January Recap

The entire first month of 2015 is already over! I'd like to say I have a lot to show for it, but I have either eaten or mailed off most of the things I made, so I don't suppose I do! The new dishwasher is installed, and as usual with any new appliance or gadget it takes some getting used to.  I have still hand-washed the dishes a few times, just because there are only two of us and it seems like a waste to run that big ol' machine for a handful of dishes.  Not that I haven't done that as well, mind you... :)

We got the first of the two garden boxes reworked, rearranged, rebuilt, refilled and stocked with compostable goodies for the worms to nosh on. We were serenaded by the yappy little dogs next door during the entire procedure. They have since dug under the fence and into our yard where I noticed one marking things right and left as though he owned the place. : (

Yesterday I got the garden room all cleaned up again, although how a room we are never in gets so cluttered I haven't a clue!  I will be using one of the tables in there for a painting project next week.  I hope to finish off the living room in the next week or two.

Ornery has started working on some more bowls and plans to start on another couch table this weekend. We are whittling away at the massive to-do list and that feels really good!  Of course come warm weather, the outside projects will float to the top of the list and cry for attention, but meanwhile, the winter chores are slowly but surely being marked off.

We got a renter for 507 this week.  They paid their deposit last Friday, and have begun moving in already. I am praying they will be good renters who pay on time and maintain the house well. I am sure that is the hope of every landlord!  I can't even begin to express what a load off my mind this is!!

I have really been doing a lot of art lately... Here are a few of the artsy things I have completed this week. 

Art Journal pages for one of the traveling journals I worked in. The pages are using techniques I learned in Roben Marie Smith's Art Journal Conversion class. Lots of texture and layers--at least a lot for me!

More art journal pages for traveling journals. The little rectangles are modeling paste pressed through a stencil, then painted with shimmery ink and outlined with a black gel pen.

These next photos are pages I did in a friendship journal. We swap pages instead of sending back and forth the whole journal. The "book" is smallish, only 5"x7".

I started with a gelli-print background, then added a modeling paste flower pressed through a Donna Downey stencil.  After it was dry, I put the stencil back on the design and spritzed with SEI Tumble Tie-Dye ink. I added white (signo) gel pen dots to the tips of the petals. The words are with Rub-on letters from Heidi Swapp and Studio Calico? Can't remember for sure. Then I drizzled ink along the edge and forced it to run. There are other layers on there just from the gelliprinting process, and I added some bird washi-tape.

This is a piece of Yupo paper (made of nylon?) to which I applied alcohol ink, then dabbed it with a felt applicator to which I had added some blending fluid.  This left it with a marbled effect.  The bottle is mt washi tape, the flowers are K & Co. acetate embellishments.

This page started as a gelliprint. I added a tip-out page made of a piece of ledger paper. The rays on the left side are glass bead gel pressed through a Tim Holtz layering stencil.  Once it was dry, I added ink and distress paints to give it the mottled look. I wrote text between the lines with a gel pen. The rays on the other page were made with distress ink and embossing powder. Beneath the tip-out page I typed a Bible verse and glued it down. 

These are Artist Trading Cards (ATC's) I made using some of the pieces I had cut off the pages in the journal above. The two above were made for an Instagram swap that I completely forgot about.  That is the second time that has happened to me! Anyway, she sent me a beautiful ATC and I made these two in exchange. They seemed more simple to me, but perhaps it was just because I didn't have to do much to the backgrounds to make them into a completed project.

The next one was for a swap-bot swap for a "Use Your Supplies" swap featuring Glass Bead Gel.  I started with another piece of art journal page, then added circles of the bead gel pressed through a stencil.  Once it was dry, I added the feathers and hearts punched from more background papers.

Next is an ATC using UTEE (Ultra-thick Embossing Enamel) on punched gelli-prints. There is a row of glass bead gell marching down the left side next to some washi-tape. The UTEE is applied just like regular embossing powder, and you can use either a stamped image or (as I did here) simply cover the entire surface with embossing ink. Sprinkle the powder over the ink and heat to set. The flowers and leaves have several coats of UTEE on them. While they are still hot and melted from the previous heating, I just add more powder and heat again.  The process is messy, and I always have UTEE all over the place, but I like the look of the glossy plastic coating.

Next are some altered Rolodex cards.  The first one I had originally I made for a swap-bot swap which I then dropped out of, so I sent it to an IG swapper I do a regular monthly swap with. 

The theme for the second card was Green. It has all sorts of green goodies on it, from the gelliprint background to little punched circles of green leather. The punchinella circles are embossed onto the Monopoly game card. It was pretty hard to let this one go. : (

One of my favorite things to do is weave paper.  The 5"x7" piece below was made with 1/2" strips of four different prints. I added a tiny drop of glue to each layer so it would stay together nicely.  I was really happy with the way this turned out.

My week wouldn't be complete if I didn't make at least a couple of washi tape cards. I made these three last night.  Usually I use samples I have received in swaps, but this time I used my own tape stash except for the gray zig-zag on the bottom left card.

And last up is a set of four envelopes I created using gelliprints for a swap-bot swap.  The back of the prints showed a lot of text from the paper I was recycling, so I had to work to hide that.  I applied a few coats of gesso, then some spray inks using stencils.  If you look really hard you can still see some of the text bleed through, but you wouldn't notice it unless you looked. I was pleased with the way they turned out. Again, it was hard to send them for a swap!

The one thing I have neglected this month is my writing.  I have kept up with my correspondence, but I have hardly spent any time working on my book.  February is my month for that.  I hope to get a good amount written, and perhaps work in a few artsy days as well.