Today I mail out my tags for a swap I am participating in with
 Denise Phillips of birdnutsmixedmedia.
       The theme was open and the challenge was to create 3 tags for swapping using graphics from one or both of the very talented Deviant Scrap Designers- Tumble Fish Studio or Crow About StudioB
 
    These are my three entries...

                                                               "BEE YOURSELF"

                                           "The dance of the gypsy scarves"

                                                               "Peas in a Pod"

      For each tag I was able to incorporate graphics using both           Marsha Jorgenson of Tumble Fish Studio  &
Nancy Baumiller of Crow About StudioB.
    Other items used :
Golden Fluid Acrylics as well as Golden Matte Medium
Ranger Stickles Glitter Glue in favorite shades.


 These tags were a blast to create as I love combining paint and  collage! - hope my swap partners enjoy them too!! ")

     Over the last few days I have been working on three separate sketches from the same prompt.
     A very talented artist,that I follow, Dion Dior, was guest host over at  "Sketchbook Challenge". The prompt for the February challenge is Windows.  In Dion's post, she asked the question, 
            "What are you looking at through your window?" 
                            and so,this is where I began.
     This first sketch is looking out my bedroom over the the deck and pond...Sunday was so spring-like I thought this would be great!

   as you can see in the next photo, the weather turned nasty this morning...blurring and changing my previous sunny view !

       My second sketch is from the car window as we were pulling out of the driveway...this is the Black Walnut out back... 

            and the third picture is a quick acrylic with heavy gel painting. This is from my studio window where I limited what I put in, as that is what I saw through that pane.

                        This...is how it looks out my studio window now...you know, where I took the nice sunny photos of the birds the other day?

  It's back...for awhile they say...we aren't heading South, so, I'm heading back to the studio to play till it's over! 
ps
will someone please tell my hub to leave a plate of food -with chocolate- outside my door? teehee
pss 
this post was started Monday and the weather has now turned even worse! I may need a week's rations ")

      No time to blog or play in my studio the last few days as the Grandkids came to visit. We had fun~ playing games, finishing up a jigsaw puzzle, spending time on the 4 wheeler with Poppa and most of all- we laughed like crazy!!! 

    One day,from my studio window, we had the chance to finally glimpse signs of Spring!

 Look at this beautiful Robin- such a sweet song to hear once again!
and these little tail feathers hanging off the peak outside my window...

 

  well, they belong to the same little guy who seems to be setting up housekeeping here...

 

  Here he is,dressed in Nature's splendor-the Eastern Bluebird.
The Bluebird's colours are so vibrant- you can tell it's him when he flies by, it's like a streak of blue - a Monet blue.
 

  Together, the Bluebird and Robin, were pecking around the grass hoping for a grub or two...ready for a fresh meal!
  Later in the day when we went shopping for more birdseed, I bought my Bluebird and his friends a bucket of dried Mealworms! 
                                 I hear it's a favorite!   yum!   
       
        Now I am convinced, Spring is not far off! Hooray!

      Our next adventure was off to check on our chicks!
 Oh Yes, we are! We have six Hens or Pullets,as they are called, and a Rooster on order to pick up after hatching at the end of March... We will have our own eggs- fresh everyday! and a Rooster to wake us with his morning call! Let's just hope we can program him for the correct time! teeheehee 
  This photo shows how big our chicks will be on the day they hatch...    

                                                    How adorable- and soft!

   Our chicks will be almost all black with tufts of white... 
You can see what breed we have and what they will look like here-  Barred Rock Chickens

   While at the farm,we met this sweet little guy, who was a rescue at 5 days old..his name is Jasper.

    The grands and I were really sweet on him and I thought, hmmm we should have a lamby, till I found out, he is going to be at least-400lbs! Yikes !
  The folks that rescued him are now his forever home. You should hear him blat when he is left alone! Such a baby") Jasper has become a house lamb with his own room~I wonder what they will do when he gets full size! heehee
 


Hear that? A quiet house today as we dropped of the grands last evening..
Off for some fresh coffee and then to the studio !
 Enjoy your weekend!

            My backyard...
    When the sun finally started to come up this morning- WOW! What colours! SO I ran and got my camera,flew out the door,no coat,no shoes and the winds blowing...you have to shoot fast because the scene changes so quickly...

 Unfortunately in all my haste, I neglected to adjust certain features on the camera-hence the shake from the wind "(    I decided to post anyhow, because the colours were just too brilliant not to share! hmm-might have to print this to use in a journal piece-thinking...


     The next picture is a wonderful pet portrait of Chum,created by my Artist Friend Denise Phillips of  BC, Canada.
 Denise is a true animal friend and lover and has a home filled with  rescued birds and a sweet furbaby,named Oliver Howard. Denise's artistry goes beyond pet portraits, you can check her out here   http://www.birdnutsmixedmedia.blogspot.com/; her art is always so colorful and fun!
    Information on how you also can have Denise digitally design a wonderful portrait of your favorite furbaby or furbabies can be found on the widget on the right- hand side of her blog.

                                              Here's... Chumley! 
      Making his wish for another peanut butter treat and a game of king of the mountain(snowbank)! 

   thanks for checking in  ")

        Monday came and went and I had no time to play in my studio!
My hub and I spent the day, a sunny,15 (brrrr) degrees,shoveling off the roof and melting the built up ice in the gutters. And this was all in anticipation for the next snowfall heading our way! Argh!!!  

       Today I decided to post a card I made last week for one of our grandsons- Calem.

        A few weeks ago we went with Calem,his Mom and Dad to the Strong National Museum of Play.  We had a ball! There are so many neat and interactive things to see and do there for kids! Well worth a membership for a family! My hub and I played PacMan and he whooped me! 
      The museum also houses an incredible collection of vintage toys and games.Read about the founder Margaret Woodbury Strong, here, an incredible woman who truly believed in the importance of PLAY!

    The card.The red and white piece along the edge is my wrist bracelet we had to wear while in the museum...

 the kitties are for-Boots-the kitty, the grands have and adore!

    This is Calem on a sculpture of "The Count" from Sesame Street-see The Count's waving arm?  In Calem's hand is a wand I made, like the one I made for him at the museum in the Wizard Hall- he carried that around waving it proudly!! made me proud too! ")

  Here is the card opened up. In the pocket to the right is some play money, some real money and a Get Out Of Jail Free card!  So, if you are wondering, Calem LOVED it! Calem pointed out the wrist band right away, and his Mom said said, when they opened the card and he saw himself- he was so happy and excited and ran to get his real wand! ")

Making the card, I used all kinds of fun mediums and trinkets.The mini glasses on the kitty are from Retro Art Cafe' Gallery. Kristen has a great assortment of goodies! Also used were, Ranger's Stickles for most of the glitteryness and Ink Essentials-Glossy Accents
  
    Heading into the studio this morning-hoping that my muse is ready to play!! 
thanks for checking in ")

   In spite of all of my good intentions of getting back on Friday to post more...here it is Sunday!
                                   Happy Sunday everyone!

 

       In honor of Valentine's Day- I went with some background pages in one of my journals I already had worked and just added a few collage elements and a bit of writing. Again- no during photos as oops! I forgot to bring my camera in!
       Speaking of cameras, Darlene asked about my pictures and why they are so crisp and clear- I would love to say- Oh, user skill- haha- but I really think my camera-Nikon Coolpix P5000 was a great buy. We bought this seven years ago and when I was looking up info on it, looks like Nikon has since retired this camera. It is still available on Amazon, however, at around two hundred more than we paid for it.
          Back to my pages, here are the close-ups of each page.
don't you just love the crackle on the heart?- I used  Scattered Straw Distress Crackle by Tim Holtz

The ladies used in the picture come from *iTkUpiLLi* Imaginarium

Kirsi's digital art is fabulous! You'll see I use her pieces quite often in my art.

       As far as the studio goes, it was all nice and almost clean when a burst of creativity came to me and I just had to sit and play! I had been looking online for some storage for my markers and well, just did not want to spend the money (I rather spend the money on art supplies!) So, I decided to look around the barn and see what could be Upcycled or Repurposed- and this is what I came up with...

       My husband was kind enough to give up one of his trillion storage chests{thanks honey!}- so with a little paint and paper, total cost, -all items were  on hand = saved money to buy paints,stencils,stamps,ect HUGE GRIN ")

 

 I do have another piece in the works, and I actually am taking photos, teehee, so, right after I go shovel the deck, Again , I'll be hunkered down in my studio- as I think the snow shall never stop! ARGH!

On this note,I'll say, my hub and I have have this running joke,where he looks out the bedroom window

and says, " I thought you were going to shovel the deck? "  and I just look at him and laugh....

have a great day and thanks for checking in ")

This is where I will be for awhile this morning...

 I'll be back later after cleanup to share what I have created for today!!

                                    ~  From my sweet husband~
               Looking forward to planting this in the yard in the Spring!   
        
                          Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

  Slept in a bit today as I shoveled like the dickins yesterday!  I am sooo ready for Winter to be over!! The weatherman says by the end of next week we should see a warmup into the 40's- HEATWAVE!  So,when I looked out and saw all grey again today, I decided it was time to take down the Winter decor I had put up in honor of the season-
                             (geesh! what was I thinking?!!!)

    Recently, I finished a piece I was playing with using
                           LuminArte- Twinkling H2O's- 
 The H2O's have such vibrancy because they are made with mica and high grade pigment that refracts the light-instead of absorbing it-  If you ever get a chance to paint these H2O's,go for it, as I think you will be pleased with the results.

  The sentiment on my painting is by John Burrows- I really love it and had hoped to capture those beautiful colours as Nature had intended.  Successful or not, the painting lifts my spirits!
 

     So...here's to Spring around the corner and hoping that our Winter melts away soon!
Thanks for checking in
Jackie ")

I have been working on several different pieces in my studio and this one I have completed! So , I thought I would share...did I mention that I like to collect vintage? Some may say I hoard, but I know better...there is a purpose for everything out there. (by this I mean the huge Pole Barn we have that is so full you can't get in; well at least not till Spring or the first yard sale!) So, on to my upcycled creation. I have always loved the old cosmetic luggage and therefore have one or two-lol- I also was occupying 3 or 4 neat vintage jewelry boxes at once-
 so...this is what I did. 
I wish I had taken in the process photos, but I did not. I stripped out all the interior satin pockets and plastic hold in place items and painted the whole piece with leftover Interior Satin house paint. I meticulously painted the trimming with Stewart Gill Byzantine-AEGEAN paint mixed with Viva Precious Metal -Turquoise -the shimmer is just what i like!
                                        

After the painting I decorated with a few favorites papers and some garnet jewel stones- I applied the ephemera with Aileen's Matte Decoupage Gel and the stones with Aileen's Jewel It-lacquer. and a final coat of the same gel to seal.

 

For the inside I found these great little section boxes already papered  at Marshall's for $2.00 each- SCORE!

       In case you were wondering the ladies on the top are
 by Maxfield Parrish- one of my All-Time Favorite artists! Parrish's paintings are so vivid with colour and the women he paints are so gorgeous ! These ladies are from "The Waterfall" 1930.

  As you can see my blog is a new ongoing assemblage; please bear with me and let me know what you think ! thanks for catching up! 

") Jackie

My first post ever!

 Wow! Already  into the second month of 2014!  and in a few mores days...hearts will be all over the place!
 Well, my heart is feeling really full today as I got some wonderful mail art and treasures from my dear friend- Darlene!

How lucky am I?!!! I love her packaging- GO GREEN Darlene! heehee  Darlene used a paper bag, rolled down , decorated fabulously- and taped to travel!! And, in there, not one, two but three cards!, A Giant tube of KROMA crackle(huge grin!),artist soap,my favorite candy, a watercolor created by my awesome friend, and CHICKEN POOP lip balm!! What more could a gal ask for?! Oh yes, she knows I'm free range~ lol Thank you my bestest artist friend from Ohio!!!
 So when you think the day could not get any brighter, actually it could...cause it's snowing uncontrollably....
......more happy mail!!!!

A Sweet package of goodies I won from  RED LEAD PAPERWORKS  http://redlead.typepad.com/artsee!
A stencil, a mask set of 3 stamps and 2 bottles of yummy coloured inks!!  Happy I am!
 Thanks for stopping by
    Jackie  ")