GPP Street Team-Crusade #37-Love Letters

Well, I got my journal page in just under the wire to participate in Michelle Ward's Green Pepper Press Street Crusade #37-Love Letters. Here is my finished journal page featuring lots of X's and O's:

And Here is How I did it!!

Step 1:
Lay down the Letter Stencils and assorted materials you want to spray thru to make your background interesting. Here I have used letter masks by Tim Holz, washers, bottle caps, sequin waste, punches punched out of paper, and a round dotty stencil.

Step 2:

Begin spraying thru the stencils and be careful not to move them around after spraying. I used Glimmer Mist sprays here.

Step 3:
I mixed another spray color using Perfect Pearls powder and a mini mister. Mask the areas you don't want the new color to reach.

Step 4:

I knew I wanted to add either a large hand or a figure to my page so I flipped thru my magazines looking for one. I really like the outstretched hands in this photo, so she is the winner. I used tissue from a valentines present (thanks Grace xo) to make my paper doll a dress. I added X and O stamps and have them hanging down similar to a belt. Glue sticked it together.

Step 5:
Play with the Layouts. I forgot to get a pic of the background after spraying but you can kind of see how it turned out below. I know I wanted to use one of the white circles as a head but wasn't sure how I was going to orient the page.

I ended up liking the below layout better. I got the idea to have X's and O's flow from the figure's hands and in this second orientation I have the open space to do it.

Step 6:

Here I used a stencil to cut dictionary pages out with words that begin with ex. Get it??? teehee. I knew that you would. I am feeling quite cautiously happy these days and positivity has infused this page. Either that or I purged all my sarcasm making Anti-Valentines!! Don't worry it will be back. teehee.

Here's a closeup of the chosen words:
Step 7:
Added some detail work with Stabilo pencils, chalk pencils and some embossing.


I'll post the finished page so you don't have to scroll up again!!
I hope you enjoyed the show and tell about my journal page. Come play with us next month!! I can't wait to see what Michelle has up her sleeve for the next crusdade!! xoSusan

Yet More Anti-Valentines 2010

Only 3 more days in February....got to get these out of my system by then....same techniques as previous 3 posts....xoSusan

MORE ANTI-VALENTINES 2010

I used the inkjet images printed on Apollo Transparencies 7039 and alcohol spray technique on these ATCs. The inkjet images are scans of my abstract paintings transferred onto scrapbook paper glued to baseball cards. The words are inspired by old Blues tunes with a sprinkle of my sarcastic humor thrown in. I owe a HUGE THANK YOU and a TON of HUGS to June from Art Freebies. I got almost all of the images used for this years batch of Anti-Valentines from her generous site. Visit her and tell her BroknHeartArt sent ya. xoSusan

Engagement ATC

I made this ATC In Honor of my BFF Grace's Engagement to her Beloved, Ric.

I'm Wishing them Smooth Sailin'!!! A Quiet Harbor!! His Wind at Her Back!! A Stiff Breeze!! Hatches Battened Down!! Full Steam Ahead!! Hope On The Horizon!! All Hand's On Deck!! HeadWay!! High Tide!! Steady As She Goes!! Three Sheets To The Wind!! Toeing The Line!! A Windfall! High And Dry!! Close Quarters!! okay, I'm done, I got a little carried away didn't I? These phrases are all wonderful ideas for ATC's by the way. Congratulations Grace and Ric. xoSusan

Happy Anti-Valentines Day!!! R Rated Post

Happy Anti-Valentines Day to all my Bloggin Buddies!!! xoxoxo!!! Here is my First Batch of AV's. I am illin' from a weekend of Drinking and Debauchery so this is a brief and painful post of pics. Warning to the Weak of Stomach and Faint of HeArt these are LOW BROW. Skip this post if Low Brow is not your thingy ding.

"Stop Looking" Claimed by Sherry!!

"Wild Woman" Claimed by PB!!

"Wouldn't Need Bob" Claimed by Terri!!

"Wigged and Loaded" Claimed by Grace!!

This next one is my personal favorite!!

So far I have made only ONE Sweet Valentine. This is for my Aussie friend Lorri from Artivity. This is a photo of her parents. She posted it on her blog a long time ago for us to play with. Lorri sent me not One but TWO ATC's I saw on her Flickr page that I shamefully begged for. teehee. Thank you, Lorri!! xoxoxo I will post photos of them as soon as I stop peeing orange, for you ladies in the know, you feel me right??? I can't sit still for too long. teeFinghee.
I owe Cyndy and Cub a sweet one, too. Now WHO WANTS WHAT???? Which one appeals to you?? First come, first serve Fellow Blogging Buddies!! Nobody panic, I still have about 10 more to make. xoSusan

The Wood Brothers

Thursday kicked off an amazing weekend of Music. First up, The Wood Brothers appearing at Triumph Brewery in New Hope, PA. How were our seats? you decide:








Pretty Damn Good Seats. If you would like to hear TWB click on the arrow below the black screen. The first video is "Lovin Arms" and the second is "Pray Enough".

Saturday night was My Hero, Mr. Buddy Guy with BB King. I saw Buddy once as part of The Experience Hendrix tour, but he did not play his own songs, of course. Buddy was Awesome. He was funny, played slamming guitar and That Voice......sigh......and no, I did not toss my panties on stage, I was too far away. The speck in the spotlight is Buddy. He was terrific and was worth the price of the ticket. Next time, I'm getting better seats. I hope to see him again this year.

I know B.B. King is a living legend. He is 84 years old and I appreciate his talent and his HUGE contribution to The Blues. However, he needs to retire and like the day before yesterday. He played one song. ONE. Then he proceeded to talk about "the ladies" and the ladies came up to the stage and took his picture, and he loved it. Yes, he's paid his musical dues, but I wanted to hear him play, not hear boring chit chat. If he had talked about his musical history that would have been one thing.....We left before it was over, we almost fell asleep. I bet Buddy was in bed too. xoSusan

ANTI-VALENTINES 2010

As the Allman Brothers Band blasted in the background (looking forward to the upcoming concerts I will be attending in NYC, and yes that was Concerts PLURAL yahoo and teehee), I started working on this years Anti-V's. I decided to use scans of some of my abstractish paintings on top of sweet hearty scrapbook paper. Paper that I will never use otherwise, left over from when Sam was a baby and I documented every burp and coo. Who could blame me, she was a gift from the universe YEARS in the trying and finally making. BTW Miss Samantha's 16th birthday is my Valentine present every year. Yup, she was born Feb. 14. But I digress. Alcohol spray/ink jet images/Apollo 7039 transparencies are my favorite and consistently successful way to transfer images. Alas, this technique WILL NOT WORK ON TOP OF ACRYLIC PAINT, so I am going to be using scrapbook paper as the substrate a lot from now on. Both to use it up, and to make it my own.

Above are the scanned ink jet images printed on Apollo 7039 transparencies using my Epson c88 and Durabrite inks.

Above, I have 70% isopropyl alcohol in a recycled perfume mister. Spray the transparency until it is thoroughly covered, but not dripping. Lay the image down on top your receiving paper.
Gently brayer the image. Then lift a corner to see if the ink is sticking to the paper.

The above 2 are not perfect transfers. Doing transfers = embracing imperfection. Difficult, but you can do it!! teehee. See the ink left on the transparency above? Mist that spot with alcohol again, burnish that spot using your bone folder, and it will stick!!! You can repair these, quite easily. Or leave it nice and grungy, your call.
Above is one of the best transfers of the day. Look how clean the transparency is!!After they dry, you can fill in any blank spots with paint washes, or crayons, ink you name it. For this project I will be using Portfolio Water-Soluble Oil Pastels.
When the transfer is dry, I like to go over it with steel wool. It smooths out the finish and removes any sticky residue. You can skip this step. For these AV's I will be adding images of couples so I want my substrate smooth.

Here are a bunch ready to be embellished. If you look close you can see the sweet little hearts under the abstract splashes of color. I have started embellishing, but am not ready yet for show n tell!! I am doing a few sweet for a couple sweeties, but mostly they will be sour!! Remember, they are Anti-Valentines, after all. I hope I get them done on time!! xoSusan

Quilters: Get Ready To Drool

Most of you know I work at The Vision Center inside Wal-mart. What you don't know is that the VC is right near the front door and it's very, very cold. My legs are cold all day. I hate the feeling of tights under my pants, just can't do it. Last week by the end of my 10 hour shift, I was this close to buying a down comforter and going home and getting right under it. And Staying There, Forever. When I say buying, I mean charging because I don't have extra money right now. Or Ever, Actually. teehee. Anyway, I resisted. I came home and started frantically attacking the big plastic tubs in my closet looking for blankets. My daughter came out and watched the show.
"What are you looking for?"
"An Extra Blanket, I'm %&*# freezing!!"
"oh."
So far each tub had things from my domesticated married life I never use anymore. Place mats, table runners, table clothes. Seriously, I was a completely different species back then. The lid came off the last tub, and I gasped.
"What's that Mom?"
"You've Never Seen this have you?"
"Nope."
"It's the Quilt my Grandma made for me when I got married. I've never used it. When your father and I had the house, it was displayed on a quilt hanger on the wall."
"Are you gonna use it?"
"(horrified)NO!!!! pause. Well, I never have. I have always been afraid that I'll ruin it. I never felt responsible enough or grown up enough to put it on my bed. " Hmmm I am almost 50 now....
"huh?" accompanied by a puzzled look.
"And what about Buddy Guy's black cat hair getting all over it?"
"Mom, if don't ever use it, you might as well have THROWN IT AWAY years ago."
Realization that my 16 year old is wise beyond her years follows.
"Who are you and what have you done with my daughter?" I say. She rolls her eyes.
So from that night on, this quilt has been my comfort and joy. I feel so loved under it.


Grandma chose the pattern and the colors. Most of the fabrics are recycled from other projects. Notice the red and blues? I just love red and turquoise together, maybe this quilt started it all!
Just look at the precision of the stitching, the corners. They just don't make them like this anymore. BY HAND.

Rachel Colvin Myers.

Deb, Susan Rae (middle named after you know who), Grandma, Linda.

And yeah, the quilt's covered with cat hair already. I don't think Grandma would mind. xoSusan