Painting Papers and Making Necklaces

Let  me  first  say  that  this  time  of  year  is  when  I  am  officially  in  hibernation.   I  don't  have  a  "real"  job,  and  I  HATE  the  cold,   so  I'm  basically  a  recluse.   I  always  hated  January  and  February,  but  more  and  more  every  year,  these  are  fast-becoming  my  favorite  months.   I  can  PLAY!!

When  I  was  at  the  Rock  and  Roll  Hall  of  Fame,  I  saw  this  quote  from  Billy  Joel--

"If you are not doing what you love, you are wasting your time."

Exactly!!  I am  so  fortunate to be able  to do  what  I  love  anytime  I  want,  whenever  I  want.  And  for  those  of  you  who  work  outside  of  your  home,  and  are  not  that  crazy  about  your  job,  just  know  that  you  can  come  home  and  make  time  to  do  something  that  you  love  (no  matter  what  it  is).   It,  without  a  doubt,  makes a big  difference  in  your  life.

So,  getting  back  to  what  I  was  saying--I've  been  playing--painting  papers--just  as  much  fun  as  journal-making.  It's  very  organic--no  need  to  over-analyze,  and  I  found  that  no  matter  how  "ugly"  these  painted  papers  may  appear,  they  ALWAYS  look  very  cool  when  cut  up  and  used  for  collage.  This  is  only  the  start--

I'm  planning  on  making  as  many  color  combinations  as  I  can  so  I  have  a  lot  of  different  choices  when  I  go  to  make  a  piece  of  art--also  I  can  try  out  different  techniques.

And  speaking  of  new  techniques,  I  just  have  to  say--Martha,  Martha,  Martha--Thank  You,  Thank  You,  Thank  You  for  introducing  me  to  these,  these, these!!

--Adirondack  Color  Wash  Sprays.   A  month  or  so  ago,  on  her  blog  and  you  tube  channel,  she  demonstrated   how  she  uses  them.  And  of  course  immediately  I had  to  run  to  my  nearest  online  store  and  purchase  them.  But  I  haven't  done  anything  with  them  until  now.

Here's  my  first  attempt--

I  love  it,  and  if  you  want  to  see  how  it's  really  done,  you  can  go  HERE  (part 1)  and  HERE  (part  2)  and  you  can  watch  her  do  her  magic.  She  uses  this  technique  for  her  journal  pages  and  then  she  adds  her  mixed  media  art  and   her  expert  calligraphy  work--sheer  perfection!   And  Martha,  if  you're  reading  this,  I  love  the  cool  tip  with  the  paper  towel  roll.   And  if  you  you're  all  wondering  what  I'm  talking  about,  go  watch  the  videos.

PLUS........I've  been  busy  making  more  necklaces  for  my  Etsy  shop.   At  my  last  craft  show  I  sold  two  that  I  really  liked  alot,  so  I  made  2  more  with  the  same  beads  and  the  pendants  that  Kelly  made  for  me.

 

I   think  she's  so  perfect  for  Valentine's  day!

And  I  had  one  more  Hippie  pendant  left--

 














These  are  all  now  listed  in  my  Etsy  shop!

So, I'm going to go now and play, but one more thing---a couple of posts ago, I mentioned that I could be on  a Hoarder's episode.  Well, if you get the A & E  network and watch this show, just before it is Intervention, and you might just be seeing me on this show too.   Please..........I can't stop eating these damn Christmas cookies!! I made a ton (on purpose) and I've given quite a few away, but I still have some left.   And even though they're a bit stale (to say the least), I still can't stop eating them!

I  need  an  intervention.....

So Do You Want to See What I Got For Christmas?

First  of  all  I  hope  everyone  had  a  wonderful  Christmas.  We  sure did,  but  I  must  say  that  I'm  a  bit  exhausted.

And  now  let  me  talk  about  my   favorite  Christmas  present.   I've  mentioned  in  passing  ever  since  I  first  found  about  this,  that  I  would  really  like  it,  but  I  didn't  think  that  anyone  was  really  listening.........but  you  know  what?  they  were!

My  Art  Journal  blog  in  a  book.........published!!

And  this  is  page  1--

And  then  when  you  turn  the  page,  you'll  come  to  the  table  of  contents--

And  it  continues  on  for  a  total  of  359  more  pages.

Is  this  not  the  best!!   I  can  flip  through  actual  pages  of  a  journal  that  was  created  by  me  and  no one  else.  So although  I  did  not  make  an  actual  art  journal  in  2010-- I  really  did!  And  now  when  I'm  doing  something  in  my  room  and  want  to  re-create  a  technique  that  I  did  on  my  blog,  I'll  have  this  source  of  reference  right  at  my  fingertips.  This  is volume 1--it  covers  the  first  complete  year  of  my  blogging--here's  hoping  that  there  will be  many  more  volumes  to  come.   I  would  advise  anyone  to  get  this--it's  great!!

And  now  that  all  of  the  gift  giving  has  come  to  an  end,  I  can  show  you  a  couple  of  presents  that  I  gave  to  my  daughter  and  son-in-law.  I  didn't  want  to  put  these  on  my  blog  before--just  in  case  anyone  in  the  family  saw  them.

The  first  one  was  created  by  Rebecca  from  Penny  Lane  Ink.   If  you're  not  familiar  with  her  art,  then  you  must  go  to her  blog  and  view  it!

This   is  Marc,  Jen  and  of  course---Bob!    Along  with  her  very  cool  art,  she  also  does  custom  portraits  in  her  very  unique  style.  You  can  find  out  about  it  at  her  Etsy  shop.

And  speaking  of  Bob,  look  at  what  he  gave  his  Mom  for  Christmas--

He  contacted  Kelly  after  he  saw  the  beautiful  pendants  that  she  made  me.   He  knew  that  his  Mom  would  love  this.   Kelly  will  make   these  personalized  pendants  for  anyone--and  all  you  have  to  do  is  go  to  her  Etsy  shop  as  well.   The  wonders  of   today's  technology--all  I  had  to  is  email  these  photos  to  Rebecca  and  Kelly.   So  it  goes  without  saying  that  Jen  and  Marc  really  loved  their  Christmas  presents!

And  there's  one  more  thing  that  I  wanted  to  talk  about--Lovey!   She  was  guest  curator  at  Crescendoh.com  this  last  week,  and  each  day  she  featured  2  blogs.   Well  today,  mine  was  one  of  the  blogs  that  she  featured.   I  just  want  to   thank  this  special  lady  for  including  me  with   all  of  the  other  very  creative  blogs  that  she  featured--seriously-- these  are all  wonderful  artists.   And  I  want  to  congratulate   Lovey  for  being  published  in  the  latest  issue  of  Sew  Somerset--her  art  is  as  special  as  she  is!

Branching Out

Back   in  June  Kelly (Kelly Berkey  Designs  blog)  had  sent  me  a  pendant  necklace  as  a  gift  to  me.   She  wanted  to  thank  me  for  helping  her  with  some   mixed   media  techniques  that  she  wanted  to try.   She  sent  me  2  actually,  and  they were  of  my  art.  I  was  so  impressed  by  the  workmanship  of  them,  that  I  decided  to  order  some  more  from  her  so  I  could  try  my  hand  at  jewelry.  I  want  to  make  necklaces  with  them  and  offer  them  for  sale  at  my  last  show  in  November.

I  ordered  3  different  sets--by that  I  mean  they're  double-sided,  so  I  emailed  her  6  different  images  for  3  different  pendants  (4  of  each  set).   I  was  so  happy   with  these  when  I  got  them--

They're  really  much  better  in  person.  This  photo  just  doesn't  do  them  justice!  She  offers these  pendants  to  anyone--she  has  ones  with  her  ladies  or  you  can   personalize  them  with  your  own  art  or  personal  photos  or  even  tiny  snippets  of  personal  items  that  have  sentimental  meaning  to  you.   You  can  go  to  her  Etsy  shop  and  get  all  the  details.

Now  I   know  nothing  about  jewelry  making--nothing!   But  my  daughter  Jen  (the   marathon   runner)  does.  In  her  spare  time  she  likes  making  jewelry  for  herself.  She's  very  good  at  it,  but  never  has  much  time--she  has  a  very  demanding  job,  but  she  did  say  that  she  would  help  me.  So  this  weekend  was  my  first  lesson--the  very  basics--and  I  mean  1st  grade  basic--just  to  get  me  started.  She  didn't  have  much  time  as  she  was  getting  ready to  go   out  of  town  this  week  for  her  work.  So  on  Monday  I  made  my  first  necklace--it  took  me  all  night  long!   As  a  matter  of  fact  when  my  husband  came  home  from  work  at  11:15  at  night  (I'm  usually  in  bed  by  9:30  or  10),  I  was  still  working  away  at  it,  and  I  told  him  that  I  didn't  care  how  long  it  took,  I  was  going  to  finish  that  damn  necklace.  It  was  after  midnight  when  I  finished.   The  next  day  I  felt  like  I  was  partying  all  night---just  can't  bounce   back  like   I  use  to!

So  you're  probably  thinking  I've  made  these  intricate  amazing  necklaces--well,  not  quite,  but  I  think  they  can  pass  as  jewelry.

Do  you  think  these  will   pass  as  legitimate  jewelry--will  I  fool  the  shoppers  into  thinking  that  I  know  what  I'm  doing,  because  I'm  kind  of  just  figuring  this  out  along  the  way.  I  need  other  people's  input--I'm  at  the  stage  right  now  where  I've   been  looking  at   them  so  much  that  I  don't  even  know  anymore.  I  just  want  to  say,  that  I am  in  awe  of  all  you  jewelry  artists  out  there--there  really  is  a  lot  of  work  involved.

So  I  have  10  more  to  go,  and  Jen  is  coming  over  next  week  for  my  2nd  lesson,  and  she's  going  to  show  me  some  of  her  more  intricate  necklaces  that  she's  made---hopefully  I  can  catch  on.

And  speaking  of  Jen,  a  lot  of  you  who  have  been  reading  my  blog  knows  about  her   little  boy,  my  grandson,  but  for  the  new  readers--yes  I  have  a  grandson.  His  name  is  Bob.

Don't   let  his  looks  fool  you--he's  my  grandson!  He  came  over  with  Jen  for  a  visit.  I  don't  get  to  see  him  that often,  so  this  was  a  treat.  See  that  worried  look  on  his  face?  Whenever  he  comes  over,  I  think  he  thinks  that's  he's  not  going  back  home.  He  loves  us,  but  after  a  few  hours,  he  wants  to  leave.

This  is  what  Jen  calls  his  sad  pouty  face--

And  one  more  thing--I'm  glad  that  these  necklaces  are  keeping  me  up  at  night.  I  need  that  right  now,  because  I'm  afraid  to  go  to  bed  before  my  husband  gets  home.  I  went  to  see  Paranormal  Activity  2  yesterday,  and  I  knew, like  the  first  movie,  that  it  was  going  to  scare  me,  which  it  did.  However,  it  wasn't   quite  as  scary,   and  it  ties into  the  first  movie--so  now there's  more  of  a  storyline  and  explanation  of  why  this  paranormal  activity   is  happening  to  these  people.  But  they  both  still scared  the heck  out  of  me!

I Love Garage Sales

I really do--you never know what you'll find--it's always different every week.  And you ALWAYS walk away with the best bargains.  And if the price is a little too "high", you can always get it to the price that you want to pay for it.  You can't do that in any store!  So a couple of weeks ago, I found this mirror.

It's not really an old mirror, but it has that shabby feel to it--you know the intentional peeling paint (it looks like time has worn it off, but we know better)--but it still looks good this way. So I knew that I could do something with it.

It's a nice size too-about 20 x 14".  But I didn't want to keep it as a mirror, so I just collaged  papers onto the mirror, and made my design on that.

And I drew her face on a piece of sheet music, and I knew that I wanted the music to still be seen.  So it was very  hard  for  me  to just  accentuate her face with not much color.

But I did! --and I'm very happy with the way she turned out.  I love mixed media--anything goes!!

OH, and remember I won another giveaway?--well I wanted to show you.  Alot of you are familiar with Wyanne, I'm sure.  First of all, she has a you tube channel and she has thee coolest videos of her art making process.  And you can't help but love her style.  She definitely has a way with resin--as a matter of fact, she's going to be offering a resin workshop.  And every week she'e been having these weekly giveaways of her art prints, and I was so lucky to win one--

"Meet Me in the Garden"--how much do you love this?!   And here she is in her new home, right underneath of  "Micki"

.

(kind of blurry---sorry)

And speaking of giveaways, Kelly is having one on her blog.  Remember the charms that she made me?--you can see them here.  Well she'll do the same for you if you win her giveaway--just hop on over there--take it from me--these are very cool!!

Plus, in my last post, I mentioned that I'm taking a mini vacation.  We're leaving on Sunday, and we'll be back on the following Thursday, so that will give us 5 days to visit our son who just happens to live in New York City right  in  Manhattan!  Okay--do I have to say anymore?!   I am so excited!!

Kelly is Kool!

Okay, so here's the deal---I met Kelly (Kelly Berkey Designs) in Suzi  Blu's class.  She makes wonderful jewelry, and she took Suzi's   class to learn more about creating faces, and then putting them into charms to make very unique jewelry pieces.  Well as an added bonus, she discovered that she loves the world of mixed media, but is fairly new to it.  So I've been helping her out with questions that's she has about different techniques and art supplies. 

Her art has really started to blossom  and now she is starting to sell her art pieces as well as her jewelry on Etsy. So  she wanted to thank me, which was so sweet of her.  Do you remember these two?

Well, will you just look at what she sent me for helping her out--

Are these beautiful or what?  I wish that you could all see them and touch them in person--they are gorgeous!   And you know she really didn't have to do this--I love helping anyone who wants it........but  I'm glad she did : )

She will do this for anyone who wants--your art in a pendant, and by the way--these are 2-sided.   When you reverse them, there's an image on the other side too--whatever you want it to be.  This is also a great way to get your art out there in a subtle way.   Ladies always love to admire each other's jewelry, and this would be a great lead-in of your own art.   PLUS, she does sell wholesale AND she will also do personal photos too.   So hop on over to Kelly's blog--http://kellyberkeydesigns.blogspot.com/  and from there, you can go to her Etsy store and also her email is on her sidebar on her blog.   Thank you dear Kelly--this means so much to me!

Romance At MMM

Mixed Media Monday's theme this week is  romance and here is my romantic submission--

The title of  this piece is "Clara's New Beau"--oh yeah that's right, Clara's at it again.  This is her in her younger days with  her new boyfriend.  I don't know his name, and I'm sure she didn't remember it  either later on in her life, because she had many beaus in her time. She 's getting ready for her big date with him, which happens to be Valentine's Day. She's made up her face, used her best perfume (looks like she used it all up,too), and made sure to wear her pearls (that happened to be a gift from a former beau), and notice the roses--she received them for Valentine's Day......from someone else.  They both seem  to be very smitten with each other at the time this photo was taken:

I started out with an unfinished shadowbox, and turned it backwards--

I don't like to use things the way they're supposed to be used--probably why I reversed it. Then I collaged sheet music on the outside and inside. After that I  Mod Podged the images first and then the lace on the reverse side of the glass--so basically everything was under the glass instead of on  top:

And then I just used Clara's items, and completed my box. The image of Clara and her new suitor I found on Google--how she ended up there, I'll never know.  You know, all this talk about Clara--do you think that Clara could be my muse??

So there's two things happening next weekend--St. Valentine's Day and my Birthday!  I could do without one of them :  )   And I also wanted to direct you to Kelly's blog.  I met her in Suzi's class and she is having a giveaway, but a little bit different than most.  She makes beautiful jewelry, and her giveaway is any image of your art that she will put in a pendant for you--isn't that cool?  You have until Feb. 12 (which happens to be my birthday--that would be a great present, don't you think?)  Happy Valentine's day everyone!