Lisa's Countdown to Christmas

Hello Friends and Family. Just wanted to remind everyone that Lisa Vollrath is hosting another wonderful Countdown to Christmas with free collage sheets. Just click on the title of this post to be taken to her web site! Happy downloads to you all!

HELLO TO EVERYONE!

Hello Friends and Family. I have been gone from my blog so long, and really feeling guilty about it! I have been working on some new Christmas ornaments, and I will post a photo of the one that I created and mailed yesterday for a swap.
I just joined Twitter today, and I will be adding that to my blog just as soon as I figure out how! I hope you are all staying warm. It has been really cold here in Arlington today. I am working on a small canvas for an art club swap. Doesn't that sound like fun! I hope to get it finished very soon since I will be swapping it on Saturday. So, I have an art club meeting on Saturday from 3 to 6, some friends are having a gallery show from 6 to 9, and I am co-hosting a Christmas party dance at a local club from 8 to 2AM. I am not sure how I am going to do all of this, but I am going to give it my best shot! I am also working on some art to give as gifts, but I'm not going to say anymore about that!

Well, it really feels good to be posting again, and I hope that you are all well, and enjoying this wonderful Christmas Season. More to come very soon!

New Collage

Hello Friends and Family. I didn't mean to go so long without posting. I have just been tied up starting a new Yahoo group, and preparing for our first meetup. It was last Saturday, and everyone had a wonderful time. We all did a sort of directed collage and they came out so well. I forgot to get photos of all of them, but I have a few and I have mine.
I am not quite happy with this one yet. I plan to do a little more to it, and to the one that I finished before. I just need some time to sit down and do that. I am having car problems, and I am looking into getting a new or used car. I will see what comes my way.
Well, let me know what you think of the photos,and I will do a little more work on them and rescan. Thank you for checking out my blog and for being a follower. I think it is important for all of us artists to visit and appreciate the work of others!

Recent Collage

Hello Friends and Family. I had an opportunity to work on a collage this week at a creative nights meetups. We have a really good time there, and each month the project is different. I have met some new friends there, and am looking forward to the meetup next month. I am sharing this collage with you even though I am not crazy about it. I had limited paints and supplies, and being in a rush just took its toll on this. I think I could work on it again and possibly make it work. Let me know what you think I should do to it. I call this piece Angela, after my daughter.

More Art Today!

 

Hello Friends and Family. This is a scan of my own collage that I received from our latest canvas/collage board RR. My theme was Shabby Chic, and if you scroll down aways, you will see what work I did on it before I sent it out.

I am very happy with it, and I will probably add just a little more to it before I call it finished! I really appreciate my group and the great work that they do.

Here is another collage board that I worked on today. This one was great fun, and I really enjoyed it. It belongs to my friend Wanda. I added the five images across the top area, the spider and web, the boy with the pumpkin and the skulls. It wouldn’t be Halloween without skulls! I hope you enjoy seeing this one. It is finished in this RR, and is going home tomorrow.

Here are a couple of the Torsos I have made for a swap. I scanned in another one, but I have no idea where it is now. If I come across it then I will post that one. I am going to make a few more for myself, and make a little garland out of the ones that I received and the ones that I will make.  If you haven’t tried altering a torso then give it a try. It is fun and quick. These are about five inches tall and three inches wide. I hope you like.

Well, I am ready to move on to something else now, but first I have to clean up my art room! It looks like a tornado went through here. TTYL

My Round Robin Christmas Book

Hello Friends and Family. I have mailed off my Christmas book to be worked in by the first person, Stacy. I am excited to be doing another RR, and I hope that all of my group will have fun with it. I had been planning to do the book on Vintage Christmases, but I only got past the first spread, and then my muse took over, and I went glitter crazy on my signin spreads. That is OK though because at least I have had my fill of it. Now to get on with the themes that each of us chose. I think I will receive a book tomorrow to start on.
Do you remember back in June when I started on my altered canvas/collage board. Well, it is home and it looks   great. I will upload a photo tomorrow. I just hadn't written in a few days, and I wanted to say "Hi all of you art lovers!". TTYL

New Jewelry For Me!

Hello Friends and Family. I had to get some beads for the Chotski pins I made and I had some left over so I thought I would try to make something for myself. I can't believe that I made this necklace and these earrings for me! Yes, it took me a little bit of time, but I am so happy with the results. I thought I wouldn't be able to see well enough to actually make something, but what a happy surprise. Now, I can't wait to go back to the store and buy some more beads and to try something different. Let me know what you think. I know they are not all that fancy, but I like them and they were great fun to do!

New Round Robin

Hello Friends and Family. I was going to mention that I am starting a new Christmas Book Round Robin with my group. If you have been wanting to do a RR, then you can read and follow along as I prepare my book, and do the first couple of spreads in it before I send it to my mailing partner. I will be happy to walk you through the steps as I go, and you can made a similar one, or one with a different subject. I will be starting on it soon, and I think our last mailing will be right before Thanksgiving. The first thing you will need to do it find a good sturdy book, with sewn in pages, not glued in pages. Here is a great tutorial on determining if a book has sewn or glued in papes: . Lisa Vollrath has many other great tutorials on making and working in an altered book. Just search at GoMakeSomething.com.
So go find your book, and choose a theme, and we will get started soon. Email if you are thinking of doing this so we can talk.

CHOTSKI PINS

 

Hello Friends and Family. Here are two Chotski pins that I made for a swap. The blue and green one is for my friend Jo Ann, and the one with the vintage and a couple of new beads is for my friend Deb. Now Deb knows a lot about Ireland, and she says that a Chotski pin that looks like a big safety pin, sort of, is what hold the kilt of an Irishman closed. Neat huh? Well, I think that this is not a real Chotski, but this is what I could find at Jo Ann Fabrics so I was desperatate enough to use these. They are really easy to do, and you can hang any number of things from the loops.

I am also working on my Torsos for a swap on my group, and they will be going out soon. When I get some scans or photos made I will upload them for you to take a look. I am thinking I may connect mine together to make a banner, but I could change my mind by the time I receive mine. If you want a pattern to make some of your own, just email me and I will send it to you. Pleae put Torso Pattern in the subject line. Well, I hope you are having a good crafting and arting week, and that you will continue to make beautiful things coming up.

Altered Books Group has 10th Birthday!

Hello Friends and Family. I hope wherever you are that you are staying cool. I’m sure trying to, but this Texas weather is not wanting to cooperate.

If you have been in altered objects, books, etc., then I know you have heard of the huge Altered Book Group on Yahoo. They are celebrating their 10th birthday! So many of us have come from that group, forming new groups, new projects, new friends. You can clink on the right if you would like to check them our.

The piece of art that I have up today is a 4”X6” heavily collaged page for the group’s birthday. Corinne, who is in that group, is a real doll and she is collecting all of the pages from everyone that wanted to participate. She is doing lazar color copies of all the pages, and sending them back out  to all of us fir FREE! I told you she is a doll! She will accept postage to mail you all of the page copies, and when you get them you can bind them and have a wonderful memory piece of this event. 

You know I am not shy about showing you my boo-boos, and this next one is a dozy:

Yes, the first time I made this I made it in the wrong direction! So from now on I am double checking the instructions. I know it had to be flat and I did pretty good with that, but the orientation got me.

Well, that’s it for today. I will be adding some Torsos for a swap this weekend, and preparing a book for a Christmas Book RR so I will write more later.