An angel for me , this time. .

And the photo that didn't quite make it:



Yes , the day baby Jesus went cross-eyed - I was there.

It has not been a stellar picture-taking day , since neither my light or my camera are cooperating with me. But I hope you guys have a great Memorial Day weekend , and I'll take another stab at loading some more photo's for you later!
*waving*

p.s. I discovered a slightly better shot and replaced the first - it's still not great , but it's definitely not as blurry. Don't you just love that focal? I do , and I can say that because I got it from Etsy , lol. I loved that thing and just had to have it. And eventually , I even made a necklace for it. Twice , if anyone's counting. (the first one just didn't do it for me).

flowers in the rain

The afternoon I spent creating this set was the most peaceful I’ve had in a very long time. The rain and wind were beating against the windows, but inside I was warm and dry with the music playing quietly in the background. Have you ever felt like your day took a little step to the left of reality? That’s how I felt – a bit surreal, daydreaming an afternoon away while another spring shower blew by.

When I look at this set, I see a tiny garden of pink buds and green leaves behind an old iron gate, and hear the rain scattering drops that reflect back all the colors around them. It evokes that feeling of separation I had that afternoon , and reminds me to find that place more often. And I will try to *s*.

Hi there - I finished this necklace today , finally. It's one I actually started quite some time ago and totally lost my muse on. Since I should be working on either Christmas gifts or fabric , she has naturally made a re-appearance in the jewelry department lol. In this photo the stones look green , but in the last photo they're much truer to color. It's made with facted amazonite , chunky larimar

nuggets , a very cool sort of 'pinched' magnesite (they look a bit like seeds to me) and
some really lovely bronzestone - it carries a beautiful golden shimmer all through it. I also made it adjustable in length. A girlfriend had mentioned that like me , she preferred longer necklaces , and it got me to thinking. I have this gift - everytime I'm truly in the mood to wear a particular piece , it's the wrong length for whatever the top

is I'm in. Sooo , I decided this one would work with anything a girl felt like wearing lol. And I love the sweet chocolate pearls swinging just above the pendant - I'm thinking I should add some drops just at the left shoulder , where the ribbon connects. Then when the ribbon is removed , you'd still have a little interest trailing down the nape of the neck. . .
But not tonight *smile*.

As for the photo's , please forgive - I took the pictures at night , and my light wasn't good. The colors here work so well together , I should have waited and done them in the morning light.

A few bits here , a few bits there. . .

Back again - I got some photo's of a few jewelry pieces and thought I'd better get them up before I ditz off again lol. This pair I really enjoy. I used a pair of antique safety pins and some lovely Amazonite from Szarka.

This pair I made months ago , back in July , maybe? I had come across some vintage floral cabs on Etsy and didn't really know what to do with them at the time - wound up using them here with some tiny pearls from an old necklace , aventurine , and a pair of old keys. I tried to get photo's , couldn't get a good one and then never got back to it. Today went quite well though. :)

And these I made a few weeks ago. I used opal and pearls , but the metal came from a belt I found at the thrift. It was one of the ugliest things I've ever seen , but both my gf and the girl at the counter raved over this thing. I had no problem taking it apart , which I can't say for many of the items I bring home lol. Sometimes I'll see a great piece and refuse to even buy it , but there are quite a few I'll buy anyway and then wind up wearing them as is lol.

Well , at least I've gotten a few things up - see , I haven't quit arting , I'm just a rotten rotten blogger lol. Better start the cacciatore up , we're taking some dinner up to the folks tonight and I don't like cooking up there. I like my big pots and pans , all my spices and seasonings , and the fact that my dad's not breathing down my neck while I'm trying to work lol. For an individual that has just recently learned how to boil water , he is just Chock FULL of instruction.

Yes I'm using my sarcasm. Ahem.

The 'Mind Wide Open' challenge

This is my entry for the MWO challenge on Gails blog. She'll be uploading all the entries tomorrow and then the voting shall commence. I'm really curious to see what everyone has done - the only requirement was to use the image she provided but other than that , you could go to any media your little heart desired , so there should be a lot of variety.
I decided to make a journal cover for myself. Actually , I'd planned on having the whole journal done darnit , but the last few days I haven't been able to get to the table , so I guess this is really a WIP. All I have left is to get my pages together and drill a few holes , and I'm pretty much done. I want to be able to flip the cover all the way around to the back if I'm working/writing in bed , and I also want to be able to rearrange pages if needed to keep my thoughts together on a specific piece. The post-it thing hasn't really worked out.
So this is my first journal , and for now everything's going in it. We'll see how that works and I'll change things up down the road if I need to. Any expert journallers out there can feel free to shoot me suggestions or advice - I'm all ears lol.

I made myself a friend yesterday. . .

Meet sweet Sara. The postman hasn't been cooperating with my plans for another project , so yesterday I decided to create Sara. The little doll head is from an old angel I found in a lot I picked up a few years ago, and has these great little round cheeks you can't see for beans in this photo (sorry , but it was one of Those days). The arms are from another lot. I'm not quite sure what happened to her body but I do have some vague memory of wrinkling my nose and the words 'euw' and 'cheezy' , so I think I tossed it.
The little bottle has lettering that reads 'Rogers & Callet , Paris" , which was a perfumery opened in 1806 by Jean-Marie Farina. Napoleon was quite fond of him , but since I picked the bottle up at the flea market I don't have a clue how old it really is. But that's pretty neat , huh? It was probably worth a fortune right up until I glued on wings and a typewriter key , lol.
The funny thing is that although Sara is only 6" tall , I managed to destroy 3 rooms in 'the making of' - millinery boxes , lace boxes , jewelry boxes , sewing implements , glue(s) etc. etc., - I amaze myself sometimes. And I amazed Dan too , since he walked in the front door and had to vault two suitcases and an old lampshade or fall down. And then starved quietly until I finished her off , poor guy. I made up for it lol - he wasn't the only one ready to pass out from hunger! Baby wanted the Big food , believe me.
Enjoy the weekend , everyone - we've got 90 degrees here and it's gorgeous out. Hope you have cool breezes and AC if you're in one of those ugly-hot area's!
take care all.

The "Manlace"

Happy Fathers Day to all of the good daddies out there - may it be filled with Big Food and lots of love from your personal fan club today!
My husband got a Manlace as one of his gifts - I about killed myself trying to make it Manly enough for him to actually wear it and the good news is he actually did - Yay! I was wondering about mid-point what had possessed me to even start , since he's really not a jewelry-wearin' kind of guy.
The finished product here is not what I started out with though - that got voted down by his friend DJ as being too foofoo. I didn't think it was , but o well. I had wrapped some wire around the tags (manly) and strung some spacer beads (very plain ones , tiny little silver balls with some bali spacers) and made about ten double eyepins with slightly larger versions of the same thing to hang the dogtags off of. I only needed two , but I was too retarded to read my own measurements , so I made several. The good news is I was working with Plain and Manly wire - very cost effective as it turns out.
Anyway. So when D stopped by , I asked if he thought it was manly enough and he said no way nice try but a swing and a miss. But he then followed up by asking Dan where his tackle box was (luv D , he was totally feelin me) and brought me back spinners , which replaced the eyepins and I was Really jazzed because that was exactly the Manly slash Cute (shh) little accoutrement I wanted in the first place! And the fact that D can do this with absolutely no coaching from me just impresses me to no end. I mean really - very cool. Perhaps if he's very Very good , I will let him come make more jewelry with me. He's either got mad skills or latent tendencies - not sure which yet but we'll hammer that out later. It'll be fun for me and that's the important thing.
So there you have it - spinners , dog tags and washers - Manly. If the utterly adorable boychild is a little questionable - too bad , lol. You brought it on yourself , darlin'.
Happy Father's Day!

My Virgin

"Mona had reached the inescapable conclusion that her future was Not to be what she had originally envisioned."

Grin. She's been giving me that look for some time now. We've bonded.

So , another piece in the Workshop series , this one on texture. I tried spackle for the first time with this one and I didn't have as much success with it as I'd expected to. I like the molding past much more - I had problems stamping into the spackle that I don't with the paste. I also played with more watercolor techniques (although with acrylics this time) and although I'm still not great , I am at least getting an idea of where I'm going wrong and improving a leetle bit , lol.

Another first was a product called 'Crackle Accents' by Ranger. I applied it to my image , and if I'd applied it more thickly I would have gotten a really cool effect , I think. It tried - I got a few cracks but mostly I wound up with some 'pitting' , for lack of a better word.

The image itself is a print of one I painted , and then painted again for this piece. One of these days I'll use the original , but right now Mona and I have had enough quality time. I need a new face to play with , and Theresa has got me all wound up about another project entirely lol. There's another method called 'over-painting' I'd like to try too - but again , that's another day.

Eventually I'd like to use some of these idea's on the family photo album. Think about all the shots you have with a less-than-lovely background or some other problem - we could really put an artful touch on the album and use photo's that we might not have otherwise. Pretty neat , huh?!

Norah

This is a little piece I finished today , and I named her Norah as I've been listening to Norah Jones while I was at the table. Love her - music made for listening to with good friends and soft light. And she fit the mood today too , I needed some peace and quiet and a little unwinding at the art table.

It felt good to finish something - I'm still involved with the workshop in the Artists Circle and have been a bit unsure where we were going to be taking these. Cindy let us know today what the last week would involve - and I'm still not sure what I'm going to do , lol. We'll see , and I'll post my bits as I go along. One of them , the girl I have up a few posts below this , I think will go to my mom.

Anyway - Norah was bliss to work on , and I found a use for several of the scraps we all collect and don't use - but can't toss because they're 'good'. Yeah , I know you know , lol. I found an art technique the other day using hair mousse and just started laughing. I should of known I could have used it for something arty instead of tossing it out , shouldn't I?! It was terrible to my hair but I could have Used It. . .

Have a nice evening , all.

Lola , maybe?

I'm in a workshop in The Artist's Circle on Photo Manipulation , based on Angela Cartwrights book Mixed Emulsions. We've several exercises to complete , the first using markers to color the black and white image , then inks and acrylics - but I just threw out all my old markers since they had dried up. They were pretty old , and given to me by a friend several years ago. What I wound up doing was laying down some paint and adding oil pastels over top. I've had them quite a while and never used them before , they're pretty neat. Feels like a crayon when you lay it down but blends much more easily. There are bit's of colored pencil , Pitt pen and chalks as well - I think she's looking pretty good so far , but she's definitely a work in progress. I love the white hair - very Marie Antoinette-y I think , lol. Hope everyone is having a wonderful Monday - I'm out!

Fly Away Home

Good morning all - it's been a busy few weeks and it really seems a long time since I've posted , but I have been playing at the art table as I could. I kept thinking I 'should' post and at least share what I'd been up to for whatever reason , but I really haven't had much to say! I just kept going blank , so I skipped it. It's been spring break for the Boy , and our days have been full of checkers and Go Fish and sleepovers and LOTS of conversation - which may account for my brain damage when it came to posting lol.

Anyway , I felt in the mood for a change of pace with this one. I've always loved what I call 'birdy art' and wanted to make some , and I wanted to have fun - you know , get in touch with my inner child *grin*. The bit's came together quite handily - the back ground was just a BEAR. I screwed that thing up so many times I've lost count now lol. Started off with a beauty - all soft and eggy colored , little splatter of this and a splash of that - then I stamped it and that was ok - but then I went to put a coat of varnish on and smeared every one of them! So back to painting I went , played around with some other 'looks' which were kind of nice but not with these colors and rubbed it right back off with a baby wipe (love those). Do you see the pink ring around the perimeter? That's a remnant - I left it cause I thought it looked kinda cool. As an accent - as a solid 'frame' around the piece it made my eyes tear up lol. Wow - I was seeing spots , lol. I never did get that soft blend again I'd made , but maybe next time. I would like to make some softer pieces , but there's 'soft' and then there's 'yawn' , and I kept making 'yawn' after that first one. Just blah - too washed out for me. I imagine I would have pulled it off eventually if I'd kept at it but - did I mention it was spring break? I may have lost a bit of focus somewhere along the line. (blame the child , that'll work yeah yeah. . .) My bit's have just enough color to carry them against that bg , but they were made with the original in mind and I do wish I hadn't killed it - but O well.

Oh - see the thumbtacks? Aren't they pretty?! I found them at Office Depot last month and snatched them - they come in such pretty colors I highly recommend you all go get some! AND - easy to clip , might I add. I drove them right through , then pulled them out and snipped of the tips - piece o'cake. Unlike some. I got a bobby pin once and winching the little butterfly off that little sucker was next to impossible - turned out it was sprung steel. The butterfly was about 3 mm's - I bruised my palm trying and then turned it over to my husband , the big-hands man (HUGE hands , I can't lace my fingers through when we hold hands). And it took him a while lol. Belligerent butterflies will be the death of us all , mark my words. You know how they are when they cop a 'tude , you just can't do a thing with them.

Captive

Well , this is the fabric panel I posted teasers of a while back. It's either finished or I'm just done , one or the other. I've had it sitting on the table for days staring at it now , and I'm kind of leaning towards 'just done'. Kinda like it , kinda don't.

I did a lot of things I hadn't before , like actually burning it , which felt very optimistic on my part lol (took a picture then too , just in case we never saw it again). The background is layers and layers of things and I like that a lot - the hangy bits in front , not so much. But I wanted something to help the whole 'captive' theme along , so for now they stay.

Again , I apologize for my photo skills , I really tried. I took a LOT of pictures , and if I lost the reflection I lost focus , if I had the right colors I got reflection - I could whine endlessly but I'll leave it at that.

So my girl's now a pet of the Faerie - taken captive for her beauty and playful innocence , but at the same time made 'less-than' by that same captivity - silenced behind glass , her laughter heard no more , unless she's found once again by someone able to unravel the spell. . .dark , huh? What can I say , the Sidhe are a twisted breed. . .and the following is how the text on the manuscript reads.

Water Earth and Sky , sweet friend

You'll know , perhaps , or not again.

Forgotten in this bower home

Kin long lost , and all alone

Spirit sweet and laughter brite

Our bounty now , held close and tight.

Water Earth and Sky , sweet friend

Be your release upon the end

Linger here and sweetly dream ,

Cradl'd in these Faerie wings

Captured soul and image fair

Til one , perchance , does see you there.
RuinedArt

Art Play

I decided to play around and explore the 'what if's' today , so I got out some fabric and started messing around with it. This is where I'm at now - not sure where I'm going from here though lol. The original plan was start small and just see if anything worked , and I lost track of that thought about 10 seconds after I gathered up my paints. Then I moved into making what I thought would be an interesting background piece - but now I'm not sure about that either. It actually would be a good background , I'm just not committing yet. :)


Anyway , it's been a while since I posted anything remotely artsy , so I thought I'd share this just for fun. If anyone has any idea's on what they'd do with it let me know!

Teaser Art

These , my friends , are snippets of my very first altered book. It snuck up to my backdoor over the weekend , and once I finally broke into it my eye's popped. It had been mentioned my book was getting thick , but I was un-prepared for just HOW thick! I'm pretty jazzed believe me! I'm not only jazzed , I'm smug - you'd think I was single-handedly responsible for stuffing the thing - but , I am not. The girls in the RR did such beautiful work and I am thrilled not only by that , but by the stuffage in my copper pockets - I got a whole stack o' stuff , and what with being me and all I REALLY LOVE THAT! ! !

I sent it out un-bound because I wanted to bind it after all was said and done (good thing too) , so I won't show you the whole book until I'm done. And I won't be done until I'm through creating a couple of fabric panels/artworks , because I will affix those at the same time I bind. And after I bind , I'm sure I'll need to adorn it , because that's become a pretty broad expanse of spine lol. If I go with my current plan (which I might not - 's'not over til the fat lady sings) the spine is six inches wide.

Yeppers - six inches.

And just as a bonus , here's a quick snip of the panel I'm working on , which I'm kinda diggin'. I'm playing , big time. Well - big time for me. I really enjoy rending fabric lol.

Angels

Well , wonder how this post will look. Blogger can't seem to get the layout I choose on my page today for some reason - regardless of what it says in 'preview'. I'm not lovin that much.

These two pages are for the Angel book in the Color Chronicles round robin. The owner had requested pastels , which are a color range I haven't worked in for a longggg time. Not since making Easter chalkware , in fact. I did this spread twice - the first time I lost sight of the pastel requirement , and wasn't pleased with the finished piece for other reasons either. This second spread went a bit better , and of course I like the added texture. It reminds me of looking through a frosted window , as if it were a magic mirror. I still want to add a little something to it , but I'm not sure what that would be.Cross your fingers and hope this posts correctly - because I'm getting really tired of doing it!