Round Robin Art Journal

Hi Everybody,

I belong to a Round Robin Art Journal group of local artists . . . we meet once a month and trade art journals to work on and bring back the following month . . . here are a couple of pages I did for one of the members . . .

The first one is a page with my favorite childhood picture . . . the background is acrylic paint scraped on with a palette knife . . . stamps are  stamped with  pigment ink and heat embossed with  embossing powder . . . I used punchinella aka sequin waste and used acrylic paint to scrape over it with a palette knife . . . stickers and collage images were added and covered with dimensional glue like Diamond Glaze for added emphasis . . . stamps are from Judikins and Sunday International

The second one is a black and white transparency that was given to me from one of our members . . . I used Sharpie Permanent Markers on the back of the transparency and sprayed it with Denatured alcohol and let it drip unti I was pleased with the result . . . then I laid it down to dry . . . the pictures were amateurish Photoshopped (I really know very little about Photoshop) to get it as black and white as I could and whited out the background . . . the background was painted with Sharpie markers  scribbled in a paint palette spritzed with denatured alcohol and applied to the background with a brush . . .

Have fun!

ArtBeads.com "Vintage" Project

I'm excited about the latest ArtBeads.com "Vintage" project . . . it gave me a chance to use "vintage" photos of my immediate family in my beading . . . I was inspired by Nancy Cain, amazing beader. . . I love the way the cool ArtBeads.com Silver-Plated Pewter Pendants  frame photos of my family . . .

This was also a perfect opportunity to use the ArtBeads.com charms to embellish the photos!  What fun!  Here's Mom and Dad . . .

 My sister, Janice . . .

 Myself . . . this is my favorite photo of my childhood . . . I was a WILD WOMAN!!!  LOL!!!!

 My sister, Norma . . .

 Janice's daughter, Tina . . .

I hope you enjoyed the sharing of my beading AND my family with you!  Happy beading!!!!

*Disclaimer:  I receive free product from ArtBeads.com in exchange for my designs as an ArtBeads.com Blog Design member . . . opinions are strictly my own . . .

Round Robin Art Journal

A group of my talented and fun artist buddies decided to participate in a Round Robin Art Journal . . . this is my front and back cover . . . the front cover has my favorite photo of my childhood . . . you can tell that I was a WILD WOMAN standing on the bumper of a pick-up truck on my grandmother's farm in Fresno . . . the back cover has a photo of my dad and myself as a todler . . . I'm really enjoying using family photos in my artwork lately . . . even my next beading project has them as you will see shortly . . . I am really getting excited about getting a copy of my artist buddies artwork in my journal!

The Cat House on the Kings

This You-Tube Video caught my eye first because it takes place in Parlier, California where I spent my summers with my Aunt, Uncle, & cousins while my mother and sisters stayed on grandma's grape farm in nearby Sanger . . . secondly . . . I love what this woman is doing to save and put up for adoption cats and dogs in an open 6-acre reserve . . . here's her video . . .

What an amazing woman and a wonderful cause!!!!!  Please click on following to find out more about her organization . . . The Cat House on the Kings!

A 15% coupon from ArtBeads.com!

Lucky me and my blog readers! ArtBeads.com has offered their Design Partners and their farmily, friends, and blog readers a 15% coupon with no minimum order requirement good now through the end of February . . . To use the coupon, just copy and paste the code below into the 'Coupon/Gift Certificate/Gift Card Code' box of your shopping cart and click 'apply'. Exclusive Design Partners Coupon code: ZZ-DESIGNER-0211 . . . Woo! Hoo!!!!

ArtBeads.com Winter Enchantment Design

This winter season inspired me to create something like a snowy winter black night for ArtBeads.com . . . the sparkle is like the stars in that dark blanket . . . the cold snow like the totally stunning Dichroic Murano Glass Beads . . . accented with the sparkle of Swarovski Crystal Rondelles HUBBA! HUBBA!!!!! LOL!!!!! I call this piece Starry Starry Night after one of my favorite painter's pieces . . . Vincent Van Gogh . . . I must say that I am SO impressed with the Murano Glass beads . . . they simply take your breath away!!!!! My latest ArtBead.com Blog Design project tied right in with my class project with talented instructor, Sylvia Valle . . . I've learned so much from her . . . I love this spiral necklace . . . the creative students in the class are such a blast, too . . . Have fun everybody! Disclaimer: I receive free product from ArtBeads.com in exchange for my design (in this case my collaborative design) as an ArtBeads.com Blog Design Team member . . . opinions are strictly my own . . .

An Elegant Slider by my friend, Claire Abelson

My beading friend, 89-year-old Claire Abelson, recently went on a cruise with her lovely family . . . she wanted something special to wear so she beaded this incredibly beautiful slider and the necklace for the slider, as well . . . well . . . when we all saw this in class . . . all of us simply gasped at its beauty! What a talented lady Claire is . . . and she is generous with her pertinent suggestions to make our beading better! THANKS, Claire!!!! We love you!!!!!!!

ArtBeads.com Road to Tucson Sweepstakes

Oh boy! Oh boy! ANOTHER great Sweepstakes from ArtBeads.com . . . ask me if I've entered! YES!!!!!!!!!!!! I would totally LOVE to win a trip for two to the Gem and Jewelry Show in Tucson, Arizona in 2012 for three days and three nights! HUBBA! HUBBA! Please click here to link to the ArtBeads.com Sweepstake page to enter!!!!