I Opened an Etsy Shop

I opened an Etsy shop and have posted 3 Christmas collages I made. Here they are and the link to my shop if you want to purchase one.

http://www.etsy.com/shop.php?user_id=6060634

IVLA Conference Pics

A conference participant took pictures while I presented and conducted the altered book workshop I led at the IVLA conference last week. (Thanks Neal, I really appreciate it.) Thought I'd post the pictures here - I had the group create "tip in" pages for altered books since I didn't know how many people would be attending and I was not going to drag 20 some books to Virginia Tech with me from Wisconsin. Many seemed to appreciate making tip in pages as a first step since someone mentioned that she would have had a hard time "defacing" a book.

Some Older AB Spreads

Been putting together my presentation for the upcoming International Visual Literacy Association Conference in Virginia and found a few AB spreads I've done not yet posted here.

Autumn Photography ATC Swap

Here are the ATCs I just finished for a swap - Autumn Photography. I like the simplicity I've created with each one. The photos are the highlights and they are some of my favorite photos that I am proud to say I took myself.

My Altered Art

Baggie ATCs have arrived

The ATCs from the swap I was involved with have arrived. They really are cool. I love seeing what others have done with my "stuff." I especially love the "WILD" atc - very clever use of the stuff I sent. Cool to think that the leaves are from an old placemat I loved and the animal print wrapping paper came from Julie on a present. The "Tea" atc lower right is very similar to the one I created for this person. We both used the tea flower, words and heart clip similarly. We even used a similar color scheme. Very fun and a big thank you goes out to all the women who made these: Alison, Caroline in CA, Jenny in TX and Judy.

New Day Dawning

Been thinking a lot about Stolen Moments Studio and what this means to me...
It is not just a "place," the little corner of our bedroom, where I do actual artwork and creating. It is my head and heart and the thinking I do related to my life, my artwork, my family, my professional persona. Everyday I create - it's not just a "physical" creating like I thought was truly creation. It is also creating myself, my attitude, just getting through the stuff of one day at a time.

Baggie Swap

Recently I joined and ATC yahoo group and someone is sponsoring a baggie swap. You put four things in four baggies for someone else to use to create an ATC. In the end, you get an ATC from each of the four people who recieved the bags - using your stuff. Cool! I immediately signed up and made my bags. Tomorrow I will send out. Here are two of the bags:
Baggie#1: Feathers, animal print wrapping paper, rich brown ribbon, silver stars, 2 fabric leaves (cut from an old placement), various papers.

Baggie #2: Abaca "paper" from Loose Ends, botanical print napkin, paper buttons, cancelled international stamps, real pressed ferns, dotted fiber and part of a bag that italian pasta came in.

Altered Art Doll

This paper doll, the first I have ever made as an "artist" - different from the paperdolls I played with as a child. This doll will go into my altered book that will highlight my literacy and myself as a literate person.

ATC Asian Swap

I made my first ever artist trading cards! I saw a swap with an Asian theme and knew this was a great thing for me with my asian interest and my many asian related materials I collect. Here are the results. I made 11 cards that are almost identical - a few variations here and there. I'll send them out this next week and get new ones from other artists. I like the way these turned out.

• Background - Asian themed napkin (bamboo)
• Origami paper - Red and green
• Mesh like "paper" from Loose Ends
• Leaves that fell from neighbor's tree
• Off white Korean writing - from Korean tea bag - "Korean traditional tea"
• Seed Beads ( inherited from husband's grandmother)
  

Phone Photo

Picking up the kids at daycare today, this is what I saw on the door in front of where I parked. Too bad I only had a camera phone to capture the image. I believe it is beautiful.

Long Time Coming

Finally stealing a moment to update my blog. Wish I spent more time on it, documenting the important moments. Maybe now that I have a new job and seemingly a bit more "free" time. Hard to believe a new full time job will allow me to have some me time, but that is exactly how it sounds it will be. Back to my artwork... need to get the inspiration flowing. This photo is our boy on our summer vacation in a park by a lake in a small town. Loved the tree, J loved the freedom of bike riding like a madman!

Altered Box - Books Read 2007

I decided to create a box to house index cards I alter to document all the books I read in 2007. Here are some of the cards showing the first few books I read. I've been doing a lot of reading, but haven't been very diligent in creating cards.

Collage with Natural Objects

Collage created with matte medium and outdoor natural objects found during our vacation in the Northwoods of Wisconsin. It's been a couple of years now, and it has held up very well.

Paper Beads

I tried out a "new" craft - paper beads. I read about them in Cloth, Paper, Scissors magazine I now get in addition to Somerset Studio, as well as saw a tutorial online at Go Make Something. Here is my first run - using a decorated paper of a neutral pattern and color. I added some glitter glue, stamp pad ink and some wire. I added a few extras as well.

Take a look at the bluish bead near the top center that is wrapped with turquoise wire. Look at the blue bits of things that are embedded in the UTEE. These are fragments of a robin's egg that my kids and me found in our yard. I'll have to use this bead on a bird themed piece of my artwork.

Here is what the beads looked like before I used UTEE on them to make them "bead-like." Very easy to do this stage - and fun. I'm not as excited about adding the UTEE, because I was trying too hard to be perfect, and this medium does not allow it when you add many layers of the goopy stuff. Overall, a fun project and one I think I may use often to add a personal embellishment to my work.