The Blues

This is a piece I made for a musical couple, friends of mine. They are big BB King fans. The shape is based on his guitar "Lucille".

Mosaic Mania

I've not been doing much for paper arts lately. I struck a huge windfall and have set up a mosaic studio in my garage. Posted above is a pic of a birdhouse I did for a friend of mine's very belated birthday.

Pay It Forward

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this Pay It Forward exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow, or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog. So basically, if you comment and you’re on, I’ll send you something crafty that I’ll make!
Once you sign up, copy and paste the above paragraph on your blog, and three other lucky people will be recipients of your handmade work.

I first saw this on Adrienne's blog. Her link is to the right....

Seeing Spots

I've posted a couple of pics of this month's tip in for CCSwaps. The theme was polka dots. I think of polka dots as very retro. This thought coupled with the recent Paula's Kit Club kit on the kitchen, they just dovetailed nicely together. I'm pretty pleased at the way it turned out.

Hope Sweetpea likes it!

I haven't had much time for paper arts of late. I recently made a steal of a deal and purchased the extensive contents of a local artists' mosaic studio for a song. I've spent a lot of time setting up a mosaic studio in one corner of our garage. As soon as I get a chance, I will post some pics of the new space as well as the couple of projects I've been working on.

Some New Stuff

I've had a little bit of a chance to actually work on some things of late. The pic above is a set of three ATCs inspired by the silly English found on chopstick wrappers. I'm pretty happy about the way they came out.

The pics below are a swap for CCSwaps. I've been participating in a montly tip-in over there. It's been the only thing I've been able to participate in regularly. I wanted something dreamy and whimsical....I think I accomplished my goal. Not totally thrilled with it, but not completely disappointed either. It's moving in the right direction...





I really want to get into some soldered pieces started, but am having trouble breaking the inertia of the work-home-sleep cycle.

ATC Sudoku Background

These backgrounds are for a round robin swap that got started way back in May or even June but the backgrounds got lost. I stamped the distressed letters on glossy stock with resist ink. I toasted a couple of marshmallows while I waited for the ink to dry. Sweet tooth satisfied, I wiped black dye ink over the resist. I wasn't satisfied with the results. So, I took a burgundy and navy inks, and randomly swabbed them over the black resisted backgrounds. I'm pretty satisfied with the results.

Long Time, No Post

School has started and life has once again become hectic. Oh for those long sweet summer days. I love teaching, I really do, but I do enjoy my summer vacation.

In addition to being busy with school stuff, I've been busy with social stuff too. It has left little time to pursue creative endeavors. It's a little frustrating because I've got so many projects in my head that I want to give birth to. I've promised myself one art swap per month, however. The only one I'm managing to complete is the tip-in swap.

This month's theme was "circus" which was perfect. A few months back, Paula's Kit Club had a circus theme, so I had all the perfect fixings for this swap. I'm pretty pleased with the way it turned out. The piece has a bit of bulk to it, so the scans are not terribly crisp.




The following two scans are from a cigar box purse I made with the same kit. I made this piece a while back however. Fun theme.

Da Vinci Tip In

Here is a tip-in for CCSwaps. This month's theme is Da Vinci. I'm quite pleased as to how it turned out. I now need to find an envelope and sent it on.

School starts today so I won't be blogging or arting nearly as much as I have this summer.

More Yellowstone again

Old Faithful
Firehole River Early In the Morning
My favorite shot
Castle Geyser Erupting
Groto Geyser

More Yellowstone

Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone
Above Mammoth Hot Springs
Moon Rise Over Mt. Washburn
The little dot in the middle is a real live grizzly bear!
Tower Falls

Yellowstone

This is called Fishing Cone because folks used to drop their fish into this hot pot and cook it right on the line!
American Bison...close up!
Lower Yellowstone Falls

More Wyoming Pictures

The famed antler arches bordering Jackson's main square.



More Grand Teton

Assemblage

I am doing an asssemblage swap with another online artist. I had collected a large number of various game pieces and thought to do games theme...but I wanted a bit of a spin on it. So, I decided on Games People Play for the theme which entwined the actual games with head games. I think it works. When I do an assemblage, I like alot of movement. Here is the final piece.


The Front


Inside Front Cover



Inside



A couple of close ups of the guts.

Absentee blogger

I haven't posted in a long while. It's been busy around here. The end of July saw us in Yellowstone/Grand Teton on vacation. How wonderful was that!!! What a truly amazing spot. Grand Teton embodied the harsh, stunning beauty of the Rocky Mountains. We mostly hiked and did some wild life viewing. Our first morning in the park, we watch a park helicopter round up elk to tag them with radio collars. We also took a float trip down the Snake River. We saw lots of eagles including a nesting pair and their mother.


We also saw deer and coyotes.


I will continue to post more pictures as I get some time. I've also been doing some creating of a different sort. I've been a sewing fiend over the past week. Created a Native American dress, duvet cover, pillows, and even a stuffed animal. I'll take pictures and post when I get a chance.


I call him Goober.