Altered Board Book Continued

Just a few changes to report on my altered board book. In the first photo, the sitting lady sprouted a pair of glittery wings. Some gold accents were also added to the page, as well as small clear flower buttons stamped with script writing. The new page in the second photo features one of my Moo Cards. I carryied the swirly pattern from the left hand page onto the right page in order to tie the two pages together. I used one of Tim Holtz's images from Stamper's Anonymous on the page in the next photo (also a new page). More work needs to be done on all the pages. I have been working in small increments of time, walking away and then returning to work some more later in the day or the next morning. Seems to be working well for me this way. Have you noticed that I haven't come up with a theme for the book yet? This is a rather backwards approach for me, but I am letting the book "speak to me" and tell me what it wants to be. Have a great day!

Making Progress

I am making some progress on my altered board book, although it is still a work in progress. It has come a long way since this post. I am using papers from Basic Grey's Stella Ruby collection as well as catalog pages (my favorite) and the paper napkins that I wrote about here. The rectangular embellishment on the cover is made using alcohol inks on a game piece and attaching a charm to the top. I intend to hang something from the charm eventually. I applied the papers using Golden's soft gel medium. I am finding that I prefer it to the regular gel medium (as it is a thinner consistency) or Mod Podge (which seems to make the papers wrinkle more). As I said, it still needs work, but thought you'd enjoy seeing it evolve. Hope you all are having a happy Monday!

Thanks Mr. Postman

Look what arrived today! My Moo Card order!! I love these little cards. I'm using mine as business cards and hang tags. Have you ordered yours yet? If not, then check them out here.

I had such a fun time yesterday visiting everyone's "tea parties," (see previous post). Artsymama was nice enough to make all the arrangements and we were able to have tea with people all over the world. It was great fun. Thanks so much Kari!

Still not feeling 100% yet. How long does this yukkiness last anyway? I feel like my head is in a cloud. I haven't taken any meds for it - trying to shake it off on my own. So far it's not working too well.

Tea Time!

Happy first Day of Spring to Everyone! It is pouring down rain here and rather gloomy. I still am feeling a bit under the weather, but nothing that a cup of tea with honey wouldn't cure. Fortunately, Artsymama is hosting a virtual tea party at her blog today so we can all gather and chat while we sip a lovely brew. I just started a pot of my favorite - Ashby's of London's Apricot Tea.I have the tea pot all set up out back in my potting shed. It is cozy inside even if it is raining outside. I have a small collection of tea pots, so I will take you on a tour of them. Pictured above is a hand-painted porcelain teapot by Betty Platner who is originally from Argentina. I love the delicate roses and it fits so well with my Limoges demitasse cups and dessert plates I have set up on the sideboard in my diningroom. The photo is a picture of my grandmother setting the table in her diningroom for one of her fabulous gatherings. She was a wonderful cook and baker who loved to entertain.Here is more of my Limoges collection. This photo was taken in my "rosey" studio.This set is sitting inside the the glass doors of my secretary desk in my livingroom. It is a Mary Engelbreit tea set that I bought when she had a shop here in Illinois. I love the pink and yellow color combination.
Here is another of my Mary Engelbreit tea pots, but this one is particularly special. It is signed by the "Queen of Everything" herself. I stood in line for hours to meet her at her shop and she signed the bottom of my teapot!
This teapot is a favorite of mine because of the little bird on the top of the lid. He is so sweet and I love the soft blue color of the pot.
And finally, my Ode to France. . .those of you who read my blog know that I long to visit Paris someday and until that time my family room is decorated in shades of cream with black and white toile and little French touches throughout. So of course this tea set fits right in!I am so happy you stopped by and if you want to experience more tea party goodies, be sure to visit Artsymama's blog to see what the other party guests are up to.

Down and Out

Dug out this old photo of a kleenex box because the CRUD has officially been passed on to me! I feel soooooo yukky! I have two events to go to today - why don't we ever get sick at a time when we don't have anything to do? Not sure if I will make it to either one now. Not sure I should even try to go since I would just be passing the CRUD on to someone else. Going back to bed now. . .

Framed Art

I thought I would share with you my framing project that I finally completed. Months ago I bought some egg prints at a flea market. I had seen this type of print in decorating magazines and thought they would make a nice addition to our cottage. I came across some at an art fair I attended last summer. They were priced at $100 and up for the print alone - no mat or frame! Needless to say I didn't buy them and figured that this idea was out of my league. It was a few months afterwards that I discovered these egg prints which from an old magazine at the flea market. They even had the key to which bird each egg came from, which was an added bonus. The best part was that they cost me only $6.00 and I bought the frames at Target. I decided to hang them above our bed at the cottage to sort of give the illusion of a headboard until we save enough money to buy an actual one. I like how it turned out and I especially am pleased with the frugality of them.

Tired At The End of The Day!

Today I went to the International Home & Housewares Show in Chicago and I was over-whelmed by the size of the show and amount of items that were on display. Whew! I had to soak in a hot tub after I got home just to recover from all the walking I did. During the show I attended an enlightening seminar led by Leatrice Eiseman, a color consultant to Pantone, and Ken Mesnick from a fabulous store in New York called Gracious Home. They spoke on the forecast of color trends for 2008 as well as how certain colors make us feel. These color trends have been grouped into the eight color families below. I just loved the words they used to describe some of the colors.

1. Recollections: Tapestry blues, muted blue greens, elegant champagne and warm peach.

2. High Profile: Pristine white, ebony black, rich browns, silvery grays, accented by fushia, purple, gold and silver.

3. Ethnic Chic: Deep purple, misted yellow, stone gray, burnt orange, vibrant blue and brunette browns.

4. Chinoiserie: Violet, muted lime, cameo pink, hushed greens, and antique Chinese red.

5. Agrestic: Bruschetta browns, tender greens, golden yellows, accented with vibrant pink.

6. Wellspring: Blues, aquas, undersea green, violet, indigo, mother of pearl, and sandy tones.

7. Savories: Chocolate brown, daiquiri greens paired with bright colors.

8. Nuances: Rose, earthy browns, reddish plums, and green tinged bronze.

After the show, I checked out a sweet little store called POSH that I read about in the current issue of Romantic Homes magazine. It was a fantastic shop (it reminded me a little of Anthropologie) with interesting new and vintage merchandise similar to what you might find at a Paris flea market. It was all I could do to not buy out the entire store. I did manage to exhibit some restraint and in the end only bought an old French novel and a map of Paris. to use in my collages.
In other news, I got an e-mail from Betz White, the gal who made the darling little cupcake pincushion pictured above, and found out she has a new book called, Warm Fuzzies, which is due out at the end of the year. It has 30 felted wool projects to create. In addition to her website, Betz also has a little shop at Etsy here where you can buy her pincushions.

Something Old, Something New

I was inspired by Sharon to unearth some of the children's board books that I have accumulated over the years and create something with them. Like many other objects, the books were something I bought and had every good intention to use in my art right away. HA! My DH would have a good chuckle at that comment. I am one of those people who can't resist something that can be altered into a piece of art. . .and boy, do I have the storeroom to prove it! My problem is trying to find the time to work on these things. Well, after brushing off the dust from this wee book, I have officially started this little project. I'll keep you posted on it's progress.

Weather Report

It's going to be sunny and 53 degrees here today! Is it possible that spring is just around the corner? I sure hope so! Have a great weekend everyone!!! : )

Celebration

Shopping Day

I really didn't feel like doing laundry today, so I headed out to run errands instead. That is always a dangerous situation because I never seem to be able to get out of the stores with just the items I went in to buy. Does anyone else have that problem? Well I picked up quite a few "extras" that I suppose I really didn't need, but couldn't resist.

I went to Homegoods and found these Anna Griffin 12"x12" file folders along with the smaller divider folders. Oh and they also had regular size Cavallini file folders for only $7.99 and a tin of Paris labels for $4.99. Then I found these spools of tiny pom-pon trim in various colors. . .of course I bought pink! There is an Archiver's in the same shopping center so I ran in to see what's new since I haven't been there in a while. I picked up a couple packs of fresh new Basic Grey papers in the Blush and Stella Ruby designs. Both are yummy! The chipboard divided album is from Maya Road and was only $4.99. . .I got the last one they had on the shelf.

Back at Homegoods, I found this shabby chic looking frame on the clearance shelf. It has peely paint and pale touches of aqua. Bought it purely for the color. The paper napkins have a leaf pattern with a sort of script/ledger paper background. . .they will be great to use in a collage. I have a weakness for paper napkins. When I get a new package I usually save a few for my artwork and then use the rest for entertaining.

While at the bookstore looking for this magazine, (which I couldn't find, by the way) I spied the latest issue of Romantic Homes and fell in love with all the luscious photos inside. The whole issue is about Paris style. Think I'll take a little break, make a pot of tea, and get lost in it's pages.

Auction for Charity

I just wanted to share this darling ArtErratica Valentine charm bracelet which is being auctioned for the Meganaid Charity over at The Garden of Pink Shadows. You can go here to place a bid. Don't you just love all the danglies?

Cabinet of Curiosity - Cover

Ta-Da! It's finished! Here is the album cover for my artwork from The Cabinet of Curiosity Challenge. The album, which I found at Target, is perfect for the collages I created on 9" x 12" watercolor paper. I liked the color because it reminded me of a journal an explorer might use. And the fabric cover was perfect because I could embellish it with ribbon and 7-Gypsies gaffer tape that I already had. I looked through my stash of word embellishments and when I came across this word pebble, I knew my search was over.

I tossed around several ideas for the opening in the cover. At first I was going to create an entirely new piece for it. But then I started playing around with the images of the different collages and I decided I would use portions from each of the various challenge prompts and create a montage of them all. . .sort of a collage of the collages. I like the idea of giving the viewer a sneak-peek of what's inside. Later I may ink the edges of the album to age it a bit. I'll just have to let it sit and evolve over the next few days like I usually do.

Swap Exchange

Just thought I would share with you the little matchbox bird's nest that I made for Artsymama for the swap she ran here. It should be arriving at her house soon. I hope she likes it!

Destination and Reflection

The Cabinet of Curiosity Challenge has come to an end and the final prompt offered by Kari is DESTINATION & REFLECTION. This theme seemed like a natural for me because I spend a lot of time reflecting. Self-discovery equals growth as far as I'm concerned. Not that I spend all my time living in the past, but I do think that we can learn a lot about ourselves and life from our history. My creative process usually begins by looking within. Before I can reach my ultimate destination I must first reflect upon where I have been. To illustrate this I used photographs of suitcases and other travel related elements such as a map and compass. The journaling reads, "Always remember - the journey is more important than the destination."