She taught me to eat artichokes

"That's how it is with people sometimes. When you least expect it, a common thread -golden, at that- begins to weave together the fabric of friendship."

"She taught me to eat artichokes" by Kay Shanley is a keepsake book about friendship. The quote I used in the collage comes from that book. My collage was created for the challenge on "Mixed Media Monday". Lately I have been reconnecting with old friends, thanks to Facebook. It has been fun seeing what old friends are doing now and catching up. I would love to go back in time and find some more friends that I have lost touch with over the years. It amazes me how fast time flies as I get older. This year is my 20th reunion for high school (holy cow I feel old).

Here's to new friends and old -Cheers!

Coffee Time

Finally, I have had a little time to creat and blog. Funny enough the them for Tag Your'e It, is "Time". Something I seem to be running out of lately. I used coffee & clock stamps to create this tag. Brown, copper & black inks are used. It is hard for me to create without using Tim Holtz's distressed inks, love them. Thanks for looking & comments are always welcome.

Altered Book Pages

It has been kind of a crazy week. Lots going on with family and keeping super busy with school and church. Not much time to blog or spend time on Etsy. This weeks Mixed Media Monday challenge is to share something you love to do. I chose to show a few pages from an altered book. I don't consider the pages finished, but still in progress. I love to create layers upon layers when I collage/alter books. The pages here really just have backgrounds completed and still need another layer or two added. I hope to have time to complete them sometime in the near future.

Coffee Queen Trumps All

All hail the COFFEE QUEEN. Oh this was so much fun to create. This altered playing card is for this weeks Theme Thursday Challenge. I started by sanding the card and rubbing some ink on it to give it a distressed feel. I stamped the border with "Coffee Queen". Last I added the vintage photo with the coffee cup. I have given this woman the name "Beverly", she made her debut on this earlier post. http://papercafegirl.blogspot.com/2008/08/silly-tag.html

Autumn Harvest

Click on the image to see all of the details.
This weeks challenge for Theme Thursday is Autumn or Halloween. After the last few warm and muggy days, I am really ready for the crisp, cool fall weather. I created this collage on a 5 1/2 X 12 inch canvas. The canvas is about 2 inches deep, so it can stand on its own. I first painted the canvas with Golden acrylics. The background is a mix of different papers, which I tore & inked to give an aged look. The top layer consists of some frilly yarn, a pumpkin stamp, chipboard letters and a mini tag that says "Give Thanks". Now I am just waiting for the pumpkin patch to open.

Vintage Glam 1942

I discovered this great photo at a antique/junk shop a couple of years ago. I purchased a box full of photos and even some negatives. I scanned the original photo, dated November 1942, and printed it on vellum to create this collage. The collage is for Mixed Media Monday's "Fashion" challenge. I also used scrapbooking paper that I tore & pasted to create a border. I rubbed the paper doily with ink to keep the piece monochromatic. The tag was inked & stamped, with the word "Glam" added. I hope you enjoy this piece....thanks for stopping by. Comments are always welcomed & loved.

Full Sunshine

It's a beautiful Saturday morning. I decided to post this collage I created. The quote on it says "I am in full sunshine now". Perfect for this lovely day. This will be my last full week of summer break. I am a school teacher and head back to school on August 18th. Kind of bittersweet, I hate to see the summer end, but excited for a new school year to begin.

I am feeling the Etsy/Blogging love this week. Some of my work is featured on Friday Findings at Star-of-the-East blog. Their Friday Findings include all things coffee related. I am so happy to have my Coffee Break Notecards feature. Go check out the rest of their findings, you won't want to miss it.

Birthday Can Collage

Happy Birthday! This is the coolest idea I have seen in a long time. 1st I must give credit to"Obsessed with Cupcakes" that is where the idea come from. Go check out their blog. They have great how-to pictures. I started with a can of pineapple and ended up with a great birthday gift. I used scrapbooking papers, stickers, glitter, ribbon & a tag. It is filled with hersheys kisses and ribbon. This is a gift/card for my mother in law's 60th Birthday. The can opener is from Pampered Chef, it unseals the can...so then it can be resealed. The recepient will still be able to open it with the pull tab (after you have resealed it with hot glue). It was a fun way to make a unique gift. Let me know what you think. I would love to hear your comments.