Assemblage Art: "A Little Bird Told Me"

Good morning friends and happy Sunday!

We returned home earlier this week after 10 days at The Wren's Nest, and it has taken me this long to catch up on laundry and garden work, so here I am at last. Doesn't it seem like there are never enough hours in the day?

We finally hung up an assemblage piece that I started a while ago, and finished over the winter.

Here is the piece, which has been hung

next to the window in the living room.

We actually managed to get in the last

two new windows this trip.

More on that saga later this week!

You may recall that we had completed

16 of the 18 but work came to a

standstill last June when the issues

started with the Mister's foot.

We even put up our first curtains,

which are a little more "printy" than

what I would used here at home,

but "cottagey" enough for this place

without being too cute!...

This was a generic Michael's wood shadow

box that I originally purchased for I-don't-know-

what and painted with Waverly Chalk paint

from the craft section of Walmart.

The color is "plaster".

The inside of the box as purchased

was lined with beige fabric.

Of course, its so hard for me to create

something without using an old photo...

The feathers were found in our yard some

time ago. As I always do with found feathers,

I placed them in a zip lock baggie with

bug spray, sealed it shut, and let them

sit in there for a while, ensuring that any

mites on the feathers would be dead.

The nest was a vacated real one found up at

The Wren's Nest when we cut down some

old bushes up there, and was also treated

the same as the feathers.

Because it was crumbly,

I sealed it with spray acrylic

and carefully glued it to a background

of wax paper to make sure that it

didn't crumble further once placed in the box.

The eggs are little paper eggs that I

think were part of a home decor set once

purchased at Target.

You can read more about the actual nest here...

A copy of some vintage sheet music,

and some paper flowers fastened with

brads,

along with some twigs,

seed pods from daylilies here at home,

and game letters...

But my favorite part is the old rusted doorbell

that I bought a long time ago and was

waiting for the perfect place to reside.

It's all about home!...

What have you been up to lately?

Thanks so much for coming by!

Progress on my first junk journal...

Good morning and happy Monday! I hope that your week is getting off to a good start.

I have had very little time for crafting as I have been working a lot in the gardens, but as I mentioned recently, I am working on a junk journal. It is with a nature-inspired theme (prompted perhaps by all the yard work I have been doing!), and I've been picking away at it bit by bit, working one page at a time. It's much more labor intensive than working on greeting cards, but I'm enjoying using "stuff" that has been kicking around a while. I have not yet worked on the cover, but rather, I am just working on trying to plan my pages in some integrated manner.

Nothing I touch makes the cut without at least

a few vintage photos,

this one incorporated with words from

some vintage sheet music...

Sorry the next photo is sideways,

but I don't have time to fix it.

The ties holding the feather are on the back of the page...

...of the layout on left below.

Some scrapbook papers and a use for

an old rubber stamp that I hadn't used

in years.

Crinkled seam binding tied up in the corner...

...which shows on the next page below.

In the glassine envelope is a vintage Bridge

tally card purchased on eBay.

Some of these have lovely graphics,

especially the nature-themed ones,

and those from the art deco period of the 20s.

On the right is vintage ledger paper

along with the egg, which was from a

piece of scrapbook paper...

Some more ledger paper on left, with a page from an old

book covered with tulle and a paper flower,

with more scrapbook paper on the right...

Pretty young sisters from their First Communion or

Confirmation photo, and I gave them some paper daisies

to hold to match those in their hair,

a page from a vintage book,

and a rubber stamped quote and words on the

envelope...

As with all collage, assembling items to work with

that will result in a cohesive theme is the hardest part,

but here are some things that I hope to work with next.

More sheet music, printouts from garden books,

vintage photos, and some lovely digital downloads

purchased on Etsy...

I am not one to keep journals myself, so the hardest part for me has been allowing room for someone else to journal and to not get overly carried away on the collaging of everything else that I love. I guess I'll see where this takes me!

I won't likely post for a bit now, as we are getting ready to open the place in the mountains and resume the work that we began last year before Bob's surgery. Until then,

Happy Creating!!

Paper and Lace Collage: "Dare to be Different"

Happy Tuesday friends!

I have been in a creative mood lately, probably as an excuse to get out of cleaning the attic...oops! So I decided to create a little piece using the Victorian photo album paper frame that was sitting out waiting to be incorporated into another project.

I used one of my favorite ballerina

images from my vintage photo collection.

I didn't use the original photo album frame

because it was too thick to sew through.

A copy worked fine!...

I also added a copy of vintage sheet music,

old lace and black velvet ribbon,

three stacked paper flowers,

held on with a brad,

and old laces.

The bottom fringed layer is not actually

lace, but rather a piece of 

an old window valance,

found where else, 

but in the attic!...

And for the "different" little ballerina,

I made her a skirt fashioned from some

ribbon that had rhinestones on it. 

It was a piece from a scrapbook store, 

and not vintage...

All layers were sewn on by machine,

and then sewn to burlap backing for some

support,

and lengths of my beloved

crinkled seam binding are tied

into a bow at the top

to serve as a hanger.

Today I am joining Wendy's

Simply Neutrals Tuesday Party

and you can visit all of our friends

HERE.

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Note: Not to sound like a used-car salesman,

but if you like this image of the ballerinas,

it is for sale as a digital download 

in my Etsy shop.

I normally don't list photos for sale unless 

I have already used them in my own art,

but how could I not share this beauty!

Canvas Collage: "Love Someone"

Good morning to all! This is another piece that I have created on a chunky canvas and listed in my Etsy shop.

I used a vintage photo, pretty papers,

old lace and sheet music,

burlap ribbon with white polka dots...

...collaged with a vintage photo from my 

own collection...

I couldn't resist using a reproduction hat pin

to help keep the little girl's hat on...

It was sealed with matte gel,

the sides were painted with black acrylic,

and then it was backed with coordinating

scrapbook paper...

As always, thank you so much for visiting.

Have a lovely day!

Canvas Collage: "Share"

Happy Wednesday! I am not sure how the weather is where you are, but it is mighty cold in these parts. Sunny, but cold. I will not complain, though, because at least there is no snow!

A while ago I decided to use up some of my vast and practically untapped stash of pretty scrapbook papers. You know how that goes. You see it them in Michael's. They are 40% off. Practically free. You already have a lot of paper, but they are too pretty to resist. You don't scrap, but you will use them to make cards. You get them home and put them into one of the paper drawers. Along with so many others that you forgot you had. 

Reality: You rarely have the time to make cards. When you do, you have trouble choosing the perfect papers because you have so many different ones. Hmmm...do you sometimes find yourself in the same dilemma? 

So...

I decided to try my hand at some 

little collages on chunky canvas.

This one is 5 inches square

and about 1-1/4 inch thick.

Some vintage lace,

bright pink rick rack,

pretty papers...

...and a nice photo,

again  from Ireland Rose Nostalgia on Etsy, 

which you can find here...

I used some coordinating paper on the back,

after painting the sides of the canvas with

acrylic paint.

These thick canvases

stand up by themselves,

so they can be placed on a shelf

mixed with other items...

I am putting this in my Etsy shop.

Still feeling my way around 

as to what people like,

which so far is not much.

Oh, well, I'm having fun going down!

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Have you tried making anything different these days?

Fabric and Paper Collage: Thankful

"Give thanks for a little

and you will find a lot."

-- A HAUSA PROVERB

With Thanksgiving just around the corner, I am giving some thought as to all that I am thankful for. 

But I am not so thankful for the sadness in France this week. 

My prayers are with the people that were so adversely impacted by the recent events in that country. 

What terrible irony there is in that "the city of love" played victim to those with such hatred in their hearts. 

Though I have never been to Paris, my great grandmother was born there, 

 so I feel a kinship to the people of that city and a love for the country that helped
 ours become what she is today.

Though I hope that the people of France are finding something to be thankful for,

it might be a little hard right now.

But it will come. 

As it did after our own terrible day some years back.

France, this one is for you...

This week I will join Wen's Simply Neutrals Tuesday.

Wendy was born in France,
so my prayers are especially with her.
You can find Wen's blog here.

More Artwork: Eternal Summer and Scattering Seeds of Joy

Hello friends! We will shortly be taking another trip to the mountains, but I did manage to sneak in a little more creative time before I have to start getting ready for the trip, and created two more pieces.

"There Shall be an Eternal Summer"

For this one I used more silky fabrics in 

shades of teal and aqua, along with some black.

I added a pretty vintage button and placed it

on top of a beige paper flower, 

along with some scalloped aqua velvet trim...

I just love this girl on the swing,

and even though I did this one in darker

colors to "match" her dress,

it put me in the mood for the nice

weather that is right around

the corner...

I was thrilled that in my stash I had some black pleated

silky ribbon that matched the hemline of her dress...

Like my other recent fabric collage pieces, 

this one is sewn to linen burlap

with quilt batting sandwiched in between.

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"Scatter Seeds of Love"

I took a different turn with this one,

using a piece of wood as a substrate.

This is a simple little piece done

with acrylics, papers,

and a little bit of lace...

I love the girl's dress with the hoop skirt,

and wanted to throw in a little bit of red...

And, of course, with spring now here,

what else could I do but...

...give her a bird!...

These two pieces are now for sale in

my Etsy shop.

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Go, spring!!

Mixed Media Canvas Collages: Spreading Joy and Cherishing Today

Happy Thursday and I hope that you're having a great day! Recently I was dabbling with some mixed media canvasses using vintage photos and acrylic paints (shared in previous posts), and I created these two sweet pieces.

"Spread Joy"

I enjoyed playing with this canvas, 

collaging a sweet photo of this pretty

little girl which I tinted with a little bit

of acrylic paint.

I added a bird, little words,

and some lovely old lace...

...after building up layers of of acrylic paints

in neutral colors for the background...

...along with some patterned papers and vintage

sheet music...

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"Cherish Today"

I used a similar process for this one,

substituting pretty fibers and a vintage mother

of pearl belt buckle for lace...

I couldn't believe that in one of my vintage children's books

I found words to a poem called "Hoop Song".

How lucky was that!

Both of these pieces are for sale in my Etsy shop.

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Have a wonderful day!