Early Morning Thoughts

The day of hearts...

I decided that today would be the day of hearts, considering that all of my art that is being designed today, is with the theme of hearts.  Now, these were actually going to be Christmas ornaments that I was going to offer, but the more that I kept working with the pieces, the larger they kept getting.  Now, don't get me wrong, if you like jumbo ornaments on your tree and I have seen jumbo Christmas bulbs in the stores, then these babies are for you.  I guess I will have to pick another day to make my ornaments. 

I love the feel of this book in my hands. 

The saying for this book is;  "fear knocked at the door, faith answered, no one was there.

I have listed these in my etsy.
 

Dreams...

Lately it seems, that my creativity has been working thru some of my dreams...lol.  I have been waking up from a dream and getting a vision of a project.  That would be great, except...the darn thing haunts me, until I make it.  I have even tried sketching it down and coming back to it later...nope.  I have to create it right then!!!  So, this is my newest one that has been haunting me...lol.

 
I listed this in my etsy...(sold).

Ephemera packets

I am at that point again, where my studio is overflowing with too much stuff.  I have put together some packets with some of my vintage goodies along with some commerical stuff.  You could use them as a whole or seperate them for several projects.  I tried to keep a theme in mind, when picking out the colors.

 
Still going thru items, will have more to offer.  I have listed these in my etsy.

Can you feel it???

Let's see...in less then 2 months, Christmas will be here.  Yikes!  So, I thought that maybe, I better start thinking about making something.  Now, everyone knows that I am big about bags.  I love hanging them, wrapping gifts in them, etc.  Can you guess what my first item is...?  A bag of course.  I designed this one to allow it to hang from a door, hook, etc.  You could use it as a card holder, gift holder, candy bag or whatever your heart desires.

This next item is not a Christmas theme, but still could be use as a gift to someone. 

 This next one is a hardback book that I have altered.

 
I have listed these in my etsy.

newest books

Here are two more books that I created a week ago and haven't had time to show.  The first book is a 6 x 6 hardback book that you could sketch, pencil, journal, watercolor, scrapbook, etc. in.

The title of this one is, "One who wanders..."

 
 
My next book is a composition book that I have altered.  The title of this one is, "Destination".

 
I listed these in my etsy.  This is a short post, as I am catching up on some of my items that are piling up.  Hope that everyone is enjoying the sunny fall day, well...at least in our neck of the woods, it is sunny.

Following your heart

This is the title of my next book.  Let's see, how does one explain how this book came to be.  I was at dinner with my family a few weeks ago, celebrating my oldest turning 21 yrs. old...yikes, where does the time go.  Anyways, as I was fiddling with my napkin and tearing it into smaller pieces as we were laughing and talking, I looked down and discovered that I had created an awesome look for a new book...lol.   Now, I thought I would make it somewhere down the road, but when I got home, the darn thing wouldn't leave me alone and kept haunting me in my sleep.  So, I started on this book and needed to finish it, so I can move onto other works that need to be finished.

I have listed this in my etsy.  

 

 
 

 

Halloween bags...

Each year, I try to make Halloween bags for the kids, that can hold a candy bar, money, letter or whatever your heart desires.  This year I have been coming up with this type of design.  I still need to make some for the kids, but these I listed in my etsy .

If you would like to see the backs of these bags, check out my etsy, where you can see more photos.   

Back from Art and Soul...

Ok, I know that many didn't know that I was out of town this past week at a art retreat; Art and Soul, which is held in Portland, Oregon. I love going to this retreat.  Being able to reconnect with old friends, make new ones and take classes from amazing teachers from all over is such a treat. 

Now, I usually don't show my work that I do at classes, unless it is done, but I am trying to catch up on things here and I don't know when I will get each piece done.  So, I am going to go ahead and show you what I have done so far, but remember, each piece still needs work.

My first piece is from a 2 day class that I took with Stephanie Lee.  I loved this class.  She is an amazing teacher and artist.  This was such a fun and relaxing class to take.  Everyone enjoyed themselves and made awesome pieces.

This piece measures 11 x 14.

My next piece is from a class that I took with Lisa Call.  What a sweet, kind and talented teacher she is. 

This piece is made from PMC, she fired it into a kiln and then it was antiqued.  I will be making this into a necklace to wear.  I can't wait to finish this piece.  

My next piece is from a 2 day class that I took with DJ Pettitt.  I love taking classes from her.  You always walk away with new ideas, techniques and feel as if you can do anything. 

 
This is the cover, but before I attached any pages, I still need to apply paint on certain areas, antique a bit and then I will finish with the rest.

The next few are some of the pages that I started on for this book.  I still have alot of work to do on these.

     
 
The above picture is the back cover of my book.  I still need to add paint and glazes to it.

Now for my last piece, this class was with Judy Wise.  She is such a fun person to hang out with and also to be soo talented.  In this class, I actually finished this piece, but you wouldn't know it by looking at it.  I bubble wrapped this in my suitcase, but the darn airlines are so hard on ourluggage that she came out with broken pieces.  So, she will need to be mended.  I have already started gluing pieces back, but some are in tiny pieces.  People wanted to know in class what her name was... I named her pitiful Jane, little did I know that the name would be a perfect fit by time that I got home with her....lol.  This was my first time sculpting and boy did I love it doing it.  I can see more of these in the future.

 

 

While I am waiting...

That is the title of my next book...  Here are a few of my newest creations.

 

I love the dreaminess of this book.  Sometimes, we find ourselves going thru something that requires us to wait on the Lord.  It is in those times that we are waiting, that we find ourselves drawing closer to him, but also learning more about our own self and the walk that we are on.  This book is...(sold).

 

 

I love the color palette of this book.   How refreshing to work with some of these colors, that I normally wouldn't choose to use.

This book is...(sold).

 

I love Halloween and decorating the house with cute halloween art.  I find that I don't make enough of this kind of art.

This piece is...(sold).

 

hours later....

This next project, I spent hours and hours on.  I wanted to do a large piece for my home.  One that would incorporate images of my family.  This piece measures 38 x 24.  I wanted something that would draw the person in and want to explore. 

 

The thing that I found most challenging about this project was, I am use to working on a single collage, but not six different collages, that are on the same piece.  I needed to make each one there own, but still be able to have a focal point that will still draw you back.  Also, I usually only work with 3 colors of paint and then antique the piece, but in this project, I worked with 5 colors and then antique...yikes, stepping out of my comfort zone.

 

Now, this is a photo of my sister, brother and me in our earlier years...lol.  I still want to add dangles hanging from the chain.  I have jewelry from my childhood, that I might disassemble and incorporate into this piece.  I found three sheets of music that represented part of my childhood.  I covered each piece with wax and tied off with string.  One was, "a letter for my mother", "angels watching over me" and the last is, "come out into the glorious day". 

 

The book will be an on going process. I will be adding lace, papers, etc., as I am filling in the pages.

 

On this piece, my husband grew up on a farm, was a logger, had his own sheep and rode bulls.  I found pieces that I felt would represent his childhood.  One of the many things that I love about him, is that he has always been one who smiles everywhere he goes and is always in a good mood.

 

Oh, my 3 little munchkins...this photo was taken years ago, oh, how the time flies by.

 

Did you ever have a song sing in your soul and it kept calling to you, well this is how my husband and I feel about the West.  We love it out there and will someday be moving out there.  He is from Oregon and each time we head out West, we feel as if we have come home.  So, I created a collage, that represented this.  The side metal container holds a poem about the day that is done and gone by and all that we hold is our memories of that day. 

 

On each side of the boxes, I have either placed words, buttons or vintage finds.  Well, I hope that you enjoyed my piece, I will be searching for a vintage easel to display this on in my house.