Endless Possibilities

ICAD 25 - 27

2013 ICAD/25

2013 ICAD/26

2013 ICAD/27

Worth It

Recycled Goodies

I have a few of these cool Button Booklets available now in my online shop.   Constructed of hand painted and printed watercolor paper with a 1/4-inch spine, each pamphlet-stitched booklet contains 7 folios (28 pages) of fine drawing paper and has a handsewn button and cord closure.  Each is $10 plus $3 for worldwide shipping.

Yesterday I went through all my recent prints from Carla Sonheim's online Gelli printing class, and pulled out the ones I wasn't especially keen on.  I cut them up into postcard-size pieces, colored the edges with ink and overprinted with metallic paint.  Now they'll get used.

ICAD 22 - 24

2013 ICAD/22

2013 ICAD/23

2013 ICAD/24

Earth Bats Last

The Lemon ~ I've spent a lot of time in my garden lately, pulling OUT recently planted veggies, unfortunately.  After the first crop of salad veggies in mid-spring, things have not been growing as well as I hoped they would.  My research into the matter seems to indicate that the nearly ever-present wind in my area has been making the veggies tough very quickly and keeping them small.

Every nano location in coastal California is its own microclimate.  Things can grow well around the block but not necessarily precisely where I am, all factors considered.  And erecting a windbreak where my garden beds are would be impractical and cost-prohibitive.

Bummer.  It's back to store-bought organic greens for me.  The truth is, after those first few salads, I haven't been enjoying eating out of the garden because the veggies are tough and bitter (several lettuce varieties, two spinach varieties, two or three romaine varieties).  And what I planted from seed, although nearly everything germinated, has been extremely slow to grow as well as attracting snails to those tender new shoots.  I can't bring myself to kill snails -- I put them in a dish a carry them about 200 feet to the bluff and wish for them happy lives elsewhere.  Fortunately there aren't many of them, but just one can do a lot of damage.

The Lemonade ~ I'm turning the veggie beds into flower beds and mulching with cocoa bean mulch which repels snails.  I have a few starts to put out already and will add more over time.

Just another one of life's many lessons that you gotta go with the flow.  Also that you can't bend nature to your whim...earth bats last.

ICAD 19 - 21

2013 ICAD/19

2013 ICAD/20

2013 ICAD/21

Note to Self

Collage Painting

This is a second collage painting I did recently, influenced by Jane Davies' Scribble Collage DVD.  This one is 11 x 7-1/2 inches on watercolor paper.  I'm working on a third piece currently.  I really want to do a lot more of this although it seems as though I'll do nearly anything else before I'll tackle the challenge of another collage painting.  So my progress is slow. 

ICAD 16 - 18

2013 ICAD/16

2013 ICAD/17

2013 ICAD/18

The collage just above was the original ICAD/14 (posted last Saturday), but I didn't like it for some reason.  I turned it into a postcard and replaced ICAD/14 with the one below.

2013 ICAD/14

Gentle Soul

Photo Cards

I call these things photo cards because each one begins with a digital image ~ in this case, nearly all are images of shiboried, dyed and/or printed fabrics.  I build the collages onto cardstock with handmade paper bits and occasionally some washi tape, and stitch them together.  I make them to tuck into the pockets of my Everyday Journals generally, although some of the ones in the second photo might conceivably find their way into the post to mail art correspondents.

Last week I had zip energy for any art other than a little tinkering about here and there, ICADs, etc.  Yesterday I was inspired to make these photo cards from images I printed out maybe two months ago.  Eventually things get done around here.

ICAD 13 - 15

2013 ICAD/13

2013 ICAD/14

2013 ICAD/15

Travel Light

ICADs 10 - 12

2013 ICAD/10

2013 ICAD/11

2013 ICAD/12

Going Postal

After doing pretty much nothing yesterday, save reading and hunkering under my sleeping bag with fleece socks on and the heat turned up, I got inspired last night to make a small series of Postal Collage ATCs for a swap mentioned here on Andria's blog, that had been reposted by Pamela on her CappuccinoAndArtJournal Facebook page.  Funny how these things go...

I've got two swaps arranged, with the above-mentioned mail artists.  If any of you want to do a postal-themed ATC swap, let me know in the comments.

Winter Spring WrapUp

I finished working in my Winter Spring 2013 Journal over the weekend.  Here are a few page spreads from the completed innards.

The library checkout slip on the spread above is interesting.  I noted on February 7 when I made my entry that the last time the book, which I'd gotten at a thrift shop somewhere, had been checked out was in 1961, and that I was in junior high (which I hated for numerous reasons) in Los Angeles at the time, and that that was 52 years ago.  Oh. My. God.

Yesterday I started working in my Summer Fall 2013 Journal, among other things.

Mary Ann Moss just revealed her latest online class, SEWN.  Check out the video.  It's gonna be a blast!

Index Cards 8 & 9

2013 ICAD/8

2013 ICAD/9

Many Faces

Index Cards 5-7

2013 ICAD/5

2013 ICAD/6

2013 ICAD/7

Working It

Continuing my work with Jane Davies' Scribble Collage DVD.  And this is my first collage with handmade papers and acrylic paint.  I'm rather pleased with the way this turned out, and inspired to keep going in this vein.

Coasting in Neutral

2013 ICAD/3

2013 ICAD/4

Here are Monday's and Tuesday's Index-Card-a-Day (ICAD) pieces.  If you're not sure yet what the ICAD challenge is, go to the link to find out.  Anyone can join in, you don't need to sign up or anything, it's free (Tammy is requesting a completely voluntary donation, if possible), and you can jump in at any time.  You don't have to show anyone your work, or you can.  The only thing that's asked of you is to commit yourself to making a small piece of "play" on a card (3.5 x 5.5 to 4 x 6 inches) every day this month and next.  Use the challenge, if you decide to take it on, as you see fit.

Anyhow, this process and my blogging about it several times a week brought to mind the Sketchbook Project 2011.  The sketchbook was actually created in 2010, and the Art House Co-op made the library of submitted books available for viewing beginning in 2011.  My chosen theme was "lines and grids" and I created collages.  Here's a link to those.