boy have i been a busy little bee lately! getting ready for a few shows and adding things to the altered bits site over the next two or three days. i’ll have four new collage sheets (witches, bones, darker-themed-alicia-type stuff, as well as some naked ladies and such). apothecary bottles, mico-beads, petree dishes, microscope slides with covers, etc. all coming soon just a little too late for halloween. whoops!
i added three new photoshop textures, or backgrounds — whatever you could want to use them for on the free art page as well:
and last but not least, i’ve added a new tutorial for my “crackled window effect” on the art tutorials page. eventually there will be heaps of free and paid tutorials in both PDF and video format but it’ll take awhile to get them all up. some will be from me, and some from our fellow amazing arty friends so stay tuned.
you know those times when you put yourself fully into making something for someone and it ends up being a big ol’ flop!? well that seems to be my week. first, i was working on this sweet piece for my wonderful friend lisa jurist at mudhound primitives and decided to add a top coat of varnish. i have no idea where i got the image i used but i’d saved it for a long time and it felt soooo right to put it in her piece. about 20 seconds after i brush on the top coat, the image started to bubble, then sloughed off the canvas board! it was a total nightmare. i don’t think there is any way to fix that, so i shall start again. what a jackass i am!
so the very next day, i tried to make something for someone else. total mono-chromatic flop. here, just go ahead and laugh at me, i don’t mind (little hanging ACEO, the flapping flop of an attempt at something sweet):
to make up for it, i started something else for said friend and i felt it was just fine. set it down to dry, tossed my paint-covered baby wipe to the side and went on my merry little way (to watch dexter!). omg. so baby wipe landed on the piece and i could pretend i meant for this to happen but look at all of the black ickiness. i’m sad. so what? send a sweet friend two crap pieces and an IOU? lol. i crack myself up sometimes. i wish there were lots and lots more hours in the day! or that i didn’t have to cut my art time to work (took a month off — bad, bad timing for that one!!).
i did, however, start one and finish another piece that i just so happen to like (both!), so at least i have a 50-50 thing going on this week. will post those later.
off to read emails for the first time in 3 or 4 days, woots! happy creating, friends. 🙂
—-
P.S. Bunches of us have been particpating in The Art Exchange. If you don’t know what it is, here is the gist: you get an email from one of the players, you send a piece of art of sorts to the person in the #1 slot in the email, you move the #2 person up and replace them with yourself in the #2 spot. Sooo… you end up sending out ONE piece of art, and you forward the email to six people. In turn, you get THIRTY SIX pieces of art in return. A couple of the people I’ve sent this too are having difficulties finding players that aren’t too busy. If you’d like to play, post here or email me so I can get you in touch with someone to get you involved. It’s soooo fun!
17 comments
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27 October, 2009 at 2:06 am
Debbie
Re: teh eyeglasses and passes! Oh I know it’s a lie, Alicia! It is actually a well known saying, unfotunately. There was a tv ad on here once that played up on it. It was actually selling glasses – and that was the spin on their ad. The glasses and the girls that were wearing them were really funky and all the boys couldn’t help but make passes!
PS. I’m going to go and have a good look at all these collage sheets of yours. I want them digital – coz then I can get them INSTANTLY (plus saves you/me on postage). I’m one of these X generationers that need instant gratification!!!!!
PPS. Glad you like my skeleton card. I knew you would – that’s why I made it with you in mind.
27 October, 2009 at 2:09 am
Debbie
PPS. Why is my spelling/typing getting so bad these days?
My “the” is going hte
I know unfortunately is not spelled like that.
Do I have early onset dementia? Is that it?
Arrggghhh!!
27 October, 2009 at 2:18 am
Debbie
Quad triple PS’s: I didn’t see the artwork you did! I love them both – they are awesome!! You are too hard on yourself. Don’t worry about the skull – it looks just like you mean’t it! I love it!! It is so fat looking – as in layered and chunky and gorgeous.
27 October, 2009 at 2:26 am
alteredbits
damn girl, i so love you! thanks so much! you know how it is though when you have a vision and it just doesn’t turn out? that was my week. except this other piece i just whipped out in literally 40 minutes for the gallery and i really do love it. i’ll post tomorrow or wednesday. (my time — i know tomorrow IS wednesday for YOU).
i was just picking on you about the glasses too. 8-P
and i LOVE the piece you made me and didn’t know it was for me when i saw it and yeah! giddy with bliss, i am!! thank you soooooo very much! you’re the best!
27 October, 2009 at 7:17 am
Lisa Jurist
omg…what a comedy of errors…i am so sorry you are having such a streak of freak happenings! Probably one of the reasons I’m hesitant to use liquids.. they can really muck something up. holy cow…i LOVE the skull piece and the bird aceo…i think you are too hard on yourself! Don’t worry about making me something.. you’ll get your chance when my said book comes along to you… and i did post a bit on my blog so you girls know i haven’t forgotten!! I also used that great woman picking flowers photo you sent me on a piece..speaking of witch.. i love your awesome digital sheets..uber creative and very unique..especially the stuff on the witches and bones…definitely some excellent Altered Bits original’s!! xxo
27 October, 2009 at 2:09 pm
Lisa Sarsfield
Oh dear…I am sooo not laughing right now (honest!!) but I have sooo been there before too! In fact I gave up painting for that very reaosn, I went there one too many times and spat the dummy. Not ready to face it yet but thats ok!
Your screw-ups really arn’t that bad…honest. I think the ACEO and the skull are still wonderful and your probably dissapointed because you had the original (in your head) to compare it too. Go easy on yourself! Besides that how many accidents actually end up happy accidents? You may just fluke a new technique here!
Great collage sheets, will go and check out the tutorial too…wahoo!
Oh and the art swap (right about now when I have typed so much I get realllly worried something will eat my comment!) I would like to play but only of I can swap something little…as in postcard size and not to fat! My pockets telling me (ok my kids!!) are telling me that christmas is not that far away…..
27 October, 2009 at 2:10 pm
Lisa Sarsfield
OMG….nothing happend to my comment! Amazing!
27 October, 2009 at 6:55 pm
Sam Marshall
I love the collage sheets, Alicia. Your art work, of course, is fantastic and I love the crackled window effect-looks awesome!!!
27 October, 2009 at 11:39 pm
diane cook
Gosh, Alicia!
Wish I could say I haven’t been there and done that…but I have been there AND done that! I will try to pull it out of the hat until the VERY end, and then……
xoxox
28 October, 2009 at 10:05 am
Jill
You are the funniest person I know! Love your fresh honesty, humor and humbleness all at the same time. But, if you have fun, sometimes you know it’s not always the end point that counts. But, I know, when you are making something special for someone, you want it to be super for them.
Wow, you are so busy every second Alicia. Hard to keep up. Been looking at your new collage sheet- one of the guys even lost his head- so cheer up. No one’s perfect.
Have a great day- and I will go over to another one of your sites!! xo
28 October, 2009 at 8:09 pm
altered bits
And YOU are the sweetest person I know!! I do totally agree — I love doing what I do, whether it turns out or not and I love poking fun at myself at the same time when it’s a flop. I have to say though that I feel bad for my sweet friend on the receiving end, but I will soooo make it up to her when these gallery things are over and I actually have time to sleep and shower. 😉
I had hoped to get that lost-head-guy sheet up by Halloween (which technically I did, but not as early as I hoped) but he’s pretty fun anyway… despite his recent loss.
I owe you lots of emails too! I didn’t even peek at mail all weekend and was quite surprised on Monday when I had over 300 unread messages. Woohooooo!
xx a
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http://alteredbits.com https://alteredbits.wordpress.com http://alteredbits.ning.com
28 October, 2009 at 12:30 pm
Kim
Well I’m laughing my head off here, in sympathy of course, LOL! Don’t ya just hate those days when you think you have it all right and then… Love the last piece with the skull pic, wowsers! The collage sheets are gorgeous too. How do you fit it all in you busy girl!
28 October, 2009 at 8:04 pm
altered bits
Finally!! Someone to laugh at me!! 😉 I neglect my family and housework sometimes — it helps to fit things in that way. Neglect sleep, don’t leave the house for weeks at a time, stuff like that. Such a joyous life I lead!!
xx
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http://alteredbits.com https://alteredbits.wordpress.com http://alteredbits.ning.com
28 October, 2009 at 8:11 pm
alteredbits
grrr, sometimes i forget that when i respond, it auto-posts here unless i only respond directly to people. thank goodness i didn’t say anything mean about anyone! 😉
29 October, 2009 at 2:08 am
Jo Archer
Omg, you crack me up! We’re all wondering who the friend is, that has now read that he/she is getting 2 crap pieces and an IOU! Only joking, the skull one is great and looks like it was meant to be that way.
If it’s any consolation, a lot of my stuff is the result of “happy accidents”. “The Attic”, was originally a collage that I ruined with dark oak varnish. After a couple of weeks, I tore lots of it off and restarted. Ended up with one of my favourites.
30 October, 2009 at 9:37 pm
alteredbits
grrr, wordpress didn’t post my reply again! but it’s you. yeps!! and i think you got my huge other long message about loving attic, and you, etc. 😉
1 November, 2009 at 3:02 am
happy halloween/samhain day give-away « Altered Bits' Altered Blog
[…] first up, a 4.25″ x 5.75″ blank black accordion book still in its packaging, 8 custom quarter-page collage sheets based upon your favorite few on my site, and a couple embellishments (beads, buttons, fiber, etc.). in the spirit of halloween and goodies, i will also toss in a free download of my crackle tutorial, mentioned in this post. […]