Power of 9

A group of local (Toronto and area) artists worked on a project together to make sets of 9 3"x3" squares. We met last week to exchange them. The fun began when we piled them high on the table -- a stipulation was that we wrapped them -- so it would be fair when we chose ours.
Then we opened them together, set by set.
And then here are the 9 that I opened. I'm going to mount them on a canvas -- likely 12x12.

Jacky's Gothic Arch

I love working in this shape!(and this colour!) This book is off to Jo in Australia -- and then home to Jacky! I'm excited to have mine come home soon too -- and to send Jo's off home. Will I get to it before Christmas? I hope so! I am sad to see this Round Robin end though -- it has been a good one for me -- no stress at all (except for the fact that some books have taken months to get to Jo, and some have taken less than a week!)

Sew Somerset!

Yes, I'm in here again.I made this affirmation heart so long ago for Ruth. But this photo doesn't actually do it justice. The instructions on the page are great though..... If you pull the ribbons, out comes a large antique key with fabric and fibres wrapped around it. When you unwind the fabric it has a message "to thine own self be true" -- my favourite quotation (Hamlet).
When I saw that the heart didn't match the instructions, I was a bit annoyed and set the magazine aside for a few days. When I picked it up again, I came to this page and said "Hey, that's pretty" (it's the chapter title page). When I got to the article I realized that it was MY article (my own pretty work, LOL). I was so surprised because the article was supposed to be in an upcoming Somerset Home, not this Sew Somerset! Not much editing was done to my writing -- I'm a bit embarrassed over my over-use of exclamation points!!! But I write like I speak, and I'm very excited sometimes.
So, Somerset is forgiven (kind of, maybe) for misinforming the public on the affirmation heart, because they made up for it a few pages later :)

Look for me in upcoming editions of Somerset Studio (Jan/Feb) and the next Artful Blogging.

Don't worry, I'll still remember you all when I'm famous....... I had my palm read last week at a holiday party and the reader told me that many people adore me. I smiled, thinking of my many kindergarten students. Apparently I'm going to live forever too -- because my long life line runs into a scar that I have running up my arm. hmmmm..... maybe Edward is going to come and turn me into a vampire.... sorry, I've just finished book 2 of the Twilight books.......

More Holiday Cards!

I made these a few months ago for a swap and then promptly forgot about them! Here they are. They are different from the stamped ones -- more frilly -- but, believe it or not -- the stamped ones from the previous post took more time. These ones have some stamps on them -- sentiments and such. My favourite is the sledding girl, above.

Holiday Cards!

I spent some time on the weekend making some cards with friends -- the point was to use my many rubber stamps. Well, I used three! My favourite though, is the card at the top with the birds -- no stamps, LOL! But I got to play with my punches too.

My favourite book

"Book Wisdom" was the theme of Heather R's book. I chose to do my page about my favourite book, Emily of New Moon. It is by the Anne of Green Gables author, L.M. Montgomery. Emily kept journals and wanted to be a writer (well, she WAS a writer). I love the descriptions of the setting, and how Emily deals with her (many) hardships. I have many many copies of this book. Always ready to lend to a friend. I thought that I would be a writer some day.... does being a blog author count?

31 things that you never wanted to know....

Catherine gave me a blog award......
Now I have to do this :) (I cheated a bit)

Answer the following questions with single word responses, and pass the award on to 7 other bloggers:
1. Where is your cell phone? Lauren
2. Where is your significant other? work...
3. Your hair color? my NATURAL colour???? I don't remember....
4. Your mother? bridge
5. Your father? peace (and quiet..... )
6. Your favorite thing? not painting
7. Your dream last night? too tired
8. Your dream/goal? healthy
9. The room you're in? classroom
10. Your hobby? eating
11. Your fear? drowning
12. Where do you want to be in six years? same
13. Where were you last night? home
14. What you're not? 28
15. One of your wish list items? resin
6. Where you grew up? London (Ontario, not the good one)
17. The last thing you did? goodbye
18. What are you wearing? black....
19. Your T.V.? what is my tv wearing?????
20. Your pets? Andy,
21. Your computer? PC
22. Your mood? slow
23. Missing someone? Cara
24. Your car? I don't drive. No licence. Not ever.
25. Something you're not wearing? watch
26. Favorite store? Bizzie Bs
27. Your Summer? a whirlwind
28. Love someone? oh, yes
29. Your favorite color? green
30. When is the last time you laughed? morning ("Ms. Brown -- I hope that you don't die until after I'm finished Kindergarten" -- I hope so too, my friend
31. Last time you cried? Friday

Holiday Traditions

I'm feeling festive!
So I've joined Meg's (Sew Liberated) Holiday Tradition's Exchange.

This is what's involved if you want to join:

To your partner, you will send:

1.) One handmade holiday decoration. Decorations made from any kind of medium are acceptable – from fabric to yarn, paper to paint.

2.) Your family's favorite holiday recipe.

3.) A “Tradition” Tutorial. This is description of one of your family’s special holiday traditions. If needed, you should provide step by step instructions. (For example, if your family makes graham cracker candy houses each year, you would provide more concrete instructions.) You might also consider sending along a couple of photos of the tradition in action, or perhaps the materials needed to re-create the tradition if it is craft-related.

In addition, you could send a mix CD of your favorite holiday tunes, or a special book that is a seasonal classic in your family. Feel free to go above and beyond the three requirements, but please don’t skimp! When putting together your package, think about the kind of package you would like to receive. The backbone of this whole exchange is that it should be meaningful and come from that tender place close to your heart.

***Doesn't this sound fun???!!!

I just can't wait to start playing Holiday music and making things..... but first, those dreaded report cards, oh, and of course, the dreaded "paint the living room" That should be finished this weekend -- I'll show pictures as soon as I'm finished!

more Marie!

These are some spreads that I made earlier in the year. The pink one looked too bloody(the image on the right pink spread is anahata katkin's). I'm sure that I posted them before -- but here they are again. Click for close ups!

Happy Birthday Marie!

Yes, today is Marie Antoinette's birthday. I am taking part in festivities. I'm even going out to breakfast to celebrate!
I made this spread for Caryl, whose colours are hot pink and orange. The quote is one that Marie actually did say. Such a misunderstood woman..... but I had to add some cake in there -- she is so linked with cake -- Do you think that if that cake quote ("let them eat cake") wasn't attributed to her that we would all have forgotten her by now???
Please go to Joy's blog (Cupids Charm) to see the other artists taking part in Marie's birthday celebrations! (and to see some tres cool eye candy!!!)

I am Aphrodite!

Your result for The What Greek God Are You Test...

Aphrodite

Gods! You scored ###!

You are most like the Goddess Aphrodite!
Aphrodite is the goddess of love, beauty, fertility and desire. Although she was married she had many affairs with both other gods and men - most famously with Ares. Her husband Hephaestus caught them in a net he had made and paraded them in front of the other gods. Aphrodite is mean, vain and jealous, and most often depicted with a mirror.

Take The What Greek God Are You Test at HelloQuizzy

**I am very happy to be the goddess of love, beauty, fertility and desire,but I don't think that I'm mean, vain or jealous. I've just finished reading Gods Behaving Badly by Marie Phillips. Here's what it's about:

"Being immortal isn't all it's cracked up to be. Life's hard for a Greek god in the 21st century: nobody believes in you any more, even your own family doesn't respect you, and you're stuck in a delapidated hovel in north London with too many siblings and not enough hot water. But for Artemis (goddess of hunting, professional dog walker), Aphrodite (goddess of beauty, telephone sex operator) and Apollo (god of the sun, TV psychic) there's no way out...Until a meek cleaner and her would-be boyfriend come into their lives, and turn the world literally upside down.

BOO!

I'm in the middle of handing out candy. We seem to get a couple of kids every 5 minutes. The kids have been so polite! They really know how to turn on the charm in exchange for a little candy....I bought hundreds of chocolate bars -- I might have a few left for me..... maybe... oh, darn , there's the door again -- don't these kids ever stop? Don't they know that they're interrupting my blogging????
Like my Jack o Lantern? I carved it in about 5 minutes -- well, perhaps 10. I got home from work at 5:30, walked the dog, carved the pumpkin, organized the candy and was all set up by 6 -- usually we have kids at 5:30 -- but with the time change being later this year, it's still light at 5:30 and we only trick or treat in the dark here!
Well, it's 7:45 -- I'm almost ready to blow out the pumpkin --- it's only big kids out now -- and some have no costumes on. No costume, no treat. Although I don't like to do this because maybe they'll remember my house and egg it. Better just to turn out the lights.
Goodnight!

Hidden Treasures

This is my page for Dotee's book in my Fabricgirlz RR. Dot loves Kaffe Fassett fabric -- and birds (there is something birdie in a pocket on the back of the page). The little Blythe Angel makes me smile! The book now travels to Jo in Australia -- but I think that the last 2 have taken the slow boat because they're not to Jo yet! Think speedy thoughts for this one!

frigid

bitter cold outside
snow today
I'm not ready

Oh my Stars!

I've listed my stars again on Etsy! They are great for ornaments, tiny tags, or as stars in the sky on a mixed media project. They are made from aluminum -- each star is hand cut and hand punched by me!

Happy Birthday Daddy

My Daddy turns 75 today. And he still plays hockey 4 times a week. I don't think that I have ever had the energy to do something like that. He's pretty amazing. I missed calling him today because of my class. But I think that there was a little surprise happening for him. I love you Dad!!!

Jane Wynn

This weekend I took a wonderful class with Jane Wynn (actually 2 classes) . Joanne Thieme Huffman came all the way from Michigan to take the class too (and have a wonderful visit with me)(she made it wonderful, not me, LOL). That's Jane and Joanne pictured above.

The first class was bezel making -- shaping strips of metal (bezel wire) and soldering them to a base. Then the next day we made bezels from pipes. I had so much fun-- and learned a lot. Here are my pieces in progress. The top ones are filled with resin -- the bottom ones may get resin or may stay as is -- but I do have to patina them all a bit. The pipe with the seaweed in it will be getting a piece of plexi put on top -- to kind of make a shaker bezel. Jane is a great teacher. I hardly burnt myself at all, LOL. (Note to mom and dad: we used torches to solder -- I'm sure that I can do all of my own plumbing now.....)(definitely click on the picture for a close up!)

Halloween Ornaments

I made these for a swap on Creative Chix. They are pretty much all fabric except for the resin coated paper on the skull. I printed my favourite Halloween ATC (the little witch) onto fabric! (that ATC was featured in Somerset's Holidays and Celebrations Publication last year)

The ones that I made for the swap are double sided (girl on one side, skull on the other).But I made 2 single sided ones for myself :) I'm super busy with school right now, and am scrambling to keep up with art commitments. I made the Halloween pieces in the summer -- I try to only do swap art on my vacations (Summer, Christmas and Spring Break). The Round Robins and tip ins keep me busy the rest of the year!

The Raven

Marion's book theme is "Ravens and Crows". I used images from a beautiful cabinet card that I bought recently. The oldest daughter has flown away with the Raven. Was she taken? Hmmm, I'm pretty sure that she wanted to go for the ride.......

Halloween Charms

These are for a charm swap hosted by Megan. They were hard to photograph -- I didn't use a flash, but I still got reflections. I used the same image that was on my Halloween Apron (I actually made the collage for the charms first). I wish that I had put some black patina on the solder.....