Salt Shaker Pendants - Now available at LibertyTown!

My salt shaker pendants are now available at the LibertyTown Emporium. They are made from repurposed individual salt shakers, pearls, crystals and vintage jewelry. The bottom unscrews so that you may store a little message or a tiny treasure inside.

This one has a sewing theme, for the quilter, seamstress or fabric artist in your life.

This one features a rhinestone lizard and emerald green Swarovski crystals.

This is a piece of my tiny tea jewelry. The tablecloth is a tiny piece of tatted lace, which I added seed beads and crystals to. The tea table is a vintage sterling silver individual salt shaker. The charms at the bottom are forks, knives and spoons surrounding a little cream pitcher. The overall size is just under 3 inches. Perfect for a pendant, or an ornament. The small round doilies that I bought on Sunday will become tablecloths.

Sunday Yard Sale Bounty

I had the good fortune to drive past a sign advertising a Sunday Yard Sale at a time when I didn't have any family members in the car with me to moan and groan about having to stop. This is what I found:

This is an announcement about two women attorneys joining a Washington, D.C. law firm. They are the Misses Emma E. Harris and Alice M. Perazzi. I would love to know what year this was. The photo below was in the same envelope. I wonder if this could be Miss Emma or Miss Alice, or if they just happened to live in the same envelope together. The woman who sold them to me didn't know.

I also found all of this gorgeous tatted lace. The smallest round doilies will be used to make some of my tiny tea jewelry. The tiny perfume bottles will be individually wrapped and tucked into my daughter's Christmas stocking. She loves tiny things as much as I do.

Now this is the part that will make you wish you had been with me: I got everything for $7. I've already had seven dollars' worth of fun photographing it!

CD Packaging Design, Leslie Brier, Brier Design

Okay, part of the reason that I posted the poochables last week is because I've been so busy with graphic design that I haven't spent much time in the studio.

Actually, I've spent a little time in the studio, but nothing is quite finshed yet. I'm almost there on three different pieces, so I'll post those soon.

In the meantime, I'd like to introduce you to Anthony Ashur, recording artist. He just completed his fifth piano solo cd, titled "In God We Trust". This one features patriotic music including "America the Beautiful", "Battle Hymn of the Republic" and "By Dawn's Early Light", a musical paraphrase of the Star Spangled Banner written by Tony.

I've been honored to design all five of his piano solo cd packages. This is the newest cover:

The recording will be available for sale next week. I can't wait for my copy to come! If you'd like to find out more about Tony and his music, visit www.Mirrormorning.com.

Cavalier Love - Leslie Brier, Brier Design

We are enjoying one of the most beautiful shows of fall color that we've had in a long time. I thought this would be a good time to introduce you to our cavalier king charles spaniels, Marilyn Merlot and Brigitte Bordeaux.

They love to go out and run in the leaves. Sometimes they blend in so well that it's hard to see them when I first look out into the yard!

This is Merlot. She's three years old, but already acts like a little old lady. She loves her naps, and loves to cuddle. She is extremely laid back, and doesn't even bark when someone comes to the door. She does bark at the evil squirrels and kitties that sometimes come into her backyard territory however!

This is Bordeaux. She just turned two, but is stil full of puppy energy! She runs everywhere, because walking just takes too darn long. She spends a good part of her day pawing at me and then looking longingly at the treat jar. In the world of dog shows, her white markings would be considered a fault, but I think they are beautiful.

Both of my girls are great companions for me. They sit at my feet when I'm at the computer, and nap nearby when I'm in the studio. And a game of fetch is always a good remedy for artist's block. They have brought so much joy to our family.

Halloween Matchbox Shrines

Virginia is so beautiful this time of year. The leaves are really beginning to change now, and should be at their peak in a week or so. I like to change the inside of the house, too.

Here is the table inside my front door. The gargoyle on the left came from the dollar store. He looks more menacing when perched on a vintage candy dish under a dome. I change the items under the dome from season to season.

Last Saturday, Terry Pitzel showed our FCCA Altered Arts group how to make Halloween matchbox shrines. I couldn't stop with just one! All my nieces and nephews are getting these from me this year. The older kids will get confetti, and little pins and rings in their matchboxes. The little ones will get stickers.I wanted to make a more durable one to use as a decoration. I used Claudine Hellmuth's sticky-back canvas to wrap the matchbox. I cut a strip and painted it with "dab of yellow" and stamped the fence image.

Then I scrubbed on some "altered orange" with a dry brush. The canvas picks up the brush strokes really nicely. I mixed some "classic teal" with the "dab of yellow" and put in highlights around the fence and at the bottom.

I used the "altered orange" on a circle stamp for the moon image. Then, I used multi-medium to glue on a piece of bat-shaped confetti. I painted the inside of the box, and used an extra piece of the canvas for lining. The sticker inside says, "Happy Halloween".

I punched two small holes in the top of the inside of the box. and threaded some copper wire through the holes for a handle. Then, I added ribbon scraps to the handle.

Halloween Altered Frame

October is here, and I'm ready for it. I lthink I like my Halloween decorations even more than the Christmas decorations that I have. This year I decided to make a decoration of my own, by altering a cabinet card and a picture frame. Here is the "before" photo:

I found this at a yard sale for $1.00. My husband couldn't believe that I wanted it. I added a few embellishments from the Halloween aisle at the drug store, and filled in the areas underneath to blend everything together.

Once I had everything in position, I painted everything with black gesso and then with black acrylic paint to unify the elements.

It was looking a little creepy, but not believable enough, so I went over all the high spots with interference gold to make them stand out.

I used Photoshopto altere an image from a Victorian cabinet card, adding in a bat brooch, and emphasizing the bat-like collar that the woman in the picture was wearing.

I removed the original velvet from the frame and replaced it with a collage of antique onion-skin paper that had spider webs embossed in it. This is the final result. Woo! Scary kids!

The ABCs of Ephemera Altered Book Project

I am excited to say that my altered book "The ABC's of Ephemera, A Visual Lexicon of Personal Symbols" is A) complete! and B) being shown at ArtSpace gallery in Richmond from Sept 25 - November 1.

As I started this book with the theme "personal symbols" in mind, I realized that certain images crop up in my work over and over again. I decided to use ephemera as a unifying element. As I wrote down the items that I like to use, I realized that the stuff that I collect runs the gamut from A to Z. Thus, the alphabet book concept was born.

This is the G-H page. Hands, hearts, gears, games... get it?

I tore apart an old 45 record album holder, and a vintage coin book and then reassembled them into a new book form and altered that. The spaces originally intended for coins gave me places to put little objects. This one is from the I-J page - insects, jewelry, ink.

Special thanks go to my partners in crime from the Mixed Media Experience, Terry, Darlene and Carol for getting the ball rolling on this project!