anatomically speaking…

you know i can never stray from anatomical illustrations of human hearts or pictures of skulls for too long, right?

so i’ve been playing today (yes, i should be working)…

(if only i were as good at photography as i am at crackle)

i’ve listed him and the heart aceo i posted last week or so on ebay after a bit of [sweet and gentle] arm twisting from my amazing and sweet friend debs.  go read her blog and check out her weeks’ offerings too — they kick arse!

truth be told, i got a wee bit o’ birthday money yesterday and now officially have enough for my trike i posted at the beginning of the year:

i think this little red girl is going to be mine!  but now i’m saving up for handlebar streamers, a bell and even more importantly, the shiny chrome fenders!  as such i’ll be posting things here and there on ebay and etsy in the hopes that some sell.  it will be my sole “new” purchase of the year but i think it’s okay because a) i will rarely use my car now and b) i will be saving our planet.  but still, i vacillate.  should i wait until 2111 to get her?  i vowed not to buy new for the year and i’ve done SO well.  so i ponder….

wishing everyone a happy and creative weekend!  i’m either going to make a pot o’ afternoon coffee and catch up on blogs and comments, or take a wee nap before the bug gets home from school.  yesterday was soooo much fun but kicked my bum… and i’m now so sleepy.  my boys spoiled me ever so much and took me to sooo many fantastically fun places!

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little things…

i feel so repetitious with all this “i’ve been such a busy little bee” prattle, but it’s true.  i feel like i have four point seven full-time jobs lately with web design, clients, my shop, prepping for a couple of exhibits, family, “me” time (huh?), volunteer stuff that i keep finding myself doing, one world one heart, updating my sites, etc.  it’s made for little time to art.  but as most of you, i can’t make it though a day [nicely] without being creative.  web design isn’t enough — i need the feel of fabrics or fibers, the smell of paint or something to get me through a day most happily.  so, i’ve been taking little bits of time to make little things lately.  mostly ATCs and ACEOs and other small-scale paintings and collages.  i have two or four swaps going on, some gifts i feel i should make, and a few to sell… soon.

i’ve been enjoying making some paper and cloth ATCs.  i’ve started a few over the past week and finished the two above.  i love the contrast between the smooth papers, with more rough and texture papers and softness of the fabrics and fibers.

i’m also doing a series of “love affair” related ACEOs for two swaps.  and some naughty vintage erotica ones too, but i may not post those here.  or maybe i will.  you’ll just have to wait and see.

the “little things” are fun as i can create them when i have little time… between helping with homework and putting whatever i’m making in the oven, etc. and can easily be set aside when a client calls.  i am, however, going to be spending time creating the things i have really been wanting to create for the past year — finish my mechanical and light-up pieces that have thick layers of dust on them.  that is one of my passions, and something i haven’t had the time to partake in for way too long.  i’m lucky — my husby is an electronic genius.  i say “what if i wanted this to have a head that turned?”  he says “buy this and that and this and that other that and i’ll do in it a night.”  gotta love that!

i’ve been on a frida kick lately too.  i started to make this for the gorgeous and talented gaby but as i have a problem with injuring myself to the point of drawing blood when using an awl, a sewing needle or working with sharp metal.  as a result, i bled on the back of this card not once, but TWICE.  so, i’m making her a new one.  i’m not going to post the new one until after you receive it so as not to ruin any potential surprise.

since this is all battered and bloody on the back, i’m going to make it into a wee shrine of sorts.  it’s such a lovely image of frida and the wee fresh-water pearl matches her bow so well.  since taking the photo, i fixed the necklace piece to be more perfectly centered, and you can’t really tell in the photo but a lot of subtle text in the crackle that doesn’t look too shabby if i do say so myself.

for a BIG thing, i must announce that my sweet and wonderful friend debrina has finished her pages in my book “the museum of forgotten things”.  i must admit that i grew quite weepy when i saw it last night as she’s done such a phenomenal job.  it’s utterly perfect.  i’ll add one image below, but go check out our pulp redux blog now to see the rest.  now.  you’ll LOVE it!!

i’ll be posting my first additions to kim’s book “fragments, vestiges and remains” in the next day or three so peek back.  then i have until the 22nd to plan and execute my other two pages for her book and ship it off to debs who gets it next.  i must hurry as the 14th is valentine’s day and i’ll be mucho busy, the 18th is my birthday (i’ll be 23… again… for like the 10th or 13th time) so i’ll supposidly be busy, and maybe out of town the next weekend for a night so i must hit the book again tonight!  sooo much fun!

ohoh, and a last note.  see side bar for fleamarket floozies — we’ve created a group for our barterables.  and i’ve updated my barterable page (see link at top of page).

cheers!

happiness is…

i love days like today.  the rain interrupting my gardening due to its force, but the little disintegration piece i buried is surely being effected by the elements which thrills me.

yesterday, i received 3 ATCs from deryn mentock of something sublime for a swap she invited me to do a couple of weeks ago.  it was a lot of fun working on each of her cards and i utterly adore what she sent me (of course!):

and my very favorite of all three gorgeous ATCs:

hopefully she should be getting mine today, and hopefully she enjoys them at least half as much as i’m enjoying hers. i sent these to her:

and to top off the day with utter bliss and excitement, i get to meet my dear friends kerin and charley of remnants of olde for coffee (or lunch?) today. they are returning from teaching a workshop and passing through portland which is, quite luckily, where i live. yays! and with that i must go get ready as i’m running on less than two hours of sleep…

Mail art and ATC Swaps are fun!

Today is a great day! I finally received my two ATCs, mail art and goodies from my new friend Debrina. I have been waiting until I received my package from her to post about this so as not to give anything away.

See what I received from her:

(I have skillfully removed my address to avoid attracting any new stalkers.)

I love the ATCs and all the bits and goodies she put in: a coin from New Zealand (I should have done that too!), postage stamp, lots of little images, a playing card, some fabulous metal leaves, fibers, vintage lace, stickers and all kinds of yummies. I adore her hand-illustrated envelope — she did a fabulous job on it! I’ll definitely have to get busy using these bits. It had been a super long time since I’d done any swaps or created ATCs for anyone. These are what I sent her:

The envelope got too stuffed so I had to put this and all goodies into a larger vellum envelope. I suppose that was a good thing since the post people covered almost the whole thing with customs forms and stamps. 🙂

I forgot to take a photo of the goodies, but here are the two ATCs I sent her:

(the weird bottom thing is sewn on metal with bees wax and paint in its cracks over a piece of painted old cheese cloth)

and:

(i’m no wire worker — ha. tried to fashion a bird cage and know it doesn’t look like anyone older than my 6 year old created it but it was fun!)

Yesterday I sent off Deryn’s package of 3 ATCs and extra goodies. I hope I get hers soon as I’ve been ban from reading her blog until I receive her package… unless I wish to “ruin” the surprise. I like surprises so I’ve opted to wait.