Home Sweet Home--complete

A few posts ago, I shared the journal pages I was working on for Crusade 51, Home Sweet Home, and now they are finally complete! 

Not having any desire to create using "evidence" of the house i live in or the "home" it falls short of being, the prompt of Home Sweet Home left me at a loss for most of the month. As May ended, it was this statue and a precious sentiment the reminded me "Home is Where the Heart Flowers." 


In keeping with the French title of the statue, i looked up the translation and added it to the upper left of the pages. The "Je t'aime" hides in the flowers in the lower right. 

Home is where the heart is...so hold those hearts gently.

Artfully yours,

Blink and you'll miss it

So in my last post, I made some mention of my fab mini vacation to Michigan.  It was a wonderful, much needed escape and I got to spend it with some of my fave peeps :)


We stayed at a lovely lodge tucked away in the woods (ticks, mosquitoes and bugs oh my)...

a doorway to a place of enchantment....

and my peeps dodging the paparazzi....

couldn't get away from the rain....

and this was just too cool to not photograph it....

Never having had the pleasure of viewing a small town parade, we found a spot on the sidewalk and sat to enjoy some fresh baked cookies and await the fun. Keep in mind, we were accustomed to Chicago parades--you know--like the Pride Parade--that is at least a three hour spectacle. While not expecting anything as elaborate as that, we certainly weren't expecting the parade to be over before we were finished with our cookies. I kid you not. If it was 15 minutes I'll eat my hat. It consisted of three squad cars, a politician, a handful of vets....

one float with the worlds smallest light house.....

a duck...

another squad car, 2 fire trucks and an ambulance.

That's all folks.

The cookies were really good....

Hey Tomato--Catch-up!!

I am always amazed at how time slips away so quickly.  10-hour work days, birthday parties, weddings, refinishing cabinets, purging, relegating things to storage...there's barely been any creative time, much less time to blog about it all! 


But today, my muse has lead me in this direction so I could reconnect with my peeps out in the world :)  The result is a post that will rather be all over the place and involves nothing that is complete as of yet--but thats what spontaneity is all about, right? 


So let me start by saying HAPPY PRIDE MONTH!!! Here in Illinois, Civil Unions became official on June 1. I have many  friends who will be taking their vows, and some that will be renewing them in the new future. I wish them blessed lives together with much love and happiness, laughter for the good time, and strength for the hard times.


For the holiday weekend, I headed up to Michigan to visit friends I haven't seen i a good long while. Now, as a sidebar note, my friends like to tease me about the only thing I am truly afraid of--sharks. They always tell me how good it is that I live in the midwest where sharks can't get me (and then i point out I could fall into the big tank at the aquarium...freak accidents happen all the time)...a week after my visit, I am having buyers remorse because I really should have bought this when i saw it:

Oh well--i guess I can either look for it online...OR sounds like an excuse to go back!  LOL!

I have discovered that when i clear off my dedicated "paper arting" table, I have no choice but to work on something! I am compelled! The first work in progress is my interpretation of Michelle Ward's Crusade 51--Home Sweet Home. The topic is a bittersweet one for me, and I didn't know at all how to approach it all month. But in the last hours of the month, the inspiration came. I'm not sure what I think of it so far, but the meaning behind every bit of it is very close to my heart.

My second WIP, is also inspired by Ms. Ward. I read this post several weeks ago (ok, i'm sure it was well over a month ago), and knew i had to do some "poppy art."  Did you ever notice how, when something is on your mind, it turns up everywhere you look? In the weeks while I was waiting for poppy art time to happen, poppies in my stash that i didn't even remember/knew existed, made themselves known, I've been seeing other people's poppy art, and even drove past a completely unexpected field of poppies on my road trip last weekend! If you've got poppy art, I would love to see! Please leave a link in my comments!

After all this talk about my works in progress, i feel compelled to get back to them! Guess i have to clear the table....

Happy arting and thanks for stopping by!

Rent a Pineapple

Pineapples are by far my favorite fruit. The fresh fruit has all sorts of health benefits to it, but today I learned that it has been a symbol of welcome and hospitality since colonial times. Affluent hostesses would have a pineapple as the centerpiece of the table, and it would ultimately be served for desert. As a guest, it was a high honor to know the hostess had displayed the expensive treat for your visit.  Less wealthy hostesses had the option of renting pineapples so the welcoming gesture could be bestowed on her guests as well.

Today, a pineapple graces my art table, along with four pears, a stuffed country cat and a vase of fresh tulips.  They are all fodder for my latest endeavor, art journal sketching and watercolor. Its been years since my days of sketching from life, but many examples from fellow artists and a downloaded video from Interweave Press gave me courage....well, except for drawing the pineapple....i'm afraid of it. 

But here are my first attempts at the tulips....

I'm encouraged to keep going at it...work my way up to the welcoming pineapple...wonder if i will get there before i cut it up....

Maria

A week of good buys

Our freeze on time off finally came to an end on April 8th, so I happily took two half days this week.  On Wednesday i treated myself to some retail therapy in downtown LaGrange--The bead shop there, Circle of Stones, just moved from the center of the block to a beautiful, full of windows corner location! And i mean JUST moved...the glaziers were working on the new door and upon leaving i had to carefully sidestep the fresh sealant! I FINALLY found the antique copper lever backs I have been searching everywhere...
One of my other favorite haunts there is the resale shop. This time around i scored three, gallon size bags of greeting card envelopes for 50 cents each (a hot commodity when you make over 100 Holiday cards every year!) and  four of the most adorable rustic little chairs for me to display jewelry (or the Studio Muses!) on--check them out--

Friday saw the start of Miss Emma's spring break, so again i made my escape from the place of employment early. I was right on time to pick her up at 11:30 and then we headed over to Andersonville (this appears to have become a tradition). Lunch at Hamburger Mary's, perusing the Brown Elephant, and the discovery of a FAB new shop called Four Sided. We spent a hurried 15 minutes there before having to beat feet back to the car to evade the meter maids--but re-parked much closer and spent an hour looking!! An awesome, eclectic mix of nifty new stuff and an amazing collection of vintage ephemera! I picked up something old and something new...

On the vintage side, not sure what i will do with the watch faces, but they are cool--they had 4 out of 5 of the letters of my name in giant Scrabble tiles--and i picked up two flash cards that caught my eye--one is describing the phases of the moon and the other proclaims the Special Powers of algebra--how could i pass that up??

And the piece de resistance is the beautifully carved hand for yet another jewelry display! Oh--and did you notice the little B9 bingo chip?? I'm going to glue it over the strange carved out circle on the base of the hand...

In addition to spending money this week, I also met with the bead peeps and finished a pride bracelet. (Now you get to see the new carved hand in action!)

Now it is time to get back to some sketching and art journaling...so much to do...so little time....

Happy Full Moon!!

Crusade 49

So it would seem that everything is late these days.  Even though PSL has been over for a week, all the other projects and things in need of my attention have filled in the time like water...I have been working on my Forensic Self Portrait for the Street Team Challenge here and there all month--still don't consider the pages finished--and am posting them to you two days after the official end of the challenge. oops. Well, what can you do. Better late than never?


Michelle provided us with a wonderful sheet of "evidence" labels and other such fun images this month, and i promptly printed them in several sizes. Also inspired by Michelle's love of black, white, red and brown color scheme that dominates her artwork--i decided to adopt it for this particular art journal. It seems it is fate to do so as the cover of the book is red and I already had several black, white and red pages completed in the book. It was very satisfying to my muse to rummage through my drawers and folders of ephemera in search of anything that fit the color scheme, and then limit myself to that pile of items.

A tag inside an envelope that tucks behind the panel...and look! there I am!

And an envelope pocket for the all important forensic report....

Leave me a comment and let me know what you think so far! I love to hear from you!


Have a lovely Saturday!
Maria

Pretty Little Things

By now, you are probably familiar with my motto--"easily distracted by bright, shiny objects"--well this past week was a testament to that fact.  Over the weekend, I went antiquing with a good friend whom I don't get to see often enough.  The bulk of the items i purchased were--you got it--bright and shiny!! Two beautiful little curio boxes--one of textured glass and the other pewter, and over twenty crystal chandelier prisms (with flat backs to be collaged and turned into ornaments).

Then on Monday morning, Mother Nature offered me some of her shinies--beautiful frost crystals on my car window-

ahhhh---shiiiiiny---

Monday Musings

The weekend completely slipped by me with barely a moment to tend to this week's musings. But Mother Nature obviously had things well planned out and sent a nice ice storm to keep me in the house this Monday morning. My car doors are completely frozen shut and I just don't have the desire or energy to fight to get them open. I figure if Mother Nature froze them shut, she can thaw them open again. Even if I could get into the car, I'm not sure how good an idea navigating frozen streets would be....Mother Nature says, "Just go in late." 


I can do that.

So week 3 of the Club Scrap PSL wound down last night at 8pm, and I am proud to say I am still meeting my goals! This week saw 1 traditional page, 2 cards and three digi pages complete!

Weren't they just too cute? 

My cards weren't at all what I had planned from the start. I really wanted to do birthday cards, but my lack of CS birthday stamps did not jive with that...maybe todays challenge will be more cooperative--

My first digi page for the week was just too fun! What started out as me planning to make a box of mac and cheese turned into a fabulous casserole of homemade mac & cheese and a layout to honor it!

and lastly is another two-page digi layout from the holiday party.

I guess I should go see what I can do about my car at this point....I'm going to try to squeeze in some art for Michelle Ward's Street Team challenge of the month and maybe post that later tonight...if not, then I will see you here next weekend!

A week of happy arting to all!

Maria

PSL Week 2 and a Fresh Look

I must say, even though the week goes by quickly, the weekend is gone in the blink of an eye! It was a relaxing one though--albeit expensive because my car needed new pads and rotors--boo. While i was car-less most of Saturday, I rearranged half of Studio Wonderland and organized and reorganized all sorts of things. Maybe this warm weather has me thinking spring cleaning already....I also took down the Valentine's decor and started in on the St. Patty's. I really don't have anything except the things i just bought, but i think that is a fine excuse to make some! 


Which brings me to the fresh new look for my Musings--i bought cute little sparkley hats with the intent of turning them into ornaments for my Everything Tree. Alas--the Wonderland Muses thought they would look better on their cute little heads...and once all dressed up, they insisted on photos. One must cater to one's muses....to keep them happy and inspirational, they now hail to all in Blogland from my banner--"Slainte!" i hear them call!


I did manage to fulfill my personal PSL goals for the week--today....this week's challenge was "art medium." I met the challenge with two of the easier items from the "suggested" list: embossing powder and Stickles (something like glitter glue. adds bling--what's not to like??)


my traditional layout took me all week to do, but I am happy with it. This is one of my nephews when he was little--already at home in front of the camera!

To meet my card goal, i loosely interpreted "card" to create a themed series of items to eventually be included in a moon tome. 

And finally, my digital layouts this week are the first two I will be doing of my new-found entertainment--MONSTER TRUCKS---oooooh yeah!!

Did I mention I'm planning to do all of 2011 digital?? 

Alrighty fair viewers, I hope your weekend was terrific, your week will be quick and painless and I will see you here next weekend.....

Slainte!! (say "it's a lawn chair" really fast and you've got it!)

Maria

Week 1 of PSL--Stencils

This week just flew by! Busy at work--busy at home--busy in my mind...


This week was the first challenge in Club Scrap's Pro Scrapbooker's League that I joined for the second time with my good friend Lori. My goal for this time around is to get at least one item for each team (traditional layouts, digital layouts and cards) that I am on.  I think it is reasonable to attempt to complete three items each week in addition to everything else I have going on.  And i did succeed in my goal with one layout, one digi and TWO cards. Yey!  The first challenge was to use stencils:

2-page layout of my sister's wedding in 1978:

and my digi layout from my work holiday party...i just love the photo!

Also this week, I met up with my bead group for the first time in almost two years!  I had a wonderful time with Becky and all the bead peeps, and completed 2011 project #6--a set of ten knitting stitch markers for my friend Gayle.

So all in all, quite the productive week, I'd say!

A lovely week to all of you! See you next weekend!

Maria

Snowmageddon '11

As you may have heard, the big story around here is the great blizzard of '11.  I don't know what the "official" count of inches was, but there was a steady 2-2 1/2 feet in my driveway--with 3-4' drifts all over...Places of employment closed early on Tuesday and stayed closed on Wednesday.  As for the groundhog, he said he was snowed in and would see us in six weeks!

If all i had to do was look at it, i would be quite happy--it was a beautiful site. At 8am no one else was out yet. All was white and quiet. Snow was still falling....

and then reality set in....

The drifts formed around the cars so they were in snow-holes...

aahh--the deck---somewhere under the mountain on the left is a really big grill....

 In retrospect, this season's investment should have been a snow blower. What was I thinking?? 

Alas--with the serious lack of mechanical means by which to relocate said snow--it was time to grab the shovel and get to it. Now take into consideration that I am all of 5' tall and then observe the snow(that is NOT a drift) directly behind me. Do the math...

What a lovely path to the door...it's almost tall enough to be a stand-in for a hedge maze....and look! There's my good friend the shovel!

Suffice to say, I have had my fill of snow for this season...yet every time I look out the window or step outside...I'll be damned if it isn't snowing AGAIN.  I'm convinced there will still be giant snow piles everywhere until at least the end of June. Maybe it will be hot enough by then to melt them down finally...

Well, you all have a lovely week in blog-land--and think of me while I keep a-shovelin'.

--Maria

As promised....

posts two weekends in a row! I'm on a roll ;) So as I enjoy (not really) spicy leftovers from my lunch, I'll share with you a few of the projects I was able to complete before I got sidetracked with playing musical rooms in the house...

The first one technically was completed in the waning days of 2010...but close enough, right?

For the peeps at work, I made little desk calendars with tear off pages.  The image you see on them is from a photo I took of a very old metal ad sign that my boss has in her office.  

For my lovely friend, Becky, I made a rustic Baby Jesus to accompany the shepherd she already had.  Being that it is a special and spiritual piece, i used a bit of bark and some dried rose stems that I had been saving for "just the right thing." Mary will be the next installment....

And the last project I will share this week is a mini album of the beautiful Abigail Grace. I was able to use several sheets of cardstock and some coordinating accents from my stash...which is a good thing since i have so much "stash."

I am signing up tomorrow for Club Scrap's Pro Scrapbooker's League (PSL), so there is sure to be layouts, cards and digi layouts to share in the coming weeks!.

Have a lovely week! See you next weekend!

Maria

Just a short post and then back to schlepping my studio up the stairs....

So my blogging goal for this year is to have a new post every weekend. I don't have much time during the evenings so I am hoping that I will at least be able to catch everyone up on the week's artsies come Saturday or Sunday.  Or when life gets in the way (like it is this weekend and likely next weekend while we play musical rooms in the house again), I hope to at least pop in and say "Hello!"

I have been trying to squeeze creativity into every spare moment, and have even finished several projects already that I hope to share with you soon!  In the pipeline are a lovely mix of projects for sewing, crocheting and scrapbooking and in my head are many for some fiber art and collage projects! Always something going on!

I hope you all had a great weekend--unfortunately I have captured a cold for my very own and feel quite like crud. :p

Time to bring up a few more things before passing out for the night...

Until next weekend!
Cheers!
Maria