Lost Art Creations

The Language of Flowers ATC Swap

Even though I had a hard time with these (for some reason) I still ended up making 11 instead of my usual 10 (9 for swap, 1 for me).  Go figure!

These are for the Bimonthly swap on my Yahoo Group; lost_art_creations.  We meet locally to swap, chat, catch up with each others lives and be inspired.  For every swap I put together a Creativity Kit with new collage sheets and all kinds of goodness related to the chosen theme. 

This month the theme is all about the language of flowers.  Throughout history flowers and plants had certain meanings.  During the Victorian era it became a highly refined skill.

Steampunk Charm Swap ~ My Charms Are Done!

I knew what I wanted to do in my head - I just didn't know if I could actually make them in reality - VBG!  After lots of trail & error I finally did it!

I am a hobbyist when it comes to making jewelry.  I really love making it, though I don't feel proficient enough to ever sell what I make.  I especially need to work on my finishing techniques.  I just hope my fellow players in the lost_art_creations Yahoo Group swap like them!

We are to attach them onto cards for swapping so I decided to make a quick ATC and tie the charm to the card with hand dyed silk ribbon.  I used one of the techniques I learned from Tim Holtz called Perfect Distress.  I love the look and I think it goes perfectly with the Steampunk theme!

 

Sending A Little Love

The next Lost Art Creations ATC swap theme is Retro Valentines.  Oh, I had so much fun making these!  Got the fingers all good and inky - VBG!  The images are the stars here so I kept it pretty simple, using papers, inks, paints and Red Lead Paperworks stamps to create my backgrounds.  A couple of them are even a little sparkly as I covered the entire card with Rock Candy Stickles Distress Glitter Glue - LOVE that stuff!  Wish it came in a big jar!

Last Blast Of Christmas

I finished my tags for the LAC Group swap which meets on the 19th.  The theme is All That Glitters and is all about a Vintage Christmas.  I decided to use many of the new techniques I learned from Tim Holtz during the 12 Tags of Christmas, giving each my own spin.  I haven't had this much fun creating in a long time.  Tim seems to have woken up my Muse - thanks Tim!

13 Days Of Christmas Exchange Day 11, 12 &13

So much for catching up!  I had some last minute Christmas shopping & decorating to take care of, but I still took time to photograph & open each gift every morning.  It's the posting that takes the time, which has been in short supply lately. 

So, today is Day 13, the last day of this exchange and I shall be so sad to not have a giftie to open tomorrow morning - VBG!  Seriously, I have been very fortunate to have been invited by Elizabeth to take part and I have already accepted for next year.  At least for 2012 I will have a whole year to plan, gather & play!

Day 11: Linda Morgan

Linda is the Steampunk Queen and her ornament ROCKS!  It was lovingly wrapped in fabric that she had dyed herself and can be reused in my quiltie projects - Woohoo!

She created the face from Polymer Clay.  The legs are vintage bisque.  The stamped brass wings look vintage too.  The dollie's body is constructed from  wooden play blocks.  She finished it off with beads, wire, chain and a vintage pin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 12: Terry Pitzel

Terry painted these awesome bird ornaments with the cutest googly eyes I have ever seen!  Love her!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Day 13: Pat Winter

Pat made to most beautiful Lavender sachet pin!  Delicate lace, beautiful image of a woman's Victorian ice skates.  The back is a burnout velvet.  The image is embellished with the tiniest ribbon-work roses, vintage velvet flower, beads and a snowflake charm.  I can't wait to wear this!

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to all the amazing & talented women artists I have had the pleasure of exchanging prezzies with these last 13 days.  I look forward to next year!  :0)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Thank you to all the talented women I have had the honor of exchanging presents with this year.  I look forward to next year!  :0)

13 Days Of Christmas Exchange Day 10

Today is my day!  Everyone gets to open my giftie - I hope they like it.  I always like to make the wrap part of the gift.  So I stitched little muslin bags, stamped the text in Brilliance ink  This is my favorite ink for fabric - so long as it won't be washed - just make sure your pad is well inked.  Then I backed the striped fabric with Ultrabond and cut out simple tree shapes and pressed them to each bag with an iron.  I edged the trees with faux stitching using a Micron pen.  That was the simple part!

Next came the closure.  I didn't want a drawstring, but something more mechanical.  In my studio I found these old fashioned candle clips for Christmas trees.  Perfect!  One problem - I didn't have enough clips, so off to Ebay I went.  I found the clips easily, bid on them and won them - woohoo!  Just a note:  according to Ebay I had not bought anything there since 2005?!!  WOW! 

Once getting  the clips I cut out the candle holder part with tin snips, then glued vintage tinsel in place, punched out 2 circles of cardstock, stamped the smaller circle with the #10 and glued them into place.  Voila!

Next came the ornament itself.  I wanted something that reflected all the artistic sides of me.  Collage, sewing, jewelry and vintage were all aspects of my creative personality that I wanted to convey.  Again in my studio I found a bag of old wooden thread spools.  Hmmm... those would be perfect except they were full of thread and WAY to big.  So again - off to Ebay - VBG!  Of course I managed to find exactly what I needed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

At the local used book store, The Book Barn (an incredible used book store like none other you have ever been to) I found a children's book of Christmas Carols.  I tore strips to fit each spool and glued in place.   Next I applied glossy accents to the spools top & bottom edges and dipped them into Diamond Dust glitter (gotta have glitter!).  For the hanger part I formed wire with a loop on the bottom, fed that through a Vintage MOP button and glued the button to the bottom of the spool.  Once it dried I thread on a giant glass pearl and a crystal and finished forming the hanger.  I added a crystal dangle on the bottom and I was done!

13 Days Of Christmas Exchange Day 7, 8 & 9

Today is catch-up day!  Time has just gotten away from me the past few days.  Decorating the house, Christmas shopping (almost done - one gift to go!), laundry that I ignored during the 12 Tags of Christmas.  I have my priorities you know!  Hmmm...art... cleaning, art... cleaning - kind of a no brainer for me - VBG!  Well I finally got to the point where I HAD to do laundry, if you know what I mean?

While I opened my gifties each day and photographed them I just never got around to actually posting them so here goes!

 

Day #7; Vivian

Viv made these most adorable snowman ornaments.  He (or she?) has the most expressive face!  Isn't it fabulous!?

 

Day #8; Corrine

Corrine had the most incredible garland using hand painted papers, fibers & buttons.  It's not the best pic and it certainly doesn't do it justice.  This is a garland I can leave up year-round so once I get it hung in my studio I will take a better pic.

 

Day #9; Hope

Hope had made the most amazing pin!  Fabric, blingy trim and a hand painted face on a wooden button.  Another stunning face!

 

 

 

Tomorrow is Day #10 when everyone gets to open my giftie - woohoo!

 

 

13 Days Of Christmas Exchange Day 6

Today I got to open the prezzie from Martha Brown.  We did a Poe exchange a couple years ago so I know how uber talented she is and she didn't disappoint today either.  She's like the Canadian version of Martha Stewart - everything she does is fabulous!

The wrapping is also a nice little storage envie to protect the gorgeous glass heart (hand blown?) that she collaged and I believe wrote out Joy in a calligraphic script.  My handwriting should look so good - VBG!

13 Days Of Christmas Exchange Days 5

OOOHHH Elizabeth and Patti must have been reading each others minds or something - LOL!  While they both made fabric cones, Patti's was totally different but equally GORGEOUS!  I have always loved the style of fabric collage that Patti used to create her cones but I have never been able to master.  When I do it it comes out far to neat and perfect, even when I am shooting for beautiful imperfection.  Maybe she'll give me a few pointers?

She also included a couple extra gifties and wrapped her giftie in muslin and a beautiful fiber that is meant to be re-purposed.  She's so smart that Mizz Patti!

12 Tags Of Christmas ~ Day #9

Today's tag while working up pretty fast (comparatively speaking) looks deceptively simple.  I adore this technique and will be using it often going forward!

I didn't have the candlestick die so I used the Holiday Lamppost die.  I am also essentially out of plain Grungeboard so I used two layers of Grungepaper instead.  This allowed me to create a little depth in the lamp, only keeping the 'glass' pieces to the bottom diecut.  I colored the 'glass' with Wild Honey then filling in the space over the colored grungepaper with Rock Candy Stickles.

I also didn't have the alpha die but I had a Quickutz one called Haunted that is pretty darn close!  I do have the Festive Greenery die which I LOVE for it's versatility.

The background stamp I used is from Stamp Camp that I have had forever but don't think I actually used it until today - LOL!

I used the Deco-it Snow Writer and Diamond Dust for the snow. 

I also added a crystal and some jingle bells to the ribbon.  I thought it looked a little bare!