The Bat Kids.........

Stella wanted to be a bat! Her parents were not happy when she wore the sparkling bat hat her aunt got her to the store, church and to bed. She had a pet ghost named "Melvin" she kept in a corked bottle and a pet spider named "Spencer". The block is collaged with vintage/antiqued images on all sides of the 1 7/8 inch block. Both are available at All Hallows Evening.

Stella

Melvin the ghost.........

He was a very serious boy with a comical pet bat, together they made a great team!
Garret with his pet bat.......

his bat, Desmond.....

PS- I've dedicated my life to the use of glitter........you'll see what I mean by this is tomorrow's post!

New Studio Station + award

My husband is a very skilled craftsman with wood. He does it for a hobby. Last summer he made me an awesome paper cabinet and this summer he is making me a new studio station. I currently have an "L" shaped table but the space for storage underneath is open and limited so he designed a new one for me. It will be 7 feet long with a Corian top spanning the 2 towers. He made it out of quarter sawn oak (wonderful grain pattern) and each tower is 42 inches tall (I'm 5'8" and I like to stand part of the time when I craft), and each tower has 3 shelves and 2 top pull out drawers. I'm so excited! I just spent the last 2 hours staining it in the beautiful hot Pennsylvania sun. What a gorgeous day to be outside! Next he'll spray it with a precatalyst clear coat.

I got an award from Marie from the Marie Patterson Studio, check out her wonderful artwork....she is listed on the sidebar of blogs to eyeball.

Now my job is to nominate 4 blogs that I think are exceptional and let them know, which is hard because there are so many I like! But here are 4 artists that I enjoy:

The Holiday Queen - Melissa is the Queen of Halloween creations!
Creative Solice - My dear friend Heather's artistic talent is multifaceted!
Miller Cambell Designs - Rebecca creates the most amazing folk art dolls, so full of detail!
Healing Expressions - Lani's artwork is very inspirational through words and assemblage!

Now, the four people whom I gave the award to, if they choose, can nominate 4 artists on their blogs to show case their work and draw more people visit their blogs.

Smiles!

Mr. Barnabus Salvator the Decorator

Mr. Barnabus Salvator was quite in demand from early September to late October. He knew how to decorate and throw a Halloween Party!!!!! Here he is on top of a 4 inch paper mache box in action. He holds a sparkly silver ball in one hand while the other is around the tower of pumpkins. You could say he's dedicated his life to glitter, eyeliner and raising minature pumpkins. To purchase him go to: www.allhallowsevening.blogspot.com

I'm leaving this post with pictures from my one flower garden. The bee balm is causing quite a frenzy of activity with the bumbles!

This isn't a bumble bee, it's a humming bird moth (it looks like a cross between a humming bird and a moth), at least that's what my mom told me it was! It's smaller than a humming bird but bigger than a bumble bee and very fast!

It's Spooky Time Jingles Time!!!!

Well it's finally here! Tonight at midnight, the Spooky Time Jingles Marketplace opens. Please check it out to see amazing artists and their creations.

Here are my offerings on my Halloween page.......

Here are my offerings on my Christmas page............

What is it?

Did a little paper clay action today. It started out as a pumpkin and morphed into something else, perhaps a pumpkin goblin? What do you think he looks like? Hmmmmmmmm, I'm not sure!

Nice People..........

I once say this bumper stick that said "Mean People Suck"! How appropriate, short and to the point and maybe not so pragmatically appropriate but appropriate enough for me. I've run across a few mean people in my time, but luckily the nice people have far outweighed the mean ones. Today I had the most delightful conversation with Dani from Ambitions Design (blog) and she is also the founder of Spooky Time Jingles Marketplace (launching July 13th) with the most amazing variety of folk artists and their works. She is the most down to earth girl and talking to her I felt like I've known her for years. I've found over the past few year that most folk artists are down to earth and not pretentious at all. They are willing to share their knowledge and expertise with you. Dani has put together a major undertaking with the marketplace she has created for folk artists right here in the United States. Remember, when you buy directly from an artist you are buying not only a quality one of a kind piece from the USA, you are buying a piece of their joy as well. Please take a few minutes to visit her blog and the Spooky Time Jingles site opening July 13th.

Another absolutely doll of a gal is Heather from Creative Solace. Now let me tell you about her.....two words describe her........."collage genius". I met Heather last year around this time when she purchased a Halloween piece of artwork from me and we've kept in touch since. She is a Canadian artist who is always stretching her horizons, taking classes and learning new techniques. Please visit her site if you want to be inspired by an amazing woman!

NEXT.........Halloween........I met this lady when she left a comment on my Halloween site, All Hallow's Evening. Kris' Halloween art is delightful. When I look at her work I feel like I've met my "artistic twin"! Check out her site A Nostalgic Halloween.

Well, now that I've introduced you to some nice people in my art world I'm heading outdoors to enjoy the beautiful day!
Smiles!

The Creative Process...........

Welcome to the Honey Girl Studio..............

The other night my husband and I were discussing the creative process of completing something....anything basically. We differ in that I enjoy the process of creating something much more than the completed project whereas he enjoys the completed project more than the process. I think the journey is far more important than the destination. I guess that's why I consider myself a "workhorse", I'm not the fast race horse, I'm not the glossy show horse, I'm the workhorse, the horse that is dependable and gets the job done and keeps plugging away until the project or task is completed.

Here is my question to all of my artist friends out there.....which do you prefer........the process or the completed project?

Here is a peek into my incredibly messy studio table and my creative process..........

This is "Toodee", she keeps a watch over my studio......often times messing up my table and eating my glitter. I love her though because my dear friend in California, Jacque sent her to me.

Believe it or not I know pretty much where everything is. I like to have most things that I use a lot at my fingertips.

Sometimes my process is back-asward.........I made the head from paper clay, painted it and then thought hmmmmmmmm, perhaps I should now consider a body!

Eventually my studio table gets so messy that I can't find anything and I have to take a day and clean it. My wonderful husband is making me new studio table/storage center from quarter sawn oak. It's half way done, I should have it within the next few weeks! I can't wait.....perhaps I'll keep it neat!

Looooook who's here........Pinkie!

Pinkie is a tiny (about 2.5 inches high) paper mache snowman with a knitted pink hat complete with a button and tiny red feather. Isn't he cute?

He has picked his Christmas tree already! It's a tiny pink bottle brush tree surrounded by silver tinsel.
How about that toasty pink chenille scarf!
He's cozied up inside of a small glass cloche with a sparkly pom-pom on top.Pinkie will be available to purchase on Spooky Time Jingles Marketplace on July 13th.

Taking a Break.......

Took a little break from the studio today. Made a fabulous pizza with organic, cold pressed olive oil that was a creamy green color and so fresh tasting......basal from my garden.......tomatoes from sombody elses garden.........kalamata olives from my olive tree (not really, I wish!)........buffalo mozzarella cheese from my pet buffalo........just kidding, from Wal-Mart actually and fresh homemade pizza dough........a dash of salt and a few cranks of pepper and ta-da! It was so de-lish!!!!!!

Gary and I ate the pizza overlooking the back flower garden. The black-eyed Susans are doing great as well as the hostas!

Sneak peek of a new Halloween project started earlier this week..........and it's not a shadowbox. Hmmmm, are you curious?????

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

The winner of the July 4th Artist Trading Card is Shelia from Pieces of Me because that crazy nut ate warm potato salad on the 4th of July and live to tell the story! He, he, he!

Happy 4th of July!!!!

Happy 4th of July!

Digby, Alice, Johnson and Beverly were getting their "festive" on with their red and blue party hats for the 4th of July party. They had a lovely picnic planned of potato salad, burgers and watermelon followed up by a hell-raising good time of setting off M-80s near the gazebo around 9 PM.........yes, yes, they were a wild group!

Have safe and happy 4th of July friends in blogland!

The first person who leaves a comment that says "I ate warm potato salad on the 4th of July and lived to tell the story" will receive this artist trading card!

Christmas in July?......Oh yah!

Yes, it's true, it's Christmas in July! Already there are Halloween and the beginning of Christmas decorations in the craft stores such as Hobby Lobby, Michaels and Pat Catans. As a seasonal artist you have to be 1 to 2 seasons ahead of game to get things done in time. Therefore, I'm working on 3 new Christmas pieces to add to the Spooky Time Jingles Market Place on July 13th. I've got 2 done and now I'm off to create my 3rd offering which is going to be something different from the shadowboxes.

I like the 1950s retro look of aqua and red together, it hearkens back to a time of a aluminum Christmas trees, tons of silver glitter and Bing Crosby singing "White Christmas". This piece entitled "MaryBelle's Snowmen" has that touch of nostalgia, with MaryBelle dressed in her swing coat with her hand nestled in her tinsel muff. The snowmen are hand drawn and painted. The little one raised from the background as well as MaryBelle, she is raised about an inch from the background to give depth to the piece. The size is 5 inches by 5 inches square in a black wooded frame with small glittery red, silver and aqua balls and a small white bottle brush tree in the forefront.

The collage before I put it into the shadowbox frame.......

The collage in the shadowbox frame............

Some people are not into the retro 1950s Christmas colors and like a more traditional look to their Christmas art........enter........red & green. Nothing says 'Christmas' like the pairing of red & green. I've entitled this piece "Imogene's Red and Green Christmas". Imogene is a copy of a photo from around 1915. I love her giant puffy hat and obviously from her fur trimmed coat she appears to have been a child of privilege. She holds a candy cane in one had as if to usher in the holiday season and a Christmas ball in the other hand. This piece is full of detail from the original 6 cent Christmas stamp to the tiny glittery circles reading "family and friends" and "Happy Holidays". Vintage style sheet music of 'Jingle Bells' is placed diagonally behind Imogene which as been slightly antiqued. Stamped, lacy snowflakes dot the background. This piece is 5 X 5 inches in a black wooded frame with a glass front.

It's very difficult to take a good picture of the shadowbox when it is assembled because of the reflection on the glass. If anybody has any tips on how to take good pics with a glass front on the object, I'd be more than happy to receive them!