Paper Life.....................

Just like you, I haven't had much time to sit and create but I always make time for my journal.  Half the fun is selecting images to fit the day and since I usually work on these in the morning that's a bit of a challenge.  (Like a mirror image, I just realized that I used the same stamp twice - oh, well..)  Do you journal?  I don't think I could not.  Lately I've been using the little notebooks you get at the $$$ store.  Sometimes I glue two pages together if I think they're going to be too heavy. They're my air.   Diane

New and Improved Partridge in a Pear Tree

I just couldn't talk myself into being happy with the first creation so this is a better one I came up with.  Much better, I think.  Good thing I wasn't working on a time clock on these.  Anyway.  I used part of the same base of the old one and remembered having some paper with pears on it (The French Flea Market - The Minds Eye).  Cut out my pear tree and reinforced it, then added my old Hungarian Partridge, and some tiny pine cones.  And we have it folks.                Diane

Partridge in a Pear Tree...............

This might be all I get done for a while in the Twelve Days of Christmas.  It's going to take me some time to collect little elements for them. They're all going to be around 3" x 3" so it's a bit of a challenge (especially when it's a tree).  We have Hungarian Partridges in our area and I thought it would be fun to use one of those in my pear tree.

It took me a while to post this one.  I waver between it just looks dumb to O.K. - it isn't dumb!  Diane

Playing along................

The Twelve Days of Christmas at Alpha Stamps sounds like fun.  As you know it's A Partridge in a Pear Tree so being a late starter I did two turtledoves today.  I'm still working on the partridge in a pear tree.  Three french hens will be a  great one to stir up my imagination.  It will be fun watching to see which designer will do the next ten.               Diane

Comfort & Joy

Although this angel looks kind of melancholy I think she's just hoping that you will find both comfort and joy this coming Christmas season.  She's resting on a silver star and finished with vintage lace. Diane

Dreaming.....................

I love this pretty little creature who waits for snow and all the beautiful things of Christmas.  This ornament is my latest ornament.            Diane

Sugarplums and Sparkle

Visions of sugarplums

Sparkle and fluff and tinsel

 

Diane

Available in my Etsy shop

Coming Soon

Don't give up yet!  I will be posting soon.  I'm working on a delicious project and can't wait to show it to you.  Right now I have a couple more things to add to it. Very soon.................
Diane

Some Halloween Wishes

 Hope you're having fun this Halloween season.  These are some Halloween tags to help. 

I wish I had seen Vanessa's gold spiders and bugs before I did this tag.  They're amazing. 

Lot's of candy corn, carmeled apples, and chocolates to you this BOOtiful season.      Diane

Maybe no mystery at all......................

There's an old house in our neighborhood which has stood empty

and unloved for probably three years.  The other

evening at dusk I was walking Rascal past and happened to glance

over to see a light on in one of the upstairs

windows. I was pretty sure nobody had been there but

maybe I was wrong.  The next evening (earlier) I noticed

that one of the windows in back was standing open.

 

A dear friend, Ben and his wife had lived there happily for

many years and over the years had many pets which

they nurtured and loved but we lost him to cancer about 5 years ago

some other people bought it, tore it up, ruined the lawn

and left it. 

 

A while back a dog appeared there, it was homeless and we

finally captured it and found a good home

for it.  Until that time he hung around that house! and wouldn't leave.

Now there's a cat that lives around the house. 

 

 I'm just thinking - could the two things have anything to do

with each other?       Diane  

Memory Keeper.........

Just reopened my Etsy shop and have listed this.

The little memory keeper holds eight teeny-tiny books as well as two little wonky drawers for even tinier memories.  It was so much fun to make and it was good fortune to find the little topknot for it - one of those things in a junk store that no one knows quite what to do with it - but I did!  This piece is very dear to my heart.                 Diane

Roses

 A very colorful and fun lady came into my shop one day and among other things we were talking about painting.  I told her I had a hard time painting roses.  "Bring your brushes and paints tomorrow and I'll come in and show you how." 

So I did and we spent a couple wonderful hours the next day and she showed me how to make rosebuds.  This is them.  She taught me a lot of other things about painting and she enjoyed creating vignettes in the store and showed me a lot about that, too. I never saw her again. 

Isn't it funny how some things happen?                       Diane

Reincarnation

It's gone now
Several years ago I painted
this little bench
It served us well, it held a lot
of things up

I didn't change the color
although I wanted to for a long time.
Today, though, I decided to spray it
black. 
I decided to take a picture of the
little robin and nest so I could
save it forever

The black bench will be
wonderful on the porch,
the black will pop against
the light color

Diane
 

Introducing you................

............to Curlique, the new resident of my art room.  He keeps a sharp, beady eye on all the comings and goings. I picked him up on my recent trip to Billings - just couldn't go home without him.    Diane

Beginning your journal...............

A blogger asked me how to do a journal.

The most important thing is that you have to WANT to.  It's that easy.

The kind of book you use is strictly up to you.  You can go the Barnes and Nobel and buy an elegant Moleskine or you can make a book out of recycled cereal boxes or anything in between.  This summer I kept one that was a little  4"x6" spiral notebook that I got at the $1.00 store.  That and a pen and pencil are all I took with me on my trip to California.  The following shots are of it.

You may recognize the cover - a catalog cover from Victorian Greetings.  Somewhere I cut out the word summer and the drive-in movie ticket was from a Tim Holtz paper stash which you can order online.  I always use a little double faced tape for insurance on my paper and I've found out that I like UHU stic glue which I buy at the office supply store. 

The only thing I even glued in these pages was a picture from a restaurant we went to.  Then I decorated the bottom with a shelf of clay pots like they had under their windows.  I want to try the clay pot thing - maybe next year.  This helps me remember.

These pages have images mostly from the Graphics Fairy.  She has some wonderful things on her blog. 

On these pages I've cut out pretty paper the size of the page and glued them on and then embellished as I went.  You can do your pages however you want to. 

You really need the glue I mentioned - I've used other kinds and your things fall out - and it isn't taht expensive. Some little scissors (can't remember the name but they're in the paper craft section and they are yellow and black - very precise and sharp!)  Some good markers are nice, ZIG Memory System are the ones I like....so far, and you should have a white gel marker which is almost impossible to find.  A paper punch if you're making your own pages and some rings which you also can purchase at Walmart or an office supply store.  But all that said - you can use a pen and crayons for that matter - until you get the supplies you want. 

What to write on your page?  What's going on that you want to remember?  What's going on that you'd rather not remember but you need someone to talk about it and your journal is just waiting to listen, a beautiful thought you ran across, things that you love, the subjects are endless but if you find yourself staring at a blank page there are many Internet sites of journal prompts which will give you lots of ideas. 

Let me know how you're doing but mostly remember - this is yours, this is you, there's no right or wrong way to do it.  Sometimes a page just doesn't come out the way you want it to - glue something over it  - or glue a manila envelope over it and put some little things in it you want to keep.  It's endless.  Diane 





  

Very Un-spooky Place

The Halloween vignette in my art room changes often..........mostly the candy corn.  My potions are not for spells but things that I've captured during the summer and fall.  Among them are Autumn Whispers, Mermaids Tears, and Dragonfly Blessings.  Fairy Kisses and Hoot of Owls have joined the bottles.  The beautiful bottles are so much fun to make. 

K Mart had a big bag of skeletons for $3.99 and I only needed one so the other ones are give aways. I brought one to my 3 year old great grandson recently and he proceeded to have a little dance between it and a Power Ranger!! 

To me this is the best part of Halloween - visiting other blogs, seeing what others are creating and how they decorate.  Hope you're having fun, too.                     Diane

Mysterious and Enchanting

Seems like as this time of year comes around and evenings turn into dark rapidly, and you hear the owl hooting and the moon is a sliver the feeling changes.  I can't help but get swept into the mysterious feeling of the season. 

I had this little frame I purchased at Salvation Army for .25 and decorated it with Mr. Poe and his raven friend.  It will be added to my Halloween display which, I might add, is not ugly but the more fun and enchanting side of the season.                     Diane

This blog.................

...........is just beginning to feel so cozy and real and warm.  For a while it didn't seem that way.  It just seemed like an off shoot from Pinecones and Roses.  But now it feels like home, like my art studio, like a place to come to get away from things and just create and be happy.  I hope you're feeling welcome here, just like if you were in my studio with me.

Here comes my husband, he's probably wondering what I'm planning for supper.
                                                                                                                                        Diane

Seven More..............

 Here are the last tags I've made. 

The snowman is sure to be a hit - he's so jaunty and cute.  My ribbons are in sad shape so I have to find some more.  I'm pleased, though, with the sparkly tulle.  It adds a very festive finishing touch.  The snowman and Noel are Ranger designs, however they use a die for theirs, I cut mine out by hand.  Think snow!!! (just joking right now)       Diane

One.........

This is the first of thirty tags that I've been commissioned to do by the 15th of December.  I want to have them done well ahead of that time. 

As you know, the biggest part of the project is in your head.  Once you have a plan and the ideas begin to flow, then you're on your way. 

The stamp of pine trees is from Ranger.                      Diane

Little Shelves

Yesterday I found a little cabinet at a yard sale and I wish I'd taken a picture of it before.  It was maple colored with little doors barely on it with punched tin insets.  I've been watching for something to fit on top of my old 60's paper towel rack and this does. 

After scrubbing it I took the doors off, filled in the holes left by the hinges with putty, and covered it with papers.  I think it's going to work there just fine.                      Diane

It's No Use

Definitely true since the last time I posted on here, I hope to keep up better.  I have been creating. 

This is my favorite tag that I've ever made.  I guess it's the message which comes from Alice in Wonderland. 

But isn't that the truth?  Do you feel like the same person you were yesterday?  Things happen, you learn something, everything changes you. 

The sticker at the bottom is an old bookplate that I found junking.  The other elements are from here and there and the background is from one of Tim Holtz's books.   Diane

.....wait a minute, I'm on a roll!



These two pages face each other.
This is in a new journal I've started because I
just had to begin it. I guess all I have to say
is to read the first one (with the feather).
I got so busy working on this today
that I almost missed breakfast (more of a
big deal to my husband than to me)
Hope something comes along to inspire you
like art journaling has done with me.  It's just
bliss to feel so excited about getting back to what you're working on.
Diane

I Choose Joy

Lately I've been doing a lot of journaling but it was mostly about bad stuff.  This page turns a corner for me.  I think it expresses a lot and I'm glad to share it.  Now maybe I can move on with my creating.  Diane

Still Journaling....and Sharing

 Yes, I'm still journaling and working in other art as I find time. 

 As you know, summer's a hard time to spend great blocks of time in your studio with everything else going on. 

 Mostly, though, I do my journals.  They're the place that I pour my heart and soul and times have been very trying in the last few months.

Privacy is such an important question in art journaling.  Do I share or don't I?  Do I wish to air my heart with all or do I keep it all to myself?  It's a big question.

I'm reassured by Janice Lowry who lost her battle with cancer and left the world richer with her art and journals.  She said that she was terrified of anyone reading her journals until someone did.  Janice left her 120 journals to the Smithsonian choosing preservation over privacy.       Diane

Inspiring Stuff

Don't you just love this quote?  I do. 
I'm hoping that you're having a wonderful, artful day.  Blessings, Diane

Happy Birthday??

I'm polishing this up and working

towards publishing it as a greeting card.

What do you think? Do you think it would work as a birthday card?

Just had to share this with you.  It's a poem by shel silverstein that I copied and a silhouette I cut out.  It took me hours and my eyes were crossed when I finished.  It was really a challenge cutting out the little fingers and whiskers but it was still great fun!  Enjoy!                  Diane

A Glimpse Into My Paradise

A little look into my studio. 
Sometimes I love to spend my time here just sorting and rearranging.
As you probably know there's never enough room.  Look at the basket that holds some of my pens and pencils.  I had them in cans which took up too much room, as did the organizers which I considered.  My husband (who works on appliances) came in carrying this dishwasher basket. Perfect!!  It takes up no extra space but uses every inch, fits perfectly and there's compartments for sorting by colors.  The handles could be on the sides but who's complaining?  Not me.  I love it.                        Diane
. 

It's no use...................

Don't you just love Alice in Wonderland quotes.  I have it on my to do list to re-read it, when I read it before it was in grade school and I read the Classic Comic's version of it so that I could do a book report.  Now I'm going to sit down and read the book.  This quote is so true if you think about it. 

The picture is from some book plates I found at a garage sale. 

Have fun creating, I sure am!!                                        Diane

Considering Art

 On this page I mostly thought about where I was going with art and what was holding me back.  That's part of the beauty of journaling, you can think with paper, scissors, words and color.  The little bee is a favorite, I cut it from the Victorian Trading Company catalog.  The butterflies are from the Graphics fairy.  At first I didn't like the paleness of the page but it eventually fell into place and took on a beautiful life of it's own.  

     

     I'm almost finished with this piece. I'm still looking for a certain something for the top. Most of the little books I covered, one is from Lynn. When I get it completely finished I'll repost it. One of the things I used on it was tissue tape which you can see on the bottom drawer and the sidebars and bottom. I love to work with that stuff. Not sure whether it will stay stuck forever though so I decoupaged the entire thing. Until next time - happy creating!

 There are pitfalls to being a paper artist as well as many triumphs and joys. 

 Constant paper clippings that I can never keep cleaned up, in face sometimes I feel like they follow me through the house like a cloud. 

Cobwebs!  Yes, I hate to admit it but occasionally my art gets in the way of my housework.  But it's worth every stolen moment to find myself in creating art.