One World One Heart~ Blog Event

I'm participating in the One World One Heart  blog event

Folks with blogs from all over the world will be visiting each other.

One World One Heart was created by Lisa Swifka in 2007 as an event hosted to connect

Bloggers with one another around the world. each blogger hosts a giveaway as a little gift for popping by.

WELCOME TO MY BLOG

If you have a look on my sidebar you can read a little bit about me.

This set of decoupage coasters are the door prize for the winner who I'll select from any blogger  who comments on this page on or before

 February 17th 2011.

( the conditions of this contest  is that you have a blog of your own)

I will need a way to reach you if you are the winner.

I'll announce the winner on February 18th so please check back.

Please leave me a way to contact you by email.

To see other participating blogs stop by here

This set of 4 decoupage coasters is made with vintage dictionary images on one side

and images from a vintage physics book on the other side.

I hope you'll shuffle around a bit throughout my blog.

I do lampwork, altered art, mixed media pieces 

and jewelry designing.

I'll make sure to stop by your blog if you leave a comment here

( or anywhere else on this blog for that matter) but to have a chance to 

WIN leave your comment on this page

Thanks so much

XOXO Kim

Swap Pieces

When I received some unexpected goodies with my swap with Linda at Itsy Bits and Pieces, 

I decided to put stuff to use right away rather than rat-holing an ever burgeoning stash of treasures.

 The best way for me to approach  this endeavor was to go into a bit of a production mode.

Yesterday I set about collage-ing the various  vintage bingo cards cards that she gave me along with some little scrapbooking images that another friend had surprised me with. Along with some images that I had been collecting I put together some simple collages.

She gave me several large buttons to play with.

I came up with some simple shabby style silk sari ribbon necklaces

with vintage keys and a bauble or two.

I may even revamp my Etsy shop and hope to get a shopping cart up here and on my website as well as facebook.

I'll be ready for the summer season coming up at least!

I'm not so sure about this one as far as durability goes since it has a plastic hasp 

( vintage plastic) and the headpin is a little wobbly.

I wanted to post it though since I like the picture.

So yes you could say I've been busy!

Meanwhile any of these are for sale. 

please inquire.

Experimental Journal

One of the great things about making something for yourself is being able to experiment,

not worrying about the results entirely.

I thought I'd make a cereal box and muslin journal and making all of 

the pages the same way to provide me with some sturdier canvasses.

I was experimenting with some spray on walnut inks and acrylic washes.

Some of my husband's ancestors are featured here~ The Haucks of Danville, Michigan

I had made up some gel transfers of some of my favorite photos.

They didn't adhere quite as nicely as I had hoped but I'm not feeling so picky about it since it's my own journal

 and it was an opportunity to learn what does and doesn't work for me.

I'm not sure yet how I'm going to add to this book.

 I'm thinking it will lend itself to paints more than anything else.

It was my intention for it to be wrinkly and distressed.

The muslin was attached to the cereal boxes with Wonder Under,

a  fabric fusing product.

Using the lace as a stencil came to me by accident when I was trying to tint a small piece 

 with walnut ink on my clothesline.

An edge had flopped over  making a nice design

 so I thought I'd do some subtle stenciling on my pages.

And a few Pieces to go with the new Decor

I got my hands on some very old handwriting instruction books.

and incorporated a piece of my disintegration project

Swingline Shibori

Thought I would do a little messing around with collage yesterday.

I'm the Imelda Marcos of collage shoes lately.

Still having fun with the stash of labels that my world traveling brother gave me.

a little revamping for the the One World One Heart event

I had been meaning to get around to sprucing things up around here. I get a little scared when I start dinking around with design. My computer only crashed once and apologies to anyone who may have visited while I was trying out new backgrounds. They look so nice until you see them in full force on your monitor. This one is from Itkupilli.
You can see the link for the One World One Heart Event on my sidebar.
Now if anyone can tell me how to fit that one thing on my sidebar that isn't fitting  
( the subscribing to comments thingy) I would appreciate it.


Let me know what you think!


Thanks, xoxo Kim

Figures & Artist Trading Cards

It's been awhile since I've gone an art card run. 

I've had everything laid out in front of me numerous times, 

just making a mess and sorting 

cutting out a few images and text and bundling it all back up again 

sticking it back in the drawer.

Yesterday was the day I endeavored to make another collection.

I realized when I was scanning these  that I 

have a propensity for putting figures in my ATC's

I think it's because of the small space I have to make  my artistic statement

and that ready made figures are quite handy,

a shorthand for me

and the text too 

and a few swapped heads

and I have fun

combining and sometimes going "hmmm?"

 myself

I love typing manuals for the text

and old magazine ads

especially with some old gal from the early 1900's

I'm sure you can guess what the title is on this one

but what you may not know is that is an altered pic of a cactus

in the background.

I've cut up a few of my old printmaking projects

for some of these backgrounds

The Whiner

My brother gave me the most delightful pageful of crying babies from the early 1900's

I've been scanning and using their faces

definitely altered art

apologies to Matisse

Yellow Hat Guys Make Me Cry

Look To the Future

Faros

I Would Have Curtsied

Should Be

Goddess Shoe

Too Many Hams

I'm happy to trade any of these if you wish.

Even if you don't want to trade I'd love to hear which one is your favorite.

Thanks, xoxo Kim

Yesterday's Children

Some little projects that were mostly completed yesterday

~my little children~

I had some end bits from some journal papers that were left over

after cutting the paper to size for my cereal box journals.

Why not use my baby wipe paint brush blotter for some color?

I'm fond of "Wonder Under" a product that fuses to fabric with an iron and 

then you can fuse your pieces to other fabric or even cardboard.

 I like to make fabric postcards this way 

and it's a great way to use up scraps.

A lampwork embellishment that I made

 I must tell you that I've been heavily inspired by Corrine

 at Dosfishes on these projects.

She had sent me a wonderful altered Kombucha bottle that she had made

and after finding a mother lode of patina-ed antique bottles at a yard sale

I wanted to try some myself.

This is what I came up with.

I happened to have some  vintage lace that I dyed last year.

I used saffron and tea and coffee.

And some beeswax to attach the lace to the bottles.

I want to make some lampwork stoppers of my own for them

although some of them are Lea & Perrins sauce bottles 

and I have a goodly stash of the original glass stoppers for those.

This one needs some more dangly bits

Oh yes and I do love my new stash of sari silk ribbons!

It took me into another color palette

 I didn't want to cover up or take away from the patina

which is almost dichroic on some after being buried for so long

much like ancient Roman glass

These babies are destined for a road trip to Alaska this spring 

because we may be opening a little shop out back next to our house

for the folks rolling by on the Alaska Highway.

Meet the Drawing Group

I've never been part of a drawing group but when I heard it was rather casual

and was meeting at the Grand Hotel Saloon in Old Bisbee, I decided to join in.

I'd done my exercise which you can see in my last post and we all brought

some pieces to work on too.

There was some live music to enjoy as well.

It was a small group just three of us.

This is Barbara who doesn't consider herself an artist

but she makes these wonderful "cake" assemblages.

Here's our friend Julio wearing one on his 69th birthday 

at the Screaming Banshee Pizza restaurant.

I got to see some more of her "cakes" across the street from the saloon where her husband

has a studio with some  of his magnificent sculpture/assemblages.

Liz Hampton Derivan is a photographer and encaustic artist.

Have a visit to her  blog here. I couldn't show her most recent encaustic

 that she was showing us because she's putting it in for a submission and can't publish it.

I will tell you it's luminescent and wonderful.

Here's her eyedropper inking.

I really like the way it turned out!