new art

I've been working on Polaroid transfers and emulsion lifts over the last few days in my spare (LOL) time. It really is a great medium to work in, and I'm saddened to think that Polaroid is stopping production on it's instant film. Just means I'm going to go into hoarde mode.

So, recently I went looking for an old electric frying pan to use in working with Polaroids. No such luck at the local thrift shops. But I did find an old fondue pot for $3.00. It was a silverstone lined one, and the lining was looking rather scratched up, so I thought, "what better use for this fondue pot than to make beautiful art, now that it wouldn't probably be good for fondue." Home it went with me, and now look at what I have been doing! These are so much fun. I remember when I took the classes on Polaroid lifts and image transfers from Terry Berg (great teacher, by the way!) she said "you'll get hooked -- these are addicting!" Oh, she was correct! Here's a sample of what I've done recently.

I've also framed some others that I had done -- posted about them earlier. See what they look like! I'm happy with how they look in their frames.

I'm also pleased to present the picture of my new desk/hutch. You can see where I'm currently showing off my Polaroids -- right on top! I think this will prove to be very handy, and it's in a great location in the studio. I've already been using it a lot, and enjoying every minute!

It's a bright sunny fall day in northern Michigan. The temps are warmer than usual, and everyone's out doing things in their yards or strolling downtown. And smiling. There's lots of smiling -- a sunny, warm fall Saturday. It's the best! I hope it's great where you are! Get out and enjoy -- and smile!

Happy Saturday!

The harvest continues

Although I think that harvesting the ornamental corn really signals the end of the season, look at the wonderful ornamental corn that Mike grew! Husking each piece was an adventure, as, like Forrest Gump said "you never know what you're going to get!" Aren't they beautiful?

I keep working on the studio (no, not the closets. What fun are they?) and made a lot of progress -- Mike helped me put together the desk part of my new desk & hutch. The desk & hutch are specificially for crafting, and have 1 inch and 2 inch deep drawers. I could also choose 12 x 12 paper racks, but since stamps, paint tubes, and doo dads dominate in my world, I like the drawers. I'll take a picture once it's done & all the stamps neatly tucked away.

I'm also excited about it, because it has two open spots where I plan on storing my journals & other pieces that I've done that inspire me. It's so much fun to look through my art & see what I've done -- it pushes me to do more! Anyone else feel that way?

Well, today I think I'll try to finish the desk, plus a piece that I've been working on for several weeks. In addition, I have some more Polaroid transfers to finish up.

Happy Sunday!

I stand corrected

It is now the Saturday morning following the Homecoming Parade & Football game in my fair small town. And, I will eat a small amount of humble pie for breakfast, although I don't mind at all. Yesterday, while being bone chillingly cold, was a bright sunshiny day!!! No Rain -- NO RAIN -- on Homecoming Day!!!

Oh Happy Day!

The girl's looked pretty, the boys handsome, and the band -- DRY!!!!

It's the simple things, now, isn't it?

I got an order today from knotsewshabby at etsy.com. If you have never shopped at etsy, I would urge you to do so -- it's a wonderful place to find handmade goods from loads of neat people. I could go on and on about etsy, but 'nuff said -- go there, look around, buy stuff!!

The item I received is going to be a gift for a crafty little girl of 4 -- it will be great for her to take her crayons (I'll put some brand new ones in here before I send it to her -- aren't brand new crayons just about the best? Do you remember the smell when you'd first open the box??) to church and keep busy, or just about any place she's going. Busy girls need a pad of paper to write down their 'notes' so I thought that this would be a good thing!!!

Well, it's a completely 'band-free-weekend' around our house -- neither of us have any work related things going on, so I suspect many things to show you all come Sunday night. I'll be locked away in my studio for at least a goood portion of this weekend.

About those closets a couple of weeks back - um - remember how I got sick that weekend? Well, the closets are still a fright. I was thinking maybe I'd start to tackle one this weekend. Um - well - yeah, right!! I'm going to go MAKE ART!! Happy weekend!

Fall colds, Polaroid transfers, and Friday night football!

This past week was a bright, sunshiny week here, with lots of opportunity for a high school marching band to go outside during class & get lots of good work done. Just in time for me to have my annual fall cold. So... all week, when I would take the kids outside, and I was barking (literally) directions over the loudspeaker system, I didn't really have a chance to enjoy the beautiful weather we were having. (sniff, sniff, feeling icky) But... we got a lot of good practice in, and the kids looked (and sounded) great on Friday night. Next week, homecoming. (Which in our case translates to "it will rain on Friday night.") I can't count the number of times we've been standing in the rain at homecoming. And it's hard to get really excited about the girls in their beautiful dresses & hairdos and the boys in their tuxedos when you're trying to play "Endless Love" over and over again in the rain. Sigh. Now, I just hope I'm fully over my cold before the rains set in. (And guess what the Weather Channel predicts for this week..... I could have told you back in July what the weather was going to do this week -- it's homecoming!!!)

I'm feeling better this weekend, and wanted to get after a project I had intended for last weekend when I ended up feeling like a cold was coming on (I was right!) -- Polaroid transfers. Got the bug again while I was in Arizona, and the bug has kept after me. I asked my co-worker to bring in some pictures of flowers she had done, so that I could try to do some image transfers. I am very pleased, and now want to find a used coffee pot at Goodwill or a garage sale and use the Polaroid picture portions to make emulsion transfers -- there are some great possibilities for those! I think Jalyn's photos look great done as image transfers, and I think they will look good with a little stretching and pulling that usually happens with the emulsion transfers. Hope you enjoy!!

ATC's

ATC's are so much fun, I don't know why I don't do more. Well, I want to post some here that I did quite a while ago (I'm ashamed to say how long - Kim, you'll recognize these!) because I like them quite a bit, and am hoping that I am inspired to do more.







Funny thing happened recently in regards to ATC's - the mother of one of my seniors (12th grader) is the middle school art teacher. Our classrooms are about 25 yards apart, and we are both at the middle school at about the same time each afternoon. She asked me about attending Art Unraveled this year - she said she had heard that I had attended 'an art retreat in August' and wondered about it. I shared some information about classes I had taken. She wanted to see my work. I brought one thing in, she said "I want to see more." I brought in something else, and then described the Katie Kendrick class I was taking last weekend. She asked to see it when I came back -- so I brought it in. We've talked a lot about art since then - seems she is really into collage right now. And then, she asked if I'd ever heard of Artists Trading Cards? Insert hearty laugh here.... I asked if she wanted to see some of mine? Well, of course, you know the answer -- she thought it would be cool for the kids to see mine, and to know that I did art. She wants to do ATC's with her middle school kids. Ta Dah!



Well, that got me thinking ATC's, and so I dug these out, and took pictures of them -- here's some of my fav's!



Now it's off to clean out my closet. Fun, hey?

More from Valley Ridge

Valley Ridge Art Studio is a wonderful place -- this was my second visit, and surely will not be my last. I had the Cardboard Visual Journal class with Katie Kendrick -- what a fun class!

I flew into Milwaukee, rented a car, and drove the 2 1/2 hours to Valley Ridge -- they always put out great signs to remind you of the way to get there -- the countryside is just beautiful with rolling hills -- on Saturday, you could see the mist rising from the hills off into the distance - it was just natural that so many of us in the class chose greens & goldens as our colors for the journals we were making -- it was just a beautiful sight!

Katie is a wonderful teacher - gives each student some time, making you feel special, but also letting you 'do your own thing' when you want to. She has a gentle spirit, which makes the art making just that much more fun -- that's us together, and me with my book! Take a look inside:

I enjoyed playing with the cardboard -- something I'd never thought of to do before. I also enjoyed all the wonderful techniques we learned to paint our pages. Although I am far from done with my book, I am pleased with it so far -- I look forward to adding more to each page, and recalling the fun weekend spent with new friends at a great retreat!

Valley Ridge class with Katie Kendrick

What can I say? The class at Valley Ridge was SOOOO wonderful, I almost forgot how hard it was to get there. On Friday, I got home to a phone message from the local airport telling me that my flight on Saturday morning had been cancelled, and they had rebooked me to go out on the 2:30 p.m. flight. (Not going to work at all!) So, after I got home from the football game that evening, where my high school band performed, I got online & found a ticket leaving from Grand Rapids at 7:00 a.m. Now, mind you, Grand Rapids is a 2 hour drive from my house, and I booked the ticket at 11:00 p.m. So, I quick grabbed about 3 hours of sleep, jumped in the car, and Mike (husband of the year) drove me down to catch my flight.

Thus, I made my class!! Kathy, owner of Valley Ridge, had offered to take me through the class when I got there, if all I could do was catch the 2:30 flight -- but I'm so glad I got to spend the day with the other gals in the class, and with Katie Kendrick, teacher extraordinaire! Lunch was superb, staying in the guest house at Valley Ridge was so much fun (I was all by myself in the lovely house!!)

The class went on again on Sunday, and although I had to leave early in order to catch my flight back home, I got to almost finish the main structure of my cardboard visual journal. I'll post pictures here later tonight of the journal and of beautiful Valley Ridge. Thanks, Kathy & Bill, Katie, and all the people in the class! It was a wonderful time -- I can't wait to go back!