Hey- it’s Heather here!  Most of you don’t know this, but besides my roles as mom, office administrator, artist, friend, etc etc…I am also a makeup artist!  While makeup artistry used to be my full-time profession, I am currently  focusing on freelance work for weddings, photo shoots and special events.

I was recently interviewed for a really fabulous wedding site, True Blind Faith.  Owner, Susan Gruenling, is a girl after our own vintage-loving  hearts– a great believer in recycling and upcycling, she creates stunning original bridal headpieces using pieces of vintage jewelry as the centerpiece.  Here are a couple of my favorites:

Aren’t they gorgeous?  I am a sucker for anything sparkly!

Please stop by True Blind Faith to see all the vintage loveliness!  Her blog is exceptional, and I’m not just saying that because I am a regular contributor!  Stay tuned for upcoming Gauche Alchemy features there as well.

Cloth Paper Scissors is one of my all-time favorite mags.  I think I even might enjoy it more than (hush!) Somerset.  Maybe.  That’s a hard call.

The Nov/Dec copy landed in my mailbox last week – sometimes I avoid opening it because my brain goes crazy with a million ideas and longings, and frankly, it can make me anxious.  I know, I’m such a weirdo.  I have to wait for the right mood and energy level to start perusing.

There is a great article in this issue by Sandy Steen Bartholomew about a form of meditation called “Zentangles.” Of course you don’t need to use this particular system, just as you don’t need to commit to a particular type of yoga.  The idea of this art/meditation form  appeals to me on so many levels.

I am an artist of many fears.  I am intimidated by so much – painting, doodling, printing, lettering.  I know, you must be thinking I’m a total wuss by now.  Here I am working on inspiring others and pulling things together in a  way that makes it easy for people to be creative, and yet I question so much of my own creativity.  I’ve had this awful habit my entire life of feeling like I have to research and “know” how to do something before I try it.  Ridiculous, I know.  (Oh, you too?)

I like the idea of meditation but have found that so far, my best results come in some form of action: cleaning the kitchen, driving a well-known route, yoga… stuff like that – and of course, spending time in my studio a.k.a. messy crafting room that is a source of shame to my hubby (it’s in the front of the house where everyone can see the madness).

I’m starting to make connections and embrace my ADD-like qualities lately, so I consider meditation to be anything that stops the relentless disorganized, stream-of-consciousness thoughts – and actions.  I’m so easy distracted.

But I digress (see? I’m easily distracted).

Zentangles is basically a form of purposeful doodling.  (Remember I said I was afraid of doodling?  Sure, it’s fine for meetings, but nothing I’d necessarily want to use in my artwork and definitely not any form of meditation.)  Can I doodle and meditate at the same time?  And there’s a possibility I’ll like the outcome when I’m finished?  Wow.

For those of you who love art journaling (me!), you need to know that letters themselves are a great starting point for a Zentangle.  For you scrapbookers, cut out some photo images and use THOSE as your starting point.  Or of course, a combination of the two.  How cool is this?

My challenge to you: give this Zentangle thing a go.  Be sure to share your results on the Flickr group (oh yeah!).  I’m going to try it for sure… maybe even tonight.  I’m not feeling well tonight and therefore only a few volts running through ye olde gray matter.  Perfect time to try it out.  Now, where did I leave my notebook?

hello gauche alchemists!

thought I’d say hi and let you know how freakin’ excited I am to be contributing to this awesome group of mixed media enthusiasts! I’ve been such a fan of Gauche Alchemy’s kits for awhile (can i get a woot woot for the ACME kits?!) and am so looking forward to playing with them with you all!

Um, not much to say about myself – I live in Atlanta, have two canine fur-babies, do graphic design by day and play with paint and glue and paper at night mostly in art journal form.

But, you know what REALLY excites me? When i discover new uses for what others think may be trash! And moreover when that discovery turns into something cool looking i get goosebumpies!

I use my kitchen table as my art studio. And to protect it I’ve used different things like trash bags, paper, cardboard box and most recently wax paper. Duh! I’ve used it for awhile between pages to keep them from sticking but finally connected the dots to use it underneath the painty and gluey things I make.

One piece was starting to get super painty so i was going to toss it and start fresh. I know! Sacrelig… I threw it down on something i was working on and BAM – not only could I see through it, but it looked so cool! Like kinda obscured, kinda painty without the stress of actually painting and messing up (ya, that never happens to me *eye roll*) – I think I literally squealed!

I used it on an art journal page – put some gel medium between the wax paper and journal page so it dried clear – expect to see wax paper used a whole lot more in the near future!!!!!

Happy Painting!
xoxo-lara

I’ve always been kind of intimidated of using canvas boards. They always looked so professional and serious and I felt unworthy of them.

I finally faced my fear and ventured to alter my first canvas board. And totally amazed myself at the result!

Since I was so scared of altering a canvas board, I’d collage on every possible surface I could find — tin cans, manila folders, chipboard, playing cards, etc.

What made me brave now was the feeling that I’d “practiced” for this, that I had altered every possible surface I could find that there was no other surface I hadn’t worked on but canvas.

Yep, art is about being brave and taking the plunge. But it definitely helps if you practiced a lot first.

When I saw the final product of this, what I had made with my own hands, I was shocked and in awe. I keep looking at it, thinking maybe I copied it somewhere instead of using my own design.

I looked at the pieces and although I’ve seen some of the elements in other people’s work, this was my own, my own likes, my favorite colors.

And definitely, how much original can it be when I know how unique GA Kits are? (I used the Pink Parts Color Kit, Foreign Text Papers plus some odds and ends from old kits for this.)

It’s kinda scary looking at something you made and just know that the art was there all along, waiting for you to come play and reveal it.

So, don’t be afraid. Take the plunge. And you never know when you’ll be able to amaze yourself!

In a sense, I really love working full-time at my dayjob, but there are two downsides.  The first is that I don’t get nearly as much time with you all as I’d like.  The second is that I’ve been running my REAR off for the past few weeks.  Holy Cannoli, Batman!  Has it ever been busy!  Makes the day pass quickly, tell ya what.  They are starting to blur into each other.

Here I am, halfway through the afternoon, finally having some lunch.  And by golly, I need a “fun” break.  I’d say it’s the perfect time to share a little story with you.

Okay, so I had this weird serendipitous thing happen a week or so ago. I know I’ve already profiled this book, but take another look:

This book is great – it has a lot of good tips for artful, edgy designs. Actually, I believe I got this book from Sarah Fishburne in a drawing on her blog – along with about a metric ton of other cool stuff. (Talk about a sweetie – you MUST go check out her artwork if you aren’t familiar with her already!)

Anyway, I was at the post office before going to work one morning – which is often a routine stop on my way to work (gotta mail out packages to all you hungry people). There were three people in the lobby – one of them was me. The counters usually open up at 8:30, but they changed it, for reasons unknown to 9:00. Which might normally have aggravated me, but since they put in a brand-spankin’ new APS (automatic postal service machine), I wasn’t complaining. I love those machines – they save a ton of time.

But I digress. I struck up an unlikely conversation with one of the ladies there. We talked about e-mail and how the post is so passe. I told her I end up at the post office a lot, though, because I mail packages for my business. What business? Oh, this paper arts/mixed media supply business I have online. Really? Yeah, here’s my card! Oh, my daughter is really into scrapbooking! I know, I know! So many people are into scrapbooking! It’s so much fun! Yeah, and my daughter even wrote a couple of books and she goes all over the place doing workshops! I mean, she’s REALLY into scrapbooking!

Uhhhhhhhhh… who’s your daughter?

Tena Sprenger!

NO SH*T!?

Ok, I admit – I didn’t really say that. What I said was:

No kidding! I know of her! Wow… what a coincidence.

So, Darlene and I chatted a bit about her daughter and her family and her interest in antique dolls. Quite a fun and interesting lady. I sloppily wrote my name on our lovely Gauche Alchemy card, which Darlene happily announced she would pass on to her daughter. *grin* Kind of made my day. I love coincidences. Kind of like surprises without the pretty paper.

Anyway, I hopped on over to Tena’s blog and took a look around. Left a comment for her. Let her know I’m writing evil crap about her on our blog. >:)

Here’s another book by Tena and Carol Wingert – looks like another winner. Anyone have this book? What do you think?

]]> http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/2009/11/04/i-need-something-fun/feed/ 5 amywing artful memories lifelines http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/take-time-out-to-play/ http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/2009/11/03/take-time-out-to-play/#comments Tue, 03 Nov 2009 19:01:19 +0000 ninapatena http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/?p=2328 ]]>

… which is exactly what I did today. It was a stormy, windy day. The power went off.

I guess when technology is shut down and you have no other choice but to do something, that’s the perfect time to play.

I dug out this new children’s watercolor set I got the other day on a whim. I then dug out my alphabet stamps and some postal stamps and went ahead and played.

If you’ve ever read Julia Cameron’s “The Artist’s Way” (I highly recommend it!), you’ll know what it means to fill up the artist’s well. The concept is that we, as artists, are like wells. And we need to fill ourselves up with inspiration, take ourselves out on artist dates, get out and do something that refreshes us. Otherwise, we dry up, our mojo feels like it’s missing, and we beat ourselves up but can’t make anything.

So, take time to fill your artist’s well. And take time out to play.

In celebration of one of the gauchest holidays I can think of, we’d just like to greet you all a gauche-filled, happy, happening Halloween!

I made this little collage shadowbox for the occasion. I was serious about not throwing away the pizza box that your orders from Gauche Alchemy comes packaged in. I had to use tons of cardboard on this project and even ran out of foam tape. I found that cardboard stacked on top of each other is also a great substitute for foam tape. Just adhere to each other with double-sided tape.

Those little windows show little cut-outs from the Nevermore Collage Sheet. The patterned paper on the cardboard (painted black) comes from an old kit. The buttons, sequins, beads and bling all come from the Green Color Kit.

Special thanks to my husband AR (whom I bullied to paint the tombstones for me. *grin*).

I painted toothpicks black and then realized that I could insert them in the holes at the side of the corrugated cardboard. I ended up with a really cool jail cell!

Here’s hoping you and your families are enjoying the spookiness and fun of the season!

*hugs*

P.S. Special thanks to the wonderful Angie of Scrapscene and her special mention of GA on this post HERE.

Okay, I confess. I’m a certified addict. Please don’t hate me. I just can’t stop my obsession.

If I had ALL the TV series in the world to choose from, and yep that includes my favorites “Gilmore Girls” and Big Bang Theory”, I’d still pick “Gossip Girl”.

I can’t help it — the gorgeous people, the fashion, the music, the intricate plots — I’m just obsessed!

And maybe I’m just living a little vicariously through them and wishing my adolescence was just as exciting. *grin*

Anyway, what got me to admit my shameful addiction is the gorgeous Lush Kit and everything it holds. With the pink cardstock, the cocktail umbrellas, cool bling and, yup, those lovely fabric-covered buttons, I couldn’t think of anything else that balanced alcohol and fashion in one great package!

P.S. I’m serious about not throwing away the pizza box your orders from Gauche Alchemy come in. See what fun you can do with the cardboard?

Here’s to guilty pleasures!

*hugs*

Scraps! I bet you thought I was going to be posting about something scandalous. *grin* Sadly, no.

I’d like to thank everyone for the well-wishes and the swell of support. The last six months has kicked me around pretty hard, but I’m made of stern stuff and plan to bounce back as quick as I can.

Creating art is terrific therapy and is a great way to channel nervous energy or keep your hands busy when you are waiting for the meds to work, the doc to call or, as it seems lately, the other shoe to drop.

I don’t know if you are at all like me, but sometimes I wreck everything I touch. Loss of mojo, jangled nerves, too much stress – whatever the cause, at times I’m a one woman demolition crew. Then I get nervous about trashing my pretty craft  supplies so I do nothing. Yes, the beautiful pages of ephemera are safe in their plastic bags; but are they happy? I think not.

In times like these, I reach for my scraps. Specifically the bits too small to do much with. They are already destined for the trash bin so fooling about a bit isn’t much of a risk. After making the Halloween Hat centerpiece for the newsletter (you get the newsletter, right? If not, sign up PDQ – you’re missing out!) I had several inch-sized pieces of foreign book text. I keep a zip loc bag of itty-bitty card stock so I grabbed it and set about making christmas tags. We’ll all be needing tons of these soon enough so why not?

For these tags I stamped christmas images on my book bits and colored them in with markers. I added a little glitter on some and sequins from the Scarlet Fever and Banana Hammock mixed media color kits. Voila. Done. And I didn’t hurt a thing

With a little confidence built from my lack of destruction I attempted a card with my last, tiniest pieces. A fall card this time as frankly, I’m really not ready for Christmas yet:

If you are wondering how I made that cute abstract tree, check out this awesome video:

You can read more at A Little Hut.

Thanks again everyone for all the love. I really appreciate it.

]]> http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/your-tiny-bits/feed/ 6 perkynihilist Trees tag Snowman tag X-Mas Tree Tag http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/exciting-news/ http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/2009/10/28/exciting-news/#comments Wed, 28 Oct 2009 13:31:04 +0000 Amy Wing http://gauchealchemy.wordpress.com/?p=2318 ]]>

If I sounded a little down and unsure in my last post, I hope you will forgive me. I hope I didn’t scare anyone enough to make you think we might close our doors. Naaaaahhhh… perish the thought!

We have not one, but TWO new Team Captains to present. They should both be familiar if you’ve been hanging around long.

The first is our good buddy Julie Kirk. Julie’s been with us since the very beginning. She applied for our very first guest design team call, and … well… we didn’t pick her. Why? I think we had grander plans in mind for her. We are such HUGE fans of her work that we couldn’t imagine having her for any old designer stint. As soon as our Acme kits were introduced, we named her our Acme designer. It’s evolved from there – now she creates wonderful stuff with just about anything we send her.

Julie will be stepping up from Design Team member to Design Team Captain as Nicole recuperates. We hope to hear a lot from Nicole as she starts feeling better, but this takes the pressure off. Get better, Nicole! We love you!

Our second new Design Team Captain is Lara Wineman! We love Lara. We’ve only done feature after feature of her work. On our blog. In our newsletter. We have a big crush on her. She responded somewhat like this when we asked her to join our team:

Just as any high-school requited crush, we are crap-our-pants excited to have her join us! She totally rocks the art journal… and whatever else she might want to do. No fencing her in.

I am terrifically buzzed just thinking about all the cool stuff you’ll see here in short order. Stick close – you won’t want to miss a thing!

There is one more bit of news that I share with tears and mourning.  Yasu will be leaving for Japan in less than a week.  *boo hoo*  I know it’s not a big deal for you guys – you didn’t get to hang out with her on a regular basis anyway.  But I did.  She will be sorely missed in my little corner of the world.  Of course, we expect to see each other from time to time… and she’s carrying Gauche Alchemy home with her to satisfy all our special Japanese fans.  You Japanese ladies have a load of great surprises waiting: workshops, kits… Yasu has some good stuff planned… exclusive stuff just for you!  (Don’t you wish you were Japanese now?  If you visit, we will talk her into letting you into her sold-out workshops, okay?)

We’ve convinced her to continue blogging in English as well as Japanese so we can follow along.  We love you, Yasu!  You are a talent and personality that will never be duplicated.

There’s a ton of stuff on my mind lately and I couldn’t sleep the other night just worrying, worrying and worrying.

Would you believe I was actually crying while I made this layout. Talk about catharsis!

Anyway I just wanted to ask for prayers for my son and my co-DT Captain Nicole, who are both going through health problems right now.

Sometimes, it just feels that we’re so helpless to do anything and I guess the only thing we can do is just gather our courage and lift up the rest that we can’t handle.

Here’s a close-up of the layout.

There’s just so many fun stuff in the Gauche Alchemy Store. I used cardstock and sequin waste from the Lush Kit.  I used wallpaper and elements from the Green Color Kit. Other elements from old kits are the vintage music paper, “w” sticker and the number 1 metal button.

And don’t throw away the gorgeous pizza box that your order from Gauche Alchemy arrives in! I recycled the cardboard and am finding tons of use for it.

Hope you and your families are doing well.

*hugs and blessings*

I hope that our somewhat slowed activity over here doesn’t seem as obvious to you guys as it does to me. (I’m A-1 overdriven, head-on worrier, so my perception is a bit off.)

I want to fill you all in on the details because you feel like our family, and I want you to know what goes on behind the scenes sometimes.

Gauche Alchemy has been in business for a little over a year. Whoo hoo! An excellent landmark! Considering where we were a year ago, I am very proud and very gratified to have so many wonderful and creative friends and readers.

Here’s a statistic that may be known only by others who’ve started a business: on average, it takes 3 years to turn a profit. Let’s just say we’re not there yet. i.e., we still have day jobs!

Heather, our lovely Heather, runs an office full of realtors. She’s the top dog of all things administrative in that place… it keeps her hoppin’. Then there’s her four-year-old high-energy, unashamedly cutie patootie daughter. When they say youth is wasted on the young? That’s true. Wouldn’t it be great if the kids were tired and we had boundless energy? That sounds so awesome to me. Alas… reality interferes with such ambition.

Me, I’m a physician assistant during the day. I have a pretty interesting and quite gratifying job. I work in the state institution for the seriously mentally ill – and many times I’ve thought there’s no better to place to feel as though you can make a difference. My patients tend to be the sickest people in our state. I’ll put it this way: there’s rarely a dull moment. If there is, it’s only because I’m not where the action is. I love working with these folks – it reminds me daily of two important thoughts. One, it helps me put my own problems into perspective. Two, it reaffirms the value of a human being, regardless of ability to “contribute” to society.

Did I mention I’m mom to a toddler with fiery red hair (and a spirit to match)? And then there’s my beautiful stepdaughter, who just turned 11. The older is no trouble at all. The younger is no trouble at all, but she’s the reason I sleep so soundly at night.

During the emergence of GA, I’ve been working part-time. I’ve worked my fanny off the rest of the time (more than the other “half” of the day, I can assure you) to mold GA into some semblance of the vision Heather and I have for it. However, I’m sure you can guess what the part-time “day job” has done to my personal bottom line. Not pretty. I jumped at the chance to cover a colleague’s 6-week vacation and hopefully will be full-time again soon. I have mixed feelings about that. I mean, money coming in is great. But not having the time I want to further mold and create GA drives me bonkers.

I have to say that the addition of our Team Captains, Nina and Nicole, has brought some much needed relief. Aren’t they so awesome!? Great ideas, great posts, thoughtful creativity – and total sweethearts! What great ladies they are – definitely an important part of the Gauche Alchemy family.

What’s staggering to me is how much these two wonderful women contribute when they both have SO much on their plates. Nicole, as you may know, suffers a chronic pain condition – and she homeschools her kids. Three of them. And she’s a vegan cook. I can’t even keep my kitchen clean. Nina also homeschools her son… who has had an extended bout of pneumonia this year… and she moved her family from Philippeans to Taiwan and back again… and when she returned, there were force-of-nature floods. Wow. And she still finds time to not only CREATE but to POST about it!

The point of this little peek into our lives is to bring you some sad news. Nicole has had a sudden worsening of her condition and needs to have fairly immediate spinal surgery. Those of you who pray, do. Those of you who do not pray, send all sorts of mental good wishes and vibes.

Here is a brief announcement from Nicole’s blog:

My back is bad. I need fairly urgent surgery to un-bad it. The injection plan was a bust and now I need major spinal surgery to avoid permanent damage and disability. That’s about as far as I feel like going on about it right now. But as I wade into the thick of things, I’ll probably post more. Pretty much every fear I have has been realized. I nearly threw up when they said, ” spilling spinal fluid” and let me tell you, when a discectomy sounds like a good starting spot, things are really in the toilet.

What this means for the rest of us: we will likely not be seeing as much of Nicole as we’ve been privileged to see so far. Hopefully she will pop in when she can – we always love her contributions – but we can’t hold our breaths. She is NOT stepping down as Team Captain (we won’t let her). Once she’s feeling a bit more ship-shape, I imagine she’ll be back with a vengeance. *fingers crossed*

If any of you are interested in guest posting, please feel free to ask! If any of you are enthusiastic about Gauche Alchemy but didn’t have the nerve to ask us about upcoming DT calls… let us know. If there’s something you do particularly well that you believe is of benefit to Gauche Alchemy, we would love to hear about it!

We’re still working on a plan to keep GA smooth, consistent, and raunchily fun while we go about living our lives (as if we have a choice?). We love to hear your ideas, see your work, and chat back and forth! Leave those comments! Post those pieces on the Flickr group! Let us know you love us, and we just may offer you a small piece of our pie (cherry pie, of course… oh my… that was kind of horrible).

There will certainly be more changes to announce… and believe it or not, we have some fabulous new kits waiting in the wings… stay tuned, participate, and share your stories with us.

Today we’re going to be talking about Ofrendas. An ofrenda is an alter, a place to put all your items out on display; it is ideally placed in the heart of your home so your lost loved ones can be remembered throughout the day.

Ofrendas can be made however you want, but traditionally they are constructed in three levels to represent the three stages of death: the death of the body, burial and being forgotten. I made ours on a side table and used a plastic storage box for the second level and two Settlers of Catan boxes for the top.

Tip: This doesn’t have to be expensive or complicated. A Day of the Dead alter is easily assembled using things you have, like photos, gloves, cigarette cases etc. of lost loved ones arranged on an existing table top.

Some things to consider adding to your ofrenda:

• Decorations (like flowers and skulls)
• Photos – Crafty Chica glittered clothespins so she could make a garland of photos for her ofrenda
• Candles/Incense
• Personal Possessions
• Wash Basin and Towel (so the souls can freshen up after their journey home)
• Food and Drink – there is a lot of history with what you provide, Pan de Muertos is a sweet decorative bread that is often present as are fruits and vegetables to represent the elements of the earth. Of course, sugar skulls are are part of the food offered. Our family will be making sugar skull cookies but it is easy to get the molds to make your own sugar skulls online.

I made decorative sugar skulls from glittered styrofoam skulls I found at the dollar store. After seeing the amazing job Shannon Lucier did making hers I gave it a try. My advice is to use glitter glue. I only had tacky glue and powdered glitter on hand and it was very difficult to do anything detailed. These were embellished with items from my mixed-media color kits.

Since assembling our ofrenda, my three boys have talked a lot about Great Grandma and Great Grandpa and asked to hear their stories. Until I made this, I’m not sure my kids even thought about their ancestors. Both my husband and I feel more connected to our pasts. It really is like our loved ones are less forgotten because we did this. Thanks for embarking on my first Day of the Dead experience with me. It has been a lot of fun.

If you are interested in seeing more art and crafts associated with this wonderful tradition, here are some links to explore:

The work of Sylvia Ji

Day of the Dead Crafts

Artist Jose Guadalupe Posada

Alexander Henry Fabrics

Sisterhood is kind of a sore subject with me. I’ve had a lot of very traumatic experiences with girl friends whom I thought I could trust, people who stabbed me at the back or even people in my family who turned out to not be worth it.

Through the years, I’ve learned to let go, to forgive, to move on and to hold dear those girl friends who really are worth it.

It’s no secret that the Gauche Alchemy girls are my soul sisters as friends, as moms and as artists.

Anyway, I thought I’d write down my thoughts on Sisterhood on a visual journaling page.

I started this page by tracing Maya Road chipboard (women) people on the page, to make it look like paper dolls.

Then I went to town with the Green Color Kit.

May we always learn to let go of those who tear us down, embrace those who build us up, and learn to love and forgive as we go along the way.

*hugs*

I just got so excited with the Lush Kit that I had to make something with it right away. Oh and the gorgeous dressmaker’s pattern paper that it came in didn’t hurt. *wink*

I also threw in some Ouchless Cardboard in there and some vintage bits from old kits. The buttons and little umbrella are all from the Lush Kit.

My inspiration for this piece was my aunt, who’s like a second Mom to me. She bought me frilly girly dresses when I was small and then helped develop my fashion sense by subscribing me to Seventeen Magazine.

Thank goodness I didn’t have the body of a model nor the budget to splurge on fashion couture, I channeled all my fashion savvy into art instead. *wink*

Quick tip: To get the silhouette, I cut up the face of a model from a brochure and used it as a stencil to ink the edges. It’s so much fun to play with silhouettes since you can pretty much put in anything in there — from visual journaling to stamping to whatever-takes-your-fancy.

**********************************************

Reader Tip:

Joyce: “I just found a way to expose the ridges in cardboard!! Stick the point of a wooden skrew in one in and push it through to the other end and then pull up on it while holding the cardboard and than pull on the torn top layer.”

Thanks, Joyce, for the wonderful tip! But if you ever want to go straight for the good stuff, we do have some Ouchless Cardboard in the store.

Catch you next time!

*hugs*

I just received this amazing, beautiful cigar box from a gentleman in my office. Well, to be honest, someone gave it to him and I said “PLEASEDON’TTHROWITAWAY!!!!”. I don’t think he quite understood why I was so keen on acquiring a smelly (albeit gorgeous) cigar box. He handed it over to me and shrugged as he walked away.

NOW…what to do with it??? I need your suggestions, everyone. To be honest, it’s been a while since I’ve done a 3-dimensional project and I could use some fresh ideas.

What initially attracted me to Day of the Dead is the bright colors and funky art. Now that I have the important memorial items made, I can switch my focus to making fun decorative shrines.

This one is a tribute to Lady Death herself. No Grim Reaper here folks, Senora Muerta is a stone cold fox

I went to town with my Bombshell Stamps, Gauche Alchemy wall paper and lots and lots of delicious glitter.

My next piece is a companion to the first. This one is a tribute to vices. My only regret is that I wasn’t able to find appropriately sized liquor bottles. Maybe next time  :-)

For this I used a book page from the Foreign Text Pack , wallpaper,  playing card and game pieces from the Banana Hammock, Scarlet Fever and black mixed media color kits and a hottie from my own stash:

Did you notice both shrines are the same shape? One of my favorite economizing trick is to buy one shaped wood box (about three bucks at Michaels) and then separate them. Add wood beads for feet (or shot glasses, blocks, dice… anything goes) to the back ( box) side and it’s done. For the front (door) piece,  glue it to a decorative wooden base (they come in rectangles and ovals and cost about sixty-nine cents) and then add feet. The door is shallower than the box piece but both make great housings for a collage.

I hope you liked this week’s Day of the Dead projects. Next week we’ll be putting it all together into an alter (ofrenda) and I’ll be sharing links to some of my favorite artists who work with Day of the Dead images.

Don’t forget to enter your shrines into the Crafty Chica contest and be sure to post links in the comments here so I can come and see your work.

… you have to grab it when you can. Even if it means I should’ve been making more Halloween cards.

Christmas came early when I was rummaging through the bits and pieces left over from my December 2008 Gauche Alchemy kit and found some bits and pieces that would make perfect cards.

Voila!

Here’s hoping that you also hit inspiration in the unlikeliest, or likeliest, of places.

*hugs*

I know I shouldn’t, but I just wanted to let you all know that I’ve just chosen the products for a NEW KIT!!!  It will be full of vintage, delicious delightfulness and I can’t wait to reveal it! 

Here’s a hint…

Stay tuned!

I vowed to start this calendar journal for 2009 and began it in January. I always let the months go by so fast and I figured if I had a journal to document the daily things and some notes on what I thought of that particular month, I wouldn’t have so many lost memories.

As you can see, I’m so late in my monthly updates that I just managed to make my August calendar.

But it’s nice to revisit this particular month as it was a fun month for me and my family and I saw a high school classmate who came home to visit and met a new one too.

P.S. I also have a very lousy memory so I make sure I have a calendar booklet that I write a little note or something in everyday.

I used bits and pieces from old Gauche Alchemy kits for my August pages.

Here’s hoping that you also find ways to capture and preserve those everyday moments.

*hugs*

Hello Gauche admirers! We present a guest blogger today – someone WE are fans of. Her name is Amy Anderson, and her blog, Mod Podge Rocks!, is completely inspirational. If you’ve been waiting to jump into 3-dimensional projects, this blog will help you along the way.

Hello – Amy here, the mind behind the decoupage blog Mod Podge Rocks! If you’ve never visited me, I love using Mod Podge in a variety of ways with a variety of media. I was so happy to find Gauche Alchemy through a bloggie friend of mine. The blog is inspirational and the online store contains mixed media kits galore. I’ve wanted to play with collage for quite some time. I had in mind a piece that I had a purchased from the Goodwill; something hanging around for awhile and needed to be revamped. I ordered one of Gauche’s kits and transformed a wall hanging into the decorative corkboard you see above. Here is the before:

Although splatter painting and muted celestials have their place and time, I prefer brighter colors. I’m going to walk you through the frame-to-corkboard transition, and show you how to use Mod Podge at the same time (it’s so easy). First you’ll need to gather these supplies:

Old Frame with two picture windows, any size
Cork to fit one of the open slots (you can purchase from a craft store)
Mod Podge, 8 oz.
Acrylic Paint in a coordinating color, I used FolkArt Calypso Sky
Gauche Alchemy mixed media kit, I used Happy Housewives
Craft Glue
Scissors
Flat Paint Brush
Additional Embellishments or Tools, I used a floral craft punch and some extra buttons
Sandpaper, Medium Grit

Start by removing the backs from your frame and setting aside. Sand the frame with medium grit paper – you just need to rough up the surface so that the paint will adhere. Wipe the frame clean when you are done with a dam paper towel.

I set the frame down on some extra paper I had and began painting. Start with the front – coat thoroughly. Allow to dry for about 15 – 20 minutes and turn over. Keep doing this until the frame is covered completely. How many coats you will need depends on the color of your frame before it’s painted and the color you are using to paint. Note that you will more than likely need at least three coats. Set the frame aside to dry when you are done painting.

We are already to the most fun part! We are going to start collaging. What I did is use the insert as my background to layer the paper and goodies. I started by covering the background with one sheet of paper as my “base layer.” Grab your paint brush and your Mod Podge and starting “Podging.” Paint a medium layer of Mod Podge down on the surface of your insert. Paint the entire insert and make sure to get the corners well.

Smooth the paper down. I have a brayer – you can also do it with your fingers. Smooth, smooth, smooth! Keep going, pressing all over for a few minutes. Get the sides well. If Mod Podge comes out the side, that is fine – wipe it away with your brush or a paper towel. Let the paper dry for 15 – 20 minutes.

I grabbed my kit and dove in! I spread the goodies out on a tabletop and started putting them together. Lay a medium layer of Mod Podge down, press papers down and smooth.

Continue layering. Note that I let some of the papers go off the edge. That is okay. It gives you the fun collage look! I also grabbed a flower punch I had and started punching out some paper shapes to layer onto my collage. Keep going until you are satisfied.

Tip: If you aren’t as gung-ho as I am, cut everything out FIRST before Mod Podging and lay out a “practice round.”

Don’t be afraid to get sticky! I have some Mod Podge on my fingers in this one. I kept applying Mod Podge and layering. When I was done with the layering, I left my insert to dry for 15 – 20 minutes. Then I cut the extra off around the side.

You see that my collage is coming together! Notice that I even used some fabric. After everything had dried for 15 – 20 minutes from the last step, I coated the entire top with Mod Podge. I waited 15 – 20 minutes and then put a second layer of Mod Podge over everything.

This is where the 3-D embellishments come in! I used my craft glue to attach flowers, brads, buttons and stickers from the kit to the front of my collage. Fill empty areas with fun stuff, and even check your own stash! I used some of my own buttons to complete my collage.

I realized after I completed the collage insert that I needed to go back to the frame and finish it. If you want to, you can leave the frame plain painted and just coat it with Mod Podge to seal (don’t forget the back). You can also do what I did – cut or punch some additional shapes to add flair to the frame itself. Notice that I added some flower cutouts, which I layered and then let dry. After the first layer of Mod Podge is dry, go ahead and coat one more time for good measure. When the frame was completely dry, I went back and added buttons for good measure.

The last step of the process was the cork, which was very easy. I had the second insert pulled out that I didn’t collage on – I simply took the piece of cork and used scissors to cut it to fit the insert. I glued the cork to the insert and allowed to dry. Put both inserts back into the frame and voila, your frame is complete!

Thank you for your time, and I hope you’ll visit me at Mod Podge Rocks! for project ideas, tutorials, inspiration and decoupage tips.

Thanks, Amy!  You can guest post for us anytime!  Gauchies, make sure you get a look at the Mod Podge Rocks! blog – lots of good stuff there.

Any of you who have toddlers and cable TV are probably familiar with Noggin (now Nick Jr).   Besides learning all the words to Dora the Explorer and becoming more fond of some little kid shows versus others (Olivia is now on Nick Jr!  Did you know!?), I’ve noticed that a good preschool show (by my definition) always includes some “in jokes” for the parents.

Someone out there knows we moms (and dads) are held captive by anything that captivates our children.  Hey, I even let my kids watch Sponge Bob now – which grates on me almost as bad as nails on chalkboard (almost).  It used to be banned in my house, but now I’m outnumbered, and my resolve has dissolved.  Don’t even get me started on Caillou – as my buddy Darla Dixon once told me (paraphrasing), “That is the whinest kid on earth.”

There is a point to all this rambling.  Ready to hear it?

Nick Jr. (previously Noggin) has these wonderful little shorts between their shows.  They don’t have advertising, so these shorts are all you get (a good thing).  At first glimpse, they are just stupid little shorts with artwork designed to look like kids’ drawings.  But as I’ve watched and watched… and watched and watched and watched, I’ve become much more appreciative of the artwork in these little snippets.  They really have a great graphic element to them, and they use all sorts of repurposed objects.  It really underlines how much of our art began in childhood: facial features all out of proportion, newspaper boats and hats, and don’t forget those macaroni necklaces!  Did our love affair with buttons start in our pre-memory days?  It’s a question to ponder…

I finally looking for the artistic genious behind Moose A. Moose’s shorts (I love the artwork but find Moose A. Moose himself just a tiny bit annoying; his bird buddy Zee is kind of cute – and the only bird on the planet with a belly button).  Want more?  Go here and here. Here’s another favorite:

The artist’s name is Melinda Beck – an artist and graphic designer.  You simply must go to her website and look at all her various work.  I know this will shock you – but Moose A. Moose and Co. aren’t even her best! (*snark*)

Load up on this eye candy – starting out with a Halloween image (of course) – and then jog on over to Melinda’s website for even more!

Melinda does a lot of illustration work for magazines and book covers, etc.  See if you can recognize her next time you’re leafing through a magazine – I know I’ll be on the lookout.

Sherry Goodloe is one of my fav artists – she’s always got something good going on over at her blog. She is a sweet, sweet lady – one thing I love about the art community is how willing folks are to talk and share no matter how well-known, no matter how busy. I find that very rewarding. It makes us little people feel important.

Another thing I love about Sherry is that she shares (maybe that’s why she’s called “SHERRY”?!) her techniques. She is more about the art than the ownership, and you gotta love that. We all inspire and take inspiration, and it seems that Sherry has, indeed, internalized that concept.

Sherry kindly obliged when I asked her for an interview.

GA: Tell us a bit about yourself.

I’m a divorcee with a full-time day job and trying my hardest to raise a teenage manchild on my own.

I love all types of mixed-media art and used to teach at least 3 or 4 classes every month. Lately I haven’t been teaching much. My life has just been so full these days.

Ticket Bowl

(Want this piece?  You have until tomorrow at midnight to make a deal with Sherry!)

GA: Show us a favorite project and tell us why you love it.

My Jazz on Canvas series was a favorite project of mine. The old jazz masters reminded me of my dad and his love of jazz – which became a love of mine as well. Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong, Eartha Kitt, Bessie Smith, Nina Simone and so many more.

(Want this piece?  You have until tomorrow at midnight to make a deal with Sherry!)

GA: What are you working on now?

For the past couple of months I’ve been making artist trading cards to swap on my upcoming Artful Voyage Cruise with Tim Holtz. Looks like there will be more than 150 of us cruising with Tim (October 11 – 18), so I’ve been quite busy with the atc’s!

(Aren’t you so jealous she’s going on this cruise? *sigh*)

I’m also taking KC Willis workshops (Collage Camp – a fabric collage class and Mixed Media Mania which includes three workshops – Alters & Shrines, Altered Books and Works on Paper over at her Lipstick Ranch on-line).

Big Eyed Girl

(Want this piece?  You have until tomorrow at midnight to make a deal with Sherry!)

GA: Where do you get inspiration?

I get my inspiration from just about everywhere! I always carry a notebook or journal with me and when I get an idea in my head I write it down. At 56, I’m finding that I suffer from CRS. LOL!

Little Man's Journey

(Want this piece?  You have until tomorrow at midnight to make a deal with Sherry!)

GA: Who are your favorite artists?

Ooooh, this is a hard one. I have so many favorites. One of my favorite artists that is no longer with us here on Earth would have to be Romare Bearden (9/2/1911 – 3/12/1988). His life and art encompassed a broad range of intellectual and scholarly interests, including music, performing arts, history, literature and world art. He was a humanist who supported young, emerging artists. I LOVE his collage works!

As for living artists, some of my favorites at the moment are Cindy Forrester, JoAnnA Pierotti, KC Willis . . .

Altered Composition Notebook (fabric collage)

(Want this piece?  You have until tomorrow at midnight to make a deal with Sherry!)

GA: What products can you not live without when making art?

This is an easy one. I cannot live without Golden’s Matte Medium, Black Gesso and my Tim Holtz Tonic Scissors!

GA: What’s your process when creating?

The process varies. If I’m working on a canvas collage, then I get the focal point picture out and set it aside. Then I cover the canvas with gesso, start picking colors to use on the canvas, and then I hit the drawers and shelves and anywhere else I have “stuff” that I think I might want to use. When it comes to fabric art, I get out all of my vintage suitcases that are filled with fabrics, open them up and start “auditioning” fabrics to use. Then there are times when I just pull a few boxes of stuff out and just let the contents dictate what I want to create next.

Thanks so much, Sherry, for taking the time to share your little corner of the world with us! (Those vintage suitcases sound like Christmas morning… Yhmmm…)

In this second installment in our October series on putting together a creative Day of the Dead celebration we are going to be talking about shrines, which will be a part of your  Ofrenda (alter). Some of the common features of these shrines are skeletons, marigolds and items pertaining to the person you are honoring. Don’t let the word “Shrine” trip you up. It’s not a religious, worshipping thing,  shrine is currently used as a definition for three dimensional works of art focused on a single theme. You could make a “travel” shrine or a ” love” shrine if you aren’t into making a memorial. Here’s how  Squidoo.com describes them:

shrine

n.

A container or receptacle for sacred relics; a reliquary.

For artists, shrines and assemblages are generally sculptures incorporating found objects. A shrine might not be for sacred objects, but for the celebration of a theme or idea close to the artist’s heart.

I decided to make my Grandpa’s shrine flat as opposed to a box as I wanted to be able to frame it or put it in an album. The two things he loved most in the world were the great outdoors – specifically flowers – and me. So in this piece remembering my Grandpa, I used pictures of him and I together and flowers.

The base of this shrine is one of the fantastic ouchless pieces of cardboard available at the Gauche Alchemy Artfire store and the flower is cut from a piece of wallpaper also available from GA. I’ve never worked with wall paper before and it’s AWESOME! I am notoriously clumsy and spastic yet I was able to fussy cut the flower without causing any rips or tears. Yay! Otherwise I used some acrylic paint, distress ink and a book page. Click on any of the pics below to get yours

I liked the shape of this so much that I used a matching piece of Fancy Pants felt and make a memorial remembering my husbands grandmother. Grandma McDonald was a lovely, soft-skinned woman who held my hand and told me stories from her past. During her retirement she sewed and embroidered decorative pillows some of which we are honored to own. To make the memorial more meaningful I printed a photo of the day I spent with Grandma on to fabric and sewed it to the base and then stuffed it with fiber-fil to make it into a pillow.

All the embellishments , including the fabric are from the  green mixed-media color kit. ( Did you know we are having a contest to name this little beauty right now? We are! You can read more about it here).

Once you’ve made a shrine of your own, be sure to enter it in the Crafty Chica Day of the Dead Shrine Challenge. There  is an awesome prize package up for grabs and the  Flickr group is an excellent source of inspiration.

In case you’re wondering, we will be making some traditional skeleton and skulls Day of the Dead projects this month. Since the purpose of the holiday is the remember those you’ve lost, I wanted to make memorials my top priority before embarking on the creation of fun decorations. Tune in next week for Part Three.