The Art Dreamer

book charm swap

2009-10-12T19:07:00.000-07:00

The recipients of these little Book Charms will be able to write their own STORY on the tiny little 1 x 1 1/4 inch pages, then attach the charm as a focal piece for a necklace. My little book covers are made with mica altered with alcohol ink, paper altered to look like aged metal, a little diamond glaze for dimension...inside pages are watercolor paper...and the book is bound with eyelets, silver beads and twisted wire.

atc's

2009-07-31T09:59:00.000-07:00

A couple of quick ATC's flying out the door today for a little exchange. Last thing I had to complete before our summer trip North.

stamped metal swap

2009-07-27T21:37:00.000-07:00

Another charm swap. This one is actually supposed to be "Stamped Metal". Photographed here on a Moo Card so you can see size perspective. My alphabet metal stamps are so small that I decided to just make a little tag that reads "ART".

token swap

2009-07-27T21:28:00.001-07:00

Finishing up a few swaps before we head out on our summer adventure to Canada and Alaska. These are my "Tokens" for the Token Swap.

2009-07-24T08:09:00.000-07:00

Finally got pictures uploaded of my latest banner swap. As you can see, the theme was Wing It. I had fun with beeswax for these and believe me gluing feathers to anything isn't as easy as it sounds!

peace and love charm swap

2009-07-10T21:05:00.000-07:00

Finished my Peace and Love charms for another swap and put them in the mail today. I decided to practice some wiring techniques for this one. I got in the groove by bending, twisting, hammering and adding a few "love" beads.

round robin necklace ~ for Gena

2009-06-30T10:36:00.001-07:00

This is my offering for Gena's "Ju-Ju" themed charm necklace. My little amulet addition, which I've called "Hidden Visions", is an old flattened bottle cap with the the word "VISIONS" nearly obscured under layers of mica. I've attached an additional charm that I made from a deep blue feather and silver spacer bead. Close up of the nearly obscured word "VISIONS" on the charm. I cut the word from a vintage 1865 book and glued in under the mica with diamond glaze.
Below is my charm on the thus far completed necklace. Only two my necklaces to go and this swap will be complete.

round robin necklace ~ for Eunice

2009-06-20T16:46:00.000-07:00

I was able to work on my charm for Eunice's necklace today. Her theme is "Old things made new". I had this old key with red on it that seemed to fit right in with her necklace. The red beads were passed on from the player before me so I used them to jazz the key up a bit and attached it with a little ball chain. Below is how it looks on her necklace. Lighting isn't very good in these pictures, but I wanted to get this one packaged back up and ready to mail.

new summer look for blog

2009-05-29T21:35:00.000-07:00

This summer I will be working on a Round Robin Book Project centered around Marie Antoinette. I thought it might be fun to change my blog to go along with that theme. I found this cute background and banner here. Of course I will be posting pictures from the project as I go along.

This RR book project will be a little different than the norm. We won't be sending around entire books...we just send out our own pages to all the participates, they work on them and send them back to us. It is really more like a fatbook exchange of pages, but still should be fun. I've already received my first page to work on, but first I have to get mine ready to mail out!

round robin necklace ~ for Darlene

2009-05-24T15:25:00.000-07:00

Here is my offering for Darlene's Necklace with a theme of "anything goes". I loved her pendant focal piece and wanted to do something that tied in with it.I made a little wire heart and hammered it flat then made a little staple to hold the key on with. I decided not to polish the wire, but to just keep the dark feel going. Below is her necklace so far, I was the 4th person to work on it.

round robin necklace ~ for Suzanne

2009-05-15T14:23:00.000-07:00

This is my charm addition to Suzanne's "Natural Beauty" Necklace. Copper wire, a few feathers and two odd shaped little pearls.Here are all the additions to her necklace so far.

text charm

2009-05-13T08:46:00.001-07:00

My daughter got married! I finished my Text Charms! These are displayed on her wedding dress.

heart of the sound

2009-03-11T13:28:00.001-07:00

Trying hard to finish up all my commitments this month so that I can get ready for ArtFest. This little charm was done for my Charmsters group...it is an exchange between the 12 Charmsters that will be attending ArtFest this year. I got mine sent off yesterday. The ArtFest theme this year is Sea Monsters...not really my thing...so for this little swap I took my inspiration (after coming across this already wired glass bead in my stash), from the movie Titanic. My take on the "Heart of the Ocean" necklace from the movie. Here is my little offering...Heart of the Sound...as in Puget Sound.

round robin necklace ~ for Amy

2009-03-10T12:11:00.001-07:00

The second necklace in my Round Robin went in the mail yesterday. Amy's theme was "Royalty", loved that one. I just had to use a photo of Marie Antoinette and give her a key to the kingdom.

windows ~ Lori's round robin book

2009-03-02T08:30:00.000-08:00

The last book from our Round Robin swap goes in the mail to Lori today. Her theme was windows and the work in this book is absolutely beautiful! Wish I could show you all the pages...here is my offering for the last page of her book. My window inspiration centered around Marie Antoinette and the French Revolution. Around my window I wrote "Outside her window a revolution raged". I only had one window to work with, which peeked into the lovely artwork of Laurel on the previous page.
This was my first round robin and it was so much fun. I really enjoyed seeing all the books arrive and looking at everyone's artwork. I'm hopeful that we will do another one so that the creativity can continue!

round robin necklace ~ for Donna

2009-02-27T11:59:00.001-08:00

This is the first of 8 necklaces that will be coming my way for me to work on this year. The above necklace belongs to Donna and her neclace theme is "Treasure". My contribution to her necklace is the set of fused glass hearts. On the back of the blue one I've written "Where your heart is so is your treasure". I wrote it with a sharpie, but I don't know if it will eventually wear off. These necklaces also come with a book to write in so I've written the words there as well, so she will always know the meaning behind my "heart treasure".

oh well...

2009-02-11T09:21:00.001-08:00

Sigh...here is an example of artwork that doesn't even remotely resemble the original vision I had in my head. It is just one of those cases where things don't work out and you still have to go with it. This ended up being my ATC for the ArtFest ATC Book hosted by Bee Shay. I had wanted to do some type of specimen collection, but didn't get started on this project soon enough to really create my vision. Therefore I ended up with this version that doesn't look like a "collection", but instead looks like some freaky sea creature snowman! However, the theme for this year's ArtFest IS Sea Monsters, so maybe this little creation will fit in after all...it's just not my usual style! The image is printed on a transparency and embedded into paint. The jelly fish are stamped into the paint. This photo looks really flat...the texture and shine show up much better in person. Oh well, that's the way it goes sometimes.

valentine mini banner swap

2009-02-09T14:05:00.001-08:00

This is my offering for the Valentine Mini Banner Swap that I just hosted in my 'In This House' Yahoo group. It was so much fun having all the lovely little banners arrive in my mail. Lots of wonderful art!
I mailed out all the little packages to the participants this morning so that they will arrive by valentines day. Below is a "sneak peek" of some little goodies every player will be receiving. Hope everyone enjoyed playing!

round robin necklace travel case

2009-01-31T17:10:00.001-08:00

I finally finished sewing the case for my necklace to travel in! I used some vintage velvet drapery fabric from my stash to create the case and used more of my old metal buttons for part of my closures. I also used up the left over odd beads I had from making the necklace.
As you open it..........
then just a peek....................
and finally the necklace is revealed.
This little tied up bundle travels with the necklace too.
I made ATCs for my fellow participants to embellish and to indicate at what location on the necklace their particular charm hangs. These are my "artist sign in" pages where I've asked each person to attach a photo of their charm and sign their names.
Here is a glimpse of my own ATC showing the pendant part I created.
I can't wait to see all the lovely artwork that will be coming my way as these necklaces start to arrive!

natures bounty ~ Dolores' round robin book

2009-01-29T14:51:00.000-08:00

This is the page spread I just finished for Dolores' round robin book. Her theme was "Natures Bounty".

handfull of hearts

2009-01-26T10:43:00.000-08:00

Quick little Valentie Heart Inchie Swap out the door today. Made tiny little transparencies of a portion of the artwork I did for Tejae's book...then embeded them in white acrylic paint that had been stamped with text...painted that with pink and bordered with crimson...touch of bling in the center. Done.

round robin necklace

2009-01-24T12:13:00.001-08:00

Sometimes I wonder what I get myself into! In this case it was making a necklace for a round robin exchange...I have never really made a neclace before so it was a good thing I started early and didn't wait till the last minute! The part that gave/is giving me the most trouble is where I've tried to put tiny eyelets into the mica and wire it to my button. Two of the eyelets separated from the mica and I ended up using liquid nails to try and glue them back in...so much for "cold connections". The necklace is probably going to be a fragile piece during its travels and will most likely need further repair when it returns home, but I'm sending it on anyway.

For this round robin I created the necklace itself and the main focal piece pendant. There will be 8 other players working on my necklace as it goes along. Each person will add an element (Charm) designed to my theme which is ~All things vintage and sepia~. I've added little jump rings (you can see them below) where they can attach their creations to my necklace at the proper place. In 9 months my necklace will return home to me all finished.
Detail of the vintage metal buttons for my pendant dangle.
Beading deatils.

Close-up of the necklace clasp and dangle.
All in all I'm pleased with how it turned out. I loved getting to use some of the vintage treasures from my button jar, especially the beautiful sepia brown velvet hand covered button. The velvet button measures 1 1/4 inches across, to give you a little perspective, since all the photos are close up to show detail.
Now that the necklace is finished I'm off to make some sort of carrying case to put it in for safe keeping during its travels.

cocoon beads

2009-01-13T08:25:00.000-08:00

Finally got these pictures posted from my last project of 2008. Cocoon Beads for my Charm group. I decided they were not my most favorite thing to do...or maybe it was just because I waited till the last minute and had to make 36 of them!

completed banner garland

2008-12-13T15:00:00.001-08:00

Just had to post a quick photo of all the wonderful little holiday banners I received in this swap. I strung them all together on silk ribbon and hung them on the mirror in my living room...a perfect spot to show them off! I love how the banner backs are reflected in the mirror in this photo.

wishes and dreams ~ Kim's round robin book

2008-12-10T08:46:00.001-08:00

This is the page spread I completed for Kim's round robin book titled Wishes and Dreams. I have finally finished working on it and will have it on its way home to her for Christmas. There has been much going on here at home for me and squeezing in art is nearly impossible right now. Hopefully after the holidays...?
Detail pictures of the words, tiny stars and jewels. I tried writing the words with a white pen but it was really difficult writing over wrinkled paper and then the ink didn't show up so well. I ended up painting over the writing with white paint so that the words are more legible. In case you still can't read the words it says..."In her pale moonlit dreams she becomes the Fairy Queen...Dancing in the moonlight and granting wishes to all her fairy realm.

2008-12-04T08:47:00.001-08:00

One more little project ready to go on its way. These are for a holiday mini banner swap. Each little banner piece is 3 inches wide at the top and 5 five inches long at the point. We send in 6 and get back 5 to string together for our holiday decorating. Now...I just have to decide where to hang my little banner when it comes home to me.
Banner pieces are made of double sided cardstock. I attached an image of a vintage Christmas postcard with 3-D foam squares to give it that raised dimensional look as you can see below.

2008-11-24T15:38:00.001-08:00

I had so much fun playing with my waxy winter theme for the "Have a Seat" swap that I decided to just carry it over into this next project. (Hey...the supplies were already handy!) These are "ornament charms" for an exchange I'm doing in my Charmsters Group. They're charms on a larger scale than you would normally wear and ment to be used as ornamentation. Mine are 1 inch wide by 2 1/2 inches tall. Perfect little dangelies to hang somewhere special...just don't put them too near the fireplace or they might melt!

have a seat

2008-11-23T16:19:00.000-08:00

I was finally able to steal a few moments to do some artwork again...actually I HAD to steal those moments because projects I signed up for are now due. This one is for a 3 dimensional ATC with the theme of "Have a Seat". I created this little winter "sculpted ice chair" in honor of my daughter who lives in Alaska and calls me daily with reports of falling snow and freezing weather. I used vellum for my chair to create the look of ice. I love how you can see through it to the background.
This view from the top allows you to see the layered texture of the ATC background that is a base of paper with layers of impressed wax mounted onto sturdy mat board
Side view of chair.
Detail of the snowflake embraced by downy feathers nestled on the chairs seat.
Detail of intricately "sculpted" back of the chair.
It was a fun little project to do and my little chairs will be on their way out of here tomorrow. Next on to some little banners!

passionate heart ~ Tejae's round robin book

2008-10-13T08:01:00.000-07:00

This months round robin book belongs to Tejae and it is actually a very small little book, about 4x4 inches. I had fun with paper, paint and beeswax doing this book.
Close-up of the words.
I created an embossed beeswax heart to cover the little secret door and gave the heart feather wings..."give love wings".
Close-up of heart detail.
Once you open the heart door it reveals another heart with butterfly wings and the word Soar, "and your heart will soar". I love how the open door also looks like a butterfly.
Finally a close-up of the Soaring Heart.

secrets and hidden layers ~ Kara's round robin book

2008-10-01T08:34:00.000-07:00

This is the artwork I did in the second round robin book to come my way. As you can see the title of Kara's book is Secrets and Hidden Layers. This was a busy month for me, as noted by the lack of postings, and I worked on this at the last minute, nothing like the pressure of a deadline!
Close up of the words I wrote.
Secrets revealed.

Closeup of paint texture and layers.

let love in ~ laurel's round robin book

2008-08-29T08:17:00.000-07:00

This is my artwork done in Laurel's book titled, Let Love In. Her theme had to do with "overcoming feelings of fear and distrust in order to become open again." I did a two page spread as you can see.

heavy metal charm swap

2008-08-29T08:12:00.001-07:00

Another charm swap...this one is made of cold rolled steel - rusted. Corners are copper tape. Decorative element is some little wire used in electronics. Size is 1/2 inch wide by 3/4 inch high.

polymer clay house charm

2008-08-21T00:50:00.001-07:00

Another little house charm...this one is made of black polymer clay with an embedded silver heart bead, painted with green metalic paint. The charm was made for a small Polymer Clay House Charm Swap I hosted.

a sparrow's song

2008-07-30T21:44:00.001-07:00

I'm participating in a Board Book Round Robin with 6 other people...this month we were to find a child's board book, sand down all the pages, paint gesso on them and create the covers. We could also create a page or two to give the others an idea of our theme, mine is birds (like you didn't figure that one out). The above image is my front cover in its simple form. I want to add twigs and other embellishments, but will hold off doing that till the book comes home to me. I didn't want so much bulk on the front cover while folks are trying to work in it. Below is the back of the book which really is finished.
I created an "artist sign in" page where I hope everyone will "sign an egg" for me as well as sign their own artwork.
I also did one two page spread just to give it a start since I had 4 extra pages in my book that I was going to have to decorate anyway.

Can't wait to see what wonderful things the others are going to add!

vintage distressed atc

2008-07-27T14:13:00.001-07:00

Simple little ATC for a Vintage Distressed theme.

post artfest fat book

2008-07-27T14:07:00.001-07:00

Had to make 40 4x4 pages for the Fat Book. The theme was ArtFest of course. I so enjoy going to ArtFest that I couldn't pass up the opportunity to do another Fat Book over the summer.

catching up on fat book pages

2008-07-27T13:55:00.000-07:00

This is my June "By the Sea" 4x4 page (front and back) for an All Originals fat book group that I trade with.
Below is the July page for the same group. The theme was "Spirit of Freedom"...like you couldn't figure that one out!

mini canvas

2008-07-14T13:15:00.000-07:00

I did this for a little mini canvas swap. The size is 2.5 x 3 inches. The "canvas" is made from 1/4" wood painted with 3 coats of gesso. The background and flowers are painted with acrylics and the dragonfly is an attached image.

mosaic number 9

2008-06-04T19:00:00.000-07:00

More artwork in the mail today. This piece is 4x4 done on heavy weight watercolor paper for a 'Number Mosaic' swap. There are 9 players and each person signed up for a number, which was already assigned a color. Most spots were already filled by the time I joined in so out of the two choices left I picked NUMBER 9 which had to be created in BROWN. I think brown would have been my first choice anyway...I love Sepia!

The words "Family of" and the number "9" are actually raised elements on this little piece of artwork. The idea of this swap is that when we recieve all our numbers we are to glue them onto a 12x12 canvas and thus create a Mosaic.

grunge, post industerial and mica

2008-06-03T12:32:00.000-07:00

There are a few charm swaps I've been working on and getting in the mail. Two of them were grunge/post industerial, made with old "grungy" found items. I only have a picture of one because I forgot to photograph the other one. I will try to add it here later after the charm comes back to me. This next one is for a "Mica" charm swap. It had to be created with mica of course and the theme was 'Home'. The first photo is photographed laying flat and the second one is backlit for a clearer view of the imbeded image.

birds in my garden

2008-06-03T12:23:00.000-07:00

This is the Fabric ATC I made for a recent swap 'Brids In My Garden'. It really doesn't show up well, but the image is covered with mica.

2008-05-29T06:54:00.000-07:00

Not making much of it I'm afraid! I've been a bit overwhelmed with everyday life and my many art projects have been pushed to the side as of late. Hopefully I will get back to them soon...maybe even later today.

vintage gentleman

2008-05-14T19:07:00.001-07:00

Just a little ATC done for a lottery drawing on one of my art groups. Those who participate post a picture of their "Gentleman of Yesteryear" ATC in the group album and on a certain day there is a drawing for the winner. After that we all send our ATCs to the person who won the drawing. Of course I'm hoping to win! This is my first time playing with this group.

journey to the soul

2008-05-11T16:54:00.000-07:00

Just finished my Journey To The Soul ATCs for a small ATC Book exchange. The pair of eyes peering out the window belong to my beautiful, inside and out, daughter. She 's often my Muse in art projects. When you lift the window you see another window frame with the words below.

The back of the ATC continues the window theme.

2008-04-30T19:25:00.000-07:00

I just finished these little "extreme inchies" for another trade I'm doing. An extreme inchie is the size of a "moo card" (aprox. 1 and 1/8 x 2 and 3/4 inches). The theme was 'Hints Of Spring'. I practiced doing image transfers of the flowers for my background, then I made the butterfly double sided so that it looked more "real" in flight. One rule for the swap was that we had to have a 3D element included.

hanging in this charming neighborhood

2008-04-30T19:16:00.000-07:00

This little piece of artwork was created for the Hanging In This Charming Neighborhood swap. It is only 1.5 inches wide and about 2.5 inches high. We were to choose a "house" theme, create 20 out of heavy weight cardstock/watercolor paper and then emboss the edges to give it the effect of a soldered charm. Fun!

by the sea charm swap

2008-04-30T19:12:00.000-07:00

This is the little charm I created for our recent By The Sea charm swap. It was my first attempt to solder. I just thought the glass bauble looked like it had a bit of beautiful blue ocean captured in glass...the pearl and shell just seemed to finish it off perfectly.

belated posting of artfest trades

2008-04-30T19:03:00.000-07:00

I was really pushed for time in preparing for ArtFest this year so I never got the pictures of my trades posted. Better late than never! Above is my ATC. Below is a really close up of my charm. Last is a handful of the inchies I made. I traded everything and came home with some wonderful treasures.

all originals 4x4 fat book pages

2008-04-27T00:13:00.000-07:00

These two pages were done for a monthly swap I participate in. The top one was for the March trade with the theme of "Birds of a Feather". The bottom one was for April with the theme "Green...for earth day".

seattle ~ pike place market

2008-04-26T23:15:00.000-07:00

Guess what place this famous address belongs to? It belongs to the original Starbucks which is right across the street from Pike Place Market. I'm not a coffee drinker, but I couldn't resist buying a special gift card that can only be purchased at that location. I promptly used it to pay for my Tall Hot Chocolate! Beautiful spring tulips in the market.
Loved all the neon signs.

Yummy fresh fruit.

lingering in port townsend

2008-04-26T15:36:00.000-07:00

We stayed an extra day after ArtFest to see a little more of Port Townsend. We spent the night at the Tides Inn and yes we stayed in the old part... didn't actually stay in this room but...

the front desk did have a well worn copy of the movie which we watched as the sun was setting. It was just a must do since the entire movie was filmed at Fort Worden, Port Townsend and The Tides Inn. View from our room that evening with the tide in.
Our morning view with the tide out.
Spent some time looking around town before we left. This is the old Waterfront Hotel.

View of the town along Water Street.
The Antique store where we found some cool things.

fort worden's less frequented areas

2008-04-26T15:16:00.000-07:00

The old horse stables from the 1800's.
View of the jail cells inside the guard shack, currently the visitors center. Area on top of the old bunkers were the the guns were mounted.
Bunker door.

One of the tunnels inside the bunkers.

artfest ~ last morning

2008-04-26T14:36:00.000-07:00

It was finally time to pack up and move everything out of our dorm room. My mom and I shared a room. Rooms are pretty sparse as always, but you are hardly in them anyway. This is her side of the room. Bed hung on a rack. I had an actual bed frame, but when you laid down the bed tilted to one side. It was like sleeping on a hill! All part of the full ArtFest experience.
Again, the view from our room.

The sun was coming up over the water and spilling across the front porch of our dorm. We were in 225...nearest the water. Dorm 225. Loved our rooms this year and the beautiful view.
The Commanders House was just across the field from us.
A view of the officers housing across the parade grounds.

The anchor.

artfest day three ~ tricia seggebruch

2008-04-26T00:52:00.000-07:00

On this last day I took Tricia Seggebruch's "Alcohol Acrylic Magic". Here are her class samples for our class.
The early stages of my work on clay board.
The end result of this technique.
There was a lot of wait time for paint to dry so while I waited I took a few pictures of the School House Architecture. I just love all the white buildings at the fort.

artfest day two ~ nina bagley class

2008-04-26T00:02:00.000-07:00

Nina was teaching her "Gatherings" class on this day. It is what she called her lovely portfolio collection of old book covers with their little shadow boxes attached. The shadow boxes were filled with various treasures. Here is one of the samples from her portfolio used for this class. To see her entire collection visit her blog entitled Ornamental.
This is the cover to my portfolio as I was working on it. In this picture I 'm wraping wooden dowels in copper wire mesh which eventually became the shadow box for my front cover.
My mom and I took this class together but my mom forgot her glasses that morning. When Nina found out she graciously gave her own pair to my mom to borrow. So here's my mom is in Nina's glasses...a little askew, but at least she could see!This class met in a spacious upstairs room full of windows with lots of soft light flooding in around us. See anyone you recognize?

bonfire at the beach ~ journal party

2008-04-25T18:57:00.000-07:00

The begining of sunset at the beach. Even a short walk along the shore can reveal wonderful treasures for collecting.Tracy and Teesha provide fixings for hotdogs and smores during the Thursday night journaling party at the beach house. You have to cook them yourself on the bonfire, but that only makes them extra good!
This is inside the beach house where all the real journaling takes place. There were some beautiful journals being worked on and everyone seemed to really be enjoying themselves.

artfest day one ~ misty mawn class

2008-04-25T18:17:00.000-07:00

My first day of classes was with Misty Mawn, she was teaching her "From Withinside Out" class. It was amazing to watch her work as she demoed her techniques. She made everything she did look effortless and always with a beautiful outcome. I was so taken with watching how she created during her first demo that I didn't even think about getting my camera. She worked so quickly with such creativity that you didn't dare take your eyes off her hands. I feel that Misty creates a really beautiful unique type of artwork. The image below is Misty's class sample.

I spent my entire class time mesmerized by her demos and just trying to paint my background pages. I never did get to the part where you actually painted a face!
These are my two finished background pieces...all I had to show for an entire days work! Oh but it was so much fun just playing with the paint and transfers.

artfest pictures~ location~fort worden

2008-04-25T08:18:00.001-07:00

Below are some quick pictures I took during my lunch break on the third day. We'd had some rain in the morning going to classes, but by noon the sky was just this stormy shade of gray, just enough to give interest to a photo shoot. First photo view was taken from in front of the School House looking toward the castle and water. View towards the artists house, dorms classrooms and commons.
Side/back view of the castle. I believe this is where Teesha and Tracy always stay while at ArtFest.
View of the Commons from the School House road.
View of the School House, where my day three class was located. Just wanted to get started posting SOMETHING about ArtFest. I will put up more pictures when I have time later today or tomorrow.

been away

2008-04-17T08:18:00.001-07:00

I've been a way on an extended ArtFest trip this year and am just getting back. I'll be posting pictures and writing soon. This was the view from my dorm room, you could actually see the ocean through the trees although it doesn't show up very well in the photo.

artfest 4x4 fat book two

2008-03-01T12:15:00.001-08:00

Here it is...the second design for my ArtFest 4x4 Fat Books...58 all original pages...a total of 116 for both books. They took soooooo much longer than I planed on, but I prefer to get originals of artwork myself so in turn I've always done originals to give away.

artfest 4x4 fat book

2008-02-28T21:11:00.000-08:00

The picture quality is really poor and makes the color "off", but here is the desigin for book one of the paper 4x4 books for ArtFest.

mardi gras

2008-02-27T18:52:00.001-08:00

I did this little 4x4 page for an all originals monthly swap. As you can see...the theme was Mardi Gras!

second fabric fat book

2008-02-26T12:23:00.001-08:00

This second book is my favorite even if it does have an element on it that isn't fabric. The colors just speak to me more.

For this second book I once again used the muslin, but dyed the body with acrylic paint and reinkers. While the fabric was still wet I sprinkled coffee on the material to give it a mottled appearance. The small square was coffee dyed and when dry I applied gesso then a transparency image of a butterfly. Little french knots were used to attach the words "Forest Walk".

first fabric fat book

2008-02-26T12:10:00.001-08:00

Overwhelmed by deadlines right now, but here is a sneak peek at book number one for the ArtFest Fabric Fat Book trade I signed up for.

Front.
Back.
The body is made of coffee dyed muslin. The images are photographs I took in Alaska last summer and converted to sepia to create a very monocromatic look.

happy valentines day~one day late

2008-02-15T11:03:00.000-08:00

ArtFest ATCs for ATC Book

2008-02-13T08:33:00.001-08:00

The past week has been crunch time...trying to meet deadlines...all that time I thought I had way back in September has somehow slipped away and now things are due...which means I am forced into making art...not the best way to be "creative", but I have got to come up with ideas and get things made. The above 2 ATCs are for the ArtFest ATC Books I signed up for. I made 27 originals of each design for the 2 books. Of course it was more time consuming than I thought it would be...always is. Now I am on to the 32 pages each for the 2 Fabric Books that I signed up for...and the 58 pages each of the 2 Paper 4x4 Books I signed up for...and the original 4x4 page trade for my all originals fat book...and...and...and.........not even thinking about ArtFest Trades yet!

works in progress

2008-02-05T20:58:00.000-08:00

Just a few photos of what I'm working on for my ArtFest ATC book pages. I signed up to do two books so I am making 27 ATCs for each one. Tomorrow I will be putting them all together..stay tuned to see how they turn out!

dreaming of artfest

2008-02-03T22:09:00.000-08:00

I need to be doing more than just dreaming! I have to make two sets of 27 ATC's for the ArtFest ATC Books, and two sets of 30 4x4 fabric pages for the ArtFest Fabric Fatbooks...which I might add need to be in the mail by this coming friday...I just started working on my ideas tonight...at what point should I start freaking out? The above picture is what I will be puting on the back of my ATCs.

the gift

2008-02-02T10:55:00.000-08:00

"What's that?, " you say.

"A dried up little flower?," you ask.

"It's not even that pretty," you're thinking.

~~~~~

I say.....

"Oh but it is!".

"Beautiful, I mean."

"It was a gift."

"Where you might just see a faded yellow dried up flower without much character...I see the beauty, the lovliness, the inspiration, the unfading and unfailing love bestowed upon me by the giver."

You say.....

"Who WAS the giver of such a gift?"
"When was it given to you?"

I say.....

"It was my grandmother who gave me the gift...her given name is Dana...but known to me as Nana, she gave me this little flower".

Let me tell you the story:

My grandmother was, still is, precious to me, though she has gone on to heaven now. She died in the fall of 2002.

It was the following spring that her children sorted through all her belongings, some of which came to me. There were gifts I had given her in the past, some small treasures that reminded me of childhood days spent with her, and various other odds and ends. Among them was a little sticky notepad that read 'A NOTE FROM...DANA'. I took the little notepad and tucked it in my container by the phone that holds all my other sticky notes...but I never used that one...I just kept it there for the longest time...like keeping her with me somehow...I didn't want to use the little pages...to have them all gone...like she was.

So it sat there neatly in my container...for years...then there came a day when I felt it was ok to start using the little notes. I don't remember the first time I wrote on that notepad. I don't know what mundane thing I might have jotted down...a phone number...an appointment...a message to someone else in the family? I can't remember.

At first only I wrote notes on the little pad, then as time went on others would use a page here and there. The little pad began to grow thinner and thinner. The other day I noticed my son using it...scribbeling down something he was copying from the computer screen.

The next day I sat down at the computer, turned it on, and while waiting for the screen to come up I glanced over and saw the little notepad with his scribbeled page still attached. I picked it up and realized as I began to pull his page off that it was the second to the last one...as I continued to pull my son's page away I saw that I held in my hand the final...the very last page of my grandmother's notepad...and it was then and there that she gave me the gift.

A percious reminder for me of her...there on the last page...a sweet rememberance that her love for me lives on.

chaise des boisee

2008-02-01T09:55:00.000-08:00

As promised, here are a few pictures of my Chaise des Boisee...Chair of the Woods. This work of art was created for an Altered Chair Contest I entered two summers ago. My chair was chosen to win. Needless to say I was thrilled.
Can you see my little leather portfolio book nestled there on the seat, protected by the outstretched wings of the blue bird?
I had written the following note when I sent my chair in for the contest: Twigs and branches saved from trees cut down on our property years ago. The little egg on the front of the chair is a real quail egg gathered some 12 years ago and lovingly saved. The nest it rests in is a piece of broken old gourd, once whole and full of seeds. My grandfather had given it to me around 20 years ago. The vintage images of the Wood Sprites are photos of my husband's mother when she was a little girl. She recently passed away at the age of 94.

making moo cards

2008-01-31T22:26:00.001-08:00

Last night I decided to "take the plunge" and figure out how to order some moo cards. I didn't really have many pictures of art work on the computer so I grabbed a little book I made two summers ago and quickly snapped a few photos. Didn't even try to scan them into the computer...just snapped a few quick shots to see what I could come up with. Following is the entire book, but of course I only used snippets for the cropped little moo cards. My little book is encased in the softest leather and rests on the seat of my woodland altered chair. Thus the name Chaise des Boisee...Chair of the Woods. (It is also symbolic of my last name, DuBois ~ of the woods). Tomorrow I will take a picture of the entire chair and post it for you to see.

I've been dreaming of ArtFest coming up in two months, the theme is Forest Walk, and that brought to mind my little book here. I played around with the images to make a few trial moo cards, I even got brave enough to actually put my name AND blog address on the back! Now if I can only be brave enough to actually give them away.

Begin again...again

2008-01-30T12:56:00.000-08:00

"When your old life isn't worth living anymore...create a new one."

Begin again...again. Seems to be the theme of my life. I want this year to be different, to be better, to be more. I always do at the begining...fresh start...new hope. I've made a start. I've begun an art journal to express what unflods in my life this year. Below is the opening "title" page. You turn that page to the next two page spread below. A simple start to a new and once again hopeful year, only this time I really feel like there will be a difference when all is said and done.
I of course plan to be a more faithful blogger here this year, we shall see...but this is my beginning...again.

in this house

2007-09-18T14:19:00.000-07:00

As I said before it was a dream come true weekend. Not only did I get to take a class with Angela and Sarah on Friday, but on Sunday evening I was thrilled to be able to attend the 'In This House' exhibit, booksigning and artist reception at A Studio Gallery in Studio City. It was absolutely awesome to see ALL the houses published in the book in person. What a rare and wonderful thing to see the entire collection together, up close and personal. Although the photographs in the book are wonderful nothing quite compares to seeing the real thing, especially the houses that had a lot of dimension to them. I so enjoyed getting to spend time just looking at them over and over again. All the houses were just so amazing and inspiring. Not unlike the artists who created them.

If you live in the area the exhibit of 'In This House' along with Angela Cartwright's 'Soul Dwellings', handpainted photographs merged with altered art, will be showing for a few more weeks. It really is a "must see".

Angela and Sarah ~ the two story house

2007-09-18T14:07:00.000-07:00

Weekend before last I had an awesome weekend for someone who is an "art dreamer". I actually had some dreams come true! First of all a little background...this summer while on vacation in Alaska, I had come across a book titled In This House by Angela Cartwright and Sarah Fishburn (which included the artwork of several other well known artists). I loved the book right away, but knew I couldn't buy it until I returned home, so I had to settle for pouring over it the craft/art books isle of Barnes and Nobel. The book was filled with beautifully done photography of a collection of "homes" that each invited artist had created so that they all became a neighborhood in the book. All the houses were created from the same template to keep continuity in size and shape, but each artist had such a wonderfully different interpretation of the "home" concept. They were each so creative and inspiring.
Then........a couple of weeks after returning from Alaska I was thrilled to see that Angela and Sarah were going to be teaching a class together here in Southern California, and even more thrilled to find out that I could take it! It was called The Two Story House and the above two pictures are ones I took that day. It was so nice to meet Angela and Sarah in person and to be able to spend the afternoon playing and being "unruly" in our art during their class. Both ladies are so kind and generous and the class was just plain fun. If you ever get the opportunity to take one of their classes do so!

all my good intentions

2007-09-18T14:05:00.000-07:00

I had really good intentions about starting a "public" blog, but somehow those intentions haven't materalized until now. I guess a little bit of fear and uncertainty about REALLY blogging has kept me putting it off until now, but I have finally come to the point where I am just going to go for it. Jump right in. Dive into the water. Step out in faith, etc. etc....you get the picture. Here it goes!

starting over

2007-04-20T08:20:00.000-07:00

WELCOME! This blog was once "private" and only for certian family members to read, but I have decided to make some changes to my life and revising this blog is one of them. It is now open for anyone to read and will be a place where I can "dream of art". A weblog of my, hopefully, somewhat artful life...or at least as much of it as I can manage! It is not always possible for me to spend a lot of time doing art (as much as I'd love to), thus the title "The Art Dreamer". However, what I do create will end up here. I hope you will enjoy my small offerings and check in with me now and again to see what I'm up to. ENJOY. ~