Believing

While going through some things in my craft room I came across this card by Evelyn Spikes. A version of it was featured in a long ago black and white issue of Vamp Stamp News. 

I really appreciate Evelyn’s ability to make elegant art without a lot of “hoo-ha”.  I tend to get caught up in all my stuff, Evelyn just gets in there and uses hers.

This card’s micro beaded element of the woman’s eye and fingers has been covered with O’So Sticky Tape and coated with ultra fine micro beads.  The gems on the fingers are what really make this design HOT!

I’ve been following Evelyn’s photography blog and learning a lot about photography just by watching what she does.  I think she will be pleased with this photo of her art, I know I was!

Hugs, Suzanne

Thanks For Giving

  It’s post Thanksgiving and I’m still giving thanks for all of the wonderful women who are a part of my life.  Pennywise Arts (and all of the creative ladies who have supported it) has been quite a surprise.  We never expected the business to last past the first year yet, here we are perched on the verge of year 8!  Wow!

The Pennywise Arts Yahoo Group has been a huge blessing.  Who knew that so many friendships could be forged among otherwise strangers?  The bonds of care, support and inspiration that have blossomed from our community amaze me every day. 

One of my long time friends from the group is Evelyn Spikes.  Evelyn is an amazing artist who inspires me to just get in there and “make art”.  She’s on several design teams (including ours) and she never shies away from a challenge.  When I retire, I hope I can be as busy, active and creative as Evelyn!  Ü

One of her gorgeous creations blessed my mailbox this week and I could hardly wait to share it with you:

The base is an item I instantly recognized.  Several years ago we sold “slide mailers” on the Pennywise website along with glass microscope slides.  I’m sure Evelyn had this in her stash from then and I was tickled to see her make use of it in such an elegant way.  I really love how the bubble beads add sparkle and subtle color.  It’s the perfect accent for a wonderful piece of art that I am happy to have!  Thanks so much Evelyn! 

Hugs,  Suzanne

More Dollar Store Art

The gals in our Yahoo community are really taking up the challenge and creating great art from things that cost only one dollar!  You go girls!  I love all of the ideas and inspirations!

Laura Davis was first to share and her altered dollar store book is gorgeous!

Michele Aiello Zendejas needed a thank you gift so she created these stunning notepads! 

Be sure to visit Michele’s blog to see lots more of her artwork!
http://www.atozdesigns.com/maz/

Evelyn Spikes made a special trip to the dollar store in search of things to play in our challenge and here is what she found:

I was most intrigued by the candle holder in the back and I love what Evelyn did with it!

 

 

Look close up!  The bubble beads really add a layer of dimension!  And I imagine when the candle is lit that there could be some fun light play on them as well.

The little white pails have been transformed!

A close up view shows how Evelyn added the bubble beads to this project too:

Evelyn has a very active blog with lots of her other art postings!  http://www.beyondjustblackandwhite.blogspot.com

I dug up several things that were done in the past to share as well.

 

Annette Lanker got me totally addicted to these fun frames from the dollar store!

Annette filled in the circles with a clear drying glue and added different colored (opaque) micro beads to each section.  Inside she put a sheet of O’So Sticky Tape and added a neat mosaic element to the tape before applying more coordinating micro beads:

Once upon a time a group of beadie buds took a day trip to Alaska for a shoebox party and oh what fun we had!  I wanted a special frame to commemorate that trip of a lifetime so I used Annette’s technique:

And here is another frame that I embellished for a swap I participated in:

   

All three frames were painted over with white acrylic paint that was then colored with alcohol inks.

I love to show close up pictures so you can really see the detail better.  The suns were made using alcohol ink on flat glass pebbles glued to wire that had been curled.  There is a layer of clear embossed sun stamping on the frame that is really only visible in the upper left corner of this photo:

The surf frame was embossed with O’so Sticky Powder, micro beads and fru fru flakes.  It’s my favorite of the three!

The big embossed seashells don’t show well in this photo of the sand frame but there are there.  Over that I made a thick squiggle of Sure Tac Glue (it dries clear and I love it!)  I place the shells where I wanted them and then grouted the rest of the exposed glue with micro beads.  When it was dry I went over it with a bottle of alcohol ink, squeezing the color right from the bottle over the shells and beads.  I love how many of the shells natural colors and textures still showed so well after inking them brown!

   

If you’re read this far you must be a dollar store addict and art junkie too!  Send me photos of your creations and I’ll share them here!   Email: suzanne@pennywisearts.com

Buttons and Beads

Today we have another great project tutorial from designer Evelyn Spikes.  I love how quick and easy this card is to make and the results are colorfully fun!

Supplies Needed:

Patterned cardstock with circles or cardstock stamped with circles in pattern

Coordinating colors of cardstock for mat and A2 card

Coordinating colors of buttons

O’So Sticky Tape sheet from Pennywise Arts

Clear ultrafine micro beads from Pennywise Arts

Adhesive of choice

 How To Do This Technique

Step 1  Select coordinating cardstock.  Cut and fold card base.

Step 2  Cut patterned paper; cut piece of O’So the same size

Step 3  Apply O’So to patterned paper.

 

Step 4  Remove O’So Sticky Tape liner and adhere buttons where desired on patterned paper.

Step 5  Pour ultrafine beads over exposed O’So.

Step 6  Layer beaded piece over mat piece.

 

Step 7  Cut and apply thin piece of mat color to front of card; adhere beaded piece.

Step 8  Stamp and adhere sentiment to front of card.

       

Stamp Credit: Rubber Stampede

Evelyn Creates A Tin In Subtle Stripes

Evelyn Spikes may have lots of time on her hands, but this elegant tin box won’t take up too much of yours!  She shows you how easy it is in her tutorial below.

Gather Up The Supplies:

Hinged tin (Altoid for this project), spray painted matte white as primer.

Spray paint in color to match translucent micro beads of choice  My paint matched the “Stream” translucent beads from PWA

O’So Sticky Tape in 1/8” and ¼” widths

O’So Sticky Tape sheet cut to fit top of tin

Translucent micro beads in Stream

Ultrafine clear micro beads

2 white paper flowers

4 flat marbles to in color to complement paint color

Stream alcohol ink and alcohol in fine sprayer

Glimmer Mists in Patina and Iridescent Gold

Flat-sided adhesive pearls

Adhesive for marble feet

Here’s How To Do It:

1. Paint primed tin with color, outside and inside. When dry, apply piece of O’So to lid.

2. Cut O'So to fit lid; choose embellishments

3. Apply O'So to lid

4. Peel vinyl layer from O’So. Alternating widths as desired, apply stripes of tape to O’So on lid, leaving narrow space between stripes. Trim overhanging ends. Apply 1/8” O’So around lip of lid.

5. Pour on ultrafine micro beads; press to seat beads.

6. Peel vinyl from strips of O’So. Pour on colored micro beads. Press to smooth.

7. Spritz alcohol ink mix to one flower, coloring it completely. Spritz the other flower just lightly with color.

8. When flowers are dry, adhere together with glue dot. Apply three adhesive pearls in center of top flower and adhere the flower combination to the top of the tin.

Adhered marbles to underside of tin for feet.

Not Shown:  for accordion insert cut 11” strip of complementary cardstock to fit width of tin; accordion fold and trim each side of folds with corner shaper. Stamp as desired; adhere photos or other images. Adhere shortest end of accordion to inside of tin and fold inside.

The Wild Joys Of Living

Evelyn Spikes created this elegant book from simple, brown, paper lunch bags.  With her easy to follow photo tutorial, you can make one too!

Gather these supplies:

2 paper lunch bags

2 each of 4 coordinating double-sided papers 5 5/16” square

Extra pieces of the ‘back’ of patterned papers…if solid colors.

Coordinating solid colored cardstock for some matting

Image and sentiment stamps (a theme is always nice!)

Adhesive of choice

O’So Sticky in sheets

Ultrafine clear micro beads

Hole punch…one that will go through several sheets of paper. (I

used the old-fashioned one that requires a hammer!)

Cord to tie pages together

Ribbon or fiber for looks

Gather up your supplies!

  How To Do It

1.  Fold bags in half and insert one inside the other with thickest part on opposite ends.

2.  Adhere cover pieces to front and back of outside bag.

3.  Working with the pages in book form, adhere patterned papers to cover the surfaces. (Where the bag ‘pleats,’ you can decide whether or not to glue those pieces together, as well.)

4.  Add adhesive at tops and bottoms where needed.

5.  Measure and punch 3 holes through the ‘spine’ of the book.

6.  Tie tightly with cord to hold the book together.

7.  Stamp images and sentiments according to your choices.

8.  Cut and apply O’So to stamped images and/or sentiments; cover in ultrafine beads

9.  Adhere beaded images and sentiments to pages as desired.

10. Cut ribbon or fiber to tie into the back of the book.

 

Inside Views Of The Book

   

Stamp credits in order of use: Wordsworth, Impression Obsession, Paperbag Studios, Hero Arts, Penny Black, Eclectic Omnibus, Inky Antics, Paperbag Studios

More Than A Tag

 

Our featured designer for April is Evelyn Spikes Evelyn is “a happily retired high school English teacher in NE Oregon.”  She says, “I am fortunate to be able to spend as much time as I want crafting with paper and taking photographs. Married for more than 30 years, my husband and I have two grown sons....one in western Oregon and one in New York.”

We are excited to share some of the art that Evelyn has created in her spare time for the Pennywise Arts Design Team!  This is her first project, “More Than a Tag”. In this post Evelyn shows and tells us how she made this unique tag design, if you want to follow along just gather up these supplies:

*  Medium-sized tag (2 5/8 x 5 ¼”) and  an additional tag for cutting (manila file folder or cardstock can be used)

*  Collage stamp with distinct geometric images

*  Dye ink color of choice

*  Paperback O’So Sticky

*  Foam squares

*  Clear ultrafine micro beads

*  Choice of coordinating embellishments, including ribbon

How To Do This Technique

Step 1. Use dye ink to stamp tag with collage stamp.

Step 2. Stamp a second time on extra tag.

Step 3. Cut out desired geometric images in collage.

Step 4. Using cut-out images, trace shapes on paperback O’So, cut out and apply to images.

Step 5. Bead images with clear beads. Set aside.

Step 6. Apply ink to edges of stamped tag.

Step 7. Using foam squares, apply beaded collage shapes to matching locations on tag.

8. Apply embellishments and coordinating ribbon.

 

Stamp Credit: Inkadinkado

Evelyn has her own art blog where she shares her creations.  It’s updated regularly and is a great source of inspiration.   Be sure to check it out!