He was waiting for me today...

"...pain has a way of clipping our wings and keeping us from being able to fly...and if it's left unresolved for very long, you can almost forget that you were ever created to fly in the first place."

Canvas Love

I'm  going to post a bunch of pictures of my latest projects and I'll give details tomorrow because I have a 6:30am meeting.  UGH.  Besides, I don't actually work at work.  Or so SOMEONE is convinced.  Hmph.  :|  Don't believe the hype!

Anywho!

2(0) minutes till midnight

M - if you read this, I promise it really is 20 till midnight.  LOL.  :D

Anyway, I was a little bit creative tonight.  Just a little.  Here are some sneaks...I still have to mod podge them to seal them and then they are ready for sale.  I will have better pictures in the coming days.  These are 6x6 and if you are interested in purchasing, they will be on my etsy page.  Ummmm, I don't have that address handy but when I post them, I will post a link.

Oh - and one more pic of the kids playing in my studio.  They bring a huge smile to my face.  :D

4 MORE DAYS TILL THE ARTISTIC JOURNEY!!!

Graphic 45

Studio time...

Published with Blogger-droid v1.6.0

Sweet Sarah

I’m so excited about today’s photo shoot that I can’t even sleep.  My client was so happy with the finished product too.  That makes me feel awesome!  Awesome I tell you!!!  I edited some photos but still have a bunch to weed through.  I will share this one with you now.  You can find more on my photography page on Facebook.    

Alligator Tears

::EXHALE::

Dear Tracey,

You have some catching up to do, sister!  Love you and miss you.

Well, today’s exhibit went well.  It wasn’t groundbreaking – I still have to go back to work on Monday.  LOL.  But I met some new people and have some potential clients.  I don’t think people realize that I’m booking fast so if they drag their feet, I’m not going to have weekends open.  I’ve got four solid bookings plus I’m gone the first weekend in October and the last weekend in October.  So yeah.

Anywho, my friends were so super duper supportive!  Thank you friends.  I know that so many couldn’t be there today but I received a ton of well wishes on Facebook and via text messaging – even phone calls.  Thank you so much, I love you.  ;)

I will first start this picture post with pictures of myself from the Ruin Cam – I took these last Saturday at 4am when I was editing and deciding what pictures were going to be a part of today’s exhibit.  The very tired and frustrated Ms. Ruin.

Okay - that was fun.  :)

And now...drum roll please...here a few pictures from today's exhibit.  You can find the rest on my FB Page.

Toni helped me set up and made sure all of the frames were perfectly straight.  :)  Thanks, Ton!

I LOVE this picture.  "Jesus is my bud!"

Poster for my display.

16 8x10 prints by Ms. Ruin

My spotlight piece.

Guest Speaker, Saul Garza of FOX 4 News, is in complete awe over my work.  He bought every single piece that was on display.  Okay, he didn't.  He just gave me a hard time - that's what big brothers do, right?  He is definitely my brother from another mother.

Deb:  Wow, she is phenomenal.

John:  Yes, I'm very proud to know her.

Me:  I do what I can.  :p

Oooooh, the girl's got a portfolio!

So there is a look at my exhibit.  I hop you enjoyed the tour.  Oh wait, you want more??!!??  Vell, some people are never satisfied.  Fine, here's von more.  Sorry, I'm stuck on this silly German accent.



Well, that's all the steam I've got.  I'm exhausted.  Off to bed I go.  Keep cool my babies.

Birthday Reveal

I haven't been the kind of crafty I've been craving lately.  I am itching to get into some canvas.  Maybe this weekend I'll have some me time.  The exhibit is in two days and I'm starting to feel relaxed about it.  Kind of.  Sometimes.  LOL.  Sandra Biggs, the organizer, has been so supportive.  She says I'm going to be the star of the show.  That made me feel good.  Thanks, Sandra!

Well, I gave you sneaks a couple of weeks ago, I can finally post the projects that I made for my Tennessee Mawmaw's birthday.

This is an old Prima Flower container.  I bought her a bracelet and put shred paper in this little container and then decorated the lid.  The paper is by - hmmmm, great, I don't remember.  I want to say that it's by Basic Grey.  Yeah, that sounds about right.  Anyway, the K & S are fabric thickers.  They are pink but I distrissed them with vintage photo distress ink.  I also distressed the edges of the paper with vintage phot ink.  "Cherish" stamp is by Stampin' Up!  And now to the yumminess...the tree is chipboard by Maya Road.  I misted it brown with Maya Mist and then embossed it using Ultra Thick Embossing Powder.  The bird is by K&Company (I think).  I added the googly eye and I made the wings.  I just cut three pieces of patterned paper and then adhered them with pop dots to give it some dimension.

The next project is a canvas.  She is a Tennessee Titans fan (ewwww), so I decided to go with a baby blue.  Plus it brings out the stripes in the paper.  Paper, flowers, and vintage kids by Die Cuts With a View (DCWV).  I added lace to her dress and pretty sparklies to her crown and to the flowers.  Distressed edges of paper with a distressing tool and also inked the edges with "vintage photo" distress ink.  Yeah, I kinda love it a whole lot.  :)    The word bubbles are on pop dots for dimension.  After putting it all together I mod podged the entire canvas to seal it.

There is a little joke about Karen being the "bag lady" because she is kinda sorta (REALLY) addicted to buying bags of all sorts.  So I made her this little chipboard sign that she can hang on her cubicle or at home.  All paper by DCWV and the letters are Thickers. 

Hope you enjoyed viewing my projects!

:D

One of my awesome Paramore pictures:

Little Macey

We had an impromptu photo shoot at Walgreens.  We do what we can...

Aleida Franklin

September 12, 2010: It's been 2 years now since God took Aleida Franklin. I miss her friendship, her creativity, and her fiery attitude. She lives on through so many of the people that she touched through her art in her 40 years of life.

Photography

I'm starting to feel the stress of my upcoming exhibit.  Today was supposed to be a day of rest but I spent it out in the heat taking pictures, shopping for picture frames, foam board, mats, a lattice, etc.  Didn't find everything I needed so the hunt continues.  ::sigh::

Well, I wasn't excited about the pictures I shot at the Cathedral - Virgin of Guadalupe Shrine in Downtown Dallas.  But I'm still editing and whatnot.  Here is one of the shots that I did like and that I will be using in my exhibit.  

This week I HAVE TO decide this week what photos will be a part of my exhibit, which one photo will be the showcase photo and which one I'll be giving away to visitors to my exhibit.  Oh yeah, and I totally have tons of stuff going on at work.  Okay, I'm feeling the stress.  I will probably sleep like a baby.  Good night!

 

Weekend Wrap-up

I keep feeling like there is something missing in my life.  But I'm also overwhelmed with so many people that love me, admire all of my talents, cherish my friendship, and want to be in my life.  How can I feel both?  I guess those struggles within myself are the perfect ingredients for my art.  My art is not always lollipops and rainbows.  You'll never get grey with me, just black and white.  I keep it real.

So in my art world this weekend - I did a lot of digital editing and ordered prints and framed prints.  Tomorrow night I'll be painting canvas and wrapping up my August projects.  September is quickly approaching! 

Here are just some of the frames I bought today at Jo-Ann's...only one of them is mine --the beautiful doggie.  All of the others are gifts for family and friends. 

While at the arts and crafts store I remembered that I also needed gift bags and gift boxes.  So I started loading up my cart and then stopped myself.  I thought "What am I doing?  I can make this stuff at home and mine will be WAY cuter!"  So I put everything back.  Here is a sneak peek of one of the gift boxes/containers:

Super cute, huh?  The tree is chipboard by Maya Road.  I misted it brown and then embossed it with clear Ultra Thick Embossing powder.  The bird is by K&Company, I think.  I made the litle wings by cutting out scrapbook paper and then layered them with pop dots.  I also added the googly eye because I didn't like the eye that was printed on the pressboard bird.  I know, how innovative is that?  Using pressboard cutouts?  Kudos K&Company!

On Friday afternoon, Keira and I had the entire 7th floor to ourselves.  So we decided to blow bubbles.  I'm so glad that I carry my cameras with me at all times.  I LOVE the way this turned out:

The Artistic Journey

This Fall I will be participating in an event called The Artistic Journey. As part of that, participants were asked to design a tag that describes their artistic journey. I wanted to incorporate all of my favorite altered art elements: wings, crowns, chipboard, and something vintage. The photos included an artsy picture of me, because let’s face it, I’m far from ordinary, a picture of one of my canvases, a picture of one of my photography subjects, and a picture of a tag that I made recently. All of these things describe where I am creatively on my artistic journey, because when it comes to my creativity, there is truly no pattern necessary.

I pulled out all of these materials and then some to make my project come to life. And seeing this, makes me want to rush home and play in my studio.

BEFORE:

AFTER:

 

INSTRUCTIONS:

1. I first misted a large tag with a shimmery brown mist – just in case my next step rendered any tears. I dried the mist with a heat tool.

2. I took a vintage piece of dress pattern, crumbled it up and then unfurled it. I adhered the pattern to the tag using a glue stick and then cut away the excess around the tag.

3. I distressed the edges of the tag with a distress tool and then distressed the body of the tag with black soot distress ink and vintage photo distress ink. This really made the creases in the crumbled pattern pop.

4. I traced the crown and the wing on metallic eggplant colored paper and cut it out.

5. I painted and misted all of the chipboard pieces.

6. I glued the cut out wing and crown shapes to the back of the coordinating chipboard.

7. Arranged all of the images under the film strip, taped them down and then placed film transparency over – stapling it into place.

8. Matted my picture on a piece of purple cardstock, distressed the edges of the cardstock with a distress tool.

9. Glued the wing over my picture.

10. Cut out second picture of myself – cut around hair outline to allow wing to show behind my shoulder.

11. Glued chipboard pieces to tag.

12. Added sticker letters to tag.

13. Colored stones for crown using eggplant and raisin alcohol ink. When dry, glued to crown.

14. Stitched on tag and upper left edge of tag.

Thanks for looking - hope you liked my tag.  :)

My BIG Announcement

Friday, September 17, 2010

Mi Gente Photo Exhibit by Ms. Ruin

Martin Luther King Center

Dallas, Texas

::HUGE SMILE:: Yes, I am having a photo exhibit on this day and I'm sooooooo thrilled! At this time, the exhibit will be featured for one day however there is a possibility that it will be extended. My friends and family are so excited for me. And me, well, I'm completely ecstatic that I was sought out and given this opportunity. I never expected that my hobby would take off like this. Last week alone I was approached by 5 different people about doing photos for them. ::sigh:: Unfortunately my schedule is jam packed through mid September. But I hope to get some sessions in here and there.

So I’ve got a few weeks to develop my exhibit and I’m taking a four day trip over Labor Day Weekend to take some photos for this exhibit. But shhhhh…it’s a big secret! I mean, not so much where I’m going, but what I’m photographing. So I’m completely stoked about that!

Then in October there is a Burlesque Festival and I have been asked by one of the organizers to sell my altered art/canvases at that festival. So I’m trying to get some art work done before that time to really make it worth my while.

So yes, I’m busy, busy, busy – however, I don’t ever want my creativity to become a task. I don’t want to lose the passion because otherwise it just becomes a job.

Anywho – Sevendust tonight! I’m out.

I am just a girl that hurts...

This is probably the best page I've ever made.  Well, according to all of my livejournal readers.  I miss them.  Hope they make it to my new blog soon.  :)  Lots of emotion in this page.  Definitely a favorite of mine.  This was inspired by life and by the song "Rockstar" by My Ruin.  Before you ask...yes, I hand stamped every single letter! I'm crazy, but it was so worth it. The X's is a stamp by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous. 

I stamped this heart on cardboard and then cut it out. Then I stapled it down the middle...not to the paper, just on the actual cardboard. I used pop dots to adhere it to the paper. Stamp is by Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous.

This is a chipboard scroll by Maya Road. I misted it using Tiger Lily and Coffee Shop Mists by Tattered Angels. I then stamped over it with another Tim Holtz/Stampers Anonymous stamp.

I really wanted the "Hurts" to pop --that's the emotion I poured into this page. So again, I stamped on cardboard and then cut out the letters and adhered them with Scrappy Glue. Stamps are by Inkadinkado.

12x12's

I'm not awesome at scrapbooking.  But time to time I do play around with scrapbook pages.  Here are some of the pages I've made: