ANTI-VALENTINES 2011 Hey It's Still February

"Lucky Loser"

Ok, Ok, 

I know it's no longer Anti-V day.

But I've been busy. 

Learning Photoshop at Night school,

working and swimming, 

there is little time to create.

So if I'm still getting Anti-V ideas,

well, I'm going with it.

Here is another featuring Rene Lacoste.
The title is a real tennis term. 
google it. It's true. 
teehee.
xoS

ANTI-VALENTINES REVISITED

Just for fun

I'm going to post 

Anti-Valentines from past years.

Cuz, well, I haven't had time to create.

My first Photoshop class was last night.

I am HOOKED. Gone. Done. In Love. 

We spent an hour learning "selections". 

Old, tired after a day at work, selections

are not so easy. 

Keyboard Commands!! Who Knew!!

Hope you like the previously posted Anti-V's!

I'll post more oldies but goodies friday.

I'm off to practice selections. 

xoS

MORE ANTI-VALENTINES 2011

Broken At Love  

Anti-Valentine

This was so fun to make!! I adhered a vintage pic of Rene Lacoste taken from Vogue magazine

onto an image of a famous painting that I am too lazy to find the info on, spray inks, purell transfers,

transparency image, stabilo pencils, white gel pen, rub-ons. 
"Broken at Love" is a real tennis term also, which I think is like, super cool, dude.
xoS

ANTI-VALENTINES 2011

First Batch!!

 "The Horror" 

is a Purell transfer 

using Apollo 7039 transparency 

and an ink-jet printer. ATC substrate

is Illustration board which takes the transfer like a dream.I added a little color on the lady's face with my new Pan Pastels and pencil. I messed up the other side of the ATC so I cut around it and mounted it on top of a piece of last years homemade Anti-V paper, "Blood Streaked". cool, right?    

"Extreme Measures" also uses the Illustration

board/purell/ink-jet transfer recipe. Pan pastels for color and a rub-on and eyelet. The dymo words do not want to stick to the Pan Pastels. Crap with a Capital C. I love my Dymo. 

"Louise" has as a substrate altered baby wipe adhered to a baseball card. The wipe is altered with watered down acrylic paints and alcohol inks. Transparency pic of Louise glued down (actually a leftover transp from a failed transfer), a bit of sequin waste and some silly brads and flowers as embellishment. And as you can see the damn words are lifting here too.

More to come.....

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

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

How I Spent My Valentines Day

I spent my Valentine's Day at work! At work I got a virus! Horrible headache, stiff neck, nausea and rolling innards. Guess what arrived at work to make me feel better?

Thank you goes to my dear friend, Erin. She works part time at a florist and arranged these herself. I am a lucky girl!

Guess what arrived at home to make me feel better? :
How pretty is that? Cyndy from Heliotrope Tree House and her darling daughter Cub, created this beautiful expression of blog friendship. Thank you ladies, you sure did brighten my day. Cyndy was the recipient of my "Hope Will Find You" ATC and has positively made me blush with her heartfelt thanks. Lots of healing thoughts heading her family's way from my house. If you have a moment, please say a healing prayer for Cub's great grandma.

Guess what else arrived to make me feel even better! From my BFF Grace, I received this hilarious card:

And the punchline?:
This is what my life has become!!!! Ok, the lady doing my taxes today told me I need to be more positive. I was really nervous and I guess I OVERSHARED about my life. I'm getting a refund. American Express and Chase Mastercard will be so happy to hear that. So to put it positively, this is what my life has become, FOR NOW!!! Anyhoo, my wise, all listening, and all knowing BFF included this wonderful surprise in my valentine card:
A vintage postcard by Artist Xavier Sager!!! Grace knows what I like!! And here is the back with the most exquisite handwriting in French:

Please feel free to use this in your artwork. And as always, I would love to see what you create with it.

During Valentine Week, I also received a surprise package from my generous blog friend from across the pond, Lorri, at Artivity in Australia. Lorri's work is awesome! (Off Topic- Lorri is having a fun challenge on her blog, check it out, I'm gonna work on it this weekend-stay tuned!) She and her daughter, Bec, run a store called Scrappindipity and still have time to create beautiful (and often hilarious) art! Look at all this awesome Ephemera she sent:

Great images, I especially love the image of the 5 ugly ladies and the 2 children. I have actually been looking for the image of the two children. I made this ATC(traded) a while ago and have had many requests for a "clone":
All I need to do is cut away the little boy, hehehehe. Lorri also sent this cool postcard that is a montage of her art. I wanna do one, too! Here's Lorri's:
And drum roll please, the BEST part, a framed original ATC:
Lorri's inscription tells me to "Remember Your Beauty". How awesome is that! Thank you one and all for making me feel the love this Valentines!

And guess what made me feel the best I have ever felt in my ENTIRE LIFE?? 15 years ago on Valentines Day I gave birth to this:

Ok, she was A LOT smaller 15 years ago, but you know what I mean!! She dyed her hair black! Here she is opening her Bday gift from Grace at her party at my mom and dad's house. Holy Birthday Run On Sentence Batman. My mom invited the whole family, catered it with delicious food, (my mom is an unpaid party planner!!!)and decorated the house with love. I gave Sam a flip digital camcorder, got the idea from Sherry. Thanks, Sherry! I have to share how tiny my daughter is. Here is one of her presents in a sweet box:


I couldn't resist stuffing the bikini in that small box. Sam loved it. Wal-mart. You heard me. I said it. Don't Hate. teehee.

So all in all, my virus and loneliness were counteracted by Love from Friends and Family. Before this gets Hallmarky, I'm signing off.

xoSusan