cranes to give my husband gifts we need to go and pick out together.  I printed images of the items on 8 1/2 by 11 printer paper, then cut the paper into an 8 1/2" square.  It took me a while to get the hang of the folding - but by the 5th one i think i figured it out!

For christmas eve, we went out with friends for a lovely gourmet dinner.  Afterwards, we invited them in for egg nog with Grand Marnier and nutmeg, enjoyed some carols and the lovely ambiance of our decorated room.  I hope your christmas is memorable and shared with good friends and family....!

A fresh look....

After an absence of more than a month, i finally made some blog entries to share my latest creative pursuits.  When i "signed in" to blogger i was asked if i wanted to change my look, try on a new template so to speak.  So why not? 

I chose this layout because i continue to be obsessed with robin's egg blue and all things bird related.  I keep expecting it to end.  I really should be ready to move on to something new.  Remember Cabbage Roses?  I was really into those back in the 80's. 

My Petite Inspiration Box Swap

The pics you've been waiting for!  Here is my Petite Inspiration Box - with the bird's nest theme. I put together the contents (see below) and struggled with how to decorate the box itself.  because my theme was red and powder blue, i thought the box had to follow suit.  Once i decided to just go with the tried and true sepia vintage/copper/robins egg blue - it all came together.

I sanded, gesso'd then covered the matchbox with vintage book pages.  For the top i used precut scalloped ovals (from paper source) as a base for a paper bird with skeleton leaf wings.  A bit of vintage script from an old letter as a sort of banner and a touch of whimsy with the blue chip trading stamps and sparkly flower.

The copper mesh nest was the perfect place to hold my hand-made speckled eggs. I forgot all about the ends until i saw pics on-line of someone else's box  - so the button and ribbon was a last minute touch.

This is what the three recipients would see when they opened their jam packed box.

I wrapped assorted ribbons and trims around a vintage flash card and attached it with lady bug stick pins.  Some two tone MSL twine and some lace pieces complete the
fiber selection.

In the paper realm, i included a page from a gardening book, two foreign dictionary pages,a mini book or locket, some silly chicken stickers, a mini magnet, red foil sticker and a milk cap.  The yellow matchbook is actually flower seeds.

This shows more goodies - red and blue sticker labels, a vellum envie and note card, red photo corners (5 because you need 4 and you always lose one!), bird postage stamps, some word game cards, some bird images and a faux stock certificate.

 In the chunky doodad group you can really see the red and blue theme come alive.  A butterfly, some lady bugs, a wee bird, buttons, marbles, beads, leaf sequins, a vase shaped glass bead with a flower, and some hand painted earrings.

In the metal assortment were various charms butterflies and dragon flies, a winged horse, some copper scrap angel wings, a key tag a brass ring and teardrop finding and an opticians lens.  all the little things fit in the tin case.

I gave each person two little birds and three eggs wrapped in a napkin and wrapped with the stem of the blue paper flower.  I tried to stick within the "guidelines" and just send what would fit in the box itself.  But i had some over flow!

I really had fun putting these together.  But that was NOTHING compared to the joy of receiving the boxes in the mail, from my trading partners.  Just wait til i show you!

home tweet home

Getting settled into our new home. Looking forward to three days to continue setting up the craft room and work on some altered book projects.

Here is a card my neice Erica made. Do you think she knows i am obsessed with birds and robin's egg blue???

artistic affaire swaps

As with many of the art retreats, one way to get the participants involved before the festivites begin - there are swaps.  Some are casual freeform exchange of artist trading cards, some are more elaborate.  Fat books - where each participant created pages to be assembled in a book, are common.

But for the artistic affaire - i chose to be a part of two very different swaps! The first is a colour swap.  Each person is paired with another.  Each person picks a colour or colour theme.  You then decorate a small box and fill it with goodies, all in the colour theme of your partner.  The gal i am paired with chose pink and brown - very fitting for the printemps theme of the event!  i was back home for a couple of days last month and i grabbed a small cigar box and everything pink and brown i could find in my craft room.

I sanded the box before covering it with french dictionary pages

I then added additional papers and borders and a touch or paint.  The fun part was adding the nest and bird to the top and adding all the girlie ribbons and flowers.

The pink envelopes contain images, stamps and stickers.  There is a bundle of papers and an orgnaza pouch filled with buttons and shells and sparkly things.

The second swap was also a "one for one".  We were each paired with someone and told to create an altered birdhouse.  My swap partner has two passions - polka dots and owls.  Well - this would be a challenge!  Since i know nothing about owls  - i chose to create a barn instead of a traditional birdhouse. I found the wimsical owl printed paper in a gift shop near my rented house.

I painted the edges of the barn with robin's egg blue paint and collaged the sides with french dictionary paper and some vintage ephemera. 

I used some flattened stones to create polka dots on the sides and used some hand painted deli paper for the roof.  I added pink stripes to all the edges and a touch of metallic paint to age it.

I used the owl paper on the back (not shown)

Here are all the pretty swaps along with a chinoiserie gift bag i bought to carry them to my artistic affaire!  I cannot wait to see what i get "swapped" in return!