Fall Flower Patch

We're doing a handmade fall flower swap in our Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group. Here's a peek at what's been growing in my garden....
I used vintage laces, satin, tulle, velvet leaves, guinea feathers, Russian veiling and chiffon to create the flowers with antique, glass pearl and rhinestone button centers.

Each one is lovingly wrapped in a pocket of tulle and enclosed with one of my handmade stickpins.

I made fall bag toppers complete with a beautifully wicked Marie. The wonderful Marie image is from one of my favorite etsy shops,
Altered Artifacts.
(If you're looking for new Halloween collage sheets, you have to visit Inka's shop!)
I can't wait to see what's growing in the other Marie gardens!

Pretty Faces

That's the theme for our vintage gluebook pages swap at blissfullARTswaps for September. Immediately, I knew the face I wanted to use!

Aren't they Lovely?

I had to share these gorgeous earrings that I was fortunate enough to win from one of the sweetest bloggers in the sphere, Terri, of
Artful Affirmations.

She also sent along some wonderful images and ephemera wrapped in lace. Thank you Terri...time to play!

Altered Marie

In our Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group we were partnered for an altered matchbox and domino swap. The matchbox was to be jeweled and the domino had to have a Marie image.
I recently acquired two exquisite estate pieces that were meant for this swap.
After covering the box with an aqua damask I bound it with aqua tulle and seam binding.
I accented the antique ornate baroque style pendant frame with aqua and teal beads and bling. On top of that piece I attached the fabulously shabby fleur de lis embedded with aqua stones.
I pinned them so they could be detached and used otherwise if my partner, Melanie, chose to do so.

I couldn't find anything aqua that I liked for the domino so I switched the color palette to blues and pinks, collaging a young Marie atop an Eiffel Tower background. I gave Marie wings lightly edged with glitter and a crown fashioned out of metal and beads.
The edges are finished with tiny baby blue bling chips.

The sides of the domino were covered with layers of pink and blue dresden trim.
Sometimes the easiest finishing touches are the prettiest!

The domino gets tucked inside the matchbox for giving...
...creating for a partner is always joyful!

And equally joyful is having a partner who clearly enjoyed creating for me. I was thrilled to be partners with the lovely and extremely talented swap hostess, Melanie.
Look at this stunning jewel encrusted matchbox I received!

And Melanie didn't stop with the top of the box.
The sides are embellished just as beautifully.

I love the domino, with the coordinating gold filigree alongside a regal blue Marie.

Merci Melanie....ces't magnifique!

Garden Faeries

Mini cards soon to be swapped.... I wish you could see the sparkle & bling!

My First Marie Mail Art Group Swap

I was recently invited to join the Marie Antoinette Mail Art Group and one of the first swaps I participated in was an open theme Marie atc swap.
I decided to go soft and elegant with my cards....

And these are my lovely returns from....
left to right: Terri, Kelly & Robin.
Thank you ladies for a wonderful swap!

Happy Halloween!

Yes, like the retailers, seems like I'm rushing the season but I know there are lots of fabulous venues to swap Halloween creations and all you swappers need time to choose and plan.
Last year my flickr group members created some of the most fantastic Halloween art I've seen anywhere! This year I decided to offer 3 swaps with staggered due dates (so the true Halloweenphiles can partake of all)!



Play in 1, 2 or all 3, just please come out and howl a little!
Details and sign-ups for all three swaps can be found HERE, in my flickr swap group.

Eggs & Nests

I love this theme for our monthly vintage gluebook page swap in the
blissfullARTswaps group
This is the front and back of my August submissions.
Hope you're all enjoying a creative summer!

Magical Mermaids

The mermaid mini cards swapped in my flickr group truly were magical!L-R: Kim, Becky, Karla, Michele, Wendy

L-R: Linda, Elaine, Mina, Sandi, Kimberly

These little 1x3 works of art are so much fun to make and I've discovered a great way to display them in my home. I picked up this old type tray at a garage sale and have been filling it with swapped mini cards, altered matchboxes and twinchies.

As I still have some empty spaces, let's do another mini card swap...Sign-up or join the group HERE!

A Project That Speaks To Me

"A living, breathing, kinetic journal of our hopes, dreams and concerns" is how Vivika Hansen DeNegre describes the
Prayer Flag Project,
a group she founded in 2011.

Prayer flags are an ancient Buddhist tradition now being embraced by artists of all religious and spiritual backgrounds. Flags are made of cloth decorated to the artists liking or vision. Through design, symbols or words each flag expresses a prayer or affirmation.
Flags are hung outside and the prayers of hope, healing and peace are carried by the wind throughout the universe.

Gail, of Creative Workshops, has a free tutorial on making prayer flags (sewn or glued-you don't need to be a seamstress!) open to all.

After watching her tutorial I made my first prayer flag....
This flag will be traded in a new swap hosted by Lenna, of
Creative Swaps.
As part of the swap, Lenna also provides a tutorial and links to several prayer flag sites. (At the time of this post there were still 7 openings.)

I first learned of the Prayer Flag Project and swap via Terri of,
Artful Affirmations.
She shares photos of her beautiful first prayer flags on her blog.

Call them prayers, affirmations, positive energy....it doesn't really matter. This is a feel-good project with heart.

Where Bloggers Create Party, Won't You Stop In?

Welcome! Let me start by saying this is not one of those over the top, mind numbing, fantasy type studios.
Heck, it's not even a studio!!!! But welcome to my dining room/workspace that serves me quite well.
I had contemplated converting a spare bedroom into a studio but I opted for all the glorious natural light my dining room affords me..
from the doors that open to the deck and yard

to the large double side windows.

Muses are plentiful...
a display of swapped atcs

a little Kelly Rae Roberts

my "catch all" table of quirkiness

a vanity tray housing heartfelt gifts from blog friends, lavendar from my garden

and doll parts (which might seem odd to some, but certainly not this audience!)

and my ever changing feather tree of inspiration.

I realize it may be a bit boring for you to look atboxes..and bins

and piles of "stuff".

Here's a closer & hopefully more interesting peek...
baskets of fabrics

one of my flower stashes

inside one of my trims boxes

and some baubles, beads and tattered pearls (many thanks to those who actually do clean out at garage sales).

Lastly, I'd like to introduce you to my faithful assistant Dolly. She's ALWAYS there to test a fabric, unravel a trim or assist in rearranging supplies.
It's exhausting work but someone has to do it!

Thanks for visiting. Hope you enjoyed the tour!

Many, many thanks to Karen for hosting this amazing party!

Time For Another Fatbook

In my
Altered Art Fat Books
group we are currently working on a row house collaborative.
No template, just an approximate size and no guidelines, whatever you want your rowhouses to be...
There are 16 of us participating so this will be one fat fatbook!

At The Beach

Our theme for July's vintage gluebook pages
This picture was perfect for the back

of these vintage beach-themed pages for our monthly gluebook page swap at
blissfulARTswaps.

Happy Birthday America!

Some image freebies to help you celebrate!

A Midsummer Night's Dream Reveal

Okay, so it really doesn't have a thing to do with one of Shakespeare's most beloved works. The idea was to alter a matchbox and fill it with treasures that capture the feel of A Midsummer Night's Dream.
I had such fun delighting in the details...

lots of shimmering tulle, butterflies, dragonflies, lush flowers and bling...

the perfect paper to complement...

and the inside treasures needed to be magical and ethereal, right down to the bottle of faerie dust and vintage flower-topped spool of blue lace.

There were touches and retouches (and a little bit of a desire to keep this one, truth be told).

But my little box has found a new home with Linda in North Dakota.
I hope you love it Linda and I'll be certain to share yours when it arrives!