Mixed Media Monday - Personal Symbols and Myths

The theme for Mixed Media Monday this week gave me pause. I sat back and tried to think of a personal symbol that seems to recur in my artwork and I kept coming back to trees. I am drawn to them when I see them or read about them in any art form including paintings, poetry prose. I was always moved by the tree in the opening scenes of "Six Feet Under". A friend of mine grows Christmas trees and loves to take me for a wander through his property. He shows me the babies just beginning their lives and the massive adults that have spent many years on this earth. I feel a sense of calmness and awe among them. These two pieces are my entry for the Mixed Media Monday challenge this week.

Three Muses Challenge - Card

Claudia Roulier shared a wonderful technique for altering playing cards. She begins with a coat of gesso then adds layer upon layer of gel medium, pages from the telephone book and gesso. She rips the telephone book pages to add texture and leave the imprint of the information on the pages. Sometimes when I'm particularly tired or creatively challenged, I'll just sit down and alter a deck of cards. These three atcs are created using Claudia's technique. They are my entry for the Three Muses challenge this week.

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Sea and Beach

Whew, I'm still wiping my brow from the heat of the long weekend. What a beautiful few days filled with planting and "gussying up" the yard. A dip in the pool proved to be a welcome relief from the blazing sun. I've always been a bit of a water baby. It all started when my swimming teacher told all her tiny students to act like ducks and jump into the water. My mother had trouble getting her duck to return to dry land. My thoughts are turning to a couple of weeks at the cottage on Lake Huron....soon.... This altered tin is my entry for the Crazy Amigo challenge this week.

Mixed Media Monday - Marie Antoinette

Marie Antoinette....her image seems to be everywhere these days. She can be elegant and graceful or sexy and mysterious. I'd say she's a bit of both in the collage images that I've used on this altered house. This is my entry for the Mixed Media Monday challenge this week.

Theme Thursday - Hands

Hands are parts of the body that have always fascinated me. I notice them almost immediately when I meet someone. Often this begins with a handshake, a gesture or a wave. Perhaps the hands are working or offering a kindness. The latter is what I was trying to capture in this round robin journal page that celebrates not only youthfulness but also friendship. This is my entry for the Theme Thursday challenge this week.

The Three Muses Challenge - Relationships

Are you seeing lots of babies these days? I am, especially in the bird world. They are easily recognizable by their fluffy feathers, their fluttering wings and their mouths almost constantly wide open. We laugh at their awkwardness and at their antics in the quest to be fed by one of their parents. This round robin journal page celebrates family in both the human and bird realms. This is my entry for the Three Muses Challenge this week.

Upside Down and Backwards Journal Giveaway Winners

Please forgive me for being so tardy in announcing the winners of my "Upside Down and Backwards Journal" giveaway. I have 5 journals in total so I decided to draw 5 names and send one to each of these folks. So, without further adieu, the winners are:

Mary Beth from My Journey into Art
Debbie from Simply Debbie
Lotus from Whymsicallotus
Alan from Talk Alan Talk
Calej from Just Another Day in Paradise


I just want to take this opportunity to thank each and every one of you who visits my blog. Each and every one of your comments means a great deal to me. I've not had much time to visit in return and for that I apologize.

Created ByHand Challenge - The Letter X

Joining an alphabetica swap is all fun and games until the difficult letters come along....like "X". Luckily the theme of the book that I was assigned for this letter was names of women so I grabbed a baby name book from the library and set to work. May I introduce you to Xerena. This is my entry for the Created ByHand challenge this week.

Mixed Media Monday - Child's Play

"Child's Play".... this conjures up an image of long, lazy days sitting on the floor of my bedroom surrounded by dolls, especially paper dolls. I was crazy for them and saved my hard-earned money so that I could buy more. I think I even had the Partridge Family! My only regret is that I didn't keep them but I do have fun every once in a while creating the joys of playing with paper dolls in my artwork. These two round robin journals are prime examples of this and are my entry for this week's Mixed Media Monday challenge.

I've made the draw for my upside down journals and will be announcing the winners' names a little later today. Sorry to be a bit late doing so.

Theme Thursday - Butterflies/Butterfly Wings

This tiny fabric piece was created for a round robin journal swap. I shy away from using fabric in my artwork but whenever I do (which is usually when I'm forced or urged to do so), I wonder why. I very much enjoy working with all of the various textures and the sewing machine is not the daunting beast that I fear it will be. This is my entry for Theme Thursday this week.

Thee Muses Challenge - Legs

Well my legs managed to get me through my run this morning and home. Everything is a bit drippy and damp after a day and night of intense rain but I don't think that I've seen the gardens and lawns so lush in a long time. The colours of the outside world are exquisite. When I read the theme of the Three Muses Challenge this morning, I thought about art dolls and their various parts so these two lovelies are my entry.

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Numbers

As I was designing this altered tin, I thought about all of the ways that numbers weave their way into our lives. We measure and count our ages, how much money we have, our height and weight, where we live on a street. How many? How much? How long? "Numbers" is the theme for the Crazy Amigo Challenge this week and this is my entry.

Mixed Media Monday - Wedded Bliss

I find myself drawn towards vintage wedding photographs. First of all, I feel sadness that they are lying in an antique store, often unmarked with names, awaiting a new life. Then I think to myself, I can revive them by taking them home, cherishing them and using copies of them in my artwork so that's just what I do. I enjoy seeing the different styles of clothing and imagining how the folks in the picture lived. Don't you think this fine pair has a very charming house? This is my entry for the Mixed Media Monday challenge this week.

Please feel free to enter my "Upside Down and Backwards" Journal Giveaway if you so desire. Anyone is welcome to do so!!

Upside Down and Backwards Journal Giveaway

It all started just before Christmas. I was patting myself on the back for having started altering composition books to give as gifts to family and friends and all was well until I discovered that the covers I was so meticulously designing were backwards! In disgust, I tucked them away in a drawer.....until a couple of weeks ago. I thought to myself, so what if they're upside down? The lines are still inside and they are still useable. So I finished them! I must admit that I have a bit of a reputation for upside down and backwards having cooked my very first turkey at Thanksgiving a few years ago on his back!!LOL

If any of you who so faithfully follow my blog and leave me such lovely comments don't mind an upside down journal, please just leave a message and I will put your name in a hat for a draw. I'll announce the winner next Sunday at which time I will post a second upside down journal. Hey, life isn't always the right side up in my world!!

Theme Thursday - Vintage

I am fascinated by vintage labels. I don't think I really even thought about them before I began creating collages and mixed media art but I naturally gravitate towards old photos and images so they just seemed a natural part of the process. I liked the freshness and brightness of the ones that I used on these two fabric journal pages. I wanted to recreate the sweetness and simplicity of a time when home baking was so much a part of growing up for children. I still, in fact, collect recipes that I remember my grandmothers and mother using. They all added their own essence to them that I can never fully recreate. These pages are my entry for the Theme Thursday challenge this week.

Three Muses Challenge - Stars

I alway equate stars with dreams and imagination and that is what I was trying to convey in these two round robin journal pages. I remember having a dollhouse much like the one in the bottom piece and spending hours weaving tales of the lives of those who lived within it. This is my entry for the Three Muses Challenge this week.

Crazy Amigo Challenge - Birthdays

A friend of mine has a wonderful garden in her backyard that she enjoys tending very much. I love to visit and sip tea in her "sanctuary" while her beloved cat pads through the plants sniffing and exploring. I sent this card to her for her birthday this year. It is my entry for the Crazy Amigo Challenge this week.

Mixed Media Monday - Mothers

I decided that I'd pay tribute to my own mother by creating a canvas that captured her passion for learning and teaching. I used photographs of her teacher's college and her best friend and her sitting at their desks in the one-room schoolhouse that they attended and transferred them successfully onto the background. I then continued layering the collage with a photograph of Mom at her desk in high school and a copy of the inside cover of one of her textbooks that she'd adorned with her own name and practice printing. Here's to you dear Mom. This is my entry for the Mixed Media Monday challenge this week.