Two Tickets To Paradise

“Got a surprise especially for you
Something that both of us have always wanted to do
We’ve waited so long, waited so long
We’ve waited so long, waited so long

I’m gonna take you on a trip so far from here
I’ve got two tickets in my pocket, now baby, we’re gonna disappear
We’ve waited so long, waited so long
We’ve waited so long, waited so long

I’ve got two tickets to paradise
Won’t you pack your bags, we’ll leave tonight
I’ve got two tickets to paradise
I’ve got two tickets to paradise”

— Eddie Money, "Two Tickets to Paradise"

Well hello blog, have we met before?

After an unintended absence, I have to reintroduce myself to...myself, or rather my blog-self.  

In mid-July, my husband came home from work one Monday and said, "Can I ask you something?"  Now I've been married to this guy for 3 decades, so I said, "No, you may not."  You see, when he starts a conversation out-of-the-blue with this question, it means he has a crazy notion about something we should do, or buy, that generally is not on my 'well-planned-in-advance' agenda.  

So, he rephrases:  "I'm going to tell you something."

And it was a big something!

He had secretly planned (and booked) a trip without my stamp of approval.  Not only that, we were to leave in 4 weeks!!  I was speechless!  Okay,  not speechless - I had plenty to say!

 "Isn't this something a husband and wife should talk about first!?!"  I sputtered.

 "Yes," he replied calmly, "but you would have said no."

And he was right; I would have.  I am a well-nontraveled individual; a "Staycationer".  There are projects to be done, money to be saved, dogs to be attended to...   But mostly, a mom to be near.  I have not taken a vacation in 10 years in order to be available for my mom who is in failing health.  I just couldn't imagine being miles away and  have something happen.  She has been in Assisted Living the past three years, but still...

My daughter said, "Mom!  You need to get away!"  

My son said, "I'll check on Grandma everyday."

My friends said, "Are you nuts?!?  I'll go in your place!"

So where was this sneaky, surprise trip?  ....   Hawaii!!  I WAS GOING TO SEE THE OCEAN!!!!!  Only a month prior, I had created a Mixed Media project called Imagine the Inky Depths. I remarked that I had never been to the ocean; it was something I had only dream of doing; and now, that dream was going to become a reality.  Kauai was the destination: 111 miles of coastline!

This was craziness!  Certainly we weren't really doing this, were we?   I only had 4 weeks to research every nook-and-cranny of Kauai.  My husband does not believe in planning things to do.  He is an easy-going, live-in-the-moment kind of traveler, telling me to relax and get an Island frame-of-mind.  Get serious man!  I also had arrangements to make, obviously some shopping to do, and a home to remodel!  By that I mean, when I do go on vacation I deep clean and deep organize EVERYTHING - basement to attic.

Big mistake...

Day 1 of my gut-the-house itinerary, I partially tore the long head of the bicep tendon.

I fussed, I fretted, I wore a sling...

And you know what?  I finally relaxed!  And when I arrived on Kauai 4 weeks later, I was indeed in an Island frame-of-mind. 

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I have decided to do a souvenir canvas of my first time to the ocean.  I experienced so many wonderful textures on Kauai - the contrast of silk and grit of the sand. the velvet waxiness of tropical flowers, the whispery light frothy touch of the tide retreating around my ankles.  I love creating texture, texture and more texture on a black canvas. I began with white gesso followed by light and heavy modeling pastes. I tore crumpled fast-food napkins to apply as 'waves' for the tide.  The beach in the lower quarter of my canvas was a heavy layer of modeling paste mixed with, that's right, sand.

When my thick application of texture was dry. I began the painting process.  My coast was painted with two shades of DecoArts Acrylic Americana Satin in White Birch and Bittersweet. While the paint was still wet, I sprinkled white glitter to mimic the sun dazzled sand I saw at the beach. 

Next up, ocean.  I applied Prima's ArtAlchemy Metalliques: Deep Waters & Rich Turquoise with Prima's ArtAlchemy Opal Magics:  Blue-Pink and Green-Gold.  The crests of the waves were accented with Dylusion's White Linen.

Off the canvas, I sprayed Prima's Color Bloom's Worn Leather onto a scrap of fabric netting.  Next I set out random scraps of paper and sprayed those with Lindy's Stamp Gang's Starburst Sprays in TiffanyLou Blue and Tainted Teal Love.  A touch more Of Prima's Worn Leather spray and may papers were ready for layout in the upper left corner.  

I wanted to feature souvenirs from our trip to Kauai:  the glass bottles (Tim Holtz's glass vials) contain small beach stones from Kealia Beach on the eastern Coconut Shore, sea glass from the southern Glass Beach and sand from the northern Ke'e Beach.  I added more keepsakes such as beach-combing treasures like driftwood and stones and part of the shell lei husband received  at the luau we attended.  My painted netting, some jute and my version of a plumeria blossom were added to the lower right corner.

I included two memory photos:  Glass Beach (I could have relaxed, listened to the surf and 'sifted' sand treasures here all day) and Wailua Beach at Sunrise - my very 'first time time' walking into the ocean!  An 'Oh Wow Moment!'  

Hawaii, aloha a hui hou kakou... Hawaii, fond farewell until we meet again...

(And to my husband, Mahalo nui loa. Aloha Au la 'Oe.)

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I would like to enter my Two Tickets to Paradise canvas into the following challenges:

Mixed Media Place August challenge - Creative Gym #20.  The prompt quote "Dreams, if they're any good, are always a little bit crazy", is perfect.  Like I said in my blog, I never dreamed I'd be walking in the surf watching the sunrise over the waves!

Mixed Media World MMW#17: Summer/Sea/Nautical challenge. 

Bee is For Box

Recently I was browsing the aisles at a local discount store looking for treasures. I happened upon a small box in a color I can only euphemistically call Pepto Bismol Pink.  A phrase on the top of it said 'Beautiful'.  No wonder this unwanted orphan was on the death row of aisles, The Clearance Aisle, aka the 75-90% Off Aisle.  For $1.39, I decided to take it home.

Now what? 

It sat there. Staring at me. 'I'm already beautiful. See, it says so," it taunted.

So I painted it green.  

Yikes, that didn't help matters.   I planned on using this little box as storage for words/sentiments I had in my stash, and I needed some inspiration. 

Design Teams to the rescue! I decided to search some blogs for inspiration and two of those caught my eye. Anything But Cute's current challenge was 'Birds and the Bees' and Simon Says Stamp had a wonderful Tic-Tac-Toe Challenge going on. The Tic-Tac-Toe was such a clever idea, I knew I wanted to play along, and I thought 'Bees' would be a fun theme.

For the Simon Says Stamp Challenge, I chose the top row: Sequins, Gold, Stamp

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I covered the green I had carelessly applied to the box with white gesso and Prima's Modeling paste through an old stencil I had on hand.  Prima's Art Alchemy Steampunk Copper and DecoArt's Champagne Gold came next as a base layer followed by Lindy's Bayou Boogie Gold and Clam Bake Beige sprays. 

While my base was drying, I made my bees out of Polymer clay; baked them, painted them and glued them to wing nuts for wings.  I'm a bit afraid of bees (read, terrified), so making them 'winged nuts' was a psychological bandaid to my illogical (or so I'm told) fear. I also made flowers from scrapbook paper, foil and netting using Tim Holtz 'Tattered Florals' die and a Sizzix Big Kick machine.    I painted the paper and foil flower layers with the same paints and sprays used on the box plus Lindy's Burnt Umber; smaller florals and greenery were created by painting blooms from my stash.

Since this project will be a storage box for words and sentiments, I decided to make my bees 'spelling bees' by stamping and embossing letters on the box.  I used the Stampabilities Typewriter Background Stamp, Ranger's Clear Distress Ink and gold ZING! embossing powder. Continuing in the 'spelling' theme, some of the flowers have a petal layer cut from text.

I adhered the components, including a honeycomb I cut out of cardstock and painted with Prima's Art Alchemy Steampunk Copper. The wood frame is painted with DecoArt's Champagne Gold.  Gold sequins (honey drops) are scattered here and there on the arrangement.  

And one last thing: A honey pot!

Products used:

Prima: White Gesso, Modeling Paste, Art Alchemy Steampunk Copper acrylic paint; DecoArt: Champagne Gold acrylic paint; Lindy's Stamp Gang: Bayou Boogie Gold Starburst spray, Clam Bake Beige Starburst spray, Burnt Umber Moon Shadow Mist; Ranger: Clear Distress Embossing Ink, Perfect Pearls Perfect Gold, Glossy Accents; Tim Holtz: Idea-ology Tiny Vials, Tattered Florals Die, Diamond Plate and Riveted Metal embossing folders

I also used a Sizzix machine, Fimo polymer clay, ZING! embossing powder, Stampablities Typewriter Background Stamp, stencil, DCWV paper, netting, gold sequins, aluminum foil and wing nuts.  

Some Kind of Wonderful

I am underserved by my community.  Don't get me wrong, it is a wonderful place to live.  But, darn it, my art supply options are scarce! It's truly an injustice.

The good news is, a present came for me in the mail!  Isn't that exciting?  Inside was some new, utterly gorgeous Prima paints and products!!  I have no idea who sent them to me!

Okay, it was me.  That's right, I bought these lovelies for myself.  What can I say, I'm a very giving person ;)

I have been wanting to add to my meager Prima stash, which had consisted of ArtBasics Modeling paste, 3D Gloss Gel, a couple of bottles of Color Bloom Spray and a jar of ArtAlchemy paint.  All of which I love; the modeling paste and gel are my 'go-tos' when I start creating a canvas.

I had recently sampled my solo jar of the ArtAlchemy paint on my last project and I was transported to a wonderful, creamy paradise.  This stuff is...well it's wonderful.  So I've used the word wonderful repeatedly, haven't I?  I might as well call my next canvas Some Kind of Wonderful! 

After applying gesso to my canvas, I used stencils and modeling paste for texture.  I absolutely adore texture and can't imagine not incorporating it in all that I create.  Laying down my background colors was the next step.  I am a diligent stalker of the Prima blog and saw the beautiful (wonderful) peachy/baby blue mood board they had displayed for their June challenge and decided to play along.

My new jars of ArtAlchemy included Opal Magic Rose Gold and Opal Magic Pink Blue which I used along with Color Bloom sprays in Cobalt, Tea Stain and Frost.  The Prima flowers I had ordered were more pink than peach and more turquoise than pale blue, but they tinted beautifully. I adhered them with 3D Gloss Gel.

And then there is Finnabair's Art Stones.  I'm in love!  They add such a fabulous dimension and are lightweight on the project. (But if anyone knows how to pick up these little rascals when they spill on your craft mat, let me know.  The ones I tried to capture, just kept scurrying away on a frenzied flight of static.)  

I always seem to want to repurpose an item in my creations, and again, I chose a zipper. The humble zipper...Isn't it just a marvel of human engineering?   I also tore strips out of an old music book and embossed the edges for a vintage feel.  In addition to repurposing, I try to add an embellishment that I've made.  In this canvas, it's the blue fan in the lower left corner.  I wrapped a beaded fishline in peach colored beads around the base of the fan to incorporate both colors of the challenge and finished it with a tiny floss tassel.

Metallic thread, a Prima Vintage Ephemera image and the word 'Wonderful' finished my shabby chic project.

I am entering this into the Prima PPP June Challenge:

Prima PPP June Challenge

Imagine the Inky Depths

“In one drop of water are found all the secrets of all the oceans.”

— Kahlil Gibran

I've never been to the ocean, isn't that sad?  I've flown over the Gulf of Mexico, but that doesn't count.  Someday I will see the ocean and all is beautiful vastness, but for now, I can only imagine.

Oh my, I had a lot of messy fun making this one.  I dragged out all my old polymer clay from when I made clay beads.  That stuff is incredible, all the clay was still useable!  I made shells, an old bottle, sea grass, a sand dollar, and other underwater lifeforms. Then, the mermaid.  I thought I wouldn't be able to sculpt her, but thanks to an online tutorial by the talented Gabrielle Pollacco, I was able to create my sea princess.

A couple of side notes here, I sent the bottom (no pun intended) left photo to my daughter with the text 'your old barbie found work as a hand model.  I've censored her bottom for privacy reasons.'  She texted back, "You think you're funny, don't you?'  Gee, why can't she just say, you are so funny, Mom!'  Whatever... The last picture was from a garage raid - Gutter Guard - I thought it would make a good fisherman's net.  Ssshhh - secrets now - Mr. Me will never miss it. Oh, and in keeping with my kitchen table art studio, you will see in the upper left photo some tools of my trade: a well loved cookie sheet, parchment paper and a garlic press.

After waiting for gesso and modeling paste to dry, I was ready for my background color. I wanted a mix of sand and sun at the top so I sprayed on Shimmerz Tuscan Sun, Color Bloom Tea Stain and Lindy's Clam Bake Beige. For the inky blue at the bottom of the ocean, I used Ranger's Dylusions London Blue,  Marble Black and After Midnight.  The mid-water is Prima's Color Bloom Glistening Waves and Cobalt Blue.

Embellish and glue followed by embellish and glue followed by color and highlight.  Note to self: glue some on before background color!  Okay, so that took forever!

I had set aside my sweet, little sand dollar which I glued to my altered thrift-store paint brush.  My glue gun came out of hiding to make the messy brush drips.  I wanted the brush and drips to indicate a 'being of the universe' washing her brush in the ocean depths.  I tinted the drips and highlighted the items in the ocean  with Finnabair's ArtAlchemy Rich Turquoise by Prima.

The upper half of the canvas includes found objects as I had run out out of the clay embellishments I had sculpted.  I didn't want the fisherman's net to include any 'secrets' of the sea, but I did give him a pearl for his trouble.

Since messy is my specialty and I give my imagination full rein, I would love to play along in the June challenge, Imagine & Get Messy. It was fun imagining the treasures and secrets in the ocean and dripping paint and ink on (and off) my canvas, Imagine The Inky Depths.

I would like to enter my Imagine The Inky Depths mixed media canvas to the Mixed Media Place May Challenge-Be a Light Moodboard.

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Sidenote:  While I was sculpting the mermaid, I had a flash from "The Way Back Machine" and remembered my daughter's 4th Birthday Party.  Disney's Little Mermaid was very popular at the time so we had an '"Under the Sea" Party.  I 'tried' my hand at cake decorating and fashioned a mermaid cake.  My daughter's birthday is in the month of August and the temperature was, of course, at it's hottest.  The frosting was melting as fast as I could apply it.  But, my reason for this old memory is this:  I had taken (temporarily) the legs off the barbie doll I was using as my mermaid model so I could just insert her upper torso into the cake...

The gasps of little girls were heard for blocks as I, bad mom, removed legless Barbie from the cake before serving.  Hope those little party-goers have recovered from that traumatic sight!

Good times, good times :)

A Birthday and A Wedding - A Story of Two Bards

Birthday Bard

No, that's not a typo.  A 'bard' is what I call a canvas board/greeting card. 

Yes, as a student of Shakespeare in college, I do know the true definition of bard  (a poet or storyteller).  But what can I say, I make up random words and/or definitions.  Take my word for it, or ... don't ;)

This is my third attempt at mixed media, and I was anxious to take a crack at crackle paste. My base of the 'bard' is crackle paste and modeling paste through a brick stencil.  Next up:  a glue frenzy with flowers and beads, lace and various other findings followed by acrylic paint and ink.  I distress-inked and embossed a line of musical notes off-canvas and added that next.  Highlighting was done with metallic pigments and sparkle spray.