Junk Journal

We were planning to move, so I needed to reduce the amount of accumulated ephemera and wallpaper samples. Simple, right? 

I saw a link on Debbie's blog for a class that looked interesting: Mary Ann Moss' Remains Of The Day Journal. I saw the preview and went nuts! The premise is to sew together a bunch of stuff: junk mail, used envelopes, ads, magazine pages, photos, paint chips, labels... You get the picture. 

I swear if I had any money to spend (and you know I really don't!) I'd spend it on one of these classes: 

http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/dispatch_from_la/rotdoci.html

http://dispatchfromla.typepad.com/dispatch_from_la/full-tilt-boogie-an-online-visual-journaling-class.html

This woman is a genius! I'm excited-crazy-inspired about her work!  

So anyway, I started tossing paper into a shoebox. Eek! It really isn't hard for a packrat like me to find plenty of material for a paper project. I was having a problem getting started, so I decided that instead of just throwing together random items, I'd use things I like to look at and to play with color combinations. Guess what--I now have--well, take look: 

Purple and green

All different greens plus peach

Turquoise

Pink, fuchsia, raspberry

Phoebe helping me sew

Burgundy, apricot, rose

Phoebe adjusting the stitch length

Sunset colors: purple, orange, gold...

The materials I'm using aren't really the kinds of things used in Mary Ann's class. But her idea really set off some dynamite in my creative center. I think what I have here is a multi-page collage of inspirational colors, handmade papers, bits of graphics and photos and images I like too much to throw away. 

I have several signatures ready to be sewn. But I'm leaving lots of little holes and spaces and pockets so I can write in the finished book, and tuck in stuff whenever I'm inspired.

Thank you Mary Ann Moss! 

A Few Charms to Charm You

If you decide to Follow my blog (click on the link that says "Follow") I would be very pleased. So pleased that I'll randomly award charms to 3 people from my follower list. No obligation. The drawing will be on July 1st or whenever I remember ;)

Regarding the charms below: Please feel free to adapt any of these to your own materials. Unless you deliberately make a copy (which is difficult because materials are usually different) it's not "stealing." I'm always delighted when somebody lets me (and the public) know when they've used one of my designs, but it isn't necessary. Besides, lots of my designs were inspired by other artists' works, but NEVER deliberately copied.  

These aren't necessarily the best charms I ever made. They're just the photos I had handy. I thought I'd throw a bunch of them here so you could see what an ArtCharm (handmade limited edition charm) looks like. I added some examples of stuff you can do with your charms, like lampshades and wire trees. Some of them will expand if you click on them.

         

   

  

 

 

  

Charm Tree from ArtCharms Yahoo Group Swap

 

Art and Soul Blog Hop

Welcome to the Hop!     

Here's a sneak peek at what we'll be doing in Portland at the Art and Soul art retreat: 

And:

Want to see more?

You're not going to believe your eyes when you see the incredible classes being served up at Art and Soul. Please check out my classes, then continue the Hop by visiting all the fantastically talented artists' blogs listed below.  

I'm teaching three classes: an All-You-Can-Make ArtCharm Buffet based on my book Making Mixed Media Art Charms and Jewelry, an evening of Basic Fused Glass, and the all-day-long Layered Light: the Art of Glass Fusing. You can read the class descriptions by clicking on the numbers next to the class titles. And you can register at the bottom of the class description page. 

* ArtCharm Buffet (P1139) on Tuesday, Sept. 27th from 9 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.
Here are examples of the kind of pieces you can create in this class:

* Basic Fused Glass (P1137) on Tuesday evening, Sept. 27th from 6:30 to 9:30 P.M.

and

* Layered Light: the Art of Glass Fusing (P284) on Thursday, Sept. 29th, 9 A.M. to 4:30 P.M.


Here are a few examples of fused glass that you can make in one or both of the classes:

And now, let me introduce a few more of the artists who will be at Art and Soul, along with the classes they're teaching. Just click on the name to go to that blog:

Sharyn Sowell

Letterpress 101 - Oodles of Papers & a Paperweight - Mon Sept 26

Letterpress 101 - Handmade Book - Tues Sept 27

Jane LaFazio

Sketching & Watercolor: Journal Style - Wed Sept 28

Recycled Circles - Thur Sept 29

Jenni Horne

Fabric Bird Friends - Fri Sept 30

Painting a Story - Sat Oct 1

Rogene Manas

Human Nature Relief - Sat & Sun

Doreen Kassel

Vintage Style Sculptural Tiles' - Wed Sept 28

Beastly Pendants - Wed Eve

Corey Celaya

The Moxie Cuff - Fri Sept 30

Collage for Journal Pages - Thur Sept 29

Wild Fibers Bracelet - Sun Oct 2

Patricia Seggebruch

Encaustic Box - Mon Sept 26

Encaustic ATC - Mon Eve

Tarred and Encausticed - Tues Sept 27

Jump into Encaustic - Tues Eve

Jen Crossley

Brass Bezel and Ice - Sat Oct 1

Mini Etched Book - Thur Eve

Doll Booklet Pendant - Fri Sept 30

Bushman's Mini Journal Necklace - Fri Eve

Barbara Lewis

Enamel Explorations Suitable for Framing - Wed Sept 28

Painting with Fire-Torch Fired Enamel Class is full! - Thur Sept 29 

Forging Ahead Bracelet - Tues Sept 27

Treasured Snippets - Fri Eve