Dye it, paint it, distress it, strip it, sew it

Sounds like a lot of work but it actually took less time than a couple of minutes for the whole process. Even with the sewing machine. This textured wallpaper takes dye and paint really well and then when you spritz it with water, sand it, scrape it and emboss it, and it's still pliable and easy to use. On these pieces this is just what I did. Once I had the pieces done I cut them with a paper cutter into strips and wove them all together. At this point you can trim the pieces into the size that you want for your card, background or collage. I used a larger fleur d'lis for the accent on a card that I created for my friend Katie. The last card was finished with an interesting photo with a mica overlay.

DON'T BUY WHIRLPOOL APPLIANCES

I am NOT going to go into a lengthy "schpeel" here about this that and the other thing, just
DON'T BUY WHIRLPOOL APPLIANCES.
They break right at the time of warranty and then they don't stand behind it then when it breaks again in a couple of months, they don't stand behind that.
That's all.

YES, I PAINT, TOO.

My first love in my life, that started at a very young age was oil painting and I continued on for many many years until I found out about rubber stamping, altered art, collage and assemblage.
So, recently over the holidays I painted a piece of my daughter and her boyfriend Erik. They live in Bozeman, Montana where it is a lot colder than it is here in North Carolina. They have only seen these pictures of their Christmas present but will soon see the "real thing" once it is sent out to them. The top photo of the painting is one that I took while it was sitting in the back of my Matrix, ready to be delivered to them in Ohio for the holidays.
The other photo is one that I took of my work
hanging on one of the walls in my house. Since I wasn't able
to make the trip to Ohio for Christmas I sent these pictures to her
so she could see her present... via the world wide web.

I first did a painting like this about 10 years ago after attending
the Teesha Moore Art Asylum in Snoqualmie, Washington. Paul and I spent a weekend there learning all sorts of new techniques taught by Tracy and Teesha. It was an awesome weekend for both of us and one of the things that I learned was do this type of painting. I did a painting of myself at that time and a few years later did one of my daughter, her husband and their first son, Andrew.
I only use one color paint to achieve this affect, burnt umber by Golden. I suppose other paints would work but I prefer Golden, especially since Patti Brady, the Golden Art expert, was here to teach this past year. We are very excited to have a verbal agreement with her for another appearance here in 2008. You won't want to miss her next workshop and you won't want to miss her new book that showcases her techniques using Golden Paints. Due out in Fall '08/

I'm Looking Back

2007 was the year of "wholey paper & rust". Oh yes, just sum it up in those words and it's all over the place. It took over our lives. We were absorbed in all things wholey .
We
painted it
stitched it
distressed it
tore it
rusted it
torched it
stamped it
dyed it
glued it
transfered onto it
printed it
and.... more, to come.