Art Kerfuffle

One Heart

2012-02-01T07:30:00.000-05:00

Did you know you can make a heart from a couple of tags? I did cut off the ends of the tags to get just the right size.

FWB

2012-01-30T07:22:00.000-05:00

If you looked at my entries this month, you might think I've been lazy. But in fact, I've been quite busy. I'm working on Top Secret FWB projects. In civilian language, that stands for Friends with Birthdays. So, of course, I can't show anything here. All I can reveal is that one of them is getting this. I can't say more. I know you understand.

And don't even think about trying to peek in my windows to see what I'm doing. I have lookouts posted around the perimeter of my compound.

How To Make A List

2012-01-24T07:03:00.001-05:00

I really admire people who make a list of goals to accomplish, or a list of dreams to fulfill in the course of a new year. I don't know if it's a lack of commitment on my part or a fear of failure, but I just don't like to tie myself down to completing a list (although, I admit, when I do make a list, it feels great when I mark things off it.)

If your word for the year is Action, you kinda do need a list. In my head, I have lots of lists. And I found a system that, so far this year, is working for me.
1. Do something on the list in your head.
2. When it is finished, write it on the list.
3. Check it off as completed.

No fail.

Here are a couple more pages in my physics journal for this year. I seem to be boxing things in on the pages. Hope that is a sign I will be more organized this year.

This journal has some pages that fold out. I have started a map on one of them. Because I'm going places, don't ya know.

Nothing up my Sleeve

2012-01-19T18:35:00.000-05:00

Check out these little pockets. Great place for mad money, business cards, moo cards, or other little treasures.

Each one is made from the cuff of a long-sleeve shirt. The wider the cuff, the more room inside. If my Fabric-Tac glue had not dried up, I think I'd rather run a thin line of glue as close to the edge as possible rather than sewing. That would give even more room inside.

Heres' where I saw the idea. I am envisioning men everywhere putting on their favorite long sleeve shirt, only to find it is now a short sleeve shirt!

Learning Physics

2012-01-05T10:00:00.000-05:00

If you wanted to, you could learn "simple" physics for one dollar.

I mean, who doesn't want to know more about molecules, magnetic fields, and the Brownian Movement. I do question the term "simple physics". And the self-taught part - is that possible, to teach yourself physics?

On the other hand, you can cut off the covers and make your own journal for the new year. I used scraps of scrapbook paper for signature wrappers and painted Tyvek for tapes.

I used white Canson paper for the pages, because I have a lot of it. I wasn't sure if I would like it for mixed media, so I made a sample sheet using a lot of different paints and tools. I was pleased.

And the physics pages I removed have a section on color theory! Really? I might like to study physics after all.

Happy New Year

2012-01-01T10:46:00.000-05:00

The new year is going great so far! Seems like only yesterday it was 2011. Oh, wait.... it was.

The first day of the year is warm for this time of year, but very windy. The sun peeked through the clouds early this morning.

Looking back on last year, well, I'm too lazy to re-cap at length. But if doing things that make you happy are a sign of success, then last year was a success for me. I learn more and more how much I love making books. Here is what last year looks like (in my eyes).

(I have already learned something new this year - how to make a photo mosaic! Yay, me!)

Happy new year to all! Wishing you all much success and happiness in the new year. Thank you so much for visiting me here.

I dream of a place...

2011-12-30T06:00:00.003-05:00

Where everyone gets to sit on a throne...

Where kids get to try on silly hats and goofy glasses...

Where there are enough monkey pens for everyone...

And where everyone lives in tiny metal houses...

And that place is Lynn's Paradise Cafe (except for the part about the metal houses.)

The only thing better than Christmas is a post-Christmas get-together with friends. Gaye and I had another lunch at Lynn's funky, funny restaurant, where our table this time was a vintage game table with a glass top, with a train track and scenery below our plates of food. Said scenery included green plastic forks as trees. A little shopping, a little gift-exchanging, and a lot of friend-time to end out the year. The journal pages above are the end of that calendar-style journal. Seems like Jan. 1, 2011 was just here a few weeks ago.

Gaye's metal work skills continue to amaze me. The little house book fits in my hand. Such detail!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-25T06:12:00.000-05:00

It's Christmas. Be Nice.

(No, I don't know these girls. It's from http://www.awkwardfamilyphotos.com/)

It's not All about Christmas

2011-12-23T05:00:00.001-05:00

If you are one of those people with a birthday sometime around Christmas, well, I hope you get some you-time in there somewhere during the holiday rush.

And especially if you are my favorite sister...

Happy Birthday!!

Sugar Coma

2011-12-22T02:57:00.000-05:00

I blame the person who first gave me the recipe. (Yes, CN, that would be you!) It is sometimes called White Trash. When people ask me for the recipe, I call it Holiday Mix, cause it sounds, um, classier. Either way, it's addictive. Most years, I make a bunch for gift-giving. I usually end up with too much. What a shame... (heh heh heh)

In case you want to make some, here's the general recipe:
2 cups thin pretzel sticks
3 cups Corn Chex cereal
3 cups Rice Chex cereal
3 cups Cheerios cereal
12 ounce bag of M & M's *
Peanuts as desired (*or skip the plain M&M's and the peanuts and get peanut M&M's)
1.5 pound white chocolate (I use Kroger White Bark)

Mix all dry ingredients. Melt white chocolate in microwave as directed on package. Pour melted chocolate over dry mix and mix it all well. Spread on wax paper to cool. Store in sealed containers.
So easy, even I can do it! I usually use the whole package of white bark, then add a little more of each of the dry ingredients.

Angels on High

2011-12-21T09:17:00.000-05:00

He sees you when you're sleeping

2011-12-20T07:11:00.000-05:00

He knows when you're awake.
He knows when you've been bad or good,
so be good for goodness sakes!

If you can't be silly at Christmas, then when can you be silly?
(I know, I know... it's a year round activity for me, but that's beside the point.)

That Geo Paper

2011-12-16T15:12:00.000-05:00

I'm thinking that geo paper I made a few weeks ago looks really spiffy as gift wrap paper.

P.S. - Dear Santa, please please bring me some big sheets of Arches Text Wove for Christmas! I need to make some bigger sheets of this paper.
P.P.S. - I've been good this year (take my word for it, no need to ask around...)

Digital Christmas

2011-12-12T23:17:00.000-05:00

I love Christmas and I try not to lose sight of what it's all about. Still... I saw this YouTube video last year and really got a chuckle out of it. It is worth re-visiting again.

Click here - Christmas 2.0

Bookie Lookie

2011-12-10T00:16:00.000-05:00

I have been smitten for a while with little vintage slider boxes that contain labels and other office supplies. The best ones are the ones that look like little books. I check eBay sometimes to see what's out there. Bidding can go really high, really fast on the good stuff. Some people even sell the boxes empty, but I like them with contents.

I decided to cover some matchboxes and see how that would look mixed in with my vintage boxes. I gathered some papers for covers, but by the time I got ready to make covers, I didn't use any of those papers and used my good old stash of security envelopes instead. I put a white sticker on what would be the foredge of the fake book. One of my vintage boxes even has fake pages and dividers.

It turned out pretty good, but not the same as the vintage ones. Plus the matchbox is smaller. But at least I got it out of my system!

Quick Fix

2011-12-06T06:42:00.000-05:00

I have some loose ends I need to tie up so I can move on. When I posted about making Geo Paper (from Jill Berry's instructions), I had one more sheet of paper left with the black sumi ink lines drawn on it. I decided to stamp some of the sections with a number/letter collage stamp. Then I decided to paint the sections with the Peerless watercolors I got last summer.

The Peerless colors are very nice and bright (I guess they have to be pretty concentrated to come in the form of a paper sheet.) However, once I used one color, that page was wet. Turning the pages back and forth to use other colors presented a problem.

In my head, I would have come up with some kind of clever palette design, but since I was impatient, this will do for now. I cut squares from each color and put it on cardstock using double stick tape. Then I clamped the cardstock to cardboard for sturdiness.

I'm sure there will be a very clever, more interesting solution coming in the future.

It's a good day when...

2011-12-04T08:16:00.000-05:00

You know it's going to be a good day when it involves a selection of pretty waxed linen sewing thread.

You know it's going to be a good day when your friend from Alaska comes for her yearly visit. [photo not availble]

You know it's going to be a good day when your friend lets you use her Vagabond machine.

[This is one of my favorite pictures of Gaye, taken at Stampaway in Cincinnati last August when she had just purchased the Vagabond machine.]

It's definitely a good day when you all get to play and make books, then have a fabulous lunch and play some more. And then have peanut butter ice cream. Too bad I did not take more pictures of some of these things, but I was too busy having fun!

Gaye has been busy designing new books, and the three of us used different embossing folders to make our cover designs.

I copied Gaye, and put some green stamp pad ink on one of the clock parts to make it show up better. When I got home, I decided to add more ink to the rest of the front and to the back. Just a light amount to bring out the design.

We had lots of fun... it was just one of those fun play days that we all need more of!

Don't Panic

2011-11-30T07:17:00.000-05:00

Have you started your Christmas shopping? (Or finished your Christmas shopping if you are an over achiever.) Mailed your Christmas cards? You have all the time in the world - or so it seems today. Check with me in about 24 days and see if I say that!

Maybe you like to keep track of the countdown, read Santa's blog, follow Santa's tweets, and read some really silly elf jokes.

Just don't get too caught up in the frenzy. Remember to take the time to enjoy the music, the lights on a still quiet night, relax with a steamy hot beverage with some baked goods, enjoy friends and family, and don't forget the real reason for the season.

Then you can be all la-dee-da.

(Pictures are from friend Gaye's house from my visit a few weeks ago.)

Over the river and through the woods

2011-11-27T22:44:00.001-05:00

On a map-making journey I go... (You must sing that to the tune of whatever song that first part is from.)

As usual, I was not actively looking for something new to embark on, but it found me instead. I recently got Jill Berry's new book, Personal Geographies. For a long time, I've had this idea for making a book with maps in it. I have saved maps from places I've been (art fairs, parks, campuses, etc.), with no particular purpose yet, just knowing I would need them some day. Jill's book is different though, and it has my mind going in many directions. I have actually been reading her book, not just looking at the pictures (as so many of us do!) I like the way she makes maps of different events and places from a childhood memory, things like that. They can be like a regular map, or in the shape of a hand or body or the sections of the head.

All these ideas will have to wait for now. The idea file in my head is getting full. For now, I played with making "geo paper" using the tutorial on Jill's blog here.

I will put more layers over this and play some more later..

November Rolls Along

2011-11-24T19:49:00.000-05:00

This time next week, it will be December. How can that be?
Remember my square-a-day journal for November? It's rolling along. I missed a couple of days and need to go play catch-up.

I have learned a couple of things. One, my day-to-day life is pretty mundane and boring. Two, when I do have something to say, a one and a half inch square is not enough space. For one day (Nov 19), I handled that by making a small pocket to go on that square on the calendar. Then I inserted a piece of paper in the pocket, with more room to write. Works for me.

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving (in the U.S.) I'm not a big turkey lover, so a couple of bites of the Thanksgiving turkey is enough for the whole year for me! Now pumpkin pie, that's a whole 'nother story!

The Internet Hypnotized Me

2011-11-20T13:50:00.000-05:00

Does this happen to you? All I remember is that I logged on to catch up on email and favorite blogs, read some postings from yahoo group digests I get... you know, the normal stuff. One of the digest emails had a link to somewhere. That had a link to a You Tube video that I clicked on. That video didn't interest me, but the videos listed to the right had another one that looked interesting. And the next thing I knew, I was off making a mini book.

It's been a while since I made a "meander book". And I had never seen one from a sheet of 12 x 12 scrapbook paper. But when you think about, that's a great size for a meander book. I used a double sided sheet and had it whipped out in no time - scoring, cutting, and folding.

I have not embellished it yet, but maybe I'll use these cool vintage playing cards that Gaye gave me. I think Girtie Giggle and Willie Whistle would like to live in this book.

I have to go catch up on email now. Wish me luck as I once again try to enter that black hole.

P.S. - Instructional video on the meander book is here. It makes a nice 3 x 3-inch book.

Off on a Tangent

2011-11-16T06:41:00.000-05:00

Meanwhile, true to form, she was soon off in a totally different direction, and had to drop everything and make a book.

Yes, I suddenly found the need to make a book I saw in the recent publication Pages, put out by Cloth Paper Scissors. (I also found out that even though I like the immediate gratification of downloading a publication, I still print out sections at a time because I have to have a print version in my hands.)

This is a fabric cover, using some scraps from previous play sessions. Spine is ribbon and beads (three needle sewing technique). Pages are bristol and scrapbook paper. For now, the closure is a piece of fabric pinned on to hold it closed until I decide what to put there permanently.

Ready for my close-up

2011-11-11T23:51:00.000-05:00

I had to get away from the postal book and paint something. I have been re-visiting some books and articles on texture projects, and I think this two-page spread probably has ideas from several places. I know it started with gesso on the pages, with scribbling into the gesso before it dried. Next came layers of paint, some circles, number stencils, more scribbling, and collage. The postage stamp has a quote by Abraham Lincoln, and that's the quote I used on the page. It was done quickly and I'm not that happy with my lettering, but this is a journal for play. Emphasis on play, not perfection.

My favorite thing is to isolate sections of the pages for close-ups. I love seeing the close-up detail on my computer screen, and I sometimes use these pictures for screensavers. Of course, that close-up also magnifies imperfections that I don't want to see, but mostly it helps me remember (temporarily) that I did something I was fairly happy with.

Come Fly With Me

2011-11-08T23:52:00.000-05:00

Meanwhile, back in the postal book... (surely you didn't think I had abandoned it?)....

In all my rummaging around in my old stuff, I found some old philatelic publications I had saved. They used newsprint type paper, and one was an oversized publication. I remembered immediately why I saved it, in spite of the fact that it was too big to store anywhere. When I had mailed in a subscription renewal one year, I had used a Huck Finn postage stamp, then drew a long fishing line coming from his fishing pole, and stamped the image of a fish at the end. They evidently did not get many decorated envelopes (plain as it was), and they published it.

I cut out the article and put it in my postal book. I also cut out the title from the cover page - which to most will look like I'm just documenting the publication. Only I know where the little cat-tooth holes are. Since it used to reside on the bottom shelf of the bookcase and since it stuck way out from the other books, the cat I used to have (known as The-Cat-Who-Chews-Paper) was always chomping on stuff like that. So it has its own personal memory for me.

I also came across an article I had saved from another publication. This article mentioned small airlines that were around in the 1920s to carry mail to obscure places in Canada and Alaska. It showed a postal cancel for Patricia Airways. Hey, that's my name! Back when the article came out, there was no Google. Yes, youngsters, there was a time when there was no Google. Hard to believe it has not always been around. So, off I went on a search, and I found some postage to print out and a rate card. Perfect for my book!

And, a few more pages in progress...

If It's November...

2011-11-06T18:31:00.000-05:00

If it's November, I must be in Tennessee. Actually, I just got back from Tennessee. And you know how much I love seeing this stuff.

I know it doesn't look pretty in that picture, but a field of cotton really is a pretty thing to see. In the old days, they would put the cotton in trailers, and drive it to the cotton gin. A big suction thing was put in the trailer and it sucked out all that cotton. It eventually gets cleaned and separated from the cotton seed and debris.

As I've mentioned here before, now they leave big blocks of cotton in the field.

When cotton was picked by hand instead of machine, there never would have been this much cotton left over. But machines are faster you know. Maybe someday in the future, one of us will be wearing a cotton shirt that came from one of these blocks of cotton.

Around this particular field on a sunny November day, everything looked otherwise dead and abandoned.

But the sun was shining and there were birds flitting around in the dead tree stumps, singing their little hearts out.

Sometimes, if I'm not too antsy to get home, my return trip might include a detour to the lake area. This is taken atop Kentucky Dam. Bright sunny day, but bitter biting wind.

When I daydream about winning the lottery, my daydreams always include a lakefront cabin somewhere around here.

She Who Must Paint

2011-11-05T08:00:00.003-04:00

I'm still working in my postal book, but I am really feeling the need to take a break from it lately. I need to paint something. I have a book I started a few years ago - it has canvas pages which have mostly been prepped with gesso and/or green paint. I never bound the pages, and also I couldn't figure out which direction I wanted to go with it. But I got it out and played a bit. I wanted to try lettering on it, and I made some scribbles with different pens. I painted the center of a couple of pages with lighter colors so I'll have a place for a focus of some kind. Don't know where I'm headed (and I may not even work in it again for weeks), but it's there in my mind now, with ideas to mull over.

Good Mail Day

2011-11-03T22:52:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I think the internet is an outlet for bored people who do ridiculously stupid things and waste an enormous amount of time. Other times, I appreciate the internet for what it gives us. We "meet" people we have things in common with, people we might never have met otherwise.

So it is with someone who was a fellow student in one of my online classes. Caatje lives in the Netherlands and I recently sent her some security envelopes with different patterns, because I hate to see anyone without their own cool security envelopes. In return, she sent me an envelope bulging with some fun things from "her" island of Vlieland. Wow-oh-Wow! I am still riffling through all the cool things. She included a magazine called Flow. What a feast for the eyes. Even though it is mostly in Dutch, I have enjoyed it anyway. I can tell one article is about stamp carving, and it's fun to guess at the rest. She sent postcards, tourist publications, and maps, among other things. Thank you so much Carin!! What an amazing part of the world!

November Squared

2011-11-01T09:43:00.000-04:00

It's not unusual for me to work in more than one journal at a time, but as this year has gone along, I seem to have more journals than I can keep up with. I'm a victim of runaway journaling. So for November, I am going to step back and slow the pace a little. I got the idea from an article in the recent issue of Somerset Studio, and I have started a square-a-day calendar for November. It looks plain now, but it will perk up by the end of the month.

The article in Somerset (Nov/Dec 2011 issue) is about artist Kate Crane - see more of her work here.

It felt good to splash some paint on my November page - but that doesn't mean I've abandoned my postal book. No page is ever finished - I am always finding more to add!

Do Not Discard

2011-10-29T00:47:00.000-04:00

More pages from my envelope book (it appears it will be "in progress" for years to come). I keep digging around and finding more things. I keep trying to organize envelopes and stamps and cool envelopes as I come across them before I drown in them. For your amusement...

These are all partially finished. I found a copy of an envelope I mailed where I used the Queen (love) stamp and drew a body for her on the envelope. The last spread shows an envelope on the right that I received in an exchange. It was a Mizzpelled Envelope Exchange - the rule was to misspell pretty much everything and see if it arrived at its destination. I got some great and creative envelopes. Since my postal people know me, I do believe if someone sent a decorated envelope to just my zip code, I'd probably get it. Maybe.

The Blue Queen

2011-10-26T16:02:00.000-04:00

You know your blog is growing cobwebs when your friends start demanding you put something new on there!

There are reasons why I haven't posted lately.
It's almost Halloween and I feel like a zombie.
I'm working a lot and I feel like a zombie.
I'm missing sleep and I feel like a zombie.
Okay, enough with the zombie.
Maybe I was gathering stuff to send to Gaye, like some Stamp Cash from a vintage postal board game I forgot I had.

Maybe I was working on a Green Page in my book.

Maybe I was working on the Blue Queen page in my book, with her security detail.

Maybe I was pondering the Mystery of the Crossed Feathers that I almost stepped on while walking near my house.

I hope to have more postal book pages soon. Don't give up on me!

Postal Museum

2011-10-19T16:15:00.000-04:00

You know, not too long ago I remember being obsessed with my visual journals and experimenting with texture techniques. I must be really fickle, because I have not even touched any of that since my postal obsession. So bear with me while that continues!

You might be interested to know that you can download some freebies from the U. S. Postal Museum website. This is not to be confused with the U. S. Postal Service. Case in point... when I submitted an envelope to the Graceful Envelope contest a few years ago, I accidentally left off the post office box number in the address. Apparently, the U.S. postal service does not know where the U.S. postal museum is, and they sent the envelope back to me!

Anyway, you can visit the museum website and use their options to make stationary. Rather than make stationary, I put several stamp designs on the page in different sizes and printed those. I also explored all the drop down menus to see what else was there and printed some other things.

Here are a couple more things from their website, but I can't remember where I found them. I was exploring further and came across them somewhere.

Lastly, my post office box rent is due this month, and my postmaster likes it when I decorate my envelope. It's fun for me to surprise her each year.

Go forth and postalize something!

Time Warp

2011-10-16T22:52:00.000-04:00

I think I was abducted by aliens yesterday. I lost several hours of my day that I can't account for. Either that, or I sat down for a simple organizing task and the next thing I knew, I had lost track of time. I blame the postal books I've been working on. They have me digging deep, deep into the archives of unused items for stuff to use. So when I came across this baggie of old postage stamps, it seemed like a good idea to clean and sort them. I don't remember where they came from. Either I found them at a yard sale, or Gaye did and gave them to me.

How so much debris got into that bag is beyond me. But after pulling out a few stamps to use and having to clean them off, I decided to clean the bag full and sort them by colors. It was a yucky job, but I knew it would be worth it.

(FYI, the time I spent was indeed worth it, but I only got through about three-fourths of the bag before I felt like I had turned into the stamp zombie. So I'm still not finished.)

I have managed to add some more things to the pages of one book in the last week. Stamps, postcards, old envelopes, photos, anything that might be postal related. For now, they don't seem to have any rhyme or reason. But I have high hopes that it will somehow all pull together over time.

Postal Alert No. 2

2011-10-09T11:49:00.000-04:00

So much for tackling that weekend to-do list. I'm pretty sure I did nothing but work on this book cover for almost a full day yesterday. But so worth it! The insides will have to wait for now. I can't stop picking up these two books and looking at them. The part on the front with my name is a layering of multiple window envelopes, each with different wording to tell me how important the recipient of the mail is! Turned out pretty nice.

By the way, the triple chain stitch on the book above, as well as the sewn-on-tapes on the other postal book in my previous post are both taught in Mary Ann Moss's Full Tilt Boogie class. If you have considered taking this class, she has lowered the price through the end of this month. Very inspiring and highly recommended if you love making books with abandon. See more here.

(Disclaimer: No, I do not get a kick-back and I am not affiliated, just a satisfied student. I like the fact that the videos and class info are up indefinitely, so no rush to finish everything in a set amount of time.)

Boogie on.....

Mail Call

2011-10-08T13:24:00.000-04:00

I'm still playing with security envelopes when I get a chance. Had a really fun day when friend Chris came down from Indianapolis to Gaye's house and Gaye showed us the book she was working on. Chris and I made one like hers, using cardboard envelopes as covers and security envelopes for pages. In the photo, ours are the two standing in the back, and Gaye's book is in the front, showing the inside.

Below is Gaye's cover (slightly different than ours). I love what she has done with her book so far.

I'm also still working on my book that I started a couple of weeks ago. Mine uses cardboard from a priority mailing box for the cover and security envelope pages. I finally sewed it last night, using the sewn-on-tapes method.

I can't wait to tackle the insides of both books. But it is incredibly time-consuming, even though it looks like all you do is just gather some envelopes and add some stuff! I have stuff spread out everywhere, trying to figure out what to add where. I can't wait to show these to my postmaster, as she is the one who gave me several of the legitimate postal stickers back when I was teaching mail art classes.

Check it out

2011-10-04T16:46:00.000-04:00

I am itching to get back to my security envelope book shown in the last post, but I've been occupied with other things. However, I have been gathering bits of stuff to put in it.

In the process of doing that, I came across the checkbook register I showed on my blog in August 2010. Now, some people might be shy about saying they came across a project they started over a year ago and didn't finish. Not me! If I start something, even if I don't finish it at the time, I at least won't forget the technique I wanted to try. If I had never started this project, I would never ever have remembered it by this time. If you recall, I was inspired by someone else who had taken a class with Orly Avineri and they made a book from a checkbook register. At the time, I painted my pages and that's about it. The last few days, I have added more and more, but it has a long way to go before it is really fattened up like I want it to be. I love picking it up and flipping through the pages, even though I already know what's in there. I am going to fatten it up like a Thanksgiving turkey!

Possibilities

2011-09-27T23:27:00.000-04:00

This might become a book cover.

Or... this might become a book cover.

Go with the flow. Follow the muse. See what happens.

Whatever happens, it will involve security envelopes and lots of them.

My best friend Gaye has been playing with security envelopes, and it made me want to also. The only thing is, we haven't seen each other in ages, so it will be fun to get together later and see what we both end up with!

I also got distracted and made some "tiles" for my cover. I remember seeing a Tim Holz video where he used his Fragments clear tiles. I made mine by using JudiKins Diamond Glaze to glue old postage stamps (among other things) to the clear tiles. I think he used Glossy Accents instead of Diamond Glaze, but they both work and both dry clear.

I can't wait to play more with pages and get the book finished.

The Dark Side

2011-09-20T22:49:00.001-04:00

Today's Adventures in Texture takes us to the use of gesso and a rubber stamp. This journal page started out bright and red, but as time went on, it ended up kind of dark.

I painted a double page spread with red acrylic paint and let that dry. Then I swiped some clear gesso down one side of one page. I let that dry somewhat (about 15 minutes because I'm impatient, but I should have waited about 10 minutes longer).

Then I pressed a rubber stamp into the gesso. Since my stamp is just a piece of rubber and not mounted on wood or cushion, I immediately put the stamp in water so the gesso would not dry on it. The gesso then needs time to dry completely on the page.

I then painted over the gesso impression as well as the rest of the two pages with some brown acrylic ink. The last thing I added was black, applied with a rubber stamp pad around the edges of the pages and over the gesso impression.

Yep, I've gone over to the dark side on this one, and I like the grungy-ness.

Text-ured Skin

2011-09-18T10:33:00.000-04:00

I have been going in a hundred directions all of a sudden. Similar to what I do every spring and fall. I think it's because the heat wave has gone away and days are crisp and happy, much more conducive to making art.

After I made rusty skins, the next day I made skins from pages of old books. I figured the print was more likely to come off the page on older books. And I knew I'd have to use the skins with the lettering backwards, but that didn't bother me. I put them on cardboard to dry, put them up high so they were out of my way, and promptly forgot about them. It was a nice surprise to stumble across them a day or so later!

I think I'll be able to find a place to use these in the future. I should be able to use them either frontwards or backwards, although I do wish I'd made a couple of them thinner. Like the rust skins, these were made by spreading soft gel medium, then letting the medium dry. When they were pulled off the page, of course a lot of paper came with it, so I soaked them in a bowl of water, then rubbed off the paper with my fingers.

I also did some journaling on the page I showed earlier. No special plans for that page, just some random stuff I came across!

Rusty Skin

2011-09-14T00:01:00.000-04:00

I have rusty skin. And I'm perfectly fine with that.
I picked up a new book not long ago, and it has a lot of interesting techniques to try. There is one section about making "skins". I'm familiar with spreading acrylic paint, letting it dry, then peeling it off to use for a collage element.

But I was intrigued with possibly making a rusty skin by spreading soft gel medium over a rusty object. I got my rusty object (if you've read this blog from the beginning, you might recognize this object which I found in the road in front of my house once. My guess is that it is an old tractor foot pedal.) I spread the medium on the back side and waited for it to dry (about 5 hours, with the help of a fan blowing on it). I liked seeing veins of rust showing through as it dried.

When I finally peeled it off, I was a little disappointed that it was mostly black from the blacker parts of the metal, not the pretty rusty brown. But it IS a soft, flexible, usable skin, as the book promised.

I wanted to try again for the perfect rusty color, and spread a thinner layer on the other side of the object. It was still drying when I took pictures, so I don't have the finished skin, but I don't think it will be what I am looking for either. I'm sure I'll try this again though. I just have to find the right rusty objects!

While waiting for things to dry, I spied my journal on the table where I had stamped with wallpaper last week. I decided to put masking tape on the pages, sponge color around the tape, then peel off the tape. I am seeing some great places for journaling on these pages!

I like having a lot of projects on the back burner. But I think I'm going to need a bigger stove, with a lot more burners!

(Forgot to mention the book that has the rust technique. It is Surface Treatment Workshop by McElroy and Wilson. I was so taken with all the techniques that fill this book, I paid full price at the bookstore, rather than waiting to order from amazon!)

Plodding Along

2011-09-12T00:07:00.000-04:00

Another look at my in-progress paste paper book from Teri Martin's Art Buffet class. I lost my momentum working in the journal when I went out of town in August. So now I add a little here, a little there, when the mood strikes. I extended lines, added doodles, and used a bird stencil. On another page, lines from one page bled through to the other side and it looked like a road map. So I just took it further.

My own little adventures in exploration.....

September 11

2011-09-11T08:45:00.001-04:00

There is a sacredness in tears.

They are not the mark of weakness,

but of power.

They speak more eloquently

than ten thousand tongues.

They are messengers of

overwhelming grief ...

and unspeakable love.

Washington Irving

Giant Things

2011-09-09T21:30:00.001-04:00

I love surprises, especially fun surprises. My friend, Jan, must have taken to heart my description at the top of my blog, where I say I collect giant things for my giant coffee cup. She surprised me when she sent me a giant ballpoint pen. And it works. And it writes very nicely too! Coincidentally, I recently bought a giant pencil at the dollar store. It has a chalk point, and the packaging says the eraser works on the chalk. So I have two new things to go along with the giant wooden scissors, the giant plastic nib/container, and the giant brush. My cup runneth over!

What I'll bet Jan didn't count on was that I would take some of the rubbery shelf liner stuff she rolled the pen in before she mailed it. I wondered if it would stick to an acrylic block. I cut it in pieces and tried it out. It didn't really stick like I expected, but it stayed long enough for me to stamp with it.

I also painted it with acrylic paint and stamped. Great for borders on a journal page!

Another thing I've played with this week is stamping with a piece of embossed wallpaper (anaglypta).

And that's why they call me "she who is easily amused"....

Very Wordy

2011-09-07T15:38:00.000-04:00

I'm feeling very wordy lately. I have words everywhere.

I got these rubber stamp words last month and have a decision to make on how to mount them. I can't cut wood with my band saw right now and I don't have enough cushion with the cling back to use with acrylic blocks (plus I like having words mounted and ready to go).

Remember when I mentioned that I found embossed felt sheets at Michael's? That same day, I found foam sheets that are thicker than the regular ones. I bought a sheet to try out with rubber stamps. The foam is about one-fourth inch thick. I cut it easily with a craft knife (new blade recommended). This is gonna work just fine, and now I have some words for journaling. (I remember people used to cut up those garden kneeling pads for mounting stamps, so this is probably about the same thing, but maybe easier to cut.)

I can also mount these other important stamps that I got a couple of months ago!

Now I can go word crazy And monkey crazy!

Tippity Tappity

2011-09-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

Today is Labor Day in the United States of America, a national holiday. Or, as I call it, just another working day.

It started out as a day to honor working people. It's one of those holidays that evolved into another excuse to have a bunch of sales at all the stores, which means more and more people have to work on this day of resting and relaxing.

I work in healthcare and since hospitals never close, I work my fair share of holidays.

I type for a living. Tippity-tappity clickity-clack, all day long.

This is Not what I type on though. I tried to take a picture of my keyboard, but it didn't work with a flash or without a flash.

But you'll just have to take my word for it that most of the letters are no longer on the keys. That's what happens when you type all day every day.
(P.S. I'm sure that's not actual dust inside that little typing machine. It must be fairy sprinkles.)

Don't Look Now

2011-08-30T17:31:00.000-04:00

Pssst... don't look now but it's almost September. Apparently the month of August was only five days long this year, or so it seemed.

I've learned a few things this month. I already mentioned that I learned of the existence of embossed felt. I also learned that Velcro now comes in clear dots, and they are thin, too. I've used black and white Velcro dots for book closures, but they seemed to stand out like a sore thumb. So I'm happy to see thin clear ones. (Gaye used them in one of her classes, so naturally I had to find some too.)

I learned that you can buy a black and pink Hello Kitty bra. It was mentioned in this post here about the flea market in Budapest. I thought Mary Ann was making that up, but a Google search proved the Hello Kitty bra does exist. Who knew?

I've learned that if I leave something in the Get-Rid-Of box too long, I'll change my mind and take it out.

I've learned that I never get tired of making color charts.

I've learned that if you buy spiffy new shoelaces to put on you old comfy shoes, it makes your feet smile.

I just can't wait to see what I'll learn in September!

Mystery Object

2011-08-25T11:47:00.001-04:00

In my last post, I swallowed my pride and showed you this Mystery Object.

Basically it's a plastic bag, a piece of folded cardboard, and some suede paper. But I call it my camera pocket. I know, I know... you can buy a perfectly nice camera Bag at any number of stores. But when I first started carrying a camera with me everywhere, I learned quickly that a camera bag didn't work for me. I wanted something that was easy in-easy out when I wanted to grab my camera with one hand. I needed a pocket of some kind, one that I could put in my purse. So I made one. I folded cardboard into a U-shape to fit the size of my camera. I used a sturdy cardboard because I sometimes forget I have a camera in my purse when I toss my purse onto the car seat or the kitchen counter. I then cut a piece of suede paper to fit inside the U-shape - this is to protect the screen on the back of the camera from getting scratched. The only purpose of the plastic bag was to hold everything in place, since the U-shape was open at the ends and would not hold its shape unless it was in the bag. (I don't remember why I didn't just add some sides to hold it... maybe that would have made it too tight around the camera.)

Anyway, that contraption has been the home of my first camera, and also the second camera I now alternately use at times. It's getting kinda ratty-looking and I decided to upgrade it. I found the cutest little cases on Etsy made by a crafty person in Singapore, but they are for holding an iPhone and are not the "pocket" shape I like to use. But I did make something similar, using felt to make the front of it mimic the front of a camera.

When I went to buy some felt, I discovered some embossed felt. How long has that been around??? I had no idea!

This is what I ended up with.

You can see the U-shape I'm talking about. I was not going to add the suede inside, but the embossed felt was a little bit scratchy. And I'll still have to put this into a plastic bag to hold it in place. The funny thing is that after all this work, it will go into the darkness of my purse, and won't see the light of day for a long, long time...

To see the cute iPhone cases on Etsy that inspired this idea, go here.

Finding Things That Aren't Lost

2011-08-21T23:11:00.000-04:00

I was rummaging around in the warehouse (a.k.a., area of unkown and forgotten things in my art room), and I found two more little watercolor sets.

My goal is to weed out and thin out the things I don't use. It's a slow process (probably because I don't work on that project very much). So, before I put these in the Out box, of course I had to try them out to see if they were worthy of keeping.

And of course, by the time I did that, I totally forgot what I was rummaging for in the first place. But that's my life, and I'm happy in it.

I'm embarassed to tell you what this mystery object is. More about that later...

Yum.. Color...

2011-08-15T16:19:00.000-04:00

One of my purchases at Stampaway was a set of Peerless Watercolors. I've thought about buying this for years, and finally did since I seem to be more into watercolors lately. And of course, one of the first things I did was to make a chart and paint in all the colors to see what they look like. Yes, I am smitten with color charts (doesn't "smitten" sound a lot better than "obsessed"?!) A future project will be to make a travel kit and cut off a square of each page of color in the Peerless set.

I bought 4 new stamp pads, and since I had a blank space at the bottom of the page below the color chart, I used a pencil eraser to stamp dots with the new colors. You'd think I bought them to match the watercolors, but it is just a coincidence that they match that well. I seem to be drawn to brighter colors more than ever.

I really didn't buy much else. Just 4 or 5 stamps, and some cool tissue paper and new tapes. Can never have enough tapes. We even stopped at a JoAnn's when we had some extra time and ran into great bargains on notepads and journal tags.

Weekend Adventure

2011-08-14T11:10:00.000-04:00

My last post was posted automatically while I was traveling. Gaye and I hit the road north to Cincinnati on Thursday for the 19th annual Stampaway convention. Hard to believe it has been 19 years, but it has. These are samples from one of the classes Gaye taught (Cache Lavaliere) - even though I have seen these samples many times before, I am still amazed by them every time I see them spread out on the demo table. And these don't even show the hidden structure inside the necklace.

And speaking of Gaye, a smart teacher always has her fan/necklace for those hot classrooms (or were those just hot flashes?). FYI, Southern women don't sweat, they glisten. Or so I've been told.

There were a lot of activities on this trip. I explored hotel texture while waiting around in the parking lot...

We went to the botanical exhibit...

And we did some bird watching...

Actually, the "botanical" people had dressed that way to interpret the "flower power" theme of the Friday night show. The first one is Greg from Marco's Paper. He always goes all out. The second one is the ladies who won the costume contest. The last guy (from 100 Proof Press) took flower power to another level with his boxing gloves!

Some interpreted flower power to mean groovy clothes from the flower power generation.

Doesn't Chris Meador (right) look great in her retro clothes!?? And there is the "other" Kris with her, who now runs Coffee Break Design.

Gaye and I had a great three days, and both came home with some new things to play with. We also made a slight detour north to explore the Ohio Valley Antique Mall before heading back south and homeward.

So how did we go from a bright sunny day (see the blue sky in the picture with the giant yellow duck), to (just a mere two hours later) huddling around this camping lantern in a stranger's basement with a nice woman, her two nice children, and their dog?

As we got closer to Louisville, we were looking at the sky. It really wasn't ominous looking until we were right under it. That also happened to be about the time we turned down Gaye's street. But the street was blocked by a huge tree across it. We pulled into a driveway to turn around and go a different way. But the wind was blowing so hard, the car was shaking. We really didn't feel safe sitting in the car. Gaye suggested we make a run for the nearest house, and where we parked the family was already looking out the door, having heard the tree fall earlier. They welcomed us inside, even though Gaye and I got soaked in the 10 seconds it took us to run from the car to the house. We could literally wring water out of our hair and clothes, the rain was coming down so hard. Almost immediately, the power went out, and the lady instructed the kids to light the camping lanterns and take us to the basement. We were given towels to dry off, and we all waited out the storm in the darkness, getting to know each other. For me, the best part was when I was offerred a cup of coffee. In spite of the chaotic situation, the first thing I noticed when I dashed through the front door was the smell of freshly brewed vanilla coffee... Since I had another hour to drive before I'd be home, I guess I already had the need for a cup of coffee swirling in my brain. That hot cup of coffee was the best I have ever had, probably because Gaye and I were chilled to the bone from getting soaked in the rain.

When we finally did get to Gaye's house (and that was no easy task, as there were trees down on almost every street), we were relieved to see her property was fine, other than deck furniture blown over and some limbs down. Her husband had to override the garage door opener so I could get my car out of their garage, then I was eventually on my way. I could see why they had no electricity as I drove out of Louisville- there were trees on top of wires almost everywhere you looked.

We were feeling very lucky overall. And I saw a rainbow on my way home. I'm hoping her electricity has been restored by now....

Whilst Travelling....

2011-08-12T07:00:00.003-04:00

Several years ago, my friend Gaye made a travel journal. It was the coolest thing, with dividers of all kinds, with places and instructions on how to get there, exit numbers and road names and distances. So of course I had to make one too. Mine never got as full as hers, and in fact a lot of the places are crossed out because they aren't there anymore. And even though the GPS gadget has almost replaced Gaye's travel journal, the GPS is not nearly as much fun to hold.

This is my journal, made with a segmented binding, using Touche for the cover (a soft, sturdy cardstock). I need to go more places and add more directions and maps and business cards to my journal I think.

Random Play

2011-08-10T14:22:00.000-04:00

I have been taking a few minutes here and a few minutes there... just playing with some techniques from the Art Buffett class before I forget them. I have to say, I'm liking my little pastepaper play book more every day.

This is a No-Blot Pencil.. When you write with it, it looks like regular pencil marks, but brush with water and it turns blue. I had forgotten I had one of those pencils, and Teri put the spark in me to try it.

Then I played with pressing a stamp pad on the page and brushing with water.

I played.. and played some more. Before I knew it, I had two pages full of pure play.

I also decided this book needed a title.

Playing more on other pages.

Experimenting with which of my writing pens are waterproof.

This is the definition of Joy.

Art Buffet

2011-08-07T10:26:00.000-04:00

I was late to class and I'm trying to play catch-up. The class is Art Buffet with Teri Martin, and it has been a change of pace from the bookbinding I've been doing to get back to playing with papers. I have never had much luck with masking fluids, but I did order a Masquepen with a writing tip, and had a lot of fun making marks with that. This piece should have some more layers of masking and paint, but honestly I like it so much as is, I may not do anything else to it.

Other play papers:

Teri demo'd a little pastepaper book/journal that I wanted to try. I made mine with some papers I already had on hand. I always love seeing other people's journals, and I got lots of ideas from seeing hers.

I really, really need someone to hand me a boatload of money so I can quit my job and play more!!!

Inspiration Journal

2011-08-02T00:15:00.000-04:00

Trying to tie up loose ends and finish some half-started journals. Maybe "finish" is the wrong word. I meant finish as in finish the cover and at least the first page inside. This is the bonus book from the Full Tilt Boogie class. It will be filled with all those magazine clippings of decorating ideas, color combinations to dream about, furniture to long for, etc, etc. I kept the pages fairly plain and neutral, so that whatever is added later is not competing so much. I see fun in my future!

Today it snowed...

2011-07-30T07:00:00.000-04:00

Not really. I'm just trying to remember what it was like Before it felt like I was living on the sun..... every... single... day...

Move along...

2011-07-24T22:34:00.000-04:00

Move along... Nothing much to see here... keep moving..

I still have books in progress that I'm working on, but not a lot of new pictures. I also started an Inspiration Journal, using a heavy calendar page, scrapbook papers, tape, etc, etc. Haven't put my pages in yet, but here's a sneak peek of the outside cover ...

By the way, this was a "bonus book" which was not originally part of the online Full Tilt Boogie class, but Mary Ann threw it in at the end. It's great fun!

Book of Bird-Brained Ideas

2011-07-18T16:19:00.000-04:00

Here's my Frame Block book I am currently working on. The covers and first page spread are still in progress, but it's a start.

I knew I wanted to use the vintage 1913 postcard with the birds on it, which was inside the album when I got it. I even pulled off the 1-cent postage stamp off the back to glue on the front.

I had left over scrapbook paper that didn't make it into a previous book - the paper was already pretty busy with its collage look, so I didn't add a whole lot more to it.

I sewed lace to some muslin and glued that on the spine.

I'll add words to the front cover, and something else to the inside front cover. Overall, I'm loving this book too! I could never pick a favorite of all the books we've been making in the Full Tilt Boogie class.

Lavender and Maureen

2011-07-16T15:16:00.000-04:00

I'm still here. Just having more work days than play days. And when I get a play day, I can't decide what to do next! It's a great problem to have.

I have books in progress. I have a book ready to be sewn, but can't decide if I want to sew on tapes or make a cloth spine of some sort. So it's just sitting.

And I got some Bombay india ink, and had to play with that some.

And, since I seem to feel the need to sign up for yet Another online class (making backgrounds and marks on paper), I had to go to the closest town to see if I could find art supplies I needed or if I need to order online. The only place available without a road trip is Michael's. I still get in trouble with their $1 stuff. I got several shopping list pads because I like the ones with the days of the week on them. I cut them apart to use for journaling. I am ignoring the fact that most of the pads had a chicken theme... I won't use that part anyway. Those dollars sure can add up though!

But what about Lavender and Maureen, you might ask? Well, one of my books in progres uses the frame pages from one of the vintage albums. And it just so happened that one of the frames had a postcard of these sweet birdies. And another frame had a picture of these two women. I decided to use the postcard on the front of my book when I get the cover made (I'll cover up the Christmas part).

When I turned the postcard over, there was a message. The postcard was a holiday greeting sent to Maureen from her cousin Lavender. Even though the postcard and the picture may not be at all related, I decided then and there that the ladies in the picture were Lavender and Maureen.

Never mind the fact that when I re-read the postcard in better light, it is actually a card sent to male cousin Maurice. And it was sent from Laverne. What can I say, it's written in pencil and hard to read. And my eyes are decades old! I just won't tell anyone. They'll always be Lavender and Maureen to me, and that's that.

Visuals

2011-07-09T23:59:00.000-04:00

It's been all work and not much play the last few days. But I did get a couple of things from Gaye to perk up my senses. One is a large album with a patchwork cover. It has black pages, and I think it will be a good place for the watercolor flowers that I worked on last month. I've been wanting to put them in a book of some kind, but a lot of them are oversized. This is perfect.

She also let me bring home some brushes she got at a yard sale to play around with. I envision the person who lovingly painted with these brushes, using some more than others. (I just realized I'm envisioning a woman... maybe it was a male artist. Who's to know?)

Letters from Home

2011-07-06T07:19:00.000-04:00

It is SO wrong to post part of a letter from a relative without their permission. So wrong. But some things need to be shared.

(Click to enlarge.)
(Please forgive me, unnamed letter-writer, and I hope you never, ever see this blog entry. Please forgive me, unnamed person referred to in the letter. I'm sorry I'm laughing at your misfortune.)

By the way, if you want to see more books from the Full Tilt Boogie class, teacher Mary Ann Moss is posting lots of class members' books HERE.

Somebody Stop Me

2011-07-04T13:22:00.000-04:00

I'm on a roll I think! I tackled the Week 3 journal in the Full Tilt Boogie class. I love the new stitches we learned - much easier than they look. I picked an old book with a cover I liked. I assembled a bunch of ledger papers, graph papers, etc., and cut some scrapbook papers to size to use as signature wrappers. I decided to use some dark blue suede paper for the spine.

I may have gotten a bit too ambitious. I decided to use both stitches we learned and put them on this book rather than make two books. I made several mistakes along the way. Thank goodness I'm not obsessive about perfection. I am perfectly fine with ~~mistakes~~ creative options.

I have started using my Week 1 journal to make journal entries about all the books I'm making. Is that obsessive? Don't answer. So, I'm making the books, journaling about the books, blogging about the books, dreaming about making more books... I need a nap now.

Afraid to Glue

2011-07-02T14:15:00.000-04:00

We are in week three of the Full Tilt Boogie online class. But before I started the third journal, I wanted to finish the second one.

I was concerned. I picked out my cover last week - an old vintage photo album. This would have a hidden spine, so the cover is used intact. No problem. My cover is in good shape (considering the age). It was no problem to take out the stiff photo pages in the album... they were not even attached anymore. I cut and tore watercolor paper until I had enough signatures. I added in some of the old photo pages that came in the album. I was careful to not overstuff the book, and used less pages than what it looked like I should. I sewed the signatures together using strips of Tyvek for the tapes. And it all sat there for a week. I could not commit to glue. I was sure it needed more signatures - that spine is pretty wide. But my signature block was already done, all neat and tidy, sewn together like a Christmas package. (I also used painted Tyvek to support the spine inside the cover.)

Today, I made the decision. I would make four more signatures and sew them to the previously made signature block. Do or die. The sewing won't show, so it doesn't matter if it looks sloppy. But it looked fine. It can be done!

I glued it in and it worked fine. The book is resting now, and the glue is drying. I'm very happy with it. Now I can move on to the third structure! Can't wait!

Boogie Book

2011-06-25T11:22:00.000-04:00

This is my first journal in the Full Tilt Boogie class. I used the cover from an old ledger book, and upholstery fabric for the tapes (sewn-on tape design). Most of the papers are scrapbook papers, with other stuff thrown in. Even though I've made my own books for years, I still had a couple of major screw-ups... but I decided if I don't tell you what they are, you won't even notice!

The above picture was one of my mistakes. I wasn't paying attention and ripped my pages while sewing in a signature. I removed the thread from the pages and put different tapes between the sew holes, where the paper was ripped. I have to say, I like the "after" better than the "before" pages!

My second mistake was that my thread was on the wrong side of one of my upholstery tapes in one spot. It happed on about the 3rd signature, but I didn't notice it until I was on tying off the last signature. I decided to let it go. I didn't have the patience to take apart the entire signature block and start over. Bet you can't even tell where it is.

Onward to journal #2.....

In Progress

2011-06-19T11:04:00.000-04:00

Remember the children's books that ask what things don't go together (like circles and squares)? Well, I know what doesn't go together - starting a new online class on Friday (Full Tilt Boogie) and then having to work all weekend. I am so antsy to move along, but have to work on my journal when I can grab bits of time. I have chosen a book cover, something I've wanted to use for a book cover for a long time (old ledger book from Academy of Our Lady of Mercy)...

And I have been assembling papers for my pages. Remember the number rack I got from Hobby Lobby? I printed the photo of that onto the back of a piece of scrapbook paper (the striped one). Cut the scrapbook paper to fit your printer, and print away! Fold page for insertion into your signature.

Can't wait to finish. Hope Our Lady of Mercy looks kindly on me!

Mail Boat, Part 2

2011-06-13T23:53:00.000-04:00

So, she started wondering... wasn't there a story a few years ago, about mail delivery on a lake somewhere "up north", where young teenagers would hop off the boat onto the dock, run to a mailbox, put the mail in the box, run back and jump on the boat, while the boat never stopped. And they did this for all the houses on this particular lake.

Why, yes, it is on Lake Geneva, Wisconsin.
Watch it here]
(oh, to be a young, nimble teenager again!)

My Life on the Mail Boat

2011-06-12T17:07:00.000-04:00

Okay, that's misleading. I have never been on a mail boat. I've never seen a mail boat. Never even heard of one before. That is until I had a Florida webcam on my computer screen while I was doing.. something... I don't remember what. And this bright little boat zips by, and on the side it says Fiesta Mail/ Mail Boat. So, I decided if I ever run away from home, I want to go work on the mail boat, jumping from island to island in the Bahamas, delivering mail, enjoying the blue waters and white beaches.

Except in hurricane season, that is.

(By the way, on the journal page above, I printed pictures from the internet onto matt photo paper, then roughed them up with sandpaper for a little texture. If you click on them to enlarge, you might be able to see the scratches.)

More Goodies

2011-06-11T11:37:00.000-04:00

I forgot to add these things that I got the last time I ventured to the Big City to visit. Gaye took me to Hobby Lobby (since I don't have one where I live) where I got this cool tool caddy...

The oval glass containers that hold my tools fit in there perfectly. (Oval containers came from one of Gaye's past yard sales). And did you notice Mr. Nib peeking out? That's a Christmas ornament that Gaye gave me years and years ago. He lives with my tools.

I also got this.

Hobby Lobby does have some fun things from time to time.

I still play around with color drop flowers when I get a chance. And in case you still have not taken the class, Martha is having another giveaway. Go leave a comment on her blog HERE if you want a chance to win the class. Drawing is on Sunday night.

(I used up my black paint and called them my Goth Flowers!)

Before I Die...

2011-06-10T08:04:00.000-04:00

I don't remember how I came across this art project, but it's one of those things that I can't get out of my head. It seems like lately the world and local news is exponentially worse every day. It's just nice to read about something that is not horrible.

Ingredients:
One abandoned building in New Orleans.
One artist with innovative vision.
Chalkboard paint.
Stencils.
Baskets of chalk.
One "Certificate of Appropriateness".
People.

Be sure and check out more pictures here. Also click on the tab for other Projects. I like the idea of sidewalk stencils. I may have to make some of those! And I need to find out where you can get temporary spray chalk. Kudos to Candy Chang, the artist.

Something Old, Something New

2011-06-02T21:41:00.000-04:00

old, new, old, new, old, new....
For one thing, it's a NEW month! I must have misplaced May - it was here a couple of days ago, I'm sure of it. Oh, well, we'll just go with June for now...

I have an occasional Thursday off, and sometimes that means a trip to Gaye's house. Today, it was to check out her NEW car...

It's a Nissan Cube and it suits her to a T. The problem with someone like Gaye, who has a vibrant personality, is trying to convince the spousal unit that what's important in buying a new car is that it looks good on her! She and her husband have been married long enough now that I think he gets it. If it makes her happy, that's all that's important, right?!

While there, I checked out these OLD nibs. Honestly, she finds stuff like this all the time. These boxes were amazing enough even if they had been empty. But they were full of interesting nibs, as well as printed ads and information folded up inside.

I also picked up some NEW tape we had decided we had to have. Love the tape, love the tin.

More OLD stuff... I have bought a couple of old albums on eBay, some with cabinet cards in them.

And I got a couple more from Gaye. I'm pretty sure I'll be taking Mary Ann Moss' next class, Full Tilt Boogie, which will utilize this type of album.

Gaye also found these OLD Kodak books that have numbered glassine pages to hold negatives. Oh, the stories these pictures could probably tell.

Head full of flowers

2011-05-20T16:29:00.000-04:00

I've started an online class this week - Color Drop Flowers with Martha Lever. This is so much fun, except for the fact that these pesky work obligations keep me from playing. These are my first efforts. I see all the things that can be done better, but for a beginner, I'm happy with them. And I loved all the special techniques Martha uses. I still need a good oriental brush - I can't believe that I have almost a dozen of them, but none are what I need (none make a good point at the end). I did find a squirrel brush at Michael's that I've used some. It's close to being a good substitute, but some of my petals look a little, well, squirrely. Go figure. I'm using the other brushes more for now, just to get comfortable with the technique.

Also, once I saw someone else doodling on leaves, I couldn't help myself. All my practice leaves now look just like birds to me. That's all I can see now. Birds, birds, birds...

Where's Your Head?

2011-05-16T11:05:00.000-04:00

This is where I make a journal entry about being absent-minded. It's one thing to come home with something that wasn't what you thought it was. But several things? I must have been either distracted, tired, or my mind was a million miles away thinking about something else.

You are given permission to either laugh with me or at me! Just don't tell anyone how loopy I am.

Blogger Ate My Homework

2011-05-13T16:01:00.000-04:00

I had a new post here yesterday. I'm sure I didn't imagine it. Blogger says it is "fixing" something. And in the interim, they had to remove recent posts from everyone's blogs. They say they are in the process of restoring them. In case they don't restore my post, just know that it was the most clever post I have ever, ever made! At least I think it was. I don't remember now what I posted. It had something to do with this giant coffee bag...

Adventures in CoffeeLand

2011-05-12T10:46:00.000-04:00

I'm so clever. I keep accumulating interesting coffee bags. I recently finished off coffee from Maui (yes, Miss J.La, it IS as good as Kona coffee) and from Alaska (coffee from Alaska? Who knew... And yes, it is also very excellent!)

My cleverness came into play when I decided to order a burlap coffee bag and make a book cover for my coffee book (you know, the coffee book I am going to make some time in the future). But I'm not as clever as I thought. Evidently I did not read the description of the burlap bag very closely.

See that little wooden stick in the middle of the picture? That's a 12 inch ruler. So the burlap bag is the size that Juan Valdez throws on the back of his donkey. We are talking very large. A couple of coffee beans even fell out when I unfolded it and held it up!

Maybe I'll make a tote bag instead. A very, very, very large tote bag....

It's a Sign

2011-05-06T10:52:00.000-04:00

Random things

that never

made it to

the blog.

This is not a Lake

2011-05-02T16:41:00.001-04:00

I left the flooded Ohio River Valley to visit family in West Tennessee, near the flooded Mississippi River Valley. Sometimes it's hard to comprehend all the destruction in the news from tornados and earthquakes around the world. On a smaller scale, there is flooding in western Kentucky and Tennessee. I know, because I drove through a lot of it. This is not a lake. This is farmland. Farmers should be planting their crops right now. But they can't. Water as far as the eye can see in some places.

I didn't realize how much wind damage Tennessee had. I saw lots and lots of huge trees snapped in half from the wind. Other trees just fell over, roots and all, partly from the wind, partly from soggy gound--or maybe from both.

But, as always, the trip had many up sides. Nothing is better for the soul than lots of laughs with family. We had a lot of fun trying to come up with our Royal Wedding Names (I saw it online somewhere--take your grandmother's first name or grandfather's if you are a male, then your first pet's name hyphenated with the street where you grew up. You know, something like "Dixie Pledge-VanHook". We moved a lot and had lots of pets we couldn't remember, so we had lots of options. None sounded very regal though!)

I would show you a picture of the most excellent catfish dinner from this retaurant out in the country--if I had not scarfed it down so fast, that is.

I took dozens of pictures of birds on my mom's deck, but rarely got any good ones in focus before the birds flew away. At one point there were five of these indigo buntings on the deck at once. They are the sweetest little birds and such a beautiful blue.

So, after driving in horrible rain all day and getting drenched when I stopped for gas, I'm ready to snuggle up in my jammies and take a snooze!

P.S. - Those of you familiar with Land Between the Lakes? Lots of "lakes", not much "land" right now!

Bad Egg

2011-04-28T09:47:00.000-04:00

I love free tutorials, and when a group of bloggers had several free tutorials at the end of March and early April, I couldn't wait to try them. Especially Tracie Huskamp's "Painting A Bird's Egg". I painted several eggs--on different types of fabrics and in a watercolor sketchbook. After struggling with the technique (which looked so simple and easy when she did it), I realized I just can't draw an egg. So I think I'll back up and just sketch eggs for awhile, then go back and try the technique. But she has a great tutorial here. A list of the other tutorials is here.

Love Letters

2011-04-26T23:34:00.000-04:00

I should have said Love OF Letters. I love letters of all kinds. And have I mentioned how great it is to have a best friend who shares all the cool stuff she finds. Gaye seems to think these letters are made of lead. Who am I to argue. I'm metallurgically challenged. These are fairly soft and pliable. We drilled through one easily, and they polish up well too. They are about one inch tall. She finds stuff like this all the time. Pretty cool if you ask me.

Window Screen Tape

2011-04-22T16:10:00.001-04:00

Not long ago, I bought a roll of window screen repair tape. Of course I had no intention of using it on an actual window screen. I've tried it out on a journal spread and kinda like it. The roll doesn't look like it has a whole lot on it, but it's enough to play with and may last longer than I expect, especially when I cut it in strips like I have here.

Fidget Goblinglimmer

2011-04-21T18:15:00.000-04:00

That is my new name, Fidget Goblinglimmer. Or, at least that is my fairy name according to the fairy name generator (click here to find yours).

They describe me this way:

She brings riches and wealth.

She lives in rotting woodlands near poisonous toadstools.

She can only be seen when the sun sets on a day of complete harvest.

She wears red with white spots, likes toadstools and has gentle green wings like a butterfly.

Rotting woodlands and poisonous toadstools? Ewww.
By "complete harvest", does that mean "when the margarita is made"?
Red with white spots? If I live in rotting woodlands, make that white with red spots, because I'm sure I'd be covered with poison ivy.

Fidget Goblinglimmer.
That's just silly.

Talk to the Hand

2011-04-18T07:40:00.000-04:00

Sometimes I'm embarrassed that there are so many things within a day's drive that I have never seen. I can mark this one off the list.

Live Like You Mean It

2011-04-13T21:56:00.000-04:00

After I made my evidence baggies shown in that last post, I was organizing all the words I have cut from junk mail and magazines. I was putting them in the baggies, but some of the words seemed to be jumping out at me. So those ended up on a journal page. I don't remember where I got the words "Live like you mean it", but it is a really profound statement when you think about it.

What's the point of saving all these words if you don't use them (she said to herself)....

Forensic Artist

2011-04-10T10:30:00.000-04:00

She is a Forensic Artist. She makes her own evidence bags. She will embarass all those around her by picking up ~~trash~~ interesting items off the street for future use. She is always searching.

I thought I was so clever, making up a term like forensic artist. But, of course, that term already exisits. When I looked on the internet, that's what they call the people who are sketch artists or make sculptural recreations.

Nevertheless, while I was busy doing other things, I suddenly wanted to try something. That's usually how I get all my ideas. I'll be engrossed in something else completely and the new idea pops into my head like a firecracker, and I cannot rest until I've tried it.
I hadn't used my stencils and spray paints in a while. For some reason, I felt the need to get out some plastic baggies and spray them with black and white spray paint. They turned out pretty well, although the paint did smear when I lifted the stencils.

I have to go collect more evidence now...

Go For It

2011-04-05T18:24:00.001-04:00

One of the things I've challenged myself to do this year is to take more pictures. Too many times, I have thought (too late) that I wish I had taken a picture of something. So I'm trying to wish less and Do more.

Which is why, when I was in the office at the phone company this afternoon, I took a picture of this phone.

I did ask permission first. It was right there between the Spiderman phone and the multi-handset system. The clerk told me they sold more of the Fuzzy phone than you'd think. I don't want one, but I do want a picture of one.

And then driving home, I then found myself going from the Fuzzy Phone to traipsing through a muddy field. I pass this old barn a lot. I suspect it is being torn down. Every time I pass it, I want a picture of it. I keep telling myself that the next time I drive by, it may be gone completely and I will have lost my chance.

It stands on a hill. Its glory days are over. There's just something about that skeleton of a roof that I find fascinating.

Its red paint has long ago faded. The hinges and nails are still bright red.

But, in spite of my muddy shoes and the fear that I was going to get in trouble for trespassing, I won't have any regrets now if it's gone the next time I drive by.

So I was working on my taxes...

2011-04-03T11:34:00.000-04:00

I really was. But in that box of stuff where I throw everything, I found my missing file folder of quotations. So that's where it went. You know what they say, when you stop looking for something, that's when you find it. And since I had played earlier with yet another color chart (thumbs down on the mini painting kit), I went ahead and added a quote to the page where I had cleaned off my brush with the different paints. This is so much more fun than tax forms.....

Adventures and Oddities

2011-04-01T20:08:00.000-04:00

I have been out and about getting into trouble. That last picture with the monkey tree was taken at a little shop that has so many fun and funky things. How can you pass up a shop with a sign like this? You SO have to go in.

They also had this and this:

And that shop was next to the cafe with this:

Where inside we sat at a window with these lights:

And as I ate my fried green tomato BLT, my view included things like the teabag pants.

After Gaye treated me to lunch, we strolled down to this art store:

But even before all that, I was treated with, among other things, a wonderful vintage journal, with some of Gaye's awesome collage on the cover. The journal was made in 1972 1/2... Never saw one with the 1/2 next to the year!

It's almost worth getting old to have that much fun!!

Where Monkeys Come From

2011-04-01T08:04:00.000-04:00

They don't just grow on trees, you know.

Happy April....

But first...

2011-03-24T23:07:00.000-04:00

Plan: Go to the grocery store after work.

What happened in reality:
I notice the open journal on the work table. I had started a color chart the day before using a small fold-up watercolor box. I bought the box years ago, always envisioning myself out on hikes, making nature sketches. [Insert laughter here.] I made a row of color down the left side and a row across the top, but decided I didn't have enough room across the top, so I abandoned the idea. But on the way to get ready for the trip to the grocery store, I instead sat down and started filling in the rest of the page with other stuff. I liked it.

Now I can go to the grocery store. But first, I'll take this leftover acrylic ink that I had used for lettering, and paint a couple of journal pages in my other journal. Oops, not quite enough to finish, so I poured out some more acrylic ink. Now I had some left over again. I decided to use the rest on some fabric.

As I've done in the past, I put some stick-on letters and numbers on the fabric, then used a lot of water and the ink on the fabric. I liked it.

But the fabric was really wet, so I tried a new thing (for me). I took a piece of paper (I think it is Lenox, but might be Stonehenge), and pressed it hard onto the wet, painted fabric. I could not believe how well it picked up the detail of the thread in the fabric.

To the store now? No, there was still a little ink left, so I painted another piece of fabric.

Off to the store now? What store? I think my brain has spring fever. And I have a nice little pile of stuff for future projects.

Fashion (Non)Sense

2011-03-23T09:10:00.000-04:00

Be aware. This could happen to you.

You might buy a big box of old patterns. You might put it aside and forget about it for months.

The Pattern People might get bored. They will mix and mingle. They will try on each others clothes. They will steal words and pages from children's books.

You never know what they will do.

[Caution: Silliness alert!]

Feeling Bluesy

2011-03-19T15:39:00.000-04:00

I don't know why people think I like blue so much.

I mean, really.

Okay, it's true. I love blues and greens. I like other colors, but I sure do gravitate to the blues a lot when I'm playing and journaling.

By the way, the first picture, with the brush in the water? That was an experiment too. Just mere hours ago, it was a candle. Am I the only one who gets irritated when a candle in a jar burns halfway down, then the wick disappears and it won't burn anymore? Or, even if the candle does last its intended life span all the way to the bottom, what does one do with a wax-coated leftover candle jar? This particular candle was a favorite--"vanilla cupcake"--and smelled heavenly. But halfway through, it just would not burn anymore. On a whim today, I put it in the microwave. I heated it for about 20 seconds at a time, then took a knife to the soft wax and cut it in fourths like a pie. I was then able to remove the wax chunks through the narrow opening. While the rest of the leftover wax inside was warm, I wiped off what I could with a paper towel. I'm sure I could have washed it, but who wants wax in their kitchen pipes? Only when I felt the wax was gone did I give it good rinse and cleaning in the sink. It is now my new water jar. I have some small water jars that I got from Gaye. They are my favorites that I use constantly. But this may be my new favorite because it is wider on the bottom and maybe I won't tip this one over! (In reality, if something has a liquid in it, and it is near me, chances are it will eventually get knocked over.)

Playing, playing, playing... lots of experimenting going on.

I had some leftover acrylic ink and used it on some journal pages. Tried to see what would happen if I used a dropper to drop black, then white inks into the wet blue. But before I used the dropper, I got my camera, and it dried too fast for good results. Plus the white was kinda globby. I ended up blotting up most of the black and white. The pages curled a lot at first, and I weighted them down before dropping more color. The ink bottle left a nice little half moon there on the page.

Speaking of moons... don't forget to look up in the skies tonight for the SuperMoon!!!

Zoom Zoom

2011-03-17T17:44:00.000-04:00

Are you celebrating St. Patrick's Day? Did you know you can get a SmartCar with a St. Patrick's "wrapper"?

I'd want the Hello Kitty car, I think.

Or maybe the one with paint stripes.

These are so cute, you can practically put them in your pocket. However, not so sure how they'd do on those icy roads late at night on a long trip.....

The sun is shining here... I'll be on the Patty-O.

Cut Cut Here...Cut Cut There

2011-03-15T06:12:00.000-04:00

I like to carve stamps, but I don't do it very much. When I ran across Traci Bunkers blog (here) in January, I admired her dedication to carve a stamp a day. What I liked best was that the designs were nice geometric shapes, and she did a lot with them as far as adding color. You can see more of the designs by going back through her archives of January and February. (And now that she has finished 30 Days of Carving, she is on to her 30 Days of Journaling... I have some catch-up reading to do!)

So I decided to carve a few stamps. Then I wondered if I had some older stamps I had carved that I forgot about.

The one below is one I carved last week. I like this design for borders on journal pages. (I also like the flexibility of straying from the original sketch as I go).

For journaling, I also like to use words and phrases from magazines and newspapers. I have an envelope full of these that I cut out as they strike my fancy, then I'll grab one from time to time, and see where it takes me. It usually involves silliness of some kind...

So much to do... so little time!

Postage Fabric Adventures

2011-03-10T12:25:00.000-05:00

Sorry... I've been distracted again. It started when I checked a blog that I really should check more often. Cathe Holden has some really great projects, and is very sharing with ideas and downloads. Like this Cigar Box Doll Bed. That is the cutest thing I've ever seen. And she provides free downloads of the postage stamps to make your own little bed quilt.

I downloaded the stamps from her blog and printed a couple of them on Jacquard's inkjet cotton sheet. I'd forgotten that sometimes colors fade when you print on fabric.

Then I remembered I had some of Golden's Digital Ground, which I know others have had success with. So I painted a fabric sheet with it as directed, and waited for it to dry. While I was waiting, I tried covering the first fabric sheet with Golden's Acrylic Glazing Liquid. I was pretty proud of myself that it did indeed brighten the colors. On this photo, the top two rows (lighter) are without the glaze and everything below it has glaze on it.

The next day, I printed postage on the fabric I has put the Digital Ground on. Wow. I could not believe how well it worked. The colors really were brighter and the images sharper. I was really impressed with the results. (PS, I do Not work for Golden's, just happy that a product does what it is supposed to!)

Since I don't have a cigar box bed to make a quilt for, I used some of my new fabric to make a journal pocket.

Book Love

2011-03-07T18:26:00.000-05:00

One of the fun things about stopping at Gaye's house on Saturday is that I got to see some of the class samples she is working on for Art & Soul in Hampton, Virginia. The "Lattice Entertain You" book is pretty amazing. The pictures are great, but holding the books person is another matter - very impressive with all those intricate cuts on pages, on edge of pages, on the spine. There are still openings in that class if you are in the area or planning to go. The other class (Sewn In & Tied Too) is full (and is also an awesome, fun book).

To see more pictures, go here. For convention info, go here. Now that's a road trip I wish I was going on!

Rainy Road Trip

2011-03-07T18:05:00.000-05:00

About this time, nine weeks into the new year, those dark winter days could use some excitement. That's why Gaye and I look forward to our road trip to Indianapolis for the annual rubber stamp show. Little did we know that it would rain all day. And by all day, I mean All Day, without exception. I wish I had thought to take some pictures of the fields along the interstate. Indiana is pretty flat in that area, and every field looked like a lake. In some parking lots, ducks looked like they were walking on water, because there was no dry surface. Hard to believe we were in drought conditions not so long ago.

But inside the car, it was toasty and sunny. We both really needed the road trip. We didn't really need to shop for anything at all - it's all about the trip. It's not a huge convention, and seemed even smaller this time. We both bought a few unmounted stamps at StampCamp and Lost Coast Designs. I was happy to get some cushion, too, since I've needed it for months. And those $2 long border stamps get me every time. Hard to pass those up. I noticed at most of the booths, it was all about ATC's. Lots and lots of stamps sized to fit artist trading cards. There were also some companies I wasn't familiar with, but they were very popular and had long lines. Gaye and I reminisced back to the early days, and whether or not we ever wanted something bad enough to stand in line. Me - my limit is about 30 minutes in line, tops. Gaye - not so much!

I was happy to see the Coffee Break booth. I knew the business had been sold, to someone who already carried his products before. It was good to see the familiar products, and that she kept the motto on the sign "Use Responsibly". You can see more about Kristin here.

We stopped at our favorite antique mall on the way home of course. That's where we walk a lot, look a lot, and maybe buy one or two things. I bought a porcelain palette and a children's book, which had old photos that for some reason really cracked me up.

Great day. I got home after dark, tired and sleepy. Had to work Sunday and almost overslept. But it was a happy tired.

Sharpie Brothers At Work

2011-03-04T22:40:00.000-05:00

My intention this month was to explore some web links I had bookmarked for myself, most with techniques I wanted to try. I planned to share them with you as well. Now, just posting a link is fine, but I wanted to try them first and have something to show for it. Right now, I have a few things in progress, and this is one of them.

I will definitely tell you where the idea originated, because I want to give credit where credit is due. I don't know these artists, and I hope they don't mind that I send you their way. This technique is Sharpie Ghost Writing. Looks like a cool background to try and I will be doing more of it. I came across it on YouTube, posted by Leslie Herger a couple of years ago. You can see the video here.

Gesso a page, write a whole bunch with different Sharpies, gesso over it (full instructions in the video). Given that Sharpies are supposed to be permanent, it is amazing that the color does indeed float to the top through the gesso. It's magic...

Have you ever noticed that even if you've seen it before and done it before, there's always something new to learn. My favorite part of what Leslie did was to use water color crayons, then paint over them with white gesso. I always find those watercolor crayons to be a mystery. They are fine, but so are regular watercolors. But this gives them a whole new dimension for me. Love how that technique works. Enjoy!

All I Had Was a Pancake

2011-03-03T09:13:00.000-05:00

The search for things new and exciting continues. I was blown away seeing art created by using a waffle as a stamp. It was hidden in some great photos on Lisa Engelbrecht's Flickr site from a calligraphy conference. See waffles here and here.

I really thought I had some frozen waffles in my freezer. I was so disappointed to see all I had was old frozen pancakes, past their expiration date.

Surely I could still stamp with them.

Maybe I could use a cookie cutter. (I have several, although none have ever been used to make cookies as far as I know.)

Maybe I could make a cat pancake stamp.

Or maybe I could have breakfast. Yum.

See how easily I get distracted.....

New Beginnings

2011-03-01T23:01:00.000-05:00

New month - new look - new plan. Yes, it's greener around here, including the background. (What? You think that red background I used in February looked like a brothel??)

Can you believe it's March? I had so many plans for the new year, so many new things to embark on, most of which I haven't gotten to yet. Nevertheless, March is my favorite month. And it was exactly two years ago this month that I started this blog. Time sure flies.

Not every idea I have for a blog post ever makes it here. I had big plans for Ice Candles. Yes, ice candles.

I saw some awesome photos on another blog of something that looked like big blocks of ice, sitting out in the snow, with lighted candles in them. I was determined to make a mini version. I would put them out in the snow. I would take amazing photos. People would be in awe of me. Or not....

I took a plastic cup and filled it almost full of water. I then filled a smaller cup with water and put it inside the other cup of water. I played around with different amounts of water until the smaller cup did not sink and stayed near the top level of the water. The purpose of the little cup was only to "make a hole" so that when the ice froze, I could remove the little cup, put a candle in the hole, and have my amazing ice candle.

So I put my contraption in the freezer and by the next day it was ready to go. But it was a week or more before we had snow. In order to get my amazing photo, I wanted it to be at sunrise, with no flash and just natural light. I went out on the deck at sunrise, with candle, matches, and camera. The ice candle sank down into the snow, so you can't really tell how tall it is. It might as well be some ordinary glass candle holder I bought at the dollar store!

It was very cold and windy that morning. The wind kept blowing out the matches. Even when I did get the candle lit, the wind blew that out too. So I ended up with about a dozen pictures that were either blurry or with no lit candle. None were amazing. My fingers were frozen. I had to get to work, so I abandoned the project. Later that day, most of the snow melted, I let the ice candle melt in the sink... project failed

I'm not sure I'll ever try this particular project again. But I do know that I plan to use this month to pass along some fun things for all of us to try, hopefully more fun than Ice Candles!

Tea Time

2011-02-27T10:03:00.000-05:00

Is it a box of tea?

Or is it a book?

I have long been a fan of Gwen Diehn's books and bought her new book Real Life Journals a few weeks ago. I just discovered her blog, and there is the tutorial for this book.

Hers is called the Butter Box Book because she used a butter box. See her blog here (click on Tutorials on the right to see instructions). If you have lots of time, also click on the Images and Exhibits - lots of cool books, and most have a link to that particular artist's other works. I could be there forever!

I searched my kitchen for a small box to use for my cover and found this tea box. I used mostly brown kraft paper for pages (I seem to get a lot of it used as packing paper these days). My flaps were not like hers on the butter box, so I ended up making end papers with thicker craft paper on the insides of the covers. I just love this little book. Very cool.

Trouble

2011-02-22T21:37:00.000-05:00

I get in so much trouble when I go to Michael's. "Step away from the $1 items, ma'am." I can't resist. Love the bird stuff they have.

I get in such trouble when I linger too long at my work table. I spied the word stamp lying off to the side and played around with a quickie card and then stamped a journal page, even though I was supposed to be out running errands.

I get in such trouble when I look around on Etsy. Especially when Ginny says she is selling her stuff from Small Studio there. I decided to get some of the Coffee Break stencils I had put off getting in the past. Ginny always makes ordering fun. See her Etsy shop here.

I have to go now and see what other trouble I can get into....

Ordinary Things

2011-02-18T15:55:00.000-05:00

I didn't even realize how much I missed the sun all winter, or how much those cold, gray days were dragging me down. Until, one morning I went into my kitchen to refill my coffee cup, and I wondered why the curtain was pink. Normally, it's off-white.

I looked outside and saw the most brilliant sunrise. Such intense color.

But very quickly, it seemed, the sun rose higher and higher, fading the pink with each second.

And then the moment passed.

But this sudden return of sunny days and warm weather have really infused me with something I didn't even know was missing. The days are longer, and life is full of promise.