Back In the Saddle Again

Wow. I haven't posted since Pink Saturday - it's not like me to stay away for so long! But I had a busy weekend watching movies, and reading trashy novels about serial killers, and taking long naps. I also went to well over 100 (fabulous!) blogs which are written by those who participate in Pink Saturday. I was determined to make it to each and every one - and, unless I slipped somewhere, I did just that!

This photo of Myrna Loy got me back in the creating mood today. If some hairdresser could take the time and effort to put together that 'do, knowing that it would disappear at the first sign of a raindrop or hat or breeze, I certainly should be able to get out of my slump! This was obviously well before the blow-dry-and-toss-the-hair days!
First today, I have to share with you "Elegant Rusalka with Offering of Tiny Fruit" by artist Bernadette Ostrozovich of Artifacts. Rusalka just knocks me out. I think she's gorgeous. Be sure to click on both images and see the detail work and clever use of found objects. Ingenious - and absolutely marvelous! Be sure to visit her blog and see some of her other work. She is one of my favorite found-objects artists. The photos of what she has done to her home are simply amazing. Her home is one big breathtaking and wondrous work of art.

On the Marie Antoinette Mail Group, I was part of a swap of toy theatres with a Marie Antoinette theme - naturally! I received mine from Rebecca, who also has a wonderful blog. It's a delightful confection of crepe paper and Dresden scrap and lace and vintage images ... and it's all created inside a book. As always, if you click on the photo, the image will enlarge so you can get a better look. It's adorable and I love it. It's still sitting on my work table where I can enjoy it while I'm working, so it still hasn't found its permanent home yet!
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I've also started a piece for a submission call requiring the theme "A Day at the Beach" to be apropos to the piece. I'm creating ... surprise! LOL - a mini-theatre. It's only about 1/4 done. I've done the second story, and am just beginning to start on the main level and the 'basement.' I'm using a lot of my own art paper that I make, as well as Dresden scrap, vintage images, some Angelina fiber, copper foiling, vintage crepe paper, sea shells, bead-and-shell trim, gold buillion and micro-beads. If you click on the second image, you can get a fairly clear idea of what the very top shelf looks like. It still has a long way to go! I'm fairly certain there's going to be a mermaid central character in this theatre - but I haven't decided if I'm going to use a (my favorite) 2 dimensional image or actually create a mermaid character from an antique china pincushion doll I won on eBay. Decisions, decisions, decisions! LOL

Next on the agenda was the creation of a 10 page accordian book themed "Let Them Eat Cake"
Guess where that swap is taking place? If you love Marie Antoinette themed art work, be sure to click the image and take a look around!
This is the front of the book. It's quite small - standard ATC size for each page (2 1/2" x 3 1/2"). I couldn't seem to get a photo which didn't glare on the title - but it says - guess what??? - right! "Let Them Eat Cake!"
This is the 'back' side of the accordian. The blank card on the far left is the reverse side of the cover. I will wait to see who I am paired with to turn this page into a signature page for them. I went back and forth between cake images, Marie Antoinette images, and general "French" themes.
And this is the front side of the book. The fun "drawing" of Marie and the courtier and Versailles and Paris, etc. is from a post that was made by Rhonda at RhondaMum on her All Things French - Book post. I couldn't resist it. It's so clever - and I love children's books!

Well, that was a long rambling post ... that's what I get for taking blog time off for three days! Now it's time to walk the dog, fix a little dinner, and get ready for one of my weekly addictions: Kyra Sedgewick and "The Closer." I'm a pretty cheap date, huh!

As always, thanks so much for stopping by - and please visit some of the blogs I've written about today - you will enjoy your time, I almost guarantee!

Now - go make something nice!

♥´¨)
¸.•´¸.•*´¨) ¸.•*´¨)
(¸.•´ (¸.•´♥ Tristan ♥

Pink Saturday - February the Twenty-First

If you aren't familiar with Pink Saturday, click on the image to the left to read about it. Although it's fairly self-explanatory. :-) Primarily, it's reserving Saturdays for posting pictures of pink things that we have in our lives.

Frankly, pink isn't my favorite color - so I don't have a lot of pink items to photograph. However, because I make so much art and work with so many crafts that have a vintage or antique aesthetic (especially Marie Antoinette inspired pieces!), I have a lot of pink supplies. So I thought I'd share some of those.

Above is my stack of pink fabrics. I very rarely make 2-or-3 color quilts. Although my work tends to be very organized and planned, it is most often described as "scrap" work. In other words, fabrics of many patterns are used in one piece, rather than a standard 2-color or 3-color pattern. Since I don't use a lot of any one fabric, I rarely have more than two or three yards of any one fabric. After photographing all these fabrics, however, I do think maybe it's time to do an all-pink quilt! Perhaps with a splash of orange and yellow for warmth and color, and a little red for emphasis, and - well, that's how my quilts turn very quickly into scrap work

I love crepe paper. Nothing suggests vintage projects and parties more than crepe paper! I have many many colors - and quite a few different shades of pink. I especially like crepe paper 'fringe' that has been sewn and gathered so that it ruffles up as a trim. It's also nice to use when a piece of seam binding has been sewn down the middle of a long strip of crepe to add color punch and interest. It's amazing what can be done with crepe paper - including making clothing! It used to be a very popular material to use for constructing costumes.
Below are just a few of my many trims and fringes and ribbons that are pink. That long piece of palest pink knotted fringe is over 100 years old. I used to have a fairly long piece of it; this is all that remains. I know that it's going to take a very special piece for me to use up the very end of it!
And what would paper arts and paper crafts be without ... paper!? I have too many pieces of pink paper and cardstock to photograph them all, so I decided to concentrate on only one vendor. These are all my Anna Griffin pink papers that work so well when creating vintage inspired pieces. It wasn't until I started uploading this photo that I realized this is only my pink 12"x12" pieces; I forgot to include all the 12"x14" pieces. Oh, well. Another Saturday!

Such is a sampling of my pink supplies. I didn't include things like all my pink threads, pink glitters, pink embossing powders, pink ink pads, pink silk flowers, pink rhinestones and beads, pink....

Maybe I don't dislike pink as much as I thought I did. I do seem to work quite a lot with it! It reminds me of when I thought that I didn't particularly care for yellow or orange - until I realized that almost every one of my art quilts has yellow and orange in it. Now I know that they are really my favorite colors to work with!

Maybe I'll have to add pink to the list!

Thanks, Beverly, for including me in this fun event!

I Love Mail Art...or is that Art Mail?...

I love days when the postman arrives with wonderful art in the mail! Today I received this wonderful fabric ATC from Lenna Andrews who, along with three others, makes up the Color Groupies swap group. Every month there is an assigned color combination, and we each send an ATC to the other four members of the group. This is our second year, and I've received some fabulous art! It's clear, I suppose, that this month is pink and yellow!

However, today, not only was there this wonderful card (which has the legend "he makes art very loudly" which I wish I had thought of to use as my business name a long time ago!), and some wonderful ephemera goodies, but also this INCREDIBLE machine stitched and addressed envelope! I just love it. It looked especially beautiful arriving, as it was encased in a clear plastic sleeve with two (very cool) postage stamps on the plastic - it appeared like a sparkly gift package in the midst of the electric and Target bills!

Having artists for friends is so very nice, isn't it?!? They sure brighten the day!

Antique Textile Vintage Fashion Show & Sale

Vintage Fashion And Textile Show

Sturbridge, Massachusetts

MONDAYS

May 11
July 13
September 7

General Admission
10:30 am $10. - 5 pm

Early Admission
9:30 am $20
Show closes at 5:00 pm
ONE DAY * INDOORS * BRIMFIELD WEEK

Click on Image Above for More Information

I've never attended this show before, but I love the Brimfield week flea market - miles and miles of flea marketers, collectors and vendors! I definitely plan on going a day early to see this vintage textile and fashion exhibit. I'm always up for getting new ideas and inspiration!

Just remembering to keep things in perspective...

Although this business card is from the late 19th century, I loved the mid-eighteenth century image used on it. I didn't really care that it was for life insurance ... I wasn't going to actually use the information about the business - I just wanted to use the image in a piece of art work.

And I had never really paid that much attention to the text. I mean, what do I care about a Louisville, Kentucky life insurance company that was in business in 1895?! However, a friend was visiting and looking through one of my stash boxes, and found the card. When I heard a gasp, I saw his face had a most shocked look on it. I asked what was wrong and he said he wanted to know why I kept something so passively hateful and ugly about. I had no idea what he meant. How hateful can a mint green dress be, after all!

However, when he handed it to me and I examined it thoroughly (for the first time ever, really), I saw what was so objectionable. Can you find it?

It's good for me to remember that, though I love the aesthetic of the 19th - and earlier! - century, I am quite glad that I don't actually live in that period. We have progressed so far - even if our clothes and decor aren't as exciting!

Does this mean that I'm going to stop collecting vintage/antique photos and ephemera and objets d'art? Of course not! But I will probably now always put them in perspective. I'm not sure if I'm glad for that - but it will always be with me now!

My Love of All Things French

Today is Rhonda's My Love of All Things French day! If you click on the above invitation, it will take you to her blog with more information - and photos of some of her lovely collection of French objets d'art!

Since I haven't traveled anywhere since our last excursion to the City of Lights, I knew if I went to my luggage I would find some French paper goods - what most consider garbage, but I hate to throw out tickets, cards to my favorite places, etc. So I make a point of leaving all that stuff in my luggage until the next holiday!
Most of it is perfectly ordinary - the guest brochure for Versailles tourists, tickets to the Opera and admittance to the Louvre. I am glad that I kept a card from the hotel we stayed in the last time: The Hotel Neva . It was wonderful - beautiful room, super-friendly hosts, and only a five (or less) minute walk to the Arc d'Triomphe! The Champs d'Elysee is only a very few minutes walk from there. Although we always look for a new place to stay, I believe this will become our Parisienne home-away-from-home from now on - we were very comfortable there.

This is a photo of the Arc from the corner of our building ... please forgive the blurry cars; my photography isn't all that terrific, I know!
We don't actually buy that many souvenirs when we visit ... but the things below are some treasures we brought back. Rather than re-write a description about these things that I've already done, I'll just say I've written about them on a post here. Please click there to read about my Montmarte silhouettes and my Giverny flea markets treasures.

Thanks for the opportunity to share, Rhonda. I'm going to attempt to find more goodies today for yet another day of My Love of All Things French tomorrow!

Happy Day-After-Valentines-Day

just because I couldn't wait for next year to roll around - and a heart-shaped head is to difficult to resist!

Henry Jaglom's "Hollywood Dreams"

I've long had a love hate relationship with Henry Jaglom's films. Last Summer in the Hamptons, Can She Bake a Cherry Pie?, Deja Vu, Baby Fever - even the train wreck A Safe Place - are all fascinating films. Also, they are conspicuously quirky, self-indulgent and too chatty for their own good. Sometimes they just don't know when to shut up and roll the credits. But, they all have something good to say about them ... I mean, as horrible as it was, it's not hard to image a film like A Safe Place having SOME redeeming moments - it does star Orson Welles and Tuesday Weld for heavens sake!

So, though I've long been a fan (and worst critic) of Jaglom, I somehow never got around to seeing his most popular film, Hollywood Dreams. Tonight we finally got around to watching it and it's easy to see why it's his most commercially successful film. It has wonderful performances - most notably Tanna Frederick, David Proval, and the always fabulous Melissa Leo. Of course, for sheer terror, there is Karen Black being Karen Black - the success of whom is dependent on the individual viewer's tolerance for an outstanding actress being thrust into the most silly roles in films each of which are more horrible than the previous one. I happen to like her (I've never forgotten her breathtaking performances in Days of the Locusts and The Great Gatsby, plus seeing her outstanding performance on Broadway in Come Back to the Five and Dime, Jimmy Dean Jimmy Dean), so I got a kick out of watching her. There is also a very short - almost cameo - performance by Sally Strickland in her most underplayed role in years...no, in decades.

The plot, essentially threadbare tale of midwestern girl comes to L.A. to be a star and doesn't make it, gets more interesting as it goes on. Not that there is much that happens - but we learn so much about the history of this young woman - in very small bits and pieces - that we become intrigued into wanting to know more. One will either love Ms. Frederick or be annoyed beyond words by her. She's a very distinct and unique character actress. She's quirky to the extreme, and there were a few times I was so fed up with her I wanted to throw something at her. Her huge eyes, generous mouth with what must be 67 teeth, and voluminous head of red curls are all twirled, rolled, tortured into bizarre shapes and silhouettes. Sometimes it's amazing. Sometimes it's merely irritating. I do believe her absolute best moments are the first three minutes of the film (an amazing audition tour de force scene which looks to be shot in one take) and the final three minutes of the film (when we discover just how quirky this young woman is; actually we discover she's not quirky - she's stark raving bonkers).

It seemed to me that Jaglom was trying to say something about the artificiality and transitory nature of the film business and the superficiality of the people who are involved. This is hardly earth shattering news, and he was wise to concentrate primarily on his leading lady. Her leading man, Justin Kirk (Angels in America, Love!Valour!Compassion!, and Weeds) does a perfectly adequate job with his role, but when teamed with Our Lady of the Over the Top Quirkiness he never really stands out. Which is a shame because he's one terrific actor.

This is not a film to rush out and rent ... but, if you have nothing else to watch and are in the mood when you can sit through some rather chatty (and occasionally redundant) scenes, it's certainly worth the time to view it. There were moments that surprised me - and I'm sure will surprise you - and some revelations that genuinely caught me. The problem is I was never moved by them. I was never driven to laughter or tears by these sad people. They were interesting to watch, but except for a knock-your-socks-off monologue by Melissa Leo, and a truly funny scene about a high school girl directing a film for class, there is nothing that provokes emotion - only a curiosity. Which can be enough.

Oh - and one major criticism of the art direction. David Proval and his lover/business partner Zack Norman play two wealthy Hollywood agents who live in this sprawling art filled mansion...filled with 1980's lacquered department store furniture. There was nothing that suggested this set decoration was making a statement about the characters - indeed, they are presented as people of distinction and taste. I wish the set decorator had been!

Happy Valentines Day

Wonderful Gift ... and a little thank you

When my friend, Anne, asked me if I was interested in an old atlas to use in some of my art pieces. I said 'of course,' - me turn down vintage ephemera?! - and was expecting a mid-century Rand-McNally soft cover book.

My, my, my! What arrived in the mail was this GORGEOUS early atlas. Very large, very heavy, filled with dozens and dozens and dozens and dozens of full color maps, and information pages with illustrations about the areas the maps cover, etc...it's all in there! The hard cover book is kept in a strong chipboard-style slipcover. It's almost too pretty to cut up. Please, note the operative word there being 'almost.'

I decided the first piece I would create from the book had to go to Anne to thank her for this wonderful gift! I used the Egypt maps and a few of the illustrations that went along with it to construct the basis. Then added some transparencies, some of my inevitable beaded fringe and Dresden scrap, a few children's toys based on Egyptian artifacts - oh, and a wonderful hand-coloured image of Theda Bara playing Cleopatra. I don't have to worry about spoiling her surprise before it arrives because she doesn't "do" blogs. So I'll get it off in the mail - and then start thinking about all the other places in the world to inspire mini-theatres!
Today I actually - are you ready?! - ironed a shirt! I haven't ironed a shirt in years...but I'm attending an online "tea" tomorrow - and being dressed for the occasion is mandatory. I even went to the local gallery and had Jon take a picture.

I think I may need a blog intervention.

Goodspeed Opera House Toy Theatre ... and disappointment

Isn't this a lovely toy theatre! I was so excited to see it on a blog. We live very near the Goodspeed Opera House and have season tickets to their musicals (they don't actually do opera - they produce American musical theatre classics and occasionally produce a new show that makes it to Broadway. Past successes include Annie and Man of laMancha among others). It is amazing the work they produce on a very very small stage. We recently saw a production of The Boyfriend (directed by Julie Andrews, herself - who we got to meet because we're members of the theatre - how fun that was!) and the amount of tap dancing was just awesome.

Anyway. What makes this an extra special theatre for me is that it's a "sister" theatre - actually a TWIN sister theatre - of The Earlville Opera House in upstate New York where I directed almost 2 dozen shows over the years I lived there...and performed in a couple as well! This place has the greatest memories for me - not only artistically and creatively, but I met some of my absolute best friends in the world there. The most amazing thing to me about these theatres is not their (exquisite) woodworking or rounded balconies or wonderful side boxes or delightful raked stages ... but the fact that they are built on the second floor of the buildings they occupy! The Goodspeed first floor is still part of the theatre - it houses their gift shop, box office, and lobby; but, the Earlville Opera House actually sits over a grocery, a hardware store, a gift shop, a real estate office and an art gallery! It's always such a delight to walk into that tiny little unassuming door, go up that long expanse of stairs and voila! there it is - a high Victorian jewel box of a theatre right in front of you!

So, as I said, the Goodspeed is very special to me - in addition to being a first rate theatre producing first rate regional musical theatre (and, yes, mother, there is a great distinction between regional and community theatre).

When I saw this paper theatre of the Goodspeed I was so excited - and then absolutely blown away because the person who made it listed the site which had the FREE pieces and parts of the theatre for download!

Imagine my disappointment when I discovered that I am unable to download the zoomed 100% images to print! For some reason, I can only get the very very small thumbnails to print (and though I want a miniature theatre, I don't think that one 2"x1"x 1/2" isn't really what I had in mind). It must be an iMac 'thing' - usually my mac is the best for doing any kind of image work. But in this instance, I have a feeling THAT'S what is keeping me from downloading the correct size sheets. And it's only 13 of them! I even went out and bought the perfect snow white heavy weight printing card stock so that it would have the right stability.

Oh, well. Excuse this long post about not much of anything. Except my frustration of course. Doesn't happen often to me - but when it does, it gobsmacks me!

However, in spite of my disappointment of the toy theatre - I am happy to welcome my 32nd follower - welcome! And, trust me, these little rant posts rarely happen. This may even be the first ever!

Maybe it's just Friday the 13th rearing its head!

How much fun!

I just received this super Valentine from Peggy at Peggy's Mixed Up Art! How much fun! Love the rhinestone maracas and red foil turban embellishment - but most of all, that fab calypso skirt made from crepe paper fringe!

Isn't getting fun art mail the best part of the day?!

Could the day be over so quickly?!

Well, maybe not completely over ... but it's difficult to believe that it's almost 4:00 in the afternoon! I've been so busy today! Lots of paper work to get done - and not the fun kind of paper work either. The kind with pens and figures and going into envelopes for the accountant. But I did have time to finish a piece that I started yesterday. This mini-theatre is based on A Midsummer Night's Dream, which has always been my favorite Shakespearean play ... it may not be as intellectual or erudite as Henry V or Julius Caesar or King Lear, but it's still my favorite! This is a fairly small piece - 14"tall by 4"wide x 2"deep. As always, click on the photos to get an enlarged view!
The above photo is of the upper level and shows the Dresden scrap, rhinestones, shredded paper, organza, vintage moon image and German glass glittered pennants.
This photo shows the lower level. I used Tom Tierney's paper dolls of Titania, the Queen of the Faeries, and her Court. The photo also shows the handrolled crepe flowers, the German glass glittered paper drapery swags, and the crystal and quartz chips used on the ground. I love the columns which are covered in micro-beads and wrapped with silk ribbon.

I love that piece of paper used on the bottom. I get asked a lot about how I make that paper, so perhaps one day I'll have to work out a tutorial on it.

I got some good mail today! I received my new postcards and business cards ... the business cards are simply a small piece of the painting used as the postcard. I purchased them from Vintage Bella on Etsy, and I'm really happy with them! They're beautiful, the quality is first class, the price was very good, and the delivery was amazingly quick for a custom order. Visit Vintage Bella for some lovely items - and for really good deals on custom printing!



Enjoy your evening. Okay. I'll 'fess up...I'll be watching American Idol, which is on for two hours tonight, and taping Criminal Minds, and watching Damages at 10. I'm such a television slug!

"Love of All Things French" Blog Day

Rhonda at Rhonda Mum has chosen February 16 and 17 as Love of All Things French Days!
Instead of trying to explain it myself, I'll just cut and paste what she has already written about it:

As many of you know, I love all things French. My plan was to do a few posts on some of my favorite items that I have collected such as my Eiffel towers, French books, charms, and more. Then it occurred to me that many of you share that same love. What a wonderful idea for a blog event!

I hope that you will join me on February 16th and 17th. All you need to do is post pictures on your blog, on either or both days, of your items that show your love of all things French. Let me know if you plan to attend by leaving me a comment on this post. On the day of the event, I will have a "Mr. Linky" set up so that you can add your link and others can visit you as well.

For those of you that attend, there will be two giveaways. One on each day of the event. I will be gifting two of you some french goodies. I will post more details soon.

Please spread the word by attaching the above picture and a link on your blog. The more, the merrier! Hope to see you there!

So, I've done my part! There is the picture and the link ... I plan on participating - I hope a lot of you do, too! I now have to decide whether to post pics of my Paris-inspired artwork, or my (fairly poor) photographs taken in Paris. I'll probably opt for artwork.

What a Gorgeous Weekend! ... and My Newest Mini-Theatre

What a glorious weekend, huh?! It was over 50 today and clear and wonderful. I took the dog to his favorite dog walking park - Edgerton Park on the other side of town. What a mistake. Usually Dusty is kind of a champagne color. He came home grey and dark brown with rusty dried leaves clinging to his wet and matted coat. Lovely. N0 - really - lovely. I guess just because it felt like Spring didn't mean I should have started acting as if it were Spring! Still, it was so nice to be outside without a stocking and gloves and shivering every step of the way. It was so nice to be able to be bare-headed-and-handed and only wearing a light coat, half-jogging around the park circular walkways. Just wonderful. And, of course, Dusty was in Seventh Doggy Heaven, out rolling in the mud and puddled snow and salt broth that was pooling everywhere, along with the piles of left over leaves from last Autumn and who-knows-what else! You'd think he would understand he's supposed to look nice. That's what all that hair is for, after all!

I finished a Marie Antoinette mini-theatre today - actually, the largest I've ever made, except for custom orders. It's almost 24"tall x 10"wide x 6" deep. I used lots of embellishments - vintage milinery roses, silk leaves, bead fringe, silk ribbon rosettes, Dresden scrap, lovely images of Marie Antoinette and the Neuschwanstein Castle. There is also a lot of Florentine gold ultra fine German glass glitter. I love the way the stuff shimmers rather than sparkles like regular glitter. All in all, I think it looks quite lavish and lush and extravagant ... very fitting for 'Toinette!



Between the warm weather, lots of fun movies on TCM and HBO and Showtime this weekend, my miserable cold finally abating somewhat, and getting this mini-theatre assembled and completed, I feel as if I've had a wonderful and productive weekend. Hope you did, as well!

Yes, I Still Make Quilts!

I have received so many questions asking whether I still make quilts, I thought I should show my latest piece. It's the latest in my "Real Men Don't Make Quilts" series. The banner shaped quilt is 16 1/2" wide and a tall 63" long. I've always loved the banner shape ... it displays so nicely in a variety of quirky spaces ... I've even hung them on the back of doors! This one is 100% cotton and completely machine pieced and quilted. As always, if you click on the images, you'll get a larger (and better!) look.
The muscle man is an original drawing which I reproduced onto a variety of fabrics. It's hard to read in the photo, but the legend in the lower right of the drawing proclaims "No Frills Manly Man."
These wonderful small images of men exercising are silk screened originals by Red Ant Designs at Lunn Fabrics. I love them - especially the third fella, who seems to be using his head for resistance training! Ouch! Looks like a slipped disc waiting to happen!

This design appeals to me because it looks rather haphazard and free on first look - but upon closer examination becomes clear that it's a very organized and precise design. I first created this design for the "It's Easy to Slip Off the Path of the Straight and Narrow When You're Wearing High Heels and a Push-Up Bra" series, and I've revisited it several times.

So. Rest assured, dear dear readers - yes! I am still making quilts! I don't think I will be able to quilt making quilts for a long time, or the mortgage company is going to get very cranky!

I did list my last four mini-theatres into my Etsy shop today.

I think I'm doing very very well at being productive while suffering this doggoned miserable cold!

I hope all of you have a wonderful, exciting, engaging, productive and peaceful weekend!

Where Did Yesterday Go?

Yesterday I finished up an unusual (well, unusual for me, anyway!) triangular shaped tussie mussie. I think I got that Parisienne shabby chic thing going on with this one. It's got lots of vintage crepe paper, which I dusted with super-fine German glass glitter. It also has vintage lace, lots of silk ribbon and flowers, and a sweet "Believe" frame, which for some reason keeps photographing orange instead of the antique metallic gold color it really is!

The above photo is a special shout-out to Bernadette at Artifacts wishing her good luck on her journey towards becoming a non-smoker. Here is a little pack of cancer sticks shuffling off to Buffalo, and leaving you alone forever. Good luck! And, while you're under that bed, check for dust bunnies!

Yesterday, my cold still had not abated (and has, in fact, remained with me today), so I pretty much lazed around and rested and tried to kick this thing by ingesting as many over the counter cold medications as possible. It was kind of pleasant (or, as pleasant as anything can be resting on a pull out bed in front of the tv!) watching CSI:New York reruns all day and reading the book I got in the mail yesterday. "Abundance" by Sena Jeter Naslund is novelization/biography of Marie Antoinette. When reading this kind of book, you never know what is fact and what is fiction - but with bigger-than-life icons such as The Queen, it is hard to gild the lily too much!


I also got this in the mail yesterday ... a lovely little vintage honeycomb tissue Valentine I found on eBay. The paper clip is holding it while I do a minor repair on it ... I want it to work perfectly when it gets sent out to its new owner in a week or so. I love honeycomb tissue - and I'm trying to find a supply source for it so I can incorporate some of it in my collages, shadow boxes and mini-theatres. It's such an amazing structural piece of paper! It intrigues me and always has!
Speaking of Marie Antoinette, I'm participating in a three-for-three Artist Trading Card swap on the Marie Antoinette Mail Art group. These are my three submissions. Each card had to include feathers and, of course, Marie. These are very dimensional, so they don't scan well. The only parts that really register are the pieces that are 'popped' out on the card and actually touch the scanner glass.

There is a very fun art challenge going on at My Artistic Life by Helga of ArtChix Studios (a fabulous altered arts supply store online). The challenge is to take a 'treat' wrapping and use it in a piece of art. I love the idea. And, since I just happen to have this wonderful box of "Bugs and Bees" Lindt chocolates sitting here, it gives me the perfect excuse to eat them up and use the wonderful foil wrappings in some kind of piece of altered art. I thinking perhaps putting legs and clothes on all of the insects and present them dancing. Sort of a chocolate bug prom. We'll see!

Enjoy this wintry day! I'm going to take my hot cup of tea and lemon and go back to bed and watch whatever HBO or Showtime is offereing this afternoon. After two Nyquils and two teaspoons of cough syrup, I'll probably sleep through it anyway!

I Think I'm Inspired to Make a Valentine's Display...

After seeing this advertisement I received in my email box, I'm inspired to cut and cut and cut and do a serious Valentine's Day display.

Of course, if it rains, I will be very very unhappy.

Doesn't it put you in the mood?

Inspiration

Is it possible? ... could it be? ... do my eyes deceive me?...

Is that really truly bright sunshine pouring through the windows into the studio? It's a miracle. It's been so grey and gloomy and unpleasant the past week ... what a treat to have the sun flood the room with natural light! Of course, we can't have the good without some bad - just so we appreciate the good! All that brilliant illumination certainly exposes my need to dust!


I had planned to work on aging paper tags and labels yesterday; however, it was so dark and dreary, I decided to something more fun and upbeat to cheer up the day. I did a mini-theatre which will house Marilyn Monroe singing "Diamonds Are a Girl's Best Friend" from Gentlemen Prefer Blondes. It's all flash and Hollywood. Lots of pink paper with gold sparkles - and, of course, a plethora of "diamonds!"

The gentlemen are just standing there now, waiting for Marilyn to be installed in her hot pink satin evening gown! The detail shot below shows a lot of the details used, though it doesn't show off the many 'popped' features, making the piece very dimensional.

I also completed a small mini-theatre which is going to house a late 19th century fashion plate illustration as the featured character. This one has some beautiful vintage burgundy beads, and a burgundy velvet background, lots of Dresden scrap and ruffles with beading.
The detail shows my favorite element. A small folded 'fan' circle with a piece of Dresden scrap and a really lovely brass finding/charm of an art nouveau lady. I can't remember where I picked her up - but she fits in perfectly in this piece.
I'm glad I got a lot of work done yesterday, because today is going to be a complete waste. I have to wait for the repair man to come and repair the dishwasher (what a pain when dishwashers decide to expire! Even worse when they're under warranty, because they're in no hurry to get here!). Then I have to run around doing errands that are no fun at all.

However, I did order some luscious supplies from Etsy and Ebay, so maybe I'll have a fun mail day! I always love getting packages in the mail - especially from art supply businesses that specialize in altered arts - they're always wrapped and tied up so prettily! It makes opening the mail like opening gifts - even if you do pay for them yourself!