This one reminds me of......

As I cut out the children for these mini collages, certain kids remind me of the young version of people I know or have known. For example the little girl from the "uncooperative" pendant reminds me of a person I used to work with.......she was as cute as a button but as uncooperative as a badger in a bubble bath! Then there is the "Laugh" pendant with the sour faced little girl......what a pickle puss! She reminds me of a younger version of an aunt! Maybe the people who remind me of these vintage kids are reincarnations of the vintage children.....hmmmmmm....something to think about. Today was a very trying day at work and as I rehash the events of the day I can't help but think of the saying on the front of the "Fondue Chef" pendant (chocolate fondue recipe)...."What a wonderous life this is I lead!" And it is, the ups- the downs, the conceited egocentric maniacs you encounter, the salt-of-the-earth decent people, they all defintely make life interesting. The beauty of it is, when I get sick of everything, I can escape to my studio and spend time with my paper, glue and solder, crank up the iPod and get lost in creating! Sometimes I have a hard time understanding people but I can always understand colors, composition and design! Enjoy the pictures of the pendants with the vintage children, they might remind you of someone you know!

Mini Collages

Bigger is not necessarily better, especially when it comes to collages. I've been experimenting with mini collages. Tiny 1 inch wide by 3 inches tall collages with vintage photos and layers of colorful paper. I've been inspired by the wonderful spring colors.....pale yellows, you know the color of watered down sunlight, liliacs.....mmmmmm, I can almost smell them and robin egg blues and the palest of the delicate pinks like the color of dogwood blossoms. Throw all of these beautiful decorative papers together with a little imagination, whimsical vintage photos of children, a touch of solder, thin pieces of glass and you've got yourself a wearable piece of art! They are two sided with the front being a collaged picture and the back having a cute little saying. I'm thinking about posting them of Ebay. Let me know what you all think of them out there in blogland. I'd love to get your feedback!

Fur Hats & Martinis & Bonnets & Cussing.....

Fur hats, martinis, bonnets and cussing...........do you see a connection or theme here? It's all about things you put on your head and things you do or consume that can be bad for you. But, you know, my motto is: moderation.......for all things good or bad! I really didn't consciously set out to make collages of kids in hats doing bad things, but after I completed them and took the pictures of them.....the connection hit me. Trying to interject humor into the smiling faces of the kids in these long forgotten photographs, these collages attest to the sometimes "real" stories behind the pictures. For example the Easter Bonnet girl.....so sweet looking but could probably swear like a sailor because she rode to school with her brother and picked up a few choice colorful words (yes, I'm speaking from first hand experience......that's what I did as a first grader riding to school with my brother who was a senior at the time!) Needless to say, I began to ride the bus when my language got a little too colorful!

And the winner is............

There is a winner of the "What is the pink cone going to be?" contest. The winner is Dr. Gregg, who I hope checks this blog today so he knows he's is a winner! He is currently on his southern medical lecture tour (and fishing tour too!). Congrats Dr. Gregg, now you have another piece to add to your growing folk art collection.........I hope this one makes it to your office display case!

Vintage paper party hats have caught my eye lately, whether it's pictures of them like the ones at ArtChix Studio in paper collage sheets or these new-wave party hats at Wacky Wendy's Queen of Hats website or Joann Sayler's vintage inspired Easter Hat, Easter Village Hat. I will be making more paper hats in the future now that I've got inspiration from these hats!

The chicken head is made out of paperclay, the cone is covered with multiple
layers of pink tissue paper and is decorated with decorative papers.

Tiny Bunny....No Ice Storm.....

The big ice storm that was going to hit us.....missed us. It's rainy and cold, 37 degrees, but no ice! I have been working on a tiny project with paperclay. He is a tiny 2 inch by 2.5 inch spotted bunny sporting a silk washed out peach colored ribbon tied into a bow. He's perched atop of foam core board covered with decorative paper and green paper "grass". Framing him is a muted yellow picket fence cut and pieced together from thick cardstock. I'm not sure what to name him, does anyone have any suggestions? What does he look like to you?

Humor is important.....

I think humor is so very important in life as well as in art. When I create something I would like it to bring a smile to someones face. Still on my small collage kick I tried to interject some humor into the ones posted below. These collages will be copied and reduced in size to fit between two, 2X2 squares of glass and then will be soldered to make a pendant. The pictures will be on the front side of the pendant and the sayings will be on the back side.

Paperclay + Styrofoam = Spring Bunny

Ohhhhhhh the snow is melting and I think I caught a wiff of "spring" today.....you know the smell? It was ever so fleeting but it was that fresh smell of nature coming awake after a long winters' nap. I was inspired! Inspired by the Polkadot Pixie's paperclay creations and inspired by that "wiff of spring". So I broke out the paperclay, styrofoam, acrylic paint and hand creme....wow does that paperclay dry your hands out! May I introduce you to Sherman the Spring Bunny...........I dig those slippers! Sherman likes them too!

Sherman is wearing a tissue paper collar with paper flowers and glitter.

Getting ready to cut and solder.......

I worked on a small 5X5 collage tonight. I'm going to shrink and copy it in color and then cut clear glass and solder it between the 2 pieces of glass to make a pendant. I got the idea from a book I bought a few months ago called "Pretty Little Things" by Sally Jean Alexander. There is going to be a front and back to the pendant since it is sandwiched between glass. I'm thinking about taking vintage photos and making tree ornaments too.

More of the cone mystery.........

Look! New elements added to the cone! I've got some great and imaginative guesses about what the pink cone will be. Because of my snowshoeing adventure yesterday, I'm a little behind on the cone...........soooooooooo I'll be taking guesses until Wed. at 5:27! And then a winner will be announced so get your guesses in!

Taking a break!

As much as I love to craft and feed my habit of crafting I've noticed a strange phenomenon.....my butt and thighs have been getting bigger. All of the great holiday food along with with cold, snowy weather and little to no exercise have taken it's toll on the body! Therefore I've decided a need to find more balance between crafting, computing and moving so yesterday I packed up my snowshoes and poles and went to my mom and dad's farm to snowshoe with their dog Buddy. He is a great snowshoeing companion......a border collie with a lot of vim and vigor, to say the least. He's somewhat hyper and raced around trying to herd anything in his path! It was a beautiful day with the sun peaking out between snow squalls and a brisk 19 degrees! Mom said Buddy slept most of afternoon and night and is still moving slow today! I, on the other hand was even too tired to go down to my studio and craft last night!

What is it?

Hey it's another snow day! I'm kind of getting sick of these snow days! I'm longing for spring and I'm in the middle of a craft frenzy! What am I making? Check out the photo below........any guesses? Any one who correctly guess what it will be, will win it! If there is more than one correct entry, then a drawing will be held. You have until Sunday at 2:23 PM to comment with your guess. More to come..........I will keep adding to it to give you clues about what it is. Stay posted..............he,he,he!

Mousey Stitchery

This is #2 in a series of 4 stitcheries. Please feel free to use the pattern! Happy Valentine's Day!

Snow or Spring?

I just got the call.......NO SCHOOL tomorrow!!!! SNOW DAY! We have a lot of snow, about 7 inches and we are supposed to get up to 15 inches by tomorrow at noon. Wow! It sort of makes you wonder if spring can be a month away! Well, they say "hope springs eternal"..........or should it be "I have eternal hope for spring". I'm thinking of spring even though it is nasty outside. I created this little stitchery, it's one in a series of 4. Pictured below is the finished stitchery....it's Bunny Boy! Here's the pattern too. Feel free to use it to make your own little 'announcement of spring'! Post your Bunny Boy pics, I'd love to see what colors you use!

Craftapalooza Earrings!

Valentine Craftapalooza earrings..........

Valentine Craftapalooza 2007

Today I hosted the Valentine Craftapalooza party! We made earrings, drank tasty adult beverages, ate snacks and dip and brownies and about 6,000 Kiss candies! We really had a good time. Ah, it's amazing the power of creativity.....it's here, it's there, it's everywhere and this afternoon it was in my house! My friends do not consider themselves "crafters" but today I think they amazed themselves with the spark of creativity which lit the fire of "artist" in all of them!
Valentine Craftapalooza was a success and they were talking about what we are going to make next month already. Could have been bitten with the craft-bug? I wish my friend Malibu could have joined us but she spends Sundays with her family creating yummy food and happy memories.

The crafting wenches..............whewwwww-whooooooo!




Check out our cooooool earrings....................

Cake Plate Delight!

I love cake plates. All kinds of cake plates but my favorite cake plate is the milk glass cakeplate. Milk glass is so clean and pristine looking and anything you put on it looks great. A friend of mine got me this cake plate for my birthday one year. I think it's wonderful......milky white with the hobnail design, it's perfect to display just about anything on. Here are a few pictures of my completed cakes on my cake plate.........