Is this my muse?

After spending two days in the Sierras with art pals, I came home and started to look through the background papers I made. We used the shaving creme marbleing technique for some, and several other painting techniques Sally introduced us to. Well, this little stack of papers had some surprises for me. A little face peeked out at me. And immediately I thought it must be my muse, Lollie. Or is it a wood elf? You look and see what you think.

I thought I'd see what other images these little papers might be hiding. I found Lollie has friends - a bird, a kitten (or maybe it's an owl) , a horse, and in one she seems to be dancing - and oh my gosh, she's a blonde. I should have known.

La Selva Beach and Altered books

Welcome all of you that are visiting the blog to learn more about altered books. Wasn't the Arts and Crafts Show nice this year. All our thanks go to Cindy Pasaro who puts in so much time making the show happen, and to the volunteers who help out.

Again this year, there was a lot of interest in the altered books. I've been making them now for 4 years, and I'm still utterly enamored with them. If you want to learn more about them, you can go back thru my earlier blog messages, and get the tutorials and discussions. Just go to the left side of my blog home page, and go down to where there is a list of topics. Click on Altered books and it will bring up the posts on that topic. And, if you want to reach me or ask any questions, you can email me at momzart101@yahoo.com. Thanks for keeping me inspired and motivated.

I have several ideas in mind for the next books and will post them as I go along through the making of one, hoping it will help you understand the processes and maybe help you get started on one of your own.

I ran out of room on my table and never put out the ACEOs that I had made. Maybe I'll put them out in November. The next La Selva Beach show will be November 17th - don't forget to mark you calendars. See you then. Janene

Microscope slide mailers

Here are pics of some of the microscope slide mailers I did today.

Quilt Show in Murphys

This weekend was the annual Mountain Heirloom Quilt Faire in Murphys. It was held at Ironstone Vineyards. Here are pictures of some of the quilts - and some photos of the decorated boots that lined the pathway to the exhibit room.

An ATC created to celebrate SHH Day. Silence Helps Humanity. It's a day to be quiet, to celebrate silence, to be aware of the sounds around us and to minimize noise pollution.

New ATCs

In anticipation of the La Selva Annual Art Show which will be on July 21st, I have been finishing up some ATCs to sell. I have no idea if people will want to buy them, but I like making them and I really don't want to do anything really commercial if I don't love it. Here is a sampling of what I'm taking to the show.

Kris's scraps go into fabric book

My sister-in-law/friend Kris tossed me her scrap basket one day and said "take anything you want". It was like Christmas! She is an avid and very productive quilter, so uses lots of fabulous fabrics - and her scraps are to die for. This is a fabric book made of some of the scraps from her stash. The goat applique is one she had done but not used. I thought it was charming.
I'm constructing a little pocket between the layers just behind the goat's butt. In it will be a tag with the quote "But at my back I always hear, Time's winged chariot hurrying near. And yonder before us lie, Deserts of vast eternity." by Andrew Marvell.

I think it will impart a little humor at the sight of the little goat (and the snakes) trying to outrun Time's Winged Chariot - and don't we all?

I hope you like it.