I'm baaaaaack and this time I mean it!

For the past few years, quilting has become more a chore than a hobby for me. I am trying to find the fun in it again. This said, I started rifling though the closet in my craft/art/sewing/spare bedroom looking for something to inspire me to quilt.

In this huge walk-in closet full of, well, stuff. You can find anything from wrapping paper to magazines to fabric to several long lost relatives in there. Also in this closet are many UFO’s (known in the quilting world as UnFinished Objects). As I dug (yes, literally dug) through my closet, one UFO project I stumbled (yes, literally stumbled) across the infamous Y2K Quilt Project. What is the Y2K Quilt Project you ask? Craziness, I tell you! Craziness!

The Premise: Collect 2000 2" squares from every single state and country you could. The quilter with the most participants wins. (Okay, I made that last part up, but that was how it felt.)

The Goal: To complete a quilt using 2000 different 2" pieces of fabric by the year 2000.

The Result: A box shoved in my closet for 9+ years.

If you haven’t figured this out yet, if you want to RECEIVE 2000 charms or 2” squares, you have to MAIL 2000 2” squares. To meet other quilters who had half wrapped bobbins such as yourself, you could go to the one and only (back then) quilting website… The World Wide Quilting something or other. On this site you could sign up for swaps....one of which was the Y2K swap.

For those of you who don't know squat about quilting, the Y2K project swept us quilters off our feet! This was a HUGE undertaking which took up WAY too much of our time. For those of you who DO know squat about quilting, you are giggling (Barbara, Anne and Jane) right now. YOU remember this, don't you?

And thus, around 1998 or so, the craziness began. We were all in a frenzy! Cutting, mailing, collecting, making our "signies" (signies were a little 2" square where you, um, signed your name, state, etc.), composing "About You" letters, etc. Charms in/charms out. Crazy. Insane. Fun. And competitive. Messages and emails (thank God we didn't text then!) back and forth...did you get Wisconsin? What about Wyoming? Know anyone from Japan? Cutting, mailing, cutting, mailing, cutting, mailing….

I don’t know exactly when the craziness ended, but it did. It probably ended around the same time all of the crazy quilters collectively realized we had to actually SEW these pieces together and put the little suckers into a quilt. Sure, you had your over-achieve quilters who made their blocks as soon as the envelopes arrive. I can name a few. These were the same quilters you wanted to whack with a yard stick. For the most part, however, I am willing to bet there are many, many, many Y2K UFO’s around the world. Come on! Admit it! You have a similar box in your closet!

And now for WEEK 9!

Here we go! Look at me getting caught up! Holy cow....you all should be impressed with me! Anywho...week nine's question is:

What was the last brave thing I did?

The answer for me was easy, but making the tag and opening myself up was very difficult. Here is my answer:

On the back I wrote:

Being brave, does it still count if you are forced to be brave? If so, the last brave thing I did was telling my 17 year old it was time for him to leave our home. He clearly didn't want to live here anymore and he was destroying our family. It was time to release him into an unknown scary world. I may regret not fighting harder. Isn't that what bravery is all about? Making decisions that may or may not haunt you in the future?

Art Info: Painted tag with black metallic fabric paint and then sprayed copper spray paint randomly over it. Then I dabbed white and grey inks to give it some depth. Edged in copper. Stamped "Brave" in white craft ink. The Fragile sticker is old ephemera....photo is not a copy, but actual photo.)

52Q - Week 8

And here we are at week 8 (okay, I am a few weeks behind....). Week eight's question is:

What was the last thing that made you laugh out loud?

Here is my answer:

I can't even remember the last time I laughed out loud because it happens SO OFTEN! My friends and family are always cracking me up. Without these people in my life, I would be lost. They all truly know that without laughter, I would cry. My loved ones -old and new life long friends - where would I be without you? You all keep me smiling...on good and bad days. For this I love you and thank you.

Truthfully, I am really not a fan of the art on this tag. It isn't really my style...but I love the sentiment.

Art info: Torn the Sunday funnies into strips and glued them on overlapping the edges. On the edge I punched holes for funky ribbon. The back has a pocket (ATC sleeve) for the journaling info.

WAAAAAY Behind in Blogging!

Well, forgive me (again)....I have (again) been neglecting my blog. I really wish I was better at keeping up with this. I have been busy making art, though....so that is a good thing. Of course, since my sanity depends on it, I guess it is a VERY good thing! Here are the "returns" from the Text Rolodex Swaps....I just love them!

Butterflies are Everywhere!

At a local library sale last year, I purchased this great book about butterflies. The "Plates" included in this book are amazing. I love using butterflies in my art whenever I can and this month's rolodex cards are not exception. March's theme for the monthly rolodex card swap was 'text'. Here are the cards I made. I am mailing them off today.

EYE CANDY!

One of the latest and greatest trends in the Altered Art world is Rolodex Cards. Of course, artists just can't leave anything alone, can we? We look at almost everything in our lives and wonder how we can "Artify" it. The same is true with Rolodex Cards! I started making and collecting these little pieces of art about a year ago. Recently, I joined a new yahoo Altered Art group how as offering a monthly Rolodex Card swap. I was hooked! Each month there is a different theme....last month was Black And White. Here is my art and what I got back....

Week 5 - 52Q "How do I feel today?"

How do I feel today? Hmmmmm...I woke
in a great mood...not sure why...but slowly
my mood shifted some.

Today I am feeling homesick...very, very homesick. I am from a very rural area in Pennsylvania....my family and many friends still live there. Moving to the "Big City" (aka the Boston area) was a major culture shock for a country girl...but you know what they say, "You can take the girl out of the country...". I have lived in Massachusetts for 15 years and 4 months. Other than the first dreadful year after I moved here, I have never been as homesick as I am right now. So, my tag for this week is about that....How do I feel today? Homesick. The back of the tag reads: Today I am feeling very homesick. I miss my family and old friends tremendously. I miss walking down old dird roads feeling my troubles and worries leaving my soul with every single step I take. I miss driving in mountains that I know like my own body. I miss the smells of home. The country air, the sweet fragerance of my hometown. I miss the old oak tree which stands in the farmer's field. I am homesick and I ache for home.

Art info: I used an extra-large manila tag and distressed it lightly with black ink and a "stratch" stamp. For the collage I used old sheet music, black paper and a lace sticker. The image is from ArtChix. Edged in black chalk.

Week 4 of 52Q Journaling Challenge

Ahhh........week 4 (can you believe I am still doing this at WEEK 4!....I am so proud of myself!)....and the phase we were asked to complete is..."When I look into my eye I see..." . Man, Emily, what were you thinking? Talk about Art Therapy! Can't I just keep going on NOT thinking about my feelings? (suppress, suppress, suppress)


Well, I can't....and this is good for me (I think). So...here is the tag for this week. Before I tell you about it, though, here is a little back story: Okay, as many of you know (and some of you don't), I am having problems with my 17-year-old son...not just basic mouthy-he-won't-listen-to-me problems but more like....on-a-first-name-basis-with-the-cops problems.


That said, anytime you look into a hurting mother's eyes it is never easy. Looking into your own hurting eyes is down right hard (and nearly impossible). So, my tag reflects that. It may be uncomfortable to read, but it is what I see...When I look into my eyes I see sorry, grief, fear, anger, resentment adn failure. When I look deeper, I also see compassion, forgiveness, hope, joy, hunger, life, beauty, religion, love, understanding, zest, lust and relief.

Art Details: I took an extra large manila tag and crumbled it all up and then flattened it with a brayer. Then, I painted the tag with green ink and over-stamped and distressed it with black and gold ink. I then sanded it with fine-grit sandpaper. I collaged using scraps from my messy desk, but the "eye" image is from an old song book. The butterfly is from a vintage book and the "K" is a real scrabble tile. I finished the edges with a gold krylon pen. Sealed the entire tag with sealer.

This week's question from Emily Falconbridge is "Do you believe in fairies?". Quite frankly, this was a bit of a challenge for me. I do not believe in fairies nor do I really work with any Froo Froo Fairy dust.

That said, since I seem to save everything (you will agree when you see an upcoming blog post entitled: Extreme Work Desk Makeover - Move that crap!), I started digging. As I dug, I came across the cancelled Disney stamps.

A friend asked, "Why did you even HAVE those?" My answer, "I have no idea." But, there they were...my inspiration.

What did I learn from this? I will continue to save everything just in case I will need it!

Here we go...week 2 of Emily Falconbridge's 52Q Challenge...
The questioned asked is, "Are you afraid of change?" and, well my answer is....HELL YES! Who isn't afraid of change, huh? It is hard to change. It is hard to watch others around you change. Quick frankly, change sucks....but it is necessary. Without change we can't grow, breath, live, love, experience. All you can do is keep breathing.

details: Acohol inks for the background of the tag, dabbed with golds. Vintage image from Artchixstudios. Vintage ad, source unknown. Edged with Gold Krylon.

It has been a long time since I have posted and for that, I apologize. Life has been crazy and days turned into weeks, weeks into days....

And today....I finally found my muse again (or it found me?)...not sure. Either way, I actually created something today. Amazing.

One of my favorite blogs is Emily Falconbridge. Check it out. She is giving her readers a prompt...one for each week of the year...called 52Q. We are to make a project using that prompt. Last weeks prompt is "What do i wish for this year to bring?". Here is the tag I made for this prompt.

More Collage!

Yes, more on collage...my favorite (for now) technique....this is also for an ATC Swap I am in called vintage Pierrot Collage. I didn't even know what a Pierrot was until I signed up! (BTW, a Pierrot is basically a French, Creepy Clown.) Here is my card.

I LOVE COLLAGE!

I just LOVE making collages...there is something great about getting my hands sticky and full of ink and glue. I know, I know....it may not seem appealing to all of you, but I am sure there are more than a few who love this feeling as well. Anyway, I am in an ATC swap and the title is Vintage Collage - Just Pink...here is my interpetation of this topic. (Notice the "score" paper in the background...)

WTA Cards!

Winner Takes All....on one of the several groups I belong to, you can participate in a WTA (Winner Takes All) swap. WTA is basically an ATC (Artists' Trading Card) raffle. Here are the two I made for the winners....do they look familiar? I just get on a roll with an idea and can't turn it off...it is like a sickness!

An Artists' Alphabet Book Swap

Been away from blogging for a while, but I haven't stopped creating art....soooooo....here are few of the things I have been working on!

This page is for a Chunky Book swap I am in called An Artists' Alphabet....my letter is "E" so I focused on Ephemera, as you can see! It was so much fun looking for cool vintage paper items to include.

The page is 4" x 4" and I justed used items I was collecting for a few years....old, paper tape measures, vintage stamps, old photos (copies, not originals) and other items.

3" x 3" Purple Page

And finally . . . I just finished these today and they are going into the mail to my fellow swappers on Monday . . . my PURPLE PAGES! I just love this image and had to use her. I glued old phone book pages to card stock, then covered them with many different purple inks. After that, I stamped a diamond pattern with silver pigment ink over the top. . . .letting it dry overnight. I then adhered my girl (Violet, I like to call her ;-) ) on top. I just had to embellish Violet's hair with a little gem and voila! Oh . . . .almost forgot . . . there is a tab on the edge. I just got a tab punch (Stampin' Up!) and had to use it.

My Green 3" x 3" Page

Here is my green page. Okay, this one was a little more involved. I first altered green paper by using Elmer's Glue dabbed on. I let that dry overnight. Then, using Ranger Distressing Inks, I covered the background with many different colors. Over the top I used Stampin' Up! ink (Forest Green). . . . THEN I tore paper from an old butterfly book. After that I cut butterfly images and adhered them on. The antenna were too delicate to cut out so I drew them on with a fine tip black sharpie. This was a fun page to help get me through this loooooonnnngggg New England winter! Think Spring!

3" x 3" Green Mini Book

This is the cover of my Mini GREEN book . . . I used some inchies (1" square altered art bits) and adhered them onto the front. The background is a great green leaf print from the cover page of an old, old book. I have been hanging onto it for a long time now for the PERFECT place to use it. I then stamped the word GREEN on the bottom.

3" x 3" Romance Mini Book Cover

This is the cover for the first 3" x 3" that we did. I stamped in silver ink on black cardstock using a stamp with romance definations on it. Then I added this altered bottle cap I received as a thank you gift from a swap I am cohosting. I love the way it turned out!

3" x 3" Mini Books

In one of the great art groups that I belong to, we are swapping out 3" x 3" pages for a mini book. The first set we did was themed Romance (that was for February . . . .get it . . .. Valentine's Day!) . Well, this just got to be soooooo much fun and a second theme was announced . . ..GREEN (that was for March . . .get it . .. St. Patty's Day!) . THEN, just because we couldn't stand NOT getting mail every day . . . there was yet another announced: PURPLE (that was for . . . .well . . . maybe Easter, perhaps?). We are just getting started! I have a feeling this monthly swap will be going on for a while! It is FUN, FUN, FUN!

Anywho, here are some pictures from these swaps. Enjoy and I hope you are inspired!