CC#12 Three Wishes

I haven't been able to do much art this week but had to keep up with my Compendium of Curiosities Challenge at Linda's Studio L3. I love doing the chipped enamel technique. I had to rush a bit but still enjoyed it. I'll be away from my computer this week but promise to visit and comment on all your lovely things as soon as possible. :) Nan


Quick story about Yoshi if you are a cat person....my husband denies this story to this day but I was there. We were going to have sushi and stopped at Earth Pets for dog food and there was this single tiny kitten with a stub for a tail in a cage and of course I had to hold it and whisper to it that it would have a good home soon. I knew that we had 2 dogs and 2 cats and Steve had said no more so I walked away and we went to dinner. We were sitting over tea and he said out of the blue "OK..tell me why we should go back for that cat" ....I was so surprised that I had nothing to say for once. We went back and got Yoshi who has been the devil cat in our home ever since. We lost our sweet old man kitty this year and she is our 3rd and last kitten in residence. We named her after our favorite sushi roll called the Yoshi roll. And that's the truth! This angel image is actually the opposite of her. She ADORES Steve but is my secret studio cat at night after Steve goes to bed. She will not let him see her being nice to me! I keep a stash of buttons on strings to keep her occupied but occasionally she is right in my face like this photo or petting my tummy from under the work desk...what's that about? I know I have a tummy...back off! LOL!

WOYWW 64 Crazy Chaos

Well seeing as I came in dead last the previous week I thought I'd better try harder this go around ! I am a real night owl and the WOYWW blog goes up about 5 or 6 am our time which means I am just getting to some ZZZZ's.....so we'll see. This is my regular table and this week I was working on my first Tim Holtz tag for Compendium Of Curiosities challenge...which got scrapped! I found my travel iron that I bought on clearance and unearthed while organizing and my new Tattered Angel Glams got here and they are fun! I was brave enough to show you to the left which is where my shelves hold my Golden paints and my Tiki mug collection with all my brushes. Then...slowly turn to the right where all "he double hockey sticks" breaks loose. The epicenter of the chaos! I'm half mess...half organized today anyway. Anyway if you want to see what all the fun is about go visit Julia at The Stamping Ground .Can't wait to go snooping for real this week! Thanks !

Three Muses Zetti When Life Permits

Well this is my contribution for the Three Muses Zetti challenge this week. I did not do a new piece for this challenge.....time was not on my side the past couple days! My motto so fits in here..When Life Permits I Have A Little Fun! But I do like this style and this was a piece I did when I was playing at Nancy B.'s CrowAbout CollagePlay. I used to see Bev's work there and Ann's too I think. Anyway thanks for looking and as always look forward to seeing what you all have created!

Compendium Of Curiosities #11 On An Island

Wow....we are on week 11 at Linda's Compendium Of Curiosities! This week we are working from page 36......great lesson on batik. I can tell you I used Broken China, Tumbled Glass and Shabby Shutters inks but the rest is in the book :) The stamp is an older one from Wordsworth. I had to do this one twice because I stamped the verse upside down over the original batiked words...agh! But it's always a learning (pay attention, space cadet) experience doing these challenges!

MMM Cheep Talk

This is my piece for Mixed Media Monday. The theme is "Seeing Red" which is great because I've been stashing cherry red stuff in a box for weeks waiting for inspiration to hit. It finally did at 3 in the morning last night...thanks MUse! This is a little 4"x4" mini canvas and an old Basic Grey chipboard book page. I ran the chipboard thru my SU Sizzix embossing plate and then painted it and my bird with a tester bottle of Glidden Candy Apple from our hardware store. They have some great 2 oz bottles of neat colors. I used some embossed metal duct tape around the edges which you can't see very well and I used the new Tattered Angels Glam in Be Positive red on my bird. Think that's it. Was a fun project. Hope you all had fun and can't wait to see what you've created!

WOYWW Playtime

I'm late, I'm late for for Julia's WOYWW. I am blaming it entirely on my crummy internet service this week. On and off...on and off...Agh! Anyway...here's the mess I've been cleaning and remaking all week. I did get work done on other parts of the room......you can see the labels I made in an effort to make this place a bit prettier as well as organized. I've got a sketch for the Three Muses challenge and the stamp out. My new pencil dish that I found at the thrift......so pretty! And I regressed to teal once again this week but I am determined to do the cherry red project this week as it is Seeing Red on the next Mixed Media Monday challenge. So thought I'd show you my teal drawer this week...it has a label now...LOL!!! I was so happy to meet so many new artists as well as friends here last week. I really really tried to get to all the blogs but just ran out of time after about 50 something! I think there should be an award or prize for the person who makes it to all of them. :) I really wanted to see them all so I may try to space it out better over the week! Can't wait to see your space!

Compendium Of Curiosities 10 More

This is my tag for Linda's Compendium Of Curiosities challenge which is all about the bling. I know I'm pretty late, I've had sketchy internet service all week. I am typing fast while it seems to be working! This was the Distress Stickles challenge on page 46. I love shiny and played a lot with this but it is hard to see in the photo. You'll just have to trust me that it is good and blinged!

This was a photo of a rose heart that Mr. Wonderful gave me quite a while ago. I used a photo of it and the only other thing I can tell you are the colors I used. Bundled Sage and Vintage Photo inks, Rock Candy, Antique Linen and Peeled Paint Stickles and the stamp set is called Slight Alterations. It was the first time I used it but I really like it and will use it a Lot I think!

Oh oh ! I received my beautiful butterfly box from Linda. Here it is on my inspiration row shelf in my studio. It is holding all my special butterfly stamps ! Thanks Linda so much!

Three Muses Take The Wheel

This is for Three Muses....the challenge was wheels. I instantly thought of one of my favorite stamps from Acey Deucey that I never get a chance to use. I thought of her forging ahead at the ships wheel. I used a little 4"x4" canvas painted with some OLD MM paint that I was sure was a goner but it worked. Then I used my favorite Golden color Nickel Azo Gold. Love that color!!!! The wheels are an old Judikins cube stamp. That's it I think. Can't wait to see what you did and thanks for looking!

MMM Embellish It

This is a Prima flower box that I did to submit for package recycling. I used my favorite vintage image from my altered plate. Tried to take a good photo althought the acetate can be tricky. Still cleaning my studio....making great progress . Back to my regular studio time soon!

WOYWW Time To Organize!

This is my first post here. This neat blog by Julia seems to have taken on a life of it's own recently. I see it everywhere and it is fascinating to see everyone's space. Forgive me Julia for being one of the many new faces adding to your list and probably making you crazy!

I love to do MMM, Three Muses and Linda's CC Tim Holtz challenge so my desk is always crazy! I've departed from teal for a bit and am obsessed with Cherry red...I just dyed some tags with KoolAid as you can see in the second photo. Taking photos of my space made me realize I need to take a break and get some organizing done! I was asking in an earlier post if anyone else has a hard time being in creative and organizing mode at the same time and the consensus seems to be that they are two separate areas of the brain and it IS hard to do both. So here is one small glimpse with a before and after post soon to follow as I work on getting some semblance of order in my workspace. :)

Three Muses The Blue Door

Here's my door..love doing doors. My blog topper is part of a door I did a while back so now I can see dresses AND doors in the future! Thanks for looking..can't wait to see what everyone does!

CC#9 And Now For Something Completely Different.....

I am embarrassed to admit how many things I have by Tim Holtz that I had either never opened yet or really didn't know how to use. Blushing.....BUT Linda's Compendium Challenge has helped me learn more about my art stash then I have in probably years so thank you Linda! This is a bit different for me. I didn't use stamps or strictly TH for this lesson. In my studio chaos I found a little tiny die cut ball jar die I had and just needed to use it. So I blew it up on my scanner....the rest is in the lessons in TH's book...really you must get it if you haven't yet. It has been fun to really do these lessons and sometimes redo them...LOL! The crackle has a bit of a learning curve!

MMM Memories

This week at Mixed Media Monday the challenge was memories. That is a wide open field for sure! But I had found some pictures of my brother and me in front of the playhouse my father built me for my, 10th birthday, I think. I LOVED that little house. My mother had put a crystal tea set inside for me to find. Life was good! They had recently taken the trip of their lifetimes to Austria and these were the outfits they brought us as gifts. I laugh everytime I look at my brothers face. Doesn't he look like he's about to say "Bond, James Bond" LOL! Anyway I'm still on a dress kick...they are too fun! This little dress is my take on my Austrian outfit. It is also my early November dress for Alice and Camillas since my birthday is in November.

I stamped the leaves with clear embossing ink and powder then went over it with TH's Barndoor distress ink. Love that red! Thanks for looking if you are still with me......I know do go on sometimes !

Creative Spirit Monthly Challenge & Dezinaworld

Sweet Cindy is having a new monthly challenge called Creative Spirit . As she puts it "Whatever celebrates the creative spirit in each one of us! Please post something on your blog, whether it is artwork, photography, a recipe--whatever it is that exemplifies your creative spirit!"

For me the main thing that makes me feel the most creative would be finding old things and doing something artsy with them. (I think the latest term is upcycling) A close second would be color. I'm always inspired by color when I'm out and about. Shouting at Mr. S to pull over to take a picture NOW or pulling over myself and circling back to take a picture of that perfect color on a sign or house...whatever it may be. So that will be what I show you...mostly old stuff fluffled up a bit.

This time it is a plate I made for my old altered art group...now defunct...sigh...it was a rare flower in our rural community and I miss it horribly but thankfully I have all of you wonderful creative ladies in blogland to play with! Can't wait to see what you all put up for show!

I am also entering this in Dezinaworld's Spot Prize challenge for fairies because it is my favorite fairy piece i have done and I am having to combine a few challenges to be able to play. I have limited studio time until after the first week in September.

CC #8 The Secret Garden

"I feel good...nah nah nah nah nah na...you know the way that I should....so good... Whoo!" Ok, that's just a little James Brown for ya cause I feel all better and ready to rock the studio again. I have the best kinesiologist/chiropractor in the world...seriously. He's kept me walking and moving for years and I dedicate this weeks post to Doctor B. ! Not only do we laugh way too hard sometimes but he lets me take pictures of his amazing tie collection for inspiration. :)

Anyway...I had so much fun making this piece from Linda's Compendium Of Curiosities challenge today. I usually do it on Monday but Thursday it is. You should read TH's book..page 39 and have some fun. It involves ink and grunge. What's not to love? And I did a bit of organizing. I made labels for each ink I used and a chart of how they look on grunge too. I'm just too proud of myself tonight for getting a bit of organizing in with the fun stuff......LOL!

MMM Past Loves and August Dress Up

It's time for Mixed Media Monday and August Dress Up at Alice and Camillas. I combined these two challenges this week because I enjoy both of them so much and didn't want to miss them. I am on a dress kick right now though so there may be a few more until I get caught up. For the MMM theme of revisiting an past love I thought about how much I loved to dress up , even in my twenties. Then I thought about an old stamping technique I used to love. I stamped into hot UTEE powder and then used Perfect Pearls powder. I forgot how much fun this is and will be doing it again. Update: I just couldn't leave that leftover couple feet of ribbon sitting there so I started messing around around adding ribbon...tweaking and playing. Hence two pictures now :)

I usually don't combine challenges just because I enjoy doing each one if I can but I am on limited studio time this week because I hurt my back last Tuesday while (overdoing) redoing my studio. Off to the chiropractor on Wednesday! My studio is a never ending challenge! I need to do a before and after of it this time because it's taken on a life of it's own. It's hard for me to be in my creative mode and in an organizing mode at the same time. My brain kinda goes on overload and nothing gets done right. Does anyone else find this to be true?