Time Flies

This is ATC #2 in a year of Artist Trading Cards. Only 363 more to go!

The First Day of the New Year.........

Happy January 1st! Today is a cold and very blustery day with snow flurries here in Northwestern Pennsylvania. I starting out the window wonder whether to venture out or not!

As this is the time of year for resolutions, I've made a few and here they are:
1. Lose 15 lbs. (I know, I know, everybody wants to do this)
2. Tone the old body (weights) and become more flexible (yoga)
3. Make an Artist Trading Card everday for 2008.
4. Talk less, listen more
5. Learn/try a new art technique every week
Not a bad list, all doable!

I made these little pin hearts yesterday. They are collage over a metal base. They are available in the Honey Girl Studio Valentine Store.

Transfer Tutorial

Wishing everyone a Happy, Healthy & Creative New Year!

Several months ago I read about how to do a photo transfer using clear packing tape. I created a tutorial on Flickr and you can get to it by clicking here. After you have removed the backing from the photo, place different decorative papers behind it to achieve different looks.

Can Anybody Get This Open?

So my husband and I go to Sam's club this afternoon to get large amounts of papertowels, laundry detergent and macadamia nuts when I go thought the tech department and see 2GB flash drive for $20. Wow! What a deal! I must have this I say to myself, so I buy it and bring it home. Notice the humongous amount of packaging around this 2 inch long flash drive. I mean really, this is why the earth is in the shape it's in! Too much packaging........

So I tried to open it......I thought maybe I could tear it open with my hands.....no it was too strong and I'm not the warrior princess! So I got the scissors......no such luck! The next picture shows the progression of tools I tried...

None of these worked to get it open either. There is a "technical assistance number" on the front of the package. Do you think if I called it and asked them how to get the package open they would think I was crazy????!!!!

Perhaps I should just drink the wine my cousin Patti got me for my birthday tomorrow and forget about getting the flash drive out of the package! Hmmm....now let me think......I believe there's a blow torch in the garage.........or maybe tomorrow I can take it to the fire department and they can use the jaws of life on it to get it open! LOL!

Any suggestions on how to get the package open? The more absured, the better!

More Paper Dolls............

Is it an altered art paper doll or an Artist Trading Card? Well, it's both! Her head, legs and arms all fold into the card. I just posted her on Ebay tonight. Doesn't she have that 1950s-60s vintage Valentine face?



You can write in the person's name in the box under "I love".

This little cutie's name is "Kiss" because of her Hershey's shaped kiss hat! Click here for some groovy Hershey Kiss Crafts. She is almost 8 inches tall and is made of chipboard and cardstock. I also posted her on Ebay tonight. I like this paper doll because she has bigger thighs.....like me! LOL! She must have been eating too many Christmas cookies too!

Smiles-
Tootie

Valentine Tags

Valentine's Day tags! Posted on Ebay today! These are so sweet. I love making these tags!

Double Jointed Puppy Love........

Let me introduce you to Pinky Finkledarlin'! She is an ATC in the disguise of a jointed paperdoll. Her head, arms and legs all bend in on her body which is the ATC. Her face is hand painted and the rest of her is embellished with the following: rubber stamps, decorative papers, yarn and antique walnut dye. It's not too early to thing about Valentine's Day!



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Speaking of which...... here is a little diddy I entitled "Puppy Love". It is 4 by 4 inches on foamcore board. It's available in the Honey Girl Studio Shop.

Christmas 2007

Christmas 2007 is in the bag! My husband and I had a very nice dinner this afternoon with his parents and mine. We had a lucious roast beast with all the goodies including homemade Italian wedding soup. It wasn't a white Christmas, there was just a dusting of snow on the ground because it rained like crazy a few days ago. It was cold but the sun came out this afternoon.....it was good traveling weather for people.

I'm already starting to think of New Years Resolutions. After eating mounds of cookies (I've never met a cookie I didn't like) and pounds of candy (it's chocolate a food group?), I have to move my body more, get back to yoga, eat less, cut out sugar and lose some poundage! I also need to clean and organize my studio bench and try to keep it somewhat cleaned and organized. I get creating and it's like all hell breaks loose! There is stuff everywhere!!!! I bought page protectors with pockets to organize some of my pictures and papers into a binder so I'll get there.......it's a work in progress!

Nanny, Me and Jim (my parents). Our Christmas dinner consisted of a box of Splenda, 4 cups of water and a partridge in a pear tree! No, I'm joking.....this was after dinner, Gary's mom was looking for a certain pair of Clarks on the laptop.

Gary, Mary and Danny (Gary's parents). They are a family of plaid wearers!

Ah, after everone departed for home I was thinking about flopping on that chair after cooking all morning!

How was your holiday?????

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year Everybody!!!!

Dear Friends in blogland, wishing you a wonderful Christmas and a healthy, happy new year full of creativity! Enjoy your holiday!

I'm leaving you with pictures from my decorated pie safe. It's stuffed with a collection of 1940-1950s plastic Santas, cross-stitched Santas and a few other things. I painted the inserts in the door and change them seasonally. The white barn is an exact duplicate of my mom and dad's barn on their farm.

The Inner Artist Is Calling...........

These ATCs were inspired by the lottery. Yes, on an impulse I played the Powerball which is worth 20 million dollars. I can count on one hand how many times I've bought a lottery ticket but lately I've been hoping for a huge windfall of the green stuff so I could do what I want to do for the rest of my life and not have to answer to anybody, while still being able to pay my bills! I know, it's everybodies dream! Oh, I'd better go check the numbers!!!!

"The future belongs to those who believe in the beauty of their dreams" - Eleanor Roosevelt
"When I grow up, I want to be an artist"! That's what I said from the time I was 3 years old until 11th grade when my mother informed me that I had 4 years to get a degree in college in something in which I could GET A JOB in when I got out. An artist was not going to be one of those things evidently! LOL! Oh well, I still have that "inner artist" trying to get out and probably always will even though I have a Master's Degree in something other than art!

Grungeboard.....

Tim Holtz has this new product called Grungeboard. It looks very interesting. It's flexible, you can ink, distress and paint it and it comes in sheets or precut designs. To see the tutoral by him, click here. He also has a great blog: www.timholtz.typepad.com

Smiles-
Toots

Vintage Inspired Christmas Paperbag Album

This is a Christmas paperbag album I made with copies of vintage photos, vintage pictures, rubber stamps and ribbons. I made this one for my dear friend Retro Rita. She digs all things retro! I think the reason these art albums are so liked is because they make you smile and take you back to a simplier time. Nostalgia is wonderful because we can make as pretty and perfect as we want to in our minds.

These are pictures of the pages before it was bound with the rings and stuffed with the goodies!

I adore the two little kids on this page. She looks like she's cracking up over something hysterical!

These are the goodies that were stuffed in the pockets of the album!