Journal Jar set

I just finished my second journal jar set. I LOVE this concept. I've been a journal wannabe for so long. I'd sit down and stare at the blank page and feel like I had nothing to say. The journal prompts are wonderful for me. They get me started and then I can just keep on writing. I'm giving this set to a friend that has a very similar life to mine...somedays autism takes over and we need an outlet...a vent...an escape. Usually art is my escape but I think this will "teach" me how to write without fear of the page...hopefully. :)

Lots of ATC's

I've been doing more ATC's lately...mostly for swaps on swap-bot. Here's my favorite of the weekend. The background is fusion paper that I made a few weeks back. The rest is just stickers, believe or not.

I'm also happy with the composition book that I covered with a friends shaving cream background papers. I'm planning on making a journal jar to contain journalling prompts. I have an old blue canning jar that might just do the trick.

Recycle Man

Alright...I met the challenge head on and created this little guy from bits and pieces of trash that would have otherwise ended up in the landfill. He's not the cutest, sweetest guy around but he certainly carries a great message.

Happy Earth Day!

I am a huge recycler! I learned it from my dad. He was a depression era baby so everything was precious. He was always dragging something home that was destined for the dump. The house I grew up in and our cabin both had stairs leading down from the outside decks that were the stairs in the stands from old Met Stadium. Dad took as much as he could haul and store. I don't know if the present owners of either place even know where their outdoor stairs came from but it makes me happy to know that dad did his part in saving some history.

A dear friend of mine whose birthday also happens to be today put forth a challenge:

Dr. E wrote "I want to talk a little bit about one of the things that means a LOT
to me: Earth Day, another day we celebrate today. When Earth Day
first started, people who recycled were considered liberals, tree
huggers, and kooks. Composters were arrested in Florida and Colorado
for having eyesores in their yards, and people who wore Berkinstocks
were labeled "odd." I may be a kook, and I may have a compost pile,
but I believe that if you buy something, you do so with a purpose of
using it until it has been used to its fullest potential. That's why
I believe we should use our found objects (anything destined for the
trash) in our art and take our food waste to the compost pile. Let's
celebrate Earth Day by gathering found objects, then making wonderful
art from them.

Therefore, I challenge each of you to make something this week from
one or more found objects."

I'm going to take her up on her challenge and will post my results later this week.

Digital play

Learning by experimentation in Paint Shop Pro has been taking up WAY too much of my time lately. I just can't seem to stop. I've been working with a photo I took probably 20 years ago in Montana. It was out on a ranch in the middle of nowhere...no running water or electricity. They had this old truck with a tree growing up through the engine compartment. It was just so weird I had to snap a picture. Original photo is the upper right one. I recently signed up for a swap with a transportation theme. I immediately thought of this photo. Not sure if that's the direction I'll ultimately go for the chunky book but none the less, I'm getting a ton of experience in digital altering.

Favorite art piece question

In Art Techniques yahoo group, the question was posed; What is your favorite art piece you've created? I was very surprised when I looked back through my photos that my favorite pieces were all created within a couple weeks of each other and even more surprising to me...they were created in 2005 when I just started on my artistic journey. Admittedly all the pieces are all very similar in coloring and design elements...but that makes sense since they were created so closely together. I can't choose my favorite...the collage hangs in our living room, the clock sits on my desk and the binder keeps all my "important things" also on my desk.

I'm so glad that this question was asked! It gives me a whole new direction to go. I need to go back to collage and maybe work more collage into my altered books and ATC's.

Playing with images

I've been keeping the scanner humming today. I'm finally getting around to scanning and saving all the old photos and postcards that I've gotten in the past year or so.

The photo that has been the most fun for me is this hand colored portrait of my Grandmother from the 1920's.

I'm also working on ideas for a couple different ATC (artist trading card) swaps I'm participating in.

One uses only junk mail..this is so much fun. I'll definitely posts my results.

The other is a 4th anniversary project for abc_alteredbookclub. The announcement has not been made to the group yet but as a co-moderator, I was in on the decision. Nice to have prior knowledge sometimes. :) Hopefully I'm not letting the cat out of the bag too soon.

I've joined the blogger world!

After months of thinking about making a blog, I've finally jumped in. I'm planning on posting pictures of current artwork, whether it's altered books, collage, ATC's, scrapbooking or assemblage. Who knows what I'll take up next. I love that my creativity is coming out more and more as I age...maybe I am just able to shut out that inner critic more.

Art is my Prozac...makes me happy and keeps me sane.

This minibook is my latest creation. I know that I didn't use a "proper" book binding technique but it worked for me.