Valentine update and vaccination

 

I added the pink hearts and gold webbing spray.   Done.   

These little stuffed hearts are packaged and ready to distribute to some artsy friends.  Picture me driving around in golf cart with little dog at my side, dropping them off on porches.  

We are still maintaining social distancing and mask wearing.  I received my first covid vaccination on Thursday, the Phizer vaccine.  No ill effects whasoever.  Thanks to friends Cheri znd Cheryl for arranging this.  Since then I have had two other opportunities to receive vaccine, after waiting for weeks online and following possible leads from friends and neighbors.    

Hope you are all safe and well.   Don't you miss socializing and hugs?  I do.   

Valentines archives, have a peek

 Over on the left side of the blog page, there is an index of labels. I used to be faithful about assigning labels to make it easy to find pasts posts by subject.  Its my librarian/archivist brain.  Over the years as the system changed, I got out of the habit.   If you care to see earlier posts, scroll down to valentines and it will bring them up for you, or go to the calendar and click on a year and select February.  

I hope you visit these earlier posts as there is good stuff there.  Its quite complicated for me to try to bring them forward, so instead I am inviting you to visit and snoop around the archives. 

Valetine collaborations from archives

 One off our mixed media group projects in February, is decorating these little folded heart shaped books.  When we  get back to meetings in person again, I think we should do this every year.    Here are pages from two different years.  

As you can see, each person creates a page. We have a time limit so we don't dawdle.   Some of us prepare ahead of time so just need to cut and paste our piece into the book.  Others work from scratch.  I love looking back at these remembering the fun time we spent together creating them.

Dyed hearts

 I am in love with the Somerset Studio avacado dyed hearts shown below.

I tried avacado dying a year or so ago and it was a dismal failure and I am not willing to go to all that trouble again to colorize a few paper hearts.  So I used watercolors on cut out hearts. This is the tray (Cool Whip lid) after I picked off the hearts.  Now perhaps if I lay some tissue paper on it and give it a spritz,  it might transfer the hearts.   Hmmm.....

An old post revisted.

 

MONDAY, JANUARY 26, 2015

Looking for love

Every year I stumble across natural hearts in nature.     I take them as signs of love.    Here is a new one I found this morning at the senior center.    I'm doing a little sketch of it in my journal.    John had been demonstrating gold leafing and one of the gals saw my leaf and wanted to gold leaf it, but I thought it was too glorious, as is.  


Keep your eyes and hearts open for natural signs of love.     I never look for them, they just appear from time to time.      And if I'm lucky I have my camera handy.

One I missed years ago was my friend Pauline's sons' koi, a white one with a red heart on its side.   Pauline believed in  signs.   I miss her.

This is the leaf I found on a geranium growing in a small pot on my deck - a week or so ago.    Much like the following one which I found a previous year.    

I'm not sure what is eating these little holes.    I appreciate them. 

Another image I took at the senior center one year was this potato that someone brought in to share with a bunch of other veggies.



You may remember I photoshopped it and changed it to the next photo.

The Mixed Media group is going to make a collaborative Valentine booklet.   I have the pattern made and the papers folded, now just to cut them and pack up things to add to the pages that I do, one in each book.  We will be passing them around the big tables, each one decorating a page before passing it along.   At the end of the session we will each have one to take home with pages decorated by the others.

February hearts and valentines.

 

A vintage piece...... the valentine.

A new beginning

This is the piece I made on Inauguration Day  while I listened to the proceedings.    The I Voted sticker is not glued on the front,  actually it is now attached to back of canvas.  

I am very relieved that there were no major demonstrations that day.   For the last few years I have started my day checking national news to see what the former President was stirring up.  We were at his mercy, his every whim led the news.

This was not a healthy way to live, but it was routine.   Now the news is really boring.  Good, it means they have their noses to the grindstone working to try to make progress on the many problems this administration inherited.      

 

Hearts, hearts, hearts

 These are some hearts from last year. 

Spray paints and stencils.

Watercolor abstract

Collaborative collage

Valentines.

I used felt in the valentines I gave to some friends this year.  I also used those black scratched hearts for  others.

The felted heart shown next is from my friend Ruth.  She is one of my needle felting students.  I love that she made this to surprise me.  

Mixed media january more hearts

Another project was met with greater enthusiasm.  I purchased black scratcher hearts on amazon.  We scratched the black  waxy coating away to reveal the colors printed on layer below to create our own designs.  We each made one for a member who had an injury that will keep her away for awhile.  Several people were interested enough to order more to do more at home.

I shared some at senior art one day and all artists seem to enjoy doing them.  Then shared more with grown grandkids.  Everyone loves doing these.

Here

are two samples I did.

Valentine collaborations

Our mixed media group finished our little collaborative valentine booklets.     Two sizes.  Smaller ones the first week, then yesterday we did a larger size since we all had our supplies handy and enjoyed the first time so much.  This was all based on a piece we did at my pal Bobbi's house years ago,.       Our Lodi Mixed Media group had not done them, and when I showed a sample, everyone chimed in that they'd like to do it there.  So we did.

Some of us had prepared our pages and just had to glue then in each book.  Others chose to draw directly in each one.   Each person did their own thing - and had a good time doing it.  And they each got to take home a book with everyone's art in it.     

Hearts and tapestries

Hearts and tapestries. Finished.   It must be getting closer to Valentine's Day.  That's when I really think in terms of reds and rich fabrics.     I started this last year and then set it aside.   When I chanced across it the other day, it just begged to be finished.   I'm so glad I did, because I love it.       This reminds me of friendships.    The tiny pieces of tapestry and upholstery fabrics on the covers are from the little hang tage envelopes at JoAnne Fabrics.  They cut little pieces so you can take them hone to see if they match your project.    My pal Bobbi and I started collecting then years ago,a nd I had enough to cover this book and several others.  I just randomly stitched them together.    Lots of wonderful textures and colors.  This book is really nice to the touch as well as the eyes.      Inside I used larger pieces of tapestry upholstery pieces from sample books.  Some were given to me years ago by another student in an art class.  She knew I used fabrics and she seemingly had an endless supply - she knew the right person.  LOL 

 Most of the red ones are from a sample book that

my friend Sally found in a thrift store in Sacramento one day.   She spotted it before I did and showed it to me.   I was green with envy, but then she pointed out there were more on a low shelf.     Soon as I had it in my hands I was ready to go make something.     LOL    I've used most of them now.     In this and in previous projects.    Mostly around this time of year,      I added in some vintage postcards and  paper dolls cut from scanned post card images.      it's full of pockets, some of them netting stitched over the fabric, so the fabric still shows through.   It's too beautiful to hide.

The little toile house was another thrift store find in Calaveras County last October.     I wasn't sure why I needed that little curtain valance, but it had just the image I wanted and the perfect fit for my book.    

Here are the results.   I can see I could enrich it even more with the addition of some carefully placed beads, buttons and vintage jewelry.     Maybe next year.    

Looking for love

Every year I stumble across natural hearts in nature.     I take them as signs of love.    Here is a new one I found this morning at the senior center.    I'm doing a little sketch of it in my journal.    John had been demonstrating gold leafing and one of the gals saw my leaf and wanted to gold leaf it, but I thought it was too glorious, as is.  


Keep your eyes and hearts open for natural signs of love.     I never look for them, they just appear from time to time.      And if I'm lucky I have my camera handy.

One I missed years ago was my friend Pauline's sons' koi, a white one with a red heart on its side.   Pauline believed in  signs.   I miss her.

This is the leaf I found on a geranium growing in a small pot on my deck - a week or so ago.    Much like the following one which I found a previous year.    

I'm not sure what is eating these little holes.    I appreciate them. 

Another image I took at the senior center one year was this potato that someone brought in to share with a bunch of other veggies.



You may remember I photoshopped it and changed it to the next photo.

The Mixed Media group is going to make a collaborative Valentine booklet.   I have the pattern made and the papers folded, now just to cut them and pack up things to add to the pages that I do, one in each book.  We will be passing them around the big tables, each one decorating their own page.    I'll be showing mine here when it's done.     

In box - Valentines

Happy days. More Valentines are showing up in my mail box. Here are some of the new ones.
The darling one on the oversized playing card is from Rosemary. Sing your Heart Song is from Michelle Attaway. Lovely, Michelle, thanks. The one I scanned inside it's vintage glassine envelope is from Pat Schmidt. Its adorable. It has an aqua ribbon woven through the front of the card. I'm glad it was in the envelope, I don't think it would have made it through the mail without damage. The 1 hour limit card is anonymous. BUT, the style is very like Emily Pruitt makes. I checked back through other cards she sent in the past, and sure enough, the handwriting matches. So, Emily, thank you for the card which always has a little story behind it. Thanks to all four of you wonderful artsy ladies. I love every card.