GOTHIC ARCHES - "Bathing Beauties"

I'm pretty late this week; had a couple of crummy migraines which lasted all day and set me back some . . . anyway, I really wanted to do this theme of "Bathing Beauties" for Gothic Arches. I took some glossy cardstock and, using my Stampington Shore Cliff cube stamp, I stamped the starfish with Versamark ink and embossed them with white pearl embossing powder. I then used a makeup sponge to apply 2 Distress Inks from Ranger Industries to the paper--Antique Linen and Broken China. I added a vintage image, and edged that and the arch with Colorbox turquoise ink. I next added computer-generated words, and lastly, I glued Swarovski crystals to the starfish and applied Crystal Stickles around the edges of the arch. The photo looks better if you click on it!

TMTA - "King & Queen"

This week's challenge over at TMTA is to make an ATC featuring a king and/or a queen. I chose Marie Antoinette because I think she is fascinating! I used a frame stamp, embossed it with silver, and placed the little circle picture of Marie with pop dots. Then I added the border, using Stampendous stickers, and edged the ATC with a Platinum Color Box Cat's Eye inkpad.

TGIF - "Using Words"

The challenge this week at TGIF was to make something featuring a word, or words. I chose to make a little canvas piece and used part of a quote by Ralph Waldo Emerson--The entire quote says, "Thought is the blossom; language the bud; action the fruit behind it."

Sunday Funnies - "Say What?"

Here's a curious clip of Popeye from the 1960s. If doing crosswords and Sudoku puzzles is supposed to help keep your mind sharp, I wonder if memorizing a "scat" performance like this helps, too . . . even if it's a little odd, it IS a catchy little ditty, don't you think? Oh, silly me! Hope everyone had a good weekend!

"Volare"

Theme Thursday's challenge this week is to make an ATC--well, I LOVE to do those, so I took a chipboard ATC and covered it with light brown paper from a recycled gift bag, and stamped a background on it. I then added some soft highlights with colored chalk, and a computer-generated bird image, along with the word, Volare that I printed out. (I thought since the background stamp was in Italian, that the word "Fly" should be, too!) I finished up by adding some little eyelets and chalk ink around the edges.

"A Piece of Heaven"

Last Friday, the theme at TGIF was "A Piece from Heaven." I started my little "piece of heaven" a few days ago and was unable to finish it until tonight, so I'm really coming in under the wire here, but I wanted to get it up on my blog, anyway. I hope everyone's been having a good week!

TMTA - "Moon"

This week's TMTA challenge theme is "Moon" in honor of the 40th anniversary of the first moon landing. I'm lagging behind a little, but here's my ATC.

Finally, MARIE!

I say, "Finally, MARIE," because I finally finished making my arch for the Sunday Gothic Arches challenge of "Marie Antoinette" and also, I finally got on the Marie band wagon; she is such a popular subject for collage and stamp artists these days! In making my arch, I used a background paper from K & Co., added my image of Marie, and embellished the piece with embossed stamping, little crystals, and Stickles glitter, which I applied to the lace on her dress and a couple of other places with a tiny brush. Lastly, I edged the arch with a copper Dauber Duo. (Do they still make those? I have a lot of old stamping stuff!) My lighting in the house isn't very good this evening, but click on the photo to get a closer look at the details. This was fun!

Sunday Funnies-"The Stars of Tomorrow, 1933"

Beautiful women, but I think the predictions missed their mark; only Ginger Rogers and Gloria Stuart became stars--I haven't checked out the others, but don't recognize the rest of them! Have a great Sunday!

TMTA - "Fly"

Here's my entry for last Monday's TMTA theme of flying. As usual, the week has flown by, (no pun intended), and so I didn't get this ATC completed until today. Seems like I get started on a little art project and then something always comes along, getting in the way, demanding my attention. This week has been no exception, but I'm hoping to have some extra time tomorrow for art! By the way, I'm sorry, but I have searched and searched, and I can't find whose freebie this image is--so many wonderful bloggers share their vintage photos, and I've got quite a stash in a folder, but I neglected to label this one--so, I can't give credit where credit is due, but I am so appreciative of all the great, great images that people share!!!!!!!

GOTHIC ARCHES - "Roses"

I finally finished my arch for this week's theme over at Gothic Arches. The challenge was to incorporate the theme of roses into your arch; I just had bought this beautiful background paper from K & Co, so I used some of that, and stamped a few flourishes around the edges. I then added my image and some butterflies, and enhanced them with watercolor pencils. Lastly, I applied glitter and German scrap on the bottom edge, plus a word from a crumbling antique children's book, for the finishing touches. You can't see the glitter very well, but you can get a closer look if you click on the photo.

Sunday Funnies-Vintage Smothers Bros.

I loved the Smothers Brothers and used to watch them on TV, and my dad would play their comedy albums on our living room stereo, many years ago. Here's a fun clip featuring Dick and Tommy Smothers, both singing the "Yo-Yo Man" song, and Tommy demonstrating his yo-yo expertise. Tommy was a whiz with a yo-yo! As a kid, I had several of them over the years, and I remember trying desperately to learn the tricks and practicing like crazy. Sadly, the only thing Miss Fumble Fingers here could muster up was getting the yo-yo to go up and down a few times before the string sagged and I had to wind it and start all over again. Enjoy the video, and enjoy your Sunday!

TMTA - "In the Garden"

The challenge for TMTA this week is to show what's in your garden--On the first ATC, the photo of the pink rose was one I took a couple of years ago in my backyard in Idaho. The second ATC pictured was created from an image provided by Heidi of Shabby Chic Papirskatter. I just embellished it with glitter, a little German scrap crown, a Swarovski crystal, and an antique button.

GOTHIC ARCHES - "ATC Gothic Arch"

Well, I have finally switched gears after a crazy and fun past 2 weeks with 7 of my grandchildren, and I'm starting to get back in a "making art" mode. This week, the challenge over at Gothic Arches was to make an ATC Gothic Arch, using the standard dimensions for ATCs. I stamped some flourishes onto my background, (sparkly paper from K & Co.), with clear stamps, using Versamark ink, and then embossed them with gold embossing powder. Then I applied my little Artchix Studio image and added the computer-generated text to my arch. Lastly, I used a gold leafing pen on the edges, and, there you have it! You can see the detail a lot better if you click on the photo!

Sunday Funnies - July 4th Party, 1929

Here's a clip from the 1929 movie, "Our Modern Maidens" ~ starring Douglas Fairbanks, Jr., Anita Page, and dig that hot babe rockin' the drums!!!!!!!! (Guess who she is??????)

HAPPY 4TH OF JULY!!!!!

We are so very blessed to be AMERICANS! Celebrate our freedom safely this weekend!!!!!!

A Wonderful, Fun Blog to Visit!

I just discovered the most wonderful blog, courtesy of my friend Carol Anne (who generously shares her beautiful, free vintage images on her blog, by the way)--"Cute and Cool Blog Stuff" by Itkupilli--She is a Finnish artist who shares her free blog backgrounds and accessories, and provides free tutorials for people like me who would like to know how to work with digital photoshop programs. I feel like I found buried treasure today-thank you, Carol Anne!!!!!!