Here's my latest piece for Alphastamps

As most of you know I am a design team member for a wonderful company called Alphastamps. I was a loyal customer even long before I was chosen to be on their team. Part of my duties as a team member is to make art for them using their products. We also receive packages of new products which we are asked to create with. ( It's a tough job but someones gotta do it. ) So here is my latest from my design kit:

(Altered canvas (9"x 12") using the brand new penmanship clear stamp kit, Principles of Writing stamp, Images from Chalkboard and ABC books #3, and their Olive Measuring Tape Ribbon.)

(as always please click on the pictures for a detailed view)




This piece is available for sale in my Etsy store!

Thank you for your support!

XO
Sarah

Valentine ATC's

Here are my first Valentines this year. All of the images are from AlphaStamps Modern Romance collage sheet as is the pretty hand stamp. The paper is K&Company "Smitten" which I believe is also carried by AS...

One of these ATC's will be up for grabs in AlphaStamps new yahoo group Lotto. Every month you can upload a picture of an ATC to the "lotto" folder and at the end of the month a random name will be chosen to "win the pot" of ATC's! Lots of fun!

(Oh and I almost forgot to mention...The sparkle that you see in some of the pictures is not glitter but the cards have a light coating of UTEE which was a bit hard to photograph and picked up the light in places. )




















Gothic Arch techniques

Here are some of the techniques I used in the making of my PW Gothic arches (seen in an earlier post)

String paper and faux copper distress.

(I used my homemade string paper as the background of the front of my arches and the faux copper distress on the backs.)

String Paper!








What you need:

string
Acrylic paints (I used Golden's fluid acrylics)
Instant Coffee
Matt medium
plastic disposable cups (for mixing)
heavier weight or artists tissue paper (Dick Blick)
Plastic garbage bags
flat medium sized paint brush


1. First find a surface that can be taken up with clutter for at least one full day (drying time). (The papers become very delicate when they are wet.)

2. Lay down the plastic bags over your surface. This will help the paint to pool in some areas.

3. Make some instant coffee. ( About 1 Cup per paper) You can try the old coffee route if you want but I like instant the best because it is easy to make as dark or light as I want very easily and quickly.

4. While your coffee is cooling, lay one piece of tissue paper down on top of the garbage bags. If you wish you can wrinkle it and then smooth it out again. Cut your string into enough pieces to make a grid on your paper. I do about 9- 10 pieces in each direction with an inch or so overhang on all edges. After you get these laid out, generously apply your Matt medium over and under the strings and over the entire surface of the paper working quickly but being careful not to tear the paper. If this does happen don't worry about it just keep going. Before that dries, place another piece of tissue paper on top of that piece making a "sandwich" of the now glued strings.

5. Using a combination of fluid acrylics and watered down fluid acrylics (mixed in cups) paint the paper however you wish. While this is still wet I will brush, drip and pour on the coffee. Be aware that the wetter the paper is the more prone to tearing it is. Leave this to dry completely and slowly peel off the garbage bag.


You can make all kinds of interesting papers using tissue paper and this method. Colored tissue paper will bleed so unless that is what you are looking for (it may be) I'd use white. Just be aware that the color is dye based and will fade overtime UNlike the acrylics.



Faux copper distress!






As most of you are aware of, you can add rock salt to the top of wet watercolors, let dry, and get the most amazing "stars" and patterns develop as a result of the salt sucking up some of the water. But what you may not have known is that salt added to the top of wet acrylics can yield equally amazing (yet different) results!



What you need:

Lumiere acrylic paint ( I used Met Olive green, and Super Copper)
Rock salt ( I like to buy the huge box of Ice cream salt you can get at the super market)
paint brush


1. Paint a base coat of Met Olive green onto your project.

2. Water down Copper paint slightly and (working quickly) paint it over the green. (Allow for some of the green to show through. ) Apply rock salt over the entire surface and allow to dry completely! No peeking!

3.Gently rub the salt off and dispose of. You should have very nice pitted areas from where the color was pooled with the salt. If you want more pitts, add more paint and reapply the salt in those areas! It's that simple for (in my opinion) a really awesome effect!


Have fun and let me know how it goes! :)


Sarah

For Jared:

The Fray-How To Save a Life




My hunny is a Paramedic and just got back from a 48 hour shift this morning. He slept very little… running calls all night both days, so he is sleeping now. (Not many people realize that when you call 911 at 3am you are waking the EMS up too.)

I am so proud to be able to say that the love of my life saves people for a living. There are many times when the Police and Firefighters get a lot of attention (which they should) but often the EMS is overlooked. After all who saves the police and firefighters when they are injured?

Jared is also the kind of person who gives of himself not just on the job but in everything he does. He carries medical equipment with him everywhere he goes so if help is needed when he is off duty he can assist. He frequently will stop to see if people on the side of the road need help or even help changing a flat. It’s just the kind of man he is. And I am so lucky to have him in my life!


Thank you Jared for saving me…I don’t know…maybe we saved each other. ;)

I love you!

XOX

Gothic Arches

Here are my first ever Gothic arches! These are going to PW as my first swap over there... I started an ongoing Arch swap on Alphastamps new yahoo group but so far I haven't had any takers. Anyway, I was antsy to make some so here they are:









And here are the backs... very rough and even more beautiful in person!












I'm going to talk a bit about some of the techniques I used in making these soon so stay tuned! ;)



XOX

Meet Oliver!

As some of you know we lost our beloved dog Caspian right before Christmas making it one of the saddest Christmas's ever for us. Nothing will ever replace him in our hearts but it soon became apparent to us that we needed another dog to be friend to Anna and help with the quietness around here. So instead of getting another Cavalier (way too many heart problems and heartbreak) we decided to call up Anna's breeder and adopt a new little Maltese puppy:

Meet Oliver!






At first Anna didn't like him very much. But as you can see she is coming around!

He has a fantastic personality and wants to play allll the time. I think he is teething right now so I am chasing him all over the house trying to prevent him from chewing on stuff...including his sister! LOL




7 intresting things about me!

I have been taged by my fellow AS design teammate Keron to tell you 7 intresting things about myself.

Ok here goes:

1. I am a passionate animal lover. I have 2 dogs, a talking bird (blue crown conure), a rabbit and pond fish.

2. I am also a vegetarian. I have been one for around 7? years. I do eat dairy products and fish on occasion but absolutely NO beef, chicken, or pork! Yuck!

3. I am a sci-fi and fantasy nerd. I love Star trek (next generation), Buffy the Vampire Slayer and I love to read fantasy books...Neil Gaimen, Orson Scott-Card, and the occasional Steven King (Dark tower series). I have also been known to play rpg games with Jared. I always choose the beastmaster. lol

4. I've experienced a lot of illness, death, and sorrow in my life.

5. I was adopted.

6. I have been with my boyfriend Jared for 9 years and it ticks me off when people ask me "When are you two gonna get married?" We already have a lifetime committment to each other and dont need a silly piece of paper to tell us that. He is the love of my life and my best friend and I would be completely lost without him.

7. I live in my studio. I eat, nap, watch TV, create and anwser email in here. ;)


I'm not sure who to tag back... If you'd like you can do these questions on your own blog.

Thanks,

Sarah

Meatpacking District - NYC

SOLD

Oil on linen 12"x18"

New York Meatpacking District NYC.