I started by using some Tea Dye Distress Ink all over the envelope, adding extra to the edges. I wanted it to look fairly grungy. Next I added some blue patterned scrap paper across the top. Then I added a vintage photo of some lovely ladies, who look to me like they’re having their photo taken. I added some alpha stickers on the photo to spell out “Smile, Marcy.” I used some Tim Holtz clear film down the right side to go with the photo theme and also added a flower near the top of the envelope. Then at the bottom I added my Say Cheese paper sentiment, along with a camera image and a button. Granted, the button doesn’t make much sense. But it’s blue and I just needed something with color down there.

I started with a plain wooden heart, which is about 3″ high. It’s the same wooden heart I used for my Love Altered Hearts project.  I added a piece of teal and cream colored patterned scrapbook paper that I liked. Then I added a vintage photo that I scalloped the edges on.

Next I found a piece of chipboard that had the word Cherish on it, in a metallic teal font. It matched perfectly so I glued that at the bottom of the vintage photo. Then I distressed the edges of the heart a bit with some brown distress ink to give the heart a wee bit of dimension. I also added a teal paper flower, with a rhinestone gem in the center.

To finish this off I added 3 swarovski crystals as my “charms” to the bottom of the heart, one in a teal color, and two in clear. I love the way those look on the heart. They almost give it a shabby chic feel, don’t you think? Oh, and at the last minute I decided to turn this into a magnet so I could hang it on the frig. Love it!

I started with a blank white canvas that is 5×7″ in size and created the background by first painting it with black acrylic. Then I took some metallic white fluid acrylic and dry-brushed that over the black to give it some texture.

Next I created the torn paper pieces that I would add to the background. They are made from watercolor paper, which I’ve stamped with a sheet music design in black ink, and then I distressed the edges with black Distress Ink too. I glued those in place on the canvas.

Then I added the Michael Jackson photo sticker, which shows the King of Pop in one of his classic concert outfits, which he wore while performing Billie Jean.  I also created the glitter glove from cardstock and glitter and added that. And I created Michael’s classic black fedora out of black scrapbook paper too, and added that over the stamped paper.

The final embellishments were glittery crown stickers, which I already had on hand, along with rhinestone gems, and sparkly white letters, which spell out King of Pop.

I have a wall dedicated to Michael in my home office (the other wall is dedicated to posters from my favorite movies and TV shows…and I have a little area dedicated to Elvis too). So I will add this piece there. I love how it turned out.

I started with a standard ATC-sized illustration board background. I then used some Tim Holz Distress Ink to add some hints of blue and rose over the entire background.  Next I added a rubber stamp art image of a woman’s lovely face in black ink. Then I added some black, textured fabric ribbon around the opposite corners. I added a butterfly and flower sticker to the bottom right corner, and a metal gear and brad to the upper left corner. And I finished it all off with distressed letters, spelling out b-e-a-u-t-y on pieces of paper.

This turned out better than I expected actually. Now I just need to make a few more!

First up is the envelope that all my little goodies will go in. I wanted to make several small gifts for each gal, so I decided to make this envelope to put all the items inside. It’s a brown Kraft envelope, stamped with script text, the word, Simplify,  and a primitive crow, and then I added a rusty star as an accent.

I made some bottle cap magnets too. I kept these very simple: just a punched circle of scrapbook paper that resembles ticking fabric, topped with a silver heart brad. If I had some UTEE, I would have used that on these too. But I didn’t have any, naturally. I still think they are cute though.

I also wanted to include some paper goodies that could actually be used. So first I made these paper flower gift tags. I used some cardstock that resembles a gingham fabric and punched out a floral shape. Then I added a white, embossed paper flower and a black brad to each tag. I topped them with some coordinating black ribbon. So they can use these as a gift tag for someone’s gift if they’d like to.

I also created some hangtags. I started with a plain hangtag, which I stamped with a faux wood texture. Then I added a butterfly stamp, and I also stamped the word, believe. I finished them off by distressing all the edges with Tim Holz Distress Ink, to give them that primitive grungy hangtag look.

I love how all these goodies turned out! I think I’m going to make one more little something for each envelope. Not sure what yet, but I’ll come up with something. I sure hope that the ladies at the Girlfriends Gathering will like these goodies as much as I enjoyed making them! Making things for others is really like giving a gift to yourself, because it just makes you feel good to do it!

The card is a piece of marbled card stock. I used some edging scissors to create a decorative edge on the right side of the card. Then I took some Distress Ink and used that edge to create a stenciled effect inside the card. I added a cardboard accent, topped with another piece of stenciled card stock, and topped it off with a pink paper flower with a glittery copper center. Then I embossed the word “Mom” with copper embossing powder.

For the inside of the card itself, I didn’t do much other than to stamp on Happy Mother’s Day. I wanted to keep it simple, so as not to take away from the Altered Bookmark in the middle.

The focal point of the bookmark is a transparency image of my sister and me, taken oh so long ago, when I was about 5-1/2. I adhered that to a piece of distressed muslin and the Mod Podge’d that to the bookmark, which I had already stamped with a text stamp and distressed with a tea-dye Distress Ink.  Then I stamped on a clock image in the bottom right, along with the words, “a moment in time.” I added an embossed hangtag diecut image, a postage stamp sticker, a pink paper flower and a dragonfly diecut image (because my mom loves dragonflies!). Finally, I added alpha stickers for NAIH, which means Never Apart in Heart–a family motto; and I added the pink ribbon to finish it off.

So Happy Mother’s Day, Mom…you know I love you more than words could ever say. You are truly the best mother I could ever have!

And Happy Mother’s Day to all of you, too. Give your mom a hug today!

]]> http://www.artchickstudio.com/2010/05/mothers-day-altered-bookmark/feed/ 0 http://www.artchickstudio.com/2010/04/friends-artist-trading-card/ http://www.artchickstudio.com/2010/04/friends-artist-trading-card/#comments Wed, 28 Apr 2010 16:34:08 +0000 ArtChick http://www.artchickstudio.com/?p=282 This is another of the 3 ATC’s I made for the swap at the ArtHavenCreations Yahoo Group I belong to.

For the background I used scrapbook paper, which I distressed just a bit using distress ink. For the image, I used a vintage photo that added to fabric by doing a gel medium transfer. It gave it a pink hue, which actually I didn’t realize it was going to do, but I went with it. It also made it sort of translucent, which I really liked. After I applied that with some Mod Podge, I added the black ribbon and ric rac. Then I punched a hole on either side of the top of the ATC and added metal brads. I finished it off with a paper flower embellishment, and the word F-R-I-E-N-D-S.

I began with the background, which is a piece of scrapbook paper. Then I found a nice vintage photo fairy that I had on hand. I liked how there were hearts in her fairy wings, so I incorporated hearts into the overall design, using a heart punch to create some paper hearts. I also added a gem to the front of her dress for some sparkle. I added another butterfly and also a rose for some more color and balance, and the D-R-E-A-M letters too. I finished it by using some distress ink on the edges for that lovely aged look.

I had such fun creating this one…used a big text rubber stamp for the background, and distressed it with Distress Ink, of course.  Got a great vintage fairy photo from Art Chix Studio , which was a great website to find, BTW. I was doing a search for my blog after creating it and found that site first. LOL They have some really great stuff for altered art and mixed media artists.

Anyhoots, I also added another butterfly image, to match the vintage fairy. I added some black ribbon to create some extra interest, and a red heart button to replace the heart I covered up with the fairy. I also added some heart brads, a sticker that reads, “kind,” and a black button.

I had so much fun with this that I think I am going to alter the entire deck of cards, making ATC’s out of every single card! That will be a nice little set. ) But for now I’m back to the studio, working on a Michael Jackson painting for my celebrities in blue series.

I covered the chipboard panel with a vintage-looking piece of scrapbook paper; it’s mostly black and white, but there are some hints of pink and light brown in it too, so it looks a bit distressed. Then I took some Tim Holz Distress Ink and darkened the edges of the chipboard, and the edges of the scrapbook paper.

I took my transfer image and tore off at each edge, to make all the edges look distressed too (you gotta love the distressed look!).  I Mod Podged a postage sticker to the scrapbook paper, followed by my vintage photo, and burnished them well to make sure they were well adhered to the paper.

Next it was time to embellish. I added a sticker of roses that has just a hint of sparkle to it, followed by a digital photo of a butterfly (I’ve come to realize that I must have a thing for butterflies, because I use them a lot!). And I added the “Cherish” sticker to the top left of the panel.

Then I took my craft punch and punched four holes in the panel; one on either side of the word, “Cherish,” and two rather close together on the opposite side of the panel. That is where my button would go. I added some pewter-finish round brads to the Cherish sticker, and I tied a black button onto the panel with some black ribbon, which I tied into a bow.

The finishing touch was adding another piece of the black ribbon horizontally across the bottom of the panel. Then I stamped out the letters for the word, “Friends” onto grungy cardstock. And I distressed them on each side with my Distress Ink, and adhered them to the ribbon and panel with glue dots.

Then, voila! It was finished. I had such fun making this! I think I have to dedicate this one to all of my best girlfriends.