Only the Mermaid knows what timeless treasures and crusty old bones hide deep beneath the Sea. Nuggets of gold, silver platters, ancient relics…the fierce Mermaid and her scaly steed guard this watery tomb.
Jun30
Treasures await beneath the sea
Tag Archives: Tutorials
May21
A feast for the eyes
So it turned out to be serendipitous that Alpha Stamps asked its designers to create something Alice-themed this month.
Because my daughter will be a unicycling performer in an upcoming Alice in Wonderland Circus production this summer, Alice has been on my mind a lot more than usual. Considering that Alice was never on my mind before now, this isn’t exactly an earth-shaking change.
I decided to make an Alice-themed paper cake. In a strange turn of events–as if we could expect anything else from Alice–a fellow teammate also created a paper cake. What’s wonderful is that both cakes turned out completely different from one another. Read the rest of this entry
May17
So many adorable pictures of my kids sit unseen in boxes. Now that “my babies” are teens, I am trying to make more time to showcase some of those special snapshots in time.
Here is a mixed media tiled frame I made to showcase one especially colorful picture of my daughter on a visit to Disney World. While I used a different technique, I was first inspired by the work of the talented Lora Mahaffey. You can see my tutorial featured at the ColourArte blog
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Great Stuff
- Silks Acrylic Glazes: Emperor’s Gold, Mediterranean Blue, Ginger Flower, Pretty Peridot, Boysenberry, Autumn Leaf
- Primary Elements
- Creative Paper Clay
- Embossing folders
- Spring Shape Set by Gypsy Soul Laser Cuts
- Glass bead gel
- Molding Paste
- White paper flowers colored with Primary Elements
- White Cardstock
- Beacon Zip dry
- Beacon Fabri-Tac
May11
Was Lewis Carroll a secret crafter?–an Alice in Wonderland Altered Tin
Becoming a professional crafter has changed my life. Monday mornings? Couldn’t be better! Daily commute? No sweat! I. Love. My. Job.
Admittedly though, it has made me a little odd. I am often going out in public with dyed blue fingers or traces of glitter in my hair. And seriously, who besides me makes frantic dashes to the dollar store before it closes for the night in order to buy cheap dolls to dismember?
Ummmm…Apparently several of you. When I asked fellow Alpha Stamps Design Team Members that question, more than one had done the same thing. One, who shall remain nameless, coughTristancough had bought 12.
Scary.
This is not the first time I have dismembered body parts in the name of crafting…
May10
Welcome to our cottage on the lake–sorry no synchronized flushes
Next year will be the 75th anniversary of our family’s cottage and I thought it was high time to acknowledge our family’s long history with this humble yet special place on “da lake”.
Humble is not some half-hearted attempt at being polite. I literally mean humble. Our little log cabin has been flanked in recent years by McMansions haughtily looking down from climate-controlled alfresco kitchens and his and her en suites complete with synchronized flushing.
That’s Me! On the back steps of The Cottage.
While I might not object to a few upgrades to our cottage–like being able to take a shower some place other than in the basement with chipmunks dashing in to sneak peeks at my lady parts, I cannot imagine replacing it with some giant lake home.
Our cottage has too much character, heart and history–from the open loft guaranteed to cause concussions in any adult over five feet tall, to the six-foot wide longhorn steer horns above the table that my grandfather acquired somewhere in Texas, to the 1960s retro motel towels that my uncle “borrowed” when he traveled the state with his construction crews.
I bet people in alfresco kitchens don’t let their kids stick fishing lures in their swimsuits.
May5
Honoring a hometown hero
Prince was our hometown hero.
Most of us took a quiet pride in him in a typically reserved Minnesotan way. Writer James Lileks summed it up perfectly when he described his early encounter with Prince in this Star Tribune article. “Everyone knew it was Prince. Here’s the Minnesota thing: Everyone left him alone. There just seemed to be an understanding that you were not cool enough to go bother him. It wasn’t personal. It was just a fact. There’s Prince over here on the cool spectrum, and then there’s you, waaaay over there, and somewhere in the middle is Don Knotts.”
I can’t help thinking how even though he was of the world’s greatest musicians and a revered rock star, Prince died all alone. I hope he knew–in spite of our reticent ways–just how much his hometown loved him.
I designed a stencil and subsequent altered tag as a small remembrance of him. I hope you check out my tutorial featured on the ColourArte Blog
Great Stuff
- ColourArte Primary Elements: Snap Dragon and Love Struck
- ColourArte Emperor’s Gold Acrylic Silks
- Manilla Tag
- White cardstock
- Molding Paste
- White colored pencil
- Lace
- Gold ribbon
- Scan n Cut
- Adobe Illustrator
- Beacon Zip Dry
Apr19
Celestial Pinwheels for spring’s evening breezes
It is almost magical: a warm spring evening, a light breeze and a starry sky. These celestial mixed media pinwheels remind me of this special time.
Here is where you can see my tutorial on how to make pinwheels.
These pinwheels kind of makes me want to skip out on all my work, make up some lemonade and go sit on my porch swing right now. Ah, but I have a lengthy blog post to write. Of course, I could just send you over to my tutorial…
…and then…
…I could just…
…play hooky…
Apr13
A little birdie told me Mother’s Day is drawing near
For moms of young kids, Mother’s Day can be difficult. I bitched for years about not being able to enjoy the “holiday” because it meant racing around trying to honor my mom, step-mom as well as my mother-in-law before she passed away. At least my husband would help my kids give me a gift–I know single moms have it harder. .
Losing my Dad and nearly losing my mom this year gave me an attitude adjustment. Immensely grateful my mom is still with us, I am determined to relish this day. Read the rest of this entry
Apr12
Under the Mixed Media Big Top
Canvas Corp will soon be publishing a plethora of 4 x 4 canvases, uniquely created by each of their design team members. Since the canvases are supposed to reflect the designers in some way, I decided to create a vintage circus meets industrial canvas.
Apr4
A riot of spring colors–butterfly tag tutorial
The promise of spring is here in the Northland with budding lilac trees and shoots of green forcing their way through the still frozen earth. After months of bleak winter landscape, the vibrant colors and textures of spring are truly a rebirth. My three-dimensional butterfly tag is meant to reflect the wonderful assault of color that spring brings. Please visit the tutorial on how to make this fun take at the ColourArte Blog.
