Work in Play-gress

This rough hewn box holds a strange mystique. Like an ancient shrine made to hold a religious relic, that was never completed. Cast aside because it wasn't "going right". I happily acquired it in a box lot at an auction.

Now I take it off the shelf occasionally and "try" different ornaments on it. Yesterday I got closer to having something I liked. Nothing is tacked down as yet. Have to reinforce crumbling paper and make decisions like "tacks?" or "glue?". Maybe I think too long before acting, but with something this unique, I don't want to rush it.

The inside is still a blank book waiting to be written.

A Birthday Coming Up

If you know Linda, like I know Linda, then you must know that her birthday is coming up May 19 and that she loves anything designed with birds, and colored that particular

shabby blue-green.

Also she loves *glitter*.

There is still plenty of time to mail her a card.

Or a box.

Mine contains a very lumpy card.

And a few other things.

:)

heeheehee

I love surprises!

Antique Botanist's Notebook or Biology Pad

"Study nature, not books." - Louis Aggasy

My mother acquired this amazing biology/ botany notebook from a college friend who was going to throw it out. I have taught her that stuff like this is gold so naturally, she offered to take it off her friend's hands. My mother at 70-something is still a student of the sciences herself, so I'm sure she was a little curious about the book anyway.

About 100 years ago, a young lady named Margaret L. Brown, pressed leaves and flowers and assembled them on about 69 pages of lined paper in a 2 ring binder, for a college class (I am guessing). She added observations and researched notes in neatly written fountain pen (or possibly dip pen?)



Some of the plant matter has crumbled or come loose from its tape, but an amazing amount is still intact. The pages facing opposite the plants have ghostly brown impressions of the plants on them.

An altered collage artist's dream find!



But I am not keeping the book. Nope. It is enough for me to say I have held it and turned the pages at one time. I am giving this incredible book up for sale in my etsy shop.

Are You a Label Reader? The Story of a Glue Book

I feel sometimes like I need to apologize or rationalize my obsessions. But I really don't have an explanation for why something suddenly strikes me so then I have to start collecting it and then scheming about how I will use it. Take canned fruit and juice labels. I like the bright colors and graphics. Best Choice and Always Save have the most garrish, but pretty illustrations. So I started carefully removing them (after the can was opened!) and saving them- in the bread box, in the utensil drawer, until they spilled out every time I needed bread or a measuring spoon. I only had a vague idea that I wanted to make a collage or something.

Then yesterday, Rebecca was restless, so I suggested we do "arts and crafts" on the back porch. I pulled out a stack of "Birds and Blooms" magazines and let her cut and glue to her heart's content. Meanwhile, I pulled out my labels, an old hardbound book I had set aside and joined Rebecca in cutting and gluing. It felt so good to organize my "collection" and make it look visually interesting at the same time.

The spreads have a "true colors" feel and as you can see, some birds joined the fruit.

Some teabag wrappers and tags joined the labels, because they were stashed with the fruit labels and are another thing I obsessively collect. It's a sickness!
This green page turned out to be my favorite because of the life cycle of the monarch butterfly I managed to incorporate in with the grapes.
What do TAZO tea, a sparrow, white grape juice, ginger tea, a chrysalis, a caterpiller and a butterfly all have in common?
Nothing really, but it works, doesn't it?
Your eye makes a connection between the Best Choice logo and the black in the butterfly; the orange-y brown in the "100% juice" and the similiar coloring in the chrysalis, butterfly and catterpillar. The sparrow has a variation of the orange and so does the tea tag upper left. And the life stages of the monarch sit or hang in natural places on the labels so they look like they were always there.
It's exciting how it all came together!

So get yourself a 5 year old, feed him or her some apple sauce and manderin oranges and then use the fruit labels to make some art.

Creative Carmelina is Giving Something Away

Visit Carmelina here, become a follower of both her blogs and you could win this framed print of her daughter. How adorable is it?!

The winner will be announced this Friday night.

You still have time!

You might also tell her I sent you so she knows how far her influence has spread.

I just met her today and I think both of her blogs are sweet.

She also has an etsy shop full of beautiful creations.

Go visit her!

Breakfast Tea on Tuesday

Rebecca woke up sounding congested this morning.

She had been complaining about a sore throat for a couple days.

"Can you bring me food on a tray?"

she croaked in her morning, "I'm sick" voice.

"Sure", I said vaguely, hoping she would go back to sleep.

Once my son was off to school, a picnic breakfast in bed on a tray was sounding more do-able.

My largest tray was almost too large to pass up our narrow stairs.

On the walk up, I noted the dog hair nestled in the corners of each step.

But I digress.

I landed on Rebecca's bed like a magic carpet ride, tray laden with milk and honeyed tea, teacups, scrambled eggs with cheese and warmed over cinnamon rolls (served on old glass dessert plates). Also a small blue custard cup of orange slices and a small box of raisins (just because I know she likes raisins).

While we ate and drank, I read "The Jolly Postman", opening and reading every enclosure in the book, instead of skimming like I normally do for bedtime reading.

"This is the best day ever!"

exclaimed my 5 year old invalid.

And she cleaned her plate, eating better than when she is "well".

Just then she spilled her full teacup on the tray.

"Oops!"

The party was over.

Until lunch.

Shake It Up!

I love kinetic art. Stuff that moves and changes. Here is some palm sized kinetic art, in ATC form. A little hard to appreciate from a mere photo, but do your best. :) I apologize for the glare.

Ingredients: an endearing image, a piece of acetate, a sprinkle each of sequins or stars and glitter, one sewing machine set for zig-zag. Oh, and an ATC blank or cardstock cut to 2.5" x 3.5". Also a dymo for the lettering. I also used a French manuscript rubber stamp on the background of the clip art.

Glue your image down on the card.

Sprinkle a pinch each of your stars and glitter onto your image. Cover with acetate. Zig- zag sew around all four sides. Trim down your acetate to the dimensions of the card. Dymo a word and clip apart the letters. Lay them out in a pleasing manner. (Do your heavy sighing away from your work area or the letters will blow away! I had to re-do a couple!) Peel away the backing paper and stick down your letters (the most tedious part of this card). Now shake and alter your glittery ATC to your heart's content!

Note: I created my textured acetate by running a sheet of acetate, loosely covered with celophane shred (like Easter grass), through a hot laminating machine. Those were the days when I volunteered for my son's pre-school (he is now 10 years old!) and laminated projects for the teachers. I have a couple sheets of my experimental acetate left which I use frugally. These two cards were made from one scrap.