Category Archives: Skinny

Index Card Fun…

Posted on July 26, 2013 | 32 comments

there has been a buzz in blogland lately over ICADs which stands for Index Card A Day…

the recipe card size of 3 x 5 inches does speak to me as I find it is a great way to use some of what is handy on my art table working quickly not thinking too much…

here are a handful of links from friends with some of their recent and inspiring ICADs:

Linda of Linda Jo’s Obsessions…

Christie’s Flickr…

Dawn of Girl Unwinding…

Elizabeth of Altered Book Lover…

some years ago we called the 3×5 format “Skinny’s“ …

I got hooked playing with ICADs again a couple of summers ago and almost filled an old metal recipe box with new cards I created…

Recipe Box of Index Cards

some were sent out as RAKs as I find they make nice little “note cards” or tuckins…

some of my collaged Index Cards

I have not gotten back into making one a day but I did get to play the other day and make a couple…Organic Index Card

the card above used one of my ready to go backgrounds with a bit of security envelope torn at the bottom, a piece from a journal page that I created and copied and printed out … the “Organic” sticker is from some yummy British Lemonade…

Mermaids Tailthe mermaid tail was stamped on some scratch paper that had been on my desktop for quite some time…

Mermaids Tail (1)

I used several ink sprays and misted each layer with water to make the background run and blend and bead up…the words “from the deep” are glued onto broken pieces of a wooden coffee stirrer…

my cards are straight rectangles…it might be time for me to start using a tripod for my photos 🙂

♥ many thanks to so many of you for inspiring me again and again in special ways that you may not even be aware of ♥

32 Comments

Posted in Blogging, Collage, Index Card a Day Project (ICAD), Inspiration, Mixed Media, Skinny

Paper Stacks a Plenty…another Seth Apter Collaboration

Posted on September 21, 2011 | 59 comments

Seth of The Altered Page is at it again …

ever the master of art collaborations he put out a call to post photos showing our stacked journals

… papers

… handmade books and more …

the bigger the pile the better…

I must admit the pictures above show just some of my creations…

in talking to Mr Magpie about paper stacks…

he took a few paper photos too…

it seems piles of paper play a big role in our lives…

the other evening we rescued the paper bits below after having a bite to eat…

we found we only needed half of the heavy duty paper napkins provided and the paper doilies are always too good to pass up… a wonderful collage ingredient…

many thanks to Seth as always for joining the on line mixed media art community together…

I am looking forward to visiting all of the Paper Stack Project participants linked on Seth’s blog here

…95 participants and counting…


59 Comments

Posted in Altered Art, Altered Book, Art, Art Heals, Artist Trading Card (ATC 2.5 x 3.5"), Bookmark, Challenge, Collage, Fabric/Ribbon/Fiber/Lace, Greeting Card, Index Card a Day Project (ICAD), Journal, Mixed Media, Paint, Paper, Paper Stacks a Seth Apter Collaboration, Postcard (4 x 6 inches), Rubber Stamping, Seth Apter Collaboration, Skinny, Tag, Twinchie (2 x 2 inches), Zentangle

Goodnight Irene

Posted on August 26, 2011 | 34 comments

this soon to be altered metal recipe box has been kicking around for awhile now…

it is perfect for holding my 3×5″ index cards…

my attempt at creating an earthquake card did not work out…

 but I did want to share some of the other cards I created recently…

with a short description of what went into each…

I so enjoy putting bits of this and that together…

playing with scissors and glue never gets old…

it seems my blog has turned into part of my memory…

you may notice that there are underlined words in most of my posts…

I try to add links to provide further info and of course give credit where credit is due…

there is a handy tool on my sidebar marked “Looking for Something” … typing in a word or two oftentimes takes me where I need to go…

for a clearer view you can click on the pictures…it helps sharpen them…I should really take the time to get out the tripod…

here goes…

Citra Solv background…scraps of paper doily and graph paper…copy of a TAP transfer piece I made with beaded and stitched silk frame…Goddess stamp …

Citra Solv background…stamping…gold Krylon pen…scrap paper from garden catalog…faux leaves and flower colored with Sharpie…center brad…gold napkin for bottom trim…the image was in a cigar box with some pages I cut up for text…not certain where she is from…

mini me…age two in Germany on a paint scraped and doily gesso background…German book text (thank you Margaret I finally got brave enough to rip those nice pages) …text washi tape…and rubber stamps from Catslife Press…really Loving the “Remember to Play Everyday” freebie stamp from them…

another Citra Solv background…some you hardly want to cover up they have such great colors and design…the Polish postage stamps really inspired me on this one…a Debbie Warren free microscope size image trimmed down with a little more graph paper at the bottom…

I had scanned a piece of green and black collaged background paper that I created some time ago added a little gesso stenciling with a plastic doily…along with my favorite Paper Whimsy sun face…dotted piece from a recycled envelope…black rubons and the word “luminous” cut from a paint sample…

another piece of my scanned background glued onto my pink index card…I decided to print it larger which made it a little different and interesting…my favorite “Art Helps Me Breathe” stamp again from Catslife Press and the fan stamp enhanced a bit with my white Signo gel pen…

our house is on high ground here in Northern Virginia…

still not sure what to expect with Hurricane Irene…

they are throwing the “historic” word around again…

we are hoping for just a tropical storm here in the Washington DC area…

it will be nice to say “Goodnight Irene“ after this weekend…

sending best wishes for everyone’s safety…

may each of you stay out of harm’s way…

OXO

34 Comments

Posted in 3x5 Skinny, Altered Art, altered photo, Catslife Press Original Rubber Stamps, Citra Solv, Collage, dog days of August, Hurricane Irene, Index Card a Day Project (ICAD), Mixed Media, Paint, Paper, PaperWhimsy (PW), Rubber Stamping, Skinny, TAP (Transfer Artist Paper), YouTube

index card swap with Sandy

Posted on August 17, 2011 | 10 comments

the lovely and talented Sandy is back in blogland after a bit of a break…

both she and her creativity were greatly missed…

Sandy got excited when she saw some of the index cards on my blog recently…

so we decided to swap a couple of cards…

here is what I took to the post office yesterday…

be sure and visit Sandy here to see the beauties she made for me…

some fun mail on its way back and forth across the ocean

10 Comments

Posted in 3x5 Skinny, Altered Art, Collage, Index Card a Day Project (ICAD), Paint, Paper, PaperWhimsy (PW), Rubber Stamping, Skinny, Swap, Wings

August daze…

Posted on August 7, 2011 | 31 comments

not flaming with creativity at the moment…

*lady and moon from The Graphics Fairy … always a brilliant and generous source of free images*

feeling a little betwixt and between…

I do keep making 3 x 5″ index card collages…working quickly…not thinking too much…

also getting a little reading in…

here is this month’s quote from my “Angel Spirits” The Art of Sulamith Wulfing 2011 Calendar:

“You came into this life with a sacred purpose, entering into the stream of your destiny as a boat is launched trustfully upon a great river.  Attune yourself to that divinely guided flow, and all will be well.  Follow your heart and offer yourself as a vessel of goodness.” ~Spirit of Purpose, August 2011

~* OXO *~

31 Comments

Posted in 3x5 Skinny, Books, Calendar, Collage, Index Card a Day Project (ICAD), Musings, Nature, Paint, Paper, Quote, Rubber Stamping, Skinny, Sulamith Wülfing, Swan

Ian … Phone Home

Posted on January 6, 2010 | 13 comments

13 Comments

Posted in 3x5 Skinny, Canvas, Collage, Remembrance, Rubber Stamping, Skinny

MMM: Leftovers

Posted on January 4, 2010 | 30 comments

it has been way too long since I’ve played in the Mixed Media Monday (MMM) challenges … the theme this week is “Leftovers”


my little 2×4″ canvas has the inside of an envelope for the background … a cutout from a Jagermeister label (good for the digestion you know… they still use the nice glue where the labels float off in water too) … the words “Sip ‘n’ Nibble” are from a cigar box I have full of pages from books to use for text … I especially like the Large Print books for a change of font … while it is easy to print any text out on the computer … I enjoy letting words find me when I open the cigar box ;

the sweet girl is leftover from my holiday shopping at Paper Whimsy 😉

30 Comments

Posted in 2x4 (skinny mini), Canvas, Challenge, Collage, Mixed Media Monday (MMM), Paper, PaperWhimsy (PW), Rubber Stamping, Skinny

* illuminated *

Posted on November 19, 2009 | 15 comments

my little 3×5 canvas began with the lovely dancer image from Terri Kahrs of Pringle Hill Studio (there is a gorgeous colorized version too)


Terri often shares images along with her creative process which is always a delight

here are some of the supplies I used … forgot to include my stamp pads in the photo

I think this canvas will become a part of a larger piece or a book spread at some point

are any other WordPress bloggers having issues with making your pictures clickable for closeups?  the last couple of days something has changed and I have not altered any settings … not sure what is going on … hopefully things will go back to the way they were … I enjoy clicking pictures for closeups!

“From its brilliancy everything is illuminated” ~Guru Nanak

15 Comments

Posted in 3x5 Skinny, Canvas, Paint, Rubber Stamping, Skinny

Bless Us All + a freebie

Posted on July 8, 2009 | 33 comments

Hermine has chosen “colourful” as the theme for this weeks Wednesday Stamper

DSC03682

I collaged assorted papers onto a 3 x 5 inch canvas, using paints and stamps to decorate the surface

DSC03680

The angel is from our Memorial Day visit to the Oak Hill Cemetery in Washington, DC

MagpiesNestAngel2

The angel image above is a FREEBIE for you to use in your artwork. Please do not use it in collage sheets or to sell. You can click on it to get a larger download size (a double click makes it VERY big). I will be sharing more stone angels in the future…..


33 Comments

Posted in Altered Art, Angel, Blog Candy, Canvas, Challenge, Collage, FREE Downloads, Give Aways, Paint, Paper, Peace, Rubber Stamping, Skinny, Washington, D.C., Wednesday Stamper (WS)

Speak to me of the Sea

Posted on February 27, 2009 | 10 comments

Here a 3″ x 5″ skinny I created for the Theme Thursday Beach/Nautical challenge this week.

ws-3x5

Inspired by mollusks (that is such a fun word to say) and a recent trip to the gulf, I used parts of a beautiful free download collage sheet from Gaby.    Encore Metallic inks, Lumiere paints and chalk all went into this piece.  The stamps I used are from Stampers Anonymous and Art Impressions, they seemed to melt into the paper.  The lady is from my postcard collection.  The green frill is from a sushi takeout platter.  I notice one of our local grocery stores is cutting back and no longer adding the green plastic “seaweed”.  Don’t they know that’s part of the attraction of even eating sushi!!!

As Benjamin Button said,

“I was thinking how nothing lasts, and what a shame that is. “

Tip: When I use paints, especially something like Lumiere, instead of putting my brush in water to clean it right away, I  stroke the brush back and forth onto book text or cardstock,  pressing it with my fingers at the end; then it’s ready to be washed.  You’d be surprised how much paint comes out of the brush.  The turquoise back drop paper for my skinny is from a brush cleaned just that way.

10 Comments

Posted in 3x5 Skinny, Altered Art, Challenge, Collage, Films/Movies, Mermaid, Nature, Paper, Quote, Rubber Stamping, Skinny, Theme Thursday, TIPs

Rapunzel, Rapunzel

Posted on January 8, 2009 | 7 comments

I just discovered a, new to me Tuesday challenge after visiting the talented Bev. It’s called…..Simply Skinnies.   This weeks theme is children’s stories or fairy tales.  I have the loveliest memories of my Mom (Mutti) sitting on the edge of my bed reading fairy tales to me from a thick book.  We lived in a small German village (on the economy, it was called) outside the air force base where my father was stationed….sweet memories.

simplyskinniesrapunzel
Here is my choice, not easy as there are so many wonderful stories!  I came across the sky background for this piece whilst digging around in my art room.  It was a practice piece from years ago.

7 Comments

Posted in 3x5 Skinny, Altered Art, Challenge, Collage, Paper, Rubber Stamping, Skinny

2 Share

Posted on December 8, 2008 | 7 comments

TGIF has the challenge of making “skinny’s” this week.  For my 3 x 5 inch skinny I’ve combined paper, paint, book text,  lace,  satin ribbon and a button.

tgifskinny1

7 Comments

Posted in 3x5 Skinny, Altered Art, Challenge, Collage, Fabric/Ribbon/Fiber/Lace, Mixed Media Monday (MMM), Paper, Rubber Stamping, Skinny, Thank God It's Friday (TGIF), Uncategorized

Lady of the Lake

Posted on March 27, 2008 | 28 comments

Lady

The Wednesday Stamper challenge this week is using the color Purple in an art creation along with at least one rubber stamp.

The color purple makes me think of healing and other mystical things.
One of my favorite books of all time, The Mists of Avalon, by Marion Zimmer Bradley came to mind.

So here is my Lady of the Lake using one of my favorite images from our local newspaper.  I made a skinny.

I was happy to get to use my Stampington swan stamp.

Lakes always look better with a swan or two, don’t you think…..

“Now wakes the hour…Now sleeps the swan…Behold the dream…The dream is gone” ~Pink Floyd

28 Comments

Posted in Altered Art, Art, Collage, Jewelry, Quote, Skinny

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