Getting my Creative Groove Back

Gosh, I went out of town for one week and since I got back I have had a hard time getting back into my creating. I still have some catching up to do from the end of my Artful Pages class and this week have been working on a new Collage Club assignment.  This one was about doing some layered backgrounds with vintage colors and patterns. While I was visiting my family in Pittsburgh I dug through more of my parent's old pictures. I have been using my digital camera to take photos of the photos so I could use them right away on my family tree on Ancestry.com. I'm enjoying using them in my collages too. This first one is using photos of my Great Aunt Genevieve. She was born in 1909 and later became a nurse in the army, serving during WWII .

Her parents were Frank and Rose Norwood and I added them to the next layered background. 

Before I went away I was working on an altered book. This was from a section of the Artful Pages class taught by Lenna Young Andrews. I bought this cute book from a thrift shop.

Next I cut out many of the pages so I would have room to add stuff.

Then I made some fun backgounds by painting them or gluing other paper on them. I don't really like my painted pages but I really like two of the pages I did with paper backgrounds. This first one was made by using strips I tore from the inside of security envelopes. You'd be surprised how many lovely patterns are inside those darn bills. At least they are good for something. Teehee! I added a picture of the house I grew up in and where my mom still lives. It looks much different now. I also love that song by Miranda Lambert "The House That Built Me."  I get a lump in my throat every time I hear it.

The other one I like was made by scanning a dress that my grandmother made and then printing it to make a pretty patterned paper. Of course I added pics of my grandmother and grandfather on top. I actually found a picture of her wearing the dress after I made this. That was cool to find. The quality of the picture isn't very good so I am not adding that.

Lots more projects to work on so I better get my groove back!

Whoo Whoo

Check out these adorable owls! Some of my sewing students made these cuties. I got the pattern from The DIY Dish and my girls had a blast making them.

Still loving my Artful Pages class! It is week 3 of 4 and this week I am learning how to make an altered book from Lenna Young Andrews. I'll show some of that soon but here is another page from my journal from week 2 with Hope Wallace Karney. It has places for hiding secrets. There is a pocket on the left and the little page in the middle is hiding secrets behind it. Don't you wish you read them?  Ha! This was fun to make!

March Collage Challenge

It's the beginning of a new month which means another fun collage challenge from Mary at Green Paper. In case you forget, I have to create a piece of art using at least part of each of the three images that are provided. I used up a lot of printer ink trying to find the right background and ended up using a piece I already had. Argh! Oh well, hopefully the other backgrounds will be right for another project someday. I used the floral part of the holy card to decorate her dress and hat. I then used the names on the bank advertisement to make a plaque on the door of the office she is visiting. I also had to cut off the blade of her ice skates to give her regular boots. So here is my entry and you can check here to see what everyone else made. I can't wait to look now that I'm done!