It's been awhile

Worth Having

It has been awhile since my last blog post; six months or more.I hadn't intended to stop blogging, it just sort of happened for no particular reason.  So this is a catch up post, just a little bit.  Above shows a cat mixed media piece I did on a piece of foam core board.  It was fun, I am pleased with how it turned out.

The Wild Horse In Us

I continued in the same vein and created this horse mixed media piece on a card board mailing envelope.  Again, I was rather pleased with it.  Both of these are given away.

Walking the Dogs

 I've also been working in this altered book, the title of which seemed very appropriate, "The Girl In The Woods".  I used a home made stencil on the right hand side, above.

The Only Thing Necessary

 I continue to enjoy using quotes in my art.

The Depth of Winter

 Using a different color palette than I used to, more muted colors.

The key to happiness: Simplify.

Bound By The Beauty

Alternatively working in my Strathmore mixed media journal. 

 Just fooling around and having fun.

Enjoy the Journey

 This one is dedicated to my maternal grand parents, that's them in the photos, and my Mom is the little girl.

Family: Aunt Bertha

 Another different direction is this one I finished last week.  The woman in the photo is my great great Aunt Bertha.  I cropped the photo to use it, her dress was so beautiful, she must have been pretty classy.  No one is named Bertha these days it seems.

Close up showing some of the fun embellishments I used.

Somewhere along the way I acquired two new pets, a cat, Tigger and a dog, Gunnar.

Tigger

Gunnar

I wasn't looking for new pets, they just adopted me, coming over from the new next door neighbors.

Roscoe and Windy both love Gunnar too, and Charlie cat tolerates Tigger.  It is so much fun watching Gunnar play with Roscoe, he is so gentle with him.  He is a big sweet beautiful dog.  I feel a little safer on my walks now, I think the coyotes are keeping their distance a bit.

That isn't all I've done since my last post, but that's enough for now.  I have appreciated the people who told me they missed my blog posts.  Thanks for noticing!  Till next time,

Be Well.

What I've been making lately

I appreciate all the kind and consoling words from people commenting on my last post about Anne Lockard's passing.  It is obvious she is missed and will be for a long long time.

Life goes on.  I do my best to enjoy it and reflect a giving attitude.  With that in mind, above you can see the quilt I made and gave to my good friend Mary.  She has been going through a rough time health wise, so she was very touched to receive a comfort quilt after having given so many away herself.

This is a book I made from a class in the 21 Secrets art journaling classes I've been working in.  This was from Terri Kahrs I've Got A Secret class.  It makes use of a manilla envelope.

I love the juicy color she helped me achieve.

This is a little book I made from an old ruler and a pile of gelli printed papers.  Can you tell I love orange/red?

 

The back of the gelli book.

Married Love is the book I altered.  I decided to keep the original book title, although what I put inside the book has nothing to do with married love.

A bit of dog love, maybe.

Cover of another book I made, using a fiber leaf I created.

Inside, more juicy color.

Another book, one of the folded paper books, made from a single large sheet of paper, folded and cut to create a book.

 

 

The back of the same book.

A pile of books.

I had an old recipe box that was so dingy and dated.  It is livened up with a new coat of paint.

Little swallow applique stuck to it looks right at home.

The Girl of the Woods is the next book I am altering.  I cut out every third page and then gessoed most of the remaining pages.

Now it is ready for whatever I decide to do with it.

That's about it for now.  I hope you all are keeping safe and enjoying life.  It is far too short so make the most of it!  Dress up for Halloween and let the kid in you out!  

Be well.

Blue House Cafe display

I was invited once again to bring some of my work in to hang on the walls of the Blue House Cafe in Vernonia, Oregon.

It's a nice space, serves wonderful Mediterranean food, and sometimes live music on the weekends. 

If you can stop in there, tell Eleanora, the woman who runs it, hi from Jan, and buy a Gyro platter.

I've been making quilts this winter.  Above is one, the pattern which I purchased from Keepsake Quilting, is called a Dime quilt.  

   I finished it last night.  I like it, not my usual all bright colors.

 This is another one I'm working on.  I have the top finished but keep putting off basting it for lack of sufficient space to spread it out.  It measures 90 inches by 90 inches.  The dime quilt is only 56 inches by 64 inches, much more manageable.  

So that is what I've been up to.  How about you?  Are you keeping busy this winter?  Nearly spring now.  Daffodils are blooming here.

Be well.

Journal work

I've been enjoying working in various journals, the one above is a regular hardback book I altered.  It has the most wonderfully absorbent pages in it and takes paint very well, dries so fast.  It is a book titled Married Love from the 1940's and the text is quite fun to read.  Rather risque for the time.  I cut about a third of the pages out before I began and I use them in other mixed media projects.

Dulcinea and Don Quixote

another from the Married Love book.  I haven't altered the cover yet.

These next ones are from a folded paper book I made with one large sheet of paper.  It makes a book of 16 pages that is about 9" x 6".  A nice size.  I should share the tutorial, you can find it here: folded paper journal.   They call it a Meander Accordion folded book.

Remember the paper buttons I made about a year ago?  I have used some of them here for my flower centers.

One of my favorite colors...

One final spread.  I've been doing a little doodling lately.  I made these hands on a separate sheet of paper while listening to TV, then cut them out and glued them into my book.

I made another Dooleybobber but couldn't show it until it was received by my friend Maggi.  I gifted it to her for her birthday.  I had an old embroidered cloth that I had picked up at a garage sale somewhere.  It was rather stained but it was perfect to incorporate behind the dooleybobber.

Sweet bird embroidery

close up of my hand embroidery

Finally, here is a little baby quilt I made for my newest nephew, Sam.  His mom is a professional photographer so if you like seeing photos of newborns, you should go take a look at Studio 623 blog.  Cuteness factor is very high!!!

close up of the only "baby" fabric I used in the center of each block.  (Linda, note the donkey:-)

Well that is about it for today.  I hope you all are faring well this winter.  Winter is almost my favorite season because I get to spend so much time in my studio.

Be well.