journals and mirrors

I could say something trite about how they both allow us to reflect, but I will refrain. (Okay, I pretty much said it anyway!) I conjured up a couple of each for the Women's Entrepeneurial Fair I was invited to be part of this weekend. I am very excited for it!

A purple mirror is also in progress, as is an off white one.

Dominomania

Yeah, manic would be the right word. 47 domino magnets in one night? The muse is relentless, yet I am so glad she is here!

make a wish...

Was inspired to make some magic wands to sell at the craft show...styrofoam stars covered with mulberry papers and gel medium..painted with acrylics, pearlex and microglitter...stamped, sealed with varnish and bejeweled...dressed up with fibers and tinsel and ribbon.

Got a wish, anyone? Me, I wish these will sell well!

CD art

Kelli Perkins sent me a pin made from a piece of cut up compact disc last year, which I absolutely love. I finally worked up the nerve to try my own hand at it, and am so glad I did. I have made 46 of them this week; here is just a small sampling of them in progress. They are such FUN!

Playdate Payoff

One of the best parts of arranging an art playdate with a fellow artist is the sharing of goods and ideas. My friend and fellow Circus Freak, Melissa, came over to play on Tuesday and brought BEADS, which she (as usual) generously shared, plus she inspired me to do another of these beady-charm bracelets, which I am just loving lately. They are feminine but not to fussy, and have such a cool, delicious weight, they are a real pleasure to wear.
Thank you, Melissa!

To Bead or not to Bead...

Is no longer the question; I have to get busy if I plan to do the two craft fairs I am planning on. Anyone with craft fair tips, please, email me! I am a newbie!

Here are some of the latest manifestations of my bead fetish:

The skinny

I am relieved and happy to report that the skinny book pages are done, about 2 weeks ahead of my own schedule, and I am feeling quite celebratory! Here is a neak peek at a sampling of them:




Sorry about the wacky crop job in the picture, but there was a lot of extraneous crap in the background that you (trust me) would not consider eyecandy. (Note to self: Clean studio already! Sheesh!)

Worthwhile activities.

Have a few moments to make some mailart? Today you can make a piece that is truly meaningful. The Remember September mailart project is a small way to commemorate the lives lost 6 years ago. I participated last year and was honored to have my envelope chosen to be part of this years postcard announcing this years call for submissions.

I hope you will consider arting up an envie and mailing it today (so it has the 9.11 cancellation date) to add to the collection of what is now over 3000 submissions. Send your offering to:
Remember September
PO Box 793
Katonah, NY
10536


My entry this year was in part inspired by the quote chosen for the Hope Sees a Star project at ZNE. Please, also take a moment to find out what you can do to help this campaign. As artists, we have the power to support one another, as well as the power to create lasting beauty. Come be a part of it.

Skinny book pages continued

Twenty six pages cut and ready for embellishing! I feel like I am on such a creative roll! Woohoo!
I am really happy with the way the backgrounds came out; it was such a great experimental journey!

Stockpiling

Thinking of doing a Holiday craft fair here in town this year, which means I need to build up my inventory. Here are three necklaces I made last night:

Day Counter, Part Deux

Ok, kids, I am SO glad I did this wacky project because I love the end result.
The circles are Ball jar lid inserts, and the rectangles are those tins AOL sends CDs in (Thank you Melissa, for the gift of these, which inspired the design a great deal!) The laminate samples were not all squirreled away into my pockets at Home Depot: I actually had a friend who worked at an industrial design firm, and he gave me about 100 of them last year...these ones work as wipe off surfaces! The numbers are magnets so each month can be adjusted appropriately. The extra magnets are on the side canvases, and even the pen matches the art. Wheeehoo!

Day Counter

This looks like a painting, yes? Well it is a painting/collage technically, but won't be for long...I am trying to make a highly artistic calendar. One that looks more like art than calendar, even when kid's dental apointments and half schooldays are added. Because hubby says we need a big one right in the dining room to get this household running smoothly (he might be right!) This piece is about 3 by 4 feet. Soon it will be a fully functional calendar, with dry erase days and magnetic numbers. (You will have to wait for that--I am making this whole proccess far too complicated, and am starting to get irritated with myself.) Lets hope it is worth the wait; this is a ridiculously ambitious bit of nonsense, but I could not stand the idea of a big old ugly Staples whiteboard calendar in my art-filled living room/dining room area. No way, no how!

Some details of the work:

Back

Back from vacation in Vermont, back to school, back to a quieter house and a lot of laundry...

In the meantime, some favorite shots from my travels:

Out of the Blue for Chrysti

Well a while back I played an Out of the Blue art party/swap with my dear friend Pattie, who sent me an amazing art frog, and I sent her an arted up purse...and then I asked two friends to exchange with me....and they asked two friends...etc and so on.

I sent Kelli her piece a while ago, but Chrysti's had me stumped. I got so far, and no further.


I stalled at that point for a few weeks.



Ah, but today....At last the barrier in my brain came down and the piece made itself known.
Closed:


With a message on the door:

And open:


I am so happy I will be able to send it at last!

Putting it out there...

Well, I did it...I sent something to Somerset Studio for consideration. I don't know why this was so daunting, but I decided I could no longer wait to be discovered, hahaha. So I created this wall clock for a call for "green" themed items. Sure is green, huh?
I created a tutorial to go with it, which can be seen here.

Skinny book pages

Starting to rev my creative engines for the skinny book project Chrysti is coordinating at the Altered Abbey. Here are some background pages I have started on: watercolor, acrylics, gesso, pearl ex powders, embossing powders and UTEE on watercolor paper.
Here is a close up; I love the way the UTEE beads up so that it looks like rainwater.

So, I am doing this art charm swap...and am learning that I love working small scale! What makes this fun for me is it feels like altered art, but it is mini-art. I am learning there are myriad ways to make these things, and some materials are more durable than other, but I am looking forward to experimenting more! Anyone with tips on laquers or adhesives that are waterproof and durable but without obnoxious fumes, for example, give me a holler! Here are 10 to start, fronts and backs...

Once in a blue moon...

I post twice in one day.

This isa new set made for a customer after the original got eaten by the USPS Gremlins. Grr.....
This is my Blue Moon design:

and some new earrings:

Birds of a Feather

Flock together.

I had to share my wonderful living room display consisting of the art of my wonderful Circus friends!
Top: a delightful wall piece by Kelli Perkins; tiny circle of watercolored egss with the words "Her joy was in flying"
On sconce: delicate house with open doors by Amy Smith. The front of the doors read "The roads we have traveled" with a pair of golden birds above. Inside, 6 glass vials, one word in each -- liberty, heritage, equilibrium, one summons, spiritual, The Blues. Flanked by two wooden birds that belonged to my grandmother.
Bottom: newest addition from Kathleen Hendrix. Luminous 5x5 canvas featuring a chubby chickdee balanced on a wooden branch with handful of 3D elements.

Don't they all come together nicely?

6x6

This was created for a swap at the Embellished Circus. I feel like I am finally reclaiming my creative groove after going relatively dormant for the last year or so. I got this little chunky frame for a dollar at Target and knew it had potential. I wish I had a before pic of the bright turquoise frame with the picture of a cartoon orange crab so you could really dig the transformation! Anyway, this one was done, as usual, with a bizarre wabisabi, mad scientist approach. The outer frame is coated with acrylics, alcohol inks, twinkling h20s, pearl ex powders, and a nice coating of UTEE! The focal frame has a background of twinkling h20s under the glass (and some stars) with a polymer clay face and resin dragonfly on top. Ah, lets not forget those microbeads I love so much!

The next Circus Swap I am playing in is a birdhouse exchange. Here is a work-in-progress glimpse...feathers, acrylics, pearlex, twinkling h2os, embossing powders...that is just the first layer...lol

No one is more beautiful than you...

An Exceptional Boy

Well, last night was the sixth grade award ceremony ( a pseudo graduation, if you will). Spenser took home several awards!

Spelling Award, Math Award....

Most Improved Writer Award....


And most exciting, the President's Education Award for Outstanding Academic Acheivement! (Accompanied by a letter from President Bush and a pin, which Spenser's is proudly sporting today.)
Six years ago when he was diagnosed with Asperger's Syndrome, if you had told me this could happen, I would have been stunned and in disbelief. Now that I see it, I am overjoyed, amazed, humbled. I am so very proud of my wonderful, extraordinary son.

"Out of the Blue" Art Party

I feel so lucky! Artist Pattie Mosca invited me to play a fun art game, started by Deb Silva...

Pattie is creating 3 small works of art. She will send one to the person who invited her to play, and one to the two people she invited to join...myself and another artist.
I in turn (as will each player) will create 3 works of art. I will send one back to Pattie, who invited me, and one on to each of the two artists I invited to play along.

Next, they pick two art friends to invite to play; make 3 art pieces, send one to me and one on to each friend with instructions as to the nature of the game.

Did that make any sense? You can read more about it here,on Deb's Blog.

Well here is what I crafted for Pattie; a little funky handbag using papers, pearlex, embossing powders and acrylics, with a finishing flourish of fancy fibers!

A gift to myself

Happy Birthday to me, Happy Mother's Day to me...a busy week where I decided to make myself a gift. I had been to a jewelry party (think Tupperware, only costume baubles) where I saw several pretty pieces but Lordy, the prices! $100 for costume items? No thanks! So, inspired by one piece in particular, I decided to make my own. This one is made with freshwater pearls, aventurine, unakite, mother of pearl, peridot and tourmaline beads, with sterling wire accents. Since most of my beads are from swaps or bought on clearance, I estimate this trinket set me back less than $15!
A gift indeed!

Making a Map

Artella's online creative newspaper has this little segment called "map of the day". It features all sorts of maps, from antique to imaginary, from artistic to anatomic. I decided to try my hand at an artistic map; this one will be appearing in the paper on Sunday. It is a map of a piece of my heritage. It shows the city of Hamburg, which my grandparents fled just before the war. The bombed out buildings are what remained when they returned. The little boy is my father.

Spring Show

Pretty, shiny things.

Artella is featuring a Mother's Day Shoppe and I was asked to come up with some items for it...yay! An excuse to play! So I fashioned some new baubles and things and am quite pleased with the result. Look for them in my Shoppe in the coming days!