New this week

I was having a difficult time trying to decide on a new "project" so I decided to make some ATCs. I love this form of art because it is small and a great way to conjure up some creativity. I made this one for a group I belong to; the challenge was to use the magazine image in the ATC....loads of fun!!

The other thing I do to stimulate creativity is Zentangle™. Here is another ATC I doodled up for a swap. I love seeing where a pattern takes you!

Well I think I would like to do some more deco boxes with the Graphic 45 papers I ordered.....stay tuned for results!!

Baroque Door Shrine project

I've always loved anything in miniature since I was a kid; the smaller something was, the more I HAD to have it! Well this little kit from Retro Cafe Art fit the bill for my project this week. First a list of my supplies from Retro Cafe Art:

Baroque Door Shrine Kit - ATC Sized

Tiny Brass Door Knob Key plate and key

Steampunk Gears

Vintage Steampunk ATC Backgrounds

Other:

Viva Inka Gold (Flying Unicorn)

Altered piece by Tim Holz

Stickers by Tim Holz

Image of Woman by Ten Two Studios

E6000 Glue

Gold Edging Ribbon (Walmart)

Here is the finished Baroque Door Shrine from the front. I painted the whole thing burgundy than used the Viva Inka Gold and gently rubbed it on the piece to achieve an aged look. I also used a nail file to buff it and create texture then painted the roof top and deco piece black with glitter specks.

This is the top view. I glued the decorative gold ribbon all the way around the piece, than used a sticker, a gear and the Altered piece to finish that part.

I treated each side with some vintage pieces; I love the show American Pickers, and so I took my inspiration from that; an old clock, license plate, gears and a key were the perfect addition.

Finally, the inside. Yes the door opens!! I had ordered the Vintage Steampunk ATC size images on a transparency, then cut one out to lay onto the door, sort of like a stain glass effect. What's neat is you can put a battery operated Tea light inside to make it glow! The back wall of the piece is actually an ATC I made to go along with the shrine. I used another one of the transparency pieces and the Queen image; the crown is a sticker I had. This project was so much fun, even if I did fuss over it for hours! I highly recommend you try any of the awesome shrine kits at Retro Cafe Art.

Happy New Year and New Designs!!

I have been diligently working on my projects for Gecko Galz as they have selected me as their Artist of the Month for January. I was granted use of several of their lovely papers, collage sheets and digital stamps to make six samples....and here they are!

"Love Shrine" This piece was created using some pre-cut plywood with a 1" x 3" block as the shelf. I covered the wood with "Star Crossed" papers from Gecko Galz. Next I used the image of the couple from my stash and the Eiffel Tower image from GG's collage sheet "Between The Lines" and glued them down. I stamped the script on the front of the shelf, then used fabric glue to attach lace around the piece. For embellishment, I used an old key (at the top) from my stash of found items; the little wood envelope is from Retro Cafe Art which I stamped with the french phrase "Par Avion" (Hero Arts). I used hot glue to glue the little glass jar down (Tim Holtz) and the envelope, added the key,some pearl stickers then placed the bouquet of little rosebuds in the jar. Lastly I used the stick on letters (Tim Holtz Designs) to finish it off.

Marie Antoinette ATC To create this 3D ATC, I used a Masonite ATC Base and Valentines Day ATC Frame set from Retro Cafe Art. I covered the frame with GG's "Starcrossed" papers, then glued the Marie Antoinette image from their "Between the Lines" collage sheet onto the base. Next, I glued the paper covered frame onto the base and used Distress ink around the edges. The little hearts were painted white and stamped with script then glued on with the rosebuds and the little key. I think I have a thing for keys!

Steampunk Card For this card I used the Steampunk Papers from Gecko Galz which I'm in LOVE WITH!! I'm a huge fan of Steampunk, and GG has great products along this line. The digital image is from GG's "Industrial Age" digital stamps, which I printed out on "Starcrossed" paper. I used brown cardstock from my stash for the card base, then use the papers to layer the image. The gears are from Retro Cafe Art. I used gold and silver pigment ink, heat embossed them and placed them on the card with glue. To finish I stamped the sentiment on a scrap piece of the Steampunk paper and attached. I love this result!

Valentine Deco Box

This project is a little kraft box I bought for $1 at my local craft store. To begin with, I again used one the sheets from GG's "Starcrossed" Paper pack and cut pieces to fit on each side of the box. Once attached securely with glue, I then used gold pigment ink and clear embossing powder to heat emboss the whole box. This gave it a really cool texture. Next I used the heart and Bingo card image from Gecko Galz's collage sheet "Hearts Galore" and attached with Modge Podge. I added the Bingo piece from my stash of found items and the rosebuds with hot glue. To finish I attached faux pearls around the top and mid-section of the box. A very elegant and easy project to use as a gift!

"Love's Journey" Tag My final project is a tag using GG's "Starcrossed" papers; the image is from GG's collage sheet, "Two To Tango". For embellishment I attached black lace, pink square brads, a few highlighting papers from the Steampunk scraps, and several coordinating fibers. I also used some washi tape and a button to make a flower to finish it off. Perfect to send for my next tag swap!


I hope you enjoyed my creations this month, and please visit Gecko Galz for your scrapbooking and crafting images; you won't be disappointed! In addition, I'd like to thank Leanne Seed for choosing me to represent Gecko Galz this month.

A snag in my creative web....

For those of you who have followed or stopped by to see what I've been up to, you may have noticed I've been up to a whole lot of nothing! Unfortunately, Life has been a bit chaotic for this artist in the last few months, and my crafting space in the garage is no longer working for me, as I live in Wisconsin and it's quite cold! So I am in the process of designing my Christmas Cards and re-arranging things so I can get back to work! In the mean time, I've been crocheting baby items for my nephew who just turned a year old. Stay tuned, I will be back once I have things in order! Happy Creating! -- Shelly

Digital ATC's

I am definitely a novice at this "digital stuff", but I really want to learn! I got some fantastic images, very inexpensive mind you, from Deviant Scrap and started to play. Here's a few ATC's I made that were very easy once I started to understand what digital tools to use....I have a long way to go though!

This week's creations....

As I am still in the Halloween mood, my focus has been on using some fantastic images and products from some of my favorite providers of crafty merchandise. This first piece is a Witch's Cafe sign I made using a digital stamp from the Midnight Hour collection over at Gecko Galz. They have some great digital stamps and Halloween papers that are sure to inspire! I bought a wooden tray over at the Dollar store, painted it black, then used paper and ribbon along with some Prima paper flowers and Stickles to complete this project. The spider web was the hardest part, but I finally got it right where I wanted it and used spray adhesive to anchor the spider. Easy and cute decoration!!

Next is a project that I had previously made called Graveyard Bingo (see previous posts); I decided I needed to revamp it because I wanted to be able to stand it up on it's own to display. I adhered some orange halloween paper to some heavy duty cardboard, then glued the whole piece onto it. I wasn't excited about the color, so I attached the green and black ribbon to the top which I thought made it pop! Next, added the two words "Graveyard" and "Bingo" with pop dots. I then made a cut on each side with my exacto, careful not to go all the way through. I bent each side back, and now this little beauty stands up on it's own!

Lastly, I stumbled upon a fantastic website when looking for vintage images of children called Deviant Scrap. They have some of the coolest images I've seen in awhile! I bought and quickly downloaded their Toil and Trouble Micro Kit which includes collage sheets and digital images to use in digital collage. These wicked little kids are so cute, so I created an ATC with them to send to a friend.

Hope you enjoy my little creations and have fun creating your very own! ~Shelly

Halloween Words Collage Giveaway!!

I've seen similar collages, and figured I could teach myself to make my own! For you who aren't as computer savvy, fear not! I'm giving my little collage sheet away for use in your Halloween Projects. Just follow the link, right click and save.~Shelly



If you would give my blog a "shout out", I'd be very appreciative!


Free Halloween Words

Halloween ATC's

Yesterday I finally had some time to make some Halloween ATC's for swapping...




This was was created with a digital stamp from Gecko Galz, one of my favorite places for inexpensive yet high quality digital stamps. The little boy image is from a collage sheet I purchased at Retro Café Art Gallery, another one of my favorites! I used my own Halloween Words I created on this one as well.



Here is another one I created with the little boy....isn't he cute??



This "little witch" was from a free image pool I'm a member of...with her bingo background, I couldn't resist adding a black and white bingo piece.



I'm not a huge fan of Poe, but after cutting his head out and putting on the witches hat I found it quite amusing! The images of the raven, mockingbird background and witches hat came from Retro Café Art Gallery and Poe was from the image pool. I thought it was witty to have the raven declaring "Nevermore!"

If you'd like to swap with me, please contact me at my email gemsrok@yahoo.com

Happy early Halloween!! ~Shelly