Another wonderful day- almost 12 hours of uninterrupted studio time! That rarely happens, even for me and I am supposedly, a full time artist.
I got these 3 leather covered books last week when I went estate sale shopping with Beth http://bethleintz.typepad.com/. I knew they could be good projects, and they cost me under $5 for all three.
Today I turned them into this-
Some vintage wall paper, rub-n-buf, glue, glitter, roses and ribbons and they are all "Silver Bella-ed Up".
I was inspired by the Marie Antoinette Swap that is going on this summer (I didn’t sign up for that one, but loved the look of it). That movie was so spectacular. I still day dream about the colors and pictures in it.
This one is actually a box made to look like a book. The inside was already so pretty, I just added some silver trim over the dark book binding tape and a rose medallion over the hole I punched in the outside of the lid to attach a button shaped crown.
I used one of my anaglyptic wallpaper medallions to glue a rose picture to, cut it out and glued it down.
(I used one on the front of the other book too)
I bought quite a few rolls of the wallpaper border for 99 cents each at Goodwill. They’ll make such great projects! I love the medallions, there are so many ways to use them!
Today I glazed some of the paper pink and some umber, then added hand painted pictures to the center of each oval.
I have been seeing the cutest cupcakes every where I look and thought I’d try painting a few. But mostly I painted roses, they will always be my favorite and I can paint those with my eyes closed by now.
I like the way the glaze shows off the texture of the paper.
I made some note cards with a few of the center medallions. There was a box of Christmas cards in a cute shape on clearance at Michaels for $1. They were ugly as they were, so I am gluing my own stuff over their ugly picture. I liked the scalloped edge that they have and I added hole punches to accent the scallops. Then I painted a little green vine down the side. 
With this note card, I cut the oval out of the wallpaper, I didn’t use the whole strip. Then I put it down over some vintage wallpaper and added velvet ribbon. 
On this oval, I painted a teeny ballerina and made a tag with her. This is one of the giant 8" x 4′ tags that I got cases of at a garage sale. (I’m putting some in my Cottage Collage Kits)
Did I mention that I am totally enamored with this wallpaper??
For this tag, I glued part of an old typed letter in the oval, and added a picture and itty bitty millinery flower over it.
The medallions can be used in so many ways. I will be sticking them everywhere.
I have some for sale on Etsy too, as well as most of the projects I made today, if you don’t see something you like over there, feel free to ask me about it.
I used another one to make a card for my Christmas in July swap partner http://loveofyellowroses.blogspot.com/ (oops, I forgot it was 4 cards, 2 tags!! My friend, Natasha http://natashaburns.blogspot.com/ reminded me).
So I whipped up a couple more cards and some tags for her, and then tweaked the two I made yesterday that were TOO YELLOW. I used some gold and walnut stamp ink to age the edges and that helped. I think they’ll be OK.
Everyone was so nice with their comments and encouragement about the cards, thanks.
That can’t be all I did today, I was in my studio for about 12 hours straight. The day flew by, but it seems like I should have more to show for it!
I guess I painted a heck of a lot of these little ovals. Did I mention how crazy I am about them? I think I might have, and you might be sick of hearing it by now.
But if you aren’t sick of them, I’ll include a painted oval in my give away as part of the COTTAGE COLLAGE KIT drawing for July. Leave a comment (as often as you’d like) to enter.
KARLA, these are gorgeous!! No wonder you love that wallpaper ~ look what you did with it! LOOK WHAT YOU DID WITH IT!! I just don’t know if I’d seen it all plain in Goodwill if I would have had the foresight to snatch it or not. You are teaching me a whole new way of looking at things. Of course, I can’t paint, but I might could glue pretty pics inside the ovals! :0)
I polished some old silver that DH surprised me with this afternoon, so sounds like we were both pretty productive!
Hugs,
Stephanie
Angelic Accents
I LOVE that wallpaper too! Go back to Goodwill to buy the rest of it! I love the cupcakes, too. I used a piece of the wallpaper on a collage today, too- I’ll post a picture of it tomorrow.
oh my, Karla, these are absolutely stunning! I love those.
🙂 Lidy
The wall paper is great, but you have made it delightful with all your painting.
Karen
Bluemuf
Okay I actually saw a wallpaper border sort of like this at goodwill yesterday and I absolutely would never have dreamed of this! I love anything you paint a rose on! Would love to win something, I wear my pendant all the time, I think it is my favorite piece of jewelry right now!
Fabulous paintings Karla, i love that wallpaper too! Now you know, you will laugh, it is 4 cards and 4 tags, lol not 2. never 2 of anything, you are so funny!
oh my i love your blog and i love your wallpaper! beauty! your “marie” inspired books are gorgeous! man i wish you would’ve signed up! you have such wonderfull art! thanx for stopping by my little ole blog.
sheri
As always… it all look stunning! It’s beyond me how you can paint such tiny beautifull roses with so much detail. Love it!
I love everything you did today, but I especially love what you did with the wallpaper border. It’s my favorite!
~elaine~
All of it is beautiful as always…Yesterday typepad was not available to me anywhere and I did see these things in your Etsy! I love the wee cupcake 🙂 And the card you made with Sugarwings!
Gorgeous as always! Love that border too!
Cheryl
Nope, not getting sick of hearing and seeing that wallpaper border. I love what you’re doing with it, and look how much you get on just one roll. The cupcakes are just as cute as your roses are beautiful.
You have certainly found some great uses for those wallpaper ovals! I LOVE all of it, esp. the cupcakes with the pink – so cute and yummy!
Karla
I like your “button shaped crown” hehe…sorry it made me lauph. Anyway, Thank you so much for all your advice the other day! Oh yeah, and I have added more blogs if you care to see http://www.myspace.com/primitivezen
Those ovals have got to be the dearest things I’ve seen. So individual and precious. Were you born with a paintbrush in your hand?
Your wallpaper ovals are just gorgeous and they make the most beautiful cards. If there’s such a thing as heirloom cards, I think you’ve just created heirlooms. My favorite is the little ballerina.
Karla, I have been lurking for quite some time now and I do have to comment on your beautiful creations. You have some great ideas and have the talent to put them down on paper. BEAUTIFUL WORK!
How come I never find wallpaper like that when I go thrift shopping? LOL.
Sylvia
Blogless…but not for long 😀
Karla, surprised to hear from you! Thank you for the response. I am currently trying to edit my blog but ARG!!! it so confusing. I need my dh to help.
I volunteer at a thrift store and I absolutely love it but never have come across beautiful wallpaper like yours. I will definetely have to check out GW.
Have a great day,
Sylvia
still blogless
Your cards and tags are beautiful!! I am having a creativity block! Ack!! I guess that is the difference between a “real artist”..you…and a wannabe artist…me…
Whoa, whoa whoa! Those are spectacular! I’m spazzing over their beauty! Yes, you have good reason to be crazy by them!!!!
Coming here is like visiting Karla’s enchanted Rose Cottage 🙂
I’m so envious of yous extensive studio time and the beautiful results 🙂
Las tarjetas son hermosas.Estoy juntando diversas cosas para intentar hacer algo parecido.Aún no llega la inspiración y escasea el tiempo.
Wow, what a fun , new creative idea. That is the artist in you that can see a painting on anything. Great job.
Such great finds, but even more spectacular transformations! WOW!
What gorgeous cards you make! I’m pleased you dropped by my blog so I could discover yours!
Here’s a teacake for you:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teacake
🙂
Oh my! Each and every one of those ovals are superb! Thanks for sharing all the pictures- I love them! Great work! xo Natalea
Hi Karla,
Wow! I love the ovals. I love your roses, but I like the ones with the red roses and hydrangia very much. The cupcakes are wonderful too. Great idea!
Shelley
Love the little ballerina tag!