I "Heart" the U.S.A. - Every Inchie Monday

This week's Every Inchie Monday came out a bit differently than I had originally planned for the prompt word: "Heart," but after last night's news I felt this much more appropriate for today's flavor! :-)

Jeremiah was a Joyful Inchie....:-)

This may be a stretch, but when I contemplated this week's Every Inchie Monday word: "Joy," the only (literally, the "only") image that came to mind was Joy to the World's, "Jeremiah was a Bullfrog." So this past week, just to try to get that image out of my head to make room for the real Inchie I would ultimately do, I drew a frog (in larger than Inchie size, sorry...cheated again this week and sized him down...LOL!). And then I drew his pond. And then I got to thinking how joyful would it be to have nothing better to do than to sit in the middle of a beautiful pond, on your own little lily pad.

Needless to say, the real Inchie never happened, because, as it turns out, Jeremiah was always the Real Deal! :-)

So...I ended up scanning in the pond, and the frog - for some reason I drew them separately, then had to cut the teeny tiny little frog out(!), and stuck a Pop-Dot behind him so he stands out a bit. 

Inchie Friend

So many possibilities for this week's Every Inchie Monday word prompt, but not wanting to make any one "friend" feel bad that I didn't use their pic in an Inchie, opted instead for a simple little drawing representing those I consider Friend! :-) Always there. Always by my side. Always willing to bail me out of jail if the need should ever arise!

A little bit of Peace on Monday ;)

This week's Every Inchie Monday word is: "Peace," and I knew the minute I saw it what I wanted to do. Just getting it done was another matter, but! I got it done, and, it's even Monday yet! :-)

I sort of cheated this time, and worked in a larger format, then scanned and resized to Inchie status. But I love it! Or maybe it's the "subject" I love so much...

There is nothing more at "peace" than a sleeping baby - a pencil drawing, enhanced by colored pencils, of  Ava at three months. :-)

Sing, Sing a Song Monday

"Sing"

Every time I thought of this week's Every Inchie Monday word: "sing," I started singing (in my head, mind you, don't want to annoy the masses) "Sing a Song" by the Carpenters. So I made my Inchie sing! :-)  

I used a Serendipity Square I made awhile back for another project, that still is not done, and fashioned a singing musical note from some purple FunWire I found in my closet when I was cleaning it out. (Amazing what a person can find in a major clean-up-and-out.)

So, remember to "sing a song" as you go about your Monday....:-)

Holidays Altered Book Round Robin - March, St. Paddy's

March brings in the Green, and my spread in Terri's book for our Holidays Altered Book Round Robin. Terri's book, first of all, is amazing! Bound together specifically for the swap, I only hope I photographed it well enough so I can steal her idea one day! LOL! Anyway....:-)

My month in her book was March, so I did the traditional holiday, St. Patrick's Day. I had fun making the background, still practicing my skills from the online class I took awhile back. I loooove the totally random result from layering paints, papers, stamping, and more paints. Never know what you're going to end up with, and if you don't like what you did, just cover it up with more paints, papers, stamping, and more paints! LOL!

When Books Have Wings....

When books have wings...Imagination soars...

My Miniature House was so kind as to donate one of its books from its meager little (actually, "miniature") library for this week's Every Inchie Monday word prompt: "Winged"   I had to tear out some pages as it would have been too thick, and added some happy little clouds and winged birds to fly alongside.

I'm not as satisfied with this Inchie as I've been with the others, but I guess you can't pull off a winner every week! LOL! I got my inspiration from a spread I did in my very first Altered Book Round Robin, and if I could find the scan I took of it before mailing it off, I would do so. It's around here "somewhere," and if I find it I'll post it.

Monday's "Rhythm"

A lot of possibilities with today's Every Inchie Monday's word - "rhythm" - and I really tried to veer away from the obvious (something musical), but this tiny little couple kept dancing through my mind, on piano keys, no less, so what's a girl to do! Let's just say it's a good thing it was a relatively slow day at work today! :-)

Spring Matchbox Swap

So I bought the larger sized matchbox I needed for this swap some time ago (actually, I bought 3, as they came in a pack of...), and then promptly lost all three. So I went back to the store to buy another package and emptied the matches out of the boxes. Do you have any idea how many matches those matchboxes hold??? If anyone needs a match, just holler...

Anyway, the idea was to art up a matchbox, then fill it with fun, little things that remind us of spring, then mail it to our swap partner. "Little," being the key word here, as they need to fit in the matchbox. 

Don't yellow and green just scream spring? :-)

There is one more little gifty that goes inside the box, but I'm not posting it just yet so it'll be a surprise to my swap partner.

Oh, and yes, I did find the original three boxes of match I thought I'd lost. As I said, if anyone needs a match....

 

Once all the little goodies were stuffed inside, the box

got really FAT! Hope it holds together okay in transit!

Endless Monday

When I thought of this week's Inchie word - "Endless" - all I could think of was Endless Love. Not the Lionel Richie version, though I do love that song...;) But the endless love that exists when a child comes into your life. More specificially, a grandchild.

Endless love

Endless hugs

Endless joy

Endless energy

Endless smiles

Endless giggles

Endless....well, you get the idea...

"Dance" into Monday!

So this Inchie turned out completely different than what I had pictured in my brain, other than the little pink dancer which adorns it.

When this week's Every Inchie Monday word was "dance," I knew I'd found a use for the tiny ballerina charm that had come out of my daughter's stash of junque. :-) But the ribbon I had envisioned circling the edges of the Inchie wasn't going to happen. Mainly because I didn't have any lace, white or pink, tiny enough to accomplish this goal! And mostly because when I found the wider black lace in my shoebox full of bits of lace and ribbons, it just sort of jumped onto my Inchie and stuck there! LOL! The little beaded strip was part of a larger whole, but I cut off the fabric on either side to leave the beads, since that lace would have hidden the beautiful lacing beneath it. Add a few beads where the yarns attach and voila'! It was so easy I almost felt guilty at not spending more time on it! :-)

A Little Monday Frolic ;)

Such a fun word for this week's Every Inchie Monday: Frolic! 

The final result just sort of materialized despite the other ideas I had frolicking about in my brain! But I guess my Muse knows best! :-)  Slow day at work, so I dug out my colored pencils and grabbed a blank Inchie I now keep stashed in my drawer (LOL!) and just started coloring little people frolicking about! No doubt inspired by my weekend visit with Ava. It's simple, but says it all!

Holiday Altered Book Round Robin - February

February is the month of love, and there is no love so great as that for the child of your child. So in honor of Valentine's Day, I devoted a page in Angela's book to that love. I couldn't find a suitable picture of a grandmother holding a baby, at least not to my liking, so you know what they say, if you don't like what you see, do it yourself! So I drew my own picture. :-)

It's just another "Cosmic" Monday :-)

Today's word is "cosmic." I experimented with alcohol inks because I love the way they flow into themselves. Clearly they wouldn't work on paper (though I stupidly tried to spray them with a sealant first and the inks soaked in anyway...hey, it was worth a shot!)

So there I was, sitting at my desk at work (shhh, they think I "work" there...LOL!), rifling through my desk, looking for something to ink up. Then I grabbed another cracker out of the baggie sitting on my desk and eyed the plastic bag itself...! Hmmm...

Long story short, yes, it worked! I then glued the inked plastic square onto a square inch of dictionary page, but I had to put a coat of gel medium over the top to keep the ink from rubbing off, and in the process lost a bit of the run effect, not to mention it dulled it a bit more than I would have liked. But I sprayed it with PYM to further seal it, and the gloss sort of came back so all was good! Thus, was born the background for my "cosmic" Inchie! :-)

Something's "Fishy" Monday

I just love Dory and her simple logic to "...just keep swimming...just keep swimming..."

So when this week's Every Inchie Monday word was: fishy, of course, Dory popped into mind. And as long as she was there anyway, had to go with her! :-)

So even though it's Monday, folks, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, just keep swimming, swimming, swimming....:-)

It's an "Electrifying" Inchie Monday!

Today's word for Every Inchie Monday:   "electrifying"

Inspired by a print of Van Gogh's "Starry Night" which hangs in my daughter's room, I pulled out my colored pencils and recreated my version in an inch, adding a bolt of lightning to the night sky - because the painting itself it just "electrifying" :-) - and adding some texture to the ground.

Holiday Altered Book Round Robin - 2011

What do you get when you add twelve artists from around the country, twelve books of varying origins (from rescued books saved from the discard pile, to hand-crafted books), with the twelve months of 2011?

You get a Holidays Altered Book Round Robin, and twelve months of incredible artwork as the books make their rounds to each of the twelve artists for at least one holiday spread per month. :-)

We all did January in our own books before mailing them off to their next home for the month.

The Cover for my Book

"Through the Year"

It's not totally finished as I didn't want to add any bulky embellishments so it'd be easier to work in the book.

 Sign-In Page, where the artist of the month can "check out" my book by signing their name on the library card.

 The list of artists (with full names obviously blurred out for privacy issues....;)

 The Calendar Page - listing possible holidays through the year. I tried to make it quilty-looking; not sure I got there or not! LOL!

 This page is just sort of an added bonus (for me, mostly! LOL!) I was just going to print a page of instruction/suggestions and stick it in the front of the book and call it good, but I found this quote and loved it! So I had to add a page, using techniques I learned in Tam's online class, Art, Heart, and Healing. I am pleased with how it turned out....:-)  Oh, and the pink "pocket" is some paper I made in the backyard last summer.

 My official "January" spread, reflecting my Word for the Year

"FOCUS"

I gesso'd the page black and added serendipity squares that I'd made, adding doodles and swirls with a gold pen.

 The back semi-finished back page: I just needed a envie of some sort in which to insert the tags I'd made to separate sections of the book into 12 months.

 And this is a snippet of the ribboned-off sections for each month.

Can't wait to see my book at the end of the year with months and months of holiday art, but plan to enjoy the journey along the way of working in eleven other books! Stay tuned....:-)

Getting a Jump on "Mirthful" Monday!

So I decided to go digital, for the most part, this week for Monday's word: "mirthful"....:-)

Ava just looked so mirthful when she was playing around with the beads we were using to make necklaces over the summer. I used my PaintShopPro Photo X2 and used the "colored foil" artistic effect, playing around with the settings until I got it "just right!"

I did print it out and mount it on cardstock and then used a sparkly pen around the edge to set it off a bit more. Still enjoying the Inchie Mondays sooo much! :-) Already thinking on what to do for next week! :-)

 And here is the original photo:

It's a "Maudlin" Inchie Monday

So I wasn't really sure how to portray the word for the day, but every time I thought of the word maudlin, a sad little clown materialized in my brain, soooo....I actually drew this clown in my art journal, then scanned it, colored, scanned it again to resize, and mounted it on my Inchie!

A "Caring" Inchie Monday

Today's word for Every Inchie Monday was "Caring"...so I used a serendipity square that I had leftover from an altered book RR I'm working on and cut it to size - 1x1 - which is really teeny tiny when you go to draw a mama birdie keeping her baby birdie safe from harm. Thus, the "caring" part of the Inchie....:-)

I think I'm having as much fun coming up with different spots to photogragh the Inchies as I am making the Inchies in the first place! :-)