Putting Things in Place

I've been so busy getting situated for my wonderful new job that I've barely had time to think about art, and that makes me grouchy! So I thought I could at least photograph a few vignettes to share and do a little blogging...since I am WAY behind.
I love my touches of pink and my doll heads, and looking at them everyday makes me happy.
In the top photo you will find a poppet box by Mica of Garboodles.

You can read a little bit about where I am in this article I wrote for Vintage Indie. It's a beautiful and historic area, with rolling hills, wineries, rivers, lakes, the Chesapeake Bay, ski slopes, you name it. And Ellicott City, which I profiled, has tons of cool shops. It's where I met an "in real life- IRL" art/vintage friend, Miss Kelli. Check out her new blog, The Vintage Shoppes. She's a partner in pink, and her house, studio and shop are to-die for! Her husband is in a pretty cool band, too, The Kelly Bell Band. Check them out on Project Playlist. They were voted Best Blues Band by Music Monthly for six years in a row and Best Band in Baltimore for two years running by City Paper.

The little art gallery above is in my closet, as you can tell from the shoes. It's a great place to assault my senses every morning. Some of the art is by moi and the cute Frida prints are by Tascha on Etsy. The big white frame in the doll head photo is vintage as is the pink Humpty Dumpty stuffy on the slipper chair.

More blogging later; I'm headed to Ellicott City, the Artists Gallery in Columbia for a "pastels and pottery" show and to the American Visionary Art Museum, which I joined. Gotta get un-grouchy!

Blogging for Bliss by Tara Frey

Read my latest Off the Shelf review for Vintage Indie here.

Off The Shelf: Check my Latest Review for Vintage Indie

I just read and reviewed this doll of a book for Vintage Indie by my sweet blog friend Rebecca Ramsey of Wonders Never Cease. Click on the hyperlinks to check it and her out!

Published Again- Always a Thrill!

I was excited to find this greeting card I made on page 54 of the latest Stampers' Sampler magazine by Stampington and Co. (April/May 2009). It is one of the first pieces of 'art' I ever made back when I started this blog nearly two years ago. The Mona is a rubber art stamp by Tim Holtz stamped with Staz-On ink onto a heat-resistant transparency. It is layered over various papers. There's a couple more layers to the card that you can't see here, so....go buy the magazine!

There's so much art I've been waiting to do: I am in a Marie Antoinette swap hosted by The Junkk Drawer's Maria Rodarte and I am partnered with the talented Kathy Jacobson of a Bit of Serendipity, who is also featured on the COVER of the stamping magazine I just mentioned. Intimidating? Maybe!

The 12 ladies behind Creative Therapy on Wordpress have also asked me to be a guest artist for August 22, so I have a piece of art to create for a prompt they will supply that will in turn prompt their readers to create art from my art/prompt. Follow that?

Book reviews are due to Gabreial, the heart and soul of Vintage Indie, for my friend Rebecca's French by Heart, and The Artist Within: A Guide to Becoming Creatively Fit by Whitney Ferre'.

I celebrated my first Passover, and I have to say, matzoh and I have to get better acquainted. I hear there's chocolate-covered. That would be a good way to start!

Meanwhile, my art journal is gathering dust. My beads are not being beaded. I did plant some pansies, and whipped my crochet hook a few rows through a new afghan, but there's so much to do and so little (free) time. If time were for sale, I'd like to buy some! I guess I'll just have to adopt Mona's mellow countenance for now. Enough blogging! Off to the studio.

Check my latest book review

Visit Vintage Indie for my latest Off the Shelf book review. This time it's Lisa Kettell's Altered Art Circus.

On The Road Again...

Check out my review of vintage hot spots in Portland, OR on Vintage Indie here. Can you believe I left this pink beauty behind? It really was pink. Cinderella pink. Candy pink. Buy-me-and-stare-at-me-pink. It was definitely not peach, as this photo suggests.

So Excited! You'd Think I Just Got Published

These two amazing books are by and belong to two fellow artists and people I can truly call friends. I am so excited for them! Each is very different - the book and the person- and I feel privileged to say my art is in each book. The thrill of publication belongs solely to the artists, Jane Powell and Lisa Kettell. But, I'm so thrilled for them, you'd think they were my books.

Altered Art Circus is now available here on Amazon. You won't be disappointed. And I can say that even though my copy is not in my hands yet, for I have some of Lisa's original work as well as works by some of the other contributing artists.

Artist and Silver Bella founder Teresa McFayden reviewed the book here. Although I didn't get a mention there, I am just so happy with her review of Lisa's book. The circus animals by Lisa that Teresa shows on her blog are great, and interestingly enough, Martha Stewart just featured a similar project here by Katie Steuernagle, Matsutake on Etsy. And talk about full circle, Lisa was in the audience, third row, for the Martha taping that day!

The hand-made, 75-pp book above is equally impressive. Owner Jane Powell of Random Arts in Saluda, one of my favorite places, decided to host a collaborative journal project and even sent out some supplies to willing participants to get the ideas flowing. When the unique pages started flowing in from around the country and beyond, Jane knew she had something special.

So special is this book that Jane "donated" it for a fund-raising auction for the Saluda Senior Center and then Jane bought it back in a bidding war for $500.00! How great is that? You can see my "Sorry, Time's Up" page peeking out of the photo above and my finished project here. I hope I can get to Saluda again soon to see the entire book. Here's her story about it.

I want to live at this Salvage & Vintage Shop!

My second trip to 55 West & Co., in Millersburg, Ohio was just as wonderful as the first. And although this time I chose two pairs of handmade beaded earrings by owner Stefanie Kauffman, there were plenty of great vintage finds and salvage to remind me of my earlier treasures found in July: an old doll head, antique baby shoes and some old funky pencil people.

55 West is technically located at 45 West Jackson in Millersburg, don't ask me why. Jackson is also the popular Ohio Rte 39, which leads travelers straight into the heart of Amish country at Berlin, Walnut Creek and more. See my full report on Vintage Indie.

Check Out My Interview With Birthday Girl Lisa Kettell

Recently I had the extra special joy of interviewing my dear art friend Lisa Kettell of The Faerie Zine for Vintage Indie. The feature, along with pictures of Lisa's incredible art appeared Nov. 12, just a couple days shy of Lisa's birthday. Last year she got a book contract; who knows what good things are in store for her this year? I do know she's going to see one of her mentors on this birthday weekend when Mary Engelbreit speaks at Silver Bella in Omaha, where Lisa will be a vendor and will be meeting some of our other mutual, virtual art friends, like Miss Sandy. You can read the article here and you can leave Lisa some birthday wishes on her blog.

Snow Flurries? Winter Coat? Get Me to My Yarn Stash Post Haste

It wasn't just the nasty weekend weather or even the turning of the calendar to November that gave me the itch to pick up my sticks, as knitters say. And, actually, I grabbed my hook, but we'll get to that. It was the necessity to buy a winter coat and the color of said coat that made me want to make a scarf to go with it, or accent it actually, since the coat is just so red. It's an unusual shade of red, and although it looks rather fuschia now on my monitor, it is just a deep, jewel-tone red, but not a burgundy or a maroon or a brick. I can say that with some expertise, since I spent the better part of an hour digging through my yarn stash trying to find something to match. I had planned all along to use black but realized all black was going to be no better than the all red coat. So I used TLC Macaroon in a nubby black with cream. That particular yarn has been "stashed" for a few years to go with a stuffed cat pattern. Don't ask. I mixed it with TLC Amore' in red velvet, which has been stashed ever since I made the sock monkey afghan. Ask away.

Both the sock monkey afghan (and baby hat) pattern and the pattern for this one-skein scarf come from Debbie Stoller's The Happy Hooker, a hip, indie-style irreverant pattern book that is most certainly not your grandma's crochet. Besides the double-crochet scarf here with shell trim, you can find beanies, skully sweaters, hats and potholders as well as trendy sweaters, skirts, bags and more. It really is my go-to pattern book, even though I spent another hour or more today thumbing through my crochet books, trying to find something to make. More times than not, I return to the simplicity of double-crochet, and the patterns in Stoller's book, while looking elaborate when done, are mostly quite simple. Without this book, I would have never attempted a sweater, which I in fact attempted, finished, and brought home a blue ribbon for my efforts.

These aren't the greatest pictures, but I just felt like crocheting, and I felt like blogging about it. I've been seeing so many darling knit gifts on etsy where I've even sold a few knit things of late, and in the Vintage Indie Market Guide and on friends' blogs. Knitting or crocheting just make me feel all warm and fuzzy. How about you?

Check Out My Review of this Amigurumi Book

I recently received and reviewed Tiny Yarn Animals by Tamie Snow for Vintage Indie, where I am a contributing editor. Check out my Off the Shelf review here. And watch for my interview of Lisa Kettell on that same Web site along with my Etsy shop featured in the Vintage Market holiday gift guide. Vintage Indie and Vintage Market also were recently plugged in Bust magazine's Bustline newsletter. That's the big-time, baby! Editor-in-Chief of Bust is Debbie Stoller, also editor of Stitch 'N Bitch and The Happy Hooker and more.

Quest for Doll Heads Never Rests

A quick Halloween lunch stop in Union City, Indiana, not far from Dayton on the Ohio border, netted me this humongous old doll head. I placed the other ones for perspective, and even though the dark-haired one is four inches, the comparison really doesn't do it justice.

This old gal is a full five inches high and five inches wide at the shoulders. She must have made for a pretty big doll. It appears she was played with because the shoulder has clearly been broken and glued. The clerk seemed amazed I would buy it (it was verrry cheap). "You know this is cracked?" he asked. A statement so obvious I couldn't believe it was a question.

When I told him I liked to make altered art with doll heads, he disappeared for the longest time and came back with a box full of cloth and rubber dolls. A doll collector might have gotten faint, but since usually only porcelain heads do it for me, I couldn't even take his $2 box off his hands, although I probably should have, if for nothing more than to be polite.

In the car I noticed the hollow head was stuffed with something strange-either old wool or old doll hair-lots of it- and as I struggled to pull it out, I had momentary imaginations of either baby mice or a million dollars, neither of which fell into my lap while driving. The head does have an old tag on the back-stuck on at one time-but so old now it is almost embedded into it and impossible to read-even with my new Sarah Palin-esque readers. Not sure what I will do with this big head, but right now it waits patiently with its sisters.

But one head and a couple of pieces of old cold type later I was out of there and on with my work, proving again that "Wander Indiana" is an excellent state marketing campaign slogan.

Driving around all the time for work also lets me see all the campaign signage in my state-something I will be very glad to see gone and soon! Doing my part for that, I voted Saturday. That was a first: Saturday (not voting). The absentee voting process was smooth and convenient, since I will be out of town for election day, wandering another state. I was amazed to hear some states are even offering voting this Sunday-truly the sign of a landmark election. So, don't miss your own opportunity. Go vote.

Speaking of wandering-or shopping- you don't have to leave your house or your jammies to do some great holiday shopping. If, like me, you don't want to think about that, well don't! But when you do, there is an outstanding holiday gift guide from http://www.vintageindie.typepad.com at http://www.vintageindiemarket.typepad.com. There are tons of categories for all sorts of handmade gifts and gift ideas as well as discounts galore. I am proud to be a vendor member in this guide as well as a contributing editor for the wonderful Gabreial who runs VinatgeIndie. Vist my etsy or my Flickr for goodies to gobble up: from jewelry and altered art to Blythe doll clothing and furniture and publications for the collector. Even if I don't feel like shopping yet (when did summer end?), I always feel like selling!

My On-the-Scene Report from Colfax, CA: Check out Miss Vicky's Cut-It-Up

While in California recently for the first-ever ZNE Convenzione, I had the pleasure of staying with blog friend Miss Vicky of Cut-it-Up and scrapbooking fame. A published author and artist, Miss Vicky has an incredible shop in historic Colfax, CA. Check out my article on Vintage Indie. There's tons more pics, also. Thanks to Miss Vicky for the hospitality and to Vintage Indie publisher Gabreial Wyatt for running my random musings from time to time!

More Marie, Anyone?

Just in case it's not enough that I have a gorgeous new blog banner from Kris Hurst http://krislhurst.blogspot.com/ in my favorite shades of Marie Antoinette, I also have a multi-book review of Marie A biographies that premiered here http://vintageindie.typepad.com/vintage_indie/2008/07/summer-reads--.html Friday on Vintage Indie http://www.vintageindie.typepad.com/. I decided I might as well write reviews of all the biographies I have just finished in my research for an article for Mary Ann McKeating's http://firstborn.wordpress.com/ new zine coming out this fall. My article for that explores why Marie Antoinette serves as a muse for so many artists. Not me, of course. No. Not me.

Hmmm....maybe that's why I just completed two more Marie Antoinette paper mache art dolls. I had enough supplies left over from my other blue toile version (Marie is credited with starting the whole toile fabric craze), and I had been wanting to make one with the famous icons of a ship or cake, which she was said to have worn in her hair as one of many elaborate poufs or hats she had created. Angela Hoffman http://geminiangelsart.blogspot.com/ came to the rescue with not only a ship but also a cake. A little spray paint, and voila! They were Marie-ready. Meanwhile, Sherry Smyth, http://espritdart.blogspot.com/another Shabby Sister design team member http://www.shabbycottagestudio.com/ came to the rescue during Etsy's Trading Tuesdays with another paper mache bust. We swapped for a pair of my glass tulip bead earrings from my etsy shop http://www.hpsgsmith.etsy.com/, and everyone is happy! Now, which one to send to Mary Ann for our Marie swap??

Mary Ann's sister Jo http://labouroflovex3.blogspot.com/ is now hosting a Marie-themed itty bitty book page swap, so of course I am up for that. And, of course I will need some cool Marie stamps from Catherine Moore of Character Constructions http://www.characterconstructions.com/. So do you!

The paper-covered box with the vintage china doll head is for china-doll-head-box swap with Mica of Garboodles Soup http://garboodles.blogspot.com/ who makes the sweetest paper mache boxes, pinkeeps, figurines and also sock monkeys. I can't wait to see what she has made for me!

Don't forget to dial your internet to blogtalk radio Wednesday to hear my interview on Diva Craft Lounge http://www.divacraftlounge.com/. I'm very excited to chat with 'The Diva'!

My Life in Fiestaware

Click here http://vintageindie.typepad.com/vintage_indie/2008/07/history-influen.html to read my Fourth of July reminiscing about vintage Fiesta dinnerware for Vintage Indie.

'Tinsel Trading Bedrooms' Off the Shelf Review Now on Vintage Indie Web Site

To read my Off the Shelf review of this book from the owner of the famed store, Tinsel Trading, please visit the lovely Gabreial's website Vintage Indie at http://vintageindie.typepad.com/vintage_indie/2008/06/off-the-shelf-1.html.

Scenes from a Spring

You know it is Memorial Day in Indiana when the peonies are as big as your head. And even though Memorial Day has passed, the peonies were looking great on this warm sunny day. I stopped at the local public garden on the way home from the dentist to take some pictures. The garden smelled great, too, and the pond sound was refreshing.

The other items are some treasures I got this weekend. I found two great porcelain doll heads-the larged one in Schoolcraft, MI for $40 and the blond doll head in Nappanee, IN for $20. I now have six dollheads and can't decide if I want to display them or make altered art with them. I picture one under a glass garden cloche or 'bell jar.' The books are a couple I have ordered and hope to review for http://www.vintageindie.com.

The print is a lovely gift I received from ZNE's Chrysti of http://chrysti.wordpress.com for entering her caption contest. Chrysti also sells altered art supplies at http://www.alteredabbey.com and has fantastic outdoor photos on Flickr. She does it all. My caption was hardly worthy of a print, but you can check it out here http://chrysti.wordpress.com/2008/05/15/are-you-one-of-the-10-winners/. I also won a digital collage sheet of vintage doll parts from Kat at Altered Kat and Great Musings on etsy and http://alteredkat.blogspot.com. I must be living right!

Tres Libros: Book Reviews for Vintage Indie

Although I've only pictured one cover, here's a link (by clicking the headline above) to a review of three Mexican Hacienda style decorating books in my "Off the Shelf" column for Vintage Indie http://www.vintageindie.com. It's a great blog and Web site, so check out the other posts. Owner Gabreial Wyatt also has a great review of The Ruby Pear tea room in Noblesville, IN.

And now a word from my other blogs...

Just in case you never tire of reading my ramblings, I thought I'd offer a concise list of my latest postings, since it has been a busy little weekend at the keyboard. I've posted another Blythe-it-Yourself (BIY) tutorial on the ZNE Dollz blog at http://www.znedolls.com/ and I also referenced the reason behind that project on my own doll blog at http://bly-me.blogspot.com/. I also wrote a profile of ZNE member and doll artist David H. Everett, which will be up tomorrow night, May 28, on ZNE Dollz. Check out his work; there will be lots of pictures.

Next, over at ZNE Artists and Poets, where we are just about done with our self-portrait hand-made books, I added the latest collaborative poetry effort at http://www.znepoetry.com/. It needs some artwork yet, but that will be coming. Scroll on down for some other wonderful art and collaborative poetry efforts from our members. I nepostically (is that a word? uh oh, spellcheck says no) added a photo of my late mother from the 1940s for one of our mothers' day posts.

Finally, I am back in the swing of the "Off the Shelf" reviews for http://www.vintageindie.com/, having just reviewed three Mexican hacienda style design books. Not sure when the review will be posted, but if you click on "Off the Shelf" in the listing of topics on the left, it will take you to an organized list of all my reviews.

Lastly, but not viewable anywhere (yet), I wrote three pieces dealing with Marie Antoinette this weekend for a MA collaborative some of us from The Faerie Zine http://faerieenchantment.blogspot.com/are preparing and hope to self-publish in soft cover. Watch for details here. Besides artwork that we all have contributed, I wrote an historical piece as well as review of the Sofia Coppola movie and a mini-Marie costume tutorial.

Good thing I type fast and love it. Otherwise, I would have had no weekend left for all the other things, both art and family, that I did. Hope you had a fulfilling long weekend, too.

Check out My Latest Review

Check out my latest book review pf Kaari Meng's French-Inspired Jewelry at http://www.vintageindie.com or click the headline above to go straight to the review (hint: I liked this book!). The author has also written The French-Inspired Home which I will be reviewing soon. Vintage indie has tons of great ideas, links to sites and just a lot of good eye candy.

I also interviewed ZNE Art Dolls group founder, artist and collector Judy Keefe here http://chelise.typepad.com/zne_dollz/2008/03/zne-art-dolls-g.html. You can check out my article as well as many other artists' profiles. Be sure to click on the links within the interview because Judy has some way cool doll photos and art.

So what's on tap for my weekend? I have some ATCs due in a couple of swaps: Sugar Skulls and WWBD (What would Barbie do?), both for ATC World on Yahoo! I have bits and pieces of jewelry findings spread out all over, having hit La Beada Loca today in Valparaiso, and needing to make 32 charms before April 1. I also got my watercolor paper cut for my Art & Soul pages, so now I just need to paint 44 pages front and back, so they can get dry and be ready for embellishing. Finally, I want to take some Blythe photos for the Blythe in America beauty pageant, and I need to make a 3D fairytale vignette box and get it shipped off.

Please someone make a staying awake pill that lasts 48 hours! Oh, did I mention I have a canvas due for my book club, um, tonight, actually, and chipboard thingies due for Shabby Cottage Studio design team and something tulip-y due for the Cottage Style Street Team campaign on Etsy? Must. back. away. from. computer. now.