CHRISTINE HAS A STORY

Anyone looking at this photo knows the distinct and beautiful style of Christine Damm's beads, of Stories They Tell blog. Christine has a special story, and I encourage you to go visit her blog, let yourself listen, and be moved. Over the years, my jewelry and art have evolved to the point that I really question myself a lot of why I keep making things, and what can I do with them. I don't want it to be just about me, and a collection of things, but I always feel like it is. I never dreamed it possible that something that I could make, no matter how small, big, or whatever, could impact someone else beyond being a tangible thing. I think what Christine is doing is just that, going beyond the thing to the feeling, the idea, and like I told her, if this is the only thing I do this year, or try to, it will be enough. Thanks Christine.

VISIT HER HERE

FEBRUARY'S OUT, MARCH IS IN!

Hey, it's that time again, and I am so excited to say it is now March, or will be in a few hours!! That sounds a lot better than saying it's January, right?! I'm still trying to keep up with Miss Kate over at The Kathryn Wheel, who has set a wonderful example of how to keep up an art calender. My apologies for the lousy photos, it's the best I could get. Now I just hope that I can incorporate some pictures in here of plant buds and blossoms sometime soon... Let's keep our fingers crossed!!

A DIVINE GIVEAWAY

Julie, of PRAIRIE THISTLE, is offering this beautiful Madonna and Child reliquary as a giveaway to celebrate her 400th post! It is a gorgeous piece, made with such care and meaning.....go HERE to read her post and beautiful philosophy and inspiration. You will surely leave there inspired and touched. Thank you Julie.

HEART'S DESIRE

I am really enjoying this fabric art/collage thingie, and have already started on another. Here, I dyed some cheesecloth with a paint mixture I made...I just love that texture. I layered that over a piece of coffee stained muslin that I stamped with one of my script stamps. I stamped the "heart's desire" on muslin and sewed that to the heart I cut out of muslin. I sewed the heart onto a beautiful piece of rose colored fabric with a great dot pattern on it, that I received in my winning package from Lorraine Stobie from the OWOH giveaway. If your looking for great fabric swatches, this lady makes the most beautiful ones...WOW . Added some lace that I coffee stained also to the bottom, and some vintage buttons from my stash....all sewn on a piece of natural batting. The bow thing at the bottom was kind of an accident. I had torn some strips of the muslin to adjust the size earlier, and they were laying on the table. It was just a moment of looking at them , picked them up and tied a knot, then I distressed that with some rose distress ink, and stamped some text on there also. I think that is it, although I know it didn't go in that order!
I am not sure if I should put eyelets in it to hang, or just leave it be....any thoughts? I am not sure what to even do with this, I just know that I like it.
Thanks for stopping by, and I would love to know your opinion here.

ANCIENT

I haven't forgotten about jewelry! This is a mixed metal bracelet, sterling and copper, handmade jump rings again. I have to thank sweet girlfriend Esther for the wonderful French coin, and my dear friend LeAnn, for these wonderful blue and brown beads. LeAnn's beads are pure magic. I, and many others have always talked about the fact of how we love to just roll LeAnn's beads in our hands, we love the soothing way they feel. For me, the magic goes way beyond that, and they speak to me. These photos are what they said.

available in my shop

MAIL ART

Here is some new mail art I created, for a swap of course. After ATC's this is my next favorite...mail art. It's so much fun , and it's great when you receive them too. As you can see, I like to let me imagination run wild here. For this one I used some vintage text, collage pieces of birds and fish, and markers, and paint. The focal image of the two girls is from a new stamp from Artistic Outpost" called "Birds of a Feather." You can check out all their stamps at this link, http://www.artisticoutpost.com/. Their stamps are unusual and really great!
And I haven't forgotten about jewelry too, I'll post some later this week.

LOVE GONE WILD

My good friend Lenna Andrews hosted an ATC swap called "Love Gone Wild" recently, and I have to say it was absolutely terrific! These are photos of the the 4 ATC's I received in return, they are just incredible! I have seen pictures of the others on Lenna's Creative Swaps blog, and the quality of the artwork is top notch! If you've wanted to try a swap, this is the place. Lenna supplies such thorough instructions, tips, advice, and great friendship!! Here is a photo of the ATC I made......it was really a lot of fun. Out of all the art and mixed media forms, ATC's are still my favorite. I can't wait to see what Lenna has planned for the next swap!





I want to say thank you to Lenna for hosting and all her hard work, and to Casie Metcalf, owner of Vintage Image Madness, who sponsored prizes and image sheets for everyone! Also a big thanks to all the participants who I was lucky enough to receive their ATC's and to get to see great new artists on Lenna's blog!