Framed Art

One of my passions is card making. I love to make handcrafted cards. I also love working with graphics. As I was wondering how I could really combine these into one artistic form, I was inspired to use scripture in creating framed art I could give as gifts. I've blogged about this in the past (see post dated September 13, 2013).

Here is one of those inspirations:

How do these come together? I pick the digital stamp I want to work with from my collection. This digital stamp is from Robert Jackson. Once I've selected the stamp, I research the scripture I want to use.

Now this is where I get my inspiration. Most of the scriptures I use tend to fit the digital stamp I choose (see below). I sometimes print these on watercolor paper (if I'm using different mediums to color). In the case of the photo above, I printed the scripture on regular card stock (I created the file in MS Word) because all I did was use Copic Markers to color in the stamped image. I printed another copy and cut-out the blouse, then attached it to the Cheetah print cardstock from my stash (I did it this way as opposed to printing on the cardstock because of the glitter in the paper) then paper pierced that section and pasted it on the digi stamp.

To finish off embellishing the piece, I used Stickles glitter to add dimension and pop the necklace and earrings. I finished the piece by adding rhinestone ribbon, then attaching it to a mat for framing.

Here is another sample:

and others:

I have a few more surprises in store for you, so sit tight until my next post.

Ciao!

Happy Friday afternoon blog friends!

I hope you haven't missed me too much, lol. I know, I keep promising to have posts more often, but with the schedule I keep, it is not an easy thing to do.  Working P/T for two churches and then coming home to my 91-year old mother is not easy!  My day starts very early; I'm up at 5:00 in order to get to work by 6:30 (I start at 7:00 am). Why so early, because before I leave I have to make sure my mom's taken one pill (she needs this on an empty stomach before breakfast), that she's taken a shower and dressed. I then make her breakfast and have to insure her other meds are on the table to be taken with her meal.  Why do I do all this? Well, my mother also suffers from some dementia, and when she first wakes, she's extremely confused and doesn't know what she should be doing.  It is true what is said about the elderly: "once a man, twice a child". When I follow this routine, it not only helps me, it helps her as well.  If I don't do this, I will come home and find her still in bed, in her PJs, unkempt. With this schedule though, I come home to an alert mother, who is coherent and able to carry on a conversation without a mental hiccup.

Once I come home (I'm off work at 11:00 and home by 11:30 am) I prepare her lunch and go about taking care of things such as cooking dinner, cleaning or washing, and spending time in studying the Bible.  I also sometimes (if time permits) take a nap.  With the exception of Tuesday and Friday, I'm at my church in the evenings. On Monday, I lead a small group Bible Study.  We're currently reading "When I Lay My Isaac Down," by Carol Kent.  If you haven't read it, I recommend you purchase and read it. If ever you find yourself facing trials or going through life changing events in your life, this book will give you the tools you need to handle them.  Anyway, back to what I was saying. On Wednesdays I have choir rehearsal, on Thursdays dance rehearsal (praise dancing), Saturday mornings praise and worship, then on Sundays my duties vary: On first Sunday, I teach Children's Church (8:00 am only); on third Sundays I sing and dance (both at the 8:00 and 11:00 am services) and on fourth Sunday, I sing again.

Phew! That's a lot, isn't it? Seriously, I don't mind. Everything I do at church brings me joy and fulfillment and in all of this I still find time to create! If I'm not making greeting cards, I'm putting together a flyer for some event or the other.  These last two are my passion. I love being creative. I get a thrill from seeing the joy in other's faces when I create a card or make a flyer or invitation for their event.  For all of these reasons it is so hard to get on this computer and write!  But, I will try, my friends. Just bear with me as I get myself more organized to do so.

I don't want to leave you without showing off some of my creations.  Though I haven't been blogging, I do create. Here are a few of my newest cards. I made collages as I've made so many in the past few months.

 The images above are digi stamps by Robert Jackson Fine Arts. I used Gimp to make changes to the images (paint, patterns) as well as Copics (in some cases).  I also used Washi tape and paper piercing (the image in the lower bottom left and right).












These cards on the right are the birthday, get well bunch. I used MTC to cut out the boot, but prior to cutting, I changed the pattern on the boot and the shoe in Gimp using their pre-installed leopard pattern.  The Dr. Who card was for, you guessed it, a doctor friend, lol! As for the Fight like a Girl card, well October was Breast Cancer Awareness Month and I have a few friends who've been fighting this disease and was inspired to make this card for them.

This other set of cards below are again Robert Jackson digis. A few of them are exclusive to me (I have ideas about the type of image I want and I order them to my specifications).  This is the case for the two male figure cards below.  Once more I used Gimp to create the look I want for the digis, then I print and cut in MTC. I made two copies of the images so I could use mounting stickers to give them a 3D look.

For the ladies, I used Copics to paint the bodies as well as the dress of the lady in blue.  For the other lady, I used Washi tape wrapped around the paper pierced skirt and top. I then wrapped the same Washi around the background paper.

 Here are the final four.  For the moustache and bow tie card, I used my Cameo Silhouette to cut.  The Sister Act card digi is from Mo's.  I used Copics to paint the image and Stickles to embellish.

Inspired

Good morning, blog friends!

I hope you are enjoying this Monday morning. In my neck of the woods (Los Angeles) it promises to be a hot sunny day. This is typical for this time of year. Twenty-eight years ago today, I gave birth to my oldest daughter and it was HOT!

After my little vacay  (see previous post) I came back to chaos. I had to get rid of my mattress because I had a bed bug! Don't ask me how it came into my room (according to a pest control friend it could have come through the window - I live on the lower floor of my apartment unit) but it wreaked havoc with my body.  Prior to me leaving on vacation, I had been seeing these bites on different parts of my body (mostly arms and legs). What was different about these bites was, in addition to the extreme itching, my skin would inflame as if I'd been bitten by a bee (I'm allergic).  I brushed it all off thinking that it was some type of gnat bite.  While away, my youngest daughter came home for a spell (she's been living in China, where she works). She texted me to say she thought she was allergic to the food (after a year of eating vegetables and noodles she thought she couldn't eat regular food, lol) because she woke up with bites on her body. I replied back that there must be something in my room. So, she switched rooms and slept in my mother's bed.

When I got back home on July 9th, I immediately called my friend because he said that I might have bed bugs. He came over armed with a flashlight and proceeded to go over my bed frame. I have a queen size Queen Anne bed and it took a bit of looking for him to find the bug. Yep, there was only one (can you believe it) and that one insect caused me a pretty penny.  I had to get rid of my mattress and purchase a new one.

The one good thing that came from this was that I was inspired to change the look of my bedroom.  I decided to DIY my whole room by not only painting it (with the help of my youngest), but I also picked up the carpet and I'm working on putting down flooring.  Here's what the room looks like now without the bed and prior to putting down the floor.

As you can see, I painted the room Purple and Lavender (Lavender is my favorite scent, so it didn't take me long to figure out the colors I would use).  As of today, I'm still working on my flooring.  I should have it done in the next two weeks and will post photos of the finished space for you to see.

Because of the havoc that little insect caused, I was uninspired to make any cards for a while, but in August I had this burst of inspiration and started making, not only cards, but these framed pieces.  I will showcase just a few here for now.

Card
I purchased the image for this shoe from 123rf.com I printed and cut the shoe in MTC and used glue dots to make it 3D. I printed the Scripture in MS Word and cut it out and attached with glue dots. The background Damask paper is from mygrafico.com and the brown paper I printed from MS Word and embossed with Cuttlebug Anna Griffin  5x7 Pirouette embossing folder.

Framed Art

Card
Digi file purchased from Robert Jackson. He made this image file exclusive for me. I used Gimp to add a pattern to the dress and color in the skin, hair and purse. I then print and cut the image and attached it with glue dots. As with the previous card, I printed the sentiment in MS Word and cut and pasted it to the card. The background paper I used from a Kente file I had in my stash and which I created a background for in Word and printed in color to use for this card.

Framed Art

True to My Word

Well, here I am again, and true to my word, I'm updating you on all I've been doing for the past few months. Let's start with right after Mother's Day. I dance in a liturgical group at my church and our dance director has resigned from his position at my church after serving in that capacity for seven years. Well, as a token of our love and appreciation for him, the group wanted to get him a plaque. My creative side balked at that idea, so I volunteered to create something for him from all of us.  Here is the outcome of my creativity:

This is the mixed media piece I made. First off, using the logo and images from our group, I printed them on canvas paper (the fonts I used were not filled in which allowed me to do so with acrylic paint and/or Stickles. A day before printing, I used random watercolor doodles to add some character to the canvas. Once dry, I used a Recollections Chevron stamp and inked it with Versamark Watermark stamp pad, then spritzed it with water and stamped the canvas for some dimension. Next day, I printed to image/logo to the canvas. I then went to work. Using Stickles Platinum. I filled in the director's name. For our logo I used blue acrylic paint, then once that was dry I applied clear Stickles (which gave it that sparkle effect).

For the dancers, I used some African fabric I had stashed away. I cut a mask of the last two dancers on both sides, then traced the cut out onto the fabric with while pencil. I cut the dresses out (one red, the other green) and applied them to the dancers' image on the canvas. I then used the Stickles Platinum to add dimension to the dresses.  For the two dancers with the gold dresses, I used another medium -   Flower Soft. I added glue to the image and sprinkled it with Gold Flower Soft. Once that was dry, I went to work on the guys. For their shirts I used purple acrylic paint and followed that up with clear Stickles.  Here's a close up look at the dancers:

Once the canvas was dry, I mounted it on a piece of brown fabric. I cut the borders of the fabric using my pinking shears. I glued the canvas to the fabric, then attached it to the red African fabric. Finally, I attached it all to a woven place mat I had purchased years ago from Marshall's. To finish, I painted gold acrylic onto some Popsicle sticks, then used the Stickles to draw a pattern on them. Once they were dry, I used the pinking shears to cut the sticks and attached them to the piece. I also used acrylic on a few buttons and attached those also.

Of course, we can't have a gift without a card. Here's the finished product to the card I made. I used the Praise Dancers digital stamp by Fine Arts by Robert Jackson. I used Gimp to fill in the colors of each dancer. Once that was done, I saved it with a transparent background and added it to the background image. I then  cut that with the pinking shears and attached it to rounded card stocks (fluorescent yellow and aquamarine blue). I attached all the this to a colorful piece of fabric I'd purchased at WalMart. I finished the card by cutting out a label and stamping "We'll Miss You" to it, then embellishing it with a spot of bling.

Just Being Creative

There's one thing I love more than paper crafting and that is playing with graphic images. It's a plus for me when I can combine the two.  The following cards were made using both of these forms.

First, I created a card for a friend who wanted to thank the DJ that played at her husband's birthday party.  In trying to find something that fit the occasion, I used the "Lil DJ" digi by Robert Jackson and using Gimp, combined it with a background image I had in my stock collection. Prior to adding the digi to the image, I made it a png file, so the transparent file would blend in with the background image.  I then made a tag in Word and cut / paste it to the front of the card.  This is the final product.

This next card was for my sister's boss. Her boss loves to dance and since I didn't have an image she liked, she asked me to use a shoe as the theme. Again, I went into my stash of digi files and found a shoe I had used on the left. Again, using Gimp, I first filled the black shoe with the leopard pattern. I then cleaned up the image so that the spots that are highlighted in the black shoe were completely filled with the pattern. I also made the image transparent (png), which would allow me to place it on a background and not have an overlap with the white background jpeg files have. Once done, I found a background that would highlight the shoe. My idea was a stage light theme. I found the right image, though the original color was blue.  My sister's boss loves green (so do I BTW), so opening the image in Word, I recolored the background in green, added a border, and using Word Art, created the sentiments on the front of the card. I placed the shoe image on the background and then copied/pasted another copy with the same dimensions and printed it all on white card stock. I paper pierced the extra image of the shoe that I printed out and stacked it over the printed image with sticky dots that would allow the shoe to "pop out" from the background image. I finished by embellishing the card with buttons and twine to match the color of the card stock and green background, then used Stickles to add some dimension and bling to the words and image.   Hope you like it.

Our Purpose

God made us for His glory. There's no ifs or buts about that.  The enemy of our souls has lied to us and tried to derail us from our purpose. But Jesus came into the world to steer us back on course. 1 Timothy 1:15 states, "Here is a true statement that should be accepted without question: Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners, and I am the worst of them."

We had not been doing what we were made for, so God, in His infinite wisdom, sacrificed His only Son, Jesus Christ, so that we (humankind) could be saved from the hold the devil had on us. 2 Corinthians 4:4 brings that point home, "The ruler of this world has blinded the minds of those who don’t believe. They cannot see the light of the Good News—the message about the divine greatness of Christ. Christ is the one who is exactly like God."  Think about it, God loved us so much, He made the ultimate sacrifice for us and showed His love in Jesus' obedience to His will.  Take the time to analyze these words, and stand amazed at what God did for us -- sinners! Yes, we've all sinned and fall short of God's glory! - Romans 3:23

What say you? Can you fathom this? If you're not a believer, it might be very difficult for you to do, but for anyone who's felt and experienced the grace of God, this would not be hard to do. 

The enemy won't quit that easily, though. He will use our past behaviors or mistakes against us, but here are words we can live by and use to guard us from that threat, "Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus," Romans 8:1.  Our sin was condemned in Jesus' flesh! Think about it -- our purpose is to live for Christ, to worship Him, to bring glory to His name. Every mistake or failure we have made prior to receiving the revelation of this fact, does not keep us from doing what we were made to do. 

Just sayin'

I leave you with these cards, which I feel are appropriate. The digi images are from Robert Jackson. I used Gimp to add the animal print background to the dress and colored the rest with Copics.

The second card, I just colored with Copics and used Stickles to add some glitz to the card.