Summer is here

And I'm not happy. I have never been a heat lover. Lived in the AC when I was in Florida...now Florida has come to the mountains..Humidity and all. Great excuse to stay in the house and play.
My latest play time was spent after seeing pictures of  a charm tutorial that Cherie posted. I didn't read it, just liked what I saw in pictures so I did my own version.
The charms are made of copper tubing which I just happen to have. I needed a pipe cutter, which I just happen to have. I used some polymer clay for structure for the pictures and in some I threaded some lamp work beads. Some are charms and some are pendents because I added dangles.
So what do you think? I get lots of e-mail about this Blog, You do know you can leave a comment right here...RIGHT?

AS you can see I had some fun. I also made a few little surprises. A couple of wired women and a BD book for a friend.

The book has pockets with little gifts she can use in her art. I call it my Friendship BD Book,Lots of fun.
There's more, but I think that's enough eye candy for one day LOL Don't want to spoil you now do I?

Busy, Busy

I remember my dad saying " the hurrier I go, the behinder I get". never made much sense until now.
I'm trying to get stuff together for another trip down state. Hopefully the last one. meanwhile swaps and obligations go on.
It finally stopped raining. I thought I'd have to build a ark . At least nature watered the garden for me :-)
the more help I get from nature the more I can play.
I had to fight flooding to get to the PO yesterday but I was happy I made it...Look what I got from Liz in the Spring swap (she got my little iris kids)

She popped out of the box and said "Hi my name is Bessy, whats yours?" friendly little thing. So she made herself right at home with the purple basil. I wish I could find the card Liz used, but Bessy looks like the little girl on the card. There was another treasure in the box as an added surprise. I tried naming her because she seemed so quiet at first, but she is a party girl and was just napping. She didn't like the name I picked and told me her name was Mardi. It does suit her...

She popped up on the TV and there she sits..I wish you could see that darling little mask she is holding.
So along with all the swaps, I also have gifts to make...This one was so much fun and I even have a place to hide a surprise.

To say I'm having fun would be an understatement :-) In case you're wondering where all this free time came from....does the phrase "when the cats away the mouse will play" mean anything to you?
Stay tune...I've been busy LOL

Finally The Sun

I thought perhaps it fell from the sky and no one told me. More rain is due, but I had time to plant my flowers and veggies. Late I know, but the weather has been crazy!!
I wanted to share a PC I received from someone in my group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SharingOurMixedMediaArt/ check it out. It's small right now, but that's okay..it's all about sharing...we have quilters, painters, mixed media, journal makers...you name it. It's not a swap group although we plan to have them from time to time. It's just a place to relax and share...I little break from the stress of swapping. Of course I find it stressful because I take it very serious. It is not a "second thought" to me...something I will do if I get around to it. Some times life (especially lately) gets in the way...but the swap is not put aside or forgotten. Why sign up for something if it isn't important to you?
So by planning a swap now and then and giving people tons of time to do it...there is no stress.
So we had a post card swap and Pat Smith made one for me. The theme was to display you art form, technique...so if you paint..paint a card, if you quilt, quilt it, mixed media etc.
I just stole her pic because I wasn't able to take one yet. Hope this works...

Oh pooh! I'll have to take my own later. Anyway she used a dyed fabric and then quilted flowers on it, purple (my favorite) pink and yellow. Then bordered it in hairy yarn for more interest. being a quilter I know the time it took to do this. Then to make it even more special, she sent a little stand to display it on. It's very pretty in person and I have it displayed for all to see.

I have a different partner so mine is headed to LA. I was going to try and get doll making, quilting, mixed media and all the other stuff I do, onto one card. Can you say "messy"? decided to just go with mixed media.

I do hope BJ likes it. So now it's on to finish up some other swaps and make a few gifts.

The Joys in each day

Living where I live is as close to paradise as anyone can get. Okay, well you have to like mountains and cold weather, but it's paradise to me. Look at this little guy who greeted me this morning.
So I'm not real happy with the holes his Mom and Dad dig, they are dangerous to my horses. But when you are walking in a field and a little critter stops to say "HI" you just can't help but fall in love.
Punkin, my chocolate Lab thought the critter was pretty cute too. Like all the little stuffed animals in her toy box.Let me tell you, this little guy may be small but he can defend himself. The minute Punkin looked interested he charged forward and scared the bejeezes out of her.
Just another reason to love living on a mountain top far away from people. You get to meet little ones like this :-)
I have to get back to my art work. Should have some pic's later on or tomorrow. But I thought y'all would enjoy this little guy in the mean time.

Another day of art

I finally received one of the RR books that were stalled . Sometimes people get so wrapped up in their own lives they fail to consider their other commitments . I planned to be away for the entire month of June, but because I am committed to this RR I had to  make other plans once this delay happened. But no worries now. It's all good and I hope the other book is on it's way to me. If not, I'll have to put off MY plans for yet another week. Doesn't that sound fair? NOT.
Anyway. This book was a delight to work on Barb did a wonderful job on the cover and on the book selection itself. While it doesn't lend itself well to niches, it is a large book and fun to work. Barb requested two, 2 page spreads (4 in all) and that was perfect for Joyce Kilmers 'Tree" poem. I split the poem into 4 parts and then painted a tree to match that part of the poem. I decided to do a Chakra tree (tree of life) for the first page, just to be different...but the roots are indeed "prest to the earths sweet flowing breast breast"

I think that I shall never see a poem as lovely as a tree. A tree whose hungry mouth is prest against the earths sweet flowing breast.

A tree that looks at GOD all day and lifts it's leafy arms to pray

A tree that may in summer wear a nest of robins in her hair;

Upon whose bosom snow has lain, Who intimately lives with rain, Poems are made by fools like me, But only GOD can make a tree.
I hope Barb likes what I did, because I loved doing it...That's my creation for today.
Now I have to hop on over to Wendy's and see what she is up too...

The beauty of Spring

Oh yes. The flowers are popping all over the place and I really should take some pictures because I have some beauties.
If it ever stops raining, I just might do that. We have 5 seasons where I live. Summer, Fall, Winter, Spring and Mud...WE are in mud right now.
Mean while I did manage to put the finishing touches on my Spring challenge. Here is the Post card I fell in love with. I just love Iris.

Isn't it cute? I thought it would be a fun doll project. This is what I ended up with.

Then I have this swap "Fragments of the Past" talk about a wide open door. I was all over the place with this one. First thing was Victorian (Steampunk) It's a sickness I tell you! But then so many others in the group leaned toward Victorian so I went back even farther to Egypt. I have a lot of Egyptian things, I love that period of time. But then I was reading an old 1950'd article and realized how much history took place in those years. The birth of rock and roll, first commercial jet flights, TV shows we all can relate to (unless your 5) So I decided to do my "Fragments" with fragment's from the 50's. I sure hope the person who gets this thing appreciates the amount of time, thought and effort that went into it. I got totally absorbed in it and had so much fun.
When I think of the "50's" I was pretty young so the only thing that really jumps up and smacks me is the Jukebox in the local sweet shop..WOW that thing was so colorful, I loved it, so I replicated it as close as I could. The top isn't finished yet so I will be posting more on this project. But this is the Jukebox.

I'm happy with it and it is much more neon in person. So stay tuned....