Swaps bring out the best in friends and art

Random swaps sometimes bring the nicest surprises. Recently I was assigned to swap a spring artist trading card (ATC) with Rachel Christy in our Flickr group that I help moderate, The Faerie Zine. I was not familiar with Rachel or her work or our other partner for that matter, Patty Porter.

When I checked out Rachel's work on her Etsy site, I noticed she embellishes trinket boxes. Like me, she covers them with paper, tissue, glitter, baubles and other goodies. So we agreed to swap a paper box as well. Ironically, our box swap resulted in nearly similar boxes. I sent the pink box above shown with the Cabbage Queen ATC I made for her; she sent turquoise, and we both used a face image from Sandra Evertson.

But lucky me! Rachel was generous enough to send not one but two! boxes. Today was a great sunny day in the Midwest to photograph these. In the heart-shaped, mermaid-embellished box she tucked a bunch of ephemera/art supplies to keep me creating. Visit her Etsy shop for more goodies like these.

Marie's Everywhere: Etsy, Blythe, Stampington, My Etsy!

I cannot wait to get my hands on this gorgeous special publication by Stampington and Co., which comes out April 1. Imagine: An entire magazine devoted to art devoted to Marie Antoinette! I am sure it will be full of gorgeous excess.

Just last week I learned one of my Marie art dolls (I think I can call them art dolls even though they are headless) is featured on the Etsy Cottage Style Blog. What is that, you ask? To borrow from the blog's description: We are a group of women, artists and sellers of the beautiful , whimsical Cottage Style. We are not an Etsy Street Team, but a loving, supportive community of like minded talented women. If you love the Shabby, Romantic, Whimsical, Cottage style, and sell on Etsy come pay us a visit and apply for membership at"Etsy Cottage Style." If you love to shop, like most of us do, you will find lots of cottage style boutiques. The blue Marie featured is still available in my Etsy shop.

And, squee! I also got an email that I have a piece of Marie artwork in the upcoming Somerset Studio Gallery Summer 2009. One of my all-time art goals has been to get published in that outstanding anthology. I can't believe it, and of course I can't wait to get my hands on that either.

I'm picturing some of my all-time favorite Maries here. The pink one with the cake for a head was a gift to Mary Ann in a 1:1 Marie Swap. The first turquoise one above was a gift for Cindi in another swap, this one in The Faerie Zine group on Flickr. And the second turquoise one above, the taller one, was a special gift for Lisa Kettell, and was recently featured in her new book, Altered Art Circus.

The Marie diorama above I made at a special gathering of ZNE art group members in Michigan last June. It is called "The Last Beautiful Dress" and may be headed to Etsy. And then there's always a Blythe, looking quite regal also, while channeling Marie.
Here's a link to all my Marie-related photos on Flickr. It's one of my most favorite photo sets.

Spring-y Art Adventures

The darling chick and pussywillow ATC above arrived from eclecticarchivist on Flickr as part of The Faerie Zine Spring Bunny & Chick ATC swap. Patty not only made the darling ATC, she made the accompany greeting card on which it arrived. That, along with the earlier posted ATC from rachelchristydesigns, were my receipts.

I made The Lettuce Queen ATC pictured above, and also The Cabbage Queen, who is all haughty now because I forgot to photograph here. Supplies for my ATCs were almost entirely from Paula Montgomery of Paula's Kit Club, which I highly recommend. Be sure to read Enzo's report card on her site, and check out the bracelet kit offerings from Kaari Meng of French General.

The crown -shaped paper trinket is just that, a crown- a little cheer-up surprise I received in the mail from the queen herself, Ms. Lisa Kettell. Whether I will wear it remains to be seen, but it's more fun to admire her amazing papercraft skills anyway.

And last but not least the charm bracelet is the product of the Arte du Blythe group on Yahoo! Miss Vicky hosted this swap which had such well-known players as Ms. Lisa as well as Maija Lepore, Angela Hoffman, Sandy Camarda and Kim Tedrow. Another "not sure I will wear it" thingy, but always fun to look at.

A breath of spring arrives!

Just when I thought another snow flurry in Indiana in March would leave me stark raving mad, this lovely little breath of spring arrived in the mail from Rachel for The Faerie Zine Bunny/Spring ATC swap.

Rachel makes the loveliest boxes and sells them in her Etsy store. We are also doing a 1:1 box swap- can't wait! Gotta get my cards and boxes done this weekend and will post pics. My other ATC parner is Patty, Eclecticarchivist.

And I really can't complain. Although it is gloomy today, it was sunny and 60+F degrees yesterday. Just a little tease.

Also another bright spot received are the two blog awards (top right) that I received last night from Lisa Kettell, who is one to always share in her bountiful art tidings.

Mail Bonanza: Faerie Zine Fat Books are Back!

It wasn't just on the same day, but in the same envelope even, that three gorgeous, stuffed-with-original-art fat books arrived last week from Lisa Kettell and The Faerie Zine. Since some of these page swaps had been due back in July, I had kind of forgotten not only that they were coming but what I had submitted. So it is always fun to get back the finished product, or products in this case.

There were three books: Halloween Opera, Birds of a Feather and The Doll House Chronicles. You can see two of the covers above as well as two of my pages. The 'birdy' page is just one of my faves from one of the many other artists around the country and world who participated. For each of the three books I made by hand 25 or more all-original 5" x 5" pages, front and back. No small amount of work that!

Hostess with the mostess Lisa had the big job of receiving, sorting and collating the pages and binding the books, always a time-consuming job. She bound the bird and doll books accordian-style with hand-attached, fabric hinges and she used hand-pleating to bind the Halloween book. Just an amazing amount of work! And these were but three of the many fat books she's hosted this year, others being Alice in Wonderland, Wizard of Oz and more. Then, she was not only a participant in these also, meaning she made pages too, but she was also in many other books in the Itty Bitty Book Club, including the Sweet Marie book below, Vintage Prom dresses, and more. No wonder Lisa says she's swearing off fat books for awhile.

ZNE Does NOT Rhyme with Halloween

I don't know which is crazier: that I am still blogging about the ZNE Convention (that's 'Z,' 'N,' 'E," not 'zeen') or that I am already blogging about Halloween.

The darling house canvas says 'Home is where the heart is' (so true) and 'There's no place like home' (true too). I bought it from Cindy DeLuz of http://www.apurpledaisy.com in California. Her work just makes me swoon. I love the colors and the richness and the messages. We really hit it off. Anyone who knows me knows I like the whimsy style anyway, but Cindy is so sweet you can't help but adore her. Check out her Web site for more of her work. I can hardly wait to receive the canvas she is sending me in exchange for one of my bracelets from etsy http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com. I definitely got the best end of the deal, but of course I hope she feels otherwise! Don't worry, I'll be blogging more about her art.

The Halloween pages are 25 five-inch by five-inch double-sided pages I made last night for The Faerie Zine Halloween Opera fat book page swap. How great it will be to get this finished book back with pages from 24 other artists and an amazing cover from Lisa Kettell http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com. As it is, I cannot wait to get my circus, bird and dollhouse books back from her. She's crazy; she hosted all of those swaps.

I got the Halloween crepe paper at American Harvest in Pleasanton, CA. The entire store was jam-packed with Halloween stuff during the ZNE convention. I'm already making plans to attend next year, which will be April 29-May 3. http://www.znecon.com. The instructor lineup is incredible and includes both new and old art friends. I'll get to meet Lisa Kettell in person there if not before.

The orange Halloween ribbon with pumpkin faces is vintage, and I got it at the ZNE vendor fair "Pleasantries and Paperie" from a booth that sold nothing but vintage ephemera. Some of the other collage images I used are from Lisa's Altered Art (different Lisa) http://www.lisasalteredart.com, Teesha Moore http://www.teeshamoore.com, Retro Cafe Art http://www.retrocafeart.com, Paper Relics via Hannah Grey http://www.hannahgrey.com and Artchix Studio http://www.artchixstudio.com. Nothing like plugging people and virtual places I love!

Speaking of plugging, with all the ZNE love going around, I was excited to find that I was mentioned on three fantabulous blogs: Dawn DeVries Sokol, editor of 1000 Artist Journal Pages, gave me a mention at http://dblogala.typepad.com/dblogala/2008/08/ajf-the-big-sho-oe-an-ed-sullivan-ref.html, and Kris Hubick pictured 'us' here http://krishubick.blogspot.com/2008/08/longest-post-ever-zne-convenzione-2008.html. Also, the very talented Mica of Garboodles, who will be teaching at ZNE in 2009 blogged about the china head/paper doll box I swapped with her here http://garboodles.blogspot.com/2008/08/private-poppet-swap.html, and it looks like she has pictured what she is sending me. I may just have to tackle the mail person; it is adorable. Artists really are good people.

Blogger To Blogger, Passing on the Love

Receiving a blog award from a friend who is also a fellow artist and a fellow artist who is also a friend is extra special, especially when that award is bestowed by none other than the uber talented Lisa Kettell http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/ of The Faerie Zine. Lisa has so many irons sizzling in the art fire, I can barely keep up. And, when the award bestowed is for good blogging, and it comes from a fellow blogger, that is truly a compliment. We may not all compete in the true sense of the word, but certainly we share much of the same audience of readers. Never has a more supportive place been found than that special cyberspace spot where my fellow artists, bloggers, writers and friends gather, hopping from blog to blog. And although we can't and don't get to each and every daily, it is always a welcome stop when we do. So, thanks, Lisa, and in the spirit of the award, I am to pass it on to at least seven inspiring bloggers, so here I go.

1. Linda of Adventures of Molli http://adventuresofmolli.blogspot.com/. She was one of the early bloggers in the Blythe world, and if it weren't for her, I'm not sure I would have found my blogging muse. Her blog is like a Disney movie, so sweet and entertaining, with sneaky adult (not X just grown-up) humor popping up to suprise you.

2. Joanne of Ad Libitum http://joannethiemehuffman.typepad.com/, also of the snarky adult highbrow art humor I love, and she is a faithful visitor and commentor to other's blogs.

3. The Paper Crown Queen Blog http://papercrownqueenblog.blogspot.com/. I don't even know whom this is, and I love it!

4. Art and Blythe friend Maija http://www.maigirlz.typepad.com/, who sent me to #3, so I've got to thank her. We're going to have a Marie A debate any day now.

5. Jo's Labour of Love http://labouroflovex3.blogspot.com/ . This is Mary Ann's http://firstborn.wordpress.com/ sister's new blog, which is off to a fine start.

6. Mica http://garboodles.blogspot.com/ from ZNE and Etsy, with the most incredible work. So glad I found her via Angelahttp://geminiangelsart.blogspot.com/. Mica and I have a swap coming up, and I am so excited!

7. And Gail Schmidt from Shabby Cottage Studio.com http://www.shabbycottagestudio.com/ whose design team I am on, and who has the most wonderful shops and blogs - that's right, plural on both, so here's a plug to her new art challenge (with prizes!) blog at Mind Wide Open http://mind-wideopen.blogspot.com/. Everyone is free to play here!

Did you notice how I snuck 10 in there? Follow these links. You won't be disappointed.

Art, Dolls and Fat Books

With just a little midnight oil Saturday night, I finished my 24 all original 5" x 5" doll house book pages for The Faerie Zine's fat book page swap, hosted by Lisa Kettell, http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/. I had fun using collage sheets from a fellow Altered Art Diva Joanne Thieme Huffman http://www.jthcreations.com, Lisa's Altered Art http://www.lisasalteredart.com/, and German scrap from Moline http://www.moline.etsy.com/on Etsy. I got to throw on my girliest papers, laces, buttons, bows and trims as well as some vintage sheet music. Off they go in the mail Monday!

Give Me More Marie! I'm on French Overload.

I just finished the biography of Marie Antoinette by Antonia Fraser, wife of Harold Pinter. Fraser is well-known for her amazingly in-depth research, and the book did not disappoint. If only there could have been more to the story! But with a life cut short at 37 by the French Revolution, the biography could only go on for so long. Nonetheless, I was inspired to create another 'Marie' figure based on the incredible couture from the period.

As Queen of France, Marie was a patron of all of the arts, including music, ballet, theatre and of course, fashion. She was not as interested in the great painters, but instead constructed a little theatre, the Petit Trianon, where she put on plays with family and friends. Often her own dress or hair were theatres themselves, with elaborate scenes constructed within.

My glass-bottom 'bird cage' skirt features a scene with vintage millinery and jewelry bits. The skirt hoop and train are constructed from the wire form from an old hat as well as brocade, tulle and velvet leaves and ribbon. This 'bird cage couture,' as coined by the lovely and talented Sandra Evertson http://sandraevertson.blogspot.com/ was made even more perfect for me by the markings on the jar I found just today in an antiques shop.

The bodice or corset is a 7" wire mesh corset form from Stampington and Co. http://www.stampington.com/. I cut the bottom off and used it to form the wire skirt on another Marie I made here http://bly-me.blogspot.com/2008/05/art-and-blythe-come-together.html. It is shown in the middle pictures above also. For the glass-bottom Marie, I placed a vintage doily in the corset top and trimmed the edges with sequins.

After I realized I could get two, two, two Maries in one, I decided to get even more thrifty and used the Stampington two-piece small mannequin with hoop form http://www.stampington.com/html/wire_forms.html for four different projects: 1) the Last Beautiful Dress Castle in the Meadow project I blogged about below here http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/2008/06/last-beautiful-dress-at-castle-in.html, using the top of the dress form, 2) a yet-to-be-done-hopefully-tomorrow papier mache bust into which I stuck the feet from the Stampington form, and 3) two Marie 8 x 8 book pages for The Faerie Zine, http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/, which I made by cutting the skirt piece in half at the sides. Those pages are here http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/2008/04/queen-has-spoken-and-she-said-tres-bien.html and here http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/2008/04/if-idle-hands-are-bad-im-looking-good.html.

Oh, and just in case you think I might be sick of all things Marie, I also made the 18" figure shown at the very top as a gift. It is a papier mache form covered with French text, handmade papers, feathers, beads and many vintage trims. I think I might have been good at passenmenterie, the French art of adornment, such as with tassels, brocade trims and such that we might think of as upholstery trims. C'est la vie.

Some New Art & A Little More Circus

Although I have a gazillion specific projects due, from book reviews to hand-made book pages, I just wanted to play last night. Okay, so my idea of playing on Friday night is staying home in the basement and maybe getting pizza delivered. But, it also means getting paint all over and making art. I figured I'd better try some techniques from Art & Soul before I unlearn them. So "Fashion Victim" was created on an 11 x 14 canvas out of acrylic paint, magazine collage, marker and beeswax a la Anne Grgich. The entire canvas is covered with bits of paper before painting and making into something else. Oh yeah, the entire canvas is also covered with glue, lots of glue. That is her technique, in fact, to make an color-washed "ice rink" to move around the papers by mixing coffee with cream and PVA glue. You can use the glue to protect images you want to keep, and then paint or collage over the rest. Then the glue dries clear, and voila! There are your images again.

The 8 x 10 painted canvas is called "Spring in My Soul." I just love bright colors and wanted to try a sponging technique as well as granular gel medium to make the flowering trees. The garden stroller might be me; haven't decided. Her dress is paint, collage, charcoal, gel pen, tissue paper, beeswax and a piece of a vintage earring. I can't explain it. I just like it.

The next art adventure, making circus book pages, had to wait until today. Some more circus ephemera arrived in the mail, including more vintage popcorn bags and tickets- enough to make 28 all-original 5" x 5" book pages for The Faerine Zine's circus book. I took a break in the middle of those to inspect my outside flowers and take some pictures. Have to find a suitable spot for some outdoor prom pictures tonight. Must plan ahead, as 17-year-old boys are not patient.

Circus, Circus, Even More Circus News!

This beautiful, soft-cover, perfect-bound book-magazine is now available from the lovely Imaginator Lisa Kettell at her website and blog http://www.moonfairesworld.com or http://thefaeriezine.blogspot.com. Naturally, I would have to call to your attention the headline at the bottom middle proclaiming my "circus exploration."

Besides my article, you can expect: artwork by Stef Morgante, Donna Howard and The Two Pixies; articles on Rudolph Valentino, The Romance of Paris, Moulin Rouge and Other Follies; the Victorians of Cape May, pirates of the Atlantic, Peeps: A Candy Sensation; Port Fairy, Australia; Southern Belles; Creole Style; Cupcakes: the New Dessert Rage; The Secrets of Marie Antoinette, Part One; Mermaids and Seaside Pageants; and a free China Doll Collage Sheet for your projects. My article was inspired after researching and writing the circus post of May 11, just below this one. If, like me, you didn't get your fill of circus as a child, you'll want to order this zine!

Meanwhile, coincidentally (cue the "Twilight Zone" music if you are old enough), the same day I wrote the post I learned on the 11 p.m. news that the International Circus Hall of Fame had barely escaped severe fire damage.

According to the Web site for Channel 21 WPTA in Fort Wayne, IN., "An historic building in Peru, Indiana was in jeopardy after flames engulfed an adjacent structure. Grant Home Furnishings in Peru caught fire just before 5:30 Saturday evening. The store is located on Broadway downtown next to the historic Circus City Festival Arena. People were evacuated safely from both buildings...no injuries reported.The north wall of the circus building has sustained some damage. Circus operators are assessing that damage to see if the first performance can go on as planned in July." The news continued to say that volunteers started to rally immediately to repair the circus quarters. Thank goodness!

Art & Blogging Award: Pass it On

Recently I received this beautiful award from two very talented ladies, Laurie-Blau Marshall http://loudlife-laurieblaumarshall.blogspot.com/ and Heidi Eberle http://mermaidsdowry.blogspot.com/, both ZNE sistas and members of Artists and Poets. The award "Arte y Pico" was created to be given to bloggers who inspire with their writings and artwork. It is a special honor, and it is to be passed on to at least five others. There's more info at http://www.arteypico.blogspot.com/. I'm not just saying this, but both Laurie and Heidi are two I would have thought of immediately, so I procrastined a little in posting this and making my selections.

But both Lisa Kettell http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/ and Debrina Pratt http://whimsicalworldoffairies.blogspot.com/, fellow ZNE and Faerie Zine members I mentioned two posts below are both quite deserving. Lisa has boundless energy and keeps us all active and on track in The Faerine Group on Flickr, and Debrina has a certain style that cannot (and should not) be replicated. It is like viewing beautiful confections. Debrina gets a bonus point for being new to the world of blogging and jumping in with both feet!

I would also like to send a shout out to Vivian Neroni of http://vivs-whimsy.blogspot.com/. I love visiting her blog to see what she has made. Her tiny bears are just the tip of her sewing talents, and I am very envious of anyone with sewing skills. Her photo arrangements and sneak peeks of her vignettes are very enjoyable.

Gabreial Wyatt, another one with apparently boundless energy, runs a website I write for http://www.vintageindie.typepad.com/ as well as her own two etsy stores and a gathering place for vintage etsy folks (no, that is not old people). I single her out here because I love visiting her site and all its variety: travel articles, guest writers (besides me), DIY stuff, features on vintage lines and most of all: well-written stuff. Hooray for good grammar and spelling!

And finally, where would I be without Angela and Michelle? Still trying to figure out what "blog" means, probably. Michelle http://www.michellegeller.typepad.com/ took me under her wing early on; I'm not even sure how or why. But, we've gotten to be great blogging buds, and are scheming to meet at an art retreat. I mention her blog also because of excellent writing (turns out she writes for work, as well) and because of all the eye candy photos - from her studio, her travels, her fun friends and husband (gotta love a DH who leaves blog comments) and of course, her artwork.

Angela http://geminiangelsart.blogspot.com/ is a true Gemini with one foot firmly in the art world and the other in the Blythe world. We started out blogging over art- she's a famous designer for Dream Street Papers http://www.dreamstreetpapers.com/- and now we correspond constantly over our growing Blythe collections. 'Auntie Angela' is another talented sewer (I must have totally missed junior high home ec) and is making some clothes for my girls as a trade. We are meeting soon- ironicly enough- once for art at the ZNE Castle in the Meadow event and once for Blythe, at the TIB and Blythe Network Midwest Meet-Up at her house.

I know I have forgotten many, but many of those also received awards from Laurie or Heidi on more in our "art circle," which truly is a circle around the world.

Artists' World- Another Feast for the Senses

The crazily-amazing Lisa Kettell (she of soon-to-be-published book fame) and a gazillion other blogs and venues, such as The Faerie Zine, Moonfaires World, EFFA, Etsy, Flickr and more, has now created Artists' World http://artistsworldu.blogspot.com/. Can you spot my piece of artwork included in the new blog's banner? Hint: Meow.

Lisa created this as a gathering spot for fellow artists to blog about their works, share marketing ideas, suggestions or just warm fuzzies, but as a public blog, anyone can enjoy the fabulous eye candy.

In another supportive endeavor, the wonderful Sadie Lou of Sadie Lou Who on etsy and Flickr http://craftilyeverafter.blogspot.com/ has created an Etsy Cottage Style Street Team (CSST) to collectively market and promote the works of cottage style artists. Street Team members (like moi) and general members can use CSST in their Etsy listings to benefit from the combined talent and reputation of this fine group of artists. And likewise, Lynn from The Rose Cottage http://therosecottage.blogspot.com/ started a wonderful private network on Ning.com for the street team and cottage sellers on etsy. So much supportive action right now! Couldn't have anything to do with the ebay furor, could it?

And just in case I don't have enough to do, I got promoted to moderator at the Yahoo! Blythe group http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Arte_du_Blythe/ which I pretty much asked for, because I am eager to be a part of a fat book dedicated to Blythe. This wonderful group was started by respected artists Heather Simpson-Bluhm and Shoshannah Jennings, she of Hannah Grey fame.

Blythe artists or artists interested in Blythe or willing to get interested should visit this group and consider joining! Lots of fun planned, and perhaps a fundraiser for the wonderful fellow artist Bernie Berlin of A Place to Bark http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/. Bernie is the author of one of the bibles of ATCs as well as the founder and tireless worker at this no kill animal rescue and rehabilitation site. She recently fared well in Parade magazine's voting to award grants, but the need for money is great and never-ending. Check out her blog, and grab the tissues.

Valentine's Swapping Busy-ness

Valentine's Day is such a perfect time for swapping with art friends! First of all, so many of us like pink, glitter, foo-foo, frou-frou, lace, sequins and anything else girly and over-the-top, and for this event we can really pile it on. Victorian images are also appropriate, as are children, animals, fairies, hearts, angels and more.

So it was no stretch to complete a dozen valentine ATCs for ATC World on Yahoo! There are six 'My Funny Valentine' cards and six "Vintage Valentine Collage' cards. Then, I made three embellished dresses for The Faerie Zine Vintage Valentine Swap, and the jar fairy is my January contribution to the Shabby Cottage Studio Design Team assignment http://www.shabbycottagestudio.com, using a collage sheet from SCS for the clown/cupid/fairy inside. Everyone needs at least one captured fairy. Don't worry; they don't mind being captured. Some images above by me and thanks to the following for other images: Shabby Cottage Studio, Paula's Kit Club, Sea Dream Studio, Stampington templates, spark*your*imagination, and the late Murphy L. Smith. Can't wait to get my swap exchanges back!