Cottage 6 Studio

Best Wishes

Happy Friday!  The weekend is almost here and the Northeast is starting to warm up a bit.  Still chilly today, but the current forecast for next Thursday is for a high of 51 degrees! Yay!

In the meantime, I have been studying, visiting the chiropractor and making a horrendous mess in my art room.  It is so bad, that I had to do a lot of this banner at the dining room table.  No lie.  Its scary in there.  Who did it and ran.  Know what I mean?

So, one of the yahoo groups that I belong to is called Vintage Bliss.  We make little books, called decos, in vintage themes.  Each one is a round robbin, where all the signers create a page on a given theme.

Once a month, we also have Art Challenges and for this one, we were to create a banner with our Best Wishes for the recipient.

At first I couldn't decide what my wishes would be.  Single words...quotes...sayings?  Then I decided I would have a look through my vintage images and let them tell me what kind of wishes they would be (much better than scrambling to find images for words or sayings I'd already chosen).

The Love and Friendship panel features an adorable image.  And the alphabet set is an old one from Hero Arts.  The dp is actually vintage wallpaper.

Here I used an Artists' Signatures background stamp from Judikins and a scan of one of my favorite old postcards for Inspiration.  The image shows artists selling their work along the Seine, so I continued the Paris theme with an Eiffel Tower stamp and a fleur-de-lis, both from Stampington.  On the bottom I used the Cuttlebug Highlights technique from the TJ newsletter.  The label is from Purple Onion Designs, as are all the labels I used in the banner.

The picture definitely tells the story here.  His laugh is so contagious, you can't help but smile.  Oh, and he's also my dad.  I used a vintage album page scan from Inka Stamps (now Altered Artifacts) to frame the image and embellished the piece with some vintage wallpaper.

Now, I'm sure in its day, this look was very glam, but now, its just silly.  This is a simple panel of designer papers embellished with two bingo markers.

This is another great image.  I've used it before in a gift for my niece when she celebrated her First Communion.  I framed it with another vintage album page image from Inka Stamps.  The background was made using the Distressed Enamel technique by Tim Holtz.  You can find it on his blog, here.

The last panel is very much the same as the first, except for the image, to "frame" the banner.  I thought this was a great image, and since these ladies look so happy doing their yardwork, I thought I would wish Terri joy in those everyday tasks that can sometimes seem like monotonous chores.

There you have it.  I loved this project, it was so much fun to choose the theme for each panel.

Once I get the mess cleared up in the art room I'll be working on some more Valentines.  I'll be back with one of them over the weekend, the other will have to wait until after since SOMEONE reads my blog.  No sneak peaks, Mum!

See you then.

Anna

OWOH 2011 - Welcome!

COMMENTS ARE NOW CLOSED ON THIS POST AND I WILL CHOOSE A WINNER LATER TODAY.

Hello and Welcome to Cottage 6 Studio!  I'm very excited to be participating in Lisa Swifka's final One World One Heart event.  I first learned of it in 2009 but was too late to participate and then I couldn't last year.

When I was little, from the ages of about 3 to about 10, we would spend our summer vacations on Prince Edward Island in Canada, one of the most beautiful places on earth.  Each year we stayed in the same cottage, Cottage 6.  If I could have an art studio anywhere in the world, that is where it would be.  (If you're interested, you can see the real Cottage 6 here.)

In the real world, I live on Long Island, New York.  I am a little sick of suburbia, to tell you the truth, but I can't really complain.  We're only 40 minutes from NYC by commuter train and a 20 minute car ride from the beach.  I live with my boyfriend, Donald, and our cat and dog, Moxie and DJ who are featured in one of the photo albums over on my sidebar.

These days, when I am not creating or blogging, I can usually be found at the dining room table surrounded by medical coding text books.  I started taking classes about a year ago, and I love it.  I can't wait to get to work in this field.  It is very challenging and interesting and the type of work that never gets stale because it is always growing and changing and there is always something new to learn.

The only drawback to my studying right now is that I'm so focused that it is sometimes difficult to switch back to the right side of my brain and get creative.  That's one reason this post is a day late!

My blog is primarily dedicated to papercrafting and cardmaking, although I also share my love of all things vintage most Thursdays when I participate in the Vintage Thingie Thursday linky party.  Right now I am also getting ready to participate in a challenge over at Operation Write Home, which I'll be posting about in a few days.

I'm really looking forward to visiting your blogs and getting to know you!

My door prize is a mixed media collage made with some of my favorite things; vintage wallpaper, vintage sheet music embellished with stamping and some delicious china buttons from my favorite Vermont antique shop.

The image is a small cabinet card from Finland that I absolutely love.  Check out her wrist watch, isn't it great?!  Everything is collaged onto a 5 x 7" canvas with a simple fibre hanger.

All you have to do to be eligible to win is to leave a comment on this post between now and midnight Eastern Time on February 16th so that I can draw two winners on the 17th.  PLEASE make sure that I have a way to reach you if you should win.  If I cannot reach you or do not hear back from you within 48 hours, I will have to draw another name.

Thanks for stopping by!

Anna

By The Pricking Of My Thumbs

Just in time for Halloween, its another spoooky wall hanging.

All of the stamps are from Oxford Impressions' Wicked Collection.  This idea has been kicking around in my head for a while now.  It was especially easy because this great cardstock from The Paper Cut comes just this way (minus the red, of course) and didn't have to be aged at all.

I almost ruined it.  I was filling in some areas around the edge that the ink pad I used didn't reach using a Sharpie.  I lost control of the marker and left a nice swipe by the bottom.  Thank goodness I had this Dresden trim in my stash!

It didn't sell at the fair we did this weekend, so it may become part of my own decor for the season.

Do you decorate for Halloween?  Do you use store-bought decorations or do you make your own?

I use a combination.

Be sure to pop in later this week, I'll be showing off a few vignettes around the apartment.

See you tomorrow.

Anna

Good Morning, Pumpkin!

Hi there.

Before I begin a day of dog walking, church going and housework, I thought I would pop in to post one of the wall hangings that I made Friday.

I've used one of my favorite pieces of ephemera (a scan of it), this beautiful vintage fruit crate label.

If this piece looks slightly familiar, I made an A2 size card like this a couple of months ago and liked it so much, that I decided to morph it into a wall hanging.

I hope you all enjoy the rest of your weekend and I will be back tomorrow.

Anna

Quick Post - Serenity Prayer Collage

Happy Saturday!

It has been a busy week catching up on school work and other things and now I am off to a day at Oyster Fest.

Until I can post again, here is a collage that I made a couple of weeks ago featuring the Serenity Prayer.

This time in a frame that Don spray painted for me and using some delicate polka dotted paper and one of my favorite pastel floral vintage wallpaper designs.

I added some flatbacked pearls and a lovely glittered flower to make it really pretty and feminine.

Be back tomorrow!

Anna

Beware! More Halloween Wall/Door Art

I'm really having fun with these wall/door hangings and I'm really happy with the way this one turned out!  Very Creeeeepy!

 

 

I can't remember how long I have had the Country Girl plate from Oxford Impressions, but even when I was first mounting these stamps, I remember thinking that the farmhouse image could make a great haunted house.  Finally this week I was inspired by the awesome piece in this post to try out my theory, and I was right!

 

 

The house, the bat on the right and the sentiment are from Oxford Impressions, the bat on the left is from Making Memories and the little girl is from Inka Stamps now sold by Scrolls Work Stamps.  The frame around the house was made using the torn frames technique from the Technique Junkies newsletter.

As you can see, I still have not decided how to hang this.  I may still use the seam binding as I have been, but without the findings.  Not sure, but I'll keep you posted!

So, what's next?  A few Halloween cards, I think, hopefully to incorporate some challenges.

Until then...

Anna

Trick or Treat

I seem to be on a roll with wall hangings, so I'm going to keep it going for now.  This one would actually be great on a front door for the big day, very cute and nothing too scary for the littlest trick-or-treaters.

 

 

I love this image, its from a digital sheet that I bought a few years ago, but the shop is closed.

The stamps are from Making Memories and had never seen ink until now.  I've had them for at least a year.  I got them on clearance with a sheet of coordinating "puffy" stickers, one of which you see here.

The "31" and the decorative corner peeking out from under the photo are from Oxford Impressions.

As you can see I haven't decided how to hang this one yet.  I'm out of the findings that I used on the last three and I'm not sure I loved those anyway.  I'll let you know what I come up with.

Back to the workroom.  I actually have a free Saturday between courses, so I'll be back tomorrow with something, but I have no idea what...which is more fun anyway...perhaps a challenge...we'll see.

Anna

I Cannot Direct the Wind...

I love this quote.  This is another reminder that I could use to remember more often.

 

  

I had a lot of fun putting this piece together.  So many elements that I love; sea images, caboucons, that blue on blue flocked wallpaper, a vintage postcard image.

I won't have a VTT post this week, Suzanne at Colorado Lady is having a break so I will as well since we're headed for Manhattan to the Tut exhibition.

See you Friday...

Anna

God Grant Me the Serenity...

I could really do with reciting this prayer more often throughout my day.  I'm sure it would help things go more smoothly.  How about you?  Maybe a wall hanging like this would help.

 

An elegant way to have the prayer in your sight a little more often.

This is an altered 5 x7 canvas made using vintage wallpaper, vintage sheet music, china buttons and, of course, rubber stamps (Serenity Prayer by Inkadinkadoo, Shells, Deck Chairs and Seahorse by Oxford Impressions) and a length of vintage seam biding for the hanger.

Be back with more wall art tomorrow!

Anna

Beach Time & Summer Fun

I hope you have a safe and happy 4th with beach time and summer fun.  We're having a wonderful weekend squeezing in a little work, a little play and some relaxation as well.

I even managed to make time to play in my art room, even as it was filled with books from the shelves in the front hall that we were painting.

A new seasonal collage was in order for the Welcome sign on our front door.

 

 

I really should have taken a picture of this before I hung it up, the lighting in our hallway is so terrible.  That pink bingo marker really isn't dayglow, and the blue one is much lighter, and the wallpaper on the left isn't green at all, but a very nice yellow.

I guess I'll just have to ask you imagine it :).

Anna