Moon Whimsy

"Imagine" Metal and Stitch

2011-01-20T17:31:00.000-05:00

Another project completed! Yay me! This one I called "Imagine" it is a metal and stitch project. How did this come about you may ask? Well at the Fiber Arts Mixed Media group they have monthly challenges. This month you were to pick one material: cotton, velvet, felt, linen, wood, metal, paper and

one medium: paint, pencils, markers, ink, glue, thread
from this list and create something. This is what I came up with.

This is a close up

an overall view A little bit closer.

This is done on aluminum screening using pearl cotton and craft sheet metals. There is one square of copper. The flowers are little metal die cut daisy's that I have had for oh I don't know about one hundred years or so. Also added some charms from Tim Holtz collections.

Stitching on screen is harder than you think. I would start doing one thing and ending up doing another because I wanted the back to look as good as the front and every little thread out of place shows. I also got poked quite a few times because I couldn't find my masking tape and heck why would I that would make too much sense! I was terrified of trying my sewing machine on it so it is all done by hand. I think it is screaming for beads to be added but the idea was to use two items....sooooooooooo there you have it! Right now it is a wall hanging but I think it may end up being the front of a journal cover, the jury is still out on that thought right now. Most likely it will end up in a plastic baggie and thrown into a bin and not seen again for a year or two. Art keeps me off the street!

Sketchbook Challenge

2011-01-20T17:10:00.000-05:00

I know I have been missing in action but life just some days gets right smack in the way! I returned from NY to find that all my carpet was gone and my house had been flooded. Just before Christmas I had to remodel the entire bathroom and the front living room all I can say is what a mess! It left me slightly disenchanted to say the least. It all turned out well in the end but what a pain! That being said we had a very nice Christmas and my tree was beautiful and we actually made it through without a catastrophe which for the last four years it has been.

I joined up for the sketchbook challenge and if you want to join too just click here! There is a long list of host for the project
Your hosts for the Sketchbook Challenge:

Jill Berry

Sue Bleiweiss

Laura Cater-Woods

Jane Davies

Jamie Fingal

Judi Hurwitt

Leslie Tucker Jenison

Lyric Kinard

Jane LaFazio

Kelli Perkins

Carol Sloan

Carla Sonheim

Susan Sorrell

Melanie Testa

Diana Trout

Violette Clark

There will also be prizes and giveaways just for participating. Very generous sponsors so check it out if your so inclined. You can do one page or many pages however you can only submit one entry per month.

Because I participate in many different projects and avenues of media I have so far only done one page for the month of January but I intend to have more time if I can manage to get myself organized. My craft room studio is still mostly packed in boxes. Not sure how that will happen since I will be travelling back to NY in early May to help when the new grand baby arrives so again I will be busy.

Below is my entry for January. The theme is "Highly Prized" What I hold in my hands is very highly prized, and I thank God for all that I have. I picked the most prized in my life because I knew I prize many material things and could have made a whole book had I gone that route but instead I choose the most important.

Some of you that know my story will understand the meaning behind this more than others, I am truly thankful for life.

Autumn

2010-10-12T20:10:00.000-04:00

I finally finished Autumn who was suppose to be Mrs. Keys, but poor old Mrs. Keys got lost along the way when she fell into a pile of leaves.

This has been for me the most difficult doll I ever made. I don't think she is perfect in any way and she may change again. Her head is paper clay, her bust and arms are paper clay over cloth and her bottom was the same until I decided to cut if off! OMG it was hideous! So I made a wire cage, first out of hangers, which was so difficult and didn't work well at all. My hubby came to the rescue with something called mechanics wire. I love that stuff!

Here is a side view. Her hair is lambs wool and her top is made from silk fall leaves. The small leaves I cut out of large leaves because I couldn't find tiny fall leaves again this year. So I made my own! I have stressed over this doll and want to put her in a box! LOL poor doll.

Here is the other side. She was suppose to have a hat, but alas I could not find a hat and didn't make one.

I used some charms to hang on her wire form that I received in a swap and some Debbie Mumm card stock that I love. I don't know why they appear so dull in the picture they are quite festive and bright.

Another view. I put the orange tulle in the bottom and it is removable but I really kind of liked that.

And here is a full view.

So when it is all said and done she looks OK to me. A little delicate and festive. Sorry my pictures really don't do her justice. All in all I love paper clay it is easy to work with and I will be trying another soon.

Introducing Catrina! or La calavera Catrina

2010-10-10T18:28:00.000-04:00

So I was making dolls again instead of being responsible and working, or doing?......whatever! LOL a girl must play to make a happy day! and with Halloween right over the horizon comes along Day of the Dead.
Catrina is made from cold porcelain, fabric, plastic, well you can see for yourself. She was fun to paint!

Here is her backside which I just wanted to show off her shawl lol. That is a vintage scarf that is pretty darn old but I don't know exactly how old. I thought it was very Monet(ish) and it matched. The flowers o her head were painted to match because they were nothing bright like now.

The Day of the Dead or Des Los Muertos is also referred to as Day of the Innocents or Day of the Little Angels. The Lady of the Dead is Catrina or la calavera Catrina, a skeleton lady with a brightly colored dress and flowers. The actual flowers should be gold marigolds because they are said to attract the souls to the offerings. Back in the day the Mexican culture use to take a deceased loved ones favorite foods to the cemetery along with candles and wine. It is a celebration of their past.

Here is a side view just because. I find it interesting that the Mexicans I know, told me that no one celebrates like that anymore, well except for the old folks who are still alive and that most of it is done for tourist. I suppose like we take flowers to peoples graves, it is also fading in the past for many. The Halloween pumpkin is all my doing, they don't do that but I just had to because I wanted to make a pumpkin, no other reason. They use to make candied pumpkin as a treat and an offering so hmmmm maybe my pumpkin isn't out of place at all.

Everyone in my family so far that has seen her thinks she is creepy and I am off my rocker! lol

The Meeting of Minds in the Autum Equinox

2010-09-30T16:20:00.003-04:00

Do you remember a few post ago (here) where I made an ATC for the Autumn Equinox Swap, hosted by Lisa Fulmer? I decided to go ahead and expand it and make my ATC into a little quiltie for the FAMM challenge this month. This is the results of that quiltie.

It measures 13 by 27. I know odd size but it can be trimmed down if I want it to be smaller or just leave it the way it is...I have no idea what I am going to do with all these little quiltie thingies when it is all said and done. So here are a few close ups, so you can get the BIG picture because so many times when looking on the Internet at a picture you miss a bit of details.

Here we have the middle, where I tried a new technique called cracked fabric. I learned this on the web and I wish I could remember where exactly so I could give the person the proper credit. Her cracked fabric was actually cracked fabric paper I think. I used lutradur in the space I cut out only because my machine would just cease to sew if I tried to jump seams with it. I was going to burn out the lutradur but rather liked the misty white effect it has, so it gets to stay!

Here we have what represents the night, the fall the change of season. I used pre fab leaves and accented them with a variegated thread and outlined with some gold. The gold is shinny but not so shinny in the picture. The flower is fabric, it was cut with a Tim Holtz die. My sister has the machine and dies so when I visited her I cut a bunch of them out. Oh how I wish I had that machine! Some day!

Finally here we have what represents days of summer and sunshine. Each little swirly was hand cut because I don't have any pre cut ones and I just had to find a way to use this wonderful batik fabric, it was so sunny! I outlined with a dark blue thread and then couched some beautiful gold lame but unfortunately I didn't have enough so I tried to place the thread strategically and then finished it off with gold metallic fabric paint.

Why the kiss? well why not? to me it is like the meeting of two minds or in this case two worlds, two times in space ahhhhhhhhhhh the Equinox! Peace

Diversity of Freedom

2010-09-23T17:00:00.000-04:00

Today I was thinking... "I want to paint today", paint what? and suddenly out of the blue I started to draw as usual on copy paper. Why do I always do that? So I get all done and think ok so why did I draw this particular person today? Then I painted her.

I decided to call her Diversity of Freedom. The reason is because of what happened last week when some nut was going to burn the Quran, the Muslim holy book. I was so outraged that such an arcaic act could take place in this country, after all we as individulas have the right to practice religion of any faith in the USA. So Freedom was born once again in the USA, and she could be our neighbor, friend, foe, sister, Mother....well you get the idea. I have been a freedom fighter for human rights for a very long time and I guess it has to be worked out of my system once and for all in this particular matter.

I am not a Muslim nor do I follow their teachings, but they have the right to believe the way they want to just as we do as Christians, Catholics, Hindus, Jews, Orthadox, Atheist, Jehovia Witness, Luthern, Baptist, well you get the meaning. Some days a girl just has to let it out!

Happy

2010-09-19T15:23:00.000-04:00

This is what I have been working on today. It is the first time in years I touched oil pastels and much to my dismay I had no black! wonder where I put it? So I tried mixing media by touching up with charcoal pencil and watercolor pencil. Neither one worked the way I wanted of course because you simply cannot mix water and oil and have it come out right! I am happy with her and now I will add some bling of course and that's all I can say about that for now, except I have to decide on what kind of bling I am to add.

The Great Owl

2010-09-17T22:05:00.000-04:00

There is a challenge over at the Hive called the "Great Owl Challenge" see the post here about it. You can join in the fun if you belong to the Hive where everything is about friendship, crafting, art, helping you, helping others. This is my Owl for this challenge. Over at the Hive there is more challenges if you want to join in. They have one for anything "Autumn". I may get time to join in on that one too. There are so many talented artist on that site and even though I like mine I think there are much better ones already posted but I don't let that stop me, I think the more you play the better you eventually become.

This little fellow is painted on cotton canvas with acrylic paint and even though it doesn't show well in my picture there is some twinkling h2o's in the background and some tiny silver stars on the hat. It took me a full day to sketch and then paint and will be hung with some orangery and black ribbons and if I can find a cute vintage button or two that may be added as well.

ATC Fun!

2010-09-02T16:20:00.002-04:00

This is much ado over at the Hive so if you make art, if you sell art, if you want to just look at art by some amazing and creative people just buzz on over to the Hive! They even have a section for instructors! If you don't see anything you like just ask and I bet you they will make it happen.

That being said I decided to participate in an ATC swap over at the Hive, which is being hostessed by Lisa Liza Lou Fulmer. Her theme for this swap is the Autumn Equinox. In case you don't know the equinox is when everything will balance and be equal. This is my interpretation of it. If you look closely you will see more than meets the eye with hidden pictures and meaning.

It is made with water colors and gel pens. Come on an join in the fun! Click here for the Hive!
The equinox is approaching soon! In this year 2010, it will happen on September 23 in the US. It is said that there will be a equal day consisting of 12 hours of daylight, and 12 hours of darkness.

Poetic Possibilities

2010-09-01T16:58:00.002-04:00

Last June I went to Buffalo, NY to see my sister, and we embarked on a "journey" with Tim Holtz. He was holding his classes at Buffalo Stamps and we were attending! It was way exciting for words, a lifelong dream of mine to finally meet Tim. In one of his classes he taught patchwork pandemonium, and this is my interpretation from his lips to my ears.

There were what my mind estimated about one thousand pieces to be made and assembled in what my mind said was "OMG! NOT ENOUGH TIME!" Ha that's what my logical part of my mind said. The other part was saying....listen to Tim...let it go! let it go! and before I knew it I was creating pieces with wild abandon much like a person attending the Mad Hatter tea party.

The pieces were cut but we had to ink, paint, distress, emboss, rub, and then put them all in this wonder of order, which when at first glance I was (logically thinking) saying "ha not gonna fit". Much to my surprise they all fit just as Tim said they would. I am telling you the man is a genuine genius!

Needless to say I didn't finish it until this morning. I did get an acceptable part of it done, however I wanted to add some of my own things to it to fully make it mine. I also did considerably more stitching on it just because I wanted to.

We had these darling little hanger, and this is where the words "poetic possibilities" is located. I like the sound of that little phrase, they were actually random words out of a book but hey they work for me. I think of all the possibilities that someone could do with this. Each piece is grunge board, individually done in an assortment of techniques which was the point of the class, learning technique. It is mounted on chipboard to hold it all together.

Tim said we were the last time he was teaching this particular class, so I was really glad that I got to take it. I took all of his classes and will be posting more items in the days to come. I want to say this about the man, he is really inspirational and truly a blessed and kind person.

Sunflower's In My Garden

2010-08-30T16:40:00.002-04:00

Last month I won a contest at FAMM and the prize was a package of Lutradur and a E Book from

CT Publications. I was so excited that I actually won something and, that I would be getting some of this Lutradur in my hands! The new monthly challenge came around and it was to use something transparent. See previous post for my entry. BUT! - I had this idea spinning in my head and it just had to come out! So I sent a second entry using the Lutradur (seems only right anyway) and well I just love it, even though it is a second entry, it meets the requirements. Wish me luck a second time around.

First I tried to print on the Lutradur but my printer does not want to cooperate, not that it couldn't be the operator mind you. So I took a pencil sketched out as best I could the picture I had in mind, right on the Lutradur. Thought hmmm markers? tried it no too light my markers are old! OK well how about Twinkling H2O's I truly love that paint. OK well that was nice enough but it still lacked POP! So I added a little acrylic paint. Have you ever noticed that yellow acrylic paint is so thin???!!! So I added a few more layers of paint. Topped it off with a little bit of detail with my black Sharpie pen.

And then WOW came to me and my bright ideas! What if I machine stitched it with pretty variegated rayon thread that I bought about 5 years ago (yeah I am not kidding) and never used. So I did, well that opened a whole new can of worms! I have never really done this sort of thing before so I was winging it. It seemed like it took forever and a day but finally I was happy with the stitching. Oh how I wish I could free motion stitch on my machine! I also added some fine netting to the center that I hand stiched down and cut slices in it to add more texture. So because I love shinny glittery things I added a bit of stickles which I bought last year and guess what - yep never used! Ouuuuhhhhh I like it! I then after searching high and low found my heat gun and went to work melting the Lutradur, that wasn't enough! So I got out my wood burning tool and melted more! My hubby asked me if I was trying to get high? LOL I was outside but it still smelled over his spaghettie sauce! So there I was, sitting here at my computer and thinking it needs to say something! So I did a search for quotes, and poems and found this lovely poem and borrowed it. Here is the link to the original poem. The author is unknown so I am thinking it is OK to use, but I really wish the author would come fourth. It almost sounded like Isabel Fiske Conant from back in the 1930's but I guess it isn't hers. I just wrote it out on a piece of loose woven muslin with my trusty Sharpie Pen and hand stitched it on. I think my youngest daughter may like this but I am not sure she changes like the wind!

Some People Are So Transparent....

2010-08-24T16:52:00.001-04:00

You Can See Right Through Them!

FAMM for August Challenge was to use something transparent in art. So my mind immediately clicked to the old saying "Some people are so transparent you can see right through them". Although that statement is slightly cynical it has a bit of truth to it. So I made a transparent girl with what else? transparencies with transparent vellum wings. Then I got to thinking about that subject.

And decided she needed a Bullsh** meter to stand on, and the little plastic fish to depict "fishy stories" or "fish tales" as you wish.

Of course they must live in a transparent world.... and of course they "embellish" their phrases

So they have transparent hearts(see the transparent hearts?) and words. I mean really how many times have people said things to you to sway your thoughts their way, or perhaps say things they didn't mean to make you feel better? Told you this was cynical! LOL take heart I don't mean it. Uh Oh am I being transparent? So to add a little interest I needed to add some textiva, I love that stuff! Besides the little colorful kitty had to hide in the transparent grass because she like her person is a curious creature. I added the netting to show how they get caught up.....eventually.

Here we have the finished piece of the transparent person Tra La La'ing through life.
I used the most delicate lace paper in the top half of this canvas, it almost fell apart as soon as I adhered it. I need to find some more of that stuff, it is truly great!

NOTE* This is by no means a personal reflection on any one person known by this author.
I learned this particular phrase from my Mother as I was growing up, it must be an old saying and she still says it today. I may gift this one to her.

Finished!

2010-07-30T10:00:00.000-04:00

My Stars and Stripes project is finally done, well as far as I want to take it. I added some beads, the really cool ladies and some screen mesh stars that I cut out and textured. It is ok but nothing great.

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I am really concentrating on Mrs. Keys at the moment and trying to work my way through the next steps. I have most of her body assembled out of fabric and some clay, now I need to decide if I am going to cover that fabric with clay or (if I can find my gesso) just paint it. Then the clothes which I just keep changing my mind on. Another lesson learned is that when I painted her head and face, I gave little thought about the paint I mixed for the color and now have the task of trying to match it. Wish me some luck with that because I was not really thinking about it and it could be hard to match now ....after the fact. I also want to try my hand at some free motion embroidery with my machine and I am fairly certain that I cannot drop the feed dog on either of my machines. Didn't they use to make a feed dog cover back in the day? I will have to ask my Mom that one.

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What does Mrs. Keys and Quiltie Stars n Stripes have in common?

2010-07-21T17:16:00.000-04:00

Not a daburn thing! This is just some of my current obsessions. The first is Mrs. Keys, named so after a sweet lady I have known for a very long time. She is alot quirky and I am hoping to capture some of that quirkiness in this doll head.

She is made from paperclay and my first ever hand sclupted paperclay doll head ever! If you have seen my other dolls they were always from fabric, although a long time ago I use to carve cypress knees into people. I started her yesterday, today I sanded and painted and decided keep on going. There is a sketch of what I want her to look like next to the raw head. We will see if I can pull this off or not but hey if not, I can always try again! Tomorrow I will varnish her and add hair and maybe more paint if needed, I just love her eyelashes! and yes I know she looks a little bit bugeyed lol she is suppose to look that way. I know way differnt than my norm but hey who said what is normal or not normal?

Next up is my little quiltie thingy. Not sure what to call it but is is suppose to be the FAMM monthly challenge piece using stars and stripes. I am still working on getting the hang of this fiber art stuff, I get it but I really don't have the supplies I need to make really cool stuff so I am using what I have at my disposal and my imagination. I guess it isn't too bad and I am not sure if I am done with it or not. It will eventually be framed and put in my bathroom for something different to look at.

Home Sweet Home

2010-07-07T16:55:00.002-04:00

While I was in Buffalo, NY I went to another class at Buffalo Stamps and sorry I do not remember the insturctors name other than Cari and she was from Pima. She supplied the canvas house and all the pretty little embellishments and do dads. The picture above is the front cover.

Back Cover

I think it is pretty!

Chaos!

2010-07-05T09:05:00.016-04:00

New York! Well what can I say it was fun at times and not so fun at times! All in all I am so glad I went to see my beautiful family. I travelled a lot while there first flying in to Buffalo, then taking the train to Albany, and in between that travelled here and there and everywhere. Then back to Buffalo by train, finally to arrive back home. In all I was gone 2 and 1/2 months.

While I was there I started a canvas that was done haphazardly here and there just like my life takes it's twist and turns so did the canvas. It is painted on fabric and sewn and embellished. The only name I can give it if it must have a name is Chaos! The hectic pace of my visit reflects my life on the move.

The picture is scanned in two segments and I tried to knit them together in photo shop but it appears to have a seam on the right that isn't there. This really is just one continuous piece.

I also made this little tag book. Can you guess what it is made of?

A toilet paper roll! I think it came out rather cute and I can see a bunch of them to make a tag book.

I made my way to Pennsylvania too to visit more family, that was a very good visit so refreshing! Just look at what I saw...

That is Jack's Mountain. As I sat on my cousin Judy's porch that was my view, so peaceful! On top of that mountain are 3 crosses but you can not see them in my pic. Later on I will do a post about that mountain and a picture I drew in my journal.
On the way down a treacherous mountain we got in a fit of giggles by the time we got to the bottom I was thankful!

I went to an art show in Lockport, NY and picked up a few items. My sister bought a fantastic picture and a beautiful gourd!

and then she went and got a kitty! So sweet...

On the way home I asked her what she was going to name her and she said Coco, so I said OH! like Coco Channel? so that is her name Coco Channel! My sister wears Chanel No 5 a lot and I loved the movie so that is where I got the Channel part. If she thought that first she didn't mention it but she may have, we think alike sometimes.

I played around with paper clay too, and not sure where I will use these but I brought them home and some of that clay too!

And made some pretty flowers...

I did a picture with Citra Solve cleaner. You paint a magazine with citra solve and let it sit for about 20 minutes, press out the ink between sheets of absorbent paper then peel your pages and let them dry. After they are dry you find an image using your imagination and draw it out with a pen. It is a lot like looking at clouds and seeing images.

Finally it was time to get ready for the Tim Holtz weekend at Buffalo Stamps! I was soooooooooo excited! I will make another post about that weekend because it will be lengthy and this one post is already long. I decided to make an apron to wear because I usually tend get paint, glue, ink, fibers, chocolate etc. all over me when I work!

My sister made me a name tag so I wouldn't forget who I was....

Well that's it for now and if you have stayed this long THANK YOU! for reading my gibberish. I will be posting again soon about the Tim Holtz weekend but right now, my daughter from NY (the one I just visited) is here for a visit! LOL she missed her Moma!

2010-03-30T17:49:00.004-04:00

Today I am getting ready to go to NY! So waiting for laundry to dry I decided to collect a few things to do on the airplane. This was like trying to figure out that old question of what you would take if you were on a deserted island. So I packed up my watercolor crayons, pencils, chalks, markers, an art journal, eraser ....etc., well before I knew it my little satchel was way too full and I reasoned with myself that the plane ride wasn't that long! I am going to see my sister and my daughter who live miles apart - and my sister has lots of way cool art stuff she will let me play with, BUT ... I will be at my daughters house too, and she is not into anything resembling artsy crafty or painting and doodling etc., so she won't have any of these things on hand. Well I will have to just make room in my suitcase.

In the mean time I got discouraged and started drawing and before I knew it I was in full fledged doodle mode, which lead to the colored pencils, markers, watercolor crayons, chalks and ohhhhhhhhhhhh the Twinkling H2O's! my personal favorite! Well that is until I get my hands on the pan pastels that I am lusting after.

This is what happened...

Unfortunately the luminescence of the TWH2O's can't be seen in the photo and these picture were taken with my phone so they aren't the best. Hmmmm....laundry! packing! right I better get back on task!

Vintage Hankie Birdie

2010-03-23T17:36:00.003-04:00

So I was thinking........I have a ton of vintage hankies and buttons so perhaps I could make a bird out of something like that. This is the result of that random thought.

First I had to iron the delicate hankie to some batting to give it strength because this hankie was so think and fragile feeling, then I quilted some of the flowers and the eye area.

I added a bead for the eyes, naturally my bird has long eyelashes too. I used floral wire for his legs and feet, attached the wings, stuffed him, sewed him shut and then I realised I forgot to add the comb and tail feathers!

So it took me a little while but decided to add the silver beads with the feathers instead of all the tiny little size 15 beads that I painstakingly strung on wire a few days ago. I will just use them on another project because believe me size 15 glass beads is enough to make a person blind.

This is a view from the top because I wanted to show the edge of the hankie I had to stitch to another section of hankie to make it all work the way I wanted it to. After it was all said and done I added a little bit of very fine glitter to the posies to give some glitz! Oh how I love glitter!

My photography isn't that great but I do try to capture what I see that is why to different angles and backgrounds.

For the Birds!

2010-03-17T17:13:00.010-04:00

I haven't created much in such a long time! I am not really sure why, other than I have been kind of busy both mentally and physically and really don't want to go into the details. Most of my stuff is packed in boxes because I was suppose to move across the land and now I am staying my stuff is still packed!... and that my friends is for the birds! So I made a what else? Bird!

Isn't she colorful?

A close up of her face...she has false eyelashes of course.

A view from the top, I used some recycled copper wire and beads for the tail and comb.

I laid her down so you could see her belly! How embarrassed she must be! I am not big on sewing anything that actually makes something so this I guess I would have to label more of a craft project (like my dolls) instead of quilting or sewing. I do admire those that do all that quilting and sewing but the truth is I have to get my hands dirty.

Anyway I have a lot of plans for this bird pattern that I got from Nellies Needles Blog and she has patterns and tutorials of other way cool stuff for the crafty chick who thinks out of the box or in as the case may be.

I have plans of making this bird out of grunge board paper and so really cool ranger products that go with grunge board. I wanted to try it with fabric first though to make sure it was what I wanted and it is close enough.

This really all started back when my sister took a Wendy Vechi class as seen an earlier post in May called "Just Charming". I was trying to find the darn birds along with a half million others and came close to carving my own but just never got around to it. Well this little bird doesn't even come close but I see a lot of possibilities and it was easy peasy to make. The whole thing from start to finish took me about 8 hours and that was with so much procrastination thinking "should I do this? or....that?" The hardest part was the legs that I made from and old hanger - let me just say I am not as strong as I once was!

I can also envision it made out of a few vintage embroidered and laced hankies of which I have many. That would be more delicate and I have a Mother who would probably love that for Mother's Day this year.

If you make one I would love love love to see it! Just leave a comment with your link and I will go take a looksee!

Beautiful Digi Scraps

2009-06-21T13:26:00.009-04:00

These girls deserve a big SHOUT OUT! Go to this blog and read all about it. In a nutshell they get together and make beautiful digital scrapkits to help differnt awareness groups and offer lots of freebies. They are also looking for more digi scrappers to join in, so do something good and join if you have the talent.

ExerSIGHS Free Workbook!

2009-06-15T15:46:00.000-04:00

Download a FREE copy of the Artella eBook, ExerSIGHS: A Self-Esteem Workbook for Writers and Artists, filled with guided exercises and inspiration to boost your self-esteem effectively and immediately, triggering momentum for your next creative project, and breaking down blocks FOR GOOD. Download your copy here!

Reflect The True You

2009-06-10T15:13:00.004-04:00

This was a doodle and it sort of took off in a myriad of direction. It was also going to say "there was a little girl, who had a little curl ...." lol don't ask.
There is tissue paper, gesso, watercolor pencils, watercolor crayons, acrylic paint, markers, rub on, magazine flowers, chalks and of course a little bit of bling. She looks a little dated back in the 70's as I sit here with my little ipod listening to Santana and such lol. The white frame is added after the fact courtesy of Paint Shop as is my siggy. Thinking I rather like it and may do it for real.

As for "Reflect the true you" well I can't emphasize how very important thoes words are because you get one shot at life and if you can't be true to yourself you will wander the earth forfreaking ever!

Free Class!

2009-06-01T07:36:00.005-04:00

And this is pretty cool -

You can also ......

Download a FREE copy of the Artella eBook, Artella Mae's NEW Altered Ancestors!, a 58-page eBook overflowing with ideas and techniques for using vintage photos in your artwork. Download your copy here!

FREE Sample Coach Training Workshop

Are you an ARTbundance™ Coach? Come to Artella's FREE Training Teleworkshop on June 29, 2009!

Yadda ...yadda ...yadda..............

2009-05-26T19:00:00.012-04:00

It just occurred to me that I haven't posted in a few days. Just a little busy I guess.

The last few days I have had some really good news, some not so good and some just yet to be determined.

I have been selling stuff on Ebay again, now that's a chore in itself and why does everyone want to buy stuff I would rather keep? Click on Ebay to see my junk....PLEASE!

LOL

and then why does my hubby find it necessary to talk to Rachael Ray on the TV????? OMFG! like she can hear him.....................truly I do wonder what she would say back to him and his comments. Oh well like I should complain since he isn't hanging out in places I would rather he didn't right?

I have a few busy days coming up with test and such but I have started painting a picture / collage again......thank you SuziBlu! she is inspiration at it's core. Not sure how long that will take me to finish it is on its third layer right now trying to dry in this humidity that the great state of Florida finds necessary to produce daily at approximately at 3pm - yeah everyday. So far we have had something like 23 inches of rain in a week.

In the mean time I did happen to make some ribbons and such digitally and here they are. If you click on them they show up bigger and pretty and then if you want to you can save them and use them since they are optimized. If you do use them just don't claim em but USE them!

Just Charming

2009-05-18T10:15:00.006-04:00

I want to brag a little bit before I share the digi stuff. This is a bird my sister made at a workshop in Buffalo with Wendy. Isn't it beautiful?
I am totally jealous that she got to take that workshop and I didn't!!! So jealous that the day of the workshop I sent her a text message, knowing she would think it was and emergency and look and all it was - was a dirty joke about Kermit the frog and Ms. Piggy nuff said.... I knew she would start giggling and it was going to bring attention to her and I wanted the teacher to ask her what was so funny. I know childish butttttttt I miss my sissy and love to make her laugh. You can see more of the birds at Studio 490 just click on "Wendy" or "Studio 490" along with some more amazing art. And AND! she gave the birdie to her daughter! LOL well I love my niece but if I had the chance.....

Giving a try at charms, my gold one isn't so gold so I am thinking I need to download a gold gradient for them but the concept is good. On second thought it almost looks like one of the cheapo charms you use to get at the five and dime when we were kids lol.

I like the vellum tag it almost looks real. Now I do wonder what if I just scan the stuff in and select it and get rid of the background. Maybe it would be the same especially if I added an inner bevel. Lord knows I have a lot of stuff to scan if I choose to.

I wonder about the digital scrappers, do they just take the pictures and scan most of their stuff? Do they really digitally produce this stuff? Hee hee always looking for the easy way out.

One thing to know is that all these photos and digitally produced items take up a bunch of space on your computer so if you don't have an external hard drive, you need to use a flash drive or even CD's to keep all this stuff on or you will eventually run out of room and crash. So because of that .... today I will be busy cleaning out my puter so I don't crash and burn.

How many programs???

2009-05-17T18:01:00.007-04:00

OK - I know you really don't need two programs to make one spread. Unless your me.
I used Photo shop because it is easy to add and take away layers without thinking but then I used PSP to add text, borders, bevels, drop shadows etc.

This is my grandson Clayton and this is a picture from around Dec/Jan 08. The background of the original picture really sucked so I tubed him out and smudged, feathered, erased etc to get a nice clean shot.

Here is the original....

and the cutout or tubed version

I also had a little time to try my hand at Chipboard alphabet well I just did the big A and little a but it came out OK. I tried distressing them with the sponge and marble brushes it worked out pretty well. I know there are grunge brushes out there I am just lazy. I think this would work for making thing look appliqued too.

Well that's it for today....till next time.

I have been busy but neglecting my blog and other stuff...

2009-05-15T18:28:00.009-04:00

I have been so busy taking classes at PSPU and today I decided to stop. I found it was taking over my life and although I enjoyed it - it really isn't what I wanted to learn about digital. It is cool though I did get as far as the animations. I like making the PSP tubes the most, that is way cool and collecting Posers now that is cool too. They look like really great comic book figures. There are a lot of them over at deviant art the people generously grant permission to use after they labored for hours on them.

I had to stop and take a copyright class which is always good, problem was that they didn't all seem to be on the same page so I investigated further. Peoples copyrights change like the wind and you have to keep up with it or you will be infringing. I know I wouldn't want to infringe on someones copyright anymore than I would want them to infringe on mine. So that was ALL good.

My digital world will consist of more of my art not someone elses, so I need to learn elements and paper and textures. I would prefer to paint my own and figure out how to digitalize them that is my plan. I think I have been away from actual making for far too long and I have an outrageous amount of stuff! I need to use it.

My sister sent me a really neat book for Photoshop, and I have been playing with that, it is a good one called Digital Designs for Scrapbooking - ABC making your own by Renee Pearson. It came with a CD and once you understand the concept it is quite easy.

There are tons of tutorials out there too if you know where to look for them and depending on which program you use. All in all Paintshop is easier to use and easier to find tuts on but Photoshop is the most powerful.

This Slideshow below is from the Sophomore class

And then the Animations another Slideshow

No Copyright infringment is intended so if you think I have violated your copyright please contact me immediately so I can remove the problem.

2009-04-23T16:58:00.004-04:00

I was messing around trying to get over my day, and made this. Cute huh? it's not rocket science really just playing around.

First I tubed the cat off of some fabric and saved it. Then picked a really fat font, and made a patterned fill thingy and then did some paint shop magic with selections and tubed in the kitty. Added bevels, and drop shadows etc just to show the effects. I stuck the kitty in the middle so you could see where the pattern came from. The outside pattern is just the blinds effects like what's on the frame.

I figured if I do something everyday, it will only improve my skills.

Painting Pansy's the Photoshop Way

2009-04-22T15:58:00.003-04:00

While I am waiting for PSPU to reopen I have to have something to do so I decided to try a tutorial over at Eagles Rest Graphics. This is a tut on alpha channels and painting that Susi has provided. Click here that will take you to the tutorial if you want to have a go at it.

So what is an alpha channel? That I don't know concerning this but it was fun! That's me putting the donkey before the cart, I am sure that will be covered in class somewhere down the road. As far as I can see it is explained as a file within a file. Masks, settings and info can be stored in this Alpha Channel. As long as you save as a .pspimage or .psd that alpha channel remains there, with the items within out of sight until you load/recall (in the case of a mask) from that Alpha Channel. In this case someone else saved the image as such for people like me to play with. One day I will make some for others to play with.

I found this a lot of fun, and a bit of a challenge. Everything I know about painting had to be temporarily shoved aside because this is nothing like the real thing but has similar, possibly better results. In my head I am thinking OK now paint one with your paint and brushes on an actual canvas and compare. I may try that if I have the right colors of paint in my stash without having to go buy some. This also took me longer to do, 2 days - only because I really screwed up yesterday an just deleted the whole thing and started over today.

I learned a few things from this tutorial, I learned how people get the shading so perfect (well as perfect as the artist's eye) and patience! I used my Wacom tablet for some of it but I am still having trouble coordinating my eye and hand movements, and I grip the pen too tight thus click goes the little buttons at the most inconvenient times! there is the fact that my brain still thinks the harder I press the darker or blendyer (new word) it will be. Got to stop doing that before I wear out the tablet and the pen from heavy usage.

Well hope you enjoyed this little bit, I am sure there will be more soon!

Painting a new way

2009-04-20T20:51:00.002-04:00

So while PSPU is still on spring break, I was messing around a bit and painted a Sunrise....or is it a sunset? It was fun to do, messing around with gradients and the deform tool. This is the first I ever tried that deform tool and it took me about five times to get it the way I wanted it. The clouds were fun too, using a brush and reducing the opacity to make them actually resemble clouds.

I was trying to make shapes too and actually did but I am not sure what to do with them yet lol.

Surfing around I found so many really awesome digital scrap booking sites and boy oh boy they can be addicting. Most of them offer you teasers so you will go back and buy their stuff and if I were truly a scrapper I would be in heaven. I do love to look at it and have actually saved some of it but not sure I will ever use it.

I am so torn right now, I want to get out my paint, inks, papers and do dads and play with them but I want to do this too. Somewhere down the line it will have to merge right? I think maybe I am just running a quart low on energy lol.

Well that's it for tonight, sleep tight.

Moon Gone Digital

2009-04-19T10:53:00.005-04:00

Where have I been? Well long story but I am trying to be back now so that is all that really matters. So while I was gone I decided to try digital. There is a lot to be said for digital work, it has always interested me but I really never pursued it until now. The only thing is you can't expect miracles overnight, as it is a long process to learn.

I joined a group, and I highly recommend it to anyone just starting out. The group is called PSP University and they are some fantastic people willing to teach quite a lot. They share too, and in return you do the lessons and share back as soon as you can. Quite simple. Now this group is for Paintshop Pro and you can get free copies of that if you don't have it, but if you know a little bit about Photoshop you can do the lessons in that too. They have a few rules as all groups do, and believe me they are fair but necessary rules. You work at your own pace, and it is like going to school with lesson, a final and even graduation.

I made a slide show of some of the Freshman lessons I have learned there. Note please that some of the tube graphics are not NOT mine but if you like the tube you can go to the website listed on the picture and get the tube, please leave a thank you comment and READ the TOS. I did learn how to tube finally and I love it! The biggest challenge is finding the right photo to tube from and it has to be your own or something like Dover clips(which I use a lot) also there are some really cool thing from old postcards that you can snag which I will probably do soon.

The Number You Have Reached Has Been Temporairly Disconnected!

2009-02-14T23:02:00.004-05:00

And the Valentines Tree.

It seems lately, that I have been disconnected in a lot of area's concerning life in general. I have had an artist block from hell going, my logic has flown out the window(due in part from trying to learn digital), I do not understand humanity at all and to top it off, my Internet will not entirely engage lately, and now my phone disconnects when I try to say "Goodnight, I Love YOU!" sorry sis. Not to mention my brain but ehhhh..............we won't go there just now.

Anyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyyywho I said I would post my pitiful Valentine Tree so here it is.

A close up and yes I know it really isn't anything special but at least I made the effort!

I will end this particular post with my Best Wishes and Love and yes I am working on a few things which I will post about later. Right now?.................night, night!

What I've Been Up To...

2008-12-06T20:58:00.006-05:00

I have been working at least one month to complete this project. A vintage style tulle Christmas tree in pink! Why pink? when Christmas is clearly red and green? or silver and blue? Because of my battle with breast cancer, and the idea I had of making this tree for the nurses at the chemo center that took such good care of me for the past six months. Here are the results where she is unlit

lit up

A close up of the top Christmas fairy

This tree took quite a while to accomplish considering my state of mind and get up and go (that apparently went) lol but it is finally finished. Each piece is hand done and tied on with ultra thin wire. The tinsel is made of wire ribbons, the bows were made using a fork, the pink bulbs were purchased and the white use to be a spray for floral arrangements. The tulle was glittered with german glass glitter. I did paint the base however you cannot see it because the bottom rows became heavy with ornaments and glitter. I had hoped to make each nurse a button fairy but time is running out and I am just too tired sooooooooooooo maybe next time.

Another Christmasy thing to share is my Mother's wreath. It is beautiful in it's simplicity. I just love it and wanted to share.
Isn't it pretty?

2008-12-01T21:51:00.008-05:00

I just joined Artella Land as an affiliate and wanted to share their sale for this season! It is a huge savings for everyone from newbie to longtime fans and I want to encourage you to check them out!
This link will give you all the juicy details on the special holiday sale just click here

To help get you started here is a freebie for you just for checking.
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Download a FREE copy of Stunning and Simple Seasonal Salutations, an eBook featuring10 beautiful handmade cards, complete with photos and descriptive "how-to" instructions, showcasing a variety of techniques such as rubber stamping, collage, and innovative paper and mixed media arts. Download your copy at Artella Freebie

Even if you are not interested in the freebie, just click the picture below, to start saving now! Don't forget to use your super code when checking out.

Halloweenieing Around

2008-10-17T20:14:00.011-04:00

I have been busy honest I have.
I made this arrangement and another smaller one just like it.

Then, I made an inchie and a twinchie accordian book for Halloween oh and the candy corn cone too. I got the cute little Halloween tree at Bealls for only $4.95 at the 70% off sale.

The twinchie unfolded this is the front.

The inchie unfolded this is the front.

The back of the inchie book, now I don't know why it looks yellow when in fact it is pumpkin orange and holligram glitter and it says "Happy Halloween" it is much nicer in person.

A closer look at the inchie.

The back of the twinchie that says "Trick or Treat"

and finally!

A closeup of the Candy Corn Cone.

Also I manage to finish my 120 pages for the fat book exchange over at the Art Tech Group and mailed them out. Too bad I was missing part of my brain that day, I forgot to take pictures! Can you say C h e m o b r a i n ??? It was like as soon as I got in the car to leave the post office, I looked at Cody, he looked at me like what ma? and there it was OMG I forgot to take a picture of the pages! oh well once I get the fat book I will post pics. I also managed to post on my other blog, small steps for some but, for me lately ....one giant step for da Moon! Ha ha well someone needs a sense of humor around here!

I need to give Honorable Mention to Great Aunt Gerda from Linkoping, Sweden (God rest her soul) for the absolutely gorgeous tatted orange doilies! Aren't they delicious? usually I am not usually an "orange" person but I just love these! Although I don't know why I am not, it is such a happy color.

Moon Whimsy

2008-10-17T12:59:00.001-04:00

Yes I changed the name I grew tired of the Starving Artist since I am not really starving anyway. Still not sure I want to keep this name, trying to come up with something else. Any ideas out here? I have plenty but most are already taken and I like to be different.

A Different Kind of Art

2008-10-04T09:03:00.004-04:00

Meet Molly! Isn't she the cutest little furbaby you ever wanted to see? This is my new "neice" and Cody's new little cousin. I could just love this little gal to pieces!

She told me she can't wait to meet me! I know I can't wait to meet her either. We, well some of us in our family treat our pets like our children .... litterly. I am one of them in that catagory. They have such sweet little souls and love so unconditionally how can you not love them?

So Welcome to the family little furry creature! I can't wait to see you and snuggle, huggle and play with you! Cody will be so jellous so I don't think I will tell him when the time comes.

Lori's Blogaversary!

2008-09-03T21:34:00.002-04:00

Lori Roberts is having an anniversary blog give away! Click her name and read her blog to be entered in the give away.

Lori works for Altered Arts as a senior designer and she and her daughter Mel recently opened their own store called Paper Imagery Design where they sell alot of really cool images for collage.

I have known Lori for a long time on the Internet from the Yahoo Groups we both belong in and she is quite the accomplished artist. While you are visiting and entering please check out her art and leave comments. I know she will appreciate it. I must add that she has done a great job with her beautiful daughter Mel too, she is way cool!

One Creative Queen

2008-08-29T10:08:00.001-04:00

Someone named the Creative Queen left me a comment on my Rainbow Shimmer Button Fairy post from last January. As is a ususal custom for me if I have the way to see the persons who leave me comments I always visit their blogs.

This is an amazing talented single mom who creates whimisical faces of clay, books, quilts and artsy crafty stuff such as candles, centerpieces and pincushions. She has some beautiful watches that she made also. You have to go to the bottom of her page and view the slideshows but it is worth it. She talks of quilts, I am anxious to see.

One thing she mentions in the last post is where to find small amounts of fabrics. One thing I have learned is that if you go to the thrift stores and junque shops you can find fabric and buttons, zippers, buckles and clasps all sorts of goodies. You gleen the stuff off of clothing that they sell for cheap. I have gotten some beautiful beads, lace, appliques with sequins and silk. I am now looking for wool but being in florida that will be a tough one to find. If you have any other ideas please take the time to post to her blog at One Creative Queen. She also has a contest going on, and it ends the 31st. So hurry on over there and show some love!

The Body Image

2008-08-16T19:24:00.004-04:00

This is the latest journal posting from the Art Techniques Group over on Yahoo. This was done on Thursday while I was getting my warriors infused. A little sloppy but it is hard to concentrate and also I am usually as high as a kite on Thursday's lol added benefit. Not sure it helps me art very well though. The part that matters to me is where it says the following.

Our bodies are the bridge between life energy and psychical form, look at your body without the interfering judgements of the others, the body image contributes to the sense of who you think you are the size does not matter.

Some people feel a diminished sense of self worth because they perceive their body as ugly or imperfect. The mental image or concept of your body is a complete distortion of reality.

The rest of what I wrote is a rambling of thoughts past and present in no particular order but they do tell a story. The rest is up to you.

Weekly Journaling from the Art Techniques Group

2008-08-10T21:21:00.008-04:00

The Art Tech group is having weekly journal prompts and I decided I didn't have enough to do with making 120 fat book pages, an apron or two, this and that for my dear sweet Mom etc. I decided to join in. The first week was eyes. We were suppose to write about our eyes so here is my first entry.

The second week was about our hair. Here is that page. It opened quite a discussion about hair, but redheads in particular. Who knew? I wasn't going to put these on here but as a special favor to someone special (sis) I did. For those who do not know me personally, these are all me well the female person in the pics from kindergarten up to the NOW.

Also up this week was some digital art I was messing around with. Of course I know not what the heck I am doing but here they are. The first is blocks. The second is Vortex Abyss and the third is Hands.

Last but not least is from an entirely different group. This is from a privately owned crafting group of really wonderful ladies. We are small but very close knit, I have known some of them a very long time! We are having an apron swap and this one was sent to me by a nice lady that lives in Buffalo, NY - wow my home town! Isn't that funny? I did not know her when I lived there.

ABC's of Mirror Unity

2008-07-04T20:07:00.027-04:00

Some time ago, I think it was Nov/Dec 2007 I participated in a swap in the Art Techniques Yahoo Group, hostessed by Belinda blog author and artist of The Alteredbelly
It was a collaborative project where we each picked a letter of the alphabet and made 27, 26 for each participant and the extra for submission to Cloth, Paper, & Scissors magazine. Sorry to say we didn't make the submission but it wasn't for lack of trying. Thank you Belinda for trying! This brings me to why I call it Mirror Unity because we all untied our art to make one arty item.

Well for months I was trying to think of what to do with my alphabet. How many times have we been in a swap like this and never did anything but touch, look, ohhhh and awwww at them only to stick them in a drawer or box and forget them. Maybe we go so far as to put them in a little notebook with neat little labels, and tuck them in the corner and someday we will look at them again. Well NOT this time! I wanted to make something out of them, first it was going to be a house, then a frame for pictures, then I was going to put magnets on the backs and use them like a message board god golly miss molly the ideas were flinging back and fourth between my brain cells. So one morning I woke up with this idea!

Over two years ago, and I kid you not, I purchased a mirror from a thrift store expedition. It had an ugly frame that was made of fabric, but I though OH I can do this that or the other with it, only to stick it on a shelf, move it from time to time etc. It was only 50 Cents. So I wake up one morning and my eyes land on just the lower right edge of this ugly thing peeking between frames and booklet of stuff I just may need one day. I say to myself, self - you could always remove that ugly thing and put it with this or that, so I get up and pull it out. Just as I do, I think ABC's, oh I have and idea! and that is how this was born. There are section close ups at the end of this post, if you just want to see the pictures.

So here's the thing... I have all of the names of the artist who made the letters and they are listed below. If you are on this list and I do not have your blog address listed please contact me with your blog address if you want me to publish it on this post. Also if for some reason, you do not want your name associated with this blog, or me, or if the CIA is looking for you let me know and I will remove it promptly. I promise I have no affiliation with the IRS either. I want to put your names out here so everyone can see your contribution to this piece. Below are the artist with blog addresses and the letter they contributed.

A - Chris Tessnear of
creativeinspirations.blogspot.com

B -Barbara Roberts of

flickr.com/photos/craftirn

C - UNKNOWN AND IF YOUR OUT HERE CONTACT ME PLEASE WITH YOUR INFORMATION

D - Joanie Hoffman of - NEED BLOGRESS

E - Elizabeth K of

alteredbooklover.blogspot.com

F - Linda M of - NEED BLOGRESS

G - Peggy Gatto of http://wwwpeggysamusement.blogspot.com/

H - Jan Cregar of - No Blog

I - UNKNOWN AND IF YOUR OUT HERE CONTACT ME PLEASE WITH YOUR INFORMATION

J - Michelle Bonds of

stitchandpaint.blogspot.com

K - Karen Scudder of - NO BLOG!!!! Come on Karen get busy! LOL

L - Yours Truly and your already here!

M - Diana Welte of

Lilyweeds.blogspot.com"

N - Donalda Cox of

donaldas.blogspot.com"

O - Yours Truly and your already here!

P - Michelle Johnson of - http://www.craftedby.us/

Q - Camille C.S. Pratt of - Doll Poetry

R - Raquel Fraga of - NEED BLOGRESS

S - Pamela Martin of -

pamelamartindesigns.com"

T - Linda Hartzig of - NEED BLOGRESS

U - UNKNOWN AND IF YOUR OUT HERE CONTACT ME PLEASE WITH YOUR INFORMATION

V - Valerie Orner of - NEED BLOGRESS

W - Olivia Pratt of - Paper Boquet

X - Kacy Clark of - NEED BLOGRESS

Y - Myrna Bermant of - NEED BLOGRESS

Z - Belinda of Altered Belly

As stated before if you do not want your name here I will remove it for you no questions asked.

So the details of the piece are this -

I started with a piece of the stuff you make walls out of oh what the heck is it called? Plaster board? Wall board? I painted it black, crackled it and topped it with a mossy green. I edge it with some pretty paper that I turned into double stick tape. Then the mirror which I stripped and edged with copper tape, and then added the copper corners. Centered the mirror and started attaching the ABC's. It has a double hanger on the back for steadiness which is glued and nailed in place. It really is quite simple. I was thinking of adding some buttons and wire swirlies here and there but I kind of like it this way as to not take anything away from the actual art of the letters. Each letter is a unique piece of work and beautiful. Don't you think so too?

A WIP

2008-06-28T11:00:00.009-04:00

Work in Progress is the name of the game today. Yesterday I was innocently reading my new Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine and fell upon an article by Patricia Gaignat. In the article called "lotsa fruit" she took an image of a pear and turned it to black and white, colored it and made a variety of the blocks using the same images and then turned it into a cute little wall hanging.

So how my mind works is that I though it would be a good idea but to use my daughters pictures and then their children. I did the daughters yesterday. These are in no way done, I am still digesting the plans but wanted to share what I have so far.

My sister commented to me on the phone last night "what no art this week?" and yes I have done alot of it but mostly meaningless little tasks like making paper beads and stringing a few new necklaces for my mom. Yesterday I decided to paint and this is the result.

This being my oldest daughter. Now I must say she really looks nothing like this in real life, so this is a slightly cartoonish looking likeness. Here is the picture I started out with. I printed it after maniuliping it in PS on canvas, then painted it using assorted paints and chalks. I seldom stick to one kind.
as you can see quite different.

The next is my youngest daughter, for which I am way off! LOL she asked me who it was. and then replied that I made them too pretty. This is the picture of her that I started with.
I disagree, naturally I believe that both my daughters are beautiful in looks and spirit, even with the "Kelley forehead" an inside joke going on here about looking like Grandpa with his big ole bald head. Then my youngest said "oh don't show it to Ama, you made me prettier!" Another never ending thing that goes on no matter how many year pass. Some day they will get over themselves and decide they are both beautiful in my eyes, no one more so than the other.

I do have a question for you artist out there. What is the dang color that you use when making teeth? I never did a picture with a full mouthful of teeth, and struggled with the color used to distinguish individual teeth. So what the heck color do you use?

After sandwiching them with felt under each layer, I blanket stitched all the way around them. I stitched first with my hand stitcher to make the holes, for ease of blanket stitching because that tends to tear the canvas when using a hand needle.

Next up is to put them on a black velvet background and embellish the heck out of them. Then I will decide if I want to continue with the babies pictures or not. Really Patricia Gaignat's Pears are truly beautiful if you like pears. I don't have fruit pictures in my house anywhere, not even on a pot holder. Don't know why, I guess I am just not a fruity person!

2008-06-20T19:06:00.004-04:00

This is my latest painting/collage. She doesn't have a name yet but some say she looks like a Maxine. I kinda thought she looked like a Peg... well anyway I painted the background and pasted papers all over the place, then I dry brushed it a little bit. Painted the lady, added her hat using some of the faux sea glass paper I made and then proceeded to add the lace, buttons and nylon tulle for a veil. The lace was dyed with ink, I dry bushed it a little more, embossed some swirlies here and there. It has lots of layers. Not sure you can tell with my pics, I am surely no photographer.

Here is a close up of the face. You probably can't tell but I added a little crystal diamond glaze to her eyeballs and lips. To do the face I just painted it with acrylic flesh, and used some of my pastels to soften and shade then I added the features and using watercolor pencils and a bit of acrylic paint did the detail. I did the face alot like the way I do the doll faces when I make a doll. Hope you enjoy it.

By the Light....Light....Light....Light...Light of the Silvery Moon

2008-06-17T11:53:00.004-04:00

Wow another post in the same day! This is another small 5 x 5 canvas painting/ collage that I completed last night. TV in the summer really sucks so this is what I do, unless I am on the puter or talking on the phone, depending on how I feel and what time it is. Not sure what to do with all these little paintings but I am thinking of putting them on Etsy.

Here is a closer look at the actual Moon. This painting was inspired from a beautiful sun catcher my daughter sent me when she was shopping at Cape May. Of course the sun catcher is much more beautiful but I like how this turned out too. Again my photography is not that great but you get the idea.

I have alot of project going, and I should be working on my workshop projects, but I am more or less letting my muse take control and this is what happens. I blame all my terrific fellow artist, they put out some gorgeous stuff that just continues to inspire my muse.

Live Wire!

2008-06-17T11:31:00.007-04:00

I tried my hand at wire wrapped, jewel encrusted jewelry and here is the first one. All are free form, and none had a plan. This teardrop is gold with gold wrap and contains some crystals and glass beads. I wouldn't know and Austrian crystal from a Checz crystal to save my behind but I like glittery things!

These earrings were next. They are made of copper and sparklies. I really like how they turned out but they were very hard for me to make. Well actually all of it was but I think for the first try they came out decent. They remind me of my "hippie" days! LOL now I am dated, hey did you happen to catch Cindy Lauper on GMA yesterday? OMG we are heading to Senior Citizenship fast! It seemed funny to see her rockin out on stage looking like an office manager. I think she needed these earrings!

Next up is the spiral pendant. Made of copper and gold wire and of course more sparklies! Another favorite of mine of course because of the spirals. I have this thing about spirals they are continuous and never ending, much like how I prefer to think of life. Squares have corners, you hit the wall and boom nowhere to go but back, so it is spirals for me! Circles qualify too.

Last is the "free form" I call it that because I bent the wire wrong and didn't want to waste it. Again copper and gold wire and sparklies. Actually it looks ok to me and although similar to a spiral it looks like it took some wrong turns here and there much like life happens.

Well there you have it. I did make some other earrings but somehow I managed to mess them up, so once I fix them I will post the pics. They are not anything like this stuff. I could use some work on my photography too but hey gimme a little break!

Introducing the Queen of the Night

2008-06-11T22:59:00.008-04:00

This is the Night blooming Cereus and her buds. Tiny little tufts of fluff on a spindly and woody looking cactus. Nothing spectacular at this point other than the wonder and amazement of nature at work. This plant has been in my tree for longer than I have lived in this house which is 24 years. Normally it goes quite unnoticed, has been called ugly, and people ask why do you have it?

Here is a closer view of the bud on the cactus that hangs in the tree. I would guess the tree to be at least 30ft tall and the cactus climbs up and wraps around and hangs down, attaching itself like a parasite to branches, mingling with the moss that grows on air. It quite resembles snakes hanging from the tree like that.

As it reaches its birth, the pods become up to about 8 to 12 inches long. When the time is ripe, so is the bloom and it begins to open. This has also been called a Deer Horn Cactus. Do you see the red pods? They bloomed last night. I have been watching this cactus for 3 weeks, trying to capture the blooms.

It has a trumpet shaped flower with and the cactus itself has a turnip like root. The roots use to be a food source for the Native American that once inhabited this land. The flower itself has medicinal properties, somewhat like digitalis. It is also a hallucinogenic and I hope that the neighborhood kids never find this out.

The flowers will open for one night only, until the first rays of the morning sun hit it when it will forever close.

Behold the Queen of the Night!
Isn't she spectacular? Truly a gift from Mother Nature that is meant to be shared and absorbed by the souls who witness the magic!

New Baby Digital Collage

2008-06-07T13:14:00.004-04:00

Lilia Rose Franklin

Well many of you know I am a newbie to digital anything but I tried it again, this time it looks more like scrapbooking! Uggghhh! But the subject is my new Grand Moonbabie who arrived yesterday via C-Section. What a relief! I was so very worried for my daughter and her child because she had a condition that caused me worry! Anyway all is well. She weighs in at 7 lbs. 6 ozs. and was 20-1/4 inches long. I know the first measurments were alot different, chalk it up to an overly excited moment between Daddy and G'ma, not sure which of us said or heard wrong. LOL and will ya just look at that mug? she is smiling already!

It is killing me that I don't get to see her until August, that when they are comming down to visit. I can't go, still in treatment so it will be something like October before I demand a break before rads, which I will be doing! I can't wait to get my paws on her and just love her to pieces. Her big sister is comming at the end of this month though so I get to spoil that one for a little while.....before her Mama catches us. Maile her sissy loves to do artwork, she is making plans.

New Components and Lost and Found

2008-06-04T21:44:00.005-04:00

Today I worked on making fabric paper. Remember the fabric paper I made in January? This is more subdued and low key. It is for a workshop over at The Artist Circle Yahoo Group. We are working out of Beryl Taylor's book Mixed Media Explorations. You embed tissue, papers of all kinds, elements ect. with PVA - well I used watered down Mod Podge. Paint it and let it dry. We will be doing more with it as we go on with this month.

This is another one done the same way but this time I took a piece of lavender tulle and laid it on top, smushed it down and let it dry. All the other steps were done first just as in the first picture.

Tomorrow - time permitting I will do the tyvek paper. Not sure I will have time.

Today I also made some felt beads, well 3 to be exact. I think if I really wanted the felt beads I would rather buy them. I had some wool from my doll making stash, and pulled a bit of it until it was all messed up looking and dunked it into warm water that I added a drop of dish detergent. Pulled it out and started rolling it between my hands, much like you would do to a piece of clay. Kept going until almost all the water was out and it formed a ball that stuck together. Let them dry and now they are nice little beads that can be decorated or used as is in something.

I am working on a big project too. Remember the Alphabet Swap from last December? Well I decided to do something with them. I have 26 letters from 26 different artist, so I hope it turns out the way I see it in my head! Won't they be surprised? Stay tuned!

Now the Lost and Found! Two years ago, I belonged to a group called Post Crossings. Nice group where you send and receive postcards all over the world. Well they have a forum and I got involved in a few exchanges. One was a book a diary actually where the book was sent out, and for 3 days the players would record their daily happenings, drawing, painting, postcards, pictures, what not. There was one book that was not returned to me, no one owned up to having it. Well, I am happy to say it came home to me yesterday! It had been held up in the Netherlands for 2 years. The person who had it, had some problems in her personal life and I suspect she just "gave up" fell into depression and let it go. I will not say who it was, she deserves that much privacy and I truly hope her life has improved. (Hugs) I only wish she would of told me, because too many times this has happened not only to me, but to many. I can only speak for myself here, and I would have understood. So thank you my young friend in the Netherlands for returning my book.

The Spirit of the Spiral

2008-05-30T13:43:00.006-04:00

This morning I woke up and wanted to paint! and over at Milliande's Yahoo Group she has prompts and this is the "spirals" prompt, I wasn't sure if I should put it under the "mandala" prompt but I chose spiral.

I have seen this picture before but I don't know where and so it is drawn and painted from a memory, it is a repetitive version of many that I doodle.

This is my interpretation...

In the center of the picture the spirals represent the core of spirit made of fire, it is suspended in the sky shooting upwards which represents air, it is held up with the buoyancy of the water for support, and deeply rooted into the earth which surrounds and adds comfort to the spirit of the spirals.

How it was done...

I started with a 5 x 5 canvas. I traced a circle using a CD including the center, so that I would have sort of a guide.

Then painted the background, using tube watercolors, and continued on with the basic elements of the picture.

I used brush markers a little and didn't know at the time that they react to water just like the watercolors. This caused me to have to repeat the line drawing but gave me extra color that worked out just fine.

I used a liner brush for the rest of the painting part. Drawing with a brush is easy once you get the hang of it. You just need to remember a few things, first used a wet brush, and keep it loaded. Use a very light touch, the less stress and grip you have on the brush the better. This gives greater control and makes finer lines, you can always go back for thicker lines.

Next I added some bling, making the moon and stars, and a bit of hologram glitter glue here and there. I tried adding peacock feather for the tree but it really didn't do as I wanted it to so there are very few of them.

Decided to paint the outer edges black and add a bit more bling.

I made a huge mistake next, I decided to varnish this piece. Unfortunately I wasn't clearly thinking because it made everything run. It still looks ok but not as I wanted. I can go back and fix it, which I may do but it doesn't look that bad. In person the flaw is not as strong as the scan, and the bling shines much better in person. Right now I have to clean up my mess and then I need a nap -

My Little Graduate

2008-05-28T11:12:00.004-04:00

Consider this a commercial interuption in the Moon's Art world. This is my little pre K grandson. Last night we went to his class ceremony it was very entertaining, they sang, told stories got rewards, all the usual stuff. Clayton got special recognition for his "story telling", seems he was telling stories of killin wild hogs, ridin horse's, catchin gators ect....well you get the picture. What a imagination! wonder where he gets that?

I asked Clayton what color hair to wear, lol he wanted me to go as a blonde so that was the best I can do. So he had his blonde grammy for his special night. He still seems to like me with no hair, hat ect but he is a boy and thinks I look cool. Bless his heart. I was totally exausted when we got home and he was still ready to tackle the world. Can you tell?

Viva La Freida!

2008-05-24T14:55:00.005-04:00

Meet Freida Kahol, accomplished and astounding woman. She as most of you know was a great painter back in the 40's and 50's doing mostly surreal type self portraits. I have quite a few regular snapshots of her and picked one for the photo manipulation challenge over on the Yahoo Groups. I am a great fan of Freida's so I hope that it will not upset her spirit that I changed her photo a bit.

This is the part where the manipulation comes in. I used colored chalks, so ink and a bit of gold acrylic paint for her necklace and earrings. I used a linnen cardstock for paper that I got from Marcos at Stampfest/Orlando last year. I am not real happy with the way the face came out but it was ment to be changed so it is that. Freida didn't ever wear makeup so that would be out of her element. Freida loved bright and bold colors as well as flowers. Her house that she shared with Diego was painted bright blue so I imagined herself standing at the wall calling him pi zone, most of the time she was angry with him but he loved him as much as she hated him.

After the Rain

2008-05-16T09:23:00.003-04:00

This is a new picture I started yesterday and finished this morning. I like how it turned out for some reason. I used an 8 x 10 canvas board that I found in my stash, sketched it out. I wasn't sure where exactally I was going with it when I started. If you look at the bubble (circles) you can see how the woman was made. I then used my watercolor pencils to do the circles, arcylic paint to do the woman, and the background and the swirls. I touched it up with chalks to deepen the colors a bit and to smooth out the texture of the canvas board. I added so perfect pearls as accents on the swirles in shell pink and gold. Unfortunately you can't see the accents of sparkle but they are there. The reason for the name "After the Rain" is because I imagined a raindrop falling and splashing upon a bubble and emerges a woman with renewed faith in humanity. I tried to convey the whole element idea with Earth, Water, Air and Fire using the colors and some details in the painting itself.

Harmony

2008-05-10T09:32:00.002-04:00

In one of my Yahoo groups we are making sand paintings based on Mary Todd Beam's book "Celebrate Your Creative Self". In this lesson you take sand and mix it with gesso, mix it with glue, paint it ect. I had some colored sand but the sand was not the color I wanted so I added ink to some, and arcylic paint to get almost the colors I wanted. I am sure no mixologist in that department. I sketched out my basic pattern on to sticky shelf paper, sketched it again and cut out the parts I needed cut out. This project took a few days to complete, so I could let the layers dry in between.

Did you know that originally the Navajo shamans were the only ones to do sand painting? They didn't use glue, as these were temporary painting created for use in healing ceremonies, and were destroyed after the ritual. I prefer to see the wind blowing the painting away at the end of such ceremony.
Sand painting are made in other parts of the world also, places like Tibet but the Navajo are the most well known. If you are not a Navajo, you really can't and should not create Navajo sand paintings as it is a sort of breech on their religion.
But we create similarly unique works of art for enjoyment and some do it for specific ritual purposes.

Here is my finished piece. I think I will call it "Harmony" that is the word that comes to my mind. My photo does not do it justice, I sux at photography.

I tried scratching the designs into the sand but alas I waited to long. So what to do? Paint of course, I took my tiny brush and started just painting the elements. This canvas is a 5 x5 to give you an idea of size. I decided to add a little glitz by putting on some sticky foil glue, again waiting for it to set up and applied some of Amy's Magic Foil. Then had to put a gem on it of course! I love glitz in the right places. I am please with this piece. I may just do another sand painting because as usual I tend to stray away for the lesson!

*Note- you can make your own "sand" if you don't have any handy. You can use salt and simply dye it. You can dye it with food coloring. You just have to remember not to make it too wet, mix thoroughly and let it dry (the hardest part). You can also use inks, my favorite for dying stuff is Posh Impressions Ink. If you are the more industrious type you can crush small pebbles or shell to make your sand. But to me just going out in the yard is an option. I suppose if I wanted to create a specific "ritual" I would go to the trouble of crushing stones, pebbles and shells.

Not a darn thing to do with art but did ya know?

2008-05-09T15:37:00.002-04:00

This was taken from a group email, I did not write it but though how much I relate to it and found it quite amusing. I don't know the person that wrote it, and the name of the person was not showing so if your out here let me know.

"I've been using aluminum foil for more years than I care to
remember. Great stuff, but sometimes it can be a pain. You know, like when
you are in the middle of doing something and you try to pull some foil out and
the roll comes out of the box. Then you have to put the roll back
in the box and start over. The darn roll always comes out at the wrong time.
Well, I would like to share this with you. Yesterday I went to
throw out an empty Reynolds foil box and for some reason I turned it and
looked at the end of the box. And written on the end it said, Press here to
lock end. Right there on the end of the box is a tab to lock the roll in
place. How long has this little locking tab been there? I then looked
at a generic brand of aluminum foil and it had one, too. I then looked
at a box of Saran wrap and it had one too! I cant count the number
of times the (expelitive) Saran warp roll has jumped out when I was trying to cover something up. Who ever looks at the end of your aluminum foil or plastic wrap box? What a fantastic idea. Now, if someone would just make plastic wrap that didn't stick to itself"?

I'm sharing this with my friends that did not know this and if ya did no fair laughing at me! I had to go check on this and it is quite true! Imagine me yanking all the rolls of crap out to check the ends, hillarious! Come on ya didn't really know this right?

Who Would of Thought?

2008-05-07T16:20:00.004-04:00

I drew this pic last March (07)while I was at a boring job where all I had to do was answer the telephone. That is when I started a sort of drawing journal, so I unearthed it today and thought I would update it a bit. Now I think it is sort of funny given my current circumstances that I drew this alien, (since that is how I feel right now) almost to the point of saying I had a little forsight. This was from a few self portraits and that was my alien self at the time.

Anyway here is the updated version, I like her better this way. I left the daisy up in the right hand corner to represent reality. It really doesn't fit or make sense to anyone but me and I may change it but it is here to stay at least for now....and I knew an angel had been sent to watch over me.

Cheers!

2008-05-05T17:36:00.001-04:00

Graphics and Myspace Layouts at pYzam.com

Getting there

2008-05-02T08:24:00.000-04:00

Just want to say I AM WORKIN ON IT! LOL

Dream World

2008-04-24T17:15:00.003-04:00

This is a little 5 x 5 canvas reconstituted from JoAnns Dollar Bin. (Thanks Sis I never would of thought of that) I drew it all out, masked the little girl with rubber cement then I painted the background, and went on to the little girl. Later I decided to add words because I have been wanting to journal this way.

You can't really see the detail much, the actual canvas is better than the photo but I can only do so much with what I got. I tried to do a close up of the little girl and this is it.

I used inks,acrylic paint,chalks,gesso,rub on stitches, and a black pigment pen for the wording.

Celebrate the Earth!

2008-04-22T19:44:00.006-04:00

This is an art journal page I did today, lots of watercolor crayons, pencils, gesso, and gel pen. When I started this fairy I didn't have a plan for her but in the background noise I heard Oprah talking about Earth Day today and bingo!

This is the art journal page I did yesterday. This was inspired from my darling daughters who are having a feud with some other people over at my space. I am trying to make everyone play nice. Wish me luck with that one.

Stranger than Fiction Tag Game

2008-04-16T14:26:00.006-04:00

Oh Boy! I’ve been tagged by Ms. Dragonfly aka Dinah ( http://dragonflyenchantment.blogspot.com ) for this 6 weird quirks/habits game. Thank you Ms. Dragonfly (Dinah) for tagging me :D Here are my strange facts!

1. I hate shoes! yes it is true, a female that truly hates shoes. I have even been known to bring my house slippers to parties so I can take off the dang shoes.

2. I have worn makeup everyday since I was 12 without fail. The only time I am without it in public is if I have to have surgery. The reason is because I have blonde eyelashes and eyebrows.

3. On my dinner plate nothing touches, no mixing and I eat one thing at a time.

4. I treat my pets like real children, consider their feelings on everything and give them frequent hugs and kisses. I also talk to them constantly, and my puppys place in my bed will be there always.

5. I talk to strangers all the time especially if they look grumpy. I don't know why I do this and only a few times have I regreted it. The strange thing is that in a room full of people I am quiet as a church mouse.

6. Sometimes I can carry on a whole conversation with someone and not know what we talked about. At the time I think I know but opps I forgot! No it isn't a disease I have always been this way since I can remember.

So now there are my strange things....hope you don't think I am way too weird! lol, I think I will tag.....

Mary at http://greenwomandesign.blogspot.com/
Aileen at http://aileensmusings.blogspot.com/
Marcia at http://www.xanga.com/livefreeinharmony
Melissa at http://alterediva.blogspot.com/
Dawn at http://goldbettyboop.blogspot.com/
Inka at http://inkastamps.blogspot.com/

And here are the rules:
1. Link to the person that tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Share six non-important things/habits/quirks about yourself.
4. Tag six random people at the end of your post by linking to their blogs.
5. Let each random person know they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their website.
6. Most of all have FUN!

Something different

2008-04-15T14:38:00.002-04:00

I made this Butterfly Woman out of polyclay. The design is Donna Kato's basic design from her book "The Art of Polymere Clay". I don't usually dabble in clay, but I do like it. Not sure if it will be a pin, decoration on a book, pendant or what have you. I just wanted to play with clay.

This is a shoe I made from my leather and ostrich paper. Over at the Paper Transformed Workshop we are making these papers along with many others. This is my project from the papers. The shoe is from a pattern from Ellen Hutson.

Seascape

2008-04-14T09:57:00.005-04:00

This is the end result. I am not real happy with it but I am tired of messing around with it. I think it lacks the proper perspective. I am not good at this sort of thing but I played just the same.

The is a close up of the seashore on my Creative Self Workshop exercise. I used sand, and salt, paints, chalks, of course some Gel Medium to stick it all together. I also incorporated some decorative paste? not sure what it is called.

Seascape

2008-04-10T22:50:00.003-04:00

Over at the Creative Self group we are working on seascapes. Here is my preliminary pic. I used fine sand and gel medium for the the bottom, I have actually added more since this picture but that will come another day. I am adding texture with some texture paste, and yarn and teenie little sea shells from Daytona or Sanible or somewhere. I always collect this stuff but do not remember where I got it from. This is far from done but when it is I will show ya all. I do not have much faith in this one so we will see and I will show good or bad.

I am also working a bunch of other stuff but have not been on it due to not feeling too great lately but will get some more pics up asap. I did doodle a bunch of alphabets for Milliande's Creativity Club on Yahoo but the too will post another day. I was thinking of making another blog for that stuff in case someone wants to use them for journals and such. Any ideas out here?

Some Stuff I Did

2008-04-08T16:04:00.004-04:00

This is a card I made for a challenge over at Latest Trends. Thank you Inka for sponsoring! Inka Stamps provided the stamp, and 10 of us had to provide the imagination. This is a way cool monthly challenge that the girls over at Latest Trends cooked up. Oh did I say I won the challenge? humble as I am tee hee. Well I could not have won anything if it were not for the support of my fellow artsy friends. Thanks to you all.

This next photo is a mountainscape I made for an exercise over at the sister group of Latest Trends in the Creative Self workshop. This is using the techniques of Mary Todd Beam from her book Celebrate Your Creative Self.
It is many layers of arcylic, gel medium, watercolor, ink, crayon, tissue paper, kraft papers ect. The next one will be a seascape, still trying to decide on that one.

Finally this is a doodle that I got carried away with. I joined another group called Milliande Creativity which is pretty cool. Milliande makes youtube videos on journaling and such. She is asking for hand drawn letters in black and white for others to use in journals. So I started to make an "A" because I love drawing letters. Well she mentioned another project of making a journal with doodles, magazine pics ect and I was on the phone and this happened. Too bad it isn't in a journal but I can paste it in if I want to as there are no rules to journaling! How cool is that?

Relay For Life

2008-04-08T15:56:00.002-04:00

Well the books are closed and my Doctor's booth raised $500.00 plus for the Relay For Life! Every little bit helps! It was a small relay because it rained all weekend. I did not get to attend because I got the flu the day before and could not manage to get out of the house. Yes the flu, I caught it from the emergency room visit a few days before. *Note to Self - Stay OUT of the EMERGENCY ROOMS even if it is and emergency! I sat there for 11 hours, one hour would of probably gotten me the same results, and I would not have gone but my surgeon sent me there.

Anyway.....

Thank You everyone for all your help and as soon as I can I will have a proper thank you in the mail! Nothing much but a little something just to say thanks for your support.

Now on to what this blog is all about ART! if you want to know the personal junk you will have to go to the other blog of mine - the link is on the left under things that matter to me.

My new baby

2008-03-22T18:13:00.005-04:00

This is my new baby! His name is Cody. Poor baby has been in a cage for the first 3 months of his life. But like Echo, he is free now and loving it!
He is finally trusting me after a whole week! well he sort of trusted me by default but truly trusting is a different thing. He weights 4 lbs now, and next month he will get his big puppy shots. I tried the crate sleep arrangement but he cried so now he sleeep very comfy in the bed right next to my feet. He has alot of fur so I think he gets very warm. Besides for some reason he thinks my toes are yummie!
He told me he may want his very own blog, so he can talk about his life himself not through me. He already shows an interst in art, very abstract of course but interested just the same. His favorite pal next to me happens to be Engima, a black stuffed bear that is bigger than he is. This bear belonged to my oldest daughter Ama. Once Engima took an unexpected trip to NY with me and we left a note to Ama to be good, or the bear gets it! Engima has been around a long time.

Almost forgot!

2008-02-27T17:36:00.002-05:00

Some of you may or may not know that I am currently at war with cancer. At the end of this month the American Cancer Society is hosting a Relay for Life at our local High School.

Would anyone out here be interested in donating art to be sold for chairity? If you would please sign my comments and leave me your email address. Or you can email me directly if you want. The items would have to be here no later than March 24th. My oncologist office signed me up and is allowing me to share their booth to sell art. I am going to try and make as much as I can between now and then and in between surgery, doctors visits ect.

I know this is short notice, and I appoligise for that but I just found out about it yesterday. I will be grateful for any and all help that comes this way.

Alone again so I waxed

2008-02-27T17:15:00.002-05:00

Ha ha not what you thought eh? This is a wax resist watercolor painting. Never did one of these before, interesting effect. I used a regular ole white crayola for the moon, reflection of the moon and bird, and some yellow and orange crayolas for the grasses. I then watercolored at random really mixing on the paper with lots of water making a mess. When it dried I touched up here and there with a pigma pen. Not one of my greatest works but at least I did something!

My sis left yesterday. I am glad we had the time together but as always I never want it to end. I miss her all the time, silly that we live so far apart. I always feel stronger and more grounded with her around. I gave her my button fairies and the doll and some other stuff, maybe she will share with my neices if they want one. She is my strongest supporter. OXOX

Painted Tags and My Sissy is Comming 2morrow!!!

2008-02-22T21:35:00.002-05:00

These are some tags I made. They were a technique from a yahoo group called The Artist Circle. Great group if you want to lean techniques with a really great bunch of people.

First we stained our tags with coffee, then applied color in varrious ways, dry brushed with gesso and then embellished. Some had pockets, some had collage, charms, buttons ect. I always have to be different. I love to draw and paint so for some of these I did just that. The drawings are from a book of Indian design, I freehand these from looking at the pictures. I then painted them with just black and white. Hopefully you can see what I wrote on them, also taken from the book. I love drawing the designs so you may see them again somewhere.

Next up.... my big sister is comming for the weekend! She lives in NY I live in FL. I am so excited that my Sissy is comming! Sounds silly I know considering how old I am but it is the way it is. She likes to make art too, and is very good at it but she won't admit it. Will we make art? Dunno maybe we have alot to talk about and sometimes we just hang out. I hope her flight doesn't get cancelled, tonight she told me they were having ice storms in Buffalo so I will pray to the Great Ice Goddess in the sky to stop it long enough for her plane to take off!

Go Ahead Make My Day!

2008-02-22T16:24:00.018-05:00

Melissa from www.Alterediva.blogspot.com and a good artist friend of mine awarded me with the "You Make My Day Award! The rules for the “You Make My Day” award are to re-present it to 10 people whose blogs bring you happiness and inspiration and make you feel happy about blog land. Let them know through email or by posting a comment on their blog so they can pass it on. Beware you may get the award several times, and if you do, consider yourself really, really loved. So to pass it on and keep the love going ~ here are 10 of the 100's of blogs that keep me inspired and bring a smile to my face. Check them out when you have a few minutes... perhaps there are some new friends to be made! It is very hard to pick just 10! and to try and pick some that have not already been picked is almost impossible! If I didn't get you this time, it doesn't mean I don't love your blog so keep on blogging!

Here is my list of my inspriations you are all AMAZING!

Mary
Cynthia
Inka
Anne
Susan
Stephanie
Aileen
Linda
Wendy
Suzi

Ok Ladies the ball is in your court now! Have fun!

Big Little Foot Meet My New Grandbaby!

2008-02-16T14:37:00.003-05:00

Will ya look at the size of that clod hopper? lol this is my new grandchild who appears to be all foot. She isn't really that big but the pic makes it look like it, and I thought what fun to show.

This baby, who we think? is a girl is due to come into the world in June. The names are still up in the air. Some of the names are Allison, Alexia, Morgan, Sebata and a few more. I wish one of these times someone would pick the name Arabella. I just love that name. Well no matter whatever her name is we will love her!

I can't wait until June! I am planning on going up to NY to attend her comming into the world, you see I get to cut the cord on deliveries. This is our ritual. Hopefully I will be well enough to travel and do this, and that is what I am aiming for right now. I love NY and wish almost everyday that I was there, I miss my family that is up there, the people, the food! lol

New Doll on the Block - Meet Bloomers!

2008-02-10T14:42:00.000-05:00

Here's to Bloomer's saying Happy Valentine's Day ya'll!

Bloomer's is made out of mat board, and painted with arcylics, watercolors, markers and a white gel pen. She is embellished with her little heart brads and some gold foil tape. Her head is made out of air dry clay and adorned with bright orange boa. Origionally this head was to be on a button fairy but....

She is flat backed and will hang on the wall or be put in a book, shrine or whatever. Her skirt is made out of celophane and drawn on design with a gel pen. Note if you try this you must spray krylon or something to seal the gel pen as it really will not dry and stay otherwise. Her heart got a coat of crystal 3D laquer to make it stand out and be shinny. She also has (underware lace) for sleeves.

I have not decided if she should wear a crown, or if she should get her wings as of yet.
and here is a close up of her face.

Altering a Black and White

2008-02-06T20:54:00.001-05:00

This is my brother Buddy when he was about 4 yrs old. In the Artistic Techniques group this was the MAT (monthly art technique). To take a black and white photo and colorize it. I have done this before using a transparency but this particular photo would not work for that technique.

Really all I did was make a copy on glossy paper, and use watercolor and arcylic paints to color, the blush in his cheeks are chalks, then I sprayed with krylon. After that I highlighted in white with a gel pen.

This is one of my favorite photos of my big brother, I wasn't even a glimmer in my Daddys eye when this was taken. My brother is gone now, I treasure everything that was "Bud" or "Buddy" another obsessive compulsive thing. I still find it disturbing that he was actually holding a cigarette at such a young age and Mom and Dad thought it was alright. How times have changed!

A MoonBud on the Moon's Art Bush

2008-01-22T14:38:00.000-05:00

Hi meet my grandson, he is 4 years old going on 18. He came over to visit me and wanted to make a pixie (a boy fairy) is how it was explained to me.

I printed one out and he colored it with his new colored pencils and here it is. I promised him he would be able to see it on the Internet and everyone knows that Grandma's keep their promises especially this one.

Clay always collects little things for me to use, because I make a lot of stuffs. Last week a string "accidentally" fell off of my throw in the living room and he brought it to show me, hiding it behind him. His mother tried to grab it and said throw it out! He protested loudly "no mommy! grandma can use this in her art!" I will probably use that string in my fabric paper somehow just to please him. He gave me a black plastic skeleton from his toy box the other day too, because he just knows I will use it to make something!

Can you take another Button Fairy???

2008-01-21T16:15:00.000-05:00

Well I just couldn't help myself I had to make another fairy. This is a maddening disease indeed! What is it about making things that puts us on a tear to start making certain things over and over?

My sister sent me something called Textiva, it is Angelina in the Raw so to speak. This cellophane stuff is what they spin that great fiber Angelina out of. She sent it after seeing my button fairy with the knee hi wings and thought I would be able to fashion great wings out of it. This is my first try, and to say it was easy is not doing it justice. Way easier than one would think. I can think of a few other ways to make wings out of this stuff so you may be seeing MORE button fairies! Just what we need a bazillion button fairies flying around. Perhaps it will be a button dragonfly! See what I mean?

She is a real "air head"

This time for her head I used air dry clay, and instead of a full head she has half a head and lays a bit flatter to the wall. Baby blue feathers and styrofoam berries adorn her head, oh and a jewel here and there. The look on her puss is kind of like a "yeah sure you will" look, one that I sport often enough to recognize especially when talking to certain members of my family or even looking in the mirror when I just happen to be talking to myself.

The top button is abalone shell and looks like it may have been on a coat? No idea these buttons as the others came out of my dear (mil) Esther's collection.

*NOTE* The previous fairy needed a name and there were so many wonderful names to pick from I printed out all the names and my grandson and I put them in a bag and he drew the name Rainbowshimmer - thank you Melissa the Altered Diva!

The Button Fairy / Rainbowshimmer

2008-01-15T19:19:00.001-05:00

Here is my button fairy. She needs a name if I keep her, any ideas?

Her head is made from polymer clay. I never did this before to clay so I am happy with the results, I know she isn't as beautiful as Sherrie Goshons but I tried.

The buttons are old, old, old from my mother in law.

The hair is some trim I bought that looks like boa, acts like boa but it is on a ribbon, then I added pretty flowers and rhinestones.

The wings are wire and knee hi that were dyed with posh impressions ink, sprayed with krylon and glitter glued with hologram gallery glass paint.

Please leave a comment and let me know you were here, and be honest in your comments please. You never know I may get a generous streak.

FREEBIE! From My Private Collection

2008-01-13T19:56:00.000-05:00

These are a few of the postcards from my private collection. They belonged to my Grandmother. Please use them for personal use only, not for resale. Save them to your own computer by right clicking.

I am Sooooooooooo LAZZzzzzy Today!

2008-01-13T16:54:00.000-05:00

It is a gloomy day here in Florida, raining and cloudy, no sunshine whine whine. I need my daily dose of sun to brighten my attitude otherwise I start to stink! well attitude wise that is.

I went to BIG Lots today, to get something or other that I really needed(yeah right)and I found the clearance items in the Christmas junque' and I found a really cool little box in the shape of a house. I paid fifty cents for it. I also got a little tin of flowers, with no middles (for lack of the correct word). People use them in scrapbooking and making faries ect. I will most likely add some to my fabric paper after I dye them the color I want. They are pastel and I am not a pastel person, although I do like it sometimes.

I am thinking I will make my house with my ABC's from Belinda's swap that I joined last December. Then I think maybe I will put a handle on it, and do this and that! I know... I have serious crafting issues but it makes me happy, and you never know it could make you happy if you signed up for the pay it forward from a previous post. I like to make things and then I do not know what to do with them, happens all the time.

I shelled a bag of almonds today too. I am going to make almond paste, yummie! I was inspecting the shells and pulling the fishnetty membrane from the shell and my hubby who thinks I am on drugs! asked me what the H-double crooked letter am I doing? I showed him my prize, and he said oh something for your art? He is an old dog but he is learning his tricks nicely, it only took 26 years of training! Just kidding, I can't help but to smart off every now and again!

Just to tell you how fast my pea brain thinks (about crafting) I just posted something to someone about the Button Fairy and link to the pattern by Sherry Goshen and thought I may do a trade ....buttons for ? I will think on that for a short while.

Celebrating My Creative Self

2008-01-12T18:28:00.000-05:00

In January LTMMA started some new workshops. One of them is based on Mary Todd Beam's book called "Celebrate Your Creative Self", and graciously being taught to us by Cindy. I don't think it would be kosher if I stated in here exactally what we do in the lessons but I can show you the end results. Here is my first lesson with the end result.

This is the finished for now end result as well. I added some of Amy's Magic Foil to decrease the white, I also outlined it with metallic black paint. What is it about white that makes me unconfortable? I think I relate it to being silent, something of which I am not lol. Not at all sure how I will finish this but I am thinking mosaic tile, thinking I will attach it to a board that has been weathered, or peeled paint effect applied and mosaic tile to frame. Still thinking, not to mention I have alot of these things that are unfinished with BIG plans.
I don't know why the second scan is so much lighter but the actual piece is darker like the first one and what appears black is really a deep magenta. I may have used two differnt programs to make the photo web friendly. Sometimes one works and the other doesn't.

Pay It Forward

2008-01-11T15:26:00.000-05:00

The very artistic Melissa from http://alterediva.blogspot.com/ has invited everyone to take part in this Pay It Forward.

I too think this is a great idea and am willing to play!

I will send a handmade gift/thingy/ something to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this ‘Pay It Forward’ exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be, and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! And truthfully, it will most probably be later rather than sooner! The only thing you have to do in return is ‘Pay It Forward’ by making the same promise on your blog with a link back to me. So basically, if you comment, I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make! Be sure to include your email. Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work.

You must post this on your blog to be eligible.

I recieved my invite to play from Melissa of http://alterediva.blogspot.com/

Seven Deadly Sins ATC's

2008-01-11T09:53:00.000-05:00

These are the ATC's I drew for a swap called the Seven Deadly Sins. You may notice that Lust is missing. One word Censorship.

Art Dolls Gone Wild

2008-01-11T09:42:00.000-05:00

These are some Art Dolls I have created in the past. I love making them but they take alot of determination on my part, and that is something of mine that is compromised at the moment. I have a few others that are not shown here I will try to get them on at a latter date.

Fabric Paper Experiment

2008-01-09T09:29:00.000-05:00

This is going to be my first post in over a year. Life hands you many obstacles and sometimes to hurdle them you have to move on and sometimes it takes a while.

This is yesterdays experiment and it is finally dry! Gosh the waiting is the hardest part isn't it? For this I took a piece of cheapo muslin and put it on plastic. Painted it with watery glue and started throwing this and that into it pushing it down, squishing this way and that. Then I squirted some inks and mushed it a bit more. Really it is not rocket science and a whole lot more fun. I set it outside to dry in the sun, but it didn't dry so I ended up bringing it back in and put it in my room and forgot about it until this morning.

One thing....wear gloves, or even plastic baggies if you try this. I didn't and now I have green and blue hands! Wonder how long it will take to wear off.

I decided that it isn't done so I will if I have time today, continue on with this piece. I have so much to do so not sure about today. I want to try and get all my photos in one place of past works so I can share for those who want to see, but it takes a lot of computer time so we will see.

Thanks for looking and I hope to offer some freebies in the near future. Please post a comment and let me know you were here.

OXOX