THE ART TRAIN

Bird House Centerpiece 2010

2010-11-21T12:18:00.000-06:00

My Pink & Green 2010 Christmas Tree

2010-11-21T11:59:00.000-06:00

Happy Halloween 2010 - Dominoe Necklaces

2010-10-28T06:27:00.000-05:00

Wishing Everyone a Happy Halloween!
These are five of the 10 Halloween themed
Dominoe Necklaces I had fun making for

family and friends.

My Trades - Art & Soul Retreat - Portland 2010

2010-09-26T09:33:00.003-05:00

Almost ready to go to the Portland Art & Soul Retreat Event. Got my trades done, got the Fatbook done and ready ship to Christine. Now, I've got to get my supplies gathered up and packed and somehwhere in the all festivities, some clothes to wear! I made Bookmarks using Dover Alice Paperdoll images that I collaged/overlayed and also made necklaces on Rubicubes using my original drawings that I collaged.

Art & Soul Portland Fatbook 2010

2010-09-15T20:53:00.001-05:00

Picture slideshow made with Smilebox

Sliding Puzzle Pieces Collage

2010-08-30T06:06:00.000-05:00

I love puzzle pieces and love to find ways to use. These pieces began as the old-timey Sliding Puzzles. You know that ones that have the numbers 1 - 10 and with the little hole on the bottom. As children and as we traveled back and forth across the country, my brothers and I played with these puzzles to pass the miles as they whirled by. I still love them.

For this artwork, I decided I would make each one different, trying different ways to cover the puzzle. For some, I used decorative napkins as the background. For others, I used plain white tissue paper and colored. I also tried using different glues. I actually found the easiest way to do this was to first cover the puzzle with white tissue using Mod Podge. I let it dry and then gently cut through the pieces. After that fully dried, I added more tissue or decorative napkin. By having cut through the first layer with the Xacto Knife, the 2nd layers was much easier.

As you will see, I wasn't concerned with covering up the numbers...some of the numbers underneath the tissue still show, but that was okay with me. I also wasn't concerned with adding objects to the top. A few of these actually have a glaze over them which gave the puzzles a sorta "old wall" look.

Finally, I painted an 8 X 10 art board with yellow and glued each one on. For the sides, I tore apart a puzzle and painted the individual pieces black and glued on the sides.

Hope you Enjoy!

Marian

2011 Calendar Swap - The Angel Company

2010-08-29T16:09:00.000-05:00

Each year, Kathleen Buchanan, hosts a Calendar Swap for The Angel Company Demonstrators. I always have a great time creating pages for her swap and enjoy having the calendar on display all year long. I try to join as many Calendars as I can and this year I joined three. My months were July, September and July. All stamps are from The Angel Company's new catalog!

For September, selected the new stamp set called "Art Gave Her Wings." I also tied in that September is National Literacy Month.

For the first July, I selected the "Camping" Stamp set. I love to camp and July is National Parks & Recreation Month so that worked out well.

July the 2nd July, "FLY" is my stamp set and I love this set. I used some moire ribbon that I have had for a long time.

Decorated Heart

2010-07-26T19:02:00.000-05:00

Happy Hearts! Keep Happy Thoughts in Your Heart!
This heart was made from polymer torquoise clay, embossed
with stamps that had been swiped in Brilliance Gold, and then
the edges soldered with Silver Gleem solder. Hope you enjoy!

Another Clay Doll

2010-05-30T17:38:00.000-05:00

"You should have seen me before I had plastic surgery!"

"True Party Girl" Clay Art Doll

2010-04-11T12:32:00.000-05:00

Spring has Sprung! It's Time to Look Forward-Not Backwards

2010-04-08T17:13:00.001-05:00

Spring has arrived in Northern Florida. We went from cold weather to Spring in 3 days! Next event will be SUMMER along the Gulf of Mexico. HAPPY SPRING TO EVERYONE! Never Look Back--Always Look Forward! Hope you enjoy my drawing and collage.

The "C" Swap at CCSwaps - A Chunky Clay Calendar Book

2010-04-07T18:15:00.000-05:00

Dolls for Big Girls Class - Art & Soul

2010-03-14T19:58:00.000-05:00

I attended the "Dolls for Big Girls Class" at Art & Soul, Las Vegas, NV. Jan Harris so generously stepped in for Judy Wise (who had unexpected surgery) and taught the class. These dolls are FUN TO MAKE!!

A Funky Girl!

2010-03-14T19:55:00.000-05:00

A Funky Girl saying HELLO SPRING!

B if for BLUEJEAN PURSE

2010-03-14T19:01:00.000-05:00

Recycled and ragged BlueJeans. The pocket was cut out for the front and the backside is part of the leg. First painted with Luminere Paint, then stamped saying and clay piece, adding the purchased flower piece.

VEGAS FATBOOK 2010

2010-02-14T10:06:00.000-06:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

2009-11-04T21:55:00.000-06:00

CCSwaps June Quote of the Month

2009-06-21T05:37:00.001-05:00

Little Alpha Annie - Alphabet Discovery Journal

2009-06-07T18:00:00.000-05:00

CCSwaps - Mystery Brocade Swap

2009-05-17T20:35:00.000-05:00

Adrienne Goodenough hosted a Mystery Swap for CCSwaps (Creating Chaos!). The mystery was revealed and it was creating Brocade Clay pieces. For my partner, Maggi Grabowski, I decided to alter and decorate a little soap box I received last Christmas with some really sweet smelling soap in the drawers. I used Black Kato clay and had a ball making creating the brocade pieces and decorating the soap box.

Asilomar Fatbook 2009 "Art & Soul Retreat"

2009-05-16T11:57:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

Here Comes PeterCottonTail

2009-04-04T22:42:00.005-05:00

Mother always made a beautiful and delightful Bunny Cake for Easter Dinner! It was always such fun and all of us kids thoroughly enjoyed it and always felt a little funny EATING that Easter Bunny! Well, my video shows the 2nd Generation in honor of Mother's Easter Cake. I don't know if Mr. Bunny will still standing tomorrow morning or even in one piece so I took pictures tonight, just in case. The cake is a Pineapply Moist Cake mix and the cake used is by Nordic Ware. Great Pan! Lots of work to get it done but lots more fun than work!

Prototype Line Drawing for Quote Swap

2009-03-31T07:02:00.000-05:00

Prototype Line Drawing - Quote Swap at CCSwaps hosted by Kathy Beringer. We are given a quote and are to create our own interpretation of the quote. The quote is "Hold Fast to Dreams, for if dreams die, life is a broken winged bird that cannot fly." By Langston Hughes

2009-03-17T21:23:00.000-05:00

My Puppies! My Boys! Benji O'Hara McBryde (biege one) and Teddi McKenzie McBryde(white one).

Top of The MOrnin' Collage

2009-03-16T21:22:00.000-05:00

My St. Patrick's Day collage is created using images from Ten Two Studios, The Original Printable Holiday Countdown. I don't know how Lisa Vollrath does this so many times a year! Lisa shares so much with all of us. Be sure to stop by her many websites, Ten Two Studios (www.tentwostudios.com), Go Make Something. She has beautiful collage sheets in her store.

Happy St. Patrick's Day 2009

2009-03-16T07:06:00.001-05:00

Image credits to: http://countdown.tentwostudios.com

Art & Soul Retreat 2009 - Asilomar

2009-03-14T08:36:00.001-05:00

I am hosting a Fatbook Swap for the Art & Soul Retreat in Asilomar, CA in May, 2009. These are a couple of pages I have designed for the book. (The top page is for the Artists page.)

The theme of this Swap is "Dancing Through the Decades." Each artists will be selecting a decade and then select a favorite dance and music during that decade and can further enhance the theme by adding the fads, fashions, and culture during that period of time. I can't wait to see their pages!

I haven't finished the cover, yet. I have it all layed out but it is still a work in progress!

DANCE LIKE NO ONE IS WATCHING.

Sunday Sunrise

2009-01-18T09:04:00.000-06:00

Portland Fatbook Swap 2008

2008-09-20T15:00:00.002-05:00

Make a Smilebox postcard

Having Fun with Stamping!

2008-08-17T07:54:00.000-05:00

Altered Clock

2008-08-17T06:46:00.000-05:00

TIME FOR ART: Calendars & Clocks

2008-08-17T06:45:00.000-05:00

Altered Paper Mache Angels

2008-05-31T17:33:00.002-05:00

Using paper mache Angel figures purchased from Oriental Trading Company, I coated with White Spray Gesso by Krylon. After letting that dry, the fun began. But, first I trimmed the Angel's hands. I didn't like the shape--thought they were too long.

Then for the first one, I sprayed the Angel with Willow Walnut Ink--heat set, and then sprayed with Terra Cotta. It took a long time for the Walnut Ink to dry even with a heat gun. And, then I discovered that the Walnut Inks grew lighter! Oh Well. Moving on, I reduced the size of the wings and made a template.

Using old music textbooks pages, I stamped the wings and the skirt piece then attached to the Angel. This Angel has a fiber halo with some scrapper's floss and a rose to hold. For Blue Bird Angel, I painted the sprayed gesso paper first with Quacker Grey acrlyic paint and then blended in French Blue. All the stamping on the music paper was stamped with the French Blue and then highlighted with Glacier Blue Opalite ink. The little tite she is holding is stamped on a game tile with Stazon.

From the Library Lounge Car:Vintage Advertisements 1923

2008-05-21T18:47:00.018-05:00

Holeproof Hosiery Company -Milwaukee, Wisconsin
"Women of Fashion prefer Holeproof Hosiery because it is beautiful --- sheer--- exquisite." Photoplay Magazine March, 1923
I am collector of anything that is old books. I am captivated by the engraving, the words, the illustrations, the line drawings, the colors, the paper--just everything. Recently, I have been collecting old magazines and have had the good fortune of finding some old film related magazines. The magazines I have collected so far are mainly in black and white but many of the advertisements are in color and are just beautiful.

I am sharing some of these advertisements with you. Please feel free to upload the photos for your personal use. Sometimes, "altering an ad" into something more current is great fun! If you do this from one of these, please share. I will be sharing more pages from these magazines over time so please stop back by, take in the seat in The ArTTrain's library lounge and enjoy the ride.
---Marian

"My wife asked me to do this"
Palmolive Shampoo
by V. K. Cassady, B.S., M.S., Chief Chemist
Photoplay Magazine
September, 1923

"The Net of the Life-Like Lustre"
Gainsborough Genuine Hair Net
The Lyman Bros. & Co. Canada
Photoplay Magazine
September, 1923

" A Clean Tooth
Never Decays"

Tooth Brush Vintage Advertisement

Florence Manufacturing Company

Florence, Mass
Photoplay Magazine
March, 1923

6 X 6 Art Canvas: Inspired by Angela Cartwright

2008-05-18T15:40:00.004-05:00

At the Art & Soul Retreat in Asilomar, California, this year, I took a class from Angela Cartwright entitled, "Working Small in a Big Way." We spent the morning making textured backgrounds and in the afternoon we began building a piece of art on a stretched 6 X 6 canvas using "inchies" we had created. This piece is totally inspired by Angela's class.
Instead of using "inchies" this time, I wanted to make a wall hanging for my black and white kitchen with some favorite quotes. To begin, I painted the entire canvas with Black Gesso. While that was drying, I stamped my pieces on Karen Foster scrapbook paper with Versamark and embossed in Black.
The original class we covered the entire 6 X 6 front with the inchies by gluing each piece down with a glue stick. Then, after we glued all the inchies down, we took a glue stick and went around each piece and then sprinkled embossing powder between each piece. For this piece I wanted to try something a little different. So, instead of covering the entire surface, I left open areas between the quotes and medallions. I used a quick dry Tacky Glue that comes in a slender tube with a pointy top. This really worked great for the glue around the edges for the embossing.

After each stamped piece was glued down, I ran a medium strip of glue around each piece edge and the sprinkled black embossing powder. This really gives alot of depth to the project. (If following the original class, I would have black embossed every open surface.) The edges of the canvas are also decorated with the paper and more quotes so you see something from every side. This class was lots of fun!

Thank you, Angela, for a great class and for this inspiration!

Happy Mother's Day Puzzle 2008

2008-05-11T09:46:00.000-05:00

Happy Mother's Day! I made this wooden puzzle using 1 inch square blocks. Taking old photographs of my siblings and using a 1 inch on the computer, I printed the photos and then glued to the blocks, cutting the overall picture with an Xcto knife placing on the block and then finally coating each block with ModPodge glossy. Each of the six sides has a puzzle. I made a little booklet with a copy of each finished puzzle.

One Last Camellia

2008-04-03T06:32:00.000-05:00

I have a beautiful Camellia bush that has grown into a tree outside my backdoor. Each year, the camellias bloom just like clockwork right about Christmas Day. They are a gorgeous color. This, I think, is the last one for the season. I will miss them!

Simple Demo on Fatbook Pages Creation

2008-04-02T18:48:00.001-05:00

Alice in Wonderland Chunky Page

2008-03-26T20:18:00.000-05:00

Art & Soul Fatbook Asilomar California

2008-03-21T07:46:00.001-05:00

2008-03-15T09:45:00.003-05:00

Ms. Trish, ListMom for Next Generation Stamps, challenges her Yahoogroup members with background techniques. This week for the Background Noise Challenge it was the Shaving Creme Technique. But, instead of using Shaving Creme, use Mousse! Well, I didn't have any mousse so Shaving Creme it was for me. This particular technique brings back many fond memories for me since it was the VERY first technique I learned. I enjoyed it then and enjoyed even more this time. In addition to smooshing cardstock into the creme mixture, I also smooshed on see through fabric so I would coordinating fabric to make ribbons and what not. The fabric smooshing was done after I did the cardstock. By the way, the fabric was free! I went to a blind and window shop owner and asked if she had any sample books. Well, I came home with 30 books with fabulous fabrics---silks, brocades, cottons, sheers, heavy fabric...I couldn't believe it. Ask around!

Lunch Box Assemblage

2008-03-10T20:05:00.000-05:00

I started with one of those white lunch boxes. I 've forgotten who makes them and even where I purchased---I've had for over two years! I made this for my middle brother who turns 58 on Wednesday. I used anything I could find---some very old, rusty stuff given to me by a friend from an old barn, crushed beer bottle tops (that my brother gave me!), handmade papers, model magic, jute, rubber lace and stamping on acetate. Lots of E600 on this one--just hope the chain stays on there!

Recycling Project #2: Contact Lens Supplies

2008-03-09T09:02:00.001-05:00

Do you wear contacts? Or, know someone who does? Save the supplies and recycle! I wear Bausch&Lomb lenses which come packaged in the clear plastic cases shown and the saline solution comes with the blue and white cases. What do I do with these? I use the clear plastic cases for mixing paints of all kinds, as a holder for glue or small objects..just about anything. For the storage lens case, I use for travelling. If I need just a little bit of something, I pour into the case, i.e., perfect pearls, glitter, gold leaf, paints, etc., etc.. These cases are pretty airtight, but I strongly recommend placing anything liquid when travelling in a plastic baggie. What else can we do with these??

Remember to Recycle! It's a good thing!

Design Elements: Irish Collages

2008-03-08T15:11:00.000-06:00

These are some of the elements I used for the two Irish Collages. Some of them were downloaded as PDF files and not as JPEGs.

Irish Sheet Music & Postcard Collages

2008-03-08T13:12:00.006-06:00

I made these two collages using vintage sheet music illustrated covers, one vintage postcard and one Dover design. Each of these is created using four different sources and each has at least 9 elements layed out and glued down. I found a really neat website that has vintage sheet music. It is the Johns Hopkins University, Sheridan Collection. Visit Johns Hopkins University Collection Its site linked another consortium of vintage sheet music at the University of Southern California, Visit UCLA consortium This was lots of fun and would love to creat some more but I need to do some chores!

Daguerreotypes - Period of Use: 1839 - ca. 1860

2008-03-06T07:35:00.002-06:00

Photography was one of the most important inventions of the nineteenth century. The daguerreotype was the earliest practical photographic process, and was especially suited to portraiture. The images created were so lifelike that some referred to the daguerreotype as a "mirror with a memory."
It was made by exposing the image on a sensitized silver-plated sheet of copper, and as a result, the surface of a daguerreotype is highly reflective. There is no negative used in this process, and the image is almost always reversed left to right. Sometimes a mirror inside the camera was used to correct this reversal.
The men and women who worked with photographic materials faced many challenges. Solving one problem often created another. The daguerreotype was expensive, relied on toxic material such as mercury, and could not be reproduced. http://www.floridamemory.com/

The Textured Black Gesso Challenge--Train Wreck!

2008-03-05T20:25:00.002-06:00

Well, the challenge was to create a background using Black Gesso, highlighted with gold. Hmm.... I don't have any black gesso, tried to make black gesso by mixing a black reinker to the white gesso and, as Trish, Next Generation Stampers, http://trishbee.co.uk/ said "be careful you might get grey." I did, plus just a huge messy looking "thing." So, I altered the challenge by using the gesso and painted with Color Mists sprays, acrylics inks, Walnut Ink sprays, adding glitter to the gesso while wet to make a grainy look and highlighting with gold ink. I think I shall go out and purchase some black gesso and give this another try. (And, I'm going to purchase some better gesso---I think I have some really cheap stuff---runny!)

The Color Wheel Circle Fatbook Swap

2008-03-02T06:18:00.000-06:00

I joined the The Color Wheel Circle Fatbook Swap on BookArtz, hosted by Jennifer C. This was such fun! I selected the color Orange and had a ball creating my pages.

An Angel Card for An Angel

2008-03-02T05:41:00.001-06:00

This is the 4 X 4 page I made for a very sweet lady who has always been an Angel--from the moment I met her at the Art & Soul Retreat in Dallas, Texas. She has been been in every Fatbook Swap I have hosted for Art & Soul, except this one. She has had surgery on her shoulder and is unable to participate. So, I made her a page so she will not miss out! I was thrilled to find and old thread advertisement with this angel who was sewing around the world. I cut her out from the advertisement and created a new collage that says, "Wind Is the Love we don't understand, but feel." Get well soon, Dale!

Windswept Cover

2008-02-28T21:49:00.001-06:00

This is my prototype for the cover of 4 x 4 Fatbook Book I am hosting for the Art & Soul Retreat in Asilomar, California. The theme is "Windswept." I found this old pen advertisement and started adding elements to it. This is NOT the finished page. I'd like to postpone posting the final for a bit!

Recycling

2008-02-28T19:51:00.002-06:00

Make a slideshow - it's easy!