Easter Cards

Third and last post for today: I finally completed my Easter cards. I have a few relatives who would be piqued if I didn't send cards.

I made three kinds. Easy peasy and fast to make, if fiddly. The only drag is that the Post Office charges double the normal rate for postage, as the cards are in a non-approved (square) format.

ATC Journals

I've had a pile of glassine envelopes lying around here for a long time, and as I'm trying to art off my stash, I wanted to do something with them.

The outcome so far are these journals, one with twelve envelopes, the other with eight. The envelopes are just the right size to contain an ATC, with a little space to spare.

I'm going to propose an little swap / round robin to the Alkymia group. I'll place an ATC in each envelope, and each participant can select an ATC to keep and replace it with one for me.

Dancing Spirit Doll

Materials for the dancing spirit doll were included with a zine Gena made for a swap in the Travel Journals group. I'll photograph the zines I received as soon as I can. (The batteries in my camera are empty, and I had to give them a quick blast in order to finish processing and transferring this photo to my computer.)

I spent yesterday evening making the doll, and here she is.

Easter Goodie Drums

This has been one of those weekends when I feel I've been slogging away all the time -- or waiting for something to dry, so I can take the next step -- but with nothing much to show for it.

These are some "pretties" I made as containers for my granddaughters' Easter goodies. I still have one to make for my grandson. These are all very girlie, though.

The containers are cardboard tobacco drums with plastic lids. My neigbour saves them for me, and I knew they would come in handy at some point. After a thorough dusting out, I painted the outside of each drum with gesso, to cover up the tobacco label. In a next step, I painted over the gesso using either yellow or pink acrylic. When the first layer was dry, I went over it again with two or three washes of yellow (or pink) eggshell glaze (a glaze that contains tiny white flakes) to add dimension.

Then I wet and tore raggedy strips of a coordinating mulberry paper and decoupaged them onto each tin and added a strip of matching polka dot ribbon.

The lids have a rim, so I cut patterned cardstock circles to fit inside the rim. I do this using a circle cutter. It's a cheap little tool I picked up at a craft store a long time ago; like a compass, but with a blade instead of a pencil lead. I think you can get them in stationery stores, too. I can tell you, I wouldn't want to be without mine.

I decided to decorate the lids with punched flowers. First I punched out a scalloped circle as a contrast, so the flowers would stand out against the cardstock pattern. I then glued the circles together and punched a hole in the center (see the next step for the reason).

Then I used two flower punches to cut petals from the same cardstock I used for the larger circle. The cardstock was printed on both sides, so I automatically had matching patterns. I punched out three large flowers and two small ones for each lid and used a hand hole punch to make a hole for the brad to hold them together. (I like to add a dot of glue stick to the centres and then arrange the petals, so they all show.) I also punched a hole through a twist of the same polka dot ribbon I used on the drum, then simply poked the brad through all layers, including the large circle(s), and stuck a foam strip to the back. The center of each plastic lid is deeper in the center than at the rim, so the foam strip fills the gap.

To stick the topper to the lid I used acrylic gel medium and pressed the cardstock down firmly using a paper towel to remove little oozes neatly and cleanly.

I made a second flower for each container and stuck it over the ribbon join using a foam strip.
The nice thing about the flowers is that you can flip a knife blade or credit card under them and raise the layers of petals, to add more dimension.

You could easily add more embellishment to the drums, if you were to make them for adults, but I decided this was enough for the children. I know they will love the drums to bits, but being children, they will handle and use them, deciding they were pretty enough for the handling they will receive.

Sorted Buttons

I spent yesterday evening sorting the bag of buttons I bought in the afternoon. Here are some of the bags.

Home Crafts Fair Finds

Today I visited the local home crafts fair, which takes place twice a year. I love to see what people are offering, and I'm always awed and pleased to see how much creativity finds expression behind closed doors here in the north of Germany. Most of the things on sale are conservative crafts and not really my taste -- though I did see one or two things that I might have bought if I had a garden, which I don't -- but that doesn't make them any less pretty or interesting.

What I did find, though, was a woman who does a lot of sewing. She'd brought along a pile of buttons, but didn't really expect anyone to want them. As you might expect, there were a lot of ordinary buttons, but also a large number of colored and shapes buttons and some large ones. I bought the lot for 10 euros, and both of us were pleased with the bargain.

I also found these little clay faces for 50 cents each. They will be lovely for art dolls. I'm going to try making a mould from them using Fimo, so I can reproduce them using a lighter, air drying (paper) clay.

Threads ATC

I made these for a 6 for 6 swap on Alkymia, a European (only) group for ATC and spiritual art of all kinds.

The cards were cut twice the length of an ATC. First, I stamped and embossed the front of each ATC with a script stamp. The next step was to paint each card with gold and bronze acrylic. Then I punched out rectangles, affixed a scrap of metal mesh inside each card and folded it. The finishing touch was simply to weave various yarns through the mesh, leaving an inch or two hanging over at each side.

If I make more of these, I might try weaving the yarns into the mesh before closing and gluing the cards. I'm sure that would look nice, too.

OWOH and PIF Winners

I drew five winners using the random number generator at random.org. Each of the winners will receive a set of three crossover cards, which I hope to post out on Saturday.

The two One World One Heart winners are:

Patricia Mosca (Rochester, USA)
Angelika Tugal (Hürth, Germany)

the additional three winners will receive their cards as my PIF obligation.
They are:

Chris Bennett (East Blaxland, AUS)
Suzy Pierce (Bullhead City, USA)
Tamy Bollar (Crystal Falls, USA)

OWOH Giveaway and my PIF

I signed up for One World One Heart giveaway and posted my gift on the Art In A Carton blog a week or so back. Well, as of an hour ago, more than 180 people have signed up for a chance to win the two sets of cards I offered. (Anyone can sign up for the draw simply by leaving a comment on the OWOH post on Art In A Carton. You don't need to be participating by offering a gift yourself.)

I had a little think over the weekend and decided that, as my PIF here on Art Angelix seems to have gone completely unnoticed, I'd kill two birds with one stone and honour my PIF commitment by making three more sets of cards (see the photos here) and sending them to people who signed up for the OWOH draw.

As for the technicalities of drawing the winning names, I've decided to use the random number generator at "Violets Are Blue". That seems fairest to me.

Connecting

Yesterday, I decided to join in the ONE World ONE Heart project and uploaded a photo of my contribution to the Art In A Carton blog. I've also visited several of the other participants' blogs and left comments, which is part of how the project works. Today, I've had so many lovely messages from other participants. It's so wonderful.

Here are two blogs you'll want to look at, I'm sure.

Anna Nowicki
http://annanowicki.blogspot.com/

Creative Solace (Heather Robinson)
http://creativesolace.blogspot.com/

I also joined a new Yahoogroup called "Eurosupplies" today. It's owned by Mika and Shakti, two of my art friends, with whom I do a lot of art projects. The basic idea is that European artists can swap art materials, or materials suitable for art making, they have lying around or use the "wish list" ask for materials they would like to use in their art.

We've been exchanging materials in other ways for some time, but this is going to be much easier, as all swaps and requests are now organised in one place (on one group). So, If you're an artist living in Europe, feel welcome to join Eurosupplies and make use of the exchanges.

Eurosupplies
http://uk.groups.yahoo.com/group/eurosupplies/

Matchbox Treasuries

The remaining matchboxes (see "Prayer Boxes" post below) were taking up a lot of space, so I decided to use them up, which I'm in the process of doing now, for the Art In A Carton project.

Each of the matchbox treasuries is made up of three to five matchboxes. First I decorated the boxes. Then I painted leftover strips of book board in colors that match the boxes and, once the paint was dry, I stamped and embossed on the visible sides of the strips. (Not shown here.)

After cutting the strips to size, I glued on the matchboxes. Some of the strips are longer, so they can be hung up, if desired. I then used scraps of book board to make nameplates for the sets. After that, all I had to do was embellish. I'm actually quite pleased with myself, because I managed to use some of my hard to get "perfect" embellishments that I'd been saving for some project or other, for example, the rusted hardware. It's such a relief to be actually using the stuff instead of hoarding it.

Oh, and the boxes also have an inner life, but you don't need to see everything... (grin)

See the Art In A Carton blog for more pictures of these boxes.

Prayer Boxes

I'm working on pulling out unfinished projects and either bringing them to completion or using the materials for new works.

Late in 2006 I had an idea for a "Prayer Boxes" project in matchbox format. These are some of the boxes that actually got made. I didn't continue the project at that time, because I didn't (and don't yet) have the space to do the installation I imagine with the finished objects.

Each of the prayer boxes is decorated with paper and a large hardware element, usually an item of jewellery or an interesting bead. The boxes are backed on 2mm balsa sheets that I painted black then embossed with a handwriting stamp and gold embossing power. Balsa is easily split into the narrow strips you can see in the picture.

Three Amulet Pouches

These are the other three of the four amulet pouches I made this week. The pouches themselves are made of felted wool on fleece with gold mesh sewed on top. Each is embellished differently and has a handle of gold cord.

I took the pouches to the art and craft store this morning, to make sure I chose the right cord, and the women who work there were fascinated. I told them a little about the project, and they found it hard to believe (a) that I intend to give the pouches away and (b) that a seemingly "normal" person would think up a project like "Art In A Carton". I didn't tell them that I was anything but normal, of course.

Anyway, if you'd like one of these pouches, all you need to do is sign up for "Art In A Carton". Each of the cartons contains two or three items. It's essentially a three for three swap. Details can be found on the project blog.

http://art-in-a-carton.blogspot.com/2007/12/art-in-carton.html

Creativity Test

You see this empty cake carton. What do you think and do?

If your response is along the lines of that you'd toss it in the trash, I have no idea how you lost your way in blogland and got here, but at least it's your chance to pick up some alternative ideas.

I think the carton is begging to become a fairy theatre or something like that. What do you think? What would you do with it?

Felt Amulet Pouch

I slipped into a SoulFood journey a few days ago, and am writing hard to catch up with the rest of the travellers. (You can read my journey so far on the Art Rites blog. The URL is on the right.) One of the prompts is about receiving a a bag filled with useful objects, so I decided to make one.

Several weeks ago I tried felting, and while I decided it's not really my thing, my experiments left me with a few bits and pieces I knew I'd be able to use at some point. Yesterday, I cut a sheet of fleece-backed felt into strips and sewed four pouches. The other three are still at various stages of embellishment, but this is the one I finished yesterday in response to the prompt.

I stitched a strip of wire and fabric ribbon on the felt strip, then sewed the seams. The clasp is actually a scarf ring, which I attached by sewing the ring to the flap, then snapping the top down again.

The leaves have been in my bead stash for a while, too. They are Czechoslovakian glass beads that shimmer pink and blue.

Though I'd have liked some gold cord piping for the handle, I had none left, so I improvised by sewing on a strip of tinselly Xmas tree chain. If I find something better this week, I may replace the handle, but otherwise I'm quite happy with the outcome.

Skeleton In The Cupboard

A lot of folks have an idiomatic "skeleton in the cupboard". Anyone who unsuspectingly opens my hall cupboard is due for a bit of a surprise, though, as I have a real (paper) skeleton in mine! This is Boney Brian, who you may remember from around a year ago. He nosed around and discovered his favorite place in my flat, and this was it.

Final Shadow Card

This is one of the two final shadow cards I made this weekend. As before, I've posted one here and the other on Art In A Carton (link on the right). Earlier today, I finished the zines I've been working on for a Travelling Journals swap (you'll find a link to the group on the right, as well), and I think I'll be moving on to play with some tunnel books today.

Another Shadow Card

I found some lovely images of tickets and the like recently, and have played around with them, resizing, printing, and mounting them on card to use as ephemera in projects like this.

Here is one of two shadow cards I finished today. The other is on the Art In A Carton blog.

The woman in the photo was called Valeska. She lived in Thale, in Saxony Anhalt in Germany. I have an original photo-postcard dated 1919 that she sent to her mother, in Berlin.

Shadow Card

Here is one of the shadow cards I made earlier today. I've got another couple almost finished and shall post them in the coming day or two. The images are from my collection of cabinet cards.

I've posted another card to the Art In A Carton blog, as these particular examples are destines for the cartons.

Fairy Jars

Look what I caught yesterday! I'd been saving these little glass spice jars for something along these lines. I've also had a sheet of Victorian scrap fairies for ages, so I decided to make fairy jars. I'm not sure who will get them. I may give one each to two of my granddaughters. The others will probably go into Art In A Carton boxes.