New Projects on the horizon

Ah…so yeah, it’s good to be back in the studio again after a bit of real life happenings. Sometimes life can throw a wrench at ‘cha, knock ya up-side the head and knock you out cold. Yup, three major life crisis happened to me….all in one week, back in July.

Life is slowly turning around to where I can get on with it. Two of my closest friends have been there with me from the start, along with so many others who have supported me throughout these times. Thank you!

I know too that some of you have checked in here and there to see what’s goin’ on here at the Blog too. There are even some “new” Followers! I so appreciate you all! You have no idea how it makes me feel to know that you stop by here. You can be sure that I'll have some goodies in store for you in the near future.

In the past week, I’ve been working on four different projects. Yeah, I know...crazy huh? But my heart and hands have been missing the magical playtime in the studio. My Muse has been pulling her hair out waiting on me to get on with it. And what does she do…she throws it all to me at once! I have to laugh about it.

So check back shortly. Thanx for stoppin’ by!

The ups and downs of life...

Hello all,

I wanted to let ALL of my Followers know how grateful I am and how much I appreciate YOU! For stoppin' by to leave the most awesome comments, bringing your smiles and sharing you art journeys with me. It takes a special person such as yourself, to create magical pieces of art. You share so many tips, techniques, ideas, challenges, images and laughter with me as I visit your blogs. I am grateful for you. I've wanted you to know this for some time.

At this point in my life there have been some major, in your face, critical life changes happening. So much so that I am unable to create art right now and have to focus on the tasks at hand. Having a very hard time with it all. I have support of dear friends who are praying and helping in every way that they can. I am grateful for them too.

I hope to be back soon with some more art to share and to check in on your blogs to see what you've been up to real soon.

Peace and Blessings

What Can Ya Do With This Stuff?...Part 4

...ahh hello again. Here to bring another installment of "What Can Ya Do With This Stuff?" You know, I like it when one can be open to the flood of creativity, gather up stuff and make some magic happen. Oh, what a feelin'.

Today's project (well, I really did this one between other projects) will hang in my art studio. I don't like doing many things twice so they become OOAK....just the way I like it. Every one is different and will vary depending on my Guides and how I'm rollin' on that day. They give me images while I'm sleeping or just about to wake up. I so appreciate them. This is just one of the ways a given image manifests and I put it all together under this title. Enjoy!

~click images to enlarge~

...well this, of course...
  

Thanx for stoppin' by today!

Rusted Stuff

Rust...Yeah, so what do you think of when that word comes to mind? Someone left the bike out in the rain?! Old metal lawn chairs from the 50’s and 60’s? Your parents old car from back in the day? A buried treasure of coins...no, those were just rusted screws found in an old jug out back. No, no, how about this...the weekly challenge over at Three Muses? Yup, this is the last day and I’m getting this one in just under the wire! Gawd, talk about old and rusted (me...LateFreightSuzie). Did I make it...think so.

Remember in the last post I said that I would do something with those rusty gears? Well that did happen, and this piece started out with the idea of being a plain ol' magnet (where the skellie is) for the fridge. I kid you not! But my muse came in and totally took over, again! Which is why it’s right at the deadline. Just kept my mind open to her prompts and building upon what was there. Geez, she's so pushy sometimes.

click image to enlarge

Then I got a bee in my bonnet. It had to have an ornate frame. There was no way this was gonna rest till one was found. Searched through hell and high water for the right frame. Michael’s (two locations), Joann, Aaron Brothers, even a garage sale! Grrrr, could not find the right one...until I went to Urban Ore.

Hawt damn! Found it! Recycled, you betcha. It wasn’t as ornate as I wanted it to be, but it was wood (yush!). Washed it up, painted and distressed it, and there you have it. I rusted the ball chain and other elements then added some magic to it. This is a perfect piece for DOTD or Halloween. Guess the magnet will have to come at another time? Hah!

Thanx so much for stoppin’ by!

What Can Ya Do With This Stuff? Part 3....

Well, you could do a lot with it, just depends on you imagination. Thank gawd for Imagination and Tools! What would you do with it?
 

Since I’ve been on an ALTOIDS tin kick lately (see last post), the decision was to Keep Calm and get on with it! Do you see those tiles at the bottom of the first pic?... those are Formica tiles samples...some of them were gesso prepped to be used in the last workshop I taught. Huh, they never made it into the stash of classroom supplies. The idea was to make a “book like” thingy to go inside the tin. Nope, never happened. But the idea still lingered in the ‘ol noggin so I put it aside in the Later Reference Files brain compartment.

Last week I came across a challenge while visiting some Art Blogs. One is over at Three Muses (they have a weekly art challenge every Wednesday). This particular challenge piqued my interest and set it on fire. Steampunk! Oh yeah! *reaches into the Later Reference Files and pulls up the Formica tiles “book like” thingy* Oh I got busy on this one right away so it could go into the challenge. Who knows, it may show up in other places. Here it is...love the way it turned out too.

Shout outs go to The Graphics Fairy for some awesome graphics to play with and Spirit's Journey Designs. Other images came from various places (wish I could remember….brain freeze). Thank You all!

Some serious collage, mixed media, assemblage goin’ on here. I intentionally painted it all over so that it wouldn't close….to give you a tiny peek inside. How or why I came up with the color is beyond me. What was I thinking?! But it worked out tho. And because of the Formica tiles (5 of them), it has a bit of weight to it. The eyelets and jump rings used completed the set. A perfect match indeed. Just pull the tiles out by the little key to see all the dapper gentlemen inside. Sprinkled with bits of watch parts here and there. See those rusted gears in the pics? That’s my next project/challenge. Thanx for stopping by….see ya soon!

Sacred Shrines and Altars Workshop

Hello there, and thanx for stoppin’ by for a visit today.

HAPPY SUMMER!!! 

It’s been really busy on the other side of this Blog...which is why it’s behind on posts. But I’m here today to share some magic with you all that happened on Saturday at my Sacred Shrines and Altars Workshop. Not gonna be long winded here ‘coz I wanna share the pics with you all. But I’m...

...Givin’ a great big hug and shout out to Jordan (what an Angel you are!), for inviting me to her Ventura Street Art Studio to share this special class with everyone. And much, much thanx all who came out and made the magic happen. A remarkable group. Mannn was that awesome! And let me tell you, the creative juices were flowin’! ....see for yourself.



I prepped, primed and rusted the ALTOIDS tins for the class and made three samples for eye candy. There were two tables (12’) of trinkets, charms, papers, fabrics, notions, specialty papers, ephemera and other yummy items to embellish with (overkill? yeah, I think so). How could one not create something special?

Magnificent works of art flowed from every hand, giving way to the magical energy within. What an amazing group. I created this slideshow to share our day with you. The day was incredible! Enjoy!

What can ya do with this stuff?...Part 2

Hi all, thanx for stoppin’ by today. 

June UPDATE: The Steampunk Top Hat Birdhouse is also in another challenge "Birds of a Feather" over at Alter It Monthly's Blog. 

This is another installment using recycled packaging from around the house. My latest challenge was for a Paper Mache swap over at iATC’s. So I got busy letting’ those creative juices flow through the hands...had no idea where it would take me, (never do really).


I knew I wanted to make a bird house with a vague image of a house in mind...but as you can see, it morphed into something completely different. This was not what I saw. I did make a house (for the swap)...and it turned out to be a crooked little house. This in turn brought back the nursery rhyme “There was a Crooked Man”. And the bird house? The Steampunk Elementals (gnomes) showed up and took over for a time. ...well, the evidence is clear that those lil’ tinker's went on adventure with a Top Hat (smart lil’ buggers). The Crooked House is 6.5” tall and the Top Hat is a tad under 4” tall.