Somethingz To Crow About

Barb - Broken and Unbowed

2012-02-14T16:28:00.000+11:00

I am doing a 'guest' spot here to update Barb's friends and followers to her status after her car accident last week.

Barb, along with myself, Glenda and Lucy spent a lovely three days up at Tocumwal on the Murray arting and enjoying each others company.. Monday morning Glenda, Lucy and I headed to Melbourne and home, and Barb headed off to Bendigo to spend some time with her parents

Glenda, Barb, Lucy, Bevlea

About half an hour out of Bendigo Barb had a horrific head on with a fully laden B-Double (semi towing another load). Her Rav 4 is a complete write off, but luckily all the angels and side airbags were on her side, and she has survived to tell the tale.

photo courtesy Bendigo News

She was airlifted to the Alfred Hospital in Melbourne suffering from a broken leg, wrist, sternum, shoulder blade and large gash on stomach. She now has a plate in her leg and has been transferred this week to Epworth Rehabilitation. Today is her birthday, so thanks to the girls on PaperArts, Lucy and I went in to visit her with some goodies that I purchased from the collection that was taken up.

Opening the gift with Lucy

We took in 12 helium balloons - one from each person who contibuted, a beautiful hat box filled with shampoo, conditioner, deoderant, tissues, bath sponge, perfume (So Lovely by Sarah Jessica Parker), a nice new nightie and a bigggggg box of choccies

at least she still has her sense of humour!

A LITTLE CREATIVE SOUL MUSE-IC

2012-01-13T12:16:00.004+11:00

My dear little grand-daughter, now 11, created this fantastic assemblage at a school holiday play day yesterday. She mainly used old broken toys and a hot glue gun ( for the first time). It sits on a toy tambourine which is 31 yrs old.....same age as her mother!....a bit of serendipity as well as creativity!!

I think it's FABULOUS (I'm not at all BIASED...vbg) and I hope you all find it that also....and be sweet enuff to leave a cawment on it...she would be thrilled!

Dr. Music

PLAY TIME CREATIONS

2012-01-07T01:04:00.005+11:00

My sister and I have had such a great time together these past six weeks but sadly, the time has come for her to go home...tomorrow!
I am going to miss her so much...it will be some time before I shall adjust to being alone again.
However, I have been able to actually get some more play-time and here are the ATCs that I got done.

A few Weird Ones

A bit on the cute side from my norm.
This one was last month's WTA and is going to a new home.

I used an off-cut from a cog die-cut

on an embossed back-ground for this one.

These are for our PaperArts Group's January swap.

The theme is "Altered People".Can you figure out who they are?

This shows who's under the lion's head ATC.

Do you need more clues as to who it is?

This next lot are more of my sister's creations. She has really had a great time but is pleased that the stash/mess won't be at her place.....LOL.

What I have done recently...

2011-12-16T16:15:00.005+11:00

It's not much, but I have managed to fit in making some ATCs for our Paperarts monthly swaps.
This time of the year, altho' supposed to be peaceful and joyous, has it's down moments for me....seems if anything's gunna go wrong, it will now!
Added to which, during the hotter months, my mostly calm nature tends to explode into fiery mode! (no snickering allowed here by my friends!)

To top off all health issues around me, I have been waiting for parts for my NEW stove-top (gas burners) since OCTOBER!!!....yes...I did say NEW stove-top!
Seems we have VERY BAD POSTAL SERVICE between HERE and SYDNEY as I have been told THREE times that the parts were posted out. apparently they have FINALLY arrived and am now waiting on the appliance man to come but still not sure if they will fix the problem.

Oh, why couldn't they have just replaced the stove-top in the first place!!??

However, I HAVE managed to make some beetroot relish, chili jam and mango relish on the ONE jet that DOES work!

Anyhoo....here are the two different ATCs I made at least five of each of...hope you like them.
I have a spare of each if anyone would like to trade. Just email me if you are interested.

The left one's theme was "Mother's Sage Advice" and the other's
theme was "Anatomical with a Twist".

Playing with my Sister!

2011-12-11T23:54:00.004+11:00

My sister is here with us at present recovering from an operation on her feet, so to keep her mind off the associated pain, I introduced her to ATCs. She was not sure how she'd go at first, but by golly...she has been bitten by the bug and sometimes doesn't even wait for me to sit with her but gets into my stash of images and produces little works of art on her own!

I shall display some of them here and hope that you will be kind
enough to cawment on them. I know it will make her day!

The last image shown is an articulated paper doll...her very first!
The lady beetle card opens to show the sunflower inside.

Finally...New Stuff!

2011-11-30T20:48:00.004+11:00

My apologies to those of you that have stuck to me, I've been having a very full-on time over the past couple of months, which is still an on-going situation for a while yet!

However, I have been able to find a few smidgens of time in-between life's tasks to make a few ATCs which I thought you might like to see. I have been trying to use up some of my gazillion images that I have been saving...so that has been a bit of a challenge as well.

So, here they are...don't forget to click on the image to enlarge.

The top three I made when visiting my dear friend Bevlea in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago.
I would appreciate some complimentary comments as all I have been getting lately have been SPAM...even tho' I have an anti-spam message on my blog....grrrr!

IS IT A BIRD?

2011-09-22T18:19:00.028+10:00

Had another play day with Marci yesterday. Once again, we didn't get much done other than working out how to use her Cricut and Marci making the hard decision as to which of my virgin stamps she wants to add to her stash....eventually!

However, I have discovered that just having a like-minded friend around, my MUSE comes back and demands to play.
Before it was time for Marci to leave, I did begin to make an ATC out of scraps on my desk....using the piece of toilet paper that I cleaned the alcohol ink off my brush after painting the half doll the other day...which resulted in a yummy variation of one of my fave colours...orange.
There was enough of the paper to back two ATCs so before it was time to put the dinner on I actually got two finished, and because my muse was not satisfied for me to sit back and rest on my laurels after dinner (so to speak...it was actually my butt I was sitting on...vbg), I sauntered back to my den and made up another ATC before my eyes told me it was time to sleep.

I often have nights of insomnia, and last night proved to be one of those...along with a semi-serious case of heart-burn (signs of old age), so after tossing and turning for an hour, I eventually got up and had a goodly dose of Bi-Carb soda which caused several relieving burps! By this time I was wide awake so I made a cuppa (Chai) and was forced (muse pushed me) back into my den, where I not only made another ATC, but went thru' a box of scrap images that has been accumulating for-EVA, and threw....yes!...threw some out! By 3 am I was ready for bed.....again!

All that being said...I guess it's time to show you the end result of my day's...and night's creativity!

This is the first of two that are the same that I made in the afternoon.
The wings are 3D mounted.
Lurv that orange paper!

The ATC on the left began life as a medieval woman transferred onto the music sheet. I gave her a new face, head and a handful of eggs. The fish are 3D mounted.
The other one was also of a medieval woman image transferred to old newspaper but had the same image printed on transparency as an overlay.
The nest and birdie are 3D mounted.
This face image is one of my favourite images.It is a Teesha Moore collage sheet image
but I added the glasses in Photoshop.

ANOTHER TYPE OF BIRD

2011-09-15T18:07:00.004+10:00

On Tuesday, my new play-mate, Marcia Smith, came to play with me. Actually, there's more chatting done than playing but we both managed to do a wee bit of arting.
Marci managed to make a mountain of paper-clay doll heads and body parts and I began toying around with a half-doll and a wire tea-light candle holder in the shape of a Christmas tree.

Today, I actually got it finished, and she is nothing like I started out to do.
To begin with, she had PINK clothes which clashed with the coppery coloured fabric that I made her "gown" from, so she got a doing over with some alcohol ink. What magic stuff that is!

I was originally going to use a purchased bird nest and sit it into the tea-light candle holder but it didn't look right sitting on top of it, so I wove a nest of copper wire around the holder, glued it in place and then added some shredded paper and feathers before gluing the little mushroom bird on top of it all.

I had the meshy strips in my stash but as they were white, I gave them a dose of alcohol too...ink that is...vbg. Then it still looked like it needed more oomph but I had to think about what to add to her...until I saw the feathers that I had used in the nest were still on my desk...and the light went on!

Of course, she had to have a feather head-dress too. I found some narrow braid to cover the feather ends around her waist but as it was too white, it got a dose of the ink as well. A blingy flower on the head-dress finished her off just in time to get her photo taken before the sun went down.

More Crowing!

2011-09-10T21:53:00.003+10:00

Due to a small number of participants in our Felt ATC swap,
we are now to make two different ATCs each.

I decided to keep to the one theme so here is the first one's mate.
Once again I padded the wing
but unfortunately it doesn't show up in the scan.

Crowing Again!

2011-09-07T21:24:00.001+10:00

This month our ATCs are to be of FELT and done in a naive style.

This is my effort.
I have added little black seed beads for the sunflower's seed and the crow's eye.
It doesn't show up well here but his wing is stuffed so it has a raised effect.

Birdies for Spring & FREE Templates

2011-09-03T15:19:00.008+10:00

This month PaperArts Group's Mixed Media Swap was to make a
BIRD HOUSE and BIRDS SWAG.

I drew up the templates and we all printed them out.
If you would like a copy of the template , leave a "cawment" on
here requesting one, along with your email address,
and I will email it to you.

I found it a lot of fun and wouldn't mind making another.

The orange BG is scrapbook paper. I printed out all the others from images of fabrics and old papers I have filed on my PC. All were distressed with Ranger Ink.
I tore thin strips of tea dyed B&W gingham and plain soft orange
fabrics and tied them onto the strings.
The back of the bird houses and the birds also have been covered
with checked and harlequin papers.

Just a Quicky & a Steampunk ATC

2011-08-31T12:35:00.001+10:00

This month our PaperArts group's theme for ATCs was Steampunk....a very popular theme at present.
I was in two minds as to what images I would make up for this so tried out two digital attempts.

I do like this first one..the little girl on the map background, but went with the Old man Time one as I did not have enough "tassel" embellies to make up the required amount for the swap.
Her wings were included in the digital composition then I spliced them out and added mounting tape behind them.

This is another digital composition with
spliced wings as in the top ATC. I added
watch parts over the digital ones coming
from the tap and a printed clock dial which
is attached with an arrow.
In reality, it is not quite as orange a
background as it looks here.

Altered Magazine Face Images

2011-08-05T12:29:00.006+10:00

July's ATC swap in paperarts yahoo group was to alter a face cut from a magazine.

There are different ways of doing this type of theme; these are my efforts.

I found it a little bit addictive and after making the required amount for the swap, I did a few extras for my self.

I have put the original image beside the altered one so you can see the difference.
Click on each image to enlarge them.

"Cool Cat"

"Evil Is As Evil Does"

"Got My Number"

"Happy Jack"

"Mona's New Dentures"

"Hard to Shut His Mouth"

"Party Girl" #1

"Party Girl" #2

"Purrfic Fashion"

"Who Am I"

"Dick Feared Flying"

I forgot to scan the original image for "Big Girl's Panties" but I think you will see the added stuff on it.

RETURN'S from MARION's ANNUAL SWAP

2011-08-02T10:45:00.000+10:00

Ingeborg Miko Trudi Sissons Tamara Comerford
These are the wonderful ATCs I received from Marion's Annual Swap.
This year the theme was Mona and Friends.

I also traded privately with my friend Glenda Laing ...this is her great "Mona's Friend".

A Digital Dalliance

2011-07-27T03:12:00.002+10:00

A couple of days ago, a few of my on-line friends and I were having a bit of fun, bantering back and forth by email about age related woes....me being the oldest in the group, I copped most of the flak!
One of them suggested that we need not fear looking... shall I say, "mature aged" if we have a GOOD HAIRDRESSER!
This got me to thinking that this particular friend must have a GOOD one and asked if it was by any chance known as "The Restoration Centre", as that would be the place we would have to go to if we were hoping to regain our once youthful appearance!
There we could have all of our gravity affected parts rejuvenated, but at this stage of our lives, it could possibly lead to "things" being lifted too far and we could end up with popping eyes and a goatee....albeit somewhat thinned out!

Soooo...my sense of humour being as it is, I immediately got a picture of the end result in my head and, giggling off into he kitchen to get dinner ready, I decided to put my "head picture" into being...and after spending all afternoon on it...here she is!

Except for the "eyes" and "goatee", which I sourced on-line through Google and compiled them myself in Photoshop, most other images bar the top border, are from Crowabout and the boots are from TumbleFishStudio. The top border is Pixel Music but I apologise for not knowing where I got this collage set from.

An altered Cabinet Card-SteamPunk Style

2011-07-16T15:13:00.001+10:00

This altered Cabinet Card, SteamPunk style, was made for our June Mixed Media swap on Paperarts.

There were only four of us in it and we had to use a genuine Cabinet Card.

Our ATC theme for June was 1950s Domestic Goddess. This is my entry.
Mona's head on a 1950s Pin-Up girl's body....glasses added.

My Clever Grand Daughter

2011-07-15T18:31:00.006+10:00

My 10 yr old grand daughter loves "arting" with me and has taken to making ATCs using up my left overs.
She actually began doing these when she was 9.
Click on them to enlarge.

Now I am proudly showing them off to the world....and she is very excited that they are on my blog and would love some cawments on them.She uses up my off-cuts very well don't you think?

Another Recycled Jewelry Doll .

2011-07-04T17:57:00.000+10:00

"Time to Play"

This one is so cute! She is only about 5 inches long and I
think she would look great as a pendant.

More Arting Attempts!

2011-07-04T16:11:00.005+10:00

I cannot believe that ANOTHER month has gone by so fast!...no wonder I am feeling my age...which is all downhill now...LOL.

Altho' it is now JULY, I am only just catching up with adding work done in April! The ATC swap theme was Bees Waxed Vintage Woman and also one of a Vintage Man. It was a "double-bunger" as there were not many of us in the swap.

We had to adhere lace to the woman's ATC and a metal object to the man's.

This was my first attempt, which is OK, but NOT ME! Way too prissy!

Using a beeswax candle I adhered tissue paper to a hand dyed background, added the image, some netting and then lace with red "jewels" (which I see now that one is missing) and a gold sticker corner and trim. I gave her a feather and a jewel in her hair but she still didn't look too happy so I put her aside and made the ones below as a "set".

Aaaah!!..now THESE are more me....LOL

We also held a swap of houses of our own theme, using the pattern of Lynn Whipple's, featured in a CPS magazine, Spring 2005.

I chose to make mine in a Zetti theme.

All images have been digitally compilated, using mostly png. images from Crowabout StudioB at DeviantScrap

The birdy in the nest, which is wired to a grape-vine twig, is there to act as a "handle" to lift the roof off the house. The wire goes through the roof and has a plastic egg and feathers added to it for balance. The little "window" flaps either side of the roof have tiny wooden eggs as knobs to raise them. I wired a larger plastic egg to the entrance and made a wire loop on the other side to act as a closure of the walls/doorway.

Some of my latest ATCs

2011-06-17T15:06:00.000+10:00

I was once again one of the lucky ones invited to take part in Marion Bockelmann's annual ATC swap.

This year the theme was "Mona and Friends". I am looking forward to getting the returns.

We were asked to use images from the same era as Mona, and alter them....not just use Mona as the main image.

This is my entry

Art with Friends

2011-04-12T20:51:00.003+10:00

Back in late January, two of my friends came up from Melbourne to stay with me for a few days.
We had a wonderful time arting and just enjoying each others company in general.

We decided to create a canvas each in the style of a Pam Carriker's workshop, "An Angel's Anthology".

Here are the two of them doing their best to look like they are working hard on their projects....LOL

This is my attempt ...I think it could have been a bit more blue in tone but I like the textures that we incorporated.The crackling was a bonus of using Gesso that was old and dried out....quite a bonus really!

This is a closeup of the crackling...would be good if it happened more often on other work.

This is the cover I made for everyone's PaperArts group "Night Before Christmas" book swap.

Hand made/painted paper background.

A Zetti piece of work

2011-04-12T17:01:00.004+10:00

I have been purchasing and downloading images from "Crowabout" for quite a while so I thought it about time I did something with some of them.

I usually prefer to make up weird images from various other images for my collages, but I gotta admit that using PNG images to make digital art sure saves a lot of time!

Anyway, if nothing else, it makes me smile...vbg.

A few more pieces of me....vbg

2011-04-10T15:25:00.001+10:00

This ATC swap theme was "Out Of The Mouths Of Babes" in January 2011. She looks like I feel whenever I have to deprive myself of all the good tastes in life!

February 2011 ATC theme was "Queen Of Broken Hearts". I think she has to be almost at the top of the list even tho' she married one husband twice! ( does that mean she actually broke HIS heart TWICE????)....vbg.February 2011

Marchs' ATC swap theme was "Bird In A Cage". This is a very rare bird indeed!

Some Mixed Media Art Dolls

2011-04-07T22:56:00.014+10:00

Recently I was in a swap to make a mixed media art doll from recycled jewelery.

I enjoyed this project so much that I made a few more and I WILL be making more of them in the near future.

I have been scrounging thru' my stash of old jewelery and on the look-out for more treasures to pull to pieces at our local op shops but am finding it hard to get any there these days. I hope you enjoy looking at them as much as I did making them.

I have tried to keep them all around 6 inches long...some are a little shorter than that tho'.

This little pretty was my first. She was the one made for the swap.

This one now lives with my dear friend Bevlea in Melbourne.

This one has a vintage mother of pearl butterfly brooch as her "crown". She looks like she is ready to "spring into action" at any given moment....LOL.

This one reminds me of an Amazon woman...don't know why cos she doesn't really look like one ....LOL

This one isn't all jewelery (obviously...vbg). Her body is of a sheet of tin that already had the all over pattern pressed into it and in it's original shape...goodness knows what it was originally but I have 4 pieces of it. It is coloured with Alcohol Inks.

This bright little Sprite is made using a large jigsaw piece that I textured and then coloured with paints. She has a bottle cap head and printed wings.

I am off to bed again now so I will add more tomorrow.

And so I continue...

2011-04-07T15:02:00.004+10:00

So let's see if blogland treats me more kindly today...vbg.

(surely it couldn't have anything to do with me forgetting how to do things on it...could it???...vbg)

OK..where did I leave off??..Oh yes....the one eyed Mermaid,(which for her, is better than two because it has a built in torch for travelling through the water at night.)

This next ATC is my attempt at Zetti art.
September- 2010

Another Zetti style for a "Marie-Antoinette" theme.

November-2010

And another...December 2010, using an image of the well endowed 1950s movie star, Jane Mansfield for the theme of "Queen of....."

This is a soldered pendant I made back in August 2010. I used an actual Tintype photo, added a copper German Scrap wing and some rub-ons. I cut the outer wings from copper scrim. The death notice in the back of it is from a 1909 newspaper.

And yet another "zetti" styled ATC...I think I have fallen into the Zetti conclave and can't get out! Good thing I LURV IT!!...vbg. This is a transparency of a vintage woman over alcohol inked BG with a printed head and nest added. The blue bird is 3D mounted.

This ATC was quickly created from bits I had on my desk. The BG music manuscript has a tranferred image on it but I added a printed headover the original one.

Even though this poor fellow... and his seven brothers... didn't make it to the Macabre Corpse book swap due to having been ruined by my leaking ceiling whilst we were away over seas, I wanted to include him here. It took me all day to compile him in PhotoShop ( and I have a witness that can verify that...vbg) so you can imagine how disappointed and peed-off I was to find nearly all of them stuck together and had to make up another lot!

THE TIME HAS COME.....!!!!

2011-04-06T22:05:00.082+10:00

WOW!!! Can you believe this????....I am FINALLY adding something to my blog!When I first decided to do this...only a few minutes ago, I was tossing up as to whether I should just "dump" this blog and start again but I realised that as it has taken me sooooo long to get back to THIS one, creating a new one could be too daunting and may NEVER happen.

At the risk of sounding both egotistical and im-modest, some of you may have been wondering where I have been, and why I have not been keeping up with blogging here. I WAS going to go into detail as to why, however, I have decided not to bore you with my excuses.....even tho' they were legit... and just get on with adding images of what "arting" I HAVE managed to get done in-between "life events".

I would also like to thank those of you that have continued to "check in" on me, I feel honoured but very guilty...vbg.So....where do I start???...I guess I will have to go back to where I left off...November 2009!....LOL

This ATCs theme is "Diamonds Are A Girls Best Friend"

November-2009

"Something Fishy" -December 2009

"Gypsy"-January 2010

"Beach Babe"- February 2010

Medieval ATC- May 2010

Altered Sardine Tin- May 2010

Black & Silver Gothic ATC-June 2010

Twinchie- Paper Napkin BG,Frinkles & Rusted Metal Dragonfly
July-2010

"Steampunk" with moving parts
July-2010

This is another Zetti style ATC

August - 2010

OK!...I give up! I don't know what has happened to Bloggerland since I last posted but it is driving me crazy trying to set out the pics!!! It has exhausted all my good intentions for tonight...I am off to bed to refresh the nervous system and the grey matter....not to mention my aching foot.

But, like that famous saying...I shall be back, hopefully tomorrow, to add more of my creations.

MY SANITY HAS BEEN TESTED!

2009-11-15T21:08:00.017+11:00

I have been feeling emotionally stressed
this past month....and probably a little
jet-lagged from our trip to Egypt,
and actually felt like tossing out
my stash and giving paper art away!

My muse had taken flight and I just
felt miserable all day.

Having to do the November tute on
our 2cre8art blog really seemed such
a chore when I thought about it, but,
depressed or not, I knew I HAD to
do it or I would not be able to "face"
our followers ...or for that matter,
LIKE myself, so at the 11th hour,
I forced myself to do it and found
that by the time I had finished, I
was back into the "zone"...almost!

Because of the tute and the images
I used for it, (which I ALWAYS print
too many of ), I decided that I needed
time to regain some sanity in my life!

So, I would get all the normal (well...
not much is really "normal" for me here
at present, but that's another story...vbg)
household chores done of a morning,
then head off into my cluttered
creative space to see if my muse
really had come back!

After the first half dozen ATCs
came together, I found I couldn't
stop! I even had to go print out
some MORE images...LOL.
Fortunately, as I have
mentioned before, I always
have a stack of ATC backs ready
to play with, so I kept creating
until I had used all the appropriate
coloured ones.

So, now I have 15 new ATCs , of the same theme, added to the 3 tute ones! I am sure each one of them contains a part of my emotional being and I am also sure they will show the state of my mind at the time of making..nutters!!...LOL.

And here they all are.... I would love to see your cawments on them.

THIS MONTH'S ATC for GROUP SWAP

2009-10-27T16:47:00.005+11:00

This month our theme was "Fractured Fairy Tales"....
and me being me, got it wrong and came up with a
"Fractured Nursery Rhyme" ATC.

However, after running it past the boss lady, Bevlea,
I was granted permission to use it!

I sourced a 1950's Pin-up girl from the inter-net then went surfing for three suitable fellows to take a bath with her...I think they are just the right ones, don't you? She has brains, culture and last but not least....swashbuckling good looks!

The BG is of my hand dyed paper and the 3 is a Cuttlebug die cut, using silver cardstock. The edges are distressed with Ranger ink.

Mr. Einstein is 3D mounted, both at the head and the
left arm and I coloured in the bath bubbles with a white marker.

SPOOKY ANCESTORS UPDATE

2009-10-19T22:39:00.002+11:00

This is my FINISHED 6 x 4 inch book page for our PaperArts Sept Swap,which, due to a change of themes, is late in being finalised.

We all had to use collage sheet images from Itkupilli , so our completed book will have a great uniform look to it.

There are 13 participants which is just the right amount for the theme...don't you agree?

All the images on my page are 3D mounted onto the background. I used medical gauze for the "grass" and painted over it with a yucky mix of acrylic paints.

Here we have the Bonehead family in a family portrait.

Mother, altho' a little shaky on her old bones, is dressed in her best old gown and is sporting a beautiful black rose hat which I think really enhances her wonderful high cheekbones!

The children were on their best behavior as they were promised that they could watch the DVD "How Frankenstein Met his Death" after the photo shoot if they stood still and put on a startled face!

Little Hedra was always Daddy's favourite so she was given the privilege of holding what was left of him so he would be included. You can see by the smile on his face that he was thrilled to be there.

Hannibal took along his pet, "Blackie" who was kept on a short rein so as not to creep off out of the camera's range. It also ensured that the nasty black crow that was eying him off would not swoop down and take him for his supper!

Hannibal's twin sister, Lucretia found the whole time boring as...she just wanted to get it over with so she could go back home and pull off some more doll's heads!

DOWN on the FARM

2009-09-22T21:07:00.004+10:00

This was last month's Mixed Media swap, altho' I used mainly paper.

It measure 3 inches x 11/2 inches and is ,obviously, an accordian book.

Both Bevlea and I played a part in making this...she found some of the images and printed them out and I placed them onto the backgounds.

The "reins" on the stubborn mule on the front allows the book to be tied closed...unfortunately I don't have a pic of that tho'.

These pics were taken before I added my signature to it...a black crow flying above the ducks...maybe the recipient of the book will send me an image of it if I ask nicely...vbg.

POST SCRIPT:
Debbie has sent me a pic of the crow on the page...and it has a mind of it's own as to where it wants to be positioned here on this page so I apologise for it being out of order.

RUSTY "STEAM-PUNK"

2009-09-22T20:53:00.000+10:00

September's ATC Theme is RUST so I used some of my rusted paper as the back ground for this little Punk style courier of love.

He has rusted metal Dragonfly wings on his back and on the rusted cog wheels, and a rusted tin heart to carry.

He also has a wee rusty (cog) monacle to cheekily peek out thru'.

QUEEN BEE

2009-09-03T20:19:00.005+10:00

This is August's bulk swap ATC. The theme was Bees.

I compiled the image in Photoshop and added eyes cut from a magazine. It is on a painted watercolour paper background, stamped, using Brilliance Copper ink to represent honeycomb.

Her wings have a thin coat of Stickles and her crown and ear-ring have red Kindy Glitz dots. Her back wing is 3D raised on mount tape.

There were not as many in the swap as expected so I have three of these available to trade if anyone is interested.

Zetti Returns

2009-09-02T10:17:00.005+10:00

My Zetti returns have finally arrived from Marion and I am lovin' them all!
Thanks once again to Marion for taking the time to run this humongous annual swap....I look forward to NEXT year's with great excitement!

Click on image to see them in all their glory!

I received ATCs from the following artists...
Marion Bockelman
Marsha Jorgensen
Angelika Tugal
Ute Krauss
Angela Sturm
Deirdre Roberts
Ulrike Kauffmann
Kate Crane
Mandy

Thank you all.

2009-08-29T17:17:00.013+10:00

I recently received this new award given to me by Donna Dixon . You MUST check out her site...it has fantastic eye-candy and wonderful free images!
Thank you Donna..I appreciate the fact that you felt me worthy of this award.

I have to list 5 things that I love, then choose 10 of my favourite blogs to give this award too.
Let me tell you that choosing ten will not be an easy task but I will give it a try.

Firstly, five things that I love....other than my hubby and my home...vbg

1. Watching my grand children grow.
2. Clean sheets on my bed.
3. The scent of Freesias.
4. The colour chartreuse...makes my mouth water...LOL
5. Listening to the rain on an iron roof, especially after a long dry.

And I send this award to the people below...

1. Kirsi..where you will find gorgeous eye-candy AND links to beautiful collage sheets.
2. Kris - the name says it all !
3. Diana - beautiful eye-candy.
4. Rachel - more lovely eye-candy.
5. Kathy - a very talented collage artist.
6. Jo James -FABULOUS whimsical art dolls!
7. Amy Flowe - she has a wonderful slide show of her art .
8. Kelsey - wonderful dark art...very lovely lady.
9. Robyn Gordon - FANTASTIC wooden carved art.
10. Nancy Baumiller - AWESOME Collage artist.

So, you wonderful artistes...if you don't wish to accept the award I will understand, but at least you will know that I love visiting your sites and adore and covet your art!

RAVEN AGAIN!

2009-08-28T21:17:00.007+10:00

I made this one up for a CROW/RAVEN swap on a UK Yahoo group.

The only criteria was that we were to hand draw the crow/raven.

He is painted with Golden's Carbon Black onto a painted background,using watercolour paper.

I printed out the black and white paper borders, and also the yellow spotted hat, which began life as a picture of a paper cup.

The eye was cut out of a magazine.

Seems I couldn't help myself....he turned out Zetti-ish!

Fantastic Blog...Fabulous Give-away!

2009-08-25T10:39:00.012+10:00

I have just spent way too much time ogling and drooling over images of fantastic art dolls...yes...they really are ART DOLLS!!....and one of them is going to be given away to a lucky visitor to the blog!
And yet another Yes....I will 'fess up that I still have a soft spot for cloth dolls, especially the whimsical, naive, arty ones.
The GIVE-AWAY is in honour of Jo James celebrating her 200th blog post! Wow!...what a milestone!
I have every part of me crossed that is possible to do, in hope that I will be the lucky winner!...LOL

So...take a walk on the whimsy side and check out this blog.
This is the little sweetie-pie that is up for winning.
But...be quick...the offer ends October 1st.

ANOTHER FABRIC PAGE

2009-08-21T16:39:00.014+10:00

I have finally completed my commitment of fabric pages for several people on a Yahoo Group.

We all selected our own theme and each participant made a 5 inch X 7 inch page up for everyone, which the recipient then makes into a book.

This one's theme is "Nature".(Yeah..I know...it's a bit "fishy" but that's nature isn't it?)

Using silver thread and a wavy stitch, I attached some sheer, shiny fabric to the base fabric, which is cotton with a fleck of silver thru' it, I attached the fish, which are cut from a piece of fabric that I have had stashed away for yonks...(NEVER, NEVER throw anything away...you never know when you are going to want it!!...vbg)...and then stuffed them with Dacron filling to make them raised from the base fabric. They have glass beads for eyes and pearls and glass beads for the water bubbles.
I used yarns for seaweed and floral fabric for coral. I attached some Cinamay strips to the bottom of each side, then added some of those wonderful silicone beads that I used on the mermaid ATCs to represent sand.

I've been challenged..

2009-08-06T13:57:00.013+10:00

I was checking out Moriah's blog today....sorry Moriah, I'm a little behind in doing so... where I discovered I was up for a Blog challenge! I was instructed to go to the 4th folder in "My Photos" and then post the 4th photo in that folder here and tell a little bit about it.
So, here it is...pretty boring old stuff really but I must do as I'm told...vbg.

This is a mixed media paper doll (bird) that was made for a swap. She was to go to a participant over in America, but some how she flew off course and never arrived at her destination!
She was about 6 inches tall, self supported on her wire legs, with a tiny woven vine nest which has three REAL candy coated chocolate eggs in it. I painted them with acrylic and then sealed them with a lacquer, adding tiny diamantes to them at that time.
There is a garland of lead crystals surrounding the nest and some also on the wire hanger. Unfortunately they don't show up in all their glory here. There are also tiny copper stars attached to the garland
Her wings are feathers off a vintage 1950's lady's hat and she has a brass crown, surrounded by Christmas icicle-garland spikes.
So now it is my turn to pass this challenge on to 4 other Bloggers....I do hope they take it up...and no cheating ladies...vbg.

Bevlea Ross http://soularts.typepad.com

Marion Bockelmann http://bockel24.blogspot.com

Diana O'Cobhthaigh http://docobhthaigh.blogspot.com

Lucy Leatham http://artitudebylucy.blogspot.com

ZETTI SWAP!

2009-08-05T16:06:00.013+10:00

I am participating in my friend Marion Bockelmann's annual Blog Swap, this year the theme is Zetti..these are my entries.
I decided to go with the weird and wonderful kingdom of "Animorphs"...I hope they give the recipients cause to smile...just as they do me....vbg.

THE CROW HAS FLOWN !

2009-08-01T13:30:00.003+10:00

Hee-hee!...But not very far...he is now available as my August Tute on our Tutorial blog.
Hope to see you there and that some of you will take part in the challenge of making up the ATC.

CAWlling in again !

2009-07-30T11:14:00.028+10:00

I have recently been away from home for just over a week in a warmer climate only to step out of the plane into a cold, bleak, rainy day, and, after finally catching up with what I was behind with...(the story of my life!!!...vbg), I finally found time to create this little fella.
It will probably be my month's (August) technique on our http://2cre8art.blogspot.com so I will refrain from giving the details here until I decide on that.
Cawments invited and appreciatively received...vbg

Oh...in case you think my house must have been soooo messy that it took the 20 days between posting to clean it up, I thought I'd better let you know that I have made a series of ATCs for our group swap themed
"NUMBERS".
Unless you have a silly imagination like mine, he probably won't make sense standing alone as my dear friend Bevlea Ross and I got our heads together and decided to each make a "side-by-side" complementing pair...only saying I was to make the male one and she the female...which I have yet to see, but she tells me we both used the same Cuttlebug Embossing card and both chose rust coloured background papers. Mine is actually some of the rusted paper I made myself, then rubbed over with Ranger's Spiced Marigold Distress Ink. I used a scrap of my self-printed harlequin paper and a rusted cog over his eye.
I shall add Bevlea's ATC pic here when I receive it so he should make sense then..vbg.
HERE is BEVLEA'S "Numbers" ATC...does it make sense now?...vbg

And, a friend of mine loves Sea Horses and the colour purple, so I made this Mermaid ATC into a little wall hanger for her birthday gift. Needless to say she was thrilled!

SWIMMING WITH MERMAIDS!

2009-07-10T16:45:00.016+10:00

More fishy-tailed little ladies came swimming in yesterday...I think I am going into...or perhaps am now going out of... a "BLING" stage in my creativity...vbg.
This time, all but two have clear transparency wings which I heated with my trusty old heat gun (der!) to curl them up, which makes them appear to be 'floating".
They all have 3D elements, either at the fluke of their tail's, or the fish in their hands. The shell hats are also 3D mounted.
I have used up all my watery looking back-grounds, so for now, mermaid themed ATCs will be put to rest.

SOLDERING ON!

2009-07-07T17:48:00.021+10:00

June's Mixed Media theme for a group swap on our PaperArts group was Microscope Slide Pendants. We only had to make one but I, as usual, got carried away and made four...a couple of which are for some special people....but not telling here 'cos it will spoil the surprise! One was for the swap and the fourth for me, and I intend to make a couple more for my daughters.
The two three inch ones were constructed the copper foil way, using the wavy edged tape and soldered over. I used scrapbooking papers for backgrounds, snippets of lace and small pieces of gold paper doilies. The images are from a Paper Whimsy Collage sheet. I added tiny German Scrap stars to the women's heads and drew veins on the wings with a gold gel pen. Also added the gold gel pen to the children's images.
I added metal/brass corners to the tops and charms to the bottom of each, which I coated with the soldering patina solution to darken.

With the square ones, I used Ranger's two inch square Memory Frames.
The masculine one is covered with plain copper foil tape and soldered. I used scrap booking papers for BGs and added my own text. The male images are from found sources, altered to suit, using party hats from an Artchix Collage sheet, reduced in size, and then drew on the clown face with gel pens.The clown face side is the front. Again, I added metal/brass charms etc. and coated them with the patina solution.
For the feminine one, I used the wavy edge copper foil tape, and added metal/brass charms to the top. It has a found image of Theda Bara on the front and the child image on the back is from a Tuscan Rose Collage sheet. I used Derwent watercolour pencils around the images to give depth and a little dab of pink went onto their cheeks. I used scrapping papers and lace with these also, but as the lace was on both sides, it made the insert too thick to fit into the frames with the two pieces of glass so, after trying to force it in or bend the frame open more...to no avail, the "light" came on and I used a piece of clear acrylic of the back (the child's image side). The only drawback with that was that I had to be SUPER careful with the soldering iron....it would melt if even slightly touched by it, and as it turned out, it also swells a little, which you may be able to see in the photo, but I feel all in all, it turned out OK and it was a good solution to the problem.

AND THE WINNER IS.......!!

2009-07-04T20:47:00.006+10:00

Thanks to all who took the time to look at my blog and leave comments. It made for interesting reading....both the good, and the bad about leaving comments on people's blogs.
I understand that those on dial-up are handicapped by time and that there are those of us that don't have enough time in a day as it is, even with broadband service. I have been "trapped" into reading blogs for hours because one leads to another...LOL.
I am also of the opinion that if the blog that I go to to view does not have anything of my liking on it, I may not leave a comment, but mostly I do try to find something there to comment on....even if it sounds trite, at least I have shown a form of encouragement to the blogger.
I am not really interested in "personal journey" type blogs nor will I bore readers of mine with anything too personal...if I want to put THAT out there I should put it in book form and (try to) make money out of it!!!...LOL.
I also want to thank the folk that commented on my "art" work....you all brightened my days and made me feel loved...LOL
I wish I could give you ALL an ATC but then it wouldn't be a Lottery, would it?...vbg.

So, that being said, it is time to announce the winner....no..it's NOT Diana O'C....it is none other than.....

Number three on the list....

And.......you will all have to go to the comments list under the MERMAID ATC to find out who that is...and will the winner then contact me with her details please.

This is such good fun that I am thinking I shall have to have another Lottery ...down the track..where the crow flies..LOL

MY FIRST GIVE AWAY

2009-06-29T18:35:00.022+10:00

In the light of the interest shown in my last lot of Mermaid ATCs, (scroll down to see them) and the fact that some viewers would like to have one or another in their hot little hands, I have decided to have a LOTTERY for THIS latest ATC, shown HERE on the right. However, there is a WEE LITTLE catch to it...which I shall explain after giving you a description of the ATC....vbg.
She is another of Artchix Collage Sheet Mermaids which I modified by removing her original wings and adding mine, which are actually...wait for it...3D...LOL...and again "Blinging" her tail, and ample bosom, up with red Kindy Glitz.
She is reclining on the sandy bed of the ocean, watching the local population go by. The "sand-bed" is actually made up of those little silica beads that we find in packets in items that we buy. The BG paper has Stazon and embossed swirl stamping and the right edge is finished off with some German Scrap that I rubbed over with some Alcohol ink. Then an edge of Green Kindy Glitz finished this little lady off.
Now...on to the LOTTERY part of this exercise!...LOL.
Remember I said there will be conditions????
Well...here they are!

This afternoon I added to my blog a commentary about the general public leaving...or the lack of leaving...comments on people's blogs.

To be eligible to be in the LOTTERY, I would like you to read these words of Jessica Wesolek's and leave a comment THERE under her commentary BELOW THIS post, about YOUR thoughts on this matter AND THEN to leave one here under the MERMAID ATC.

I will draw a winner via RANDOM ORG on SATURDAY 4th JULY so please leave your email address along with your comments so I know where to post the MERMAID ATC to.

REMEMBER...you MUST leave a COMMENT AT both POSTINGS!
That is...one AT THIS post and one at the post BELOW here.
If you want to be in the lottery draw you will need to leave your contact information .
GOOD LUCK!!

WHY DON'T WE LEAVE COMMENTS?

2009-06-29T15:33:00.007+10:00

GIVING BACK- BY JESSICA WESOLEK

This is a post on Jessica's blog which I found really interesting and worthwhile, so with her permission, I am posting it here. Go and have a look at her really interesting art and everyday life messages here:
http://web.me.com/jwesolek/cre8it/Blog/Blog.html

"Giving Back . . .
Communication fascinates me and always has. I really think it makes the world go around. So, it has always interested me that only 1 or 2 percent of readers ever leave Comments on a blog post, or have anything to say in a Yahoo Group.

It interested me enough that I have been asking friends why that is. Yes, I have a lot of lurker friends to ask. The answers were really interesting because they went something like this: I’m shy, nothing I say would be interesting to anybody, I’m probably the only one who hasn’t already thought of this, I’m too busy.

Do you pick up a theme there? Pretty one-sided, right? But what if leaving comments wasn’t all about you?

I have an interesting lesson to share. I used to have a very hard time accepting compliments, and like many of us do, I would pretty much throw the compliment back in the complimentor’s face, thinking I was practicing modesty instead of insult. They would say “you’re so good” and I would say “no I’m not”. Those are paraphrases, but you know what I mean. “What a pretty dress!” “Oh, this old thing?”

So one day, my brother asked me if I realized that I was insulting the other person. Whether I realized the complimenting process wasn’t only about me, but rather, a social interaction. What? Something that’s not only about me? How could that be?

But he was right. By arguing with a compliment, I was telling the other person they were wrong, and maybe their opinion didn’t matter much to me.
That was a big lesson, and ever after, I just say “Thank you”

There are lots of things that aren’t just about us, and the amazing plethora of treasure that is internet content is one - a gift that didn’t just get stuck in your computer with the hard drive. It is created and given by hardworking and generous-to-a-fault people just like you (blogs, Yahoo Groups, online zines, tutorials, product reviews, etc. - all free).

If someone brought all this in a box to your door, would you say “Thank you”? Of course you would. If someone at a party told you an amazing thing you never heard of before, or told you about a wonderful new store or book, or restaurant, would you stand there and stare at them silently like you didn’t hear them? Of course you wouldn’t.

Well, the web is not different than the world we live in anymore. It is a social place, and we must all take some social responsibility. I get a kick out of articles that talk about “Netiquette” and Web Etiquette. They mention not flaming somebody into ash, and not TYPING IN ALL CAPS because it means you are yelling.

But they don’t say: speak up and add your voice and your energy to this fantastic exchange so it can keep on rolling and become even better. So the folks who are giving all this don’t run out of gas and stall altogether. They should say that.

And just in case you are thinking this is all about me (Jessica), I think we do better here (cre8it blog) than most with Comments (especially when something free is being given away ;-), and I get so much gratitude in emails that it gives me lots of practice on my compliment Thank You’s! But it breaks my heart to see really good Yahoo Groups fade away because only three people are willing to keep talking, or wonderful blogs go away because the author feels she is hearing the sound of one hand clapping or worse, talking to herself in public.

I know lots of bloggers will say they are doing it “for themselves” and it doesn’t matter if anybody responds with a Comment, but a part of that is just bravado. If they were only doing it for themselves, they would do it in a closet - not on the internet.

So let these wonderful folks know you visited, and if you liked their tutorial, or if their technique gave you a valuable answer you’ve been searching for. Or just say “thanks for all you do,” like many of my wonderful readers do. It’s little but it goes a long way.

Give back - and it will only get better for everyone."

Placed here with permission from Jessica Wesolek.

WEEKEND PLAY

2009-06-28T15:03:00.013+10:00

I don't know how it happened that I found time to "play" this weekend as I have a "patient" in the house...my hubby...with a cold!
How many men do you know that aren't sicker than the rest of us??? Why is this so? Can there be an answer for this? EVER!??
But...I digress... thanx to a friend in the Newcastle area,I was experimenting with a sheet of foiled card-stock, sold as temporary splash-backs for greasy areas, in one of our $2/el-cheapo shops for $2 a sheet, measuring 54cms by 75cms, so if it does what I want it to, it will be MORE than a bargain!
I ran a piece thru' the Cuttlebug to emboss it, then coloured it with Alcohol inks.
As I have said before, I always have "stuff" on my desk, so I made up a couple of ATCs using the inked foil as the background, using some of the "stuff".
The first one has gold Rub-ons, Gold German Scrap border, rubbed with Treasure Gold and I cut a gold, metal filigree embellishment in half for the halo. I used Kindy Glitz for the dots above the points.

The other inked foil BG made me think of water so, after adding some white (gesso) circles using a pen lid as a "stamp", I added an Artchix Collage Sheet mermaid and a fish images to it, then some wired plastic leaf trim, a piece of Gold German Scrap for her "crown", Kindy Glitz on her tail and bust, and for the stars on the wings, I used a white Gel pen.I went around the image shape with a metalic gold pen and used Gold Kindy Glitz around the edges of the ATC.

This third one came into being because I not only had another mermaid and a fish image handy, but I also had the BG with the fish on the right already on it, and some stamping done as well.
I Kindy Glitzed her tail and bosom and some of the stamped dots, then added a silver washer to the fish's eye.
The words for all came from a sheet of words,also at the ready .
And...I just realised that none of them have a 3D effect!!!... How unusual for me...amazing!LOL

TREE of LIFE

2009-06-18T22:40:00.010+10:00

I have finally gotten around to up-dating here... where does the time go??? Monday comes around and before we know it, Friday has arrived!!
Of course, it doesn't help when your PC is not co-operating either!
I changed my Anti-virus application and it fouled up my modem, but eventually my nice providers helped me with it and we are back in action! When things like that happen it makes one realise just how much one relies on this monster!

This is an altered Papier Mache torso that I did for a swap. I used twigs from my Jacaranda tree for the "wings" and Sphagnum Moss for the nest. I applied Golden's Texture Paste for the grass, and the leaves are a type of satinny ( is there such a word..vbg)ribbon that I bought on-line somewhere....and wish I could remember where! I shaved the twigs ends to sit flat on the torso, then applied them with Golden's Heavy Gel. It is finished off with some copper coloured Rub-ons, which I outlined with dots, and then finally, a coat of Royal Coat Decoupage Sealer.

ANOTHER FABRIC BOOK PAGE

2009-06-02T11:38:00.019+10:00

This page's theme was "Jeweled House".
Several years ago, I hand painted and stamped some calico and have had it sitting around waiting for a good reason to use it...and this is the reason!
For the houses I used Collection's chipboard house frames,covered in "Textiva" (fusible film). The two larger rooves are cut from cardboard. The front one is covered with dot stickers and the back page one is done with re-enforcing rings,then I coated them with Bronze Lumiere and rubbed over with Walnut Distress Ink, and the small one has gold star stickers, treated the same way, as I ran out of the dots and rings.
I then added the diamantes to them all.
I used various images of children,two of which are from "Collections", and added a piece of mica to the large front and back houses and wire mesh to the smaller one.Then a squiggle of green Kindy Glitz on the sides of the houses and more diamantes embedded into them with some larger flower embellishments to finish them off.
Then I added the Kaiser Rub-ons to the sides of the front houses to balance the layout.
The image in the house on the back is of a little girl with her dolly's pram and a bit of "serendipity" happened here... I didn't realise until after I finished the page entirely and was checking it out for faults (which I am sure to have made) that the application of the gold painted scrolls and flourishes actually make the dolly's pram look 3D!
I left the threads long and dangling when I ran some machine stitching around the edges and threaded some beads onto them to add more texture to the whole page.

MIXED MEDIA MARIE

2009-05-12T14:36:00.007+10:00

I finally managed to find some time to finish this project yesterday.
The frame is a 4 x 7 inch stretched canvas,reversed.
After gessoing the canvas, where I built some up at the top left and bottom right corners for texture, I used a wash of Golden's Light Magenta,then stencilled some Phthalo Green thru' some sequin waste, which, when dry, I re-stencilled over that with White.
When all was dry, I sponged on some Quinacridone Magenta sparingly and painted the inside edges of the wooden frame with it as well.Then I gave it all a thin coat of Golden's Fluid Interference Oxide Red.
I adhered some flocked burgundy and gold embossed, wire edged ribbon to the background.
I painted the porcelain half doll white, only colouring her cheeks and the rose, as I felt that would accentuate the "lavishness" of the character's "encoutrements" more.
I added the German Scrap Border and lightly distressed it with brown Stazon ink.

Marie's "Gown" is made from wire-edged ribbon,trimmed with embroidered roses.
Her crown is plastic and once lived on a hair pin....which my grand-daughter is yet to miss...vbg.
She has a "diamonte" necklace and also some on the gown trim.

The vintage flowers are off a 1950-60s hat, found at an op-shop yonks ago, with gold painted die-cut swirls added.
The glass bead fringing was taken from the bottom of a cheap cotton hand-bag also found at an op-shop.

MIXED MEDIA TIP-IN PAGES

2009-05-04T21:39:00.004+10:00

I am in a Mixed Media book page swap in one of the groups I belong to, where we make up a page in the recipient's theme using fabric as the base.
This is the one I have done for Bevlea. Bevlea's theme is Bird Houses. As you can see I have done two totally different styles with these pages. I am not normally a "flowery" person but the bird houses demanded that I put them there...LOL.

ANOTHER TIP-IN

2009-05-04T21:23:00.009+10:00

This one is for my friend Lucy who chose Vintage Paris as her theme.
The page with the word PARIS on it is the front .

A KIND KREATIV BLOGGER AWARD

2009-05-03T17:32:00.014+10:00

Well folks,for the life of me I can't figure out how I deserve this lovely award from the very talented, "many hats-wearing" Susie Jefferson but I am very happy to grab it with both hands and "wear" it with pride on my blog!
Thanx Susie...I now have to try harder to learn about Blogging to be truly worthy of it....LOL

I also have to follow the rules of this award and select 7 wonderfully clever people to award it to....so...let's see who they will be....Ummmm....

1. First up is easy....my dear friend Bevlea without whom I would never be sitting here in front of a glaring monitor and typing this up,let alone accepting an award for it!!
Bevlea is also responsible for me accumulating...nay.. amassing HUGE amounts of papers, stamps, inks, ephemera, tools....big and small, and all the rest of the stash that we paper nuts end up with, just so I can make a few little cards called ATCs!
Thank you Bevlea for being my rock.

2. Another good friend, Linda, deserves this award also...she is one talented chick, but I don't know if she will accept it. Sigh!...one can only try...vbg

3. My friend Kelsey from the wild west of this country, probably doesn't need introducing...I am sure her talents have reached around the world...eleventeen times!!!...LOL

4. Kathy,is another very talented new cyber friend, whom I would love to meet personally one day, and maybe I will if our plans to go to the States come to fruition next year.

5. Diana's blog, is so worth the trip to; she has wonderful eye candy there to keep you there for a while.

6. Here's another lovely lady who does beautiful art. Martina has been to visit me personally in the past and I have admired her work for ages.

7. Sanna does some of the most incredible art in all sorts of medias. She has been known to be hard to beat when it comes to getting in first for a trade or two...vbg

The Rules:

List 7 things that you LOVE
Link to the person who has tagged you
Choose 7 more bloggers to give the Kreativ Blogger Award to
Comment on those 7 blogs to let the recipients know you chose them

7 THINGS THAT I LOVE

1. Knowing I have "friends" all over the world.
2. Being computer savvy enuff to be able to communicate with them.
3. My family...even tho' they give me the "willies" at times!
4. Enjoying a yummy roast pork dinner ..preferably with family or friends.
5. Making and baking cookies with my 8-going-on-30 yr old grand-daughter.
6. Being thin, Now...when WAS that!!!...probably before the roast pork dinners and baking cookies days!!!....LOL.
7. Last but not least....at the end of the day, a hot shower, a good book and a cosy bed to curl under the doona in...of course, this is only during winter...forget the hot shower and the doona in those sweltering months of summer!...vbg

PLAY TIME!

2009-04-21T22:31:00.012+10:00

Once again I have been a bit slack keeping up my blog.
The Easter holiday period has been a blur of comings and goings...us going to visit my folks over the Easter period and my grand-daughter coming to stay for a few days, leaving just in time for a BIL to arrive, who in turn, left before some friends arrived for a quick over night stay on their way home from their Easter holiday!
It was lovely to see them and we not only had a yummy Chinese dinner out, but we girls had an hour or so play before bed-time while the boys exchanged their veiws on the world!
My friend had never played with beeswax, so I set about changing that. We quickly went thru' my box of scraps and spare images and both made an ATC...here is mine.I used scraps of two paper napkins as the background,a Zettiology Collage image of Mona,some of my printed harlequin paper and butterfly wings and the gold paper border is part of the negative left overs from using a crown punch.
It is entitled "Mona Tries Collagen".
Unfortunately I didn't get to scan my friend's ATC.

See what happens when you eat too much cake!

2009-04-06T20:01:00.018+10:00

This is my latest ATC, made for our monthly PaperArts group swap, the theme being "Marie Antoinette".

I used images of a period gown and one of Character Constructions Stamps of Marie and Photoshopped them to size.

The background is hand dyed canvas sprayed with Moon Shadow Mist, and has a Silver Krylon Pen resist.

I made a slash in the neck line of the gown image and put Marie's extended neck through it so that when you pull the crown up, the head comes up with it.

Heart-felt Healing Doll

2009-04-05T20:35:00.011+10:00

After the Victorian fires which occurred in February, at the instigation of Keron Lee,http://thecolourguru.typepad.com/
a group of people volunteered to make Healing Dolls to be handed out at random to some of the victims in the hope that they would find some solice in knowing that there are many people caring about them.

This is one of several that I made.

The faces were printed onto an old cotton pillow case that I applied to some freezer paper before cutting to A4 size to be able to go thru' the printer.

The central heart is cut from some hand made felt and I tea-dyed the heart fabric to age it.

A BEESWAX COLLAGE

2009-04-03T22:03:00.004+11:00

This is my latest tute on Bevlea's and my Techniques blog......
http://2cre8art.blogspot.com
It is done on a canvas board, first layer being torn magazine images covered with white tissue paper that has a pattern of gold cherubs over it.

The white tissue paper "dissolves" into the BG but the gold cherubs form a resist and show up quite well, altho' that is hard to see in this image.

All embellishments are adhered with beeswax, no other form of adherant was used.

ABSENCE MAKES THE HEART GROW FONDER

2009-04-03T20:59:00.012+11:00

Back in January when Bevlea was here on her annual holiday, we both used the same ATC background with this image of a woman on it as a challenge to make an ATC for each other.
There was a little difference in the colour of the BG but they were both cut from the same sheet of hand dyed paper.
Mine is on the left,Bevlea's on the right.
Mrs Percy has a 3D mounted fan and the ship is off a paper napkin.

TWEAKED QUILTIE

2009-04-03T20:33:00.023+11:00

With a different orientation and
a few different embellishments,
this is a slightly smaller version
of my previous quiltie.

This one was made as a "book page"
for a group swap.

It has a cardboard backing,which is
covered with a credit card techniqe
painted paper, and then
Cuttlebug embossed.

The wings are silver German Scrap and
the little metal, glitter covered crown
was originally on the end of a hair pin.

I printed the text onto silver Laser paper.

My apologies for the poor quality of
the image but the silver paper,beads
pearls and glitter are not favoured by
the scanner.

Are We Related?

2009-04-02T08:38:00.013+11:00

For February, our paperarts group's ATC swap was Ancestors.

Of course, I couldn't do a "straight" one..had to have my satirical sense of humour show out ...again!

This is a print of an old photo. I PhotoShopped the Gorilla heads onto Father and his children, used a yellow Embossing Gel Pen for Mother's hair, her buttons and brooch and also for the hankies in the pockets. Also used a pink one on the baby's dress ruffles.

I also rubbed the background over with Shabby Shutters Distress Ink.

My First Blog Award!!

2009-04-01T19:49:00.016+11:00

I'm excited!!!

A "blogger" friend of mine, with the impossible-to-pronounce-unless-you-know-how-name,which sounds nothing like it's spelt... Diana O'Cobhthiagh very kindly awarded me with this sweet award.

Very fitting as it's from a very sweet and talented person...check out her blog ...

http://docobhthaigh.blogspot.com

I am to award this onto 5 other deserving people,so I shall do my best to do so

For those of you that receive the award,these are the guidelines that came with the badge:

"These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers."

The following ladies are my friends,(one is very special..you know who you are!), fellow group members and talented artists..all people that have helped me along the path to where I tread now......some of whom I have met physically and others just on the net....thank you dear friends for all your encouragement.

I present you all with this award..

Bevlea Ross http://soularts.typepad.com/

Glenda Laing http://glendasgazette.blogspot.com/

Lucy Leatham http://artitudebylucy.blogspot.com/

Kathy Carvellas http://kcn2cats.blogspot.com/

Marion Bockelman http://bockel24
blogspot.com/

TIME FOR LOVE

2009-02-10T22:47:00.003+11:00

This is my "homage" to the day for love...

These love-sick cherubs are on a hand dyed watercolour paper background,with Kaiser Rub-ons over a strip of black & white checks at the bottom,with some teeny-tiny red hearts between each swirly thingy.

They are looking at a "love button" thru' cogs on their eyes....they are very one-eyed about their love for each other...LOL

A CHALLENGE TUTORIAL on 2cre8art

2009-02-08T16:34:00.005+11:00

This QUILTIE is this month's (February) challenge tutorial,made by me.

You can find all the instructions for it, and information on the challenge on my sister blog http://2cre8art.blogspot.com

I do hope you can join in on the challenge.

A QUICK OVER-VIEW -read about them below here.

2009-02-07T15:53:00.001+11:00

FROM MY DESK

2009-02-07T12:42:00.047+11:00

I'm sure you all know the saying "Necessity is the Mother of Invention"..??...well January's PaperArts swap was just that for me!

This incessant, unrelenting heat-wave that we are experiencing at present,plus too many visits to doctors this past month,one being to try to knock out the Bursitis that has taken up residence in my hip...I had two more cortisone injections this morning plus a bi-opsy on another incessant problem; a rash on my foot,(and the other reasons are not fodder for here at present)....let alone getting the normal hum-drum things done...like eating, washing and sleeping...hard thing to do when the hip you lie on is the sore one and which is not easy anyway in a furnace.... made for me having to make ATCs for this month's swap... in a hurry!
However, how can one hurry when one's muse has gone on strike???

Oh...and did I mention the "apple bandit" that played havoc in my studio for four days???
NO ?...OK...this furry, four legged critter which insists on taking up residence in our roof, just beside a window in the studio that is from floor to 2 foot off the ceiling, so there is a wide gap for it to slide up into the roof area when open!
And at great cost, we have had him transported to better pastures..or should I say roof areas, three times already!

Anyhoo...as possums do, he was scrabbling and scratching around in his nest...which has all mod cons...air con in summer and heating in winter 'cos the vent for same is located in the floor at the base of the window...close to parks, low traffic area.... and and all this for no rent!..he's not silly...vbg
This must have put him in a playful mood 'cos he managed to knock down a heap of "stuff" from the shelves of stash in my studio before pooping on my lap-top,which luckily was closed at the time, and the in floor there...and then on my desk and the floor in the pooter/printer room !

So, it was time to call the big white hunter,who just happens to go by the name of "Possum". TRUE....but apparently it didn't originate from his talent of catching the critters...it is a left over from his youth. Something to do with the speed of which "possums " can run up a tree!!!...if you get my drift.(think about it...vbg)

Anyhoo..."Possum" in his short shorts...another left over from his youth....arrived with the trap and I supplied the delicious apple and the trap was set up in my Desk-top and printer room, cos that's where the first pile of possum poo was found, and we went to bed that night feeling safe with the thought that we would have him in the morning.

Not so!...the little blighter was apparently hungry for a midnight snack 'cos the apple was gone and the trap was empty!

Soooo..back came "Possum", still in uniform (short shorts)and reset the trap in my studio where the second pile of poo was found.

Around mid-night that night, I heard the clatter of a spoon in a bowl coming from the kitchen which is located opposite our bedroom with only a 4 foot hall between.

I quickly checked to see if hubby was still in bed and hadn't gone out for an early breakfast, (I leave the table set for him...saves me getting up and playing maid early in the mornings)and, Yes...he was still there pushing out zeds, so my thoughts immediately jumped to the conclusion that it was our home invading furry critter out looking for a midnight snack again!

So I poked hubby hard enuff to wake him...he is a VERY sound sleeper...and we raced out to the kitchen to find the critter up on the table eyeing off hubby's breakfast orange!

Of course, it quickly jumped down and hid under one of the cupboards so we went to check the trap...and the apple was gone...AGAIN!

O-KAY!!Hubby is very clever at what he does but doesn't do much other than his chosen work, so I set the trap with the trigger set at "hair-line" position and the apple strapped on the hook with a rubber band and off we went to bed again.

I bet you can you guess how surprised I was when, in the morning, I found the rubber band dangling from the hook and the trap...EMPTY!!!

RIGHT!!!...ENUFF is ENUFF!! ...I have had enuff of taking care of its hygiene problem! "Possum" to the rescue! and quickly!

He arrived, in his obligatory uniform of course, and we decided to hunt it down.
Didn't take us long...the three apples that it had consumed had obviously made him sleepy and the top of a cupboard in my studio must have looked the most inviting place to sleep them off, curled up in a ball.

"Possum" donned hubby's gardening gloves (which, incidentally, are 10 years old and still "as new")and grabbed the little apple thief by the scruff of the neck and jammed it into the potato sack I was holding.

HOORAY!! ...now I can finally clean up the rooms and we can sleep tight, with the knowledge that the critter has once again been transported to another tree...but for how long???

Next job...find someone to get up into the roof and block all possum entrances! I wonder if there is someone called "Roofie" out there???...LOL

But, I digress...let's get back to ...ATCs.

OK...dead-line has arrived!...what to do???...I had procrastinated long enuff!... into my studio (which some would call a mess) and go for it girl!

And how lucky COULD a girl be???..sitting there, in amongst the wondrous array of flotsam and jetsam on my desk, were a couple of left-over ugly ducklings that I had begun from an ATC swap last year...just waiting to be turned into beautiful swans!!

The B/Gs are of RUSTED PAPER with an image of some mythical Grecian broad who really needed a make-over, shown here.....(if you have been reading my blog you would be ready to realise that I LOVE that RUSTED paper???...vbg)

So, with beating heart and tongue out...(doesn't yours come out to watch your hands create wonders??...vbg), I picked up my treasured felt tipped Sharpie Gel pen (hmmmmm...now...where DID I get that??... I will need another one soon) and began doodling...or should that be Zetti-ing?..vbg
Then it was into my OTHER work-room....one COULD call it the printing press room.. where I can choose from an ink-jet or a laser to print out gorgeous images...and quickly find an image of black and white striped paper for her hat...it would be much quicker than drawing each one on individually!

Did I say "quickly"???....forget it!!..of course, when in a hurry one can count on things being in "go slow mode" and there was no B & W image to be found amongst my zillion images was there???
So, quickly...GOOGLE for it!

AGAIN that "quick" word must also be on strike 'cos it took ages to find one suitable, but, an hour later I had a nice laser printed B & W striped sheet of paper in my hand.

OHH-KAAAY...Cut out her hat, glue it on....

A few white dots with my INKSSENTIALS Gel pen, a couple of teeny, tiny cogs, a splash of red gel pen dots to liven up her drab Grecian style garment and a mouth cut from some floozy in a weekly mag, and there we have her!!

Oh..and some black and white paper scrap down the side...O-oh!...back to the printer...LOL..and she's done!

Now, some would say that she really should have consulted her "Fairy Godmother" before accepting my idea of "beauty", but then, beauty IS in the eye of the beholder, isn't it???....and who knows..there might just be a "Zetti Benni" waiting for her just around the corner....LOL.

And the two only took me 4 hours to make!!!...LOL

(BTW..the ones I made last year did not finish up as ugly ducklings either!..vbg)

STILL CROWING

2009-02-07T12:24:00.010+11:00

Seems that crows feature in my life a lot lately. Perhaps it has something to do with the fact that the name of city I live in means "place of many crows", altho' I think they must be feeling the effects of the heat-wave we are experiencing at present too, as there are none to be seen or heard....even the sparrows seem to have gone into hibernation!

This ATC has a "peeled paper" B/G; a left-over from an earlier swap, distressed with Ranger's Weathered Wood Distress Ink and the music is a scrap of a paper napkin from my scrap box...on my desk, of course!

I 3D mounted the egg image with double sided tape then added the "nest" made from a piece of medical gauze (thanx Martina) that I adhered with "Royal Coat Decoupage Finish", which is like a mix between PVC and a fluid gel medium.
I gave it another coat of that when it was in place to give it body and to stand "up" and "out" and to shape it more like a nest, then when dry (trusty heat gun)slapped or sloshed a bit of acrylic paint on it for colour.

A black German Scrap wing, a teeny, tiny rhinestone eye and a feather in the nest finished it off nicely and he was ready to fly off to his new owner.

I hope he copes with the heat and the dust...maybe he will have to do a stop-over landing in a river along the way to cool off...vbg

WEDDING WOES

2009-02-07T12:15:00.008+11:00

This ATC came to be from again finding the digitally created image in my ATC backs box...been there for a couple of years waiting to find the right man...er...moment!..vbg (You have heard of long engagements, haven't you?)

She is on a hand painted water-colour paper BG to which I added a piece of gold paper doily...again, on my desk...a couple of Kaiser Rub-ons...not on my desk but close by...vbg...and the embroidered rose which was also close by...on the floor..having jumped out of the motif's box after making up the Quiltie shown in a previous post here.....LOL

I don't think there would be too many brides today that go to the alter without knowing what it's all about...do you?..LOL

COMBINATION CHOW MIEN

2009-02-07T12:05:00.010+11:00

This one came together when I noticed the packet of little China doll tooth-picks that had somehow arrived there on my desk....call it Karma...or just plain luck...but it was fortuitous indeed!..vbg.

And the bird image was amongst the flotsam that I call arty stuff also on my desk,along with the words from a previous project, so after a scrabble around in my "Asian Stash" drawer, this ATC came to be.

The gold Hell/Heaven Paper shard in the left bottom corner doesn't show up very well ..it does look better in hand.

Yes...I know it not true to any Asian country in particular , hence the tag "Combination Chow Mien"...LOL.

SOLDERING ON AGAIN

2009-01-25T18:58:00.021+11:00

I gave the soldering another go...this time over a "Memories" metal frame....and I still haven't got all things aligned!...the filigree top is a bit lopsided...more practice needed me thinks...vbg.

The birdy side is the front...silly Blog method still confuses me...ho-hum!

I used a background paper, a bird print-out,a tiny feather and a shred of music sheet on the front.The same paper was used for the back with a butterfly wing print-out and a scrap of sequin waste.

This time I used the wavey edged copper foil and am pleased with the look of it, altho' I still have a long way to go with my soldering technique.

I also discovered that if I soak the gold metal filigree embellishment in the flux to darken it BEFORE soldering it to the pendant,
it will NOT attach...there is always something to learn,eh?

Click on images to enlarge.

'TIS A SAD DAY!

2009-01-13T17:24:00.016+11:00

I know it's a bit late to be talking about Christmas but I forgot to put this up at the time and my GD is busting to see herself on the computer....vbg.

Today, my 8 year old grand-daughter got to demolish the Gingerbread House that she and I assembled before Christmas,and then she ate Hansel and Gretal and the old witch!

I ate the peppermint flavoured M&Ms...very yummy!

The back was decorated with them as well so there were plenty to munch on.

The gingerbread itself was rock hard ...we probably could have kept the whole thing until next year...if I knew the ants wouldn't attack it...vbg.

I bought it as a kit from Aldi's and we only had to assemble it by mixing up some icing and decorating it with some of the supplied goodies .

We added the green M&Ms to the house and a gold star at the top of the tree.

It really looked great on our dinner table and she was as proud as punch!

SOLDERING ON

2009-01-13T17:09:00.013+11:00

The day before Bevlea went home, I attempted my first effort at making a Soldered Microscope Glass pendant...and I really should be ashamed of myself as to the mess I made of it, as, about 15 years ago,I actually learned how to make the lead light windows which are beautifully gracing our front door entry!

I think it's the SIZE that throws me... I have NEVER been any good at miniature work.

Really,the technique is not hard. I think I used the wrong flux as it was very oily.

I peeled off my first attempt and used some flux I had in the shed from my lead-lighting learning days and the copper foil was much easier to apply.

I didn't get the words straight either but I will try harder with the next one...should there be a next one...vbg.

The face side is the front...click on images to enlarge.

PAPERARTS GROUP PROJECT

2009-01-12T22:49:00.010+11:00

Every year our Yahoo group has a group project for the end of the year.
This is our 2008 one.

Originally there were 24 participants but some got lost along the way so 21 of us were in the final count....to replace the missing ones,we tweaked a few tiles and I made extra.

Everyone was given a shape to cut 24 of, and told to texturise but not heavily embellish it and they were then sent to me here so Bevlea and I could assemble the final piece whilst she was here on her annual visit.

We spent three days,drank 2 casks of chardy, ate two packets of crisps and 2 packets of Jatz crackers along with two containers of dips.... a mild one for her and a spicy one for me...drank numerous cups of coffee and green tea and lived off left-overs of left-overs whilst assembling the 21 of them!

Bevlea assembled the tiles onto the backing and I added the bling and rusty elements to the tiles and the distressed music sheet peaks and eggs to the top.

I distressed the music sheet with a wash of acrylic paint, then used Ranger Distress ink on the points and finally gave it a coat of shellac.

We were pleased with the resulting finished project and I am sure the recipients will be too.

My Finished Mosaic

2009-01-12T22:42:00.006+11:00

This is my finished mosaic...I have it displayed on a black metal easel which sets it off well, but not shown here.

Because I am a rebel...but mainly because I have a lot of stash to try to use up before I go to the Big Studio in the sky, I added more bling and rusty elements and red German Scrap strips to the tiles and a double row of music peaks and black German Scrap to the base....I am thrilled with the finished project.

Thanx to all of the participants ..it looks terrific.

OUR CANVAS CREATIONS

2009-01-10T22:57:00.015+11:00

Friday and Saturday was spent mostly creating an 8 X 10 canvas for each other, although it took me twice as long to do mine as it did Bevlea hers!

This top one is the first one of mine, which is the one I am keeping.
The second one is for Bevlea. I like the face on the second one better than the first.
We gessoed,painted,transferred music paper and text (not too successfully I am afraid...must have been the old paper and the canvas not liking each other)...making a heck of a mess in the kitchen, where I have a table directly under a huge sky-light which is the best place in the house to create a big project.

During the process, my hubby came out to make his Milo night-cap, only to compete with all our mess!....there was hardly enough space on the bench to fit his cup let alone the kilo tin of Milo!

I am truly blessed to have a very easy-going spouse. Nothing seems to phase him...he just fits in...where he can...LOL.

(Mind you, it took me THREE weddings to find him!...but that's another story...LOL)

So...more washes of paint, stenciling of sequin waste in two sizes and even more gessoing finally saw them ready to add the images.

I decided to use both paper and paints for mine while Bevlea used only paints.

Obviously I drew and painted her face and used printed images of birds and an egg, but I experimented with strips of papers for her skirt and I love the way it turned out.I will definitely do that again.

BEV'S TO ME

2009-01-10T22:52:00.005+11:00

This is the canvas that Bevlea created for me...isn't it lovely?

Of course, she had both hers (one for her and one for me) done while I was still plodding along on my first one...talk about Speedy Gonzales!!...I reckon she would burn him off in no time!...vbg

MY LATEST ATC

2009-01-04T15:31:00.011+11:00

This one was created for our Paper-Arts monthly swap, the theme being "Weird and Wacky Chairs".

Hand dyed back-ground, spattered with Moon Glow Mist. I found the image in a newspaper.

Rudolf has his red nose turned on so the birdies can see where to land and won't fall off his graciously supplied "chairs".

He has rusty metal cog "shades" on his eyes to protect them from the glare of his "shiny nose".

SHE'S HERE...SHE'S HERE!

2009-01-04T14:53:00.007+11:00

The much awaited day finally arrived!
(BUT.... I didn't hear any bells!!!..she had left them at home!)

Bevlea is now here for her annual break away from home to stay at her "home away from home" in Wagga Wagga for a week or so.

After a pleasant, uneventful trip, she arrived in time for a left-over Christmas ham sandwich and a hot cuppa and then we settled in for a chat.

As is our usual, there was the annual Paper-Art's Christmas project swap to discuss and assemble. This year it is a mosaic wall hanger, where all participants had to colour and texturise 24 tiles of assorted shapes. So we got out the template of it and excitedly started arranging the shapes on it, only to find that there were three lots missing...one lot is apparently still in the Christmas post back-up, which will probably make it here in time but the other two sets we will make up ourselves as they will not arrive at all.

Anyway...it is looking really great...I can't wait to get them finished and sent off to the participants...I am sure they will love it. I will put up a pic of it when finished.

Since then, we have been on a stash buying spree, with another to come when we head into the Art Supplies store here tomorrow (Monday).

Today we have been updating our personal blogs and will soon be off to begin playing in "the studio"...(more commonly known as the "Spotlight room" by my family...vbg)

BEVLEA'S GIFT TO ME

2009-01-04T14:33:00.007+11:00

Bevlea created this wonderful A4 sized art just for me!!!!...I am sooooo lucky!!!...I am going to get a frame for it so it will be preserved forever...just as our friendship is!

Bevlea arrived on New Year's Day along with her "baby" ,the "Princess" of their household!.She is such a sweet little thing...very timid...and hence very spoiled...vbg.

Her trip to the country IS educating the Princess tho'!

She had NEVER been on grass before and it was so funny watching her picking up her feet as she was discovering it on paws used to only concrete.Today, she actually went running on it, sniffing it then rolling in it...I think she likes it now! David...(Maggie's two legged daddles) will have to get her a grass mat for the backyard ...vbg.

She has also conquered the doggy door..it no longer is a challenge to be viewed with distrust...she ins and outs when she feels like it, and has apparently even made friends with a Magpie,a regular visitor to our yard.

WE GIRLS

2009-01-04T14:30:00.008+11:00

Here's a nice close-up of Bevlea's lovely "girl-friends"...aren't they gorgeous?

Apparently I am the one on the right as the figure represents my culinary and domesticated skills by the clothes that I am wearing. Look closely and you may find a good recipe to follow...vbg.

As the cook book page Bevlea used is from 1940's, this is also a dig at my ever increasing age! Mind you, she is not all that far behind me!

THE PRINCESS

2009-01-04T14:26:00.010+11:00

This is a paper doll I made for Bevlea for a gift, using an image of Maggie's head and paws.She is such a spoilt little pet that I reckon the name "Princess" will stick foreva!

Anyway, I think HRH's mum liked it...it IS a very good likeness of her!...LOL

Her dress is from a Paper Whimsy Collage sheet image, which I added the paper lace, diamantes and Silver KindyGlitz to.

She sports a pretty pink ribbon sash, with a diamante flower trim and a cute pink bow at her neck.

Her Crown has a fluffy pink feather trim and diamantes to adorn it.

All in all, I think she feels very pretty.

A GIFT FOR MY FRIEND

2009-01-04T14:19:00.004+11:00

Here is a close up of Maggie's "Heart"...and the Princess that she is,she is never far away from her mum.

PLAYING WITH FRIENDS

2008-12-16T17:44:00.014+11:00

Yesterday, I joined in by proxy with my dear friend Bevlea,Lucy, Glenda and Elizabeth..all at Bevlea's, to experiment with one of Kelly Rae Roberts projects from her book "Taking Flight" ( Wagga Wagga is 6 hours away from Bevlea's house...too far for a day trip...even for a crow..vbg)

I struck a disastrous hiccup though when I burnt my clay pieces, so I thought I was going to have to get some more clay today to re-do them.(TIP: never get engrossed in other things when cooking polymer clay!)

However, I saw them in a different light today and decided that I could resurrect them by painting them over.

I had planned on using a canvas board as the base and infact, had one ready to go, but I found a piece of old pine, almost the correct, size out amongst my "treasures" in the back shed, and decided to use it instead, as Kelly herself had used a piece of wood.

It's a little off square but I think that adds to it's character,and I like the way it stands without support.

I am not very good at "copying", so my finished project is well and truly tainted with my own style, altho' you should be able to see Kelly's ideas as the base of the work.

Four Calling Birds

2008-12-11T09:04:00.021+11:00

I made this "bauble" for a "Twelve Days Of Christmas" swap run by my friend Linda B.
There were 12 of us in the swap, with only 3 of us being Aussies, the rest from the UK.
I used more of my CC technique paper,run thru' the Cuttlebug,gold embossed and then dotted it with Kindy Glitz.
Added a bird's head,German Scrap Wings and a piece of border as a crown.
Feathers,and a glass heart bead finish it off. The number 4, which I cut from a Cuttlebug die,is attached with a fishing swivel.It is embossed using craft glue as the adherent to give a chunky finish.
Gold paper covers the back, with images of 4 birds calling Santa on the phone.I added coiled red wire for the phone cord.

My Sanity

2008-12-03T00:24:00.004+11:00

Mixed Media Wall Hanger

2008-12-02T14:00:00.005+11:00

This is something else I made whilst in hospital recently.

I used a quarter of a fabric table napkin as the background, and added an image of Lina (again..vbg) that I printed onto Calico, stitching it in place by adding other forms of embellishments, which I have described in the close-up info under this.

I wandered out into the beautiful hospital grounds to search for, and found, the right twig to use as the hanger, which I anchored to another twig, hidden in a pocket at the top, with copper wire, and finished that off with wire coils,made by winding the wire around a darning needle.

I added feathers and three glass flower beads on coiled copper wires to the bottom of the hanger.

Click on images to enlarge.

2008-12-02T13:34:00.006+11:00

This is a close-up that shows the embellishments I used. Grape vine tendrils from my last summer's vine. Little fabric flowers that were on a vintage bridal head garland,which I rusted,along with the old lace at the top.

I also used a piece of white paper doily,a strip of music sheet and a piece of paper that I made using the credit card technique. I stitched these on rustically with gold metallic thread.

Feathers,pearl spray,gold grape vine trim (on left,over pearl spray) and a paper image of a little bird finished her off.

Big Girl Panties !

2008-11-30T02:06:00.007+11:00

Not only did I do the series of bird ATCs called "Freedom" whilst languishing in my "pent-house suite" for two weeks, I also made eleven other ATCs , just for fun...and because I could...vbg.

I pondered as to whether I should risk boring everyone (those of you who are reading this) by uploading all of them, but, as this is my "learning curve" period, I decided to take that risk in the attempt to learn more about blogging...so....please bear with me while I struggle thru' this stage...vbg.

My dear friend and tutor of all things cyber that I don't understand, has done her darndest to see that I "get it" so I am obligated to pass this test!

So dear "Mary"...I have my "big girl panties on" and here goes!!..vbg

SPYING EYE

2008-11-30T01:41:00.014+11:00

Rusted paper,fabric paper and copper border sticker strips surround a square image of Lina on a hand dyed watercolour paper back-ground,with added rusted cog and dragonfly embellishments.

I love the rusty metal doo-dads...especially when used on sepia toned images.

It is easy to rust paper and metal doo-dads...all you need is one of the old "Willow" brand tin Swiss roll baking trays,which has seen better days and has already begun to rust.If it hasn't, just get stuck into it with a sharp instrument and give it a good going over! I suggest you rust the tray up first to get better results with the paper.
Mix 2 parts brown vinegar to 1 of water,lay the paper (or metal doo-dads) into the tray and just cover with the mixture. You can also add a little bleach and salt to hasten the procedure but it won't take long anyway.It also helps to add objects that are already rusty,like nails,screws,washers etc.
This MUST be done outdoors and be left out to rust.

Hang the papers to dry and either brush off excess rust powder or seal with a clear spray.

CHEEKY DREAMS

2008-11-30T01:22:00.007+11:00

At first glance, these two appear very similar; which they ARE, in lay-out.

But isn't it interesting how the two faces give a different feel to them individually? Is there no end to the variations that can be found of beautiful Lina's face??? These two are images of Fornasetti plates....worth looking up on Google.

Not much of the background can be seen, but I used rusty coloured hand dyed paper then added strips of assorted designs, including a strip of my hand dyed Reflex paper, which is over-sprayed with Shadow Mist that unfortunately doesn't show up in scans.If anyone ever invents a scanner that does ,not only will she/he become very wealthy but I will be one of the first to get one!

The harlequin patterned paper is one I scanned from some wrapping paper and printed out....love the effect of that pattern...it's always handy to have in the paper box.

FUN TIME

2008-11-30T01:04:00.018+11:00

These two make me smile....especially "FAMILY"...those little fellas sure have happy faces...vbg.

They are 3D mounted onto a painted background, sprayed with black webbing, which I think looks like they are in a deep, dark, mossy forest where only the best "red-caps" grow...some even to a point, as in the case of THEIRS!...LOL

"FUN" is just that!...here's Lina AGAIN....she was created from bits of this and that,her dress being a scrap of hand marbled paper,her shoes are punched hearts,her wings German Scrap and she has a rusted cog over one eye, which makes her look as if she has flown into a door knob...vbg ....and of course, a hand dyed background.

CUTIEPIE and FLY

2008-11-30T00:47:00.016+11:00

I don't do many landscape ATCs because they don't display as easily as the portrait ones do... it hurts one's neck screwing it to the side to view them in the album...vbg... but these images couldn't be used any other way.

I am not sure where the "CUTIEPIE" image came from originally, but the flowers are from an envelope that had a get well card in it from a friend.

The background (hand-dyed) is stamped using a swirl stamp, the brand of which escapes me at present, and her wings are 3D mounted.

I just love the bright background in "FLY"..it sets off the 3 D mounted front bird's chest beautifully, and the scrap of music sheet breaks the harshness of it.

PRECIOUS and DELIGHTFUL

2008-11-30T00:27:00.027+11:00

More hand dyed backgrounds...AND printed Dymo labels...which I luckily had a sheet of in my envelope of images.

"PRECIOUS" has an image from http://www.altered-diva.com/ which I altered the position of the hand to suit, and has a strip of hand dyed paper on one side and Silver Krylon pen stenciling thru' sequin waste at the top left.

Her little blue wings are 3D mounted.

"DELIGHTFUL" uses a transparency image I copied and printed from the Dover book of Women. (Lina Cavaleri , once again!)

She has 3D transparency wings and I used a piece of silver paper doily, some little glass gems and silver Krylon Pen to embellish it.

You no doubt have noticed by now that I am fond of 3D mounted images...I think they would have to be my "trade-mark"...vbg.

Theraputic Play

2008-11-29T23:58:00.033+11:00

These two are made using hand-dyed paper backgrounds and images from a downloadable collage sheet, available from http://www.digitalcollagesheets.com/

They are a little more on the "cutsie" side than I normally do.

"ADVENTURER" is split mounted onto the bird and has 3D mounted wings, which are not the original ones that are on him on the collage sheet. I added white stripes and buttons to his out-fit using a gel pen.

"CHARMING" has her original wings split from her body and 3D mounted.

I added stripes to her socks, flowers, buttons and a collar to her dress and dots on her bow using a permanent marker and Gel pens.

The flowers in her hand and the leaf, are 3D mounted, and were cut from the envelope that contained the get well card from my friend Sonja.

Creative Therapy

2008-11-27T08:26:00.022+11:00

"FREEDOM"

This is one of a series I did recently that was for a monthly swap on our Aussie PaperArts Yahoo Group whilst in hospital for a two week's stay ....I would have gone completely ga-ga if not for being able to do this!
After one week's stay,I was permitted to go home for a few hours one Sunday afternoon to collect some stash and the required tools and toys to play with, I spent the next week creating ATCs with what ever I had on hand, altho' I had taken the specific requirements for that month's swap,"Birds".

I was in a private room so caused no problems with my mess making, altho' the hoover lady was always looking forward every morning to see what I had "created" the day before!...vbg.

For the bird ATCs, I used hand dyed backgrounds (I have a stack of them on hand at all times....makes life easier when I've got to make a bunch of ATCs in a hurry), Scrapbooking paper for the eggs,and a little scrap of music paper. The green trim is velour and the bird is 3D applied,feather added.

My ATC Art

2008-11-22T21:44:00.007+11:00

Somethingz About Me

2008-11-22T16:00:00.012+11:00

Hi... my name is Barb

I am an Aussie living in a rural city, the name of which means "place of many crows"

Like so many of my friends who now have blogs, I thought that I could never be bothered about having one.....I can't even make a shopping list..let alone keep a diary or journal....but how things change eh?.....LOL

So, here I am, finally having given in to the cajoling of my arty friends .....I can only hope I can keep posting regular and interesting tid-bits about my creative self.
My muse takes me to several areas of the arty playing field but my passion is in ATCs and mixed media Art Dolls, and my humour is of the whacky type..as you will no doubt discover as time passes....vbg.

Here's an altered shipping tag I made for a swap earlier this year. I used Ranger Distress Ink on the background, added a strip of torn magazine paper,treated with BriteShine,a strip of sheet music, Kaiser Rub-ons and a crow image.

Thank you for finding time to spend here and I hope you enjoy travelling this learning curve with me.....