Today I wanted to share with you an image that I "altered" using various techniques. It all started with this dancing gypsy I found on the Altered Pages Altered Bits II collage sheet. I just love her! With my photo editing software I cropped and enlarged her. Then I went ahead and did some more editing by inverting the colors, i.e. making her black and the background white. Of course a simpler way would be to enlarge her with copy/printer and cut her out directly, then paste her shape onto black card stock and cut her out again which will give you a nice silhouette. Well, once you have her silhouette or template for that matter, you can make a stencil or a mask for inking, painting or printing! What was really fun for me was using the software from my digital cutter to cut her out.

The simple silhouette shape can then be scanned into the computer ( placed on a white paper) and easily converted into a jpeg, svg, png, psd, etc., making her into whatever color, size or shape that you want her to be. Are you seeing the potential here?!? So next time you see an interesting shape in one of the collage sheets purchased from Altered Pages think beyond cutting and pasting as is and try something new!

I've enlarged the image, printed then cut it out

Then I glued the shape onto black card stock and cut it out again. Since I have a digital cutter, I was able to directly cut the shape out directly which is why it looks so perfect.

I went ahead and cut her out of white stencil paper to use as a mask.

Here she is masked and overprinted using a Gelli printing plate  in blue showing the orange yellow red print beneath.

This is a ghost print which happens after pulling a first print, taking off the mask, then laying down a second sheet of paper which reveals a crisp outline of the mask. This was overprinted in a red purple. Sometimes this works and sometimes it doesn't. I kind of like this one. We'll see.

Maya Mist spray ink patina green was sprayed on using a stencil. The ink kind of pooled and made her edges fuzzy looking. I think the ink reacted with the paint below causing the ink to be resisted somewhat by the paint. Not sure where I want to go with this yet. May go back over it with some different colored ink and add some more textures to the background.

Well I've just barely scratched the surface here and will be playing with this some more!

Disclaimer: Always give the original source credit or if you're not sure ask for permission. Never ever sell the altered piece/design as your own original design unless it is copyright free.

Our own little solar eclipse party

My husband and I decided to have our own little solar eclipse party last Sunday. Nothing like having a margarita by the pool and watching the solar eclipse through arc welding glasses. I asked him where he got those glasses and he just said he had them around since he was a kid. We've been married almost 32 years and I don't remember them so it must of been with his other treasures in his bottom dresser drawer. He's aged rather nicely my sweet nerdy guy.

Check out the crescent shapes made by the solar eclipse in the shadows. Pretty cool.

Mermaid candle

As the mercury on the thermometer rises towards 100 degrees and beyond here in Arizona my thoughts naturally turn to cool ocean breezes and beautiful beaches. While I can't jump in the car and go to the beach right away (6 hours away) I can make something that reminds me of those places. I was inspired to do a candle after reading Jean's Altered Pages facebook post about wrapping a candle with images as a quick and easy project. So I gathered up my supplies; painted tissue paper, charms, Altered Pages Mermaids You Make colllage sheet and some twine, leftover painted cheesecloth from another project, seashells, and glitter.

 

Just glue on the painted tissue paper, add image, wrap painted cheesecloth loosely around the bottom add seashells and a crab (just below the mermaid). Then string the charms on some twine and tie to secure it. I did distress the charms a little with some brown Stazon ink.

That's it!

This will be submitted to the Unruly Paper Art's RAQ Marvelous Mermaid challenge.

Embossing metal with the Sizzix

Sometimes I just feel like playing with my Sizzix Big Shot whether to die cut or to emboss. Since I'm in a metal mood today I thought I would see what would happen if I ran some metal over jute string to see if it would emboss clearly.

I kind of like the result but I thought it might be better if it was distressed with brown and black ink.

I'm going to try some more items and some different inks to see what I can come up with. If you're wondering where to find metal embossing sheets go to  Altered Pages. While you're at it pick up a No More Shims embossing mat - it really helps with getting those clearly defined embossed details that we all love. Right now it's out of stock but she can easily order more.

Bunny survives drowning in pool

This morning my husband was checking the chlorine in the pool when he found a baby bunny swimming furiously for its life. He scooped out the bunny and placed him on the gravel. The poor thing was shivering so bad and not moving around much. We didn't know if he/she would make it. So I found an old towel to place carefully over him to see if that would help. I think it did!!

His new little home

Looks like St Francis is looking out for him. 

Oh he has a guardian angel too!