My ARTistic Life

Weekly Art Challenge: Play in a Swap!

Weekly Art Challenge: Play in a Swap!

This week, sign up to participate in an art swap. They're so helpful in getting your creative juices flowing. How about trying an ARTchix swap? Or do a search for art swaps online. They're so much fun! I wasn't feeling very creative this week but I HAD to put together my collage packets for a Red and Green Collage Packet swap that I'm in. Knowing that the deadline was right around the corner, MADE me get creative! I went through my stash and pulled out red and green papers galore. You'll find paper napkins, paint samples, wrapping papers, True Colors ARTchix Cards, Handy Red Labels, Red Wings, Red Baroque Borders, Chinese red money envelopes, ephemera and more. I cut and tore them all up into pieces and then stacked them into these little piles. This makes them super easy to put together.

Voila! Here is a Red and Green Collage Pack all put together. Pretty, yes? : )

With the scraps that were left over, I made this pretty label to put on all of my red and green collage packs.

ARTchix Bonus Gift of the Week: Fabulous Red & Green Collage Pack

I made 20 of these gorgeous red and green collage packs. 10 are for the swap that I'm in. And 10 are for you! For this week, type "spoil me" in the comments section of your order and we will include this extra fabulous bonus gift with your order. Or order our weekly blog special below and we will automatically include this bonus gift. It's an amazing gift pack that's guaranteed to spark your creativity! While supplies last.

ARTchix Special of the Week: Our Inchie Celebration Collage Sheet

Get this awesome red and green inchie collage sheet at half price for this week only! Jazz up your holiday projects with this gorgeous sheet! Go to this special link to purchase it.

Bruno stikes again! While I was trying to take photos of the papers and goodies for my red and green collage packs, Bruno had to jump in on the fun.

Wishing you all a very Happy Thanksgiving!!!! : )

Weekly Art Challenge: Wrap Up a Gift!

Weekly Art Challenge: Wrap Up a Gift!

For this week, get a jump on the holidays by wrapping up a special gift or two. I find that if I start early, I'm able to put more time and thought into wrapping each present. And one of my favorite things about Christmas is wrapping presents. 

For the gift above, I wrapped it in pretty paper and made a nice gift tag by simply folding a paint sample in half and adding a sticker from our Peace, Tranquility and Harmony faux post.

Lori Lundy sent me this gorgeous wrapped gift. I love how she punched out hearts and glued them to brown wrap to spice it up. Looks so pretty! Love her cute tag featuring two adorable girls from our Sisters and Friends collage sheet.

Here I've wrapped up a cookbook in pretty pink and green wrapping. I added buttons to the ribbon and the gift tag is a copy of one of my chunky book pages (printed on cardstock). My friend's name is "Mel" so see how I added her name to the "gift tag."

ARTchix Special of the Week: Our Spoil Me Buttons

Jazz up your holiday gift wrap with these gorgeous buttons! They make awesome stocking stuffers too! Get some at a discounted price for this week only! Follow this special link to buy them!

ARTchix Bonus Gift of the Week: Gift Wrap Kit

For this week, when you place an order with ARTchix Studio, type "Spoil Me" in the comments section of your order and we'll include this awesome bonus gift: a selection of wrapping paper swatches from Helga's private collection, pretty punched out hearts and butterflies and fun stickers. Perfect for making your holiday wrapping extra beautiful this year!

OR purchase the weekly special above and we'll automatically include this cool bonus gift with your order. While supplies last.

Okay, with all of this "talk" about gift wrap, I couldn't resist sharing this photo of my adorable Bruno! It was taken during my birthday this year, as soon as I opened this box, he jumped right in and settled in for a long nap.

In Loving Memory of Susan Freniere

Our family friend, Susan Freniere, passed away a few days ago. She was a truly inspiring, wonderful, strong, intelligent, artistic woman and she will be dearly missed. My Mom made this beautiful DreamBox for her. It shows Susan and her husband in the center with photos of everyone in my family around the outside. "You are loved" was rubber stamped onto ribbon. And my Mom, being the incredible jewelry maker that she is, made the incredible nest at the top. She made this DreamBox for Susan to tie to her bed during her illness in hopes of lifting her spirits. It makes me sad that she never got to see it. (It arrived just after she passed away). But I'm sure she knew that she was indeed very loved by so many.

Weekly Art Challenge: Make holiday ornaments! (Nov 12, 2008)

Make Holiday Ornaments!
For this week, get a jump on the holidays and make up an ornament or two or three. They make such wonderful gifts and all of the ones I'm showing here on my blog are sooo fast, easy and FUN to make!

Both ornaments above were made with Tall Silver Memory Frames and Microscope Slides. Simply cut your images to the size of the glass, sandwich them between glass and pop them into the frames.

The images in the ornament above on the left are from our Creative Keepsakes Kit. And on the right, "Feather Your Nest" is from our Feather Your Next faux postage sheet.

Bamboo Ornaments!
These cute ornaments also look great as purse charms! How to make them: glue Spoil Me images to Red Bamboo Tiles. Then cover with Diamond Glaze and let sit overnight. Then string on Skinny Legs, beads and boot charms with beading wire.

Mini DreamBox Ornaments!
I love these mini DreamBoxes! Paint them with any brand of acrylic paint. I usually like to paint at least 2 coats. Put a dot of glue on the back of your image, drop it into the frame and then use a toothpick or tweezers to nudge the image into place. The image on the left is from our Imagine collage sheet. The image on the right is from our Spoil Me collage sheet. Finally, embellish 'til your heart's content. For the lime green ornament, I added found text plus dots of white paint. And on the purple ornament, I added more found text plus black heart rub-ons and Chocolate Wings with rhinestones. Yay!

DreamBox Pendant Ornaments!
Jackie McColl made these beautiful ornaments with our DreamBox Pendants! She simply painted the dreamboxes with acrylic paints, dropped in bird images from our Pretty Bird collage sheet, and then embellished them with Pink Flower Borders, Black Mini Crown, Black Baroque Borders and rhinestones. So pretty!

Tall DreamBox Ornaments!
I love these DreamBoxes because you can hang them like ornaments or you can stand them up on your desk. It's really nice having the choice! Both of these DreamBoxes were painted with plain ol' acrylic paints. Then images were dropped in: bird images from Chixies Flying Inchies on the left (the window of this frame is 1" x 3" - perfect for framing a set of 3 inchies!) and of course, our beautiful Spoil Me chick on the right. Rhinestones were added to both ornaments. And then I added rub-ons and a Rasperry Metal Rose to the lime green one. I love putting rub-ons on top of the frames and glass, looks so cool!

ARTchix Special of the Week: Our Set of 2 Tall DreamBoxes

It's the perfect gift for this holiday season! You can make special DreamBoxes with fun themes and happy messages for yourself,  friends, family and coworkers. These great DreamBoxes can be ornaments or special mini frames for displaying desktop artwork (because they have a hang hole on the back AND a stand).

Get some at a discounted price for this week only! Follow this special link to buy them! At this great price, you can afford to give everyone the gift of your creativity this holiday season! Order this week and get our awesome holiday-inspired bonus gift!

Bruno likes ornaments too!
While I was taking photos of the ornaments for my blog, Bruno couldn't resist getting in on the action! : )

Hope you have a great week! ; )

Weekly Art Challenge: Make Holiday ATCs! (Nov 5, 2008)

Weekly Art Challenge: Make Holiday ATCs!
Get a jump on your Christmas and holiday cards this year by making a set of holiday Artist Trading Cards. Once you make them, you can copy them and add them to the front of cards (instant Christmas cards!) or use them as gift tags on packages or..... You'll be able to share your beautiful art with everyone this year without too much effort and time.

Where Do You Start?!
Well, I knew that I wanted my ATCs to be green and red so first, I pulled out my wrapping papers, ephemera and collage sheets that have these 2 colors. Then I picked my favorite paper from the stack (which is the red coral with green background) and then I started ripping and tearing and playing from there. And of course, I had to include my muse. : )

BONUS Gift of the Week: Enjoy one of my holiday ATCs and matching stickers!
To celebrate our new fabulous products, this week, if your order is over $25 (before shipping), we will automatically include this fabulous bonus gift with your order. This awesome bonus gift includes a fun ATC and matching mini sticker sheet by Helga...along with a length of silver tinsel. While supplies last.

BIG BONUS Gift of the Week: Enjoy a set of my holiday ATCs, stickers and YUMMY FUDGE!
To celebrate our new fabulous products, this week, if your order is over $100 (before shipping), we will automatically include this amazing bonus gift with your order. This awesome bonus gift includes a set of 3 fun ATCs and 3 matching mini sticker sheets by Helga...PLUS a lucky vintage horseshoe or wishbone charm PLUS a piece of *delicious* chocolate fudge from Quebec, Canada. While supplies last.

Our Big Bonus Gift = Gorgeous Gifts!
Jackie McColl loved wrapping up this gift using our Big Bonus Gift ATC, stickers and lucky vintage wishbone. Looks soooo nice!! : ) Now you can make your prezzies look extra lovely this year too!

ARTchix Special of the Week: NEW "Handmade with Love" sheet
Get this awesome collage sheet and/or sticker sheet at a special discounted price for this week only! Spice up your holiday cards, gift wrap and prezzies with this gorgeous sheet! Follow this special link to buy them!

New Swap and More!

Announcing a new ARTchix Swap!
Make 6 or 12 twinchies (2" square collages) with a "True Colors" theme. For each twinchie that you make, explore one color. You may want to do a set of 6 twinchies that are all red. Or maybe you want to make one twinchie devoted to the color red, the next one honoring the color orange, and so on until you do one for each color of the rainbow. It's totally up to you, have fun and enjoy! The deadline isn't until March 10, 2009 so you have lots of time!

Note: Each twinchie must include at least one ARTchix image from at least one of the following sheets:
Ruby Red
Tangerine Travels
Yellow (coming in January 2009)
Green World
I'm Blue
Lavender Lovelies
Sepia Sentiments

I made the twinchie above with our new Ruby Red collage sheet, 2" Watercolor Squares, Tell Me a Story collage sheet and Handy Red Labels. So fun! : )

My Snuggle Bunny!
I love sharing photos of my adorable pets. So, when I took this cute photo of my kitty, Bruno, snuggled up in the recliner in my studio, I couldn't resist showing it to you. : )

HOORAY!!!!!!!!!!!!! : )

A Peek at Next Week.....
I plan to start making Christmas gifts very soon. Will be sure to share what I make with you. In the meantime, check out these awesome ornaments that Jackie McColl made! They all feature images from our stunning, new Snowflake Kisses collage sheet...paired with Memory Frames in Inchie, Twinchie and Tall sizes.