/* */ Beulah Bee

September 16, 2015

Carousel

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Today I'm sharing a journal page made with vintage images, a stamp (the carousel) and stencils which I'm linking to Simon's Monday blog challenge.

This week's theme is love this technique and in this piece, I primarily used sponging and stenciling which I enjoy because it's a fast way to get results.

And since I live in a very dry climate it's almost impossible to apply acrylic paint without leaving brush marks. So, more often than not, I'll apply paint with a cosmetic sponge because paint daubs seem easier to blend. I also use sponges to apply paint through my stencils.

One of the stencils I used is a tree but it's a positive shape (photo left) so I had to trace it with a pencil then fill in my lines with a paint brush.

I would have preferred the reverse version but ordered the wrong kind by mistake and I have learned to live with it.


The photo above is the full-page, uncropped view and you'll see an image transfer of the moon in the upper-right corner along with some stars made with a stencil. Stamp credit for the carousel goes to Tim Holtz--it's from his Tiny Things stamp set.

And speaking of techniques we love, I'll close by sharing an artist who I thought of while working on this page. Her name is Maggie Taylor and I first discovered her work during the opening credits for a TV Series called Ghost Whisperer. Her dream-like artwork is made digitally and she's a Photoshop expert. Her website is a lot of fun and if you're not familiar with her work, I think you'll enjoy it.

September 13, 2015

Zulu


I've made lots of tags over the past few years but little in the way of postcard/mail art which is funny since, size-wise, they have a lot in common.

So, channeling my inner Nick Bantock, I went way out on a limb with this creation. Yes, it's still a tag but with credit for pasting on a postcard, I think it could be called mail art.


The bird is a hand-carved stamp and the image transfer is from the British Library. I was attracted to the postcard because the handwriting was in red ink and also for the blue circles and text. I used a Tim Holtz Correspondence stamp (247) over the postage mark and there's a bit of Postale tissue paper at the top.

Why I chose this image will remain a mystery, even to me.

September 10, 2015

Escape


A bonus from mucking-out the craft room last month was discovering long-forgotten goodies like the wooden birdcage die-cut (from Kaisercraft) that I used on this tag.

And since this week's theme at Simon's Monday blog challenge is stamp and punch/die-cut what better time to use it?

A background was made with old book paper, paint and stamping then I tinted and stamped the birdcage and used an image transfer for the text. Yes, that's a bit of washi tape for the shadow and I used a black Fudi-ball pen to ink the edges.

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I have yet to invest in die-cutting equipment and only have a few, very small paper punches so I was happy to find this birdcage in my stash--otherwise, I'd have to sit this one out!

Stamp credit: Kaisercraft Dictionary Meanings