My ARTistic Life

Weekly Art Challenge: Make Holiday Cards!

Weekly Art Challenge: Make Holiday Cards!

For this week, make your holiday cards and get them in the mail pronto! Jackie McColl made this gorgeous card in seconds. Simply stick images from our Handmade with Love sticker sheet to a pre-made card. And add German Scrap Borders. Easy peasy!

Check out this gorgeous card that I received from Rachel Jackson! Isn't it lovely?!!

Running late and don't have time to make holiday cards this year? How about New Year's cards instead? Then you can mail them out anytime in January. Jackie McColl made this pretty card above with our Happy Hour collage sheet and Gold Star Borders. So sweet!

ARTchix Special of the Month (Dec. 10 - Jan. 7, 2009): Our Happy Hour Collage Sheet

Get this awesome Happy New Year collage sheet at half price! Late in sending your Christmas cards this year? No worries, make delightful New Years cards with this excellent collage sheet! Go to this special link to purchase it.

ARTchix Bonus Gift of the Month (Dec. 10 - Jan. 7, 2009)

For this month, type "spoil me" in the comments section of your order and we will include this fabulous bonus gift with your order. Or order our blog special and we will automatically include this bonus gift which includes an awesome assortment of our gorgeous German Scrap (Gold Star Borders, Red Renaissance Borders and Red Flowers) and a cool new "I Love ARTchix" sticker by Jen Kinton Bailey. While supplies last.

Inspiration, My Article in Somserset Studio and More : )

I'm Published!!!
Did you see my article in Somerset Studio's Nov/ Dec 2008 Issue?! I'm so proud of it! I love wrapping gifts so this was such a fun article for me to put together!

Best Crown EVER!
Belinda sent me this scan of a gorgeous new collage called "Snow Queen" that she made with our Spoil Me chick. Wow, check out that crown made of German Scrap. Isn't it amazing??! I think it's made out of Baroque Border and Wings...all painted white. Also, her necklace is a French Border that's been painted. And her belt is a Small Flower Border that's been painted. Wow, it's soooo pretty!!

Our Upcoming Swap: Art Flourishes ATCs DUE in the mail by Jan. 10, 2009
Check out this awesome ATC that Belinda made! Wow, isn't she talented? I spy Art Flourishes on her head along with a snippet of Black Baroque Border.

Have some time off after the holidays? How about playing in our swap? It's going to be so much fun! Please order your sheets ASAP so that we can get them in the mail before we close for the holidays on Dec. 19th.

My Grandma and Me
My Mom recently sent me this photo. Isn't it sweet? It brings a tear to my eye because I so wish my Grandma were here to see me now. While I was growing up, she always encouraged me to be artistic. She bought me magazines and we'd have craft time at her house. She always loved everything I made her and proudly displayed it all...even the dolls I made out of toilet paper rolls! lol. I thank her for helping me become the artist I am today.

Happy Holidays and Happy New Year!!! : )
Wishing you all a wonderful holiday season with your families! I'm so excited because my family is coming to stay with us this year. We haven't had a Strauss family Christmas in quite some time so I'm pumped!! This also means that I've got lots of stuff to do before they arrive. So, this will be my last blog entry for 2008. (By the way, I just had to share this cute photo of Inca as a kitten in my "Misc. To Do" bin. So cute!)

I look forward to seeing you in the new year! I'll be back with my New Year's post on Wed, Jan. 7th. See you then!

Also, please note: ARTchix Studio will be closed Dec. 20 - Jan. 5.

Weekly Art Challenge: Wrap More Gifts!

Weekly Art Challenge: Wrap More Gifts!

For this week, keep staying ahead of the Christmas rush by wrapping some more gifts. I wrapped this set of gifts for my dear friend, Suz. I will be mailing them to her because it's her birthday in a couple of weeks. I wrapped each present and then made little tags for each one of them.

When I'm mailing gifts, I like to put little notes on the top to make it more festive and fun and to hint at what's inside. The pink gift is a pretty journal so I wrote on the tag: wishing you peace. The green gift is a funky camera so I wrote on the tag: wishing you art. And the leopard print gift is a piece of jewelry so I wrote: wishing you fun.

These tags were so easy and fast to make! I had some scraps of watercolor paper that I rubbed with watercolor crayons and blended them by spraying on Moon Glow's Moon Shadow Mist. This gave them a neat glow. When dry, I added Fairy Dreams images, labels and sticker alphabets.

Gorgeous DreamBox featuring our Fairy Dreams Collage Sheet

This beautiful Heart DreamBox by Rosie Radcliffe features an image from our Fairy Dreams collage sheet in the center. Love the bright turquoise and pink colors along with all of her painted dots and symbols. So cool!! Would make such a nice gift!

Beautiful Artist Trading Cards featuring our Fairy Dreams Collage Sheet

Top left: ATC by Linda Kunsman. Love how Linda created a halo with a Red Flower. And the Red Baroque Scrap Borders on top and bottom look so pretty!

Top right: ATC by Kelly Parsons. Love Kelly's colors! It's neat the way she paired the Gold Flower Border and Pink Flower Border on the bottom.

Bottom left: ATC by Jackie McColl. Love how Jackie wrapped an ATC with Egg Blue and Brown Ribbon. Then she tucked in the fairies, awesome!

Bottom right: ATC by Kelly Burton. Love how Kelly made a little crown for the fairy with a piece of Gold Baroque Border. Then she used the same border in black at the bottom for repetition. Excellent!

ARTchix Weekly Special: Our Fairy Dreams Collage Sheet

These beautiful fairies made by Belinda Schneider kept popping up in my studio this week! I want you to enjoy them too so I'm making them the special for this week.

Get this awesome fairy 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.

Weekly Bonus Gift: Angel Goodie Bag

The fabulous bonus gift for this week is an angel themed goodie bag! It includes sweet angel images, white angel wings, vintage sheet music and mini tinsel garland. For this week, type "spoil me" in the comments section of your order and we will include this fabulous bonus gift with your order. Or order our weekly blog special and we will automatically include this sweet bonus gift. We have made up 12 of these goodie bags for you...so get them while supplies last.

Make a beautiful ornament or tag out of our bonus gift this week! 
Jackie McColl made this pretty tag, I just love it! She added vintage sheet music to a Twinchie. Then added the angel image and the wings (she rubbed the white wings with blue watercolor crayon first). Lastly, she punched holes and strung on the tinsel garland.

Jewelry Inspiration!

Gorgeous Necklaces by My Mom!
My Mom sent me this photo of some necklaces she's been making and I couldn't resist showing them to you. Aren't they gorgeous?! She added ARTchix images (Sea Dreams, Mermaid Dreams and Spoil Me collage sheets) to our Large Brass Photo Charms. Then added resin on top to seal them. Then she drilled holes and wire wrapped on shells and sea glass. So pretty!!!

Pretty Bracelets by My Mom!
My Mom collaged Silver Bracelets with ARTchix images from the Tiny Bubbles collage sheet. And then she added resin to seal them. Lovely!

Cool Rings by Jackie McColl!
After seeing my Mom's beautiful necklaces and bracelets, I was inspired to make some rings as package toppers for some special gifts this year. Jackie's class on Quick & Easy Rings makes them so easy and fun to make.

Me and Fluffy Bruno! : )
This week, I've been working on submitting an article to Cloth Paper Scissors' Studios magazine. I've been having fun taking photos of my studio and writing all about it. Just had to share this cute photo of me and my dear Bruno. This red recliner is in my studio and it's my favorite chair in the house. : )