TOWERS II

This is my 2nd towers mixed media piece for the Towers and Turrets class I am taking. I collaged on top of this one instead of painting faces, and I had a blast. I fear I may have gone overboard a bit, but I thoroughly enjoyed it. I am hoping to use some of these close up images in my finished pendants....which are.....almost, done! This class is excellent, just can't tell you how much it has improved my way of seeing things, and my jewelry skills. I am already addicted on making pendants and bezels, which I hope to share with you soon. Sorry for some of the blurry close-ups, but I cropped into the photos, instead of taking close-ups, but I think you get the point.
Thanks for taking a peek, and please don't forget to enter my giveaway here. You still have time, and I'd love to hear from you!

GIVEAWAY FROM THE HEART!

NO , I didn't forget that I said I would be having a giveaway soon, but you know how life gets in the way sometimes of what you want, or can, do. This giveaway is a BIG FAT THANK YOU to all who come and visit my little blog, give me words of encouragement all of the time, listen to my gripes, and are my friends ....which is everyone who is reading this!
I will giveaway two things, the first is the fabric art piece I made awhile ago. It needs a thingy to hang it, but I am sure you can figure that out.
The other is a new pair of earring I made ...I call them Starry Night. Cut wood beads with tumbled recycled glass, and sterling silver.

So that's it. Just leave me a comment, and if you want, I would really like you to heart something in my etsy shop, just because I like to get a feel for what other's like, but, this is certainly not mandatory, just a comment will do. I do love reading comments everyday, it lifts my spirits. Many of you have been super through this medical ordeal of mine, and I really appreciate that , and look forward to the good spirits you all send!

I'll pick a winner sometime late Sunday night, Oct. 3rd.

TWILIGHT

available on etsy here

It's that beautiful time of evening, or early morning, where dim and diffused light is indescribable to me, fascinating at times, when things seem to glow. It is a stage of "in between", open to interpretation. Intangible things always peak my curiosity, they are so desirable, the things we can't touch. Be we can let them touch us, if we open our mind.

Thanks for visiting.
Have a beautiful weekend all!

FALLING

available on etsy here

It's now in my backyard that the little leaves from our beautiful birch tree start to float softly to the ground, palish yellow lying on a mixture of green and brown grass. And that is what I saw when I learned that I won this gorgeous pendant from Nan of Spirit Rattles. Earth tones and subtle colors , as you all know by now, make me feel good. They are natural, raw, untainted, and beautiful. Nan captured this perfectly in her pendant. I tagged along.

Thank you for visiting and inspiring me always.

SPIRIT SPEAKS WITHIN

I am taking an online class ..."Towers and Turrets", given by Sharon Thomlinson and Deryn Mentock. This class is fabulous, as it is a wonderful fusion of mixed media and jewelry! I signed up late, so I haven't gotten to the jewelry part yet, but I may stay on the mixed media part for a while since I have found it so much fun. I have learned so many new techniques, especially how to achieve those deep deep layers that I admire . The face painting part went smoother than I thought, I am pretty happy with my quirky faces here.....but I would like to do more. It takes me a long time to do them, but it is sooooo relaxing to me. This piece is a combination of a lot of techniques done on a 9x12 watercolor paper that was gessoed first, acrylics, collage, ...well, go visit the site HERE to see if your interested!

So that's what I did this weekend!

Thanks for visiting and sharing my world with me!

HAPPY ENDING

available on etsy here

We all have a happy ending somewhere....but can we find it, or, obtain it somehow?
When I saw this buddha charm on vacation...it immediately made me smile a big smile, so that in itself was worth it. I wanted this bracelet to feel good, and look good. Heavier metal always feels good to me, beautiful natural stones are a no brainer, they all speak to me differently, they are wonderful little acts of God. When I put it on it felt good...like a happy ending to a creation.
Buddha's smile didn't hurt!
As always, thanks for visiting. Wishing everyone a happy ending!

CUSTOM FIT

It's been a while since I made a journal page, but frankly it just wasn't happening. Then it did. As many of you know if you follow my blog, I have been dealing with health issues that have affected my way of thinking. I feel that I am moving past some of the anger that I didn't even realize was anger, and am beginning to accept things better, and try to make things work best for me......a customizing, er, let's say, just some tweeking. Probably a few more tweeks yet, and I might just get to that custom fit.
I made this double spread out of a practice portrait drawing from Suzi Blu's class in Jan. I found my perfect words on some old dress patterns, I just love the color of pattern tissue, and the transparency creates such a mood for me.
I always have a bird with me, or in my thoughts, and I created the texture with Golden's molding paste and some foam stamps impressed in it, then a wash of light color. I have not been feeling like a lot of color these days, lightness, subtlety, and calmness appeal to me....a feeling toward peace....it makes me feel comfortable.
Thanks for visiting as always. I deeply appreciate it.

I AM BLESSED

I wanted to share with you some amazing gifts from some amazing blog friends of mine. The top 2 photos are wonderful jewelry components and earrings that I adore from Renate of Put A Little Magic in Your Life. Renate is a wonderful friend and an incredible artist.
She also sent me the beautiful family of birds, and the chandelier ornament with the birds shining through.....just gorgeous.
The 3rd and 4th photos are of an incredible piece of mail art from one of my swap partners, Astrid....you can visit her amazing talents here. I was blown away to see she had sent me my zetti doll for a swap in this amazing envelope she had made out of a bubble envelope. It is something, it feels quilted, and it has loads of beautiful papers, stampings, and do dads.
The bottom photo is a pic of a gorgeous handmade card sent to me as an RAK made by Marilyn Rock. I am guessing that the cute bird is a hand carved stamp that Marilyn has been delving into, she stamped on the envelope...love it!~ The gorgeous leaf pendants and beads are gifts I won from the extremely talented Nan of Spirit Rattles.. her style is perfect to me, simply stated and organic....beautiful.
I am at a loss for words to tell you what these beautiful people and their actions all mean to me,
they make me appreciate everything in my life. All I really need are the connections and the words, and I have been given pieces of their souls. I am blessed, by all of you that I connect with here. Thank you so much.

THE MOON

This is a postcard created for my swap group, the theme being the moon. I also used my favorite quote, and some handmade papers sent to me in a paper exchange earlier in the year.

Happy weekend to all....and be creative!

LOVE

This is a recent bracelet I made...simple, clean, and the weight of 12 gauge on your wrist feels good.

You can buy it here. Thanks for visiting and looking. And thanks for all of your kind words.

FINDING SERENITY

click on the picture for a closer look

As many of you know, I have been struggling with health issues, and the unknown, and now, the almost known I will say. I have an autoimmune disorder, that is "similar", but yet different, like a "cousin" my doc says, to Guillain Barre syndrome. The protective covering of my nerve ends, known as myelin, is or has deteriorated , leaving me with damaged nerves, resulting in the pain and weakness I have mostly in my feet and legs. It also explains my feeling exhausted a lot of the time. So , I feel better knowing something, although there are still more tests, and this diagnosis is open to change yet, but I feel better after a year of struggle that I am heading in the right direction, and have such a fantastic doctor who is helping me. Treatment for this would be plasmapharesis, a process of filtering my blood, but we are waiting a bit for some more information. I still hold a lot of fear, I have many many unanswered questions, but for now, I am coming to terms, and do realize that are many people worse than I am, and I am thankful for everything I have. I think most of all I am happy that finally I know I am not going crazy. Thank you all again for hanging in there with me.
I have felt very unmotivated to say the least the last 2 weeks, but today I felt like fabric. Since I made a few fabric pieces a while ago.....here.....I have always wanted to continue, but somehow got sidetracked. Today I listened to what I wanted to do.....and this is what I made. I had dyed the cheesecloth a while ago, I just love that pale blue color. I layered over that a transfer of a rose I made on coffee stained muslin, and in between is a beautiful green, brown fabric from Lorraine of Creative Daily, she makes the most beautiful fabric pieces ever! I stitched on some red sari silk, and the quote stamped piece of muslin also, vintage buttons, coffe dyed lace, and some red faceted czech glass beads. I was thinking about opening another etsy shop for work I make like this....tell me what you think please.
Look for a giveaway here soon, I am so thankful for all of you in my life!

VERACITY

This ATC is the only thing I managed to do all week, although I was pleased with it. It's been a long week of stress and a mental roller coaster. I have found out that I have an autoimmune disorder. There is still a lot to be done, as far as tests and results., and course of treatment. I feel better knowing what I am dealing with, the not knowing is worse. I will be okay, It may be difficult, and right now, things may change, but I am and always will be creative! I will share more with all of you in the days to come, I still am feeling overwhelmed and having a hard time processing something I am trying to understand myself.
Thank you all my friends for your tremendous support, and caring, and very uplifting comments that have made my heart sing! I am forever grateful for all of your friendships. I hope to catch up with everyone's blog's this long weekend, but first I have to go and put in a half a day of work...and a nice long nap!
Wishing everyone a fantastic weekend, and thanks for peeking in on me and my art!