Ribbon Rose and butterfly altered tag tutorial

Here are two new altered clothing tags featuring ribbon roses and a hand painted butterfly.

Both the butterfly and hummingbird were painted acrylic on  recycled watercolor paper.  The flowers on the hummingbird tag are made from wedding dress material.  The tassel was made using a mismated earring.

The beaded trim was made from old bracelets.  The leaves on the sheer ribbon roses were hand painted directly onto the tag.

To make the ribbon roses you need a 6" to 12" length of either the sheer ribbon or lightweight fabric cut into a 3/4" strip.  You can use a narrower ribbon to make a smaller rose.

Make a running stitch along one edge of the ribbon.

Gather the ribbon tight along the thread until your ribbon forms a rose.  Tie the end securely, leaving at least one end of the threading long enough to string the beads for the center of the flower.

Take your thread up through the center of the flower and string four or five beads.  Draw the thread back through the center of the flower again and secure at the back with a few stitches.  And there you have your flower.  Simple!

More altered clothing tag art

Here are more samples of some altered tags using recycled clothing labels, jeans tags, etc.

The little camera was fun to make.  It is made from a broken leather shoe strap, old belt material and bits of hardware.  The "camera strap" is an old bracelet.

These three tags have ribbon from jeans tags.  The camera and cameo tags have fringe made from clothing labels.  I made the beaded fringes.  The roses were made from recycled ribbon and discarded wedding dress material.

Here is another altered tag using wedding dress material.

This is a Crow Fairy image.  The title is "We have 2nite, Who needs 2moro?"  The skirt is made from strips of wedding dress tulle, satin, lace and sheer material dipped in black acrylic paint.  There is also silver ribbon from a jeans tag, black beads that were strung together, and a crow feather or two.  The bodice is leather from an old wallet, with beaded straps and rhinestone button "corsage."

The wings were made from old belt material.  The silver scrollwork was printed on the original tag.  I just added the motto in silver ink.

There will be other mini dresses made from recycled wedding dress material on my next post.  They were inspired by this fabulous blog www.kellbellestudio.blogspot.com  Take a look at her miniature dresses.  Just gorgeous.

More art journal pages and altered tags

Seed packet art journal page

This is one of the pages in my handmade art journal.  It's so much fun making my own backgrounds that are inspired by things around me.

The pages in the book are hand made paper, a little difficult to paint on with acrylics, which was the medium used.  An artist's medium or gel works great for better flow of the paint.

The flower garden was inspired by a seed packet photo.  The colors really caught my eye.  The bg scroll and pattern was modified from a pashmina that my mother bought at the Turkish market when she was there a few years ago.  I love the vibrancy of its woven pattern.

The altered tag was an old jeans tag.  Recycled clothing labels are great material because they often are made from quality chipboard or fabrics and have awesome finishes, graphics, cording--and they are free!  I have a whole treasure trove of them that I make my altered tags from.  I will be posting more samples of this type of altered art.

I made the ribbon roses from sheer ribbon, glass beads and the green woven ribbon hanging on the corner of the journal.

I painted the butterfly on watercolor paper, assembled with hot glue and attached a body made from beads and wire, then added a little glitter.  I then strung the beads for the trim at the bottom, then glued a few ferns behind the butterfly.

(My next blog will include a brief tutorial on the butterfly and the roses.  Check it out.)

Still trying to decide on a final layout and other materials for this journal page, but that is the fun of art journals.  It is based on whatever you can imagine and whatever makes you smile.

Here is a work in progress, a kind of rough draft, that will be part of an art journal page, also will become a larger composition.

This girl has a long cranberry skirt with waterfall flounces that will be fashioned from actual grosgrain ribbon.  The chandelier will have rhinestones.   Behind her are cherry blossom branches. Stay tuned for completed work.

My inspiration for today comes from www.hogret@deviantart.com  Check out the altered books and digital collages.  Amazing!

Art journals

I spent the morning taking pictures of my studio and my latest work.  Here's a shot of some of my art journals and altered books.  Also components of a butterfly garland I have hanging above my desk.

The bunny, monarch and tag painted with a chipping sparrow will be part of an altered book project--a field/nature journal.

I am working on a lot of altered tags and am planning some assemblages.  I will be posting photos and sketches of planned work.

My main inspiration right now is bugatha1@deviantart.com.   Check out her assemblages.  Probably the best artist in this genre currently.

My latest ambitious project is a huge "mermaid mobile"  which will include a model shipwreck, and actual ships wheel and mermaids, sea life, and found objects swirling around underneath.

Also have to work and my avatar Crow Fairy.  She'll be at the top of this blog when completed.

Here is a closeup of the butterfly bunting completed. So easy to make.  I painted each of the butterflies but you can use printable ones instead obviously.  I just like making my own whenever possible.  Will have tutorials in future.

In the background are some illustrations from an old worn out copy of The Vicar of Wakefield that will be used in some altered book projects.

Stay tuned for more projects.

The new studio and gallery

Here is a picture of my studio, which was converted from a closet.
It is a work in progress, so I will be posting more pics.  

The shelving and desk were made using materials leftover from jobs.

I have been very inspired by Jaime's awesome craft room posted on her blog raisinguprubies.blogspot.com. Check it out.

I also made the bulletin boards on the back wall.  So easy to make.  I will be including some simple how to's in the future for a few of my craft projects, which are made using mostly recycled and reclaimed materials, found objects and little trims and embellishments I make and hand paint.

In the meantime I have been cranking out some work.  I will be posting some of my  works in progress.  As you can see, I have a studio cat who also enjoys creating (or getting in the way.)

There will also be shots of my online gallery.  So stay tuned!