Sunday, October 26, 2008

Halloween "SOUL" Party


Welcome to my Soul Journal Halloween Blog Party!
My Soul Journal Sisters are having a Halloween party today!
Be sure to visit all of my soul journal sisters and friends by click on the link below that will take you to the host site...Kathryn the Collage Diva. There you will find the LIST of other blogs. Fill free to scroll and stroll down everyone's blogs to see all the wonderful Soul Journal pages shared over the last few months.

Soul Journal Blog Party (CLICK HERE)



Halloween is fun. It's a 'throw away all your cares and be a kid again type of holiday'. People really need that, what with the stock market and scary economy. It's a big make-believe holiday where it is ok to dress up and play along with the kids.
Decorating is enchanting, treats are yummy and who doesn't just love to be someone else for an evening???







Feel free to use any of the pictures above...my TREAT!

Blog Candy Giveaway..... "EYE"let Candy
Okay, this is one giveaway you will DEFINITELY want to enter -visit Kristin Hubick at Reto Cafe'!!

Wednesday, October 22, 2008

Vanessa's Party was Great Fun and it was sure fun to see where all my visitors arrived from!

Tonight I pick a winner of my Giveaway!!
The Winner is.....
Lynn@ The Vintage Nest
http://lifeatcedarhill.blogspot.com/

There's another Party on Sunday, so please stop in again!!

Friday, October 17, 2008

Blog PARTY Giveaway



Vanessa at A Fanciful Twist (CLICK HERE) is the Hostess of FUN parties and this one is no exception! Looks like over 200 blogs so far have joined in, many with great giveaway Trick or Treats!
Don't miss out...visit her site to get the list and go blog hopping...oops
I mean, Trick or Treating!!

This 7 inch squared glitzy box is BIG and will hold alot of goodies for your lil'door-knockers.

All you have to do to win this, is to leave a comment after this post. I'd love to see where all the visitors are from, so add your town, state or country.
I will draw a winner on the evening of the 22nd leaving plenty of time for you to visit and in plenty of time to send it to you for Halloween!

Tuesday, October 14, 2008

Trick or Treatin'

Halloween....what a wonderful time of fun, costumes, masks, and scarey things that go bump in the night....oh and of course CANDY. I have always loved Halloween since I can remember. I grew up in Orange County, Calif where it was Very easy to fill a bag in just a few blocks. For my Grandsons, things are a little different. Growing up in the country where there aren't many people means your Great Grandparents had better live in TOWN in a pretty cool neighborhood for Trick or Treatin'.

The custom of Halloween was brought to America in the 1840's by Irish immigrants fleeing their country's potato famine. At that time, the favorite pranks in New England included tipping over outhouses and unhinging fence gates.
What I didn't know was....
The custom of trick-or-treating is thought to have originated not with the Irish Celts, but with a ninth-century European custom called 'souling'. On November 2, All Souls Day, early Christians would walk from village to village begging for "soul cakes," made out of square pieces of bread with currants. The more soul cakes the beggars would receive, the more prayers they would promise to say on behalf of the dead relatives of the donors. At the time, it was believed that the dead remained in limbo for a time after death, and that prayer, even by strangers, could expedite a soul's passage to heaven. Kinda a twist to the Day of the Dead traditions of our southern countries, don't you think??







Sorry...just had to share.

Monday, October 13, 2008

Potions and Spells

A Potion is any medicinal drink. Witches, as the wise people of the villages, were very knowledgeale about the use of herbs and brewed potions to administer better health....kinda sounds like all the bottled health/sports drinks, don't it?
I found a great tutorial on making real looking Potion Bottles to display around your home at Witches Kitchen by DeadSpider.


A cool picture of Witch Hazel. I never knew what it looked like, so I surprised.

This book cover is eerie,eicky and easy. Wouldn't it make a neat guest book for your Halloween party or a place for all the Trick or Treat pictures?
Here's the link to the easy instructions at...
spell book how-to at Shadow Manor


Saturday, October 11, 2008

First Snow...already!


Where did Fall go?? Yikes! I think we are in for long Winter in these parts.
I took some pictures to share for you gals who are still enjoying the warm weather where you live.

Monday, October 6, 2008

6 Facts About Journaling...Tag

TAGGED! This is my first time getting tagged. That means
I need to list 6 random things...personal or otherwise...facts.
Well,let's see...I think I will share 6 facts about Journaling.

1. You can let your ideas and feelings flow freely, and follow them wherever they lead you.
Because there is no editing, revising, or structure to journaling, it is easier to put your inner critic on hold and get to the heart of what you are thinking and feeling.

2. People write what they need to know.
You will gain surprising and valuable insights into yourself as you journal, and again when you revisit past writings.

3. Journaling over time gives you a broader and more accurate perspective on yourself and your journey.
It is easy to be unaware of how long you have been grappling with a particular issue or challenge. Rereading journals from previous months and years will afford you a time perspective and allow you to see recurring themes.

4.Journals can be burned.
If you are uncomfortable committing your innermost thoughts to paper, journal and burn them. Although you will not get the longitudinal benefits of rereading past writings, the journaling process itself is still extremely valuable, and the ritual of burning the pages can be very freeing and releasing. Many pages are painted over for just this reason.

5.You get to decide who you want to be, and you can change your mind at any time.
Until you can grant yourself this personal freedom in real life, use journaling to try on different ways of being and expressing yourself. Write as though you are already the fearless, limitless being you aspire to be. Remember, journaling is risk-free and private. No one but you is affected by what you write. Your journal will not resist change or pressure you to be who it thinks you ought to be!

6.Intentional journaling can be a gift to others.
While most journaling is private, another form of journaling is done for an intended audience. Keep a notebook or tape recorder handy and record the thoughts you want to share with your children or grandchildren -- stories of the funny and touching things they say and do while they are still fresh in your mind, important family stories you want to share, and even those of your personal thoughts and feelings that will be meaningful to them later in their lives.

Now you know six random facts about me/Journaling, but there are many more.

The rules for tagging are as follows:

1. Link to the person who tagged you.
2. Post the rules on your blog.
3. Write six random things about yourself.
4. Tag six people at the end of your post.
5. Let each person know that they have been tagged by leaving a comment on their blog.

Thank-you Christy -Average American Girl for picking me.

I’ve selected a few Soul Journalers to tag. Here are my tagees:

Adrienne: A Soul Journal

Linda: Blue Eyed Girl

Ruby Claire.X

Jacky: Art4Moi

Altered Art Freak

Carol T's: Taylor's Textile Trials

Friday, October 3, 2008

Lexicons...Soul Journal


Lexicons....n.a special vocabulary.a dictionary.
Personal Lexicons....reaccuring elements or themes that define a persons art that makes it personal and unique to them.
I turned my pages the long way for this one as I wanted to make my 'altered route', my art name, Etsy, Ebay and my blog identity.




I sure enjoyed this journal prompt..thanks Katheryn!

I also decided to join in and have a Halloween Blog Party again this year. There's a logo on the right column to visit Fanciful Twist's site. Our Soul Journal group is also having one and I will be letting you all know the details in the near future.

Wednesday, October 1, 2008

Adventures in our own back Yard

These nice Fall days call for adventure hikes...had to share this cute pic of the grandboys pretending to hunt...too cute!

Wednesday, September 24, 2008

Rock Witches


Last night, there came a frost, which has done great damage to my garden.... It is sad that Nature will play such tricks on us poor mortals, inviting us with sunny smiles to confide in her, and then, when we are entirely within her power, striking us to the heart. ~Nathaniel Hawthorne, The American Notebooks

Yep...that's what happened. So Fall is officially here and I decided to make rock witches to put in my flower beds...maybe these gals will bring humor to the sad state of things. Where did the Summer go???

Friday, September 19, 2008

Lost and Found....Soul Journal




Soul Journal prompts for Lost and Found....As you go through your day today collect everyday items that can be worked into a collage. Consider everything as possible journal fodder. One of the biggest challenges after collecting a lot of items is deciding which ones to use. I only used 1/4 of what I collected in order to make my story. I also collected affirming comments from fellow Journalers...The Found leaves reflect these and on the Lost page I wrote personal things that I Knowingly have dismissed or plan to lose on this artistic journey. I sure enjoyed these pages and I think it has been my favorite prompt so far.

Friday, September 12, 2008

Soul Journal

The Soul Journalers are back at it!
Kathryn, The Collage Diva
is heading up this journey and taking it on into phase 2.
Sarah Whitmire, the originator, is keeping the group inspired from time to time, but is busy setting up Joggles workshops and you can learn more about that on her blog.

The lovely Christy AKA "Average American Girl"
has made a Yahoo group for fellow Soul journalers to discuss, share and continue friendships started in the Soul Journaling project...we as a group work on the same themed pages.

Join us at http://groups.yahoo.com/group/SoulJournal/


The prompt for my pages above...is Permission Slip. Since I am playing with my new book...Taking Flight...I gave myself permission to do it Kelly Rae style. The list is full of permissions to remind me to be a free spirit with art and journaling and was a fun prompt to work with!

Thursday, September 11, 2008

Annie Oakley....Get yer Gun!!


Little Miss Wing-Shot....and I thought it was Sure-Shot!

Here's what I found out about this western charactor. She really wasn't western, just very skilled with firearms and horseback riding. It was only through the promotion of the Buffalo Bill's Wild West Exhibition, she became the archetypal(prototype/stereotype) of the western woman. As the girly-girl who created the genre "cowgirl", Annie projected an image so feminine, ladylike, Victorian and unique that most people found themselves drawn to the version of a strong, acheiving woman....viewers cheered her onward just to see and believe that women, even of the western variety, were fully capible of manley feats and daring exploits.

Her Motto:
Aim at a high mark and you will hit it.
No not the first time,nor the second and maybe not the third.
But keep on aiming and keep on shooting
for only practice will make you perfect.
Finally, you will hit the bull's eye of SUCCESS.

(Maybe she was a womens libber...because I don't think she was just talking about shooting)

As I am working my way through the 'Taking Flight' book by Kelley Rae, I did this 13 x 13 picture of Annie with alot of influence by another favorite artist named Thom Ross.

Once one has viewed the art of Thom Ross, one never forgets it. His work is best described as "mod historical western genre and figure painting." Ross is best known for his accurate and extremely whimsical portrayal of events taken from the Wild West era. His paintings are bright, bold and refreshing in their style, yet accurate in their history.
He has had a life long interest in American History and the "folk hero" who is a product of that history. His emphasis however is focused on the historical "folk hero" as compared to the mythical "folk hero". (An example of the historical folk hero would be Jesse James, a mythical folk hero would be Paul Bunyan; one actually existed while the other is a product of tall tails.)
His desire is to produce a work of art that requires the viewer to re-examine either what he knows about history, or what he thinks he knows about history.
His work is seen at Visions West Gallery..CLICK HERE or by searching Thom Ross.

Do you think the two styles can be blended together???

Tuesday, September 9, 2008

Taking Flight...with new book!

"Taking Flight - Inspiration and Techniques to Give Your Creative Spirit Wings"

Remember a few weeks back, I mentioned Kelly Rae's new book was due to come out?
My issue of "Taking Flight"arrived and I have been having fun and learning some new things. The book is very well put together with great techniques and wonderful guest and contributing artists that I really admire such as DJ Pettitt and Judy Wise, just to name two. Buying this book is the result of my pity-party that I had when I had to turn down an Art Retreat this summer...and I was substituting by buying Kelly's book and having a home workshop of my own. I also Participated in Sharah Whitmire's Soul Journaling online challenge and I am amazed that two different types of art can inspire with the same purpose....Learning to Soar!

Below is my first effort...
What I rarely see in Kelly's work are Hands or feet for that matter, so to enjoy the techniques and the style without imitating...just learning, I also challenged myself to adding hands.

Tuesday, September 2, 2008

The Shoppe at Somerset


Day of the Day...Halloween Charms by Connie Hippen

I was so happy when I was asked by the editor of Stampington & Company early this year to make some sets of my Day of the Dead Charms for The Shoppe! CLICK HERE TO SEE!

How it happened was I participated in the OneWorldOneHeart giveaway event last Feb and Kellene Giloff, President/Publisher, was out visiting blogs and noticed my charms. She shot me off a nice e-mail with her idea for The Shoppe at Somerset. From there I was in contact with Vanessa Spencer who is in charge of The Shoppe and who design the neat Dress Form project featured in the site. Both are wonderfully nice business women and I am happy with the opportunity!

Advice to share....
* Put your e-maill addy on your blog or make your contact info easy to find, because not all viewers are bloggers.
* Participate or visit&comment in Blogging Events such as giveaways, celebrations or themed events. The people out there are wonderful!
* Blog your best and keep it interesting!!!

Friday, August 29, 2008

Perspective....


What you see is not always what you get. What is photograghed is sometimes much better than what is in real life. And the opposite could be said about both.
Ever use a pattern for something and follow the instructions to the tee and it never looks like the picture? Ever visited a place in a travel brochure and you wonder why they didn't use pictures from a totally different angle?
Have you ever walked the same route day after day and then one day notice something you had never noticed before? Ever walked to a destination that you usually drive and noticed new things like it is blown up or Zoomed in?


Perspective...is what you miss when you don't take the time to really look. It's crazy the things you discover when you do that! I think that is why some bloggers share a rock that they find in the driveway that looks like a heart. No matter what you are doing or where you are going if you become less focused on the routine and more mentally focused on the process or each step...your world soon becomes alive and interesting.

Okay, so I catch myself doing this a lot ~ I go about my everyday business, focused on what needs to be done (or focused on other stuff that keeps me from focusing on what needs to be done ...... ), then I take a minute to look around & I notice things I've never noticed before. It makes me think about what I've missed by limiting my view ...and what an impact it would make to my art, my personal life, if I slow down to see everything from a whole other perspective!

Thursday, August 28, 2008

A Primitive Award


I Love Primitive stuff...Vintage things and it's wonderful to get this award.
I received this unexpected honor from Pammi at gritsgreensandcornbread.
Check out her brand new blog. Thank-you Pammi!
Now to go find the links to some great Prim blogs....

Once an award is received, the rules are as follows:
Put the logo on your blog.
Add a link to the person who awarded you.
Nominate at least seven other blogs.
Add links to those blogs on your blog.
Leave a message for your nominee on their blogs.
My nominees are:

Heidi *** http://crabbygabby.blogspot.com/

Erika *** http://erikascupboard.blogspot.com/

Joyce *** http://joycestahl.blogspot.com/

Brenda *** http://rustycreekprimitives.blogspot.com/

Rosanne *** http://rosclutteredattic.blogspot.com/

Pea *** http://peapickersprimitives.blogspot.com/

BirdyJo *** http://www.birdyjo.blogspot.com/

Thursday, August 21, 2008


I received this award this week from Elizabeth of LastDoorDownTheHall, which is a super blog to go visit! Thank you so much, Elizabeth!

This award is for blogs you really like to visit. As most of the awards go, you are to nominate seven blogs with their blog links, email them, post this award on your blog with the link going back to the person who awards you the award, and then they nominate or award seven blogs. It has perpetual motion and good feelings.

So, I am awarding these people and their blogs. Their blogs make me feel inspired, bring something new to the worktable or are just fascinating to me.

1. Linda van Vliet, Netherlands
http://r2art.blogspot.com/
2. Karin Bartimole, NY
http://aviewbeyondwords.blogspot.com
3. Tami Bayer, Southern California
http://dappledesigns.blogspot.com
4. Marie Patterson, My Little World
http://mariepatterson.blogspot.com/
5. Brenda Wampler,Texas
http://memoriesandtreasures.blogspot.com/
6. Ginny Carter, OHIO
http://smallstudio.typepad.com/
7. INKA, Idaho
http://inkastamps.blogspot.com/

Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Technique Fat Book

Major FAT Book....
I signed up for a Fat book swap...with ArtTecniques yahoo group. This is a Technique Book. I will be doing 120 4x4's of an alcohol ink overlay. It started out to be 50 gals/techniques per book, but the overwhelming response was to have them all in one book with no duplicates. Then it grew to 120. This will be the 'grandaddy' of all fat books for sure...but what a treasure to have a sample of every technique these gals come up with. ...and there are some awesome talent on the list ...alot of published gals, book authors and noted teachers from all over. Can you tell I am excited about this one???lol!!.....ps...I am done with all of mine and it isn't due till Oct...lol!
I will be sure to share pictures when the swap is made!

Monday, August 11, 2008

DAY 20 and 21...and 22

Sarah is back and I am behind a few days....
Sarah's prompt for Day 20 is for us to photocopy some of our past pages and collage them.
Her prompt for Day 23 is to do a self portrait using just our fingers....So I combined these separate projects into one.





Day 21

Her prompt is to doodle a misfit. I'm not a doodler! If I chicken-scratch idlely while on the phone for example, I do boxes, triangles or spider webs...not the looptyloops...know what I mean? So to follow her lead and doodle some loops that we try to find a character was pretty hard for me. So here's my misfit...MissFit. I tried...lol!



This is it on the Soulful Journal with Sarah as the leader...I will miss the daily prompts, but I have to admit I have a ton of great ideas and this journey has broadened the horizons in what is so liberating about journaling!! Thank-you Sarah for taking the time to do this and will keep in touch and look forward to future installments. Congrats that Joggles found out about this Soul Journaling project and were so impressed that they have asked you to teach online classes for them! How cool it that!

Thursday, August 7, 2008

The Bird Nest

Weird bird day for me!!
This morning I decided I was late enough sending Melissa at Lazy Day Creations a "bird" creation for her Design Team Gallery.
So I got this Urge to do something using my handemade nests. Just as I started out, a bird hit my studio window. Then there was little pitter-pattering on the deck just outside my door. Weird....I never have birds on this side of the house, but what was going on was a grasshopper fest. Yeah!!! Natural insecticide!!
Then a show came on about the Olympics...it was about the architecs, the design and the construction of the stadium in Beijing. The nickname for one of a kind stadium is THE BIRD NEST!!
So I guess it was my muse, a weird omen or just a big coeinky-dink, but I finished them and wanted to share them before I put them on Etsy.




Here's a neat picture. I know in a few weeks this will be old news and some will be sick of all the coverage...but I can't wait!


The Bird's Nest stadium in Beijing is a work of ART!! It is hailed as the finest arena in the world and the centrepiece of the most expensive Olympics in history and it is full of hidden symbolism.
It's architects also claim it is one of the most environmentally-friendly stadiums in the world, as undersoil geothermal pipes help heat indoor parts of stadium in winter and rainwater is collected and stored in underground cisterns for irrigation and to flush lavatories and the solar features