And Now For Something Completely Different

I finally finished a canvas I started probably almost a year ago. I've been busy working, reorganizing my art space and making presents for the holidays. I've got the big 4-7 bday coming up too so I'm doing a lot of soul searching and thinking about what the next steps will be for me in my life. It just feels right and necessary even, to get serious about this thing called life. So I apologize for not posting often or blog visiting. After the holidays I will be back on track.

Here is "Can I Take My Gun Up To Heaven":

Bear found those bullet casings, believe it or not, in the parking lot where he works. Weird, huh?

I used a transparency of one of my antique cabinet cards, sticker letters I embellished with rub and buff and China Markers and Stabilo pencils, turquoise Golden Acrylic, red crackle paint, plastic dollar store sheriff's badge I aged with paint and Golden's Gel Bead medium, alcohol ink blood on the bullet casings, rusty wings left over from a workshop, Tim Holz Grunge Board wings, portfolio oil pastels and the guns are my secret. hahahohohehe.
The song that inspires the Art is by the band Cracker. The song is, not suprisingly, "Can I Take My Gun Up To Heaven".

I saw a concert years ago with The Gin Blossoms (not a fan), The Spin Doctors, who were HORRIBLE and the lead singer was an egotistical a-hole, yelling at the audience because there was a lot of milling around for drinks, bathroom breaks etc, cuz they sucked so bad live. Cracker was the opening act and the point of my being there. Unfortunately their bus broke down, they arrived late and they only played 3 songs becuz the Spin Doctors didn't want to go on stage late. Weenies. Anyhoo, years and years ago I discovered Cracker on the station I used to listen to, WXPN, commercial free radio from the University of Pennsylvania. This was before my XM subscription and Pandora radio on the internet. I recommend these stations highly.

Anyhoo, this piece has been in my head for years and it finally came out. xoSusan

Just Gotta Share

I subscribe to a newsletter put out by Lisa Vollrath Of Ten Two Studios. Lisa carries a wonderful assortment of collage sheets and ephemera for the mixed media artist in her shop. I can vouch for the quality of products and the good service she provides. And no, I have no affiliation, altho a groupies discount would be nice. teehee. Anyway, my favorite part of her newsletter is a section called "Eye Candy". Here she introduces artists blogs and websites to visit. I have never been disappointed in her recommendations. I have been enchanted and inspired, and yes, horribly, horribly jealous. teehee. I have to share the work of one of my new favorites that I am compelled to stalk. teehee. I obtained her permission to link and blog about her. She is Shannon Rankin of Selflesh. Her work is crisp, concise, unbelievably detailed and I am completely in love with it. Check this out:

Visit Shannon's Website and blog, Selflesh. You'll get to see her studio and watch little videos showing the time consuming and precise hanging of some of her Amazing work in a gallery. Her work is just Too Cool. xoSusan

Recycled Cardboard Postcards

I just haven't learned. I tried to do an Apollo 7039 trans/alcohol spray ON TOP of Acrylic Paint. Do Not Try This At Home. It is a complete waste of time. The definition of insanity comes to mind in times like this: Expecting a DIFFERENT outcome after doing the same thing over and over and getting the SAME exact result every time. Okay, that's my personal definition of insanity. I see you smiling, you have a little touch of my kind of insanity don't you??? Here's my proof:

This is one of the Fancy Feast cardboard postcards. If you squinch your eyes, click your heels, and catch a tiger by the tail, you can see a little part of the castle that transferred. On the plus side, I can definitely salvage this. Don't get me started on using Golden's Soft Gel medium for transfers either. I know people who are successful with this recipe, just not moi. I don't have any consistency with my attempts. When it does work, I have no idea why. There are so many variables, the amount of gel used, the amount of burnishing, the length of time you leave the transfer on the substrate, whether or not the moon is waxing or waning. Most often I end up pulling the gel up when I lift the transfer, creating a gloppy mess. In an effort to try ANYTHING, I contacted Marianne from Marianne's Art Blog and she was kind enough to share her successful transfer technique in which she uses Apollo 7039 transparencies and Elmer's Caulk. Home Depot doesn't carry it. She let me know that Ace Hardware does. I am so looking forward to trying this. Visit her blog and see her Amazing Work with transfers. I will share my results, good or bad, when I can get my hands on that Elmer's Caulk. Unless of course, I am waylaid by my Helpful Ace Hardware Man. teehee. Hey, a girl can dream. xoSusan

Comic Christmas

I purchased a blank "canvas" picture frame at Wal-mart for under 5 bucks. Still thinking Holidays, so I perused my collage sheets and decided on a Comic Book themed frame for my nephew and his wife. Altho Joe is a grown man with a wife, mortgage, and a job, I still remember him like this:

He is Handsome and Hilarious. My two Favorite Features in a man. Anyhoo, I printed a comic collage sheet that I have had a while, and am so sorry that I can't remember where I purchased it. I have since become devoted to attributing work correctly. Used an Apollo 7039 transparency:
And yes, I broke one of my nails. Boohoo. So I had to get another gel manicure. This time I went with a neutral. I wanted a pinkier color, but it looks almost clear. oh well. Back on topic, arranging collage elements:

Used alcohol to transfer onto frame. It looks distressed, I wish the blues had transferred a little better.
Below is the frame with all of the transfers completed. I sprayed with a matte acrylic sealer and will let that completely dry before adding washes of paints. I'll probably go with a light blue. I thought I would do some messy white circles in different sizes. You know that stain you get when you leave your coffee cup on the newspaper? Kind of like that.
So far so good. Tune in next week to see the the story unfold. xoSusan

Medieval Mixed Bag

I took a much needed break from Charm Chicanery and Dabbled in the Middle Ages. WAAAY before DG3 was invented. teehee. I worked on two more Armored Men for the Manuscript:


He's not glued in yet. I have to find a very beautiful male face to add. I just love the crackle stamp on the Armor. I used my fav embossing powder color, Marcasite, and watercolor markers to color the cross. On this page I also used Portfolio Oil Pastels to color in the Maiden.
The next spread is Armored Man after the Skirmish, and it's not pretty.

I purchased the digital anatomical 1" circle collage sheet from Piddix on etsy. I love creepy anatomy illustrations. You probably know that by now. teehee.
I also bought the Most Gorgeous digital collage sheets on etsy from Itkupilli. They are simply scrumptious. Marsha from TumblefishStudio turned me on to Itkupilli. There is NO Turning Back Now!! By the way, Marsha has some magical collage sheets for sale on etsy. Good Luck in your New Venture Divine Miss Marsha!!
Here is an ATC background with an Itkupilli image transferred with alcohol and Apollo trans 7039. The substrate is illustration board, which I adore. I did a watercolor wash over top the transfer:
Couldn't you just eat that with a spoon???? teehee. Anyhoo, being in a Medieval Mindset and all, I added another Crackle Stamped and Embossed Armored Man and since he is nothing but a ghost, some stamped, embossed wings.
He's not glued down yet. Not sure what words I'm going to add yet, have a couple ideas running around. And yeah, they're all creepy. teehee. xoSusan

I'm So Over Charms

I'm going to finish my last set of wine charms for my family. Then, I am DONE. The last ones I did that were not going to family, bubbled badly. I think DG3 sucks. There I said it. That said, I could have bizarre humidity in my studio or put too heavy of a layer in the cap, but, I Just Don't Care Anymore. Too much good paper, book words, computer ink, time and my sanity have been spent to no avail. Yeah, I'm a bit of a perfectionist too. I can't give second rate gifts to my bloggy friends. Just Can't Do It.


Here are my sister Linda's charms in progress. The collage elements are not Modge Podged in yet, nor has the DG3 been administered. (like medicine, get it? teehee.) My sister and her husband are enamoured of all things Italian, as am I. The difference between us is they both speak the language fluently, have vacationed there many times, and plan on moving there permanently in about 5 years. Thank goodness you can't see me, cuz I am positively GREEN with envy.

In Italian, Baci means Kisses. Amore is Love. Duh. Formosa means Buxom. Bella means Beautiful. Abbracci means Hugs. Piccante means Spicy. These words describe my sister to a T. teehee. Ti Amo.xoSusan

Wizard Of Charms

I finished another set of wine charms. My sister Deb, is enamoured of The Wizard of Oz. What better subject to use for wine charms, cuz, We Are Not In Kansas Anymore, that's for sure!


The secret is in the Modge Podge. I used a larger font book this time for the words and made sure to Modge Podge the back of the words, so the print on the back wouldn't show thru. I also forced myself to wait 48 hours between drying time and moving on to the next step. I think I will give these one more coat of DG3. I also wised up and am making Smaller Holes AFTER collaging the cap. DUH. The caps are photographed on Cardboard that I am recycling into postcards. I buy cases of Fancy Feast cat food for my two spoiled boys, and the can layers are seperated by perfectly sized cardboard in very good condition. I did about 3 layers of gesso, some through stencils:
Added layers of Glimmer Mists and Adirondak color washes. The computer doesn't show how shimmery they are. I am a Glitter Whore. I know, it's hard to be taken seriously when you like sparkle, but so be it. Guilty Glitter Glutton am I. teehee.

The charms and the postcards are a good project to do together, while one project is drying, you can hop over to the other. Not sure where these are going, but I will be adding transfers of some sort either with alcohol and transparencies or gel medium. I may even bind them together and make a book. I think Happy New Years cards would be fun, too, don't you? Time will Tell, or more Accurately the Muse Will Speak. teehee. xoSusan

Andre on Etsy

Hear Ye, Hear Ye, my friend Andre, of Aftermath, has opened his Etsy shop, GalerieAndreL!! He has prints and notecards of his amazing work available that would make AWESOME Christmas presents. Please visit his blog with his updated slide show of work and etsy site to peruse his offerings. Congratulations Andre!!! Thank you for sharing your Art with the Rest Of The World!!! It's just what we needed!!! xoxoxoSusan