Flowers, Flowers Everwhere!

Oh, I have been yearning for flowers and color! So much so that I have been obsessively making them myself - helping Mother Nature along.

Here in our snowy mountain valley we were still getting snow last week. But I can feel Spring coming.

For some reason I have been busy making Yo-Yos most of the Winter. Yo-Yos just make me happy, I guess. Not knowing what I was going to do with them didn't seem to matter either. I just knew that I would be using them in some joyful way eventually.

Last weekend I just happened into a wonderful quilt shop in Leavenworth, Washington. They had beautiful displays of finished projects and most of them had puffy fabric flowers appliqued on somewhere.

Oh my heart!! (I think I may have swooned a bit.)

I bought the template to make the 2.5" wide ruched flowers on the spot. This is such an easy project.

Now, all my many (many!!) Yo-Yos are keeping company with these ruched flowers. And, most importantly I have a finished project in mind for them.

Mother Nature - not to be outdone! - got busy around my house. Finally! The crocuses that used to be around an apple tree in my own Mother's yard last year, are blooming for the first time in my flower beds. They are just starting and I am so grateful for the color.

I think I feel another swoon coming on!

He was a bad egg...

Yep, he was a bad egg and never got a break. Meet Rocko Peep - born to a single mother with too many chicks and to a father that was more interested in strutting around with the "ladies".

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Rocko is a sculpt that I just listed on eBay tonight. He is my entry into a challenge one of my eBay groups have for Eerie Equinox or Strange Spring. There is so much more to Rocko's story. I wrote a whole morality tale for this auction and I wonder if I had more fun writing about Rocko or sculpting him. My eBay seller's id is idrawpix if you want to check him out, read his story, and learn from his mistakes (lol). I am so new to blogging that I don't know how to make a link to the auction, yet. This may take you there... but I make no guarantee, sorry!

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&ssPageName=STRK:MESELX:IT&item=260381360972

Rocko was fun to work on, but I still have that bunny head staring at me from the workbench... now what to do with him....mmmmmmmm......what's that you say, Rocko? Oh! I couldn't!!

Another Pink Saturday

I am loving these Pink Saturdays! And, even though I am still new to this feature - it's only my second Saturday - I am so much more aware of the Pink all around me now. If you want to learn more about this weekly confection, please check out the banner to the right. It takes you to Beverly's blog - How Sweet the Sound - and explains it all.

When I first spotted this vintage sheet music cover, I knew it would be perfect for Pink Saturday. Not only do I love that it is Pink, but the title - No Can Do - and her haughty expression are just my style... not to mention the Tutti-Frutti hat! As Carmen Miranda would sing... I Yi Yi Yi Yi / Chica Chica Boom!

Happy Pink Saturday everyone!

Renewal and Rebirth

Just a quick post to wish everyone a very Happy 1st Day of Spring! I know I am ready for the change of season, the warming days, the renewal and rebirth of nature.

This is one of my favorite family photos. It is of my Mother as a young teen up in their apple tree. Sadly, we lost both of them this last year -- my Mother and the tree.

However, life goes on - renewal and rebirth - it will just be without them this year. I am comforted to see that nature shows us that we don't live in the past and that life keeps marching along... and what a beautiful march it can be!

Wishing you a wonderful Spring!

My First Pink Saturday!

Oooo... I am so excited to be participating in my First (!) Pink Saturday. I'm still fairly new to blogging and just stumbled upon this weekly feature about a month ago. If you are unfamiliar with Pink Saturday, check out the button to the right and Beverly of How Sweet the Sound will fill in all the details. I can't be certain, but I think all that pink inspired me to rescue and revive this cast-off treasure into a fancy, french-ish pinkeep - which is also my first pinkeep.

Originally a brunette with a ponytail, she transformed into Marie Antoinette after a couple of hours on my worktable. I only intended to sew the pinkeep to fill-in her vase area with stuffing and fabric and ruffles.





Well, you know how it is... That saucy, sweet expression complete with fan! She just had to have a wig... and not just any wig, but one with flowers and birds and a wee blue streak. What is it about Marie that inspired her wig makers then and continues to inspired us today to spend way too much time on such whimsey? And, oh yes, this is a wig and removable. I just couldn't bring myself to glue anything.
She apparently had a hard life before I rescued her - poor dear - she is a bit fragile. I did apply some Hard As Nails adhesive to the inside of the vase to strenghten the old repairs done by her former owner. She does have all her parts, though, which the real Marie ultimately did not. She's not perfect, but that seems appropriate for this Marie (as does the Hard As Nails).


Thanks for visiting!

Still busy and getting nowhere

I don't think the cat make-do would approve.

Geez... I just can't seem to get anywhere with my projects right now. The rabbit is still unfinished because I have become obsessed with making his hat and, maybe, some shoes. Poor thing doesn't even have a body or feet, but the hat & shoes seem sooo important!

The picture above is of a cat make-do that I created last year for a swap. I made it out of a small vintage strainer, various wire bits & thingys, a couple of buttons that I painted as eyes, a vintage rabies tag and ribbons. This came together rather quickly and was so much fun.

Why is the rabbit proving to be so difficult to work on?! Maybe a glass of wine will help.

Busy, busy, busy

Thought I would post a few pictures of what I have been doing lately. Seems like I haven't been very focused on any one thing -- instead I have been all over the studio working-on or working-out details of too many things at once.

The headshots of the rabbit are of a work-in-progress. I sculpted the head about 3 weeks ago, and just today I got an idea of what the poor thing will be doing so that I can start work on the body. Spring & Easter are coming fast, so I better hop to it (groan.... bad pun, sorry!).



Just another view so you can see the size of the rabbit head as it is today. It will be under 12 inches when finished - as most of my sculpts are.

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This next picture shows one of the Thank You gifts that I will be sending to my sister in Boise. I live in a very small town - tiny - with the nearest art supply or craft store about 90 miles away. My sister, who is very crafty, artistic, AND loves to shop !! bought some cool new supplies for me. One of the things she included in the package was the magazine, Cloth Paper Scissors. In the issue they make handbags out of fused plastic grocery bags.

Now, that kind of craft really isn't my kind of thing, but just for fun I made her one. Before I stained it with alcohol inks, it was looking a bit like a disposable diaper - LOL!

I made the "bag" to hold the real Thank You gift - this tag shown below. I have just started doing these tags. They are a fun, quick project and gets me using a lot of different materials that I have packed into my studio. The strip on the left side is metal - just another of the new "crafts" I have begun to play around with.

Yes, I have too many interests, too many supplies, too many treasures, and not enough time... it's nice though & I am grateful.

Now, I am off to visit that rabbit head again before I lock the door on the studio for the night.

Thanks for visiting!

Hope your Heart is full

It's here, the time to celebrate & demonstrate all that you hold dear in your heart. We should do this everyday, but few of us really remember how important that can be... often only after it is too late and we have missed too many opportunities. So, try to smile more often at those you care about. Touch them, hug them, and look them square in the eye & tell them that you love them. I believe these are the things we will never regret doing.

The cupid above was an ACEO (size 2.5" x 3.5") drawing that I did a couple of years ago and made into one of my greeting cards. The tag below I just made last week - using my new found love of metal embossing (I love you, metal embossing) and collage art.

Wishing you all a wonderful and heartfelt Valentine's Day.

XOXOX, Karen

The calendar says it's too early to ride...

The weather has been so Spring-like in our valley these past couple of weeks. Much too soon for Spring, we usually have at least 12 more inches of snow and the roads are not this clear until mid March. My "other half" - slightly injured by a couple of falls while skiing last week - just could not sit around the house any longer. So, out came the trike and down the road he went! This is so early for a ride! The temps were around 32 degrees, but the sun is so warm already and with the snow magnifying all that sun it feels even warmer.

We sat out on our deck yesterday morning and had our breakfast. It was heaven to be out in that bright sunshine, get some natural vitamin D, and all that crisp clean air.

The forecast for the next 4 days is snow flurries... we'll see about that. They have been wrong most of our Winter and with this Spring-like teaser weather, it will be difficult to welcome back the snow and cold.

I've been Tagged!

By Lisa Lectura and she said this is a very simple tag -- AND just a bit snoopy (my word, not her's) LOL!

I need to post the fourth picture in the fourth file in my artwork directory. So, the first one isn't the fourth, it is from the Fifth file, because this is the true 4 of 4...



The true 4 of 4 is a picture of suede that I intend to use for background effects. Not too interesting... and I didn't want anyone to think that I am this boring!

The 4 of 5 is a wip picture of my still unfinished first cloth doll. It is someday going to be a moon boy... poor thing!

Okay, I am also supposed to tag some others. I am still too new to blogging to know how to type a post AND find the blog names and addresses... so, I will work on that later, too.

Witch for ALL holidays

My latest creative output is this crone-ish old witch. She was inspired by a challenge by one of my ebay artists' groups - AHQU - and her auction can be viewed through Sunday, January 31st.

The challenge was to create an art piece that depicted a witch surrounded by lots of holiday symbols. New Years, Valentines, St. Pats, Easter, 4th of July, Halloween (of course!), Thanksgiving, and Christmas all had to be included in the piece... plus any other holidays we wanted to add!

Well, a lot of us in that group were stunned by the enormity of the challenge. That quickly changed for some of us as the creative lightbulbs started popping. I already had this witch sculpt (body & head only) started from last Fall. She had been sitting in a rocking chair peeking over my shoulder. I would pick her up and wonder about her future from time to time. Originally, she was to hold a bowl of real candy in her lap - under that crone face - sharing her candy with any takers... if any!

I think she and I both like this finish better. It was a fun project and I even threw in 2 "firecrackers" for Chinese New Years.

Happy Year of the Ox, everyone!

Some calm during the storm...

I am finishing up a sculpt here in the studio. The music is playing and the sculpt is lying on the worktable in pieces. So close to being done... just a little more paint and the final assembly. When I get this close, I get nervous. So, I thought I would revisit one of my most peaceful sculptures. This is Tucker, the tuckered out angel. While I was working on him last December, he made me sleepy just looking at him.

I wish I had a nice fluffy cloud to curl up on and doze.

Scoot over, Tucker!

Mother Nature's Ruffles

We have been having the most beautiful frost fog this week. This morning, everything outside is coated. It looks like Mother Nature spent the night putting crepe paper ruffles on every surface and then, because she is crafty, sprinkled a frosty glitter on top. This frost is so delicate, a light breeze blows it away.

The twigs looks like those sugar-crystal stir sticks. They make me want some more cocoa.

How can I go through the door?...

... when this is the view outside the studio door this morning? The clouds are hanging low over my little river valley, but there is a hole up there somewhere. The glow has me transfixed.

I feel this scene in my very core... but through the door I peacefully go.

Racing the Dark

I seem to be inspired lately - and even though my sculpts seem dark or brooding, I really am in a completely happy state of mind. Hopefulness, wonder, and joy are all in these pieces. I see them and I hope you do, too.

This is the latest sculpt and has just been listed on eBay under my seller id idrawpix.