New Art ...

It always seems when Christmas looms near, I feel crafty. Christmas ornaments, holiday recipes and gifts are what I long to make. I met with a friend, her daughter and grand-daughter tonight at Borders and we had the most lovely time. She gave me some sheets of yummy bird images! Can't wait to use them. Anyway, while there, I perused the new Somerset Workshop, Quilting Arts and something else (Altered Couture?) I found the neatest Pocket Boards in one of the mags, as well as 'Rust Dyeing'. I'm going to try both! Also saw an article about Batik dyeing using soy wax. I've never heard of that before, just beeswax, so I can see I'm going to be in search of soy wax. My natural-vegetarian-organic-green architecture daughter will be so proud of me searching for soy products! ha Another product that made my list of wants is Emulsion Paint. I haven't tried those yet and don't know if they're like anything I own or have tried before. Anyone know? They come in a cream version. Time to check out DickBlick I guess. Also saw an article using Pearlescent Tinting Medium. Sounds exciting! I've been in a bit of a life/art rut lately but I can feel the creative interest flowing again.

Here are a few things I made in the last week or so. Inchies for a swap, and altered Christmas ornaments for a class I'm teaching...







What products are on your 'wants' list now? What haven't I heard of? Tell me! If you've experimented with the products I mentioned above, link me to your creations. I wanna see!

Feeling a Felty Fall

(pic stolen from here. Go visit her site. Beautiful!)

As I said in the last post... I'm feeling felty. I woke up to temps of 50 degrees, at least it felt like 50. Fall is finally coming I hope. I'm ready to hunker down in my pjs and slippers and stitch something. Long johns might be nice too. Need to get the chimney cleaned so we can have regular fires this winter. I miss that.

I've been looking around at felting projects, whether wet or dry felting. Even just using felt in a project. I want to try it all. Here are some pics and links I found.
The Funky Felter (I've bought from her and love everything she makes!)
FelterSkelter
Owl Kit
Isn't this the cutest?
Happy Little Bird Wallet
Cute owls!
Felt Trees Collage
Felted Bookmarks
Pretty!
Felted Pouch
Beautiful, but a little spooky for my tastes
I'm in love!
Love the elephant!
Watermelon Juicy Bug
The bracelet is beautiful!
Go see the 'felt tapestries' on the walls here! Fabulous!
Red Toadstool Felt Necklace (go buy it!)

Project I did last year (or beginning of this year? Can't remember.) Took a class on it, bought all the accoutrements and then never made another thing:



Links to wet and dry felting books on Amazon:
Wet & Dry Felting
Wool Felting
Felting

If you have a favorite felt project or pic you've found, can you link me? Or maybe a favorite felt supplier? I would be interested... Anyone have a surplus of 100% wool felt they want to trade for some art supplies or collaged work? hehe

Church Time!

October is Pastor Appreciation Month in our Nazarene church. My mother 'volunteered' me to make cards (thanks mom!) However, she wanted poster size cards so church folks can sign each one or leave sentiments. I don't 'do' poster size cards. At least I couldn't wrap my head around an idea for those and I hate to make stuff that people will later throw away. So I came up with my own 'card'. (I have a thing for quote marks don't I? lol) Anyway, I made prayer or note journals and decorated the fronts of each with subtle differences according to their personalities or jobs... I drew and painted the churches, based on pics of old country churches. Each one if different. I am pretty pleased with them. They might've needed embellishments or possible ribbon to hold them closed? But all the pastors are men so it seemed too 'froo-froo' ish... kwim?

What are you working on this week for fun? I feel fall coming. I wanna make something felty!

Catching Up...

I'm the mother of a teenager. A homeschooled teenager. All I've done the last couple weeks is school her (and my 3rd grader), keep records and the like. I can't imagine being the teacher of a whole high schooled class! Talk about exhausting.

** BLOG WINNER! Thanks for being patient. The winner of the ATC from the previous post is 'WiggyWig'! I'll get an email out to you asap! **

I have managed to sneak in a bit of art. Thought I would share. Worked on halloween ATCs. The ghosts are vellum (with paint on the back), the house is drawn and a friend gave me the vintage image that I used for Frankenstein's bride.



I worked on an altered book (for the club I belong to) that had a theme of Mary Engelbreit. I had fun with bright colors.














With the beautiful weather we've been having, I've picked up on my garage/estate sale shopping (for Ebaying & for me!) I've found some lovely things I thought I might share. I just love the styles of the old melmac/melamine plastic (yellow and 2nd aqua pic) and I discovered a new company I love... Heller (yellow container)! Fabulous. Sometimes I think, what are we missing out, buying all new fangled things that end up breaking half the time? I love the old stuff! What do you look for when garage/estate or thrift store saling?







This week I'll post pics of the altered comp books I did for the pastors at our church. It's pastor appreciation month.