A Beautiful Day

It's been so long since I posted because I've been out having all kinds of fun!
We attended the wedding of my cousin Julie and her new husband Will.
They had a vintage tea-party themed reception and all of the guests were invited to dress up as well. 

  Julie and I are distant cousins. Our grandmothers were sisters, and I am old enough to be her mother, but we are also kindred spirits and very special friends. The age and distance between us disappears when we are together, and I'm looking forward to spending lots more time with the new Mr. and Mrs. Skaarup since they will be living closer to us now.

Each bridesmaid wore a different dress. I got to make earrings for each one of them.

 Cherry Blossoms for Emily

Pearls and tiny victorian handbags for Tina.

Pearls, lockets keys and dictionary pages for Becky.

I have a ton of pictures that I'm still editing. I'll post more on facebook soon.

In the meantime, I've been working on my teaching schedule. I'll have a list of upcoming classes posted soon!

His Royal Highness

Photo by Dale Brown

Now showing at the LibertyTown Food Show. First Friday is this week, April 6. The rest of his robot friends are at the PonShop Studio. More photos coming soon!

Handkerchief Babies

I have been working on my handkerchief babies series for the past year or two. They involve a small china doll, and lots of lots of antique linens and lace. I don't think I've shown one on the blog before because I could never get a really nice photo of them. Enter Donna Hopkins, photographer extraordinaire!

Photo by Donna Hopkins

 We spent a fun morning together, and she shot the most delightful images of my babies! We were looking for a prop to go with the top image when I remembered Rick's grandmother's Wedgwood tea cups. I brought one down and it matched perfectly. When we got to the second piece, I realized that my grandmother's tea cup would match this one. My china closet happens to be in my studio...Coincidence? I think not?



Photo by Donna Hopkins

Donna also shot these images of some inspiration pieces that I'm using for some custom artwork.

Photo by Donna Hopkins

Photo by Donna Hopkins

Photo by Donna Hopkins

There is something so soothing about her images. They make me feel like I'm "home". To see more of Donna's photography please go to http://www.patchworkphotos.com.

Art and Soul Virgnia Beach 2012 Altered Robots Class

Oh, I put so many things on the back burner until after Art and Soul.  When I returned, I had a to-do list a mile long! Today, I've finally had a day to create, and reflect. This was the view outside our classroom. We had a deck that lead straight to the beach.

Inside, my students were hard at work creating their robots.

We had an amazingly talented group of people. It was so much fun to see how each person interpreted the project.  Everyone  brought so many interesting objects to work with, too. It's much fun to spend a day with people who "get" the junking thing!

Here is a sampling of the robots that were created. These were made by Laurel and Sharon.

This one is Laurel's, too.

 

This one is was made by Theresa. I can't wait to see it finished. It reminds me of a character from the movie "9"... One of my favorite movies!

This one was made by Joy.

 This one was made by Minette. Can you see the little purse in her hand? She reminds me of a bell hop. And the one on the right is a lovely shrine-like piece done by Phoebe.

Here is Beverly's robot posing with Sharon's robot. I think they may be from the same family.

 And here is most of the group: Theresa, Phoebe, Minette, me, Heather, Joy, Laurel, Laura, Sharon, Beverly and Angela. Please e-mail me if I misidentified anyone! Also, if you have more photos, I'd love to show them. Every robot was absolutely wonderful! Thanks to Elizabeth Woodford for assisting and taking photos for me, and also to Minette. I hope I get to see everyone next year!

Blog Hop Drawing Winner!

I am so sorry I didn't post this earlier! I've been running around, getting things ready for Art and Soul vendor night.

The lucky winner of the blog hop, chosen by the random number generator, is Mary Z. Mary, please send me your address and I'll ship the packet and the necklace out to you right away.

Thank you to the graphics fairy for the Number image. You can find her at: www.graphicsfairy.blogspot.com.

Sinister Bug

by Leslie Brier, Brier Design Studio

This recently appeared in my studio. It is a Sinister Bug, believed to have become extinct during the early 1900s. You can click on the photos for a  closer view of its exoskeleton.

I'm not sure what the body originally was. It had a chute, and a wheel that turned. Does anyone out there have any guesses?

Speaking of guesses, that reminds me of contests. Don't forget about my blog hop giveaway. Leave a comment on the blog hop post and one winner will be selected to receieve a fabulous package from Artistic Artifacts, and one of my steampunk bird necklaces. I will draw a number this Friday, February 10.

Her Name is Lola

...She was a showgirl.

Lola used to have an hourglass figure, but somewhere along the way it went to pot  top!

She still likes to be glamorous, though. So she gets dressed up every day and takes little Zeppelin for a walk.

We'll be making pieces like this in the Mixed Media Robot Assemblage class at Art and Soul next month. It's right around the corner, and I'm so excited!