Love That Steampunk Part II--and.....I Won Another Giveaway!!

Between  the  Graphic  45  papers  and  all  of  my  finds  from  the  Highway  127  sale,  I've  gone  Steampunk  crazy!!   Like  for  instance,  this  was  a  drawer  from  a  sewing  machine  table  that  I  had  found  there,  but  not  anymore--

And  then  another  find  from  Tennessee--an  old  bottle  that  I  altered--

So  when  you  put  them  together--you  have  an  art  piece  to  hang  on  your  wall!!

I  can't  stop--I  keep  finding  things  that  I  want  to  Steampunk!!

I  really  enjoy  making  art  this  way--taking  the  old  and  discarded  (and  possibly  into  the  trash)  and  re-purposing  it.    The  best  part  is  no  matter  how  old  or  young   all  of  these  items  are--they  all have  a  history  to  them--I  like  that----except  for  these--

These  are  new--

Tim  Holtz  Idea-ology  line--Love!!

But  these  are  old--

These  are  auto  bulbs--how  fun!  I  found  them  at  a  garage  sale  for  5  cents  each,  and  after  pricing  them  on  Etsy,  I  found  out  that  this  was  an   EXCELLENT  buy!!

But  I  really  must  stop!!  My  next  fair  is  in  less  than  2  weeks--Old  Fashioned  Christmas  in  the  Woods,  and  as  the  name  suggests,  it's  geared  toward  Christmas,  so  I  really  think  that  I should  be  making  some  Christmas  items,  which  I've  already  started  actually.   I  have  to  say  that  as  much  as  I  love  making  art,  I'm  wishing  I  could  have  a  little  free time  to  play  with  my  art--right  now  I  feel  more  like  I'm  producing  art  as  opposed  to  creating  it (don't  mind  me--I  go  through  this  every  year  at  this  time,  and  in  a  few  months,  I  miss it :)

So  what  did  I  win?   I  won  this!

--from  Patti  at  PBs  Art Studio---don't   you  love  it?!  And  this  isn't  a  print  either.  As  good  as  all  of  these  art  pieces  look  on  everyone's  blog,  the  photos,  no  matter  how  good,  just  can't  do  them  justice--the  acrylic  painting  mixed  with  collage.  The  wagon  and the  clothes  are  collaged  with  paper--just  adds  to  this  piece  so  much  more.  If  you  want  to  see  more  of  Patti's  art  go  here--another  very  talented  artist!

Oh,  and  one  more  thing--Tim  Holtz's  latest  book--A Compendium of Curiosities--LOVE!!  And  if  you  order  directly  from  him,  he'll  autograph  it  for  you--but  this  a  whole  other  post!

Old Skool Somerset (plus a couple of Giveaways that I want to tell you about)

Okay  another  magazine  that  I   took  with  me  on my  little  trip  was  an  old  Somerset  magazine  from  2003!  I  think  I bought  it last  year  or  the  year  before  when  they  have  their  annual   back  issue  sale.  I   think  it  might  be  going  on  right  now  over  at  Stampington.com--you  can  find  some  great  buys.  Well  anyway,  I  found  another   project  that  was  calling  my  name.

Assemblage boxes!

And   usually  when  I  do  these,  I  start  out  with  a  prompt, and  it  will  usually   lead  the  way.  This  time  it  was  these--

These  great  children's  blocks  that  I  had--nicely  aged  and  dirtied  up--like  they  should  be.  And  here's  where  they  led  me--

This one  pretty  much  put  itself  together--I  love  that  when  it  happens.

And   I'm  sure  alot  of   you  know  Rebecca   from  Daisy  Dolls,  and  if  you  don't,  then  you  are definitely  in  for  a  treat--you  have  to   check  out  her  blog.  Well,  she  had  showed  you  on  her  blog  a  gift  that  I  had  given  to  her........and  NOW--I  want  to  show  you  what  she  gave  me  in  return!

This  is  a print  from a painting  that  she  had  done  when  she  returned  from  India  last  year.  Is  this  not  gorgeous!!  And  look  at  the  bead embellishments  that she  added on--all  covered  in resin.  And  how  about that  very  cool  elephant?!  Rebecca,  I'd  say  that  you  captured  the atmosphere  of  India very well--thank  you  so  much!!  It's now  happily  living  with  all of  it's  other  new  friends  in  my  art  room.

And  speaking  of  Rebecca--her  daughter,  Emma Grace  has  a  blog  too, and  she  is  having  her  very  first  giveaway!   Emma  Grace,  you  inspire  me  with  your  enthusiasm  and  creative  spirit!!--don't  ever  loose it!!  So  if  you  haven't  gone  over  and  signed  up  yet--what  are  you  waiting  for?!.........GO!!.......NOW!!

But  before  you  do,  there's   one  more  giveaway  that  I  want  to  mention  to  all of  you  face  addicts--

Jodi Ohl  is  starting  this  new  workshop  at  the  Creative  Workshops  ning  site,  and  she  is  giving  away  a  free one  on  her  blog.  It  starts  in  September,  and  it's  really  tempting  me--let  me tell you.  So  you  can  go  here  to  sign  up  for  it.  Good  luck  on  both  of  these  giveaways!!

 

Welcome To My Party--Come On In!!

Hi everyone--welcome!  This is my first-ever blog party!   I've been blogging for less than a year, and let me tell you--it's opened up a whole new world for me.  And when I saw the  Where Bloggers Create II  party invitation on Karen's blog My Dessert Cottage I knew that this was for me.  Next to viewing other artist's work, I love seeing  their work spaces, and I'm sure that  the same goes for everyone here at the party.

So let me give you a little history of my art room.  Alot of you who have been here before know all about it, but if you've never been here--I'll tell you.  My husband and I have lived in our home for 30 years raising all of our children here, and now they're  grown and gone (I truly do love my little birdies, but I sure am happy that my nest is now empty : ) So now we have this big old house all  to ourselves--well  I've  pretty much taken it over--ahhh, such is the life of the husband of a mixed media artist.

And my art room is one of the bedrooms that we have--it's the smallest. It was the  bedroom for most of my kids when they were babies--or the nursery (that's what I like  to call  it, because it's so tiny, only a baby could live in it) And a few months ago, it had a complete overhaul.  I painted the walls, put a laminant floor in, and decluttered it (everything else that was in there  has found a new home in other areas of my  house)  so now all that's in it are the things that I like to play with everyday.   Oh yeah, there's one more reason why our home and  this  room, in particular,  is special to me.  This is the house that I grew up in and this was my bedroom the entire time I lived here until I moved out at the ripe old age of 19 to get married.

So enough talking! Let me show you around my art room. This is the one end of my room  where I pretty much store everything. Usually the leaf of the desk is open for ongoing projects that I don't have room for on my work table.

Every flat surface in my room is filled with treasures just waiting for a home in a future  art project (I have to mention that I am a garage sale junkie,and I have a passion for anything vintage)

And in addition to a junk drawer, I also have a junk bowl just filled to the brim with goodies--

I want you to keep in mind, that this  is just a fraction of what I have--remember I've taken over the whole house. And I ALWAYS find that one little piece that will complete my piece of art.

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And what would I do without my brushes,  paints,  pencils, crayons,  and all of my "potions"

I'm always cooking up something in my "lab"

More storage space next to my work table--

And right next  to my table is my ever-expanding wall of art--some of it's mine, but most are from other artists that I've met online.  My goal is to fill these two walls from top to bottom and then to move on to the rest of the room.

And finally, here's my work table and what I'm working on right now--

Okay, who am I fooling--we all know that this last photo was staged. When I'm in the middle of  something and that creative energy starts flowing, I can't be held responsible for the uproar on my table surface, and this is a good thing!!   But for the party, I wanted to tidy it up a bit. As soon as I get back to this, the table will be back to being a mess.  And if you want to see the completed piece, come back for the after-party next week  and I'll show you.  As you can see, it may not be the biggest space or the most efficient, but it's ALL MINE, and I wouldn't trade it for anything!

This is my little haven.  I'm always happy in here, no matter what may be going one in  my life.  It never fails to inspire me, and I'm always surprised  at what it inspires me to create.

And there you have it--a little glimpse into  my art space and world.  I feel so blessed and fortunate, and I never take for granted  the fact that I'm able to do this full time on a daily basis.  So all those many, many, many, many............years ago before the words  internet,  email,  facebook, etc., etc. were even invented,  I was a content  little  5  year  old girl up in  my  bedroon painting with my paints, coloring with my crayons, and drawing with my pencils, and here I am right back where I started--painting with my paints, coloring with my crayons, and drawing with my pencils--life is good!!

Now we  better get going---there 's a lot more parties going on. We can meet up at

Karen's place  and check  out everyone else who's having their own party.  Have fun--I'm sure we'll see each other  again  during the  festivities  this weekend!

My Treasures

You've heard the saying "One man's trash.... well they're my treasures. As I mentioned on my first page, I like to make collage shadowboxes with vintage items.  I try to use vintage as much as possible when I  make these.  I like the fact that everything in the piece has a history to it--no matter what it is-- someone owned it,  used it, read it, etc., up to 100 years ago (the older the better).  Usually in the summer, on Saturday morning, my husband Fred and I grab a cup of our favorite coffee--Peet's (the most delicious coffee), take the garage sale listings, and I start to hunt for my treasures.

I look for any type of vintage fabrics, lace, ribbon,  or doilies.  I can find them at great prices.

I love old jewelry, hardware, keys, buttons, etc., etc.

I'm always looking for old magazines and sheet music. I have a weakness for old books.  Everytime I see them I grab them, before anyone else can : )   I have no idea what I'll do with all of these books.  I think I see an altered book in my future.

I have many treasures in these boxes that are scattered all over my house.  And on the those cold gloomy days in the middle of winter, when I'm feeling a little down, and wish I could get out and maybe go to a garage sale--I do!  I grab a cup of Peet's coffee, and start looking through all of my boxes, because I've pretty much forgotten what's in them.  Usually at the first of the year, I go through my stash, and decide what I want to let go of, and then list them on Ebay, which I will let everyone know about on my new blog!

My favorite finds are old photos, usually from  flea markets.  It's kind of sad, because at one time these photos meant something to someone.  They all had a family, and most of these photos were taken for special occasions, and now they're in a big pile at some flea market somewhere. I feel that I have to use these in my art, because of this reason, and I want to use them. 

Take for instance, I found her and several other photos at a booth at a flea market.

And two booths down--and this IS true--I found these eyeglasses, which  very much look  like the ones that she's wearing.

So what do you think? Do you think she wants me to tell her story? I think she does, and I'm going to search through all of my treasures to finish it. And when I do, I'll show her story to all of you.

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