Commited to

I have made a commitment to myself to finish 2 ufo's before the end of November. Both that I chose are from Kristin Steiner's classes. Kristi is a fantastic mixed media teacher who will be teaching a class called my true nature at Random Arts in Saluda NC
on Saturday October 22. You can find Kristi's work on her website http://www.kristinsteiner.com/
The pictures below are a sneak peak inside of the book nested inspirations. These are just a few of the pages that are under construction. I will post the finished book later.The book is already too chunky for the box that I chose to put it in.

My very special birthday......

I recently celebrated a birthday and it was a very special one. Everything about it was perfect. The day before in the mail I received two packages. One was from Jane and the other one was from Cathy. I wanted to keep them until the next day to open but I could not wait ( I just do not wait well) so I opened them up and inside what a treat. The first was from Jane and it was a beautiful collage (shown below)and a very nice scarf which I am sure you will see a little later on and a little bird note pad. I love them. All of it is so me..... It was a great day to be me. The next package was from Cathy and it was the cutest little tag that she made for me and it was just perfect. She also knows what makes me happy Again it was a great day to be me.

On the day of my birthday it started with a very special wish early that morning and I mean early Ronnie. Love you mean it honey. The money for the trip to More Lace was absolutely perfect and the dinner at Johnny Carino's was fabulous. A call from number one son topped it off.

Then there was still the party at work

This beautiful collage sent to me by my BFF Baby Jane. Such a special gift

This awesome tag from my dear friend Cathy. Isn't it adorable.

The best birthday ever...

At work the day of my birthday the office gave me a party and two very special guests showed up to have lunch with us. Jason and Tania thanks for the great surprise. Jimmie, Shelia and Roberta thank you so much for the gift certificate for Center Street. It will be thoroughly enjoyed. Cindy you know I will enjoy the gift card from Hobby Lobby. Carol you know the face cream you gave me is my favorite. Edna the planner will sit on my desk to keep up with the many things I have to keep up with in my very busy life. Bonnie thanks to you for the bag of goodies that you always come through with. Jason and Tania thanks for the great handmade needle case made by Tania.

Thanks to all of you for the best birthday ever.

needle case made by Tania

rusty crusty yummy things.........

Anybody who knows me can tell you that I will rust or patina anything that sits still. I especially love to rust and patina cardboard to use in my art. Everything that I create has rust and cardboard in it somewhere.. I was making a few pieces for my Believe project (more about that later) and I decided to go ahead a do a few extra pieces. It has such a vintage feel to it.

This was a plain white paper doily that I rusted twice. It folds up to make an envelope, The piece of corrugated on top is done with blue patina.

I am addicted to the these little cardboard birdcages cut from rusted or patina corrugated. Birds and birdcages, nests and wings are all sparks that ignite my creativity. Almost everything that I create has a bird or something that relates to a bird in it. It just simply makes me happy.

My studio

As my first blog post I would like to share my studio pictures. It is not always this neat in fact most of the time it is a complete mess and I love it that way.