Little Scraps of Magic

Paula vs. Technology and Other Assorted Bits of Trivia

 

Like the shoes? Me, too! I figure if I spill paint on them...other than black...no one will ever know!

I am immersed in getting ready for Art & Soul! (I head there tomorrow night and the divine Miss J and I already have dinner plans!)

So, the technology bit. I have a class with Sas Colby, and we'll be constructing a book that emphasizes translucence, sheerness, and such. Guess who left her preparations go until last night? Yup, me.

Sas blissfully typed that we could print our own photos on vellum.  Now, mind you, I've already had one minor heart attack, since upon closer reading, I've come to learn that I need source material in the theme I've selected, and that I am going to be drawing from this source material! Yikes. Drawing?????

Now, I'm dithering. My problem is not picking a theme, but settling on one, which I finally do...angels. I happily pop in the vellum, and I create the most amazing mess you have ever seen.  The ink runs, smears, and drips, and the results do not resemble angels in any way.

I try lutrador, and I have much better luck there. But, sheet after sheet of vellum hits the trash, and vellum is not cheap.

My ever faithful computer expert was no help at all. He stoically informed me that programers and web managers do NOT print on vellum.  He has no clue.

Finally, I have an EInstein moment. I google "how to print on vellum." God bless google. God bless who ever enters data into google. God bless the person who invented google. Google and I are becoming best buddies! Success...no blobs, lines, smears, and drips!

I have angels on vellum.

I have angels on lutrador.

I have angels on matte paper, which need to be copied at Kinkos.

Yes, I have angels, and everyone of them is copyright free since I took the photos!

Now, I really need to get back to packing. But, first, here's where we went on Saturday:

 

Here's what came home with us:

 

They're all stowed safely in our closet, awaiting good food and good company!  And, I'm pleased to say that I conquered technology without opening any of them!

Stenciling Number 25

My fingers are itching to hit the spray paint! I've signed up for the coolest class with Mary Ann Moss (Dispatch From LA), one that's all about stenciling and Mary Ann's awesome art pages. She has a funky, colorful, messy style that I adore. BUT...

It's rained.  It's poured.  The wind has created havoc.

In short, no spray painting for Paula!

So, today I grabbed some watercolor paper, Ranger Adirondack spray inks, some stencils, Liquitex soft body paint, stencils...and the play began! I had so much fun, and here's the result:

 

I love the rich lucious layers and depth! 

Working backwards, here's number 24. It nearly hit the trash can, mostly due to my own desire to rush it along. I had glued down some vintage text and given it a glze of a gorgeous blue. I decided to use a mask to add some color. I had dried....well, I thought I had dried it...with my heat gun. On went the mask, and up came a great deal of the page. Something about it made me hesitate to toss it, so I just kept going, adding some stamping, rub ons, an image, and some faint stenciling.  Isn't it gorgeous?

 

Number 23 nearly did me in as well. I started with that vintage text and a wash of cheap acrylic, and then added some left over gift wrap paper.  I rubber stamped the flower and then, the quote. At that point, my muse slipped out the door. The whole thing was just not working. Wanting to keep this series going until I finished 37, I just kept going, adding some rub ons, but what finally made it come together was the white pen. I added the white daisies and decided, not bad! I kinda like it!

 

Numbers 22 and 21 are much simpler. Until I began to blog about these cards, I didn't realize what a roll I was on with the text as background.  So, some stamps, some images, some tape. Simple, but fun!

 

Journal Play

 

Thursday and Friday of last week finally brought some sunshine, and I finally got myself into  gear, journal wise! Playing with all that paint made for one happy lady here, and Kelly's prompts made the journaling part so easy. Not that I've ever had trouble finding words!

 

To make it even better, the mailman brought me an awesomely stuffed 9 X 12 envie brimming with new images and ephemera, courtesy of Kelly's swap!

 

So, I happily slapped paint on paper, scrubbed it down, sandpapered it off to let the layers show through, and put that gluestick to good use!

 

For some reason I also felt like playing with the rubber stamps and started off each entry with them. Stamp, stamp, stamp...rather meditative and calming!

 

This journal is just a few pages short of being finished! It's bursting with color and energy.

 

Paint, images, various pens...and even green masking tape! Journaling down the page and then back up again. It's very simply play - trying it out and seeing what happens...and some of it, pretty darn cool indeed!

Postcards tomorrow!

A Breath of Spring

 

"Spring is God's way of saying, 'One more time!'"

                                      Robert Orken

Taken in my front yard early yesterday morning.

19 & 20

 

Sunshine, birdsong, and blue skies! The rain has finally departed, and I have a bit more energy to do something other than curl up and read, or just plain nap.  Winter clothes are tucked away, and the spring clothes are spinning through rinse cycles and the dryer as I write this.  My closet sparkles...everything's all sorted out. (Wellfor the time being, at least!) The art room's 98% finished.  I seem to have gotten more accomplished today than during the last several combined.

Has typepad been giving anyone else fits? I sent a help ticket earlier. The darn thing is not letting me post images about 90% of the time. There seems to be no rhyme or reason why - just says it can't accept the data.  Haven't heard back yet, but I tried again on a whim, and it's cooperating for the moment.

Here's number 20:

 

The dryer's blowing raspberries at me,which means I need to go change the loads.  Then, I'm going upstairs to paint and journal. My packet of goodies from Kelly's ephemera swap arrived, and it's just chock full of awesomeness!

Postcards: 15-18!

 

Wouldn't you like to know what he's thinking?

 

I love this angel; I took her picture at Hollywood Cemetary in Richmond, VA.

 

My darling daughter...she's very used to her face appearing here, there, and everywhere!

 

I love the words on this one. I wish I could tell you that they're my own, but I adapted them from a quote found on a greeting card.  Pretty good advice, don't you think?

Easter Sunday, Part 1

Goodies bags filled with pitzelles, sugar cookies, and chocolate...

 

A gorgeous Easter table awaited...

 

Everything whispered, "Spring"....

 

Including the tulips....

 

Light sparkled through a candy dish...

 

Brimming with color and chocolate!

Easter Wishes

 

Have a wonderfully blessed day filled with family, friends, and laughter!

Here A Chick, There A Chick

Everywhere a chick, chick!

I promised you some vintage images of chicks, so here they are! All are scanned at 300 dpi, so you should be able to play with them as you'd like.

 

 

 

This next one is my personal favorite, since she simply makes me howl with laughter. She's truly one ugly chick. Here she is in her original form:

 

And here she is cleaned up a bit...but please remember that it's hit or miss for me in photoshop! I know that this could be a LOT better!

 

She's sort of a cross between a dancing demented pirate and Gypsy Rose Lee? Gotta admit, she's one of a kind!

Number 14

I started with this - a photo snapped at the John Paul II center in Washington , D.C. I was fascinated with her face, and I've used her before.

 

So, I cropped ...

 

and then, desaturated ...

 

I printed out a few copies on our ink jet printer, cut her out, applied neopaque crayons, and collaged her onto a previously done background. I applied more neopaque to the background, and did a bit of stamping.

Meet number 14.

 

You can see another version of her here...

 

I don't remember quite how I got this effect...sheer play! I just start applying filters to see what happens! In the case of the postcard, I could have done a lot more if I had her printed at Walmart or some such place. You're limited with ink jet copies, but as you can see, you casn still have a lot of fun!

That being said, I am missing my journal, and plan to paint a bunch of backgrounds this  coming week, and the play, play, play!