Heart Danglies

Well, I posted my Heart Danglies that I sent off, but I completely forgot to post the ones that I received!! The heart shaped one with all of the cool fibre is by Teri V. The one with the crown is by tejae. tejae makes polymer clay hearts -- the heart at the top is very 3D and very cool. The heart in the middle is a door and it opens to show some cherubs.

Lime and Turquoise look beautiful together!

so why did I have such a tough time with it?
Yummy Yummy.
Cat's book is stunning. The song that I chose to go with the colours is "Put the Lime in the Coconut" I also got a bit of "The Pina Colada Song" in there too. LOL. I came up with a Carly Simon song too (thanks, Robin) , but I couldn't make it work.

Paintbrush Girl

Here is another junque figure (assemblage, whatever....). she kind of looks a bit scared. Perhaps she's concerned that her heart is spilling open. Although, I think that's she's shopping. She has a nice vintage tag handbag.......

(click on the image for a better view)

I'm officially a Mixed Up Media Artist

I went to Carmi's club meeting last night. Very fun times. We had a show and tell, and we played with stuff like UTEE (ultra thick embossing enamel). I made these bottle cap collages! Carmi demoed wax collage too, but we ran out of time so we didn't play with that yet.

Our assignment for next month is to alter some honkin' big wooden beads. They have to remain beads, and then we will trade them! We'll have a honkin' big bead necklace (10 beads) LOL. I'd post a picture of them, but I've already lost them (just kidding, Carmi, I really mean misplaced them)(you'd totally believe me if you saw my studio space) (just kidding, mom, it's perfectly spotless and ready for your visit this week). Check back in April (very end) for the final results...

AND
Aracely gave us all very pretty bookmarks from Mexico. Thanks Aracely!

Lucky Fairy

I made this fairy today for Lauren (at Kelley's class). It looks much more dimensional in person. Colette and I had lots of fun. I made 3 junk figures. One is for Halloween, so I'll post that in October! The other one is unfinished (even though I started that one first)

Zetti Angels flew in!

I am so lucky!!! I have had some great mail days lately. I received these wonderful zetti angels from Teri V (large paper angel) Terri NW (smaller paper angel) and Catherine vdH (the fabric angel). They are from a swap with the zettizoo yahoo group. The background papers are just a small bit of what Maria M sent to me -- they are painted and stamped deli paper. I don't even know what deli paper is, but it is really cool and collages really well! Thank you everyone!

Fibre charms!

Isn't this charm beautiful? I love it! I hung one singly on a silver ball chain today and I wore it! It is about 1 1/4 inches long (not including the loop at the end). As promised, I'm posting the "how to" below.

1) Make a fabric bead. I took a piece of felt about 3/4 " by 2" and wrapped it around a 3/4" piece of skinny straw -- I glued it with white glue.
2) Wrap fibre around the bead.
3) Sew glass seed beads on the fibre and through the felt to secure the fibre.
4) String a big glass bead on a really long head pin (1 5/8"). Put it through the felt bead and top it with another big glass bead.
5) Use round nose pliers to make a loop at the top, and add a jump ring (if you don't have round nose, regular ones will do, it's just a bit harder). If you remember, add the jump ring before you close your loop. (I didn't remember once).
See, EASY PEASY and I didn't even have to get all techie!

Losing Faith

It's been a rough month for my daughter, Lauren. A few weeks ago she was doing her homework in Starbucks and someone stole her laptop out of her knapsack. She was right there. It was sitting, propped against the wall behind her. She was devastated. Lost faith in strangers. She was so sad when she came to tell me.
She needed a computer for school, so we lent her Ray's laptop. She never took it to Starbucks, or left it out of her sight. Then she had a party on Friday night. Someone took the laptop, along with my cellphone (she has her own apartment, but she uses the cellphone. Then I don't worry so much). I have never seen her so distraught and disillusioned with life. She has lost faith in friends.
Today I'm going to make her some faith themed art. And maybe some good luck charms too! Any ideas for any good luck images? Other than horseshoes or rabbits feet? If anyone else wants to send her a card, I'd be happy to send you her address. She needs to know that some people give: not everyone takes.
No joy in mudville this weekend.......

Assemblage figures

My friend Kelley is teaching an altered art / assemblage figure workshop next weekend in downtown Toronto. I'll be there! These are some of the figures that I made last time:

MIXED MEDIA WORKSHOP

February 24th, 2007

11 a.m. to 4 p.m.

CALL KELLEY FOR NEW LOCATION (Bloor and Lansdowne area)

Cost is $75. All materials included.

We will make figures and/or small shadow boxes

Instructor: Kelley Aitken

(416) 533-6798

kelley.aitken@sympatico.ca

****This will be a really fun course -- Kelley brings all of the junk! You just dig through all of HER mess without creating a disaster area in your own house!

Soar

This is the spread that I did in Sondra's Round Robin book. Her theme is "Give Me Wings". Ray said that the bird isn't soaring. I said that it has to let go before it can soar. We all need to let go of something before we can soar. It doesn't look quite this pale and washed out in person. Once again, I'm having camera problems. The book is now off to Debby.

Red

Today is all about Red White and Pink. I got so many beautiful Valentines from my kiddies at school. We've had a fun week making hearts, mail bags and valentines for moms and dads. Lots of collaged paper, punched out hearts, stickers and of course LOTS OF GLITTER! I LOVE glitter. The caretakers don't but they are learning that I don't really care if they sweep up every single little bit.

I'm working on lots of art right now:
- coffee cuffs (all finished for the swap, but I need more for gifts. I love them! Thanks, Sammy for the inspiration, and giving me a reason to make them!)(The cuff to the right was a gift for Cori)
- fabric charms for 2 different swaps (these will be very cool)
- RR books - One with a "Wings" Theme; a turquoise and lime one; a zetti themed one, and a calendar journal!

The RR books have priority!

I will post the progress over the next few days.

ArtFest

It's official -- I'm going! I picked up my passport today. I've booked my flight. I have all of my supplies. The suitcase is on the bed, ready for any additions (such as Shreddies -- my breakfast cereal of choice). I can't believe that I registered more than 4 months ago. I also can't believe that I'm packed and not leaving for, what, 7 weeks?

This is the logo that Teesha has developed for this years gathering. I'm going to do something fun with it, but I'm not sure what yet.......

I'm not as unique as I thought.....

This was kind of cool -- I can't believe that there are almost 4, 000 people with my name in the USA.

HowManyOfMe.com

There are: 3,837 people with my name in the U.S.A. How many have your name?

Oh, I forgot that there is a book about me! LOL It's called My Name is Martha Brown. She's an 19th century murderer. True story.

Love

It's ATC night at Bizzie B's tonight . Again -- 10 ATCs to trade. This will be my last live trade until May -- I get too busy in March to make anything (report cards and house guests).

For these ATCs I was practicing layering with paper and using a rubber stamped image. I was pretty happy with the results. It's the first rubber stamped ATC that I've done that I've been happy with (the stamp is the large "Document Heart" by Stampington). I layered using pinks and reds and then at the end I used a pinky brown matte glaze to soften the whites and make the whole piece work together.

In addition to seeing all of my ATC friends at Barb's store, I get to have coffee first with Colette and Carmi. Of course I'll bring one of my new coffee sleeves for a test drive!!

And the Winner is.....

Cori! I drew her name out of ALL of the people who posted who they love. Cori, I love your son too, and not only because we share a birthday...... (well, I haven't met him yet, but he sounds very adorable, cute, and lovable) This is what you get, Cori, a lovely heart dangly! I'll bring it with me to Bizzie B's tomorrow!

This is my love letter:
I love my daughter, Lauren, more than anything in the world. She is my sun, my moon and my stars. I am so proud of the wonderful talented young woman she has become. I also love Ray, who puts up with everything I do! All of the mess! The crappy cooking! The fact that I am ALWAYS sick. And he never complains, and is always supportive. And he's pretty cute too! What more could I ask for? A stinky dog? Okay, I kinda like the little furry guy too.

FABRIC, FABRIC AND MORE FABRIC !!!

I made this coffee cuff. It has a thermal layer in it to keep your hand cool/ the coffee warm. Yes, it is for a swap. Everything I make is for a swap! Again, it made a teeny tiny dent in the fabric stash. I'm going to make one every night this week. I can make them in front of the tv while the little dog chews his toys on top of my feet. His second favourite pass-time. The first is tearing the plants out of my garden. Frozen plants. He has chewed off my whole lavender bush and all of my sage. Spring will not be a pretty sight in my yard.

February -- A celebration of family and friends

I received this wonderful heart ornament from Beth (top pic). I traded her for the ornament in the bottom photo (they are the same size -- about 4"x4"). It was a zetti themed trade. Beth is so talented and has this wonderful ability to layer and make all of her art so beautifully cohesive. You can see more of Beth's work at
www.picturetrail.com/artbeth67
www.cafepress.com/bethmoran


In the spirit of love, sharing art with friends, and Valentine's Day I would like to give away one of my heart danglies. If you're interested, just leave a little love note here. Tell me in a sentence or two what or who you love. I'll draw a name from all of the comments on February 6.

( I took this idea (and wording) from Tejae's blog http://www.tejaesart.blogspot.com)(go and look at her art right now -- spectacular polymer clay)

**if you signed up for a little piece of art in the Meme on my post on December 17, could you please leave me a message with your email -- all of the comments are anonymous and I don't know who you all are!