Crazy Amigo Challenge - Brands

Well, this brand is certainly recongizable, isn't it? The vintage adds for Coca-Cola are really quite gorgeous and this one is no exception. This is my entry for the Crazy Amigo Challenge this week.

Created By Hand Challenge - Summer

Just the word summer conjures up a wealth of images and descriptive words....warm, humid, vacation, beach, relaxation. We yearn for it and savour it because it seems to fly by in the blink of an eye. These pieces were created with many of these words in mind. They are my entry for the Created By Hand challenge this week.

Mixed Media Monday - Playful Dolls

I was feeling particularly playful when I created this round robin journal page. I decided to plunk my head on a very graceful and young ballerina's body. This in itself is hilarious to me. It's not that I haven't always wanted to be able to dance gracefully and I certainly love just cutting loose on the dance floor but my foray into formal lessons was a disaster. I had a romantic dream of my Honey and I gliding across a dance floor together so I convinced him that we needed to take ballroom dancing. Well, what I didn't count on was the fact that I had to hand over total control to him! I think we managed to get through about three lessons before we decided that fighting over how high our hands should be held and counting the number of times feet were tromped on was just not that healthy to our relationship. Nonetheless, I love to watch dancing and admire the skill it takes to do so and to make it look effortless. This is my entry for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge.

Think Monday, Think ATC - Look into a Face

I decided to look into this sweet little girl's face for the Think Monday, Think ATC challenge this week. Can you imagine how much time was spent getting those side girls "just right"?

Saturday Surprise - Butterfly

I really can't get enough of D.J. Pettitt's images. There is something so beautiful yet haunting about them. This lovely woman who has captured the attention of a bird jst seemed to need a hat of two butterflies. This is my entry for the Saturday Surprise challenge this week.

Gothic Arch Challenge - Wings

I write and think a lot about birds....I'm sre that isn't news to you. They never cease to fascinate me. I was sitting by the pool yesterday and could hear a rustling and crying in the garden but I couldn't find the source. All of a sudden a baby grackle burst out of the bushes and came face to face with me. He didn't seem at all alarmed but rather indicated that he was hungry with a caw and commenced to look for food. After picking the "meat" out of a snail shell he headed off perhaps to find a parent or, more likely, more vittles. This is my entry for this week's Gothic Arch challenge.

TGIF Challenge - Alphabet

Don't these three boys look spiffy? Their hair is slicked back and they are decked out in their finest. I thought they looked like they were off to their first day of school so I created a background to symbolize what they'd encounter there. Yes, school is definitely on our minds this week as it ends for the summer months. This is my entry for this week's TGIF challenge.

Theme Thursday - Time

Ah, we never have enough of it and it goes so quickly....time. Sure hope that you manage to find a few moments to just relax today. I treasure the little bits of time spent in peace and calmness. We've taken to eating breakfast outside on the front porch in the mornings before I have to rush off to work. It seems so decadent. We watch the squirrels digging holes in our lawn and flower pots and have discovered that a mourning dove couple have a nest in the tree on our front yard. This is my tribute to time and my entry for this week's Theme Thursday challenge.

The Three Muses - Wild Things

This bored little boy from PaperWhimsy just needed an exotic place to perch, don't you think? What better way to travel than by elephant and this fine beast looks as though he knows exactly where's he's going. I created this assemblage using a cigar box lid and it is my entry for this week's The Three Muses challenge.

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Bathing Beauties

Have you been swimming outdoors lately? Brrrr.....the water is a little cool isn't it? There is something so divine about being in or on a lake or the ocean or a backyard pool. This is my first year actually owning the latter and I can't wait to get home from work to ease myself into beckoning water and swim off the stress of the day. Unfortunately, a bathing beauty I am not. This is my entry for this week's Crazy Amigo Challenge.

Mixed Media Monday - Tell a Story

What a marvelous theme for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge....Tell a Story. It seems to me that most of my art pieces are a snippet of a story whether it be one from my imagination or from my life and experiences as this one is. This is me as a little girl. I was photographed by the local newspaper because I was in a fashion show. I was being handed a flower by a fellow "model". He, unfortunately, is not present in this artwork. I wanted to capture how I was loved and adored as a child. I was the only grandchild on both sides for a number of years and my family doted on me. I was taught a love of nature by my grandfather who would take me out to his extensive garden and show me around. He also adored birds and had massive feeding and watering stations for them. We'd sit for hours watching and naming the various species that arrived.

Theme Thursday - Beautiful

The challenge on Theme Thursday this week is to use an image that we find beautiful in our artwork. I immediately thought of the D.J. Pettitt women that I so adore so I decided to use one of them. I find them serene and slightly haunting and I seem to automatically reach for autumn colours and elements to surround them. In my mind, they seem to need trees and beeswax and bits of mica.

The Three Muses Challenge - Doors

There's a new challenge in blogland called The Three Muses and themes are revealed on Wednesdays. This is the second week and my first to participate in it. If you haven't already, check out the beautiful blog that these three talented artists have created. This week we are to make art using "doors". I wanted to capture the power of photographs to open the door to the past and to hold still moments of time in these two round robin journal pages.

Created By Hand Challenge - Your Choice

I have been wanting to use this little gal in a piece of artwork for a while. She has such a sweet attitude to me, all dressed up in her costume. I thought about all of the little ones who come into the library in their princess costumes, their batman regalia, not just on Hallowe'en but all year round. And it's just fine.....in fact, it's magical in some way. This is who they want to be right at that moment. I was picturing that this little girl had the same attitude....take me or leave me....right now I'm a flower fairy. This is my entry for the Created by Hand challenge this week.

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Do You Believe in Fairy Tales?

This 4" X 4" was created for a fairy tale fat book. Each participant chose a fairy tale and used a Paper Whimsy image to illustrate it. I chose "Rose Red and the Bear Prince", not a particularly common tale but one that certainly inspired me. That bear doesn't look particularly threatening, does he? That being said, Rose Red isn't taking any chances. This is my entry for the Crazy Amigo Challenge this week.

Saturday Surprise - Male

With a dapper hat like the one this gentleman is wearing, who wouldn't want to take his photo? It is rather refreshing to use a male in my artwork to tell you the truth. Often good ones seem more difficult to find. Now why is that?? This is my entry for the Saturday Surprise challenge this week.

Mixed Media Monday - Numbers

I don't know about you but as I review my artwork, I notice that I use lots of numbers in it. Rubber stamps, stickers, bingo cards, playing cards, vintage calendars, pages from school textbooks. It's no wonder since numbers surround us. As I was creating this card, I imagined the life of these three siblings and used numbers to symbolize their development and future. This is my entry for the Mixed Media Monday challenge this week.

Theme Thursday Challenge - Flourish

"Flourish" is one of those words that just seems to illustrate in its sound its meaning. It is also a wonderful word to say. There is a sense of movement and drama in it, isn't there? That's what I was thinking when I created this winter-themed round robin page. I coloured the chipboard piece with the polished stone technique and outlined it in silver. I wanted it to look like the snow when it's picked up by the wind and made to dance. This is my entry for this week's Theme Thursday challenge.

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Transportation

I remember very vividly long car trips as a child. My parents loved to hop in the car and take us exploring. They love our province, Ontario, and are very adept at hunting down "hidden treasures" and back roads. My sister and I were not always the best travelling mates. We would fight and squabble in the back seat then be reprimanded and told to stay on our "own side" and not talk to one another. We'd remedy the situation by hanging our coats over our heads and passing notes via the sleeves. I'm sure my parents don't miss this part of travelling!! This is my entry for the Crazy Amigo Challenge this week.

Mixed Media Monday - Lace

Do you hoard vintage lace? I know that I do. I love looking at the intricate patterns in it and using it as "just the right touch" in my artwork. It adds femininity and delicacy. This assemblage was created in the bottom of a cigar box. The background was created with scrapbook papers and beeswax. This grumpy wee girl doesn't know how lucky she is to be riding atop this very fine looking robin. This is my entry for Mixed Media Monday this week.

Think Monday, Think ATC - Magical

These companion artist trading cards depict a magical world. I used colour in the background to indicate that mysterious time around dusk. I've always found it to be a bit mysterious and I can picture in my mind beautiful fairy creatures such as these dancing and flitting through the woods and meadows filled with colourful and sweet-smelling flowers. These two atcs are my submission for the Think Monday, Think ATC challenge this week.

Saturday Surprise - Adventure

Do you dream of adventure? Perhaps you'd like to ride the rapids while whitewater rafting? Maybe you've always wanted to experience the thrill of parachuting from a plane? When I created this artist trading card, I pictured this women daydreaming about exotic places that she'd like to visit and exotic adventures that might accompany her travels. This is my entry for the Saturday Surprise challenge this week.

TGIF Challenge - Dreams

I created this card for a colleague who began working with me at the library and decided that she wanted to make librarianship a career. She graduated from library school two years later and accepted a position in another library system. She followed her dreams and I wanted to congratulate her on her accomplishments. This is my entry for this week's TGIF challenge.

Theme Thursday - People with Hats

My assignment was to create a round robin journal page in the zetti style and to incorporate a photo of myself into the artwork. My heart raced. I began to sweat. I procrastinated as long as I possibly could and even longer. Finally I decided that I had to grab hold of the task. I started with the background just allowing myself to freely add paint and those famous black and white tails and borders. Hey, this was fun I thought to myself. I located a baby photo of myself and laughed as I affixed it atop the little girl's body. Then I added elements that I felt were somehow symbolic of my loves and passions. Well, here is the end result. It's my entry for this week's Theme Thursday challenge.

Wednesday Stamper - Faeries

I was playing around with my encaustic waxes and some rubber stamps and created a bunch of backgrounds. I like to keep them on hand and use them when inspired. This one seemed to suit this very naughty looking fairy with her translucent wings. A few pressed flowers were required to make it seem as though she was hiding in a flowerbed. This is my entry for the Wednesday Stamper challenge this week.

Created By Hand Challenge - Circles

Well, I know that it's a few more months until Christmas but these round robin journal pages were created for someone who believes in celebrating it all year round by making art. We were asked to use the unconventional colours of pink and light green which is a refreshing change. I was inspired to shape my images into circles as though they were decorations hanging from a tree. This is my submission for this week's Created ByHand challenge.

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Bright Colours

I have a tendancy to use darker colours in my artwork. I just seem to gravitate towards them. But every once in a while, I reach for the yellows and bright greens and pinks and I wonder why I don't do so more often. They give such vitality and life to a piece. This is my entry for this week's Crazy Amigo Challenge.

Mixed Media Monday - Layers

Layers, lovely layers....gesso, paint, textured papers of every variety....it is so freeing to just play and see what results from the interplay of elements isn't it? That's exactly what I did with this canvas. I thought it had a dreamy, contemplative look to it when I was finished so I added elements accordingly. This is my entry for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge.