Isabella's Playroom

Hopes Take Flight

isabella — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 16:23:57 GMT

Hopes Take Flight

I was inspired by PoeticJava's poem, "Red Balloon" that she published on July 6, 2008. I especially liked the first two lines, "I dream and hopes take flight, like a long tailed kite -- or a red balloon". I decided to do a paintover of a photo of a little girl that I came across awhile back. I painted over the original background in the photo and added the balloons (large sequins attached with thread). I'm trying to play more with paints, oil pastels, whatever else I have here and see what I can come up with. Thanks to Ramona for such an inspiring poem! Here is the entire poem:

Red Balloon

I dream and hopes take flight

like a long tailed kite -- or a red balloon

whose basket holds

treasures; promises,

colored stones or words

to live by. Such

sacred wonders.

Published Jul 06 2008, by PoeticJava

Art Doll: Moon Dance

isabella — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 21:22:11 GMT

Art Doll: Moon Dance

It's a marvelous night for a moon dance...with the stars up above in your eyes...

Miss Glamour Princess

isabella — Sun, 06 Jul 2008 14:44:23 GMT

Miss Glamour Princess

Straight from the red carpet, here is Miss Glamour Princess. She's seen here admiring her new jeweled tiara. She's wearing a sapphire blue taffeta gown, complete with a dramatic gossamer ruffle and her white arm-length gloves. She was recently crowned Miss Glamour Princess and she's savoring her moment in the spotlight.

Bridal Paintover 2

isabella — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 20:21:08 GMT

Bridal Paintover 2

This is the second in a series of my bridal paintovers.

Francesca: Art Doll 2

isabella — Mon, 23 Jun 2008 01:24:27 GMT

Francesca: Art Doll 2

Meet Francesca! She's my second art doll. She started out as a paperclay mold of the music box face I got at the flea market. I just painted her face a little differently and gave her purple eye shadow (I have just discovered glitter gel pens). I had some other fabrics laid out to make her a simple outfit, but she insisted on the good plum fabric I just picked up at Jo-Ann's; nothing but the best for HER! It's been fun trying to make bodies out of pipe cleaners, paperclay and batting. I'm just experimenting with whatever materials I have in my studio. She's holding her heart in her hand, offering it up unconditionally. She's now residing in my curio cabinet with the spotlight on her sparkly gown.

My First Art Doll

isabella — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 21:34:36 GMT

My First Art Doll

This is my first try with air-dry clay and painting faces.

Birthday Boys

isabella — Tue, 20 May 2008 14:54:40 GMT

Birthday Boys

My two nephews, Bryson and Brent, celebrated their birthdays this past weekend. Bryson is four and Brent turned one! You can tell by Brent's shirt that he had just finished eating his cake before this photo was taken.

Swirly Girl

isabella — Sat, 17 May 2008 14:55:35 GMT

Swirly Girl

I just love this doll's face, so I decided to try the paintover technique on her. I had an 8 x 10 canvas already painted with background colors of pink-orange-copper. She was just begging to be put there! [;)] Her hair reminded me of swirls, so I thought I'd give her a few of those.

Chandelier Lights Dimmed

isabella — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:27:41 GMT

Chandelier Lights Dimmed

Here is a closeup of the chandelier. I used the tiny crystals in the candles to give it a dimmed effect. I thought adding the rhinestones looked like the whole thing was hanging by a line of crystals.

Jewelry Closeup

isabella — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:22:58 GMT

Jewelry Closeup

Here is a better view of the bride and her jewelry. This is sort of a cross between a paper doll and a painting. Lots of fun!

Bridal Bling

isabella — Tue, 13 May 2008 19:20:09 GMT

Bridal Bling

Here is my bride painted out with some bling added. I used a pretty pale pink stone and some Swarovski crystals in her necklace and bracelet. The chandelier also has the Swarovski crystals in it and is hanging by some rhinestones I picked up at the craft store.

Pretty in Pink

isabella — Tue, 13 May 2008 16:28:24 GMT

Pretty in Pink

This is the first in a series of "paintovers" that I talked about in my blog today.

Introducing Ella Ashley Walker

isabella — Thu, 01 May 2008 16:05:51 GMT

Introducing Ella Ashley Walker

My dearest friend Sharon sent me some photos of her new granddaughter, Ella Ashley, born April 30 at 1:01 pm. Miss Ella weighed 7 lbs., 6 oz. and was 19" long. She just looks like a little angel and I wanted to make her a special little page.

Wonderland Dreams

isabella — Mon, 28 Apr 2008 16:37:58 GMT

Wonderland Dreams

Whimsical Folly

isabella — Sun, 27 Apr 2008 20:09:07 GMT

Whimsical Folly

Fairies Taking a Break

isabella — Thu, 24 Apr 2008 15:41:21 GMT

Fairies Taking a Break

Even fairies need to rest every now and then!

French Country House

isabella — Sun, 20 Apr 2008 21:18:03 GMT

French Country House

I just loved this picture of the country house in the Daily Muse today. I decided to jazz it up a little and give it some iron gates, a staircase and a couple of people enjoying the surroundings. To me, the house would make a wonderful getaway! I would love to wander around in the woods, take some photos, relax and do some writing! Ah, what a dream...

View at Castle Ruins

isabella — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 00:50:16 GMT

View at Castle Ruins

My next digital altered book is going to be about castles. Imagine that! Here is someone who will probably make an appearance.

Forest Fairies 2

isabella — Mon, 14 Apr 2008 05:46:09 GMT

Forest Fairies 2

I have started working on a little book about fairies for the granddaughter of a friend of mine. This is turning out to be so much fun! I have amassed quite a lot of fairy material and now have a small gallery of ball-joint dolls' heads, bodies, feet, etc. to mix and match to create as many dolls as I want. It's like playing with dolls all over again! The problem became trying to find clothes for my little fairies. I found a designer gown website and have been able to resize the gowns to fit my dolls. So only the best-dressed fairies are wearing designer this year! [:D] The bling and background came from a cute little website called Madame Mim and Milla Designs. The fairy in the tree came from Ratmomma! It's amazing what's out there once you start looking.

Forest Fairies

isabella — Sun, 13 Apr 2008 04:19:56 GMT

Forest Fairies

I think the little girl in me rediscovered dolls and fairies and all things magical with the digital altered book I did. I've been playing with dolls in a new way with Photoshop. I've always loved fairies, and have recently discovered ball-joint dolls and how lifelike they look. I have been reading how other artists merge these dolls into their art and thought I'd give it a shot. I'm afraid this is my obsession right now...

Butterfly Fantasy

isabella — Mon, 07 Apr 2008 18:19:03 GMT

Butterfly Fantasy

I loved Ratmomma's freebies she offered today, especially the watercolors! I was just playing with different images trying to come up with how I feel today. The sun is shining, it's warm... I feel like these butterflies!

Hear Me Roar!

isabella — Sat, 05 Apr 2008 21:00:02 GMT

Hear Me Roar!

This is my cat Beanie roaring to the world! Actually, I caught her yawning but she looks so ferocious that she could be roaring.

Happy Birthday, Mom!

isabella — Wed, 02 Apr 2008 19:50:35 GMT

Happy Birthday, Mom!

This is a scrapbook page I did using my favorite photo of my Mom. Today is her birthday and I wrote a little bit about her in my blog. I just love this photo so much I decided to put it in my gallery, too!

Dave, Melissa, Bryson and Brent

isabella — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 01:01:43 GMT

Dave, Melissa, Bryson and Brent

This is my brother Dave, his wife Melissa and their two children, Bryson and Brent. I'm having fun with Annamarie's freebies changing the colors, etc. to match my photos. I rarely see my brother dressed up, so I'm documenting it while I can.

Liza Marie

isabella — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 19:50:28 GMT

Liza Marie

I loved Annamarie's grunge scrapbook page that she put up on her blog today. This was the perfect backdrop for this photo of my niece, Liza Marie. She's 15 and at that age where ... well, her expression says it all. I love her to pieces and she's really a great kid. She was goofing around when this photo was taken. Thanks, Annamarie, for the artwork!

corless storer

isabella — Sat, 29 Mar 2008 18:14:33 GMT

corless storer

This is a photo of my grandfather whom I never had the chance to meet. He died of a heart attack working in the fields as a farmer when my dad was eight years old. We only have a few photos of him and I came across these today while working on another heritage piece. I was amused to learn that I inherited his right-tilt of the head. I catch myself in this position all of the time.

Happy Cats

isabella — Sun, 16 Mar 2008 20:56:12 GMT

Happy Cats

This was the very first quilt I ever made. I think I made it about 10 years ago. It's an appliqué wall hanging and was my first attempt at appliqué and piecing, but still was something thought I could do. There are some rough spots here and there, but for a first try I was happy with it. I came across this in a box of stuff from our move to Indiana. I decided to hang it in my studio. With such bright colors and happy faces, how can I help but get inspired? I have a few old wall hangings in this box. I may put up another one I did made completely out of my dad's old ties. It's more of an abstract design and was more challenging working with silks. We'll see. Anyway, these are my happy cats that smile down at me every day now.

Spring is Coming!

isabella — Sat, 15 Mar 2008 16:32:14 GMT

Spring is Coming!

Hello everyone! Look what I found outside my front door this morning! In my sorority we have a "secret sister" program where we draw names at the beginning of each year and we surprise our "sister" throughout the year with little gifts. At the end of the year we reveal whose name we had. This was my early spring welcome from my secret sis. I just wanted to share a little preview of spring with everybody. I used one of annamarie's freebie frames. What a great way to start the day! Hold on, spring is on the way.

Bryson in snow

isabella — Tue, 11 Mar 2008 20:42:45 GMT

Bryson in snow

My nephew was one happy little boy when 14 inches of snow fell in Ohio Friday.

Generations

isabella — Wed, 27 Feb 2008 19:13:44 GMT

Generations

I have been sorting through old family photos I inherited after my mother's death, and came across the only known photo of my great grandmother. I got the idea to transpose her photo, my grandmother's and my mother's to symbolize the passing of the generations. Each photo becomes a little more faded as they retreat further into the background. The purple rain background is symbolic of how I feel on days like this when I miss my mother, but even though the rain may fall, the memories don't get washed away.

Andy Warhol Effect

isabella — Mon, 25 Feb 2008 22:10:02 GMT

Andy Warhol Effect

This is one of my favorite photos of me as a child that I have been playing with in Photoshop. I only barely know how to do the basics like resize a photo and use the auto enhance feature. So, it took a couple of days to get this the way I like it. I love those old Andy Warhol pictures with this effect.

Brent and Bryson

isabella — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 22:02:40 GMT

Brent and Bryson

My two nephews Brent and Bryson

Beanie.jpg

isabella — Sat, 23 Feb 2008 21:53:07 GMT

Beanie.jpg