Indulge Your Shelf

I'm getting very excited about going to see one of my favorite artists, Pink , in Denver next month! In fact, I'm counting down. I don't go to a lot of concerts anymore simply because I can't afford to.  But Pink is one I'll make an effort to see.  She infuses her work with emotion and I love that tell-it-like-it-is quality of her lyrics. I made this collage today with her song Blow Me (One Last Kiss) on my mind...and on the iPod, on repeat. I thought you might like to see how it started out (above.)  It was looking too cutesie for me (or for my gal Pink, I'm sure) so I tore it up/deconstructed. I liked the bottom so I left it... and added some vintage imagery on the top half.  I threw on some of the lines from the song and Pink's name in rub-ons, along with some clock faces, paint and lots and lots of layers of paper. It was a way to blow off steam, and it was a little celebration at my dining room table this afternoon: a Pink Sunday ...

I'm buying different junk these days -- and lots less of it for sure. I've been very very good and I leave most behind.  But I could NOT resist this fabric.  It's sort of lavender and periwinkle blue... and I've never seen a colonial American print in that color combination so I had to have it! Because as anyone who has seen my craft room/studio knows, the last thing I need is more fabric. When I was at our local ARC store I found this great box of stamps -- it was just $4.  So that's the story of my life these days: new job, different kind of junk -- and lots less of it. Oh, and another year older, too: look at my beautiful, beautiful cake from Chef Sugar's !  It was chocolate and might have been the best  birthday cake I've ever had.  There's lots leftover, too; I wish you could all come over to help me eat it. Among the thoughtful gifts I received was a Samsung Galaxy Tab 3.  It's a small tablet and an e-reader -- my fir...

I love old paper.  At a local antique show last week I found only one thing: this composition book that someone had a lot of fun filling, long ago: \ She did a great job... and I really think she had some talent at composition. I'll just let you look, and enjoy! Sweet!

I was feeling melancholy in a BIG way last night; thankfully I had some free time and a table still arrayed with art supplies that I'd been reluctant to pack away from a couple of weeks ago .  I sat down and worked quickly and non stop on what I have come to think of as a birthday card to myself. My birthday is later this week.  It's not a big-deal birthday or anything...just another day but for some reason I have really been feeling it. Not coincidentally -- yesterday happened to be the birthday of my dear friend who died from colon cancer a couple of years ago, at 42. By the time I reached the last page I felt so much better about everything. Art heals.

We celebrated Labor Day around here by making some wreaths based on those Lori Oles taught at Birdsong Three. That's me, Rebecca and Kathy sitting amongst my piles!  We had a blast! We used all different kinds of tags...and glued ephemera, linen, lace and even stenciled with modeling paste, just like Lori taught. Here are a few of mine in progress...I decide to do a neutral palette with some greens and reds in a Christmas theme! Rebecca did a Christmas theme, also, and added a lot of soft blue to her tags. Kathy did the neutral theme and got much further than we did with decorating her actual, round wreath -- isn't it gorgeous?! I always love how different artists can sit and work with the same materials and yet...it's all their interpretation!  I love everything we made that day! A close up of some of mine after I'd foofed them more. Do you love ephemera as much as I do? It was such happy play -- for all of us, I think!  Afterwards, the...