Cherry Blossom Study in Acrylic

Spring is finally here on Cape Cod.  The magnolias and rhododendrons in the front yard are in full bloom.  They will make a great watercolor/acrylic wash study, especially the magnolias.

This is an acrylic wash I did a couple springs ago of the cherry blossoms.  A magnolia study would be a great way to celebrate spring 2013.

Will post when I have a new study.  This sketch and others will be featured as a little note card series on my Etsy shop.  Also working on some little paintings on wood of robins.  Spring inspires!

Enjoy!

Mini Butterfly Dress Altered Canvas

This latest project is an 8 x 10 altered canvas featuring a little dress made from wedding dress scraps.  The fabric was hand painted green then I added the scrollwork, roses and butterflies.

The dress is similar to the mini skull dress on my earlier post, but larger and the skirt is fuller.

I painted the canvas first with the stripes, rose hedge and scrollwork.

I gave this canvas to my mother as a present.  We all went to Borsari's Gallery and Tearoom and had a lovely lunch and dessert.

Check out their website.  They have a gorgeous portfolio of weddings and other events that they have hosted.  To see some of their recent weddings go to www.borsarigallerycapecod.com/Weddings/tabid/83

My mother proudly showed her gift off to everyone in the tearoom.  Got lots of compliments on it.  The framed canvas is offered as a custom order on my Etsy shop.

Upcoming post will be of preliminary sketches of the steampunk assemblage I will be working on.  It will feature a steampunk Victorian costume on a mini dress form, a steampunked steamtrunk (that will be the title), a peacock, butterflies, hot air balloons and a couple of cheetahs.

Cinco de Mayo Altered Art Poster

The store at the mall where I work during the week is throwing a Cinco de Mayo party to kick off our second quarter.  I was asked to make a poster for the occasion and a sign up sheet for the feast.

I used corrugated cardboard that backed an old frame.  The letters for Cinco and Mayo, the maracas and the little pinata.  The rest was painted onto the cardboard itself.  I made the senorita's dress from the wedding dress fabric and hand painted the design, sewed on the lace.  The flowers are made from tissue paper from my work.

The idea was to make the background kind of look like terra cotta.  The word balloon also has a distressed look to it.  Just cardboard with titanium white and yellow ochre mixed and brushed lightly on to show a "grain."

The poster and sign up sheet, as well as some embellishments, such as a mini Mexican bunting, extra maracas, pinatas and flowers will be offered as a set for party decor.

Everyone at work loved the poster, and my manager sent pics on her phone to the district and regional managers.  I also got a commission from one of my co-workers (a fan of mine on Etsy) for a good sized assemblage featuring some steampunk elements.  So very exciting!  Already am working on the preliminary sketches for this piece.

There will be a post showing pics of the actual fiesta on Cinco de Mayo.
So tune in!

Field Journal Page and Mural WIP

I am still a little behind on my projects.  Have many ongoing.  There is a new purse I am making out of the wedding dress fabric which will have a skull and steampunk flowers theme.  I have more components for my field diary art journal page and know what materials and images I need to finish it.

There will be some sketches of wildflowers layered underneath the painting of the bunny and little tag with sparrow.  I will probably add some ribbon roses and a moth or two.

Here is a mural that is still in progress.  It is of a Filipino countryside, complete with water buffalo and a cutaway coral reef scene.

This is in my parents' house in the dining room.  They love the brilliant colors.  It made them wistful for the home land, especially since the weather here has been far from tropical.  Still working on final layers and finishing touches.

I picked up some canvas board to make my mother's birthday altered canvas with the little dress.

Also planning an album for my father's 80th
birthday.

So many paintings, so little time.

Today's inspiration comes from Artfully Musing, one of my favorite scrapping blogs.
artfullymusing.blogspot.com.  Check out her richly layered designs.

TTFN.  Thanks for stopping!

Butterfly, Dragonfly and Steampunk Flowers tag set and book page

Just a quick note.  I have been trying to develop some ATC's and other marketing materials to hand out.  I came up with these simple designs with postage stamps, keys, insects and my steampunk flowers.

These are made from some of my old business cards (used as the backing), vintage book pages and ribbon.  I hand painted each image over the printing, added some hardware and hand painted ribbon and "lace".

I am also furiously trying to finish this skull dress in black so I can put in my Etsy shop.

Tomorrow is Daniel's dad's 90th birthday party!  So lot's happening.  Next week is my mother's 77th.  We will be having tea at Borsari's Tea Room and Gallery.  Check out their website www.borsarigallerycapecod.com.  It is a beautiful venue for lunch, showers, weddings and other events.  I love their garden.

For my mother's gift I plan to make an altered canvas featuring a 50's style mini dress, stripes, flowers, butterflies, dragonflies, etc.  Will post progress.

Thanks for stopping by!

Steampunk Horseshoe Crab and Other WIP's

I worked on a few different little projects today--a sunny but cold day.  My beau Daniel and his sons were cutting down trees and chipping them so I tried to stay out of the way.

At least the yard is looking quite lovely and clean.  Every one in the neighborhood commented on it and hovered around the activity, trying to see what was going on.

But here is the wood pile.

Here is a sampling of the projects I worked on while all this was going on.  There is a steampunk horseshoe crab, another skull dress canvas backdrop and the firescreen I mentioned in the last post.

Daniel made the firescreen for me and I am still working on the painting.  The two wings are in the picture above and will have a poem painted on it, along with the hemp rope and the pulley that is pictured in the corner.  There is the ship's wheel on one wing and there will be a compass with the seahorse on the other.

I am planning another seahorse, but steampunked out like the horseshoe crab.  The gears and watches are a lot of fun to paint.  I also sketched out a steampunk heart watch with wings on another canvas.  That will be pretty cool.

This little painting, 5 x 7, will be framed like the skull dress canvas and will be offered for sale on my Etsy shop.  I will also make prints available for this painting, as well as some of the others.

I also painted the little stands for my freestanding mini dresses.  I painted with stripes and flowers.

I will be posting these on my Etsy shop.  Look forward to your visiting me there.

My inspiration for today is luthien27 on deviantart who does these amazing steampunk altered books.  Absolutely stunning.  Check her out on http://luthien27.deviantart.com

Skull Dress and Steampunk Flowers Altered Canvas Framed

Here is the finished altered canvas with the little dress in a frame that I made.  The frame is 1/4" luan that I painted in turquoise and lightly distressed.

The back is covered with a page from a vintage copy of The Vicar of Wakefield, one of my favorites.

This piece is featured on my Etsy shop CrowFairyCreations.  Be sure to check it out.

I will offer a small handmade easel for displaying this piece.  My next project will be a similar canvas with a black dress.  Can't wait.

I also have to finish my mermaid fire screen--about 75% complete.  So stay tuned!

Skull Dress with Steampunk Flowers Step by Step

This was a fun project that I have just about completed.  It is an altered canvas of sorts that has 3D elements.  I am having a frame made for it, which will give it a more finished look.

I had wanted to make a mini skull dress inspired by a favorite dress in my closet.  I've worn it out to dinner and on Halloween.  It is a Hot Topic find and is a real conversation starter.

The project started out with a piece of satin from my old wedding dress.  The possible multitudes of projects that can be made from the flower girl and wedding dresses are overwhelming.  This could be a volume by itself.

The background of the fabric was painted ballet pink with scrollwork. I then added a few skulls and roses throughout.  This came out so cute (my daughter loved), I decided to paint more fabric with variations on this same pattern, maybe with butterflies.

This piece of fabric was pleated then assembled into a skirt, to which a tulle underskirt was added.  A piece of ribbon from an XOXO blouse (the shipping straps) was ruffled and attached to the bottom of the skirt.  I made a tiny bodice from paper and the wedding dress satin fabric.

The canvas, a 5" x 7", was painted with pink and overlaid with black stripes.  Some steampunk flowers and scrollwork in black, gold and metallic ink (salvaged from some almost dried out glitter pens) were painted over the stripes.

The bodice was painted with a skull and rose image.  I stitched on lace and beaded straps (made from a discarded necklace).  A sequin trim in pink was glued to the "waistline" to hide the seam.

I made a little wire hanger and tied with sheer pink ribbon.  Then the dress and hanger were glued to the canvas.  Here is the finished canvas on top of one of my art journal pages.  It is a good feeling that the materials used to make the dress were all recycled materials.

Next photo post will be of the canvas framed.  This piece, as well as some of the pieces featured on this blog, will be available for purchase at my new Etsy shop CrowFairyCreations.

Here is the link for my shop:  www.etsy.com/shop/CrowFairyCreations

Also check out one of my favorites on Etsy--kitsnbitsscraps.  This shop offers gorgeous altered tags, premade pages and premade albums, as well as scrapbook supplies.  www.etsy.com/shop/kitsnbitscraps