The Joy of Nesting

Surely I'm Not Addicted , Am I??

2011-08-03T21:39:00.000-06:00

Well technically I couldn't be addicted to TV, since we are a no TV family. When it came time to pack our little 5'/8' trailer that we moved our life down here with we didn't have room to stuff a TV.

So we agree we'd buy one when we got here. When we first got here it seemed like there were some things we wanted or needed more then a TV. You know like a bed, a sofa, table, chairs... So we just sorta kept putting it off. That was 4years and 11months ago, and we still haven't bought one. Just don't seem to have time to watch the darn thing, nor much of a desire. I know it's kinda amazing, people are always shocked when they ask us if we saw such and such and we reply with "sorry we don't have a TV". If we want to watch a movie we use our lap tops. It's not a 52" screen but that whole concept is some how scary to me. I mean how sexy is anyone when their head is 50inches???

Okay moving along, to confronting my demon. For years I have listen to people talk, read in news and magazine articles and even read on blogs how the reality show Project Runway is soooooo addicting.

How it just sucks you in and before you know it shazam... So last month while I was whiling away those middle of the night hours as "nurse Nancy" I stumbled on to some old episodes of Project Runway. Ah ha here's my chance to see what every one's keeps going on about. So I watched one and then another one and another and another and before I knew it I had watched a whole season. How can that be?? But that's not the worse of it. Did you know that if you google "watch project runway free" all kinds of episodes show up on "you tube"?? Oh my God there went another whole season!! And you know what?? It really does suck you in.

Oh I can do with a whole lot less of the dramatics (but that's what advertisers say sells) and a whole lot more of the designers creations. But the nice thing about my computer and "you tube" is I can fast forward through the adolescent acting dribble and hit the stop and backup button when I want to see how something was made.

I heard through the Bloglandia pipeline that the new season started last week. So off to "you tube" I went. Well you know, just to see what that first challenge was all about. I figure I should be able to control this slight ~~addic~~ ~~obses~~ affliction thing because I'm not able to watch the current week's episode for a couple of day after it airs. Got to wait for someone to hurry up and post their recording.

I however have managed to make use of all that college education I have, cuz I can both rationalize and justify watching the show as long as I'm creating my own wearable art while I watch!! :)

So want to see one of the pieces I made??

I started out with this vintage fru fru watch case that were so popular 15+ years ago. Took the guts out. Filled the space with a bit of sand, a couple of teeny tiny shells and a little white freshwater pearl. Set it with a bit of resin, and put the case back together.

Then I strung two different size strands of "shell pearls" in the same greens,golds and bronzes as the flowers on the watch case. At the top (back) of the necklace are 4 (on each side) square mother of pearl beads. The MOP is in the same colors as the pearls. cool huh??

Added a little brass colored milagro and tied a wee bit of vintage silk ribbon on and I'm liking the results.

Okay Bloglandians until next time..."make it work".... woooo could that be a sign of borderline addi....?? Ahhhh how about Have a most audacious and art filled day no matter where in the world
you are. p;)

"There's No Place Like Home" !!!!

2011-07-29T21:23:00.000-06:00

Jeepers have you been wondering where or why I have been missing from Bloglandia, or if I was ever coming back?? Yeah, so was I! When last I posted we were headed up to the Northlands for Peder's wedding. Which by the way was great, and a wonderful chance for the whole family to celebrate together. You might ask what else have I been up to, that kept me so busy and neglectful? Well, partly it was doing a bit of nursing care for friends recuperating from surgeries, which meant not sleeping in my own bed except one time in a month and staying awake during the night. Oh man I'm just not as young and resilient as I use to be. I mean two weeks stretches of no sleep but cat naps at a time really take their toll on this middle aged gal, and my physical health took a bit of a beating!

Then when I finally got home and LW and I had a chance to become reacquainted ;) I realized the shelves were bare so to speak at the store. :( Luckily my creative dry spell has diminished and I've been able to build up Little Bird's inventory for Helena and her store...Phhhuuu. Ha, I even remembered to take pictures so I can share them with you guys. Besides feeling pulled in too many directions I was still working through the "to publish" or not issue and if I was still willing to devote the time needed to keeping up this blog. I'm glad to report that for now I have made a few decisions. Although blogging takes up tons of hours each week and cause unnameable frustrations, I find I'm just not ready to chuck it all away yet. I really miss not visiting with you guys and keeping up with all your creative happenings. It didn't take much aloneness to cause a good case of the lonelies!!! So back I am to take up residence in my little corner of Bloglandia, and as soon as I get this posted I'm goin-a-callin!! I can't wait to see what you guys have been up to!

I have however decided to take a sabbatical from submitting artwork for publishing and entering challenges. Mainly because of the restriction they impose on me being me, and the time it takes away from things that truly bring me joy. By the time we arrived in the Northlands, I had decided that I wasn't going to submit any of the work I was taking up with me. Instead I had much more fun giving it away to family and friends who really loved my work. You can't believe how absolutely freeing that was. No worries about whether it was good enough, creative enough, or what someone else thought about publishing it. Ha what a weight to be rid of. Funny though it was just after that when my creative drought was no longer there. :)

So I decided I can only be true to myself, to make what I think is a creative expression of me. If it isn't what someone else is looking for so be it. As long as I have done my best work in creating a piece and I am pleased and proud of it that's all I need. I have to tell you it's a good thing I had worked my way through this artistic insecurity cuz waiting for me at my son's was an every Artisan's nightmare.

Remember back last year when I posted this tote that I had made??

Well after a bit of encouragement I added the finishing touches and submitted it to a national art to wear magazine. It arrived there a few months ahead of the deadline for submissions so I kinda forgot about it. But waiting for me in Idaho was a parcel from the publishers with my bag and a "Dear ~~John~~ Artist" letter. :( Oh man that has to be the true kick in the gut for anyone.

But okay these things happen an not everyone's taste and aesthetics are the same. Oh but the the hours of work and creative energy. But that wasn't the worse of it. The letter didn't say what they didn't like or even what they were looking for, only that the submission committee didn't think it fit with their vision. The only thing is the bag had been rejected and returned (postmarked) even before the deadline for submissions and art work was to be chosen for the next publication!!!

Wow how bad did they think it was??? Yeah my chin was dragging in the dirt. SO the next day or so I thought heck I might as well put it to use and proudly carry it as my purse. Within a few hours of doing a bit of "shopping therapy" this very chic woman came up to me and asked me where I had bought my bag. Oh I didn't buy it I made it. Oh my gosh she wanted to buy it from me right then and there. Not only that but would I make more because she wanted to sell them in her boutiques in Carmel, Venice Beach&Sun Valley??!!! Woooo what happen to the "We are sorry but..." letter sitting in the garbage at home?? Well she and I visited and she did her best to persuade me, but in the end I declined her offer. With the difficult/near impossible mailing issue and the amount she wanted made I just knew I'd come to hate doing it. Especially when I had to sacrifice some of my greatest pleasures in order to have the time needed to work. Nope it's just not for me. But I couldn't thank her enough and told her about the rejection notice (to which she found rather entertaining) the poor little bag had gotten. We said our goodbyes with me promising to let her know when I was ready to sell them. And as you can imagine when I got back to Anders' I happily danced a little jig with that letter...

...all the way to the shredder. :)

Yikes so in making up for a long over due posting it seems I have written a loooong wandering epistle. So perhaps I'll bring an end to my ramble with a couple of pictures of one of the new pieces I made. More to follow as we get back in the swing of things.

I had this awesome agate drusy that just screamed to be shown off.

So I strung it with sterling links from a vintage I.D. bracelet. Added some light blue/gray colored blue lace agate nuggets and some rich brown polished agates.

This is what it looks like completed. Heck I like it so well I think I'll keep it in my stable and test drive it awhile longer. ;)

On that note I'll bring this to an end, pickup my cursor finger while humming "I love to go a-wandering" and do a bit of well overdue blog visiting!! Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

PS. I have more news on the "gettin noticed" front. Tell ya about it next time.

Projects - Finishing In The Nick Of Time!!

2011-05-23T22:38:00.000-06:00

Last Minute Millie here. Yep we leave for the Northlands a week from today and as usual here I sit with unfinished projects piled all around me! But I am whittling them down, really I am. :) I always have such grand expectations and goals, but then real life always seems to get in the way. Well that and the fact that I am the world's best "put-er off-er" I did finish a couple of "art to wear" pieces that are for "me" At least that's the way they will start out. Although when I'm asked where I bought it, and reply with "I made it", the next thing I know it's being bought right off my body. Go figure??

I bought this amethyst druzy along with 3 others from my bead guy. They were sooooo beautiful&inexpensive I couldn't pass them up. Probably because they are on the large strange shape size and had no holes or any hardware to use them as jewelry. I made a simple wire setting and bail with 20gage sterling silver wire. Then added a couple of strings of the prettiest blue aquamarine nuggets.

I can truthfully say that I do not own one piece of purple much less lavender clothing, shoes or accessories! Like pink I don't like the color nor do I wear it. Yes I know I'm being a bit unfair about this, but I'm sure you couldn't blame me to much. Consider the facts of being a rather thin,small boned,blond,blue eyed,woman who's name ends in an ie. Bring anyone to mind, hmmmm???

I can only imagine how seriously I would be taken if I was wearing pink or lavender!

At least purple is dark enough to not fall into the "girly girl", fru-fru color wheel. Oh but this druzy is sooooo beauteous I just had to make something with it. But what color to put it with?? Yellow ~~pink~~ white, clear?? Ahh... how about aquamarine. That's blue isn't it??? I love blue it's my favorite colors!!! The only problem I saw with that idea was, not to create a necklace that looked like there was an explosion in the Easter Bunny's egg basket!! I tried to keep it a bit on the edgy side, with the rough shapes of the crystals the darker faceted colored amethysts and a bit of vintage brass chain.

Instead of making a decorative clasp I opted to use a piece vintage silk sari ribbon as ties. But never fear. I know how iffy silk is about wanting to come untied, especially where any weight is involved. So I have a little lobster claw disguised under the bow. :)

While we are in a blue frame of mind, I think I'll share my new little vestita with ya. I used a vintage sheer curtain for the body. It's nice and light weight, so it will be comfortable to wear through all but the worst of the summer.

For the blue "ruffle" and edging I used some scrapes of this blue dotted swiss&lace cotton fabric. It was left over from a dress I had made a number of years ago. In fact the dress is hanging on the wall in my girly girl room, remember??

I tea dyed a set of battenburg lace valances. Then patiently cut the lace from the cotton valances. Then hand stitched the lace to the vestita edges. There is a large lace flower that bridges the two sides with a snap as a closure. BUT what is a vestita without a bit of vintage bling, I ask ya??? Why, certainly not one of mine. :) So there are 4 vintage rhinestone&celuloid buttons down the front. And a nice fat vintage rhinestone earring down on the flower bridge!

And just in case the collar was feeling a bit left out there are two old pearl and rhinestone earrings on each side of it. :)

For me it's as important to play with details on the back of a piece as much as I do on the front. I mean at least 50% of the time people see you from the back instead of the front. Well we are 3 dimensional (most of us any way). So instead of gathering the ruffle I placed pleats in the middle of the back. Then topped them off with another large lace flower. At the center back of the neck and collar there is another huge flowing lace flower and off of it is hanging an antique dress clip. And boy oh boy has it ever had a long and hard life. The stones are yellowed and there is even one slightly dead one. Yeah just ~~like me~~...er the way I like it, the old gal has "character marks" like no other!!!

Back in a couple of day with a few more finished projects. See there is a valid reason why I haven't been around Bloglandia much lately!! Until then: Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

A Life Filled With Dichotomy & A Fat Hand

2011-05-14T20:23:00.002-06:00

Sometimes life conspires against you. Case in point: I am still here in Bloglandia although you wouldn't know it by the frequency of my posting of late. Why may that be?? Weeeeell first our internet has decided to play that ever frustrating game of hide and seek. We are never sure why our service does this. But it will spend days coming and going, sometimes with short comings and hours long goings. Eventually straiting out and flying right. Who knows?? Not us, however whenever we see a "Tel-Mex" technician monkeying in the the main box at the corner you can almost bet something not so good will happen to either the land line or internet! "Be afraid, be very afraid" is the phase that comes to mind!! :( Add to that the fact that my left hand and wrist has decided to take a "heath leave"!! I seem to have developed a dandy case of cellulitis in the offending hand. Resulting in much rest, antibiotics, and ice. None of which is conducive to finishing all the projects for our trip to the Northalnds, much less typing on the laptop. The good news is the swelling and pain is beginning to subside, and the antibiotic therapy is nearing the end dose. The antibiotic is one that causes me to be quite nauseated...yuck! Okay, okay enough of the fat hand talk!!

On to dichotomy. I do truly love our life here and enjoy living in a foreign culture and environment then the I was raised in. I am truly amazed at the incredible beauty the tropical environment creates in plant life. However that doesn't mean I don't miss many of the plants I took for granted up north. Like the flowers grown in a cottage garden. You know delphiniums,foxgloves, well all those flowers that depend on a cold winter to rest and recharge. During the the 7 months of our dry season the nurseries will tempt us with a number of them. Marigold,begonias,impatiens, and the like. So when I saw potted hydrangeas at the temporary nursery outside Soriana (a grocery store) I could not help myself!!! Wow and blue flowers to boot!!!

How perfect is that for my girlygirl room, I ask you???? I'm sure you can't blame me for bringing one home, even though the chance of survival is slim to none.

Maybe I might be able to keep it cut back during the rainy season when northern plants perish from a tropical environment. And Maybe just maybe I can get the flower heads I already have to dry before they succumb to mold and mildew?? It's a long shot, but one I'm willing to try :)

As you guys know we have chosen to live in an all Mexican neighborhood. We did this because we really wanted to learn and live a different way of life, a different culture then the US. We never wish to turn this incredible country into a "little USA" like many fellow ex-pats are want to do. There are so many rewards for our choice. The greatest being that most of life transpires right out our front door. At this very moment I can hear a neighbor's radio playing beautiful old Mexican songs. The chickens, one of the neighbors down the street raises has a rooster with a mixed up time-clock and is crowing to beat the band. Or maybe it's because one of his harem has made an escape and is in the front weed patch of the empty house across the street sampling all the insect delicacies it has to offer?? At this time of day the bread guy comes down the street with his bike cart calling out "Pan" (bread) selling bread and pastries. Or how about the foot races the school at the end of the street sponsored yesterday.

What to do when you don't have the luxury of large tracks at the neighborhood schools?? Well all you do is block off the street with vans, mark off your routes and post people to redirect traffic.

Those parents and grand parents that can come, walk down the street to cheer their favorite contestants on.

They range from junior high girls in their pink!!

To the real stars of the show :)

The kindergarteners!

I think I will take a hint from this little guy and take myself a highly needed rest break! This typing is murder on fat hands even if you only type two fingered!!

As I heal and finish projects I'll get them posted. But for right now I'm trying to be a really good girl and not put any stress on my fingers,hand and wrist. Maybe tomorrow it will be better...?, well one can hope any way.

Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

PS. How rude of me to not give credit to LW who had the foresight to capture these photos. Thank you LW!! Yoar are the Bestest!!

A Girly Girl Dream Comes True :)

2011-04-30T22:33:00.000-06:00

A very long time ago in a far away land there was a little ORANGE room in our house. It was right next to our bedroom and is actually the size of a modest size modern day walk in closet. :) I had a dream of creating a happy sunny girly girl room just for me. A little spot to sit and rock, or read and to put my makeup on in the mornings.

Remember what the room looked like when we started??? Let me refresh your memories.

Oh yeah it was ORANGE alright and it had been painted on the insistence of the old owners with the full strength wall paint we have here. The paint is meant to be thinned!! If you don't it will get moisture behind it and begin to lift off the wall. Not unlike vinyl wall paper. It literally took us days (weeks) to get it all off.

Then came the rains. The roof developed a couple of leaks and our attention and house budget was focused there. But finally at long last my little girly girl nest was painted and fluffed. I can't even begin to tell you how much I LOVE this little room!!!! :)

I have always wanted to have a blue and white room. I have collected books, magazines, and pictures for years. But when you have big dark dogs and little boys (that grow up to be big boys) some how white doesn't work. And I don't care what they say about it being soooo easy to throw in the washer to clean!!!!! One things I worried with a white and blue room was that it would look harsh,boring, and clinical. I'm sooooo thankful for my lit'l sister Renate's advice!! She suggested that I might think about adding some warm colors to the paint. She reminded me that the reason white works so well in Scandinavia is because they don't have the same exposure to the light and sun as I do. Taking her advice to heart I used a soft sandy beach color for the walls and a light warm blue for the ceiling.

Although I wanted feminine lace I didn't want flouncy,fro-fro polyester lace. So I used hand embroidery linens,cottons with battenburg laces, and hand made cotton laces. I really wanted to celebrate the incredible beauty you can create with simple needles and threads. I also gave myself the challenge not to buy any new furniture or furnishings. The few new pieces I used where the uglies that friends were sending to donation heaven.

Would you like a tour??!

Since I'm not very much of a black or blue and white kind of personality I had to throw in a few splashes of other colors.

Underneath the table fabric is a plastic tub will my back issues of the old Victoria magazine! :)

This little room does have to function as a guest room if need be, so I turned the twin bed into a day bed. Then covered it will a battenburg lace duvet set that Lee gave me.

A few years ago Fifi O'Neil (yeah of "Romantic Prairie Style&Romantic Country mag) had a huge online yard sale. I HAD to HAVE the antique wall scones and plaque. I had no real idea how big they were so I had then sent to my friend and mule Jackie D to bring down. And as you can tell they are huge!! They are wood and cast iron. The SPQR plague looks like carved wood however it's a theater prop. It's really a type of carvable foam! But until you pick it up you can tell the difference! Cool huh? Still has the prop company's tag on the back.

I draped a long piece of jute I washed and sewed beaded trim on the edges over the sconces. I like to think that simple homespun can be as beautiful as luxurious velvet. My mom who was raised in logging camps during the Depression taught me that beauty and money don't have to go hand in hand.

This was a set of shelves I think companies like the Franklin Mint sell to display their teacup collections in. It was cheap brown wood with spindles on the front of the shelves. Look sorta like a cage or stair banister. I took them off painted some nice thick layers of white them crackle then finished with light blue. It holds some of my favorite things of past, present and room for future.

The ivy heart wreath at the door.

Until I find the perfect dressing table this will do just fine. I covered it with an almost antique linen&cutwork embroidered table cloth my grandmother made.

Tiny little hand stitched and embroidered baby slips, one of the most precious expressions of a mother's simple love and devotion to her child. What baby isn't an angel?? They just check their wings with Saint Peter before they climb on the delivery stork.

And so here we are where we started

Every morning when I open the door to my girly girl nest I can't help but sigh, smile and pinch myself. Then quietly thank LW for helping me bring another dream to life!

Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;

Amazing Bloglandian Art Sisters!!

2011-04-17T22:50:00.001-06:00

One day while trying to understand through exploring the magical world of Bloglandia I stumbled into a group of jewelry/wearable art artists. Most are girls but there are a few boys in the mix. Now mind you this isn't a real group in the physical world way. It's more like the supportive/protective "our gang" only in that virtual dimension. Most of us will never meet, or if we do it will only be one or two "our gang" kids. But that doesn't stop us from celebrating the accomplishments of one of us. We are more then happy and quite comfortable to let each of us be who we are. To like, listen to, read, create art, and do what ever allows us to be individuals.

We are always there to lend our encouragement and confidence when one of us is in the middle of a life changing experience.

Heck in our eyes we are all raving loon..er.. beauty queens!

Or kings

One of the most amazing and humbling characteristics of this/my Bloglandian family is their unconditional generosity!! A few weeks ago Deryn and her family came down for their annual spring break fling. When ever Deryn come down or knows that I'm headed to the northlands she always has wonderful stash treats for me. She knows there are art and fabric supplies that I just can't get here and she always has her suitcase stuff full of them! This trip was no different. There was beads,baubles,ribbon,fabric scraps, remnants, resin and....

Okay I have a small confession to make. Like a dork I had a wee bit of an obsessive mood strike and like a good O/C personality put everything in their rightful places before taking any pictures. I know dumb, really dumb. So you will just have to take my word on some of my goody stashes.

BUT along with all these awesome treats, what did I find??? I'm now the very proud owner of an original creation by the incredible jewelry artist Deryn. Huge Sigh... Oh yeah, I know how long you have been wishing for a Something Sublime original, cuz it was always at the head of my "lust list"!! And now I have one, and not just any old one, but this amazing looooong or short necklace, with tropical colored sari silk to boot. Want-ta-see???

Look see one of Deryn's little bird nests with 3 blue "eggs" :) The wings are pewter casts that Lynn Davis makes!

And see one of Deryn's resin charms and her impeccable wire wrapping. Did you know that it was her precise and beautiful wire wrapping, and her gentle mentorship (yep I invented that word!) that created in me a deep love and respect for the art of wire wrapped and handcrafted jewelry.

The pewter clasp is also a Lynn Davis cast piece. And to tie her whole piece together Deryn used this truly sunny strip of vintage sari silk!! Oh yeaaaaah I know how lucky I am!!!!! :)

As if this isn't already Christmas in March, Deryn also brought me a loving parcel of treats from mi Hermanita, Renate all the way from Germany!! Oh and the treasures in that little parcel were also enough to take my breath away! uhhhh same thing about pictures and O/C personality apply, sorry. :( Renate knows my weaknesses well, garnets of any size,shape and color being one of them. And look the heishi string has a ss lobster claw already on it. Just begging for a focal don't cha think??

Renate also knows I have a HUGE passion for vintage lace especially hand made cotton lace. Just look what she gifted me!! How can you not have the up most respect for the artists that were able to create these incredibly beautiful laces from a mere piece of cotton string???

BUT that's not all because underneath everything, folded and tied with a ribbon was this pristine white cotton, embroidered, lace European pillow scam!!!! How cool is that?? Unlike the rectangular pillows and shams that we are use to in the States, many of the European ( German&Scandinavian) countries use big square pillows and shams. Oh my but I fell instantly in love the moment I untied it!!!!!

But finding a big square pillow here is a more then an impossible task, and it won't be something I can stuff in LW's suitcase when we go to the Northlands next month. I also could not bring myself to putting it away and not being able to enjoy this wonderful gift from Renate. Soooooo my solution is to use it as a small table dressing.

Look even the buttons on the back are amazing!!!

You know I can honestly say that not a day goes by that I don't count my blessings, and the gift of being part of this incredible Bloglandian "Our Gang" it's one of my most priceless gifts!!!!

Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

PS. Do you guys remember the horrifying pictures of the little orange room?? Remember the one that was going to be my "girly girl" room?? Well it's finally done!! All that is left if a shelf that LW needs to hang. Sooooo I will have pictures to post in a day or so!!!! You won't believeeeeee. how different it looks! ;)

Two New Pieces & The Sniffles

2011-04-08T22:11:00.000-06:00

Somewhere along the line I must let my guard down and a cold snuck up and got me. :( I'd love to give it away if there is anyone out there that would like it. Yeah well... I'm thinking I could be waiting a long time for a taker on that offer!!

I did make 2 new pieces for the April art walk. Things have been selling pretty slow during the winter months. Helena did tell me that over the years she has noticed that during the winter the jewelry sales really slow down. But as soon as it's starts to warm up the sales pick up. I was a bit sceptical but low and behold already this month I've sold more then I did all of last month!! And it's only the 8th. So I guess that means I better be planning on spending the next week increasing the inventory. With the last 2&1/2 months of the dry season to go, and the increase in the population of mouths (birds) to feed and water we are going to be buying more food and ordering more water delivered.

I've noticed in a lot of the Spring catalogs & adds like Anthropologie,

Sundance, and even Tiffany's, necklaces of simple sterling chains with a few stones strung on them. So I thought I'd try a couple of ideas out. I was also thinking that I could make some pieces that were less complicated (translate-fewer components) and labor intensive. By doing that I could charge less money and maybe fill that little nitch along with my earrings. Kinda like the way we buy a new color lipstick because we can't afford to by a whole new outfit. Most people have $200mx, $20us in their pocket when they are out shopping. So maybe they don't have enough for that necklace they just fell in love with but they could justify those really cute earrings, or simple bracelet.

So with that in mind. I made this little sterling silver necklace.

I started out with a vintage 16inch sterling chain. Wire wrapped 20gage sterling wire to add a nice chunk of garnet and amethyst and a center stone of Chiapas amber.

Course even if I'm scaling down and simplifying I still can't just leave the clasp alone and unadorned, now can I?? So I added a little heart milagro, a couple of tiny amethyst and garnet beads and a little tie of silk just so you know I make it.

Simple, clean and must have filled a nitch cuz it disappeared the first weekend after the walk. :)

The other piece I made was a little bracelet out of vintage scrap. I wire wrapped with copper a couple of square moss agates and round unakite beads. I had a pair of vintage brass earrings with some great natural patina on them.

For the centerpiece I used and vintage lady's watch case. In place of the watch works glued a piece of dark green cotton lace. Then placed 3 tiny stones of garnet and aquamarine to roll around lose in the case. Out of an old dictionary I used the words NO Time Reversal. Since the watch pins were no longer with the watch I had to make a couple out of 20gage copper, in order to wire the earrings and stones to the case.

To give it a bit more finished look I tied a couple of strips of sari silk, on each side of the watch face.

I guess this little bracelet found a nitch also cuz it was gone by the first of the week. :) Funny thing is I made this because I wanted to. You know how sometimes you just get an idea (doesn't have to be earth shattering) in your mind and you aren't happy till you make it?? Well that was what this was. I found the earrings while I was sorting & adding to my stash (more about that with my next post). I even told LW that I would be surprised if it ever sold. Seems that when I tend to stray into a bit of imaginative, funky or a bit off center creating, the pieces sit for a very long time before someone "gets it" and falls in love. But this one went right away, sooooo maybe there's hope yet???

Have a most audacious and art filled day, no matter where in the world you are. p;)

Missing In Action, Blame it on The Genes

2011-04-02T22:40:00.000-06:00

You know those tiny pieces of matter that when stuck together in a certain way created me and of course you. Well I have decided that when the "care giver" gene was being handed out I must have not been paying attention or forgotten (as if those aren't traits of mine!) and got in line twice! I have also discovered that you can retire from your career but you don't seem to retire from who you are. I also decided that I must have tattooed on my forehead "Just ask I can't say no" :) But one thing I have always known is first last and always I'm a very blessed girl, and an even more thankful girl that, no matter what I end up stumbling into LW is always there to quietly&faithfully hold my hand, support & encourage me, and most importantly love me no matter what!!

So what is it this time, you ask??? It's nothing very special I'm just able to help make the miserable, frightening job of being ill in a foreign place a bit more comfortable for a wonderful loving couple of people. It's just my way of being able to pay it forward. And after all isn't that what being human is about?? Any way maybe now you can understand why my blog has taken a back seat to the demands of living.

For my own sanity I have been able to squeeze in a bit of creative time. Here is a house blessing charm I made for friends who were here to visit. They have graciously played "mule" many times for us, so I made this as a small thank you. House blessings are generally made here to hang from a door nob or hook, so I made a "bracelet" from some 20gage steel wire. Then wrapped it with torn strips of muslin.

From the "bracelet" I hung 3 separate ribbons of vintage sari silk that I attached the wire wrapped charms to.

Between the ribbons and the stones I wire wrapped the the strings together and attached the milagros that I felt were important for a happy home.

I used the stones to represent those things that we all need in order to live air,water,earth(sustenance)

At the ends I attached a piece of sea glass. We can all use the blessing of quiet patience and acceptance that all things in life must change. A rusty frozen Charlotte/Charlie for the blessings of love and acceptance of friends, family and ourselves. An old religious metal for the blessings of the peace, contentment, and understanding that our spirits need to soar.

I think it pretty much covers all the things needed for our body and spirits to live a very blessed life.

I'm off for a bit of shut-eye, got to catch it when I can for a few more days. :)

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

Ol' Chuck Is Turning Over In His Grave!!

2011-03-25T23:06:00.001-06:00

That would be "All Star" Chuck Taylor, you know the guy who's name is synonymous with Converse High Top Tennis Shoes. Oh yeah I have had a secret love affair with those hi-top bad boys since I was a kid.

Now mind you back then there were not a bazillion choices of super hi tech "athletic shoes" Oh no there was just tennis shoes. The guys wore converse hi-tops and us girls wore "keds". Yeaaah keds, those cute little white canvas tennies, so feminine and lady like... But definitely not cool!

So it was back in those early teen (everything embarrasses me) days when it was important to fit in that I became a closet hi-top chick. :) Course there was those glorious teen rebellious years when Mary Shaddle and I wore our enormously wide "bell bottom" jeans. You know (...well some of you know) when we split the outside seam to the knee and pieced in some truly obnoxious print fabric to widen our jeans.

But with those "it can never be tooooo wide jeans we wore our, here to fore "worn only at home" converse hi-tops! Oh what heady rebellious freedom we lived those days! :) But all to soon came the responsible days of college, nursing school, working nurse, wife, mother and the responsible shoes that went along with those roles.

Ha but by the time I had little acorns to dress, Converse made little people hi-tops. And my 3 kids loved them. Could be cuz when they were taken to the store to buy their "fall-winter" shoes they were always steered over to the hi-tops and told they could have any color they wanted. ;) Then came the glorious couple of years when my "the acorn doesn't fall far from the tree" daughter decided she was going to wear 2 different colors of hi-tops at the same time. Oh be still my heart!! Can you imagine?? one of the other girls mom's asked me how I managed not to die of embarrassment when my daughter went to school dressed that way??? "Heck I only wish those colors came in Mom size!!" I replied. "That poor child, what an odd duck her mother is. No wonder she's the way she is" Like I said, "the acorn doesn't..."

Fast forward to 2011 Mazatlan, Mexico, I while drifting along in a cyber-stupor stumbled onto the Converse website. Oh my what fun I must have been there hours first gawking and then creating. Did you know that you can now customize your hi-tops?? It's true!! And not only that you can design them from the color of the shoe laces to the inner lining! Weeell when I found the Dr. Seuss fabrics I was sucked in hook line and sinker. I would love to show you the adorable hi-tops I created but alas the site won't let you copy and paste but I can give you a link to the Dr. Seuss fabric ones, and you can create your own. http://www.converse.com/#/products/shoes/converseone/builder/chuTayHiCanDrSeu1103,,,,

I'm telling you those bad boys are going to be waiting for me when we get to the northlands in June! But, but... I'm an instant-gratification kinda girl. I want adorable hi-tops NOW!!! What is a girl to do, I ask you??? Well the answer is to go to the "sport shoe" store and buy a pair of Converse hi-tops. So off LW&I went, and I bought a pair of navy blue Chuck Taylor hi-tops. The perfect definition of Boring! But home we came and out came the fabric,the Super Seventy Seven adhesive spray,hole punch,glue,pins,tissue paper&pencil. And when the dust settled a few hours later these appeared out of the mist.

I traced patterns from the sides of the shoes onto tissue paper. Cut out the pieces of fabric, then sprayed the fabric pieces with spray adhesive. I didn't spray the shoes because I have never found a way to control the spray. So everything within a ten foot radius is always cover with stickup, including me!! Then I carefully lined up the fabric piece to the shoe and stuck them together. slowly, using my bone tool to burnish, and smooth out any trapped air as I went.

For the heel strip and tongues I used a different print in the same color family.

I decided I'd leave the edges unfinished. Just a bit frayed around the edges sorta like their creator ;) To prevent them from continuing to fray I spread a thin line of "Stop Fraying" from Aleene's on all the edges. It also added another layer of stickup on the edges to help keep the fabric from lifting.

Notice the tongues? They are the same fabric but different stripes.

I used my multipurpose hole punch to punch the lacing holes into the new fabric,then dabbed a bit of stop fraying on them. For the final touch I glued a little piece of red flower trim across the toes, where the toe pad meets the fabric tongue.

There you have them. Admittedly they aren't "One Fish 2 Fish", the "Whos" or "The cat In The Hat" but pretty darn spiffy and a might "Springy" if I say so myself. I can't help but think that when Ol' Chuck quit spinning in his grave he was kicking himself for not thinking of them first! And I'm almost sure somewhere in the world Mary Shaddle is turning ten shades of green!! :)

Have a most audacious art filled day my Bloglandian playmates, no matter where in the world you are p;)

A Little Bit of a Smile In a World of Hurting

2011-03-19T22:33:00.000-06:00

Between the pain that the powers of nature and the assumed powers of Man have inflicked on the last 2 weeks there has been very little to smile about. I thought I might post a few photos of the joy this year's Carneval brought to Mazatlan.

A few pictures LW took of the night parade. All the floats are made by hand. The teams start planning and building the next year's floats 3 days after Ash Wednesday!! All the costumes are hand made and by the time of the parade there is not a sparkly, lame,felt,feather,rhinestone,sequin to be found any where in the city!! :)

These are of the daytime parade that closes Carneval for 2011. This fellow leads the parade he launches aerial fireworks every 10 meters or so.

What's a parade without a queen or two or maybe... the more the merrier??:)

They start them young here.

A Carneval Queen is forever!

Dancing Jelly Fish and their puppets.

How about a marching band as a show closer?

I have a couple of finished projects to show off when next we meet. This has been a busy week for LW&I. We go all year with hardly a visitor. Now in one week there are 3 sets of friends all here at the same time! Oh but I'm not complaining! One of our visitors was Deryn (Something Sublime) and her family!!! YEA!!!! They come down with her parents once a year which means we have lunch and visit about art,blogs,mom things,well you know all the stuff you save up to share with an art sister!

Talk to you soon, until then: Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

11th Hour Vision=Bird&Nest

2011-03-12T22:21:00.000-07:00

I bet not a week goes by that half a dozen people ask us what we do all day. Holy Moly I'm wondering just what do they think retirement (from outside work) really is! For heaven sakes the only thing we retired from was our careers not our lives. Heck we manage to keep busy all day long so much so that LW said the other day, he wondered how he could ever find the time to work at his "job" if he still had to! :) We moved down with out a TV thinking we would buy a new one when we got here. That was 5 years ago and we still don't have one. We never have time to watch it if we did. Jeez even to get a whole uninterrupted day working in my Little Art Corner takes a shoe horn. But "What do you do all day??" Any more my answer is "What ever I want"! So much easier then trying to explain that I don't know, but what ever it is, sure takes up a lot of my day! :)

And what you may be asking does my so called "busy" days have to do with the necklace in the picture??? Well let me tell you. Okay? last fall my friend Ann bought a pair of tiny nest earrings I made. They looked a little like these and had an amber stone between the nests and fishhooks.

Right after the first of the year she asked me to make a nest necklace to go with the earrings. "No rush take your time" So the Feb. Art Walk went by and I didn't have the necklace done. Heck I hadn't even started. I couldn't even come up with a divine vision for it. Then before I knew it Feb. rushed by in a whirlwind of "busy". Still no progress and I had promised her I'd have it for the March Art Walk. It's a good thing the Walk got push back a week because of Carneval or I still wouldn't have had it done in time. But thankfully my 11th hour vision came through!! I paired the amber with pretty blue-green Turquoise nuggets.

Added some of my magic verdigris patina to a bird and leaf charm. Then attached to 2 sides to the nest.

I attached a branch of ivy to the bird charm. I made it with polymer clay. Jackie P has 1(very lonely) sterling silver earring that the branch comes from. I made a mold of it and then made the polymer one from the mold. Because it's thin and long (a good 3") I ran a flatten 18gage wire through it for stabilization. Then formed a ring on each end to attach with. I added some stamp pad dye and acrylic paint for a vintage ivory/bone look, and buffed the heck out of it. Now if you look closely you can see what it is that makes this "earring" piece so cool. See the gecko?? In Chinese homes you will find a luck cricket. Here we all have lucky geckos! They control the mosquito and fly populations. We have a little group who live on the walls of our sun room and others that live on the first floor. Because there are many places where we are open to the outside these cute little critters come and go as they please. I just couldn't pass up a chance to play around with it Jackie's orphan earring. Can ya blame me?? I painted just a tad bit of very light green acrylic paint on the little guy, so you could see him.

I sure don't know what I'm not doing right, but no matter how close up my picture is when blogger gets a hold of it the zoom view is no more!??

I finished up with one of those new fangled snap clasps. seems to be holding so far. I told Ann to test-drive it for a bit. If it wasn't going to work I'd make a hook clasp for it.

I have to tell you I think this time the 11th hour vision turned out great. But the litmus test of course was whether Ann like it. YEA! she was really pleased with it. She kinda did one of those happy little girl squeals and exclaimed it was perfect, exactly what she hoped it would look like. She even had to put it on right there and wear it for the rest of the Art Walk. Kinda made me all warm and smiles (you guys know that feeling) cuz she had to show everyone the necklace I had made to go with her earrings. Some things just like the commercial says are priceless. It was the best medicine I could imagine for my little soul!!

Add that is "what I do all day" ;) Have a most audacious art filled day, no matter where in the world you are p;)

"Return of the Muse"

2011-03-03T21:43:00.000-07:00

Let the Party Begin as LW would say. Yep today was opening day for the 2011 Mazatlan Carneval. The theme this year is "The Return of the Muse". There will be a humongous fireworks show along the city beach &sea wall, Sat. night. Sunday night is the huge much anticipated night time parade. Floats that have been a year in the making, all the schools from primary to university along with the branches of the military have bands, the queen,king, & princess, state&federal dignitaries not to mention international representatives. On Tuesday afternoon the parade will be repeated going in the opposite direction to close the year's celebration. If you are wondering why the parade doesn't happen until Sunday it's because one it's tradition and for many of the participants (especially in past generations) Sunday is their only day off. Mexico still has a 6 day a week work week for many of it's workers. Therefore it's not until after 6pm that the historical part of town is closed off with street music, parties, food and libations (emphasis on the loud music and libations) :) Along olas Altas there are live bands setup nose to bum to each other. All vying to be heard above the others, and all playing different types of music. It's unbelievable!!! :) Olas Altas is a good 3-4 miles from us and we can clearly hear the calliope!!!

Here is a video from the cultural department for this year. It's in Spanish but you get the idea. The B&W photos are from some of the very early years.

I'm going to have to see if I can get some better pictures of the "eggs" statues along the sea wall. The ones I took the other day are hard to see. What with the sun, sand and reflective water this is not an easy task!!! We are planning on hibernating for the duration We will walk down to see the night parade and the firework show. But the night time partying we will leave for other fool hearty souls. :)

Hugs to all, stay happy,healthy,artful and safe no matter where in the world you are. p;)

Amber & Silver

2011-02-20T21:37:00.000-07:00

I really had to grit my teeth to made this necklace with some of my much hoarded Chiapas Amber. Ya'al know it's much easier for a true hoarder to rationalize hanging on to our stash, then to convince ourselves to willingly part with it! But it was time to return a bit of my stash to the public world. I can do this as long as I don't think to hard how this amazing eternally beautiful and millenniums old gems can't possibly be as appreciated as much as I do? Do you think their new owner will be amazed at how warm it is to the touch, not cold like stone? Will they see the delicate colorings, along with each one being it's own original creation, like finger prints?? When they hold it will they feel all the positive energy this simple millions of years old piece of nature carries?? "Nope" huh I agree with you, but if I continue to hoard it how will they ever find out?? I just have to hope that I have done the amber's beauty justice with the necklace I created with it. It took a couple of alterations to the vision, but I'm pleased with the results.

I suspended the amber nuggets with 24gage sterling wire in the center of the links of large polished pewter chain.

For the back half I used both sterling and pewter beads. With little heishi amber beads, between them. On one side I joined the two ends together with a little vintage hand carved bone tortoise.

On the other side I made a sterling hook closure. Then added 2 little fish Milagros. Helena said that now when people come into the shop to see new pieces, the milagros are how they identify them as mine! :) Cool I only have ohhh maybe 1400+- milagros left! And if by some slim chance I run out in my life time I know where to get more. ;)

Of all the different ways to use or "string" the amber, I really like when I'm able to "suspend" it like these. The link tends to frame the amber sorta like a frame around a master piece painting. And in my mind's eye, amber is one heck of an incredible master piece. I will confess that my personal taste is for the silver to have a lovely patina, however I learned early that "patina" hasn't quite caught on here. But I keep trying by slipping in a bit of patina here and there. :)

Well there it is, how one hoarder managed to let go of some of her well loved stash. Shhhhhh Not to worry I have it on good authority that we'll have a chance to replenish our stashes before to long, Whew ;)

I did get a couple of pictures of the earrings I made before all of them were gone. I'll get them downloaded and posted in the next couple of days. Ohhhhh and the pictures of the decorations for "Carneval"!! They are really great this year!

Until them, have a most audacious art filled day, no matter where in the world you are p;)

A LOVEly Day For The Beach

2011-02-14T22:01:00.000-07:00

Sooo how was your Valentine's Day???? Or your unValentine's Day depending on which holiday you are celebrating??? Ours was quite wonderful. The days are tending to be a bit warmer, so thoughts of the beach are playing in our heads. While I was in the kitchen starting a scrumptious "Lunper". Wait, what's a Lunper you ask?? Well it's that meal that combines lunch & supper, you know like brunch is to breakfast & lunch. :) One of the many intelligent customs we have embraced here in our adopted country is to have the day's main meal in the afternoon around 1-2 followed by a siesta. It really works out perfectly, for us. Gives you time to burn off the calories acquired. And you don't fight that overfed,over stuffed pig feeling late in the evening. You know that one that causes heartburn and restless nights. Besides like the Mediterranean countries many Mexican businesses close from 1-ish to 4-ish for the family meal time. Because we are a resort/tourist town a lot of our retail businesses don't close but much of the government,and professional offices do. And as much as possible we like to follow that wise old saying, "when in Rome..."

Wooo did I get off the beaten path! Okay back to the kitchen and that sumptuous meal. LW walked in and suggested we put all the fixins away for Manana (tomorrow) and grab a panga (little ferry) over to Stone Island for lunch at Rudi's!! Sorta a little Valentine Day gift to each other. Well that's a no brainer, Stone Island is one of my favorite beaches to stroll. So we threw a few things in the beach tote and headed down to the ferries. Because this is Monday a work&school day,& not a cruise ship in port day, the beaches are nearly deserted.

It was a little breezy & misty but the sun was shining and was nice and warm to our reptilian acclimated bodies.

Of course those lovely quiet beaches are a real double edged sword here. Quiet beaches = no business. This is not good for our little community. And according to most of the merchants this "season" is proving to be a "bad" one! :( We practically had Rudi, and "Senora Rudi" all to ourselves.

Most of our dry season flowering plants are really coming into their own amazing beauty The days are getting longer and warmer, the humidity is still lower and we haven't had rain for a good 4 months.

The hibiscus are as bright as they could be the doubles (like the one above) are about the size of dessert plates.

And the huge singles are at least the size of large salad plates!

We had ceviche and shrimp for "lunper" and strolled down the beach holding hands and making plans.

I can't imagine a more precious gift then to wake up each morning with my most handsome soulmate (& adorable geek) in this amazing place we called paradise! :)

Oh my gosh LW I don't have any idea how that cutie patootie picture got there! Honest, you know this whole internet thing is magic to me!! Hmmmm I bet you didn't even know I took that picture, huuuh, but it's a true mystery on how it got on my blog! :)

Time for this lit'l chick-a-dee to say goodnight. I think I better do some perfecting on my excuse...er... explanation of my cyber-ignorance before LW sees this in the morning! ;) So on that note have a most audacious art filled day, no matter where in the world

you are. p;)

A Couple of Finished Projects

2011-02-07T21:35:00.000-07:00

I don't remember where I found this cutie patootie picture if any of you guys know (where I could have found it) please let me know so I can give the artist credit!

Yep I did get a couple of things made. One was this new vestita. I decided it was time to add a bit of color to my somewhat earthy colored wardrobe, since I was making this one for me, (I think). So I really stepped out there and created this new vestita in red! Okay it's more like a nice dark (earthy) color red not fire engine/stop light red. But still it's red. :) Well sometimes it's best to take little steps out of one's comfort zone. Don't ya think?? I know me well enough that if it was bright red it would spend it's life in the dark corner of the closet. I used some luscious rayon, light,soft and drapes oh so nice. This one is shorter then the last couple, ending just below the waist.

For the bottom ruffles I used some red ticking and a rose print on cotton. You know the kind of cotton that is used for quilts. Here it's called "American cotton". Which is not to be confused with Mexican cotton. And yep there's a different. Mexican cotton is, larger more open, & less thread count, then it's northern cousin. The American cotton is more expensive (import duty fees) but that hasn't slowed to many of us die hard "sewistas" down. It is something we don't get here and just in case it was an ordering boo boo all my Mexican friends are stocking up! Heck I can take a hint! :)

Course I used tea dyed lace, but did you notice there isn't one little speck of sparkly on it??? Yep not one. In fact the only "closure is the tie. I did however sew 11pairs of hooks&eyes on it. Kinda gives it a bit of a vintage undergarment/corset sorta feel.

Notice anything a little wonky in that picture??? I managed to sew all 11 hooks facing up, makes it really hard to "hook" with them in that position! But I rationalized not redoing them by telling myself that they were only there for looks & didn't have to work. And besides by the time someone figures it out I will have already walked buy and blended back into the crowd. :) There's a little sleeve on this one with the ticking for trim.

Even the back is plain this time.

I did put all the gathering for the two ruffles there (in the back). Sorta just a hint of a bustle feel.

Since this was beginning to look like something someone pieced together from different pieces of clothing, I decided to run with the "makedo" wonky vintage feeling. See the decorative scalloped stitches on the ticking?? I thought I'd also use it around the sleeves and down the front.

Notice anything hmmm??? Oh besides it being a bad fuzzy photo. Yep your eyes are seeing right and the monitor didn't distort those stitches either. The ticking has lovely feminine scallops and the top has a sorta " Greek key" kinda stitch going on??? How??? Idon'tno??? All I can do is blame it on my machine. When I set the stitch for the scallop it stitched the key shape instead. Maybe the ol' gal was looking to change things up a bit, maybe she was tired of the same old stitches?? So I thought, no problem I'll just go with it. But the next time I went to set the stitch all I could get was the scallop it was suppose to do. And it isn't even a computerized machine, just ol' fashion machanical. Sooooo now I had 2 different looking decorative stitches on the same piece. I suppose I could have ripped out all the key stitches but remember I'm the lazy girl that didn't turn 11hooks around! Besides the fact that by the time I got all the stitches out there wouldn't be much of the fabric left, it is so light&thin. What to do??? I know I'll say I was going for a "vintage, makedo" kinda look!!! Yeah, that will work perfectly!!! So that's exactly what I did.

Have a most audacious art filled day, no matter where in the world you are. p;)

PS. Oh yeah, I did say a couple of projects huh?? Well I made 8 pairs of earrings and a sterling and amber necklace for the art walk last Friday. But I can't show you them cuz I forgot to get pictures before taking them to the store. :( But I promise to take the camera down to the store tomorrow and get some pictures. I'll show them to you on my next posting. :)

A Mexican Happy Dance

2011-02-01T09:32:00.000-07:00

Today is February and that's when Stampington's quarterly magazine Altered Couture will be on the news stands. And thanks to you my amazing family, friends,lit'l sisters and greatest supporters, my little brown vestita will be in it!!! yeah! Yep it's sharing covers with some extremely gifted art to wear artists! Who would have thought?? Certainly not me. In fact if it wasn't for all the support, encouragement a plain old handholding you guys have so lovingly gifted me, Annalise & my head cheerleader (LW) would be the only ones to see it! I will never be able to tell you how much this means to me. As far as saying thank you, I'm not sure there is a THANK YOU big enough! I am a very lucky girl to have such an incredible gifted and loving artsisters and family!!!

I guess starting this year Stampington emails you a copy of the article as it will appear in the magazine. Which is a darn good thing, cuz some of us like the author won't get her hard copy for another 3-4 weeks :( So my ever handsome geek is helping me post a copy (actually a picture) of the article, because there is something about all these letters not wanting to play together-- PDF,Jpeg, IDON'TKNOW, IDON'TCARE...it's all just alphabet soup to me!! But the next time you find yourself standing in front of the magazine rack maybe you could check out Altered Couture and let me know how it looks.

Have a most audacious art filled day my Bloglandian family, no matter where in the world you are p;)
PS: It seems that the only way we could keep Blogger,and every other acronyms happy was to print out the article then scan it back onto my desktop and then put it on the blog through the picture thingy. Lousy at best I'm sorry!!

Are You Having Some Winter Fun??

2011-01-25T23:21:00.000-07:00

So what do you do when the temperature dips into the "Goose Bump" zone, hmmmm??

Maybe a bit of ice skating on the neighborhood puddl...that is to say pond?

We have seen some VERY BRAVE (or stupid) souls "sunbathing" on the beach!! Can you imagine??

Granted they must be from the frigid Northlands, but really it is winter after all. I mean us "locals" are wearing heavy sweaters, shoes, you can even see a few parkas and boots (especially in the mornings)!!

Yep I know our highs are getting down into the low 70s brrrr!! But our nights now that's a whole nother story. Good Lord it's going to get down to 43 frigid degrees tonight!! Gads that's almost ice on the puddles weather. Lucky us we don't have any puddles (this is the dry season no rain since Oct) If you will remember we don't have any heat in our houses,they are made out of brick,mortar,and cement,and many are open to the outside. You know so we can get those lovely cooling sea breezes! These are the days when you have to go outside to warm up cuz it's a good 10degrees warmer then in the house. When was the last time you took a shower when the bathroom was a sultry 45degrees,hmmmm??

But I have a secret weapon. Ahhh no it's not a "widow maker"

Even this Dweeb knows water and electricity don't mix well!!

Nope my secret weapon even LW is a-lovin though he would deny it if he was asked in public. You know it's one of those big boy things. Oh but I do love it and the bathroom is ever soooooo warm and toasty!!

Isn't she a beaut??!!!

And since we are in hibernation mode around here, the rocking chairs have been getting quite a work out. It's a good thing we have one in every room (well not the bathrooms or kitchen). This is my current favorite corner.

Do you notice the dog crate?? Our bedroom is rather on the small side and with 4 dogs and crates well... Did you know that they make great end tables?? :)

I light a lovely scented candle and fix a cup of black tea.

I cuddle up in my wonderful soft,warm (handmade in Patzcuaro) wrap that LW gifted me. Then sit and rock while I read a new mystery on the Kindle (another new best friend) or the Jan. issue of Belle Armoire. Which just arrived 4 weeks late, but that's a whole nother story.

Lest you think I am spending my whole day reading, let me assure you that I have been playing at my work bench and sewing table, some... I'll show you the finished creations next time!

Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where you are in the world. p;)

Marie And Her Bows

2011-01-18T22:08:00.000-07:00

Have you ever noticed that Marie Antoinette was rather partial to wearing silk ribbon bows as lovely simple elegant chokers?? There certainly are quite a few public portraits with her wearing one.

It appears that this "style" was one she wore throughout her public life, not just when she was a young girl in Austria. There are portraits of her as a new wife, queen & mother wearing them. It could even be argued she that this was a look she was comfortable wearing, & found it becoming even when she had reach the "matronly" age.

Of course the average life expectancy for women in the 18th century was about 37. She was considered an older women at the twilight of her life in her 30s. Heck she was still a long way from the wrinkled,sagging body parts that come with the Big "M" Course it also wasn't something she was going to have to worry about

Now you want to know why I started off with a bit of French fashion history?? Well I have always liked the way little bow chokers look in these historical paintings, and have wanted to incorporate them with the current jewelry trends. I've been playing around with a couple of ideas and I'm really liking the way they are looking. How about I show them to you guys and you can tell me what you like or don't like and give me a few suggestions of what you would like to

see. oK?

I started out with about 2+,- inches of dupioni and shantung silk that I tore instead of cutting and finishing the ends. Kinda gives it a bit of a tattered vintage look. I tied the ribbon into a nice full bow, leaving enough length to the ends to wire wrap them a hook to necklace. I made two short strings of faceted garnets and faceted agates to go around the back of the neck.

I used a vintage rhinestone earring as the clasp along with sterling silver handmade hook.

Since I made this blue one for me I stitched a small lobster claw to the bow to hold the focal. That way I can change out the focal for a different one. This one is a vintage hand carved cameo that was my mother's. She bought it from an artisan in Italy. It has always been one of my most favorite pieces.

I also made one with a black&burnt orange/sienna piece of silk, and copper wire.

The stones are some beautiful colored faceted rondelles of aventurine. On the ends where the clasp and the stones meet the silk I wire wrapped a set of vintage iridescent crystal earrings.

For this focal I found this great piece of Mexican agate, which if you look very closely has a small sorta kinda drusy/geode thing going on. Sorta there in that split on the right side of the triangle.

I just couldn't help myself but I had this adorable little crystal heart that was the perfect finishing touch. So with a bit of E6000, it now sits pretty as can be on a little ledge of the agate. :)

I didn't use a lobster claw on this one. I just attached the focal to the bow with a few stitches. I also stitch the center of the bows on both pieces because silk has a tendency to come untied. As I'm sure you noticed these are far from being chokers. Women have more then one size fit all necks and chokers only look right when they fit nice and snug in the center of the throat. Therefore I opted for a bit of a drop so that the bow lays right at the base of (my) throat. Ha actually the real reason I nixed the choker is most of us "mature" women and me in particular do not need any more attention given to our plucked chicken looking neck. Well be honest. We all know that a girl's neck seems to have grown an extra bit of skin once we hit the Big "M" stage. It seems that we either wake up one morning to find we are now sporting a double chin or a little pleat on each side of the once sexy "hollow" of our neck. :( So when I wear a choker I have that pathetic plucked chicken with a ro.er.."bow" tied around it's neck hanging in the market look. It's just better to admit that I have passed the choker stage in my life before some little child loudly brings it to everyone's attention. "LOOK MOM that lady looks just like..."

Oye and on that note I hope you have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are p;)

Pay It Forward

2011-01-12T22:11:00.000-07:00

I'm going to be a might busy and preoccupied for the next few days or so. We have a good friend who lost her husband a number of years ago. Since Mazatlan and Mexico has been her home for over 10 years she wasn't about to move back to the States just because her kids are. (yeah!) There are many spouses who make this decision to stay when they have lost their partners. The only real problem that this decision creates is having someone to help care for you while you are in hospital. Lee had surgery for a couple of crushed discs. and kinda needs a lit'l sister

What that means is I have been given the chance to pay it forward. You guys have heard me say plenty of times that I have found the medical care to be far superior to that up in the Northlands. Part of the reason is that the medical staff here bring the patient and their family into their Plans of Care. This is one of the most positive things that can be done in health care. They have not gotten so busy and overloaded with all the other non-patient care demands that their colleagues up north have. Here it is expected and planned for a member of the patient's family will remain at the hospital to help care for them. There are so many little details that can eat up the staff's time that can easily be tended to by a family member. But don't think for a minute that the nurses,physicians and support staff are not giving the best most professional care. In fact by freeing the staff of those many little chores they have the time to provide the needed medical care and wonders of wonders really listen (and hear) what the patient is saying.

The pluses on the patient side or to numerous to count. One of the greatest is that the patient has some one they know with them before they are taken into surgery and a familiar face when they wake up from surgery. The families are not herded into waiting rooms waiting for hours for "the doctor" to come and tell them what is going on. You can not imagine how the stress level of the entire environment lowers and becomes for more positive and healing. Parents know what is happening to their children, and children can see that Mom or Dad are going to be okay. It truly saddens and makes me very angry to see how the patient/family care in the North has disintegrated to nearly the point of extinction in order to line the pockets a money driven industry.

Okay then, I'll just be climbing down from my little soap box and pack a new knitting project in my hospital survival bag. :)

If all continues as well as it has. I should be home in my own bed by the day..er..night after tomorrow. (yeah) Hold my spot in Bloglandia for me. I promise to come visiting the first chance I get! Until then... Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where you are in the world you are. p;)

Bird Baring Gift!!

2011-01-03T22:03:00.000-07:00

Well will you look at that, Gertie, she really didn't fall into a black hole! Yep that would be me. I have to confess I have really found myself struggling to find the motivation to keep my blog up much less put a post together every couple of days. I know it's a spell we all tend to go through, but sometimes (a whole lot of sometimes lately) I find myself posting because it's expected instead wanting to and finding it fun. And I'm at that point in my life, when the fun is gone I don't want to waste time on it any more. For me it's just such a time consuming project. Generally taking a couple of hours. I'm still such a dweeb when it comes to computer manipulation. Heck I think it's more like I'm the manipulatee (new word) and the computer is the manipulator. No really. I was 45 before my fingers sat on a set of keys. I never touch a computer except to dust it. Even after I bought my first laptop I had a 24/7 tether to the apple techs. Even now if it were not for the adorable double E geek on the other side of the room I'd be swimming without my water wings on!!! Oops digressing sorry, by the time I get my pictures downloaded and cleaned up then do a bit of jousting with Blogger and peck out some sentences a whole lot of creative time is lost. :( Besides if I just faded away from Bloglandia it won't cause much of a ripple. right

And so these have been my thoughts over the last few months. But then a little rusty bird came flying in. Kinda reminded me that fading away isn't the real loss. The real loss is that I would loose my life line to many of my bloglandian family. Now that prospect is totally unacceptable!! When I started blogging 2+years ago I was excepted into this totally amazing universe which we all share!! You all know exactly what I'm saying, now don't ya?? For nearly 53 years I always had the feeling that I was the only odd duck. Well shucks here in this little corner of Bloglandia I'm just one of the many odd ducks. :) Here is where I found unconditional acceptance,support,love,my cheering section,shoulders to lean on,family to giggle with, seek advice from, incredibly gifted tutors, and friends to give me a swift kick in the "back of the front" !!!

Oh yeah the rusty bird part. Well this past Thursday LW made the weekly mail box run. Of course it was like Christmas morning as it was full of art magazines and books yeah! Among all the mags. was this small brown box. And in that brown box was this beautiful poor man's silver ornament crowned with an adorable RUSTY bird!!! OOH MMY!!

The return address on the box belongs to lit'l miss Ruth the proprietors of the net-store "The Beautiful Life" and blog by the same name. And how did it come to be in our little mail box you might ask?? Well Ruth is the gal who feeds my addiction to the Scandinavian Magazine "Jeane d Arc Living" & not very long ago Ruth had the birdie in one of her postings saying that there weren't to many left. When I saw this beauty it was smitten at first sight. I mean whats not to love?? The poor man's silver ( old Scandinavian name for mercury glass) has way cool chipped and fading patina. Oye and the bird is awesome in her perfect rusty feathers!! And you know what a fool I am for rust!! :)

SO I made the comment to Ruth that I would love to have one if I could find a mule heading down this way. Sadly I wasn't able to. At that time of the year everyone is headed north to be with family. A few weeks went by and I had pretty much accepted the fact that there was no rusty birdie in my future. I even went to her web-store to see if they were still there...But nooooo they had all flown away. :( Imagine my surprise and delight to find one of the little darlins so lovingly packed in that little brown box!

That's when it hit me, if I quietly fade away I might not have to spend time doing postings but far more importantly is that I would loose all of my art sisters (&brothers)! Now that is just way to horrifying to comprehend. It was Ruth's selfless act that reminded me of who you all are and how very important you have become in my life. She took this last ornament out of her stock, boxed it up safely for a long trip and added a little pray that it would get here and safely! Then she waited and waited and waited some more. It was over 5 weeks before it reach us. How it did I'll never know, it had to be one of those "suppose to be things" I mean the reason we caution people not to send to us is when it arrives at our courier box in Texas it must be brought across the borders by a broker. It's (almost always) opened and inspected by the US customs then sealed taken by the broker to the Mexican customs where it is opened and inspected again& sealed. Then because it is a box it goes all the way down to Guadalajara where it hits customs again this time it's opened and the duty and shipping fees are assessed. That's if the custom's agent decides it's okay to let it into the country. Sealed back up and finally brought to Mazatlan. Now that's a whole lot of chances for it to get lost, broken, or God forbid someone decides they could give it a better home then I could! Only this time Ruth's little Milagro of love was never (ever) opened!!! So no one had a chance to see it,drop it or break it!!! That in it's self is a huge Miracle!!!!

But as I said perhaps the greatest gift she gave me was reminding me that it's the selfless acts that bring us joy and make life "fun" That by selfishly turning my blog into a "what's in it for me" place to live I have only myself to blame for it no longer being fun. So as of today I'm putting myself back on track. I might not post but 2 times a week this year, and I might shorten my postings by a few thousand...make that hundred of words and a few less pictures. But I'll be doggoned if I'm going to just fade away quietly!!

And with that note my most dear Bloglandian family I hope you all have a most audacious New Year filled with tons and tons of beautiful art no matter where in the world you

are!!

PS. Tomorrow morning I think I'll start my day with an "ice cold coke" (another one of those nasty addiction things) and a bit of Blog hopping!! I've really missed seeing you guys!!!

This Year's Gift

2010-12-29T20:26:00.000-07:00

For you diehards that have been reading my ramblings for a couple of years, you might remember that I always make a Christmas gift for my next door neighbor Nari. I always try to incorporate a picture of her two grandkids in the work. Two years ago I decoupage a collage of the two on a stretched canvas. Last year I superimposed their faces on a vintage photo of two little guys sledding. I put wings on them and them trapped them in a jar. This year I made her this necklace. I used citrine because one was born in Nov. Had to use the "modern" stone because I didn't have any yellow topaz. The other birthday is in march so I used aquamarine.

The focal is a nice big chunk of lemon yellow citrine. I bent 18gage antiqued bronze wire to attach the danglies below the citrine. The danglies are: a little copper box about 3/4th of an inch that opens up with a tiny little copper nest & three little eggs.

There is a bright blue Murano glass. and two tiny garnets (of course)

the third piece is a vintage book shaped locket that had seen better days. I covered the book with a bit of cotton crochet lace with a resin coat for protection. On the front of the "book" I glued a little crystal butterfly.

Inside the locket is this years pictures of the now 5 year old cousins, and "abuela('s)" (grandma's) pet rabbit. :)

Finished it up with an 18 gage antique bronze wire hook and the now signature milagros. :)

I hope that she likes it and will want to wear it every once in awhile.

Gads I hope you poor poor bloglandians are surviving the nasty,ugly, frigid northlands. I promise not to tell you what the weather is like here. It wouldn't be nice to cause severe depression during the holidays! :)

Until next time Bloglandia, have a most audacious art filled day, no matter where you are in the world. p;)

Holiday Wishes

2010-12-24T20:49:00.000-07:00

My wish for all of you my most incredible Bloglandian family is that we all are blessed with the joy that comes from celebrating life with the people we share our love with. May you take time to create beautiful, loving memories to carry with you for a life time.

Have a most audacious day filled with celebrations (maybe squeeze a bit of art in) no matter where in the world you

are p;)

The True Meaning of Irrational & A Project

2010-12-17T22:27:00.000-07:00

I think you could safely say I've entered the Stress Overload Zone. Yep that's where you can find me. Tomorrow is Saturday the 18th of December 2010. Yeah, yeah I know aren't we all in the Stress Zone with what?, only 7 days until Christmas and tons of projects yet to finish. But tomorrow for me is a day I really have not been excited about getting to. Tomorrow at O'Dark:30 (7am) I'm to report to the surgical suite at the Clinica Del Mar for my cataract surgery. :( I can't even begin to tell you what kind of fear that causes Mrs. Ross's oldest daughter!!! Never mind that it's totally irrational, boarding on phobia. The thing is my mind has been working on this irrational thought for a good 49 years. Well...ever since they put the first pair of "darling" bright blue, cat eye glasses on this gal's face. Perhaps this started as a little fear but as I grew and my vision worsened (at break neck speed I might add) my fear of loosing my sight grew right along with it. Then there were those years eons ago when as a young nurse I cared for many patients who were recovering from cataract surgery. Yeah okay that was back in the 70s and cataract surgery has progressed a long way from those years. But somehow that knowledge still doesn't over ride this little irrational fear!! I can safely say that all of my life I have had really only 2 great fears, one having to live out my life with my mind being trapped in a body with no way of communicating (read stroke, coma, etc.), and the other of loosing my sight. So what in the Sam hell...er..heck am I doing letting people preform an invasive procedure on the organ that controls my sight???? Just saying...

Deep breath...exhale...

Now do you see (haha) what I mean about being sucked into the stress overload zone??!!Please don't think my Bloglandian playmates I'm telling y'all this cuz I'm scratching for a bit of sympathy. I just thought it might explain why I haven't been out in the neighborhood posting and visiting blogs. It's a good thing the old nurse, behaviorist that share this body still have the upper (logical thinking) hand!!!! Cuz she knows by this time tomorrow I'm going to be a new woman, well that's sorta stretching it...a woman seeing a bright clear world for the first time in a number of years!! Yeah!!!

Jeez can we just get to the showing part of this already??!! Soooo the picture at the beginning is a little mixed media banner I made for our girlfriends who own our favorite veggie/fruit stand in the Market. I used fabrics and doodads from my stash. The background is a piece of vintage decorator fabric.

The last time we were veggie shopping I took a couple of pictures of the stand and three of the gals working that morning. They are sure not the best and they won't win any prizes, but it's the best I could do in the middle of the tornado known as the Market's morning rush hour! Although I took them in color I decided they would fit the vintage feel better if they were sepia toned. I transferred them on to muslin with the help of my magical printing machine

A few snips of vintage lace and trims, an old crystal earring, a vintage pearl&rhinestone earring, a bit of crystal bead trim. And what are the odds I would happen to have an old stick pin with a T and rhinestone cap??? Of course I had to use it. So I stuck the stickpin T over the red printed T in Portillo which is the name of the girl's stand. "Frutaria Portillo" Pretty cool...huh??

Sorry the closeup isn't all that closeup. I'm still trying to learn a different photo system. I had to jettison my Kodak as it kept wanting to corrupt the innocent minds of the laptop faeries living in my laptop.

I still need to put a hanging "mechanism" on along with the signature Milagros. I just can't decide if I want to use a strip of sari silk or copper wire with a couple of twists& beads. What do you guys think??

Okay my Bloglandian mates, until we chat again. as Bogie would say "Here's looking...(with clear eyes)..at you kid" Y'all have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you

are p;)

P.S. Next post will be filed by this cute clear blue eyed girl I know ;)

The Glitter Is A Flyin!!

2010-12-11T22:55:00.000-07:00

Boy and Howdy is it ever!!!! With only 6 days left before surgery I've

kicked into high gear on the Christmas preparations list.

This is the only time of the year that I enjoy pulling out all the paper art supplies, and the ol' paper phobia doesn't appear. There's the papers for cards and gifts

The markers, water color pencils, and...

of course my beloved box of "64"!!

Funny though I never have a problem pulling out the Christmas decorations and playing with them.

There's the beautiful ribbons

The evergreen boughs.

Ours by necessity must be faux.

Oh it's not because you can't find real Christmas trees here (notice I didn't say live or green??). Ya see they must come from the great white northlands. Which means they were probably cut back in ohhhh April-May (2001). By the time they get here there isn't to many needles left on them and those that remain are a distant color of green that even a can of green paint can't fix. :(

Jeez, can you believe they even have the nerve to charge a king's ransom for these spontaneous combustible matchsticks

Then there's the lights you know. I mean what would Christmas decorating be if there isn't a bit of potty mouth escaping from even the most patient of Santa's helpers?? @#!&*#@!

Boy oh boy I have to tell ya LW has earned his wings and halo at least a dozen times!!! He is sooo patient and there isn't even (well not very many) potty words that escape. Oh I'm sure they were all said, but whispering them doesn't count does it??

Yesterday though I think even Job would have had to look hard for that last bit of ...

We were in the grocery store, you know to pick up a few items (berries if I was lucky) that I needed for the flavored vinegars I was making. Ha ha haaaa, no such luck but even if I had I don't think I could bring myself to pay $480pesos (bout $40us) for a kilo (bout 2lbs)!!!! Can you imagine!!??? Sooo anyway we switched to plan B and went with limes,chilies,&garlic. When we were in the citrus area picking out limes I looked over by the wall and there was an empty display for tangerines. It was their crates stacked on top of each other with the top one still full of the packing materials. And do you know what that material was???? Yikes!!! it was the most luscious, grey-green, plump Spanish moss!!! No kidding it was magnificent!!!!

I gave a little squeal and went running over to it. LW looked up wondering just what in the heck I was up to now. When he got over to me all I could say is "I want some of this, I need some of this, I MUST have this!!" "What", he said, "that?? but that's that's just the packing material." "Ohhhhh no I said "that", my love is beautiful amazing Spanish moss."

That's the Spanish moss I have on my list to "buy" at the craft store!!! To "buy" way over priced (may I add) "Oh", he said "how are you planning on getting it out of here?" "I don't think you can just pick up a hunk and walk out with it." Thankfully that problem was solved when I found a young clerk who told me with a very puzzled look (I'm sure he was thinking silly woman) that I could have what I wanted, and gave me a veggie bag to fill. "Oh sweet Mary Mead" So there we were I in ecstasy shoving my bag full and there's LW trying not to look like he knew me!! :) Finally he said we have to go to which I said "why am I causing a bit of embarrassment???" "Ah yep" he said, "I think I may have reach my indulgence limit for the day". Poor guy see what I mean he has sooooo earned his halo. I'm sure I looked like a crazed Bag Lady to all the other self respecting adults!!!

But surely you guys understand, wouldn't you do the exact same thing???? I mean it's a good thing I didn't have a big black leaf bag!! I'm just sayin :)

But being the ever wonderful angel that he is, by the time we were in the car we were both giggling about the looks some of the grownups were throwing our way!!!! :)

Have an audacious art filled day (I know I will) no matter where in the world you are p;)

PS. Pictures of our little faux evergreen Christmas tree in a couple of days.

When It Rains it Pores

2010-12-07T22:33:00.000-07:00

So I thought to myself... just what can I throw into the mix that would really stress up the holiday season. Hmmm how's this: I have had a cataract growing in my right eye for a couple of years. Our otometrist has done an amazing job of staving off surgery by adjusting and compensating with my glasses lens. But he has been warning me for awhile now that there is not to much more he can do, and I needed to think about surgery. Well last week he told me I can quit thinking and start doing. :(

Mexico's medical care is excellent and on the par with any of the Northlands or European countries. The only real difference is the physician and hospitals here are far far more reasonable. All though it seems to horrify some people I'm having surgery here. Since Mazatlan is considered a very small city (under 300,00), we don't have the necessary equipment here to do the surgery. However there is a program out of Mexico City that has an opthamologist bring the needed equipment here once a month and assist our local surgical othamologists. Now granted I could go to Guadalajara (6hrs) or Mexico City (15hr) for surgery. But we have a number of the best opthamologists in the country here, and mine is one of the top in the field. Cutting to the case, the 18th is the scheduled day for this month's surgeries.

I promised my physician I would be a good patient and not do any close up, eye straining work (read jewelry/sewing-art) for 2 weeks after the procedure :( The only problem is I'm not any where ready for Christmas and as any preschooler can tell you the 18th of December is 7 days sooner then the 25th!!!

So even though I made a promise to myself years ago that I would not give half finished gifts at Christmas this year I'll have to break my rule. The escalated schedule also means I have to quit farting around making things for me!! That being said here is a couple of pictures of a little scarf, shawl kinda wrap I made to appease my love of layering. This black one is actually one I had bought at Helena's Although it is machine made the tassels are hand tied.

I really love wearing it just tied around my neck, but it's ready to go if it gets cold enough for another layer on my shoulders!!

I had just enough of the brown "table cloth" material I used for the first Vestita to make a similar shawl. I used the black one as a pattern.

No long strings to hand tie into tassels sooo I dug around in my "little stash" and found some light brownish trim I have. Boy I don't know about you, but I couldn't live without my glorious stashes!! :) I have been loving playing with blue and brown together, so I used this as a chance to put them together again. I finished the edge of the shawl and trim with a strip of grayish/blue satin ribbon. I am really pleased with the way it looks. Kinda keeps it from being to somber-ish

(read old Italian grandma-ish)

Picture from lonelyplanet.com

That's all the news I can scare up here in my little corner of Bloglandia. I'll keep ya posted on the saga of my baby blues if you like. With the 18th being only 10 days away this kid better get to finishing up Santa's projects post haste!!

Till next time have an audacious and art filled day no matter where in the world you are p;)

Creating Just For Me

2010-12-02T21:35:00.000-07:00

I decided that after all the creating for the bazaar and the first Art Walk that maybe it was time to make something for me. Actually I made 2 somethings. I made this necklace, well almost, cuz I'm doing a bit of test driving with it. I really like what I have so far but I have that nagging feeling that it's not quite done. You all know that feeling I'm talking about. Yes? So for now I have only one close up. I used

6 mm Chiapas amber heishi beads and 5mm garnet heishi. The focal is an awesome Art Deco rhinestone pin. I wired the pin to two polymer clay "Victorian Mourning" hand charms I made. Patina to resemble carved bone or maybe ivory (sorta kinda).

Oops I apologize for the lighting issues of these photos. This is the time of the year that finding good indirect lighting can be a challenge. Especially when Annelise refuses to model out in the middle of the street! Something about union rules. Go figure...sheesh...

I just have a small lobster claw on the back until I decide how I want to finish the piece.

The other little gift to me is a new "vestita" Although I should say that it's mine until someone decides they have to have it. If nothing else it sure keeps me from getting bored with my clothes. I never seem to keep them in my closet very long. :) The top of this one started life as a little cotton blouse. You know, those soft, very detailed stitching cotton tops that are made in India. It had short slightly puffed sleeves I cut off. Then I shorten the body about 11inches.

The bottom piece is this lovely black and oatmeal colored toile. One of the fabrics I brought back from the Northlands last summer. For as long as I can remember I have always been rather smitten with toile. Especially the very detailed "story" ones. When I was small my mum would place me and a piece of toile in the shopping cart or on a chair while she was fabric and pattern shopping. My instructions were to discover what the story in the toile was about. She knew that would keep my over active imagination in hyper-drive for hours. Heck sometimes she was the one asking if I was ready to go home yet!! :)

I attached the toile to the blouse with a 3inch wide piece of toile covered with a piece of coffee dyed vintage lace table cloth. Instead of gathering the bottom to fit I used pleats. I congregated them in the middle of the back so it kinda reminds you of Victorian bustle. Without all the bulging and poofiness that does nothing for this girl's back side! At the very bottom is this cool vintage satin finished cotton lace I dip in coffee (of course)

I removed the buttons on the front added brown velvet ribbon along the front and around the neck. I top stitched it on with the only "decorative" stitch my machine has. More satin finished coffee dyed trim around the arm holes. I overlap the front so that it fit a bit better. Attached 2 vintage rhinestone & pearl earrings on the front of the "lapels" I created.

The vestita closes at the waist with a couple of hidden snaps. On the outside I have an amazing art deco rhinestone dress clip. I found it and 4 others on eBay a few months ago. They went for a song because there were some dead stones, and tarnished silver. Can you believe some people can't see the beauty in well earned patina and barnacles??? Just think of the stories it could tell if it "only had a voice" :)

Shhhh don't tell Annalise but this vestita fits me a whole lot better then it fit her!! No kidding it really does look rather fetching on someone who has a bit more hmmm weight shall we say in the top part :) of her chest. She still holds out hope that she will grow into a bit more mature shape. I'm thinking that the only way of that happening is a couple of LW's rolled up sport socks. Oye I know that was more then you wanted to know. So on that note I think I better make a bit of a mercy run to my bloglandian sisters in Europe. Yuk is freezing and snowing over there. Hang on girls I'm on my way with a suitcase full of sun, sand, margaritas and sunscreen!!!

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are p;)

Meet Santa Winifred

2010-11-27T22:05:00.000-07:00

Want to hear a bit of heavenly gossip?? The day I unpacked Santa Winifred the first words out of her mouth were to inform me that she is Santa Winifred (her art sisters call her Winni) and she is a patron saint in training. Yep I guess Saint Pete thought that there needed to be a patron saint for us "aging beautifully artist gals". Well that's all Winni needed to hear. She was waiting at the PG (pearly gates) the very next morning with her resume in hand. She wanted to apply before the rush of other saints stared. Shhhh... I have it on good authority that she was the only applicant...but don't tell her, it would be a real blow to her self esteem.

Any way after a greweling interview Saint Peter gave Winni the position, and introduced her to her new boss, Saint Catharine of Bologna. Saint Cat is the patron saint of artists. Just thought you might like to know :)

Actually I have lusted for an antique wooden "Santos" since I was a kid. I saw my first one at the little church in tiny village just across the Arizona border in Mexico. She was magnificent and had to be at least 200 hundred years old. I think that might even have been when I fell in love with patina. Latin American Santos are my favorite even though there are many different Santos statues in the Latin countries where they originated. They were created out of wood and plaster by the Latin American Indigenous to portray the catholic saints, the Spanish priest described. They are amazingly beautiful and folk art at it's very best.

Many were half bodies perched on top of a wooden "cage" This allowed for them to be dressed in the appropriate robes for the different "church seasons" Like the picture above they can be anywhere around 50-400 years old though most of the ones found these days are from the late 19th early 20th century. They have layers and layers of faded dirty paint with lovely chips, dents, cracks and other well earned character marks!! As you can well imagine when and if you are lucky to find one they are very costly. The little blue lady above is considered inexpensive as she is only from the first years of the 20th cent. Inexpensive still being in the thousands$$. This one is much older, quite tall & in "pristine" condition. Lets just say you could buy a new car with what she is worth.

I have only seen one old one here for sale. Debbie and I found it in an antique store in San Miguel de Allende. He was not very tall, had been a home for termites, and was only about 60 years old. Yikes we both had sticker shock!!

That's when I decided that if I was going to ever have one perhaps I should consider a good reproduction. So I wandered around the internet window shopping. I found a site in Tenn. that had great looking ones that are handmade from resin and wood

Their top half is hand finished resin that has a couple of layers of paint, crackle,patina, and chips. They even use wooden pegs for the joints just like the real ones.

The cages are made from old wood to match their bodies. I fell madly in love with little Winni the minute I saw her. She looks a bit different then most of the others. She has beautiful natural curly hair, and cute chubby cheeks.

The expression on her face and eyes certainly say she is quite an imp, with just a bit of mischievousness. She fits in the family rather well I think! :)

So right there and then I ordered her, well first I checked with my galfriend and partner in crime Jackie D to see if she and her husband might be willing to mule Winni down. When she said yes I couldn't hit the paypal button fast enough. :)

You never know one day I might stumble across a nice old (affordable) Spanish/American Santos but I'm sure not going to hold my breath. And I'm more then happy that Santa Winifred, the patron saint of "aging beautiful artist gals" (in training) has come to live with us!!

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

PS. Don't tell LW but we think Winni might be needing a companion or 2...shhhh... ;) (just sayin)

What Can This Be???

2010-11-23T22:33:00.000-07:00

No talking shop tonight. :) I'm taking a little Busman's holiday. Although I have been playing around a bit with fabric and the sewing machine BUT just for myself!!

Any ideas on the picture, maybe a guess or two?? No??? Okay maybe this one will help.

Woo before we go any further let me insert a small disclaimer. I don't know if the world was tip just slightly to the left or if I was, maybe the camera, but that seems unlikely because all of them are tilted?? It's a real puzzlement. Anyway if it bothers your sense of eveness (not a word!) try lifting the left side of your computer or laptop just a skosh. See right as rain I'm thinken. :)

Okay so did this picture give you any clues?? And noooooo it's not an old fashioned portable "one holer"!!! But it is portable. Well try this one then.

This would be the inside of the copper bowl. Look at that patina would ya. Oh and the bowl is all hammered and shaped by hand! So about now you are thinking what?? Portable food station, BYOSC (bring your own serving counter), maybe a new fangled pie safe?? Nope, nope and nope. Alright already jeezzz... this picture explains things clearly enough.

Is this not the coolest thing you have laid eyes on lately?? It's an antique portable sink!! Go look at the second picture again. See the two round thingies there on the bottom of the case?? One is to attach a hose to, and the other one is to drain the water from. There is a brass towel rack underneath, and look here a tin soap dish and facet that even swivels so you can shut the lid, which is also the bottom come to think of it!!

When I did a bit of a google search. I found some really interesting info. These little sinks were manufactured by a number of different companies, starting around 1910-1912. In fact Sears&Roebuck Co. sold them in the States through their mail order catalog. I guess it's true they sold everything even the kitchen sink! ;) So anyways these porta-sinks became very popular with the military officers when out roughing it, and war times. It was also on the well out fitted safari camps's list of luxuries. The sink, a portable tub, a nice wooden "porta-potty", surrounded by a white canvas tent and you were on your way to a 1&1/2 star hotel! Since this one came from central Mexico it could have been used during the years of the revolution. Or perhaps in hunting camps What a great way to impress your friends. Take off in one of those new motor cars way up in the high country of the ginormous Hacienda. When you get to "camp" there are fully furnished (huge) tent suites. Then there's the cook tent, dining tent, and the luxurious bath tent, portable, sink, tub,&commode, with da ta da DAAA running water!!! How can that be??? Easy peasy- big water tank on the hill or on stilts, filled with rain and by bucket, long hose from tank to bath tent and Wa La running water for your morning shave. Why it's so civilized you could even take the "gentler sex" along. ;)

Now you have to admit this was one awesome score! Great, incredible, amazing condition&patina to the wood case, copper, tin, and telescoping support hinges. Can you imagine Debbie, Blanca, and I found it, sitting on the table of an old gent selling vintage stuff at the town square market in Patzcuaro. I bet you can guess the look and response LW gave, when I came hauling it in to the B&B room! :) Have I ever told you how wonderfully patient, tolerent, and accepting this man is??? Even though he has no idea what something is or what it will become he finds a safe spot in the Yellow Submarine and hauls my treasures home with only a slight bit of good natured ribbing!! I am indeed a very lucky girl!!!

I mean how can you not love this score??? (okay blogger in it's infinite wisdom refuses to let me post this last picture of the sink on the wall with the vintage telephone and chalk board!! So you'll have to imagine an old black phone hanging on the right side and a little school slate board above the sink on the left side) :(

Have a most audacious art filled day, no matter where in the world you are p;)

PS. Happy Thanksgiving my most amazing Bloglandian family!!! How very thankful I am that you have included me as a member of this family!!!!!

And Life Returns to Normal

2010-11-18T22:02:00.001-07:00

Yep we made it through the Pro-Mexico Extravaganza!! If this was a crystal ball peek into the future of our little piece of paradise's economical future is in very deep trouble. Warning: I try very hard to present a positive upbeat feeling here in my little corner of Bloglandia. But tonight I really need to get this off my chest, so if you don't want to hear about the part of my life that isn't all about art projects then now would be the time to hit the skip button.

Even though we are the resort area considered the first main land stop on the Mexican Riviera we have been some what sheltered from the worse of the economic down turn. Well it took about 2 years to trickle down to us, and boy howdy it's poring!! In a nutshell. This bazaar is the first social event of the season. It's organized by the women in Pro-Mexico, which is a group of the more/most "influential" (read money) of our Mexican business community and foreigner's (mostly snowbirds) As I'm sure you would guess this is a must be seen at event, of who can "afford" to spend freely. It's a ticketed event with tickets costing around

$20(us). You have access to the vendors and brunch. I have been told that the gals are packed bellybutton to bellybutton, that is is one huge feeding frenzy, they will buy everything you can make, that it's as bad as a Macy's basement sale, that they will literally take things out of each others hands. Well not this year, I wouldn't say this was crowded would you??

In years past they would shop right up to brunch being served and as soon as the program and meal were over they were back shopping. The tables were in the center with the vendor tables around the walls. See behind the two ladies in the above pic? The lady in the burnt red top is a buyer and the blue&white top behind her is a vendor. The vendor tables were never even one person deep!! Over on the right in the next picture these gals couldn't even catch a break, and they are selling white elephants that they announced after the first hour were all half price!!

Funny little side note, especially for my Bloglandian family in the northlands. As you can see by the woman in the picture with the purple scarf is dressed for winter :) Yep it's getting down to a frigid 60degrees(f) at night!!! :). Time to dig out the gloves,parkas,scarves and hats!!

This is pretty much what the vendors did a lot of. They all agreed that what few sales they had were for $200mx or less. That's less then $20us!! They were use to having the women spend $200-250 each at their tables!!

Here is sweet little Helena at our table when we had done the final fluffing.

We set my jewelry up on the right side of the table and Casa Etnika's on the left. The heart holding necklaces is mine. When we were setting up we wanted to be sure that none of the fragile pieces were to close to the edge. As Helena said, there is always a problem with stuff being swept off the tables with the crowds of people at the tables. Yep that's Annalise with the angel wings on. She insisted that only she could do justice to the Vestita. :) The heart frame is actually a cheap (less then $2.00us) wire candle stand from the craft store. For clips I sprayed white tiny metal paper clamps, clamped them over the wire and left the metal levers up. The necklaces hung great that way. The other display assistant I had was Santa (that's Spanish for a female saint, not the guy with the reindeer!) Winifred. Isn't she beautiful??!! She has such a perfect patina complexion!! I can only wish that she was a true antique Spanish Santos. But as a made to look antique she is pretty darn convincing.

As far as our sales went they were as bad as everyone else's. See the two torn silk necklaces with the crosses?? Helena had them priced at about $15us. She had gotten them at a really good price. Well she sold those and a few other inexpensive necklaces. Nothing over $20us.

Last year in 3 hours she sold almost $2000us, with nothing priced over $100us This year she sold almost $300us, in the same amount of time. As for me, who had nada, nothing, zip under $20us I sold one bracelet one necklace, and the vestita Annalise has on :( And I was darn happy I managed that because they were all way over $20.

I am very thankful that LW and I don't have to depend, much less live on the sale of my art. But that does not mean that I'm not very frightened and worried about our city and friends, being able to weather this latest blow to it's economic future. Before even when the US tourists quit spending here the community was still able to keep each other alive with doing business with each other. Now the top of the money tree is all but dry. When they do not have the money to pay for services then no one does because they are what initiates the circle. As many of the businesses in the community have whispered, they hope and pray that the millions of pesos Mexico spent on advertising in Europe and other non-north American countries pays off!!! There are many candles being lit with the prayer that this does happen and soon...

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

Up Periscope

2010-11-10T22:34:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd take a bit of a break to see what's been going on in our little Bloglandian community. I really miss visiting and catching up with all the news in your lives. Less then a week now and then it's all over!!! Boy and howdy I'm going to have a hard time convincing myself to take on this mess again next year!!

The Art Walk Friday evening was a great success. We had a good showing of both foreigners and nationals. Not all the snowbirds have roosted yet, and not everyone realized the season's schedule had started. I took 8 new necklaces and 3 bracelets and added it to the pieces already in the store. Now my secret hope is that they don't all sell before the bazaar on Tuesday!! But that might be a pipe dream. When Larry stopped by the store for coffee, Helena said the pearl and amethyst necklace had already sold. YEA&OH NO!! I still get a huge rush every time something sells but there goes my very small (and growing smaller) inventory!! Soooo I guess when it's gone, it's gone and I'm done selling for the holidays.

Here is a couple of pieces I took to the art walk and hopefully will take to the bazaar.I used some more of the huge delicious amethyst, along with some nice lemony citrine. The picture really doesn't do the two colors any favors.

I was so pleasantly surprised to see the two contrasting colors really were good complements for each other. Who knew? I don't have a whole lot of experience with purple. It's not a color I care much for and I think the last thing I owned in purple was a bulky turtle neck sweater in high school. :) So in my myopic little world the only color I thought went with purple was pink. And we all know how deathly allergic I am to pink! ;)

I challenged myself to find a pleasing way to use this big amethyst focal. It's hard to see but it's shaped a bit like the letter L or a straight back chair with lumps. I really had to search around in my stashes to find something that would work. I found this little silver angel charm who just happen to be sitting. Perfect!!! Do I, have a throne with your name on it!!

With this one I used another one of the big milagros we found on our trip. I added a bit of green patina and then "dirt-dy" it up with shoe wax.

There are garnet nugget strings on the big angel and with the smaller angel milagros I used vintage yellow glass trading beads.

Instead of using a couple of rhinestone earrings at the clasp I "deconstructed" (translate tore apart) a little opal and sterling necklace. It's good to be different for a change. Nothing worse then being predictable.

This one is a nice loooong one. I used another one of the big milagros, the Madonna and child.

I used rosary links with the aquamarine and garnet beads. I've been noticing that chain has been showing up on a lot of jewelry this year. I suppose it's because it can keep the cost of pieces down. It also can give jewelry a bit of a streamlined, uncluttered look. Well except for those necklaces that consist of 20 rows of different size links and chains. Anyway in keeping with this season's trend I incorporated some antiqued bronze chain. One thing is true, it's a lot faster to make these with far fewer wrapped links.

Now I have a sad story to tell. For the clasp I used a cute leaf and blue rhinestone earring, as the claspee and for the clasper I used a piece of polymer clay. I made it from a mold of an antique knife handle and then did a bit of aging to get the look of an old hair brush handle made from bone or ivory. Oh I have to tell you it looked sooooo good, I managed to get just the right color and shading. Now remember I'm a real real green newby when it comes to all things polymer. So I thought it might be good to spray a bit of clear acrylic on to protect the surface. OHHHHHH how wrong I was!!! (sooob) Little did I know that all but a couple of acrylic/varnish type agents will react with the polymer clay. The varnish,etc. will never really dry and it forever remain sticky!!! Even if you sand the finish off it still has a tendency to resurface to make the piece sticky again! Needless to say the "brush handle" is no longer the clasper. And I have learned another one of those "sandbox rules". I think I'll stick to just a soft buffed finish from now on!!!

I'm thinking it's about time to dive in again. When I finish the necklace I'm working on I'll have another 4 pieces to add to my little nest egg. Oye! and today is only Wednesday! I seem to have stumbled into that very elusive zone where inspiration and productivity manage to merge. Yep so far (knock on wood) the inspirations have been flowing freely. How rare is that?? Most of the time inspiration tends to disappear when you need it the most! So I think I'll just hang on tight and ride this baby out, hoping that inspiration doesn't find the exit sign before next Tuesday!!

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;

These Are The Days of Birthdays & Art Shows

2010-11-03T23:34:00.000-06:00

Yep this ol' Gal turns 55 at 4:55am tomorrow morning. And yep I'm sure I have as many wrinkles and sags as this woman I however never could do that with my legs!! It sure has taken a heap of living and a bit of blood, sweat and tears, but there has also been a whole lot of laughter, joy and wonderment!! Unlike many people who say they would never change a thing that happen in their lives, I can honestly say from time to time there are things I wouldn't have minded changing. But then I wouldn't be the person I am and I would have missed out on a rather exciting and happy life. Soooo I guess I'll just stick with the one I have, both past and present and hopefully a long future. :)

I've decided I'm as ready as I'm going to be for the Art Walk on Friday. I have about 20 pieces done and that should be way more then enough. Since this is the first show of the season I'm thinking it's going to be a bit slow. It's still hot and humid here and not all the "snowbirds" have come down to roost yet. But maybe I'll get an idea of what people are liking and buying.

Here are a couple of pieces I finished the other day. The fist one is one of those "it's not what you thought it looked like when you ordered it" sorta pieces. I thought I had bought a string of drusy Mexican agates. Well the agates are really beautiful but drusy they are not. And some are cut in some "what am I suppose to do with these" shapes! So this is what I came up with and I have to say I'm really pleased. In fact if it doesn't sell right away I might just keep it!

I used garnet nuggets and light brown glass trading beads. I made a simple hook closure in the front using my favorite copper wire.

I used a little Lobster claw to attach the focal. I'm toying with an idea of making a group of mix&match interchangeable focals and necklaces. We'll see it's just in the pondering stage right now.

I have discovered that it's not necessary or me to "patina" my copper here. Heck in less then a week it will be looking like it has been around for years! :) In the same order as the drusies I also bought some cool large barrow shaped and some rough cut polished amethyst. I added some nice large 14mm Japanese glass pearls with a lovely soft patina. I'm also quite pleased with the way it turned out.

For the focal I used a huge rough cut &polished amethyst, and anchored it with a little rhinestone bling. :)

I have some iridescent gold colored biwa pearls that I used on the back half of the necklace. I thought they might make be a nice counter balance to the rougher amethyst. You know rustic meets sophistication. Think "Green Acres" :)

Since we are headed into the holiday, party, theater season I made this nice piece of subtle sparkle. I used some vintage black Austrian crystals and yellow opals.

A little string of sparkly yellow and black trading beads. And a third little gold chain with the black crystals,yellow citrine and of course a bit of rhinestones.

I finished off the back with two large "new amber" hearts, a little bit more rhinestone goodness and a little cherub milagro.

Oye I think that is more then enough for one post. I'd hate to completely bore you to tears!! :) So I believe I might just start this birthday celebration a few hours early and cuddle up with a nice cup of tea, a new mystery, and my bestest friend LW!!

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where you are in the world. p;)

What Does 1400 Little Miracles Look Like??

2010-10-28T22:26:00.000-06:00

Yep right there is 1400 or 2kilos or 4lbs of milagros (little miracles)!! Now that is a ton of milagros. I think there is enough there to keep me and a dozen of my friends supplied for a couple of lifetimes!! :) But then you know the hoarder's motto, there is never enough!! I found 1kilo (400) of the more detailed, more rustic, and charming ones. I also had to get the smaller less weight ones. They were also a kilo but you can fit 1000 milagros in a kilo.

The more detailed ones are used by artists when decorating wood statues, crosses and jewelry. They will stand up to being nailed to the wood. These are also casted by hand. So that they have much more character, individualism and nicely rustic!

There are all kinds of little figures, from body parts to cars and everything in between.

The smaller ones are used in jewelry as they are charm size and light weight. They will remain nice and shiny and bendable. The hand cast ones are more brittle and break before bending. These are much more precise because they are machine pressed and cut. :( They are also far cheaper to make, and sell.

I hear tell there are some folks that just don't have an appreciation of patina and rustic, huh imagine that??!! They actually like bright new and shiny!! Who'd a thought??

I'm sure most of you know that Milagros are very traditional symbols in the Latin American Catholic faith. They are a visual image that represent a prayer request to either Jesus or the Virgin Mary, to intercede with God for them. They are purchased at a great cost for the poor along with an altar candle. They generally cost $10pesos (90 cents). This can be a great hardship if you only earn $30-$50 pesos for a day's work!!! And yes that is the minimum wage in Mexico. In other LA countries it is much lower then that. So a milagro is not something bought for every ache or pain. Often a meal is sacrificed inorder to pay for the milagro. They truly are saved to use when a miracle is called for!!

Because there are many things in our lives that are needed and must be cared for, there are thousands of milagros to represent our requests. Here are a few I found for the body.

There's eyes,ears,teeth,mouth,heart,lungs,arm,stomach,kidneys,and leg. I have to tell ya I had to really think about the "dumbbells" before it dawned on me they were kidneys. Nothing is left to chance, I guess. When the request goes in they want to be sure it's for the right miracle.

Funny thing is I found that women must be much more comfortable with dealing, praying and discussing issues that relate to them, unlike the guys in our lives. In fact I think I'm going to save these, tie pink ribbons on them and send them as love reminders to my girlfriends in October!! Cool idea don't you agree?? :)

Now if I could find a milagros that looked like our internet server maybe I could get Telmex to fix our loss of internet every afternoon!!

Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

PS. I'm still motoring along on the jewelry making track. I'll show you some finished pieces in a day or two.

How Do You Spell Panic?(BAZAAR!)

2010-10-22T22:45:00.000-06:00

So there I was voicing my insecurities for all to see when POOF the whole bloody thing pictures and all disappear!!!! Grrrrr!! More then likely it was an errant finger and not Bloggers fault but since Blogger isn't here to defend it's self "it's all their fault!"

And what was the soul baring about you might wonder? Nothing really except that panic feeling of not being ready for an event. (you know the first art walk & holiday bazaar) That is not a feeling I have very often. I tend to be the work best under pressure, wait till the last minute, burn the midnight oil, kinda girl. But this time is different. At the end of the day I have that sinking feeling of being one day closer and getting nowhere closer to being ready. It's that panicky feeling I use to have when in college I would wake up from that nightmare of today is the final and I haven't studied! I thought I had pretty much outgrown that & adopted the "no worries it always gets done" frame of mind. Not this time though, and I have to confess it's beginning to eat away at my usual self confidence! I keep having that sick feeling like everyone is going to find out that I have no business swimming in the deep end without my water-wings on!! That my work is merely "bleach bottle art" and doesn't deserve to be in the same show as the professional artists. Jeez this is soooooo unlike me and I'm having a dickens of a time remaining positive on this whole experience!!

Enough already with all the "woo is me" malarkey. Here is a necklace and bracelet I DO have ready for the shows.

The angels are some that we found in San Miguel. I really hit the mother load on them. There were these great looking big ones and baskets full of the small ones. In fact I bought 2kilos (about 4pounds) of them!! :) I now have enough milagros to last 10 life times worth of art work! I'll share pictures next posting. Oh and I'm more then willing to do a bit of trading if anyone is interested.

Course I did have to add a bit of patina, it is me you after all :)

You know that rash statement I made awhile back about being able to rust anything?? Well I seem to have bragged to soon. Whatever the alloy content is reacts with the iron-filing paint and turns black?? No kidding. SO I'm wondering if I use some polyurethane sealer then apply the iron paint if it will then rust?? What do you guys think?? I know I can't apply any heat cuz the metal melts before it oxidizes!!

I used a nice thickness of vintage brass chain and some smaller round link antiqued brass chain. Since the angel is nice and chunky,ruff cut, rustic looking I rosary-linked nice big rough cut nuggets of garnets. Along with those I used some large round (adds a bit of sophistication;) don't you think?) rhyolite

See those cool looking pewter rose beads?? I found a woman in Santa Clara de Cobre (the copper art center in Mx.) who sold me a couple of broken rosaries. I made a hook with antique brass, and hung a little rhinestone ball, pewter rose, garnet nugget and a little mirror image angel milagro.

I've been thinking that since I have plenty of milagros now I can use them as a sorta signature for my jewelry. Kinda a little reminder that their purchase helps us rescue and care for some of Nature's forgotten miracles!

There isn't to much to say about this bracelet. It's one of those pieces I get asked for once in awhile. You know the new, shiny, clean (sorta boring to my way of thinking) look. Boy do you know how hard it is to not put just a little bit of age on it?? :)

I used some teal and dark green shell pearls that my favorite little German Blog sister-Renate, gifted me. Little round garnets&a bit of silver chain. Then I appeased my addiction by using a (looks hardly worn), vintage silver and brass etched bracelet. ;)

The center piece is a vintage barrette (I think) with a bit of rhinestone sparkle. It works perfect for a bracelet because it's curve fits a wrist rather nicely!

I have ten pairs of earrings waiting on my work bench to get their hooks made and added. Sooooo I guess I have made some positive progress but will there be enough?? Well if it isn't I can always take orders ;)

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world

you are p;)

Home Again Home Again Jiggity Jig

2010-10-17T23:09:00.000-06:00

Oh it's good to be home in our own little nest!!!! No matter how wonderful and this was one of those really wonderful vacations there really is "No place like home" (as Dorothy would say) We stayed in two amazing B&Bs Both in old colonial homes. Both were built in the late 1700s. We ate delicious regional specialties. We saw & (Pattie) bought awesome art work. God love LW cuz he managed to get it all packed in the Yellow Submarine and home without any whining or one bit of damage!! I am a very lucky girl!!! I'm sure there were plenty of not so nice words used when I wasn't within ear shot! :) But best of all we met some remarkable people, found them to be kindred spirits and incredible new friends!!!

I have tons of pictures to share over the next few postings, but tonight I thought I'd show you a few of the fascinating doors we saw. All are over 100 years old, some way over 200 years and some over 300. All are hand made and carved.

These are a set of side doors of a Catholic church in the little town of Patzcuaro. This was the church built for the "Spanish" settlers. Those are all huge decorative brass nail heads

Both the large doors and the smaller "man doors" open. The large doors were used when large processions were taken in and out for special church celebrations. They were also used to intimidate the indigenous people with the power of the "one true God" The "man doors" were even made a mite on the small side to remind humans how small there are in the presence of God. A Spanish soldier would even have to bend and turn sideways to fit through many of the doors when he was wearing his armor.

The doors on this church are much simpler, with no expensive brass or wood. These doors are on the church that was built for the indigenous to worship in.

Aren't these parkay floors amazing??? You can actually feel and see the indentations that many feet have worn over the last 300+ years. These are also in the indigenous' church. In the Spanish one the floors are beautiful carved stone.

These are doors at the hospital. It was built as an extension to the indigenous church. There is a small chapel in the hospital for the hospitalized soldier or family. When they were well enough to walk they would walk across the street to "their" church for mass.

These doors open to private areas for the priests' use. See how there are shuttered and barred windows in the "man" doors?

Doors to the inner court yard of a large home. The street doors always opened into the court yard. The house is built around the court yard with all the rooms opening on to it. Often the kitchen sat in a wing by itself and the wall facing the yard was completely open.

Another set of house doors on a much younger house. This one was built in the mid 1800s see the Moorish influence in the plaster work below the balconies??

Now these are a couple of my favorite doors. Plain old every day doors opening on to a workshop or place of business.

But oh my gosh look at the different layers of paint used over many many years!!

Layers of peeling paint colors, chalking because of years exposed to the sun. Chipped wood, patched in places, it's patina heaven I tell ya!!!

Soooo I bet you can't tell that I have a real fascination not to mention love for old doors?? The things they have seen and the stories they can tell, how could you not love them??

More vacation pictures in another post or two. I promise to give you a warning. Everyone's tolerance level is different, especially with vacation,baby.& pet pictures :)

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

An ASOTMV & A Delightful Bit Of News!

2010-10-05T21:04:00.000-06:00

SO what is a ASOTMV?? Well doesn't everyone know the initials stand for Almost Spare Of The Moment Vacation?? My friend Debbie who lives in the State of Veracruz (on the east coast of Mexico) is going on a buying trip for her store Milagros Para Ti. She will be shopping in San Miguel de Allende and Patzcuaro. Both towns are in the center of the country. So when she emailed me the other day to say she was going we decided it was the perfect time to get together for a few days. I mean what can be better then staying in B&Bs shopping for San Miguel shoes&incredible Mexican artists works, and have LW play chauffeur and trip organiser?? Of course the Almost part is because we need to secure firkid care for the two big girls. :) But LWwas able to magically create a vacation out of two women's "I sure wish we coulds"!! I don't know how I got so lucky to have such an amazing,handsome,intelligent,loving man as a soulmate!! I will be forever thankful!!!

According to LW's plan we will leave here in the morning drive to Guadalajara spend the night then drive to San Miguel to meet Debbie. A few days shopping there and then south to Paztcuaro for a few more days of shopping. We'll be home around the 17th of this month. I promise to take the camera and I'll even try to do a bit of posting while we are gone. That's if it doesn't cut into our shopping merrymaking time! :)

Now for the big news of the day. My little Post Card tote that I submitted to Somerset Life magazine's muslin challenge last year was published in the fall/winter issue of Stampington's Haute Handbag!!! Woooo I can hardly believe it!!! It's such an amazing honor to have a piece of my art published in any of Stampington's incredible magazines!!! They provided me with a widget to put on my blog.

See it over there in the right hand column!! I would love to be able to post a picture of the article but alas I have not received my copy yet. If things run true to form I should get it...ohhh around the end of the month :( So I have a really big favor to ask. The next person who finds themselves standing in front of the magazine rack in a store would you mind telling me how my little bag looks??? It's in the Gallery section. I do have a couple of pictures of the little darlin that I can show off. They are not the best and I apologize.

Front

Back

Now I must run I need to finish packing my little suitcase so LW can load the Yellow Submarine for a morning departure!! Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

I promise to post lots of pictures for my bloglandian family!!

Do You Test Drive Your Finished Pieces???

2010-10-01T21:54:00.000-06:00

Just asking you know. This inquiring mind would like to know. When you are finished making a OOAK piece of wearable art do you take it for a bit of a spin?? Make sure the ride is comfortable, smooth while hanging right and looking ever so good. Girl, I sure do!! I would much rather be the one that finds any of the flies in the ointment instead of a customer. There are those little nuances that separate a great handmade piece from so so piece. And I think the damage has been done even if you correct the boo-boo for your customer. Now there are those times when something totally unforeseen goes wrong. You know one of those "acts of God" But I test drive to be sure there aren't any of those stupid overlooked issues. Like a wire that just isn't tucked in tight enough and rubs. A focal that doesn't want to hang right or wants to flip backwards. A clasp that looks stupid no matter what you do!

Course it always does your ego good when you are out on a test drive and receive a complement for said piece. Always give me a bit of a thrill and assurance that somebody out there might just want to purchase it.

Here are a few more pieces I've made for the art walk and bazaar. Yep they were test driven, well all except the earrings. I just don't feel right wearing a pair of earrings and then selling them someone. Oye, that's kinda like sharing drinking straws with a stranger, eeuuu!!!

Here are two bracelets I wired the stones in the center of the circles the same way I did Luci's birthday present.

The top one is faceted tourmaline and little tourmaline stones. The bottom one is faceted button aventurine with little green opals

I also made three pairs of earrings Two with this cool brass chain. But you can only see a picture of the little green aventurine hearts cuz the dork who inhabits my body from time to time forgot to take a picture of the tourmaline pair! :)

But I do have a picture of the brass hearts, turquoise and coral pair I made.

I also finished this turquoise and coral necklace.

It's a nice long necklace that I intermixed the two different stones with some antique brass chain. It seems chain is being used a lot this year, have you noticed??

The clasp is a heart and antique brass wire hook I made. I placed it along the side instead of the back, for a bit of interest.

For the focal I had this rather cool looking piece of coral. I added a couple of random slices of turquoise and a small sacred heart milagro that I rusted ever so nicely! :)

This week I've been working at the sewing machine so I'll be back in a few days with pictures of the totes I made. However I'm signing off now while my luck is holding. We have been playing hind n seek with our internet connection for a couple of days. Only we have spent most of our time in the seeking mode cuz the internet is very adept at the hiding part!! :( Jeez everytime you go to hit the send button or are in the middle of a download the bloody thing goes AWOL!! Grrrrrr!!Ahhhhh the rainy season, it truly is a love/hate relationship if there ever was one!

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world
you are. p;)

Confessions of a Polymer Clay Naysayer

2010-09-26T22:27:00.000-06:00

I know I've said before I have never really gotten the whole love affair with Polymer clay that seems to have taken over the art/craft world.

Oh yeah I know it's been around long enough for there to have been 4or5 generations of improvements. But it always seem to have a few flaws to my visual and tactile senses I have trouble overlooking. Some how and except for a few artists the polymer always looks like molding clay or worse yet plastic to me. Even after it's been "cooked" Granted there are some bead/jewelry artists who do amazing work with PC, but you have to wade through a whole lot of not so amazing work to find them. The other issue I've had is the way it's finished. I think maybe it's the glaces and patinas that seem to be added. It feels... well it feels kinda yuckie. And why is it always pooled around the raised edges so it's way to thick??

Okay cutting the whining and back to the point of this post. After playing around with the white PC that Laurie sent me and making those Victorian mourning hands, I have begun to develop a greater appreciation for PC. You know I really did have fun making those little hands. And it was a good self challenge to get them to look and feel like ivory or bone.

I got to playing around with it and made a mold of the handle of an vintage silver plated knife. When I pulled the clay out of the mold I thought it might make a cool focal for a bracelet, cuz I could shape it to fit before I roasted it. I stuck a wire loop into both ends to use as attachments, draped it over a Pyrex container and threw it in the oven. Once it was done I sanded and sanded and wet to dry sanded until it was as sooth as a piece of polished bone or ivory. Then I started rubbing some Ranger Distress Ink (vintage photo) on. Letting it dry a bit and then buffing it off. When I thought the color was right I gave it a couple of coats of "Mothers" car wax because I couldn't find paste wax here in town. The wax waterproofs the dye and gives it a lovely satin look and feel.

Oh yeah I stuck the two yellow and red rhinestones in the clay before I baked it so the holes would be the right fit. Since the oven was only at 275degrees there was no worry about liquefying the glass :) I did make sure to glue them in though so there's no worry that they will fall into someones soup! :) Well you never know, stranger things have been known to fall into the soup pot ya know.

Since the polymer turn out so nice I decided I would make a bracelet for my girlfriend Luci's birthday.

I wired a couple of pieces of amber in the larger circles of the antique brass chain I used. And I must say I am pleasantly surprised and very pleased with the way it came out. And dare I say I could be close to becoming a "born again polymer clayer" Ahhhhh then again...

I made a mold of an antique cameo I have, and I've challenged myself to make one from polymer that looks like it might just could be a true cameo. Okay at least so it doesn't look like plastic or modeling clay.

Oops almost forgot. Here is a set of earrings I put together for Luci. She loves chandelier earrings and the longer, busier the better. These should fit the bill I'm a thinkin :) A few tourmaline,garnets and vintage brass "coins" from a belly dancer's belt.

Ok bloglandian kiddos I can hear the thunder announcing tonight's rain so I will bid you goodnight and unplug the electronics for a while. Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are p;)

A Dirty Little Rumor...(The Holiday Season Cometh SOON!)

2010-09-22T21:29:00.000-06:00

Yep and it's what 3 months away till Christmas! But, but the "bazaar gift show season" is hmmmm 6-7weeks away YIKES!

Now in past years that time line never really entered into my conscious reality. Oh but not this year! This year it's suddenly become a very real part of my reality! Ya see Helena and I decided we would share a table at the big charity holiday bazaar here in town. Why you may ask? My only answer is that in a moment of weakness I saw all those pesos flash before my eyes (think of how much bird food we could buy) and I told Helena it was a great idea. Oye now all I see when I close my eyes is the word STUPID tattoo on my eyelids!! What was I thinking?? Obviously I wasn't thinking!! Because on top of the bazaar the first Artist Walk&Sale is the week before! Am I anywhere close to being prepared?? The answer is NOOOOOO!! I've been selling a piece or two a week at the store. Now mind you that's very good since this is known as the month of death here. Any way a piece or two a week is a perfect speed for me to KEEP UP WITH. But not to get ahead with. My only saving grace is Helena & Miguel are closing the store for 3 weeks to go on vacation. Soooo I'm figuring if I only sleep 2 hours a day and make jewelry the rest of the time I should be in "fine fettle" when the show and bazaar get here! Or maybe not.

Here are a couple of necklaces I made for the sales. This one inside the heart cage I placed one of LeAnn's (Summers Studio) ever so adorable clay birds. The other heart at the closure is a piece of "new amber" Amber dust and chips that are melted down and mixed with resin. It looks good but it's not real ancient amber. Coure it's a heck of a lot cheeper then real amber. The stones are actual lovely caramel colored agates. I paired them with some cool 14mm brown glass balls.

Close up of the "caged bird"

The other piece, I made with a string of rutilated quartz and nice warm fall-winter colors of tourmaline. Although you know me I had to add just a tiny bit of rhinestones into the mix. :)

The focal is a piece Lynn Davis (LLYYNN) made. It's pewter with a bezel made of foil paper and resin. She was trying to recreate the look of dichroic glass. I think she did a darn good job.

So there ya have it and I'm on my way. Hmmmm I think I only have????more pieces to make and I'll be ready set!! I just wish I could make that stupid tattoo on the inside of my eyelids go away! :)

Next post I'll show you some polymer clay I've been experimenting with. I'm darn tickle to say the least It really looks like carved bone.

But until then kids have an audacious art filled day, no matter where in the world you are. p;)

Viva Mexico!!

2010-09-16T18:27:00.000-06:00

Today is Mexico's Independence Day. Here the celebrations for this day are always big and looked forward to. Not unlike our own Fourth of July celebrations. Fireworks parades picnics fiestas you name it. But this year is the Ginormous Bicentennial Celebrations. The country has been in high gear all year long in preparations. Not only for the bicentennial but 2010 is also the centennial anniversary of the revolution. SO that will be another gihugic celebration latter this year!! The different states have all produced amazing videos promoting their uniqueness. And I have to tell you these videos are some of the most beautiful and amazing videos I have ever seen! They all fit together to create a wonderful surreal movie that really has no beginning to end sequence. That way they can be viewed in any order. Here is the link for Sinaloa.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XsdDyJJPDeA

Down the right side are a number of others you can watch if you would like.

It was 200 years ago last night that Father Miguel Hidalgo y Costilla rang the village of Dolores, church bell and declared "The moment of our emancipation has come..." which set Mexico on an 11 year struggle to independence from Spain.

Last night in Mexico City's Zocala square President Calderon reenacted Padre Hidalgo's bell ringing and declaration

finishing with "Viva Mexico" and the huge Country wide celebration began.

The parade and laser light/ fire works display in Mexico City was nothing short of amazing. Each state when all out in creating their floats and presentation. Much of the emphasis was placed on their remarkable indigenous civilization, history and culture that had existed thousands of years before Europe discovered hers and Latin America's riches.

The ancient game of Ulama is still played today. There is a court in a village a short distance from us. In the 1600s the Spanish priests outlawed the game. But in some of frontier areas like the state of Sinaloa they continued to play Ulama. Except for the protective head gear the game is played exactly like the Aztecs played. Well except the losers buy the winners liquid refreshments instead of dying! :)

Here is a video of the amazing firework show:

The holiday is always celebrated over two days (15/16). I'm sure you can imagine what this year has been like There are more businesses and government office closed then Christmas Day!! :) The fireworks for Mazatlan will be tonight. They are always spectacular because they are done on the beach so that the horizon and ocean are completely dark. With no distractions of lights etc competing with the fireworks, the show will be awesome!!

LW and I are off to help celebrate our adopted country's big day! You all in the Northlands (the rest of the world) have a most audacious, art filled day no matter where in the world you are p;)

Viva Mexico ! ! !

A few Pearls and Aquamarines

2010-09-10T22:10:00.000-06:00

Before I crawl back into bed I want to share a few pictures of pieces I made, in preparation for the first Art Walk&Sale in Nov. I have been battling a migraine for a good day and a half. and I'm not especially a happy camper. I really have way to many projects I want to do, and resent having to postpone them for a stupid headache. But since what I want doesn't seem to carry much weight here, I guess I'll redirect my energy to subduing the beast by morning.

I created a long and short necklace with aquamarine and pearls, with the idea that they could be worn together or independently.

For the focal on the short one I hung a vintage chandelier crystal with a mermaid transfer. What self respecting mermaid doesn't love wearing pearls and beautiful stones the color of sunlight on water? I ask ya??

Up until this last transfer I just haven't been happy with the way they have been turning out, with the medium I have to work with. But this time I printed on light wt. card stock and set it on the photo on paper setting. Both of them seem to help. I ended up with a fairly clear transfer with very little paper residue left and a very legible image.

For the clasp I made a silver hook for a vintage pearl and rhinestone earring.

For the long necklace I used a bit of large silver link chain and a much smaller link chain. Along side a string of tiny pearls and an aquamarine or two.

For the focal I used a large blister pearl piece. I created the bail from a polymer replica of a Victorian hand pin. And I'm really excited the way it turned out. First I really can't seem to get excited about anything polymer clay. I hate the way it feels and it's texture. It always looks like those old salt clay ornaments of the "80s" EEUU! But my little blog sister Laurie had sent me a block of white to play with. I have a crude copy of a hand from a mourning pin. I also have a pewter cast hand from Lynn Davis. So between the two I cobbled together a "hand" with the polymer clay. Then I spent hours sanding and buffing until the clay looked and felt like ivory. Added a bit of my patina magic (kiwi shoe wax) buffed some more and waa laa an ivory Victorian mourning hand! :)

I made a simple loop closure with seed pearls

I made this one long enough to double so it can also be worn short. Gives it a bit of versatility.

Yeah I know the picture is a poor excuse but it's been a real challenge to find enough sunlight to take a picture. So when it does show up you better get the photo then cuz no telling when it'll be back. :(

I created 2 pairs of earrings with pearls and aquamarine. They'll go with the necklaces for those ladies that need the matching earrings for their necklaces. But they would be quite perfect all by themselves.

The third pair is tourmaline and stick kyanite.

It's back to bed for me I think. I have big art making plans tomorrow and this headache is not invited!!! Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are p;)

Wanted: A Small Ark, Preferably Vintage :)

2010-09-06T21:25:00.000-06:00

Did you know that September is the peak month for our rainy season??? Well I suppose if you've been reading my blog since last September you might have read that interesting fact from one of my postings. Well let me assure you that this September will not go down in the records as a dry month!! Ohhhhh no not here any way. It has rained every day for a week. Now mind you it's not one of those all day sorta rains. Nope ours are more like strike hard , loud, and fast. These are the rains that have the amazing electrical storms with them. Sooooo awesome, sooooo cool to watch until a bolt reaches out to kiss the transformer on the pole four houses down! Or when there are 4 firkids and two humans packed in together in 3 square feet. It's this time of the year that it rains faster then the drains can handle, and the low spots around town begin to look like swimming pools. Look this is one of the beach lifeguards. See his little red buoy behind him. He musta figured he'd get to work faster by doing the breast stroke!

Mazatlan like many coastal cities world wide was built on a lot of drained and filled mangroves&swamps. So that it doesn't take to many years before there are parts of the city that are lower then sea level. Sadly these are the areas that flood first and actually quite often. Boy and those areas are all over town. Not just in the poorer neighborhoods. There are a number of gated, "I'm so rich it wouldn't dare flood here" areas in the resort end of town, that are singing "If I had a hammer I'd build me an ark"...

Many of the poorer neighborhoods that are the first to flood and get the most water are the first ones the army checks on after days like yesterday and today. They will go from house to house to be sure that there aren't any elderly or infermed folks trapped in their homes.

But for the most part it's all taken in stride. This is the rainy season it happens every year. Everyone has their little game plans ready. Neighbors will swing into action whenever needed. We all keep our water tanks full, have backup batteries for the flash lights, and plenty of candles and matches stashed around the house. You never know when the power decides it's time for a siesta. Schools aren't cancelled, businesses open as usual.

Once the storm passes the drains can keep pace with the water, people haul out the mops and buckets and everyone good naturedly pitches in. "Hey have you heard is it suppose to rain tonight??" "Good chance"

Okay I'm off to see if I can find some really cute yellow duckie curtains to go in the ark's powder room. I hope you guys have an audacious art filled day no matter where you are in the

world p;)

PS. In case you were wondering nope we don't have a lake in our living room. Actually our little neighborhood sits on a bit of a hill so we seldom get more then a bit of water that blows in from the patio or laundry atrium. :)

PSS. Although I'm a bit hindered with the webs that seem to be growing between my fingers I have managed to get a few things made. I'll post pictures in to next day or two.

Some Gifts Are Priceless !!

2010-09-02T22:43:00.000-06:00

And lots of times they are rather simple, neither elaborate or complicated, but priceless none the less. If you have read my blog for a while you probably remember me talking about the young girl who comes and cleans our house a couple of days a week. For those of you that haven't met Dulce here's a RDV (reader's digest version) Dulce started cleaning for us when she was 15 and newly returned from running away from home, with a pregnant girlfriend. Their plan was to get better paying jobs in Mexico City. It only took a couple months for Dulce to realized that without an education in ten years she would be the single mom of a couple of kids and still eking out a living as a bleeder for one of the butcher stalls in the market. She called her mom asked her to come and get her and decided on the bus trip home she was going to get an education. Dulce's mom is my close friend Martha's housekeeper. So Martha and Irma decided that it would be a good idea if Dulce came to clean for us. They knew how important education was to LW and I so they figured that we could help instill the hunger for knowledge in Dulce. She was 15 years old and still in primary school. The equivalent of 4th grade in the US. She had missed soooooo many days of school over the years she wasn't able to move on to the next grade each year. Understand that this is not uncommon here especially among women. Many people still feel that a woman's place is to have babies at a early age (16), whether they are married or not, and then to stay home to care for her family. Never mind that unless she finds work there is no home to stay at nor anything to take care of her family with.

Oye I'm digressing and this is no longer a RDV. Soooo to make this long story come to a end. Four years ago Dulce was 15 & in the academic US equivalent of 4th grade. She started studying and challenging classes then grade levels.In two years she had worked her way through primary and the secondary grades to graduate top of her secondary school. Last fall she started High School in one of the schools known for their academic standards. This fall Dulce is 18 and started her junior year of high school!! There is not one of us that would have bet that she would still be in school by now much less covering this much ground while remaining one of the top students in her classes! :) There are very few adults that have earned my admiration as much as I admire and respect her. For LW and I we couldn't be more proud of Dulce's accomplishments, and are ever so pleased that we have been able to help achieve her goals.

This is a picture taken by the newspaper last year at the end of the Revolution Day parade. Dulce on the right had earned the honor of being one of her schools flag bearers.

Of course Dulce and I pretty much have our own mutual admiration club. She knows my academic and career accomplishments, but she also knows what it took to be able to live my dream. She knows how important art is in my life and every so often brings me little pieces of ~~trash~~ treasure :) Yesterday when she came to work she had something behind her back when she walked in the door. When I told her hello she blushed, got a funny little grin on her face and from behind her back she presented me with this amazing cutting board carved in the shape of an apple with a hand carved stem and leaves. Look the edges are router out!! Is it not the most beautiful cutting board!!??

No she didn't make it herself. She asked one of her friends taking the wood working class if he would make the design she created. Not only did they design and create the apple but they also have my name carved at the top.

I think that one of the things that make this such a precious gift is the public declaration of respect and love that she expressed. She made sure that her friend spelled my name correctly in English. Here in Mexico the nick name for Patricia is the same as in the US. But here it's spelled Paty

She also made sure that an I was used in place of the Y :) In my eyes the only thing that is more beautiful then this priceless gift was the incredible smile of pride and gratitude that Dulce gave me! Rest assured that the apple cutting board has taken it's place with the other beautiful pieces of art that my children created. And I can't tell you who had the bigger smile or glow of pride, but I can tell you that we both needed a tissue to capture a wayward tear.

Wishing you a most audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are. p;)

A Lot of H&H, A Vestita & An Enameled Leaf

2010-08-30T22:43:00.000-06:00

That would be Heat & Humidity and boy have we got some! You know I can usually refrain from whining most all of the rainy season (summer). But when it gets to the point where the percentage of humidity is higher then the temperature. When you can't get your clothes on fast enough before you can ring water out of them. When even stick straight hair gets frizzy, When the baby power you use to keep your tender skin creases dry has the consistency of gruel. When just trying to generate a thought makes you sweat like the engineer feeding coal to the train's steam engine... I can't seem to help myself!

About the only thing I got made this week was an upcycled vestita. I started out with a cotton, sleeveless, button up the front top. You know one of those cheapy India meets Bohemia tops the import markets have?? I cut about 10inches off the body and cut the arm holes bigger

For the bottom ruffles I used two of the fabrics I brought back from the Northlands last month. Of course both pieces (along with the top) were given a nice long soak in a tub of tea. Kinda toned down the bright colors and added a bit of depth. The red stripe is a nice dark red ticking and the blue is a copy of an antique pattern of toile de jouy. I really like it because the scene is quite different from the usual maidens running around the meadow chasing boys :)

A bit of a Persian feel. The original fabric dates back to Napoleon's trips to Northern Africa/Persia. On the bottom of the red stripe ticking I added a small decorative stitch. That fabric would rather unravel then fray it left alone. So the stitch will keep the whole piece from unraveling. In the eyelet that runs around the neck I threaded a piece of frayed vintage sari ribbon very close to the same color of blue.

Did you happen to notice the awesome enameled leaf and adorable bird strung on sari silk (that just happens to match the vestita)??? Oh I thought you had. Well the most amazing,gifted and generous kindred sister Deryn made it for me!! Have you noticed how everything she makes has a magical feel?? So simple but conveys such complicated thoughts!

On the back of the vestita at the neck I stitched a bit of vintage lace trim, a scrap of material and a pretty blue rhinestone earring. I like to add a little hint on the back of things about what the front might look like.

So there you have my only completed project, that took all of last week to get it done. Woo tomorrow is the first day of September, that means we only have maybe, God willing and the creek don't rise six more weeks of homesteading in a sauna!! :)

Please have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are p;)

Across Two Continents and the Pond

2010-08-26T21:14:00.000-06:00

Hector and his wife Victoria are two of the most gifted chefs anywhere. Because Hector was born and raised here they decided to return to their (Hector's Victoria is from the UK) roots, and open a bistro!!! How lucky are we!!!!! As one would guess they have been an instant success with both the nationals and the foreigners, even though they opened at the beginning of the off season this summer.

H&V closed the restaurant for 4 weeks for a bit of a face lift (the restaurant!) and they went to the UK to visit their families. Victoria's is pretty much all English but Hector like many Mexicans has a number of European bloodlines in his family tree. English,Walish,Hugarian,Scotish that I know of. Anyway. I was so honored and amazed when he asked me if I could make a necklace along the lines of Tali's Path for his aunt. We talked for a bit, he told me about his aunt, she is a big boned tall 50ish "posh" (and just exactly what is posh??) fun loving woman who loves to laugh and enjoys big jewelry. But not gaudy,flashy or showy. Then turn me loose. This is what I came up with.

Like Tali's necklace I made this one long so that it could be worn long or wrapped twice. For a focal I used one of the engraved hearts I added the verdigris patina to.

I used some of the Mexican Chiapas amber front and center. One of Hector's request was that I incorporate a bit of Mexico in the necklace that didn't look like the campy souvenirs sold to tourists. I also used a piece of Mexican jasper, iolite, garnet, tourmaline, and a vintage pin.

The pin originally had little red wooden pieces. I pried them out and replaced them with some lovely vintage garnet crystals. Gave the whole necklace a nice Victorian,bohemian feel. Well at least that's what I thought :)

I added a couple of extra inches of chain because Hector was a bit panicky that the necklace wasn't going to fit around her neck. All he kept saying was "But my aunt, she is a very BIG Scottish/Hungarian woman". No amount of assurance that unless her neck was bigger then The Hulk's the necklace would fit fine. So I decided the most diplomatic thing to do was add a few inches of panic chain for his peace of mind. Work perfectly! Hector loved the necklace, and was very happy. I was very happy that Hector loved the necklace. Now all I want to know is if his aunt is happy cuz she loves the necklace. But for that info I'll have to sit on pins and needles till the first week of Sept. when the kids return to reopen their much missed (and loved) bistro!!

Wishing you an audacious art filled day no matter where you are in the world p;)

My Favorite Day of the Year !!

2010-08-23T19:17:00.000-06:00

About 5&1/2 years ago LW and I started "ah-courtin". It didn't take very long for us both to come to the same realization that we had each found our soulmate, bestest buddies,partners in this great adventure of life. So it was 5 years ago today that we, as they say pledged our troths for each other, and I became the luckiest girl in the universe!!

We have had a wonderful and very quiet day at Stone Island's beach. Besides being Monday a very slow beach day, today is the first day of school! :)

Sooooooo if you excuse me please. The day is far from over, as they say the evening is still young, and "Me an the mister"

are going to watch the sun set on our little corner of paradise!

Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where you are in the world p;)

Summer's Flower

2010-08-20T19:40:00.002-06:00

Yeah Yeah I know photography is not a talent I can claim. And it's a good thing I don't have a day job not to quit to pursue a career with my camera. (yikes now that is one convoluted sentence) But if you will overlook that small issue you might recognize Leann of Summers Studio amazing clay flower. For me Leann has that wonderful gift of stimulating all my senses with her creations. The day she debut these beauties on her blog I couldn't get to her Etsy store fast enough. Well ya know it wouldn't have been the first time she sold out a piece in a matter of hours!

Once I got it home I was faced with how to incorporate it into a work that would do it justice. I found the cute antiqued branch with the nest and birds while I was up in the Northlands. I thought it would be perfect to dangle the flower from as a focal. Tiny problem though there wasn't a hole or loop on the branch to attach to. I really didn't want to wire wrap it because I wanted the two pieces to flow together so that the flower gracefully hung in mid air as opposed to being attached.

I took a short piece of 18gage copper wire, balled the end of it large enough to not slide through the hole in the flower. Because the branch was some undisclosed cocktail of pot metal I couldn't solder the "bail" to it. But thanks to the magical powers of JB Weld the two became one ;), and the flower gracefully dangles from the branch as flowers tend to do. A string of malachite chips and one of small onyx beads is threaded through big oval links of silver chain.

In keeping the flower as the main focus of the piece I wanted the clasp to be as unobtrusive as possible. I also want the whole piece to flow in what looked to be a continuous unbroken circle. I found this very cool clasp in a bead store in the Northlands. Well I think that's what it is. I have to admit to being a real dorkaphile, cuz I really didn't know what these were when I bought them. I just thought they looked like cool thingamajigs to play with. I didn't realize that there were 2 sections that came apart. No, really they looked like they could be some sort of mini pulley. So being the good junquer I grab a few to play with.

It wasn't till I got them home and under the nice bright light on my work bench that I noticed they came apart and snapped together. I have never been to enamored with the "magnet clasps" because they just won't stay clasped. But these snap together like the sewing notion snap, and stay together when tension is put on them.

Now I'm wishing I'd picked up more when I got these. :( Isn't that always the way. Hey, does anyone know if these really are meant to be clasps or are they supposed to be used for something else???

All in all I'm quite pleased with the way the support cast came together to show off Leann's incredible work. Since I was smart enough this time to order 2 flowers (one for me&one to sell) I think I'll test dive this necklace another day or two before I take it down to the store! ;)

Have an audacious art filled day no matter where in the world you are p;)

Renate's Heart & ABS Challenge??

2010-08-16T22:08:00.001-06:00

Over the weekend I found a bit of creativity lurking about. Since that's not always the case I decided to make good use of it. Remember awhile back the amazing mended heart Renate, Put a Bit of Magic in Your Life made for me???

I have been so anxious to wear it, but hadn't come up with just the right supporting cast for it. In fact I had incorporated it into another necklace. But after I got it made, it just wasn't right. The necklace detracted from Renate's simple,earthy,rustic,real heart. I wanted the necklace whatever it was to support and help draw attention to the heart. So the heart was replaced in the original necklace and I started over with Reni's. I'm quite pleased this new one. In fact I've worn it every day since I made it. It has the same comfort as putting on your favorite worn in jeans, or tee shirt. :)

I used both amber and turquoise heishi beads and copper wire. Very simple very perfect. For me the two types of stones reinforce the story of the heart. All 3 components started out bright,shiny,new,and unblemished. As time and the forces of "life" began to influence them, they began to change, absorb,and incorporate. Along the way they gained the beautiful depth and multilayer of the many influences they encountered. They also grew stronger with each influence, they learned to adapt,mend absorb. They became the sum of all their parts, so that they no longer are the same fresh, fragile beauty they started out as. Now they are a warm, interesting, multidimensional,and ever so much stronger "element"

While making the necklace I ran across the August challenge on Art Bead Scene's blog. And by some happy coincidence the colors in the necklace are a very good reflection of this month's painting. Hmmmm what do you guys think, shall I submit "Reni's Heart" as my interpretation of ABS's challenge??

Blog update (8/17/10) Sadly after reading through all the requirements I decided not to enter. One of them says that stamped metal pendents were not considered art beads. I think the argument could be made that Renate created the heart from a raw piece of copper sheeting, not a pre stamped metal heart. But it's just to warm these days to spend time debating the intent and interpretation of rules. I would much rather just wear Reni's beautiful heart, as a reminder of the beautiful, creative, and thoughtful person my dear Hermanita is. :)

It would be a lovely way to show off Renate's incredible artistry reflected in her hand made "art bead"!

Have a most audacious art filled day no matter where ever you are in the world p;)