Pink Bird Studio

Helga's Weekly Challenge - Use your Scraps

This week, Helga of ARTchix Studio challenged us to make something using only scraps from other projects.  In her challenge, Helga said we could use whatever "supplies" we wanted (paint, substrate, ink, adhesives etc.) but the papers in the collage should all be scraps.

I decided to up the challenge a bit.  I've been doing lots of holiday projects so I thought I would try to make something with only stuff that was already out on my table since I hadn't cleared it up for a while! 

I used a library card as a base and cut it into a tag shape.  I sponged it with two colours of ink I already had out, and found a cigar band, Mona image from ARTchix Studio, German scrap, and some brass gears.  I also had recently been using my flourish stamp, "100% authentic" stamp and "joy" stamp, so I used those as well (of course having black ink out was a given).

Thanks for another fun challenge Helga!  I could probably make ten things off of what's sitting on my table but it's time to go and finish decorating the tree so I can at least get those boxes put away before Monday!

 

Introducing the Penny Experiment

I'd like to take a minute to give you some information about an exciting project I've just signed up for - the Penny Experiment.  You can read all about the project and the inspiration for it on the Penny Experiment blog, but the general idea is 100 artists each create a postcard that will be sold to purchase food for food banks across the US.  The purchasing will be done by a number of people who are so good with coupons they can make a dollar stretch for days, which will increase the value exponentially.  And it all started when Jeffrey Strain picked up a penny from the sidewalk (to the amusement of a group of nearby teens).  When I read the story I just knew I had to take part.

So what can you do?  There are still 35 openings (as of December 12) for artists who wish to donate a postcard.  And of course when the postcards come up for sale I will post a link to the sale if you wish to purchase one.    

Each postcard will feature a number from 1 - 100.  I chose # 46 (my age, if you must know).  I hope you like it, and hope that someone will buy it when the sale starts!

 

Sunday Postcard Art - The Holly and the Ivy

This week's theme at Sunday Postcard Art is "The Holly and the Ivy".  As usual, I've taken some liberties with the theme, and ignored the whole ivy thing.  I'm glad that Donna and Mandy have been doing seasonal themes during December as I've been able to use my Sunday postcards for Christmas cards! 
Here's my holly and ivy card - minus the ivy.

ARTchix Lottery - Candy Cane Kisses

The new ARTchix Yahoo Group Lottery theme is "Candy Cane Kisses". 

Sunday Postcard Art - Saint Nicholas

This week, the theme over at Sunday Postcard Art is St. Nicholas.  I was getting a bit tired of red and green, so I went with blue and red instead.  Here's my card...

Winter Delights

The ARTchix Studio Yahoo Group lottery theme is"Winter Delights", so I thought I would try out another technique from Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas event.  I really liked the way Tim made the glittery icicles on Day 1, so I thought I would try them out on my winter card.  Now I didn't use "Distress" Stickles, just regular Stickles, and I think mine are not as dimensional, but I still realy like the way they turned out with the thick application of glitter.  It did take quite a while to dry, but I left it out overnight and it was completely dry this morning.  The thing I do love about Stickles is they don't dry tacky like so many glitter glues.  I roughly painted in my icicles before I applied the glitter with a bit of gesso - only because my background was fairly dark and the glitter I was using was clear.

More inspiration from Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas

Well I'm completely addicted to Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas technique from yesterday - creating plaid backgrounds using alcohol inks.  These dramatic backgrounds are so easy and quick (don't tell anyone)!  I had so much fun I had to make three different backgrounds.  I used the same stamp for each tag just to showcase the different colours I used.  I have lots of these backgrounds left over for other projects too.  If you haven't been yet, make sure you stop by Tim's blog to get the "how to" and while you're there leave a comment to be entered in his fab giveaway.

I had to run out to Michael's after work and pick up one of the great applicators Tim uses to make these backgrounds, then I got home and realized I had way more dye reinkers than alcohol inks.  To resolve this little problem I dipped the felt in a bit of rubbing alcohol before applying the dye inks, and they worked like a charm.  The middle tag is made with alcohol inks, and the other two with dye inks.

I'm going to use this technique as my entry for Helga's latest challenge - Get Inspired by a Project.  This week, Helga challenges us to get inspired by a project in a magazine, book or online, and Tim's projects are amazingly inspiring!

More Journal Pages

Here is my first spread in the collaborative journal project.  All I need to do now is get my background done and get it in the mail.  I should be able to do that tonight...

I thought the phrase about Alice and her bird (from ARTchix Studio) was charming.  But what if Alice's bird meets a friend?  I don't know if he's going back - sorry Alice...

Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas

Well well, if you live in a cave you may not have heard about Tim Holtz' 12 Tags of Christmas!  I am always blown away by Tim's creativity, and tonight something came over me and I had to try some of his techniques for tag number 2.  As you can see if you've been following along, mine looks nothing like Tim's whatsoever, but I did have fun.  I probably haven't embossed in over a year so finding pigment ink that hadn't dried up was challenge number one.  Finding my frame stamp after a round of "organizing" was challenge number two, and on it went.  I did not attempt to make my own metal rose, although what a cool technique that is!  And I couldn't find my pre-fab metal roses (are you sensing a theme yet?), so I skipped it - ditto with the photo corners.  So there you have it - if you have been living in a cave be sure to check out Tim's blog for daily giveaways and awesome techniques during his 12 Tags event.

 

New Journal Project

I always love starting a new long-term project, and this one is no exception.  A two-person round robin, the wonderfully talented Allison Berringer and I will be sending our books back and forth across Canada for a year or so.  We'll start out by doing a "solo" spread and starting a "collaborative" spread before mailing out the books (actually Allison's already got hers in the mail and I'm dragging a few days behind her)...  Then, we'll complete the collaborative spread, do another solo spread, start another collaborative and repeat - doesn't that sound like fun?!

Here's my first page, which is opposite my sign-in page.  I've written down all of the "rules" so we don't forget. :)  Lovely image from ARTchix Studio.