Tuesday, June 26, 2007

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) :)

Saturday, June 23, 2007

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.

Saturday, June 16, 2007

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!

Tuesday, June 12, 2007

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.

Friday, June 8, 2007

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