One Man's Trash....

....is  definitely  another  man's  treasure--especially  for  me!   One  of  my  favorite  things  to  do in  the  summer--flea  markets,  garage sales,  antique  shows--wherever  there  are  forgotten  items,  sometimes  destined  for  the  trash--that's  where  you'll  find  me.

.......just  a  sampling  of  what  I  love...

watch  parts,  any  old  hardware,  costume  jewelry...and  a  great  find  at  this  particular  haul--those  santas  and  vintage  ornaments--always  on  the  look-out  for  vintage  Christmas  that  doesn't  cost  an  arm  and  a  leg--that  box  of  Christmas  stuff  was  a  great  deal.

And  once  in  a  while  you'll  have  a  lover  of  your  art  appreciate  it  so  much  that  they  take  the  time  to  GIVE  you  some  of  their  collection!  She  collects  my  art,  and  is  particularly  attracted  to  my  assemblages--so  she  knew  that  I  would  appreciate  these  items  and  make  good  use  of  them..

yes--all  of  these  blocks  she  gave  me--some  of  them  dating  back  to  the  early  1900's  (some  were  her  father's  blocks  when  he  was  a  child)

more  Christmas--she  knows  me  well  :-)

Everything  I  find  becomes  part  of  my  art  supplies--just  like  I  need  paint  and  paper  for  my  other  art--I  need  these  objects  for  my  assemblages--they  most  definitely  put  themselves  together--

...a  printer's  tray

this  bird  is  in  an  old  drawer  from  a  vintage  sewing  table

a  'lady's  dressing  room'--I   call  this  one

a little  bit  of  my  process--

gathering--this  is  what  takes the  most  time--once  I  find  all  of  my  'puzzle'  pieces--the  rest  is  easy--

new  fairy  doll

And  another  fun  bird--

love  this  one!

And  just  last  Saturday--at  a  garage  sale--

really  nice  wood  cupboard  doors--just  laying  on  the  grass  marked  FREE!   And  I  almost  didn't  go  that  day--you  never  know  what  'treasure'  you're  going  to  find!

JOY

So  I  had  to  give  equal  time  to  the Snowmen--I  can't  get  over  how  popular  snowmen  are,  especially  at  this  festival.   They're  everywhere  at  this  show,  and  they're  always  a  big  draw  if  you  have  them  in  your  booth. 

When  I'm  making  Christmas  holiday  pieces,  I  always  get  very  nostalgic.  Like  on  my  Santa  piece,  I  used  my  favorite  childhood  book,   and  for   my  snowman  piece,  I  used  Christmas  cards--I  think that  they're   from  the  60's--the  time  I  grew  up  in.

I'm  not  really sure  what  era  these  are  from,  but  they  remind  me  of  the  cards  that we  would  receive  when  I  was young,  and  my  mother  always  had  them  displayed  all  around  the house.  I  loved  looking  at  them.  Christmas  cards  were  and  still  are  such  a  great  tradition.  You  just  want  to  send  out  the  holiday  love  to  everyone  you  know.  And  I  liked  using  the  molding  paste  so  much  on  my  Santa--well  my  snowman  needed  some  too!

And  here's  another  very  popular  item  for  me,  and  also  a  very  fun  idea--

These  old  crates--you  probably  call  them  soda  crates,  but  around  here  we  don't  call  it  soda,  we  call  it  pop--so  we  call   these  pop  crates.   I  don't  let  anything  go  to  waste--don't  throw  anything  out--send  it  to  me!

Also--here'a  a  work  in  progress--

I'll  show  you  the  rest  next  week.  Right  now  I   am  a  working  machine--seriously--I  have  no  life  except  making  art.   The  house  is  a   mess,  I  haven't  gone  anywhere  (good  thing,  because  the  weather  has  been  miserable  for  over  a  week  now),  and  I'm  tired.   BUT  I'm  not  complaining--I  do  enjoy  this as  long  as  it's  only  for  a  couple  of  weeks.  This  festival  coming  up  is BIG, and it's  not  for  one  weekend--it's  for  two!  I  found,  though,  that  I  work  well  under  pressure.

And  speaking  of  the  weather,  Fall   here  is  usually  very  nice,  and  it's  my  favorite  season.  The  only  thing  about  Summer  that   I'll   miss  is  going  out  on  my  weekend  outings  to  garage  sales.  I  was  able  to  get  out  a  little  on  Sat.  morning  because  I  knew  that  this  would  be  the  last  time  for  sales  for  me  : (    And  at   the  very  last  sale  I  went  to,  I  found  all  of  these--

 I   was  happy  as  a  clam  to  find  all  of  these  goodies--I  have  no  idea  what  I'm  going  to  do  with  all  of  these  buttons.....but  they  were  calling  my  name!

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!

Beautiful Papers

I've  mentioned  before  in  my  posts  about  art  and  craft  shows,  basically  that  it's  pretty  much  either feast  or  famine.   Well,  right  now  it's  feasting  time.  My  next  show  is  in  September,  which  is  the  start  of  the  Fall season.  The   outdoor  Fall  shows  are wonderful  in  every  aspect,  but   I'm  getting  off  track.   Point  being-- now  it  gets  a  little  hairy--you have to build up a  pretty  big  stock   of  items.   I  don't  mind  this--in fact I love  it.  The  only  thing,  is  that  I  can't  play  around  or  experiment.  I  have  to  do  what  I  know  best.  I  really  like  painting  my own  papers  to  use  in  my  art,  but  I  can't  really  take  the time,  but my new  K & Co.  papers   are  the  next  best  thing.

These  are  on  the  very  deep (over 2'')  canvases  that  I  found  at Dick Blick.  They're 6 x 6.  I   just  love these!   They  really  add  somethinging  to  the  art  piece.

And  yes,  I  made  another  piece  with  my  original  Hippie  girl.  I'm  seeing  how  many  shows  and  how  many  different  ways  that  I  can  use  her,  untill  I  don't  sell  her.

So  here's  the deal--if  I  don't  sell  her  at  my  September  show,  I'll  give  her  away  on  my  blog--stay  tuned.   It's  a  good  chance  that  I  won't,  because  this  is  more  of  a  folk  art,  primitive   type  art  and  craft  show  in  a  rural  area,  so  there's   a  different  shopping  crowd  there---but  still  a  good  one.

This  all  brings me  to  something  that  I've learned  about myself  too.  This  is  the  first  year  that  I've  taken  all  of  these  online  classes, and  I 've  learned  that  I just  can't  devote  the  time  that  I  want  to them  when  I'm   in  the  middle  of  the  show  season.  So, I'm waiting until  January  to  take  anymore  classes.   I   just can't  do  it  all   and  enjoy  what  short   of  a  summer  that  we  have  here.

Speaking  of  summer  activities.  I  wanted  to   show  you  all  a  couple  of things  that  I  found  at  garage  sales  yesterday.  I  found  this--

This  really  large (over  16"  tall)  world  atlas  book  filled with  many  maps, and other great images.  And  look  at  the very  first  and  last  page!

I also found these--

These  wooden  spools  are  great   feet  for  boxes,  among  other things.  I  bought  all  of  these  spools  for  $1.00--good  deal!

And........One  more  thing--be  there  or  be  square!

Mystele,  your're  my  hero!!

A Blog Reward and An Alternative Way For Finding Art and Art Supplies

First of all, I want to thank Natasha for giving me another blog award!

Thank you Natasha--make sure you check out her blog, if you haven't already--you'll be treated to some wonderful eye candy.

So here are the rules:

*nominate 10 blogs for this award

* make a blog post about it and let everybody know who you got it from

* let the nominated blogs know about the award

So that's pretty simple, and I always like to share other artists and their work with everyone who isn't familiar with them.  So here goes:

1. Rebecca

                                                                         2. Kelly

                                                                         3. Jeanne
                                                                         4. Marilyn
                                                                         5. Buffy
                                                                         6.Dorthe
                                                                         7. Lisa
                                                                         8. Sharon
                                                                         9. Sam
                                                                       10. Emelie

I hope everyone will go and visit these creative souls' blogs--we all help each other on our artful journey!
 

And Ricky from Garage Sales Tracker.com. wrote this article and wanted me to share it with all of you--another good reason for garage sales and flea markets.

Finding Art and Art Supplies


Everybody knows that going to the local arts and craft store is the easy way to find painting and
other art supplies but the truth is these places are a tad bit expensive. Another alternative that I
have found to be very feasible is to try a flea market or yard sale to find canvases and supplies.
Since most of us artists are on tight budgets finding alternative ways to purchase supplies and
surfaces hitting these bargain hunters dream sales is a perfect solution that never really crosses
the minds of most artists.

At a local garage sale just last month I stumbled upon a collection of art supplies that the parent
had purchased for their daughter in hopes that she would take up the hobby. Fortunatey for
me the hope never turned to fruition but I got to reap the benefits as I was able to purchase the
following: gray bristle round -28 flat -26 a half dozen round -4 bristles, an easel, and 3 canvases
for…… $30.00. Yes $30.00. If I had gone to the local store this obviously would have cost me
over $100.00 but since it was a garage sale(with no tax included) and the mother just wanted
to get rid of the supplies since they would have otherwise gone in the trash I was able to sav
some of my hard earned money.

Miscellaneous sales if you hunt around on the internet reading the listing descriptions will show
you that every so often there are pastels and other paints for sale but this is not as common as
finding brushes and canvases.

Flea Markets also act as another great place to find supplies and since most Flea Markets
act more as a mall with set hours each week these might be more feasible to consistently find
If your own the other side of the trade and you want to purchase art work than a garage sale is
right up your alley as you may have heard of the story of Teri Horton who purchased a Jackson
Pollock for $5.00 and later found out that it’s a multi-million dollar painting. While the odds of this
happening for you is very slim it certainly is possible to find lots of great artwork that the owner
of the home used to have displayed throughout the house but when it came time to redecorating
it didn’t fit with the new theme of the home and so they have decided to change things up and
guess who ends up being the beneficiary, you do. So all in all flea markets and garage sales
end up being great places to find art supplies and art work.

Great advice, Ricky, and thank you for this article.  And it's so true--you NEVER know what treasure you will find at a garage sale!

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!!

My Weekend

I hope everyone  enjoyed  their Mother's Day weekend.  Last year on Mother's Day, I was in the Lilac Festival, but this year , for some reason,  (and I'm thanking God for this one) they're starting it a week later. On Saturday, both here and Rochester, there was a high wind warning and later rain, of course. And yesterday morning in Rochester (I checked their weather--this is the time of year when I go into my weather obsession mode-- when I start doing outdoor shows) it was in the lower 30's with light snow. So, needless to say, I'm glad that they changed the weekend. 

I just basically stayed home and went into "production" mode for next weekend.  This happens all the time --I know I have a show coming up, but I still take my time, you know,  just enjoying the process of art making, but now I have to start "working"--but don't get me wrong,  I love my "job"!!!

So this is what I did this weekend, I did this mirror (boy, it's hard trying to get a good photo of a mirror)--

I've been finding these jewelry embellishments at Michael's for the last couple of months that are on clearance. Everytime I go there, I'll pick up a few. They still have a good amount left. I just added color to these with alcohol inks to match the piece.

Metal washers make really good flower centers!

And I finished my box--

Inside and out.

And I started this--

I'll post this again later when I finish it.

So as you can see, I had to "work" this weekend, and I was as happy as a clam!  My daughter and son-in-law did treat us on Saturday to  lunch at a local family restaurant with great food.   And I figured as long as I was out that I would hit some garage sales even though the weather was horrid--and I'm glad I did--look what I picked up--

Three cupboard doors for a grand total of 50 cents! 

Making Pictures With My Papers

Can I tell you how much I love taking my papers and making pictures out of them--

I think that painting the papers are as much fun as making the pictures too!

On the bottom of this one, I applied the Golden's molding paste over a stencil--it's so easy and it's a great result--

And how lucky am I?-- I found another oversized song book at a garage sale yesterday.  This time it's 400 pages and it was only  $1.00!

In all the years I've been going to these sales, I've never found these type of books.  This is the second time in a week now that I found one--that's the way it usually goes.  And linens and doilies--you can never have enough.  I have no idea what I'll do with all of these that I'm always picking up, but I have a weakness for them--

Hey, these were 25 cents each.  How can you possibly turn that down?!