Good Monday Morning......

A quick and late check in to Blogland; sorry this is a short one, and again I am behind visiting all y'alls blogs.....but this was too humorous not to pass along.

The other day in the throes of the worst of the IP problems, my friend Vicki posts the following photo on her blog.........just for ME! In fact, the caption below said photo was "Hi Anne!"

(copyright Vicki Miles, 2010. used with permission.)

I encourage you to take a quick click over......we both had a good laugh off it! I mean, at some point there has to be humor even in the worst of fit-throwing and connectivity issues!

I am off for another day of heavy studio work...If I don't check back in for a few days, well, they either tied me in a knot at PT or I have been swallowed by the carnivorous sewing machine, wrapped like a tasty Spring Roll in banner fabric and deep fried....sigh.....

I'd rather be blogging!

Have a good week, do something you love, laugh, enjoy Spring moments if you have them, and above all else.....

Pax.

I Was A Winner Too!!!

I should have had this posted a while ago, but in the hustle and bustle of life, work, and my normal state of cluelessness, well, I FORGOT.

The Quilt Rat is one of my favorite fiber art blogs. Jill has more talent in her little finger than I think I do in most of my body---she does some excellent work and is constantly sharing her experiments on her blog.

She had a give away a while back and some of the prizes were the quilted fiber postcards she had made (mine, pictured here). Naturally, I assumed I would win nothing because normally I win nothing but it seems since I started blogging, my luck has improved some! I have won prizes in two give aways and it makes my little heart happy!

(ahem! back to the post Anne.....don't wander....)

Her work is amazing.....the photos of the cards  on her blog are very nice, but the real deal in your hand is quite another story. I have stared and stared at the quality of the work, and by the way---the image on this is all hand drawn.

Yes.

Not a fabric print.

It is a lightbulb, but I discovered if I turned it upside down, the symmetry is such that it reminds me of a bottle, a Southwestern gourd vessle.....and I like it both ways!

If you've not already visited, do check her blog. Even if you don't *do* fiber art, you will be impressed by the art talent!

A very belated Thanks Jill!!!

In public, where all can see! ;-)

Pax.

German Glass Glitter and another WELCOME!

First off, a hearty Welcome to another follower and fellow artist, Marianne, and you need to visit her blog, marianne's art blog and see the lovely things she is doing! Super use of mediums!
Second, off to my experiments with the collaged background I did during the tutorial a while back and also something I discovered quite by accident about German Glass Glitter.

Here is where I am with the piece---things are coming along; you probably need to click for a larger image so it shows up well enough. Now, the problem was I wanted the glass glitter for the halo, but as you can see below.......

....this stuff was TOO BIG. There are a couple of sizes available but at the time I ordered the gold, only the larger was in stock. And don't get me wrong--the large works great for a more textural application, but this needed more finesse.

So my little brain pondered, "What can I do with this too-big glitter?" All the time, somewhere in the deep curves and recesses of my cerebellum, there is a single synapse firing.......

......"It's GLASS Anne. GLASS BREAKS. Wrap it in something and take a hammer to it!" So I folded down a sheet of waxed paper (which I cannot function without, period) until each side had four layers. I put a small amount of the glitter in the waxed paper and........

......wailed away with a tack hammer! Make sure and hold the sides down so the glitter does not escape. You can't do that and take a photo at the same time......you understand.

When I say hammer, whack it until it is stuck in the paper, because it is a bit resistant. I tried a ballpein hammer and that did not do well at all....it was too heavy and cumbersome. A cobbler's hammer would work well too.

When you are done, you should have something that looks like the side by side below.......

...the soft, powdery glitter on the left and the original on the right. Word of caution: this can get in your fingers twice as fast as the regular glass glitter!!! Use a brush to clean the excess from waxed paper and table, NOT your fingers! (don't ask........)

The final photo gives an idea of how much better the small size works in comparison to the coarse size. Plus, you can purchase only the larger size, then reduce it to what you need. I stored my extra in a glass jar with a tight fitting lid.

I am hoping, in between all the work that MUST be done, to wrap this project up soon and have a completed photo along with a pic of the background before anything other than paper was applied. Should be fun to look at!

Hope this has sparked some ideas---I see this tiny stuff on all sorts of decorations for the holidays; just make sure to use a good heavy glue and don't have small children or pets around when using it, because it sort of resembles colored sugar.

Now---GO MAKE ART!!!!

I bid you,

Pax.

Fiber Art, Fiber Friends and Another Blog To Check (Psst! Giveaway!)

Well, first things first; the long hanging is finally done, and not what I had planned but I like it a lot and will definitely hang it somewhere in the house! YAY! Now that means the table is really clear for the unfinished project (banners) and
I don't know about the rest of you, but trying to get the momentum back and restart a project is exceptionally difficult for me. My attention span must be as long as.......oh..........one of these little punctuation marks? It is always hard to restart.

At any rate, before I blither too much, I want to thank Leslie for the lovely blog post she put up about the piece of art I sent her---it's always nice to hear someone appreciates your effort and it's even more fun when BOTH of us were somewhat clueless to why the other was asking for things..... :-)

It turned out to be lots of FUN!

And before I forget, hop on over to Yoborobo because there's a cool give away and you can check out the interesting art, especially, if---like myself---you love "The Nightmare Before Christmas" and anything Halloweeny! I would insert another photo here of the giveaways, but I am having a hard enough time with three pics

all on the left side without tearing my *naturally blond* hair out by the dark roots......so you have to go to the site....okay????
Now back to my hanging; finally this afternoon I got all the doo-dads on the bottom and am HAPPY. It meets my requirements for gaudy, dangley and close to glow in the dark. It also has a lovely

Oriental feel to it that sort of just happened and those are the types of happy accidents a girl can really enjoy!

And it's long too, about a yard and six inches all together with the dangley bits. The close ups show the use of the Angelina I fused, cut to back the leaves And Linda's marbled flowers were absolutely perfect.

Plus, the best part, this uses only about 2/3's of a fat quarter. Yes, one little fat quarter can go a long way if it's the right print and you don't get scissor-happy. (or if you're lazy like me and find a few seams are better than a whole lot!)

I had some cool glass leaves that were meant for jewelry, but I have had them stashed away for a long time, waiting for the right project. I think the bottom close up shows them pretty well.

Besides this, I got all the old plastic drawers emptied, and have them cleaned and ready for their new home, when I can get a schedule set up, or when I get the seats pulled out of the back of the Cruiser, because there is NO WAY they will all fit, even with the seats folded down. It's going to be interesting to say the least.......

Now off with ye all! Go have a wonderful Monday, get
signed up for another giveaway and have a great creative start to the week!

Pax.

Blogs I read, and you should too!

I have to be up front that this is not an original idea.....listing blogs I read on a regular basis. Lots of bloggers do it; I suppose the reasoning is different for each person. I just like to share some of the places that make me happy, or I find good info, or are fun to buy from--good people to deal with, good people to read. And I have a lot of spots listed in my "Places To Visit......" so maybe I should mention some that I do check daily, or have just found and think that they are worthy of some extra words out here in the Blogosphere.

First is "Artifacts" where my friend Bernadette makes the most amazing things out of anything and everything. She is quite the artist and if you are looking for some beautiful and unusual work, just click and go!

Second is "Enchanted Revelry" where Tristan posts the most unbelievable vintage photos, artwork and genuinely hilarious stuff!!! Everyone on the blogging planet seems to know Tristan (whom I met through the Fiber Pirates Group) so if you are one of the few left out there who has not visited his site, it needs to be placed high on your priority list!

Third is my friend Vicki and her photo blog; "My 2009 Project 365 " which I love to check to see if her grandson is the subject du jour! He is quite the little man, and has a bit of model in him, or maybe Vicki just coaxes that out! Definitely worth a look! Plus she doesn't photoshop her images; it's just pure talent.

Fourth---and I need to state now, these are not RANKED, this is just my poor brain trying to remember who I read!---is "Leslie's New Works and Thoughts " where I occasionally get my yarn fix and get to be sure that I am NOT alone in the world of socks that take forever to knit. Leslie does other cool things too......check it out.

Fifth is my friend Marion across the pond at "artmixter " where you will find all sorts of fiber related posts, and things artistically that provoke thought. Which is a whole lot more than I do here.....I probably make it as far as provoke. :)

Lately, I was lucky enough to reconnect with two people who I had contact with on occasion and discovered they both have blogs! YAY! That means I can put them here for you to enjoy too!

"Marbled Musings " will have some of the finest marbled fabric you could hope to see, and I asked Linda Moran if I could snag one of her images to post here to show. She does wonderful things from a centuries old technique, but in different ways and using more modern methods. I have tried marbling and found that in the list of talents I was given----IT AIN'T THERE!!!! This is an art. It looks deceptively simple but it is not. So pop by and see what she does and be impressed! Plus she has a website too, in case some of the fabric needs to go home with you..........

The other lady I came back into contact with is Gayle Pritchard, who blogs at "Uncommon Threads ". Her current post is most poignant; it really hit home for me since it is about loss and creativity. I cannot recommend it highly enough-READ. PLEASE. Gayle also has a website where you can find lovely things and an Etsy store where I made the first purchase! Yay! (Tristan would approve...)
So while this post has rambled everywhere, please keep these blogs in mind for good reading or good looking.
Yes, I know I probably am in trouble for not listing more, but my brain is getting numb and I'm doing good to get this many without a major Anne-or-Blogger meltdown! (usually the first)

See if something these good folks have to share doesn't stoke your creativity today! And make sure to leave a nice comment, as we all like to know we're read....really....we do! :)