Dragonfly Dreams

New year new books.

2012-01-07T17:51:00.000-05:00

2011 Art Journal

Although we're a whole week into the new year I still have that fresh, new and full of potential feeling only the new year can bring. I've been following the Creative Jump Start Summit 2012 this last week and it's been so inspiring. But when I went to do some playing in my art journal it was almost completely full. I made this journal from some scraps of water colour paper I had left over from some precious book projects. So the size was determined by the size of the scraps. Even the cover was made from a scrap piece of water colour paper. I thought it was going to be a little small for an Art Journal being only about 5"x5" but at it turned out I found this size worked out really well. It's seemed to suit me just right, it wasn't too small to work in and have room to play and it wasn't so big that it was daunting to fill the page. Although I have some other store bought journals this one has been my favourite so I decided to make a similar one for 2012.

2012 Art Journal

I didn't have much in the way of watercolour scraps this time but I did have a few large sheets of similar paper. I can't remember what kind it was, it's smoother than water colour paper but still heavy enough to be able to work in any kind of medium I want. I decided to make this one a little bigger so it's about 6"x5 1/2". I used the same Butterfly binding because I really liked the openness it gave to each page. I used a corrugated board for the cover since I seem to have an excess of it and I really like the look. So now I'm ready for a new year of Art Journaling. I hope to get more of it done this year.

When I was searching for paper for my new Art Journal I came across some nice smooth black paper in my scrap pile so I made this book to try out some white on black zentangles. Can't wait to try it out.

If you haven't noticed yet I have a new winter schedule up on my workshop page. I'll be teaching at a few local studio's in the next few months as well as here in my own studio. At Earmark Studio I'll be teaching the Piano Hinge book and Metal embossing on canvas. At Laura Daub's Studio I'll be teaching metal embossing also. These ladies are both amazing artists and have beautiful studio's. To learn more about them check out their web sites.

Wendy

Wine word canvas.

2012-01-03T20:18:00.001-05:00

I just managed to finish this canvas on time for a Christmas gift. I wasn't sure it was all going to come together but with a little help from some family members it did. The Tin Man says it his favourite word canvas that I've made so far.

It's got me thinking about some other themes I can use for a word canvas...!!

Pin It

Did you make any Christmas gifts this year?

Wendy

A wish, a hope and a little sorry.

2012-01-01T11:55:00.000-05:00

I'm more than a little sorry that I've neglected you, my blogging friends. I'm alive and well, although a little tired and worn out from the holiday festivities. Tis the season and all that! Starting out the holiday season a little low on energy caused me to shorten my list of to do's so blogging and baking were two of them. We did fine without the baking as many people bring things with when they come to visit and the Tin Man bought a few extra sweet treats while shopping. But I missing my blogging and am glad to be back at it. I found a little time in December to create some tags and here are a couple just for you.

A special wish that your holiday was a joyful one with lots of laughter and fun.

And a Hope of Happiness and Health in the New Year!

Wendy

One last show for the year.

2011-12-16T15:01:00.001-05:00

I'm getting ready for a show tomorrow which is appropriately names Last Chance Craft Show. Well maybe that's just what I need since I'm not done my Christmas shopping yet!

As usual I get a burst of creative energy just before a show, so here are a few of the new items I'm made this week.

This is one of three nest necklaces that will be their.

Pin It

These have just a slight steampunk feel to them.

It took me a while to finish these ones. I did the patina months ago and couldn't decide if I liked them or not but once I found some beads to go with them I think they may have become one of my favs. So I may have to keep one of these for myself!

Along with these earrings I have about 8 more pairs all a little different from each other.

So come on out to the Richmond Arena for some last minute Christmas shopping. What you say you're done! Then come out and get yourself something special to celebrate, you deserve it!

Last Chance Craft Show

Saturday, Dec. 17, 2011 10am-4pm

Richmond Arena upstairs Hall

6095 Perth St. Richmond, ON.

See you there!

Wendy

New earring design.

2011-12-07T13:00:00.001-05:00

At my Open House recently I was wearing these new earring I had made a few weeks earlier to try them out...well you know you can't sell things without test driving them first! These little bead and shells are each wrapped on it's own head pin. I had made them to add to a bracelet as little extra dangles but then didn't like them on it so there they sat on my work table waiting for another project to fit for few months. I don't use pink and purple much in my work but sometimes I do wear a little so I thought I'll just make a small pair of earring for myself with them. I'd been playing with the idea of making some dangling earring from bits of chain and I could try it out with these before making some more combos on head pins.

Well back to the Open House- one of my favourite customers notices them but asked me to make them in an orange gold combo of colours. I love when people asked for variations of my jewelry because it inspires me to continue to find more variations on a theme. Something I never tire of.

In this combo the shells are more golden than the first ones I did and the ear hooks are my own had made ones too.

This has the little coloured shells again with my own ear hooks. I like the way the orange pops more with the lighter coloured shells. What's your preference?

So if you every have any suggestions or variations of my jewelry you'd like to see, I'd love to hear about it.

Wendy

My first blog hop.

2011-12-02T12:01:00.003-05:00

WELCOME TO MY BLOG!

I'm so excited to be a part of the Holiday Shop Hop this weekend. This is the first time I've participated in a blog hop and I'm looking forward to meeting some new blog friend. So if you're new to my blog give me a shout, I'd love to meet you. Or if you're not new give me a shout any way, spread some holiday cheer to kick off December.

We've had a lovely light snow fall this morning and everything is coated white. It's a winter wonderland that can't help but put me in a festive mood. So along with my first blog hop I'm going to have my first Etsy sale this weekend.

Saturday and Sunday

December 3 and 4, 2011.

10% off everything in the shop.

Use code HSH2011 at the checkout.

Now you can go check out all the other participants in the Holiday Blog Hob.

A Bead A Day

Blackbeary Mountain

Blue Pearls Handcrafted Goods

Handcrafted Serenity Jewelry Designs

Happy and Healthy Magnetic Jewelry

Holly Westfall / Silver Rose Designs

Just A Tish

Just Mare Pottery

Keefer Style Creations

Kabs Creative Concepts

Klassy Joolz

Kristi Bowman Design

Lilly Rose Jewelry Designs

Little Rocks

MiShel Designs

Melinda Orr Designs

My Life Under the Bus

Olive Branch Organics

Pine Ridge Treasures

Pink Poppy Studio

Rosebud’s Lampwork Beads

Wire Worked Handcrafted

Now I'm off to do some holiday shopping. Have a great weekend.

Wendy

Just part of the journey...and my first tutorial!

2011-12-01T15:06:00.000-05:00

For the most part I'm a self taught Artist. I have no formal training other than taking a few workshops here and there. I love to explore and teach myself a variety of techniques.

So when I decided I wanted to combine metal and leather, I just went ahead and got started. It all went well until it was time to attach the copper to the leather. I had seen a few examples of this kind of think on line and my first impression was that the metal had been attached with wire. After some time fighting with the wire, copper and leather, I discovered that this was not going to be as easy as my brain had led me to believe it would be, as is so often the case. When I get stuck on an idea my best solution is to start doing some google searches. This usually delivers endless suggestions for how something should or could be done. But in this case I came up with next to nothing. Not one tutorial or video to be found. Etsy as usual was a great inspirational source but I could only guess at how some of the lovely leather and metal cuffs had been combined. So it was back to the drawing board. I started to think about any conceivable method of attaching these two elements. It wasn't long before I had a number of methods to try. So I went ahead and tried them all

With this first one I attached it with waxed linen. Something I had handy from doing some book binding. Once the holes were made in the leather and copper I sewed it together. For fun I added some rivets to the leather band with my Crop-a-dile.

The next one I decided to try some mini nuts and screws. I had bought these earlier this year but hadn't tried them yet. Although they are very small to work with they proved to be very easy to use. I was able to cut the extra length of the screw off with my wire cutters and just give the ends a little sanding with my metal file. I will definitely be using these more in some upcoming projects.

On these last two I used rivets and my Crop-a-dile. I was able to use the Crop-a-dile to make the holes in the metal and the leather and then set the rivets. On the tan one I added flowers with more rivets to the band.

I started out thinking if I try lots of different methods for attaching metal to leather, I would at least find one that worked well or that I like. But in the end I discovered three methods that are quite easy to accomplish and I really love the look of.

So what do you think? Which method is your favourite?

And let me know how my first tutorial went. Did I give you enough information or too much? I can take it, let me know how I can improve.

Also if you know of any other methods for this I'd love to hear about them.

Wendy

Piano Hinge book workshop

2011-11-22T13:14:00.000-05:00

On the weekend I taught a wonderful group of women how to make Piano Hinge Books. This is probably my favourite book to make. One of the reasons I love to teach is to see the creations that my students do. You never have two books the same. I'm always inspired after and have started another book of my own. Here are their beautiful books.

Bonnie

Michelle

Roberta

Sharon

Sheila

Thanks ladies for a great day.

Wendy

Hand made books.

2011-11-14T17:23:00.001-05:00

Wow, a week just slipped right by me. November is such a busy month, I must remember to slow down and enjoy the ride. I want to share with you some more wonderful finds I've made. Today it's all about Mary Kritz and her wonderful hand made books she creates. I've seen a few of Mary's books since she's joined our ATC group but recently I was lucky enough to make it to one of her shows to see many of her original creations. Each book is a one of a kind creation and some even include some of her art.

This first book is covered with one of her Ink blot designs made of wonderful Canal paper. I love the details she adds like the tabs to hold the book closed when you're not using it. I think it will make a great art journal if I can bring myself to use such a unique piece of art.

This is a book of endearment. The intention is to write a word of endearment to another person and give the book to them. They then write a word and pass it back. You continue to pass it back and forth until it is full.

Mary has added some words and designs to get it started. I thought this was such a great idea and already know who I'm going to share it with.

This last book is bound with brown and red leather and has a wonderful stitching design on it. It may have small dimensions of 3.5" by 3" but it holds 80 pages. I think this will make a fun book to keep close in a bag ready to use any time. This is going to be a Christmas gift so I have officially started my shopping!

Mary makes many more types of books so go check out some of them here.

Craft show time...

2011-11-05T16:42:00.000-04:00

Yes it's that wonderful time of year again where each weekend we can go to a multitude of shows. The last few years I have been a vendor at numerous shows and haven't had the time to visit many. I find myself involved in very few shows this year so I'm enjoying visiting friends at their shows and checking out possible shows for next year. So far this weekend I made it to 5 shows(picture big happy face on me). I love craft shows. We have so much local talent with such a wide variety of skills. Today I went to a show in Kemptville at the college in the WB George centre. It's also on tomorrow and well worth checking out.

I have officially started my Christmas shopping! So I'm not able to show you everything I bought but I can share a few things I just really needed for myself.

This is a Fairy door. Since my life is full of fairies I just had to have a door for them. This was made by Joanne MacKenzie who told me about how her daughter designs the doors for her. Who better than a young person to see into the wonderful world of Fairy. Joanne and her husband Doug both do beautiful wood working. I had a hard time controlling myself from buying more things there. See more of their wonderful work at Celtic Elegance.

I have a soft spot for pottery and Joyce Wood of Beckett's Landing Pottery really caught my eye today. Again it was hard to just pick one piece. When she told me this was from a Hosta leaf it was a done deal.

Again this hit a soft spot for me. I love little drawers and I love wood working. I once took a course to learn how to do wood working and the thing I learned most was to appreciate other peoples woodwork. This box was made by L Wood's Crafts. I'm sorry I didn't get his business card and can't seem to find a link for him. He had lots of beautiful handcrafted wood pieces.

Quilting cards

2011-11-01T10:40:00.000-04:00

Earlier in the year I made a card with this stamped quote on it but the saying just didn't really match the card. So at one of my shows a lady asked me to make some cards that were more quilt like to go with the saying. This was something that I already had on my mind so I told her I would.

After a month or so of having it floating around in my head I finally came up with a few designs and here they are.

I tried to come up with my own patterns but the old traditional quilting blocks kept coming back to me so that is what I ended up doing. So much easier to do with paper than material!

Years ago I tried my hand at quilting and decided it wasn't for me. The sewing machine and I do not have a good relationship and so I satisfy my quilting desires by collecting fat quarters and every once in a while making some kind of paper quilting project.

Am I the only one with a bad sewing relationship? Let me know if you do to and how you deal with it!

Wendy

ATC masks

2011-10-29T14:33:00.000-04:00

I'm terribly slow at getting these up this month since out meeting was a few weeks ago but here I go any way. Our theme this month was mask. We were a small group this time but had a great time all the same. Here are the ATC's we traded.

Linda

Marie

Wendy

My week...

2011-10-14T17:17:00.000-04:00

Again I've been busy getting ready for an upcoming show this weekend. I'll be at the Uniquely Goulbourn Arts and Crafts show this Sunday from 1-4pm. This is a wonderful little local show that I've been doing for a few years and I really enjoy it. Check out some of the vendors for this year on their blog here.

I bought a bag of leather remnants from a local leather store a few months ago and finally got around to playing with it. Here is a sneak peek at one of the cuffs I will have at the show on Sunday. I've got 4 done so far and they're all different. I'm really loving the leather and have so many ideas for it!

This is a card that I was inspired to make after my metal workshop last week. The leaf is a piece I made while demoing for the class. Of course the fall theme emanates right now.

If you didn't get a chance to do my workshops so far this fall, I've add 2 more dates in November. You can check them out on my Workshops page.

Have a wonderful weekend. Hope to see you at the Museum on Sunday.

Teaching metal embossing

2011-10-08T20:11:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful day teaching metal embossing to a great group of creative women today. I love to teach and this group was easy to teach. They were a very creative bunch and made some wonderful colour combinations and designs. Here are the results of their creative day.

Katherine

Linda

Patsy

Tracy

Sandra

Shannon

Thanks ladies for a wonderful day. You have inspired me and I'll be back at playing with my metal very soon.

ATC: Shoes

2011-09-25T11:37:00.000-04:00

ATC time again. This month our theme was Shoes. Who doesn't like shoes!

Marie

Michelle

Nancy

Wendy

This month we had some typical unpredictable fall weather so it was back to my home studio for the meeting. I don't think I've told you much about our group and how it works. I'm always surprised at how many different kinds of ATC groups their are. Ours group has 12 members but usually we only have about 4-8 at a meeting. We're very easy going and don't want too much home work so we only do one card a month. Some even do their card during the meeting while others like to do it ahead of time. I like to at least have mine started so I have a little direction before we get together. At the end of the meeting when it's time to trade I number all the cards and then we draw numbers to see who's we get, so it's always a surprise who we trade. If you live in the area and are interested in joining out ATC group we're always open to new members. We meet the third Tuesday afternoon of each month. If you want to join just give me a shout by e-mail.

Happy trading.

Wendy

Show prep.

2011-09-08T08:23:00.000-04:00

I'm still plugging away at finishing up some pieces for Fibrefest this weekend. I'm in the assembly stage. I have a number of copper focal pieces ready to have things added to them and then put on some kind of chain.

This banner design is a new one for this year. I enjoy making a bunch of different word banners and then I lay them out on the table and chose what charms and beads will go with the word. No 2 ever come out the same. It's also one of my favourite every day necklaces to wear because it's simple and very comfortable but the word is great inspiration for my day.

The word Bloom seems to pop up a lot in my work this year. I think it's to remind me to do just that.

BLOOM WHERE YOU ARE PLANTED!

This necklace sat on my work table for some time as I decided if it needed more than one flower. I was so tempted to rivet more flowers on but I loved the etched background so much I didn't want to hide any more of it. So I solved my dilemma by hanging a butterfly and flower at the top. I've been playing with creating different kinds of chains lately. This one is seed beads woven through a simple copper chain. Sometimes I just get tired of hanging everything on a plain chain.

I have a little jewelry break this morning as I head out for some Tai Chi but I'll be back at it this afternoon.

Have a creative day!

Wendy

Resin fun

2011-09-07T09:03:00.000-04:00

As I said yesterday, I've been getting ready for Fibrefest this weekend. I've been doing this show for a number of years and it's one of my favourites to participate in. If your interested in any kind of fibre or textiles, this is the show to see. They have vendors for all your fibre and textile needs as well as displays and demos of quilting, hooking, weaving, spinning, etc. The creativity in the air is infectious. You're sure to walk away with a special something for yourself or a new project to work on. Even though I'm not a quilter I have a hard time resisting all those beautiful quilting materials. I usually buy a few fat quarters for my material collection!

So with a show on the near horizon, again I go into full speed jewelry creating. It doesn't matter how much I have ready it never seems like enough, so the week before a big show like this I usually go a little crazy. And it's never just about producing. I always get this urge to create some new things even though there really isn't enough time to be starting new projects. I've come to terms with these creative urges and try to give them their space while still getting done those things that really need to get done for the show.

As you can see I've been playing with resin again. These are designs I've done before, I've just tried to change them up a bit. It's fun to set out the TierraCast copper frames on the table and then find as many interesting things I can to set in them. The wire frames with buttons and lace in is an idea I've been playing with for some time in my mind so it was a great relief to have it turn out even better than it was in my mind.

Now to start assembling all them pieces into earrings and necklaces.

I hope to be back tomorrow with some finished projects. Fingers crossed, maybe even another brand new bracelet design!

Have a great day!

Wendy

New finds...

2011-09-06T15:38:00.001-04:00

Look what the Tin man found me while we were in Oakville moving Christian. Most of the moving was done before we got there so we did some searching for a couch for his new place. On our way to the Thrift shop(Christian's favourite store) we stopped in at an Antique store. Even though we're in the same place the Tin man usually finds some interesting things that I miss. He found these key hole plates. I'm seeing some interesting mixed media on canvas with these. What do you think? Have you made any interesting things with key hole plates that you can share with me for inspiration?

I'm getting ready for Fibrefest this weekend. I've been trying out some new things to bring to the show. I hope to give you a sneak peek tomorrow. So I'm off to take some pictures.

New bracelets

2011-08-29T13:15:00.000-04:00

Here's what I was up to this weekend. Found some time to finish off these two bracelets I started a while back. I'm slowly getting use to the jewelry creating process. I find it quite different than other things I create It's been a little frustrating and difficult to concentrate on one piece because of the waiting time for some of the metal processes that I do like tumbling, etching, antiquing etc.

Sometimes when I have a vision of what I want to create I lose it during the process. Things seem to go in their own direction and I've learned to trust in the process. I think I need to make myself a sign "Trust in the Process" to remind myself sometimes though. Or maybe a bracelet...oh here we go again!

So what did you create this weekend?

Fall workshop schedule

2011-08-26T20:02:00.000-04:00

Finally I've started my workshop schedule for this fall. This is my first time posting them on line, so let me know if I've messed anything or if you have any suggestions for me. So far I just have 2 classes scheduled but I hope to get a few more in the next few weeks. Check it out on the workshop page. The pictures are over there so I've got no exciting pictures to post here. How sad a post without a picture. Well I'm a little short for time and wanted to let you know about the workshop post so that's life.

I'm at the Perth Farmers Market tomorrow for my last day this summer there. Then it's off to Fibrefest in a few weeks. So much to do so little time. I have plans for a few new jewelry pieces so I'll try to get them posted soon.

Have a great weekend.

ATC's at the Park

2011-08-18T09:04:00.000-04:00

I had a wonderful time the other day with my ATC group. We met at a local park this month and the weather was perfect. The theme was "park" and a few members stood up to the challenge of making their card at the park. Linda excelled at the challenge and even added things she found in the park. I wasn't up to the challenge and made mine before going...maybe next month!

Mary(front)

Mary(inside)

Olive

Marie

Linda

Veronica

Wendy

Piano Hinge Book

2011-08-07T09:30:00.000-04:00

I'm working on setting up some fall workshops in my home studio, so I found some time this week to make this piano hinge book for one of them. It's a really fun book to make and is a great conversational piece. I had a few at some of my shows last year and people are always fascinated with them. Once they sold I didn't find time to make more but hope to do so for this falls shows.

I get a little carried away with the dangles, at least the Tin Man thinks so. What can I say, have beads must dangle!

Here you can see why it's called a piano hinge book. It works best if two alternating colours are used for the signatures. I've used brown and beige card stock but black and white is very striking. It's then bound together with skewers. I like to leave the spikes on the skewers but they can be trimmed for a less lethal book.

It stands on it's own for a great display book and has lots of pages to use for art journaling, scrapbooking or what ever your heart desires.

Pink and Purple

2011-07-28T18:41:00.000-04:00

Ha, I'm not sure where the pink and purple came from. As you probably know, that's not my usual colours. The Tin Man says I must have found my feminine side. It doesn't happen very often. I'm much more attuned to my grungy side I think. Well I had flowers on my mind because I have a group of friend that get together to do some creating once a month and our theme for next meeting is flowers. So I thought I'd get out my box of extra flower...you know the ones you make but then they don't work for the project any way or you just get so into it that you make way too many. For some reason the flowers that appealed to me were all kind of pinks and purples. And so my feminine side emerged for a short time and these cards are what came out of it. Don't worry it didn't last too long. I've been back to hammering my copper since and the tumbler is going as we speak.

If you're in the Perth area on Saturday I'll by at the Market from 8am to 1 pm. Come on out and see me. it's a beautiful picturesque town well worth the trip out.

Summer fun.

2011-07-24T16:47:00.000-04:00

So how has your summer been so far? As usual mine is going way too fast.

The last two weekends Sheila and I have been vendors at the Perth Farmers Market. This weekend I took a break to enjoy a few other local shows. It's nice to be on the other side of the table some times. I was also checking them out for possible shows next year. Yesterday the Tin Man and I went to the Urban Art Show. Unfortunately I forgot my camera in the car so I have no photo's for you. It was very cool show though, lots of local artist with a great selection of unique creations in a beautiful shady park in downtown Ottawa. I hadn't been to this show before but will definitely be going again.

Today we went to the Herbfest. We have been to this show before but it's been a few years and I'd forgotten how much I enjoyed it. I forgot to bring my camera with at all today but above is a few of the things we came home with. We picked up some garlic for our first garlic fix of the year. And the Tin Man was able to sample and choose some of his favourite mustards from Mrs. McGarrigle's. It's a beautiful venue and the weather was amazing. If you're ever in the Almonte area in July this is a must see show for all those nature and healthy living enthusiast.

I hope your weekend was as wonderful as mine.

Birds and birdhouses.

2011-07-14T21:47:00.000-04:00

I had a very productive day today. Finished off a few of the necklaces that you saw on my desk yesterday. And even got a couple of them listed on Etsy.

I tried some different chain, bead and ribbon combinations for a change. The embossed bird in the middle is a fine copper chain entwined through a purpley brown seed bead. I've done this combo a few times and really like the look.

Here I used a new kind of silk ribbon with some thin leather. I'm not sure yet if I like this ribbon. It's got raw edges and I'm not sure if it's going to keep fraying or not. I guess I'll have to wear it to see how it holds up.

So that was my day, how was yours?

Messy desk today...

2011-07-13T19:09:00.001-04:00

haha that kind of implies that sometimes it's not messy! Well it does get cleaned up once in a while, I just don't remember the last time that happened.LOL.

So here it is!

I'll give you a brief tour. Starting on the left is my Buddha that I made years ago when I was doing ceramics. He helps to keep the peace while I work and he doesn't mind the mess at all. At the top is kind of an inspiration board where things that I like or don't know where else to put get pinned to. If you look closely you can see a Michelle Casey post card that inspires me daily. At the right on the beading mat is what I'm working on at the moment. I've laid out a few pieces that are ready to have some dangley bits added to them. These should be done in the next day or two and I'll show you how they turned out. As for everything else on the desk, some are works in progress, some are works in stagnation and a lot of it is just bits and bobs that I've taken out to try and haven't put away again yet.

Well that's it for the desk tour. I better get back to those dangley bits now.

Oh, I almost forgot, if you're interested in seeing some more creative desks check out WOYWW over at Stamping Ground.

And the winner is...

2011-07-12T08:28:00.000-04:00

Sorry I've been busy and time just got away from me again. So this is just a quick post to let Lori know that she is the winner of her choice of cards.

Lori said...

They're all awesome! But, if I had to choose, I'd go with the dragonfly card. Love it!

I'll get that sent to you as soon as I get your snail mail address Lori.

Thanks you everyone for your wonderful comments. It's so nice to get some feed back on some of my creations.

I'm working on some new jewelry pieces and hope to get some finished soon. I'll share them as soon as I do.

Have a great day!

You could win, which is your favourite?

2011-07-05T17:24:00.001-04:00

I gave myself a bit of a challenge the other day. I hadn't cleaned everything away from last weeks challenge cards so I decided to try to make cards from my card scrap box. In this box goes backgrounds, stamped images that I don't use right away and other bits of paper. It's starting to over flow, hence the need for my challenge.

So here are the cards that I created. I'd like to say that this put a dent in my scrap box but not really. I'll have to have another go at this challenge for that to happen.

My favourite is the purple one with the little girl fairy. I love fairies and believe they're in my studio helping me out but that's for another post. The Tin Man likes the one with the dragonfly on it best.

So which one is your favourite. Leave a comment letting me know and I'll draw a name from them at the end of the week. The winner will get the card they like best.

Cards for challenges

2011-06-30T12:02:00.000-04:00

I found some time to make a few cards for this weeks Grungy Monday and Simon Says challenges. For Grungy Monday we were challenged to use Ranger Alcohol Inks. Well to be fair that's really not a challenge. I hadn't had mine out for ages and thoroughly enjoyed it. As you can see on yesterdays post I started with my alcohol ink backgrounds and stamped some of my favourite images on them. I kind of got stuck there and left them for a day or so. This seems to be happening a lot lately but I guess I just have to go where the creative flow takes me, or at least that's what I keep telling myself. So when I got back to the card making I wasn't feeling very inspired by what I had so far but I just started pulling scraps of paper and what not out of drawers and put stuff together. I wasn't terribly thrilled with my first attempt which you can see above but I was a little more happy with attempt #2 which is below.

The textured background is one I made a while back for another Grungy Monday challenge but the card never got finished. So there it was ready to be used.
The Simon Says challenge was to use a word which is something that has a lot of appeal to me lately. We can convey so much in just a word. I have some necklaces with just one word on that I love to wear depending on how I'm feeling that day or what direction I need reminding of that I'm trying to go in.

If you have a chance head over to Grungy Monday or Simon Says to check our what everyone else has created this week.

WOYWW

2011-06-29T12:38:00.001-04:00

I thought I'd participate in What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday since it's actually Wednesday and I thought about it. What are the odds of that! So you can see what's on my desk. I've had my alcohol inks out which haven't seen the light of day in a long time. I'm working on a few challenges but haven't got any further than this. This is how things seem to be working out for me lately. I get images or backgrounds done and then can't seem to get it all together and finish it. All I'm trying to do is make a few card. Why is this so difficult lately. Well I hope to get back at it this afternoon and get something finished. So with any luck at all I'll have something to share with you tomorrow.

Come on over to the Stamping Ground with me and check out what's on every ones desk.

Treasuries

2011-06-26T21:15:00.000-04:00

Here are a few treasuries I've been included in lately.

My bliss is back.

2011-06-24T15:44:00.000-04:00

I didn't really realize it but I've been in a bit of a creative rut lately. I've worked on a few creative things but just couldn't seem to get anything done. So this afternoon I decided to give myself some free time just to work at what ever came to mind first. It seemed to work I think my bliss is back and I'm feeling a lot better.

This tag was on my desk from earlier this week when I started it for Grungy Monday. It also works for Simon Says Stamp and Show so I'll link it to both of them. Go check them out, they're both a lot of fun to join in or just see what everyone else has done with this weeks challenges.

Have a wonderful weekend. I'm off to have a mysterious dinner with my parents and the Tin man.

June goals...

2011-06-24T09:00:00.002-04:00

Here's another thing I've been up to this month...

Adding to my Etsy shop.

One of my goals for the month was to get 50+ listing into my shop. Well I've fallen rather short of this but I did get some new listings done and I've been working on a new profile.

Since goals seem to be alluding me right now I've decided to share here so you can help me be accountable for it. I will have 50+ listings added to my Etsy shop by July 15th. Hmm...I think I'll put some post it notes up around the house to remind me too. Do you think that's too much. Do you have trouble keeping your goals? What do you do to make yourself accountable for your goals? I'd love to hear what works for you.

What have you been up to?

2011-06-23T15:35:00.004-04:00

This is what people keep asking me and I just don't seem to have a good answer for them. I know I've been a bad blogger. I think I may have bloggers block. Yes I'm sure it's as real as writers block. I've been busy, I swear I have, I just don't seem to have much interesting to show for it. Since I don't think the bloggers block has completely gone away yet I thought I'd show you with photo's a few of the things that I've been up to.

Weeds, weeds go away, I just want to sit and watch my garden grow. My Siberian Iris' were beautiful this year. I wish I knew what I did right to have it happen again.
This California Poppy is the reward I get for being a slow spring garden. They self seed from last years flowers and if I don't get the flower bed cleaned too early(which I rarely do) they have a chance to sprout where ever they find a spot and I have to let them be because they do not like to be moved about. The only way to grow these glowing beauties is by seed but they are well worth the effort which can even be done in the fall for an early bloom that lasts all summer.
I feel like I've been as busy as a bee but what have I got to show from it. I'll continue to find some photos to tell you "what I've been up to".

So stay tuned while I try to recollect where the last month has gone to and maybe I'll share a little fairy secret of mine!

Grungy Monday

2011-05-23T21:04:00.005-04:00

I really enjoyed last weeks Grungy Monday. Thank you all for such lovely comments.

This weeks Technique is an easy one again but my choices of dye inks is very limited so I wasn't feeling very inspired. I'm afraid I didn't sway much from the sample. Check it out here.

http://timholtz.typepad.com/my_weblog/2008/08/september-techn.html

I've done water colour stamping before but I have to say it's not one of my favourites. I find it hard to get just the right amount of water on the stamp so you don't loose your image completely. On this card I tried Glimmer mist instead of water and I really liked the results and it seemed to be easier to not over do the wetness. Unfortunately you can't really see the glimmer here though.

I'm curious to see how others have used this technique since I can't really think of a lot of uses for it. I think I prefer techniques that I can play with and change up a little more than this one.

So head over to Studio L3 and see what others are doing with this technique.

Happy Creating

Wendy

Wow guest designer for Grungy Monday.

2011-05-16T08:00:00.001-04:00

Yes me a guest designer! I'm so excited I can hardly write. See this is my first time, yes I'm a virgin guest designer, so be patient with me if I stumble or fumble a bit and please help me if you see anything I should be doing differently.
So here's the juicy details. Linda over at Studio L3 host Grungy Monday each week in honor of his Craftiness Tim Holtz. Each week she chooses a Tim Holtz technique and asks 2 guest designers to make something with the technique and post about it. So this week it's my turn.

This weeks technique is Distress Ink colour blocking. It's an easy and versatile way to make a background.

As soon as I got the e-mail from Linda with the info I watched the video right away. And although it's a really easy one I was kinda stumped for ideas. I played with it on some scraps of plain paper to get the hang of it and try out different colour combos. Then I let it sink into my subconscious for a week or so(no I wasn't procrastinating...okay maybe a little) things started to form and once I started it the project grew from a small plaque to a whole book. LOL. That's just the way things work out sometimes. I actually didn't get all the pages done that I wanted to. I have 2 more on the go. Hopefully I'll get them done in the next day or so and can show you then.

I used the Colour Blocking technique for the background of each page. On this one I adhered some old book print on one side first and then did the colour blocking across the whole thing. It was interesting to see the different effects on the 2 surfaces. The inks reacts differently on the different surfaces creating different colour intensity.
Here I used a numbers Crafters Workshop stencil on the already colour blocked background. It just took a little Tea Dye DI to get the numbers to pop out over the blocking. I like the way it tones down the but doesn't completely cover them.
Again here I used some scrap paper to cover part of the background before doing colour blocking. This paper reacted differently from the old book print. I think the old book print absorbs some of the ink making it more muted that other surfaces.

This book was a lot of fun to create. Can't wait to get the last 2 pages finished. It's been a while since I've done this kind of project and I hadn't realized how much I missed it and really must find more time to do this kind of creating.

I hope you enjoyed my book today. You really must go over to Studio L3 to check out what everyone else has done with this technique.

Here are the supplies I used:
Crafters Workshop- stencils
Ranger- Distress Inks
Sizzix- Dies
Tattered Angels- Glimmer Mist, stamps
Studio 490- stamps
Tim Holtz- stamps
Hampton Art- stamps
Prima- flowers, leaves
BoBunny- Edgy Album

Thanks for stopping by have a creative week.

Exciting week ahead...

2011-05-15T20:22:00.002-04:00

I'm looking forward to this week. Some new things are happening for me and I'm so glad you're here to share them with me.

This week my vision board is being featured by Michelle over at Collage Your World. A few months ago I was lucky enough to have Michelle come into my studio to teach a vision board workshop. It was wonderful to get a group of like minded people together and work on our vision boards together. I learned how to make a vision board and it began me on a journey that still continues. Read more about it here.

Stop by tomorrow to see what else new is happening to me this week.

Sneak Peek.

2011-05-06T11:42:00.004-04:00

This is just a quick post to tease you a bit. I'm almost ready for tomorrows Handmade Harvest show. I've been busy trying out some new designs.

This bracelet is made with textured copper discs and carnelian beads. I have 3 more similar bracelets I hope to get together by tomorrow. No pressure!!

These earrings are just one of many new design I've been playing with. Some are etched, some are textured with hammers and some are riveted.

So that's all you get. Come and see me at Handmade Harvest tomorrow from 10am to 5 pm. If you get their early enough you might even get one of the 50 Swag bags they're giving away for those that show up first.

Have a great weekend!

So busy and WOYWW.

2011-05-04T09:26:00.004-04:00

Well I keep telling myself I'm going to blog more. I'm going to keep some kind of schedule in my life but then life gets away from me again. But I'm back on track, at least the blogging track any way. I've been busy preparing for this weekends Handmade Harvest show in the Almonte Agricultural Hall. It's a must see show on Saturday May 7 from 10am-5pm. The first 50 people get free swag bags. Now who can resist that. At the last show people were lined up before the doors opened! So now you know why I haven't been blogging and here is what I've been up to.
This is how I left my work table last night. See the white box that says ready for tumbling?That's todays job. Well I might get a few more pieces ready to tumble first, but then it's into the tumbler and then they have to be assembled into wonderful jewelry creations. Mostly I'm working on some new earring designs but a necklace and a few bracelets got in there when I lost focus on earrings. Does anyone else have this problem? When I'm set on creating one thing other things take over. I've learned to go with the flow. I usually get some of my favourite pieces during these times.
This is the long side view of my work table. As you can see I've been using my new disc cutter and dabber. Sooo much fun!! I've finally been able to make some of those designs that have been in my head for ages. You would think this would leave a little empty space in my brain but no, the more I ideas I use the more ideas come into my head. I've been thinking about what I'm grateful for lately and today I think that is what I'll be grateful for, an endless supply of creative ideas to work with!

So I'm off to get more out of my brain.

If you'd like to check out some more creative desks go over to Stamping Ground for WOYWW.

Have a wonderful creative day.

Students creations in metal.

2011-04-26T12:20:00.004-04:00

Last week I had a wonderful small group of ladies in to do my metal mirror workshop. This was their first time doing metal embossing and they did a great job. Here are a couple of their finished mirrors.

Veronica

Linda

I finished a second mirror while preparing for this workshop but I was so inspired by these ladies that I've started a third. Thanks ladies for a wonderful day. You were a great group to teach.

Distressing

2011-04-11T19:24:00.004-04:00

No I'm not distressed, but I am distressing. In my art journal that is, because Simon Say stamp and show some distressing. How could I not step up to this challenge. I do so love to distress.

Now I'm heading over to Simon Says to see how everyone else is distressing. Are you distressing today?

I'm also entering this in the Artistic Stamper Layers challenge.

The shows begin...

2011-04-09T21:27:00.004-04:00

Yes it's show time again. This year I'm trying some new spring shows. Tomorrow is my first at the Glebe Community Center in Ottawa. It's called the Girls Want To Know Show. Here are a few new steampunk necklaces that I finished recently for the spring season.

Have a great weekend and don't forget to make room to create.

Card making break

2011-03-30T07:31:00.003-04:00

So this is how my desk is looking this week for WOYWW. Not so bad really, well not as crazy as yesterday. Don't be disillusioned that I tidied up for you! I didn't even realize what day it was when I did it although I do usually like to tidy up for visitors. I was working on a project the last few days that was just not going as easily as I thought it should be so I put it all away to take a break and make a few cards. For me card making is therapeutic. I'm not sure why but they are always just relaxing and fun to make. It turned out to be a quick break since my sleepy head got the better of me and I retired to bed early with only a few cards put together.When I pulled out one of my card making boxes I found these embroidered images that I had done ages ago and forgotten. So I just finished them up with mats and cardstock.
This one I stamped the background card and added the image to the empty space of the embroidery.
Not a really creative session but maybe I'll find a little time tonight to play again before I have to clean up for the next project.

Have a creative day and head over to check out some more creative spaces for WOYWW.

Ruffed Grouse visitor

2011-03-27T12:03:00.002-04:00

This beautiful Ruffed Grouse was hanging around the trees beside our house for a few days. Oddly it didn't seem at all nervous about people being around and even walked right up to me as I was taking pictures of it. I felt like it was trying to tell me something. It seemed rather sad and lonely although didn't appear hurt at all. I must go out and see it's still there today.

This is why I live in the country. You never know what wonderful creatures your going to encounter on any given day.

Hope you're having a wonderful and peaceful Sunday like I am.

Take care.

WOYWW

2011-03-23T09:30:00.004-04:00

I'm guessing that a few of you are wondering what WOYWW is! It's okay I haven't lost it(at least no more than usual) and I didn't even make it up. It stand for What's On Your Workdesk Wednesday. Now that's a mouthful. Julia over at Stamping Ground is the creator of this weekly sneak peek into other peoples creative spaces. I follow a few blogs that participate in this event each week and I love to check out how other people work(I feel like I'm peeking in when no one is around!)

So I've finally decided to give you a glimpse of my work desks. Yes that is plural. I am lucky enough to have a very large studio with many work desks. I know it sounds wonderful but really it just means I can leave one mess and start another without having to clean up the last one. I'm a messy creator and I've come to terms with that part of me. I let her have her messy time and then every once in a while the organizer in me comes by and does a mad clean up. It seems to be working so far as long as the two don't meet, then nothing gets done!This is my crafty area, where I do paper crafts, metal embossing, stamping, painting etc. Right now I'm working on my pages for a Book swap my ATC group is doing. The theme is Black and White. Can't show you what I have done yet or I'll give away the surprise element but I've been using my India ink and pens which I hadn't had out in ages. Lot's of fun. I really must play with them more.
This is my hard core jewelry desk. It is here that my copper jewelry starts. The hammering, sawing, riveting, punching, antiquing etc happens here. The copper on the book that you can see is waiting to be antiqued, sanded and tumbled. After all the ruff messy stuff happens to it I head over to yet another work desk to add the finer details of beads and chains to finish it off. I won't show you that desk today. I have to leave something for another day right!?

I hope you enjoyed my little studio tour. I'm heading over to the Stamping Ground to sneak a peek at the many other creative souls linked there.

Have a creative day!

More Treasuries.

2011-03-22T16:03:00.002-04:00

Wow I've been featured in 2 more Treasuries. I really must learn to make my own now! Always something new to learn on line. I think it will be fun to pick a theme and find some wonderful Etsy creations to fill up my treasury. For now check out the wonderful talent on here.

Wear The Canvas: Etsy Entrepreneur Team Treasury

2011-03-18T18:32:00.002-04:00

I'm thrilled to be in my first Etsy Treasury thanks to Jene from Wear the Canvas.

A little steampunk anyone...

2011-03-14T16:37:00.003-04:00

It's been a while since I've played with some watch parts so I thought I should get a few made for my springs shows which are fast approaching(see schedule here). The bases of these are both the core part of a watch.

This one is wrapped in a filigree, with some swarovski crystals added.

With this one all the components are wired on. I've made little flowers from brass findings and beads. I call this Poison Ivy, you know like Batman! I don't usually name my pieces but that just came to me when it was all finished. I don't know if that will be a good selling name though!

Instead of putting them on chains I decided to try something new. The first one is on a bead chain combination. The second necklace has a bead, wire mesh ribbon combination.

Now it's time to get back at the copper.

Happy Creating!

Textures of spring

2011-03-02T07:39:00.002-05:00

Yes we're all looking for Spring to arrive. I wish I could say that this will help but as I look out my window it's snowing again.
This is a variation of a design I did last year. I was able to get even more dimension for the flowers now that I have my disc cutter. Now I'm looking to purchase a good hole punch for those smaller discs I've made. There's always something you just need to have next isn't there!

Have a great day!

Lovely award.

2011-02-27T08:05:00.003-05:00

A big thank you to Candy at Creativity is Contagious for this wonderful blog award. I'm so glad to inspire someone who's creativity inspires me as well.

As the recipient of this award I need to play it forward to 3-5 blogs that inspire me. Well there are so many amazing blogs out there it's hard to pick but here goes. The following are some of my favourite inspirational blogs.

Michelle at Collage Your World

Sheila at Sheila Cain-Sample Pencil Artist

Hellemor at Hellemor's Scrap

Kat at Kat's Craft Creations

So now it is time for you lovely ladies to pass on this award and let us now who inspires you.

More birdhouse necklaces.

2011-02-26T19:57:00.003-05:00

Thanks for your wonderful comments and suggestions for my new birdhouse necklace design. They will definitely help as I continue to make more variations of this birdhouse.
Here are two more necklace similar in design to my first one. I think my next ones will have some vines and flowers on, so keep your eyes open for them.

What do you think?

2011-02-23T14:48:00.004-05:00

I've been trying out some new designs and would really like to know what you think. This is one of my new birdhouses. I saw out the shape from a sheet of copper and then use different shapes of hammers to get the texture. It then gets antiques, sanded and put in the tumbler to polish it. The rectangle charm dangling from it is done the same and then a heishi bead riveted to it.

So what do you think. Is the birdhouse too flat, should I rivet some flowers and vines on it or leave well enough alone?

Leave a comment to let me know or e-mail me.

Enjoy the journey...

2011-02-22T08:12:00.002-05:00

Yes some mornings I need to remind myself of this as I lay awake hours before the alarm goes off. Sleep is not my friend lately so this morning I decided to get up and make the most of it. I had my challenges tag finished before the Tin Man even got up for work!

I felt a little cheated with this one because I used some paper that already had the background collaging done for me. That's the part I quite like to do the best. Well it did make for a quick tag.

I'm entering this into the following challenges:

Kard Krazy- "postcards"

CCC- Pg. 56

Simon Says Stamp and Stripes

If you haven't checked out the Challenges on these blogs yet, get over there and enjoy some wonderful creative works.

Friends tag.

2011-02-20T09:34:00.003-05:00

Yes another tag challenge over at Kard Krazy for Tag Tuesday. The theme this week is Friends.

I thought I'd try something a little new to me for this tag. I seem to be drawn to a lot of scrap booking blogs and videos lately. Do you think it's trying to tell me something, like get those boxes of photos off the pool table and get scrapping! Oh maybe that's the Tin Man sending me mental vibes again! LOL.

So I decided to try a scrap page layout that I came across recently. It's called the L design because you use some kind of L shape to frame your photo. Of course mine is backwards but sometimes that's the way things work out. It was a quick and easy layout to do and definitely makes me think more about trying to tackle all those boxes of photos. But where to start!!

Hope you're having a great weekend and finding some creative time to yourself.

Angel tag for challenges.

2011-02-18T16:00:00.003-05:00

This tag is for the Compendium of Curiosity Challenge over at Studio L3. Another new technique for me on page 59. I don't do a lot of masking but this will certainly make me think about doing it more, it was so easy and reusable.

I'm also using this for the Simon Says challenge which was tag. Kind of a no brainer for me!

OWOH winners and more red for February

2011-02-17T18:59:00.004-05:00

So it's another Theme Thursday over at Sheila's blog. How much red can you find in the middle of Winter. This is one of the first things I thought of when I read that Sheila's theme for the month was red.

I made this Buddha many years ago when I was taking my teachers certificate in ceramics. This may be the only thing I have left of all my certificate pieces, strange what things we keep and what we let go of over the years.

Well the time has come to announce the winners of the OWOH event. I used a random number generator to select the winners and they are as follows.

#85 Maggie from Just between me and you for the earrings

#54 Susan from Threads of Inspiration for tag

#9 Donna from On Honeysuckle Hill for tag

#177 Michelle from The House of Mouse for tag

#8 Brandy from Artbrat's bits and pieces for tag.

I will be e-mailing everyone shortly to get your mailing information.

Thank you to all who entered my OWOH contest, it was so nice to meet so many bloggers world wide. And thank you to Lisa for holding this event and doing all the work involved in such an awesome event.

Valentine's art journal page.

2011-02-14T17:31:00.005-05:00

Happy Valentine's Day!!

I hope you are having a wonderful Valentine's Day. Mine was more stressful than usual...too much office work with programs not co-operating. But this evening looks better, the Tin Man just called to say he's bringing supper home and he wasn't even suppose to be coming home tonight, so that was a nice surprise!

This art journal page just came about because of all the Valentine's tags I've been doing lately I think. I did the background a while ago with masking tape and Distress ink. When I went back to it a few days lately it was curling up so much I decided to put a layer of gel medium on it and then about a week later I put the hearts on with more gel medium. Once that was dry I used markers to put in grass, leaves and stems. I think I'll probably add some word but I thought it was appropriate for today even if it's not finished.

Oh here's supper, gotta go. Have a wonderfully romantic evening!

Almost forgot, if you haven't entered the OWOH contest there is still time. Check it out here.

Tag challenges.

2011-02-10T15:24:00.002-05:00

It's been a busy week visiting so many wonderfully talented OWOH participants. I've received so many lovely comments that I've added 2 more tags to win. If you haven't entered yet there is still time to do so here until Feb.17.

I did find a little time to make some tags for a few challenges this week.

The first is a Valentine's tag for Red/Romance Theme Thursday over at Sheila's blog. I'm loving the red theme for this month. I already have next weeks idea ready! Go share your link for something red/romantic.

My next tag I'm going to enter into 3 challenges. First is Compendium of Curiosities (CCC) at Studio L3 blog. This week we were to use the technique on page 41 called Rusted Enamel. This was a new one for me and I think I would use more ink on the top layer next time to give it more of a rusted look but it came out okay anyway.

The second challenge was Simon Says Stamps and show some embossing. Well the stamping is always easy but I just had to go look at it again to see if I did stamp although it's odd when I don't have some kind of stamping on whatever I'm working on but it was there in the background, just a few swirls added. I love to emboss and there is just so many different ways to do it that it was just a matter of deciding which way to go. Well obviously I chose the metal embossing. I used a new mold I got recently for Ten Second Studio for the zipper and dress form. I just love this one and have been waiting for the right thing to put it on.

The last challenge was for Tag Tuesday over at Kard Krazy with the theme "tag on your tag". I had this tag almost finished when I found out about tag Tuesday's theme and I had planned on using a Graphics 45 element so it worked out well to use one of their tags.

So once again I've managed to combine a few challenges into one tag. So much fun.

Theme Thursday.

2011-02-03T18:32:00.002-05:00

The theme this month over at Sheila's Theme Thursday is Red/Romance. Well as soon as I read this I had 3 ideas right away. So for this week I chose the tulips that I got when the Tin Man and I went to the opening of the new Lowe's last week. I love having flowers in the house this time of year. I wish this were one from my garden but I'll have to wait a while for that. It's very white out there!

So what does red/romance bring to mind for you. Take a picture of it and link it to Sheila's blog or just go see what she has found that's red/ romance.

One World One Heart

2011-02-02T09:27:00.006-05:00

Welcome to my my small corner of the blog world! I'm so glad to be participating in the 5th and last year of the One World One Heart event. I had such a great time last year and met many wonderfully creative bloggers along the way that I now enjoy following.

For those of you who are visiting for the first time, I'd like to share a little bit about my self. I enjoy working with many different kinds of mediums. As long as I'm creating I'm happy. I love to work with paper, paint, metal etc. But my main focus this year is on my jewelry. Although I've done little bit's of jewelry making for many year, I really got more serious about it around 4 years ago by accident. After some trial and error craft shows with fellow artist and a workshop in making unique jewelry I discovered that there was a real interest for unique jewelry out there. I've slowly been learning different kinds of jewelry making mostly with metal. I enjoy using copper, brass, watch parts, beads and found objects in my jewelry creations. Now the ideas in my head just won't stop.

So it only seemed right to offer a pair of my earrings for the OWOH give away. These are made with a copper frame with old book paper for the background and a shell set in resin.
This tag will be my second giveaway. And for every 50 comments I will be adding another tag to the giveaway.

The winners will be selected randomly on Feb. 17th.

Edit: Here is another tag to win.

Don't forget to check out all the other blog entries here.

Update: I've received over 100 wonderful comments so here is another tag to win.

More art journaling for February.

2011-01-30T09:04:00.003-05:00

Julie over at Balzer Designs has asked if we would like to participate for another month of Art Journaling and I am definitely in for more of the same. I don't get to it everyday but I've certainly done more than ever before and am enjoying it tremendously. It's slowly sinking into my mind that I don't need to do a whole page at a time. It's fun to just do little bits here and there and see where it goes from there. Before, I felt that once I got started I couldn't stop until I'd completed a page and it was hard to find the time for that. So I'll continue to explore with my art journaling for another month at least.

Oh, it's time for the One World One Heart event over at A Whimsical Bohemian. It's an amazing event where you can meet many wonderful bloggers and have a chance to win too. Check out her site for more information. It's her last year she will be holding the event so don't miss out. I will have my give away posted tomorrow some time. So come on back to check it out!

Theme Thursday

2011-01-27T08:47:00.002-05:00

It's Theme Thursday over at Sheila's blog. This is the last week for January's theme which is inspiration. So as I went into the studio this morning the first thing I noticed that inspired me was this word canvas that I did last week. I've made 2 other ones that sold at shows last year so I thought I'd try some more. Maybe I'll even get to keep one for my own wall to keep me inspired all year long, LOL!

So what's inspiring you today? Head over to Sheila's to see what's inspired her today and share your own inspirations.

Early Valentine's...

2011-01-26T20:53:00.002-05:00

It may seem early for Valentine's but that's the theme this week over at Kard Krazy. I pulled out a stamp that I've had for a few years but have almost never used. When I first got it I didn't know much about the different kind of inks and when I tried it out the image didn't work very well since it was so detailed and I was probably using pigment ink, so I put it away and kind of forgot about it. So when I was leafing through my binders of stamps and came across this one I thought it was time to try it again since it would work so well for the theme. I used VersaFine ink and was amazed at how well the image turned out. It definitely won't be so long until I use this stamp again.

I'm also entering this tag into the Compendium of Curiosities challenge over at Studio L3. I've been wanted to try this since I got the book for Christmas but just haven't been able to squeeze it in. The theme was Weathered Wood Grunge on page 50. I know it doesn't look like I made any weathered wood but I used the technique on the hearts. I hadn't used this technique yet and I think it turned out pretty good for a first time.

I actually made a few more Valentine's tags today but I'll share them with you another day. I'm making them for Laura who is going to be bringing them to a few seniors homes on Valentine's Day. Isn't that a great idea!

Playing with metal scraps.

2011-01-25T16:09:00.003-05:00

Yesterday found me pulling out my Ten Second Studio metal. I haven't played with it in a while and was really just looking for something to add to another project, but I got the inspiration to use up some of my scraps on a mirror. Once I got started I couldn't stop until it was finished. Well almost couldn't, I got called away to go out for dinner with Mom, Dad and sister Nancy. Oh yeah and the Tin Man. He was lucky he got to come with since it was too cold to be away working! What's a girl to do, I have to eat too right. So I didn't get back at it until today but finish it I did. I now have at least 2 more ideas for metal mirrors. I do that a lot. When I'm working on one piece I'll have ideas for other pieces or variations of the one I'm on. I usually want to try it in different colour or style variations. I seem to be in the altered art mode and I'm just running with it. What mode are you in this week?

Winter tag.

2011-01-21T06:23:00.004-05:00

This weeks theme over at Kard Krazy is Winter. The first thing that came to mind was blues and snowflakes so I rummaged through my stash and found a tag with some blue inks already started. Once I stamped and embossed the snowflakes white I added a few more blues with inks and glimmer mist. I cut out the buildings and then realized they needed something in the open spaces so yellow was added for that warm winter glow.

I'm heading over to check out this other tags now. See ya soon!

Work in progress

2011-01-20T10:56:00.002-05:00

I'm finding it very helpful to think about what inspires me and I love to take photo's, so Sheila Theme Thursday has been easy and lot of fun this month. This morning the first thing that came to mind that inspires me is my work space. I think it's even more inspiring when it's messy because I'm in the middle of a project so I went down into the studio to see what kind of mess I had left it in last night. Actually it wasn't all that bad, at least not for me. Well I'm not going to show you the whole table so you can just guess what kind of messy worker I am! I finished a word canvas yesterday and was just starting to decide what letters I was going to put on this mirror when my brain told me to go to bed. So I did. I couldn't even remember this morning how far I'd gotten with finding letters. Isn't the mind a strange and wonderful thing. Well maybe mine is a little more strange than most, at least that's how it feels lately. These are letters I made for my Metal Exemplar but didn't end up using. I'm not sure if they will end up on this piece either. I'll try to post it when I get done.

Don't forget to check out what's inspiring others over at Theme Thursday.

Bloom...

2011-01-18T10:50:00.003-05:00

I've done a couple of Art Journal pages this week but this is my favourite. I started off with text from an old book for the background, continued with layers of gesso, paint, ink and glimmer mist till the background was finished. The flowers were already almost made from a previous project and the words were stamped on.

Now I'm off the my ATC meeting this afternoon. I'll try to remember to bring my camera so I can share everyones cards with you later.

Tag Tuesday

2011-01-16T19:43:00.004-05:00

Yes I know I'm so off my days but such is the creative movement this week. I have such great intentions to try more challenges this year but the time keeps slipping away. Oh well such is life. I did get my tag done this week. The theme over at Kard Krazy this week is "a bit of fabric". I had visions of making an all material tag but then I realized that would entail using the sewing machine or a needle at the very least and that just wasn't going to happen this week. So I pulled out some scraps of material and used my die cutter to make my bird. Wow how easy is that! It cut the material really well, definitely something I'll be trying again.

Go check out some of the other amazing tags over at Kard Krazy. I'm off to finish an Art journaling page.

Inspiration...

2011-01-16T11:30:00.003-05:00

Okay I'm a little late for Theme Thursday but I thought I'd share anyway. The Tin Man has had to listen to me for months, going on about wanting to get a disc cutter and not being able to find one in stock any where. If it was possible he would have gotten it for me for Christmas but alas it was not. So finally it has arrived and this is definitely been my inspiration for this week. As you can see I had to hurry and cut out one of each of the 11 sizes of discs that it cuts. Oh, my mind is spinning with ideas to try out. I'm hoping to get some jewelry creating time in the next day or so. I'll share my creations with you ASAP.

Go check out what Sheila's inspiration is this week and share yours on her linky. It's so interesting to see what other's are inspired by.

Journal page

2011-01-10T20:12:00.001-05:00

For this page I used scraps of paper for the background. Stamped letters for the Direction. Then I did some journaling about having more direction in my life this year. It's probably not very legible but it was just for me anyway. I then dumped an almost empty bottle of white paint here and there on the page and used the opening to make the circle. A few Distress inks blended things together and I finished it off with some grunge arrows.

So my word for the year or maybe just for the time being is DIRECTION.

Check out some of the other art journals on the flickr Art Journal Every Day to see some of the other participants amazing work.

Mosaic tag.

2011-01-10T11:04:00.003-05:00

Almost didn't get this posted before the next tag Tuesday challenge over at Kard Krazy! So this will be a quick post. The theme this week was "mosaic". The first thing that came to mind was some kind of paper mosaic. Then I remember a technique I did a few years ago on some cards. I cut up lots a different sizes of paper and used embossing powder for the "grout" . Lot's of fun and a great way to use up scraps.

Now on to some journal pages!

Theme Thursday

2011-01-06T08:03:00.004-05:00

I've been checking out a lot of blog challenges in the last few week. I seem to be drawn to them for some reason(I'll have to contemplate that later!) So I'm trying to choose a few to start with but it's been hard because their are so many great ones and I'm trying to get some peace and balance into my life right now. Although I think these challenges will start me on my 2011 Journey nicely I don't want to forget my other obligations...okay maybe I do want to forget them but it's not an option! Okay maybe I'm thinking too much again LOL.

Any way when I saw my friend Sheila's new challenge over on her photo blog, I was inspired right away, which is her theme for this month. So I looked around at what has inspired me this week and within minutes I had my photo ready to post. I just got these colourful Sharpie markers the other day and was working on my Art Journal front page while watching TV that night. I don't think it's finished yet but it's coming along. Last night I was reading this great book I picked up at the library called "Scraptastic!" by Ashley Calder. It has all sorts of different mixed media techniques for scrap booking. I think these techniques could be used for so many different kinds of project though. I don't know if you can see it but the book on the bottom of the pile is Rose Reisman's Family Favorite cook book that I received from a friend before Christmas. It's a great book. I've tried one recipe so far and have a lot marked to try. So this is what is inspiring me at the moment. So how about you, what's inspiring you?

Digital Magic

2011-01-05T19:34:00.002-05:00

I just found this great contest to win an online class called Digital Magic. Check it out here for a chance to learn how to collage with Photoshop or Photoshop Elements. I enjoy playing with Photoshop Elements but oh do I need to learn so much more. Imagine the possibilities!

First journal page of 2011.

2011-01-04T13:12:00.002-05:00

Here is my first Art journal page for the year. The background is some scrap paper that was left over after doing some print making on gelatin with Christian over the holiday. This was the paper that Christian was wiping off his ink roller, stamps and stencils after using them. It was too cool to throw away so instead of putting in the drawer with interesting scraps I thought I'd use it up right away.

Does any one have a good way to use up some of all those scraps of paper. They seem to be building up here and I can create fast enough. The drawers and boxes are filling up around me with wonderful bits of scrap paper of all kinds. I keep telling myself I'll use if making cards and such but after spending a few hours making cards there doesn't seem to be a dent in any of the piles. What's a girl to do? Any suggestions? Something wonderfully creative that uses up lots of odds and ends of paper? Any one?!!

New visions...

2011-01-03T13:25:00.003-05:00

Yes I'm still here. Sorry I've been so neglectful of you blogger friends. I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and happy new year. We had a wonderful time here with the boys home for a while.

My energy level at the beginning of the holiday was low with some old shoulder and neck issues bothering me along the way also so we kept things pretty quiet. As a result very little creativity was happening around here for the last few weeks and no energy for blogging. The Tin Man helped me de-Christmas the house and do some tidying over the weekend so today I was able to start my week in the studio. What a wonderful way to start the year. I have many new ideas and visions for this year. The lists are started. How about you? Any new ideas or visions for the new year? I'm not much on resolutions but I usually find myself writing many list this time of year. Luckily January is a pretty quiet time of year for me so I can work on my lists and new ideas. I've been checking out a few new blogs lately and found some new challenges for this year. I'm looking forward to sharing them with you through out the year. My first challenge is going to be to do an Art Journal Every Day with Julie Fei-Fan Balzer at Balzer Designs. I've signed up for the month of January. I don't know about doing it each day but I'll try. So far I have one done. I'll share it with you later this week.

I'll let you know about a few of the other challenges I'm thinking of doing later this week also. For now I think I'll go and play with a few of my new toys I got for Christmas as you can see above.

Get creating!

Mr. Cardinal

2010-12-21T20:43:00.004-05:00

Sure enough Mr. Cardinal must have been lurking in the nearby trees while Ms. Cardinal had a little treat at our feeder. He finally came over for a treat of his own. He was pretty hard to capture though, very skittish and nervous. I think he was just watching out for his sweetie so she could eat in peace. What a loving partner!

I was lucky to spy this guy yesterday in between running around. Another few busy days of prep and then some down time with the family is in order. I hope things are coming together for your holiday festivities. I'm feeling a little tattered and worn but I think the end is in sight.

Take care and remember to stop and enjoy the beauty along the way.

Ms. Cardinal

2010-12-19T11:02:00.005-05:00

It's been busy here getting ready for the holiday season as I'm sure most of you are too. So not much creativity has been happening in the studio. I did take a few moments to enjoy our friendly Ms. Cardinal visitor. She doesn't seem to have a partner with her at the moment but I'm hoping he'll come along later.

She's been coming around to the feeder each day all by herself. As you can see she's very entertaining.

Her visits are usually not too long as the Mourning doves seem to be chasing her away.

What's a lady alone to do!

Take care and don't forget to watch the beauty along the way.

Tim's tag time...

2010-12-06T16:51:00.003-05:00

Well it's that time of year again over at Tim Holtz's blog. The twelve tags of Christmas that is. If you haven't checked it out yet it's well worth the look. Lots of tips, tricks and techniques. I don't usually get around to getting all of them done but I like to play along a bit. So here is my variations of tag 2 and 3. Enjoy!

Great week.

2010-12-02T12:19:00.004-05:00

I've had a wonderful week and beginning of the holiday season.

We had a great time at my Open House on Sunday. Thanks to all that came out and for all your donations to our local food bank. I brought in a large box of groceries to help them out during the holiday season.

To start off my week I found out that I won a Holiday with Matthew Mead magazine on Monday morning from Jennifer over at Adventures in Mixed Media. She was very prompt at mailing to me since I received it yesterday. I'd never hear of this magazine and am very pleased to be introduced to it. It has many beautiful and inspiring holiday images and ideas. I love trying new decorating ideas for the holiday so this will be very helpful. Thank you Jennifer.
Also this week I received another item that I won from Ten Second Studio. Back in October they did a raffle for Cancer awareness month with the proceeds going to the Susan G. Koman Fund. There were 10 canvas' to chose to win and I won the Suze Weinberg canvas. Isn't it amazing. Thanks Megan and Cheryl from Ten Second Studio and Suze. I love it.
So that was my amazing week so far. Wasn't that a great way to start December! I'm ready to start the holiday season!

Now I'm off to Tai Chi and tea with friends.

New necklace for Open house

2010-11-26T08:21:00.003-05:00

I'm still busy getting ready for this Sundays Open House. Here is another sneak peak at one of many new creations I've made in the last few weeks. You'll have to come to the open house to see more. I've been trying to take more pictures of them but the sun has not been cooperating with me this week. I guess I'll have to get a light box made one of these days.

Getting ready for Open House

2010-11-23T15:55:00.002-05:00

I've been very busy getting ready for my Open House this Sunday. Here is a peek at one of my new necklaces I finished today. If you live in the area come on by and take a look. I have about 5 artisans coming to sell their own creations. We'll be at 3557 Munster Rd. from 1pm - 4pm. Come have a coffee and do some stress free shopping. I'm hoping to help out our local Food Bank too. So if you can please bring a non-perishable food item.

ATC's

2010-11-17T12:46:00.004-05:00

I had a great afternoon with my ATC group at the Painted Pony yesterday. We meet once a month. This month was one of my favourites since it was Steampunk. We each make one card and trade at the end of the meeting. If you're interested in joining the next meeting is on December 21 at the Painted Pony from 1:00 to about 3:00pm and the theme is "red". We didn't want to do Christmas but this gives you the option if you want. Here are the card from this month.

Wendy

Veronica

Olive

Michelle

Linda

I'm in a huge creative mood today! I've been beading, riveting, hammering, drilling. All in the name of jewelry. Gotta get back to the riveting.

Have a creative day!

Journal pages

2010-11-16T11:46:00.004-05:00

After finishing my Vision Board yesterday I found I had things inside me that I still wanted to get out, so I made these journal pages. It's really just about the things I learned about myself while doing the vision board. Sometimes I make excuses for not having or being what I want. Things like this isn't the house I want, my studio isn't want I would really like etc. So this is a reminder to myself that those things really aren't important in the end. Being who I want to be and achieving what I want are not conditional to these material things. It is what I do with my life that will get me where I want to be not the pretty things around me. No excuses it's time to be grateful for what I have and just do what ever it is I want to do with my life.

Vision board

2010-11-15T18:30:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I had Michelle Casey from Collage Your World over to my studio to teach her Vision Board workshop. We had a wonderful time. Michelle was a great teacher. I learned a lot about vision boards and about myself.

I started out unsure of my direction so I had planned to do a Passion Vision Board. But when Michelle took us through a visioning technique I had a vision of my new house come to me. This made it easier to find images for my board. We all had most of our vision boards finished by the end of class. I added a few more words to my board this morning and it was finished.

It was interesting to have this vision come to me but I realized later that I don't really need a new house. Many of the things I put in my board I already have. And the things that are not are things that are not really part of the house but part of me. I learned that new walls and windows are not what I need right now but to focus on my goals for myself.

If you ever get the chance to make a vision board I highly recommend it and if you're in the Ottawa area check out Michelle's workshops.

Busy week...

2010-11-09T21:44:00.008-05:00

I had another one of those weeks that just whizzes by.

Saturday was a wonderful day at the Handmade Harvest show. The hosts Emily and Colleen of BlackBird in Almonte were wonderful and the show was a great success. To find out more about how the show went and view a few pics check out their blog.

Although I was tired on Sunday I had a strange urge to start to reorganize and tidy my studio. I had the Tin Man rearrange some shelves and bring in an old cabinet from the back room to use. I'm tired of just have ugly shelves for everything. I've had this cabinet in the back room for many year thinking I would refinish it but I really didn't have any where it could fit. So I decided I would use it in my studio. It's a little rough around the edges but maybe I'll paint it next summer. It makes me happy! Although I still have things I wanted to rearrange in the studio it was on to more creative and way over due projects on Monday. I finished an order for a little guys "first year" scrap book. I've been working on it since some time in the spring I think. Needless to say it took me a little longer than I expected. Once this was finished I took a little time for some card making. This was like a reward for getting this major project done on my to do list and I needed to replenish my card stock for upcoming shows. The rest of the week was filled up with mostly domestic chores with a little break for Tai Chi and Chai tea with the girls. I had done Tai Chi years ago and gotten away from it and it feels so good to be back at it. I'm really enjoying it.

Today in between cleaning house I was thinking about my vision board I'll be doing here with Michelle. She gave us some homework to complete before class on Sunday and it really got me thinking. Probably a little too much since my brain is usually in overload at the best of times. I think I'm going to try to do a Passion Vision Board for my first one. I'll let you know how it goes and I'll see if anyone wants to share their finished board with you next week. LOL.

So I'm off to tidy the studio for Sunday's workshop and then to a Glass Bead show tomorrow with the girls. Wow what more could you ask for in one weekend!

Handmade Harvest

2010-11-05T16:15:00.003-04:00

Yes it's finally here. Tomorrow is Handmade Harvest. I've been busy all week preparing for it. The above necklace was the first time I used Wire Ribbon. It wasn't as easy as I thought to add it beside some chain. It took a few tries to figure out how to fasten it. I love that you can twist and pull it apart to get the look that you want.

Well I'm off to finish up a few more pieces for tomorrow. Hope to see you there. It's in Almonte at the Town Hall from 9am- 5pm.

And the winner is...

2010-11-05T15:27:00.002-04:00

Thanks for playing along with me this week. Jennifer had it right with her first guess of Niagara on the Lake. And I picked her name out of the vase so she is the winner today. If you ever get a chance it's a beautiful place to visit. Too many wineries to count.
We had a tour of Chateau des Charmes. It was really interesting to see the process of wine making and learn about some of the history of this area of Canada.

Where was I?

2010-11-05T08:58:00.006-04:00

Okay it's your final chance to leave a comment on where you think I was last weekend to win a tag.

Yes we were in Ontario.

We had a tour of this winery and I discovered that I do like Ice Wine!

You have until 3:00pm today to leave a comment and then I'll pick the winner!

Good Luck.

Win a tag.

2010-11-04T08:30:00.003-04:00

Yes there is still time to win a tag. All you have to do is take a look at this weeks photo's from my weekend away and make a comment trying to guess where I was and you'll be entered to win a tag. Everyone that leaves a comment will be entered but if you guess correctly you'll get 2 entries. Tomorrow morning I'll put some photo's on that have a clue or two to help you if you haven't already figured it out. You have till 3 tomorrow to leave a comment.The trees in the background here is the reason why they are able to grow grapes here.
And unlike where we went last year at this time there were still some grapes left on the vines.
And yes we did have a taste or two of wine. Although the Tinman had more since I was the designated driver.

More photo's

2010-11-03T08:58:00.002-04:00

I think I'm making this game too easy!

We saw these...

And these...

And more of these!!

Okay you've probably guessed a bit about where we were but can you pinpoint exactly where we were. You have until Friday to make a comment and be entered to win a tag.

I'll have more photo's tomorrow. Maybe some hidden clues too!

Sorry I forgot...

2010-11-01T09:46:00.003-04:00

I forgot my cord for downloading pictures while we were away so I wasn't able to share our experience first hand. So I think I'll prolong it even more. And for some fun let's see who can guess where we were. I'm going to add pictures throughout the week to see if you can figure it out. Anyone that leaves a guess in the comments will have a chance to win a tag. If you guess correctly you will have 3 chances to win the tag. You have till Friday to make your comments.

Good luck.

Weekend away...

2010-10-29T11:21:00.002-04:00

This is just a quick post before the Tin Man and I head out for a weekend away. I'll try to post some pictures in the next few day and see if you can guess where we are! Their may even be a prize in it for you.

Here is a card I made during a small Christmas spirit burst. Don't worry it didn't last too long. I'm saving it for the real deal. I find if I get in the holiday spirit too early I lose it by Christmas and it's just not as much fun. How about you when do you start to get into the spirit of it all? Have you started your Christmas shopping? No I'm not listening, I don't want to know! I have lots of time left. And don't be trying to tell me how many day there are till...

Have great weekend!

Resin Necklaces

2010-10-28T09:20:00.003-04:00

So as promised here are some of my new resin necklaces. Most of them are on copper chains but the above one I added some pearls and coral beads for a change. I'm anxious to see how they do at the next show.
This one is a smaller version measuring about 2".
This was my largest piece, it came out about 3 1/2". This is a technique I learned at Bead fest back in August with Tracey Stanley. It's a fun technique but I'm trying to tweak it a bit so it's more my own creation. I haven't quit got there yet. I'll keep working on it though. That's what it's all about isn't it. Learning new techniques to make your own creations.

I was back at the Christmas card making last night for some reason so tomorrow I should have some cards ready to show you.

Have a great day!

Banner necklaces.

2010-10-27T14:26:00.004-04:00

This a new design I created. I first got the idea to make these little banner tabs by cutting, texturizing, stamping, antiquing and polishing some copper strips. I wasn't sure how I was going to incorporate them into a necklace right away but when I made the curl at the top it limited what I could hang it on so that made things a little easier. I chose this chain, which I have in both copper and brass, because it's one of my favourites and I don't get to use it a lot . It's on the fine side so it doesn't go with a lot of my other designs. Sometimes I use small amounts of it combined with other chain but I've never had a chance to let it stand on it's own. I think it works pretty well here. Once I slipped the tabs on the chain I immediately knew that I just wanted to keep it simple by adding a few beads and such. I'm happy with the end results, actually I think I may just have to keep the Dream one with the key for myself. LOL!

Next time I'm going to share some of my new resin designs with you.

See you soon!

Focused on jewelry...

2010-10-26T21:17:00.002-04:00

Well if you remember way back when in January, I said my word for the year is focus. I'd like to be able to say that I've improved on my focus but that's probably debatable. I have my good days and my bad days. Lately my minds been almost solely on jewelry. Which may seem focused but it's actually on many types of jewelry that I want to try out. I have a few shows coming up so I'm trying to work on items that have been popular at earlier shows this year. And this is where the focus gets kind of fuzzy. It's hard to work on things I've already done before when there is so much more to try out! LOL. I did get some necklaces finished today, some new creations and some older creations with a new twist or two to them. I didn't get photo's of them yet so this one is from a few weeks ago. I'll try to get some more photo's taken in the morning and give you a peek at what I've been up to.

Thanks for stopping by.

Christmas already?

2010-10-25T13:10:00.005-04:00

I'm not a fan of starting my Christmas shopping or the whole prepping for it too early. I generally don't start decorating until well into December sometimes not even until the kids come home for the holiday so they can help. Son #1 is a December baby so he actually likes to decorate and I enjoy the company, as apposed to son#2 who is much like the Tin Man and will avoid decorating if given the chance.

But last week found me making Christmas cards, due to a suggestion of having a ChristmasCard workshop. It seemed like a fun idea until I started to make cards and the Christmas spirit just wasn't flowing too creatively. I did manage to make a couple of card but as you can see the traditional Christmas colours that I usually enjoy playing with for the season just weren't there. So I went with what I had, which as you can see was blue. It's a good thing I don't send out too many card for the holidays or I may have to resort to buying them:( Now that just won't do.

Oh and then on the weekend I actually started my Christmas shopping...well if you can call picking up a $2 stocking stuffer started!!

Tag Tuesday

2010-10-22T08:14:00.004-04:00

Hey I had time for a little fun this week. It's been so long since I've done a Tag Tuesday challenge I thought this one was an easy challenge to get me back into it. The theme is Black and Orange. And although it wasn't necessarily for Halloween. of coarse that's the first thing that came to mind so I went for it.

I'm not actually a huge Halloween fan. We live in the country and don't get any trick or treaters and with no little kids anymore to take out we ignore it for the most part. I don't even buy those little chocolate bars for the Tin Man any more. How mean is that!! Well someone has to have some self control around here.LOL!

So my tag is made with a back ground of Distress Inks and Glimmer mist. I put them on my craft sheet and then smoosh(yes that's the technical term) the tag around into it. All the elements are from the seasonal grunge package. I have very little left of this package other than the Halloween sheets. So I thought this was the perfect time to use them up. They're all inked up again with distress inks and a few are frosted with some stickles for a little sparkle. An easy peasy tag, maybe next time I'll be up for a bigger challenge.

Check out some of the other participants over at Kard Krazy. See what people can do with Black and Orange and not all are Halloween.

Thanks for stopping by.

I'm back...

2010-10-21T11:37:00.003-04:00

Yes I'm back. At least back at the blogging. I haven't been away any where just a little under the weather, so kinda unmotivated to do the blogging thing. But I think I'm over the worst of the cold I had and maybe I can think a little better to do some writing here. Have I ever mentioned that I actually hate to write! So why have a blog at all you say? Well I guess the joy of sharing my creations with others out weighs the hatred of writing. I did read a blog(sorry I've forgotten where it was) about writing and the loathing there of, recently and I think it's help put a little perspective to it for me. His main message was to write how you talk. This seems too easy to me but I thought I'd give a try. So far it seems to be helping somewhat.

Oh well, on to the fun stuff. I've been doing a little playing around with inks and stamps. I made some bookmarks to give away at the Fibrefest and they seemed quite taken with them. So I've been playing with some other options. I try to use scraps of paper so the ones at the top are a smaller version that I'll probably give away at the next show I do. The ones at the bottom are a little bigger and I've laminated them. I used my Xyron machine for this. It worked pretty good although a few didn't work out too well. I wasn't paying attention when I took the picture and you can see the one on the top got a crinkle in the laminate. I'm hoping with a little experience with the machine they'll all work out perfect.

Gotta go now. I'm off to Tai Chi this afternoon. Have a great one.

Metal Exemplar

2010-10-08T10:10:00.004-04:00

Well, I haven't taught too many workshops this year and I'm looking forward to this one in a few short weeks.

All the letters are embossed on Ten Second Studio metal and then attached to a 10 X 20" Gallery Canvas. I don't know if you can tell in the picture but the letters are different thicknesses which gives the piece a lot of depth and dimension. This is a great class if you haven't tried to use metal before as we're going to learn lots of techniques. But if you've taken some of my metal workshops before you'll like it too because I've added a few new tips and trick to this project.

The workshop will be held at The Painted Pony on Sunday, October 24 from 9:30am - 4:30pm. If you're interested their are still some spaces available in the class. Just contact Cindy at the store.

Snaps and buttons...

2010-10-07T22:00:00.004-04:00

I've been busy preparing for some upcoming shows, so the other day I was taking photos of some of my newer items. I made these two bracelets for Fibrefest. It was interesting to see peoples reactions to them. It usually took a second look for them to see what they are made of.This one is made of snaps with pearl dangles.
And this one is made of small buttons with pearl dangles. I've been thinking about creating with buttons for some time now. These are only a couple of the many ideas running around in my head for button jewelry. Now to only figure out how to get them out. LOL!