Headed to New Jersey

What could be better than a Tinsel Wonderland Workshop? How about a Tinsel Wonderland Workshop led by the inimitable Lisa Kettell? See? There IS something better. So, I'm headed to New Joisey from Balmore, as the locals say. Actually, I wonder if people in New Jersey like it when interlopers say "New Joisey" or some silly variation. My guess is no. I'd better leave my nearly half-century Midwestern twang at the door. If you think about it, don't we all talk funny?


I'm excited to be hanging with Lisa, founder and creator of Art Opera, sad that I won't meet Ann-Denise Anderson, a fellow Lisa fan and supporter and artist in her own right, curious about what we're going to make (Santa's Toy Apothecary, a clay and paper mache Christmas tree with doll-head topper), and ready for some great antiquing at Lafayette Mill Antiques Center.


It seems like so long ago that I 'met' Lisa that I can't remember how or when. I think it was in her private Flickr group, The Faerie Zine, whose actual zine you can order on Amazon here. Not sure. We became fast friends, and I was honored to be asked to submit a piece for her first book, Altered Art Circus, which you can also order on Amazon. We've swapped art, we've commiserated, we've yakked...so it will be fun to see her leading a workshop. TTYL and BRB...gotta go get my art on.

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.

Postess with the Mostess. Squee!

Everything thing about this post makes me squeal with delight. In fact, I have been on cloud nine for the last 12 hours, barely stopping to sleep. I AM the postess with the mostess, simply because I feel like the luckiest blogger in the world, well, the www world anyway.

Yesterday I happened upon Altered Art Circus by Lisa Kettell at Barnes and Noble (Quarry Books, 2009, ISBN-13:978-1-59253-487-6; or on Amazon). I say 'happened' because I wasn't expecting to find it on the shelf yet. The publication date has been February 2009 for about the last year and a half, or ever since the author, Lisa Kettell of The Faerie Zine, invited me to submit a piece of art for the book's gallery.

At the time I started making this 3D sculpture representative of Marie Antoinette, my intent was to make Lisa a gift for all her work in our art group. I don't think I even knew then the book had a circus theme, or certainly I would have drawn on my great love for circus art! Nevertheless, I made the 18" 'Marie' in one day, and sent her east to live with Lisa. I never really believed the piece would make it into the book- either because of some mail disaster only I would experience or because it was edited out for being "no good." Every artist has those thoughts, especially one who has never been published in a real book until now. A 'real' magazine, yes. 'Real' books published via Blurb or Lulu, yes. But a real publishing house with a real editor (who didn't cut out my picture)? C'est Magnifique!

Here's a couple more links to my other Marie figures here and here. I have one still for sale on etsy, and I sent the rest off last summer in hopes of finding their way into Stampington's new Marie Antoinette magazine.

But as for being in Lisa's book, I am over the moon! And I share the Gallery with so many wonderful art friends like Bella and Wanda and Ann-Denise. And I share my page with the inimitable DeBriNa Pratt of Spark*Your*Imagination. Thank you again Lisa!

Another great art friend who roams these same circles is Viv Neroni of New York. Out of the blue (and I say that because I haven't been reading everyone's blogs as faithfully as I should) Viv sent me the most darling pin-keep (above), which I won in a contest on her blog. Viv and I swapped goodies once before. She makes the most darling tiny felted bears and paper clay figures and posts the most delicious photos on her blog. Viv is also Violet's 'new mom.' Violet is of the Blythe persuasion, and I only now realized 'V' is the perfect letter. No wonder Viv kept Violet's name after 'adopting' her.

The 'beady' looking photo (top) is a work-in-progress. It's starting with stringing assorted tiny seed beads from a bead soup by Beverly Gilbert of Gilbert Designs in Washington. I met Beverly at Art & Soul, Portland, in October and made two pendants in her class. It is tiny work that requires reading glasses and a task light. See that sliver of a curved beading needle? It's a wonder I can string anything. This strand so far is sort of a freeform Peyote stitch, which I am glad to have finally learned. It really is easy.

I'm planning to use the strand when fully-formed to encase either a 'jingle' shell as shown above or a piece of beach glass or some other shell and a tiny starfish, and that will form a pendant just like the amber one I made at A&S. But, shhhh! Don't tell. It's going to be a gift for someone special who favors shells.

Fantastic Blog Award!

I received this sweetest of blog awards from the incredibly-talented Jade Adams of Jade's Funki Junk. Jade has a great Zetti style and has been published in Stamper's Sampler and Somerset Studio too many times to count. I think we met via ARTchix, so it is appropriate that Jade was tagged by Helga, owner of ARTchix, to tell seven random things about herself. Jade tagged me, but everything about me is so random, I am taking the lazy way out. Jade also has super cool jewelry and collage sheets in her Etsy store. Check out her blog and shop. Jade and I have met in person, along with her mom Vonda and her sister Coral (her other sister is Amber!). We shopped and swapped at Crafts 2000 in Monroe, MI. Since then we've crossed paths some more in The Faerie Zine, ATC World, ZNE, Flickr and more. She's become a special art friend.

A Final Word on The Circus

I cannot believe after all my "I Now Love the Circus" rants I forgot to upload my finished circus pages! I made 28 5" x 5" all-original front-and-back pages for The Faerie Zine's Circus Fat Book page swap, hosted by Lisa Kettell http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com. It was possibly the fastest 28 pages have ever come together, and I was kind of bummed when they were done-and especially that I ran out of vintage supplies. But, I had just the right amount to do the pages. Some have removeable ringmaster tags; some have vintage tickets and popcorn bags, as you can see. Each one is different and as colorful as possible. I can hardly wait to get this book back, although it will likely be August before I see the finished product.

Marie Antoinette & Art: Birds of a Feather

So this is what I assigned myself this weekend: 1. Go to library and read up on Marie Antoinette. Sometimes it's just fun to look at 'real' books instead of Googling everything. Yes, 'Google' is accepted as a verb. It was added to the world's dictionary, incredibly, a few years ago. Write article. 2. Watch 'Marie Antoinette' DVD. 3. Do 15 original 5 x 5 bird pages for The Faerie Zine, hosted by Lisa Kettell of http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/. 4. Complete Blythe costume for Cyndi of http://dragonflysdreamz.blogspot.com/ for The Blythe Costume Swap, also hosted by Lisa of The Faerie Zine. 5. Finish apron for Sharrena and mail to England. This is for The Vintage Apron Swap.

I have a few more projects and book page sets after this, and if I can just get them done, I'll have my summer free to do whatever art I want, plus enjoy going to my art and Blythe events, like Castle in the Meadow, Michigan Blythe Meet, ZNE Convenzione and Art and Soul Portland, without worrying about deadlines.

Nevermind that two of said books are coming to me to be assembled, punched, bound, embellished, packaged and mailed, to as far away as Canada and Israel to name a couple. The deadline is Tuesday for pages to get to me, so I am hoping my mailbox will be overstuffed Tuesday. Otherwise, it is wait, wait, wait on everyone's part.

As for the costume and apron swaps, I have no idea what possessed me to sign up. I must have been in an art and swapping frenzy, because I don't even sew! Yep, I signed up to sew a costume for a Blythe doll, and all I can do is sew (roughly) by hand. Oh sure, I have a sewing machine. But, it cost $10.95 and was intended for sewing on paper, which I can barely do without making a mess, tangling the thread, breaking a needle, cursing, jamming the machine and quitting.

Fortunately, the art muses smiled upon me, because as it turns out, my costume partner does not even own a Blythe and apparently has no urgent plans to do so. She said she would be happy with a piece of art to display. So the 7" Marie Antoinette costume IS Blythe-sized, but it does not come off the mannequin. It was made with no sewing by me and is assembled with straight pins and other smoke and mirrors. It includes vintage velvet millinery flowers and leaves, a vintage cameo from an earring, lace, brocade, wire and more.

Same story on the apron-no sewing for me. I bought a vintage apron at 'Pieces' in Valparaiso, IN where there were gazillions from which to choose, and then I scored some vintage ball fringe trim and had my favorite repair-shop seamstress sew it on for me. This is not laziness; this is wanting the thing to turn out decently for the recipient.

The bird pages were a lot of fun, and did involve sewing by me. I attached a dozen button eyes and wings with embroidery floss. The birds are from Artgirlz, and I got them and the felt flowers at Art & Soul Hampton earlier this month. For the backgrounds, I pulled out Bernie Berlin's http://aplacetobark.blogspot.com/ Artist Trading Card Workshop and used her watercolor background technique on paper towels and/or wet wipes: kinda like tie-dyeing without any tying. It was a little messy but fun. Then I found some twigs outside and wired them on under beaded felt flowers. The stamping of the word 'fly' and the stamped backs I did while watching the 'Marie Antoinette' DVD.

Although the DVD cover describes her as "history's favorite villainess," the movie emphasis is surely on the 'favorite' part as she is portrayed sympathetically and fabulously by Kirsten Dunst. The movie is not deep and ends well before the nasty imprisonment part which led, as we all know, to the guillotine.

The movie does touch on her difficult relationship with her young groom, Louis XVI, and her heartbreaks of motherhood. In fact, three of four of Marie's children died before the age of 10. Although one son did outlive her, he died mysteriously at age 10 and only one child, Marie Therese, lived on into adulthood. It was allegedly more than 30 years after her mother's execution that the daughter finally received the letter her mother had written to her from her cell.

It is no wonder the entire story remains intriquing, enchanting and even romantic some 200 years later. Marie was very well documented to have been only 14 when she was married off to the prince (before even meeting him). He was only 15 himself and terribly shy. Marie had to leave everything behind in Austria when she was transported to France for the wedding celebration. Within a few short years, she and her young husband became the country's rulers, and due to a political mess they inherited but knew nothing about, they also became the symbols for excess, tyranny and failed government. And for anyone who doesn't know the end to the story, they were both be-headed in their 30's in 1793.

But, watch the movie if you want to avoid (mostly) the doom and gloom part. The Sofia Coppola film is a tribute to the haute couture of the period, and the eye candy is titillating. It adds to the fairytale side of the story. The jarring rock music from the present doesn't even seem out of place at all, which may be the point. Marie was just a girl, maybe a material girl; but she was born into the royal life, and it didn't turn out so well for her in the end.

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!

My Life Really is A Circus

Never has my blog banner been more appropriate! Although I haven't run off and joined yet, it does seem as if my life has been revolving around the circus lately. The most exciting news, of which I am just a teeny tiny part, is that art friend Lisa Kettel http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/ is having her art book, Art Circus, published by Quarry Books (see cover above). It has a real ISBN number 1592534872 and ISBN-13 978-1592534876 and can be found on Amazon! I think she's arrived. Did I mention a piece of my art is in the book? I didn't? Well, I AM IN THE BOOK!

I've been published a few times before: poetry, crochet (editing) and a small piece of artwork in Never Forgotten, published unexpectedly by ZNE http://www.zneart.com/, but THIS is the big deal. I was invited by Lisa to be in the book, which was an incredible opportunity, and I created a piece of art specifically for Lisa for the book and as a gift to her. What is it, you ask? You'll just have to BUY THE BOOK!

I did not know at the time the book would be called Art Circus, although coincidentally, Lisa started a handmade/non-published book of original art in her Flickr group, The Faerie Zine, that is also circus-related.

Since I had signed up for that, which entails creating 28 original pages, front and back, 5" x 5", I started looking for circus ephemera. This led me to vendor night at Art & Soul in Hampton, VA recently where I scored some collage sheets, a vintage ad and some old and colorful popcorn bags (shown above).

Today I happened to find in an antique mall a coffee table circus book that I thought I would cut up for collage materials since it was not old or valuable. However, I started reading and was just sucked in, and now I could never cut it up! I had forgotten all about Indiana's colorful history with the circus! The city of Peru (pronounced Pee-roo), about 45 minutes south of my home, has long been known as Circus City USA and is now home to the International Circus Hall of Fame. the authors interviewed descendants of a number of circus families and performers who had their heyday in the late 1800s. I also discovered the book was published by the Indiana Historical Society.

According to the book, at one point Peru, IN boasted three thousand acres for circus winter quarters, five full circuses which together were larger than the Ringling Brothers' enterprise, 500 employees and a calliope manufacturing firm. More than 50 elephants were kept over the winters in Peru as well as other exotic animals. Other fascinating information can be found at the Circus Hall of Fame Web site, http://www.circushof.com/

The book also details the evolution of circus travel from foot (known as 'mud shows') to rail (the most successful) and now truck. I also learned there was a large circus company in Rochester, IN, even closer to home. Having been a writer at the local newspaper for several years, I have no idea how I did not know this!

In truth, the circus has never interested me until now. I also shied away from county fairs, amusement parks and the like, viewing them, due to lack of understanding, as dirty and dangerous. Clowns never really interested me as a child, but nor did they frighten me, thank goodness. In fact, I think I found them "creepier" as an adult. That has changed somewhat, after learning of the necessary training and education required to be a true clown that two different business colleagues, Tom Morrical and Pam Griffin, have gone through for their after-hours craft. It is most definitely a skill, with particular protocols.

And so, while I can hardly wait to get my hands on Art Circus, I think I might also be paying a visit to Circus City Days in Peru this year, July 12-19, see http://www.perucircus.com/circus_city_festival.asp for info. Ladies and gentlemen, c'mon down!

The Queen Has Spoken, and she said Tres Bien

Well, actually, Queen Marie didn't say much; she just hung out. But I said 'very good' because not only am I done with my two 8 x 8 pages for Lisa Kettell's http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/ Marie Antoinette collaborative, but I am also pretty happy with how they turned out.

This is possibly the most involved project I have ever done. The pressure was on with outstanding artists among the six in the book, including Lisa, Debrina Pratt of spark*your*imagination http://whimsicalworldoffairies.blogspot.com/ and Sandy Camarda of Art is the Colour and Textures of your Imagination http://sandy-sandyscreations.blogspot.com/. I do not know the other two artists, but I soon will. I should be naming them here.

Lisa will be submitting the project for publication to L.K. Ludwig, a published artist, who is doing a book about collaborative projects. If it doesn't fly for that, or maybe even if it does, Lisa can always include it in her second book, which is already on the table. Her first comes out later this year, and (eep) I may be in it!

My first Marie, le Bebe, can be found here http://lillysoflondonish.blogspot.com/2008/04/if-idle-hands-are-bad-im-looking-good.html. The one above in this post is the teen queen in a dress with a caged skirt underneath, posing in front of some other dresses from her no doubt excessive collection.

I can't wait to see the finished 12 pp book. Lisa will be making covers for us, and copies of the book for everyone. Muy bien. Bellissimo. Tres good.

What I Did on my Work Vacation a.k.a. 'The Weekend'

Did I do all this this weekend? Yup. Did I eat and sleep? Yes. Did I go out to eat, do some laundry, lose Larry the Cat in the coat closet for three hours? Check. One of my always-inspiring Art and Poetry on-line friends said it looks like I cram a month into my weekends. And I guess I do. That's because I love love love doing all this stuff so much, and there is never enough time. Whoever heard of working 5 days and having a two-day weekend? Someone needs to re-write that book! Let's put on our lawyer pants and walk down that road (fave new line from a stupid commercial).

So what have we here? A canvas for The ZNE Book Club, studying Traci Bautista's Collage Unleashed ("See Rock City"), an altered nicho or dream box from ARTChix Studios for The Faerie Zine's 3-D Fairytale box swap ("I hope you dance: In emergency, break glass for pixie dust"), 32 charms (Mermaid Ballerinas) for Art & Soul swap, Tulip earrings for Cottage Style Street Team (CSST) on Etsy, listing 3/15/08, Barbie and Cancelled Stamps (Love is the center of the Universe) for Artists' Trading Card (ATC) World Yahoo! group swaps, and nautical and purple mother-of-pearl charm bracelet I made over the weekend, listed on etsy and promptly sold. I think I may miss this one! Send caffeine!

The Faerie Zine Volume 4!

The Faerie Zine Volume 4!
Originally uploaded by Lisa Kettell

You may not immediately see my name on the front page twice, but of course it jumped out at me like a jack-in-the-box. So excited to be a part of Lisa's wonderful publications! I knew I was writing an article, of course (about the wonderful Jade Adams, a Michigan ATC friend), but I didn't know Lisa was writing about me! What a treat! Can't wait to get my hands on it in about three weeks. You can order a copy on ebay or on the Moonfaires blogspot or The Faerie Zine website. And you should!

It's Winter Everywhere

At the suggestion of another Flickr artist, I cropped my Charlie Brown tree photo, and found it was well received, enough even to get some "winter photography" awards in Flickr. Cool. Actually freezing. Award at right, buried under 15 inches of snow.

And although the Blythes are supposed to hang out on their own blog http://bly-me.blogspot.com, Lilly just wanted to say Happy Holidays and show off her angel wings from the Victoria's Secret catwalk, because some of her photos got the new Faerie Zine Award of Magic, also at right.

Have a Magical Holiday!

Happy Holidays From The Faerie Zine