Dessert, daring escapes and a little bird :)

Hello All!
I have a few projects of mine to share with you. No real theme here ;) Just trying to make the most of some of my craft supplies, odds and ends that I've been collecting. First I want to recommend a book! It may not be for everyone but I found it fascinating! Altered Curiosities by Jane Ann Wynn.

I found this book, brought it home, gave it a good read and created the shrine below right away!



The feet of the shrine are thread spools covered with ribbon. It's hard to see but one of them says "cherish". The box is a recycled greeting card box. I originally intended to fill the shrine with... something but the bird is so sweet, I may just leave it. Who knows? Actually, the shrine is not very similar in spirit to the art in the book. This ATC is more along the same lines... a little spooky, weird and wonderful!
See what happens when you do crafts and watch documentaries about Frankenstein at the same time??? Yep, this one is from way back during Halloween... just put the finishing touches on it this week! Crazy, I know ;)
My next sweet nothing was actually created during my Christmas ornament spree! I found the template on Mirkwood Designs. They have oodles of templates for all kinds of paper projects. My favorite part of this design was decorating! I love the "raspberry" ric-rac! And the bit of lace on the back is just enough frosting for me ;)


Finally, I am so excited about this piece! I have been contemplating a Houdini homage for a while now. It is just the right time period for me, a little steampunk, a little victorian. He's such a thrilling, mysterious figure... and handsome, too ;) Or at least he was, as you may know, he died performing a risky stunt. He was famous for being able to escape from anything but his final escape was from the land of the living...

I covered the band aid tin with sticky mesh, patterned paper and images from the web. The chains are from broken jewelry and the handcuffs are from a souvenir keychain! I've been saving those for SOOOOOO long! hehehe :) So glad they finally came in handy. I have to thank my craft buddy Jeri for passing on the tin and for being such a creative inspiration! I hope you all enjoy an escape soon (not Houdini's variety!). Go someplace nice and enjoy beautiful June :)
Allison

Swaping art for art :)

I got back on the swapbot.com bandwagon recently and participated in 2 swaps! I worked on a third today and thought I should share. Here's a little background. When I first began my love affair with photoshop and digital art, my canvas was usually about 12 by 12 inches. That is the size of a scrapbooking page and also about the size of my typical cafepress design. So,when I learned about ATC or artist trading cards... I was really kinda stumped by the smaller canvas! Only 2.5 by 3.5 inches?! How on earth was I going to work with that? Well, a challenge is usually envigorating so I tackled a few and really liked the results. Shortly before Halloween I joined an ATC swap with a Raven or Crow theme. Ooooo! Fun! But for some reason I couldn't seem to get myself to sit down and do it! Now you all now how much I love crows! I was a little confused by my own reaction. Now I think it has to do with my poor little T-rex arms...

I was not looking forward to manipulating tiny bits of paper, especially with glue on them! I have tendonitis and it sometimes thwarts my crafty urges. Anyway, I immediately felt motivated when I decided to go digital for the ATC. My inspiration came from this goth image from my youth...


Here is "Legacy of the Crow".


My next ATC swap assignment touched on another great inspiration of mine, Ancient Egypt. The host of the swap promised that we would represent many of the gods and goddesses in turn. But here is the first!
"Horus the Great".

The second one is very typical of my style, a little bit busy ;) The Crow card came out as I envisioned it but I was a little startled by the simplicity of my vision. Maybe my style is in flux? You can be the judge of that when I post the PLETHORA of paper rosette ornaments I am creating for Christmas. Heheheheh!
Until then, thanks for reading :)
Allison

Creative and Motivated!

Sometimes it's hard to be both at the same time... especially with the time and energy constraints of modern life. If I look back, I can see that I was most creative and likely to finish a project when I was in college. Duh, if I didn't, I got a bad grade! But I think it was more than that. Us creative folks can be, forgive the stereotype, a little out there and I believe that I personally benefit from structure. This can be self-imposed (but that's like letting the fox guard the hen house) or imposed from outside one's self. Luckily, one of my good friends turned me on to Swapbot.com. It's a great way not only to find structure for your creative endeavors but to meet other artists and fun people all over the globe. You join a swap and you're given parameters for your creation, an audience and a deadline ;) I can't tell you how great this has been for me! Here are the results of my first swap, an ATC swap with a Dia de los Muertos theme.

They are both ofrendas which means "tribute" or "offering" in Spanish and refers to the altars made by families for their beloved dead on Dia de los Muertos. The first one is for my grandma Barbara. The images in the card remind me of her. The perfume bottle for her Avon, the dragonfly for the pair of earrings she gave me and the calaca for the many Albee awards she received for her success with Avon. The flowers are marigolds, traditional altar flowers for the Day of the Dead and also represent the love and joy she brought to so many.

The second one is for my grandpa. His was a little harder for many reasons. My grandma died in 2002 and I think I've had a lot of time to process that loss. My grandpa died in 2005 while I was planning my wedding. In order to make it through that time, I had to push aside many of my feelings of grief and guilt. By making this piece for him, I was able to get back in touch with and release some of that pain. I chose the images based on his love of westerns, his free spirit, his love of his country and his stellar personality. You might also notice that my grandpa's card has a small dragonfly, which links the two pieces together. Also, the wire on his card spells out his call sign: W6UBQ.

There are so many lessons I learned through this project! One was about giving your art away. Yes, I mailed the originals to my swap partner. I didn't have to, the rules specify that you can send high quality copies but something told me that I should. Maybe it was another act of letting go. I'm happy that they will be placed in someone's art collection. I have already benefited through the creation and I don't think I would benefit more by keeping them. Anyway, thanks everyone for reading. This is indeed the time of year when we are going into the darkness. I hope you all find healing there.
Allison