A Little Side Trip to Saluda

Although I am back home in Indiana from South Carolina, if it were up to me, I'd still be in Saluda, NC. What a wonderful town! Made the stop off I-26 per an article I read in Cloth, Paper, Scissors about a wonderful shop called Random Arts. Wonderful it was! The entire town is an artists' colony, similar to Nashville, IN for those who can picture that equally hilly town.

I could have spent hours in Random Arts. Owner Jane Powell was so nice! We swapped ATCs, took pictures of each other's art and she showed me the latest and greatest. I came home with so many goodies...and left so many behind! She was packed with "stuff." Even all her ribbons were each on vintage bobbins. A bin held tiny pieces of vintage wooden rulers.

And the art! Oh, glorious samples. Incredible drawings and paintings by Jane. Beautiful altered books. Examples of past classes by well-known, published artists. Just a fabulous store!

We had lunch at the Purple Onion. Just missed jazz night by one day. Hit a few other shops and Wildflour Bakery. The hardware in town was something right out of 1950. There were bed and breakfasts all around, and the hills, mountains and foilage were gorgeous. They kept whispering, "stay, stay." All I could say was, "I'll be back."

Teeny Tiny Sewing Machine and Cat Shown Actual Size

Hello there...I was 'sew' excited to find my sewing machine arrived when I got home from La Florida yesterday. What good is this, you ask? It will sew through paper, fabric, do leetle repairs and most importantly, assist in all forms of altered art. Plus, it is the least intimidating sewing machine I have ever seen- considering I haven't seen one since eighth grade- and even then, I didn't like them. No blue ribbons in 4H for skirts and aprons for me. In fact, no 4H for me, which is why I "made" Adrienne do it. But that's another story. Even Lester is not intimidated by this. Got the little gem from Stampington for $10.95. (Go pitiful Notre Dame today). Off for a pedi.

A couple more Halloween ATCs

Here are a couple new Halloween artist trading cards I made last night for gifts in my ebay and blog swaps. I am in a Sweet and Sinister swap (see logo at right) which requires something sweet and something sinister (duh!), something handmade and a home decor item, all in shades of black, white and Halloween colors.

The skull card was made by using bleach and a rubber stamp, to stamp an image on black art paper (construction paper does not work). I used various amounts of bleach to get varying degrees of spooky images. I first saw this done in either Somerset Studio or Cloth, Paper, Scissors, two excellent magazines. The examples used an egg stamp and went further by using a brush and paint to add some color to the bleached images- have to try that!

I am also in an Art and Scent swap for my ATC and ACEO Enthusiasts group on ebay and a Secret Swap for Respect: Artists who Love Art, AWLA, on ebay.

I have tons more fall clip art to use, plus I just got 48 new Lyra Aquacolors, so I really need to get back to my journal and start drawing more new stuff. Making these ATCs is addicting. I have to laugh, because only a month ago when I was buying some stuff from Kris H at Retro Cafe Art Gallery on ebay, I asked her how she could stand to do such tiny work- ha!