Lost Art Creations

A2Z Art Journal RR 2019 ~ May

My inspiration for my pages for Peej's book are paintings by Giuseppe Arcimboldo. He built his portraits of people using all natural elements; flowers, vegetables and grains - SO cool!

Peej's theme is 'If The Shoe Fits - Wear it!'

Here are a couple examples of Arcimboldo's work:

For the backgrounds I started by painting the pages with Gold Gesso. Once dry I used two different stencils with two different mediums, Transparent Matte Paste & Grit Paste and set them aside to dry.

For all the foliage and flowers I used Distress Inks, Distress Oxides & Perfect Pearls spray on watercolor paper. Once dry I stamped script randomly over the papers with Archival Inks. Once the papers were thoroughly dry I backed each piece with double sided adhesive sheets (Elizabeth Craft sheets die cut the best) and went to TOWN die cutting tons of foliage, leaves and flowers using Impression Obsession and Sizzix/Tim Holtz dies. The die cutting alone took 2 days!!

Back to the backgrounds, once the pastes were dry I smooshed and smeared Fresco Paints over the pages. Using a slightly dampened paper towel I carefully wiped away the paint over the surface of the transparent paste revealing the gold gesso underneath. The grit paste sucked up the paint so I went over the surface of that medium with an antique brass soft wax to highlight that pattern.

For the shoe base I found photos online to use as my 'models' and drew them out, painted them and cut them out. I used paper scraps for the inside and soul of each shoe.

Next came building each shoe with all the foliage & flower die cuts, cutting and snipping the dies as needed. I wasn't going to do any bling but the flowers were screaming at me for centers - so there ya go!

The vintage image of the wood nymph fit the faerie-like quality of the shoes, plus she is a favorite for me. And I had to give a little nod to Laboutin's shoes, but instead of a red under sole and heel I chose Cerise Pink. I hope Peej likes my contribution to her book!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy Mother's Day to my mom as well as all my other friends and family who are moms - including any furbaby moms (like me) out there!

The card I made for my mom this year is very different. Not your typical cardstock folded in the middle card. It is a tunnel card which is 3-D. It was SUPPOSED to be able to be flattened for mailing but I guess I added too many layers - LOL! Oh well! Into a small box it went for mailing!

The card base is a Thinlit die from Sizzix. Pretty much everything else is a Tim Holtz product from the inks (regular & Oxide Distress), cutting dies, paperdolls, ephemera bits & stamps.

A2Z Art Journal RR 2019 ~ April

I had Diane S's book for April and honestly, until she revised it, the one I was dreading most. Her theme is 'Initial It'. Using the initials of your name, use words starting with those initials to create a 2 page spread. Originally she also wanted us to create a Haiku using the same chosen words, but then revised it to make this part optional - THANK GOD! I may be good with paper & paint, but when it comes to poetry of any kind I am a complete and utter fail!

So my initials are 'T', 'C' & 'L'.  My words are: Trust (the Magic), Castle (Keep) and Lady (of the Lake). My page spread is a homage of sorts to one of my favorite books, The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley.

I started the pages by applying acrylic paints to the pages 'a la' Seth Apter. I followed that with random stamping in blue, gold & white ink. Blue swirls, gold script and white 'fog' using Cover-a-Card IO stamps.  Next I glued down clip art from my stash and a piece of black Dresden. The ironwork down the right side of the The Lady of the Lake page is a photo I took on my first trip to Paris (because it's not going to be my last!). It's a detail from the doors of Notre Dame. The chipboard pieces are a find from a yard sale. I got a whole bunch and these were in the mix. The frame is a two part. The back piece is painted with Tim Holtz Black Soot Distress Paint. The front piece & the scrollwork pieces are painted first with the black then I pounced 2 coats of Tarnished Brass DP to get a hammered texture.  I stamped & embossed the word tags on a scrap of hand painted paper. Then to finish the spread I edged the pages with Smoked Hickory Archival Ink, added the letter stickers and topaz 'jewels' after smudging black and white charcoal around the lady and her castle to kind of look like rising fog. If you know the story you know the significance of the fog - all enveloping and protective.

That's it for today! Happy Creating all! T

A2Z Art Journal RR 2019 ~ March

OK, this is the second time I've had to do this post. After I saved & scheduled it, it went Poof!! So for March I got Diane H's book to work in. The book itself is just gorgeous! Completely made from handmade paper with beautiful, naturally deckled edges. Her theme is Autumn Moments. Basically anything to do with the Fall season goes. Because of the way the pages/artwork fell there were 3 pages together. We are only required to do one 2-page spread. I just couldn't leave that blank page, plus I had two very distinct ideas I wanted to try so I did all three pages.

My theme I chose is Halloween - sort of. It's actually more about Edgar Allen Poe who died in the month of October. First I typed and printed out two different poems by EA Poe, folded and fashioned them onto prepared black tags. They tuck into hidden pockets behind two of the pages once the artworks are in the book.

For the two page spread backgrounds I used deli paper that had been painted & stenciled from a class I took at Art & Soul with Jacqueline Sullivan. I did add a bit more stenciling to the surface of the deli paper once it was attached to a heavy cardstock on the right page. I die cut all the black pieces I would need for all three pages. Several pieces I heat embossed with black embossing powder - The hanger, lantern & scary cat.  All the dies I used are from Tim Holtz/Sizzix. For the vines I used Tim's new Tangled Twigs die, cutting two. It presents itself as a background with a border. I simply snipped and pieced together the twigs to create the vines.

The words are die cut from a black glitter cardstock that is paper backed, so it cuts like a dream! A lot of glitter papers on the market are plastic backed and don't die cut well at all. Trust me on that one! I love how it adds just a bit of sparkle to the page!

For the third, stand alone page I created a background using Canva Paper from Canson (it has a fabulous linen texture!) I used painting, stenciling and heat embossing techniques I recently learned from Seth Apter's online class through Stencilgirl. It was SO out of my comfort zone but I LOVED it and I learned SO much! After painting & stenciling the paper I cut out a circle slightly larger than the Moonlit Owl die, Which I had cut out of black cardstock. I finished it by backing with more painted Deli paper, added Boo cut out of gold glitter paper and a bit of white Stabilo pencil to add highlights and - Voila! Done! Next I glued the scary cat to a branch on the page.

Now for the leaves. Oh! The leaves! I had so much fun creating these! Not only did I use regular alcohol inks and coated cardstock I also used Rangers new Pearl Alcohol Inks and Sparkle cardstock for alcohol inks.  OMG! The pearl effects are SO lovely and completely different from the Mixatives.  I die cut all those leaves (and then some) and edged them with Ground Espresso Archival Ink. Next I built up the bottom of the page with all the prepared leaves, bending and forming some as I went for texture & interest. The goal was to have the bottom of the page look like the forest floor in October.

Hopefully goal achieved and Diane likes what I did for her book. Now for April's book!

Another Little Needlebook

I made another needlebook using a free pattern from Ann Wood. Not sure if it's still available or not but she has lots of cute patterns and a good newsletter with lots of great content for those that enjoy stitching, crafting, art and cooking - right up my alley! The first one was VERY girlie in shades of pinks, aquas, greens & yellows (you can see it on my Instagram account). This one in shades of blue, cream & brown is not quite as girlie but has lots of vintage-y goodness and wool tweeds. I used vintage image transfers on fabric and lots of antique laces, and buttons & vintage trims and of course, beads. These are nice little projects to keep my hands busy while watching Netflix and Amazon Prime Video (LOVE The Man In The High Castle!!), icing/resting my new knee. For this book I stuck to the directions - the first one I kinda did my own thing with the finishing. Once I had stitched, turned & pressed the pages I set to decorating and finishing them. Both the Cotton and Tweed fabrics are from Charm Packs I bought at a local fabric/quilting shop, The Velvet Tomato in Danielson. A cute little shop!

Front Cover

 

Back Cover

Page for pins & needles.

Page for seam ripper and needle threaders

More space for needles

More space for a threader and pins?

 

Vintage postcard image of fabric is a pocket

Now onto another project. I'm just not sure what? My Unfinished Projects Bin is pretty empty at this point - LOL!

Have a creative week everyone!  T

 

Springtime In Paris

My last post for the day - AND I'll be caught up - for now. During my knee surgery recovery I have been fighting off boredom by keeping as busy as possible. I can't stand for long periods of time so I am a bit limited to what I can do. No gardening or DIY projects for me! Not yet anyways!

One of the people I follow on Instagram is Barbara Yaya who is a design team member for Tim Holtz and a couple other companies. She made the MOST ADORABLE project using some of Tim's new thinlit dies - which I happened to already have, so I decided to make one for myself. I didn't have a little pot like she used but I HAD saved a couple Harney & Sons tea tins (of which the Paris blend is my favorite). The Paris tin was PERFECT for this project. I'm not sure if she glued wire to the die cuts but I did. It was a bit fiddly but it made arranging my stems much easier. The moss I had was a bit to brown for a springtime theme so I just spritzed a bit of Pine Needles Distress Spray on it and I was good to go!

With a snow storm today and another one for tomorrow and Monday I think a lot of us could do with a bit of Spring, don't you?

If you'd like more up to date content I post to my Instagram account quite frequently. It's mostly about my art projects, cooking (another passion!) and my cats - because, you know - they're my cats! Look me up by my name, Terrie Lightfoot to follow me on Instagram.

A2Z Art Journal RR 2019 ~ February

Another A2Z art journal post! For February I had Ann L's book. I actually finished this as soon as I got it as I was one week out from having surgery and I wasn't too sure how creative I was going to feel post surgery. Ann's theme is Paper Dolls. Oh the memories I have as a kid! I LOVED paper dolls and had quite the collection! The Sunday paper's comic section used to have a paper doll section every week, plus Betsy McCall from McCall's magazine, and then of course, all those lovely paper doll books from the toy store! But that wasn't enough for me - oh no! I created my own paper dolls and designed all kinds of outfits for them. They were the best dressed paper dolls and this is where my love of design, art and fashion all started. It shaped the path I took later in life and is a big part of who I am today. So needless to say this was a dream journal to work in!

To start I created an articulated paper doll of Marie Antoinette from parts I found on Pinterest. I dug through my paper stash and found vintage ledger papers I had inked and stenciled years ago - Perfect! 99% of the stamps I used - including the dresses and dress parts are Character Constructions. I have loved Catherine's stamps for years and even have some of her stamps from when they were red rubber (now they are all clear polymer)! A couple others are Oxford Impressions and Autumn Leaves.

I die cut two of the gates by Tim Holtz/Sizzix from black cardstock and mounted them on a strip of clear transparency to make a pocket to hold Marie's wardrobe. I made a flip pocket from a printed transparency and clipart to hold the doll.

Most of Marie's wardrobe was stamped onto patterned papers. Some onto watercolor paper and then watercolored. All were then finished with glitter glue, liquid pearls, gel pens, rhinestone stickers and antique laces.

 

A2Z Art Journal RR 2019 ~ January

Long time, no see! Since I've been out recovering from knee replacement surgery I've been trying to catch up on stuff. Art projects, Netflix, reading and, yes, blog posts. Right after Christmas we started up another year long round robin of art journals. A couple new players. All great themes and journal structures - not all are typical books which certainly adds to the challenge.

The first book I worked in was the last book I worked in for the last round; Deborah K's book. She decided to continue the theme of Art & Wisdom. Her challenge is to work in whatever medium is striking one's fancy at the moment and include at least one quote, poem, bible verse or words of wisdom on your spread.

I was playing with gelliprints and stencils at the time so that what I did. Pulling prints from the gelliplate, but also using the small shaped gelliplates like a stamp for additional layers, patterns and colors. I might have gotten a bit carried away but overall I'm happy with the results. You know I have to add that collage element and because the backgrounds were so busy I went with really large images so they wouldn't get lost in the overall design. Then added a bit of bling with gold, German dresden and some antique lace from my stash to finish off the pages.

The Last Tiny House Swap ~ Haunted Houses!

A year of Tiny House Swaps has come to an end. Tomorrow is the last swap for these babies. And while I enjoyed creating them, I'll be glad to get back to the ATC format with the next swap. Personally I couldn't WAIT to do the September swap. I KNEW I had to do a Haunted Houses kit and that's what I did. I mostly used the kit to create these, but I did add A LOT of Tim Holtz products (papers, Ideology, Sizzix & Ranger). I also used several of Seth Apter's Baked Textures Embossing Powders. I especially LOVE Vintage Beeswax!

Several people have asked how I build these little houses, so here's how: Tim Holtz's Tiny House die from Sizzix. It's a Bigz die and has both sizes on it. For the openings and bases I used Tim's Sized Ovals & Sized Circle dies (these are Mover & Shaker dies). Attaching the roofs was a bit of a challenge so I developed a system of tabs to make it SOOOOO much easier - and it works for the bases too! Here is a link to the blog post with all the details: Tiny Roofs.

Larger Houses

Smaller Tiny Houses

Her image is especially spooky thanks to a bit of mica in the frame

The ultimate bone collector and master of the genre; Edgar Allen Poe

A little toxic potion?

Nothing like a little Vampire Blood to stay young!

That's it for now! I can't wait to see what everybody created with this theme!

Happy Creating!

T

 

A2Z3 Art Journal RR ~ Deborah K

Deborah's is the last book I work in for this Round Robin. Her theme is to create a spread using current techniques/products that you are working on/with. Oh! And include at least one quote that 'speaks to you'. She also wanted each artist to do one page including photos of our work space and a selfie (eek!). It's funny I thought that would be the most difficult page to do. I hate doing things that feature ME so in typical Terrie fashion I worked on the Selfie page first - to get it over with. Turns out it wasn't that bad and came together pretty easily. I just used a couple Stencil Girl stencils with black metallic paint on black paper. The photos are matted onto 2-sided patterned paper as some of the photos flip up. I added a few hand written notes. I don't have 'font worthy' writing, but it's mine.

The other three pages are done using techniques I learned in Gwen LaFleur's class that I took at The Papercraft Clubhouse in June. Love all the layers it creates - some more obvious, some kinda hidden. I also did a see-through shaker window with frames I fashioned to look like Daguerreotype frames using Metallic cardstock, stamped images and gold & copper Dresden 'aged' with black paint. Most of the stencils I used are from the monthly Stencil Girl Club. You can only get these stencils if you belong to the club. I used a combo of the June & July sets. The paints I used are a Matte finish. I also used Tim Holtz collage papers (Botanical is turning out to be a favorite!) and Distress Oxide Inks and Distress Paints. I also used rubber stamps from both Stamp Camp & Tim Holtz.

This quote speaks to me so much I've said it over and over. Not sure who said it first but it's generally credited to Audrey Hepburn.

That's it for this round! Can't wait to get my own book back. Now to think about the next Round Robin! What kind of book to use? What will my theme be? Will it be a narrow or broad theme? Hmmmm....

Thanks for stopping by!

T