Even though she stole my false eyelashes for her senior picture and I had to go to work lash-less one day I am quite proud of my sister.  And among the many things I am in awe of are her phenomenal jewelry making skills.  So, a heartfelt plug for my sister, Laura, who’s just opened her Etsy store: The Crow & the Swan.

Dudes, she makes some mighty fine Steampunk adornments, a peek, below…

BTW, that lashless eyeball in the pendant is not mine… it’s PaperWhimsy.

Hopefully, this morning, you were among the *lucky* who received a copy of the latest PaperWhimsy Bits ‘n Bobs.  Nancy Maxwell James and Rande Hanson have been hard at play at their art table and computer, respectively, cooking up some wonderfully inspired artwork to jumpstart our week in a most beautiful way.

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Check out the Inspire blog for this week’s projects and tutorials presented by Nancy  and Rande.

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From Nancy you’ll find inspiration in her:

Whimsical Fabric Brooch and Tutorial

Fabric Bunting

Pink Godey Cards

You can catch all of Nancy’s Inspire projects and tutorials by clicking HERE.

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And from Rande you’ll be inspired by her:

New Whimsical Digital Hybrid Images

Duplicating Layers in Photoshop Elements Tutorial

You can catch all of Rande’s wonderful art and excellent tutorials by clicking HERE.

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And… all the wonderful products that inspired Nancy and Rande this week can inspire you, as well, putting inspiration at your fingertips and pennies back in your pockets.  All products in the new Inspire! Bits category are on sale – 20% off, and many of them are brand spankin’ new to the shoppe.

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Enjoy life, create art!

With the creation of the new PaperWhimsy Digital Art Group, Rande Hanson and I have been putting together some tutorials (Rande for Photoshop Elements and me for Photoshop) geared toward the beginner.  Our goal is to gather under our wings people who would really like to, or have been contemplating the possibilities of, doing some digital art.

So, both Rande’s and my disclaimers: we’re not gurus by any stretch and the stuff we’re sharing is our way of doing things.  Good news – doesn’t take a whole lot of knowledge of the programs to create digital art using Photoshop Elements or Photoshop.  And more good news, there are lots of different ways of doing stuff in both programs so we’re happy to share our tips, tricks and techniques to get you started so you can go on to develop your own.

If you’re working with Photoshop Elements you can snag Rande’s tutorials on the Inspire Blog by clicking on Digital Arts in the category list to the right.  Mine, I’m going to stick below.

And if you’re of a mind to join us at the PaperWhimsy Digital Art Group, a place to celebrate your art using PaperWhimsy images, post a comment here and I’ll send you the invitation to join.

Happy Creating!

Photoshop Tutorial No1

Photoshop Tutorial No2

…and totally cool.  If you like that kind of thing (which I do)

These are in JPG format found in the Hybrid category under Weird & Wonderful.  Print ‘em out for your paperworks or open them up in your favorite image editing program and create away!  Click on any of the images, below, to see the images up close and personal.  Click HERE to see all the Hybrid images available at PaperWhimsy.

Gale xo

For the last couple of days I’ve had a hankering to create some new backgrounds.  This trio is now available for immediate download so you can print your own, or printed on heavyweight matte paper or fabric.  Check them out in the new Collage Images category under Backgrounds.

Now, back to work I go.  Have a lovely weekend!

Gale

It is with much excitement that I announce the addition of Rande Hanson to the PaperWhimsy Design Team.  Joining Nancy Maxwell James who has taken on the role as Design Artist for paper, mixed media, and collage arts, Rande will be the head designer for the digital side of PaperWhimsy.

Rande is a self-taught mixed-media artist who loves painting, collage, jewelry-making, assemblage and fabric-art and has now added digital art to her creative palette.  Rande has been creating all her life and broke onto the scene of the mixed media art world about five years ago selling her artwork on eBay and joining several art groups and participating in numerous art swaps.  As Rande tells it (and I like to listen to it), that is when she first spied PaperWhimsy and purchased her first PaperWhimsy image.  She’s been addicted to PW ever since (lucky me!).  Rande once told me that she has framed one of my collage sheets from my eBay days (it was the first print of a new sheet and probably worth millions, now). 

As you may recall, Rande served as PaperWhimsy Design Artist for two years, from August 2007-2009.  After an extended break to focus on learning new mediums and techniques and to delve into learning the digital medium, she’s back!  Rande’s focus will be on the art of digital collage using the PaperWhimsy Hybrid line of products.

Welcome (back), Ms Rande Hanson!

I am delighted to welcome Nancy Maxwell James as the designer for PaperWhimsy!  Nancy’s portfolio of work is simply amazing and to have her working with me at PaperWhimsy is a dream come true.  Nancy brings with her a very broad background in art and her art and written work have been featured in several publications.

We’ll be starting out this collaboration with a ~!BANG!~ as Nancy has already been at work in her studio creating art to inspire our readers and have one and all dashing to their art tables in a flurry of excited energy.

Stay tuned to the Inspiration blog here at PaperWhimsy for lots of beautiful and exciting ideas compliments of the talented Nancy Maxwell James!

P.S.  Please be sure to check out the links section to the right for links to Nancy’s website, blog and Etsy store.

P.P.S.  Nancy, I almost stuck a pair of fairy wings on you but resisted (though couldn’t stop myself from adding some rosy cheeks.  Ha!)

I have a penchant for creating artwork that makes absolutely no sense, whatsoever.  And after I finish the piece I’ll name it something that I think will make some kind of sense out of it … generally including “mystery”, “surreal” or “secret” in the title.  But who am I kidding?  It’s just nonsense.   I hardly ever have a vision of what I’m going to create – it starts with me finding bits that I think go together and then ends when I’m done sticking them down.

I am also most apt to create with blues.  Which is another “mystery”, somewhat “surreal” and a “secret” to which only my muse holds the key.  I hardly ever wear blue and I don’t decorate with it but when it comes to creating bits for the shoppe and, ultimately, me spending time at my art table creating, it’s blue that draws me most.

So here’s “Mystery in a Garden” , which could also be called “Surreal Garden” or “The Garden Secret”.  See how cool that works?

Images used: Digisheet 157, Digisheet 122, Digisheet 036, Royalty 17 JPG Sheet

PS Right now there’s a 20% off sale on all items in the shoppe (coupon code: summer20).  Perfect time to stock up so you can start creating some mysterious, surreal and secretive artwork of your very own.  Sale runs through July 10.

… intrepid Puzzle Masters and lovers of hidden treasures

Clue One (of Four)

His vision was outside the box
but his most famous artworks were within it.
(Hint: google Medici Slot Machine)

‘Tis the town and the year of his birth that you need
to send him a query so you can proceed.
(Hint: he loves gmail)

“Tarry not and do not falter… ’tis worth your while if you’re not Walter
…or even if you are.”
-words to the wise but not a clue

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Pssst… if you’re thoroughly stumped give the Medici Slot Machine a click to continue.

…’til four bells (EDT) to the first clue on this third day of the seventh month of 2010.  (The only clue in that sentence is that it starts today!)

If you haven’t joined the newsletter, yet, you can still grab the first clue HERE…

Puzzle Masters, await!