Back in the Beads

After a long hiatus from the blog, I am back with some of the beadwork I have been making. I took an interest a while ago in making barrettes and created a few for the Saturday Market.

I also made a few necklaces, which I normally shy away from.

 

I had carpel tunnel surgery recently and have lost the numbness in my right hand. Planning on having the surgery on my left hand soon.

I have spent a lot of time cleaning and organizing the studio and now I am starting to work on some mixed media pieces. Will post them when I'm finished.

Art Books with Gretchen in Seattle

My friend Gretchen, in Seattle, makes great bound books. But she hasn't put much in them. I, on the other hand, make art books, but I rely on the generic blank journals to create them from.

Soooooo.....Gretchen and I got together and she made 2 wonderful blank books with papers she had printed on her jelli printing gizmo. She sent me one to add art to for her, and she kept the other to add art to for me. The picture above is the front of the book that Gretchen made for herself, which I arted up. Gretchen painted the picture of this heavy-lidded gal.

 

This page has a little portrait of a butterfly lady which I added wings to so she could fly. The yellow ribbon is attached to a tag that has a quote on it.

 

I tried to use differant techniques that I had learned over the years. This is one I worked out for myself. It is a wheel inside of two pages and as you turn it, the picture in the little window changes. The edge is bound with home-made washi tape that I made with medical paper tape and a rubber stamp.

 



I loved this picture for it's color and architectural beauty. I attached a square of tissue that I had stamped on and sealed it with gel medium.

 

This little folded pocket holds tarot cards that I chose for their art qualities.

 

I had a page from an Umberto Eco novel and noticed this little piece that I highlighted by painting over the rest of the paragraph.

 

I love these bird identification cards. I added a little pop-up to it...

 

 ...with this quote.

 

This little ship (from National Geographic) sails back and forth with a tug on the tab on the side.

 

The pages all are differant sizes, which added to the cleverness of the book. I Zentangled a few orbs with black micron pens and a white gel pen.

 

Another favorite quote with a packing tape transfer. These are really easy to make. Take a xerox copy of a black and white picture and place a piece of clear packing tape over it. Burnish it down well. Then soak it in water for a few minutes until the paper is thoroughly wet and then gently rub the paper off. The image will remain on the tape.

 

This is another transfer made with gel medium on a magazine page. The wonderful colors of the page come through to give it a nice glow.

These are my favorite pages. I finished the book and shipped it off to Gretchen, who enjoyed it.







 

 

Beads

Saturday Market will be starting up here in Eugene next month so I have been beading a bit to fill up my inventory that got depleted during Holiday Market.

 I love this little mini heart because of the retro colors.

And this one for all the Irish at Heart.

 

This one is my take on Winter.

 

I love this old circus print that I made into a glass cab.

 

And, Of course I'm making more Sugar Skulls.

 

I've been beading the antique shell cameos with antique Italian seed beads.

 

I have been making a few of the larger, framed pieces.

Beading is my bread and butter so I can help supplement my income and buy more beads and art supplies. But I do love working with paper and wood and what-have-you. I'm looking forward to going to the Art and Soul Retreat in Portland this October to take a few classes and network with other artists. Maybe you'd like to come too.

 

 

 

 

Shrines

After Holiday Market, I took a short break from beading and made some shrines.

These are the little $1 wooden birdhouses that you can get at Michaels or JoAnn's for painting.

I used my Dremel to cut open the front and sanded it a bit to look a little more rustic. Then painted or varathaned it and added bits and bobs to complete it.

I get the cool little skulls from a local lady who makes them out of clay. At first glance they look like pebbles.

This little sea shrine is one of my favorites.
Now I am done with shrines for a bit and I am working on the kid's altered books. I started them a few years ago and when I had cancer, I was thinking, "wouldn't it be awful if I died before I finished their books". So now I am working full steam ahead on Chase's book. More on that later.

Last, But Not Least...

Well, today dawned crisp and cold and autumny. The perfect day to gather and show off the last of the Creative Correspondence.

Anne mounted one of her delicious pictures on an embossed card for a lovely Thank You note.

She also brought this wonderful example of graphic writing made into a card.

Paula, with a background in graphic design, made this creative line drawing.

Janice made a card for her daughter, now in college, featuring a piece of artwork that her daughter had made when she was small.

Janice also made this fun card with a vintage page from an old cooking magazine.

More Mail Art

Yay! More delightfully Creative Correspondence...

Rina made these wonderful papercuts...

This postcard was made by Patricia. The silver foil background was the wrapper from a chocolate candy. Repurpose!

Susie made this sign and sent it to me for mornings of reaffirmation.

Robin made this card. At first I thought she had found some cool coordinating papers, but on closer inspection realized that the colorful bit on the front is not some random piece of stock paper, but a photo that Robin took of her pumpkins and then stamped over it in white and metallic gold with an awesome Fibonachi Spiral stamp. The envelope was also stamped to match and the address label matched the photo!

Just a Little Bit of Art

Sometimes, I want to create something, but I don't have time or inclination to start an involved process. That's when I make Artist Trading Cards (ATC's).
I can sketch something or do a simple watercolor or something a little more involved like this one with a little wheel inside that reveals four differant Divas...



Here are 2 differant views...



If I want to do something even simpler, I do a little Zentangle, like these...

The rules for ATC's are simple. They have to be 3.5 inches by 2.5 inches and you can't sell them, only trade or give them away. Try it.