What do we do with the remnants, those leftover odds and ends of fabric, paper and embellishments?  Why we create art with them! 
There are so many ways you can go with this…create something childlike, make a collage using a number of techniques, or simply arrange the items hit-and-miss on paper or fabric.
That’s just what Roben-Marie Smith  has been doing and making Remnant Journals, along with her other lovely art pieces she displays and sells on her web site.  I saw my daughter looking at them this morning, after discovering  Roben-Marie  in an Artful Blogging magazine (Spring 2008 issue).  Roben-Marie even has a video explaining …read more

The peeled paper technique can be used to create a textured area on any collage.  You’ve got to select very heavy paper for this technique: extra-heavy watercolor paper or hand made papers are generally best.  If the paper is heavy enough, you can create multiple peeled layers in each spot.  With the 300 lb watercolor paper I chose, only one peeled layer was possible without risking breaking through the backing.

Psalm 63: 6-8
On my bed I remember you;
I think of you through the watches of the night.
Because you are my help,
I sing in the shadow of your wings.
My soul clings to …read more

I have a couple of young friends whose mother passed away from brain cancer a few years ago.  I didn’t know her as well as I know her sons, because I’ve traveled and worked with them on youth group trips for years.  Knowing what fine young men she raised, I feel that she was an exceptional woman, one of the many whose legacy will live on through her children.
Her youngest son, Nick, founded a non-profit organization in his mother’s memory, the mission of which is to help fund the basic needs of children in developing countries.  He calls it Cling.
That …read more

As I wrote about my reader Anitra’s unique CD Photo Coasters, I wondered, “Why not use inspirational pictures and quotes or sayings on CD collages, coasters, hangings?”
This idea of recycling (or upcycling, as some call it when you use a discarded material for art) CDs can go in many directions.  CD collages might consist of:

Family photos, as Anitra described
Inspirational sayings
 Scenic and still life photos
Reproductions of one’s paintings
Found objects and memorabilia
Flower petals and leaves
Fabric to give a quilted effect
CDs attached to form a multi collage
Any combination of these

Have you recycled CDs for art?  For coasters, wall hangings, photo frames, and more?
(Image: sxc.hu)

Yeah, I know!  Summer is a silly time to be thinking about the fall, but sometimes we just can’t help it.  As soon as the leaves start to turn, which can be as early as mid-August here in New England, I’ve got to go outside and gather them up.
I’ve done a lot of projects in the past that used the colored autumn leaves, so just in case any of you are as nuts about them as I am, I thought I’d gather up some of the tutorial links for you so that you can make your autumn plans now and …read more

Technique Tuesday!
For my page in the Altered Book group anniversary book, I decided to do a found poem.  I’ve got an old novel called My Lady of the Fog (Ralph H Barbour, 1908) and another Russian text called Selected Stories (Daniil Kharms, 1919).  Very different from each other in feel, I decided to use one of the illustrations from Kharms’s book and do a found poem using a page from Barbour’s.

Really, I couldn’t do it the other way around: I can’t read Russian!
Here’s the instructions that I wrote two years ago for using tissue paper as a guide when creating …read more

As my husband and I celebrated our anniversary yesterday, I looked back on years of adventure and learning, of the various phases of life, of a daughter and grandchildren, careers and businesses, travels and ups and downs.
Should I plan something representing our life, either a quilt or mixed media collage?  The more I think of it, the more it seems a possibility.
What should I include?  Where will I research?

Photos from engagement and wedding
Reminiscenses of Jim’s years as an Air Force pilot and me a military wife.
Owning airplanes and Jim’s cross-country trip in a bi-plane
The arrival of our daughter and her …read more

Stefanie Girard’s Sweater Surgery:
See how to make a card and card album themed for a rock and roll mom to be that uses cute die cuts in a cool way.

The Artful Crafter
“Panadieres for Zambia” is a neat story and one small example of crafters helping crafters – all around the world. As Eileen likes to say, “Crafters are just the nicest people.”
The Impatient Crafter
Madge shares a technique in this post about embossing on slick surfaces!
About Family Crafts
What are your cleaning tips for crafting with kids? Please take a moment to share your …read more

I love Brandi Strickland’s work, especially the provocative combination of photography and collage that she comes up with!  Brandi only graduated from art school a few years ago, but she has managed to catch the eye of many reviewers.  Brandi says that she enjoys exploring the connection between nature and technology, and I must say I enjoy her explorations too!
Besides her etsy shop (linked above), you can also find her work on her own website, Brandi Strickland.

Images: Brandi Strickland

I’m not usually drawn to urban scenes.  I live so far out in the ‘burbs that it’s really sort of sub-suburban.  But Karen Stiehl Osborn’s Urban Landscape series just takes my breath away.

There’s a lot more to like on Karen’s site too.   I love here fabric “fragments”, her Autumn Traces series, and the series called Conversations with Myself.   Karen is one of the partners involved with the wonderful Collage Mania auctions.
Images: Karen Steihl Osborn