day two with guest artist, Lesley Venable

Day Two with guest artist - Lesley Venable

TREASURE WITHIN ALTERED TIN
By Lesley Venable

We will be altering a metal band-aid tin using our Patina Kit, rubber stamps, vintage hardware (or other goodies you’ve got hidden in that embellishment bin) and ribbon. Encased inside this beautiful treasure tin will be an altered Formica sample booklet that you will create using ephemera, your favorite quotes, charms, images, lace, tape transfers (will do small demo in class on tape transfers) and ribbon. Although I will have the tin prepared and ready for you to patina and alter I will demonstrate (outside) how to easily clean the paint off of tins you wish to alter in the future.

when: Monday, July 20th
time: 12-5
where: 1606 oxford lane
wall, nj 07719

Lesley is also teaching a class on Sunday, July 19th, read more about Lesley and her other class here.

please email me at keeshagirl4@aol.com for more information or to reserve your seat.

sewing fun

(hint, click on picture for enlarged view)

just a picture to show the jeans i've been altering. it's been fun and keeping my mind occupied. for the most part, i used vintage scraps from quilts, lace, trim, doily's and such.

as promised

So remember these dolls heads i unpacked and told you i was making really cool things with them?

here is a few of the dolls i made using the heads. the bases ranged from rusty bed springs to vintage tea cups, bottles and more! and you thought all i did was go to flea markets......

(click on image for enlarged view)

Taking tea with Alice

We were given a kewpie doll to alter for "Taking tea with Alice" (in Wonderland) for the "Art is You" art retreat that will take place in a few weeks in Connecticut. so this is what i came up with. I still want to do something around the base under her skirt (i see a poofy ribbon). I am teaching 4 classes there (snippets, soldering, a jewelry class and a collage class). I am really looking forward to it.

In the meantime, i have finally taken booth photos and shots of most of my jewerly and mixed media pieces - so i'll probably post those tomorrow. tonight i begin pricing everything. (yuck, i hate this part).

country living fair

here's just a few of the things that are headed to CLF with me in Sept. Country Living Fair is in Columbus, Ohio, Sept. 18, 19, 20. hope to see you there. i'll post my booth # once i receive it!

charlotte doll heads

a package finally arrived today from far away. i couldn't wait to unpack it. it's from Germany, from Thomas! it was an ebay win, a LOT of those highly sought after and coveted Charlotte doll heads. since i am teaching a few classes where we use one of these heads as the focal point, i needed to get some in stock to get ready. i don't know if i'll be selling any of these since i use these alot in my projects. when i am almost ready to leave for Country Living Fair, i'll post some pictures of some wonderful things i have created using these doll heads. until then, you'll just have to be patient!

Altered Couture summer 2009 issue

here are the pages from my article from Altered Couture's summer 2009 issue. in case you can't read my "tip" in the last picture at the bottom, it says "when in doubt, add polka dots". polka dots always have a way of saving the day.

p.s. those clogs are a size 2, so tiny and they are sooo cute! i know a few little girls that those would look adorable on.

Mother Machree

Well, i have finished my manikin. Her name is Mother Machree (from the piece of sheet music i added to the front of her). so the first picture (below) shows how she started. i'm going to tell you how i did it, in case you want to make your own.

she was a wire form manikin that i found at Home Goods. her arms are something i got at a flea market. it is one piece and looks like it might be a part/piece of some sort of tool. my husband drilled a hole in the center of the wood piece/arms for the rolling pin to sit in. i collaged the rolling pin (her head) and then glued it into the middle of the wood piece. there was an opening on each through the arm arm area and i just slid the piece through. then i wired the rolling pin from the back and under each arm to make sure the pin didn't roll forwarded.

for the body, i tore up strips of newspaper and dipped them in wallpaper paste and the secured all around the form. even though i was going to paper mache her, i did this because there were big gaps in the body where the wire was. this would help give the paper mache more to grab onto. i let that dry and then proceeded to paper mache it. i use the paper mache strips that you cut and dip in water. then i let that dry overnight.

So then last night, i collaged her body with vintage sheet music. after that was completely dry, i started accessorizing. i had the vintage slip/crinoline in my stash of stuff and put it on the body. then i glued crocheted flowers that i harvested off a doily. i wrapped the rolling pin with some tulle and added a little screw at the top to hold her hat.

So she is a multi talented gal. she can hold a hat, wear necklaces around her neck and hang jewelry off her arms.

my piece from Nina's workshop

here is my completed piece from Nina's class. the first day started off with some basic PMC work. it was my first time working with PMC and i haven't really done any polymer clay or anything, so i wasn't really impressed with my work! i think i pressed too hard into the clay with my stamp. it will just take some fine tuning. i prefer working with found objects anyway. day two we learned wire wrapping, the "Nina knot", a grapevine knot, the cacoon wrap, connecting 2 pieces together, making a hook and a clasp. it was a lot to learn in one day. so i spent a lot of time practicing, but again, good wire wrapping takes practice. the 3rd we spent assembling our pieces, going over techniques we were having trouble with and before we knew it, the weekend was over. it was sad to say goodbye to old friends and sad to say goodbye to new friends. Valley Ridge Art Studio located in Muscoda, Wisconsin is a real treat. check out their website and look into taking a class there sometime. (go with a friend and share expenses). you can fly into Madison or Milwaukee and then drive from there. they have a few rooms on the property called The Farmhouse or you can look into rooms elsewhere (we stayed at the Riley Farm about 10 minutes away). The studio is very spacious and accomodates 20 students. you get your own worktable and again, have plenty of room to put out your stuff without having another student on top of you. i appreciate that! they give great attention to detail (my favorite, every station had a trash baggie at it), a refrigerator stocked with sodas, tea and water. Kathy, the owner, makes fresh coffee throughout the day and then lunch, wow. pasta, salad, soups, deli meats, pie, cheese (try a 4 year old cheddar cheese bought locally - yummy!). her husband, bill, is behind the scenes serving soup, cleaning up, taking photos, sweeping the studio, etc. it is very well run, extremely organized, friendly, relaxing. they have a store in the studio where you will find the best things - things you just have to have. things you've seen online but didn't want to pay for the shipping. buy them there, i did! it was a nice group of talented women and fun to be there with 4 Charmsters (me, Z, Pam K. and Jean). of course my good friend, Kim and Julie were there and i recognized (from artnsoul) the beautiful, Lynda, the minute she walked in the door. met a really sweet, talented artists, Jill, who made a gorgeous PMC ring and has been published many times in all our favorite art magazines. Sue, was the my seatmate behind me and she was really sweetie, trading me things, fun to talk with. i did get to go home with a pair of earrings made by Nina, so that was cool.
On the ride home, we broke up the ride by stopping at an antique store. what a great place! we were sad we didn't have more time to spend there. the woman running the desk loved my little handpainted bag i was carried (done by me), so i gave her my etsy card in case she'd like to order one. (yes, Carol, you are still first in line for a bag!)
right now i am sitting at Chicago O'hare waiting for my very delayed flight (bad weather in Newark). i am tired and my back is sore from sitting for 3 days, driving 4 hours to the airport and now sitting 4 hours in these uncomfortable airport seats. i left my purse in the bathroom and when i returned for it, it was gone. i tried not to panic and waited for the police to come so that i could give a description, etc when i saw a couple of women walking by and one of them was carrying my bag. she looked into the bag and had found my gate # and was coming to return it to me. i almost started crying and gave her a huge hug.

altered vintage purses

these vintage handbags were collaged and then hand painted. cute aren't they?

new icon

I'm so bummed i didn't think to take a picture of this lady before i altered her. i picked up her portrait at a flea market last week. it's a good size picture, 11x14 and i got her for $3 which i thought was a bargain. as soon as i saw her, i thought, i'm going to alter her up good! her name is Judith (i gave her that name) and i wrote in one of the bubbles, " wearing a garden on her head often makes Judith feel better". isn't she great?

1st class @ Artfest - "a wee book" with Nina Bagley

my finished book and some of the pages inside



Janet Wilson working on her book and Nina showing us how to use liver of sulphur.

my friend, Kim, was also in the class. me and her, kim working and then Kim peeking out the window before class. I wore my favorite vintage fedora hat around Artfest as a way for people to identify me or find me if they were looking for! it was great because people knew right away who i was since i had informed everyone i was to meet that i'd have my hat on!

shadow pic of the awesome doors outside on building 204

day #4, hippity hop swap

today i got to open up this cute tag made by my friend, Sandra, http://www.7thststudio.blogspot.com/. Sandra's mother has been quite ill, so poor Sandra has been extremely busy getting her mom better, out of the hospital and now moved into Sandra's house. I'm happy to report that her mom is doing much better and things are beginning to slow down enough for poor Sandra to take a breath. i know she handpainted that gorgeous rose on the bag holding our tags. i will be cutting it out and collaging it onto something! i hung her darling tag on my easter egg tree.

finished jewelry box and blog comments of late

here's a vintage jewelry box that i've redone. finished it last night. i've got a show coming up in May, so trying to get my merchandise stocked. i love working on these old jewelry boxes. Has anyone been getting odd comments lately on their blogs? i've been getting a few here and there ever since it seems, i started "labeling" my posts. the comments don't say much, but want me to click and check out something or say, "warning" and stuff like that. one of them took me to a very disturbing political site. now i just delete them because i read someone saying a comment took out their blog (like a virus.....) kind of scary. can't we just blog safely without having to worry about freakin weirdos, hackers, etc.?
don't forget Memory Monday tomorrow: Childhood pets is the topic. got a pet story from childhood, pic of your favorite dog, etc. share with us!

icon

here is the icon i worked on yesterday. i love the contrast between the atlas background and the skeleton. i think it is pretty cool.

so the second attempt at registering for Artnsoul, Portland, went much better - no glitches at all. i feel so bad for Glenny and Cindy. even if this is their business and all that goes with it - i don't think i could deal with all the whiney (like me for instance!) about the issues with registering. let's just hope it is smooth sailing like that from now on. here's what i am taking:

wed - A Little Art of Remodeling Book with Misty Mawn

wed night -Transfers & Transparencies w/ Diane Downs Lou

thurs & fri - Step Into the Story--Jewelry Technique Workshop w/ Nina Bagley

sat - off to play

sun & mon - House of Style w/ Sally Jean Alexander. we are making a soldered doll house with furniture - looks challenging!

icon of the day

she's pretty intense with that dark Bob and those ruby red lips

here's what i sent to kim

this is the nest and birdie that i sent to kim for our nest swap. isn't she cute? i wonder what kim will call her? she's very protective of her baby egg.

another journal cover

another journal cover, originally uploaded by keeshagirl4.

well, i definitely like this one better than Lady Garish! i think i didn't really like the other image to begin with, so no matter what i do to her, i still don't like her! she's not normally a picture i'd use, but i found her in a free pile and took the copy with me.

i'm happy to report that tucker is feeling much better after that stomach virus. he'll be going back to school tomorrow.

i call her Lady Garish

i call her Lady Garish, originally uploaded by keeshagirl4.

this is on the cover of a journal i altered today. i feel bad, no matter what i did to her, she remains so unattractive! "handsome" is what my husband calls her!

Sammy's doll

here is the other doll i made for the "beat the winter blues" doll swap, for my bud in Oregon, Sammy http://sammystuff.blogspot.com/ (stop and say hi to her, she's had the flu forever!) anyway, she emailed to say that dolly had arrived and her sweet hubbie helped her open the big box. I rescued the doll from a thrift store. she seemed cute with potential once i removed her most hideous outfit and gave her a sweet little haircut! her dress is a vintage baby dress. i made her crown from chicken wire and then vintage lace. for her stand, i took a doll holder and glued it to a vintage shabby chic - ish plate and added glitter on top. she carries her little pink purse where ever she goes - notice the little bird hitchiker?