A shift in seasons

Now it is officially autumn...you can feel a change in the air...a difference in the light of day...
the wind blows in anticipation of what's ahead...

I collected this leaf on a recent morning walk...autumn brown is creeping around the edges of summer green...this leaf study is one of my new art card designs...available soon for sale in my etsy shop.

And speaking of art cards (and winds of change)...I am pleased that I have been invited to "Pitch my Product" to Country Living Magazine...in Atlanta...in October...and its happening concurrently with the Country Living Fair...so of course I am flying in early to spend a day junking before I make my presentation...can't wait!

Linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House...I'm sure others will have signs of autumn among their pics...

Some want diamonds...others, rust

I had a chance over the weekend to sort & clean my finds from my Yakima trip.  Some will end up in my space at Faded Elegance...some will be fodder for future art projects...some will stay at home with me...










I collect black croquet balls...just the black ones...this beauty is my newest addition...
adore the pewter bowl too...well-loved with great patina...it will be at Faded Elegance as part of my October/November vignette...

The metal trowels with their wood handles make handsome photo holders.  I always carry a magnet with me when I'm junking to check out whether or not found metal is steel (magnet will stick) or aluminum (magnet will not stick)...whether or not a magnet sticks often dictates how it will be used.  The fabric button magnets are a quick and easy project...find details on how to make them here.

Old tools, of any kind, fascinate me...especially anything connected with measuring.  The wood handled awl is going into the container with my other art tools...the wood feels so comfortable in my hand...

And then there's this honey of a tool...the Southern Man bought this for me at one of the estate sales we were at...he told me, "You need this."  He was oh so right...

Linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House...stop by to see all the other mosaic wonders...

A few days of warmth

Last week I spent three days visiting my sister in Yakima...it was certainly warmer than it has been in our part of the state...in fact, it was over 90 degrees each day...but in a small dose, it was so appreciated...the warm weather, the beautiful garden, the terrific junking, the great family...

I'm linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House...always a great assortment of wonderful photos there...

In due time

in due time - 2011

I've been trying very hard to clean out the stuff in my basements...yes, that is plural...I have a rental house behind me where I also store junk...this is the hazard of not having a garage!

I have no shortage of items that fall into the category "someday I will find the perfect use for this..." 
Maybe its time or maybe its my patience...I'm tired of steel/big/heavy/clumsy stuff...I want to deal with paper/canvas/small/packable stuff.

But over the weekend, I had a Eureka Moment...

metal table base from a local restaurant going out of business...removed the original table top...it was press-board and had an unbelievable amount of dried bubble-gum on the underneath side...I would guess I've had this base easily for seven years.

weathered wood box...from a junking excursion at a defunct farm in Oregon...this is solid wood...it weighs a ton...I've probably have held onto this box for over five years...









Why not marry the two together...after a few measurements and 6 stout screws...it is a blessed union!

I love that the heft and rust of the base is matched by the weight and weathered grain of the top...I feel transported to an Italian bistro, dining alfresco with this table sitting on my patio...

I'm linking up to Mosaic Monday over at Little Red House...I'm sure I'm not the only one who had a blast of inspiration over the weekend...

The Weekly Fluff

While I was at Faded Elegance late last week to fluff my space, my eye gravitated to books and such...already there are "back to school" ads in the paper, so maybe it was a subliminal suggestion...summer has just shown its face here in the Pacific NW so I don't want to think about fall yet...but I was drawn to brown colors and tones nonetheless...

I've been having some fun with different photo finishes...everybody is raving about the photo apps on the i-phone...I don't have an i-phone but thought I could duplicate that retro/vintage look with my photos on my own...here's my take on making your photo look like a Polaroid shot...

These next two photo collages suggest those triplicate slides you get from a photo booth...with the colors pumped up as if the pictures had yellowed over time...

This last one I changed to black & white and messed up the edges to mimic old glass slide photos...

I used Picnik for creating the photo collages and changing the color hues; I used Microsoft Paint to mess up the edges on the last trio. 


Linking up to Mosaic Monday over at Little Red House where many more photographic wonders await...

One is not enough

Sharing my finds from my recent trip to Yakima to visit my sister...I don't know about you but I'm a firm believer that there is strength in numbers...and when fortitude is rewarded with multitude, the junking gods are on your side...

We went to several estate sales that had boxes upon boxes of stuff...you never know what you might find...the enormous light bulb was found first...it is will complete the perfect trio, complementing the two other large bulbs I already have at home.  And then when I came across the small and medium bulbs (and the english ironstone platter for 75 cents!) how could I leave them behind...they will be part of my letters & numbers/scientific study vignette at Faded Elegance come fall.

Likewise here with the Brownie Kodak cameras...in the past, I would have passed by such an item as this...but with my increasing interest in photography, it caught my eye...it was only $1 so into the pile...

Next sale...this camera...this time its $4.00 - a high ticket item!  But it calls out my name...

Last sale...could not believe it...a third Brownie camera - and with the attached flash...its really out of the budget ($7.50!) but its at one of my favorite charity thrift stores in Yakima, the Union Gospel Mission Lighthouse Thrift Store, so I justify that its all for a good cause...

 and really...when the junk gods are on your side, who are you to argue...

Have the junk gods been on your side lately...tell me about it!

Linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House...I'm sure there's junking stories there to be told!

Outside my front door...

are my climbing roses...with the cool weather here, the blooms have lasted a long time...its easy to clip a stem to bring inside...with stalks of purple wheatgrass from my alley...all nestled in a well-loved silver teapot...displayed on an overturned ironstone dish...the English marks are always so beautiful...suits the roses just fine...

linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House...many lovely photo mosaics there...

How the garden grows, part 2

I spent this past weekend visiting my sister who lives on the other side of the state.  When I left Everett on Friday morning, it was 64 degrees and cloudy...when I got to Yakima three hours later it was 75 degrees and sunny...in between there was Snoqualmie Pass (crossing the Cascade Mts for those of you not from the Pacific NW)...there were still patches of snow in the pass...testament to the cold spring/summer we have been having here!

My sister is the gardener; I am not.  I posted about the initial stages of her garden here...its only been two years and the results are astonishing...that is her constant companion Tupper in the photo...he is tied up since there is a mother cat with her newborn kitties just on the other side of the back fence...and he will not give them any peace!

Everything has been filling in nicely...the plants in the garden and the accouterments in the garden shed and outdoor patio...

Such a sensation of sights...such a delight and a pleasure...

I'm linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House...where the host Mary is having her own garden sensation experience!

A patriotic pause

A vintage montage from my space at Faded Elegance...Happy 4th of July!

and linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House...check it out...

A weekend Retreat

unplug that phone...I'm taking a break!

On Saturday, my friend Sue and I travelled north
to the Retreat Summer Vintage Market...
Deb and Bob Kennedy hosted 20+ vintage/antique
artisians in their bucolic country field...
though the day was rather cloudy, my eye wandered
to bright summer hues...

Adorable stuffed toys from hasenpfeffer incorporated...a beautiful blue painted buffet from Seabold Vintage Market...

Tammy Gilley Studios had a bright, summery booth...loved her use of textiles and color...

Of course the Barn House booth was lovely...I bought a packet of old recipe cards...perfect for collage.  My other purchase at the market was several rusty casters that I'm going to attach to a couple of wood crates I have.  On our way back home, Sue & I stopped at a roadside berry stand (strawberries are finally coming on!) and at the local thrift store where I bought a good collection of Buffalo China for $5.  When I looked through the recipe cards and saw that there was one for Strawberry Jam, I just knew it was meant to be...

I'm linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House  and Flea Market Finds at Her Library Adventures...stop by for a look...

Saturday at the Schack

Saturday was the Artist Garage Sale at the Schack Art Center- lots of art & loads of supplies - all at rock bottom prices.  I rid myself of a fair share of stuff from my studio...especially those projects that didn't work out and keep nagging at me...I felt as if I should finish them or find another use/approach... sometimes its just best to be done with it and let it go! 

Even though the weather was nasty (so glad I had an indoor booth), spirits were high.  I snapped a few photos of the colors and textures that caught my eye...

I had my infamous paper bins with me...these three bins are filled with the scraps of my collage work...everything from old dictionary pages to wallpaper snippets to colored card stock gets thrown into the bin.  I take these bins to workshops when I'm teaching and shows when I'm selling...for 25 cents, you get to fill a paper bag with whatever you want.

Late in the afternoon, I had an idle moment...like a magpie, something colorful caught my attention and I just had to pull it out of the bin...

and create a mini-collage...

I'm participating in Mosaic Monday at Little Red House - check it out for plenty of colors and textures... 

The joy of digital

I'm starting work on new collages in preparation for my art show in 9 weeks...I always think that I have plenty of time to get everything ready, but it never seems to end up that way.  One of the benefits of digital cameras is that you can take a quick shot of an image...no more sketching out ideas - though that does still have its place at times.  I do a rough layout of my collage and then take a quick snap of it - then I prep all the materials and the construction process begins.  Its easy to refer back to my photo to remind me what I was thinking...though editing/revising/rearranging certainly happens during the process.  And when I'm finished, the digital quick snap is easily erased.

Here's the rough layouts of a series of collages I'm doing with original vintage bird cards...I'm using old book covers as the base...the book pages were totally trashed (which I probably shredded for use in another project) but the covers with their leather edges and marbled designs were too wonderful to discard.

Well, I'd best to getting to it while inspiration is hot...I'm linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House...lots more hot inspiration there...

Last of the lilacs

As the month of May comes to an end, so do the lilacs in my garden.  I love my lilac bushes but their blooms are short-lived...the ones in the front yard bloomed first...these in the back garden are the last (and technically they are growing in the neighbor's back yard but the limbs hang over my garden fence...)

I like the contrast of the delicate blossoms with the well-loved enamelware pitcher...

While out in the garden, I noticed other details...blossoms ready to burst...

and a new resting spot for my favorite garden helper...

Take a moment this holiday and look at the simple things in your world...there is wonder all around...

Linking up to Mosaic Monday over at Little Red House...simple wonders to view there as well...

A closeup of Time

I spent Sunday afternoon on a "photo shoot" in my kitchen...I have a couple of juried shows to which I'm submitting entries...my kitchen gets the best light in the house, so I try to rig a background set-up to get decent photos...its a challenge sometimes!

The multi-media collage entitled "Time" is a large piece (with an old wine crate as its foundation) with three creative sides...it proved difficult to get an image that did justice to all sides...

I felt that a photo mosaic was perfect to capture all the intricacies of the piece...

I'm linking up to Mosaic Monday at Little Red House...lots of creative photo mosaics to view!

First lilacs

The first lilacs have bloomed in my yard...always a sign that spring has arrived (at last!)  These lilacs were planted about six years ago by my sister and they are now grand bushes with lots of blossoms.  I love to cut a few and put them in a vase on my nightstand...the fragrance is so lovely and soothing for restful sleep...

My sister is visiting for a couple of days so we are checking out how the rest of the garden is doing...looks like the blue poppies that she planted a couple of years ago are finally going to bloom...

This posting is the one that somehow disappeared last week in the midst of the Blogger shenanigans...but I was able to resurrect it... 

In recognition of Mosaic Monday over at Little Red House, I leave you with this lilac tableau...