Wednesday, April 30, 2014

"And I said... Fly on my sweet angel..."

    The title of my post is a quote from a song by the late and great Jimi Hendricks. A tragic loss of such a young, extraordinary talent. No one can still compare to his guitar riffs, at least in my songbook!
  Jimi's song "Angel" inspired my postcard for this weeks challenge on Sunday Postcard Art.
     When I first saw the theme for the challenge I was so excited !              I Love Music! Almost as much as I Love Art!  and there is always a song in my head or on my lips- many a times to others chagrin! heehee   Hey, I never said I could sing ~just that I like too!!
   
   As I went through a few ideas in my head for this challenge , my thoughts went back to one of the first art journaling spreads I created.
     This is a page I had done during my first ever online workshop,    with Strathmore Visual Art Journaling Series(2010)
       (I have a whole post on this to share someday)
    I felt good about my first attempt at a real face ~Jimi ~ even though he was cut from another sketchpad that was the wrong paper and weight for watercolors which made for wrinkles and fuzzies where they were not desired! - Oh, and then there was the spillage of the alcohol ink I was using! but wow- what a perfect  background for Purple Haze!

    Back to my postcard, I scanned this page and printed out mini Jimi's-  backed them with black cardstock and placed them on the card in this fashion to create a feel of movement- not sure if I succeeded but I like the results!
 
      Glad you came by- hope to see you tomorrow! ")


 




Friday, April 25, 2014

Reclaimed Seed Box for - My Master Gardener!

                                  Happy Earth Week!

     In honor of Mother Earth, my project this week was to upcycle, recycle or reuse something I had on hand. It really did not take me long to remember that I had this box I had found at a yard sale, ummm at least 4 years ago!  (can you say,hoarder?) heehee

   Well, anyway, with all of the planting and such we have been doing lately, I said to myself, Self! what an excellent idea! -(crazy mind at work here- she talks to her Self ALL the time)The idea self, moi', came up with was to doll up this "find" into a real cool seed box for my hub! 
   Again, I went into my stash and pulled out some great vintage labels and seed packets that I bought off ebay, ummmm, err, about, okay 6 years ago... yeah, but, when I bought them I always knew I was going to use them in a really cool piece for hub- my own Master Gardener. So what if it took 6 years to figure out just how! (again, can you say hoarder?) teeheehee
                                  So on to the project at hand...
    First thing was to cover the box in black gesso. After that I started strategically placing and adhering my beautiful vintage ephemera.
   The graphics on these pieces are so vibrant and colorfully gorgeous!! Another great thing is the labels and seed packets are all local to our area-one of the reasons I purchased these.

     Next came the stenciling. I used TCW Mini Art Deco Leaves by Julie Fei Balzer &TCW Mini Fancy Feathers by Rhonda Palazzari.
      The paints I used for the stencils are Luminarte Silks-         
  Lime,Olive Vine,Sunburst,Pretty Peridot,Ginger Peach,Teal Zircon


    Next I distressed the edges with a sanding block and used-
Ranger Products-Tim Holtz-Distress Ink Pad- Vintage Photo on all of the edges I scuffed up.
     I added a few more bits of ephemera-Honey Bees for pollination and butterflies for their beauty in the garden! 
                           A final coat of sealer and it's a wrap! 



  My Master Gardener, Riley, all around awesome and wonderful husband, loved his new seed box and insisted on a photo with seeds in it...so here is your final photo!
  I have to say this is a new favorite- don't you just love the way those Silks shimmer against that black gesso?! Yummylicious! 

Now looking forward to getting those seeds in the ground! ")

As always,so glad you joined me today-all the best to you my friends

Tuesday, April 22, 2014

The Girls are in the yard!!


              A short post today with lots of pictures and a video, showing off our Chickies!
What do you think Remi? Should we go?

well, I don't know...what's up here?

in or out- make your mind!

Last one out- is a rotten egg!!
                 Another fun video for your viewing pleasure! heehee And it was my pleasure making it- hub said I was out in the pen with the girls for over an hour yesterday! Who knew!!!


   These are two of the three Guinea hens- they usually hang tight together-such beautiful girls. I call them my instigators ; when they get to squawking everybody gets to squawking!!
                                            Everyone is coming out now!!
                               and Chum wants a piece of the action!
Did you see something move?
I like eating from Momma's hand- she has the best cracked corn!
 

    Here is a picture of the playyard where the girls are all safe away from any predators- even the top is fully covered with a netting. 
I still have to paint the outside when it warms up more- not sure what colors? I think I want it bright and playful- maybe do a mural on the side at some point. 
 Red with white trim?
White with red trim? 
Yellow with white?   
  So, what do you think? I'm open to suggestions and ideas! - let me know!
      Back to art tomorrow!
 Peace to you and Happy Earth Day!      ")
                 Thank You Mother Earth for all you give

Monday, April 21, 2014

I feel a song here ...100BlueSprucePineTrees,10 American Cranberry,15 assorted Blueberry...

      Did you ever have one of those weekends that you just wanted to get everything done?  Nope? Me either, but my husband did! 

      It started on Thursday, when we picked up our order from the county Soil and Conservation Department~ 100 Colorado Blue Spruce trees , 10 American Cranberry, 5 Jersey Blueberry, and 10 Blue Crop Blueberry. After gathering all the planting & growing info we found for the new additions to our "hobby farm",we sat down and plotted the land! (there's a joke here somewhere)

    Friday morning- was not as nice as the weatherman said, Imagine that! So, a little brisk but well dressed for it, out we went into the field to begin our day. 
First tree of the day going in and Chum wants to help Daddy plant it!
    We worked steadily along and got the first 50 done in 2 hours, then broke for lunch...almost wish I hadn't because once I stopped-   I did not want to go back! waaaaa

       Yup still feeling playful here, but by the end of the 100- I was ready for a soak in the tub! My poor paws and buttcheeks! Ouch!(sorry I had to share that- but that's what hurt the most-info for those of you thinking you want to do this-think again!teehee)
      Saturday is still mostly a blurr...more raking and more whining about how sore I was... waa waa waaa! We did also got a spot tilled up and the SugarSnap Peas planted. And then Hub cooked dinner...
  
and Chum guarded it!

   Finally in the evening, I got a bit of sketching in-cramped paws and all!

                           Sunday morning...this is what I woke to...

      You can hear all of the wonderful birds singing their morning songs,along with the Canadian Geese waking up and a Pileated Woodpecker drilling for breakfast. My sound quality is not that great - maybe wind?-this is my first video,so suggestions are welcome!
                                 Look who else was out !
 Hey- isn't he supposed to be hiding eggs or something? heehee
      The photo on the right is a male Wood Duck which we are so excited about! Hubby built and put two nesting boxes up this winter, and now we have two couples visiting the pond daily!  We have yet to see them go in or out of the boxes, but they are there on the pond every morning and evening- just gorgeous birds!!

       A little more work Sunday afternoon, and we got the blueberries,and cranberries planted and well as the unruly grapes trimmed and trellised, and replanted our soft-needle pine and lilac- that does it for the trees- Phew! 


                                              The girls...

     I'll be back tomorrow to show and tell about their first day in their playyard! teeheehee
       and for myself...I'm going to spend some playtime in my playyard/artstudio today! ")

Friday, April 18, 2014

Found - Mixed media Treasure box






          Friday's girl, Jackie here, with my weekly post for Artistcellar


        Here it is Friday once again! And can you believe it? A new set of stencils to play with- Artistcellar’s~The Quasi Crystal Series!
For my piece I created, titled “Found” , featured are Fibo & Infra; two out of the four new Quasi Crystal stencils.
  To begin with, I used a round box which I covered in black gesso. When the gesso was dry, I added an all over coat of StewartGill Byzantia~Agean. Once that was dry it was time for the first stencil layer- I used the Fibo first- I love this one- it reminds me of that computer game called Wiggles-have you ever played it?  Sorry about that, a bit off track there…for Fibo,  I pounced StewartGill MetaMica~Meadowgrass around the box and lid as well as on top of the lid.
step 1
 Next I scuffed up the top, using a small wire brush. Then I made a very thin glaze using LuminarteSilk~Plumeria  which I glazed over the top of the lid only.
roughing up
And then, it was on to Infra! What a fun stencil! I could stencil these  little popdots all over! Which I did, all over the lid of the box that is. For this I again used LuminarteSilk~Plumeria . I also applied the Infra stencil around the sides of the box (not full coverage). Then to age/distress it all a bit, I took my handy-dandy baby wipe and swiped here and there and wo-la! A touch of VivaInkaGold~Orange around the edge.
     The last thing to do was add my embellishments and final touches… 
I used older stash items- such as these metal flower pieces from Graphics 45 (I don't think they are available any longer). So, what I did was, I had previously rusted a these metal flowers and just added a bit of color to each ascending petal. The colors I used were BaroqueArt-GildersPaste~Patina , Rub'nBuff~GoldLeaf and InkaGold~Orange  I kept most of the rust and just added hints of the colors. I attached all of the flowers as well as the acorn cap with a piece of wire that went down through the lid of the box.



This is what my table looks like while deciding what to do next...You see I had a whole other vignette' picked out to go atop the box- , but changed my mind mid attachment-fickle artist!

 Inside the lid I adhered a poof of fabric(to give the Tufted look) and then covered it all with another piece of silk.
 The rest of the embellishments included the round cracked piece of glass,(found on a walk one day) and natural lichen,acorn top, and seashells- all of which came in that lovely package my sissy sent me a few weeks ago..thank you Julie- I love you! (Tim too!)

Jackie ")




    Friday, April 11, 2014

    Prayer Flag

                       Can you believe it is Friday again?!!
          Last week, in my DEBUT, (can't help myself!) teeheehee  post, I was rambling on and on about practicing with the new Sacred Heart Series Stencils at Artistcellar.
         So this week I decided to use a practice piece in a new project.  First I layered my paper with a mix of Gesso, Liquitex Basics- CadiumYellow Medium Hue and a hint of Golden Burnt Umber Light and dried with my heat gun. 
       For the stencils, I mixed some color with Liquitex Flexible Modeling Paste and used a palette knife to apply it where I wanted it.


      

       My husband said he really liked all four of these together , so I thought hmmmm, what could I do with these, keeping them together but dressing them up? And then it came to me...

        I cut apart the four hearts and fancy cut around each one. 
     Next I used a sheet of manilla folder paper and marked off the size of each stencil- 6x6. 
      Then I sprayed a background of Lindy's Stamp Gang ~ Glory of the Seas Gold Starburst Spray. After that, I smooshed , yes, smooshed!  Lindy's Stamp Gang~ Tibetan Poppy Teal along the edges of each square. So much shimmer! I love it! 
      After I was pleased with the effects, I glued down each of the hearts into their own square.
    DSCN8892 DSCN8893 DSCN8931   
        Then...it was layers of sprays and paint till I finally achieved the color scheme and look I was happy with !           
      Next, was to apply a decoupage medium that would hold up outdoors. I used Royal Coat Decoupage Finish, as I have used in the past on other outside projects and it holds remarkably well. I found this on Amazon.
       On the reverse side of the piece, I added torn up pieces of Mulberry paper with decoupaged medium as well. This gave added strength and a canvas feel. And it also looks rather nice!
    lDSCN8939 DSCN8934 
      The next step was to separate the blocks and distress the edges. I used my Tim Holtz Distresser  thingie...teeheehee
      To the edges I then added a blend of watered down Golden~ Naphthol Red Medium and QuinacridoneNickleAzoGold. Then I glazed each piece with Golden's QuinacrodoneNickleAzoGold.
    DSCN8937 DSCN8942 DSCN8940
       Now,  the only thing left was to punch holes at the bottoms, I used my Cropadile  and add Sari silks. After that I stitched a piece of Sari silk across the tops of the squares joining them together. Spacing is around 1.5 " between. 
     I have no photos of these steps, as I had such a time threading the needle on my machine that I lost track and finished up without them ...so Sari!  heehee   I know-bad humor! ")


    ~Hanging in my Zen garden in my yard is my finished Prayer Flag~

        
         ~ thanks for popping in and have a glorious Friday! ")