Garden tales

Artwise, I have been at a standstill. My muse has packed up and wandered away as I struggle to create for a couple of swaps coming up. ACK!! Summer seems here to stay and I am constantly fighting with the dandelions and other greens that are taking over my garden.
My raspberries are out and am swimming in fruit. I already made a batch of jam out of desperation. I may need to freeze some of these berries and I know I still have berries from last year-help!! If you live within driving distance, do consider coming out and helping me with my dilemma as I can't keep up with the harvesting of the raspberries. Last year, I made raspberry syrup, some raspberry vodka cordial and raspberry jelly.

I have been trying to line up friends to come out and harvest these lovely beauties. There are only so many raspberries one can eat :)


Here's another picture to tempt you.... These red, luscious, organic raspberries truly are gems of nature. I seem to have a little visitor in my garden. My neighbours, who are bird freaks, tell me that we have some blue jays visiting and staying. They've gotten them trained so that my neighbours show up with peanuts and other nuts for the birds when they come out into the garden. When I was out picking the lovely raspberries you see in the pictures, I heard this loud squawking from the bushes in front of me. It was so loud, I thought it was a magpie, but it was only one of the bluejays, protesting at my presence in his patch of berries! I shooed him away, of course, he'd better learn to share :)

I've yet to attack the grass with the dandelion stick because I really want my lawn to remain organic. Especially since I found a patch of edible looking mushrooms under the golden crabapple tree. They were so edible looking, I found myself taking a bite out of the stem.I took it inside, washed it off and ate it. It was really, really good! It tasted very umami- savoury and meaty- surely something like this cannot be poisonous? So I decided to look it up and apparently, you're supposed to identify the mushroom *before* you eat it. So, I did a spore print and it had some lovely brown and salmon coloured spores, and the mushroom is white and has unattached gills and a ring on the stipe too. From some pictures, and the identification key I followed, I think it is a Trichoroma pardixx but since I am not 100% sure, I am going to wait till I take a course on mushroom identification before I proceed. Too bad, though, since that would have been a lovely meal. And they continure to taunt me as I can see their lovely white caps in the grass out the window from where my computer is located. ETA: I have to revise my identification since I've done more poking and it turns out my mushroom is Agaricus oseanus, as it also bruises yellow when damaged and I do remember the flesh turning yellow from me holding it. I'ts listed as cautionary edible, meaning that some people have had allergic reactions to it. Apparently, it has also been mistaken for the Amanita species (and likelwise) of which all species are poisonous. So perhaps I was wise to not consume it all. Just so people don't think I do very cavalier things all the time (okay so those of you who know me will realise I do anyways because of my risktaking behaviour, but that is another story for another time) I have taken several undergraduate courses in fungal physiology so I am not doing this blindly.

So, I don't think I posted a picture of what I did with my most favouritest inchies. I framed them. They are on the wall beside the computer so I get to gaze at them everyday an I love this idea so much, I am going to frame more inchies and surround this picture with more framed inchies. Those inchies are too beautiful to leave hidden in the box and sticking them in an album is just too geeky for me. The tactile inchies like my shaker ones will still be in the box, though because some of them inchies need to be fondled. It has gotten so that I can identify each and every inchie in the frame. Everyone's style is unique to them and that's what makes each inchie special.

I sure hope my muse returns soon.I need to get my stuff complete and out the door tomorrow. I also need to find my tatting shuttle and threads ... sigh..... wish me luck!

Inchie display, and some ATCs

My friend Kim posted a lovely dolly a couple of days ago and inspired me to attempt an ATC dolly. So, may I present Queen Beatrix. .....She is modeled very much after our friend Queen E, but unlike Kimmie's sweet and playful dolly, our friend Beatrix is sedate and regal in her bearing, and has what appears to be giant ankles. In her defense, I should have shaded her legs so you can see that she has very slim and fetching ankles. I watercoloured the background and fingerpainted over with gesso in a poor attempt at emulating Kim's gorgeous background. The ATC was also sponged with Distress Ink Vintage Photo. Her dress is outlined with gold Zig painty and her lovely sparkly shoes are made of burnt red glimmer mist scraps (Tattered Angels) and highlighted with half pearls. Her wings are from SU Natural Beauty set.

I was also rooting though my box of inchies yesterday- for those of you who don't know. I've been carrying around all the inchies I got from my various swaps in this lunch tin picked up from the dollar store. I love running my fingers through the various inchies but I thought it was time to actually do something with them. I've had this frame for ages and it has 3 5.5X5.5 windows and I picked out some of my favourite inchies and stuck them in the windows with non-permanent glue so iIcan go back and change them from time to time. I love how they look and plan to get more of these frames for the rest of my inchies. I didn't even bother removing the background pictures in the frame.This is what it looks like:
I have also been making other ATCs. Susie (Boxermama on SCS) has been running Weekend ATC challenges and I've been taking part in them when I can. Last year, I had no interest in making ATCs at all. None whatsoever. The adage that your friends really do have a great influence on you is so true- even as adults because I can't get enough of ATCs and I am trying out things I would never have done even a year ago. It truly is the influence of those I hang around with, even virtually....

2 of Cupcakes and 2 hearts in Paris was for Susie's Altered Playing Cards theme last week.

I am on a pink and brown kick, obviously. 2 of Cupcakes has a SU stitched bkg stamped in SU close to cocoa onto a SU Rose Red watercoloured bkg. The Cupcakes are a Mike's stamp and has Liquid Applique frosting and yummy looking seed beads. 2 of hearts is gessoed and stamped with Distress Tea dye. The stamps are from Cavalini & Sons (Eiffel Tower, postoid), SU (hearts-Love matters) and Teesha Moore (birds).

The ATC below was created for Kim's Who's Who Swap on SCS. This was completed a month ago but since we're on th topic of ATCs.... Bkg is salt resist technique. I took the liberty of adding acetate wings to the little kid (me- and if you knew me growing up, you'd be ROTFL). The acetate wings were enhanced with a white Souffle pen.Yes, there is a little bead necklace on the kid. And the flowers on the dress were highlighted with Stardust clear as well.

Teeth of Lions

Dandelions. Dent-de- lion.... supposedly a plant that came over from Europe. The leaves resembles the jagged teeth of lions. Supposedly very rich in vitamins and can be eaten as salad greens. The plant in itself, is useful. You can make wine with the nodding yellow heads that when dried up, turn into puffballs to spread their seed. Images of faeries hitching a ride from garden to garden on the dandelion seeds. The roots, if you dry them up and roast them, makes a good coffee substitute- very much like chicory. They are also taking over my garden. For three years, I have fought the urge to decimate them. I will dig them up- I have an organic garden. I am not crazy about poisoning them. After all, they (the dandelions) have been here long before I have. I discovered this when two years ago, I decided I was going to plant pumpkins. I dug up a patch in the back of one of the sheds, and found dandelion roots so torturous and twisted and fat as the size of my thumbs-. There they were, broken white fingers bleeding white sap amidst the dark dirt. I dug out what I could but in the back of my mind, I knew that this was futile.

I have been digging the little buggers out of my yard the last few days. I have broken two metal dandelion picks and I have giant blister in the middle of my palm from where I press the pick into the ground.I have garden bag full of dandelion plants, dug up. I am heading to the store for the dandelion bar. I cannot do this on my own. There just is simply too many dandelions for me to cope on my own.


This is the garden after the mowing:
(the dandelions are still there, the leaves and flowers are gone but the tenacious tap roots are there, waiting to sprout out new leaves to feed the beast)

I'm baack!

So, lots happened since my last entry. Looks like summer is finally here. It was 29oC yesterday. If I doubted the warm weather, my garden is proof it is warm. I cut the grass last week and it is already looking long and scraggly right now. The dandelions have only just started coming up so all is not yet yellow in the Dandelion Patch.

This is a Zentangle. You start with an image and you doodle freehand and decorate it. or you can do words. Its meant as an art therapy. Very cool stuff :)

I was away for a couple of weeks. I went to Niagara Falls for a conference. It is truly a marvel of nature and everyone should visit the Falls. Preferably when it is not the height of tourist season, though! I was there just before it got crazy. I even had a view of the falls from my room- and I never ceased to marvel at the waterfalls.

I also took a week to visit some relatives living out in St Thomas. No, not in the Caribbean- the one by London, Ontario

I really missed home and was so glad to be in my own bed, on my own schedule, with my own car.

So, I've been crazy busy trying to get some art time in because its down to crunch time. Deadlines looming for some swaps I signed up eons ago. Being away for two weeks didn't help at all.

Feast your eyes on these inchies. They are for Dena's 50 inchie swap. They all had to be different. I am used to making at least 10 inchies each time I make them so this was challenging (translated, my puny, lazy brain almost overloaded at the thought of having to make 50 different inchies). My favourites are:

the Dodo with the caption "Goin' My Way?" , the smoking nun with the caption "vices keep me human", the Inchie with Phyllis and a crown with caption "Inchie Queen", and "you too, could have this life if you wear Eddie Bauer".

Sure, I think I'm funny :) Phyllis is truly the inchie queen- she does an awesome job and I am honoured to know her. Another special mention is the"Who am I?" inchie with a burka- I had so much fun making that inchie since it would be hard to guess whom this person is.

Nickelbacks and other artsy stuff

It is snowing like there is no tomorrow. Its been snowing since yesterday morning. There has to be at least 3 inches of snow to shovel. I am too warm and cosy to go out. Luckily I resisted the temptation to put away the shovel. And the sand. So I have been busy inside.... been playing with my inks and stamps. My friend Kim has got me making nickelbacks. What the heck are they, you ask? She named them in honour of us Canadians- 5 cm x 5cm squares- that a nickel so she called them nickelbacks. Going from 1 inch to 2 inches is harder than you think. I guess it reframing of how you look at things. Kimmie had sent me a wonderful asian inspired nickelback and so in return I have to send her one. All week, I had been agonizing over this as Kim is very talented and I wanted to impress her. I had picked the theme of frogs, thinking I was going to get back frogs... but it turns out I was supposed to make something with frogs. So.... two weeks ago, Telus sent out some glossy advertising for their digital media campaign- using frogs.


How perfect!! So, this is what I came up with.


The background was done on watercolour paper using the salt resist technique. I knew it existed before - seen this usually done on silk.. I inked up the paper with Tim Holtz Distress Ink (Fired Brick) , then spritzed the paper to get the ink mixing and swirling. Dropped on coarse salt and let dry. Brushed off the salt, spritzed on some burnt red Glimmer Mist (Tattered Angels) and stamped background with words. The crowns are gold embossed and blinged with rhinestones. I will not be keeping either of them (sooo sad!!). They will be travelling to Dena and Kim this week.




I was also challenged to create something witht he theme "Spring into Green". I am not an ATC person but somehow, this one spoke to me. Again, I am so loving the salt resist technique. I tried it with Stampin'Up!'s Old Olive, reusing the salt crystals. I really like how it turned out. The old salt crystals had picked up some dye and deposited it on the paper. I also used some Stampin'Up! Rub Ons for the first time. they aren't bad at all....

I think I shall turn it into a card for Mother's Day, with green paper, some luscious chocolate chip ribbon that I've been hoarding. Thanks for the idea, Susie!



I cannot avoid going outside so off I go to shovel snow :)

Cuban rhythms

Last weekend, I attended a lovely Pena(pronounced Penya, but I can't get the squiggly over the n) at the Blue Chair Cafe . It was a show for a Latin Jazz band called Bomba. Their members live in Calgary and Edmonton and when they get a chance to get together, they do in either city and have these little music sessions.

I cannot believe this is the same group Bomba I had heard about when I was living in Calgary all those years ago. I used to occasionally take drum lessons from Luis. I just went to the Bomba site and I recognized one of their guest players- Toto. Toto used to be (and I presume still is) good friends with Luis. This was at least 10 years ago. And as I was looking at the pictures, it suddenly dawned on me that the singer that was also playing the gourd and guitar was Luis that I learned to drum with. He taught us how to drum djembe, but had from time to time brought in the congas for us too. My most cherished memory of my time drumming was this sultry, hot summer evening. This was in One World's old studio, above the hydroponics shop on Centre Street , in Calgary . It was hot and stuffy there. The windows were open yet it was stifling since there was about eight of us and the room was very much akin to an oven. Luis was showing us how to play several lines. He wasn't happy with what he heard, so again and again, he showed us what we had to play and listened. This went on for what seemed like endless hours. By this time, beads of sweat were wending its way down my shoulder blades and between my breasts. The music was pounding. And hypnotic. We could barely hear the traffic outside, though as we drowned out the sounds or cars and honking trucks. At some point in time, Luis turned off the lights in the place in hopes of keeping the heat down. So, there we were, in the evening's half light, beating away our own individual drum lines as he made us repeat again and again till it became part of our selves. Or hands and our hearts took over and collectively, we sighed. The the music started tightening up and for that small window in time, we were transported to Cuba, with the gentle and hypnotic beat of the congas,the clave, his melodious singing and the thick viscous heat on that hot summer day. He used to offer conga camps in Cuba- where one could go and live as the Cubans do, and play and eat and dream with them too. I wonder if he still does that. I would go in a heartbeat.

Inchie-palooza

I have been busy inchieing away at things. I was in a 100 inchie swap and finally got back my inchies. Since they aren't mine, I won't post them unless I get permission from the owners.

Meanwhile, I've been working on some Pick a Theme Inchies. So for these, you end up in groups and everyone gets to pick a theme. You make everyone else's themes but yours. In the end, you get everyone else's interpretation of your theme. Its a very exclusive kinda thing.

For this picture, the Themes were: Chillies, Queen Bee, Nancy Drew and Nursery Rhymes

The person on the chillies inchie is whom the inchie is going to. Her name is Phyllis and she is an awesome inchie artist. She has this wonderful knack for collaging and is so very humble about her work. Queen Bee was a bit of work but I am very pleased with how it turned out. I was inspired by an inchie I saw made by someone I traded with named Mrs Noofy. I used a transparency to give the bee's wings some depth. I also took a Stardust clear pen to the wings underneath the transparency. This was all sewn down with beads. There is a crown beneath the bee and it is embossed in platinum embossing powder and decorated with 3mm pearls. I tried to create the bookcover for Nancy Drew (The Whispering Statue) and with the Queen of Hearts- she was very fiddly as there were so many bitty bits to her- the tarts, and the hearts. there is Dimensional Magic/Crystal Effects/Diamond Glaze/Glossy Accents on the little hearts in the tarts. The queen was also coloured in with gel pens and she has a small bit of german scrap foil for a crown.


The next set of inchies are:


Halloween, Winter, Teapots and Cowboys.


I cut the skull freehand, stuck on googly eyes, and sponged around the skull lightly to create contrast. The orange strips have orange peel stickles on it for some bling. The winter Inchie is fairly simple. I had picked up some puffy stickers (yeah!! In the Husky store between Morinville and Slave Lake ). There is some glitter edging the snow and the sky on the inchie. the teapot was stamped with pigment ink and then covered with psychedelic embossing powder. the background was made by bleaching the cardstock. The "steam" was created with a Sakura souffle pen. The cowboy is just collaged. There is copper "rope" hanging from his shoulders. I like how he turned out.




The next set's themes are: Paris, Growing Old,


Vintage and Summer.

I really like how Paris turned out. I used a paint chip for the background- isn't that amazing? I can just envision a feature wall in that colour-gorgeous! the Eiffel tower is embossed in metallic brown on a brown background. Growing Old was a little difficult so I lucked out and found a deck of cards from the dollar store with the stopwatch with wings on them. there is crackle effects on the face of the stopwatch. Vintage was easy- found some images of the internet- antiqued it a little with Tea dye ink. the gold strips were purchased white in colour and the gold was rubbed on with acrylic paints. the "Summer" inchie is a BBQ stamp which I carefully coloured and used dimensional magic on. The silver is my Zig Painty pen.

I am really proud of my inchies. I do think my work is getting better all the time. I have been inspired by many new friends I've made, as we share ideas and techniques as we enchange these little bits of art with each other.