on my worktable

continuing on with my picture of a day of things i've been creating:





just poured resin in this metal house - so now waiting for it to dry

playing with dolls

French Cupboard is having a altered art party - where you showcase some art that you have altered. I thought i'd show off some photos of some of the necklaces i have created using the old German Charlotte dolls.

Lesley Venable (and Mr. Lesley)

Lesley and Tom arrived early Friday evening. They got stuck in a little bit of traffic, so they were happy to finally get here. After drinks, dinner and chit chat, we got them settled into the camper (now dubbed "the nest" by Tom). Tom gifted Jeff this t-shirt that says Mr. Lemoncholy art husband. how cool is that? both of the guys wore their tshirts the next morning to help us set up for Handmade Faire.

We got up quite early to make the hour drive to Medford and begin setting up for the show. Right out of the gate it was a hot one. After getting set up, Jeff headed back home for Tucker duty. Lesley's booth was very close to me, so we did a lot of visiting, as unfortunately, the weather did not encourage many people to come on out! it was just way too hot. but we made the most of it, lots of laughing, visiting, walking around and eating. we spent a lot of time watching the male psychic. he was quite interesting to watch.







after the show, we headed back towards my neck of the woods to have dinner at a yummy seafood restaurant. we took a leisurely stroll around the marina and watched the boats for a few. we were all still a bit "warm" from the day!

On Sunday, Lesley taught her angel class. we had a great time. Lesley is a wonderful teacher and shared a lot of tips, resources and materials with us. we worked with a couple of products that i wasn't familiar with, so that was cool to learn how to use them.


On Monday, I decided to show Lesley how to do some of my snippet sewing (a class i taught last year at Art-is). so we spent the day sewing while Tom cooked us a delicious dinner of homemade focaccia bread, beef stroganoff and chocolate mousse.




(some pages i sewed)

this was a little dress that Lesley bought at Handmade Faire and i asked her if could alter it with some of my sewing.

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after dinner, we went for a walk along the dog beach. it was a beautiful evening with a lovely breeze. very peaceful and quiet.





we finished off the evening with Lesley teaching me how to do some molding and creating some bezels using an epoxy putty.
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here is my angel that i made in class.

thank you Lesley and Tom for a wonderful weekend and all you shared with us.

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.

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).

old, uninspiring lamp to exciting fun lamp

picked this up yesterday at Allaire state park. i could see the potential in it.

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yay, look at me now! so much brighter and colorful!

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i carved "Lemoncholy's" in the base

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this is what i glued to the front of the lamp. i got this in an Easter swap a few years ago. I've always just loved it and it was the perfect piece to add for a focal point.

new dolls

today's project was to get a few dolls done. i just love making these dolls. easy, fun and the creativity of what you can do with them are endless. off to bed!

Disinegration project

Seth Apter, from The Altered Page, is doing a project involving nature and paper. the project involves taking paper of some sort and leaving outside for a length of time to see how it changes from the elements. i created a pretty little paper and fiber collage and hung it from some rusty wire (first photo) and then wrapped it in some cheesecloth and hung it outside (2nd photo). i added diamond glaze over the focal image as i decided i'd like that to remain intact (if possible!). the rest i will leave up to mother nature to see what happens. i have a little problem with worrying about pretty things getting ruined - so this was also an exercise in "letting go" - this is why i decided to create something pretty and then leave it outside - a risk, i know! what will happen to it? will it get ruined? we shall see. i'm leaning towards it still looking really cool when i finally bring it in. we get lots of rain here, ocean air, high winds, occasional snow. maybe it will blow into the mud and i won't notice it for days. stay tuned...............

getting ready for a show

art shows/festivals/craft fairs are alot of fun - but so much work! i've been doing them for about 4 years now. i'm no where near set up like some of the other folks who do this full time; with the tents and special shelving, etc. my booth is very whimiscal, cottagey, shabby chic, homemade, etc. i find discards on the road (screens, shutters, doors) and along with some vintage chicken coop screens, i just sort of create a backdrop for my tables. then, of course, i have fun "merchandising" my stuff and decorating my back drop. i make my husband do all the grunt work while i supervise. (hehe) then he gets to relax while i unpack everything and display them all. usually the week before a show bring all my stuff from the basement, price things, organize, get bags (i recycle shopping bags). i also do a mock set up of my booth and then create display ideas. my new idea was to build 4 miniature shelves to drill into these old louvre doors (the narrow kind, for a closet probably). i will cover the shelves with vintage hankies. it just a way to bring some height into my display. and don't worry, i'll definitely take pictures. then today, i made a display for my new jewelry line using an old vintage easel that i picked up who knows where and has been sitting in my closet for an eternity waiting to be used in some cool and creative way. here are some pictures from a few shows of my booth:

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here is the jewelry display i made for the show on sunday:

"Gatherings" book w/ Nina Bagley

Back in April (gee, it seems so long ago!) at Artfest, I took a class with Nina Bagley called, "Gatherings". in that class we started creating a book of gatherings. It is a book of books. it is layers of old books that have been embellished, journaled, glued, wired, collaged, shadowboxed, ribboned, etc. While in class i finished my cover and one other page (one page being a book). So yesterday and today after finding the rest of the books i had prepared for class, I decided to do some work on my gathering book. this is really a fun and unique project. if you ever have the chance to take Nina's "Gatherings" class, definitely do it. although, the Artnsoul class in Portland is full (but look for cancellations in sept. - it always happens: you have to check out the artnsoul yahoo group, that is where you'll find cancellations....) anyway, she is teaching it again in August (2 &3) at Valley Ridge Art Studio in Wisconsin . here are some pictures of the progress of my book.

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this is a "page"

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this is another "page"

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this is my back cover

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this is how the book looks after all the ribbons have been tied to hold it together.