Purple Witch - If the Broom Fits...Ride It.!

My favorite witchy saying: "If the Broom Fits...Ride It!" was the inspiration for this project.

This wall art witch was made from several digital images that were 

printed, cut and assembled to create this Halloween project.

I started by digitally altering the color on one of my antique paper dolls 

and finding digital images that would work together.

 The original doll head has a pink bodice and I wanted a purple witch.

 Using Photoshop, I changed the bodice to look more purple. 

I made her eyes a bit greener and gave her some purple eyeshadow.

I used the same black legs and arms from a previous witch doll.

 A Purple Witch Hat, complete with black cat.

 A fun Broom for her to ride.

 And a Spooky place where she might take flight.

 I sized my items and printed two copies of the following layout. 

 I printed 2 copies since I needed two "left" arms and legs. 

I also added two hat choices.

The Doll was assembled by gluing all the parts in place.

One large Fan was used on the bodice. 

A large and medium fan were used to make her skirt.

 I then attached the witch doll to the spooky background that was printed with the saying 

"If the Broom Fits... Ride It! on it.

Alternate Hat Option - Purple

  Witch head with hat option #2

 Witch head with hat option #3

This is the same hat from option 2 with all the frills cut off.

Grins and Giggles,

  Evelyn

Orange Butterfly Witch ATC - Articulated Paper Doll

This Butterfly Witch project was created from one of the colorized images I posted the other day. The doll is an assemblage of images I printed and the background ATC was stamped on transparency film and then backed with a fun iridescent foiled paper.  The rubber stamp image is of a Gothic castle window and is by Lost Coast Designs.

Orange Butterfly Witch ATC

There are brads at her legs, arms and head that allows 

her to swivel open or closed for storage.

This is what she looks like in the closed position.

I chose not to swivel her head in the down position 

so she did not look too strange in the picture.

I was not sure what witch hat I wanted so I printed a few choices 

along with all the parts I would need to create the ATC sized doll.
(I also printed some reverse images to give me a bit of variety for the assembly process.)

This is what my printed sheet looked like after I added and sized all my elements for the project.  

The page had enough images to make 2 dolls or to have spare parts just in case.  

These are the individual elements I used to create the doll

The colorized Orange and Black Ballerina Doll

The Orange Witch Hat
(A solid black and a purple version of this hat can be found at THIS post)

Orange Butterfly

 These are the other Witch Hats I did not use this time.

Ruffled Witch Hat #1

 

 Ruffled Witch Hat #2

These Two fun Witch Hats were part of a paper doll from 1912

 This is what the 1912 Halloween paper doll set with the hats looks like.

Grins and Goblins,

 Evelyn

What does a Treasure Box look like??? - VIP Rubber Stamp Collection

What does a Treasure Box look like???

Well for this stamp crazy girl it looks a lot like this.

 Priority Box that arrived today with 

18 VIP (Visual Image Printery) Rubber Stamps to add to my collection!

Last week, I had the great fortune to be contacted by a nice lady in California who use to own a Rubber Stamp Shop.  She informed me that she had some VIP stamps stored away which she was willing to sell, if I was interested.  Oh, yes was I interested...and they arrived today!!! Trick and Treat to me!!!

I've slowly been able to grow my VIP stamp collection one little stamp at a time over the past 5 years till I had just under a dozen VIP stamps; and now with one purchase I've added another 18 great images to my treasure trove.  

 So... Here are the great Jewels I got in my Treasure Box today.

Three Grisly Witches, just in time for Halloween
 

 

Pirate Stamps - also good for Halloween
 

 Doors and Architectural elements, 

including the fireplace I've been wanting for over 2 years.
 

Wizards and Scenic Water Features to add to the mix

And one Giant Dragon

This guy is 6 x 5 inches tall

These new additions get to join my current VIP images of...

These are the VIP Wizards I already had
 

These are the VIP architectural stamps I already had.

A year ago I purchased the large troll from eBay but the wood had no maker listed so he has been a mystery for me; then this week I purchased this smaller troll off eBay who is marked VIP 1994.  I was thrilled to positively ID my large troll as a VIP image and now I have 2 more in my collection .

The larger troll measures 4 1/2 x 3 3/4 inches
The smaller troll measures 2 1/2 x 1 1/2 inches
I like having similar images in various sizes since you never know
what size your stamping project my require.

And yes, I'm still adding to my VIP collection.  

These stamps just make me smile with all their wacky stamping possibilities.

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn

It's that Witchy Time of Year - Witches and Witch Hats

I'm getting ready to create a few Halloween "Witchy"  pieces and need to colorize a few of the images I wanted to work with before I can get started.  Since I'm trying to learn Photoshop I thought this would be a great time to try and colorize my images digitally rather than printing them out and doing them by hand.

(Please keep in mind that I'm new to working with Photoshop so these are fun experiments for me.)

 I added some color to the original in Photoshop to give the image a more "Witchy" feel.

 I added Orange to her hat and lace, a Purplish cast to her clothing and Green to her eyes.
 Her face, hair, hands and hat feathers have also been colorized.

Click HERE to see the original image from a previous post before I colorized it.

I like her hat so much that I wanted to use it for one of my projects, so in Photoshop I got rid of everything but the hat and then I did a bit of colorizing so I had a few quick printable options.  Now I have a quick and easy accessory I can resize and print as needed to use with my paper art doll creations.

Original Witch Hat - Black

Colorized  Witch Hat #1 - Orange

Colorized Witch Hat #2 - Purple

I also need to change the color on some of my antique articulated paper doll parts for one of the projects, so I digitally altered the color on one of the dolls as well.

 I changed her bodice to Orange, her eyes to Green and I made the Legs a darker Black.
 I've also given her a bit of purple eyeshadow for the fun of it.

Here are the original scanned pieces for comparison.

These paper doll parts are from my personal collection and are over 100 years old

I still have a bit more scanning a coloring to do and then it's on to creating 2 fun projects I'll share with you soon.

Grins and Giggles from Gobblinville,

 Evelyn

Paper Art Dolls and the fun of Thinking Outside of the Box with Rubber Stamps.

As you've probably figured out by this point; I have a fascination with paper dolls, and I one day intend to have a whole wall in my house covered in framed paper art dolls. Ya, I'm sure my hubby will be thrilled to find this out.

(My very first blog post was about antique articulated paper dolls and how they inspired me to create my own version of art dolls.  At the end of that post I showed a few examples of those creations; and now I want to share more about those creations and how they came about.)

One of my favorite projects is to create Art Dolls using rubber stamps and in many cases, using rubber stamps in slightly unusual ways to accomplish this.  (That's what makes it fun.)

Large Articulated Art Dolls using Scrolls Work Rubber Stamps.

Each doll stands about 10 inches tall.

 These art dolls were created using a doll body template I created and scanned into my computer so I could make dolls in whatever size I need based on the stamps I'll be using. I did the same with a few hairstyles so my dolls would work together if I displayed them as a group.  The rest of the dolls including their faces, clothing and accessories were all accomplished by finding a new use for stamps in my collection.

I was using some rather large stamp images for this project, so the dolls themselves are close to 10 inches tall.  Large dolls make great wall art, especially if you are lucky enough to find some unique old frames to mount them in.   I love checking out the local thrift stores, which is where I discovered this great brass frame from the 1920's.  Sometimes you're lucky and can find a pair alas this time I only found the one; however,  it made a great backdrop to scan these two lovely ladies with.

Blue Fairy Art Doll

I created the doll from and hair on the computer.

The rest is done using the following Scrolls Work Stamps.

 

4041 – Small Face
3080 – Tattered Fairy Wings (Bodice and hair ornament were made from parts of the wings)
4513 – Shrub (was stamped multiple times to make the lower portion of the skirt)

• The Tattered Fairy Wings image was stamped multiple times onto a decorative blue and teal paper.  One set of wings was but and assembled as the wings on the doll the remaining sets of wings were cut and assembled to form the bodice, over-skirt and hair ornament or fairy crown.

• The Shrub image was stamped 7 times on the same decorative paper. Each was cut out and arranged to form the lower portion of the fairy skirt.

 These are the Scrolls Work stamp images I used to create the Blue Fairy.

Pink Princess Art Doll

I created the doll from and hair on the computer.

The rest is done using the following Scrolls Work Stamps.

4041 – Small Face 

3022 – Fan (Dolls skirt and bodice was also made using portions of the fan stamp)
3046 – Chess Crown

• The Fan was stamped twice on decorative pink paper.  One fan was trimmed to create the bodice while the second fan was used to create the skirt for this doll.   

These are the Scrolls Work stamp images I used to create the Pink Princess.

This is one fun project where you can give your imagination free reign to see how far you can think outside of the box. Just spread your stamp collection in front of you and look at each stamp with an open mind to see the art doll possibilities that await you.  Shrubs, Flower Petals, Wings, Fans, Buildings and Architectural elements all have the potential to create original clothing pieces for an art doll.  The idea is to just play and have a good time for the grins and giggles of it. 

I hope this inspires you to create some fun paper art dolls of your own.

 Here's a fun piece of envelope art I did, showing some of my favorite

images available from Scrolls Work.

Grins and Giggles, 

 Evelyn

Spooky - Halloween Stamped Scenes

With Halloween around the corner I thought I'd revisit two of my favorite Spooky Stamped Scenes. Both of these scenes were accomplished by using the masking technique or rubber stamping.

 

Click HERE to see a previous posted tutorial on the masking technique.

This is my most recent Halloween stamped scene, done earlier this year.  I stamped all the images onto matte white paper and used pastel pencils and decorative chalk to color everything in.  I used 21 stamp images to create this 8 1/2 x 11 inch scene and it took about 16 hours to stamp and color.
 

 Spooky - Stampscene by EKDuncan 2010

All Stamps are by StampFrancisco Rubber Stamps

most of the images are from their Barthlomews Ink line of stamps

except for the two rugs which I designed for them.

  

For more details on how this scene was created, visit my earlier post by clicking HERE:

 

This was my first large stamped scene I ever did.  It was done on white glossy cardstock using dye inks and a variety of coloring tools, like art sponges and tiny artist nib tips. I used 20 rubber stamp images to create this 8 1/2 x 10 inch scene and it took about 20 hours to stamp and color.

 

 Dark and Stormy Night - Stampscene by EKDuncan 2006

All Stamps are by StampFrancisco Rubber Stamps

and are from their Barthlomews Ink line of stamps
 

Grins and Giggles...Ghouls and Goblins,

 Evelyn

Digital Art using Vintage Image

I'm just starting to learn Photoshop and the first thing I've done is to remove the background from one of the vintage images I've already posted and overlayed her on a digitized background.  It's not much but it is a start and we all need to start somewhere.

My First Digital ATC (Artist Trading Card)

I started with this image and then digitally cropped and removed the background.

Once I had a transparent background for the Lady in Photoshop I was able to add her

to the digitally created background so I had my first digitally layered ATC.

Joanna of Navarre - Queen of Henry IV of England
 

For more images of British Queens click HERE

For images of Henry VII & His Wives click HERE

For images of Shakespearean Beauties click HERE

For Images of the Kings of England click HERE

 

I know I'll be getting hours of fun out of all my antique images regardless if I'm cutting them out the old fashion way or using them digitally as I learn to do more in Photoshop.

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn

Great Vintage Image - Halloween Witch Hat

I thought this could be turned into a great Halloween image.

I Love the hat!!!  A La Puritan Witchy style.

She would also be a great image for a Thanksgiving project too.

 Le Chapeau de Brigand - 1883 engraving

engraved by Lumb Stocks after a picture by Thomas Uwins

 

Le Chapeau de Brigand - 1883 Painting

 by Thomas Uwins

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn

Vintage Images - English Kings through the Ages

Here are some nice vintage images of the Kings of England.

These are engraved prints from a Victorian book.

These are mostly male images however there are a few beauties as well

since there were a few female monarch in the line.

House of Wessex

 Alfred the Great - King of England 871-899

House of Normandy

William I (William The Conqueror) - King of England 1066 - 1087

William II (Rufus the Red) - King of England 1087 - 1100

Henry I (Henry Beauclero) - King of England 1100 - 1135

 Stephen (Stephen of Blois) - King of England 1135 - 1154

 House of Plantagenet

 Henry II (Henry Curtmantle) - King of England 1154 - 1189

 Richard I (Richard the Lionhearted) - King of England 1189 - 1199

 John (John Lackland) - King of England 1199 - 1216

 Henry III (Henry of Winchester) - King of England 1216 - 1272

 Edward I (Edward Longshanks) - King of England 1272 - 1307

 

 Edward II (Edward of Caernarfon) - King of England 1307 - 1327 (murdered)

 Edward III (Edward of Windsor) - King of England 1327 - 1377

Edward The Black Prince 

(Eldest Son of King Edward III & Father of King Richard II)

He died 1376 and was never crowned king.

 Richard II (Son of Edward The Black Prince) - King of England 1377 - 1399

House of Lancaster

(A branch of the Royal House of Plantagenet)

This House descended from Edward III's third surviving son, 

John of Gaunt - Duke of Lancaster

 Henry IV (Henry of Bolingbrooke) - King of England 1399 - 1413

Henry V (Henry of Monmouth) - King of England 1413 - 1422

Henry VI (Henry of Windsor) - King of England 1422 - 1461 (1st Reign)

 The War of the Roses saw the throne passed between Lancaster and York

House of York

"War of the Roses" 1455 - 1485

 (A branch of the Royal House of Plantagenet)

The House of York was descended by the fourth surviving son of Edward III, 

Edward of Langley, 1st Duke of York

Edward IV (Edward of York) - King of England 1461 - 1470 (1st Reign)

Son of Richard Plantagenet  - 3rd Duke of York

House of Lancaster - Restored

"War of the Roses" 1455 - 1485

(A branch of the Royal House of Plantagenet)

This House descended from Edward III's third surviving son, 

John of Gaunt - Duke of Lancaster

Henry VI (Henry of Windsor) - King of England 1470 - 1471 (2nd Reign)

  The War of the Roses saw the throne passed between Lancaster and York

He died in the Tower of London - murder is speculated.

House of York - Restored

"War of the Roses" 1455 - 1485

 (A branch of the Royal House of Plantagenet)

The House of York was descended by the fourth surviving son of Edward III, 

Edward of Langley, 1st Duke of York

Edward IV (Edward of York) - King of England 1471 - 1483 (2nd Reign)

Son of Richard Plantagenet  - 3rd Duke of York

Regained his throne in the War or the Roses with the Death of Henry VI

 Edward V (Prince in the Tower) April 9 - June 25 1483

He and his brother disappeared in the Tower of London, there is much speculation as to what happened to the two boys but many believe their Uncle and successor to the throne had them killed.

 Richard III (Duke of Gloucester) - King of England 1483 - 1485

Youngest and 4th surviving son of Richard Plantagenet -3rd Duke of York

(Last King of the House of York and Last of the Plantagenet Dynasty)

died in defeat on the battlefield - the decisive battle in the War of the Roses

House of Tudor

The Tudors descended matrilineally from John Beaufort, one of the 

illegitimate children of John of Gaunt (third surviving son of Edward III)

 Henry VII - King of England & Lord of Ireland 1457 - 1509

 Henry VIII - King of England and Lord of Ireland 1491 - 1547

Edward VI - King of England and Ireland 1537 - 1553

 Lady Jane Grey (The 9 day Queen of England) July 10-19, 1553

Grand daughter of Henry VII

Edward VI left her the crown in his will but her reign was in dispute

and she was executed for high treason.

 Mary I (Queen of England) 1553 - 1558

Daughter of Henry VIII and his first wife Catherine of Aragon

Queen Elizabeth I (Queen of England) 1558-1603

Daughter of Henry VII and his 2nd Wive Anne Boleyn

House of Stuart

Elizabeth died without having any children, so the Scottish king succeeded 

to the English throne in the Union of the Crowns.

 James I (The Peacemaker King) - King of England 1603 - 1625

he was also James VI - King of Scotland

Son of Mary Queen of the Scots

 Charles I - King of England, Scotland and Ireland 1625 - 1649

 (brought to trial due to Civil War, found guilty and beheaded)

There were no Monarchs reining from 1649 - 1660 

Lord Protectors of that time were:

 Oliver Cromwell and Richard Cromwell

House of Stuart - restored

Charles II - (The Merrie Monarch) King of England, Scotland and Ireland 1660 - 1685

Charles II King of Scotland 1649 - 1660

James II - King of England & Ireland 1633 - 1701

James VII - King of Scotland from Feb 6, 1685

Mary II- Queen Regent of England, Scotland and Ireland 1689 - 1694

Daughter of  King James II / James VII

Mary ruled jointly with her husband William III (William Prince of Orange) 

Known as the Reign of William & Mary

William and Mary

Mary ruled 1689 - 1694 jointly with William

William III - King of England, Scotland and Ireland 1689 - 1702

ruled jointly with his wife Mary till 1694 when at her death he became sole ruler

 Anne of Great Britain - Queen of England, Scotland and Ireland 1702 - 1707

 House of Hanover

 

 George II - King of Great Britain 1727 - 1760

George III - (Mad King George) King of Great Britain 1760 - 1820

 George IV (Prince Regent) - King of Great Britain 1820 - 1830

He ruled Great Britain as Prince Regent from 1810 - 1820 as 

an order of Parliament due to his father's mental illness.

William IV - King of Great Britain 1830 - 1837

Son of King George III

 Victoria - Queen Regent of the United Kingdom 1837 - 1901

Grins and Giggles,

 Evelyn