Whacky Chicken Humor

Guest-hosting a recent post card swap was very fun.  I had a feeling the All Things Chicken Swap would bring in some funny entries, and I was not disappointed.  You'll have to check the group blogsite to see the post cards I received.  Here are my last-minute contributions:

Sunlight-dappled Ferns

There is something so cheerful about the new greens of Spring.  These ferns are taller now than when I photographed them five days ago, but they have yet to fill out.

Neighbors to Lily Of The Valley

To quote a John Denver song, "Sunlight on my shoulders makes me happy..."

A few more growing things...

I guess you can who lives where the winters are up to six months long.  Something green starts growing in the garden and they go "Ooooo!" and "Ahhhhh!"  I guess green has become one of my favorite colors, as in green-growing-things.

Turk's Cap Lilies are coming up.  The whorl of leaves promises some lovely orange curled-petaled flowers along the top of four- to five-foot high stalks later this Spring.

These bonnie bluebells and forget-me-not types offset the glorious new greens in my early garden.

Early Garden Peek

Spring is slowly bringing color to the flower beds and budding trees.  These bright pink tulips are a new planting. I didn't expect to find a spider inside one of them.

Partially unfurled ferns show no resemblance to the lacy, full-leaved fronds soon to appear.

Lamb's Ear is the fuzziest plant I've ever encountered.  When walking by, I just want to pet its leaves.

Pressed Flower Collages - Part 3

These are probably the last of the pressed fern post cards.  With walnut ink spatters on copies of an old dictionary page, rubber stamped images and gold embossing powder, these are much like the ones posted previously, with the addition of postage stamps.

Pressed Flower Collages - Part 2

With copied pages from an old dictionary for backgrounds, I spritzed brown walnut ink, rubber stamped a large fern image, adhered an actual dried/pressed fern leaf, and covered with gloss medium gel.  (The camera flash glares off the gloss finish...)  A smaller fern rubber stamp image (and a circular stamp image) embossed with gold embossing powder, rounded out the design.  Brown ink smudges along the edges were the finishing touches.

two post cards

two more post cards

folded note card

My Floral Splurge

Sometimes you just need a cheery splash of color.  Flowers are eager to provide that boost.  At the Amish country store were hanging baskets of large, gorgeous geranium plants in full bloom.  I could not resist buying one. The blossoms appear to be orange and pink, or maybe it's the resolution of my computer screen.

Gelli Printed File Folders/Dividers

Today I decided to organize the Artist's Trading Cards I've received from wonderful swappers over the past three years.  ATC's are stored for easy viewing in clear plastic 9-pocket trading card protective pages in a thick 3-ring binder.  Gathering some gently used file folders, I applied acrylic paints and stencils to make labeled dividers for separate sections devoted to the most prolific ATC trading partners. Why order decorated file folders/dividers from my favorite greeting card catalog when I can make some up in an hour or less?

The neat thing about Gelli Plate prints is that if you don't like what you see, you can apply another layer of paint, stenciled patterns, rubber stamped images, or collage elements.  My favorite is the blue and white folder with triangles.

Four Watercolor Post Card Backgrounds

I really like saturated colors...  This means layering over layers over layers of paint until they glow!

Deli Waxed Paper Sheets

It seems there is always something "new" to try, so here are some Deli waxed paper sheets on which I cleaned off my brayer while using acrylic paints on the Gelli Plate printer today:

They could be trimmed down to make a middle layer for a collaged post card, ATC, bookmark, or applied to an art journal page.

Masonite Chips

As collage artists, some of us are either unabashedly, or covertly, scavengers.  I'm probably not the only one to pick up paint chips and interesting masonite countertop chips.  These two samples had nice patterns, but I ended up covering most of them.

One side of each has a postage stamp and a button, the other side- a saying.

Something Sewn- Catchall

A very dear-to-my-heart woman I've known all of my life requested that I make her a "car bib," since her most frequent "eating out" experience  involves drive-through windows.  After drafting and altering a pattern, I made the bib reversible with weighted shoulder tabs.  Sandwiching a middle layer of flannel-type batting, I stitched an overall loopy quilting design using variegated thread, and finished with hand-made bias binding.  The pockets at the bottom are for... well, leftovers.  While wearing a polyester blouse I discovered that the weighted bib will not stay put, so a black elastic strap was the final touch.  No, I'm not planning to make any more of these :)

 

Pressed Flower Collages - Part 1

While rearranging (Caution, this may lead to cleaning, beware!) I came across a thick, heavy College Edition Webster's New World Dictionary of the American Language (copyright 1957, 1953, 1951 and 1951) in which I had several years ago placed flowers, ferns and petals to dry.  As I fanned the pages, many petals and leaves fluttered out like delicate confetti.

I decided to start using them for collage (watch for later postings).  Here are a few beginnings:

Some of the backgrounds are book text.  I covered them first with a layer of painted Deli waxed paper, a new find (for me). This adds crinkly texture and the translucence allows some of the background pattern to show through.  On one  I rubberstamped butterfly images.  Either matte or gloss gel medium helps to anchor the layers