Love and Hope

Yesterday I was iced in and unable to get to work. So I decided to be productive. I made almost 8 dozen cookies. 3 dozen were pepperment candy cookies (basically sugar cookies with pepperment icing) and the rest were eggnog cookies. These are also a sugar cookie base but I add rum and the icing also has rum.

I also was able to fire a few PMC pieces I've been working on. Below is a bead that I'm OH SO Happy with!!!

I strung it on red silk beading thread and attached a red glass bead at the bottom. I made it with someone in mind. But I'm rather diggin' it now!

Christmas ATCs

I usually make my Christmas cards. This year I haven't found the time. So instead of making cards I made some ATCs to include with my cards. Probably not ALL my cards. Just the ones for an upcoming swap. I wish I could make them for every Christmas card but I'm quickly running out of time!

Fly Your Freak Flag

This weekend I stumbled upon several vintage photographs at my favorite antique mall in Chattanooga. I didn't know exactly what I'd do with them. But when I found a package of bingo cards, it all fell into place.

I'm a firm believer in flying your own freak flag.

Hello My Name is Arrrrrggggh! Art Heart Healing; week 3

The third week of Tam's Art Heart and Healing free online course is a busy one! We did another spread in our board book. We also decorated the cover. I've not done either of those yet.

BUT

I did make my Empathy Monster! Empathy Monsters have a zipper mouth. That's so when they start giving you a lot of crap, you can zip them shut!!! They LISTEN. Not judge.

Hello, my name is Arrrrrggggh!

Check out my sweet figure!!!

I've got so much love to give, I had to have TWO hearts!!!

On my way to my new home!!!!

The Monster was very fun to make. I'll probably make more. I've got lots of Monster ideas running thru my head now. :)

Art Heart Healing; Week 2-A

For week 2 of Tam's Art Heart Healing course we're embellishing a board book. Subject? Ourselves.

I've not had great luck with board books in the past. And this one didn't go all that smoothly. First, I should have sanded the book even more before I applied 2 layers of gesso. It was still too slick to hold my paints in a few places. I covered by doing my background in the same original color as the book so it's hard to tell at a glance.

Also, I have a terrible time with transfers. Honestly, this one is the best I've ever done. And it's still not great. I look cross-eyed in the photograph and really, I'm not!!! lol I think I moved the picture a fraction of an inch when I did my transfer cos it came out slightly blurred. And you can't see how I'm rocking my Cindy Brady bologna curls!

This weekend I'll work on lesson 2-B and hopefully post it by Monday.

Oils No. 2; Introspective

I think this is done. I'm leaning more and more towards "done". I'm diggin' her.

The painting is called Introspective. Of course it's oils so I could always pull it off the wall 6 months down the road and rework things, should I desire.

a quick post for a quick picture

I've been really enjoying my exploration in oil paints these days. But the other night I did a quickie in acrylics. I had an "Art Night" with my friends and wanted to do a painting I could complete in one sitting. Wellllll, really it was a "Movie Night" but me and Zee sat on the floor and painted while C & R watched Get Him To The Greek. Funny movie :) This painting is the female character, Jackie O.

Art Heart Healing; Week 1

Here's a journal spread I did for Tam's FREE online course Art Heart Healing. Quite fun! I love doing these kind of journal spreads. I could have gone on for days and days and days with this; adding more layers of painterly goodness. :) But eventually I had to say DONE so I could begin week 2.

The Creative Journey

I wish I had fabulous pictures to share with you all of my day soaking up the wonderful aura of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama. And thought He radiates pure white light, it's rainbow colored aura I might add. Sadly all I have are these blurry camera phone pictures.

We had general admission tickets. So we were pretty far back. But the large screens helped. And we could hear everything (though the Dalai Lama switches back between English and Tibetian rather rapidly!!!)

I thought the discussion was very interesting. We covered a number of topics. The one that I'm still thinking about is whether we as artist have a responsibility to produce uplifting work? Or is the artist's job to show the darkness in the world, allowing the viewer to compair between light and dark? Very interesting stuff!!! As someone who gravitates towards sadness and gothic images, I've been wrestling with these thoughts for as long as I've been painting and sculpting.

This is the ever handsome Mr Richard Gere... from a great distance lol

2 pictures of His Holiness the XIV Dalai Lama

and in the mail from @HiddenEloise...

My winning necklace from Hidden Eloise's blog give-away arrived this weekend! It's just as lovely in person as it is in the pictures. I've been wearing it non-stop since it arrived.

Yes, the necklace is beautiful. And the packaging? Wow!!! I love when people put such thought and care into how they present themselves. And this lovely little package couldn't have a better presentation. I was so impressed!

Her etsy shop is one of my "must check regularly" shops. I know that when I purchase from her, the package will be as lovely as what's inside.

Oils No. 1

I'm calling this Oils No. 1 though it's not technically my first oil painting. I've done a few more. They were paintings I did following another artist's instruction. And they were not my style. I knew that going in. Painting "my style" wasn't the point of those exercises. I was just trying to get a feel for the medium.

With this painting I'm still feeling out the medium. But I feel ready to branch out into a painting that was "me". I learned a lot while working on it. And I really enjoyed working with the oil paints. A LOT!!! I'm knee-deep in Oils No. 2 at the moment. :)

This is called She's Nothing To Crow About.

As for the other paintings I did prior to her? Well they will probably never see the light of day. Unless I decided to rework them and make them more "me". Maybe I should add a few crows?

The Heart of Art by @willowing

October 18 starts another one of Tam's fabulous course. I've taken several of her classes. Learned lots and had a wonderful time doing so. But this one will be extra special.

What makes this one so extra special? Well, it's free for starters.

If you've never taken a class with Tam, I highly recommended it. They're fun and informative, yes they are. But also, Tam just has the best energy!!! It's a pleasure to take her classes.

Thanks @HiddenEloise

As I was moving my mouse over the link from Hidden Eloise I thought 'oh poo! I never win anything!' So imaging my surprise when "I" was named the winner of her beautiful tiny book locket!

It's a locket with one of her gorgeous paintings on the front. It's just one of the many treasures you can purchase yourself from her etsy shop. I can't wait to receive it. I know I'll wear it often.

another cuff

I made one more cuff during my staycation. Love them! So easy to wear. I think I'll end up making one in every color eventually. :)

This one was a gift so I also made the packaging. The cuff was green; so was the packaging.

a mix of green patterned fabric, tea-stained laces, stamped muslin, colored glass beads and a faux bone vintage button.

Three Jewels

I felt inspired to make a cuff regarding the Three Jewels. I've been wanting to try my hand at fabric cuffs for a while. Last week, while on staycation, I decided to jump in.

The Three Jewels in Buddhism are The Buddha, The Dharma and The Sangha.

The Buddha or the Buddha nature—the ideal or highest spiritual potential that exists within all beings.
The Dharma - the teachings of the Buddha.
The Sangha - the Buddhist community.

I went with muted colors. I love bright colors, in my paintings and home decor. But for dress I like the look of faded laces and earthy neutrals the best. I embellished the cuff with a variety of laces, stamped muslin, pearls of various sizes and shapes and a big wooden button. At first I wondered "should I only add 3 beads?" But I nixed that thought pretty quickly. The jewels are the concepts, not the beads.

Grosgrain: Thrift Store Thursday: The Romantiks Frock

i am SO going to make this dress!!! very CUTE! Grosgrain: Thrift Store Thursday: The Romantiks Frock

experiment in upcycle - 1st try

I've been very motivated by the upcycle chatter in the blogosphere. So motivated I decided to try my hand at it.

The 1st try didn't turn out so bad. I mean, it's wearable. Is it fabulous and fashion-forward? No, not by a long shot. But my sewing skills are extremely rusty. I haven't sewed more than a straight line let along a complete garment in 15? 20? years??? Perhaps I need to do what my friend did and take a sewing class. It seriously couldn't hurt!

That said I like it ok. And it was very easy. It's made from 2 extra large grey t-shirts I found in the dollar bin. I didn't do the neck detail. That's how the 1st t-shirt was originally. I cut both down to my size and using the 2nd t-shirt (which was plain) I added my skirt.

My biggest issue with it at the moment is it's not very figure-flattering. But I'm confident in my current slow-but-steady weight-loss. Since April 1st of this year I've lost 24 lbs. And I'm confident I'll continue on this current plan (it's so friggin easy!!!!!) so once I reach my goal I think this dress will look cuter. I'll just have to bring in the top a bit.

many many w-i-ps, too little time

I haven't posted anything in a long while. So it would appear I haven't been too creative lately. Actually the opposite is true. I have so many W-I-Ps but no completed work. Here's a sneak peak at a few of them.

I love Halloween!!! I got this Bag-O-Skulls at the dollar store. I've got BIG PLANS for this. BIG PLANS!!! More on this later!

This is a mixed media piece I'm working on. I love it! I want to make more and use them as tradeable's when I go to Art and Soul next April. My problem? Finding the right containers. They just aren't easy to come by. So I'm working on adapting my prototype to something a little easier to obtain.

This is a small section of my experiment in upcycle. Upcycle, Trashion, call it what you will! I've been having a ball. Seeking out good material on shirts, dresses, Mumu, in the dollar bin that can be reworked into something fashionable. Well, fashionable by my standards. My taste in clothing has always run a little more towards the off-beat with a handful of romantic Victorian inspired items and a large dose of blacks, greys and browns.

A few shots of a painting. This painting = kind of Meh. I'm not totally digging it. Now I'm digging the process. I did a collaged background from 1 inch squares of decorative paper and I'm very happy with the results. But my composition is off. I think I need to sleep on it a while longer.

A few shots of a painting I LOOOVVVEEE! This painting makes me EXTREMELY happy! I love what I've got so far. I'm SO afraid my next step will mess it up. So I'm sitting on this one a while longer too.

Another work-in-progress is my sketchbook for the 2011 Sketchbook Project. I have the theme of Night Time Stories. I'm finding it hard to work within a theme. So I think I'm just going to draw and go back and rework a theme later. Right now, I just want to draw.

Prosciutto-Wrapped Peaches with Basil and Aged Balsamic

I got this recipe from a blog. I wish i could remember which one! It's oh-so-good!!! We ate it over a salad but it would also make a wonderful snack or appetizer.

Ingredients

*
* 16 thin slices of pancetta if you cannot find sliced pancetta easily, prosciutto will work just fine
* 2 medium freestone peaches-halved, pitted and cut into 8 wedges each
* Salt and freshly ground pepper
* 16 basil leaves
* 1 tablespoon olive oil
* Aged balsamic vinegar, for drizzling

Directions

1. Lay the pancetta slices out on a work surface. Set a peach wedge at the edge of each slice, season with salt and pepper and top with a basil leaf. Roll up the pancetta to enclose the peaches.

2. In a medium skillet, heat the olive oil. Add half of the wrapped peaches and cook over moderate heat, turning occasionally, until the pancetta is browned and crisp, about 4 minutes. Transfer to a platter and repeat with the remaining peaches.

3. Lightly drizzle the peaches with aged balsamic vinegar and serve

We've all got our monsters...

Sometimes they're more afraid of us then we are of them...

Give your monster a hug today.