Spring Fairies Are Still Flying

Juniper Iceglow

Moth Willowwand

Nettle Rainbowglow

Fruitpip Reedfilter

Feather Hailwitch

My Spring Fairy collection is growing! The delicate flowers and beautiful colors of Spring continue to inspire me to create new fairies. I received an order to make four original fairy creations and mount them onto greeting cards so they could be displayed. Great idea!

Making More Fairies

Feather Goblinglimmer

Petal Goblindancer

Bindweed Elfdancer

Fairies are perfect for Spring, Easter and Mother's Day! Here are some beauties from my new Spring line.

A Special ATC Swap

One of the visitors to my blog invited me to exchange 5 ATCs with her. Though there was no theme, I decided to do a "black & white" series. I created the first card using the arms and hands off of a Coke Zero can. The hands were reaching for a basketball (probably for Final Four) and I thought I would cut out the hands from the aluminum can and use them in my ATC. I overlayed a transparency so that you won't cut your fingers on the sharp edges.

The second card is a simple iris fold. I was going to use phone book pages, but alas, where have all the phone books gone? I pulled out a book with Japanese text (kanji) and used those pages for my free-form iris fold. I finished it with a simple black frame. What a challenge to do an iris fold in such a small space!

The third card is a fairy I created especially for my ATC swap partner using her name, Gentle Saturntree. Isn't that a wonderful fairy name? Her fairy lives in bold city places and wears colorful stripey clothes like a bee with pale pink wings. It wasn't easy making a fairy small enough to fit onto an ATC card!

The fourth card is a corset. I love using this template and I just happened to have one in black, white and silver in a size that would fit onto an ATC card. Perfect!

The last card is an image of a tree branch in winter. I glittered the branches and added a small pink butterfly--a sign that spring is not too far away.

Inspired by More Fairies

Buttercup Elfwitch

Meadow Elfwand

Ahhh, we are now heading into the homestretch of our inspiration card swap. I continue to enjoy making fairies for people. For these two inspiration cards, I reduced the size to our 4 x 6 format (instead of my usual 5 x 7). They are made specifically with the recipient in mind!

Flat Stanley Heads Home...

Well, Flat Stanley's Hawaiian journey has now come to an end. He has fond memories of his travels in Hawaii that he will take home with him to Peoria. ALOHA Flat Stanley!

Another Beautiful Day in Paradise...

Flat Stanley was off to Ala Moana Beach Park today. Lots of people were out enjoying the sunshine. Look! You can see Diamond in the distance!

After a day in the hot sun, we headed for Ailana Shave Ice. Shave ice is a local treat that is like a snow cone, but the flavors have a tropical twist.

We ordered the strawberry shave ice with a scoop of vanilla ice cream. Delicious and refreshing!

Flat Stanley's Big Day!

We took Flat Stanley to the Iolani Palace. The palace was the official residence of Hawaii's last two reigning monarchs, King David Kalakaua and Queen Liliuokalani before Hawaii became the 50th state on August 20, 1959.

Just across the street from the Iolani Palace is a statue of King Kamehameha the Great. The Hawaii Supreme Court building is behind the statue. King Kamehameha was Hawaii's first King and he is credited with uniting all of the Hawaiian islands under a single ruler.

The highlight of the day was when we ventured up to Punahou School, where the President attended high school. "King Obama" was written in the cement near the cafeteria.

There was a boys' volleyball game being played in the school gym. Flat Stanley got to sit in with the band for a few songs. They let him play the snare drum.

They're Here...Fifteen Fairies!

Tangle Rainbowsprite

Gossamer Silverglow

Field Goblinbranch

Fire Rainbowtwist

Gossamer Moontree

Buttercup Goblinwand

Fruitpip Vineglitter

Bindweed Goblintree

Spider Moonstaff

Hemlock Rainbowglitter

Chestnut Goblinwizard

Ember Goblintree

Hazel Elffrost

Nettle Hailglow

Feather Snowtree

These are the beautiful fairies that I made for a special order. Each was made for a specific individual using their very own fairy name! It was the description of the each fairy that inspired me to create them. You'd think I'd be fairy'd out after making fifteen fairies, but each is so different, so my fairy frenzy continues!

Flat Stanley Visits the Honolulu Altered Book Group

I brought Flat Stanley with me to my monthly Altered Book meeting. As usual, the artwork in all of the books was amazing! Here is Flat Stanley with just a sampling of the artwork that was presented at the meeting.

Flat Stanley Gets Dressed Hawaiian Style

I brought Flat Stanley with me to my art playdate last Wednesday and asked my art buddies to help me dress him. Each of us took turns giving Flat Stanley his "aloha wear." I made him a lei. Lori and Tamara drew his face. Su made him a beautiful aloha shirt. Penny, who was visiting from Washington State, made him a grass skirt.

Flat Stanley wanted to send a postcard home to Peoria. We decorated a mini-Flat Stanley and glued him onto a postcard. Pam made him this very special "Aloha" t-shirt. The design is from a t-shirt that is being sold to raise funds for the victims of the Japan tsunami. Su gave him a face with sunglasses, some cool board shorts and slippers. Now he looks more like a local!

Three Wishes

I guess you could say that I took a little liberty with Fran's AB theme this month. Her theme is really about a Magic Lamp that grants you three wishes. My own wishes were too difficult to illustrate. Instead, I thought of Dorothy and her three friends who went to see the Wizard so they could have their wishes granted.

You all know the story. The Scarecrow wished for a brain. The Tinman asked for a heart and the Cowardly Lion longed for courage. Of course, Dorothy only wanted to return home to Kansas.

For the right side of my spread, I experimented with a technique from Bernie Berlin's book entitled Artist Trading Card Workshop. It is intended for people like me who are not comfortable drawing. So you begin with an image. Then you apply gesso very, very lightly with a dry brush. You want to be careful not to obliterate the underlying image. You want only light coverage so the image still shows through.

Next, you take a marker (I used a Sharpie) to outline your image. You can experiment by adding elements or changing them--be creative. Finish the piece by using markers or paints to add color and shading.

I had trouble getting a light enough coat of gesso. After I had outlined and painted my image, it looked "cartoon-ish" to me. Not exactly the look I was going for, but I suppose with a little more practice (and a lesson or two on shading), this could be a great technique. I embellished the ruby red slippers with red glitter and red rhinestones. And of course, I blinged out the fairy godmother's wand with assorted rhinestones and what else--more glitter!

I ended up cutting out the background of my original image and kept only the legs and the wand. I added a strip of gingham printed paper and lace trim to Dorothy's dress to complete the spread on the right side.

The yellow brick road background is created with yellow inkpad (smeared in streaks) topped with yellow glitter glue. I used pastels to draw some brick forms at the bottom of the page. The left side spread is pretty self-explanatory.

Flat Stanley's Hawaiian adventure begins!

Last week, I received word that Flat Stanley would soon be coming to Hawaii for a visit from Peoria, Illinois. As soon as he arrived last Saturday--he didn't even have time to get dressed--I whisked him off to my high school classmate's surprise birthday party. Here he is with some of my classmates, the "Sweeties." The party took place at a beautiful home on Waialae Iki Ridge. Look at the view! There is a sweeping view of the Pacific Ocean (south shore of Oahu) and to the east, you can see Koko Head (photo above). Someone noticed a rainbow in the neighboring valley. Here is a picture looking toward Aina Haina valley. Can you spot the rainbow?

There were all kinds of ethnic food served at the party including Vietnamese, Korean, Japanese, Chinese and Hawaiian. Here is Flat Stanley with a plate of sushi.

This is a traditional Hawaiian plate. Clockwise from the top right: red anthurium, pineapple, Flat Stanley, cup of poi (behind), lomi lomi salmon, sweet potato, kalbi short ribs, sliced pineapple, kalua pig, chicken long rice and ahi poke (hiding behind the short ribs). So colorful and delicious too!