Reaping in the Breeze

Kind of like the label for this blog post -- Reaping in the Breeze, reminding me of an ole time rival meetin'. But no, that is not where we are going tonight. Many months ago I took a workshop with Claudine Hellmuth and we learned about "transfers" ... I am "transfer" challenged and I really think it is because I don't do it that often. The piece to the left was completed at the workshop. Patterns underneath other images and I love the lady.

I found this and two other pieces in the scary place: The Closet. I had really forgotten about them. Since I have been focusing on the alphabet ATC cards, I decided I needed to set them aside for this week. Yup, only three left. I will work on them again this weekend. Hopefully, I might be able to whip them out. How come is it the last ones are the hardest to complete?

Anyway, I took this piece of canvas and started playing with it. I had a book, Brother Odd, that I was done with and so I cut out the image from the cover of the paperback.


And I had my Epiphany..... the Grim Reaper...... Oh what a twisted mind I have, yes a little twisted and wicked:


I looked through some my my rusty pieces found in my parking lot and added two of them around her head - To me it looks like an upside down key hole...

And the finished work..... a few jewels here and there, a few rhinestones, and the reaper does his reaping....

Not certain if I am done with it or not ... but it can just sit and "cure." I am now playing with the second transfer piece which I am not as crazy about as this one. Its title might be "Paris Burning" - so, if you will excuse me I will begin to play with images on top of the transfer on canvas! It has been a busy week and I am kind of yawning right now and my Ghost Hunter Boys are on tonight.. . You all have a great evening..... Hugs to all.....

Tennis Monday - Rained out - now Silent

LOL - kind of imagine a Silent Sunday that my dear friend Elizabeth does over at Altered Book Lover, maybe..... and then come to think of it I've seen some Silent Wednesdays so I guess I could be silent any day of the week but those who know me will think that is impossible. I was going to be playing tennis tonight and started this post last night thinking I would have it automatically load today and so I wanted to share with you a wonderful Art Postcard I received from one of my BFFs - Nathalie..... she has a wonderful blog known as An Artist Legacy. Here is the kicker on this one..... She didn't have a clue when she created this that my nickname is "Mimi" - hmmmm is that a little spooky or what?


And in my younger days, I wore clothes like this and had dark long brunette hair? Hmmmmm...

OK, enough of this rambling..... on with nothing whatsoever....we had a visitor at my office building today....

I loved his black webbed "feet" so cool. We helped him cross the parking lot by throwing ourselves in front of moving cars. OK, kind of..... but there was ONE car that was backing out. We threw ourselves in front of moving cars and he made it safely to the other side of wherever he was headed....


Work with me honeysuckles, all we need to do is hum, "On the Road Again" - no, not as road kill, just hum..... work with me.....And to close the post. I have never like ever, nope never, seen a hundred year old bonsai tree. 100 years, boys and girls, 100 years:Is it not a beauty...... Not sure if it is a "he" or "she" - any ideas? Is "it" not a beauty...... Not sure if it is a "he" or "she" - any ideas?

U = Urban Urchins

I admit it.... that is a mouthful - "urban urchins." It has been a restful Sunday, ran out to meet a friend for lunch - he and I play mixed doubles on our team tennis team. Got grocery shopping done .... and finished the letter "U"..... Once again background and images are from the Itkupilli Shop. At first I did have trouble with this letter - somehow I got stuck - wanted to do "unveil" but did not want to wrestle with "veil" - nope I tried and changed my mind. And then I spied Charlie Chaplin and those adorable kids and immediately thought of Oliver Twist and little street urchins.... And off my mind ran.

This image is from Itkupilli's "Abandoned Houses" and I decided to add a little "greenery" - added glue and then the thread....

Found my rusty stuff and the letter "U" from my Tim Holtz "Letter Squares" - yes, rusty is so urbane..... don't you think my little honeysuckles?

Glued the U on the rusty hair pin.... Laid out my images and

And the lower half - this dog reminds me of my childhood pup, Poncho, a Boston Terrier,

Gonna be honest, I can't remember where I picked up the white thingee circling his head, however, I really like those numbers....

This leaves three more alpha letters which I will be working on this evening: "O" and "Q" and "Z".... I have Team Tennis tomorrow night so probably will not be checking in with you, hopefully will see you again on Tuesday... Maybe and, if not, I will just try to upload a little bit of art for you. Let's see what I can come up with by Wednesday on the remaining letters..... I need to review all of those that are done to see if I want to repeat any ideas like labels from cans of veggies.... I have a really neat Lima Bean label... Have a good evening.. see you soon.

K = Killer Klowns

What can I say - I loved that movie.... 1988, Killer Klowns from Outer Space. OK, I know I am quirky, I admit it without argument. I am comfortable in my quirkinesssss....

BAck to topic at hand....Killer Klowns, oh yes. The K card came together when I heard "killer" on Most Haunted today (yes, watching my DVR at lunch) and then I remembered one of my fav "worst" movies rated B (for BADDD) in the whole wide world. Until you watch it, don't judge. If you would like to read about it: click here. (hey it was labeled a comedy kind of) And - so inspired, I started with the lovely Elizabeth's (Altered Book Lover) deli paper that she sent to me a while back.

All of the images used here are from two different digital collage sheets from Itkupilli's Clown collections" (1) Clowns and Pierrots, and (2) Vintage Circus. I love her images and many of you know because you keep seeing them? LOL. I had fun with this card:

Added some rhinestones, some buttons, some stickles.... What more could a gal ask for?

Because of the "busyness" of this card, I decided to place the letter "k" on a red button to lift it up and away from the card. It kept getting lost. Did the same with the "sick" klown face in the middle. I used some pop dots to give it some depth.

The little bunny was an after thought - and no, he is not lunch, because I needed to add something right in that spot to bring it all together and he was just the right size. Hope you enjoyed this card because I am now trying to figure out the next letter. Only FOUR left.... today has been one of those great Saturdays... grey and rainy but sun was out early so I did get in cardio tennis this morning. Lunch was delish, a salad,

Even got in a tea break about half way through creating the "k" card..... Larcy brought me some great tea back from South Carolina for taking care of my nephew pup, Oliver, and I love the dish she gave me at Christmas time:

Tonight, bacon and eggs, and an "original" movie on the SyFy channel - The Mothman. I so love that urban legend. I wanna go to the Mothman Museum in Point Pleasant, West Virginia. Sounds like a cool weekend trip to me. OK, my little suckles, tonight I wish you a pleasant sleep with dancing dreams of circus clowns all night long. Nighty night....

I = Island

Hello my Island Honeysuckles. Are you enjoying the sun, the sand, the beach, the liquid mercury blue green ocean? Well, you have just landed on my little getaway. The alphabet letter "I" gave me a little bit of trouble. There were so many "I" words to work with. I fell in love with the latest Coldwater Creek catalogue and knew I had to use the picture on the cover. Luscious. Colors to die for...... And then I spied:


The Mermaid image that was in the some wonderful gifts Debby (The Gathering Nest) sent me as a belated birthday present. The stamp, The Mermaid Fairy, is a stamp I have had for years and years and is from Catslife Press. I considered her... and then I refound the "netting" picked up on the streets of Downtown Disney in March. Perfect - my fishing net. I started layering the netting on top of the boat..... and then the mermaid..... and then.... brought her head through the netting.....

Added "gone fishing"....... You can get a better look at the netting in this photo....

Dropped a small ribbon around the maiden's neck and she is complete..... Probably need to find a fishing hook but I decided to keep this one "P.G." LOL

I hope all of you little chicks enjoy your weekend. Mine started out great today after work when I got to go out on the tennis court with my trainer and we practiced strokes and hitting and, my oh my, is was a little warm although only 72 degrees. I did get some sun on my face - the first sun on the face in a warm like sweat it out girlfriend kind of hour hitting those little yellow balls. I'm sleepy. And I need get to get up a little early tomorrow morning and go to "cardio" tennis - twice the sweat.... and the first Saturday out-door one of the season. I will try to get another ATC done tomorrow and have a little visit with you. I do have to add two little thoughts: 1) I am happy Seth Alan won Project Runway; and 2) Survivor ROCKED Thursday night! Nighty night! hugs to all and to all a good night.

X = Xanadu

The Saga of the ATC Alphabet Card......A journey (getting poetic here, work with me you little honeysuckles....)

Starting out on Monday evening, I had a few ideas that weren't quite jelling. I knew:

(1) I wanted the next card to be Asian; and

(2) I wanted to use the word Xanadu

So I pulled out MORE images:

Slowly, it was working..... I took time to read the Samuel Taylor Coleridge poem, "Xanadu -- Kubla Khan" and -- no -- on second thought, this image might not really be working with the poem......

"In Xanadu did Kubla Khan

A stately pleasure-dome decree:

Where Alph, the sacred river, ran

Through caverns measureless to man

Down to a sunless sea"

The beauty of the words are there:

"Where blossomed many an incense-bearing tree;

And here were forests ancient as the hills,

Enfolding sunny spots of greenery."

However the line that caught my eyes was:

"And 'mid this tumult Kubla heard from far

Ancestral voices prophesying war!"

Yes, I think it worked.

OK, back to putting crafty stuff up and trying to do a little more cleaning and organizing. *Sigh* Nighty night......

To be or not to be..... hmmmm my little suckles

To create or to not create. To organize or to not organize.... ok, it is Monday and already I am rambling looking lost and torn between two worlds. (This is sounding good, my little honeysuckles....) On a roll here... Ok, the facts: I did do more organizing yesterday after we parted. Last night watching TV I decided to start to work again and finish up the remainder of the alphabet ATC cards. Not many left to do.

However, I turn to my pink ott lite, Ophelia, and decide the first step in this journey is to light her light (sounds more poetic, dear Mr. Poe, than turn her on) After all, SHE is only a little Ott Lite...... but a cute little one.

I was going to start on the letter X = Xandu. Here is what through me off...... Xandu is not Olivia (not to be confused with my Ophelia) Newton John. OK, bye bye that idea. Xandu is not Shangri-La (one of my all time 1940s movies), however, it is Asian. Bingo..... Forget mermaids. Look for Asian clip art. I'm looking and will take stuff downstairs tonight to play with:

However, I will share a few more photos of my "Organizational" trip (literally tripping over stuff here....) HELP... Here are my ATC Guns, Timmy and Jimmy - names are on the other side ....

And punches and masking tape and some eyelets and brads, oh my:

My wonderful Making Memories shelf on one side of me:

And the second one on the opposite wall right over me (love those Michaels' coupons, especially 50% off):

My watercolor pencils and Prismacolor pencils:

And my matte medium, can't leave without it:

You know, when all is said and done, what more can a girl ask for....... OK, I need floor space and a place to put my million clip art images.... and all those projects in those boxes that are completed but not put up, that are still works in progress........ I am hyperventilating.... A craft room would not be complete without a supply of DVDs..... I'm okay boys and girls, now which DVD should I watch?