I was not feeling my best after doing taxes and so this turned out sort of rushed and jumbled all together. from flickr:

The Little Cuties Processional was the same day as The Tea Party so not too much effort went into getting all the cuties to show up (most of them chose to DO their taxes and cough up some dough) The baby stroller was part Naturalizer sling back and part BMW and The Old FreakShow That Lived In A Boot came because she was grounded due to the ash flying over her home town in Iceland. There was so little money left over after the tax payment all the commitee could afford for refreshments was jelly sandwiches which many shoved into their faces making quite a picture…or crowabout…
8×10 mixed media collage with images from Nancy B crowabout collage sheet(s) some dover freebies and some assorted mag clippings.
the best part I think is Bjork in a boot…

oh yeah…I have been DENIED by my insurance company an artificial disc replacement due to ‘investigational and experimental’…and the leave coordinator at work explained if I really wanted job protection during the time off for surgery I would have to return to full time duties for the next six weeks….so basically I can work until my arm goes completely numb and continue to take pain meds until I appeal the insurance denial. fun.

I want to live in a BOOT!

Made this from assorted scraps from the big fat envelope that came the other day from The Artful Dogger. “Collage Fodder Ephemera” swap on swap-bot.com was right up my alley! I had some leftover kits to share and got to swap with three partners; I hope they liked theirs!

Here is the description from flickr:

7×9 oil pastel, colored pencil, STAEDTLER pigment liner enhanced b&w Lunagirl image; vintage book page,  woven wooden paper (dress piece), and rose leaves from The Artful Dogger (swap-bot partner ‘Collage Fodder Ephemera’) rose bouquet from 80′s ‘bridal style’ coffee table book. frame Classic K designer cardstock.
painter effect added post scan in collage creator…
The image may be 100 years old but there are a great many romantics roaming this earth today. Thank You Kiera!

So I am trying my hand at portraits again; the process of ‘colorizing’ a b&w photo is good exercise if I am ever going to start painting. But that is a leap I am afraid to take. This makes me happy for now despite the condition I’m in overall. Today is going to be a GOOD day!

www.swap-bot.com

www.lunagirl.com

paper doll with moveable legs on back ground cardstock from Ciao Bella.  legs, face and partial arm from Vogue. body parts painted or embellished with watercolor or pen. used six images from mixiepixies rad sheet for week 70 Collage Play with Crowabout. border bevel by artist on computer. some digital paint programing including the quote from the fabulous French bon vivant and writer, Colette, who sported the en vogue pear shape at the of the turn of the century. Her scandalous bio here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colette
crown embellished with scraps and rhinestones by artist; coffee cup from paperscraps.
size is approximately 10×12

It has a bit of green in it but since she is a coffee drinker you can assume she is on the wagon today….Have a grand day in parade or what ever you do today-and unless you enjoy being pinched you’ll be wearin’ the green, I hope!

with unread piles of fashion mags stacked everywhere in my studio I started organizing by tearing them up systemically. First I remove the subscription cards that fall out or must be torn out of their perforation. Then I tear out ALL the perfume ads-these are the evil page and a 16th with a gummed flap sprayed with the foul combo of civet and bergamot. They are thicker pages than the magazine and are usually the first you come across when ‘thumbing’ thru the mag. They go straight into the garbage!

Next I look for the skinniest most immaciated models and cut them out for zetti collage.

Then if I need an assorted body part I go thru it again and grab those and if I see any big EYES or MOUTHS~ those get cut out too. Last but not least: Any time the text is downright obscene and is larger than a 32 pt font it gets cut out for the scrap bin for letters and verse.

Random quote author unknown: “Great friends are hard to find, difficult to leave and impossible to forget”..background K&Co card stock design enhanced by watercolor pencil. The underfed models from W, Vogue, Elle, and Marie Claire. all images hand colored with pen and acrylics. glitter applied to random spots where glue did not dry correctly. piece then altered in collage creator to add painted effect. completed in two stages. art work took about 6 hours.

work in progress…original here;—>after scanning and photoshop, added atlantic city boardwalk and removed backround and some text which says i’m bored etc…this is a mosaic of a photo-all but the far right side of her face has been replaced with paper that was treated with ranger distress ink and pencil. magazine paper always scans with funky lines on it. this is a work in progress.

This is the fourth Lady-wing collage. She ended up looking like Gina Gershon but she is based on an image from a 1954 Good Housekeeping. I use vellum to trace the original dress and create  a template. The template is placed on designer card stock until the dress looks ‘right’ to me. I cut out the dress and distressed the edges with tea dye Ranger ink. The belt (or any accessory) is created the same way.

The original image is scanned and reprinted on 32 lb linen and then hand colored with pencil and pastel to create a painted look. Sometimes an arm or head will be replaced by other arms/heads (from other images) and pasted on to the body. The dress is pasted over this and sometimes more embellishment occurs with either pastel, ink or adhesive gems, or charms on the work.

When the paper doll is dressed she is placed on a complimentary background. Then the work is scanned and cropped. Sometimes text is added. This particular collage has text that translated reads: “Where is Julie? I think I found the diamond ring she lost in the pool.”