the serious one

as we continue along with the wonderful black americana/heritage sheet from moonlight journey we find this serious young lady.  someone commented on one of my posts that it is interesting to think about the people we find in these old photos.  that's the very reason i enjoy them so much.  these are photos of real people who have experienced real joys and sorrows.  we don't know what their stories are but we can imagine.  and of course it is a gift to arrange these photos the way we want to, adding our own artistic touches.

i think this lady really wants to be a doctor.  she wants to heal others.  she has seen pain and sickness in the world and she believes she can bring science and compassion together to make a difference.  but society is likely telling her that she ought to get married and be quiet,  to stay in her place.  in light of the times, her gender and her race there are many many obstacles.  she is a smart and beautiful lady though and i think she might have been able to achieve her dreams.  i hope so.

here's hoping you are all able to achieve your dreams.  love to all.

"recycled" tickets

the current challenge (#25) at the cheerful stamp pad is "let's reuse."  the idea is to recycle something for your creation.  that should be easy.  what mixed media artist doesn't save everything in sight and then re-use it in interesting ways?  & the juicy prize for this challenge will be some acrylic coasters from clear scraps. very cool possibilities!

so i had a big plan for my DT creation that involved re-using something i had saved and stashed awaiting the right opportunity.  well guess what?  i couldn't find that special baggie full of the goodies i had in mind.  i looked everywhere.  what can i say, my organizational scheme is clearly not the best.  i'm not going to tell you what it was since one day when i least expect it i'll find it and then i'll make something great! 

but here's what else happened.  while searching around i kept coming across old tickets.  i've got no explanation why i've got so many of them laying around.  in fact, i have so many raffle tickets saved (it does say "keep this coupon" on the back...) that i could have made a collage with nothing but those.  but instead i mixed it up with museum tickets, concert tickets, movie tickets, boat ride tickets and the omnipresent raffle tickets.  i like the effect of this collage and now i have a reason to save future tickets, yes?

i picked an image of a lady who looks like she clearly enjoys going out and having a good time (remember the line in the charlie's angels movie where cameron diaz says "i love tickets!"?).  this fine lady was a free download i picked up from art freebies.  i have just a few simple embellishments as well.

enjoy, and please consider joining the challenge.  
love to all.

a couple more vogue pieces

vintage vogue images from the fripperies and butterflies blog.  by the way you should stop by over there as Leanne has a nice giveaway going at the moment with a kit to make a mini book. these images were free downloads on her blog.  they are just beautiful and oh so classy.

most of the embellishments are from the good old stash but i wish to note that the beautiful background paper on the first (green) card was made by Linda at scrappinbears' studio.  awhile back she offered up some of her excess scrap papers and i was a lucky recipient.  in addition to just random lovely decorative papers there were some items she'd stamped and decorated herself.  this scrap is in that category.  yet another example of the talent and generosity in the blogosphere!

love to all.

leaving the old life behind, she seeks a new reality

here is another image from the black americana heritage sheet from moonlight journey.   this lady is packing up and heading out.  she might be going anywhere but she is clearly resolute that it is time to move on and she is hopeful about the future.

the image is reminding me of the african american migration in the US from the southern states to the northern states during the jim crow period.  this piece of history was powerfully memorialized in an amazing book by isabel wilkerson entitled "the warmth of other suns."

my own family took this migration when my grandmother was young (from jackson mississippi to chicago illinois and ultimately to california) in search of a better life.  found.  i'm blessed.  i hope that all went well for this lovely lady as well.

love to all.

friends magnet

i signed up for a swap at gingersnap creations, to make magnets with encouraging words.  here is the first magnet i made, it is in classic ATC size. 

i actually won't use this for the swap (is "friends" an encouraging word?) but i needed a trial run to see what it was like working on the magnet sheet surface.  the background is a swirl of alcohol inks.  the sweet pups image is from a collage sheet by the wonderful june at dezinaworld (from the dollar sale!!!).  i plan to send this to a dear friend of many years who rescues dogs.

also i really thought i'd seen a challenge in one of the blogs on the theme of friendship but now i cannot find it.  if you read this and you know of that challenge please let me know as i'd planned to enter it!  i have a hard time keeping up with which challenges are where. how do you all do it?

anyway, happy Labor Day to those in the US and happy monday to all.  may your day be full of friendship!

love to all.

she sings, she dreams

it was months ago i got this "heritage" set from moonlight journey but i've finally gotten to the fine work of playing with these lovely images.  the wings are from moonlight journey as well.   you'll see more goodies i've made with the heritage set over the coming days.  this might be my favorite though.  she is beautiful and wistful and i can only guess her story but i know for sure that she sings and dreams. 

enjoy; love to all.

tag tuesday and pink saturday

i haven't played tag tuesday for a long time but this week the challenge is to work with hearts, making the heart a focal point.  i kept finding papers with pinks and that was fitting since it is also pink saturday time.  so tonight i was randomly fooling around with my supplies and here is the result. 

i started with a tag i'd previously colored with stamp zia color wash jewels. i layered some decorative papers (all heart themed) and stamped my lady (from ducks in a row) over the layered papers.  the three hearts she is kissing were cut out free hand from various papers i had laying around, the top one i colored with alcohol inks, the others with regular dye inks.

the heart is supposed to be a focal image and i'm not sure the three hearts really are.  perhaps i should have sought a atronger contrast with the the paper underneath it.  but i enjoyed making it anyway.

happy pink saturday and happy tag tuesday!
love to all.