I felt like a Kid in a Candy Store! GLITTER!

Have you ever played with Glitter? As an adult, I mean.

Recently, I saw a beautiful Papyrus card featuring 2 flowers embellished artfully using clear Crystal Ice uneven cut glitter. It is truly lovely. I really have not ever played with glitter. I don't even remember playing with it as a kid. Maybe it was just too messy? Who knows why? Anyway, I have been collecting glitter at free tables, thrift shops and estate sales and have even bought some when I thought I was buying embossing powder. It's just been waiting in a box for me to look to my inner child. Well, I got that box out. I did not remember that I had so much. There are all different kinds--new and very old. No white or clear crystal ice though. Oh, well, that for another day.

I spent 3 hours prototyping about 20 different versions. Protyping is playing. I started with small lightweight paper canvasses. I used different types of handmade papers to collage flower shapes. Then I got gold glitter glue out and started adding it with colorful glitters intermixed.

Have you ever been using an old plastic bottle and suddenly it cracked and virtually exploded all over you? This happened to me twice yesterday! Once with gold glitter glue and once with green glitter glue. I was quite shiny! It was so surprising that all I could do was laugh out loud! LOL!

After the first gliiter bottle exploded, I upped the pace a lot. What else could I do, it was all over me, my work space and the floor? I was scooping it up with a paint brush--off my legs, the floor and out of the bottle. I used a stick amd a brush as I painted with the glitter glue and then applyed the glitter. I tried drawing the outline of a flower using water soluable crayons. This added color and then I added the glitter glue and glitter on top.

Then the green bottle broke. What to do with all of that green? I quickly started making holly leaves using the green and the gold. I have been making holly cards every year since at least 2004. I love holly, what can I say?

This morning I went to see if they were dry and how they had turned out. I think many of the ideas have promise and I can see Glitter Flower Cards, Holly Cards and Valentines in my future.

It was messy--but it was very fun. I don't think these cards are going to be finished and packaged in front of the TV....

I don't know if my inner child needed that mess but maybe what she needed was for me to work more fast. She might have been saying quit thinking just do...

Flamingo Cards

I love flamingos, don't you?

I made several this past week.

Alphabeta Cards

Other New Cards

Bird Cards

New cat cards

New Bird Cards

8,000-10,000 Librarians are in the city today through Saturday for a convention of the PLA (Public Library Association.) I have asked all my consignment artists at the store to please beef up their cards in the store and many have done so. The past 3 weekends, I have spent Sunday in the studio making cards. These were done two weekends ago.

I wanted to find a theme for cards that would be an impulse buy for these women and I knew cats was one of them and guessed birds might be also. I bought these bird stamps last weekend at the Paper Zone sale. I think they work with these backgrounds well.

Most of the backgrounds were done in a Lisa Englebreight class 2 years ago. I loved all of them but for some reason, I never used them.

I just love pulling out old paintings and cutting them up and recyling them into something else. I had lunch with a painter friend this past weekend who reminded me that this is a great way to start paintings. I have always enjoyed the challenge of doing it.

I was hoping that this line could segway into Mother's Day, but I think I will need to do something else for that.

Do you recognize "my style" in these? I do. They aren't too sweet (not me at all.) But they are cute and colorful.

I hope they come and buy out the store. We will be ready! Charge!
Update: The store just had it's two biggest days ever! The Librarians have been buying my cards and lots of everything else! Yeah, Librarians! It's been one successful week!