Hearts for our Troops Update!

Where do you find the words to thank so many that made this possible? The out pour of support from so many of my friends that belong to many of the same Yahoo groups that I do was way beyond what anyone could imagine. So many of you were so kind, thoughtful and oh so supportive!

I asked a couple of weeks ago if anyone had any Valentine images to share so that we could use them to make Valentine's cards for our Troops stationed overseas. Not only did I get an abundance of them I also received many beautiful hand made cards! I have posted some of the pictures here of some of the cards that I received. Let me tell you that they did not just send one of each but many!!! There were so many more but either I did not have a scan or we were so busy that day we forgot to get pictures of them all. Especially the ones that were made by the children. Just BEAUTIFUL!!!

The workshop that was held at Michaels had to be moved to a different date due to the time needed to get them to our men and women in time for Valentine's which caused some little problems but nothing that we could not handle.

These pictures of the children that attended the workshop eagerly making Valentine's just melt your heart!

The supplies were donated by YOU and Michaels Craft Store here in North Las Vegas! Those tiny little hands creating cards full of love and joy! There were also other ladies that attended to make this event successful.

I want to personally thank Cyndi Weinbaum, Amy Remillard, Leslie Dick, Nance Jones, Dawn Regalman, Fran 2000a1 (don't have her last name), Donna Gray, Gail Schmidt, Kim Borchardt, Kayla Fujimoto, Nicki Conroy, Leslie Clark, Amanda Howard (click on Mandy's name to see her work she sent cards all the way from the UK!!), Susan Shute, Ligia Rios (she is such a sweet heart and OH SO talented) and her friend Sherry (friends that were there making cards in the pictures) Inka Stamps, Robin S Monville and last but not least the beautiful children of North Las Vegas! There were others that attended but they were camera shy! :(

From the bottom of my heart I can't thank you all enough for your support, love and kindness that you have given so freely!

Love and Peace to all my friends!

Lori ^i^

What's NEW at Altered Arts Magazine????

Our new FREE interactive e-magazine is ready for download! Click on the link below to add it to your shopping cart.

Click here for your FREE copy!!

Please Note: This is a FREE product. Included in the item description is a coupon code that you must use at check out so that you are not charged.

Be sure to read the item description completely for important information.

You will need the Adobe Acrobat reader 7.0 or later to view the e-magazine. If you do not have this program installed on your computer, you can download it for FREE from: www.acrobat.com

Packing Tape Transfer Challenge

The Designers from Altered Arts Magazine were given a challenge to create ATC's using packing tape to transfer an image. I have posted a small image of one that I did and you can see it in full size and the others that I did by clicking HERE.

We would love to have you participate in this challenge and you can read more about it at my Altered Arts Magazine blog.

Till the next time

Think Monday - ATC Photo Image Stamps

Did someone say Photo image stamps? The theme for Think Monday Think ATC is using Photo Image Stamps

WOW!! I just love them! These two pieces feature photo image stamps from "Stampsmith"!

I am sorry to say that lately I have not been using them and need to get them out. I love using Tim Holtz Distress Inks (Ranger Crafts) on mine. They make them look like a real vintage picture. Just stamp your image with the ink pad and then take a brayer and run it over a few times to make certain that the ink is well distributed on the stamp, then stamp on glossy card stock for a beautiful realistic picture! If you don't have glossy card stock then glossy photo paper works just as well. Just be careful when you heat set so it does not bubble! LOL! Trust me I know.

I also like using Memories Black India Ink for a crisp image as well.

I have more of my cards that I have made using photo image stamps at my picture trail site and can see them there.

Mixed Media Monday ~ Whimsy

Mixed Media Monday's theme is Whimsy and I just love this little gal! The image is from Altered Pages.

Theme Thursday - Valentines

It's that time of year with love in the air and the theme for "Theme Thursday" is Valentines!

Here is one that I made using images from Altered Pages. I made the background using paints and stamps and then giving them a light wash of gesso.

The Land of Inka

Sending "Hearts to our Troops"

Thank you for stopping by and reading this. Some of you know that I work at Michaels here in Las Vegas and one of the gals and I are getting together to have a free workshop at our store to make and send cards to our troops for Valentines Day. Since Nellis Air Force Base is located here we have made arrangements to get them there FAST! The workshop will be held on Saturday Feb. 2, 2008 from 10 AM to 5 PM and we are hoping to reach a goal of 100 cards!

We are in need of some images that are Vintage American Themed, Cupids, hearts etc. that will be appropriate to make cards for them. If you happen to have a copyright free image that you are willing to share with us it would be greatly appreciated. You can email them to me alteredartexpressions@cox.net and we will have them printed to make the cards.

Also if you want to join in the fun and don't live here and would like to make a card(s) to send please let me know and I will send you an address to where you can mail them.

Stamped images are also welcomed. If you are an owner of a stamp company and would like to donate a Valentine themed stamp to use in this workshop we would be honored and will make certain that everyone knows you contributed to this special event!

Thanks again for reading this far and if you can help in any way it will be greatly appreciated!

I forgot to mention one important thing!!!! Michaels is contributing all the card stock, papers, embellishments, glues etc that is needed for this project! WOW! Thanks Michaels!!!!

People have been responding and it gives me goose bumps! Please if you are going to make cards don't put heavy embellishments on them. Cards or postcards are fine! I need to have your cards here in Las Vegas by the 2nd of Feb so they can leave on the 4th of Feb. One of our gals husbands that is at the base here will make certain that they get there.

You can email me for the address to send your cards, contributions of images etc at alteredartexpressions@cox.net

Bless you one and all for the tremendous response!

Lori ^i^

Start of a new year!

Can you imagine that it's already 2008! I remember when my son and I sat in our living room on Dec. 31, 1999 only moments from the strike of midnight and held our breath because of all the hype about Y2K. Well here we are!! My computer was so old at the time and was not Y2K ready but I managed to get it going by setting the date back at sometime in the 60's so it would work. LOL!

I made this 4x4 in celebration of the New Year! I don't get to play to often because of so many commitments that I combined 3 of the challenges that have been set forth for us to try.

For Mixed Media Monday here is my creation for celebration, for Theme Thursday I added the flourish and for 4 x 4 Friday I used sequin waste as a stencil.

My image is from InkaStamps and the flourish and stickers are from K&Company. My little rhinestones do not sparkle in the scan but rest assure This Little Angel is ready to party!

Gothic Arches Challenge

I have loved this site and not had the time to play and decided I needed to do something different so here is my entry for The Gothic Arches Challenge. Make sure you check out all the beautiful entries for this challenge. These gals are kicking it up a notch!

You can find the template for it here.

4 X 4 Friday Blue and Silver

There is always a first time for everything and I don't think that I have ever made a 4 x 4 knowingly! I saw that the challenge for 4 x 4 Friday was blue and silver.

I messed around with my alcohol inks earlier for another challenge and had this background sitting on my desk and wanted to use the tree stamp on it. Well since I used photo paper and not glossy card stock I found out you cannot use your heat gun on it or it will bubble. Oops~

So I took a piece of reg. card stock and colored it with chalk inks and then stamped my image and used my silver embossing powder. TA DA!! That EP has been around in my stash for toooo many years not being used. I wish you could see the silver in the background using the alcohol inks but it just won't scan!

I liked it so much I made it into a Christmas card! This only took about 5 minutes to do so I have some more of those silver "Merry Christmas" stickers so I will make up a few more cards to send out.

Theme Thursday Challenge

I needed some play time and love the challenges that are posted. Here is my challenge for Theme Thursday.

Mixed Media Monday Challenge

Natalie B. - from Australia chose backgrounds as the theme for this weeks challenge. I love working with alcohol inks! I just did a demo at Michaels Craft Store a couple of weeks ago and I was so surprised how many people do not know about them! I had so much fun with this demo but the best part was allowing the customers to play with me! Needless to say we ran out of some of the products oops!

So here is my challenge for Mixed Media Monday!

Thanksgiving Wishes to All

Thanksgiving

For each new morning with its light,
For rest and shelter of the night,
For health and food,
For love and friends,
For everything Thy goodness sends. --Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803-1882)

Theme Thursday~Boy & Wednesday Stamper ~ Chair

Oh this has been a busy week for me so I hope you don't mind I combined two challenges today. Theme Thursday ~ Boy and Wednesday Stamper ~ Chair.

This is a coffee stained tag that I played with this morning! I think he looks a little prim.

Mixed Media Monday - Numbers

Mixed Media Monday's theme this week is "Numbers". I created this piece for the challenge. The background is colored in chalk inks. I masked the image first and then colored and stamped. Both the Bingo and Little Girl image who is called "Sally" are from "Inka Stamps".

TGIAPF and the theme is

This week's challenge was chosen by Robin Willis one of the Members of the DT for Altered Pages and she decided to honor Veteran's Day which is this Sunday here in the United States.

All countries in this world have Veterans and we challenge you to create something using the colors red, white and blue. You can use one or all of the colors to create and ATC, an altered book spread, a deco, tag, inchie, card....whatever you desire. The only rules are to follow the theme and you MUST use an image from Altered Pages.

Post your creation to the Altered Pages Gallery and be sure to let us know it is there so we can take a peek!!!

Theme Thursday - “Number 1″!

Well I am back for another week. Theme Thursday is to use the #1 on your piece of art. Here is my challenge for the week!

Welcome to my newly designed blog

I am happy to have you stop by and visit. I was having problems with my blog and no one could read it. My DD Melissa redesigned it for me and I am so thrilled over the new look! She took some of my favorite pieces of art work and collaged them PERFECTLY!! Added a new font with just the right color and SHAZAM!!!

Thanks Mel you are so talented! I am very proud of it now and love having people coming over for a spell.

If anyone wants to link up let me know and we can do that!

Thanks for stopping by!

Tip-In Swap

I have never done a Tip-In Swap! Well I see why they are fun to do. You don't have to send your AB to everyone in fear that it could get lost in the mail, the dreaded cost of sending them now, or taking the chance of ruining someones book. I still like the feel of the entire book in my hands. It just does something for the soul.

Here is the first one that I did. The theme of course was Asian and this was created for Martha. I found that my supplies in this theme are somewhat limited and worked with what I had. I will have to do another for Martha in a few weeks so I better do some shopping or searching for the next one.

T.G.I.A.P.F Challenges are coming in!

Go take a look at them! The gals are creating some gorgeous pieces...even a Christmas Ornament! Why not come on over! Each week there will be a different challenge posted to the YahooGroup site each Friday. You never know what we might think of. The only requirement is to use an image from Altered Pages! See you there!!!

Fire Fox vs IE

Well who would have thunk? I use Fire Fox for my browser. (My son makes me do that) and now I know why I would get emails from people telling me that they could not read some of my posts (too light).

You see when I view my blog in FF it shows me this dark background. Not the light one that everyone else sees. So I have changed some of my settings and I think it is ok.

Wait what about people that use Fire Fox? UGH!!! What do they see? I don't know for sure so if you use Fire Fox could you please be so kind to let me know.

Hope to get this darn thing resolved!

T.G.I.A.P.F.

It’s “Thank Goodness It's Altered Pages Friday!
Each week we will post a challenge to the Altered Pages Yahoo Group. This is not a swap but just a challenge for everyone to play. There are times when we all need that little spark for our muse.

This week’s challenge will be "Paris". You can create an ATC, an AB spread, a deco, a 4x4, a tag or whatever your muse feels like! But please remember that you MUST use an image from Altered Pages collage sheets. You can post your challenge to the Altered Pages Gallery Pages Gallery.

Come on over and have some fun!

Theme Thursday

Theme Thursday

This is just the thing that you need to spark your muse! This weeks challenge was to use a script stamp of your choice. I made the two of these. This was so much fun and can't wait to see what next weeks challenge is.

Snowflake Ornaments

Can you imagine that Christmas is just around the corner? This is sure going to be different for me this year. Living in NY most of my life I am used to lots of snow! Snowflakes all over the place. So since there is no snow in Las Vegas then I decided to make some snowflake ornaments!

These were fun to do! I wanted different colors of snowflakes that were nontraditional so I got out my supplies and experimented and was very happy with my results. Of course I had to leave one that looked more like a real snowflake! LOL!
The images that I used are all from Altered Pages.

Those little Spider Webs

Thanks everyone for your kinds comments
about the cards.
I have had so many emails about those
little spider web corners.
They are from a package of confetti
that I bought at
Michael's for 99 cents.
Best $ I spent in a long time.

Happy Fall ya All!

Halloween is my favorite time of the year!

How could you not love Halloween! Fall is my favorite season
of the year.
Leaves changing colors, pumpkins
in the patch,
jack frost nipping at your nose.....
WAIT!!! That does not happen in
Las Vegas!
LOL!! Back home at this time
of the year you knew fall had
arrived. Mother Nature
would leave a gentle signature that things
were changing. Well not here!
It is very warm, we are still wearing shorts and the
AC is still on! WHOA!! I am loving it! Of course
saw that dreaded
4 letter word "snow" in the mountains...
but that is very far away and I like it there.

I made some cards to send to friends
and family.
Using images from the past just makes
it even better!
The images used in these cards
came from Altered Pages.

Some of the embellishments came from friends,
were store bought and I used the lettering from the packages
they came in. Thanks for stopping by and hope you enjoy
them as much as I do. Many many more projects to come..
.I just have to find the time to get them all done. :0)

HAPPY HALLOWEEN !!!

Altered Arts Magazine Get Together!

Talk about the best ART time
I have had since
I arrived in Las Vegas!!!!!!!

Last night at
Battista's Hole in the Wall
here in Las Vegas the gals
from
Altered Arts Magazine got together for some
fun and just plain art talk!!!

From left to right standing:
Senior Designer Robin M. Knutson,
Managing Editor Clara Stacko,
Founder and Editor-in-Chief Cyndi Duncan,
and me Junior Designer in the middle sitting.

The food was great but nothing could
top the fun and conversation that
we all shared!! I was in heaven!

Thanks for a great evening ladies!

My Walking Partner~

Here is my grand daughter Kennedy
that I take walks with.
She is catching on to finding things
for grandma's art.
At the age of two
I think we have a mixed media artist
in BLOOM! LOL!

Just Having Fun-Early Bird Challenge

Our new group The Latest Trends in Mixed Media Arts
has a challenge this month where you have to use either texture,
3-D paste, or molding paste - either a brass or plastic stencil,
or a rubber stamp, any type of paint, any color palette,
and you can add one found object and one other thing
of your choice.

Well, since I can't officially participate
in the challenge I just had to try it!
I used molding paste on a 5x7 canvas,
pressed a leaf from one of the trees
that we have here in the backyard,
I then applied a yellow glaze,
and then sprayed it with Ranger's
color wash. I applied some brown
polish to some of the areas to make
the leaf stand out more and then used
different colors of rub and buff.
I used the "found" rusted safety pin that
I gathered today and added some beads to it. I had fun with this!

Found Objects

Now that the weather is a little bit
cooler here in Las Vegas I can
take my grand daughter for walks
in the neighborhood. She loves
it and so do I. Today we only
walked a couple of small blocks
and in that short distance I found
all these things either in the
street or on a lawn. Ah... rusted bottle caps, rusted safety pins,
a nail, pieces of metal that I have no clue what they are.
Even a game piece! WOW! Now Mondays and Thursday
are garbage days so I think that I will be walking with my son
when he takes the dog for her nightly walk. There were all kinds
of things out on Sunday but my daughter would have thrown me
out! LOL! She just does not get it. Oh well.

Halloween ATC's

I wanted to play a little last night.
I had this mosaic background
stamp sitting on my desk and
thought that could be fun! So
I cut up some cardboard for
the ATC's and covered them
with gesso. I then applied chalk inks and heat set them.
I inked up the background stamp with India ink and
stamped the cardboard. It looked pretty good.
The images are from Altered Pages and I love the
that I can cut them and use parts of them for the mini
collages. I also love using Stickles on my ATC's! The last
one "Halloween Magic" was almost a flop. Against my
better judgement I bought an off brand of gesso and
was so disappointed. Never do that again. Well it is so thin
that you need to apply six coats before it works. So
I slapped it on REAL thick and decided to use my heat gun.
Well of course it bubbled and curdled and looked great!
So I kept doing it until I had some cool lines going on.
Then I applied more chalk inks. More bubbling! YAY!
So I got out some coordinating embossing powder
and applied that to it. WOW! Now were talking.
Glued on my image and words and of course
more Stickles!!! It was a good relaxing night with just
plain fun for me!

I always love a challenge!
(Thanks Cindy :) World Win Papers
has a challenge posted on their blog.

This is my interpretation of it.
A little bit different than the others :)
The collage images that I used
from Altered Pages. I used paints and glazes for my
background. Stamped a decorative stamp and then
added my images and a few embellishments.
This was fun. I loved doing this because you did not
have a theme; a sketch is provided and you create your
design. In my opinion, that gives the artist carte blanche to
create how they feel. I will have to try it again next week!

thank you everyone!!!

I was away for the weekend having fun with my mom!
Dinner, casinos, shopping etc and when I got home we
had this nasty worm on the computer! UGH! Had to
reformat everything and now redoing all the installs.
What a pain. Good thing that I was away and did not send
out any emails with that nasty worm.
Worms are only good for fishing. LOL!

Thank you all so much for the wonderful kind comments
about my tin box for Heather. It means so much to me.
I just did not want anyone to think that I was being
rude and not answering.

Ok now back to normalcy???
What ever that is?? ROFL!

Peace to all my friends!
Lori