Altered Book Lover

Honored to be a co-host this week and great news

2012-01-29T23:01:00.000-06:00

Have you been to Inspiration Avenue lately? If so, you have probably seen this sign at the top of their left sidebar. Shelly (Shelinwa) of Pics by Shel chose me to co-host a challenge and I was thrilled. Because I had a plumbing leak that was streaming faster than video, I had to wait until my friend Scott came by to help at least try to slow the leak this weekend. Without a major overhaul and a rather expensive and time consuming demolition and remodel, the leak will continue, but at least now it is manageable, something it was not for nearly two weeks. Of course, all that might be TMI, so lets skip ahead to all the good and wonderful news I have to share.

First, because I am co-hosting with Shel, I get to choose this week's Inspiration Avenue challenge and create the post, as well as supply the inspiration photos. Since Shel won't put it on the IA blog until later this morning, I will let you consider what the challenge might be this week.

Now for some more really great news. I once again have my external drives showing on my computer. Please don't ask, because even my computer (and plumbing) guru friend Scott has no idea why they came back when he started playing around on my computer. But because he got my external drives to show up again, I can now let everyone know how excited I am about offering my free altered book course. I've been wanting to do this since before my computer started giving me fits in December, but I was unable to make any plans until I was sure I had a way to access my blog, as well as my scanner and camera.

Every two weeks, I will upload a new lesson or technique for altered books (ABs). This is for people new to altered books, and those who want to refresh their basic AB skills. I offered this course a couple of years ago in a private class, which was also totally free, but restricted, since only 99 people could join, along with me, which made 100. I had to turn people away. I will now be offering this new course on this blog. No need for a special password or anything other than a normal visit. We will start the class next Monday on the 6th of February. I hope you will play along and show what you have made, too. Again, these are basic techniques and I will use the same syllabus as when I taught the class before.

To get you started, you can begin thinking about a theme for your altered book. Mine is going to be rocking horses, a book I have wanted to make for some time. Thanks and I'll see you next week when we get started.

I'm also linking with Creative Every Day (CED), since it is Monday. On Wednesday, the CED theme for February will change from NEW to NIGHT. I hope you consider joining this NEW altered book challenge before NIGHT falls next Monday.

Silent Sunday: My grandfather would have been 100 today

2012-01-29T16:35:00.001-06:00

(source)

A collage quilt: "from nowhere to noticeable"

2012-01-28T05:35:00.004-06:00

While I was without a computer, my reading turned to sewing magazines, like Cloth, Paper, Scissors, Quilting Arts, and Sew Somerset. It's no wonder fabric took over my art interests once I was able to photograph and scan my projects again. Unfortunately, I am having trouble with my computer because it doesn't recognize any of my external or auxiliary drives. Luckily, I already had these photos (except for the scans) stored on my hard drive, so am able to share these today.

I apologize for these photos being so large. If you click on an image, they will fit better on the screen.

I read an article on how to make collage quilts in the August/September 2011 edition of Quilting Arts magazine (Edition 52) that piqued my interest. Of course, I had practically none of the materials needed to make this art quilt. So here you find me in my basement studio searching for materials I can use for this project. Just like so often happens, I improvised, using what I had on hand.

Materials I began with (from left):
dictionary pages and bits of sheet music
hand dyed fabric (green)
commercial fabric (brown)
off white felt, cut to size of finished art quilt
Pellon (Wonder Under)
black fabric of unknown type
more fabric, all hand dyed
green fabric left over from latest batch of monoprints

I cut the Wonder Under to size using some kitchen shears I have in my basement studio. (Note to self: find some scissors that actually cut fabric and take them to the basement). Sometimes you must cut, rather than tear!

I laid all the fabric and paper bits I planned to use over the Wonder Under, propped the black fabric under my scissors, since it wanted to curl, made a few adjustments, then started to iron the fabric and book pages in place.

What a disaster!!! What in the world happened? I have NO idea, but the black fabric of unknown type had melted to the bottom of my iron and was now also all over the green fabric on the top right. I grabbed some of the green football fabric I found so offensive in my quiltlet from a couple of weeks ago, and quickly ironed it to the base, not even aware I was still ~~spreading~~ spewing that black goo all over the collage. At least I decided this football fabric was the perfect addition to this now primarily green and brown quilt.

After a few adjustments due to the size of the new fabric, I continued ironing everything in place. When the fabric and collage materials had cooled, I made a few cuts, primarily to remove the black goo laden fabric, then added a few bits of fabric to the mix, and proceeded to my main floor craft room to sew the entire collage using straight or zig zag stitches. I changed threads from variegated brown to black, then green, and finally a very heavy white. I used the collage materials to guide my color choices.

According to the QA magazine instructions, the next thing I was supposed to do was seal the quilt before I added paint, oil pastels, etc. So here is the quilt right after I applied a mixture of two gel mediums to the piece. Also according to the instructions, you should mix matte and gloss gel medium to get a satin finish. When this photo was taken, it was difficult to see that satin finish! However, you should be able to see all the lines I made with thread on the collage. What the sewing machine didn't catch, the gel medium did!

Once dry, I was struck by how much the brown fabric felt and looked like leather. In fact, I was so impressed with the fabric, I thought it was the perfect addition to the football fabric I had shunned earlier this month. A great flopportunity had transformed this piece from dull to daring, or as I named it, "From Nowhere to Noticeable." In case you can't read it, these are the header words on the dictionary page and I named the quilt accordingly.

Originally, when the black fabric was in place, I had planned for this to be the first of several layers. I had planned to use various paints, oil pastels, and Shiva Paintstiks, materials I actually had that the instructions called for in the next layers I would add. With the addition of the football fabric, the entire game changed (pun actually intended there!).

Instead of oil pastels or Paintstiks, I reached for the rub-n-buff. The beautiful metallic blues and raw umber

were the perfect additions I needed to color the dictionary page and bits of the dyed and monoprinted fabric.

Here it is in all its glory after it had dried. I think it will be the absolute perfect quilt or even a table centerpiece for Super Bowl Sunday, February 5. The size of this piece is approximately 15 inches by 15 inches and it is completely covered in a thick layer of protective gel medium. So, should I (or my Super Bowl Party guests) spill something on the collage quilt, it will quickly and easily wipe up.

I can't wait to make another one of these collage quilts. The next one will incorporate some of the paint supplies I didn't use this time. Are you using your existing art supplies instead of buying new supplies? I keep seeing "use it up" and "finish those UFOs" posts on my blogging journeys, so it seems to be the perfect year to do it.

Inspiration Avenue: Alphabet quiltlet

2012-01-27T01:50:00.007-06:00

Maggie's (Magpie's) prompt for us at Inspiration Avenue this week was Alphabet. "Art with words," etc. was what Maggie suggested when she issued the challenge. All kinds of images danced in my head, as I contemplated making art using stencils and hand made stamps. Of course, I had limited time, because I have a leak in my pipes (OK, not mine, but my house's) that I have been dealing with.

As I was further contemplating the challenge, I remembered back in July of last year, I wrote a tutorial featuring shaving cream on fabric. At that time, I used an alphabet stencil. Please check it out, if you are not familiar with the process I used.

I began with the fabric I stenciled using shaving cream, and tore a piece to quiltlet size (about 9 X 12 inches). The piece I used is in the upper left side of the above photo. Remembering what my friend Dianne of Art Beneath the Cottonwoods suggested in the comments of that post, I decided to outline each of the letters with my black ink pen. Not sure what kind it is, but I think it's a Rollerball or something like that. I just know it's not a Micron, because my Micron is deader than a . . .

I then colored an apple rubber stamp using Staz-on reinkers and stamped onto a portion of a dictionary page.

To the back of the quiltlet, I cut batting and drew a backward "A" using the same stencil as I used on the front of the quiltlet. To attach the batting to the quiltlet, I added my "free motion" stitching of the "A." It didn't show as well from the front as I had hoped, but I did like the technique of adding "free motion" stitches from the back of the fabric. Now if only I had a way to make real free motion stitches. In retrospect this is one technique I will definitely try again. Next time, the thread I use will be a much more distinct shade from the stamp or image I choose to use.

Thanks again to Magpie for challenging me to create this alpha inspired quiltlet. And, please check out all of Inspiration Avenue's entries this week.

Messed up tea

2012-01-24T06:44:00.005-06:00

Kimmie and all my Tea Tuesday friends are drinking tea (or something fun) today and proudly displaying their tablescapes, their vignettes, their landscape, their art, their tea, or even their tea cup.

Since I still have no way to take photos, something you really need to do on Tea Tuesday, I decided to make some art. I started with a background using some Twinkling H2Os and gold leaf pen as a resist. In case you have never tried this technique, it is one of my tutorials, shown in its entirety here.

I also cut a teapot from a computer generated design, and planned to use my coffee/tea cup I made last year from a recycled plastic lid.

I glued some of the background paper to an 8 inch by 8.5 inch by 1/2 inch wooden board. When it was dry, I added the tea bag that I used in Tea Tuesday last week. Apparently I didn't let the glue of the tea bag dry enough because as I was outlining the stencil using my Micron 0.5 black ink pen, it stopped working. Yep, it's now dead from my stupidity. That's the second time I've "killed" one of those good Micron pens. They never recover, either.

That's when I grabbed the India Ink, but didn't realize how thin India Ink was and how much it bleeds, especially on a thin tea bag. So, instead of coloring the tea pot, and adding a bigger mess on top of this mess, I have decided to call this "Messed Up Tea" and submit it as my Tea Tuesday entry. I will gladly take any suggestions I can get on how to fix this mixed media mess and turn it into something acceptable.

Don't forget to visit Kimmie for tea Tuesday links. I'm sure she and the rest of my Tuesday pals have tea that is not messed up today!

"Let's Say Thanks" (gone, but not forgotten)

2012-01-23T00:05:00.017-06:00

What do you do when you want to be creative, but have no way to get photos from your camera onto your blog? You improvise! You get creative! You find a way to let your loyal followers, viewers, readers, and friends know they are not forgotten. You also find a way to enter this week's CED challenge. So, let's see what kind of ~~trouble I can get into~~ art I can conjure up today.

On January 2 of this year, I posted one of my goals for 2011 and how well I did. My 2011 resolution is in blue, my actual accomplishment in black.

"4. Continue visiting the Xerox site (link on my sidebar under "Eye candy and Freebies") at least once a week, and sending postcard support to our troops until they are safely home out of harm's way. See this post for the specifics.

This is one thing I continued through September of this year. After that, I knew troops would be coming home from Iraq, so I stopped visiting the site."

So yesterday I decided to click on a few links on my sidebars (because after all, as Seth Apter pointed out in a post on Create Mixed Media, this is VALUABLE REAL ESTATE that visitors seldom take time to view),

and decided to visit the Xerox postcard site before I said good-bye to the link.

That's when I learned (as copied and quoted from the Let's Say Thanks web site)

"Thank you for your support of Xerox's Let's Say Thanks program.
We are no longer accepting cards through the website.

Let's Say Thanks began more than five years ago as a public way to say "thank you" to the men and women serving our country. Since then, more than 30 million people have visited the website to share their appreciation with our troops through cards featuring children’s artwork from across the country."

The site still offers ways you (and you and you, my dear readers) can help the troops. Once again, quoting the Xerox site:

". . .we've decided to shift the focus of the program to what the troops need most: donations. We will continue to support local cards drives and contests, and we encourage you to continue your support by sending mail, toiletry items or donations via www.give2thetroops.org."

Here is a copy of the first postcard I ever sent to an anonymous armed forces member back on Nov. 28, 2009. And here is what I wrote about the postcard:

"The one I chose first is this one created by a young man named Joshua, who lives in IL and is age 11. Before you think I stole the design off their web site, that is not the case. You may download each photo with the click of a button that is located below the "send" button."

It's now time to say good-bye to the Xerox link, but hopefully not the good deeds and ways we can help our troops. Statistically, returning ~~service people~~ active duty personnel and veterans suffer more emotional, mental, homelessness, divorce, and substance abuse problems than the general population. That is so unfair in a country that asked them to serve, then does nothing for them when they return home.

I'm sharing this on CED (after all, this is first and foremost an art blog), hoping this is a wake-up call to find ways to reach out to our returning troops, while creating a post I gleaned from my sidebar and various links. How do you feel about your sidebar? Is it taking up valuable real estate, or providing worthwhile information and links?

Silent Sunday: Wichita's train heritage as represented at Exploration Place

2012-01-22T07:33:00.003-06:00

Inspiration Avenue: The Butterfly

2012-01-20T02:49:00.006-06:00

Hettiene asked us to honor butterflies this week at Inspiration Avenue. She showed us many fine examples of butterflies, everything from butterflies made from food to butterflies drawn on canvas. They were all very inspirational.

On Monday I started out by prepping one of my wooden blocks. I had planned to paint it, then place various butterfly images on tags, then glue the tags to the block. However, on Tuesday I learned I could no longer access any of my external drives, so taking photos of the block would have been impossible to show, and the block was too large for my scanner.

So off to "Plan B," which turned out to be "Plan Butterfly."

In keeping with my desire to use materials and tools I already have, I dyed some of my (now quite familiar) background fabric, as well as a dried up wet wipe, and a piece of cheesecloth. However, when I tried to iron the wet wipe, it disintegrated and I had to use only the portion of the wipe that didn't get demolished by the iron.

Lesson to be learned: Wet wipes, even with the iron temp set on the lowest setting, will melt.

Does the background fabric look familiar? It should. Here and the last photo of this post I show this same background fabric dyed in blue, and here in pink. This time I used butterscotch and lettuce color mists, along with a white shimmering mist, which doesn't show in the scan, but is gorgeous when the light shines just right.

EDIT: In comments, Terrie asked about the butterfly and if it was a transfer. I left a message for her on her blog (because as I've said in the past, I never expect people to return to my blog to read about comments I write to them), but thought I should probably add it here, too. This is an image I printed from somewhere (possibly/probably Art e-zine UK) years ago on some transparent paper. For this project, I cut around the butterfly and used gel medium to add it to the wet wipe. Thanks for asking Terrie.

Thanks for the challenge, Hettiene. To see what others have created, head to Inspiration Avenue Sunday afternoon and view all the awesome entries.

Snowman collage

2012-01-19T08:02:00.000-06:00

If you dropped by for Tuesday Tea with Kimmie and friends, you saw the start of this collage. I started with what was left of one of my outdoor garden signs I bought last year and finished with a collage I hope to stick on my front porch. Of course, I can't take photos of my front porch because I don't seem to have access to any of my external or additional drives (other than my operating system-OS-drive) .

Using a stencil I thought looked like a snowflake, I added various color mists and two smaller stencils. Once I positioned the water resistant fabric on the watercolor paper, it didn't want to stay glued when I used gel medium. Next I tried Mod Podge, a glue I have NEVER been fond of. Still not sticking on the edges, I finished using Elmer's white glue (not school glue).

Next, I covered the front of the fabric with gel medium, trying to stay away from the misted areas that have a tendency to run when covered with any wet medium. At that time, I added bits of a dictionary page and the holographic snowflakes (little embellishments often used as bits thrown on tables or into envelopes) that took on the surrounding colors of the collage.

Now that I have finished scanning this, I intend to seal it with a fixative before I hang it on my porch. I needed a winter piece of art for my front porch, because my Christmas wreath was looking far too dated. Not allowing myself to buy anything new, I created this using all the materials I have on hand. Are you recycling, reusing, and reinterpreting your art or media this year?

WOYWW #137: Rock on!

2012-01-17T23:19:00.003-06:00

I'm joining in tonight because I don't want to miss WOYWW, hosted by our loveable and ever so thoughtful Julia at Stamping Ground. Show her the love, because she can use it!

However, if you were here earlier today, you learned that I no longer can access any of my computer drives, except the OS (operating system also known as C drive). That means I can't transfer photos from my camera to my photo editing program.

Since I can't show my desk this week, and since some of you are new (or newer) to WOYWW and have asked about my rocking horses, I thought I would show a few photos of some of the ones I've featured in the past. Forgive me if you have already seen these. At last count, I had slightly over 450.

Let's start in my craft room, where these candles normally live on the window sill.

Here are some I have received from WOYWWers (JozArt and Cath in Cyprus) and

one from our fearless leader, Julia.

WOW! This reindeer copied BIG!

And here is one that rolls, but doesn't rock. WOYWWendy is looking on.

Here she gives her approval. Yes, the bangs that come down below her eyes are just like I wear mine.

Let's move on to my guest bedroom, where you will find a lot of rocking horses, including several that live on pillows.

Of course, one of my favorite horses lives here, too.

This might be a better view of the horse that is nearly as tall as my guest bed foot board.

We must stop in the loo to see this one that children can ride.

Moving on to the living room, here are two in this vignette, one of which I painted and placed in an oval hoop frame.

Can you see the rocking horse outside my window? If not, it's easy to see a couple of my favorites live on my Grandmother's treadle sewing machine,

while this pull along horse lives below the machine.

There are lots of rocking horses in this photo. Some on the wall, some on the top of the kitchen (sometimes called Hoosier, although that was a brand name) cabinet, and some

on the metal shelf, all love to play together, especially when no one is looking.

Keys stay in place on my rocking horse key holder in my kitchen.

Head to my office, and you will see lots of shelves. This one sits over my computer between two book cases. I see three rocking horses in this photo and I know there are more. I like keeping them together, especially since they love to play together.

Also in my office, I have two shelves with horses on them. Sadly, only one is shown here, along with one of my hoops from the 80s.

A detail of the shelf shows a bowl of paper clips decorated with a single rocking horse earring I found at a garage sale.

Three more rocking horses are on this bookcase in my bedroom. Although this is my only bedroom shot, there are many more in the room. I can't get away from my "friends" (not that I would want to) because they are everywhere!

Heading to the basement, upon entry, you are greeted with a rocking horse painting in a frame. I think that's probably the end of a tour, which means that's as many previously shown rocking horse photos as I want to pull off my blog.

However, here are a few of my approximately 450 that I assembled awhile back for a rocking horse reunion. Hope you have enjoyed the tour and can appreciate my love of rocking horses, even though I had no desk to show today.

So, rock on this WOYWW, or until I can figure out how to get my other computer drives back.

Snowman tea

2012-01-17T08:20:00.009-06:00

It may be a bit chilly, but it's not snowing this morning. However, I was struck by how similar

my snowman mug is to the collage I have just started in my craft room. Thanks to being inspired by the stencil that reminds me of snowflakes, I have started the background for my most recent paper collage, that I originally was going to make into a quiltlet with fabric (like the snowman's material). I decided instead to continue working with watercolor paper, instead of fabric this week.

My tea today is Orange Grapefruit, an herbal blend from Germany that I got from the Spice Merchant, where I buy all my favorite loose leaf teas. And don't forget to visit Kimmie and the rest of my tea (and other drinks) friends to see what their weather is like this Tea Tuesday.

On a scary note, after downloading these photos from my camera, then going back to remove them using PS, I can no longer find any of my computer drives, other than my OS drive. Not sure how to proceed, but I take it I won't be taking or downloading any photos off my camera for awhile. I just hope it isn't some weird computer virus I managed to catch.

A week late and a dollar short!

2012-01-16T00:15:00.000-06:00

Like several of my art friends, I signed up for the free Strathmore classes that are now being conducted. This is the only class I have signed up for at this time, because I wanted to learn a few ways Traci Bautista uses all that color, as well as learning to free myself a bit when I make a collage. So I began by watching the first tutorial on Friday of this past week, hoping to learn a few things.

As usual, I didn't have the supplies the artist recommended. I did, however, have a full book of 90 lb watercolor paper (quite the comedown from the 140 lb, 18 X 24 inch Strathmore paper Traci recommended) that I was more than willing to use for this class, along with some grid mesh I think is used for latch hooking. I also had a few plastic doilies I could use.

By the time I realized the latch hook plastic was not going to work,

it was early afternoon. It was then I decided to cut up one of the plastic circles I have. Now I'm not sure where I got these, but I think they came with plastic pegs or beads that I got years ago at a garage sale. But cutting even ONE was very difficult on my poor aching fingers.

I love those circles and used them recently in monoprinted fabric, as you see above.

OK, back to the lesson I'm trying to learn (I'm very easily distracted these days). Using the cut up plastic mesh, along with some that I didn't cut into, I began spritzing the paper with various color mists. I used the manila envelop in the background to help curtail some of the mist.

Traci taught us to wipe our masks and stencils off using a brayer (which I didn't use) and a clean sheet of paper. Instead I used my fingers, which turned a not-so-lovely brown!

I continued to follow Traci's instructions, using feathers, paint, oil pastels, and India ink.

However, since I am not really a doodler, I could not seem to open up. That may be because I don't have the right type of Sharpies, or the proper ink pens. Additionally, my correction pen had dried up from non-use! Of course, it could also be that the weather had turned nasty, making my craft room so cold I kept longing for gloves for my hands. I will try to loosen up with the next lesson, especially if I have some of the supplies.

And even though many people have already shown their first (and possibly by now, their second) lesson, it was all new to me (the CED word for the month of January). Therefore, I am sharing this today at CED.

Silent Sunday: Evidence of this past hot, dry summer

2012-01-15T07:52:00.000-06:00

Second mixed media quiltlet

2012-01-14T07:32:00.000-06:00

I made another quiltlet similar to the one I showed in the tutorial on Monday. When I started this one, I didn't have a scanner or a way to download my camera. When I finally got the photos off the camera, they were stored on a computer that had a virus. So all I can do is walk you through the process of what I did, and how this quiltlet differs from the one I made for a friend at Christmas and featured in Monday's tutorial here.

The most obvious difference is the fabric "sandwich." This one is in the form of a heart. All the other steps for the heart "sandwich" are the same, as I detail in the next photo. Also, instead of using joint compound as my embellishment, I covered this one in tulle, after I sewed around the quiltlet front and batting in a free form style.

To detail the heart, I cut through three fabrics to expose the ones underneath. I then painted a script rubber stamp using red fluid acrylic paint I applied with a paint brush (as opposed to a makeup sponge like I used in Monday's tutorial). I then sewed the heart onto the hand dyed fabric background using a very close zig-zag stitch.

For some reason, I felt the quiltlet was too plain, so I overdyed some previously tea stained lace. For the back of this quiltlet, I also dyed the same background fabric I used on the front.

Can you tell this is the same fabric as the blue quiltlets (shown here and the last photo of this post) I made for Christmas presents? I bought several yards of this fabric on a bolt and will be using it in as many ways as possible over the next few months when I need fabric. It is a neutral beige and overdyes quite well. I am not as pleased with the red and pink together as I'd hoped I'd be, but right now I'm fighting with my limited fabric supply. In fact, I know my friend Halle sent me the light blue fabric and I believe the other colors, too (except the background, of course).

This quiltlet is about 6.5 inches wide by about 12 inches long. That does not include the loops, which I like to make long enough that they have about a 2 inch opening when sewn to the quiltlet.

Sorry for limited photos. However, if you saw my tutorial on Monday, you should be able to follow the process and/or make this one.

Inspiration Avenue: Paper dolls

2012-01-13T07:26:00.011-06:00

I can't believe today is Friday the 13th. I'm sure that is good luck, at least in my world. This week at Inspiration Avenue, Maggie (Magpie) asked us to create paper dolls. Now my belief (and mantra) is anything that can be made with paper can be made with fabric.

To emphasize this, I pulled out a fabric covered journal I made a year or so ago using paper doll fabric.

Here's one I backed with felt. This fabric beauty even has her own wardrobe.

Back in 2007 or 2008, I was in a "free" tip-in swap. All the materials had to be free, such as from the junk mail pile, the dumpster, or ads from newspapers. I made a bunch of these tip-ins using the paper art doll pattern that I scaled down to fit the page size. Yep, that me: Dr. E., Queen of Free.

Of course, Maggie wanted something new!

Made from mostly fabric (and bits of fiber for the hair), but paper backed, this is my interpretation of this challenge. Take your pick, Maggie. It's the same doll, she's just got more attitude in the scan than in the photo I took off my camera. I actually love moving her limbs.

Thanks for this challenge, Maggie. I so loved the dragon, but knew I would never be able to make one!

What's on your workspace this 136th Wednesday?

2012-01-10T23:14:00.000-06:00

I'm simply jumping for joy that I can once again join Julia at Stamping Ground and all my good friends who link up there. I have missed so many of you! This was a forced absence because my video card quit working and I spent a bit more than three weeks in the dark. Not dark like it is outside right now, but dark like without a computer and my link to the world.

So, on my worktable tonight is a new rocking horse I got as a Christmas gift, along with WOYWWendy and my monthly calendar. I must now make some new backgrounds for the book, since the book is quickly running out of pages that had backgrounds already created and ready to go.

After losing my first calendar, when I needed a replacement book back in April, 2011, I grabbed this one. The advantage was, every time I had extra paint, needed to scrape off a paint or gesso filled gift card,

needed to spritz/mist a flower or paper, or wipe my alcohol soaked stamps to remove staz-on ink, I would reach for this book. As a page filled with color, I would go to the next page. I got lots of depth in my pages this way, but most of that was lost when I began gluing the daily calendar "inchies" in place.

Most of the pages had backgrounds already filled in. But now, I need to work on a few backgrounds that need color since they are "next in the queue" (for those of you who live in the States and may not speak "British" or "computer programming," that means these are the next chronological pages in the book). This will not be the random colors that have appeared on my previous pages, so I'm not sure how these will look when completed. Probably more controlled and far less random.

But my friend Halle (who many of you will get to know because she has joined Darcy's postcard challenge) asked to see the pages from the side after I posted my completed 2011 calendar. Now I realize my camera doesn't do well with close-ups, so I hope these ripples will satisfy Halle's need to see these deformed pages before I deform a few more!

Have an awesome Wednesday and enjoy WOYWW. I've missed so many of you!

The "I'm so happy to be back" Tea

2012-01-10T08:47:00.003-06:00

It's been two dark Tea Tuesday weeks around here. I'm so, so, so happy to be back. And it didn't cost me an arm and a leg, or even a new computer. In fact, it cost no more than a new monitor cable. That video card on the table was an external video card that quit working way back about December 16th or so. It seems that although the external video card quit working, the one on the motherboard was in perfect shape. However, at the time, I had no idea that was the problem and neither did my computer guru friend, Scott. Thankfully, I had already prepped a few posts with photos and all I had to do was add my comments (at Scott's house) and hit "publish." Today, however, I am "live" and you caught me with a bag of Twinings English Breakfast Tea and a cup of steaming hot water.

It won't be long now and the tea will be ready, the tea bag can be saved (dried) for art, and the jacket can be used as a tag holder in an altered book. Now how cool is that? Of course, the spent tea leaves will go in my compost pile, even though they don't take up much room. It seems I always get so much fodder, as well as enjoyment, from tea bags! Of course, I'll be thinking of ways to use that dead video card in an assemblage, too!

Tea Tuesday at Kimmie's is the perfect excuse for drinking tea. Of course, I'm just thrilled to be back online and able to visit my Tea Tuesday friends, as well as those of you who just stop by to visit. I love each and every one of you!

Christmas Quiltlet, a mixed media fabric tutorial

2012-01-09T01:18:00.003-06:00

As promised, here is the first tutorial of the year. This is a quiltlet (some might call it a small hanging art quilt) I made for a friend who gave me some fabric scraps. I didn't have enough of the right colors for the entire quiltlet, but I was able to use the fabric with stars she gave me. I hope you like this mixed media quiltlet tutorial I made since I had no scanner available at the time I made this.

I began with some fabric I purchased at Tuesday Morning awhile back. It was in a fat quarter bundle and I expected all the fabric to be a similar color or theme. That was not the case. Of the four pieces I chose (along with the "star" fabric my friend gave, me, none of the Tuesday Morning pieces were color coordinated (and I have a THING about color, since I know it's the one design element or principle I get "right").

Back to the tutorial! I began by tearing four fabric pieces to about 4.5 inches square, as shown at the top of the photo, then stacked them like a sandwich (right sides facing the same direction) and sewed them together on the edges and in overlapping and diminishing circles until I had enough areas to remove parts of the surfaces.

I then cut away pieces of the fabric, some of which I cut through two layers, other through only one layer. I cut between the lines left by the thread to expose the fabric below. I used the green football fabric, but didn't cut through to expose it.

I applied gesso with a brush to knock down some of the bright color of the fabric and to hopefully make the colors more cohesive. I then allowed the gesso to dry overnight.

The next day, after the gesso dried, I applied various bits of metallic rub-n-buff over the gesso. I'm not quite sure I know why I pulled this product out, but I suspect it was because I hadn't used it in a long time and wanted to try something a bit different.

I applied Golden Fluid Acrylic paint to a rubber stamp using a makeup sponge. After I had enough paint on the stamp, I lightly stamped all over the altered fabric.

Next, I chose a stencil, then taped it to the fabric.

I applied joint compound through the stencil using an old gift card.

When dry, I positioned the altered fabric sandwich on the background fabric I chose. The background was some I had overdyed using blue Staz-on and alcohol. In the above photo, the altered fabric sandwich has not been sewed to the background. I only placed it there so I would know where to position the second stencil area.

Once again, I used an old gift card to spread the joint compound, then allowed it to also dry. When dry, I used fluid acrylic paint (blue and gold) to paint the raised areas.

(Click to see the entire picture)

It's no secret I need a better camera, and because I had no way to get photos off the camera when I took these photos, I had to hope for the best. I often take hundreds of pictures to get the best one, but this time I had to choose between two, neither of which was very good. However, I really wanted you to see the dimension left by the joint compound. Sadly, the gold shows up as white in the photo, so you will have to take my word that it is gold.

I have also now sewed the altered fabric to the background using a zig-zag stitch on the edges and one small straight stitch above the tiny joint compound circles only. I did that after I added the batting, but before I added the backing.

I was quite happy with the finished quiltlet, even though I learned a lot from this exercise. In case you weren't sure, it is a wall hanging. I started to gesso the fabric I used for the loops, then decided to leave them ~~plain~~ unaltered, since they were made from the fabric I received from my friend, who I, in turn, made the quiltlet for as a Christmas gift.

Ruminations:

My first problem was I should have used five or six layers of fabric when I made the altered fabric "sandwich." I would have had better color choices if I had done that and I could have cut through more pieces of fabric.

I should not have used all the fabric from the group of fat quarters I got at Tuesday Morning. The colors were simply not compatible with the star fabric, or with each other. I should have found more compatible fabric, or hand dyed some specifically for the project. No amount of gesso, rub-n-buff, joint compound, or stamping with acrylic paint brought these colors together properly.

Speaking of joint compound, my next stencil will be larger, because I had a terrible time getting the paint on those tiny, tiny circles. If you have questions, or if I was unclear about part of the process, please ask.

I hope you have enjoyed this first tutorial for 2012. And because the theme for the month of January at Creative Every Day is "NEW" (like my computer video card, which is not a card, but on the motherboard), I thought joining in this week, when my computer is hopefully here to stay, would be a way to inspire others (my word for 2012) to create some "new" art, too. That's why I am linking to Leah at Creative Every Day, as well as adding this post to my tutorials page.

I think I'm back online! (A not-so-silent Sunday)

2012-01-08T21:54:00.007-06:00

It's been a harrowing three weeks around here. I apologize that I have not been around and that I have been unable to visit you, my dear friends and loyal followers. In fact, I was a bit surprised I had any followers left at all, because a blog is only as good (and healthy) as its blog posts and visits the blog owner makes to other blogs.

So what have I been doing since I had no computer? One thing I did was visit two local "museums." I'm not sure that is what you call the Sedgwick County Zoo, or our local botanical gardens called Botanica, but I went, I explored, I took over 300 photos. Then I downloaded the file that contained all those photos and deleted the images on the camera card so I could take other photos. But when I did, the computer I downloaded them to got a virus, and I lost every single one of those photos!! I also lost all my photos of Christmas and celebrations leading up to Christmas. The only photos I managed to save were some I took and saved to my blog and my friend Scott's offsite storage. Somehow I wish I'd saved all those photos there, instead of a local computer hard drive.

Although I don't have the tutorial ready today, I will post it tomorrow, hoping a tutorial will help start the year off right and I won't loose any friends to the interweb ether.

As for Silent Sunday, I'm almost tempted to get rid of it, since people don't seem too interested in the museums (or possibly my photos) in my city. Above is a photo of a tornado exhibit at Exploration Place, where I have shown photos for the past three Sundays I was online.

The tornado took forever to build up and swirl (note the barely noticeable swirls at the top). Because it was a very busy day at the museum, it didn't ever complete the process before

some child came along and jumped into the tornado.

A smaller tornado that didn't have smoke, but exhibited how people got tossed around, was a favorite of children and their video happy parents! The local garments and outside greenery belies the fact it was mid-September when I took these photos.

Should I continue Silent Sunday, or after 2 years and nearly seven months, call it quits? Regardless, I'll be back tomorrow with a tutorial and as many visits to blogging friends as I can pack into a night and day!

Last year's resolutions and how I did

2012-01-02T08:00:00.005-06:00

I didn't do too well with my predictions/resolutions from last year, so I'm not sure I should make any for 2012. My word for 2011 was BELIEVE, and I believe I should not have made so many predictions for 2011. I show them below in BLUE.

1. This year I am going to sell my first work of art. It's not just a goal, it's a statement! And it's number 1 because I believe it will happen.

Well, that didn't happen. I keep saying I'm going to sell something, but I end up giving all my inventory away to friends.

2. Revamp my blog posts, making even more days special, similar to Silent Sunday, Tea Tuesday, and Whats On Your Worktable Wednesday (WOYWW).

That didn't happen either, but I DO post tutorials (when I have them) on either Monday, Thursday, or Saturday. I also post minutia on those days, since I have four days I set aside for special or dedicated blog posts.

Sunday: Silent Sunday
Monday: open
Tuesday: Tea Tuesday at Kimmie's
Wednesday: WOYWW at Julia's
Thursday: open
Friday: Inspiration Avenue challenges (the day I chose for this)
Saturday: open

3. Interview one artist a month.

I didn't interview a single person in 2011, but I plan to do so in 2012

4. Continue visiting the Xerox site (link on my sidebar under "Eye candy and Freebies") at least once a week, and sending postcard support to our troops until they are safely home out of harm's way. See this post for the specifics.

This is one thing I continued through September of this year. After that, I knew troops would be coming home from Iraq, so I stopped visiting the site.

5. Interact more with my blog readers and followers.

I try to do that, especially with all the challenges I partake in. The fact that I spend the majority of my time on the internet reading others' blogs, shows my interest is less about my own art, and more about others' art.

6. Continue to work on my Hands AB and Altered Recipe AB.

I'm not sure I've even picked up my Hands AB in 2011, and my Altered Recipes are out of undecorated pages. Little did I realize in late 2010 that my focus would change so drastically to include fabric, surface designs, and wood, and less on altered books.

7. Offer a few meaningful swaps, not just on ABC, but through my blog, too.

That didn't happen unless you count the round robins I participated in.

8. Create at least one tutorial each month.

I stayed true to that one. The list of my tutorials continues to grow as I learn more surface design techniques.

9. Once a month, revisit some techniques I've not played with for quite awhile.

I was not very faithful to that either, focusing more on learning new techniques instead.

10. Create one assemblage each month.

When I wrote that on Jan 1, 2011, little did I know that my basement, where I have dedicated to create my assemblages, would flood, the stairs to the basement would collapse, and all my materials would have to be packed away at some off-site storage facility. I was without any assemblage materials for over nine months, and it took another month or so, just to straighten things out after the boxes that housed my materials were returned to me.

And finally:
11. Make meaningful art, not just something I throw on my blog because I need a post for that day.

Not sure I've done that, either, but everything I make is meaningful to me. And of course, I try to show the process I go through as I make each piece.

So how did I do? Not well at all. I could sit and justify all day long, but the truth is, I spent more time reading other blogs in 2011 than I spent making art. And with limited art supplies, I shifted my art focus to include fabric, which put a strain on my nearly non-existent art budget.

So what are my predictions for 2012? Here are the things I plan to do:

1. Continue to make meaningful art and show the process along the way.

2. Create at least one tutorial each month.

3. Interview one artist a month.

4. Interact with my blog readers and followers (just as soon as I have a working computer, that is).

5. Create one assemblage each month.

That should be enough because I'm no longer going to promise to sell something this year. If it happens, it happens. If it doesn't, it just means one of my art friends received a piece of art originally designated as inventory, or a scrappy journal I hoped to sell.

Once again, I'm choosing a word for 2012. This year I hope to inspire. Inspire both my blog readers and followers, as well as myself. This year, I'm hoping the focus will be on how well I can inspire people with my art, my tutorials, and my blog posts.

Now I'm inspired to get a working computer, but since this is a scheduled post, I will be watching the Rose Bowl Parade about the time this post hits blogland! How much more inspiration do you need than the Rose Bowl Parade? Well, maybe a trip to the computer stores when they open on the 3rd!

Sorry there are no photos, but I hope you saw my year in review here, which has loads of photos, along with my take on blogging. Once again, I hope you are having a super New Year!

My 12 month calendar . . .

2012-01-01T08:11:00.003-06:00

or as Kate from The Kathryn Wheel calls it, the 365 day calendar. I'm not a person who journals, but I kept a journal all year, except during March and April, when I went to California and somehow came back without it. I kept notes after I realized it was missing and I would not get it back, but didn't create a new book until May and felt it was too late to go back and turn those notes into calendar pages. This year, if I travel, I won't take the book with me.

I decided to show the finished pages that I photographed because it was easier trying to copy them from my blog, since I'm still without a computer, scanner, and unable to store photos from my camera.

January started off badly. Here's what I wrote explaining the mess:

I believe I need to explain these pages a bit. Those of you who don't know me, I'm NOT into journaling. In fact, I can't even write. I type. I can't doodle. I can't draw even simple shapes. Never have been able to. I'm also not very good with digital art. Even with this handicap, and knowing my limitations, I jumped in with both feet, but left my brain behind.

I'm an engineer. I can design a widget to put into a wadget. But for some reason, I couldn't design a calendar. See that mess at the bottom of the pages? That is where I removed one entire week's worth of squares. For some reason, I got all confused when I made the column on the right first, then the one on the left, next. Why I did this is beyond me. But when I started adding the numbers, I found I had added an extra week. So, this must be my "learning curve" month, I guess.

February was better with the tumbling hearts that signified how my basement stairs came tumbling down.

March would have been a beautiful month had I not lost my calendar.

I can't find the May journal pages I made, even though I looked high and low for them on my blog. These pages showing June, is from a new journal I made when I finally realized my original calendar would not be showing up any time soon.

Although I'm simply no good at decorating these pages, I tried to get colorful for July.

August was hot, records were broken, and most of my posts were about the weather.

September brought little reprieve, and the long hot summer relentlessly continued. I think the only thing green in my world was the paint on these two September pages.

I'm not big on Halloween, but I decorated October like it was an important event. I also tried my first Xylene transfer of a haunted house on the right. Sadly, it didn't turn out too well.

November happened to look more like Christmas since I took the photo on my dining room table. But I can assure you, it was far more about the windswept trees than Christmas trees.

I tried to scan my book so you could see it, but the scanner I used broke. I seem to have a problem with electronic equipment. At least my friend is not mad at me, since she said it had been on the fritz, anyway.

So true to form, here are both pages for December, 2011 to finish out the year in style.

And you can see I've already started 2012, so Kate can count me in for yet another year of dedicated daily journaling. Like before, I will decorate the pages based on what is meaningful to me during the month. Hopefully, by the time February arrives, I will once again have a computer and a way to get back online. Thanks for understanding if I don't visit for awhile, but you are in my thoughts and I promise to visit once I get a working computer.

Inspiration Avenue's final 2011 challenge

2011-12-31T23:57:00.004-06:00

Something old, something new
something borrowed, something blue

Pretty, Priti Lisa issued this challenge, the last in 2011. She wanted it to be special, so special it is! It was fortuitous I made several blue quiltlets for Christmas gifts. It was a hard choice, but given the circumstances (no working computer, no scanner, and a very difficult way to get this photo off my camera), I was especially lucky to be able to enter Inspiration Avenue's final challenge of the year just under the wire. In fact, I didn't even know what the challenge was until earlier today.

I actually tried to utilize all the aspects of the challenge with this quiltlet. Something old: background fabric I overdyed using Staz-on reinkers. Something new: fabric I purchased or received from a friend, who I ended up making this quiltlet for. Something borrowed: the technique, which I hope to show in a tutorial right after the first of the year. Something blue: do I actually have to explain that one?

Thanks Lisa! You are the BEST. You made this challenge something I could actually handle. Now I hope this inspires everyone to visit Inspiration Avenue to check out all the wonderful entries that all my IA friends posted over the previous two weeks. And I promise to visit as soon as I'm back up and running again.

By the way, Happy, Happy New Year to each and every one of you, my dear, dear friends. Even though I've been unable to visit, many of you have been in my thoughts these past several weeks.

Looking back and some observations about blogging

2011-12-31T13:28:00.002-06:00

Although I am still without a computer, I wanted to check in to let all my loyal friends and followers know I am still around. Luckily, I had already selected and saved all the photos for this post, so much of the work was already done. Since I'm currently "unavailable," I thought it would be a good time to look back over this year and show a few of my favorite and a few not so favorite pieces I made during 2011. Interspersed with that I thought I would share some thoughts I have on blogging and being a good blogger.

(Journals I made in January, 2011)

I've been giving this a lot of thought lately, ironically before I lost my ability to get on the internet due to a dead computer. At the time, which seems like eons ago, I wasn't sure I wanted to continue blogging every day or even every other day. What I decided was, if I didn't blog, I would miss it terribly. I love the social interaction I get with my readers and the people and friends whose blogs I read and visit. Obviously, I miss it even more now that the ability to reach out to my friends has been eliminated. It's analogous to being a bed-ridden shut-in whose friends have stopped visiting.

(Prizes I offered to OWOH back in February, 2011)

And since I really enjoy this blogging ~~activity~~ experience, I took a long hard look at what makes a good blog. Here are a few things I have learned and a few things I live by.

(About all I accomplished the entire month of March, 2011)

I am myself. I make no pretenses that I am someone I am not. I am reasonably articulate, write with passion and occasional humor, and love mixed media art and fabric surface designs. Other than that, I make no claims (except that I need a much better camera!).

(Rusty book cover I created in April, 2011)

I take responsibility for my actions. I try not to be offensive to anyone, but different people interpret things differently. I remember when I said I owned a gun, it upset some people. But I had admitted it, took responsibility for it, and accepted any flack that came my way as a result of my actions. Thankfully, much of it was either thought provoking responses or good-natured joking.

(Altered puzzle I made for Annette, who kindly allowed me to use this photo from May, 2011)

(From June, 2011, this quiltlet was made for Nicky during the second WOYWW PIF anniversary)

An action is one thing, foul language is another. I simply do not use foul language. I have never called anyone the "b-word," and don't use the "f-word." Since I would not do this when I speak with someone face to face, I would also never do it on my blog. For no reason! Never! By the way, the "b-word" is NOT Bleubeard.

(Summertime tea using everything that belonged to my Grandmother, July, 2011)

I tell it like it is. If I make a mistake or something turns out wrong, I don't rewind the day to make it better than it was. I let everyone know what to expect. After all, if it can go wrong, it probably will, and I will discover and report it.

(First time dyeing fabric using Sharpies and alcohol was in August, 2011)

I make things my way. Due to a limited art budget, I seldom have all the materials needed to complete a project I want to work on. That means I must improvise. In fact, sometimes I don't have any of the materials I need! If that's the case, I start with the original instructions and find similar materials. From there, I usually follow my own rules, often hoping for the best, and offering alternatives in the form of a tutorial.

(The mess I made the first time I used paint with my collographic plates was August, 2011)

I don't ask people to jump through hoops. Whether it's commenting on a blog post, or signing up for a giveaway, I like to keep things simple and straight forward.

(One of my first altered wood blocks from September, 2011)

Speaking of comments, I get so infuriated when I have to type in one of those senseless words just to leave a comment. I usually get it wrong and have to reenter it. Oftentimes I learn the comment will be visible after someone approves it. Why not just let us "publish, " since the approver must approve it anyway! And is approve r even a word?

(Nevr-Dull used to dull surfaces on magazine images in October, 2011)

My thoughts on leaving comments: If I visit, I leave a comment. I don't expect you to know I was there if I don't let you know I visited . To me, it is courtesy. And I love it when people leave me comments. However, one thing I am not inclined to do is reply by e-mail. I much prefer a blog reply and that means on your blog, not mine. I don't expect you to return to my blog to see what I have written in comments that might or might not pertain to you. If I must make a correction or addition to a tutorial, I do it in a blog post, not in the comment section of my blog.

(A piece I made for a Christmas gift, from Nov., 2011)

The focus of my blog. Although this is primarily an art blog, I also add a few (and sometimes more than a few) times I go out and about. I also add photos of my home and yard. Sometimes I wonder if these are distractions to my art blogging and tutorials, but there are days I simply don't make art, either because I'm gone, or I am in the process of making a piece that takes several days to create.

(one of several Christmas quiltlets I made in December, 2011)

That's my take on what makes a good blog and how I try to follow my own advice. What do you think makes a good blog?

I hope to be back online in the near future. I may even be able to post and visit many of you by New Year's day (which I just learned is tomorrow!). However, should that be unfeasible, I will now wish each of you, my dear friends who I have come to love, a safe, prosperous, and happy New Year. Let's start 2012 out with a bang, not a whimper!

Tea Tuesday before Christmas

2011-12-20T06:22:00.011-06:00

Twas Tea Tuesday before Christmas

and all

through the house,

Not a creature

was stirring,

not even a mouse.

The stockings were hung on the sideboard with care,

In hopes that St Nicholas soon would be there.

Bleubeard was nestled all snug in his bed,

While visions of kitty toys danced in his head.

When outside my door there arose such a clatter,
I sprang from my bed to see what was the matter.

When, what to my wondering eyes should appear,
But a miniature sleigh, and eight tiny reindeer.

With a little old driver, so lively and quick,
I knew in a moment it must be St Nick.

So up to the house-top the coursers they flew,
With the sleigh full of toys, and St Nicholas too.

He spoke not a word, but went straight to his work,
And filled all the stockings, then turned with a jerk.

He'd spotted some eggnog all frothy with foam,

Then stayed for hot cocoa before heading home.

But I heard him exclaim, ‘ere he drove out of sight,
"Happy Tea Tuesday at Kimmie’s, and have a great night!"

Last of my color swap tip-ins

2011-12-19T06:22:00.002-06:00

This is a pre-scheduled post until I can get back online. I sincerely apologize for not visiting, but I lost my video card and learned there is no card, because it is now on the motherboard. That means I must buy a new computer, which I fear wiil need to wait till after the holidays have passed. So forgive me if I don't visiit. I simply won't have access to a computer or the Internet for awhile. I have scheduled this and my Tea Tuesday post. Other than that, you will not hear from me again until I can get back online.

A couple of weeks ago I created a half-baked tutorial on monoprinting, but unfortunately, left out many of the steps I took to create the pieces. At that time, I used fabric, but it's the same technique whether you use fabric or paper.

Unlike my previous post which didn't include masks, this time I began by stamping two masks, cutting them slightly smaller than the stamps, and adding Wacky Tac, which is my favorite repositionable glue, to the reverse side. Once the masks were dry, I gathered the remainder of the materials I needed to monoprint the front side of the tip-in.

Materials (clockwise from far back):
Large envelope to cover the wet paint
Staz-on ink
Clear acrylic block
Two brayers, one rubber for spreading the paint on the plate, one of your choice that will remain clean
Clear acrylic stamping plate (if using glass, be sure to cover sharp edges and corners)
Masks
Two pieces of paper cut to size
Rubber stamp of your choice
Low tack tape
Several jars of fluid acrylic (I used blue and silver in my art) or paint of your choice

I began by placing a sheet of watercolor paper cut to size under the acrylic plate. I then laid down two pieces of low tack tape as registration lines. Once the paint is on the plate, it will be impossible to see where the paint should go, so it is often best to have some guidelines for the paint. That way, it doesn't spread out willy-nilly over the plate. Be aware, even though it's difficult to see at this point, the paper is under the plate.

Using Staz-on, or a similar solvent based ink, stamp your design on the page.

I specifically stamped the masks a different color, so you could see what was a mask and what was the actual stamped image. I adhered the masks after the Wacky Tak had dried.

Again, it's a bit difficult to see what is going on, but I have now added a bit of blue paint to the plate, which I intend to spread around with my brayer. The sheet of watercolor paper is still under the acrylic plate and will stay there throughout the process. There will never be any paint applied to this piece because it is just a registration guideline showing where the printable paper should go.

I started with the dark blue acrylic,

then added the silver on the plate and mixed the two using my brayer.

I created a few squiggles in the paint using one of the squeegee tools. I also made indentations in the paint using the plastic circle I have grown so fond of.

I then laid my paper on the plate, aligning it to the registration marks I made using the tape.

After the paper was in place, I laid the envelope over the paper and began to press and make the monoprint.

What surprised me after I had printed the monoprint and removed the envelope, was how nice and neat the back side stayed. No mess at all!

Unfortunately, I think I allowed the paint to dry too much, because I barely got any paint on the print. Yes, one of the masks remained on the plate when I removed the print.

Hmmm! Could have been better, but I'm not too disappointed.

Next I decided to add more paint to the plate without removing the previous paint.

I know now that I probably should have cleaned the plate before I added more paint, but I was anxious to try another technique and this one had me waiting for the paint to dry overnight.

Of course, I felt I had to leave a mark in the paint with my rubber stamp. Little did I realize this stamp would not be visible in the end.

After the paint had dried on the plate overnight, I cut a piece of clear book cover. Now I should know better than to use this stuff because it is so old that most of its "stickiness" was lost years ago. But of course I forgot and jumped in running full speed ahead.

I carefully removed the backing from the book covering, as

you can see in the photo. The sticky covering is now attempting to stick to the dried paint. This is when it was good to have those registration lines on the plate.

This technique might have worked had I used a clear covering that actually stuck to something. As it was, I got marginal coverage and limited success, even after returning the cover to the plate and pressing into the paint again and again.

To compensate for this failure, I spread embossing powder all over the sticky side of the covering and heated away.

Two sides, two attempts at different monoprints. Two times the mess. Two times these could have been better. Two times I learned and documented what I did wrong and what I did right.

The final sticky piece, which was no longer sticky, was glued to part of a map, one that my friend Halle sent me. The irony of this was this color tip-in is for Halle. Can you guess the color of her tip-ins?

Silent Sunday: Exploration Place (Oh beautiful for spacious skys)

2011-12-18T05:27:00.003-06:00

A Christmas quiltlet for Halle

2011-12-17T06:43:00.001-06:00

This is a scheduled post until I can get back online. Several people have asked what I do with my fabric after I apply surface design treatments. Below is an example of a gift I made for my art friend Halle.

The top layer was made using monoprinting techniques like I showed here. The second layer and tab tops were made using Karo syrup as a resist, like I demoed here (part 1) and here (part 2). The third layer was cut and torn from a bolt of fabric I bought recently. The backing was made using several layers of dressmaker tissue. The skeleton leaf tore after I added it to the piece. Although I tried to repair it, I'm not sure it made it all the way to Halle's in one piece.

I have no feed dogs on my machine, so free motion sewing is not something I can do easily. I've read of ways to trick your machine into believing it had feed dogs, but I have forgotten how that works. So, I just sew what I can and hope for the best. Anyway, since I was so late getting Halle's birthday gift to her this year, I thought I should at least get her Christmas gift to her on time. That means I have yet to make other gifts I hope to finish before the end of the year. Have you finished your Christmas lists? Or have you procrastinated like me?

Inspiration Avenue; The Festive Tree Farm

2011-12-16T07:53:00.004-06:00

My apologies for missing last week, but my internet connection was down and the posts that did publish were pre-planned. Luckily, I had planned ahead for days other than Friday, the day I post my Inspiration Avenue challenge each week. But I was truly unable to join last week, the first since I joined these challenges exactly 52 weeks ago. So I'll try to make up for it this week with a bit of festive fun and frolic as suggested by Maggie (Magpie).

Let's start this tale with some imagination. Let's pretend we're at a tree farm and the trees were given a propensity (and opportunity) for throwing a

Festive Tree Farm party. There'll be dancing, prancing, swaying in the breezes, and lots of decorations adorning the tree branches, as each Tree Farm tree attempts to outdo and out-party its neighbor.

This was ~~imagined~~ made on a piece of 8 inch X 12 inch X 1/2 inch maple that has been painted white, over which a crackle finish was applied. To make the trees (remember, I'm the one who doesn't draw or sketch), I used two tree shaped cookie cutters to paint/stamp on the outlines. The ones at the top of the panel were supposed to be smaller and were outlined using a small cookie cutter. But they became a little rowdy, then got completely out of hand, and now look as large as, or larger than, the large cookie cutter I used at the bottom of the panel. So much for perspective.

I must admit, it doesn't matter how out of shape they are, these trees are all festive and having a good time at the Festive Tree Farm. When they are tired of playing and partying, they can come and live with all my other trees I use to decorate my home each year.

Edit: As I was publishing this post, I lost all feed to my computer. I am at my friend Scott's and will be offline until I can figure out a way to get it back online. I have a few posts in draft, and will post them untikl I can get back online. Thanks for understanding if I don't visit this week.

My Christmas cards and tip-ins

2011-12-15T08:00:00.009-06:00

I don't normally make Christmas cards, but so many of my friends have stopped making altered books and have moved into other areas of art and away from tip-ins. So this year, I made more cards than tip-ins. And I don't make just one card, or tip-in. I make all of mine the same. I'm not much for coming up with ideas, and composition is not my forte, so when I decide on a plan, I make sure I don't reinvent the wheel, so to speak.

I had a terrible time with the front of my cards. I bought a "gently used" rubber stamp that didn't want to stamp. I picked the very best image I could find to scan for the front of the card. I asked my Wednesday WOYWW friends for advice about why I didn't get a good stamped image, and I got several reasons why the image may have been less than "perfect."

The most helpful reasons were that the stamp could be a "grunge" stamp, and it isn't my stamping inability at all. Of course, I doubt that, while something I "knew" but forgot was glossy card stock works better for these photo realistic stamps. Several suggested I should press hard on the stamp, by placing it on the floor and gently stamping with my feet. That may be why I got better coverage on some of the completed images than others. Since I stand to stamp, and since I'm so short, I had to press my entire weight against the stamp block on the table. And finally, several of the stampers said they took emery boards or sandpaper to the rubber side, something I am tempted to do, since I always thought the rubber was not quite "level."

I want to thank all my WOYWWednesday stamping friends for their advice, and really liked what Kyla said about having other friends use the stamp to see if they have the same problem.

To complete the card, the inside reads: "Dear Santa . . . just dreaming of a white Christmas." The back has my "Handmade by" stamp where I added my name. I can't believe I stamped the entire card. What a feat for someone who simply doesn't stamp!

My tip-ins were definitely supposed to be quick this year, but turned into a nightmare when I tried to add all the balls and stars. On the reverse, I stamped the rocking horse, which was a gift from Ohhh Snap. The background colors were made using several Staz-0n reinkers and 91% alcohol. I learned one year that the colors bleed through to the back of the 110 lb. card stock substrate, so there is no need to color the back. And because of the alcohol, these dry very quickly and completely flat, unlike most background techniques.

I hope I'm not jumping the gun on this post and that most of my friends (other than possibly my Canadian buds) have received their tip-in or card by now. As it is, I hope no one has sent me an e-mail letting me know they got my Christmas envelope, because I'm still not able to write "glad you got it!"

WOYWW # 132, or why I am not fond of stamps and stamping

2011-12-13T23:16:00.000-06:00

My apologies for not visiting anyone last week. Before I could make my rounds, my internet quit working and because I was gone over the weekend, I didn't have time to determine how to get it back online. Finally, with the help of my internet service provider who walked me through resetting the modem and some internet settings, I am back online. Sadly, they were unable to help me with my e-mail problems, which means I am still unable to access my e-mail.

After all you stampers have visited Julia at Stamping Ground, I hope you drop by to read my diatribe on rubber stamps and maybe offer your advise. But first, you can see I've completed my Christmas tip-ins which are not very glamorous, as well as my Christmas cards, all of which I stamped.

These are the stamps I used to make the cards. Now why can't rubber and acrylic stamps be the same thickness? I wanted to stamp both sentiments at the same time, but it was not possible because the acrylic stamp was much thicker. Why, even after a thorough cleaning using rubbing alcohol (I used Staz-on ink), does the acrylic stamp still have black residue?

And finally, why is it some rubber stamps just won't stamp? I bought this stamp "gently used" at a local craft store, but it was still expensive (over $12.00 US). And, it simply doesn't stamp, even though I've had very good luck with the other stamps I used on these cards. Granted, I'm not a stamper, but I know I got even ink coverage, used a soft mouse pad under the cards, and made sure the entire stamp was well inked. As you can see, this was one of the best images I got. I thought after making 18 identical cards, I would manage to get at least one that was good. That, however, was not the case. Any advice would be greatly appreciated. And be sure to have a super WOYWW.

Craft room "tea"

2011-12-13T09:44:00.000-06:00

No tea today as I start some crafting in my main floor craft room. In fact, today almost didn't happen because my internet has been down for four days. I finally had to call my internet service provider who walked me through resetting the modem, after which I had to reboot the computer, then reset some internet settings. Sadly, they were unable to help me with my e-mail problems, which means I am still unable to access my e-mail.

Back to tea, or lack of it today. I got this game idea from my friend Kathy, who bought one of the games in order to see how they were made. Although mine will be a lot different from the original game (which costs $20.00 US), they will be similar to (although mine will be larger than) what Kathy made.

I also have some very burnt lime slices. Last week for Tea Tuesday, I asked Kimmie (who keeps our tea links) how she managed to cut her orange slices so perfectly and she told me she used a chef knife. Then Jean suggested a serrated bread knife. Just like scissors, I have no sharp knives. I have a paring knife that is relatively sharp, and I use it for everything, including making simple cuts in erasers. So now I know. I need a sharp knife that has been sharpened. Just my luck.

Of course, I had another real problem because I set the oven at 180 degrees F. like I always do when I dehydrate fruit or veggies, then went off for a couple of hours to visit a few blogs. When I came back, I was shocked. It normally takes a good eight to 12 hours to dry fruit. This time, the limes were not just dried, but burned. I've never had anything dry that quickly before. So much for the limes! And that was three pounds of limes, too!

To honor the limes, I have started drinking Key Lime Clear. I learned after I started drinking it (yep, right out of the bottle) that it is sparkling water. Since I don't normally buy anything carbonated like that, I was surprised. And just think, I even paid for zero caffeine, too!

The object is to drink the flavored water, rinse out the bottles, dry them for a few days, then fill them with bird seed and various tiny surprises like a straight pin, a hex nut, a screw, a kernel of corn, a penny, etc. I understand the penny is about the last thing you find. You give recipients a sealed bottle, along with a list of the items and they tick them off once they have found the items. I thought it would make a fun Christmas gift for people who are hard to buy for and those who don't appreciate my art.

So today, I'll be drinking at least two of these bottles of sparkling water. If I don't, I will never get these games made. You could always come and help me drink them. I'd even give you your own bottle and a glass if you don't want to ~~be an animal like me~~ drink directly from the bottle!

Have a great Tea Tuesday (and yes I'm grateful to be back online) and be sure to visit Kimmie for the rest of my Tea Tuesday friends.

Silent Sunday:Exploration Place (from the farm to the market)

2011-12-11T06:00:00.004-06:00

"Resistance is futile"

2011-12-10T08:00:00.001-06:00

No, it's not a line from Star Trek "Voyager." I couldn't resist this technique and it was torture waiting two days for the syrup to dry. Although this is a scheduled post since I am gone, I was no less excited about this project. And dry the fabric finally did and it was dry and hard to the touch on top. It wasn't sticky, either.

However, when I removed the trees I used as masks , they were quite sticky, and everything underneath them was sticky.

As an aside, I did an internet search after Elle asked what syrup brand could be substituted in Canada. The answers seemed to be both BeeHive and Crown. Apparently, you can buy both light and white and they are both the same as Karo. And yes, Karo is thick and very sticky. It's definitely not like pancake syrup. In fact, I took this directly from the BeeHive web site:

As KARO CORN SYRUP has come to define “corn syrup” in the
US market through the entire 20th century, so too have BeeHive®
and Crown® set the same standard in Canada.

BeeHive® Golden Corn Syrup was first registered for use in
1898 by The St. Lawrence Starch Company and has been a staple
ingredient in Canadian kitchen cupboards ever since. Corn syrup
usage in North America peaked in the 50’s when corn syrup was
extensively used as a nutritional supplement in baby formula
and an energy food.

Back to the fabric, I had a terrible time getting the two pieces away from the plastic because the syrup wanted to stick to both the fabric and the plastic. Yes, the plastic is very, very sticky and wet, as you can see from the photo. The reverse side of the fabric was gooey, too, as I showed above.

However, after washing in warm water, the goo came out quickly. A very easy way to remove resist. For that, I would give it two thumbs up.

On the other hand, I wasn't terribly thrilled with the resist. First, I left far too much white on the fabric, and the three tree masks are barely visible. In fact, I can only see two tree images and they have been colored by the Staz-on.

As you can see, I have scanned these two pieces, so I got the middle of each piece of fabric.

I did however, like the bottom piece and the way the fabric took the colors. Granted, there is less resist, but I think I prefer that. I feel the resist was a distraction and by not having fabric dye or paint, I may have missed the resist effect.

So I am off to find some suitable fabric paint (or dye) before I color the fabric where I dried the syrup. At least it won't be quite as sticky by the time I get around to adding the next color I try. Please let me know what you think of this outcome.

It's not easy to resist this resist

2011-12-08T06:17:00.005-06:00

I found this resist technique on the Quilting Arts web site, and have wanted to try it since summer. But I knew that I could do this technique in the house, unlike flour resist, where the rinsing and waste must be dispensed with outside.

You saw this photo (or at least part of it) on Monday. On the table are four torn pieces of bed sheet, one of my favorite fabrics to play around with, along with some light Karo syrup.

For the first part of the technique, we need to check the desk. On it is my heat resistant craft sheet and iron, along with a sheet of freezer paper. If you have never used freezer paper, there is a shiny side and a dull side.

As an aside, Pokey Bolton, the host of Quilting Arts TV (this show should be on your local PBS station), says every quilting artist (and quilter) should have a big roll of freezer paper. I couldn't agree more, but keep the big roll upstairs in my main floor craft room.

I cut several hearts from the freezer paper and laid them on the fabric shiny side down (facing the fabric).

I then ironed the fabric using the setting on my iron that matched my fabric type, adhering the hearts and co-incidentally removing a few of the wrinkles. You can see there are a few wrinkles left. I can hear my Grandmother now, saying my favorite "momism:" "The object is to take the wrinkles out, not put them in."

While I never got the hang of removing all the wrinkles, I was able to get the freezer paper adhered to two pieces of fabric. There are hearts on one piece and trees on the other.

Materials for this part of the project include:

Plastic bag to lay on your table
Pre-washed fabric (cotton, muslin, etc.), cut or torn to your specifications
Karo light corn syrup
Low tack masking tape
Optional: rubber gloves to protect your hands

Also on the table are two masks and some metal stamps which will be used at a later time.

The instructions on the web site said to pin your fabric to the plastic bag, but I'm no dummy. I didn't want any holes in the only barrier between my fabric and the table. Yep, this is one time you must use a drop cloth of some type.

The web site also suggested you could place another piece of fabric under the first, which ~~might~~ would give some lovely finished fabric.

Instead of pinning, I used low tack masking tape. You may use either tape or pins. It's your ~~funeral~~ choice.

Additional materials you will now need besides the fabric, syrup, and tape:

Brush of your choice
Optional: instead of the brush, you could use a pipette or eye dropper (not shown)

Begin slowly adding a few drops of syrup to the fabric directly from the bottle. Note what I said not what I did. I was paying more attention to taking the photo than I was to pouring the syrup.

By the way, I do not have spotted fever, although my hand and arm look like it. It's merely the lighting and the reflection from the pink plastic.

Spread or drip the syrup around the fabric using your brush or pipette. Note I got a bit heavy handed on the fabric in the back of this photo, and I tried to spread out the mess I made in the front fabric.

Once you are happy with the syrup, clean your brush. You will be surprised how quickly this syrup washes out of the brush with nothing more than hot water. In less than two minutes, you have a clean brush. Wet, but clean! I was thrilled with the quick and easy clean-up.

Again, according to the Quilting Arts web site, you now have a choice. You can either add your color now, or you can wait until the syrup has dried. The artist teaching the technique said she used only fabric paints and dyes and offered names like Dyna-Flo and Setisilk. I think those are the right names, but I don't have either of these paints and the only dye I knew would stand up to washing, was Staz-on. She also didn't say anything about how long to wait before adding the dye or paint to the still wet syrup. However, if you are adding the dye to the wet syrup, you should use a pipette or eye dropper.

So, after cleaning the brush, I brought my Staz-on reinkers to the basement studio and picked out four I wanted to use. I chose forest green, olive green, cactus, and sunflower yellow and stuck with the dropper on the bottles.

I began by adding many drops of cactus dye to the fabric. Not much happened except a bunch of tiny drops soaked into the fabric. To try to relieve that problem, I headed to my main floor craft room again and got a plastic cup I filled with 91% rubbing alcohol, along with an empty mixing cup. By the time I returned, some of the ink had dispersed a bit.

Although the dye was much lighter when I added a bit of rubbing alcohol, it was still quite vivid. I was very careful to stay as far away from the syrup as possible, allowing the color to bleed into the fabric.

My second color was forest green and I added it, also using a brush and rubbing alcohol. This brush got some syrup on it, so I immediately cleaned it after I was finished. Now I'm not sure, but I think the ink has seeped under the resist, so I'm hoping the dye and alcohol will break the resist (syrup) down enough to get what the author of this technique calls a "ghostly effect."

I chose to do this technique with only two of the fabric swatches because I'm not sure how I'm going to feel about the process. For the other fabric, I will wait till it is dry, then paint it using some kind of fabric paint. However, we must wait several days before the syrup is dry (although I read it will still be a bit sticky) and can be painted. At that time, we shall see which technique I prefer (if either). One thing I'm sure of. Although it is messy, this is the easiest resist clean-up I have found.

Please let me know what you think so far.

What's on your workdesk on week 131?

2011-12-06T23:23:00.007-06:00

Let's stop at my main floor craft room this evening to get a look at WOYWWendy's new necklace. She's sporting this for the holiday season.

Now let's stop at my library desk so you can get your weekly dose of rocking horses.

Finally, in my basement studio, several of you asked about my blocks last week. It's no secret Neil, here are five I have primed and painted and now I will begin embellishing and decorating them. I hope to give a couple of these blocks as Christmas gifts if I get them finished in time.

Also last week, some of you made a comment about my iron. You can see I've found the perfect spot for it, which is close to my heat resistant craft sheet and it sits on a raised wire rack.

Finally, several of you wanted to see more of Bleubeard. So here he is in my basement studio. I allow him to be here because there is no carpet, which can pick up lots of cat hair and dander. At least this floor is easier to mop.

I hope each of you has a great WOYWW and I'll visit as time permits. Be sure to visit Julia at Stamping Ground for all the links and deets about this, the largest Wednesday blog hop on the net!

Pumpkin Log and Tea

2011-12-06T07:07:00.003-06:00

I cooked a lot for my Thanksgiving visitors when they stayed for nearly a week. I made another of my Pumpkin Logs like I made last year. See here for the recipe I used last year and the problems I encountered. This year I only made one log, so I didn't cut it, saving it instead for my holiday visitors. I can assure you it is now all gone and was quite well received. In order to take a Tea Tuesday picture to share with you (you can tell by the lack of a tree on the table that I took this shot before Thanksgiving), I drank Keyhung, a finely cut tea from India that brews quickly.

I managed to keep this log intact, unlike last year, although it cracked at one end during the rolling process. Also, I took the easy way out this year and used

a Libby Pumpkin Bread kit minus the icing. I used the same cream cheese filling as before. However, the rolling process was no less challenging than last year. Now please save some time for yourself today and visit Kimmie for the links to all my Tea Tuesday friends.

Blocks don't do much for surface design

2011-12-05T05:48:00.005-06:00

Last Wednesday I showed this photo.

I finally got around to gessoing the blocks and allowing them time to dry.

At the same time, I decided to play with a technique I saw on someone's blog (sorry, I don't even remember whose) where she used tarragon to color some fabric. Since I didn't have any tarragon, I decided to see if ginger, lemon grass, and a pepper seasoning mix would give me the same effect. After all, I had to wait for the blocks to dry, so what did I have to lose. Right?

I started by wetting a strip of old bed sheet, my favorite fabric, since I can get them for about $3.00 each (US) at my local thrift store. If you think about it, this is far cheaper than any yardage you can buy, it's pre-washed, and it's great for tinkering around with various surface designs.

While still quite wet, I added the three spices. Sadly, they were mostly all the same color, so it was obvious I didn't have much color variety.

To make a long story short, once the spices dried, they just flaked off and left no color whatsoever. I guess you could call it a failed experiment, but I learned a valuable lesson. Sometimes you have to use the exact ingredient, rather than making substitutes. Of course, I don't remember the gal showing her finished fabric and I can no longer find her blog.

Also, while I was in the basement, I tore four more pieces of bed sheet, and grabbed my Karo syrup. I wanted to try a new technique I had seen on the Quilting Arts web site, but had to get those other pieces dry and off the table, first. Although the blocks have nothing to do with the design of the fabric, they sure didn't do anything to help it, either!

So last Friday morning, while the weather was still decent (or what I call decent), I took the gessoed boards outside, thinking it would be a lot faster to spray paint them.

Boy oh boy, was I wrong! It took an entire day to get these finished. Two of the cans of paint I got at my Household Hazardous Waste Swap and Shop earlier in that week, were nearly empty, one didn't work after the first spray, one wouldn't give up its cap without a fight to the death, and one sprayed all over everything I had just sprayed. Luckily, I kept newspaper over the ones I had not yet sprayed.

I kept making trips outside, checking the pieces, and nothing dried for hours. To make matters worse, the temperature started to drop around noon, and the wind gusts became exhausting. It really got colder and windier as the day progressed. I had to redo two of the blocks, which added more time. In the end, I brought the blocks inside to finish drying and got enamel paint all over my hands.

I finally got the blocks dry enough to move to the basement. I plan to work on the fabric next, which will give me time to decide what I want to do with these pieces. So, please stay tuned for a fabric tutorial, which I hope to show on Thursday. In the meantime, have a good laugh and a stress-free day.

Silent Sunday: Exploration Place's Flight Exhibits (part 2)

2011-12-04T06:38:00.004-06:00

A bit of monoprinting on fabric

2011-12-03T04:58:00.013-06:00

It's been a few weeks since I've written a tutorial, and I'm not quite sure this one qualifies, since I failed to get any intermediate steps. I don't often forget to show all the steps, but this time, the paint and the time got away from me, so I had to move a lot faster than I expected.

Originally I was going to make a gelatine mold for monoprinting, then realized I would have to let it set up, and I would have to unmold it. Since I didn't want to take all that time, and since I already had my fabric torn, I decided to take the ~~low cost~~ easy route. This is a way anyone can make a monoprint, even in the middle of the night when your local grocery store is closed.

In the background, leaning against my tub of gesso, is a piece of clear plastic that I will be using as the printing plate. You can always substitute a piece of glass from a picture frame, but if you do, you need to tape the edges, since they will be sharp. And we don't need anyone slicing their fingers. After all, I'm all about safety!

Supplies you will need are (from left):

the plastic or glass plate you will print on (referred to as the "plate")
your cut or torn pieces of fabric
acrylic paint of your choice
spreaders (which I didn't use)
masks and stencils of your choice
2 brayers (one for spreading the paint, one for rubbing the paint into the fabric)

Another thing you will need is a top plate to absorb the paint, because it is going to seep through the fabric. I will be using the large envelope.

Begin by laying paint on the plate in whatever manner you choose. Some of the paint may begin to run together unless you keep it separated when you lay it on the plate. This should not be a problem unless you are using complementary colors, or those that are opposite each other on the color wheel, such as red and green. Combining the two gives you a shade of brown. That's why artists sometimes call red and green "Christmas brown" when they are combined.

Using a hard rubber brayer, spread the paint onto the plate in whatever manner pleases you. Don't allow the colors to mix too much.

For the first piece, I didn't add any embellishing or masks. Instead, I wanted to see how the two colors would meld together. I laid my fabric directly in the paint, then covered it with the envelope. Next, I brayered over the piece using a second brayer, in my case, the wooden one seen with the materials.

For subsequent pieces, I laid punchinella (sequin waste) and a plastic ring directly into the paint, then removed them before I laid down my fabric.

These are the six pieces I made. The middle piece on the right is the first one I made and has only paint on it. I got all six out of the paint I originally laid on the plate.

When finished, find a spot to dry your fabric. Remember, there will be paint on the back side, so use a craft sheet or plastic bag to dry the fabric. Also, be sure to clean your brayer, masks or stencils, and your plastic or glass plate immediately upon completing the prints.

Here are two of the pieces I scanned so you could get a better look at the details. I actually liked the back side of the top fabric better than the front, so that is the side I scanned (remember, I said the paint would bleed through the fabric).

One thing I should point out. I am an altered artist who works with surface designs. I make little quiltlets or sewn book covers. Therefore the "hand" or the flexibility or feel of the fabric is affected by paint, whether it is fabric paint or acrylic paint. This project is not good for tee-shirts or other articles of clothing. It is mainly appropriate when you want to alter the design of fabric to be used in art pieces or wall hangings.

I'm sure there are lots of better tutorials on the internet on monoprinting. I'm sure there are probably some on YouTube, too. I even have written several blog posts on monoprinting, as well as gelatin printing. So your options are numerous if you have never tried this technique and want to give it a whirl.

Inspiration Avenue: English Literature

2011-12-02T05:33:00.008-06:00

This week for Inspiration Avenue, Lisa, the one with The Wright Stuff challenged us to (in Lisa's words): "Be inspired by English Literature in whatever form you choose." When I saw that challenge, my mind immediately lept (that's an archaic English word, folks) to

this piece I framed in the late 1980s. It was originally the dust cover from the English Lit book I used as an undergrad. It is a picture of Queen Elizabeth I, and I kept it because I loved the picture and was always impressed with her. Now this may not be something I painted, but it is something that is quite close to my heart and my ancestry.

And what better way to be inspired by English Literature than the cover of an old English Lit book?

Stepping further back, you can see how I used the framed book cover in the vignette over windows in this rather feminine guest bedroom.

Thanks Lisa for this challenge. And thanks, too, for allowing me to step outside my normal box and show my take on English Literature, regardless of the form.

12 Month Calendar: November and December

2011-12-01T00:11:00.010-06:00

Another month completed on my 12 month calendar. That means there's only one month to go, as we begin to wind down this year. I never suspected when I started this project, initiated by our leader Kate at The Kathryn Wheel, how demanding it would be. Now I'm no artist and my pages are not filled with lovely daily art like some of the people I've visited. But it still is a big (and I stress the word BIG) commitment to write a little something every day, even if you don't include a bit of artistic imagery along with the prose.

I managed to get my November squares filled, along with a few bits of good old-fashioned American based thankfulness.

My left side (for those of you who like to see the daily minutia) is decorated with a few barren trees, a sure sign that Autumn winds have helped remove all the dead and dying leaves.

The right side is filled with some of those wind-swept leaves, and images of thanks and Thanksgiving. I realize Thanksgiving is a strickly American holiday, but it is my favorite holiday of all, since there are no religious overtones, no gifts that must be exchanged, and it can be as elaborate or simple as one chooses.

Christmas, on the other hand, is never simple. The house is filled with food, decorations, scents, and gifts from the first of December. So, my December pages will truly be filled with decorated trees (like my house) and hopefully lots of prose describing the events of the month. I hope to see everyone this month and next month when we wrap up the year with our calendars.

What's on Your Workdesk this 130th Wednesday?

2011-11-29T23:20:00.001-06:00

This past week has truly been a whirlwind. Bloggers I intended to visit, didn't get visited. Comments I would have left, didn't get written. Sometimes I can make it around to everyone (or nearly everyone), but last week became the week I didn't sleep, and instead shopped with my holiday guests, decorated my house for Christmas while my week long guests slept, and cooked more well balanced meals than I have had (much less cooked) in a LONG time. And of course that meant the internet and computer action were nearly lifeless, aside from the pre-scheduled posts.

Hopefully everyone will be as understanding as Julia of Stamping Ground, Lady of the Links, who says to get to who you can. And I will do better this week, at least that's the plan!

But first, this week it's all about the rework.

On my main floor craft room table is a rocking horse Christmas decoration that I bought new last year, but must have packed incorrectly. When I unwrapped the package, one of the horse's ears was broken. I was SO lucky to find it. WOYWWendy is pointing in the direction of the ear.

Using E-6000, I reattached the ear and all is now well.

Moving to my basement studio, I have a couple of projects. I am setting up a new Teflon heat resistant craft sheet. And I have dedicated a spot to my craft-based iron which now lives in the basement.

To the right of the desk are the remains of a rocking horse mobile. I found two of the strings had broken and the mobile had fallen from its suction cup on a window. In order to repair the mobile, I have to decide which thickness of fishing line I want to use in the repair.

As I head to the next desk, you are able to see (on the extreme right second shelf) where I keep my wind chime repair equipment, including several different sized spools of fishing line.

On this desk, I am getting ready to gesso a few wood blocks.

I finally decided I could work on more than one block, if I did the prep work in the basement.

And to show the approximate size of the room, I have moved my chair out away from the desk. I hope everyone is having a wonderful WOYWW and your desks are more productive than my two that are displaying rework.

Cup and Saucer Tea

2011-11-29T05:26:00.002-06:00

This week I join Kimmie on Tea Tuesday at the Cup N Saucer Tea Room with my friend Sally. There used to be three tea rooms in Wichita, now there is one.

The sun is definitely in the Southern hemisphere because this building is facing north. I couldn't see anything when I took this shot, not even my image in the glass or the "OP" sign.

We visited this tea room a week or so before Thanksgiving, so there was a definite autumn feel to the window display.

My friend Sally and I were quickly seated, but we had already eaten lunch and wanted only tea because she had a doctor's appointment across town about an hour after we sat down.

All I wanted was tea, so got up to take a few shots before our tea arrived.

They weren't kidding. Collectibles were everywhere.

It didn't take long for our pots of tea to arrive. I appreciated the eclectic mix of cups, saucers, and tea pots they used.

The lighting in this place was HORRIBLE, so I did the best I could by lightening the pictures in Photoshop.

I hate to say this, but

it wouldn't take me very long at all to get tired of that rose wallpaper!

I may not live in the real OZ, but I live in the land of OZ and I was off to see the Wizard while Sally insisted we buy dessert.

I guess it's only fitting that many of the stores in Wichita have images like these this time of year. One of the networks runs the show for several nights about now and US 54, which runs from east to west through Wichita, has been designated the "Yellow Brick Road."

Back to taking more photos and less jabbering.

Those blue and white dishes would go great in my kitchen! And that's the type of turkey I like to see on Thanksgiving.

More collectibles, less roses.

Oops, spoke too soon.

Back at the table, our desserts had now arrived. Sally got bread pudding with lemon cream, and I am always a sucker

for pie. Chocolate is pretty high on my list of delights, and this was made right there at the tea room. Unfortunately, we had to leave before I could finish my pie or my tea.

One last quick look around before I had to leave.

I only wish we'd had more time to enjoy

both the surroundings and

our tea.

Maybe the short time in the Cup N Saucer was for the best, though.

After all, I may never get the image of all those roses out of my head!

Happy Tea Tuesday. Please visit Kimmie for links to see what all my tea drinking friends have been up to this past week. And is it too late to say I hope you had an awesome Thanksgiving?

The lost week

2011-11-28T07:31:00.003-06:00

Many of my blogging friends must wonder where I disappeared to. Many have even left me wonderful and thoughtful comments over the last five days, none of which I have answered. Nor have I been to their blogs. What started as a week that should have been very relaxing, turned out to be one I must call the "lost week." For during that week (and weekend) I lost track of time, days, nights, sleep, and was on the computer a total of about 30 minutes.

It all began last Monday when I invited my friend Sally to join me for a trial meal. If I am preparing a big "shindig" I will often try a few recipes on my friends, and I did just that last Monday before my friends were to arrive. What I was "really" trying were the creamed onions, and my first time making a new sweet potato recipe. I added the green beans, baked potato, and (sadly not set) jello I made just for Sally. The verdict was the creamed onions were too seasoned because I used too much fresh thyme. The sweet potatoes were perfect because they were not too sweet, or too juicy. And Sally gladly took the jello mess home that I made just for her. I knew it would firm up overnight.

My friends who joined me over the "lost week" asked that I not show their faces, their outlines, or their names. Since they read my blog, there was no way I was going to promise something I wouldn't deliver. So everyone remained anonymous.

I tried to figure out how to turn these next photos into a mosaic, but I ended up wasting precious time I could have spent posting this and visiting a few blogging friends. I was attempting to show how I put 8 people at a table where I had enough plates and such, but not enough cups or napkins. So, I

mixed up the napkins and used different napkin rings, as well as

different cups for each person.

I didn't remember that I had two

different styles of small bowls,

until I had them out

and was about to set the table. Needless to say, it was crowded, but we had more than enough food for everyone. And that was true the entire weekend. I don't think I've cooked so much and so often in years!

After we ate, some wanted a nap, others played scrabble, and I was lured to the front porch by the sounds of the wind chimes singing in the very high wind.

The next morning, while everyone slept, as is my custom, I was up before dawn, ready to decorate my house for Christmas. Only Bleubeard and I were awake and you can tell how dark it still is.

I had the house decorated before my company woke.

I was trying to stay quiet while others slept, so my photos were a bit blurry.

I realized after I took this photo that I had to add a rock or something to the pot so the tree would not flop over. However, I was just trying to get everything finished before it was time to fix everyone breakfast.

Needless to say, after everyone woke to a Christmas household, Friday was a day out and about, but I didn't even take my camera since it would have made a few of my guests nervous. And Saturday, we made the rounds in the neighborhood, where there are several small family owned shops. It felt good to visit places I wouldn't normally, since like so many other people, I have a tendency to shop the big box, corporate owned stores.

My friends left Sunday afternoon and it was time to go to my friend Sally's where we were going to have a belated Thanksgiving dinner, this time with her preparing most everything and me bringing a couple of leftovers.

I had trouble believing it was the end of November when I looked out Sally's back patio windows and saw all those green bushes. Even the grass that had not died out due to the severe summer heat was green. I'm sure winter will come soon, but for now, I'm just thankful for all the decent weather we are having.

It's now time to catch up on my sleep. I think I'll sleep the entire day today (Monday). Hopefully, the lost week was not as lost as it might have been and I will be able to catch up with all my blogging friends over the next couple of days. But for now, it's time to catch up on sleep!

Silent Sunday: Exploration Place's Flight Exhibits (part 1)

2011-11-27T05:22:00.005-06:00

Sometimes it's about perspective

2011-11-26T08:06:00.011-06:00

Last Sunday I showed the entrance to Exploration Place, where the Planetarium and gift store were located. I didn't take any photos of the gift shop, which I usually do. But there were so many places to visit, I truly had no time to stop and shop. From this side of the scaled model, you can see the entrance at the front left. The building that has concave sides and is to the front left in the above scaled model is the Planetarium and science center. By walking along the Planetarium, you reach the covered walkway and bridge

that takes you to the next set of buildings, which also charges admission.

This is the front (which I have shown before) that houses the Planetarium and the entrance. The covered walkway and bridge connects to the entrance.

Here you can see the covered walkway and bridge which can easily be seen in the second scaled model above.

There are several round and angular buildings, each of which holds different types of exhibits. The glass buildings (enclosures) are areas that take you from one set of exhibits to the next.

According to the Exploration Place web site:

Discover Exploration Place as you experience your world in a whole new and fun way on this 20-acre site, located along the scenic Arkansas River, in Wichita’s downtown Museums on the River district.

Experience four hands-on exhibit areas designed for all ages that focus on flight, Kansas, medieval life in a three-story castle, and imaginative spaces for young children.

In the Boeing Dome Theater and Planetarium, travel to faraway destinations and embark upon unforgettable adventures in the state’s largest digital dome space planetarium.

Take a breather in the great outdoors at Exploration Park’s picnic grove and adventure play yard. And finally, test your putting skills during the summer at the 18-hole, unconventional MiniGolf course. Other amenities include free parking, Explore Store, Grab ‘n’ Go Snack Bar and Terrace, and family restrooms.

Look out the windows on the covered walkway from one direction and you will see various buildings, the unenclosed bridge (see scaled model 2) and the downtown skyline.

From the opposite side are more round buildings, a statue and the reflecting pool. If you look just right, you might even see the miniature golf course, which charges yet another fee!

I didn't get a map, so it was quite confusing until I went through my photos as well as Exploration Place's web site, and put it all in perspective. This overhead view is from Exploration Place's web site. You are seeing the museum from the river, and the entrance to the museum is in the upper right center. I hope this helps when you see my Silent Sunday photos, too.

Inspiration Avenue: Aging Beauty

2011-11-25T07:43:00.010-06:00

This week's challenge at Inspiration Avenue is aged beauty as issued by Luthien, whose art I really admire for all the metal and rusty bits she uses. However, this week, I had very limited time, since I was throwing a big Thanksgiving bash and some of my company had arrived early. In fact, I am still entertaining, and even though I had this ready on Tuesday, I have scheduled it for Friday, my normal day for showing my Inspiration Avenue challenge.

When I think of aging beauties, my thoughts often go to metal and rust, two things I love to play with.

While cleaning my work table, I got distracted and began making a small assemblage using my craft sheet as the substrate. Although it was just a bit of fun before I had to find the right bins or containers for each of the leftover pieces on the table, I decided to grab a piece of my rusty fabric, iron it, then sew it to a sheet of cardstock. That's when I got the idea of turning this bit of flotsom and jetsom into a piece of rust and white art for my color round robin tip-in book.

Can you believe all that color, including the turquoise, came from rust and rust dyeing? This tip-in will now get three hole punches and I'll add it to my Rust and White tip-in book. And to think, I put this page together in about three hours, with no forethought or hunting for embellishments. What a fun way to clean off my work table before company arrived and have a fun piece of rusty art when I was finished. I think this is one swell aging beauty.

Thanksgiving wishes

2011-11-24T00:48:00.001-06:00

This Thanksgiving wish is the only thing that comes from Bleubeard and me today. The wish is genuine.

The projects are real, like this note holder made using real feathers

or this one that adds those same feathers to polymer clay.

Maybe you prefer mixed media using painted plastic cups,

or how about a place holder made from an apple, almond, peanut, construction paper, marker, and wiggle eyes.
Perhaps a magnet is more to your liking,

or a gift bag filled with surprises.

Does this little guy made with felt and a tin can make you smile?

And of course, this is my all time favorite! All images from crafts.kaboose.com where you will also find all the project instructions.

Have a safe and happy Thanksgiving, be thankful for your blessings, and eat more veggies and fruit. OK, that last part came from your friendly vegetarian, not Bleubeard who seems to love the white meat of turkey!

What's on Your Workdesk, Wednesday Nov 23

2011-11-22T23:26:00.008-06:00

I'm in a bit of a hurry this week. I hope Julia at Stamping Ground, the Grand Dame of the Links, understands because this is Thanksgiving weekend and some of my company has already arrived. So I'll try to be quick because

last week Crafty Womble asked what the difference was between my two craft areas. The functions used to be a LOT different, but now the lines are starting to blur. For example, I sew everything in this room, and originally kept my fabric here until I increased the number of shelves I have in the basement hallway.

All collages and most painting is done in this room. It is also the room where I store my handmade paper.

As much as I HATE MOD PODGE, I seem to have been given quite a bunch of it. I keep it out of sight in my basement studio.

The actual use of this space was originally intended for making assemblages and storing all my jewelry findings and embellishments.

Sorry if this mask freaks a few of you. I have gotten so used to it, I don't even notice it's there.

As promised last week, I said I would show where my "glue tower" went. This old photo is from 2009, and the dresser, ruined by the flood, was quite sturdy that it originally sat on.

Then the dresser got replaced with some very cheap shelves that were not as strong as the ones I bought for the hallway. Can you see the "leaning tower" of glue is about to topple onto the floor?

Well, here it is in the hallway, it's new home. At least the table is sturdy and solid.

You can see where the people who installed the sheetrock cut the wires to the phone line. It's a good thing I don't need a telephone outlet anymore.

I've now returned to the main floor and glued and sewed a few rusty bits (most of the embellishments that had been hanging out on my table earlier in the day) together for a project I am making for a challenge later in the week. So I'm not sure I answered Crafty Womble's question, but at least I had something on one of my worktables this week!

But now I must stir the baked beans, bake the yams, boil potatoes, and start the green bean casserole. I may have British ancestors, but Thanksgiving is my favorite holiday. I begin at least a day, often two days, before the event to get everything ready for the Thanksgiving bash. Since I still have some last minute food and drink purchases to make today, I won't be around much until the end of the weekend. But I hope each person has a great weekend and if you live in the States, a very lovely, safe and THANKFUL Thanksgiving.

Lemon or milk?

2011-11-22T08:56:00.003-06:00

Every year I bring this set of dishes out (I've shown the complete set before here on another of Kimmie's Tea Tuesday posts) between Thanksgiving and Christmas. I use this set for company and also occasionally for Tea Tuesday between these two holidays.

Now that everything has been polished and shined in preparation for the Thanksgiving bash, I can relax and have tea with all my Tuesday tea friends whose links are at Kimmie's. As I prepare for the Thursday event, I want to make certain I have plenty of everything. So today I am offering you a choice between milk (actually 1/2 and 1/2) and lemon. It's your choice. Chose whichever you prefer. I have plenty of both!

The tea is a blend of several teas called Irish Breakfast tea, which is supposed to be very strong and can be served with or without milk. Of course, sugar is optional.

Please visit Kimmie for more Tea Tuesday participants. It goes without saying, if you live in the US, have a thankful and safe Thanksgiving.

Silent Sunday: Exploration Place (entrance and planetarium)

2011-11-20T09:55:00.003-06:00

Jan's tip-ins for the color swap

2011-11-19T04:36:00.002-06:00

My swap partner this month was Jan at Dandelion and Daisy. Her colors are pink and orange, and she said either color could be the primary, with the other color as the secondary. Jan's pages are 8 inches by 11 inches. Now that she has received her pages, I can show you what I made for her.

I didn't read the instructions very well when I started making this page. Jan asked for heavy pages and she suggested cardboard. Well, I don't have cardboard, because I don't buy boxed items like cereal and Bisquick. Consequently, I had no cardboard. Needless to say, I used orange card stock, then realized after I had made the page that 1) it wasn't really heavy enough for Jan's specifications and 2) the glue I used on the tags made wonky ripples on the reverse side. So of course I had to cover that up. And that was AFTER I had already cut the side using decorative scissors.

I scoured my embellishments (thankfully they are now out of storage) and found as many pink and orange embellishments as I could. I painted the tags three different colors of pink, two of which were metallic, although that doesn't show up in the scan. I'm really thankful for all those tags I saved when my furniture returned from storage. Jan called this a "sampler." I won't argue with her name for it.

The flip side of this began with a sheet of pink copier paper (20 lb), to which I placed the dressmaker cutout that Annette (Voodoo Vixen) sent me over it, then filled the page with joint compound. I painted the joint compound orange, except for the dressmaker stand, which I painted pink. The pink was fabric paint (have I mentioned I don't have much pink?) that had a tiny nozzle. I thought I could go around the edges of the stand using the nozzle, but I think I made a mess of it. I added some ribbon I bought specifically for the project, but ended up not using very much of it. The next time I use joint compound, I think I will color it before I apply it to the substrate. After the two pages were joined, I cut the second side, once again using the decorative scissors.

The only "in process" shot I took was for the first side of the second page. This was the second of many steps I took after first applying gesso to both sides of a flat rate envelope (did I mention I didn't have cardboard?).

I genuinely hated covering the background, because I thought it was awesome. However, I tediously cut many flowers (many more than I used) from wallpaper samples. And although it doesn't show in the scan, two tulips are raised with foam dots. I suggest you go to Jan's blog and see this from her camera's viewpoint. Her photo shows the elevated flowers much better than my scan.

I showed this side last week as my Inspiration Avenue challenge entry. If you missed it, you can see how I made it here using caulk and paint. I didn't adhere the dress to anything until it was dry, then added it to the painted page. I forgot to sign the page until after I scanned it. However, you can see a very good photo of this page on Jan's blog.

I entered this tag as part of a challenge on ABC (Yahoo group) with the intention that it would be for Jan. I received the central piece, which is beautifully beaded, from Annette (Voodoo Vixen). If you look closely, you can see a few swirls from a piece of my paste paper. I sewed the two sides together, the only sewing I did on Jan's pages, even though the dress theme was quite evident.

As an aside, Jan told me the bit of paper ephemera I used, which was part of a metal pouring process, was special because her DH was in that business for many years. I hope Jan likes these pages, because she is a fantastic artist.

Please don't forget that I visited another museum a couple of weeks ago, right before the first frost and the changing of the leaves. This is a museum for both parents and children and is very, very popular (and busy). It took me most of the day (from 10 to 4) to walk the various buildings and exhibits. I hope you don't get tired of these photos, because I suspect they will be coming for awhile.

Inspiration Avenue: Harlequin

2011-11-18T06:27:00.004-06:00

I didn't think I was going to get this Inspiration Avenue challenge, given us by Stephanie, finished in time, but I worked most of the night to finish it.

I began by making a diamond stamp using one of my erasers I got at Big Lots last year. Yes, I cut it with my knife, after I measured and used lots of math that I didn't really need and all my triangles that I also didn't need. Live and learn!

Then it was two days of masking and painting and waiting for paint to dry. And that was before I could even start using my new "rubber" stamp.

I made the house out of a wet wipe I painted using various Golden fluid acrylics, then sewed the roof to the house. The wood block, ~8 inches by 8 inches by 1/2 inch was also painted using Golden fluid acrylics.

The little girl is by Paper Whimsey. The scan shows the details. Thanks for this challenge Stephanie, and thanks to everyone at IA for always being so supportive. Be sure to check out the other Harlequin entries that Stephanie and others have posted.

Andrea's challenge

2011-11-17T05:45:00.002-06:00

Andrea of Falling Ladies is having an interview giveaway on her blog. I read about it on Stephanie's blog. Basically, all you have to do to be in the drawing for one of her lovely art pieces, is answer a few simple questions she threw out at us. Since I needed a filler for my Thursday post, I decided to answer the challenge. If you want to play along, just copy the questions, then use your own photos and answers to entertain us and join Andrea's giveaway.

1. What should you be doing right now instead of sitting on the computer?

I may not even be on the computer at the moment, since I scheduled this post for early Thursday morning.

2. What's the messiest area of your house? and dare you to show us...

Last Wednesday, this is what my messiest room in the house looked like. I was busy making several projects, and had a few things still on my table that needed to be dealt with.

Of course, if I was careful, you would not have been able to see quite as much of the mess, or of the ugly, and I do mean UGLY, plastic cover that protects my work table.

3. Five (5) simple things that make you happy right now, above and beyond the obvious like your family and your health...

3.1. Rocking horses
3.2. Candles

3.3. My new basement studio

3.4. My sunny and inviting home

3.5. Bleubeard's no cost cat scratcher.

4. When did you last cry?

I hate to admit this, but I cried last night after seeing a WALMART, yes folks, a WalMart commercial. Of course, at the time I didn't know it was for Wally World, because it was about a military mom coming home to her two girls.

5. Favorite book...

Any (and every) fiction novel written by Ayn Rand.

6. How many pets.

Anyone who has ever been to my blog knows the answer to that, and his name is Bleubeard.

7. Two (2) Goals... one huge and unrealistic one, and one achievable one...

The first would be to travel around the world and visit each and every one of my blogging friends of whom I've grown so fond. The second would be to sell my first piece of art. Of course, the way I'm going, they may both be unrealistic, or the first may be more realistic than the second.

8. Five (5) things in your purse besides money and a cell phone...

Sorry Andrea, but I don't think I even have five things in my purse. I hate purses and sadly, don't own a cell phone. So the only things (as of last Saturday) was a note with my neighbor's departure and return times, along with some Ibuprophen I took on a recent trip and forgot to remove. This is also where I keep my camera, but I had to use it to take this shot. My keys are always attached, and now, so are my friend's car and house keys.

On the back side are my driver's license, my gift cards, and my bank card. Gosh, I guess that WAS five things.

9. The emotion or feeling you hate the most...

Need I say more? Please click to enlarge and see the entire piece, since I copied it from a blog post from 2008.

10. If you could have 50 pounds of anything except money or gold what would you want?

Like Stephanie, I would want plants. Specifically HERBS! The kind you place in the ground and grow.

If you would like to do one of Andrea's interviews, please leave your link with Andrea before Nov. 20.

What's On Your Workdesk, Wednesday #128

2011-11-15T23:30:00.007-06:00

This week I am hanging out with Julia at Stamping Ground in my basement studio. I've added a few things since the last time we were all together, including

my cordless phone, something new to the studio, and this heater I purchased last Thursday.

I even plugged it in to make sure it worked properly.

In addition to the new phone and heater, I added the massager to the chair. I saw the chair massager on someone's blog (maybe Shaz's, but probably/possibly not) and remembered a friend had given me her mother's. I finally have a place for it. The only disadvantage is all those electrical cords and massager control panel. Only my heat gun's cord is hidden. At least the heater doesn't need to be connected until winter actually sets in.

To make things more cozy and enjoyable, I further adjusted the chair to a lower height, which works well with this thinner desk "counter top." Now I might even sit to work on occasion.

Most of you have seen the rocking horse clock. I found a place for it, along with a couple more rocking horses, one of which is a rocking carousel horse.

Speaking of clocks, I had to get rid of the one that was badly damaged by rust. The entire unit was rusty. But the one above is functional, at least. I originally had my glue tower on that shelving, but the shelving is too unstable, so had to find another place for it. I'll show you next week where I put it.

OK, the desk is a bit boring this week, but I hope you weren't too disappointed with the mini tour. And for those of you who are new to my blog, the microwave is for dyeing fabric, and making other art related projects, and not really for cooking meals. Don't forget to visit Julia for more links this week.

Honoring Inspiration Avenue challenges

2011-11-15T06:38:00.001-06:00

Does anyone ever wonder what I do with all those Inspiration Avenue (IA) challenges I show each Friday? And how does that fit with Tuesday Tea I share with Kimmie and friends?

Back in May of this year, I answered this green and purple IA challenge. You can see how I made it here using oil pastels and Twinkling H2Os.

Then I showed this spoon as part of the Art Nouveau challenge from November 4 of this year.

Last Saturday I decided to turn these two pieces into an assemblage, after Priti Lisa left a comment about envisioning the spoon as part of a wind chime. I began by covering a block of 10 inch by 7 1/2 inch by 1 inch wood with gesso, to which I added the deconstructed part of the "Tea for 1" as seen in the first photo. I removed the sentiment and added a tea label with string attached, to the cup. The process took forever, because I glued one side at a time. Originally I had planned to use all tea bags for the back and sides, but changed my mind when I remembered I had made two backgrounds for this challenge.

So today my cup of tea with Kimmie and friends begins on my kitchen table. It's no secret my camera is not the best, so the colors are way off in this shot.

I thought if I stood it up, the colors might be bit truer, but this action only made the tea cup darker.

But then I decided the only way to get a good photo was to scan the piece. So here is the front where you can see I tried to change the spoon color a bit, and

the back. I used the only purple ink I owned to color the rubber stamp of the tea pot and cup, but it simply gets lost on the tea bag. When I began removing the sentiment from the deconstructed piece, I noticed how easily the letters popped off. To make sure that didn't happen in the event I gave someone this assemblage, I glued them to the page.

Have a great Tea Tuesday everyone, and be sure to visit all my tea (and other beverages) drinking friends at Kimmie's.

Silent Sunday: Fall has finally lived up to its name

2011-11-13T06:12:00.001-06:00

How I spent my week getting ready for winter

2011-11-12T07:43:00.005-06:00

I've been gone most of the week, partly in response to my friend Sally taking another trip this month. This time her destination is not so exotic, but a trip to Texas to spend the long weekend with her son and his partner.

Since Sally has a Sam's card, we spent the day at the big box store looking at phones. My phone died recently, so I had a few choices. I decided on the four Vtech. They are the same brand I've had in the past, but before, I only had two. Now I have one for my kitchen, office, main floor craft room, and my basement studio.

Sally also bought the same ones I bought.

I should be ready to see Christmas decorations, but

it was still a bit of a shock, since the temperatures are still so balmy. I suspect these have already been decorating this bar since before Halloween.

After all that shopping, we went to our weekly meal. Sally had pollack and a baked potato, and I had an veggie omelet. Sorry, I forgot to take pictures.

On Thursday morning, I took off early to buy groceries and stop by The Dollar Tree for nightlight bulbs. What a change in temperatures. This was what I saw when I turned the car on and started the defroster. I thought it was an awesome crackle finish.

Later in the day I took Sally to the airport. It seems I never remember to take my camera, but this time I remembered and took photos of our tiny airport.

I also got a photo of Sally looking all upbeat and at ease.

Then I headed to Home Depot, but didn't bother to take any photos. More on that later.

On my way home, I stumbled onto our Tuesday Morning, where I found a nice sale going on. More on that later, too.

Sadly, the people in the store wouldn't let me take photos of anything, not even general shots of the inside of the store. I've never seen a store that wouldn't let you take photos of things, but this place was very strict. After all, people take photos all the time of comparison merchandise they want for future purposes.

Back home later in the day, I took the majority of my purchases to the basement.

On Monday, I sorted my ink pens and placed the ones I wanted to use in my main floor craft room in one container (seen on the right), and the ones I wanted for my basement studio (shown on the left). The ones for the main floor I hope to use to start a bit of journaling, although right now, that is a bit of a stretch. I only mention that because they were already in my basement studio when I got there on Thursday.

At Tuesday Morning, I bought some fabric paint (I should have gotten two of these because they were half price), some fabric squares (not the prettiest in the world, but acceptable), and a new hot glue gun that uses the large glue sticks that I have so many of. Also, just barely in camera range on the right, is my new cordless phone, something new to this studio.

I wanted larger eyelets, but they didn't have any, except some that were post eyelets and nearly 2 inches in diameter, which were too large. I hope to use them for my wooden blocks. I got these at Home Depot. Had I not had a gift card, I would never have purchased them.

I also got a small heater. Not sure it will be big enough for the room, but I don't think I'll need much, since the basement doesn't get that cold in the winter.

I even plugged it in and tested it.

Last year, my friend Dana gave me a seat massager, but I never had a place for it before. I brought it to the basement and attached it to my chair. The seat portion was a bit dirty, so I covered it with the rug I use to cover the chair in case Bleubeard should come for a visit. I further adjusted the chair to a lower height, which works well with this thinner desk "counter top." Now I might even sit to work on occasion.

The clock I can't repair is gone, and the container of pens have taken its place. The heater, the phone, and the massager all have electrical cords that I hate. Only my heat gun has a hidden electrical cord. At least I don't have to use the heater year round, so it will only be plugged in once the room gets cold. The two cords, one a massage controller, the other the electrical receptacle, are for the chair. After finding spaces for my latest purchases, I am now ready for winter to set in. How are you doing on your winterizing or spring cleaning?

11/11/11

2011-11-11T11:00:00.000-06:00

Today we in the US celebrate Veteran's Day. It is a day of remembrance which officially ended WWI ("the war to end all wars," or the "Great War," as it was originally called) on the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. In the United States, it is known as Veterans Day. Other countries celebrate it as Armistice Day. It is a day dedicated to world peace.

(Photo courtesy of VA.gov, with the inscription "Soldiers of the 353rd Infantry near a church at Stenay, Meuse in France, wait for the end of hostilities. This photo was taken at 10:58 a.m., on November 11, 1918, two minutes before the armistice ending World War I went into effect.")

Veterans Day was first celebrated on Nov. 11, 1919, the first anniversary of the end of World War I. The day's observation included parades and public gatherings, as well as a brief pause in business activities at 11 a.m. On November 11, 1921, an unidentified American soldier killed in the war was buried at Arlington National Cemetery in Washington, D.C. As an aside, unidentified soldiers were laid to rest that same day at Westminster Abbey in London and at the Arc de Triomphe in Paris. The US Congress passed a resolution in 1926 calling the date as an annual observance, and Nov. 11 became a national holiday beginning in 1938.

As I pointed out last year, some people get Veteran's Day confused with Memorial Day, I suspect because both involve our armed forces. Memorial Day (the fourth Monday in May) honors American service members who died in service to their country or as a result of injuries incurred during battle, while Veterans Day pays tribute to all American veterans, living or dead. Services, parades, and such are especially designed to gives thanks to living veterans who served their country honorably during war or peace.

Tomb of the Unknowns in Arlington Cemetery (Photo from Wikimedia Commons, so please click to see the full photo)

Official national ceremonies for Veterans Day center around the Tomb of the Unknowns, sometimes called the Tomb of the Unknown Soldiers. "To honor these men, symbolic of all Americans who gave their lives in all wars, an Army honor guard, the 3d U.S. Infantry (The Old Guard), keeps day and night vigil" (quoted from VA.gov). A soldier from each of the previous wars all the way through the Vietnam War were originally entombed there. However, with improved DNA testing, the Vietnam soldier was identified in 1998 and was disinterred and reburied by his family.

(Photo courtesy of VA.gov with the partial caption: "President Eisenhower signing HR7786, changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day. ")

A brief visit to the web site of the Department of Veterans Affairs notes:

In 1954, President Eisenhower officially changed the name of the holiday from Armistice Day to Veterans Day. This was so veterans of WWII could be honored, too.
In 1968, the Uniform Holidays Bill was passed by Congress, which moved the celebration of Veterans Day to the fourth Monday in October. The law went into effect in 1971, but in 1975 President Ford returned Veterans Day to November 11, due to the important historical significance of the date.
Britain, France, Australia and Canada also commemorate the veterans of World Wars I and II on or near November 11th: Canada has Remembrance Day (sometimes referred to as Poppy Day), while Britain has Remembrance Sunday (the second Sunday of November). In Europe, Britain and the Commonwealth countries it is common to observe two minutes of silence at 11 a.m. every November 11.
Although it is considered a National holiday, in actuality, there are no U.S. national holidays because the states retain the right to designate their own, and the government can only designate holidays for federal employees and for the District of Columbia. In practice, however, states almost always follow the federal lead.

(courtesy of the office of the Dept. of Veteran Affairs)

Poppies are often worn in the lapel on Veterans Day. As I pointed out last year, I remember my Grandfather (I was raised by my grandparents) always wore one. (Photo from Wikimedia Commons, so please click to see the full photo)

As a statistician, I found these figures interesting:

4.7 million forces served in World War I (1914-1918).
2.6 million veterans served during World War II (1941-1945).
2.8 million veterans served during the Korean War (1950-1953).
7.8 million veterans served during the Vietnam War era (1964-1975), which represents 33% of all living veterans.
400,000 veterans served in the Persian Gulf War (1990-1991).

(courtesy of the US Census Bureau)

(2011 Veterans Day poster courtesy of VA.gov. Because this is a copied photo, please click to see the entire photo. Click here to see all the previous posters from 1978 to the present)

Every year the Department of Veterans Affairs issues a new poster commemorating this day. For the past two years, and now this year, I have shown the current poster on my blog.

I will leave you with this final quote, a bit of history I also noted above, that I found on VA.gov:

Veterans Day continues to be observed on November 11, regardless of what day of the week on which it falls. The restoration of the observance of Veterans Day to November 11 not only preserves the historical significance of the date, but helps focus attention on the important purpose of Veterans Day: A celebration to honor America's veterans for their patriotism, love of country, and willingness to serve and sacrifice for the common good.

Please don't forget that no matter how you say (or think) it, today is 11/11/11 in any and every country on earth. And enjoy your day, however you might spend it and please thank a Veteran for what s/he has done for you and your country, no matter which country you have visited from.

Inspiration Avenue: homage to needlecraft

2011-11-10T07:31:00.001-06:00

I'm a day early with my Inspiration Avenue challenge entry this week because tomorrow, my usual day I post my challenge entry, is Veteran's Day. This week, for our Inspiration Avenue challenge, Hettienne asked us to pay homage to needlecraft. Originally, I was going to turn one of my empty thread spools into a message keepsake, but I simply didn't have time to plan out and make something I've never made before, especially since I was gone all day yesterday and will be gone most of today (Thursday).

I had intended to make a new "Mess in a Bag" as I call my dresses, but these take at least eight days, which means I didn't have time to make one in time to enter it in the challenge. However, I had just finished one and sent it to a friend, so I hope she doesn't see it on my blog (grin).

Although I took no photos of the piece I made for my friend, here is how I made it, based on one I made about a month ago.

You begin with Liquid Nails or caulk (which I used), a zip locking bag, and a bit of water.

Place your caulk and a bit of water in a bag. The amount of water you use will be something you will have to play with. I've made three of these and haven't gotten it right yet! I keep ending up with too much water in the mix.

Add your doll or infant dress and knead the bag, getting complete coverage of the caulk and water. Allow to sit unattended for at least a day until most of the liquid has been absorbed. Pour off the excess liquid, knead a bit more, then remove as much air from the bag as possible, and allow the dress to sit in the bag for at least five days.

When the dress has set for a week, remove it from the bag and position it on your substrate. You should not need any glue unless you don't immediately affix it to your substrate. Position the piece on the substrate as you want it to be when dry. If you want a subtle look, paint the dress while it is still wet.

Allow the dress to dry for at least two days in the position you want it to dry in. That means if you want to hang the piece, you will need to stand it up to dry. When completely dry, paint the dress using acrylics, if you have not already added paint.

This is the piece I just finished. I'm not sure you can tell, but this dress is quite dimensional because I shaped the bodice. In addition to the above directions, I added pink paint to the caulk and the water when I originally placed the doll dress in the bag and kneaded. This is a tip-in that is going to a friend in a color swap. Her colors are orange and pink and the size of the tip-in is 8 inches by 11 inches or about A4.

I hope this is not too far fetched to be considered for this challenge. It was a difficult one to comprehend what was really expected, so I went by the examples Hettienne gave us.

WOYWW #127 in my basement studio

2011-11-08T23:00:00.007-06:00

It's been two weeks since I joined Julia and the rest of my mostly British friends for What's On Your Workdesk on Wednesday. I hope I can stay awake to link up, because I must be up early in the morning and out the door by 6:30 a.m. my time.

As you can see, I'm in the planning stage of working in my basement studio now that it is finally ship-shape. I'm getting ready to make some art using my latest purchase, which is joint compound. I tried to use a similar product I got free at my local Household Hazardous Waste Swap and Shop, which turned out to be unsatisfactory and didn't work. So I finally bit the bullet and bought the right product at Home Depot, a big box "home improvement" store here in the U.S. While I was getting the joint compound out of the bag, I was distracted by the aromatherapy kit I found on one of my shelves

that makes both soap and candles. Looks like the box has been through a flood. Well, yes, as a matter of fact, it has! But I am planning to make a few gifts from this kit because the soap and candle crystals did not get wet, nor did the molds. Even though the soap is the microwave melt kind, not the type that mixes oil and lye together that I'm used to making, I think a few of my non-artistic friends will appreciate either a Christmas candle or bar of soap. And to welcome in the festive season is the cute snowman with the rocking horse in a snow globe. Yes, I count it as one of my approximately 450 rocking horses.

Although the joint compound wasn't at the Household Hazardous Waste Swap and Shop, I did manage to pick up a Liquid Nails and caulk cartridge that have never been opened and a cartridge of caulk that has been opened. These should be easier to use for making my caulk dresses (or mess in a bag as I've called this project in the past), because I can use my caulk gun for easy removal, even though it is ratcheted, which makes stopping the caulk a bit messy. All in all, I have a few projects to work on now that it's time to bring my art inside. And being in the basement this winter will hopefully be warm and toasty, since it's still quite warm from this summer.

I hope everyone has a lovely WOYWW and I will try to visit as soon as I have a free moment this week. And before you ask, I can't get that clock hiding under the shelf to work. Seems the battery fused to the mechanism and rusted. Chock it up to water damage!

Chasing light and shadows

2011-11-08T08:47:00.000-06:00

Today I'm outside chasing the early morning autumn light now that daylight savings time is no longer in effect. It's not that cold after yesterday's rain, but the fire is perfect for the early morning, since we've already had some frosty mornings.

I've removed the umbrella to get a better view of my tea. I'm keeping my Citrus Mint tea warm in my covered mug. This tea is a combination of oolong, black, and green teas with orange peel, mint, licorice root, safflower, and lemongrass that I got at the Spice Merchant.

As the fire heats, I realize the sun is starting to wash out the lid of the mug.

Angling the camera doesn't seem to help,

nor does a closer view of the mug.

Perhaps placing it in the shadow of the umbrella pole will help.

Since neither light nor shadow seems to help show this washed out mug, it is probably time to stop taking photos and sit and enjoy both my tea and the early morning fire. Soon the fire will be gone, and so will my tea. And this will probably be the last time I'll have a fire in my chiminea this year. It will soon be time to take the chiminea inside for the winter. By the way, the line you see in the glass above is not a broken window, but a reflection of my phone line and the green and brown reflections are the remains of my overgrown bamboo that I failed to get rid of last spring.

Have a great Tea Tuesday, and please visit Kimmie for links to my other tea (or other beverage) drinking friends.

Silent Sunday: Inside the Great Plains Transportation Museum

2011-11-06T05:56:00.005-06:00

Don't read this if you are hungry

2011-11-05T10:59:00.001-05:00

Before we begin today's blog journey, let me remind everyone this is NOT a food blog, but an art blog. Of course, you wouldn't know it based on this post!

Last week my friend Sally returned from Jamaica and I picked her up at the airport. To thank me for a week of caring for her sick cat (she has two cats, but only one needed personal attention), she wanted to take me to dinner. You can see the sun is low in the horizon as we started to leave for the restaurant. What struck me when I saw this photo were all the different colored trash cans, showing how many different cartage (trash hauling) companies operate in my neighborhood.

As a thank you, my friend took me to a neighborhood bar and restaurant. This particular evening was especially busy, but the green (and mostly leafy) salad looked decent.

Because this was a steak house, I settled for french fries and corn, in my opinion, a decent, but definitely not heart healthy meal.

The next day was Friday, and we chose it as our day to go to lunch. We headed out along the still green tree lined streets and headed for a place near home.

I have noticed that many of the places we visit are in strip malls. Although some are stand alone buildings, many are a part of a larger venue. This day we made our way to Byblos, a restaurant and deli that specializes in

Lebanese food, as is witnessed by the

menu.

I nearly forgot to take photos of the meal, which Sally and I divided between us. Sally's preference, which you see on her plate (and on the right plate on mine), are the Gyros with cucumber sauce, which I learned are actually pronounced YE ros. All this time and I was pronouncing it incorrectly. I enjoyed the vegetarian Falafel (on my left plate) that came with a lemon yoghurt sauce. We also had stuffed grape leaves and stuffed cabbage rolls.

Speaking of Gyros, Sally tried to explain how the meat was prepared, but I couldn't envision it until

I saw the actual process.

We also were tempted with baklava, but decided to pass, since we were quite full after eating the entire meal. Not a crumb, a sprig of parsley, or a drop of sauce was left when we finished.

In addition to the restaurant, Byblos also carries traditional Lebanese food.

Of course, my favorite are the olives, which I failed to capture in this photo.

Saturday I took off to visit a new museum that I will start showing photos of soon. I think I'm about finished with the Train Museum. I learned after the debacle at the State Fair (see here if you are a new or recent visitor to my blog), I don't take people with me when I visit museums or places where I want to set my own pace or schedule.

I had to laugh at a comment that Dianne wrote one recent Sunday about how lonely the trains looked and she knew I tried to keep people out of my snap shots. Well, this next museum, which I will show soon had a ton of people visiting the day I went (Oct. 29). But the train museum I've been showing the past few Sundays was different. For the first hour I was there, I was the only person at the train museum, other than the people who worked there. And since it was a self-guided tour, I truly was alone. Just me and the trains.

On Sunday, Sally and I headed out to another restaurant, only to find it was no longer there. No fixtures, no signage, no nothing except the building address! That is the problem with restaurants in Wichita. They are there one day and gone the next.

So we settled for an Italian restaurant, where the food is always good. Our first course was a lovely salad that included olives, hot peppers, and their famous pickled eggplant that is made on the premises.

Our main courses were spaghetti and meatballs for Sally with a side of mushrooms, and cannelloni for me. This restaurant claims that both manicotti and cannelloni are made using tubes, although some Italians claim the cannelloni is made from flat dough, that is then rolled and baked. Either way, it was delicious, but again not a very heart healthy meal. At this point, I may have to take up exercising (grin). And that was especially true after Sally treated me to an Italian puff pastry which we both took home.

The next day, Halloween, was our normal day for eating out. I'm not sure why we went on both Sunday and Monday, but here we were at Sit @ Thai Bistro.

The lunch menu looked delicious, the prices did not. Now I don't often complain about prices, because as a rule, Sally and I share the bill and the tip. But this place was simply too much, especially for the midwest.

We began with Spring Rolls, one of my favorites.

The meal came before we could barely bite into the appetizers. It wasn't as if there was anyone else there waiting to take our seat, because we were the only people in the place, except for the wait staff. I had sweet and sour veggies with tofu and Sally had a pan-something-or-other, with the flat Thai noodles. To make matters worse, these were the lunch prices and our bill was nearly $40.00 before the tip, and neither of us had anything to drink except water. No wonder we were all alone in that place.

So on our way home, I asked Sally to stop at a cookie place I had heard of. The dozen cookies I bought for myself was $10.00 and the cookies I bought for Sally (she picked them out) were $12.00. It was my treat to Sally for driving us to all those restaurants. I laughed when I got home because it was a rather expensive day trip and all I got was a few photos.

Looks like I had a potion used on me

and like the sign, I turned into a "scaredy cat." You have to admit though: it was a good week for eating out. Of course just looking at all that food we consumed has added several more pounds to my waist. Looks like I am off to jog three times around the block! Have a great Saturday and enjoy your food, whatever you will be eating.

Inspiration Avenue:Art Nouveau

2011-11-04T06:44:00.006-05:00

This week for the Inspiration Avenue challenge, Maggie showed us examples of "new art," or Art Nouveau, which was popular from 1890 to just prior to World War I. I admit, a lot of the furniture in my house is either late Victorian or early Art Nouveau. My slag glass lamps (often called the poor man's Tiffany) are distinctly Art Nouveau. So I am quite familiar with this style of art.

My IA entry is a silver spoon with the distinctive shape and curvilinear design of classic Art Nouveau. I flattened and added an image and a tiny heart to the bowl. I added bits of color around the curves and crevices of the nature-inspired artwork in the handle using alcohol inks, but they don't show that well under the scanner. Jumping outside my normal paper or fabric comfort zone this week was a lot of fun.

Some dyeing, some gifts

2011-11-03T07:19:00.003-05:00

It's never easy to document my rust experiments, because I wear gloves and am very careful about what and where I touch. That's why last week I

drug my supplies out to my porch and started the rusting process while the weather was still warm and sunny. I grabbed a pair of shorts I had outgrown, along with several very long strips of old bed sheets. Add to that my rusty people, back from their forced stay in storage, along with vinegar and some plastic bags, and that was all I needed for this project.

Actually, I had no idea how much initial fabric I had, so it was obvious I was going to need more than just my "peeps" for this project.

My "peeps" are taking this project to heart! Lots of wrapping later, the fabric and rusty pieces went into plastic bags, ready for the sun to provide the much needed help that was needed.

In the meantime, I found a bunch (or could this be a gaggle) of metal washers I was also anxious to rust. I used most of the vinegar and what I didn't use, I spilled in the plastic bag.

Now to play the waiting game.

While I was waiting, I received a gorgeous envelope

that was 100% Swiss.

Since I only know one person who lives in Switzerland, I knew it had to be from Margaret at Alice and Camilla.

Her note that she thought of me when she saw this, was absolutely PERFECT. And so was the lovely gift, an envelope with a rocking horse stamp, a rocking horse cancellation mark, and a rocking horse commemorating something I couldn't understand. I assure you, Margaret, I am in LOVE. This is going in my Rocking Horse altered book! It is awesome and I am more than grateful.

Before I could put my gifts from Margaret away, the box of Inspiration I won from Tammy at Inspiration Avenue arrived in my mailbox.

Look at all the goodies that were inside, too. Lots of art fodder I can play with. Thanks go to Tammy and the entire Inspiration Avenue team for this lovely box of inspiration.

After four days of allowing the fabric to sit in plastic grocery bags that reeked of vinegar, they were ready to be removed. I spent a lot of time washing the fabric in baking soda water. In fact, I ended up using an entire small box of baking soda. I hadn't realized how much rust the pieces had on them and how much of that rust migrated to the fabric. It was imperative to get all that excess rust removed and the fabric stabilized. And don't forget. Wear gloves all the way through this process. Rust has the potential to get into your blood steam if you handle anything rusty with no gloves on. After the fabric had been thoroughly stabilized, I washed and dried it like any normal fabric.

And finally, here are the contents of the cup. Some of these washers rusted better than others, but they all show some signs of rust. As soon as they were dry, I stopped the rusting process using a matte spray sealer. The fabric is some I placed under the leaking plastic grocery bags. They didn't leak a lot, but they leaked enough to cause a bit of dribble.

This was only part of what I did last week. I'll show more on Saturday. My blog posts tend to get long and involved, so that's why I'm breaking the week up a bit. Thanks to all for your visits to my blog. It is always wonderful to see you stop by and it thrills me when I read your warm comments.

Seven Days of Tea

2011-11-01T08:24:00.001-05:00

Last Tuesday I stated that I was going to drink at least one cup of tea a day for seven days. The idea was to reduce the amount of tea bags I have accumulated over the past few months. Thanks to Tuesdays spent with Kimmie drinking tea, I have accumulated a lot of tea bags.

Each spring it seems many of us Tuesday tea participants rush to make our first pot (or carafe or pitcher) of sun tea. However, I decided it was time to make one final pot of sun tea before the weather changes. I started with 10 Lipton green tea bags.

Although I spent part of the day elsewhere, running errands in the south part of town, it didn't take this tea long to

become drinkable. I added lemon because I thought this particular green tea is rather bland. I enjoyed several cups of this tea on my front porch.

On Thursday I was in my kitchen, this time checking my friend Sally's airline itinerary and drinking Tetley's Royal Blend. Everything is blue (with white and copper) in my kitchen, so it stands to reason I would have some tea from a blue tea bag container. Now I had both the bags and containers I could save.

I was gone most of Friday because I picked up my friend Sally at the airport after running a few errands on the west side of town, where the airport is. After eating out, we returned quite late to our respective places. Unlike Tea Tuesday, I had my tea late at night sitting in my living room/parlor at my writing desk.

English Breakfast tea was on the menu, even though it was late at night. This was by Crabtree and Evelyn.

Not bad tea, but some pretty ~~awful~~ dark photography.

I had been at my neighbor's most of the previous week, taking care of her sick cat, or running errands I simply could not avoid. That is also why I have not been around to visit my fellow bloggers and friends all week. So it was time to do my laundry. On Saturday I had my tea on the run in my laundry room, which is also where my microwave is kept. Yes, I have a microwave in the basement, but I use it mostly for craft projects.

This is some Bigelow English Teatime tea that I am drinking with half and half. I don't have milk, so the stuff I use for my coffee will have to do.

On Sunday, I worked in my kitchen because I needed to clean my own home after working at Sally's. I also realized it was time to put my sage and basil away now that they had dried sufficiently. You can see the original post where I started the drying process on September 22, here. In the above photo, I am preparing to remove the rubber bands and stems, and will place the leaves in these plastic bags.

I think this was my favorite tea, at least this week. Red raspberry herb tea made a wonderful cup of brew in my Taylor and Ng mug that I placed on a matching Taylor and Ng tea towel. And the ruby red color of the tea was superb, even though it doesn't show in the photo.

Yesterday was Halloween, so I had to celebrate in my dining room. My Halloween candle was fun and my tea was a gift from a friend. It was called Sugar Plum Holiday Herb Tea, and I had three bags.

The beads were handmade and sent to me by Duane of Surf Bunny Design. He was part of the Halloween houses swap and these beads were a hostess gift. I have now added them to my Halloween altered book. What a fitting decoration for this holiday.

I had to laugh at my desire to combine these two holidays after seeing pumpkins on the Christmas tree at a local store last week (see yesterday's post). At least I'm early for winter and Christmas!

It's now a new Tuesday morning and seven days of tea drinking have passed. It is very early and I'm up before the chickens and the sun, ready to drink my final cup of tea for the week, or my first cup for the day, if you prefer. Look at all those tea bags. I accumulated them for an entire week because I wanted as many unique bags as I could find and use. Now that these bags are dry, did I use up my excess supply of tea bags? Not even close! And I still have more loose leaf tea and tea bags than I will drink in a hundred years.

The spent bags actually look better in the harsh kitchen light than they do under early morning candles. You are probably asking WHY I did this and will I do it again. Yes, I will do this again at some time in the future because . . .

although it has taken me over an hour, here are the fruits of my labor. I now have empty and lovely tea bags, a bunch of tea labels, both for art, along with a few matching holders I have already put away. And the spent tea in front is going into my compost pile. Every little bit for art and nature!

Now please visit Kimmie for the rest of the Tea Tuesday links, because I'm sure there are at least a couple of shorter Tea Tuesday posts than mine this week.