Polished and Polka Dots- TAP class Give-a-way!

Those of you that have been reading this week know that I am a big Lesley Riley fan.  I think she is a great example of preparation meeting opportunity.  If you have ever heard her speak about her career she talks a LOT about how things seemingly fell in her lap after she worked long and hard to be ready and was prepared to accept the project/book deal/ endorsement that fell into her lap.

In mixed media circles Lesley is known as a innovator in transfer application for collage.  So when the Manufacturers of TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) were looking for a professional to use and endorse their innovative product, they came to Lesley.  The rest is (transfer mad!) history.  Some folks are a little scared to try TAP or are unfamiliar with all of it's uses.  To that end, Lesley is giving away an e-class!  You can read more about it below.  I used TAP to enlarge some groovy mid century black and white images from a 1967 Newport News, VA newspaper fashion ad and transfer them onto fabric.  Then I embroidered and collage all of their colorized groovy details.

"Judy" by Theresa Wells Stifel

 Scope out this class; just leave a comment below to win a chance to take the class for FREE.  

Please tell me which of the girls are your favorite and you will have be entered to win!  I will be announcing my winner on July 9th, at the conclusion of the blog hop.  There will be one class giveaway per blog in the fun Blog Hop for all of the participants below!  You can leave one comment per blogger to be entered to win. So vote early, vote daily.

You can also visit Lesley's blog and leave a comment there to win a free 5-sheet package of TAP. Fun for all!  :o)

"Fiona" by Theresa Wells Stifel

 TAP was named the Most Innovative New Product at CHA in 2011

 TAP can be purchased online from LesleyRiley.com, Amazon, Joann.com and more.

  Also look for it (or ASK!) at your local art, craft and quilt shops.

"Sharon" by Theresa Wells Stifel

Here are the details on Lesley's class. Thanks for stopping by today! Visit the other artists below to learn more about Tap and possibly win a class to learn all the trick of the trade on how to use it!  Lesley is drawing winners from all of the TAP fans who leave a comment on their entry. You gotta play to win!  
June 26 - Christine Urias - Scraptime

June 27 - Karen Watson -- The Graphics Fairy

June 28 - Judy Coates Perez - Judy Coates Perez

June 29 - Theresa Wells Stifel - Stifel & Capra

June 30 - Lynn Krawczyk - Fiber Artysta

July 1 - Claudine Hellmuth - Claudine Hellmuth

July 2 - Gina Rossi Armfield - Joyful Purpose

July 3 - Carolyn Dube - A Colorful Journey

July 4 - Liz Kettle - Stitch Journeys

July 5 - Jane LaFazio - Janeville

July 6 - Joanne Sharpe - Whimspirations

July 7 - Pam Carriker - Pam Carriker      July 8 - Theresa Martin - Theresa Martin 

Fashion Conscious - TAP giveaway Day 3

One of the most traumatic things about ME selling vintage clothes is that none of them fit.  And I don't mean "none" as in the "wow folks were sure smaller back in the old days" but "Hi, my name is Theresa and I am over six foot tall and NOT built like Twiggy" kind of small.  Explains why I sewed all of my own clothes as a teenager.  Might explain why I wear black 90% of the time (no, wait that is just laziness!).

The good news is all my life I have loved matching things up.  People (have 2 marriages to my credit), jobs (was a recruiter for almost 20 years) and personal shopping for clients in my shop.  I can eyeball almost anyone and tell what will fit and what will look good on them.  Makes me happy to see them all dressed up and looking GOOD! and of course I get bragging rights about their "fabulous-ness" as well...

The collage above was made from a 60's "fashion preview" brochure from a long defunct department store.

I used TAP to layer the fashion images directly onto acrylic paint on canvas (Only in a WELL-ventilated area with proper equipment, of course, cough...).  The free form "Thread Sketch" in the lower quadrant I learned to make at Art & Soul in Virginia Beach from the lovely and talented Elin Waterston.  Try her class if you can; it was a delight.


TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) Blog HopDetails  
Visit me on the 29th and the other artists below to learn more about Tap and possibly win a class to learn all the trick of the trade on how to use it! 

Here are the details on Lesley's class.

June 26 - Christine Urias - Scraptime

June 27 - Karen Watson -- The Graphics Fairy

June 28 - Judy Coates Perez - Judy Coates Perez

June 29 - Theresa Wells Stifel - Stifel & Capra

June 30 - Lynn Krawczyk - Fiber Artysta

July 1 - Claudine Hellmuth - Claudine Hellmuth

July 2 - Gina Rossi Armfield - Joyful Purpose

July 3 - Carolyn Dube - A Colorful Journey

July 4 - Liz Kettle - Stitch Journeys

July 5 - Jane LaFazio - Janeville

July 6 - Joanne Sharpe - Whimspirations

July 7 - Pam Carriker - Pam Carriker      July 8 - Theresa Martin - Theresa Martin 

Who is the making of YOU? - TAP class giveaway day 2

I have only taken half a dozen art classes in my life and one was a fun workshop taught by Lesley Riley when she was first introducing TAP (Transfer Artist Paper).  Lesley pre-printed a bunch of images and we were supposed to experiment with transferring the images onto different surfaces and then bind them into a mini book.  Subversive me did not do this of course.  I took all of the little transfers and shifted them and incorporated them into larger pieces of art.  I THINK 3 years later I have actually used them all! (No one ever claimed I worked in a linear fashion!)

For this piece I lopped off the dunce cap on this little girl (because she is obviously NOT a dunce!) and transferred her onto the paper toweling I was was blotting my brush with, combined her with a doily that was too spotted to use au natural and voila'! a great card for mom.

Have fun blog hopping across the internet to see what these other amazing artists can do with TAP.  You can even win a video class with Lesley below.  If you are local to the DC Metropolitan area please check out our fun workshops at www.StifelandCapra.com.  We are in the process of getting more dates together for the summer so check back often!

There are a BUNCH of new changes happening at the shop artists moving out of town and therefore leaving me (SOB!).  And BIG decisions on what to do with the space.  Bob & I have made the command decision (gulp!) to expand our classroom space so we have more elbow room and turn the former classroom/sunroom into a SALE corner.  Rather than have markdowns scattered throughout the shop we will concentrate them in the hope that shoppers will be magnetically drawn upstairs!!!  After all who doesn't love a bargain?

Here are the details on Lesley's class.  Visit me on the 29th and the other artists below to learn more about Tap and possibly win a class to learn all the trick of the trade on how to use it!

June 26 - Christine Urias - Scraptime

June 27 - Karen Watson -- The Graphics Fairy

June 28 - Judy Coates Perez - Judy Coates Perez

June 29 - Theresa Wells Stifel - Stifel & Capra

June 30 - Lynn Krawczyk - Fiber Artysta

July 1 - Claudine Hellmuth - Claudine Hellmuth

July 2 - Gina Rossi Armfield - Joyful Purpose

July 3 - Carolyn Dube - A Colorful Journey

July 4 - Liz Kettle - Stitch Journeys

July 5 - Jane LaFazio - Janeville

July 6 - Joanne Sharpe - Whimspirations

July 7 - Pam Carriker - Pam Carriker      July 8 - Theresa Martin - Theresa Martin 

Have some fun - win a class!

I am tickled to announce I will be part of a Blog Hop to give away free classes to promote Lesley Riley's TAP.  Not familiar with TAP (Transfer Artist Paper)?  It's an awesome product that can transfer onto to stone, metal, paper, fabric and more.  I will feature some of my own art work this week (shocking!) and also introduce you to some other talented artists that feature TAP in their work.

"Copper Fantasy" is a mixed media work that features a TAP transfer on copper sheeting as its focal point.

Here are the details on Lesley's class.  Visit me on the 29th and the other artists below to learn more about Tap and possibly win a class to learn all the trick of the trade on how to use it!

June 26 - Christine Urias - Scraptime

June 27 - Karen Watson -- The Graphics Fairy

June 28 - Judy Coates Perez - Judy Coates Perez

June 29 - Theresa Wells Stifel - Stifel & Capra

June 30 - Lynn Krawczyk - Fiber Artysta

July 1 - Claudine Hellmuth - Claudine Hellmuth

July 2 - Gina Rossi Armfield - Joyful Purpose

July 3 - Carolyn Dube - A Colorful Journey

July 4 - Liz Kettle - Stitch Journeys

July 5 - Jane LaFazio - Janeville

July 6 - Joanne Sharpe - Whimspirations

July 7 - Pam Carriker - Pam Carriker      July 8 - Theresa Martin - Theresa Martin 

Modify and make it your own.

 When my sister, my husband and I first bought our "near the beach" house in Delaware over a decade ago we learned what in real estate land what was quirky and charming to some was downright dangerous to others.  See these rustic fence post guard rails on our salt box Cape Cod upper balcony? They only had TWO horizontal rails!   My ingenious hubby and some friends created a grid of 1x6's, stained them to match perfectly and you can see how nicely they match. (Although they do still look a fence built to keep livestock from straying!)

 The balcony shows off our ever increasing collection of seaside art.  Although in the beginning I called it the "bad ocean art collection" I had to modify my title as we kept finding pieces and a lot of them are downright wonderful.  So I decided to let "bad" be in the eye of the beholder..

We've modified HOW we use the house too.  When we all had corporate jobs it was a place to come and escape from our stressful crazy careers.  Then we had kids and it turned into a place to make memories by doing the exact same thing EVERY time we came.  My kids are teenagers now and bewtween their busy schedules and Bob & I both working in at Stifel & Capra trips to the show have turned into business trips: treasure hunting for merchandise for the shop, long conversations about "what's next?" that can only happen when a two hour drive takes 5 and you don't have your car charger, and delusion that the shore could be a place of respite again.

To that end my family came down for just 2 days and swore to take a real Sabbath from work.  The reality was there was some email checking and facebook posting but the big event was not living by the clock for 48 hours.   Two days of sleeping until we woke up, eating when we were hungry and moving with the sun.  Of course, Bob just said "Oh my Lord, look at the time; we gotta go!!!" So, back to our reality!  Suburban, filled and busy, trying to make a living while making a life, reality. It's all good.  Or will be if I can make a dent in my to-do list!