Specimen No. 1

This is an old book cover and a bunch of random found objects.

I think I'm happier with this piece than any I've done in a very long time. The best part is that I did this one completely because I wanted to, not because it was for someone else.

(I can't get decent pictures of it tonight. I'll try again on the weekend when I can do it during the day instead of at night.)

Chunky Houses

I forgot about these...they're from a chunky house swap on Craftster in July. I love how they turned out.

Its been awhile....

These are a couple of items I did for a small vintage Halloween swap on Craftster.




I've been in a crafty slump for the better part of a year now. There are so many excuses I could come up with but it really boils down to the fact that I'm totally disorganized and my work space is an overwhelming mess. I did the "cleanup" in July, which turned out to be an effort in futility. Within days my space was a total wreck again. Its still a wreck. I walk in there, take one look at the mess, turn right around and walk back out.

I also have an issue with creating anything that isn't for a specific purpose, like a swap. I don't know when the last time I created something just for the sake of doing it. I have a piece sitting on my table right now that isn't destined for some far off destination and I'm set on finishing it by Sunday night. Its just in the early stages but I already like it and I think its got potential to be a cool piece. Now to get it off the table and turned into a finished piece, hanging on my wall. (I even know where I want to hang it when its done!)

Hopefully there will be pictures posted by Monday morning. I'm crossing my fingers.

The craft room...

The sad part is that this was taken after I worked on cleaning it for 4 days.

Swap Items for Rackycoo.

Here are the items I made for Rackycoo for the Invite Your Partner Swap on Craftster.

The Essence of a Woman

This was made for a challenge on Craftster's paper craft board. The only rules were that it had to be made mostly of paper and the theme was "Woman/The Female Form."

I decided to take some very simple elements that make up a woman and make a 4x4 chunky book. The covers are chipboard and I used my super awesome Bind-It-All machine to bind it.

Triptych for GingerQuilts

Round 3 of houses

Houses for Craftster's Round 2 of the Chunky House swap.

"True" book box

This was made using some clip art from an old Somerset magazine.

Little fairy house

I made this for a swap on Craftster. Its about a 4 inch cube. There is a battery operated tea light in the bottom so it glows from inside.

I wish I had done something else with the inside of the front wall so the cut edge of the fairy panel wasn't so obvious when it was light. Ah well...something to remember for next time.

How many mixed-media artists does it take to screw in a lightbulb?

Five. One to scour flea markets for the perfect vintage light bulb, one to collage over it with found papers, one to age it further with walnut crystals, one to give it nice highlights with Treasure Gold rub-ons and one to stick it in the socket with E6000 heavy-duty adhesive. It doesn't work but it looks wonderful and sells on Etsy.com for $45.

(I didn't write it, I saw it in a book and it cracked me up. It could be the Benadryl's fault, though)

2009

This past year (since we moved into the new house in December of 2007) has not been the best year for me, craft-wise. My goal for this year is to really get back into the thick of things and create some really awesome work.

I'm not going to say its a resolution. I never keep those.

12 Day of Christmas

This is what I made my sis for Christmas. Each block is one of the 12 days of Christmas. I couldn't get a good picture that shows the colors correctly.

These are some chunky houses made for some swaps on Craftster (of course)
#5 is my favorite, I think.