Trinkets

Stay tuned these are coming to my Etsy shop.

2 late night sketches and glue down

Late night sketching for "Aliveness" journal.

 finished the tags:

 

 I went through my stash of what I call trinkets, which are little gems of experiments with my cutting machine and doodling.

1 cardboard tags

I laid out the things I wanted to work on. Cardboard tags and my favorite "teeth" cut outs.

Embellish the tags with chalk. Auditioning handmade ephemera.

How they might look in a handmade book.

I plan on using this word for life.

Posts on Joy will be listed here.

joy
guides 

  creative joy
trying to catch ideas coming to me

100 day project

I really liked having a challenge, and so for 2019 my challenge will be 100 day project.

Rules or limitations really help the project to focus and to get the work done. I am going to focus on handmade books. I will post other projects, but for 100 days I will be moving the hand made books forward.

I will work 100 days but its hard to post every day, so I will have to play with what works.

This will include a number of experiments that I want to conduct in the studio. The links to all 100 day projects will be posted here.

1. starting tags
2. finished tags for aliveness journal 
3. cartoon bubble  
4. painted tags 

These are my inspiration. A variety of items I started, and I want to explore more.

PS : forgive me for jumping in with a project already in progress.

Inktober wrap up

Some of the last things I made in Inktober and what I accomplished.

 I cut out scallop shapes that came with my Scan n cut. I used watercolor paper on the top one, and distressed scrapbook paper on the bottom.

I drew in a circle and followed it with doodled leaves

I had a strip of black scrapbook paper on my table and used it to doodle with a white gel pen. This layout with the scallops looks like a future project.

 

My absolute favorite thing to do is cut out dress shapes, watercolor them, then doodle freehand. I want to create a look book of these.

Learning from Inktober

• I really challenged myself to get into the studio . So many obstacles, so much resistance. Most of the month I didn't feel well (arthritis flairs), scanner problems, feeling left behind, car problems that have yet to be worked out, and numerous other difficulties.
• I learned how to make my markers flow. Instead of scrubbing them into the water colored paper, I allow the ink to make contact with the paper. This realization helped me with all the chores and things I didn't want to do. I just showed up where I could and opened to whatever joy I could find in the task. I made contact with my presence and then allowed the thing to do itself, (housework I'm looking at you ; )  ).
• I love the process of "inking".  I will get better quality supplies and do more of it.
• I really want to get better at sharing and documenting my work. Not sure what that looks like yet.

I read the Manifesto of Encouragement almost everyday, and everyday I feel it coming more alive in my life.

"Someone is in profound pain, and a few months from now, they’ll be thriving like never before. They just can’t see it from where they’re at."Danielle Laporte

 

This line gives me life.

 

coming soon

Just a few of the paper-dolls I am working on. Sign up on my mailing list, or follow me on bloglovin to be notified.

New Printable and .svg file

 This printable is available at my Etsy shop.

Birds and Berries

Svg file to cut birds and berries available

at my Etsy shop.

Mermaid

I re-cut the mermaid smaller, painted and inked the pieces.

I glued some of the basic pieces together

a close up

more close ups

I'm going to collage her onto hand-painted paste paper.

Mermaid experiment

I was playing with a drawing I did a while back and decided to see what it would look like as a mermaid.

Then I turned the drawing into simple shapes adding an arm and a rock, and picking out some flowers.

I cut the shapes out of watercolor paper and did some doodles and sloppy washes. The shapes were pretty odd, so I wasn't sure what would happen.

I did a trial put together:

She still needs some work.

I'm going to re-cut it smaller to fit into my journal.

Faces and flourishes

More inking and cut files. This time faces.

I cut .svg files from my fancy faces collection. They are actually silhouettes from this paper doll set. The set includes the hair, faces and necks so that they can be cut in different colors or layered for a printing plate. 

 I printed this with Versatex inks using a Gelli pad. I doodled embellishment when it was dry. I will be exploring this technique again.

The parts were layered and glues to produce a plate which was placed on the pad. While I plan to do more experimenting with this,I really love the way the paint dried on the plates. I embellished them with markers.

Antique cabinet again

This is one of my favorite cutting files. After I finish testing it I hope to make it available as a down load.

I painted the cabinet pieces after I cut them out.

I started auditions for  cut outs and pieces I had
been doodling on.

I glued and taped everything down while trying to
decide what to put inside.

This was so much fun to make.

More cabinet art here:

Birds

Antique cabinet 

Dollhouse

The cutting files and printables will be available in my Etsy shop.

Birds

I created some bird cutting files, which I cut with the scan n cut, then I painted and embellished with watercolor.

They are inspired by the birds in my yard that love to eat the berries before I do. I cut them from 140 lb  9 x 12 watercolor paper. I did a light wash in the background, then took a darker color and did some patterns with a fine brush.

The cutting files are available here in my Etsy shop

witch dress color page freebie

free witch dress coloring page
limited time only
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Witch Coloring Page

More witchery

I finished the witch ornaments and decided to make them into a printable.
Here is the finished witch dress project:

I cut the witch dress pieces from my witch dress svg file. I painted the pieces with watercolor.  Then I used a black inking felt pen to doodle a pattern on the pieces.


I glued the cuff to the sleeves, then punched holes in the shoulders and attached the ribbon and the sleeves to the dress. The ragged hem was attached with copper mini brads.

I liked the effect so much I wanted to share. I made it into a printable for you.

The witch ornament printable is available here at Etsy.

Paper -doll dress doodles

More doodling on paper-doll dresses.

I cut the images with my scan n cut. Then I water colored them. I used my favorite pen, Sakura graphic pen in sepia.

 The edges are "aged" with an old brown stamp pad.