Travel Themed, MIxed Media Covered Composition Book/Journal

Hi there.

 And welcome to summer.

I can hardly believe it. Time for travels...either

on the highway or in our dreams!

 

In my previous post, I talked a little bit about our lovely little place

that we treasure. It's in lovely Ohio and we have lots of family

and friends there. It was awesome for so many reasons.

I will share some of that in the future.

 

Before I left, I was inspired to make this journal from

one of those dollar composition books. Maps are so interesting

and fun to use for any kind of crafting. And it seemed to fit the season.

I had picked some up at The Penney Mall Antique store.

 It's an old J.C. Penney building

that is jam-packed with antiques and collectibles!

 

ANYWAY...

 

 

 

I really like this quote and thought it fit for my travel theme.

I covered the book and then used gesso to cover some of the details.

 

I tend to make more feminine projects and I was trying to make something that

was a little more neutral. I'm not sure if I succeeded or not.

Opinions are welcome!

 

The over -colors (not sure what you call that) or layering colors were

chosen to just blend with the background.

 



This little air mail and UPC symbol came from a small package

that I had gotten from Singapore. I can't even remember

what it was. I kept it though, because I might like to use it

sometime. The small dot texture here was achieved by

painting over tulle.

 

 

Last year my brother had brought some old typewriters

to throw in a dumpster that we had rented. My daughter and I

were somewhat mortified because we love old stuff...

and anything vintage. She kept the pretty blue which still worked.

The other had some pieces missing and so I pieced it out.

I salvaged the key covers and I took the ribbon and reels out.

I thought for sure that I could someday find a use for the old

ink-stained ribbon. 

Well... I haven't used it yet but while I was working on this journal,

and looking for textures to add to my art here, I thought of the

reels. And so here you see the red wheel-looking shape.

 

I dipped it in my red paint and it left that cool looking image.

I was thrilled! It was just what I was looking for.

I am such a junk collector.  But I can't help myself. I

see possible potential in almost everything.

 

The star was a small rubber stamp. Which was very exciting.

That was something that I had never done before but wanted to try.

I was very happy with how the image came out!

 

The small dots are from a small nail dipped in white paint.

It's so fun. You can use just about anything.

 

The lightish brown spots in the bottom right hand corner are from

bubble wrap that was pressed into a brown stamp pad.

Aaaannd...

I dipped the edge of a plastic palette knife into some mixed paint and

gently rubbed it on the paper to make the small green lines!

 





 

Just below that small piece of burlap on the right, there's

a very faint image of 123. I wanted to use some numbers but not too dark.

I just dipped my rubber stamp in white paint.

 Trying to get the right mix of subtle color and bright images is something

that I like to try to make happen.

But I'm not sure if I'm getting it balanced.

 

I would love to have a real artist

critique my projects and give some honest opinions and advice.

I'm just out here on my own learning from

books and online stuff.

 

I'm very grateful for what people share

but I would love to connect with some

folks who share my passions!

However, living in this remote area

doesn't make that easy.

 

 

 These dark green marks were made with the head of a very large

spike dipped in paint.

 

 

Here, you can actually see some of the map peeking through.

More paint on tulle to create the speckled look.

 

 

 This process took about a week because of drying time,

life and waiting for direction on design.

 

I did some layering with gesso, paints and scraps of paper.

The punched out butterflies and burlap.

I had to work carefully so as not to over-saturate the paper

too much at one time. Because even with the gesso, the map

paper was crinkling a bit from the moisture.

 

I forgot to take photos of the inside covers. They are covered with

the chevron paper. I always make the inside match the binding.

 

Working with mixed media is such a creative process.

This is my second project and I'm

hooked!

 

I would love to hear about your travels, projects and would

 gladly receive your constructive criticism!

 

Thank you so much for stopping by.

 

Wishing you happy, safe travels

and a very fulfilling summer.

 

Tamara 

xo

Altered Antique Bottle Using Old Hymnbook Pages and Nature

Here I am at Sugartree.  It's where we have a small place near my family and school mates. It's a beautiful place that seems like paradise to me. I always enjoy a lot of time with family and friends.
And two of my favorite things to do here are spend as much time in the woods and just being "out" as well as frequenting thrift shops and yard sales. There are so many old treasures here.

 

Collecting nature's treasures is so enjoyable.

I love the simple beauty.

 

I just used some other things that I had in my craft supplies.

It was first altered bottle. It has long been on my desired list of things to create.

 

 

 

Simple beauty means embracing imperfection~

 

Blessings to you,

Tamara

 

 



A Vintage Gift Wrapping For Mother's Day

Don't you just love making someone feel special

 with a little thank you gift?

And if you're like me, the wrapping is just another

opportunity to add

a little extra-special touch

to express my love

and gratitude~

With Mother's Day coming up,

I thought that this would be a lovely, soft,

feminine way to wrap up a special

token of our affections.



 I have always believed that the role of a

Mother is sacred. There's a special place in

our heart of hearts reserved just for

the one who nurtured us and taught

us so many things about love and life.

(even in her imperfections)

 My own Mother was very

troubled and suffered from mental illness

and we had not the deepest of relationship.

I regret to say that I didn't

always value her and honor her with

the love and respect that I should have.

My lovely mother is no longer within reach.

She passed away many years ago.

But if I could only....

 

If I could only

give my Mother a gift today,

that's what it would be.

To honor her.

With love.. With respect.

 

Not only with a gift

wrapped in the vintage pattern

tied with laces and ribbon

and adorned with a stamped tag

and an angel charm.

 

But..

 

I would hug her and tell her thank you for:

 

all the dinners that she cooked with love..

 

the life-lessons that I never forgot

 

how to carry myself with dignity

 

how to honor God

 

drawing and coloring with me

 

making the sacrifices to make sure I had

 what I needed.

 

I would tell her that I

loved her.

 

I would celebrate her.

 

And so much more...

 

When I was growing up,

I remember a plate hanging

 on the dining room wall.

It had this poem printed on it.

And all around the words were

pretty pink roses

I thought it was so special.

 

Mother

“To one who bears the sweetest name

And adds luster to the same

Long life to her for there’s no other

Who takes the place of my dear mother.”

 

 

Wishes for a blessed Mother's Day.

 

 Tamara xo

 

 

(new scanner training in process!)

 

My Mother and I ..1961

 

I treasure this photo.

 

Mixed Media.. The Voice of Hope

 (This is my little project that I worked on last month for spring.)

Hope..

gives me courage.

It speaks to my heart and
gives me strength.

 It helps me

look ahead

 to...

 possibilities~

***

Hope is a thing with feathers

That perches in the soul,

And sings the tune

Without the words

And never stops at all.

Emily Dickenson



Hope is a waking dream~

Have HOPE   Be strong

Laugh  loud     and       play  hard

Live in the moment

Smile often    Dream Big

R E M E M B E R

Y o u **  A r e ** L o v e d

AND NEVER GIVE UP

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Be of good courage,

and He shall strengthen your heart.

All you that hope

in the Lord.

Psalm 31:24

There is always hope.

Wishes for a beautiful weekend with

HOPE- filled hearts!

Blessings,

Tamara XO



Peat Pot Baskets for Easter

Hi Everyone..

I hope you're having a good week.

The weather has been

 beautiful here in the AZ. mountains.

I'm sure many of you are preparing heart and homes for

Resurrection Day.

 

Honestly, I haven't done too much.

 Our son and his family were visiting from Oklahoma and then we all

drove to Phoenix for a little re-union. It was the first time the cousins had been

together. All 8 of them. What a sweet time we had! I'm so grateful.

And my heart is full.

 

 

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

Today, I wanted to share with you a little project that I

put together for my grand kids. I would have liked to sold some but

I ran out of time.

 

They are little Easter baskets made from peat pots.

I had more of a nature theme in mind for them but they were the

perfect size for little gifts.

I bought the pots at Wal-mart for $1.50. There were

14 in the package. They measure about 3 inches across.

 

 The first thing I did was brush them off.

And then I dry brushed them with a linen color acrylic paint.

After that was dry, I cut pieces of natural and off-white burlap

measuring 2 1/4 in by 2  1/2 in. I then dry

brushed the burlap with the colors I had chosen.

When the paint was dry, I glued them onto the pot using

Tacky glue.

 

I wanted to embellish them around the rims and you can

see that I used Ric- Rac and some deco trim for the girls. 



 

The buttons and butterflies worked perfectly for

the girl's crosses. I also used buttons on the

littlest guy's.



I had this idea and tried something new with the boys trim.

I painted some jute string and then just made the little scallop

design with it.

How do you like it? I thought

it turned out really nice and I'd like to try it

with other colors for other projects!

 Hot glue worked perfectly for gluing

on all of the trim.



It was fun picking out the metal pieces to make

the crosses. My husband offered his collection

to choose from. Thanks, Honey!

He always teases me by saying,

"What a gal. She doesn't want fancy cars.

Just give her rusty junk!" 

It's true, but the last time he said that,

I told him that the car would come later. Just kidding.

What I'd really like to have is an old pick-up!

 

Anyway, I think the boys will really like that stuff.

I used E600 to glue the metal on.

Hot glue nor the Tacky seem to hold. 



For the boys handles, I used some rusty wire that I had on hand.

I'm pretty sure it's about 12 gauge. And for the girls, I used

a 16 gauge, silver jewelry wire.  The measured pieces were

from 8-10 inches. I tried to fit the length of the

 handle to the child.

I bent the ends with a pair of pliers and

then poked through the inside

of the pots on either side.

I wanted to put some special little touch that

identified each one as their own. 

Kids really like that. I thought that the

bottle caps with their initials would be fun.

I used a medium-sized nail to punch a hole through the bottle caps

and then put a 1/4 in jump ring on them.

I stamped each initial on a circle that I had cut out and glued

it inside the bottle cap. Then I just tied each one

to a handle with a strand of burlap string.

The filling is just made from a thrifted book that

I colored with the co-ordinating color of ink. I

colored the pages, cut them in thin strips and then

holding several strips at

a time, I accordion folded them.



 

I ran out of time but I thought that adding torn strips with a mix

of co-ordinating fabrics to the handle would have

added a soft touch to the girls' baskets.

Next time!

 

What a fun project.

I hope you enjoyed it.

Thank you so much for stopping by.

 And have a very happy Resurrection Day!

 

Blessings,

Tamara

 

I'm joining these parties this week!

 

Wow Us Wednesdays!

 

I Gotta Create!

 

Imparting Grace

 

Common Ground

 

Shabby Art Boutique