Getting some art done today! This is a deco/journal for a round robin! The theme is shapes and this shape is basically....SQUARES! So, although we can add other things, the idea is to have some squares in there too! I used fabric, stitching and laces and did some watercolor on a stamped image and even added some little beads (hard to see). Much fun!!!!

Well, it is official, our Amber has graduated high school! :) Here are a bunch of pictures, from her entering at the ceremony, Amber and some friends, Amber and my folks, Amber and Anthony, Amber at the stage where she gave a wwwwwwonderful speech with another gal that were chosen by the class to be the speakers to represent their class of '07! The night was beautiful, the kids glowing, and the parents tear filled and proud! CONGRATULATIONS Class of '07 and our dear AMBER!

LOOK at this beautiful fairy that Nina Owens sent Amber (and I)! She knows our love for fairies and with Amber's health issues and trial lately, Nina's sweet magical gift made us feel special! Isn't she amazing! Nina is a fabulous clay artist and created and painted her from her own creations! She has a special spot here in our home.....so we can remember the magic daily! Thank you Nina!!!!!!!!

This is a deco page I did for a friend, who had vintage children as her theme! How adorable are these little ones! She included the images and I had a hard time picking because they were soooooo dear each one! Anyways, I hope she enjoys the direction I went with them! :0) I had to clean up my art space today, as this week Amber Graduates and I want the house in shape for any Pop Ins! Hehehe! So the art items will have to find a hidding place for a week or so! :0)

This is my finished altered book cover using the transparency that we also altered by painting and adding color from black and white(posted earlier). This is an exchange where we art one for one in return and we altered the top of a book cover using the transparency technique and this was a lot of fun ! I will show what I receive from this swap when it comes! Thanks for looking! :)

I want to wish two friends of mine a HAPPY BIRTHDAY today, Laura and Heather! Have a fairy special birthday! And I want to wish my dear Hubby Earl a Happy 24th Anniversary! I am pretty sure he has earned his crown already.........hehehehe!!!!!!!!!

These are the fabrics rinsed and before the cycle to set in the wash machine and then the fabric all finished, dryed and ironed! PHEW! All done! That was quite the project! But the varying hues are beautiful! :0)

MORE fabric can be dyed from the left overs! This is a sample of some that we did in a bowl! AND the flower below is one of mine that opened this morning before I left! Ohhhhhhhhhh the beauty of nature.....gotta get that in .......as it is Art from the Hand of God! Hugs,Patti (Yup, I took this picture of the poppy! Amazing!)

Today, Cheryl, Laura and I dyed fabric! Even John thought it looked interesting! :0) Cheryl prewashed all the muslin following instructions from prochemical! The packets had three colors and each cup had a special mixture of the three dyes until the whole gradation was evident! It was quite the chemical experiment! Hehehe, the three of us worked well together and made a batch for each of us! After the dye was put in, an activator is also added and now we will soak the batches over night and tomorrow we will need to rinse and wash in the machine with synthrapol (included with the kit) and a softening packet too!We numbered the cups and EACH have 30 cups of a fat 1/8th (9x22"s). The colors already look great and it was a bit of a putsy process, but working with eachother was great! It made things go much faster and Cheryl was so kind to have us to her house where we were able to do mostly all of it outside! THANKS Cheryl! She also made a delish lunch and we had lots of giggles while dying! What a fun day! A few more pictures to come.......they will not fit in this post! Also, Laura and I did ours in the cups with ziplocks inserted because we had to take them home and this way we felt safer for the transport! Wow are we organized! Fabric Dyeing day ....my fingers are a bit colorful! Ha!

I have joined a swap, where we will alter a book cover, using the main piece of a painted transparency! So, the idea is....you make the transparency from a black and white photo...and then you apply matte medium on the back, a couple of coats drying inbetween! Then you paint, OR as I did here, CHALK the back. Highlight and use your imagination and turn the transparency into a new colorful piece. Then I will take this created piece and incorporate it into a book cover that is no bigger than 5x7. The images I show you are the normal transparency, then the medium painted on back, then what the back looks like with the paints and chalks and then the front of it next to a plain transparency to see the diference and the fun! Ithink this was great! I will show you the finished collage when I get there! This was done in steps with drying in between! You can also matte medium the FRONT of it and do more, but I stopped with the back! Hugs,Patti

Here is the page I did for my deco! The first page has the artist and the back of the page just has a quote I like, it goes... "Use the talent you possess, the woods would be very silent, if no birds sang except those that sang best." This is my octagon shaped deco and they can art on the octagon shape and also use that shape in their artwork if they want! Should be a fun round robin as each participant has a different shape! More to come! :0)

These are the covers to my new deco that is being prepared for the ShapeShifters round robin! My shape is an OCTAGON and the pages will be made this shape too! Sounds fun right! I will upload the other shapes as the decos arrive here and I am able to work on them! The deco did not have to BE in the shape that is being used, but the art will show the shape somewhere. Sounds fun right! These are done with fabric over felt, with fibers and netting stitching down the back, some needle felting and embellishing! Hugs,Patti

I got the most beautiful FAIRY for Mother's Day from Earl and Amber! She is meant for outdoors, but I might have to keep her in the house with me! I also got two of my favorite candles! Wheeeeee!

We also planted that neat juniper topiary type three sculpted piece today! I LOVE it, along with some ornamental kale.........wow so pretty like purple and green frilly cabbage and some Lamb's Ear which has these beautiful soft petals like a lamb's ear! They are deer and rabbit repellant which is good, because we have them around here! :0) Anyways, the yard is coming together after the new driveway last year! I love the pretty plants and know in a couple of years they will look great! There are some pretty yellow finches visiting my bird bath too! Oh lovely! Happy Mother's Day all! Amber is still having a very rough go of things! See the post below for more info....her spinal injection will be Wednesday and prayers are most appreciated for a good recovery! Thank you!
Hugs,Patti

Here we are! Amber turned 18 yesterday and we saw a specialsit about her three herniated discs that are causing stenosis (pinching of the nerve bundle) that you can see in the shot on the MRI film that I took a digital picture of! See the bottom three darker discs.......the light colored tube that the nerve bundle runs through behind and the bulging discs that push the nerve bundle there pinched back! She will be going for ESI (epidural spinal injection) on Wednesday morning....prayers for her would be appreciated! She has a long road of recovery that has been mentioned may take 2-6 months, physical therapy, meds and injection that will hopefully promote her recovery from this pain and horrible circumstance that she has!
We tried to celebrate the best we could and here she is with Anthony and friends, Maggie and Adam! :0) It was resees pieces cake from Dairy Queen! Pretty yummy.

Amber and Anthony are off to Prom. Amber is having lots of pain from her sciatica and I am not sure how she will make it through the night, but she did not want to miss out...so off they went in their gorgeous blue tones for the night! The key chain is their ticket in...she is smiling, but hurting! Anthony will watch over her at least ---isn't he handsome in his suit and Amber in her dress! Hopefully they will have a great time! Prom '07!

This is a deco for a friend of mine.....oh she had a great idea where she sent this image of a couple named Jay and Stella along, and in the deco the artists are just sending them places... very fun! I took Jay and Stella to the woods to bird watch and then to The Land of Tulips! What a fun deco using this vintage couples image. On the side with the bird watching, I have Jay and Stella sitting in a tree.....BIRD WATCHING....hehehe and on the tulip side, Stella says...if you are to live until 100, I wish to live to 100 minus a day, so I would never be a day without you. Velvet tulip petals are behind Stella! This was fun art for the day! Have a wonderful Saturday!

These are my bird and flower themed 4x4s for a swap! the different lightening shows them off differently for sure! The bird is a transparency on the Once upon a Time side and then the others are images I ran copies of! I created the birds and added PEOPLE eyes! I think they look silly! :0)