Just Weave Me Be

What a crazy time for me this past month has been. I've had more custom orders for books than I can keep up with at the moment which in part is because I have 4 halloween costumes I do every year for our grandkids. They never cease to befuddle me when it comes to their choices. I know it's been many years since I've had children in the house parked in front of a TV but seriously...Phineas and Ferb? Princess Peach and Bowser? Thank goodness for Google! Yesterday I delivered Phineas and Ferb and now I'm on to the other two...pictures will be posted this weekend when the kids are wearing them. 

I've also had to get out 2 ATC's (I thought I was going to quit doing them for awhile...I may need a 12 step program). The first is for a Weave Me Be swap, the ATC was to be woven with something...anything. I rigged up a loom and used raffia and then embellished it with glass beads. It took me a good part of the day and I know I won't be getting any awards for my weaving or beading talents but it was pretty fun to put together. Don't think my partner was very crazy about it but there is not much I can do about that I guess.

For the second swap you had to use a tape transfer. I used one of the stencils I cut for the man (it's actually my Puccini stencil) and used a vintage image of a woman for the transfer. The scan is terrible because I put a gel medium over the entire piece and unfortunately it got a glare from the scanner so the colors are a bit wonky. I titled it Letters Home. On the background I lightly stamped some text which is also hard to see in the scan and added a postage stamp from India. 

I have 6 more books that were ordered to bind plus a smallish painting I owe a friend from a bet I sadly lost - not that I mind making this painting for him but the bet was on the Cleveland Browns playing the KC Chiefs and my Browns lost! If you read this - It's coming soon, Stew! Promise!

This video is Carole King & James Taylor singing a song she had on her Tapestry album 

Going mad crazy..........................at the Shores

Book Binding and San Marino Daydreams

Sadly, San Marino is the last in our World Tour swap series, there just wasn't enough interest. I, however loved it, I learned a lot about some of the lesser known countries. It was fun while it lasted. I did a piece if what I think is a TITANO ceramic (left) which stands for Monte Titano, the mountain San Marino was built on. A little tidbit for you:  San Marino is the world's oldest and smallest republic.
As a kid growing up in Germany I remember a smallish souvenir type bottle containing wine either at my grandparents house or ours, my memory is a little unclear as to ownership and it looked much like the picture on the right. No idea as to why I remember that bottle so clearly - the texture of it was fantastic to me! Silly huh?

I've been crazy busy binding books. Here are a few custom pieces I've done recently:

For my husband the lineman




For Joann





Teacher's Journal



Pirate Art Journal
I've got one more to bind then hopefully I can get some made for my Etsy shop as it's getting even more bare and a lot of good that will do me during the holiday season.

The following video has no relevance to this post but it makes me smile to watch Sugar Chile Robinson play...genius! 

Already missing the warmth of summer.........at the Shores

I Read Banned Books

I just did an ATC in honor of banned books week which was last week. My friend Susan has a button that says "I read banned books" which was my inspiration for it. The idea for this particular swap was 7 different people indicated what the ATC had to include: 

1. 3 circles
2. something torn, ripped or shredded
3. something that moves, opens, spins or dangles
4. something metal or metallic
5. an element - earth, water, fire or air
6. something tactile

7. graffiti writing or marks

Here is what I came up with - it's not a great scan since the book lifted it from the scanner bed. The 3 circles are the metal eyelets up top, I used torn text for the background, the miniature book opens and closes, there is a piece of copper that tops the "firepit", I painted some fire, used "brick" fabric for the tactile part and "I read banned books" is my graffiti. 
I'm always amazed at the number of classics that have been challenged and or banned all together - I've read many and don't think I've turned out too bad! Pretty sad really, some of these works are pure genius. By the way - Anne Frank: The Diary of a Young Girl was banned for passages that were considered "sexually offensive," as well as for the tragic nature of the book, which some readers felt was a "real downer." Well, I for one will not bury my head in the sand and try to pretend such an awful time in this world's history never happened. As George Santayana once said "Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it." Stepping off my soapbox now....

I just purchased some new pencils, I got the Derwent Graphitints and the Inktense sets (24 in each set). I've been working on breaking away from my trusty acrylics and thought they'd help in my quest...plus I was in a swap where you had to just use colored pencils so of course I had to buy some, I mean after all, my huge set of Prismacolors just wouldn't do now would they?!? It's a simple design but kinda pretty, yes? It was done with the Graphitints, I love the subtle colors you get when you brush water over them.  

An Anne Frank video tribute, music by the Goo Goo Dolls

  

It's a shivering cold fall day...........at the Shores

Beware the Wrath of a Patient Adversary

The title of this post is a John C Calhoun quote and so very true I think! This month's winner takes all theme was the 7 deadly sins, greed, sloth, gluttony, pride, envy, lust, and wrath - you could do one or all or any amount in between on an ATC. I decided to do wrath, no real good reason except it was one that I really can't relate to, I suppose I get mad or irate at times but wrath just seems so much more angry than that....to me anyway. I thought about the trips I've taken to New Orleans and the voodoo dolls I saw for sale there in the shops and always thought "wow, you'd have to be waaaaaaaay pissed to buy one of those and use it", I mean, I'd be too afraid something would really happen to my "victim" (of course it wouldn't be my fault...........or would it?) Well, this girl ain't taking any chances! Anyway, here is my little angry ATC. My husband questioned why I decided against sticking my lil guy in the groin with a pin (he was teasing - I think) and I can't say I didn't think about it but decided I wasn't too sure with how the person getting it would take it! LOL

It's been a crazy couple of weeks, I had another children's bereavement camp, this time it was 3 days. I had the littlest ones again and am now convinced more than ever they really are not old enough to truly benefit from our therapies, their little attention spans are just simply too short. I wonder after the three days if they really got anything out of it? Have they learned a little more to cope with the death of their mother, father etc.? Not sure, but I do know I run after them buggers alllllllllll day! The sign above was hanging in one of the pavilions where we did some art therapy.

in Just-

spring when the world is mud-

luscious the little

lame balloonman

whistles far and wee

and eddieandbill come

running from marbles and

piracies and it's

spring

when the world is puddle-wonderful

the queer

old balloonman whistles

far and wee

and bettyandisbel come dancing

from hop-scotch and jump-rope and

it's

spring

and

the

goat-footed

balloonMan whistles

far

and

wee

                                              - e.e. cummings

On another note, my son Frankie (not sure just when I'll let him graduate to just Frank - probably never since he's 24 and I still haven't felt the urge) was up for a few days. We had fun, Randi, my husbands daughter, Jeff her husband and their boys took him out for some romping on the lake, I even made a brief appearance to go tubing with the grandsons! My arms were killing me 2 days later from hanging on for dear life to the tube while being drug up and down the lake! We saw the movie "Inception" good albeit a little confusing. And the last day we made our usual trip to the Rock n Roll Hall of Fame - a perfect day for 2 music nuts that we are! I was really glad they extended the Springsteen exhibit through the year so he could see it since he's a big fan.

Are YOU superstitious?? Get up and boogie whatever your answer!

Superstition ain't the way...........................at the Shores

A Repousse' Kinda Day

Well, I've finally gotten last months winner takes all ATC(s) done. The theme chosen was under the sea - not beachy, not cutsy...the sea. I've been pondering picking up the black matte metal and Prismacolor pencils to have another go of it (and perhaps walk away with more hair left on my head this time) so I went for it. The first one I did a fish w/seaweeds etc. but the only problem was the seaweed ended up looking like part of the fish I had camouflaged in the water, not too sure I liked the outcome so I tried again, this time a grumpy grouper type fish thing (can you tell I am not well versed in the fishes?) I like him better and will send them both.

Hope she likes at least one of them!

 

So, me being a glutton for punishment did yet another one, this time a skinny (3x5) for my friend Brenda who was gracious enough to order the black metal and sent some, much more than what was needed in fact, to everyone who participated in the swap, she wouldn't take payment so this will have to do.

That will be the last of my repousse' for awhile...it is not the easiest medium to work with, plus just the feel of the metal for some reason gives my the willies *shudder*, I try to wear surgical gloves as much as I can while working with it!
(PS the silver metallic Prismacolor pencil works fabulously on the metal)

And now for an old favorite of mine:

 

It's far beyond the star, It's near beyond the moon................at the Shores

Next Stop.....Belize!

This World Tour ATC series has been so educational for me, the research I do to find a subject to paint has been so enjoyable and informative! The latest was Belize so I picked Belizian art to do which also incorporates a little piece of life there with the women carrying baskets of goods on their heads and the beautiful blue waters of this country. I'm really happy with the end result, it was adapted from a local artists work, unfortunately I was unable to locate his or her name to credit it to since it wasn't listed.  Isn't it just some colorful fun!?!?  This was done with acrylics and I used some grass cloth paper scraps for the baskets.

The next country hasn't been announced yet but I'm anxiously waiting!

I've finally hit my 100+ (103.8 to be exact) mile milestone in my walk / ride, only about 600 miles to go to be out of Virginia! It would be quite a bit shorter if it were a straight shot across the state but the trail really zig zags all the way across! I'll bore you yet again with another map of my progress:  

I'll leave you with a little World Music. Bob Marley wasn't from Belize but I thought it still fit!

Gonna Stir it up............at the Shores

For Em

Well, I did my first 5k but was not able to run the whole way (neeeeeeed oxygen - and a body more fit!). It was to help pay for treatment for Emily, an 11 year old girl tackling leukemia for the second time in her short little life . There was one person who rode his bike 200 miles that day, he had some corporate sponsors and raised quite a bit of money for the cause. He started early that morning and finished up around 9pm...truly an amazing man! I came in 44th out of 90+ so I am pleased, I will add that I about DIED when a "older" lady in overalls passed me during the race - whaaaaaaaa :) The picture above is just before the start.

I am finishing up a couple swaps before I take my ATC "slow down". I've got to get more books bound for my shop and really want to do a couple larger paintings to get out of this burn-out I seem to be in with ATC's. Anyway, the swap was to be something about the year you were born, I chose what was up in the art world at the time - this was definitely not my favorite time for art really, Pop Art was really big, Warhol, Lichtenstein etc. This scan really shows the dots on her face more than the actual ATC does which stinks because it looks as though she has a wicked case of chicken pox! I drew it using a grid (which I do often)and it's my first done using no paint with the exception of the 2 metal repousse' pieces I've done.

As of Saturday the 31st I've gone 81.4 miles on my virtual trip across the USA, I am just outside Richmond, Virginia. My goal is to hit my first hundred mile mark by tomorrow (Tuesday Aug 3), WOOT! I am here to tell you, this keeps me amazingly motivated! I just cant WAIT to see where I am after each workout, whether it be by bike or on foot!!
                                      Trail photo!

And now for some music from 1965.....Beatles "In My Life" of course!

In my life I've loved them all..............at the Shores

Poland

I just finished another swap - "Poland" for Tarsh in New Zealand. I decided to do some Polish folk art, the background is dk yellow mulberry paper and the rest is predominantly acrylics with touches of different pens. 
The next swap in the series is Belize :) 

I took yesterday off from my trek across the US but felt it was ok since I biked for 22 miles on our rail trail Saturday. I thought I just might not make it back home after I got out there, it was so hot and humid. Funny things start running through your mind when you take solitary trips like that. For instance I started thinking "Well, here you are, the only fool goofy enough to be pedaling away in this heat. Just how long would it take for someone to find me if I had a stroke and was laying there? Would the critters get me first? How long will it take before my husband starts to miss me?" Then I started thinking about the area, what was the underground railroad is all around where I was biking. I started thinking of the slaves that traveled these roads in their search for freedom - kind of blew me away, really. Here is a snapshot of one of the panels along the trail:

                                               This is my updated map (as of 7/24/2010)

I weighed myself this morning after a week of my new exercise program...nary a pound lost :( but I won't let that deter me, I sure hope something happens by the end of this week though because 2 weeks of no weight loss will be harder to get over.
I got a new pedometer that I am going to try out in an hour or so - thankfully it isn't as hot and humid as it has been!

Now for some sunny walkin' music by Katrina and the Waves done by the Soweto Gospel Choir - ya may as well get up and shake it because it doesn't get much livelier than this!
I'm walkin' on sunshine...........................at the Shores

Bein' Trashy

I made my first "skinny" (3x5) for a That's Trash! swap. You were to make it from things found on the sidewalks, roads etc. This was super hard since I live in a very rural area and I have found it's pretty darn clean out here! Anyway, I did however manage to find a water bottle label, some sort of green wired tubing, a piece of newspaper from July 22, 2009, a parking ticket stub, a Dove chocolate wrapper, a small piece of black plastic and a piece of junk mail. The bottle cap and ribbon was from my stash - hopefully they were ok to use. My partner is into flowers and insects, I did a praying mantis. I cut up the tubing (opened part of it for the body and used the wire I pulled out of it for the legs) cut the plastic for the belly and collaged the rest. It was pretty funny really, I worked on this on the deck and it was the first time my husband actually watched me work from start to finish - he kept saying "let me see, let me hold it!" I handed it over once I was finished, he was pretty tickled....I think it turned out pretty good for what I had to work with!

This video stinks but the song suits my post!

Feelin' trashy..........at the Shores

Done Russian

Well, it's super late, or verrrry early depending on how you look at it (1:30am to be exact). I'm just not very tired which is unusual since I am normally in the sack by 11pm or so. So I figured I'll post about an ATC I finally finished up yesterday. I started it a couple weeks ago and never thought I'd finish it, I've had many large scale paintings that took less time. It was for a "Russia" swap so I did a detail of some of the onion domes of St. Basils in Moscow - all I got to say is it was a booger. Here again, the shiny gold trim on the domes cannot be seen on the scan.
 
I've got a super busy next couple of weeks. This weekend we are having the family+others over for our annual family BBQ, Tom's kids and families and the rest will be here, my mom and sister will be driving up from Georgia. There looks to be about 30 and thank goodness the forecast looks to be a perfect day. Lets hope it stays that way.
 
Then I'm taking a trip July 8-12 to Philly/NJ/NYC to meet up with some friends from high school, nearly 30 years since we've seen each other. Will post all the gory details once I get back.

This post got me thinking about that movie "National Lampoons Family Vacation" and the following song, if you've never seen it get out from under that rock you live under and check it out! And while we're in Chevy Chase mode...you ever see "Funny Farm"? That was hysterical to me, not too sure how many agree but it cracked me up!

I might be ready to sleep now.................at the Shores

It's Fontastic!

hew - it's been a bit since I've posted here. Just busy I suppose. 

I just finished up an ATC where your partner chooses a word and you are to use a nice font to write it out on the front. I chose to draw it using the Baveuse font on mine and I sure don't have to tell you what her word is. I hope she doesn't mind a bit of whimsey - I have been doing such serious stuff lately! I couldn't scan it because of the paper curl I have on the billboard and it's stormy outside so an indoor photo will have to do(you know what kind of crappy camera I have if you've ever been here before I complain all the time about it)

I also finished a
new book for my
shop I call it
"Daisy Dreams",
not the shop -
the book!
I used yellow lined
paper for the two
pads on the inside,
some may
want one with lines,
right??

I love this song - and such a sweet video - maybe you do too?
Dreaming........................at the Shores