Happy New Year

On the Eighth Day of Christmas

I give to you.......

My Triptych

submission that was published in the January/February issue

of Cloth Paper Scissors

with an explanation about each piece

and

one of the great things that I discovered while painting these.

But first, let me remind you that the Triptych Challenge was to use one image presented three ways, using a variety of media. There was a size restriction that each panel could be no larger that 6 X 8.

I used an image of my daughter, Melissa. You already know that all the nest with eggs were my personal images from last spring. The nest were transferred to the canvas with transparency prints using gel medium.

The Traveler

On this one, I transferred Melissa's image from an ink jet transparency print using Golden's soft gel. The flesh tones were accomplished using StazOn refill solvent in Saddle Brown mixed with titanium white acrylic. A speck of Naphthol Red Light was also used for the pink tones.

The tea napkin used for her head scarf had traveled to me that very day from Chantal in England. The butterfly is also a personal image from my garden.

Daughter

Melissa's image was transferred from a plain paper ink jet print with soft gel medium. I started the flesh tones with water color crayons; however, I think those layers were subsequently covered with a mixture of Folk Art Skintone and heavy body acrylics.

The word "daughter" was a serendipitous discovery in the collage text. It is just above the butterfly left wing. You know and I know that this little bit of serendipity was Norah'S doings but I didn't tell CPS that.

I have to tell you that I was pretty amazed at the discovery. Remember it is my daughter's image.

Idle Fancy

For Idle Fancy, I used my daughter's face and hand image printed on plain paper with ink jet printer and glued down. Heavy body acrylics were used for the flesh tones.

The collage includes a piece of old high school band music given to me by a sweet friend. Her sleeve was cut from my stash of sandwich wrap papers that I use to catch the over painted edge of pages when altering books.

Next is the real Eighth Day of Christmas

stamping tip.

Part of the challenge was to push yourself to try products in new or unconventional ways.

I did and it led me to a fantastic discovery.

First of all, I would have never thought to use StazOn refill solvent mixed with acrylic. But it did work; although, I'm not sure that I liked it in lieu of just painting flesh tones with acrylic.

What I did learn is you can stick the tiny brush directly into the top of the bottle and paint with the ink. The brush will load with enough ink to paint tiny detail lines like eye lashes etc.


Then, I cleaned my brush by rubbing it on the felt pad in the top of the StazOn All-purpose cleaner.

Cleaning my brush is when it happened.

A happy collision with StazOn cleaner.

I discovered the clean little brush still a bit damp from the cleaner can be used to clean up any StazOn stamped image that did not meet your expectations.

You get do-overs.

This works on canvas and even watercolor paper if you have used a medium over it. Of course it won't work on just plain paper.

So in addition to cleaning up or even totally erasing a stamped image you can also use the little brush that is still damp with the cleaner to blend or smudge the StazOn ink when that effect is desired.

When I want to totally remove a stamped image that just didn't land beautifully, I use a q-tip.

When too much ink gets on the pad in the top of the cleaner, just dab the pad with a towel and the ink transfers to the towel.

The little bottle of cleaner says "all purpose" but nobody ever told me these purposes.

Did anybody ever tell you?

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I look forward to sharing it with all of you and just want to tell you how much I love love hearing from you all.

More later,

Sharon

Days of Christmas

On the Seventh Day of Christmas

I give to you......

A stamping tip

I realize this is very elementary.

But then my stamping is very elementary.

While cleaning up the big table, I ran across a big bag with four sets of foam alphabet stamps,

plus three bags of words.

A bargain found at Big Lots for $2.00 a set.

Even though I couldn't pass them up,

I hadn't used them because they were still in the bag...lost on the table.

When I used some on my mail art envelopes, the foam corner stamped around the letter.

Soooo....

I sat right down and cut off all the extra foam that might stamp where I don't want it to.

Just look at them. NO MORE PERFECT RECTANGLES.

I know this is going to sound silly but I felt so powerful doing this.

I felt like I was overcoming some huge need

for things to be matching and exact

and lined up in perfect rows and stacks and all that.

But get this.......

After I finished trimming all the edges, I tossed them all together in one big jumbled pile.

YEA, I CAN DO THIS.
So there is my therapy....I mean TIP for the day.

Go ahead and cut off all that extra foam that stamps where you don't want it to.

It was there for their (manufacturer's) purpose...not ours.

More later,

Sharon

Days of Christmas

On the Sixth Day of Christmas

I give to you........

Tissue Paper Storage

Is getting organized on your to-do list for the new year?

I had to do something about the explosion of tissue paper last year.

So here is my way of storing it for easy access and containment.

I use a three inch binder with top loading page protectors.
You will be amazed how much tissue paper can be stored this way

and when you are looking for that perfect piece to collage,

you can easily find it without

causing an explosion.

*************************************************
Good Fortune Journal

Patience is my good fortune on this page.

(At the moment, I'm really needing some though)

I'm trying to show close up of fan and little girl to show how they are built up

and standing above the page.

More later,

Sharon

Days of Christmas

On the Fifth Day of Christmas

I give to you......

Paper

left over paper

My mission today was to find (clean off) my big work table.

While on the mission, I found some really good stuff.

For example, I found this paper that I used under a messy project a long time ago.

I could not bring myself to throw it away at the time or today either.

I think I'm suppose to keep it and make really cool stuff with it.

Here is what I did with it.

This is not a tutorial for making envelopes.

I'm going to let you read the pictures.

There you have it a "what to do" with over painted paper.
Now I have five really cool envelopes ready to wing out of here Monday when I go back to work.

Do you know Sallyt ?
She is gifting 12 Days of Christmas too.
She has shown her method of decorating mail art envelopes at her new blog at Art Pub Studios.
More later,
Sharon

Days of Christmas

On The Fourth Day of Christmas

I give to you....

My favorite way to stick skeleton leaves down.

Have you ever used Sticky Dots Adhesive?

Well it is really sticky.

I have used gel medium for the leaves.

However, it seems that sometime I lose the fragility of the leaf.

Also, the gold seems to dull.

With sticky dots this doesn't happen.

Gently lay the leaf on the sticky dot paper.

Lift it and place on your page.

My Good Fortune Journal
The floral tree branch on the right side is a napkin glued down with gel medium.

Napkins are usually 3 layers thick and for transparency, I use only the top layer.

The tree on the left side was the illustration in the original book.

If you look closely you will see a faint image of the floral napkin.

This was the the second layer of the napkin where the ink went through.

Following Norah'S instructions, I glued it down.

More later,

Sharon

Days of Christmas

On the Third Day of Christmas

I give to you.....

Circle makers

Here is a great alternative to using the lids of your paint bottles for circle making.

Go to your bathroom and gather all the little plastic lids from your hair products.

You should find several sizes.

I like the clear ones because I can see precisely where I want to stamp.

No clean up if you don't want.

But if you do, just wipe off the paint with that little piece of cheesecloth.
More later,

Sharon

Days of Christmas

On The Second Day of Christmas

I give to you......

Cheesecloth
This is one of my very favorite, very inexpensive tools.

You can get a 6 yard package at your favorite wally world store for

....well I can't remember for sure but maybe 3 or 4 dollars.

As you can see, the package back says there are, "hundreds of uses".

Here is what I do with it.

I cut off about a 8 or 10 inch piece of it to use while I'm painting.

I wet it in my water jar and squeeze it out.

No matter what my right hand is doing,

I always have this little piece of wet cheesecloth in my left hand.

I use it to blot my brush after swishing it in the water jar.

I use it to wipe off my pallet knife because acrylic dries so fast on it.

I use it dab and blot and smear paint on my canvas.

I use it to wipe watercolor pencil off of my piece

when Norah'S evil eye dislikes where I have used it.

I use it to wipe of rubber stamps after using in acrylic.

And

When you walk away, it dries real fast.

I use the same piece over and over an over

until I want a fresh piece.

Then,

I might use the dried piece

like the one in the above picture under my hand

in a collage.

***************************************************************

I have to tell you, I received two wonderful packages

Christmas Eve

via US mail.

WOW

I got my copy of the

Altered Abbey Skinny Book Swap

I will share more on that later.

But, if you ever get the opportunity to do a swap like this...

all I can say is

DO IT!!!!!

The other package was......

my "Complimentary Copy" of

January/February

CLOTH PAPER SCISSORS

Do you know what that means?

Yes, it means the contents of this little package

did get published.

Very very exciting!!!

More later,

Sharon

Merry Christmas

On the first day of Christmas

My friend gave to me

This fruit

From her Orange Tree

We don't live in the part of Texas that grows orange trees. My friend's new little tree had a crop of four and she shared one of them with me.

That's just the way she is.

Always sharing.

********************************************************************

On the First day of Christmas

I give to you.....

Starting today on this first day of Christmas, and each day for the next 12 days, I wish to share with you a little tidbit of something I do, something I think about, something I use in my art.

Today, I share with you "flesh". Here are the colors I use to make flesh.

Titanium White

Naphthol Red Light

Hansa Yellow Medium

Notice the little blobs of these colors in the lower right corner in the above picture.

In this photo I have mixed those little blobs for a beautiful pink skin tone.

I don't always use this red and this yellow. For a variation in skin tone, I use other reds and yellows in my stash.

Merry Christmas,

Sharon

The Tree

In Sunlight

Merry Christmas

Christmas Eve

As promised, here is the redbud branches that hold the icicles.

*

I will do some of my cooking today. I am having such a relaxed holiday. I think it is all about the positive attitude that I decided to have early in December. I think I told you many times that "my attitude is good".

It is what we make it.

*

Oh yes, I have a little ART planned today too and I hope a little surprise for you which will start tomorrow on the First Day of Christmas.

*

I'm wishing you all the best year ahead and I wish to thank you all for being a part of changing my world.

More later,

Sharon

Greetings

I'm just checking in to say Merry Christmas.

Although, I'm sure I will be back before Christmas.

*

Here is a mirror reflection of my tall skinny crazy tree.

I promise I will get a full picture ASAP.

You see the problem is, if I get the whole tree from top to bottom, then you can see stuff. Well it's stuff that seems to mess up the picture. So I'm going to work on that.

*

If your interested, let me point out a few things in this one.

Yes, I do have two angels on top. One greets you from the back door and one greets you from the front door. I know it's crazy but I like it.

*

It really isn't 11:25 pm. I just don't keep my clock wound because it seems to bother some folks in the house in the middle of the night especially when it gongs....midnight.

*

Just at the right edge of the tree, you might see some glass icicles. Well, I didn't have to put them up this year or last year because they have been in place since Christmas two or maybe three years ago. I'm just about tired of them and plan to take it down this year. It's just some sticks or rather dead branches off of my red bud tree, spray painted gold with glass and plastic icicles hanging. Do you want to see the whole arrangement?

*

The cabinet reflecting in the mirror is my kitchen. Do you see the cabinet door through the bottom of the tree?

*

The mirror in the picture was a mantle mirror removed from a Victorian house the my dh was raised in. The house was torn down in the 1950's and his Mom retrieved this mirror and another. Nothing has been done to it. It is just as it was.

*

Enough of that. I'm sure you don't have time to read my rambling. So just let me tell you that I will be cooking Christmas dinner. I'm off work for the week and should have time for some ART fun. You'll see it if I do. Now, I probably should go to bed because I have to do some shopping tomorrow. But my attitude is good.

More later,

Sharon

ART

Now I really do have to go clean the mantel and hang the stockings.

More later,

Sharon

Wishing

Wishing

6" x 12" x 1 3/8" Canvas

***

What are you wishing for?

I'm wishing I could paint some more today.

Must go clean the mantel and hang the stockings instead.

More later,

Sharon

wishing you joy

wishing you joy

The princess is home between semesters.

I didn't manage to get this last Christmas Cookie can painted and mailed.

I thought she really needed one like this

for her collection.

So, I will fill it and put is under the

Christmas tree.

Hope you are having a wonderful

season.

I am so happy to be back to painting. Now the only way I figure I can manage to

have ART painting time is to give

everybody

something

painted

for

Christmas.

Well, not really.

I guess there is not time for that.

More later,

Sharon

SMILE

Suze at Pink Crayon Studio said,
"Sharon, you make me smile."

Yes, she did say that and she even gave me an award back on December 1st. Which is so cool. I love awards. Norah's crazy about awards too. Sometimes, I think Norah'S my alter ego, whatever that is. I know she is my muse and alters ART sometimes for me, but we both are big in the ego department and we both love love awards.

But I don't like trophies, which reminds me......


Way back in September, Miss Laurence tagged me for 7 random things. I told her I would play the game and I don't know what happened because it's December already. She surely thinks I forgot. I didn't.

I think I'm suppose to put the rules here but I'm running out of time so maybe it's OK if I break them.

This is random.
(1) I break rules. One time we were flying out of DFW and we were on the shuttle and there was a button that said something like "don't push the button". Guess what happens if you push the button? OK, it was a very long time ago and I can't remember just exactly, but the whole shuttle system comes to a screeching halt and you have to wait for security to come and check things out and restart everything. We made our flight though. What's the dang button for anyway if you are not suppose to push it... I ask?

(2) I wonder where my 40 year old bowling trophy is? I wonder if Kevin ever wonders where his little trophies are. I don't know.

(3) I can tell you today, my neck feels much better but I'm not totally over the creeping crud that made its way to my chest. Thankfully, I'm not coughing much yet. I am feeling like playing ART. Can't wait to get home...3 more hours.

(4) I saw on this post a beautiful photograph of "... so enchanting... It is a nude of Joyce in the woods." Guess what it made me want to do? Yep, do you think my dear husband would take one of me in our woods? I didn't think so either but it doesn't hurt to think about it.

(5) I don't think I'm going to get the big surprise made to send to Arizona to my brother for Christmas. If I do, I will show you. If I do it will be after Christmas...probably

(6) My crazy little tall skinny Christmas tree has 6 legs. I thought text on my tree was so clever and original. Guess what? I saw a tree in Waco at this shop with words on it. But I can guarantee you that nobody has a tree like mine. As soon as I can find my tripod, I will get a pic of all six legs.

(7) You know what I heard one time that ideas are just floating around and if you get one and don't act on it, someone else will get it. I guess that is what happened with the text on the tree thing. I nearly blew it off this year. I'm sure glad I didn't. But it must have floated on over to Waco while I hesitated.

(8) Oh dear, I'm going over. (see #1 above) Oh well maybe this is not random, but do you ever do a
To Me From Me gift?

Look what I got. Not the tread mill. That is here at my office for my convenience. Ha ha! It is what is on the treadmill that I am excited about. But of course, I had to order more Ram, whatever that is, so I'm having to wait for that before I can play with it.

And do you know what it means for me to have one of these. Weeeeellllllll, it means I will start selling prints in my etsy shop soon. I hope.
So now I must go and do some work. I hope you enjoyed my randomness and that it made you smile.
More later,
Sharon