A second post this week???

Yes, I'm posting again. My house is quiet and I just bought some new rubba'! I have to share the news. Check out the new unmounted stamp sheets from Michelle Ward. I bought three: two bird image sheets and the Oath alphabet. I have always admired Michelle's art and would love to take a class from her sometime. They should be here in plenty of time for Art and Soul.

I'm really looking forward to Art and Soul this year. I have a jam-packed schedule with teachers I've enjoyed before and new ones that I've heard wonderful things about. I'll be torching, soldering, patina-ing, painting, sewing and just generally having fun for 6 full days! It will be fun to see old friends and make some new ones. I have vowed to finish most of my projects in class this year. That has been a bad habit of mine in the past. I tend to lose focus when there are a bunch of people around. I usually create by myself.

My men are camping for a few days at beautiful Crater Lake, Oregon. I wanted to go, but I have to be here for the implementation of a project I've been working on for a few months. I heard that there was SNOW at Crater Lake this week. I hope my guys are warm. They packed a lot of warm clothes and gear, so they should be fine.

Time to go and enjoy the apple pie my mother-in-law baked for me for my birthday present! I can't believe I'm 45 years old now.

New art!

First of all, yes, I survived Nicholas' first sleep-away camp. Nicholas had a fabulous time and can't wait to go again!

I *finally* finished my pages for the Portland Art and Soul fatbook swap. Yea, me! Between work at the office and working on the house, my time has not been my own of late. And, I procrastinated! That's really not a good thing when you have 64 copies of something to make!

I found a photo of one of my favorite turn-of-the-century women: Lina Cavalieri in my library of vintage images. She was considered by many at the time to be the most beautiful woman in the world. I completely agree with that opinion. I use a lot of images of her in my art work.

I printed her photo and a Paris street scene on transparencies and reverse painted them. The buildings, people and street are painted with a metalic gold. I cut out the figure and attached it to the font, along with a piece of blue script paper for the sky. I added a jewel on each of the fat book pages, too.

I really like how the original turned out. Painting the hair and face are the hardest parts of transparency painting. You have to paint the small areas, like the whites of the eyes, first. I wish it would have been feasible to paint each copy, but I would have been doing that all summer!

The photo is okay and the photocopies for the fat book are good, but this type of art needs to be seen in person or photographed by a better photographer than me to really get the full affect!

A quiet house!

Here are some charms I made last year. I love to solder!

Nicholas has been at an overnight camp since Wednesday for kids of Guard members. It's his first time being away from home for this long - 5 days! Part of me is very excited for him to being going away to camp and having adventures, but the Mommy part of me worries. Will he eat enough? Will he change his underwear? Will the other kids be nice to him? Sigh. Everyone has told me that going to camp for the first time is harder on Mommy than it is on the child. I hope so. I want him to have a wonderful time.

Mike and I thought we'd get a lot done while Nicholas is gone. HA! It hasn't happened so far. Mike has drill this weekend, so I'm on my own during the day today and tomorrow. I can't tell you what a rarity that is! I'm working on my fatbook pages for the A&S swap. And, I need to get some work done around this house.

My latest art obsession has been fabric art. I am completely enamoured with mini art quilts. I bought a BUNCH of fabric last night, along with embroidery floss, batting, etc. to start making some. Those fat quarters at the fabric store are like M&Ms! You just keep tossing them in. I'll post a photo when I actually sit down and do one. After the fatbook pages...

Hello again

I can't believe how long it's been since I've blogged! Things have been hectic at home and work this summer. I even have to go into the office tomorrow. That may be part of the reason behind my 3 day headache. Ouch. That, and the grass field burning all the farmers in this area are doing. I'm allergic to grass, so I wonder if I'm more sensitive to the smoke from the grass fields? I don't know if that's the cause, but my head hurts and my eyes water a lot!

I will have some new art to post soon. I am working on my page for the Portland Art and Soul fatbook swap. It's due in the hostess' hand by August 31st. The theme is "The Streets of Paris". I have 64 copies of it to make!! It's a lot of work, but there are some amazing artists doing pages for it.

I've also signed up for the next three swaps hosted by Diane Downs. The first one is a "more than 4x4" fatbook swap with the theme of white. You can use white, ivory, tan, etc. The only requirement is that the left side of the front of the page be 4x4" and not thick so that it will go through the coil binder. The top and other sides can be thick and more than 4x4. Her swaps are always the best. The other two will be later in the fall and winter. (A calender for 2007 and an Alphebetica swap.) I am usually a last-minute artist, but I have vowed to change my ways! It takes the fun out of it when you are stressed. I'll let you all know how well I kept up my resolution!

I'm very excited about a swap that should be arriving in my hot little hands in the next few days. They are 6x6 scrapbook pages from a group of wonderful friends. These are scrapbook pages we each made with a photo of ourselves on it. We'll each have a book of pages with our dear friends' faces and art on them. These ladies started out as members of an online scrapbooking group years ago. Some of us broke off and have formed a really wonderful group. We are a very diverse bunch of women. I don't know what I'd do without them. We also have a greeting card swap going. I really like to give hand made cards, but I don't always have the time to whip one up. These swaps really help with that. Plus, I get great ideas for other cards.

My yard is looking wonderful these days. I'm afraid to see my next water bill. The rental that we are prepping for sale (the NEVER-ENDING-JOB!) is looking great, too. I'll take some photos of it this weekend. It looks like a little doll house!

Here's some photos of a star book I made for a friend who was in the hospital a few years ago. Star books are one of my favorite projects. Enjoy!