amazing stamp find/start of school

so yesterday i went to Michael's to get some new tim holtz sprockets, but they were doing inventory and were completely out of them! arg! however, inventory also means discount bins! so i got these amazing stamps for only $1 each! yayy! so i'm going to make an atc featuring each stamp. i also got some cute new bottles and metallic glitter. can't wait to get started on these new projects, but school is starting next week, so my crafting time will soon plummet to nearly none. so just in case i don't get on here for another month or so, thanks everyone for all of your wonderful comments and advice and giving me an amazing summer project. ♥

what i love this week....

art journals! the one above can be found at izabella's tattered letters. i've designed a few journal covers and finished one complete altered journal. i guess what i love most about these projects are the layers. there is no limit on how much or how little you can add to these things, and they still look amazing.
i think this is my most "professional" looking journal cover. the girl is a collaged piece onto a painted diamond background. then i used a gold crayon for some swirls, and that's it!
this piece was another of my first ones, and for some reason i thought that it was an excellent idea to take a picture before the glue dried, so ignore the glue spots. it is a painted background, no stamps. the i collaged on some clock parts and circuit board along with a gold part of a clock face with the word "art" inside connected to a gold chain. the i added an old belt that no longer fits to bind it all together.
this is the cover to my completed journal. it is collaged wallpaper with an octopus drawn on, ha. it also has some painted speckled on there. it is bound with a super cute sparkly pink belt that i loved. the spine is decorated with yarn, ribbon and beads and feathers, that's my favorite part.
this one was my first altered journal. it is green with collaged chinese newspaper and some drawings on the side. then i embellished it with some buttons, mirrors, letters, wire and beads.



i love how puffy these books get when they are filled with writings, souvenirs, and all sorts of collage elements. i also love the decorated spines.

altered journals are one of my favorite projects and is definitely a project i want to incorporate into my classroom. it's a project that can easily be very beautiful and personal. for some of the most amazing journals i have seen, because of subject matter, craftsmanship and originality, you should visit Luthien's Pimp & Paint.

field researcher's journal

as i was looking through everything i have created on here, i realized that i have no nature pieces! anyone who knows me would know that that's a peculiar thing. usually, all of my art is nature themed. i guess i've been trying to get away from it, but here is one!
this assemblage piece has undergone a looong process to get here. first it was white and red for a circus themed piece, wasn't feeling it. then it was kiwi lime for an apothecary theme, not enough materials or inspiration. and finally it was antique gold with the green showing through. and it became a nature theme.
the first element added was the cedar tree needles from my yard. then i wrapped it with some hemp and tagged that with some parchment paper. that started the inspiration for the rest of the piece!
the top left square contains a red leaf and a gold frog that i was actually inspired to use by a Hels Sheridan piece. she used a painted frog on her altered key tin and made me realize that there is something i can do with all those rubber animals i acquired throughout my childhood.
the next square down has all the things i would imagine the researcher to use; collection bottles, paper, etc.
the bottom square is a nest made of feathers that hold a golden snail shell that i had actually prepared for a necklace that was never made.
the large center space holds the first piece; that pit of cedar needles. i used the red tint in that as inspiration for my red, gold and green color palette.
the bottom square has a rubber fish that is wrapped in hemp and thread and mounted on a bug eaten leaf.the top right square contains a rock with thread and a tag that reads "0098", kind of like it's marking the place where it was found or the order in which to file it.
below that is another nest made of dead lawn clippings, ha, that holds a little acorn.
the last space is covered with faux researcher notes and diagrams on parchment with a styrofoam bee mounted. (took me forever to find that bee, he was in the same spot for 3 years and of course i move it a month before i actually want to use it.)

the color palette is really what brings this all together. i have been working on a Louise Nevelson
lesson plan and was inspired by her monochromatic works. i didn't want to go as far as her, but i did reference it a bit in the areas where the objects are the same color as the background (fish, frog, snail)

music themed art

this is my piece for this month's Alter-It Monthly challenge: music.

it is a simple domino piece. i spray painted it gold and trimmed the edges with some music scrapbook paper and the bottom with a beaded ribbon. then i added some swirly stamps to the back ground and a little glitter glaze.
next, i added a treble clef sticker. i wanted to use wrapping in this piece, but with a different material. i used black thread to wrap the piece and kind of simulate the feel of a music staff. (i had tried to image transfer a music staff to the background, but it wouldn't take. :/)
next, i made a small flower from some sheet music and used a blue bead for the center. i was going to use a gold and sepia color theme only, but when i painted onto the sheet music, the ink bled and gave a blueish tint to places. so i accented it with a blue bead.
last, i added some gold paint for dots in the corners and some text, "sing". and it is seen here propped against some lovely vintage singing lesson books.

and of course, there is never a project that my little kitty Zoot doesn't try to sabotage. this time i was lucky enough to get a picture of him in the act, destroying my meticulously stacked pile of sheet music.

i also made another piece for this challenge, an altered can. i made it before the domino, but decided that it had been a while since i had done a domino project that i changed my mind!

for this can, i painted it gold and added the same ribbon and beads to the top. i made some larger flowers from sheet music and used buttons as the center.
then i added some music note stickers (i have a ton of music things, my fiance is a music student). finally, i added some black thread running around the top and bottom.

because my fiance is a music student, i have made plenty of music themed art for him and i feel like sharing!
so for his birthday a couple years ago, i made him this wall hanging of a saxophone (his instrument). it is made of MDF plywood, painted black with gold accents made from bristol board.

over the summer, i made this little piece, about 4"x6". it is an encaustic piece. the background is orange encaustic paint and all of the images are transfers.

WOYWW

this is my first WOYWW. i was just so overwhelmed at all the different projects i have going at once that i thought i would share! usually my desk is cleaned up after every project. but this time, every project has ended at about 3am, so i just left it. currently, i have a doll head, a painting, and two assemblages in progress, with no real idea of where they are headed. just part of the adventure i guess. i've never done an art doll before, so i'm pretty excited to see what happens to that head. :)

what i love this week....

literature pieces! this piece was inspired by a pendant i found at Agnes the Red Gallery a year or so ago, pictured above. i love the simplicity of this piece and the use of found materials.

my piece was made with bundled newspaper as the base. i added some plastic sprockets and a metal "L". then i used glue and gold glitter for some swirls and dots (feeling very glittery at the moment). then i used some gold jewelry wire and the copper wire from inside the clocks to wrap the piece. it is all held together with a copper plate and some tie wire at the top. last, i used some brown suede cord to hang it.

this is a very different piece for me, i've never worked with paper before. but of course, it still has my style and is obviously a beth-like piece.

things with wings

inspired by bug collections and the completely adorable Agitha from Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, (btw, if you haven't played you should, and if you have then i'm sure you'll agree that her house if the most gorgeous and wonderfully whimsical bohemian place ever. i want her house so bad.) i decided to make this piece with butterflies for the Simon Says Stamp and Show challenge.

i started with some wonderful black and cream wallpaper i found in a sample book. then i used some music note scrapbook paper from hobby lobby and some gorgeous chipboard butterflies. probably one of the most simple pieces i've done, but it's beautiful and classic.

what i love this week....

bottles! i have been wanting to do a new bottle project, but the inspiration isn't coming! so i'm re-exploring some old projects, and you get to see them too! the one above can be found at Scrapbooking.com and was the inspiration for my first altered bottle.
for this bottle, i used white masking tape and covered the whole surface. then i used a gold and brown mixture all over and a sharpie for the black swirls. next i added some rebar wire (spray painted gold) and beads to the top. i also painted the stopper gold and added a clear stone in the center. next, i added a flower made from newspaper with a button as the center.
i plan to use this bottle as an element in a larger work sometime.


another previous bottle work i had done was a mother's day present. this one was inspired by the piece to the left at Rubber Road Adventures.

for mine, i used gold, masking tape and swirlies again. then i made some flower stems from rebar wire and mounted pictures of my siblings and i on different flower cut shapes made from cardboard, coasters and newspaper. then i added some fake plants as fillers. i decorated the outside of the vase with buttons, flowers, glass shards and beads. i also added some flowers i made from scrapbook paper and felt.

thrift shop inspiration venture

so after getting all of my video gaming out, i took a trip around the thrift shops in town, and found some wonderful things! this is one of the best trips i've had. everything in the picture, altogether, cost $4.95! so happy.

the little clowns are going to be used in a circus themed assemblage i am working on, and the little grandfather clock is being used in another assemblage. so i have about 3 different projects going on at the same time for now. i was going to use the silver pins in a nautical themed work, but i love them so much i think i'll just wear them on my jacket. :)
i was going to use the tins for bridesmaid gifts, but i have a different idea for that now, so i just have spare tins!

one of the best little surprises was when i opened up the clock face and found all of these awesome miniature treasures! they are super tiny, but gorgeous little cogs and gears that i want to use in some sort of mini-assemblage.

what i love this week....

bird/nest themed art. the one above can be found at Studio B along with a plethora of other bird related art.
i had started on this piece before i saw the three muses theme this week: odd birds. so i may go back and make something for that too, since i am feeling birdy as well.
the whole piece is made from a jar lid, spray painted gold. then i used some robin's egg blue and gold wallpaper on the inside with a silhouette of a bird on top. then i added some blue and white lace around the edge, and i love the effect! it made it feel very homey and domestic, kind of like my altered tin about womanly duties.
then i added the feather and beads to the bottom, which gave it kind of a dream catcher feel. so i went with that and added the blue thread with beads to the surface and some buttons on the inside to play on the domestic theme.overall i feel that i created something that is very cohesive and brings together a lot of different themes; a domestic theme, which relates to the feeling of being trapped in a role, which goes to birds and freedom which is echoed by the net created by the dream catcher threads. so i was very surprised when i got to the end and found how well everything fit together. in my studio classes, my professors are always pushing us to tie things in a relate things, so i think they would be very proud of this. :)

***UPDATE***

i had wanted to add a small egg to this, but all of mine where too big. then i got lucky and found a real egg that was the perfect size and color! unfortunately, i found it an hour away from my house while visiting family, and it did not survive the ride home. but i used the pieces any way and this is how it looks now!
i kind of like it broken, it goes with my "freedom and breaking out" theme. so i'm happy with it, and i am currently working on another dream catcher-esque piece, steampunk themed. :)