artfest 4x4 fat book

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

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

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

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

ArtFest ATCs for ATC Book

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

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

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

"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

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.