Paper Mischief

REMEMBRANCE

2011-09-10T22:07:00.005-05:00

Original poem written on the one year anniversary of 9/11 and posted here for the first time:

WHEREYABEEN ????

2009-11-30T02:53:00.005-06:00

Hmmmn, what's this dusty thing we have here? Oh, for shame . . . it's my blog !!! Maybe a cyber-Swifter will do the job and have it all looking shiny and new. On the other hand, a post or two once in a while would be better, wouldn't you say?

Lordy, when you fall off the art wagon (nod to Kate for that one), you fall hard. It's been forever since I've done anything and boy, am I rusty. Not promising any stellar art comeback, but I did manage to churn out a few ATCs due (overdue) for a swap.

The Tarot was the subject matter. My picks were High Priestess, Queen of Pentacles, The Moon, and Strength. Sounds like I watched too many Oprah episodes and then went to see one of the Twilight saga movies. In any event, my narrative prowess is lacking this evening, given the ungodly hour. I just had to make sure this bloggity blog stuff still works. So without further ado, here are the cards:

High Priestess ~

Queen of Pentacles ~

Strength ~

The Moon ~

They are all done in the same manner: gel transfers onto text, then layers of burned edge papers, burned edge transparencies, stitching and brass embellishments by Ashes2Beauty. The text is the significant factor. I tried to give some relevant meaning to the images and title of each card without reproducing the traditional interpretations. The pages were taken from a set of books entitled "The Light of Egypt". They were one of those obscure flea market finds you purchase and sock away for future use. The books are unusual and a bit cryptic, perfect for a tarot theme. The images are Rosetti women, some of my favorites. A bit more fun than the standard celestial-Mother Earth images typically associated with The Tarot.

Hope everyone had a lovely Thanksgiving and great start to the holiday season !! My apologies to all my blog buddies and cherished followers for being so neglectful and absent. I hope to be back at it soon and sharing comments with you all !!

Ciao for now,

Shelly

BANNER BLISS

2009-07-09T20:29:00.009-05:00

It's been a long time coming, but finally . . . a new banner !! I am ecstatic over the results, thanks to the gifted and ever so wonderful Lori Bartel of Farm Girl Arts. Lori does fabulous digital work. Little snippets of paper, fabric, and vintage ephemera are subtely layered and compiled to create truly unique and beautiful collages. Give her blog a visit to view some of the ready made banners she has available or contact her for a custom made one. She is a jewel of a lady, makes heavenly handmade soaps and lovely mixed media pieces, too.

I also want to thank Kim Logan of ArT ALcHeMy for the wonderful gift of vintage ledger pages, bills of lading and especially the photo of the group of little girls which form the basis of the banner. Paper Mischief mascots. Kim has been very inspirational to me and if not for her words of encouragement, there would be no blog. Some time ago, she noticed one of my ATCs, commented and asked simply, "Do you have a blog?" At the time, the thought was incomprehesible to me. But eventually curiosity won out over hesitancy and a blogger I became. So glad I did. Although I do not post as often as I'd like, blogging has been a gift and I thank each and every one of you for stopping by, commenting, following and sharing your talents with me.

Hope your summer is well underway and that you are enjoying time with your loved ones and your art.

Ciao for now,

Shelly

ALL POINTS BULLETIN

2009-06-17T23:07:00.004-05:00

Recently, I had the pleasure of meeting a very talented and vivacious jewelry artist while in Asilomar attending Nina Bagley's jewelry and bookmaking class. Riki Schumacher fashions beautifully crafted, handmade, mixed media pieces . . . "wearable relics" as she calls it. Lovely, lovely vintage pieces with that highly detailed, ethereal quality that we all adore. Her work is so unique and breathtaking that I found it hard not to hover and gawk at her workstation in class !!

She and her family were in route from California to their summer home in Washington last week when their truck was broken into overnight at a hotel. All their belongings and her handmade jewelry were stolen. Countless hours and months of work gone in a matter of seconds. It made me ill to read her message and I cannot imagine how devastated she must feel.

So I write this post and ask all of you out there in blogland to please, please, please, spend a few moments visiting her blog, website and Flickr to familiarize yourself with her work. This is a small world and it is entirely possible that her pieces may show up at craft fairs, flea markets, pawn shops, eBay, . . . hell, even Etsy. You never know. Please be on the lookout and if you see anything that looks like it may be hers, drop her a line on her blog. It would be wonderful if she were reunited with any of her belongings.

Here are the links, and again, thanks for taking a look.
Blog: http://rikijewelry.blogspot.com/
Website: http://rikijewelry.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/25817563@N07/

Ciao for now.

Shelly

ART BUDDY

2009-06-14T23:07:00.006-05:00

What to do ? What to do? My quest was to alter this little guy as part of the First Annual Art Buddies Invitational hosted by the energetic and talented Dayna Collins of Alley Art Studios. I was stumped for a while. The little guy is great fun to play with. His joints are articulated so that he is as flexible as a yogi. My first inclination was to paint him, but, nahhhhh, to predictable. Then beeswax, of course, crossed my mind. Nope. That would freeze up his movement. And he is such a pretty color wood. So why not leave that to shine through in some manner?

The decision was made to give him some tatoos !!! Transfers would have been impossible. And simply collaging elements onto his surface would have taken an eternity. Rub-ons were just the answer. 7 gypsies makes the coolest sets and the images and patterns just lent themselves to the idea of body art for the art buddy. The rub-ons went on perfectly. Now he sits on the edge of a collaged canvas with the words "Just Start" scribbled at the top as a reminder to myself not to overthink this stuff. Jump in and begin. It doesn't have to be perfect. Creativity comes in bouts, some more productive than others. But it is all a process and all in the name of fun. A good reminder from a little guy.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

TALES OF WAX

2009-06-03T01:57:00.010-05:00

Finally. After waiting soooo patiently for the past five months (and patiently waiting is not my strong point), I . . . got . . . to . . . play . . . with . . . encaustics !!! My love affair with encaustic began when I happened across the work of two immensely talented artists: Sandy O'Brien and Bridgette Guerzon Mills. These ladies have vision and an eye for aesthetics like you wouldn't believe. The kind of art that reaches your soul and leaves you breathless.

And so I decided that I had to try it for myself. This would not be something I'd be content just to collect. The textures of wax are too enticing. The colors and depth, too tempting. I had to experience encaustic firsthand. Ordinarily, I'd jump in head first with an instructional book or two and a manic shopping stint through Dick Blick or some other on-line supplier. But after talking with Bridgette and the very gifted Judy Wise, it was clear that my best course of action would be to wait and take a workshop in encaustic. Very important to learn proper ventilation procedures and the properties of the wax. Didn't want to develop any bad habits either.

Thus, in mid May, I set out for the hill country of Boerne, Texas to attend an R&F Handmade Paints encaustic workshop taught by Gina Adams. Without doubt, it was one of the most enjoyable of my little artistic excursions. There were eight of us in the class, all from varied backgrounds. Gina is the kind of instructor you hope for. Warm, open, wonderfully humorous. Her laid back style greatly enhances the classroom experience. Her art is uniquely hers, deeply symbolic and imbued with personal significance. Take a look at her site here and prepared to be wowed.

I cannot even begin to tell you how these pieces were constructed. There are so many techniques and tools used in encaustics and I am but a wee beginner. Laying down the wax smoothly is extremely difficult. Good thing I like rawness, and edges, and brushstrokes because my first pieces are chock full of missed spots, overly scraped areas and heavy handed inscribing. But I loved the process, the gorgeous array of colors and the way the wax melds into each successive layer and leaves you to excavate, scrape and inscribe. The spell has been cast and I'll go back for more.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

P.S. Captions with titles and dimensions for each piece can been seen on my Flickr photostream. I got totally frustrated trying to center the captions under each picture. Blogger would not cooperate tonight.

BELATED THANKS

2009-06-03T01:44:00.002-05:00

Woefully remiss on this front, folks. Kate and Diana recently each shared a couple of blog awards with me and I am very tardy with posting a mention. So many, many thanks to you both for your lovely thoughts and continued support. Your art and friendship brings me great joy. As for passing it on, any one listed on my sidebar is welcome to post the badge to their blog, too !!

BY THE SEA

2009-05-28T00:22:00.005-05:00

Asilomar, California

By the sea, we find ourselves.
(Based on an E.E. Cummings quote.)

Ciao for now.

Shelly

NATIONAL DAY OF REMEMBRANCE

2009-05-23T00:02:00.005-05:00

"True heroism is remarkably sober, very undramatic. It is not the urge to surpass all others at whatever cost, but the urge to serve others at whatever cost."

- Arthur Ashe

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Happy Memorial Day to all !! Hope you have a great weekend with family and friends. And pause for a moment in honor of those who have given their time . . . their lives . . . in duty to our country.

I am in between travels now and hope to have some new things to share upon my return. Tales of wax and handmade books. Stay tuned.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

PAST POET

2009-04-28T23:33:00.005-05:00

Winner takes all time again in one of my groups. We could chose any theme. Easy enough. I have a few Poe images on hand and decided he would look nice against a backdrop similar to the Lincoln card I did recently. The background is simply a collage of a vintage roster page, hand rusted and hand patinated paper scraps (you can get the solutions to do this at any Micheal's), and the old standbys: star printed mulberry paper, muslin and beeswax dipped text. The Poe image is from Flickr commons. The card was finished off with mica and embellished with handrusted wire along the edges.

The bit of text found its way to the card. It was not a conscious decision on my part. Read: it was sitting in the scrap heap begging to be used. At first, I was not going to use it. The last letter is clipped off. But then, Poe had an imperfect childhood, orphaned at three years old, present at his mother's death, and later taken in by wealthy foster parents. So the irregular text seemed relevant after all, representative of an incomplete life. One that clearly colored his work and poetry. Poe recognized this in himself. "From childhood's hour I have not been As others were". - Edgar Allan Poe

The card is packaged and ready to go to the recipient. Hope it makes a nice addition to her collection.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

CROWN OF THORNS

2009-04-12T18:17:00.006-05:00

For He so loved
and thus, sacrificed.
For all,
salvation
redemption
forgiveness.

(Handcrafted of rusted wire and faux thorns made from wooden skewer tips.)

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

Wishing everyone a Happy Easter
and also a Happy Passover. May you have
enjoyed your time with family and friends
this day.

Ciao for now,

Shelly

THREE MEN AND A RIDDLE

2009-03-15T21:55:00.014-05:00

Dr. Evil, Musician, Biker Boy. Those were the remaining three titles for the men themed cards I had to complete this weekend. After Lincoln, I wasn't sure if I had used up my creative quota, but I had work to do and so I brainstormed. Or at least it feels like my brain has been through a storm, but it may just be the Sunday dinner wine.

Who to choose as "Dr. Evil"? One popular choice comes immediately to mind, but my darker side kept chanting 'Hannibal Lecter, Hannibal Lecter". ("Silence of the Lambs" is a masterpiece of a psychological thriller and one of my favorite movies. Thomas Harris is a brilliant author and if you haven't read his books, you are missing out. But I digress.) I gave Lecter a try with a few different images, but it just wasn't happening. So I settled on my second choice and began to pull together a few telltale elements. Every piece of this card is a clue, so I won't reveal here who is "Dr. Evil". (Spoiler alert: don't look at my Flickr photostream.) No great mystery, I am not that profound. I just thought it would be fun to include a little riddle with this post. Sooooo . . . who is it? Theory holds that this individual was, in real life, a physician. Hence, I've got the "Doctor" part of the card theme covered. "Evil." His acts were grotesquely so. Read the fine print on the transparency. (Life advice: read the fine print on EVERYTHING.) The spatter, the neurological affliction that could only explain his behavior. The torn fabric, the razor (it is a safety razor, the kind you use for eyebrow shaping), the vintage paper that counts to the number six. And lastly, the twine, a miniature version of rope. No greater a dark figure in true crime history.

"Musician" was a much easier man to tackle. Not that I tackle that many men . . . but you know what I mean. I am a huge Louis Armstrong fan. "What A Wonderful World" is my all-time favorite song. Chokes me up every time. There are many, many images available of Satchmo, but this one of him in silhouette, standing on stage, reaching out to the crowd, is silently strong. I wanted to stick with that tone, so I did a simple, graphic card. The background is simply brayered acrylics. I did not prepare the background specifically for this card. It is something I had laying around for ages and was glad that I kept it stashed away for so long. Gotta love it when you have something on hand that fits the bill. The image of Louis is a contact paper transfer. I then attached a brass "L" and a fleur-de-lis rub on. The fleur-de-lis is a nod to his New Orleans roots. The card itself did not need further embellishment but it needed something. That ever elusive, dreaded SOMETHING that nags at you until you are satisfied. After some tinkering, I decided that it would look best matted against a jet black background. So I painted a mat board card with bone black acrylic, slightly trimmed the ATC and stuck the two together. Done and satisfied. Sometimes simple is the best.

Lastly, I had to come up with a biker boy. This gave me hell. No other way to put it. I tried images of Jesse James, Paul Tuttle, Marlon Brando from "The Wild One", etc., etc. and nothing worked. I have trouble using contemporary images in my cards. Nothing wrong with them, they just don't seem to work for me. So after looking and looking, I found this cool pic of a vintage motorcyclist and decided to give it a go. The background colors are crimson and payne's grey acrylics. I then collaged a piece of pattern tissue over the acrylics with beeswax. The image was then added with more beeswax and the whole piece buffed with a cloth. This really brought out the deep tones of the paints. The button was added to further the vintage theme and that is when the title of the card came to mind: "Slow Ride". I probably could have left the card as done then, but it needed another final touch. Gold leaf was added along the edges and top of the card by simply laying the gold leaf over the surface and running a stylus tip down the edges in a line. I got a little carried away at the top of the card and am not totally happy with how it turned out, but it was an experiment and next time I will be a little more precise with my placement. By the way, applying gold leaf to beeswax is not my invention. I learned this from the mega-talented Judy Wise whose encaustic work I absolutely adore. She was so gracious to share with me at Art & Soul in Portland how she employed this technique. If you have a chance to meet her, take a class or buy her work, do so. She is very gifted and one of the most genuine souls you will ever meet.

The boys have all been bundled up and shipped off to the UK for the swap. It truly was challenging to use men based themes. Certainly gave my mojo a kick start. Here's hoping it stays with me for a while.

Hope you all had a great, creative weekend and look forward to checking in on your blogs.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

FRIENDLY THANKS

2009-03-15T19:17:00.005-05:00

Many thanks are due my dear friend Kate of The Kathryn Wheel for sharing the “Friendly Blogger” award with me this week. Art and blogging in and of themselves are wonderful fun, but the greatest reward has been meeting and making new friends and acquaintances. I am one to curse technology (as I did five minutes ago), but the web and its little virtual currents have taken me to places that simply otherwise would not be possible, and for that I am grateful.

These are the guidelines that came with the badge: “These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to be friends. They are not interested in self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these kind writers.” (I totally just lifted that word for word from Kate !!) Thus, in line with the rules, I nominate the following six to pass the badge on to:

Blandine of Miss Blandine
Anita of Make Time to Play
Stacey of ArtSnark’s Artifacts
Lynne of Gypsy Art
Dayna of Alley Art Studio, and
Ronna of Ronna’s Blog and the editor of ATC Quarterly.

Diana of Live Your Dreams was already nominated by Kate and I second the motion. Thanks to each of these inspiring souls for their encouragement and selfless sharing of their talents.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

PAST PRESIDENT

2009-03-11T00:42:00.004-05:00

I've been in such a slump lately, I truly wondered if I'd ever do another ATC. So to force myself to flex my creative muscle, I joined a swap in one of my ATC groups. Swaps make me a bit fidgety because I feel pressured to come up with something a bit more than ordinary. And then there are the deadlines. When your creative well has hit a serious dry spell, a looming deadline can either send you over the edge or spur you on. For tonight, at least, the latter holds. Lo and behold, I actually managed to get a card done and I am pleased with the results.

The swap theme centers on men. Interesting challenge, given that we tend to use images of women in a vast majority of our work. Each participant chooses four titles on which to base their cards. You know . . . doctor, lawyer, Indian chief. That sort of thing. Kudos to the swap hostess. She is very, very creative with the titles. One of my four is "U.S. President". Abraham Lincoln is such an interesting historical figure and there is an abundance of images of him available. Thus, it was an easy choice for me. Fortunately, the construction of the card fell together rather easily. Thank goodness.

The background is a collage of vintage ledger paper, hand rusted paper and a strip of star-printed mulberry paper. Yeah, yeah, yeah, I use these a lot. I am a grab-and-go kind of gal. Use what is on hand, and those elements seem to be regulars in my stockpile. The woven square in the upper right hand corner is a bit of book binding mull (I may have the name incorrect), topped with some bits of acrylic skins, a tiny scrap of more vintage ledger paper, and a scrap of muslin. Three pieces of mica were overlayed and attached with hand rusted wire along the edges. The wiring was fun, but I now may need a tetanus shot. I chose the word "legacy" to demonstrate the unparalleled contribution Lincoln made to our history. With great deliberation and foresight, he saved a country and freed a people. And he did it with great humility and reflection. Lincoln was truly a man of character.

Now I must gather my supplies and carry on with the other three cards. If I have any success, I'll be sure to share the results.

Hope you have all had a great week so far and are finding some time for art !!!

Ciao for now,

Shelly

PRESENT AND ACCOUNTED FOR

2009-02-25T00:51:00.010-06:00

Hello fellow bloggers. It's been awhile since I posted, and even a longer while since I've created anything from start to finish, but I thought a check-in was in order. All work and no play, I am, and that has totally stifled my creative urge. I pulled out the acrylics and spread some paint around tonight just to keep in practice. Nice to play around without fussing about the results. I started another piece this weekend and have a good bit more work to do on it, so hopefully soon I will have something to share. For now, I unearthed an older ATC sized collage made of remnants and odd pieces that accumulate from my trimmings and scraps. A simple silhouette.

Thanks so much to everyone who has shown interest in the Past Portraits Flickr group. It is great to share with you all and so exciting to see what you do with the cabinet cards. Some really fabulous work has been posted to the group. Take a look if you have a minute.

Also, I want to say a very, very belated thank you to Stacey at ArtSnark's Artifacts for granting me a blog award. It is very rewarding to know that my humble little dabblings strike a chord of interest. Please visit Stacey's blog here and enjoy her inspiring work.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

PAST PORTRAITS

2009-02-01T01:52:00.004-06:00

I recently bought a large lot of cabinet cards from that well known monstrous, on-line auction site. (No plug this time.) After looking through them all and finally deciding on a workable storage solution, I realized there is no way that I will find a use for each and every picture in one lifetime. Hence, I decided to post them to a Flickr group, so that members of the group can use the images in their art. There are a number of portraits of men, which are sometimes hard to find. And the quality of the images was surprisingly good. Buying items blind in a lot usually results in quite a few discards, but I was pleased with the condition of the majority of the photos. The mounting boards/folios/backings, whatever the proper term, are quite interesting, too. Those of you adept at Photoshop may find the embossed matboards make for interesting brushes. I dunno. You tell me. Or show me. That would be great. It's what I am hoping for. Lots of cool stuff created with vintage images.

Join "Past Portraits", my new Flickr group, to access the photos for download and use. The link is here. The group is by invite only, so if you are interested, post a comment here or send a Flickr e-mail and the invite will go out to you promptly.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

SIXTH SENSE

2009-01-18T12:38:00.001-06:00

Blogland is full of creative little games and riddles. This one caught my interest. Go to the "Pictures" file of your hard drive. Choose the sixth folder. Now, open the folder and choose the sixth picture from that folder. The picture that comes up is the one you are to post. Pretty neat little idea, especially since it doesn't involve recruiting anyone else. More or less a one man show-and-tell.

This is a photo I took on a tour of the La Paz Waterfall Gardens in Costa Rica. There are bridges and paths everywhere. The texture and color of the stone stopped me in my tracks. I cannot remember how old the photo is . . . no more than two or three years. Costa Rica is a nature lovers paradise. The rich, vibrant colors of the foliage, cloud forests and rain forests will take your breath away. La Paz is a sanctuary in a protected area of rain forest. You get close enough to the waterfalls to feel spray on your face. And the moist, verdant atmosphere penetrates your senses and leaves you feeling like you've been kissed by something otherworldly. A walk with nature refreshes your soul and reminds you that there are things much bigger than yourself in this world.

I tried to find a poem that I thought would fit the tone and feel of the photo. A couple seemed like contenders, but just weren't quite right. If any of you know of a poem or addage that may suit or complement the photo, feel free to post it in a comment.

Ciao for now,

Shelly

ONCE WAS

2009-01-10T03:15:00.012-06:00

Someone moved my mojo. It's been missing for a while. Holidays, travel, work. Art and crafting took a back seat. But I think I see a hint of it returning. On my way down the hall tonight, when I should have been getting ready to turn in, I took a detour. And something developed. Grabbing a handful of paper and sitting down at the sewing machine has that effect. Admittedly, this is a total cheater piece. It is very similar to my last piece, but hey, isn't that what developing style is all about ?? Honestly, I figured if I tried a similar technique, the creative engine may fire up. Gotta try something to get back in the groove. Two hours later (mmmn . . . maybe that is a conservative estimate), "Once Was" was born.

I took a few odd pieces of joss paper and a snippet of gesso brushed Chinese text and arranged it as shown. Joss paper is readily available in Asian supermarkets. Do NOT pay those exorbitant prices for the stuff through these boutique sites. It is super, super cheap and sold by the packages in the Asian markets. So if you live near one, be adventurous. Go in and cruise the aisles. There is tons of the stuff and you should not pay more than $2.00 or $3.00 for a large package of papers. Great variety, too. Just thought I'd share that tidbit of info.

Back to business. Given the materials in hand thus far, one would think it would have worked itself into an Asian themed piece. That is the great thing about mixed media. No rules and you can mix and match until your heart is content. Like handpicking a one pound box of chocolates at Godiva. I had a scrap piece of what I though was silk material sitting around for ages. A sample I picked up at a fabric store. Nice conservative, dimensional floral pattern to it. I am not one for florals, or polka dots for that matter, but this bit of fabric had eye appeal. Matched it to the papers, did some stitching and decided to work with another Crafty Individuals contact paper transfer.

That accomplished, the piece needed some finishing touches. A scrap of vintage sheet music and pieces of deconstructed lace were added with stitching. The finished product is totally asymmetrical, but all said it balanced out nonetheless. One thing I would do over if I had the chance: the burned surfaces of the fabric flowers. Turns out it is polyester or some other synthetic, and the material didn't singe the way I'd hoped. The edges sort of melted and look a little sooty. Fortunately, I caught on to this early and used a light touch. So the piece wasn't ruined by my pyro tendencies. Live and learn. Gave some thought to backing the piece on decorative mat board or a book cover. Tried it out on various backgrounds. Nothing jumped out at me, so I left it as a stand alone piece. Completed. Mission accomplished. Mojo found.

Hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and that your new year is off to a great and creative start !! Happy 2009 !!

Ciao for now.

Shelly

P.S. Submitted for Wednesday Stamper challenge, "Lace".

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-12-31T16:26:00.005-06:00

Where did it go ???!! Really . . . where the heck did the year go ???!! I say that every year, but this year really whizzed past. Then again, I say THAT every year, too. But it does feel as if it should still be early autumn or thereabouts. Not December 31st already !!!!

That said, this year has been unlike any other. A year ago, art cards and mixed media were things I mostly read about. Then I decided to get my hands messy, and gesso, used books, acrylic paints, beeswax and envelopes stuffed with wonderful goodies from around the world began to take over my extra bedroom. And with those things, creativity found a place, a solid place, that had long been forgotten. And with it, too, came new friends, treasured new friends . . . kindred souls . . . who understand the pull that creating something, no matter how small, has on a person. Art is a universal language. And as with language, some have more to say, some less. But it all strikes a chord. Art is a visual depiction of our selves, our lives, hopes, fears and dreams. Our souls. No matter our heritage, our dialect, creed or nationality, it connects us all as comrades, as sisters and brothers . . . as humans.

I want to wish you all the best for the New Year. May 2009 see all your hopes and dreams fulfilled and may you and your loved ones be blessed with good health, happiness and prosperity in all things.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

WITH GRATITUDE

2008-12-31T15:46:00.005-06:00

Please excuse my delay, I am a wee bit late with this to say the least. But many thanks are due my fellow bloggers Stacey, Cindy and Diana, who passed on the Lovely Blog Award to me recently. I am very thankful for their support and comments. Each of them inspire me, in turn, to continue to pursue a creative course that is still new and wondrous to me.

With the award comes the mandate that the recipient also nominate seven other blogs, notify them and post accordingly. The seven I nominate are ones I visit regularly for inspiration and to which I aspire. In other words . . . I lurk here frequently !! Chances are they have previously been granted this award by someone before me, but a second round of acknowledgment is never undeserved.

Beryl Taylor Mixed Media Artist
Contemplating the Moon - Bridgette Guerzon Mills
Embracing Encaustic - Linda Womack
let the beauty we love be what we do - Ruth Rae
KO ... OK? - Kelsey O'Mullane
Ornamental - Nina Bagley
Red Velvet - Judy Wilkenfeld

Take a look if you haven't already and prepare to be wowed.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

COVENANT OF THY LOVE

2008-12-21T09:26:00.004-06:00

Decided to take a break from holiday preparations and get my hands messy. After a few false starts, I chose to simply gesso a bunch of old dictionary pages, stick in a strip of muslin and a leftover piece of star-printed mulberry paper and fiddle around with it. Also wanted to use some of the wonderful images by Crafty Individuals that my dear friend Kate recently sent, so I tried a contact paper transfer and used a portion of it for my focal image. Got a bit heavy handed rubbing the back of the paper away. Hence, the partial image. But I wasn't going to abandon it entirely, so I motored on. Shuffled the paper arrangement a bit until I liked the way it stacked. Tried to roll it like a scroll and wrap the image around it, but that didn't look right. So I folded the left side inward and was pleased with the way the paper edges overlapped. Then I stitched an arch of sorts to bind the pages and provide a border for the transfer image. The image was sewed on and the piece began to take shape.

The sides needed something additional, something other than a little more stitching. Finally decided on a swath of sheer ivory, decorative ribbon which I stitched to the paper composition with a coordinating thread. It still needed further embellishment to balance it out. I dug through quite a few doo-dads before settling upon the small brass crosses from Ashes2Beauty. If you have not seen this selection of embellishments, check out the website. Hands down my fav. Initially, I tried hand-sewing the crosses to the whole thing, but the threads were actually a bit distracting. Just looked out of place. Ended up using red-liner tape to fasten them. Gotta love red-liner tape. Couldn't live without it.

The piece had, by then, sort of taken on a theme. Just had to find the right words to express it. As is my custom, I turned to my stash of beeswax dipped, vintage text pages and went on a word hunt. Ah . . . there it was. The fundamental meaning of Christmas parsed down into four simple words . . . "Covenant of Thy love". Didn't I just do something similar? Oh well, that's how this art stuff works. Variation on a theme.

Ordinarily, I would have considered the piece done. It looked like a sort of oversized ATC. Maybe a slightly disproportionate skinny card. But it did not FEEL finished. I have discovered that you do not dictate what will result from your artful endeavors. The art dictates itself to you. It lets you know when it looks right or wrong, needs tweaking here or there, and above all, it tells you when you are done . . . or not. Thus, a backboard or mat was needed, and something substantial, hefty. Fortunately, I'd recently stumbled upon a hoarde of old, $1.00 books at an antique store and had purchased a few to have on hand. The brown cover of one of those old books serves as the backboard for this piece. I love the splotches and the naturally distressed edges of the cover. The dark background sets off the neutral colors of the assemblage quite nicely. And, thus, it is "done". . . at least for now.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holidays and time with their families !!

Ciao for now,

Shelly

SPECIAL THANKS

2008-12-21T01:44:00.006-06:00

A big thanks and tons of appreciation to Penny Duncan who nominated me last week for the Proximidade blog award. I am honored by her acknowledgment and so happy that my little stopover in the vast world of blogland caught her eye. You can link to Penny's blog here to visit and enjoy her lovely creations.

The details of the award are as follows:
"These blogs invest and believe in PROXIMITY - nearness in space, time and relationships! These blogs are exceedingly charming. These kind bloggers aim to find and be friends. They are not interested in prizes or self-aggrandizement. Our hope is that when the ribbons of these prizes are cut, even more friendships are propagated. Please give more attention to these writers! Deliver this award to eight bloggers, who must choose eight more and include this cleverly-written text into the body of their award."

The eight that I choose are:
Alley Art Studio
ArT ALcHeMy
Art of the Found Object
Art Propelled
Blossom Sundries
Colour by Numbers
Everything's Relative Researching Your Family History
Ophelia's Collage Creations

All can be linked to from my sidebar list of "Blogs of Interest".

Thanks again, Penny, and look forward to sharing more art !!

Ciao for now,

Shelly

AVOWED

2008-12-06T22:13:00.006-06:00

Curiosity begets creativity. A recent purchase of a new product, late night restlesness and a slew of fabric scraps. Put them altogether and what do you get? A new ATC.

I've been meaning to start on Christmas themed pieces. With that intent, I grabbed one of my myriad of Madonna and Child images. Didn't want to do another gel medium transfer. Don't want to get too predictable. So I decided to try something called "Transfer Ink!", a Stewart Superior product. Bought it from Collage at Art and Soul in Portland. It is a straightforward product . . . clear liquid in a spray bottle. If not for the smell, I'd swear it was just H2O. It probably is just water with some sort of perfumey additive (scent is similar to Febreeze). Certainly need to figure it out because it is a bit pricey, as with all these boutique products, and if I can kitchen-reproduce it, you bet I will. Maybe I will just try Febreeze. But I digress . . .

To do the transfer, I used an ink-jet printed image placed face down on a piece of Japanese sketch paper. Liberally sprayed the back of the paper until the image showed through, per the instructions, and then burnished the back with a brayer (and my fingernail). This transfer gives a nice muted watercolor effect, which is an interesting change from the gel transparency method. I then randomly stitched it - along with two scraps of aged, patinated paper scraps - to a craft felt background. For finishing touches, I embellished it with pieces of fabric, pom pom ribbon, mica and beeswax dipped text. Felt an itch to stitch a little more, so I free-motioned a heart in the center and then hand-stitched (very inexpertly, I might add) a rusted wire heart to the whole piece. Christmas being right around the corner, my mind turned to the meaning of the season, the promise and purpose behind the holiday, and, alas, the title was born.

Hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season and looking forward to spending time with friends and family !!

Ciao for now.

Shelly

WHAT CHOICE WE HAVE

2008-12-06T20:38:00.007-06:00

Time for another Winner Takes All. This time it was open theme, the lucky winner had no specific preference. So the field was open. Free reign. Artistic license, as they say.

I'd had a transparency of Helen Keller sitting around for ages. I love the image . . . one hand on a book, the other lovingly stroking a dog. I won't pretend to know enough about Helen Keller to state that it was her dog. I do know that she gave interviews for several magazines, so the sweet canine in the image could have been a prop. Nonetheless, the image speaks volumes, as does the life of Helen Keller. Which got me thinking. As I am prone to do when messing around with these ATCs.

Helen Keller was born sighted and able to hear. She lost her vision and hearing during childhood and became unruly and out of control around others. Enter Anne Sullivan, her teacher, her companion, her friend. Anne Sullivan opened the world to Helen Keller. And Helen Keller embraced it for all it was worth. She made a choice, and in the process became one of the most inspiring and compelling figures in American history.

We mixed-media types love texture. Crave it, admire it, seek it out in our little works of art. Imagine how important texture is to someone who is blind. Imagery through tactile perception. How do you feel beauty? How do you interpret color and placement and composition and depth? All through your sense of touch. In the absence of sight and sound, the hands are the conduits by which we experience our vast and wonderous world.

I attempted to represent the importance of texture in this ATC by using a variety of media. The uneven edges and smooth face of the mica, the rusted pieces of wire, the crumpled piece of sheet music. Dried flowers, torn and aged paper. Clipped vintage text. The burned, frayed edges and graphic weave of the mull. All mounted on a base of distressed bookboard. It is my hope that this card promotes the idea that we have a conscious choice in our lives despite what may be seemingly insurmountable circumstances. Trust our senses, trust our perceptions, and they will ultimately lead us to a place of beauty and peace.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

A DAY OF SHARING SONG

2008-12-03T09:27:00.005-06:00

WHAT A WONDERFUL WORLD

Louis Armstrong

Lyrics by George Weiss / Bob Thiele

I see trees of green, red roses too

I see them bloom for me and you

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

I see skies of blue and clouds of white

The bright blessed day, the dark sacred night

And I think to myself, what a wonderful world

The colours of the rainbow, so pretty in the sky

Are also on the faces of people going by

I see friends shakin' hands, sayin' "How do you do?"

They're really saying "I love you"

I hear babies cryin',
I watch them grow
They'll learn much more than I'll ever know
And I think to myself, what a wonderful world
Yes, I think to myself, what a wonderful world

Oh yeah

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Listen to the song here.

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LK Ludwig is at it again. Love this idea. This time, it is a Day of Sharing Song.
See her blog post here for details.

Enjoy your day.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

HONORED

2008-11-29T00:16:00.004-06:00

Just a quick post. Wanted to congratulate my good friends Diana O'Cobhthaigh and Lynne Larkin for being featured in the latest issue of ATC Quarterly. Take a bow, ladies.

Diana is a master with beautifully coordinated papers, images and embellishments. She pays exquisite attention to detail in the construction and composition of her unique ATCs. Don't miss her lovely blog, Live Your Dreams. And if you ever get a chance to trade with her, jump at it.

Lynne has a special gift for hand painted backgrounds. There is great depth to her creations. She favors Americana themes, vintage images and mixed media. Each of her cards has a story to tell. Her blog, Gypsy Art, is a must see. You will want to add her ATCs to your collection, too.

As a side note, I was pleasantly surprised to receive another blog award today. Kate Crane and Diana O'Cobhthaigh both granted me the "Kreativ Blogger" award. I am very appreciative of their acknowledgment and am so fortunate to have them as friends and art buddies.

Hope you all had a wonderful and restful Thanksgiving !!

Ciao for now.

Shelly

THE EIGHTH FICTION

2008-11-26T22:43:00.008-06:00

"Take . . . picture . . . of . . . goat." That has been on my TO DO list for a couple of days now. Truly. Had to have a visual aid for certain of the snippets and, believe it or not, there is a little makeshift farm in our neck of the suburbs. With goats. And chickens and cows and firewood for sale. So the plan was to stop by and snap a quick pic of one of the goats when it was grazing near the fence. Never did catch one, so I had to come up with another idea. But I digress . . .

What about the bogus fact?? The red herring?? The bullcrap story, for Pete's sake??!!

Here we go:

There are indeed four siblings in my family. We were a playful lot and still act completely goofy and immature on the rare occasion when we are all four together. And I am a natural redhead, courtesy of my paternal grandfather. A couple of my cousins, and my second brother's three kids, inherited the trait as well. Gotta love genetics.

The water phobia is, alas, also true. The instructors apparently subscribed to the "sink or swim" theory. Works in boot camp, maybe, but not with scared little ones. And this was WAY before the days of swimmies. So there was no easing into it for me. I made up for lost time, though, once I did finally learn to swim. Spent many a summer at the swim club as a teenager diving for quarters and playing Marco Polo. Those were the days.

Cat allergy story . . . true. Very true. Sorry, Sam and Lynne. Thank God, I have somewhat outgrown the severity of the allergy. When younger, I would go into histimic overdrive with just a couple of whiffs. Now, I am good for a little while, as long as I don't hold them and pet them too much. Which is difficult not to do. They are so darn cute afterall.

As much as I love books, art, chocolate, I absolutely would perish without music. It is my life blood. Music moves me, inspires me, provokes me, soothes me. It is magical and I cannot imagine life without it. I would not want to be without books, art, or chocolate, but my soul would wither without music.

The Gerard Butler crush is alive and well. Very well. He even made it to one of my ATCs. Shame, shame. Although . . . I just returned from seeing "Australia", and I may give him up for Hugh Jackman. Lordy. Many quality characteristics in that man. :-)

As for the goat story . . . it really did happen. No, not at a petting zoo !!! One would think. Yes, Diana, I was a cheekie kid, but the goat encounter actually did not occur as a wee one. It was much later, as a teenager. A neighbor friend had a horse. The horse stall was on a large piece of property and other farm-ish animals roamed about. My friend wanted to clean the horse stall but the damn goat was in the way, slowly munching and grazing on the horse's hay. I, in my teenage stupidity, thought it would be a simple matter of shooing the goat out of the stall, much in the same way you shoo a dog or cat out of a room. My mistake. Goats are territorial. He did not appreciate my instrusion, so he stopped in mid-chew, lowered his head, and came after me. He ran half-heartedly . . . I hauled ass. Glad to say, I escaped unscathed. I now practice goat avoidance.

I really wanted to post a goat photo, but as I said, the goats didn't cooperate. Seems to be a recurring theme for me. So, I found a photo on Flickr that gives you the idea of what a goat encounter is like. Emily Chastain so generously gave me permission to use one of her fabulous photos. The blogger gremlins are at it because for the life of me, I cannot get the thing to upload. So take a little side trip to her photostream and have a look. What a hoot. GREAT shot.

By now, you have probably been doing process of elimination. Which leaves just one fact as the white lie. Yep, you got it . . . Number 5. Gotcha !! Never broke my pinky finger playing flag football with my brother. Don't know how, but for all our roughhousing as kids, I never broke a bone. **Knock wood.** There were a couple of times when I certainly SHOULD have fractured something. But I made it through childhood without a single visit to the emergency room. I was very, very lucky.

So, now what??!!! No one guessed!!! Ack!!!! Since you all were such good sports, I've decided to give away the goodies regardless. I used a very sophisticated system to choose a winner: I wrote each name down on a slip of paper, made two pools, shook each, then randomly drew one slip from each group. The winner from the tagged group: KATE !!!! Yay !!! And the winner from the non-tagged group: RENEE !!! Double yay !!! I'll mail the packages out this weekend.

Thank you all so much for taking the time to play along. And most of all, thanks for visiting with me. I truly appreciate it.

Have a Happy Thanksgiving, all !!!!

Ciao for now.

Shelly

TAGGED . . . WITH A TWIST

2008-11-21T22:30:00.015-06:00

Ahhhhhhhh . . . you thought the award was all there was to it, did you??? Not so fast. This is the really fun part.

Dayna not only bestowed me with merit, she also paintballed me. Tagged me. So, as I understand it, I am to do the following:
1. Post the rules on your blog.
2. Write seven random things about yourself.
3. Tag seven people at the end of your post.
4. Pass on the tag to seven others.

Two things before I go any further:

1. I am a bit of a private person, so there will be no great reveals here. No rattlings in the skeleton closet. (Alas, I am dull . . . I have no skeletons.) Maybe just a couple of innocuous facts . . . and one picture for nostalgia sake. (Yep, that's me up there.)

2. I am not good at following rules. So I am going to take the liberty and add a twist to the game. And it goes like this:

In addition to the seven actual facts, there is one additional fact that is totally bogus. A red herring. Something I made up. Hence, you see eight facts listed. The first of you whom I have tagged to correctly guess, and post as a comment, which fact you identify as complete bullcrap, will win a nice little goodie package. And I give good goodie. If there are any other readers who wish to guess, too, please feel free to do so. First one of the non-tagged readers to correctly guess will get a little ephemera surprise, too. Promise. So read carefully and give it a go . . .

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Here are my personal snippets:

1. I am a natural redhead. Wanted blonde hair instead when I was a kid, but now would not change it for the world. Just hope my hair dresser can match the exact shade when it comes time to color it. :-)

2. Only girl amongst four siblings. My two older brothers are quite a bit older and watched over me as a little girl. My younger brother is only a year and a half younger and pummeled, wrestled, teased, slapped and ran me in the ground as a little girl. All in a good way. As adults, we are as close as two people can possibly be.

3. Allergic to cats. Nothing against cats personally, but my respiratory system does not share the same sentiment.

4. Terrified of the water when I was young. Blame the evil swim lesson instructors for throwing me into the deep end of the pool. I overcame my fear, however, and learned to swim, but not until I was thirteen years old. Today, I will swim and snorkel without hesitation. But I haven't mustered the huevos to try scuba diving.

5. Broke my left pinky finger playing flag football with my brother and his friends at age twelve. You do not realize how important your pinky finger is until it is splinted up and out of commission.

6. Have a huge celebrity crush on Gerard Butler. If I were to meet him in person, I could not be held responsible for my actions.

7. Once was chased by a goat. He did not appreciate my close proximity. Fortunately, it was a short chase and neither of us were harmed in the end.

8. Could not live without music. If I were stranded on an island, and were told I could only choose one thing - books, music, art, chocolate - without hesitation, I would choose music.

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In order to keep things simple, I tag the same great bunch of ladies whom I nominated for the award in my previous post:

Diana
Kate
Lynne
Anita
Sheree
Viola
Lorri

Stacey, a.k.a. ArtSnark, isn't tagged because she got tagged last week. (Don't worry, Stacey, I'm still game.)

Will keep my eye out for any responses. Hope you have a bit of fun with it.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

AWARDED

2008-11-21T21:12:00.009-06:00

What a wonderful surprise this week !! Dayna Collins of Alley Art Studio was awarded the "I Heart Your Blog" award and has passed it on to me, also. Blush, blush. Dayna and I met in Ann Baldwin's class at Art & Soul in Portland, Oregon this year and have kept in touch through our blogs. She is a fantastic artist, very passionate about her work, and has recently posted some awesome photos of her trip to Italy. You absolutely must take a look on her blog. Makes me want to book a flight right now.

As a condition to accepting the award, there are a few house rules (think I can manage these):

1. The winner can put the logo on her blog (see above);
2. Link to the person who nominated you for the award (see above and again here for good measure);
3. The winner then nominates at least seven other blogs (see below);
4. Include the links of these blogs on your own blog (see below).

So . . . without further ado, here are my choices for the "I Heart Your Blog Award":

Each of these are very special to me and provide me immense joy and inspiration. Please visit if you have not already, and spread the art love.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

A DAY OF SHARING WORDS

2008-11-19T19:54:00.013-06:00

Petals

by Amy Lowell

Life is a stream

On which we strew

Petal by petal the flower of our heart;

The end lost in dream,

They float past our view,

We only watch their glad, early start.

Freighted with hope,

Crimsoned with joy,

We scatter the leaves of our opening rose;

Their widening scope,

Their distant employ,

We never shall know. And the stream as it flows

Sweeps them away,

Each one is gone

Ever beyond into infinite ways.

We alone stay

While years hurry on,

The flower fared forth, though its fragrance still stays.

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Above is my chosen entry for the poetry swap hosted today by LK Ludwig. It is an ingenious idea: select a poem, quote, or addage, add a picture, video or image if you like, and post it as a comment on her blog. She will then create a link page with all the participants' entries, so that everyone can access the others' contributions. Here are her thoughts and instructions if you wish to take part:

"The idea: We have words that touch us, move into our hearts and resonate, creating a feeling, taking us some place- past, present, future- perhaps some place we have never been and may never go, but for whatever reasons, the words pulse in our blood. Meeting new words, new poets, new poems, new ways for my heart to beat, is an intruiging concept. Want to go on this adventure with me? It will be easy to travel along.Many of us already do this sharing; this idea is just to help us find each other and hear the words we have to share.

The Date: Wednesday, November 19.

The Plan: on your blog, post a poem that moves inside you, touches you, reaches you. (quotes and song lyrics also welcome). Include the author (or composer or musician) and source (book, album)- perhaps also the amazon link if there is one. no explanation required, no other revelation about the poem you are choosing is necessary.

One last thing- Perhaps add an image. a photo. a video. a painting. a collage., if you would.Come here to this post. http://gryphonsfeather.typepad.com/the_poetic_eye/2008/11/sharing-words.htmlAdd a comment with your link. I'll create a typepad page with the links, so others can hear the rhythm of the words, see the image and share in the experience.

The Request: If you are intrigued enough, post on your blog about this Day of Sharing Words- encourage your friends to post. Who couldn't use a few new poems in their treasury or new songs in their hearts? How cool would it be if we coud get dozens of bloggers to share on the same day!? What an anthology that would make!!!"

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Chosing a poem was the easy part. Finding a photo to complement the poem was more difficult. I am a tad deficient in the photo department, so I found something that I feel fits the latter part of the poem. Hope you enjoy.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

THE SHELTERING TREE

2008-11-19T00:43:00.007-06:00

From time to time I visit the blog of Nina Bagley. Her photos and postings are truly inspirational and provocative. She is one of the rare ones, atuned to the whispers of nature and the yearnings of the heart. Frequently she will post a poem, a photo, an essay and prompt you, in turn, to leave your thoughts, ideas, and musings. Today there is posted a beautiful photo of a winter bare tree, a naked tree, and you are asked "What is it saying to you . . . ?"

in my winter silence
wrap your sorrows in my limbs
and leave them to the winds
where they will pass into the lighted bliss
of a new morning borne of a thousand springs

Ciao for now.

Shelly

SNEAK PEEK

2008-11-13T22:48:00.020-06:00

Hmmmmnnnnn . . . what might this be?? Me playing around with my camera for now. These are close ups of a project I started at Art & Soul this October in Portland, Oregon. Something I need to continue to work on. Since I'm in a bit of an art slump right now, I figured I should at least try to keep my blogger fingers limber. So bear with me folks . . . this is what I have to share for the time being. Stay tuned. But don't hold your breath. As some of you know, I am a sloooooowwww crafter.

Plug alert. Wanted to put in a good word for the folks at Dick Blick Art Materials. An order arrived today and there was a gesso messo in the box. (I hear the groans. Sorry. Couldn't resist.) The pros at DB are super careful with the packaging, too, but these things happen sometimes. Customer service made good lickety split. One call and they are replacing the damaged items without requiring me to return the spoiled merchandise. Good people, they are. So give them a try next time you need your art supply fix. Oh . . . and when I called, I even pronounced "gesso" correctly. Finally. :-)

Ciao for now.

Shelly

LOSING HERSELF

2008-11-08T21:26:00.009-06:00

The acrylics were calling me. (I'm being a little dramatic.) They have been neglected as of late, taking a backseat to my other favs. Thought I'd give them a try on a 4x4 gessoboard so that I didn't have to deal with warping paper tonight. I had absolutely no idea what I wanted to do, other than play with paint, so to get started I glued a few stray pieces of text to the board. Funny how unplanned acts develop into something bigger. So true to life.

Started with two safe colors: quinacridone nickel azo gold and transparent yellow iron oxide. I say safe because I am one of those cautious dabblers that uses the same colors over, and over, and over. Ann Baldwin had provided us with a lovely selection of deeper hues in our abstract collage class at Art& Soul, so out came jenkins green. I am not a green or blue user, but I figured I'd take a chance and slap a bit on somewhere for contrast (or is that complementary??). I did and I was pleased with the look. Then decided to use some leftover transparencies and attempted to transfer the image of the woman to the whole shebang. Transfers being what they are, only part of it came out. But although it looked somewhat ghostly, it wasn't a total disaster.

A title started to form in my mind, initially because of the faulty transfer. She looked like she was fading out. I applied more colors and a telltale king in the upper right corner. And so began the thought that these women, whose images frequently find their way into our work, often had very hard, demanding and grueling lives. They were singularly devoted to their families, their homes, and the relentless task of just trying to survive. Our grandmothers, greatgrandmothers, great aunts. How must they have felt? Did they, like we, feel overwhelmed and unappreciated at times? Surely they must have.

It has often occurred to me over the past several months that a majority of us feel we have been overshadowed by all that is our daily lives. Our work, pursuits, families . . . love them as we may, they exact a toll on our sense of self, our sense of individuality. We ignore it at first and stay busy with things that require our attention and energies. But then, at some point, we can no longer ignore it. We do not want to lose ourselves. And so we embark on a journey of self discovery. A journey that is colorful, enriching, and satifying . . . and somewhat expensive (Lordy, the cost of art supplies!!). We make messes, we make mistakes, we make art . . . and we make friends. And in the process, we find that thing within ourselves again that makes us feel worthwhile and gives us a simple sense of fulfillment. How wonderful that it is so.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

FOR NINA

2008-11-05T01:21:00.006-06:00

feel the broken heart pull at the seams
as it expands with wisdom and learns
to love again

allow the broken heart to remind you that the comfort
you seek can only be found in the giving of
comfort to others

give the broken heart a new song and rejoice once more
that, although worn and scarred, it still beats
strong and true.

HALLOWEEN HAIKU

2008-10-31T16:42:00.000-05:00

Just a quick poem in honor of Halloween:

eve of hallowed souls
restless, wandering, lost night
mortals unaware

Everyone have a safe and fun evening !!

Ciao for now.

Shelly

DARK SIDE

2008-10-27T01:27:00.000-05:00

Let me just preface this by saying: this isn't my usual stuff. I participated in a WTA drawing (Winner Takes All) in one of my ATC groups. The lucky winner (she gets probably 15 or more cards) likes unusual gothic style stuff, so I aim to please. But I have to say, this one weirds me out a little. Art is supposed to provoke a response (and that is a little presumptuous of me to declare this "art"), but among the viewers, right? What do you do when you feel . . . uneasy . . . about your creation? Go with it, I guess.

The background was pretty straightforward. I am one to save my palette papers and use them as backgrounds. This was a remnant of a black gesso background from a set of Gothic Halloween cards I'd done recently. Added some streaks of acrylic ink to it, dry brushed the image of the goth chic and the skull with titanium white acrylic and glued it all down. Added Hambly Studio rub-ons in the four corners and still felt it needed something. A finishing touch. For me, that usually means mica, a burned edge transparency, or stitching. Oh, and of course it had to have a bit of text. The stitiching would have been too distracting on a card of this type, so I used some of my new speckled mica to top it off. The streaks are on the mica itself . . . no altering on my part.

Perhaps I've read too many vampire novels over the years. Or maybe it's the subtle shift in the air here in New Orleans. Halloween season has a certain mystique in this city, and you can definitely feel it. Whatever it is, the card is on its way to the intended recipient tomorrow. Hope she is pleased with it.

Ciao for now.

Shelly

HAPPY ACCIDENTS

2008-10-21T20:51:00.000-05:00

We've all had them. Heck, stop and think about it . . . you may even have BEEN one. Know I was. Anyway, happy accidents are mistakes in our techniques that actually turn out to be pretty darn cool. Case in point: my most recent ATC, "The Madonna".

I started with an image transfer from a transparency. I've been using the 3M brand to do my inkjet prints, and while it is a pricey brand, the transfer quality is worth the price. My inkjet printer gives off some weird colors with the transfers, however, but since this was to be an aged-looking piece, the bluish tones were not so bad. I used Golden soft gel (glossy) to transfer the image to a piece of unbleached muslin. Everything went as planned. No happy accident yet. If you've done transfers, you know they leave spotty areas where the ink did not transfer. I like to burn things, so I got out my then-new Versa tool and lightly singed the blank areas to give it a grungy look.

Next was to stitch the image to a piece of text that I had dipped in beeswax. I love beeswax and look for any excuse to use it. It adds to the antiqued look of things which complemented this piece well. Part of the text didn't make it into the beeswax (bottom right hand corner) and that was okay, too. Added a nice contrast. Now, here is where the happy accident took place.

I needed to stitch the Madonna image to the beeswax-text background. Enter sewing machine. I am grossly untrained when it comes to sewing and rarely recognize an error when I make one. However, even with my limited skills, it became evident halfway through the stitching that the bobbin had not been wound properly. (This is sad, considering that I have an automatic bobbin winder feature on my machine.) Not one to scold myself for my snafus, I took the piece off the machine and was pleasantly surprised at the little loops that had formed over the Madonna like a halo. And there were more curly-loopy-things on the stray threads along the edges. I love stray threads as much as I love beeswax, so they stayed with the piece.

I finished the card by laying a piece of sheer fabric (can't remember what it's called right now - remember, I am new to this fabric art stuff) over the constructed card, snipping out the middle and burning the inside edges with the Versa tool. That smelled a little because of the synthetic fabric, so if you try this at home . . . beware !!! Toxicity alert. Having replaced the wayward bobbin with a properly wound one, I stitched the sheer fabric overlay to the card and attached the "every heart is loving" text (also dipped in beeswax) above her hands. The card was done and I was satisfied. Now if I can just go back and figure out how to improperly wind a bobbin, on purpose, to reproduce my "new technique". :-)

Ciao for now.

Shelly

NEW CHIC ON THE BLOCK

2008-10-20T22:05:00.000-05:00

Sometimes you just gotta do it. Not that blogging compares on the anxiety scale to something like bungee jumping or downing the agave worm in the bottom of the tequila bottle (not telling if I'm speaking from experience on that one), but here I go!!!! An official blogger. Welcome to the neighborhood, if I do say so myself. And let me tell you, it's a nice neighborhood . . . I've been cruising for a while. But I've got a few projects I want to try and in an effort to stick to some sort of game plan, I figure blogging will provide the structure I need. No promises about the quality of the photos, or the entertainment value of the posts, but I'll do my best.

Ciao for now.

Shelly