Itty Bitty Circus Book Slide Show

I love this Itty Bitty Circus book and think it is my favorite. Thank you so much to everyone who participated in this last beautiful book and to Mary Ann for all of the smiles and friends that she brought our way. Enjoy!

Itty Bitty Circus Page

I can't believe that the final Itty Bitty book is now complete. I am honored that I was able to host this last of many and am proud to say that I contributed to every single Itty Bitty book that was made. I will really miss the group but made so many friends along the way including Mary Ann from Follow Your Bliss who was the creator of the group.

I made a few pages for the book but this page is my favorite. I will be posting a slide show of the entire book soon. I think it is my favorite. I used images from Cassi's Creations collage sheet titled Circus Animals Clown and after seeing this sheet is the reason that I decided to make this book have a circus theme.



Each image was cut out very carefully and I layered the image of the ball to give it more of a 3-d effect.



I also enhanced the colors using this product that I love called Smooch. I think I have almost every color now from the local shop that carries it.



I really love how these pages turned out and hope that everyone from the group who helped to create this book loves it as well. A huge thanks to Mary Ann for all of her hard work with the Follow Your Bliss group and also to Cassandra for once again inspiring me and my art! If you would like to be inspired, be sure to check out her Etsy shop Cassi's Creations!

Have a great day!

Soldered Charm for Love & Hope Charity Event Currently Taking Place

Here is a soldered Marie Antoinette charm that I made for the Love & Hope Charity Event that is currently taking place on eBay. I am so glad that I finally started to enjoy this wonderful craft.





There are only a couple of more days to bid on the two amazing altered books that were made and many other wonderful items have been listed as well. I hope that you will pay them a visit and maybe even bid on one of these items and help give to a fabulous cause. To see this item and more and to learn more about this event visit the link below.

Love & Hope Charity Event

Have a great weekend and good luck bidding!

Twilight Charm Swap

I couldn't control myself when it came to making charms for Cassandra's Twilight Charm Swap. Each participant was to make 30 charms, send them in to Cassandra, who will then send us each 30 charms back. Well, I made a few more then that, lol.

These are my first soldered charms. I finally learned how to do this. The Simply Soldered DVD is great and really helped a lot. And my husband totally hooked me up for my birthday this past Saturday. He got different tips and tools for me and this awesome "thing-a-ma-gig" that holds my items while I solder. It was a lot of fun and oddly, I love the smell of it. I can't wait to make even more soldered items.

Each soldered charm is double sided and I hope the other participants like them. There are five of us in all, so I made two for each gal.

As soon as I signed up for this swap I went bonkers seeking out beads, crystals and charms to use. Above are some beaded charms that I made. I like making little dangles to capture the light.

Above are the other charms that I made, one for each gal. Most of them have an extra crystal hanging from them. And for those of you that are fans of the Twilight series, I am sure that you know the meaning of each charm.

I packed each gal's charms up with tissue and vintage ledger pages from the 1800's. If only I had some from 1901, or better yet June 20, 1901. That would have been too cool (Edward's birthday)!

I hope everyone likes the charms that I made for them and a huge thanks to Cassandra for hosting this fun swap. I can't wait until I get my charms back and can make my bracelet. And I really can't wait to see New Moon.

Like I told all of the participants, hope these charms put a smile on your face and Edward on your neck!

Marie Antoinette Halloween Masquerade 4x4 Book Swap

Here is another beautiful 4x4 book from a swap that I hosted over at my beloved Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group. What amazing people I have met there. This book is fabulous and I so enjoy putting them together. The next one has a pastel Christmas theme. I know it will be amazing as well. Thank you so much to all of the amazing artists who made this book a success! Enjoy!

Marie 4x4 Page

Here is the page that I created for a swap I hosted over at the Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group. It was a 4x4 book swap and I will post a slide show of the finished book soon. I am really proud of my page because I used two images from the collage sheets at Cassi's Creations. The image of Marie is from the sheet Rosie Marie 7. Originally, she had a blue dress and flowers, but I have really started to enjoy working with altering digital images. I was able to alter her a bit and then I painted her to give her gold accents and a few brads and sequins to add some bling. I also added a mask to her face. I mean it IS a masquerade ball. The castle is one of my favorite images and is from the sheet Haunted, Halloween, Witch. I added Marie to this image and painted the castle windows as well. I really like how she turned out and I hope that the other artists that participated like her as well. Thanks, as always, to Cassandra for inspiring me! Be sure to check out her shop for all of your collage sheet needs!

Ink Pad - A Love Affair

I've had so much serious stuff going on in life, I decided that I needed to take a moment to do a silly post that had absolutely nothing to do with anything. For those of you who constantly use ink pads and can't have a paper edge left un-aged, then this is the post for you.

Oh but to have the perfect ink pad. The one that isn't too dark, isn't too light or orange, just the perfect shade of brown to help me add an aged look to all of my paper edges. And just like the love of cupid, as long as you are looking, you just don't find it. But then, right when you least expect it, you find it. Right there in a spot you have searched a million times before. There in the ink isle, the perfect shade of brown.

I remember how excited I was to find you. I couldn't wait to get you home and remove your cellophane wrapper to expose your perfect surface. And then, to apply you and see that perfect edge. A perfect brown on the very edge with a softer glow working it's way into the page. Ah, just what my artwork needed.

We've spent so many wonderful hours together. And those times I couldn't find you, my life just became a mess. The times I have thought, "I can't finish this piece of art without my favorite brown ink pad", frantically searching everywhere for you. Just feeling lost. None of those other brown pads would do. I must have you or no pad at all!

Ah, there it is! Wonderful day! I can do my art with my trusty ink pad.



But sadly, over time, you begin to ware. Your once perfectly smooth surface becomes rough and torn as I must bare down on you more to get that perfect aged effect. And the thoughts in the back of my head that our days together are coming closer to an end. What will I do?

And then it happens. You begin to fall apart and I know with each application, the end is near. There is only so much ink per pad, so many lovely applications to give that perfect aged effect.

Farewell my favorite brown ink pad. Our memories together will always be remembered and I will think of you as I try to achieve that perfect aged effect. Maybe cupid will shoot his arrow again one day, right when I least expect it, and I will find a equally talented ink pad in the ink isle. Thank you for all of your hard work and contributions to my art. You will be missed, oh trusted brown ink pad.