Crazy Amigo Challenge - Butterflies

I use butterflies in my artwork a great deal. There is something so delicately beautiful about them and they are surrounded by symbolism. I used to be horrified but fascinated by displays of butterflies from around the world all pinned so beautifully behind glass. They truly are works of art in the way that they are designed and the colours that appear on their wings. This round robin page is my entry for the Crazy Amigo challenge this week.

Created ByHand Challenge - Easter and/or Easter Eggs

New bonnets, chocolate eggs, baskets, bunnies and a feeling of rebirth all surround Easter. It's always a very welcome celebration. These 4"X4"s are my entries for this week's Created ByHand challenge.

Mixed Media Monday - Come Fly with Me

I'm not a smoker but I will admit that I do like the faint smell of cigars that emanates from the wood of cigar boxes as I work on them. These little girls are images from PaperWhimsy. I layered beeswaxed papers including vintage ledger paper behind them then built up the assemblage pieces on top finishing with lace. It's difficult to capture the depth of the collage in the photo. Hey, what could be better than children sitting atop of birds?LOL These are my entries for Mixed Media Monday this week

Sunday Stampers - Our House

In keeping with my current fascination with combining women and trees which was fuelled by these wonderful chipboard pieces, this is a house that I created using layers of stamped tissue and vintage papers blended together with beeswax. Real leaves and mica chips add to the natural feel of the piece. This my entry for this week's Sunday Stampers challenge.

Saturday Surprise - Mother Nature

Yes, indeed, I have the honour of hosting the Saturday Surprise challenge once again this week and I've chosen the theme "Mother Nature". It is such a pleasure for me to use natural elements in my artwork....pressed flowers, leaves, mica chips and beeswax. I marvel at the intricate beauty of these materials and feel inspired by their natural beauty. As you can tell, I'm also attracted to poetry about nature like this wonderful "Song to a Tree". Please feel free to join the challenge this week if you are able and inspired.

Daily Art Stop - Spring Break

It's Spring Break on Daily Art Stop and this means that we're free to create whatever we wish. This is a banner that I created for a round robin exchange. My challenge was to use the colours pink and orange which is not a combination that I'm normally drawn to in any way. Once I started painting, however, I found it exciting and exuberant....a perfect setting for a bunch of friends obviously on their way to a party!

ATC Wednesday - Fly

What a grumpy wee face on this baby, don't you think? The image is from my rapidly growing collection of vintage photos. As I've likely mentioned, I live with three birds, two cockatiels and one parrotlet. One of their pleasures is to have a human "scritch" their heads. They beg for it by bumping our hands and bending their heads down in preparation. I think this bird enjoys scritching too! This is my entry for this week's ATC Wednesday challenge.

Created ByHand Challenge - Flowers

I am very fortunate to have the opportunity to exchange art with so many friends that I have met around the world through blogging. I am always thrilled to have someone email me personally suggesting a private swap. Often the artwork received comes with little treats and this wonderful tatted flower was one of them. My lovely friend created it herself and I knew that I just had to use it when I was creating this fabric book page. This is my entry for the Created ByHand challenge this week.

Opus Gluei Challenge - Flights of Fancy; Sunday Stampers - Diamonds

There's a new challenge blog in town called Opus Gluei...honestly, doesn't that title just give you a chuckle! It's great to have a variety of challenges to choose from each day because inevitably one will "tickle your fancy" and the first theme of Opus Gluei does just that...."Flights of Fancy". This is a round robin journal page that I created. My mission was to create a page using an adjective beginning with "Z" that described me and my life. Zany just fit the bill and it wasn't a hardship to use another of Allison Strine's wonderful bird images. I'm also entering this in the Sunday Stampers challenge with the theme of "Diamonds".

Gothic Arch Challenge - Vernal Equinox (Spring)

It's here, it's here....at long last Spring has officially arrived. After a very long adn arduous Winter, we are welcoming it with open arms. I love how colour becomes our focus and delight at this time of year. Green sprouts appear in the garden, the grass gradually begins to turn from brown to green and gray skies turn to blue as the earth is warmed by the sunny days. This gothic arch celebrates the colours of Spring and is my entry for the Gothic Arch challenge this week.

THEME : SEWING BASKET

I'm honoured to be hosting on Saturday Surprise again and have chosen the theme of "Sewing Basket" for our challenge this week. I don't know about you but I use lots of items from my sewing basket in my artwork....pins, rick rack, lace, buttons, bits of fabric. There is something very comforting to me about working with fabric. This is a tiny round robin journal page I created. Sure hope you'll join me for the challenge this week.

TGIF - Keep Smiling

Have you ever been called "youthful"? The first time someone told me that I was "youthful" I felt a bit offended but as I started to think about it, the word is actually complementary. Children have such a wonderful sense of the world and I feel blessed to work with them on a daily basis. They come into the library in their Superman or Princess costumes at any time of the year just because they feel like doing so and that is the imaginary world that they're living in right at that moment. I've also found children to be very honest and intuitive. However, the best trait of youth is that they laugh and giggle with abandon. These round robin journals are my entry for this week's TGIF challenge.

Theme Thursday - The Colour Orange

I don't gravitate towards orange in my artwork very often but it seemed so natural for me to use it with these photographs. I wanted to capture the feeling of "glow" that comes with late afternoon/evening sunlight. It has always been my favourite time of day for the warmth that comes with it. These photographs were taken in Newfoundland at that time of the day. Everything was bathed in the most beautiful warm shade of orange. This is my entry for this week's Theme Thursday challenge.

Daily Art Stop - Transformations

The Daily Art Stop challenge today is to think about transformations, a very relevant theme at this time of the year as the world seems to be awakening after a very difficult and harsh winter. I have the pleasure this Spring of discovering surprises in my new gardens, ones planted by previous owners. On the weekend, I gently brushed away a layer of decaying autumn leaves to discover the most delicate spray of vines. Clumps of snowdrops adorn front and back gardens with their delicate white bell-like flowers. And the voyage of discovery has just begun.... I am always moved by this quotation from Abram Urban about gardens being places to think and to dream. We all need these places of refuge, quiet and serenity to do just that. Perhaps art is your place too as it is mine.

Created ByHand - Doors and Windows; Crazy Amigo Challenge - Paint

This round robin page was made for a teacher who chose "Vintage School Days" as the theme of her journal. School has always been a big part of my family. My paternal Grandmother taught in a one-room schoolhouse and both my mother and sister are also teachers. I used the schoolhouse where my grandmother taught combined with one of my mother's class photos (she's the one framed by a star). Inside the windows are pictures of my Dad in school. He looks like he wasn't always well-behaved judging from the sparkle in his eye as he sits at his desk next to his favourite cousin! This in my entry for this week's Created ByHand challenge with the theme of "doors and windows" and the Crazy Amigo Challenge that asked us to use paint in our creations this week.

Mixed Media Monday - Spring Colours

I recently took a Joggles course with Sarah Whitmire on creating an altered journal. I was fascinated by the textured look on Sarah's samples and discovered that she creates it using heavy body acrylic white paint and stencils. She then uses layers of paint on top including a layer of interference colour. I wanted to capture the colours that remind ME of Spring....blues, pinks and yellows....to accompany the robin on the cover. To me, this bird is a sign of hope and rejuvenation. This is my entry for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge.

Gothic Arch Challenge - Mother and Child

We've been given a lovely and gentle theme for this week's Gothic Arch challenge....mother and child. I am always moved when I hear Alison Krauss singing these words from a song called "When You Say Nothing at All". To me they capture the feeling of comfort that children feel when they know that their parents are there to protect them and to pick up the pieces when something happens to them.

Saturday Surprise Challenge - Humour

Sandy has very kindly allowed me to guest host for the next few weeks on the Saturday Surprise challenge site and I am honoured. I don't know about you but with Spring just around the corner, my spirits have lifted and I am feeling happier. I decided to celebrate this feeling by choosing the theme of "Humour". What makes you laugh? I can't wait to visit your blogs and see. These little birds and accompanying sayings from Allison Strine never fail to make me chuckle.

Theme Thursday - Flowers

Have you ever picked up an old book and found a flower or leaf pressed between two of its pages? It doesn't happen often but when it does, I always stop and think about the person who put the flower or leaf in the book. Why did they do it? Did they pick up the flower on a walk or was it given to them by a friend or a suitor? Did they open the book to look at it every once in a while or was it forgotten to be found by someone else in years to come? This fascination with pressed leaves and flowers has inspired me to incorporate them into my artwork. I used them in this piece with a wonderful image from D.J. Pettit. This is my entry for this week's Theme Thursday challenge.

ATC Wednesday - Keys

Just the phrase "opened the door" stirs my imagination. Did this woman open the door to opportunity, to friendship, to love. Whatever it was, I hope that it brought her great joy. This is my entry for this week's ATC Wednesday challenge with the theme of "keys". After all, one sometimes needs a key to open a door.

Created ByHand Challenge - Blue and Green

I have the Pussycat Dolls song running through my head as I post this morning. I wasn't really at all thinking about it when I created this atc with this little babe in the nest. At least this one isn't straddling a bird....yet!LOL This is my entry for this week's Created ByHand challenge.

Arty Girlz Challenge - Smile

The theme for the Arty Girlz challenge this week is "Smile". Immediately I thought of Allison Strine's images which always make me smile, well, giggle actually. They have such attitude and she has a sheet of saying to accompany them that are hilarious. Sure hope this funky little feathered friend makes YOU smile.

Mixed Media Monday - The Written Word

The written word is so powerful. It has the capacity to inspire us, to call us into action, to make us weep with its beauty or lull us with its cadence. A couple of weeks ago, I posted the companion piece to this one featuring Emily Dickinson. Walt Whitman is featured here with a stanza from one of his poems. This is my entry for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge.

Think Monday, Think ATC - Lyrics

All Things Bright and Beautiful....I used to love singing this hymn in church. I was taught it in Sunday School as a little girl. A snatch from the lyrics just seemed to suit this artist trading card perfectly. This is my entry for this week's Think Monday, Think ATC challenge.

Gothic Arch Challenge - Fantasy

In case you haven't noticed, I often like to explore a world where babies ride around quite happily on birds like this one. I can almost picture them tucked up in the trees. Since the Gothic Arch theme this week is "Fantasy", I thought it would be apt to feature one of my flying babies.

Saturday Surprise - Sign of Spring

"In order to see birds it is necessary to become part of the silence." ~Robert Lynd~
What a beautiful quotation. I think of it when I'm on my runs in the morning especially at this time of year. The birds seem so loud after a winter of relative silence from them. It is a marvelous and welcome sign that Spring is around the corner as is the presence of snowdrops in my garden. They are hardy wee souls that have already survived a couple of frosts and a snowstorm but they soldier on determined to flower. I have yet to see my first robin but I will shortly, no doubt. This piece is in honour of "Signs of Spring" and is my entry for this week's Saturday Surprise challenge.

"Wilma"

I just felt like posting a piece of art this morning. This is a piece I created that was inspired by the art of Sharon Tomlinson. She uses napkins in the most amazing ways. You may have seen her article in one of the latest issues of "Cloth, Paper, Scissors". I had a suspicion that the top layer of napkins would work beautifully with beeswax so I gave it a try and I was happy with the result. I'm still in the experimental stages but find it quite exciting. This piece is called "Wilma". I chose this name because it means "protector" and I imagined that the sister on the left was the oldest and felt very protective of her younger sibling on the right.

Theme Thursday - Eggs, Nests, Birds

The Theme Thursday challenge this week is to use eggs, nests and birds in our artwork....three of my favourite elements, I might add. This piece was created for a PaperWhimsy swap a little while ago. We had to choose a PW image and transform it into a fairy then decide where our fairy lived. Some lived in teacups, others in closets but mine found a bird nesting box and took up residence immediately tending to the needs of her feathered companions.

Daily Art Stop - Food

Thank goodness that nutritious food wasn't specified in the theme for this week's Daily Art Stop challenge. I know that the wonderful host of the site has a bit of a passion for cupcakes so this one's dedicated to you dear Diana!! I have a couple of vintage recipe books and I enjoy flipping through them especially to look at the illustrations. The cake plate comes from one of them!!

Wednesday Stamper - Skinny

I've had my beeswax out a great deal lately. It beckons me to enjoy the wonderful smell and texture of the wax as I work. I stamp tissue paper and adhere it to scrapbook paper to make backgrounds like the one on this skinny. This is my entry for this week's Wednesday Stamper.

Created ByHand Challenge - Believe

"Believe" is a word that is easy to use in artwork because it so profoundly affects how we see the world. I was thinking about this young girl's future stretched out ahead of her and was hoping that she believed that she could soar and be who she wanted to be. This is my submission for this week's Created ByHand challenge.

Arty Girlz Challenge - Blue and Yellow

Blue and yellow is such an uplifting colour combination. I've added a good dash of green in this artist trading card that is my entry for this week's Arty Girlz Challenge.

Mixed Media Monday - Time

I'm trying to figure out why I love altering tins so much. I'm at the point that my fingers tingle when I see one and I immediately head for the gesso to prepare it for altering. I love the process of layering and building up the images one atop the other. I adore the fact that the piece has depth and that 3-D objects can be added. Perhaps I should stop analyzing and just "do". A big thank you to dear Diane from Mixed Media Monday who allowed me to be host this week with the theme of "Time". This tin is on its way to a very dear friend of mine. I wanted to capture the passing of time, how quickly it passes and how often we wish it would just slow down and allow us to catch our breaths.

Sunday Postcard Art - Once Upon a Time

It is such an honour to be host for challenge blogs. This week on Sunday Postcard Art I decided to choose the theme "Once Upon a Time". Stories and reading have been interwoven into my life since the day I was born. I was read to as a small child and found my wings when I learned to read myself. Books were and still are my sanctuary, a place to escape into whenever I wish and to discover new ways of being and thinking and information about what is now, what came before and what will come. I just finished a book last night and felt genuine sadness when I came to the last page. Do you ever feel that way? The book was "Broken for You" by Stephanie Kallos.