A Marie Valentine, a project for you!

Marie's Soiree is my twist on a Vintage Valentine. Made using a medium sized chipboard heart base, aged crepe, my scrapbook papers: Cocoa Crowns, Pink Luggage, Marie doll form part from my embellishments line, scrapbook flowers, ribbons, trims, millinery, glitter, etc.!

Materials:
-Medium to large chipboard heart or heart party decoration
-Cocoa Crowns Scrapbook Paper, Lisa Kettell Designs
-Pink Luggage Scrapbook Paper, Lisa Kettell Designs
-Marie doll form, Lisa Kettell Designs

-Baby blue crepe paper
-Scrapbook flowers
-Ribbons and trims
-Millinery flowers, stamens
-Glitter
-Glues: Zip dry, Kids Choice and Fabri-tac, Beacon Adhesives
-Petal Porcelain, Plaid
-Tools: Scissors
-Inks: Tea Dye Color, Distressed inks, Tim Holtz, Ranger Ink
-Other: cardstock, rhinestones, pearl ornaments, white floral wire etc.

Directions:
1. Rub zip dry all over the chipboard heart, press onto the reverse side of the pink luggage scrapbook paper, trim the paper to fit the heart ( the reverse side is the non-illustrated side of scrapbook paper).
2. Apply ribbon/trim of choice to the heart using fabri-tac, trim to fit.
3. Paper pleat crepe paper, fold in half, glue fold point to entire border of heart using kids choice glue, let dry, about 15 minutes.
4. Rub distressed ink onto various sections of the crepe paper, then crumble and crimp the crepe paper ends, pressing them into random spots, for an aged look.
5. Insert white floral wire into a small pearl holiday bulb, insert into heart point, secure with kids choice glue, let dry 10 minutes.
5. Draw random fairy/butterfly wings onto cardstock, attach to back of the Marie doll part using kids choice glue, then attach to the center of the heart with more kids choice glue, let dry 10 minutes.
6. Coat the Marie doll part and crepe paper with petal porcelain, let dry about 45 minutes.
7. Embellish with a crown cut from the cocoa crown scrapbook paper, add more ribbons, trims, millinery flowers, rhinestones, and glitter.

Tips:
-Fold crepe paper and stitch down the center w/a needle and thread or sewing machine.
-Mix petal porcelain with a squirt of distressed ink filler in tea dye color, then brush onto the valentine.
-Add pearls to a foam ball using kids choice glue.
-Create smaller versions and turn into a banner for your studio or favorite room.
-Age your ribbons.
-Add Chipboard lettering.

Hope you enjoyed this tutorial
Magic and Joy,
Lisa!

Re-discovering My Childhood Through My Work!

I've always loved to draw ever since I was little. I would love to draw mermaids, unicorns and rainbows, always collecting greeting cards, stationary and stickers, using them as my inspiration, my fave sticker to collect was the Lisa Frank Sticker Line, I loved the name and the stickers themselves.
Collecting stickers, roller skating, leg warmers, hair clips, pom poms, Hello Kitty, Rainbow Brite, Strawberry Shortcake, Poochie, Smurfs, Rose Petal Place, Jem, plastic charms, unicorns, rainbows, Return to Oz, Record Players, Holly Hobby Ovens, Fraggle Rock, Beneton, The Outsiders, Growing Pains and Silver City Pink Lipstick all played a part in my childhood years and still do today.

My mom would take me to Toys in the Attic in Montclair to pick a toy or to my favorite stationary store in Upper Montclair for a journal or drawing papers. Then we would stop off at either Swenson's Ice Cream or Grunnings on the Hill. I'd come home and start drawing and writing, or work on my sticker albums, perhaps make some clothes for my dolls, set up my doll scene or watch tv, I was always occupied, and no one had a computer, we had Atari and TV, that's about it, so much of my childhood was spent learning crafts and using my hands.
Once I reached high school I saw art in a new way, learning to develop it into more of a fine art route through watercolor, oil painting and sculpting. I would paint landscape scenes, figural forms and serious fantasy. It wasn't until college that I started experimenting with collage and layering techniques, eventually falling back in love with pottery and sculpture.

After college I started loving the look of collage, mixed media forms and primitive techniques. Up until around 2006, I was more of a grungy girl, loved working in muted and dark, vintage colors, then I leaped into happier moods with bolds and rainbow color blends which can be seen in mixed form in my book: Altered Art Circus! After the books release I started tweaking my color palettes and have now gone back to that tutti frutti age where unicorns soared, Betti Boop became a mermaid, and where the sweetness I loved is called Kawaii, a time when dolls were dolls, all with adding a modern whim to it. Lately I have been mixing my images by copying in them and adding them to scrapbook paper backgrounds with a canvas or wood base. Adding layers of additional coloring, paint, glitter, etc. These illustrations are made with Strathmore watercolor paper, and my coffee/tea process, which can be found in my book: Altered Art Circus. I then heat the paper with a heat tool, then the painting begins.These illustrations are done on bristol board with prismacolor pencils and markers!
This multi image piece was made ATC sized and illustrated into watercolor paper using pencil and watercolors!

I will blog again about how to use your illustrations and incorporate them into your mixed media works such as atc's, mixed media painting, etc.
Magic and Joy,
Lisa!

Valentine Kewpie House Kit, Valentine Tag and Spellbinder Winners!

Here is a new kit I created for Valentine's Day, Made using a glittered red house, millinery, my small kewpie doll, lettering from my scrapbook paper: Candy, sturdy paper rosette, tin crown, chipboard and trim.

The kit includes everything above except for the glue.

I have 3 kits left, you get an extra kewpie (un-painted), extra banner: Candy, and some other surprises as well. There are 2 left on Etsy and 1 at the store, contact me or visit my Etsy to order.


I will be making up St.Patty's Day and Easter Kits as well!

I am hosting 3 swaps here on the blog: Vintage Valentine ATC, Valentine Postcard and Queen of Hearts Banner. I also took part in Artsy Fartsy's one for one tag swap. Here is my tag for that swap, already complete and ready to go.

I have been asked to make some similar tags, and full banners for customers. I will have some handmade vintage valentines, valentine tags, valentine ornaments and banners available for sale, including more kits and full size cupies available in the store and on etsy, artfire this week!

I'd like to announce the winner of the Spellbinding ATC Contest:
Elaine A is the winner, Elaine email your mailing address! My email: lisakettell@yahoo.com

I'd also like to send the others who participated some pre-cut spellbinder atc's from my paper as a token of my thank you for participating, send me your addresses!
Thank you to all who entered the contest!

xoxo
Magic and Joy,
Lisa!

Queen of Hearts Banner Swap!

Queen of Hearts Banner Swap! This is my banner design for the Queen of Hearts Garland Banner Swap, that I am hosting! There are 4 slots left in the banner swap!

The pieces were made using paper from my scrapbook line, cupie doll from my embellishments line, crepe paper, pom pom garland, embellishments, trims, ribbons, felt, glitter and paint.

I will make 11 more of these for each banner!

All 12 participating artists will make 12 of the same banner pieces for the swap, the result will be a Queen of Hearts themed banner made up of 12 different components of artwork revolving around this theme. The pieces will be attached to a main ribbon and be accompanied by a few extra surprises that I will top it off with, then sent back to the individual!

Come join the swap, deadline to sign up is in a few weeks, however , slots are filling so that deadline could be sooner!

I do have some supplies available in my artfire and etsy stores to make your banners, The flat back Cupie full size dolls, Cupie Heads, etc, I made here are available, if you would like some to use in your banners check my stores or contact me for ordering some. The cupie heads range in price from: $4.95 for a pack of 5 to $5.25, the full size dolls range in price from: $5.95 to $6.95


Magic and Joy,
Lisa!

Happy Happy New Year!

New Year's Day is every man's birthday. ~Charles Lamb

We will open the book. Its pages are blank. We are going to put words on them ourselves. The book is called Opportunity and its first chapter is New Year's Day. ~Edith Lovejoy Pierce

One resolution I have made, and try always to keep, is this: To rise above the little things. ~John Burroughs



German Folklore: A chimney Sweep means good luck!

In Germany, Austria, Hungary, and other regions, the chimney sweep is considered an omen of good luck if you meet with him on New Year's Day.

Many older Central and Eastern European New Year's Eve/Day postcards feature a chimney sweep, most of the time a blond child, could be seen frolicking in the snow, or tracking through the snow tossing out lucky talismans such as four leaf clovers, red and white Amanita Muscaria Mushrooms aka gluckpilz (lucky Mushroom in German), these mushrooms were used by ancient Shamanic's as a hallucinogen.

In Germany, New years was not celebrated until the 17th century, so this folklore would have taken place on Christmas/St.Nicholas Day. Gifts would have been given out on New Year's Day to people who delivered goods such as baked treats, breads, etc., or to individuals who completed household chores. Small cards were often handed out with a blessing of good wishes as a token of thank you and good lick for the service.

If you met a chimney sweep (Schornsteinfeger or Schlotfeger) at New Year's meant good luck for the whole year, especially if the chimney sweep gave you his card. Today with Chimney Sweep professions being more rare, one can find chimney sweeps in the form of dolls, small figurines, charms, candy molds, postcards, Good Luck Chocolate labels and Ephemera.

There are some forms of ephemera which show chimney sweeps giving people: money bags, riding in toboggans with lucky pigs, handing out four leaf clovers, mushrooms and other forms of lucky symbols.

I learned of this tradition this past New Year's Eve at the Store, a Customer came in around 3pm, she was from Germany and spotted a doll in my cabinet, she brought him over to me and told me he was a German Chimney Sweep Doll, which was valuable and in wonderful condition, she then informed me of the history of the doll and his German history, then placed him near my register and said he will bring you good luck for the coming year. How fitting to discover him after all this time on New Year's Day.

I hope everyone had a safe, happy and joyous New Year's Eve and Day! Let's wish ourselves and others a wonderful 2011!

Magic and Joy,
Lisa!