Be Brave

Inspired by a quote attributed to Eleanor Roosevelt:
"Do one thing every day the scares you"

The Be Brave Project was started to encourage artists and to help them get out of that rut that we sometimes get ourselves into.

If you want to participate in The Be Brave Project click on the link below to check out all the information on the project.

So remember:

"Do one thing every day the scares you"

~Eleanor Roosevelt

More Snow

The difference a day makes:
I am not sure I need to say much, I think a picture is worth a thousand words as they say, but it has not stopped snowing in the last 24 hours. We have had a few inches of accumulation, and it is staying cold.
















The funny thing about this whole snowing thing- last week it was really warm... almost 80 degrees, I was out with my mom, and we were listening to the radio when a blizzard warning came on. It was the strangest thing. Then in the middle of it, they announced that it was a test warning for the county to prepare our cars, homes, schools and businesses for winter. I just thought it was interesting because I have lived in Cody for 20 years, and have only heard these warnings a couple of times. We have hard winters occasionally, but not regularly. I am thinking that this is going to be one of those years when winter comes early, fast, hard and sticks around for awhile. I guess we have been warned to be prepared.

UPDATE 10/12/08:

When it was all said and done we got 9" of snow! Now that is a lot of snow!!!

It's COLD

I think it may be WINTER!

It is definitely cold outside here in Cody, Wyoming. Yesterday it started to snow, and last night is just got COLD. It stayed cold all night and has been snowing all day. It is not snowing hard mind you, but it is still snowing. It is so hard to tell in Wyoming if it is going to be 20 degrees in October or if it is going to be 75. The weather is just so unpredictable.

I went out just before lunch and took this picture of the our back yard. The sun is trying so hard to shine, but it is just SO cloudy that it can't peek through. You can see the neighbor's tree is blowing in the wind. That wind is just plain Nippy!

I actually wore socks today!- Now that is saying something, 'cause I absolutely Hate socks.

(I still have some of the same pairs of socks that I had from when I was in High school, because they aren't worn out - and that was - oh my - almost 20 years ago.)

I guess it is time to curl up with a blanket and a cup of hot chocolate and watch a great movie!

Slowly Getting There

I have been working on getting my Paper Traders Round Robin Journal ready to go out for more than a month now, and it just has not been coming together as I had planned, but that is just how things work for me. When I am down to the wire, and I don't have enough time for the paint to dry, then that is when my muse shows up, and it all falls into place.

My Round Robin book is titled:

Monochromatic Me

The gist of it is for each person to create a two page spread in a color scheme that best describes who they are, or that they best relate to. If they don't FEEL a specific color, then to pick their favorite color or to just go to the paint store and grab a paint chip and design a page around that paint chip. It should be interesting to see what colors show up!

I have my cover finished and I finished my sample pages today-whew!

(I am green- and Chunky- tee-hee)

I love green, I always have, and I absolutely love, love, love a ton of junky, chunky stuff all over my pages. The more junk and ribbons the better. I seriously don't think you can have too much. I hope that everyone working in my book will enjoy junking it up as much as I have.

(If you click on the picture above which is the left page or the picture below which is the right page, it will get bigger and you can see the detail much better)

:0)

Super Hero

In an effort to try and catch up, I have finished the pages for Fred's RR Journal from last year. This is one of the journals that was lost somewhere in transit, and has finally shown up. Now if the other 3 would just get here, we could get them finished and back to the rightful owners.

Fred's topic was super heroes. This was a really hard subject for me, because I never watched tv cartoons about super heroes, or read comic books, I never even saw the Spider Man movies! I know I am probably strange, but it is just not my thing, and my husband really doesn't know much about super heroes either... so I was a little blocked but I did the best I could think of.

The best super hero I could think of was my little man- Kota... He is my 7 lb. Shih Tzu. He is a tiny little thing, but mighty. He wears his bowtie with pride. He will bound several feet in the air if he smells a french fry, and will talk to you plain as day "nummy, nummy" if you have his green jar of "nacker begger" treats.

He has some very special tools of power- his fruity & sketti spiders, (they are actually kitty toys, but the cat had NO interest- so Kota, "Bubby" claimed them as his own) woven potholders that my girls have made- great teathing toys I might add & of course his shop towel that he wears as a cape, that has been worn out and has holes in it so it has now been named "Holey Shop Towel".

His favorite place to sleep is definitely under the bed covers. I think that comes from when he was a puppy and I was trying to potty train him and he would not stay in his little box next to the side of my bed. He would jump out of it and onto my bed and under my blanket. When I would force him to stay in it he would just cry. He has been sleeping under my blankets ever since.

Help Support Breast Cancer

A blog give-away & help stop Breast Cancer all in one! Check it out!

First try at Zetti

Sorry I haven't posted for awhile. I actually wrote something on the 16th, but I just couldn't post it. I just figured noone wanted to hear me rant and rave about my mundane life crap, so I deleted it before I posted it, and yes, everything worked itself out like it normally does, and I am over it for now.

Anywho-
Here are the pages that I have made for Marion's Tip-In Round Robin Journal. I will be mailing them out to her today, so I thought I should post them for you all to see. This is the first time I have ever done anything with Zetti. It was interesting to say the least, but was really fun. At first I planned everything out, and decided basically how I wanted everything to look, then as I started to put it all together, I started changing things. Now that is how I think Zetti is supposed to work. At least that is how I think it will work for me, because I had so much fun letting it just take it's own shape, and boy did it come out weird, and in a good way I think.























I love the way the rock/egg eye with the face turned out- that was probably the hardest part. It took several trys to get that right, but the final result is exactly what I was after. I wanted that eye to look like it was coming right out of her lips, and the rock/egg eye, is cut out of cardstock and adhered to the background paper, but the stamp of the face with the ribbon hair is over the top of the rock/egg eye, and onto the background. Then another partial image (just the face part) is cut out of another piece of cardstock and adhered on top of the original stamped image, so it would be a perfectly clear image with none of the rock image showing through. It was pretty involved, for as simple of a look as you get, but when you see it in person, you can see that it is not just a simple process. The background is done with watercolor crayons and a wet paper towel, and the border is a Zetti stamp block of eyes. I stamped it several times and cut each image out, so that I could place all the faces with the noses pointing in wrapping around the pages.























One of the things that Marion asked was that we include a number somewhere on the pages, so I used 7 and 13. They are my two favorite numbers. So these pages are titled appropriately 7 & 13!
This was so fun! I can see how this can be addicting- I will definitely be making more Zetti art.

Artist's Creed

These were posted about a year ago, but are definitely worth revisiting.
They are amazing videos! Thank you Jan Phillips!

Patriots Day

In Honor of All Our HEROS, those who continue to fight for our Country, those who have fallen, and those who have fought for our freedom.

In Hope of PEACE:

I WON, I WON, I WON!

I can not believe it!

I won the Paper Imagery Designs, Anniversary Halloween Collage Package give-a-way! I am the most unlucky person on the planet, and for me to win something big like this is so absolutely AWESOME!!!!! I always enter every contest. I guess it goes to show if you don't enter you won't win.

Well, if you want to get some of these great images for Halloween, Paper Imagery Designs has some awesome new stuff!

Even if you are not into Halloween, they have a great variety of other designs as well, so go check it out.

Thank you again, Lori! I am still in shock!

Here is what I won-

The wonderful Collage Sheets, and the Stamp Set from Tim Holtz

Yippie!!!

Spooktacular Give-a-way

Check out another great give-a-way. A great Halloween package is up for grabs at Paper Imagery Designs, in celebration of their first year anniversary!

Fairy Tip In Pages

Finally Finished! Well, I guess stewing over things seems to be a regular for me lately. I guess my muse is on VACATION!
I am so frustrated that I can't get things together like I have planned. I have a picture in my head, but I go to get it out on the paper and it turns out like crap. I can tell you I have printed the base image at least 6 times, because when I went to paint the wings, I messed them up so many times I couldn't fix it, I had to start over, then I got the wings right, and messed up the leaves on the tree! What a nightmare!
That is just the way things have been going for me lately. I just can't seem to get my art to come together the way I want it to.
Now that it is finished I am happy with it, but getting there was rediculous.

Anyway, the wings are painted with shimmer paint, VERY thin! I won't go into detail- LOL.
The leaves are individually painted with metalic green watercolor, and then I streaked metalic copper watercolor into the water, to give it that dimmensional shimmer that you see when the sun hits water as it is going down. (if you know what I mean)
The quote and the flourishes are printed on transparency and layered over the top of everything else. I think the transparency makes it hard to see the sparkle of the metalic paint, but it is there, and I think Linda will really like it. (I hope so anyway) ;0)

Another Give-A-Way

Here's another fun one! Shari is giving away her collection of ATC's and one of her paintings!
http://sharibeaubien.typepad.com/myblog/2008/08/a-give-away.html#comments
You might want to check it out quick, there isn't much time.
:0)

Soul Journey Bookmark

I am a little late posting my pictures of my Soul Journey Bookmark, because I forgot to scan it before I sent it off to Sarah. She so kindly scanned it for me, so- THANK YOU SARAH!
I can't wait to see what bookmark I get in return. It is so fun to do swaps, because it is like a little surprise gift in the mail. I am not really big on surprises, but art surprises are great. I really had a super fun time making this bookmark- I really junked it up. Sometimes I think I go overboard, but hey- that's the fun part right?






















Some of the things on my bookmark are: Twill tape letters (soul) with pastel baby pins, epoxy letters (journey), pink german scrap. On the other side I used several white rub-ons, some felt adhesive lace, rhinestone trim, and then embelished with white and black pen. I then added lots of fibers, a key, moon and a couple of pieces of natural mother of pearl charms. I was pretty happy with the way it turned out. It was interesting how different it looks from the original art pages it came from.

Row House Swap

I finally got my houses finished for Lenna's Row House Swap. They go in the mail in the morning. Well, I guess, it is morning, but they will go in the mail when the Post Office opens, LOL. I have been so busy with all the life stuff that I have been having to deal with that I have not had the time I have wanted to devote to making art. I have had these little houses on my mind for quite some time. I had such great plans for them, but when I started to create them, my muse was gone- it must be on vacation!

The kids are getting ready to go back to school on Monday, and there are a million things that need to be done. I feel so overwhelmed, but yet I can't really put my finger on what exactly is weighing me down right now. It is weird that way with me. I know if I just hold out for a little while, it will pass, and all will be well again. I just have to keep creating- keep my mind on the good stuff :0)

Well, here are my houses:

*The first one is actually my daughter, Quincy's- she is so awesome! I have to brag, because we love to play together, and I was so blocked with these houses and was bouncing ideas off of her, and she put this one together completely by herself, so I told her it was hers, and she gets to keep it!

*The next one I just couldn't give up- It just spoke to me. I love the shimmer of the pale pink roof and the image is so sweet. The flower in

the corner is hard to see, but it is also a shimmery white.

I just loved this one.

*******This one has a picture of my two daughters from several years back when they were little, so I made it to give to my mom. She loves to have things that are handmade with her grandchildren in them! What grandmother doesn't right? I love these vintage pictures of my kids- they are my very favorite.

************************************************************************

These are the rest of the houses that I made and the ones I am sending in for the swap.

Beeswax ATC's

Well, enough blog drama! Even though it is still a mess, I think I am just going to get some art up. I am try to just work on it a little at a time, and hope you all just work through it with me :0)

I hosted a swap with Paper Traders, where the only requirement was to include natural beeswax in the ATC somewhere, or in some way, shape or form. That's it. It was amazing the wonderful pieces everyone made.

I had never worked with beeswax before, and did not have the best success the first go round.

But,

Here are the results of my second attempt, and the ATC's that I ended up making for the swap.

Hey check it out

I think I am getting my blog under control. I still don't have a piece of art created for my header, and I have a ton of commitments right now, and with my kids starting school again, it might take awhile.
If you like something alot, or hate particular parts- leave me comments- I can use all the help I can get. (Feedback is great!) This is definitely going to be a work in progress. LOL

Bear With Me

Please be patient... I am having a case of indecision. In other words... I JUST CAN'T MAKE UP MY SILLY MIND!!! I know- I shouldn't shout on the internet, it is rude, and it annoys people. I keep changing my blog background, because I get bored with it, or it drives me crazy. I don't like this one either. I am so determined to have a 3 column, with a darker background, or a "classy" background, that I won't get bored with, or that won't annoy me after awhile. The little red butterfly was just driving me crazy fluttering around there, but doing nothing. And to top it all off, the "older posts" link was at the top of the posts section. Well, then I changed to a new template, and some how the HTML transferred, UGH. That is so annoying. I guess I am going to just have to do some searching til I find something I like, so stick with me till I get it figured out.
Thanks!
Letha

More Collage Potpourri (Day 18)

These were pages 5 and 6 of the six pages we did of the collage pages. I have to say at first I HATED these ones. I did all the prompts, and at first I thought it was going along just fine. I got to the point where I was doing the color wash, and everything went down hill in a hurry. I just kept going with the idea that it would work itself out, and I just tried to not think about it.
Well, then I added my stencil of the face. Oh my- things just were not going well- I tried to wipe it off, and it just got worse. I broke out the gesso, and started covering part of it up. I loved my number 5, so I worked around it as best I could. I noticed that the sharpie "things I did today" started bleeding through the gesso, so that was an interesting development.
The whole thing was still ICK. So, I stole my daughters "teeny bopper" magazines and started cutting them up- I found the cutest purfume bottles in an advertisement, and the little doll bottles are awesome so I thought I would just cover up as much of my ugly as I could. I am much happier with it now. I had to put some crowns on them, just 'cause- that's what girls are all about right?

Collage Potpourri (Day 17)

I am drowning in numbers- Save me!!!!!
Just kidding, I actually had a ton of fun finding numbers to fill these pages. The three best things I found were the crossword puzzle, the "sexiest men of the year" listing by ages- 20's, 30's, 40's and 50's, and then the 1-2-3 baby blocks. They all got covered up with paint, and you can barely see them, but it is still cool that they are there.
I had a great time smearing paint with the fork, and getting sharpie all over my hands from drawing around them.
I think the hardest part of this page was finding just the perfect "meaningful words" to add to it. I added them with white out around the outside of the pages and then also added the "I CAN" inside the hand shape, just to remind myself of that fact!

Stencil Pages (day 16)

Ok,
I am a few days late in getting this posted, for one the paint took like~ TWO whole days to dry! I will definitely do that different next time. I blopped it on directly from the bottle. I think next time I am going to try to splatter it from a brush, or maybe sprinkle it off a toothbrush- messier, but not so thick.
The other reason is, I was gone all day on Thursday, out of town picking my girls up from the airport. They were out of town all week visiting their grandparents. I am so glad to have them home. I missed them so much, but they had such a wonderful time, and really miss seeing their grandparents, and their Aunt. It was only for a week.
Here are the pages I did, and I love the stencil technique that Sarah has taught us. It turned out great. I think I will be using that one again.

I have to tell you a little funny- one of the things we were supposed to add was some pencil somewhere on the page. I decided that since I used a child's hand, that I was going to put a beak, eye and gobble on the thumb and make it a turkey like I used to do when I was a kid. (it is really hard to see in the picture, but if you click the pictures they will get really big, and you can kind of see it.)

My Soul Journey

I have been working on a project the last few weeks, that I have not talked about on my blog. I have had a few friends on one of the groups I am on encourage me to share, so here goes.
I have been working on the Soul Journal Project hosted by
Sarah Whitmire.
It is an awesome project, and has already been an amazing journey for me, that is why I am calling it my "Soul Journey" and not my "soul journal".
I am finding out many things about myself while doing this. I am learning so many really fun techniques, and getting outside of my comfort zone. Especially with paint! For some unknown reason, I fear paint, and the whole mess of it all.
It is almost as bad as when my kids were little and I had anxiety attacks when they would play with PlayDoh. I was mortified that it would get on the carpet. (I am so NOT a neat freak, but that would just really get me riled up.)
I am learning to open the seals on my bottles of paint, and dip the brushes in. It's still a little stressful, but I am doing it none the less.
I have used more gesso than I thought was possible, and gel medium - everywhere. I am loving it. What an adventure!
Here are my pages so far... I started a day late, so I am still a day behind, so I won't have my pages posted as quickly as I hoped. (Maybe I can get caught up- we'll have to see how busy things get)
The first picture is of my "Identification" page and my "Guard My Journey" page.

This next page was really fun, it took awhile to find all the pictures in magazines, because I had three magazines laying around in my house, and two were Family Circle and one was a Better Homes and Gardens. Not much variety. I refuse to cut up my Somerset Studios, or Cloth Paper Scissors- I don't subscribe to anything else, and I couldn't think of anywhere to get old magazines. I usually find my muse late at night too, so I just kept digging til I found something to work with. It turned out ok.

WOW-
This next one was a hard page for me... I was dealing with some strong feelings at the time when I was working on this page, so the journal prompt of "I forgot to tell you..." was really good for me. I was able to just release. Then I could cover it all up, and be done with it. I used several kinds of tapes. I was able to find some bandage tape, which I specifically used as a "healing aide". I am not sure that this page is complete yet, but I am also not sure yet where I want to go with it, so it will have to sit til I feel inspired about it.

Lastly this is my House/Family page, it was so fun, there are two pictures of my house page, and then a third of just my doll family.
The house is a pocket for my family. It is only a symbol, and not a true representation of our actual home, but that was not the point. I added a big tree, because the neighbors have a big tree up against the fence between our yard and their's and then the corner of their house.

This is a photo of my family in the house, and then a picture of the complete paper dolls. I had so much fun making the dolls. I have only made paper dolls one other time, and it is great fun.


Thanks for those of you lovely ladies that have encouraged me to share- it is hard sometimes to feel like you are going to be criticized for being new, inexperienced, or just sometimes unoriginal, but you have to learn somehow. I am grateful for the creative, welcoming, inspiring artists who are so willing to share their knowledge, kindness, and passion for this art form. You are priceless.

Birdie! Birdie!

Below is the birdie I made for the Paper Traders Birdie! Birdie! swap. We were to decorate a Maya Road's birdie book pages front and back. It was a ton of fun, and I had an awesome time making them. The inspiration behind my creation was this YouTube video.
PLEASE BE SURE YOU HIT THE PAUSE BUTTON ON THE PLAYLIST TO THE LEFT BEFORE YOU PLAY THE YouTube, OR YOU WILL HAVE THEM BOTH PLAYING AT THE SAME TIME :0)

The front has the black and silver crown and a silver guitar for a wing. The black and silver fiber tail. I stamped the word "Tweet" three times with silver metallic ink and put a metal concho into the chipboard for the eye.

On the back side, I used the pink side of the crown, and I cut out a set of pink metallic lips. I set a bright pink snap through the hole in a silver metal flower and glued it on to make a wing. I cut the paisley shapes out and colored the back sides black, so they wouldn't show white on the other side, and glued them down, added a googly eye, set the big eyelet for the legs, and then the process of the legs began.

This was the hardest part. I must have tried a ton of different things before I found the right stuff. Baling twine was too heavy and thick- it would have held up nice, but I stabbed myself really bad working with it, and it was terribly dirty. Then I tried floral wire- ick. I just didn't like it. I suppose it would do, but I just didn't like it. Bag ties- too flimsy. They just kept snapping, I would get them bent, then- Pop! UGH. Then I tried the scrapbook wire. It kept curling up on me. I would flatten it out, and it just wouldn't hold it's shape. Jewelry wire- that's a joke, not at all going to work, at least not the stuff you can get at our Wal-Mart.

Well, then I had to go get a new sprinkler and lawn hose, and there it was sitting in the middle of the living room, under my daughters bum, and you know those things are tied together with heavy "bag ties" that have a plastic like coating on them. That plastic peals right off. Really it does. The wire inside was the perfect weight for this project, and it didn't curl up or snap or anything, and I could bend it with my needle nose pliers, and I didn't get poked. I was able to make cute little bird "toes" and everything!

I am sure my story is WAY more than you wanted to know, but hey- the most unusual things can be the best and perfect supplies when you are creating art! I could not be happier, and believe me I used more things trying to get these just right, and I found it with a piece of trash!

Hometown Postcards

Well, here are my Postcards. I have been pondering over these little guys for quite awhile. I was doing these for Connie's "Where in the World" swap. We were to take postcards from your current place of residence, and alter them in some way with things that you like about your area. It would be hard to put anything but western stuff on my postcards being from Cody, Wyoming and all, but I did take an awesome picture of our state flower the Wyoming Paintbrush, and included that on one of them.

I think my favorite of the three is Annie Oakley. I really like the fact that the whole thing looks vintage, and I really liked that old ribbon with the beads on it. (I found that at a rummage sale!)

I liked the postcard of Buffalo Bill, because of the awesome leather work, but then I ended up covering it all up with the other images, so it didn't turn out quite as I expected.

The other one is of the Irma Hotel, which Buffalo Bill had built and named after his daughter. I think it was a little more difficult to work with because of the scale and the odd color of sepia. It is not black and white, but it is not the brown and white like the other two. (that's why I added the paintbrush flower- for a little color.)

Check out the give-away!

I have been reading a great blog lately, and have purchased some collage sheets from Kristin. I absolutely love her stuff, and to top it all off, she is going to be giving away a piece of her art. If you want to get in on it, just click on this link, and read all about it. Hey, if I don't win it, maybe you will?
http://krishubick.blogspot.com/2008/06/art-giveaway-and-thank-you.html

At Least I Know

Well, the verdict is in.
My doctor was out of the office all last week, and I had to wait to get an appointment- long story... anyway, I finally was able to get in to see him, and amongst other things. I was right. It started out as allergies, then a sinus infection... Well, I have walking pneumonia!
I am so frustrated because all of my family is going to be together for the 4th. My brother and sister from out of town arrive today, and I still feel icky. Doc promised I would feel better tomorrow, and I am holding onto hope.
With 6 prescriptions, and orders to get lots of rest- I am trying- really I am, I think I am making progress. The endless coughing is starting to subside, and I think the elephant sitting on my chest might consider finding a new place to park his behind.
I think I will be going to bed early tonight as we have the big 3 hour long Stampede Parade in the morning, then our family BBQ lunch, then we have the church picnic dinner, games and of course all night fireworks.
I think I will be one tired mom by Saturday!

A Little Fishy

Well, I guess I liked the ATC that I made for the Paper Traders WTA lotto, a little too much, that I had to make one for myself to keep. So here it is. It is a bit different, along the same lines, with the same products, but of course each one is an original, so it is unique.

Go Fish

Here is my latest little art piece. It is an ATC. I have been really sick the last 3 days, and I think I am going stir crazy. At first I thought it was just allergies, but now I think I have a really bad sinus infection, because I can't breathe, and my throat hurts so bad. Anyway, I can't lay down because if I do, I really can't breathe, so I decided if I am going to have to be vertical I am going to do something with myself. So, I tried doing some art.

I didn't get very far because I am having a hard time thinking clearly, but slow and steady I made this little ATC for the Winner Takes All Paper Traders lotto. I am calling it "Go Fish".

The fish on the left side is set with pop dots, which gives him a little dimmension, and his little bubbles are epoxy letters. The fish eyes have been touched with crystal lacquer and the leaves have green glitter on them. Both fish are embellished with metallic gold pen, to give them that shimmer as they "swim". The entire card is then trimmed in gold as well.

This House Is Me

This is page two in my art journal. The journal prompt was to draw or create a house that shows the essence of you. I guess I was feeling a little childish when I colored my house, because I made it very rainbow, and I colored it with cheap little kids watercolor paints from the department store. I intended to make flower boxes under the windows when I got done with coloring it, but then I wanted to keep it really simple, so I didn't draw them in. I was also feeling rather dreamy as I was drawing- hoping for someday to have a home. Not a large home, but one with a pitched roof, and foyer. (Not a mobile home like we live in now.) I know they are big dreams, but they are dreams, and if I don't dream, then I will not have anything to work for right? Now, I am not sure that I want a rainbow colored house. No! I think maybe a sage, or gray colored one, with white trim, and maybe a white picket fence. Very traditional looking, but I am not really picky. I suppose if someone gave me a rainbow colored house I would be thrilled, and I would save my pennies and repaint it someday!

Tin Box

This page is the third page in my art journal. My first digital page. The prompt was to journal something that you are grateful for. At the time, I was feeling rather bummed out because it had been raining non-stop for almost two weeks, and we had this stupid hole in the roof because of the old air conditioner (that didn't work mind you) that leaked like a sieve. Our family is crammed in a trailer house and I had this stupid bucket full of water sitting in the middle of the hallway floor. Needless to say, I think this prompt came at just the right moment, because I needed to really dig inside myself.
Even though I cuss it often, I am truely grateful to live here. We have a HUGE yard, and we are able to do just about anything we want to with the place, and the landlord did fix the hole in the roof- he just couldn't fix it while the rain was pouring because the tar wouldn't seal if it is wet, or cold.
I took a picture of the "ugly" door that is covered in bathroom tub surround- it is interesting to say the least, but now at least it is waterproof. :0) I do have a lovely pot of flowers that was a gift from a friend for helping with her daughters wedding reception. They are so lovely that they look so out of place there, but I love them so much, I don't care!

Art Journal Prompt

I am a member of an all womens Yahoo group, and we have been working on some Art Journal Prompts. This is the information on the prompt:

A Spiral - Art Prompt

~the spiral is seen as a universal symbol for growth, movement, and change.

What does the symbol of a Spiral mean to you?

*Paint, Collage, Doodle, Sculpt, Quilt, Journal, Digitize ... a spiral that originates from deep within your heart center and spirals out into your world surrounding you.

This is the spiral I created, it originated with a photograph of my daughter printed on canvas. The spiral is then done with oil pastel, and some white gesso. I also used some gesso and colored pencil to achieve the flow for her hair. I added the gem for a necklace, and the rhinestones, wings, and crown for accents.

Bog of Eternal Stench

I have not had a chance to put anything up on my blog in quite awhile. I have been so busy lately! I have been doing a lot with art, but I have not actually gotten a ton completed. One of the things that I NEEDED to get finished was the pages for Nadines Mythical Creatures Round Robin Journal for our Paper Traders group. She has so many wonderful pages so far, that I was feeling REALLY intimidated by them, and was having a hard time finding my muse. I ended up doing part of it, and then setting it aside for awhile, and then picking it back up and finishing it. The Hoggle character on the left side and the Ludo character on the right side are raised with foam tape, and there are places on the bog that are brushed with a "soupy" green metallic watercolor wash. The owl is watercolor washed with gold.

In the top left corner I attatched, with green eyelets, a "melted" transparency that was also sponged with the green metallic color that was mixed with gel medium so it would stick to it. Printed on it is a conversation from the movie "Labyrinth" that occurred between Sarah, the main character and Hoggle, her "best friend" but the one who is supposed to be leading her astray, but doesn't have the heart to do anything mean; and Ludo, the large creature who doesn't really know very many words, but also has a kind heart, and is trying to help Sarah to reach the castle in time to find her baby brother Toby.

Mothers

(I am not sure who to give credit for this image, but it is lovely!)

Today is Mothers Day. A day for my mom to be celebrated. A day of thankfulness, for gratitude for that special lady that gave me birth. I am so blessed to have her in my life, and to share special moments with. Thank you mom for all you are to me. I love you!

Altered Journal - cover

Hi all-

This is the cover to my art journal.

It started out as a baby book. It was printed paper, light blue with darker light blue printed baby words. For one, I don't have babies at home anymore, and I never did have a boy. But I found this little book in the clearance at a shop that was going out of business, and it is the perfect size for me to play with.

SO....I altered it.

First I gave it a going over in streaks up and down and side to side with white gesso.

Let it dry, and then started adding things.

The letters are adhesive rub-ons, (you rub them on, and then when you pull the top paper off, they are sticky) I then glittered them.

I put down the images of the birds, and then the chipboard flowers in the corner.

When that was all dry, I gave it all a wash with pearlescent watercolor.

I did not really like the way it covered up the glitter, so I took a wet paper towel and tried to remove the watercolor from just the glitter letters. It seemed to work out ok.

When that was all good and dry, I added some glitter heart clear backed stickers here and there.

It looks quite pearly in real life, but I realize it is hard to see in the scan.

Because of the rings, it ended up getting a lot of light in on the left side, and the pearl finish doesn't really show.

It was pretty easy to do, but was kind of fun to see it just come together. No planning- just "plopping" as I call it.

Anyway- Hope you like it.

Girls in Hats

This is an ATC I made to give away. It is actually for Connie who won the Winner Takes All lotto on Paper Traders. She already had one of the cards that I put up, so I made this one as a replacement.