artZhodgepodge

Dream a little dream today

2012-02-23T16:50:00.001-05:00

<p>I decided to go with the KISS theory on these. They are for a swap over at All Things TIM.

I embossed cooper discs, followed by punching in the word dream. I domed each disc. Then applied some rub and buff ebony, filled by gilders paste in patina.

I really like the grundge look that i achieved

Over at Painting with Fire

2012-02-23T10:15:00.000-05:00

Over at Painting with fire they are having a giveaway. If you have ever been interested in torch enamel.. check this out.

Hector the collector

2012-02-12T14:07:00.000-05:00

Hector the Collector
Collected bits of string,
Collected dolls with broken heads
And rusty bells that would not ring.
Bent-up nails and ice-cream sticks,
Twists of wires, worn-out tires,
Paper bags and broken bricks.
Old chipped vases, half shoelaces,
Gatlin' guns that wouldn't shoot,
Leaky boasts that wouldn't float
And stopped-up horns that wouldn't toot.
utter knives that had no handles,
Copper keys that fit no locks
Rings that were too small for fingers,
Dried-up leaves and patched-up socks.
Worn-out belts that had no buckles,
'Lectric trains that had no tracks,
Airplane models, broken bottles,
Three-legged chairs and cups with cracks.
Hector the Collector
Loved these things with all his soul--
Loved them more then shining diamonds,
Loved them more then glistenin' gold.
Hector called to all the people,
'Come and share my treasure trunk!'
And all the silly sightless people
Came and looked ... and called it junk.

~Shel Silverstein~

Oddities and Lovelies.........

2012-02-08T19:17:00.002-05:00

I participated in a Oddities & Lovelies cReAtIvE ChAlLeNgEs swap over at Mixed Media Art . I have been on pins and needle waiting for my creation to arrive at its new home. It finally arrived today and I can share with you.

I had so much fun creating my piece. The requirements were a heart and face in any medium you wish. I created the wire cage body with dangling heart out of copper wire. I applied a verdigris patina on the copper. The head is a vintage frozen charlotte doll. That took several attempts to drill a hole through. That was a lesson learned. My design went together with great success from beginning to end. I almost hated to send her on her way.

What I have been up to.....

2011-12-03T11:09:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy month.. and with the holidays coming the pressure is on... lol. Well not really, my shopping is done and it's pretty much going to be me and play time. I hauled the torch out again and worked on making some ball ended wires. With some inspiration from the latest issue of Wire Jewelry and Kim St. Jean's book Mixed Metal Mania, this is what I came up with.. Enjoy...

Awesome Jewelry virtual Craft fair and Give away

2011-11-26T16:07:00.000-05:00

Over at Pretty Things a Virtual Craft Fair and Give away is going on. Take a second to go check out the wonderful artists participating and take a peek at their blogs and/or etsy ... I'm thinking Christmas..

Be prepared for some major WOW factor.

House charm

2011-11-05T00:50:00.000-04:00

I am lucky enough to have a upcycle store near me called Learning from Scratch. I purchase all sorts of items from there. In this project it was wooden square beads used as the base of my house.

This project had been in the back of my head for some time. Recently a article in the special issue of handcrafted jewelry inspired me to to pull out my tub of gathered items and create..

These charms will be swapped out at a charm swap I am hosting at my Michigan Altered Book Association (MIABA) meeting on Saturday in Kalamazoo.

eeepy, creepy skellies and a eyeball to boot..

2011-10-23T14:51:00.002-04:00

Saturday I had to make a run down south past Detroit to pick up an order. My friend Rhea was able to ride along with me. We hadn't seen each other in awhile so it was nice to catch up. We headed out early in the morning. It didn't take long of construction on the highway, that we decided to back road it. It was a beautiful, sunny fall day. Along our journey we hit a flea market and made a couple good scores. On to pick up my order and do a little shopping. On our list of stops was the Rust Belt Market in Ferndale, Michigan. A venue I had been wanting to see for quite some time. What a wonderful place, so full of some amazing artistic one of a kind items. Really got me thinking about Christmas.

To my surprise, Rhea brought me a gift and I want to share with all of you. I absolutely love it. I'm all into skellies and eyeballs.. the more the merrier. Her assemblage work is awesome. She has such a great eye for putting them together. Take a second and check out stargazer creates.

Haunted House Tour...

2011-10-20T13:36:00.001-04:00

You don't know what your going to find waiting you at the 2011 AlteredWithOutLimits haunted house tour. This year I had some exceptional houses from the gals in my little yahoo group, AlteredWithOutLimits.

I found this cute little box that fit my pages perfectly. I covered it with Some Like it Haunt paper from the Midnight Dreary collection from gotmoxxie.

Enjoy the tour. Who knows what creatures are awaiting you.

The moon is full and all sorts of bewitching creatures are out to meet us at Cathy's garden gate.

Down a dark winding tree whispering trail you find Deb's english cottage and her ghosties of the night out playing.

As we head down towards the lake we run into Ellen's little cottages. Wonder what is being cooked up down there.

Continuing the haunted tour takes us to Jean's. Where we find a house full of toil and trouble.

Up on the hill is Judy's spirit filled mansion. Take care as you enter. Who knows what ghostly sights await you inside.

Down the lane to Lori's. We find a skellie dancing into the night. Who might that be watching out the windows.

Heading down to the Big Star state we find Mary Lynn's covenant waiting to cast a spell.

Ending our tour, takes us to Sandy's. A house filled with all kinds of winged delights.

Hope you enjoyed our little haunted tour.

Come see what the Ravens brought in...

2011-10-15T13:09:00.000-04:00

Last week I had a wonderful opportunity to spend the day with some of my "local" art friends. We took a trip down past Detroit to Monroe to a place called Craft 2000. There I found this wonderful spooky wire tree, that I just had to have. I recently participated in a couple of charm swaps over at ArtCharms, a Halloween and Day of the Dead. I knew this tree would be perfect for either one.

I wish I had taken a picture of the tree before I coiled up the limbs. They were long strands. Which didn't work real well holding the charms up to the top. So I took my large bail rounders and went to town. This also added some volume to my tree.

The Halloween swap was the first to arrive so it has the honor of being on my tree. I am always amazed at what others create. Here are some closeups. You can get an idea of what awesome charms I received.

There is so much creativity in this group. I love to see everyones take on the theme. This was my first swap with them and I am delighted with my charms.

I should add in here.. that I had been looking for something to hang my charms on and had thought about a wire tree, but not really wanted to create on myself. Being the impatient, instant (well kinda) gratification person I am. A week ago I had bought a mini fake tree that was metallic lime green in color. I spray painted in navy blue, then some flat black. A little of green had peaked through. Now I liked this tree and it would do. But when I say this one, it was a must have. Plus I had two swaps coming.. so BONUS!!!!

Now patiently waiting for the next swap to arrive. What will I do with them.. hahaha...

Steampunk and charms.. what more could there be..

2011-10-11T20:59:00.000-04:00

I love the whole process of working with metal. The hammering, layering and connections. This charm went through several upgrades til I came to a combination I really liked. Hammered copper hearts layered with several types of gears

Owl charm goes steampunk

2011-10-06T20:27:00.001-04:00

I have been working on this charm for a steampunk swap. I'm addicted to metal and the torch.

Haunted house.... creepy, crawly, spooky.... Oh yeah!!!!!

2011-10-05T15:07:00.001-04:00

Couple weeks ago I was playing with blogger and lost a couple of posts. Here is one that I had up.

I love halloween.. creepy, crawly, bird screeching halloween.

I participated in a swap over at AlphaStamps. We created 4 pages for a haunted house. One of my first projects for the halloween season.

2011-09-27T10:06:00.000-04:00

I have been so excited since my workshop with Jean Van Brederode at CREATE Chicago. I can't wait to play with the torch and some copper. Here is my latest creation.

Pumpkin Charms

2011-09-21T00:27:00.000-04:00

I love copper, the more I play with it the more I love it. I have created these charms for a swap I'm participating in.

I cut out the base circles and soldered the pumpkin cutouts on. These were fun to make. I didn't want to put the torch away.

Football sunday... Wrap bracelets...

2011-09-19T22:29:00.000-04:00

It was a dreary day here yesterday. So it was football. It was the big game Detroit vs Kansas City. Hubby and son in law... egged each other on all afternoon.. Detroit prevailed.. one for the record books.

So I made bracelets. Here are a couple that I did.

Metal Deck.... final project from CREATE

2011-09-05T00:31:00.002-04:00

Be prepared this is a long one. I just couldn't decide what to share. I feel that you need to see the whole thing to get the real feel of the deck. The Vintage Metal deck was a awesome class taught by Leighanna Light. This class was from 9 am to 9 pm and chucked full of information. We worked on 10 blackplate cards. We each worked in our own theme. I chose a theme familiar to me. I enjoyed watching others eyeballing my deck throughout the day..

This is my cover. It started out as a simple robin. I collaged images added a nest and eggs.. it was sealed with Bullseye Amber Shellac. I added the Porkchop Show doll eyes to put some creep on.

On this set of pages... I used my creepy dolls from Alphastamps. On the back I painted some blue metallic paint them covered it in a light coating of Ultrecht gesso, then stamped with a number rubber stamp.

I started this page with a gesso back ground that I used a circle stamp to remove some of the gesso. Collage and added a doo dad or two. The back is blue metallic under coat with the same gesso stamp removal.

My he/she image was given a eyelet for a eye piece. Collage, blending of paints, some cheese cloth... ring of keys for the keyhole. A vintage rook card is the focal point for the back. I tried a patina effect and it came out with a rusted look. Which I am very happy with.

Some more collage work with another one of my skellie guys, old playing card. The background is a page from a book. The back is gesso applied through a stencil. At some point I probably will paint it and see what I get.

Another patina that turned out looking like rust. It looks great with my calavera, some grungeboard heart with some wings finishes out this Day of the Dead theme. The back some of the blue patina took. I like just looking at it so I probably will leave it.

My ghost guys. The were created doing a image transfer with Ultrecht gesso. This technique is awesome. I love transfers and do several. And I can't wait to play with this one some more. I colored in my guys inked the edges. Added a TH doo dad. The star charm hanging on the side was created by my friend Rhea for a charm swap we participated in while at CREATE. It just fit in with my guys. The back more collage and continuation of my ladies, gesso stamping and a piece leave piece that I did some patina on.

This page was a gesso stamp them punched bubble with a doming tool.. It was created purely because I was playing with all the option Leighanna showed us. The back is another attempt to patina.. good thing I like the look of rust.. lol

Another gesso image transfer. I love image transfers. I then tried to patina it and got.. well you got it.. I then rubberstamped wordage around the image. Added a skull with glasses.. Inked it up.. The back is the start of collaged images.. my lady again.. I will add more at a later time

I love this owl image.. he is both cool looking and creepy. Basic page.. image, inked up page, rubber stamped with gesso. The back and the back cover of my deck is image, inked.. cheese cloth for texture, some more gesso stamping and a flip off button.

I will add more I'm sure. At the moment its more charms and texture. As you flip through it you will get a hint at my inner personality. Enjoy.. this was a blast to do.

Glass Journal ...

2011-09-03T12:32:00.002-04:00

This was my ahhh hah class at CREATE, Chicago hosted by Interweaves, Cloth, Paper, Scissors. Our artist presenter was Thomas Ashman of Black Sheep Studios. It was amazing what we created with hardware supplies. Plumbers tape, screws, welding rod, little strip of copper and 2 beveled glass squares was our materials.

This was my first time ever having a torch in my hands.. well other than the one I use to light the grill... but that's a whole different thing. We worked steadily all morning cutting and creating the parts for our spine. I kept thinking right this is going to work... Thomas walked us through it passing on a story or two.

We broke for lunch. When we returned we assembled our spine.. That's where my ahhh hah moment happened.. I was like holy sh*&%t.. this really is going to work and I DID IT. Yes, I had my doubts. But at the point I was doing the happy dance!!!!! Next was to add our wire spines to hold our paper signatures. Then the glass covers. I had a couple of wire jewelry moments.. like wrap around the rod... not back on itself. After I got that out of my head I assembled a wonderful piece.

A transparency goes under the glass cover. I have not quite decided what I want there. So for at the moment I have placed this Arms of Bristol transparency I had at home. I have a chain attached and plan to add some beads and charms.

One more Retreat day left to share....

Charms..

2011-09-01T21:04:00.001-04:00

Belinda Spiwak over at Crazy Art Girl's Musings hosted a charm swap for those of us attending CREATE. I had so much fun designing my charms. My bird in a nest was assembled by twisting several strands of fine wire. Then I wove the wire into a nest, added some small seed beads for eggs and had this cute little bird bead to sit on her eggs. My flower is created with lucite flower beads that I purchased at this adorable bead shop I found in Downers Grove called Bead Heaven. If I ever get unpacked I will share what everyone created.

Another Create Day

2011-08-31T23:03:00.003-04:00

This workshop was presented by Belinda Spiwak. We made ATC's with lots of dimension covered in resin. This was way out of my box. For some reason I have a had a fear of resin and I'll admit it, I'm not a big fan of making ATCs. Love to collect them though. It was a great class for my last day. Belinda was charming, set up a wonderful workspace, shared a treasure trove of goodies with us and made everyone feel relaxed. Everyone created some wonderful pieces. A must do with Belinda if you are interested in resin.

We used Tim Holtz dies from Sizzix and the Vagabond. This was a fun class. It was my first experience with Smooch and Little Windows Resin which I see myself using more of.

Another fabulous retreat day.

Another CREATE day

2011-08-30T11:24:00.001-04:00

The inspiration and fun was contagious in Chicago. I could hardly wait for another day to come. Now I am working hard at holding back and showing you my creations one day at a time. I just want to post them up for you to see. In this workshop Uncle Charley has Left the Room Pendant, we cut copper and created a soldered bezel with a cold connection, added brass embellishments and made a wonder cloth necklace to hold our pendant. Our instructor Jean Van Brederode was so full of energy, she shared a wealth of information. The garage door clasp was fantastic. Each one of us left wearing our totally unique pendants.

Create Chicago 2011

2011-08-29T18:47:00.004-04:00

I'm back home from a wonderful artful week in Chicago at Create. Cloth Paper Scissors Retreat. I had a blast, learned so many fantastic new things, met some fantastic people and had a chance to work out of my box. I'm going to share this week what I did. The first workshop was Burlap and Paperclay,instruction by Sue Pelletier. Both of these items out of my box and color that I don't normally work in, unless in a RR and it is required... with no more tadoooo here is what I created ....

Simple Pleasures

2011-08-20T11:16:00.004-04:00

The Cloth RR is winding down. This is the last book I will be working in. I am a month ahead due to the mailing snafu the very first month. So I will not be receiving a book and will have to wait a long month before mine returns home..

Doors, Doors, Doors... Come play with me

2011-08-13T12:15:00.001-04:00

I have been thinking about a door swap book for almost a year. It's time I jump in and offer it up. I have decided to post it here and see if any of my followers or peepers are interested. The basic details are..

Multi medium pages, copy paper weight pages will be returned
Size is 6x6
Must use a door in some form, be interactive.. ie door must open, door knocker, pull out tag... let your imagination guide you
Dimensional... layers and doodads welcome
8 for 8... you will get one of each players pages.
Backs must be completed in co-coordinating theme, with at least your name, location... ie Michigan. More info can be included if you wish.
Open til I have players
Due to me October 15

Let me know if your interested

Julys contribution

2011-07-13T12:48:00.004-04:00

Yvonne's theme is seasons/holidays. Of course I chose Halloween.. what else would I do. As in Lindas page.. the camera didn't get all the detail of the pages. I am happy with them. This has been a real fun project. I look forward to the next one arriving at my door.

Junes contribution

2011-07-13T12:43:00.001-04:00

Lindas theme is Victorian. She wanted whites, cream or tans used. Boy this was out of my color box.. I love color.

My first contribution pages to the Cloth RR

2011-05-21T19:19:00.003-04:00

Due to a mailing snafu I received a cloth book months before my turn. Due to the stress of my day yesterday, I decided to go ahead and do my pages and get it out to the proper person. It was nice to have something to work on and get my mind focusing on other things.. So here is the page I worked on for Cynthia.

Life interrupted .... what a week

2011-05-21T19:03:00.005-04:00

Where to start.. it's been a creative and very stressful week. First off those of you that know me, it's been a tense week, my son that is stationed in Afghanistan is changing bases, due to several factors. The biggest being that France and Canada are exiting the conflict. So contact with him has been hit and miss. Now onto the big trauma for the week. My dog was severely injured. His under belly cut open. After what Dr. Melissa (not my daughter) thought would be simple stitches turned into surgery. We have no clue how this occurred. We have looked at every nook and cranny of our property, to find no clue as to what has happened.

The creative part of my week. The past week has been doing a blog hop/book tour over at Remnants of Olde. What a awesome hop. If you haven't had a chance to check it out, you should. Find the link in a post further down.

I kicked off the Cloth RR on my yahoo group AlteredWithOutLimits this week. There is 5 of us playing and we will be creating a page for each of our themes. I chose Steampunk.. I will now share my pages. I can't wait to see what the others do with this theme. The images I used for my sign in page are from The Sum of All Crafts

Remnants of Olde Blog Hop and Book Tour... ck this out

2011-05-03T17:29:00.002-04:00

I'm following a blog hop/book tour over at Remnants of Olde this week. I don't have much time to go blog visiting like I would like to.. but I will tell you I'm going to make time each day to check out what these wonderful artists have created. And have most definitely added this book to my must have list.

My skeleton book..

2011-04-11T19:47:00.002-04:00

Here is a page I'm working on in my skeleton book.. its a work in progress.. now that I have taken a pic.. I see I need more work on this page.. but time will lead me to what is missing...

Humpty Dumpty

2011-04-04T21:15:00.004-04:00

Heres my humpty dumpty. It started out a wire egg from Michaels that I found in the dollar bin.

New Ezine

2011-04-01T22:33:00.001-04:00

Craft Stamper Magazine has a free e-zine. They are offering a fabulous goody bag of stamps and stamping goodies worth £100+ to one person who puts a link back to the e-zine on their blog (includes all kind of fab stuff from PaperArtsy stamps to Pro Markers)! Grab their button and link it back to Craft Stamper ezine.

2011-03-28T20:01:00.006-04:00

Here is the cover I made for our bunny/chick swap. I used TAP (Leslie Riley's Transfer Artist Paper) to make a faux tintype. The picture doesn't show the tinny look. I'm happy with how it turned out.

My page for the Vintage Bunny and Chick book over at AWOL

2011-03-28T08:42:00.001-04:00

Here's my page for the Vintage Bunny and Chick book on my yahoo group AlteredWithOutLimits (AWOL). We worked within a 6 x 6 page size. In other words you could make your page any size as long as it was no bigger than 6 x 6. The only other thing was a vintage bunny or chick must appear on the page. It was a fun swap. The gals made some wonderful pages.

Steampunk???? Did I hit the mark

2011-03-18T08:12:00.003-04:00

Heres my try with a steampunk theme. I'm still tweeking it out. I have been playing with ideas for more than a month. Way more prototypes than I usual produce.. lol. Need to finish it up.. so I can get them made and in the mail. For a swap I'm playing in over at FairieDustDreams. Can't wait to see what the others have come up with. Well back to some more tweeking.

Daniel Torrente meets Martha

2011-03-18T07:58:00.002-04:00

I seldom list product makers unless its required in a swap. But this time I thought I would share my eclectic little group.

I found this KaiserCraft Cuckoo clock at one of my favorite shopping haunts, The Outlet and right away saw haunted house. This is my Daniel Torrente of Stampotique meets Martha Stewart. The two stamped images are from Stampotique (3 in a round and Linda), background paper is Martha Stewart. Its inked up real well with dripping blood made of Liquitex string gel colored with Goldens quinacridon crimson.

I do not work for any of the above listed products. Strictly a consumer.

2011-03-13T13:36:00.000-04:00

Over at The Pioneer Woman Photography, she recently had a "sisters" photo challenge. Wish I had known about it sooner. I have a couple of pic that I would have entered. This is the first one of my grand children. They fight like cats and dogs but once in awhile you get a scene like this... its just so precious. The second photo I still have to find.. its of these guys mom and her baby brother.

Lillys blanket

2011-02-28T11:59:00.002-05:00

This is my latest project.. among many swaps. My dil asked if I would make this blanket for our soon to be grandbaby. I have a long way to go on it. Maybe need a road trip so I have some road hours to work on it.

Art Prize

2011-02-16T11:38:00.010-05:00

I can't say enough about this event.. I have gone every year and will continue to go. Hopefully one day participate. I highly recommend any of you to plan a trip and come see it. It most definitely is more than a day visit. But if that is all you have is a day... still come and see what exhibits you can. Walk the city, do it by bus. Take another day and visit the sandy shores of Lake Michigan.

For more info on Art Prize check here.

http://www.artprize.org/

2011-02-13T00:11:00.000-05:00

During a break from studying the other day I was able to stop by a antique mall I had been wanting to check out. I found this adorable valentine. I also acquired a couple more things that I will share at a later date.

2011-02-10T11:28:00.001-05:00

My entry for the AWOL valentine tag swap. I had planned on posting Be Mine on the challenge site where I got the photo. But have lost my notes as to where I got it. Wish I could blame it on memory.. but its more like the mountain of crap on my desk.

Enjoy

2011-02-03T11:02:00.003-05:00

Well the storm of 2011 has come and gone. Seriously for us here in Michgan, it was a average storm, nothing spectacular. I'm not expecting to be able to get out for a few days. The road I live on is considered nonessential. So it was paste paper today, and many other projects in the works.. Here is my road... the only activity we have seen is a couple of snowmobiles last night. And they really enjoyed the moguls in the road to the north of my house.

Strathmore Artists Journal Workshop 1

2011-01-25T19:47:00.003-05:00

I first must start out by saying I'm not a journaler. But I thought this might be a fun little art book to doodle in. Here is one of my finished projects for the workshop. Among all my "real" classes. I signed up for this set of workshops this spring for some fun.

Check out the workshops at strathmoreartist.com

Some days its just the simple things

2011-01-20T16:39:00.002-05:00

Some days its just the simple things in life.... It's a normal winter day here in Michigan. Expecting our average snowfall for the day. 4 to 6 inches so the weatherman says. Temps dipping down into single digits. Nothing unusual for Michigan in January.

Have a few projects on my work bench.. needing to finish up. Can't wait to share them. A bazillion more in my head. Well heading off to finish up something from my check list..

Nook... cover

2011-01-06T15:21:00.002-05:00

Ok folks.. this was my dilemma..... For Christmas I got a Nook.. and I love it... but when shopping for a cover for it. I just couldn't see the price they are asking for them, plus they had no personality. So this is what I came up with... fabric I had.. and it gave me a chance to fit a pattern..... now... to think about the next one.

Merry Christmas everyone

2010-12-24T18:51:00.000-05:00

Snowmen

2010-12-24T18:36:00.005-05:00

Our version of the CPS snowmen

2010-12-06T19:47:00.002-05:00

Here is my house for a swap. This was a fun project to work on. It was nice to participate in a project that for the most part everyone came through.

ArtPrize dates announced

2010-12-01T11:05:00.002-05:00

Mark your calendars - announcing ArtPrize 2011: Sept. 21 - Oct. 9

http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/ArtPrize/posts/179261748750842

See earlier posting on here for more info on ArtPrize.

http://artziehodgepodge.blogspot.com/2010/10/artprize.html

2010-11-30T14:19:00.002-05:00

For the fifth year, Lisa will be counting down the days to Christmas with printable image sheets. Every day between tomorrow, December 1st, and Christmas Day, a new page of image sheets will be revealed at http://countdown.tentwostudios.com ---40 image sheets in all.

Starting tomorrow.. Lisa offers some wonderful images up.

Finally ..... it's up and running

2010-11-26T23:09:00.003-05:00

I have been working off and on for the last few months to get my online shop up and running. Please take a look. I will be adding more items over the next few days. The will include handmade items and unique items for your own crafting needs.

ArtZhodgepodge - ArtFire Artisan Studio

1 Christmas Project down

2010-11-22T09:45:00.003-05:00

This is what I have been working on. 72 blocks in 10 days. I now have them all attached together. It is completed and on its way to Germany.

Tis the season

2010-11-19T18:52:00.002-05:00

Well, I have been busy.. I have a couple of things I have been working on and will post at a later date since they are for Christmas and don't want to spoil the surprise. But today finally was feeling well enough to put these ornaments together. The picture isn't the best. Will most likely take more after I have the tree up.. but enjoy.

2010-10-22T00:54:00.002-04:00

The last haunted house page arrived today for a swap on my yahoo group AlteredWithOutLimits. So I thought I would post the covers I have created. We have 10 players and they have come up with some interesting houses.

The house is cut out using the Sizzix little haunted house die. Each player had the option to use or cover up the window and door cutouts.

I will be posting houses in the next couple of days.

2010-10-09T12:59:00.003-04:00

My haunted house pages are complete and ready to mail for the Cherry Pie Rubber haunted house swap. This is my third year playing with Marina and the girls. I love halloween and am so excited to see what everyone has come up with. This year we changed our size format from skinny and tall to 4 inches wide and whatever up you feel with a roof being no more than 5 inches wide.

A little technique info.. The background is a photo of the barn window tweeked in photoshop. Painted blue with some iridescent blue. I used CP 's flying witch, dancing skeleton, black cat and standing skeleton. I used the hand off the standing skeleton to make a print on the window. Medical gauze and cheesecloth for the skeletons and web. Roof top is a sewing tape cut apart. All edges are inked and roughed up. On the back my info and a swarm of CP's flying bat.

Charms

2010-10-08T23:33:00.003-04:00

Faux tin transfer charm

Halloween charm swap....

Charms traded for in several swaps

Charms I have made and traded for over the years. The first picture is charms that I made for a faux tin type class I taught. Second is a halloween swap I hosted with my local gals for halloween. The last picture is a collection of charms I have collected that are created by others.

ArtPrize.....Take a day and go.....You will love it. May take you 2 or 3 visits to catch it all

2010-10-07T23:20:00.002-04:00

Metallic ATC

2010-09-22T21:22:00.004-04:00

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Two Atc's for a swap. We had to create them with a metallic theme. The SOAR atc is bronze, gold and silver. The skeleton web is silver. Can't wait to see what others have made.

2010-09-22T21:19:00.001-04:00

AlteredWithOutLimits Haunted House Swap from 2009

2010-09-22T10:58:00.003-04:00

2010-09-07T11:40:00.002-04:00

I love Halloween... I work on Halloween all year round. This is a fun bobbin floss swap I hosted on my AlteredWithOutLimits yahoo group. They all turned out great. The size was a challenge for some of us... ; P

Beeswax

2010-08-17T00:24:00.001-04:00

My attempt at Beeswax for a atc swap... these were fun to make..

2010-07-19T21:54:00.000-04:00

Ok.... I bit the bullet and I'm taking an online art class at The Land of Lost Luggage. I'm so excited about it. It's by Julie Pritchard and Chris Cozen. We did the prelims on Sunday. For a change I have the product needed for this. With the exception of buying more substrate to work with I'm good to go. We start "painting" on Wednesday the 21st. I'm busy getting my work area all set up. Stay tuned I will be posting what I'm doing as things go>>

2010-06-25T23:08:00.000-04:00

Heres a chance to win a adorable piece of handcrafted jewelry!!!!! Go check them out .... I can't decide what I like best.

Enter to win this adorable necklace from Spring Lane Designs. http://breakfastclubphotographymagazine.blogspot.com/2010/06/mom-arazzi-necklace.html

I'M PUBLISHED!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

2010-06-18T11:21:00.002-04:00

Well it's finally here. After months of waiting to see if it would really appear. I was lucky enough to be selected out of several wonderful houses. This was a swap with Cherry Pie. We have been doing a haunted house swap the last few years. It has created a wonderful collection of houses that I absolutely love.

2010-05-26T12:05:00.001-04:00

As usual my idea turned into something a little different. This is my entry in a swap I'm doing with Art-e-zine. It's the first time I have played with these ladies, but must admit I have wanted to for a long time. The size was a little tricky for me.. 3 x 3.5 with a 1/2 inch added for binding.

I used pieces from a quilt that my husbands grandmother had made as my base. Grams was a avid quilter using fabrics from just about anything she could. Now days we would call her a recycler... but in her time it was out of necessity and a upbringing of waste not, want not... I have collected a few of her quilts from family over the years. The rest of my assembly was done with fabric transfer paper onto chiffon with some lace. Humpty is made from half a wooden egg.

This was a fun swap. I have a zillion other ideas for other rhymes. Looks like I have a book of my own in the making.

2010-05-12T19:59:00.002-04:00

It's been one of those months. Out to Missouri to help my daughter out. Back home working on some updating and repairing of our home before the kids come home in July.

Here is a 1 for 1 swap that I did with my AWOL group. It went in a totally different direction that I had started.

2010-03-22T12:43:00.001-04:00

Had so much fun working on this over the weekend. As it snowed (yuck). Was getting used to the high 50's - 60 weather last week. I chose to go with a more Victorian feel than build a "steampunk image" Can't wait to see what the rest in the swap have come up with.

2010-03-22T11:52:00.000-04:00

Wow.. It's been a few days since I posted. I have been busy as all get out. Plus the weather turned great for a week (high 50's). Then had snow over the weekend. I will be sharing pics.. Here is one that I haven't shared. This is my youngest son Nick and his wonderful wife Lan. They were married last fall in Germany.

2010-03-08T18:35:00.000-05:00

Well, maybe spring is coming. Looked outback tonight and saw about 40 deer munching on the corn stubble.

2010-02-26T16:57:00.002-05:00

Here is my transfer image, created for a monthly 5x5 swap I am participating in. Its a gel medium transfer with a lazer printer image. The arch is made from light modeling paste. The canvas was painted with some golden paints and them stamped on. I hope my swap partner enjoys my creation.

Projects, projects, projects

2010-02-17T21:21:00.001-05:00

I had so much fun knitting the first hedgehog for christmas for my granddaughter. I just had to make some more...

2010-02-15T12:40:00.000-05:00

My little road trip last saturday. This is at the county park in Grand Haven Michigan.. looking out at the pier in Lake Michigan. I was shocked that there was hardly any ice. In past years there it has been frozen out past the end of the pier and was quite and adventure exploring it. This photo was taken with my little digital nikon. I haven't done anything to it. Just the weather conditions.

2010-02-14T13:50:00.002-05:00

My cover for a Valentine Swap I hosted. A tin type transfer.

2010-02-12T21:46:00.001-05:00

I finally finished this for a 1 for 1 swap I am hosting on my yahoo group AlteredWithOutLimits. This month our challenge was to create a beeswax collage. This was so much fun I could see myself getting hooked on doing these.

2010-02-12T11:49:00.000-05:00

Ok, Life happened last year.. and I just didn't have time to keep this up. End of March my husband had a heart attack. All is well now. My son came home from Iraq in July (was supposed to be end of April) and then it was busy with wedding plans. He was married in September in Germany. Where he is currently stationed. We spent 2 wonderful weeks there getting to know our new daughter. Then the holidays.. I was lucky enough to have my daughter and grand kids from Missouri here.

Back to my art. Look for more postings in the next few days..... Enjoy

2008-07-28T16:20:00.002-04:00

2008-07-28T15:36:00.001-04:00

Ok. Finally got some time to maybe get this up and going.. stay tuned for more...

Well Here we go..

2008-05-18T15:29:00.000-04:00

Bare with me for a few days. It will take me some time to get this all set up. Learn how this site works. But I promise I will get it up and going. Share some pics of my family and art. Will post more soon.