Stash Swap & Sneak Peek at Felted Doll 3

A few weeks ago I participated in a stash swap at Creative Artitudes on Facebook with Cynthia Hanna hosting. This was my first stash swap ever. In fact, I had participated in only one other swap before, and it was an inchies swap a couple of years ago. 

In this swap, the participants were put in a list. What we chose to send was to be intuitive about what the other person might like. The person above you sent you some of their stash that they no longer wanted or needed, and you sent the person below you some of yours. There was no limit on how much or how little, only a $5-7 postage/mailing limit, and a deadline for getting the packages mailed out.  

I just had to share with you! It was like a Spring Christmas when I opened my package from Erin, and I hope she doesn't mind me sharing. Just look at all the neat stuff she included, much of it co-ordinated in spring colors. This is a picture of as much as I could get into the picture and still show a portion of it.

She sent embossing glitter powder! I've never used embossing glitter powder before! Of course, I had to open it and examine this wonderful stuff. Later that afternoon, in the Dr.'s waiting room, Mama noticed my face was all sparkley. Oh, well, I needed some sparkle! :/

There are decorative papers, tags, some gorgeous handmade papers, collage ephemera, the cutest kitty stamps and ink pads, an adorable stamped rabbit finished project with stuff for me to make one, various kinds of stickers,

lots of beads, buttons, an oragami album project, ribbons, pretty tape, heart-shaped paper containers to assemble and decorate...and I know there's more. I am still so excited over my "new to me" stash, and anxious to put it to use, merging it with my other stash and projects. I also look forward to playing with the things I've never tried before. Thank you so much, Erin, for all these wonderful items that you shared with me! I will think of you every time I use any of them.

Thanks Cynthia! This was so much fun! :)

OK, this has nothing to do with the stash swap at all. I just thought I'd share a sneak peek of Felt Doll #3 that is now in progress. I'm trying something new with this one, as she is seated. This is only the needle-felted core form, and as you can see she is missing a foot, one and a half arms, and a face, but she's getting there. I don't know if you can see, but she does have indentions for eyes and mouth, and a small bump of a nose. I haven't decided on her outfit yet, but her personality is beginning to emerge. I have to say that she's a patient soul. She hasn't griped once about it taking me so long to complete her. :)

I have several projects in progress, and I start another round of the 21 Secrets workshops on April 1, which I am so excited about. My main project right now is to clean off a spot to work in. :/

Have a wonderful creative week, and I hope something on here made you smile! :)

What I'm Working On...IF I Can Find the Space!

 I'm sitting in front of my laptop pondering where I'm going to make space to work today.  My current studio/playroom is our dining room.

Just for fun I thought I'd show you what I'm facing as I sit here. Sorry about the picture quality. I forgot to turn the flash on, and there's a flouresent light overhead with a yellowish tint to its light. Needless to say we never use the table for eating! LOL

 Here are some of my ABSOLUTELY favorite tools that I always have within arm's reach. Laptop, Mp3, gum, scrap paper for notes, post its, and COFFEE. Art Journal page for a screen saver! WIP felt doll #2 guarding my coffee.

 Still to my right and up a little, WIP felt doll with the rest of her top laying near on a box of wool felting supplies, waiting patiently for me to get back to them. Behind them an old computer desk full of books, beading, stamping, half-finished paintings and projects, and misc.

 Straight ahead is my sewing machine on the other side of the table with a stack of art journals in progress between me and it. I've been sewing on some of the journal pages, although I did repair two pair of hubby's pajama pants while I was at it. Between the journals and the machine are piles of paint and stacks of background and misc papers, plus files of stuff. My water container and brushes and my styrofoam plate palette is on the left side of the table. The painting corner to the left I'll explain on down the post.

 To the left of me is my printer on a TV table with my drawing board laying on top of it, where I've been doing my larger painting. I know, NOT a good idea! :/

Still to my left, two large cheap watercolor papers that I've been working on for the last 2-3 days for backgrounds. I've gessoed and painted both sides of each page. Also a zentangle that I started last night in my Moleskine journal while watching TV with hubby. Great alternative to eating! Behind is a portrait of my little Pekingese, Kibbles, who has been gone since 1997. I can't bring myself to finish it.

I'm not going to show you the view from the other side of the table or the floor. But I can scarcely believe it myself. :o It is like getting through a mine field to get to the other side of the table, and any day now I'm going to straighten it up. :)

I have a very large studio upstairs, but it has steep stairs (and I'm prone to falling), it costs too much to heat and cool it, plus since hubby retired he likes me down here with him, so I'm relagated to our very small dining room, but I'm blessed to have a space at all, so it's all good.

 This is the whole sheet of the corner showing in the picture above. The light glared on one end of it and the following pictures, but you get the idea. As I said above, these are big sheets of cheap textured watercolor paper that I've randomly applied liquid acrylics and inks to, using brush, bubble wrap, sponge wedge, etc.

I planned on cutting this sheet up for collaging or journal pages, but a pinkish face shape appeared on the left side and I've. since taking the picture, painted in a face, shoulders, and hair, and I've lightened up and changed the background. Right now I'm liking it, and I'll show you when it's done, unless I really mess it up, and it still winds up in pieces. I did sponge paint the back of the paper with a sea sponge, just in case. :/

The second sheet I used mostly acrylic inks on. I drizzled them on then used an old credit card to try to spread them. They soaked into the paper pretty fast. despite the gesso, thus the blurred effect. I used a brush handle to draw squiggles and stuff in the damp ink. It does look better in person.

This is the back of the previous sheet, using acrylic inks, liquid acrylics, bubble wrap, and a sponge wedge. This sheet will most likely be cut up for journal pages, or atcs, or.......

So these are some of the projects I'm working on, plus I started two more zentangles while visiting with company yesterday and finished one of them last night while watching TV with hubby. I'll show you those in a different post.

By the way, the answer to the riddle about a space to work? I stand up to paint on the makeshift table to the left, and I either hold my sketchbook on my lap or take it to the living room to draw or zentangle, I take my needle felting to the living room and hold it on my lap, and I set the sewing machine down in the floor to glue stuff in my art journals. I can also take those to the living room to write or draw in. It would be much easier if I could work on only one project at a time, but I can't. I have to have a variety of projects going at once, or I get bored. It's not about the finished item for me. It's about the learning and doing of it, the process of figuring things out. But I will eventually finish them...

I'm so glad you visited, and I really hope something here made you smile. Now to get back to one of those fun projects... :)

My China Cabinet Doesn't Just Hold China...

These are a handful of the hundreds of drawings that are works in progress in my dining room/studio. They are the last couple of weeks quirky doodle drawings that are propped up in my china cabinet drawer and against it where I can look at them...and they can look back. :)

I thought this morning that it looks like I'm working on illustrations for a children's book. Maybe that's what they'll turn into. Who knows? ;)

I've been doing these since April 2008, at least one a day, sometimes two or three. I have several sketchbooks filled and lots of loose ones. Some are still only pencil line drawings. The rest are in various stages of painting, mostly watercolor for now. Some need fine tuning. A few may be finished. We'll see.

Each one has a story that I look forward to telling in the next phase. As much as I've loved the challenge of pulling images out of doodle marks, I feel the pull to change directions and do something else for a while. I will never stop doing these, because I've learned so much from them and they are so relaxing to do.

I've gained confidence in drawing and watercolor, and most of all I've learned to relax and have fun with art. I've stopped trying to be perfect. I'm just trying to be "me."

These little doodles serve many purposes aside from paintings. I look forward to turning them into illustrations/stories, but some will become patterns for oil paintings, some will be turned into stamps or linoleum block print patterns, some will become greeting cards, a few will become part of a collage, I would love to make some prints if I can find out how, and I'm sure I'll think of other projects to include them in. Every time I look back through the sketchbooks I am inspired by endless possibilities. It has definitely not been time wasted.

Their journey won't stop here. They have given me tremendous pleasure and challenges over the past year or so, and I look forward to sharing whatever direction my art journey takes me on, whether it includes doodling or not.

Thanks so much for your visits and comments. You help and inspire me so much. Hope my art attempts continue to make you smile. :)

Inspire Me Thursday--Green Bug

This week's challenge at IMT is green, so I'm sharing a photo of a green bug that I made the other day. I've always wanted a bug, but not necessarily green. :)

IMT-Tables

The Inspire Me Thursday challenge this time is Tables, so I thought I'd share my art/writing/dining table with you. It's a little messy, but that's how I like it. It looks really good in this picture compared to what it looks like right now. :) I usually do my computer stuff and writing on one side of the table, my art stuff on the other, and other necessary "stuff" gets mixed together in the middle. :)

On second thought, I'll show you what it looks like right now (the bottom two pictures-sorry about the quality). Should I be ashamed? LOL

Needless to say, we do very little dining on this table. :)

Studio pix

Yesterday I showed you my real studio. Today I thought I'd show you where I have actually been trying to work for a few years....my tiny dining room. I actually straightened it up before tackling the upstairs one.

I did have to crawl over all the piles on the floor and move the piles on the table to do anything. Needless to say I didn't do much. :) It's still pretty full and I don't have a lot of elbow room, but at least I can walk around the table w/o tripping or moving something. I have managed to keep it straightened up too. Right now I'm in the midst of a couple of projects so it's kind of messy, but I've gotten better at putting stuff away when I'm done, so the table stays pretty much cleared. The vinyl tablecloth is not for looks, but table protection. There are two rolling drawer carts behind the chair and under the small desk on the right. Those, stackable banker boxes, and wooden cheese boxes hold art/writing supplies. Stackable baskets hold my sewing stuff and magazines. I also have an easel and a portable table that I set up when I need them. A lot of the stuff down here is going back upstairs now that there's room up there. I may still have to work down here for the time being, but at least I'll have a little more room.

We still eat in front of the living room TV. :) Two pix follow:
Pretty embarrassing when company comes. But it's either this or give up art/writing and that would be like giving up breathing. :)

My Playhouse

In this post I'm going to share some pix of my studio. Back in the spring I started the monumental task of cleaning out and organizing my upstairs studio. The room had not been cleaned out or used in several years (too expensive to heat/cool) and had become akin to an upstairs attic storage space. I could not walk around without moving stuff out of the way, every table, chair, etc was piled high, boxes/baskets of stuff filled the floor, and needless to say, I couldn't find anything. I should have taken before pictures to share. It took several days, but I started in the middle and kept digging out small spaces until I had my studio back again. I got rid of tons of stuff that I no longer needed or wanted, and stuff that had been ruined by light, insects, age, etc. I know it's still going to look messy to many of you, but considering how it was before it now looks like I'm a neat freak. :)

I owe a great deal of my success to the Organized Studio group. They cheered me on, gave me inspiration, and generously shared their ideas and before/after pix. I wish I'd taken before pix, but since I didn't here are the after pix I promised of my now workable space with the infamous blue curtains (see curtain saga post below). I didn't buy any pretty containers, just used what I had, and I haven't started working up there yet, so it's still relatively neat.

This is the NE corner where my stairs come up. The bookshelves hold books, new art papers, paintings, sketchbooks, paint, palettes, etc. The ice chests hold heat sensitive sprays, paints, etc. I temporarily laid some new frames flat on the table with the sheet curtains I just took down and will use as dust covers. On the floor are canvas and framed paintings. Also a few cleaning items. A little Santa wind chime hanging from the center adds a tinkling sound when the fans are on.


This is the North end where I paint with oils. The two paintings on the easels are works in progress that I started about ten years ago. I'll finish them eventually. The drafting table holds my palette, paint rags, etc. The TV and a radio sits on an old entertainment center that we rescued from beside a dumpster several years ago. It has 5 large compartments behine the doors.

The NW corner. The lop-sided chest was made by a great uncle and is over a hundred years old. I painted the oval scenes on the front when I first started painting. I broke the two end legs off dragging it across the floor and have never gotten them replaced, so it's kind of propped up. It has 3 shelves inside. The teddy bear and monkey are mine from childhood, very much loved. A magazine holder is in the floor next to the end of my work table.

The SW corner and side. The rest of my work table with storage underneath for frames, mat board, cutter, etc. The file cabinet holds newspaper and magazine clippings and journals. The wicker hamper holds my crochet yarn & projects. The corner table has a bartender's sink in it, but it froze & burst one winter and hasn't been fixed. My dad made the print rack for me.


South end. Utility table, thinking chair, baskets. I made the cloth doll from a pattern. She is one of my muses named Lucy, and she's very good company. ;)



SE corner. The old chest of drawers was bought at a yard sale. It and the shelves hold various containers of cross stitch supplies, paper making, papier mache, writing, and other craft supplies, as well as various magazines.

The middle of the floor is totally empty...for now. :) I am so proud of myself for sticking with it til it was straightened up. Now if I can just keep it that way? ;)