5th Annual Blog Swap Announcement: Mona & Friends

I know that many of you have been waiting for my annual blog swap impatiently, so I´m happy to be able to announce it today!
You all know Leonardo´s Mona Lisa, and most of you probably have used that image in your art like I did in the sample on the right. Well - I must confess that Mona is not one of my favourite Renaissance paintings ... I prefer portraits of women painted by Botticelli, Bronzino, Ghirlandaio, Holbein, Rogier van der Weyden, Pollaiuolo and others. This is the reason why I haven´t chosen "Altered Mona" as my theme but want to include any Renaissance women to alter (you can see a variety of them on the left).
Let´s face the word "Re-naissance" and give these ladies a new birth by altering them and their surroundings!

And here are the rules:

Please sign up via personal e-mail (just click on the E-mail me link in the sidebar) and let me know your snail mail address. There´s no sign up date.

Then send 3 ATCs to my address (that I´ll send you when I answer your e-mail) before July 15.

As always, you´ll find updates on my blog with links to all participants´ ATCs. So when you´ve finished your ATCs, please send me an e-mail with the link to the place where you´ve posted them online, and I´ll add that link to the next update so that everyone can go to your blog or other website to have a look at your artwork.

I´ll send out invitations to all previous blog swap participants, but this swap is open to all my visitors. Have fun!

Make Room for DADA

This week I´m a guest host for the Sunday Postcard Art challenge, and I´ve chosen one of my favourite art styles, DADA, as this week´s theme.

Artists like Kurt Schwitters and Max Ernst have not only been among the first collage artists, but have also introduced mail art to the scene, and they even made some collages we´d call Steampunk today. And don´t forget the female DADA artists - Hannah Höch made some of my favourite DADA pieces!

DADA could be just anything, pure fun and nonsense as well as political statements as in John Heartfield´s artwork. So: Make Room for DADA this week and just play!

A Dog´s Life

At the stamping convention in Zeist I´ve found this lovely dog stamp in the bargain bin for one Euro - how could I resist?

My Garden Journal

I´m not a scrapbooker, so working with templates is not my cup of tea at all. Nevertheless I wanted to try the Creavil challenge template - and finished my card today which is one day late ... But look, there´s a butterfly on the left, and the new challenge theme is Butterflies, so here´s my card for it :-)

Pretty Queenie

No, I did NOT watch the Royal Wedding on TV today ... but I thought this might be a good day to make my ATC for the ARTchix lottery themed "Queen for the Day"!
In the background you can see some of the papers I´ve made during the last days: a book page dyed with egg dyes at the bottom, embossed and sanded glassine paper in the middle, another paper dyed with egg dyes on top, and on the left I´ve stamped on the hand made paper I´ve told you about in my previous blog post.

Hand papermaking

These are two papers I´ve made from old newspapers.
First you have to tear the newspapers, then soak them overnight with water, stirring and chopping it up until you get this sort of pulp.
Put a plastic net in a frame and dip your frame in the pulp, then disperse the pulp and take it out with your frame.
Put a second plastic net on it and press out as much water as you can.

Turn your frame over on a handkerchief, remove the frame, then cover with a second handkerchief and press again.

Remove the first net, then turn over and remove the second one.

Let your paper dry. That´s it!

A Busy Weekend

I´ve had a busy Easter weekend with my sisters here in Bremen. Yes, we´ve been searching eggs in the garden, sitting in the sun, and we took a walk in the lovely Rhododendron park. But moreover, we´ve tried some new techniques ...
First we´ve made our own stamps using a kit my sister had found on Ebay. Here´s my finished stamp with the foil covered photocopy that I´ve made as a first step in the process before the photosensitive material was exposed to light.

And the next photo shows the papers we´ve dyed, painted and stenciled with the remains of our Easter egg dyes. If you want to see more of the process, have a look at the video my BIL made.

Next, we made our own paper from old newspaper. Look at my next blog post to see the necessary steps.

Altered Eco Embellishments

These are thin Chipboard shapes that I´ve altered for the latest ARTchix swap themed "Altered Eco Embellishments". Once you´ve started, you´ll have a lot of ideas for decorating these blank shapes.

Grungy Monday: A New Dimension

Here´s my Foamboard ATC with a niche for this week´s Grungy Monday challenge themed "New Dimensions" - have a look at Linda´s blog to find all the other entries using this interesting Tim Holtz technique.

Hoppy Easter!

The theme for our monthly Zetti 4 x 6 page is Easter this time, so my Zetti page makes a lovely SPA Easter card, too. Wishing you all a hoppy Easter!

Video about ArtSpecially Event in Zeist

Have you seen my photos taken at the ArtSpecially Event in Zeist/NL last week? I wouldn´t have been able to get there without my BIL who drove me and my sister. And of course he made a film there for all of you who couldn´t attend that great stamping convention. -You can go to my Youtube page and have a look at the new video here to get some impressions.

Finished Seaside Swap

Here´s the complete batch of ATCs for the By the Seaside swap.

London Calling: Big Time Box

"London Calling" is this week´s theme for the Wednesday Stamper´s challenge - love that song!
And here´s a little box illustrating the theme; I´ve called it "Big Time".

Grungy Monday #4: Texture Fades and Distress

What an interesting technique Linda has chosen for this week´s Grungy Monday challenge: using Distress inks directly on your embossing plates is something I hadn´t tried before - especially as I don´t own a Cuttlebug yet. But as I´m with my sister right now, I could use hers and liked the results though I found it difficult to use them in a card. If you go to Linda´s blog you´ll find the link to Tim Holtz´ video demonstrating this fun technique.

By the Seaside

With the bright spring sun shining here in Germany, I just couldn´t resist joining a swap themed "By the Seaside" - here are my first three ATCs made for it. Looks like this will be a cheery, colourful batch of cards ...

Looking Forward to Easter

From Easter on, I´ll have a few days off work and much time for stamping and collaging, so I´m really looking forward to it - as is this bunny on my Moo card made for the Make a moo or two challenge.

No Time Left

What an interesting weekend this was. I´ve been to the Dutch stamping convention in Zeist yesterday for the first time, and it was great. I´ve met a lot of German and a few Dutch friends

and even got to know some stampers that I had only met online before. And of course I´ve purchased some new stamps - though I´ve been in a money saving mode, I couldn´t resist all those beauties that they sold at the 42 booths ...

Maybe you´ve missed new posts here but I didn´t have much time for stamping and won´t have until next week; with Easter and three art/stamping conventions in three months this is a very busy time of the year.

Let´s talk about Eggs ...

As I´ve won the last ARTchix Sisters Lottery, I´m hosting the latest lottery themed "Egg-sactly" (a theme that I´ve chosen because I´ve recently missed a swap with that theme and would have loved to participate). Here´s my ATC for that lottery ...

Imagine

I couldn´t resist playing with the beautiful images my friend Mary from Green Paper uploaded for her April challenge. Have a look here, fetch her collage sheet and have fun with it!

Grungy Monday in NYC

I´m almost late for the first Grungy Monday challenge, but here´s my card using Tim Holtz´ technique for this week. I´ve tried to make a rather clean, pure card according to my NYC theme.

Vintage Text

Have you already noticed that Carole has taken over the Make a moo or two challenge blog? This week´s theme is Vintage Text, and it´s a good opportunity to use all those little scraps lying on your desk - hope you´ll join us!

Mommyisms

Hope you can always hear her saying this - aren´t those mommyisms funny? When I´ve read this week´s SPA challenge theme "Mothers" I immediately knew that I wanted to use this mother stamp together with a mommyism, it just wasn´t easy to choose one ...

Isn´t it irresistible?

It´s here! Don´t you want to go out and feel it? Smell it? Touch it? Spring has sprung, so here are my Alphabet Discovery book pages illustrating the letter I, and this spread is my entry for this week´s Wednesday Stamper´s challenge "Enchanted Spring" as well. Stamps by Catslife Press, A Stamp in the Hand, Zettiology, and Stampotique ... and maybe anybody knows where the flower comes from!? (I´ve purchased it on Ebay and don´t know the company.)

Automatic Poetry

Seems like words don´t come that easy to this Steampunk guy ... He´s my entry for this week´s Three Muses challenge themed "Steampunkerie".

Every Soul is a Circus

... is the title of my ATC for the ARTchix Circus lottery.

Inspiration

After having visited a crafts convention on Saturday, I couldn´t wait to use some of the new stamps we had purchased, so I´ve made a few ATCs inspired just by what was lying on my desk. New stamps never fail to inspire me to make some art. Where do YOU get your ideas and inspiration from?

Think outside the Box

... that´s what I always try to do when it comes to a Zetti swap. Here´s my latest batch of Zettis.

Recipe for a Fun Sunday

It´s easy: invite three good friends, blow a few eggs and bake a cake with their content, have some sweets, coffee, and sparkling wine ready, put all your paints and art stuff on your table and don´t forget some music in your CD player ... a fun Sunday will be guaranteed! We´ve had a nice art party together yesterday in the midst of this chaos, and we´ve all been satisfied with our results (if you´re not, maybe try another glass of sparkling wine) ...

Home Sweet Home

... is the theme for our monthly bird journal page.

No. 1 - It´s a beautiful day!

No. 1 is this week´s theme for the SPA challenge, and here are some obvious fans of that number.

Dress Extravagantly

This 4 x 6 page for a Zetti themed book (this month the challenge was "Crow") was made using different mediums - first I´ve made a digital collage, then printed it on watercolour paper, then painted and scribbled with crayons and pencils and finally handstitched a bit ...

Butterflies flutter by

Three ATCs for an insect themed swap - I really wanted to do some bugs and other insects but couldn´t resist butterflies today!

OWOH - Christmas in March

Today my last two OWOH giveaways arrived in my mailbox, and it felt like Christmas! These are the lovely four things I´ve won this year: - a wonderful fabric postcard and beads from Michelle - a beautiful encaustic painting from Ludgera - an Asian inspired postcard collage from Laura - an ATC kit from Trisha Thanks again to all of you for your lovely gifts!

Pick a Letter

What a wonderful theme we have this week for the Wednesday Stamper´s challenge: Pick a Letter! For my 8,3 x 5,9 " card I´ve used magazine cutouts, a stenciled and glimmer misted alphabet background, collage elements and stamps from Paperbag Studios, Heindesign, and MadRat.

Then sings my Soul

It´s Carnival Monday today, a day that I don´t like at all because of the horrible German carnival music I hear when I open my window ... but as it´s a day off work, I´ve had the time to enjoy the sunshine and the birds on my balcony and to put those impressions in a digital collage.

Multiple Personality

Last week I´ve shown you a split personality with my SPA challenge piece, a man torn between the wish to explore the world and the need to stay at home.
This week´s SPA challenge is themed "Illusion", and here´s not a split but a multiple personality ...
Don´t you sometimes feel like there are different characters within your own self? don´t you find you act like one of your ancestors always did? or do you recognize some facial expressions in your own face that you´ve always hated when you observed your parents? or don´t you sometimes think you carry shades of your own self with you that you had hoped to have overcome years ago? So ... feeling like a multiple personality does not necessarily mean to be sick at all ... I really think we all have those feelings from time to time. But of course it´s an illusion if you don´t believe in constructivism. Does reality exist or is it an illusion? And what´s your role in that game?

Greetings from the Seaside 1926

I´ve made a second Ancestors piece for this week´s Three Muses challenge - this is addictive! I´ve used one of my favourite family photos with my grandparents (second from the left and middle) taken in 1926.

Laugh to the Skies

This ATC combines three challenges - it features a dimensional collage fragment made for Linda´s Compendium of Curiosities Challenge, was made with a Glimmer misted background and therefore qualifies for the Creavil challenge, and it´s my vision of "Spring is in the air", this week´s Crazy Amigo challenge.

Ancestors

For this week´s Three Muses Challenge themed "Ancestors" I´ve made a digital collage with my grandfather´s family - he´s the little boy (born in 1902) with wing and crown of course ...