The Search

Pat Metheny's song "The Search" is playing in the background...along with "American Heartland", I've been repeating them as they cheer me and are delighting me on this fall morning. Thinking about my Dad, thinking about life, thinking about my amazing daughter.

This photo is of her in September, laying on our concrete floor...it appears that the wind might be blowing in her hair...she's such a sweet bird...

I'm off to do some artsy crafting, but am reminded by Van Gogh: "The more I think about it, the more I realize there is nothing more artistic than to love others." and my search is over (today), and I'm off to boil some water for tea and to load the washing machine, lovingly.

Glitter, stamps and fun...

The past few weeks have been fun creating little whimsys for my favorite store, Gatherings, in Georgetown, Texas. They're having their "Holiday Open House" this Thursday, so I've been working a lot with reds, greens and cheerful holiday papers.

Fun tags, a door hanger and then a trip to the "Settlement Home" garage sale...I've got lots of fun to deliver to the owners today!

Halloween Swap Goodies for Michele

Such fun pulling together and creating items for HopHopJingleboo's Halloween Swap! Black cats and....other goodies will be tucked into a "Trick or Treat" bag being sent to Michele in Vancouver, Canada. Wish I could fit in with it -- gorgeous place, I was there many years ago and had a simply enchanted time.

I'm also working on additional shabby signs. Creative artist, Stephanie at her store, Gatherings, in Georgetown, Texas is willing to show a couple in her store; and I've outfitted my yard with a few...maybe will put some on Craig's list?!

We've begun "demolition" and are having fun!

So...we've been pulling down mini-blinds -- thank goodness for Freecycle, else no-one will take them as a donation (Goodwill doesn't want them)! Pulled down some walls in the basement and have begun making some plans for the remodel! Not using a napkin, we're plotting preliminary ideas and have our lists of materials ready for sizing!

Noodling over exterior paint colors -- in this neighborhood the possibilities are ENDLESS! I met our neighbor this weekend, comes cooler weather, they're going to paint their house Purple! Fun...the house next door to us is blue with dark blue trim, the house across the street is coral with turquoise...hmmmm....we're thinking a spicy pumpkin...but I digress. Steve's off to meet the drywall contractor and begin plotting!

Peter Rabbit Beatrix Potter illustration and Children's books

Lately I've been on a big Peter Rabbit kick...the illustrations in Ms. Potter's books are so sweet. I made over this child's stool and used some vintage look children's alphabet paper to dress up the top of the stool...then used some illustrations from a 1980s Peter Rabbit collection...don't worry, the book was in very poor condition!

I've also come across several Nancy Drew's at the Goodwill stores in the area...am building up the collection at Nina's school as well as our own personal collection.

Whimsey finished for International Vintage Banner Swap

This was the first time I've made a banner...quite fun...the more I would dig in my boxes of goodies, the more embellishments I found. Vintage sewing pattern, vintage tatting (picked up at the "Caring Place") purchased quite some time ago...someone spent so much time on it and the delicate rose colored lace that resulted is pretty surrounding the banner.

Also used a Perrier de Jouet ribbon, shabby tags (one says Made in America -- my swap Partner was delighted to be receiving something from the U.S.), glitter and a Victoria's Secret garter that I cut up and tea-stained and then affixed to the top. Finally, a couple of sea shells and some beads to dress it up a bit. Hope she likes it!

I got a glimpse of the banner I'll be receiving, and it's DELIGHTFUL! All the way from Germany, by Svenja (artcreations).

Time to think about Halloween!?

Steve just called...we closed on the house this afternoon...tomorrow we'll walk through and fill a notebook with our Must do, Should do, Nice to do lists!

While Hobby Lobby and other craft stores are pulling out all the stops already for Christmas, I'm beginning work on my Halloween whimsys.

Finished this one today and posted on e-bay....Yay, a bid already and there are six days left!

My sister has asked for a Halloween paper bag album for her birthday.... we're all turning into fans of that silly holiday!

Acquisitions for the house remodel? Extreme Recycling

My new junking friend Amy GAVE me (we pulled it out of her trash bucket -- convinced that the Williamson County sanitation department now loves us) this fantastic cast iron sink!

I picked up this terrific dresser for $10.00 -- the drawers were trashed, but the lines are too cute -- should make a great sink cabinet for the laundry area in the Elizabeth house rebuild?

I'm excited to start the new project...plenty of before pictures...looking forward to posting after pictures in a few weeks/months!

Getting excited about our next project...a FLIP!

The only T.V. I watch is Boston Legal and most anything on HGTV and TLC that is related to home building, home decorating or creating things for your home. How lucky am I that my husband is a builder and that our next project is restoration/remodel of a fun house in SoCo -- that's South Austin, Texas, zip 78704!

A super hip neighborhood, we strolled there this past Saturday and enjoyed all of the super yard art and eclectic gardens at the homes surrounding our new place -- well, we close on August 31st. This is the starting point...

This is the realtors blurb: "Great find on a tree lined street minutes to downtown. 1284 sqft, 2 bedrooms, 2 full baths, large basement could be 3rd bedroom/bonus room. Rear garage could be more space too..."

Sqft 1284* /Const Concrete Block / YrBlt 1940

Shabby Chic Antiques Sign

Thinking about doing another booth

This is a photo of an adorable booth that Stephanie has in Georgetown, Texas, in the "Collector's Market". I've done several of the shabby, rustic signs and this one shows how pretty a piece of rusted scrap metal (found in my neighbors back yard) can look when hand painted and embellished with pretty ribbon, chandelier crystals and vintage flowers. Sorry the detail isn't apparent.

I'm thinking about doing another booth of my own. So disappointed that Cabbages & Kings closed down...I need a place to show my pretties! (today is a good self esteem day) :)

Summer and stuff

i've FINALLY completed a wedding gift that was commissioned to me by a friend; very tough as I don't know the couple and I didn't have much to go on except use of thier wedding invitation and a picture of the couple. Oh, and my friend said "nautical". EEEK! What to do!? Well, this is the final result. I did one of my "message" in a bottles...tea-stained and ripped edge of the invitation, then rolled it and put it in the bottle with lots of pretty stuff, including sand, sparkles of every kind, shells, a key, phrases about love, the picture of the couple. Then I did a 9 x 12 board with a "map of a journey of love..." that includes images of vintage maps some significant places (Austin, where the wedding is, the Caribbean (where they'll honeymoon, and Georgetown where they'll reside). Definitely a one of a kind piece...I'll tell my friend they can seal the bottle and throw it in the ocean when they arrive there on their honeymooney.

other random pictures of other works I've sold...a piano bench that I saved from the side of the road (only minor repairs were needed) and then painted and gave to a charity auction (they made $100.00 from it...cool, hunh?), a storage box made from a cast off kid's toy box, a storage piece that I painted for one of my daughter's friends 2nd birthday (her Mom loved it), and a picture of my precious little girl playing princess in the Texas bluebonnets this May.

My Latest Altered Art Book - Vintage Children's Poem Book

I've just finished my second Altered art book. Many, many thanks go to my Mom and sister, Colette, who have encouraged me to steer my creativity into these books...they make perfect sense as I've been a bibliophile for as long as I can remember! The photos are of a couple of my favourite spreads...the birdseed inside the frame with tulle was some "late blooming brilliance" (a phrase used in the days I worked in software development) that I think added a missing component.

I'm excited to begin work on my collage for Jenny's collage swap (I'll include a link as soon as I figure out how!)! I've been partnered with a woman in Los Angeles and somehow find that intimidating? Hmmmph; why does a mere mention of a city work me up? Dunno, but I'll get over it.

I'll post pix of my collage and the one I receive when the swap is over.

Steve's upstairs tiling the shower, I plan on joining him; I'll break some Limoges dishes and make a couple of mosaic tabletops while he does the precision work on our home!

Just a few pictures of some of my work, my home

These are some pages out of two altered books I created earlier this year; the first was a Valentine's brown paper bag album and the second an antique altered book with lots of images of birds and niave paintings of children. My family/friends feel that the altered book has been my best work so far.

The other photo is of an assemblage I made of a bird's nest -- using an old cheese tray. I like using the glass cover as a sort of cloche to cover delicate little displays.

Joy and Art and Sharing

So, I've finally tapped into this vast "out there" of amazing artists who do stuff like I do! :) My next door neighbors don't get altered art or altered books, but these folks do!

I found this place by drooling over inspireco.com and then clicking through some of the links...what a great stumble.

So, I'm entering into a collage swap (my first swap of any kind) and can't wait to participate! Thanks ever so much to Jenny --
http://journals.aol.com/jennyeveryday/everyday-is-a-holiday/

Namaste