Stop me before I pin(terest) again

My Palm Tree Dreams card (shown with C-19 nails-frown), I
 was inspired to use this layout and ink-blended background
by watching YouTube video from Zindorf Stamps:
https://youtu.be/TWFVUFVesBQ

I rarely post my designed art, which is the art I make from the vast array of awesome products available in the world today. My reasoning is:

1. I don't wish to take the time to carefully photograph items when I could be making more stuff.

2. There are so many incredible photographs of beautifully made items similar to what I am designing that already exist online.

I find and save my favorite designed and original art pieces on Pinterest(tm). Here's a link to my Pinterest hub: https://www.pinterest.com/nachattin/ There are very very few of my own designs there because I'd rather go make them and teach them as opposed to taking photographs...remember that part?

My You Tube channel also has some (OK, a ton) of videos categorized by topic into playlists. I think you can click here for my channel https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCRWZ5ZmQQC7wFHzZA-MnU0g?view_as=subscriber or you may just have to search Chattin and find it. Keep in mind, the treasure is not within the few videos I uploaded but in the playlists.

I contend that when we want to know more about a person or fall in love with someone or when someone has left our orbit, we can find insight into that person simply by following them on Pinterest or checking their saved videos on YouTube(tm). Yes, of course you could troll their Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter, but that's so obvious.  Look beyond what someone is posting of their own work, service, or product and peer closer into what they actually save--it's fun.

More recently created cards I designed: 

Dogwood Shimmer

Blue Palm

Sunny Flamingos

Crazy Birds in the Studio

“You have to start somewhere.” Here’s the somewhere I’m starting.

There have only been a couple of products that I “had to have” in the last year. Crazy birds stamps by Tim Holtz was one of these.  Here are some samples:

The sequins make the magic.

There are dies to cut the birds that I did not buy but my friend Lynn did...

I wish more of the birds faced right

that would be more appealing on a

card.

These designs are very simple. The birds are just so adorable that there is no need to put tons of effort into cards. 

Coordinating papers from a paper pad

by DCW make assembly easy.

I stamped all of these in one sitting on white paper that had been colored with distress ink stains by Ranger via Tim Holtz. I cut some out and I left some right on the background.

Keep in mind, I prefer to make art than spend a ton of time taking photos of it--smile. Editing pictures distracts me for hours because after I crop then I want to adjust color and size and contrast and....

Postcards from the Artful Tourist

Online challenges are fun inspiration--even if you don't actually participate in the challenge. Last spring I decided to enter the "Animal Kingdom" challenge from Sunday Post Card Art. The challenge was to make a 4" by 6" postcard featuring the animal kingdom. Any art mediums in that size are accepted. When I read the preview I only saw animal kingdom, the blog challenge post on SPC actually said " furry friends from the Animal Kingdom."



I'm hoping that the human member of the animal kingdom counts if the frog doesn't....


I created my postcard in traditional collage--I'd call it scrapbook style. I wasn't satisfied with the results so I then added spray mist color and finally altered it again digitally. In the end, I didn't even enter the challenge--I just didn't feel the mojo from this project. Since I completed the postcard it's been on display in my study and now I really love it.


All 5 card stock papers used are from Paper Temptress. All but the Jelly Bean green on the frog had a shimmery finish to them.

Before walnut shimmer spray a the black & white version for another take on it.

The spoils of being quarantined



My first Easter card of the season.



Hand print cherish card--the flower is copper mesh.

My favorite neighbor girls say I had the grown-up chicken pox--the doctor said it was shingles. Whatever it was, it was quite itchy and painful and contagious. Being locked away for a couple weeks is strange enough but with the symptoms and my decision not to take any pain killers beyond naprosin I had more the usual inability to concentrate for any length of time.

Once again, I found solace in the studio. Creating was the best medicine. I did small projects that matched my ability to focus but now I have some fun cards finished and I'm ready to go back to the delightful routine of my life.

I'm preparing some new pages and articles for the web site and online magazines but in the meantime I am posting two of my latest cards here. My first Easter card on the left was created with a new bunny die from Sizzex that I found on sale for less than $4.00. As always, I use the Spellbinder's Wizard machine to cut the die. You can click the photos to enlarge.

The card on the right features on of my favorite hand stamps (yes, I own 5 different hand stamps-smile). I colored the stamp with watercolor markers and  spritzed with water before stamping on the paper. The flower was cut with the Tim Holtz tattered flower die. I used dictionary paper for the small blossom and cool copper wire mesh for the bottom layer.

I'm planning on posting regularly scheduled visual journaling tips on the Artful Tourist Facebook page over the month of April and beyond if the responses work out. Be sure and join us there and participate in the fun.

Enjoy the moments.

Taking a bite out of this blooming pain





Leave it to an abscess tooth to sideline me for a few days...The art really helps keep my mind off the pain and the feeling that I'm "wasting" time. Since I'm fighting an infection with antibiotics and some medicine for the pain--my clarity levels tend to fade in and out.

I've been trying to work and take care of family things, but the term completion is not one that comes to mind when reviewing my progress.  Every step seems to take hours. My journal pages are distorted and without charm--but the bottom line is that they keep flowing and I keep healing.

Instead of posting my current productivity (using the term loosely) I'm putting up links to my last fascination--Paper Flowers.

Here's the recent article published on Helium: http://www.helium.com/items/2106295-paper-roses-scrapbook-flowers-paper-flowers-tutorial-how-to-paper-flowers-paper-mums

See the web page tutorial here: http://www.nachattin.com/articleflowerbinge.html




 



First attempts just from scallops.

 


Original supplies--scalloped circles cut from dictionary pages.
The lolipop is for motivaiton. -grin



New Cards, Updates on ATC and Destination Heartfelt Art

Artwork Update:
In addition to the Artist Trading Cards added to the slide show, I made some fun cards and legacy pages this week. Shown here are some of the cards I made.

The Birthday Cone: Created around a sticker set I’ve owned for several years. I ‘puffed” the ice cream to give it dimension as well as aging the sticker with sand paper and ink.

The Now Moment: Done completely with scraps from the Club Scrap™ cardstock base (I haven’t been a member for 3+ years) to the polished stone inked background and stray die cuts—all collaged into a fun card.

The Birthday ATC: I used my Colluzle™ to cut a tiny envelope for an ATC and sent it as a gift on a card. The ATC is secured with another Club Scrap™ left over-the printed twist tie.

The Floral Tri-fold Pocket: The ladies on Jean’s Art Dolls had a challenge to make these cards from instructions on Split Coast ampers. //www.splitcoaststampers.com/resources/tutorials/trifold_pocket_card/ Mine came out very pink and festive.

The Taj Tri-fold Pocket II: My second attempt with this template evolved into a moving card for a friend. She’s not really moving; she is merely expanding her kingdom…

Seven seems to be my stopping point

As mentioned in the last post, I decided to try the 7/30/365 ATC challenge from Flickr. I made my seven, but I’m not sure I want to go forward. The effort helped “spawn” lots of other projects—still, I’m not motivated to go on and I haven’t made an ATC in two days now.

I posted the final three to the Flickr album at right. I like them all and if you visit the album on Flickr you can see the story behind each one. I think I may add the ones I didn’t give away to a legacy art piece as a collection.

Studio Make-over and Austerity Plan

I’ve had a set back in the Austerity Plan—of course, we addicts have lots of excuses that justify our mistakes and I’m no exception. I said I wouldn’t spend over $15.00 per month on my art supplies. I spent my $15 this month on adhesives, a bit of print paper, and some envelopes I needed for spring cards. That went very well. Then I watched Home Shopping Network for a special National Craft Month celebration and totally lost my resolve. My excuse was I had a little extra money that my Daddy had slipped me when he visited.

The item that was my downfall is the We R Memory Keepers™ Ultimate Cutting Tool Kit. It was especially designed for HSN and included a 17” by 14” magnetic mat, a circle cutter (their new one) plus the paper trimmer with scallop and straight blade, ruler, ergonomic cutting knife, extra blades, and magnets to keep your work in place. It was a Today’s Special Value with them for $29.95. Here’s a link to their site, currently priced at $39.95. If you click on the video you’ll see what I just couldn’t resist.

The purchase, and the inevitable guilt that followed, inspired me to do some additional work in the studio. I moved out a bunch of empty containers that I’ve been tripping over because I wanted to use them for organizing. I sorted a 12” high stack of papers and scraps that needed to be put away. I asked Sir Henry to stabilize a shelf I’ve been using to store papers which had sagged. I really did work.

I had one of the most productively creative weeks ever in the studio as well. The seven ATCs, three legacy art pieces, and several cards all flowed out this week. I also worked on the web site and posted some new pages as well as doing clean up. One set back doesn’t mean the end of my plan, it just means I’ve had a wake up call and now I’m back on track.

Circle up the Wagons

And grab your Wizards for an great new adventure in die cutting. Spellbinders has introduced a sneak peak of some new dies and artwork through Ellen Hutson. There's a whole new line called "Nestabilities" that I haven't even seen yet. They will be released July 20th.

They work similarly to the geometric dies currently available from Spellbinders. I love these dies. I have the tags, squares, triangles, and rectangles. The new dies will include ovals plus scalloped images--you can also see the designs and pre-order on Frantic Stamper's great site.

The possibilities for these dies are incredible. Just using the ones I have I've done all kinds of cool paper art. I'm posting a card here that I finished this week with some inspiration from Split Coast Stampers tutorials. It's so easy to cut a window from the circles and use cellophane to make the window glitter.

New on the web site this week:

I'm so transparent-layout using Spellbinder's Die Cut Fusion and not published anywhere else. (Third layout down on the page click to enlarge)

Simple Easy Layouts-I had been doing quite a bit of art for hire and I just wanted something easy and fun for me. The first layout pictured used the circles. The second spread has a geometric tag in pink that has been framed in white to match the white frame around the layout. Works out so easy.

Sorry I've been out of touch, as mentioned, I was working on artwork for hire, especially Spellbinder's CHA art plus I traveled to visit my parents in Virginia and I've been feeling a bit "peaked" for a while. I'm feeling stronger now, but still working on healing. Prayers and art are my greatest tools. Joy to you.