I am alive!

Can't believe how long it's been since an update.... of course there has been a bit of art in the last 5 months but I have decided to start with the most recent creation and work my way back to April as time permits.

This is a journal I have made for a one-on-one Monthly swap - I took at class a little while back on the coptic binding method and this book was created using that method of binding. I have also handpainted all the pages (some pages are watercolour paper, and others are tags, recycled music and book pages). The gal I created this for likes purple and since it's also one of my favourite colours decided to create the book in this colour.

Happy Easter...

Happy Easter to everyone.... thought it was about time that I did another post! The above image is a piece I created for a small swap I am in. Same group as last year where we worked on a house shape. This year we are creating 6" x 4" pages and using different stamp companies and embellishments. The first month our guidelines were Paperbag Studios stamps and the use of a die cut number/alphabet tile. I love all the Paperbag Studios stamp, so had no trouble at all with this challenge!
This second photo shows you what else I have been up to lately..... silversmithing! Last year I joined a local Silversmith group and did a basic Silversmithing course. In the basic course we made a bracelet, russian wedding rings and earrings. Since then I have made several more rings - and this is my most recent piece - I made it for a friend for her birthday. I am still amazed at the end product - especially when I started out with a single piece of sterling silver wire.

I have also been taking a lot of photos lately.... WAY back when I was around 18 I was involved with a Photography Club and was working mostly with Black & White Film and even printing my own photos. Amazing how some 20+ years and three children later I can't really remember much at all about aperture/shutter speed etc. I guess things have changed a lot as well with Digital Cameras. Anyway yesterday I went day tripping in the country to visit a small Church near Beaudesert, which has a little Cemetery out back where my Grandparents and Great Grandparents are buried - such a beautiful part of the world. Here are some photos I took.....

I was totally surprised that this photo turned out okay... that little moth was very patient with me while i tried to photograph it - the perfect model really!!

This was my other model for the day - my daughter Holly - who was also very patient with me while I was clicking away!!

Many thanks to all for the lovely comments and condolences from my last post - I do try to email you personally, but sometimes I don't have the email addresses.

Is it really March already???

Well I haven't had the best start to 2010 having lost my brother on New Year's Day, but I am finally starting to feel ok and have been doing a little bit of art journalling and silversmithing - I will have to photograph some of it to share next post.

Meanwhile I thought I would post a pic of this artwork that I have just made for the very talented Julie. When I was home at Christmas time I raided my Mum's stash of old buttons and very much enjoyed going through them all to add some (with original threads and material still attached) to this piece for Julie. I currently have them in a fancy glass vase on my dining room table!

Shock, Horror... another October post?!

Some more of my house pages to share - the above one was the theme "Count the Birds" and below was the very first page I created for the House Swap and the theme was "Magical Trees". Only one more page to go in this fun swap.... next theme is 'open' so will enjoy seeing where my muse will take me.

Some October Art...

Some more pages I created for a small House Book Swap I am part of. The theme here was "correspondence" and I had fun trying to use just about every mail art stamp I own. Felt really good to use my stamps again as sometimes I think I depend on Collage Images way too much. The top photo shows the piece with all the tags out of the little pocket, and the one below you can see I have put all the tags away in the pocket.
This is another page I created for the House Book swap. This one from an earlier month and the theme was "seaside".

Some ATC's...

I have finally started sorting out some older photos and looking for some art to share. Today I thought I would upload a few ATC's. Have not worked on ATC's for awhile and must admit I had forgotten how much I love them.

September 2009

 

Well life is plodding along as usual for me, not a lot of time for art, but finally a moment to share another recent piece i have made. This was made for a swap on a Yahoo Group I am part of. The pendant was made of Polymer Clay - my wire work still needs practice - so hard to find the time for all the different types of art I enjoy!!