FACES

I painted these faces on coasters from Chili's not too long ago. I have no idea what I'll do with them.
Shabree came down from Austin to spend a couple of days with us and so we could get a family photo done for the parish family album. We sure do miss her, with her being so much farther away again.

WENT OUT TO THE STUDIO...BRIEFLY

I braved the dozens of boxes of 'miscellaneous' and walked across the yard to my studio this afternoon. I tentatively poked around in a few of the boxes and found 'Woodrow' who had been buried in that particular box since Andrew burned through the living and dining room several years ago, a couple of hours before Thanksgiving dinner, in a spate of guerilla decluttering. I also unearthed a few old art journals, some from 2004, even, plus a couple of newer ones that had gone missing. On the table is the background I had started painting a few days ago.
I also found 4 of my bottles of fingernail polish and painted my nails lavendar while I was at it. I added some grayish diamond shapes to my background too, although the plan I had for the painting I was going to do doesn't interest me any more. I don't know...maybe I'll still do it in a day or two. Or maybe I'll just change horses in the middle of the stream.

WINTER/SNOW HOUSE

I finished this one yesterday. It's also for the Charming Row Houses group on Swap-Bot. Then I started on the Thanksgiving House which is next.

GINGERBREAD HOUSE

This went off in today's mail to someone in Arizona. The theme was Gingerbread House, and I made it with Hansel and Gretel rather than a Christmas type of gingerbread house. It was really hard getting a good photo because of the thick coat of clear or irredescent glitter on the house.

ART TABLE

Good grief! Yesterday, in another blog that I read regularly, the subject was art supply storage or use, and I mentioned my tin can pyramid sharpie holder. I had said I'd post a photo as soon as I cleared off my art table a little. That turned out to be a LOT more work than I thought it would be. I worked on it off and on all day long. That table had become a huge mess with me doing more collage and mixed media than I've done in ages. Plus all the art swaps I've been doing, added to the stacking of incoming art and outgoing projects. It doesn't look that spacious now, but believe me, it is wide open compared to the tiny bit of exposed table I have had available. No way am I going to move on to photographing the rest of my art space - the two bookshelves, the paper cart, etc. It would be just as big of a hassle, if not more so, to clean them up beforehand. I was up until 4:30 am, as it was, cleaning off the table. What a difference it made. I wanted to do art right then, but sensibly (if you can even call it that by that time of the night/morning) I went to bed. Now, it's 5 and a half hours later. *Yawn*
Okay - left to right: some cut outs for bases for some gothic arches and some row houses in the making, two baskets of collage elements and various papers and misc. (I have a LOT of miscellaneous, everywhere!), a wonderful painting an artsy friend gave me, that I framed, the tin can pyramid, the old wire card holder with seasonal things people have sent me, my paint brush water in front of that, a metal basket with my cheapie paints in it, a Guatamalan vase holding paintbrushes, a little gnome planter holding paintbrushes, the lamp, a big basket of seasonal or current use items/elements, another basket of more papers and misc.... Both of these are set on top of stacks of paper and cardstock, with an art journal and other things thrown into the mix. What did I leave out...? Oh, the plate that I use for mixing paints is in front of the pyramid, and then a black and orange box that someone sent me, plus my jar of modge-podge, too. And a stuffed bean bag like crow that someone sent me around last Halloween. I have a huge plastic mat front and center so I don't get paint on the table and don't have to be careful about getting paint everywhere. I think that's it.
Here's a closer, and blurrier look at the tin can pyramid. I had planned to paint it, and maybe collage over the duct tape, but haven't yet. I may not, ever.
When we move, I'll have my art studio in a separate little building out back and will have lots of space to spread out. I don't know exactly when we are going to get over there, and we are not totally leaving this house, either. I expect we will be back and forth all the time.

...AND MORE

Untitled. This is for a 'Color Red Handmade Postcard' swap.
This is a 'Halloween Lucky Parcel' for a swap by the same name. This is the first one I've ever made, so I hope it is okay. It looks more like a 'lucky gift basket' to me.

And here it is after it is wrapped and tied up in a gray gauze piece.
This is a whimsey jar for the Magical Forest Whimsey Jar swap. The jar didn't photograph very well, but it is really, really stuffed full of all kinds of things. I leaned it in a pot of foxtail fern wrapped around with baby tears for the photo.

MORE LITTLE ROW HOUSES

Here they are all together, before it's time to send them off on swaps.
Autumn House

Crooked Little Haunted House #2

Tree House

CROOKED LITTLE HAUNTED HOUSE

This is for the Crooked Little Haunted House swap in the Charming Row Houses group on Swap-Bot. I was invited to join earlier in the week and am really enjoying it.
The back has the Emily Dickenson poem on it. I love that poem and it fits well with the theme. Coming soon: Autumn House and Treehouse.
If anyone out there likes arts and crafts or even swapping little non-handmade gifts, I highly recommend Swap-Bot. There are so many swaps available to choose from all the time, and the whole thing has a system that keeps things straight and relatively sure.

SHARPIE POSTCARDS

These two are for a Dia de los Muertos Sharpie Challange on Swap-Bot.
And this one was for a Swap-Botter's son who has a thing for fishing and for watches. I combined the two. It went to him as a request from his mother in a Swap-Bot forum tag swap.

HAVING FUN

This was sent to Colleen for a Swap-Bot Forum Tag swap. The other side had a different mixed-media picture on it, but I only photographed one side. (Lazy!)
This is for Kelly and is also a Swap-Bot forum tag swap. The tag was for something "Halloween" and in her profile she wrote that she really liked Edgar Allen Poe, so I came up with this.
Another Swap-Bot forum tag swap for Colleen. One of her requests was a green birthday card for her birthday at the end of September. So I tagged her for that.
And lastly, this is a postcard for Tristan, also as a Swap-Bot forum tag swap. It's a photocopy on cardstock of a painting I did in 2004. The Edgar Allen Poe envelope behind it, is the one I used to send Kelly's swap.

That is about all that has been going on around here lately. Just art and swaps, mostly. But don't the basil plants and coral vine look pretty in the art photos?

I have become active again in a doll photo and story group that I belong to, and have joined 2 more, besides. So before too long (I hope!) there will be doll doings on this blog again.

3" X 3" MINIS

I made these for a 3"x3" challange. This one is Dandan (Cinnabar).
This one is Ash Wednesday.
Yesterday, I got all ready to take my van into the shop to be fixed (the horn isn't working) and then inspected, only to find that the battery was dead again. Chuck had just jumped it the evening before. Blah. I'm hoping to get it all done today, but...

Yesterday Lydia and I went out for lunch, then I went to the office later in the afternoon to get a new newsletter copied and sent out to the religious education families. That night, I went to Mass and then the parish council meeting. So I missed American Idol, but did get home in time to see the finale of Project Runway. Yay, Christian! I would have been happy if Jillian had won too. Her line was so cute (most of it), and I liked the knits she added. Rami had some pieces in his line that I loved, but some that I really didn't like, too. I hope all three of the finalists go on to successful careers as designers.

Tonight is Survivor! I am hoping Ozzy wins this season. He deserves it. He is so knowledgeable and capable about the outdoors and survival things, plus he is extremely athletic and very intelligent as well. And nice. Gosh, last week, he got sent to Exile Island, and in the short time he was 'looking for food', he followed all of the clues correctly (including swimming to another nearby island and back), found the idol, carved a replacement, and transfered the real one from his hat to his bag, right in front of Kathy and she didn't even notice a thing!

INK BLOT CHARACTER #1

I joined an ink blot character swap on Swap-Bot recently. We were supposed to send two characters and a short bio of them to our assigned partner. But these are too much fun to do. It was hard to stop. I will be posting the three that I sent my partner, over the next three days. I am doing them in order of my least favorite (although I still like Batrick a lot!) to my most favorite.

Batrick is a cute and artistic little bat who lives in the famous bat colony under the Congress Avenue Bridge in the middle of Austin, Texas. He does honor his roots and go the more traditional route for the month of October, usually, but mixes it up a bit for the other months. He attends art gatherings all over town and impresses the other bats with his various costumes such as his bright tie-dyed ones for the Jerry Garcia Birthday Fest held each year in Austin. The motto, ‘Keep Austin Weird’ is one that Batrick believes in.
In this picture you can see Batrick in his Count Dracula costume, on his way to a costume party.

SPIRITS' HOUSES

I finished the artwork for the Swap-Bot Spirits' Houses Accordian Book. I was even one day early for the mailing deadline. :) It was fun doing this and I almost wished I could have kept this one. But, really, it was made to appeal to my partner's preferences in color and style. One made for myself would have dark reds, greens and golds. Maybe some touches of dark blue and dark purple. And maybe it would have bees flying through it rather than bluebirds... although I like the idea of bluebirds, too. The vintage look - at least the Victorian style - would probably not be used, either... Mine would have herbs, trees, plants, animals, people, saints... But I do like it, and hope 'Bluebird' in NSW will, too.
This swap only required that we do a minimum of 6 panels on the front. Doing back panels was for extra 'points'. I did 8, front and back, and although I was in somewhat of a rush, I wish now I had done a few more. But it's on its way to Australia now, so it's time to turn my attention to my next project - Ink Blot Characters with their life story and a personality description.

But now, it's time to haul the garbage to the dump, go deposit money in the bank and drive to Corpus Christi to pick up Shabree. :)

QUESTION OF THE DAY: In a project like this one, for yourself, what would have been your preferences in colors, style and design?

CATCHING UP

It seems like forever since I blogged last. So this will be one of those short 'see the photos' posts.
My sister came to visit last weekend! YAY!!! I commemorated the occasion on a journal page. That's me on the left and her on the right. Don't you recognize us?
Here are Egglantine, Henrietta and Wynona enjoying some R&R. Their enclosure is a whole 'nother story, but I won't get into that.
This is my first amigurumi. I crocheted this 'acorn boy' about a week ago. Amigurumi are all the rage in the internet craft scene, so I did one to see how it would be....strangely alluring.
This cornucopia is for a Tussie Mussie swap. Filled and packaged, it went off to someone in Australia this morning. I enjoyed making it.

BEES IN THE BASIL

I'm enjoying sitting on the swing off and on during the day. This morning, as usual, the bees were out in full force.
I got this eBay item yesterday in the mail. And I got a good lead on some better chickens at a lower price. The Amish wanted $8 each for scrawny nondescript hens. Lydia told me where I could get some fat, pretty black and white speckled ones for $5 each.