Collage Coterie Lesson 2

I'm so behind with my Collage Coterie Workshop but it's been such a busy week between working and getting ready to go away for a few days. I wanted to at least try one more collage and decided to use one of these old bingo cards. I really like using these for backgrounds...I love all the numbers. Lesson two dealt with the muted colors found in vintage pieces and using chalk and charcoal. I like how the charcoal gives a nice perception of depth to a collage and I've admired its use by others but I'm going to need more practice to make it look more natural.

Summer Beauty ATC Swap

Have you ever found a brand of clothes or a series of books or anything else that just suits you as if it was made for you? That's how I feel about Red Lead. Chris and Sharon have created a wonderful artsy world full of everything I love...a little vintage, a little retro, charm, whimsy and a dash of sass. I got a chance to actually visit their store in St. Louis a year or so ago and had such a fun time...I think I touched everything! They're constantly dreaming up new things to play with...stamps, collage sheets, trinkets and what-nots. The latest group activity was a Summer Beauty ATC swap using their beautiful Vintage Elements collage sheets. I love these images...old seed packs, beautiful summer flowers, birds....so pretty! Here are my cards...I can't wait to see what's flying my way!

Neighborhood Charm

A few weeks ago I was reading some of my favorite blogs (probably when I should've been getting ready for work! ) when I stumbled on these pretty little charms made by Cindy of Cindy is Crafty. She calls them neighborhood charms. They remind me of some of the buildings in my sister's old neighborhood in Brooklyn. Cindy makes them out of old Rummikub tiles. You know how much I like old game pieces so you can imagine how "charmed" I was by them. When I wrote to Cindy to let her know how much I liked her charms she offered to send me one. Now, how sweet was that! Well, we decided to have a little swap...she sent me one of her neighborhood charms and I sent her an altered poker chip charm. And here it is...thank you Cindy...I love it!

Collage Coterie

Mary has started a new workshop called Collage Coterie. I had such a great time with her Your Vintage Gluebook workshop that I didn't hesitate for a moment to join this one! As Mary describes it, this workshop is "especially designed to celebrate the fun of vintage collage!" I think one of the aspects of Mary's workshops I love the most (besides the lessons themselves and all the gorgeous images Mary shares) is the camaraderie among the participants. Mary has set up a Flick group where everyone can share their work. It's a wonderful way to see what everyone else is doing and get feedback from Mary and the others in the group. If this sounds great to you, come join us! In the first lesson we learned Mary's technique for a blended paper background. Here are two ATCs I made for the exercise.

Time to Register for Artfest!

Artfest 2011 doesn't take place until next April but August 1st is the date that Teesha announces the line-up of instructors and workshops. Registration begins on September 4th so you have about a month to look over the offerings and make a decision. For those who may be unfamiliar with it, Artfest is a four day art retreat held annually at Fort Worden near beautiful Port Townsend, WA. Teesha and Tracy Moore host four magical days of mixed media art workshops hosted by talented artists from near and far. It's hard to describe how amazing this experience can be but just try to imagine spending 4 days with 500+ people who all love making art! In addition to the all day workshops there's art trading, late night art parties in the dorms, journaling and bonfires on the beach, art vendors night, show and tell, old friends, new friends and so much more! I'm so fortunate to be able to attend again this year. I've read over the offerings, ordered and reordered my choices (SO hard to decide!) and now I'm ready to send in my registration. Hope to see you there! PS...if you're curious you can take a look at some of my photos from Artfest 2010 here.

Fish Ride

Lady Churchill

Mary at Green Paper has offered us another challenge using some of her lovely vintage images. This time it was an image of Lady Churchill along with two other images. The challenge was to use at least a portion of each image in any kind of art piece. Some of the pieces that were made for the last challenge were amazing! I chose to use the images in an ATC this time. Be sure to stop by Green Paper and download the free images and join the challenge! On August 9th Mary will pick one participant at random to receive one of her wonderful vintage paper packs.