Kind Gesture from a Fellow Artist

My fellow Recollection Parlor artist and one of the women whose work I very much admire, Trudi Sissons of Two Dresses Studio, gave me this sweet blog award today. Now...I want to pay it forward...will have to think about this one.

Thanks, Trudi!

My First Charm Bracelet

I had a wonderful time creating this charm bracelet - loaded with vintage glass beads and brass charms. I think I have a new addiction! Beads, charms and findings from French General.

Mandaragon Citizen ATC Swap

Well - I lasted less than 24 hours without an art project pending. The Recollection Parlor decided to through out another ATC swap. This time, the challenge was to develop an ATC portraying a citizen of our imaginary countries. I had fun putting together Princess Palila. The national bird of Mandaragon is a peacock and any of my fellow Recollection Parlor artists also know that the sea is an integral part of life in this beautiful country.

Byron ATC Swap - Recollection Parlor

Finally got my two ATCs featuring BYRON, into the mail for the current Recollection Parlor swap. We were given four different poses of Byron to incorporate into an ATC (3.5" x 2.5"). Byron was fun to work with and I enjoyed putting him into two very different scenes. "Byron Goes Ashore" shows Byron arriving on the shores of Mandaragon and "Byron Joins the Circus" is kind of like a "Where's Waldo" image, with multiple pics of Byron shown in different poses.

Quick Project - Vintage Inchie Magnet

My sister came for a visit and I wanted to introduce her to some simple art projects. She holds the opinion that she is not creative and I believe EVERYONE can create art. I bought her some basic tools and supplies to create her own INCHIES. We settled down at my dining room table, wine in hand, and I helped her walk through the process of creating inchies. My youngest nephew joined in too and created his own inchie and magnet.

This shot is of a magnet made from an inchie mounted on a piece of wood, painted black, edges dry-brushed in gold and with seed beads glued on for some added whimsy.

12"x12" Mini Art Quilt

I just finished my first art quilt for a swap hosted by Lenna's Creative Swaps. This swap encouraged the exploration of different fabric treatments and quilting techniques and the use of recycled or scrap materials.

For my piece, I used fabric scraps leftover from other quilting projects and some recycled fabrics from the costume designer from the local community theater. The center section was made using a "string quilting" technique which involved rotary cutting some of my small batik scraps into 1" strips, sewing them together end-to-end in a long "string" and then re-cutting into 6" strips and sewing them together in vertical columns.

The tree was given substance using interfacing and given texture using straight stitching. I used rubber stamps and black ink to decorate the leaves. The images include everything from women's faces, geometric patterns, and Celtic symbols. In addition, I embellished the leaves with beads and embroidery.

The binding was more challenging than I thought it would be and although I probably shouldn't say this, my sewing was crocked. Instead of tearing out my stitches, I stitched on the binding in curved lines several times. They say, "There are no mistakes in art!" and I think that's true.

So next, I will send this to the swap hostess and in return will receive an art quilt from another artist. Looking forward to getting one back!

Next it's time to get Michele's journal off to her. I have to add just a few finishing touches and I'll be done.

Inchies Mosiac - Journal Cover

Tonight, I took a little time to relax with mindless inchie-making. I used a batch of inchies to cover the front of a blank journal I had hanging around the house. Nothing fancy...not a lot of detail, but certainly enjoyed this simple cutting and pasting.

Zoe "Unplugged"

Our cat, Zoe, decided to take a nap next to a computer cord. She game me the perfect photo opportunity!

More Embellished Crazy Quilt Hearts

I sure am enjoying making these little embellished crazy quilt hearts! Each one takes several hours, but I have really liked working on them. All have been gifts so far and I've thought of each person as I've made their heart.

I made this heart for my fiance's father. He loves Christmas and appreciates hand-made items:



I made this heart for my son's girlfriend...she's a sweet and romantic gal and she likes purple, so I tried to match her personality to the piece. This heart features a few antique glass buttons:



This heart will be a gift for my fiance's mother. I just loved the colors and this piece includes three antique glass and mother of pearl buttons.

Christmas Crazy Quilt Ornament

I spent this evening embroidering a crazy quilt style fabric ornament. The buttons are antique Mother-of-Pearl buttons. I've only completed the front. These take several hours to make and I need to construct the back another time.

Blue Madonna Collage and Metallic Tile Mosaic

Put together a Blue Collage for Deirdre over the weekend. This Round Robin is almost home and only has to go through Michelle and then it's journey is complete.

This shot is a digital collage before the 3D elements were added.



I realized that I didn't put any shots up for Megan's metallic journal, so here's a shot of the polymer clay tile mosaic I made for one of the pages...

Flowers in Fall

Today was a gray day...both literally and figuratively. The economy is weighing heavily on my mind. I wanted to "brighten up" my blog with a piece I made a coupla months ago for a Round Robin Journal Swap with a "Citrus Colors" theme...

As a child, I absolutely loved the combination of pink and green...some things never change!

Coming Up for Air

Well, my vacation didn't work out like I'd planned and life has thrown me more unpleasant curves; however, I feel like I'm finally coming up for air!

Today, I made several ATCs (Artist Trading Cards) for the Fornasetti Face/Headdress Challenge for The Recollection Parlor group. I decided I'd post them...I didn't realize how much I'd like playing around with this face. I had no idea this famous face is actually Lina Cavalieri, a gorgeous Italian opera singer.

Here are the 4 pieces I'm trading with the group...

Creative Inspiration

Countdown to vacation! I feel like a kid who is three days away from the last day of school before summer break. I love my job; however, it sure is great to think about 10 days off. My vacation starts next week and runs through Labor Day. I plan to spend a lot of time working on my house and hopefully an equal amount of time having fun! That means I'm going to devote a day or two to ART!!! YAY! I plan to work on my acrylic painting class lessons and give my new artist crayons a try.

The family tree project has been coming along well. Who knew geneaology could be so much fun? I have some segments of the tree traced back to 1100! Incredible! We actually do have some royalty in our tree. We're related to James I of Scotland AND an Indian Chief. Pretty amazing! I hope to spend some time scanning in more old family pictures and records. Eventually, I hope to self-publish a book for my children and my sister and family. My kids don't have much interest right now, but perhaps later on, they'll want to know where they came from. I've enjoyed my role as the self-appointed family historian and hope one of them will pick up where I've left off at some point.

I'm also preparing for a 5k in September and the Tussey Mountainback 50 mile Relay which will be held in October, so running (or jogging in my case) is definitely going to be in the schedule somewhere! I must be nuts, but I'm sure I'll have fun. I'm part of an 8-woman team and I only have to run about 3 1/2 miles for my "leg" of the relay.

The weather has been incredible lately and I'm grateful that we seem to have been spared from the normal oppressive August humidity. I sure hope my vacation is full of sunny days and cool nights.

I'll write more soon and post some of my recent projects. I'm currently working a few altered journals, some collage postcards, and my entry for the Halloween Art Deck for Travelers' H'art/Capolan.

Later...
Misty

Proud Mamma

This is one of my daughter's pieces...one of my favorites entitled, "Lipstick Case". she just put up a website that includes some of her drawings. The site is under construction, but you can view a few pictures in her online gallery at: Elyse Bower's Artistic Expressions. And yes...some of her art is spooky and "dark"! She's actually doing some work for a company that produces horror movies and fantasy art. She's really NOT "Goth" or anything!