Friday, November 9, 2012

2012


Roses .. One of my sketches

           Where has this year gone ?



              I'll tell you it flew right by . My life has been wonderfully full this year .My Crazy cute Grand Daughter  the light of my life  Antonia Rose is a little over a year old Now , it has been such a pleasure to have her here in my Life ..I spend as much Time with Her as I can because I know How fast the years Go By..
              My Amazingly Talented Bunch of Friends and I have been Exploring the world of ART .. Discovering New Art Forms and Rethinking Some old Ideas too. I only mase a few  Dolls this year and Must confess that a some of them  are Sitting on a shelf  with No Costumes ,But with winter approaching I'm sure they will all get finished .. I have been Dabbling this year..  I dabbled in Book Making and Altered Books  too , I did some mold making , Fooled around making Charms ,  I filled a couple sketch books with drawings ,doodles and Ideas ... I even keep trying the Elusive COLLAGE Hoping some day to GET IT !  .I Learned a lot about mixed media projects and played with many New products ,from Inks to patinas.. I even did a little Needle felting Again making  mice this time..I added a few photos of thing I have been playing with I hope you enjoy them... OH  please excuse the spelling mistakes for some reason the spell check on blogspot is on the fritz today ..
                                      

   Now on to a few of my Talented Friends

I donated her at
" Art is You "
      
       Who should I Start With ? .. I Know Who .. My Beautiful and Brave Friend Colleen Athens . Colleen Decided to follow a dream she has had for a while. A  few months ago She opened an Art Studio  Called " The Artsy Soul "  I'm so proud of her .. " The artsy Soul "is filled with wonderful Art supplies,  like graphic 45 papers . Dylusion ink sprays . interesting rubber stamps . An assortment of Clays, air dry and polymer , imported rubber molds .Several different types of patinas and ohh la la  the Vintage Bling is to die for !! jewelry findings , Kemper tools for sculpting .. German glass glitter and Dresden foil items too .. Just a few of the items I could think of .. Colleen offers Classes in Doll Sculpting and Has many other Artists holding one day classes and  longer workshops  in a variety of mediums  . I have been heading down to " The Artsy soul" once a month it is so worth the  2 hr drive ..
       Next  Miss Susan Milo .. The original "Art forms " Girl .. let me tell you when it comes to Artsy stuff Sue has done it All ! This year Susan was bitten by the Ceramic Bug .. She purchased a kiln the Clay and every thing needed to turn out all kinds of  tiny Ceramic things.. Tiny  decorative Dishes ,  Tiny houses , beads  ceramic Charms ..She is so smitten with Ceramics that she is researching a second kiln....I love her  incredible passion in everything she does ..
        Ellie G .. A new friend, I must thank Susan for introducing her to our group ..Ellie is a jewelry maker ..Her jewelry is outstanding , much of her jewelry is fashioned from precious metal clay and semi precious  stones ..just beautiful ! ..Ellie also does beading stitching up sparkling bracelets and neclaces from tiny beads . Ellie is a traveler and will hop in the car and drive almost any place to take workshops  a good flea market or a bead show , A girl after my own Hart ..
       Miss Tery Favo .. I have to say  we haven't seen much of Tery this year ..She has been following her own Hart , Diving head first into Jewelry Making . Using wire ,copper . Brass, patinas . rivets, semiprecious stoned even  etching metals  .wooooo mind blowing stuff is coming from her studio this year. I think Tery has found what makes her hart sing.
       Miss Stephanie Novatski ..An Amazing Doll Artist and Teacher is also enjoying her 2 little grand babies .. I don't know how she does it , She designs and creates fantastic Doll patterns that sew up like a dream  .. Every year Stephanie creates a one of a kind Doll entry for the Hoffman challenge let me tell you  they are stunning ! Stephanie  has been taking part in some fantastic swaps this year , & teaching  mixed media Book making At " The Artsy soul ".. Stephanie like all my friends has a most generous soul .. I'm lucky to have a friend like her ..
        Last  for today but By Far Not least in my book  is  the very Talented  Elizabeth Parsons.. Like me Elizabeth has a darling new grand baby that is keeping her busy.. But she is still the Queen of Paper. I seen several of the  books she has created this year and WOW ! is all I can say .. The last couple years Elizabeth has been creating one of a kind Dolls and  in her own words has " Fallen down the rabbit hole " and landed into the enchanting world of doll making ..and boy oh boy is she Good at it !! Elizabeth has been taking workshops from talented and amazing doll artists like Colleen Athens and Lillian Alberti and is an active member of the  "Warwick doll crafters guild " She inspires me to keep keep trying Collage , Telling me not to over think it ..
This  charm is close to actual size in the photo
I made  it from polymer clay useing a push mold.
Added a little paint with my finger ,triple thick
and ultra fine glitter .finished  it with a vintage bead .
      


This  is the second year I attended the " Art Is You" retreat . I connected with So many amazing talented , Fun ,Caring fellow Artists  .. I hope that the connections I made will grow in to friendships to last a life time  ..peace , love and creativity to all of you  xoxoxo
  
    

My altered book.. the pockets are made from Coin envelops ..I learned this
cool idea  from
Terri Sproul .

a page from one of the needle cases I have been making this year

another sketch
Taylor .. one of the dolls I made this year as you can see she is not totaly finished

Sunday, April 22, 2012

Neptune Doll club Meeting

               Evey third Friday of the Month a group of Doll makers meet at the Neptune Library . I have to admit that  I don't make every meeting , it is quite a haul for me and depending on the traffic can take me up to 2 hrs to drive there .but believe me  it is always worth the Trip .               
              This month Stephanie Novatski Brought in her Home made Photo booth or light box what ever you want to call it , it was Cool .. I must make one for my self . Every one brought a doll with them so we could take some photos .
                
                                here are a few photos I snapped
The dolls in this Photo were Created By Colleen Athens  her beautiful bunny and
a most glamorous Fox
Stephanie took many more photos of the dolls , adjusting the shutter speed and lighting too . My camera is new to me so I haven't learned how to do all the fancy stuff yet. so As you can see I'm leaning over her shoulder  snapping away .... 
A Close up of Colleen Athens dolls  Oh the Detail  her Dolls have

This is Marion  a Prim style doll i made a a while ago  on a vintage doll Bed

I zoomed in just a little
 .

Sunday, April 15, 2012

Mermaids Workshop At Anne's House

       Oh how time flies  .. Its been over a month since  My trip to Florida. What can I say  Life has been good , I have had tuns of Creative Energy this year ,work is good and My Darling Grand Daughter  keeps me smiling  it seems I just don't have time to Blog ..
         I went to Florida with My Friend Colleen Athens  Back in Early March ...We stayed at My Brother in laws Hans's Home the first 48 hrs . We Did some  hobby lobby shopping , we even went to the beach and Colleen Got to meet My crazy Florida Family at a little get together for my sister husband Jay , He was home on leave from Afghanistan .

                                OK  I know lets get to the workshop !!!

      .Colleen was teaching her New Mermaid doll At Anne Hesse home studio . So On the third day we drove to Lake Mary and made the la Quinta Hotel our Home for the next 5 Days 
      The night We arrived  Anne and the other Ladies met us for a get to know you meal , as it turned out  I had met two of the women  in Kentucky at MMM a couple years ago and Debby is an old friend from Doll club here in NJ ..It is always  good to make new friends and spend time with old friends Too . On the first day of the workshop Anne gave each one of us a beautiful  Beaded bracelet that she made, how cool is that ! It has inspired me to learn how to bead ! but that is for another Blog .. Anne is a Talented and generous lady I'm so happy to know her .
                                         
                          "  Here are a few photos from the workshop "

Colleen Athens

        I should have taken some photos of the finished Dolls But I forgot my camera at the hotel the last day ... Colleen and I  still Had another day in the Lake Mary area  after the workshop ..so we made plans to meet Anne at the place Called " Space Craft " after a little treasure hunting there we went to a cute bead shop, Then Anne treated us to  Lunch at the cheese cake factory , needless to say it was a yummy meal.
     Another Fun Trip comes to an end  Colleen heads home and My Sister comes to get me ..




Debbie












    
 the Ladies are working away
Jill and Sally

Friday, February 10, 2012

Two Trips to the Bead Barn ...

         Not once but Twice in a week  I went to visit Judy in valley Cottage NY , Judy is a lovely Gal  also know as the Beadwildered woman from Nyack .. The first trip was on a Tuesday , I headed over to my friend Sue Milo's House to pick Her and Doreen  Up . After a quick cup of coffee and a little  "ART "  show and Tell the three of us  were on the road to visit Judy ....
         The second Trip was on Super Bowl Sunday . Judy was hosting a 50% off sale  . I picked up Sue a little before noon , But this trip we were meeting another friend  Kathy Hoffer at the Barn .After Sue and I left Judy's with our treasures in hand , we made a quick stop at Ac Moore ,  Now all that shopping made us hungry  ..Thanks Sue for treating me to a quick burger and frys  .

the Treasures from day one Brass findings ,a brass house charm. tiny pink
vintage foil back rhinestones and tiny aroraboryalice rhinestones.
a pocket watch , but the real special find is the  cream color Bakelite bow .  

       Judy Has a Cozy Art Barn  stuffed to the rafters with Great treasures  ...  Vintage brass findings and Charms ...Vintage buttons .... Beads old and New ....  Stunning lampwork beads  ...  a Variety of  Ribbons ....    Hand made Felted hand bags and Felted flowers ...            old pocket watches ...old millinery flowers ...   Rhinestones Galore !  And much much more . Every time I go to visit  Judy I see wonderful new treasures to buy.. 

Sundays goodies Tiny Ruby Red vintage crystal rhinestones .Gold oval foil backed
Rhinestones .4 glass fish on thin wire. small pink millinery flowers,
a small brass phone some beads and the coolest black and green trim.














Monday, February 6, 2012

Treasure Hunting Saturday !

   A Treasure Hunting Trip in winter is just a little different than Hitting Flea Mkt's and yard sales like I do April through November. Its Hunting goodies at the Antique Shops and the out of the way little places,Yes it can be a little pricey but I love it all the same.
   I Hopped in the car about 11 am and drove to Andover,a beautiful 40 min drive though the rolling hills of N.J ... I love the shops on rt 206, Many are Co-ops having dozens of dealers under on roof. I do shop several of them often so I feel free to haggle only paying what I feel is a good price.. 


      12 vintage Doilies  .5 vintage post cards one in a glassine envelope  ,1 calling card shaped like a painters       pallet .. A perfect pair of  vintage Black leather gloves and a hand full old of  buttons... Total cash spent  23 bucks..  The relaxing time spent rummaging and picking  PRICELESS !

Thursday, February 2, 2012

Life has Been Good ..




Antonia and Big Ed  my adorable hubby (aka Pop Pop ) having fun  last week
    Yes a Crazy Good ..I have been Enjoying time with Family. Spending Time with My Grand Daughter is at the top of the list, she is the light of my life . Antonia Rose Was Born late July, woooo time flies .I can't believe she is 6 months old already ..
a peek at one of the inside pages  they need some more bling


                              when I'm not visiting with her  or at my day job I have been sewing up some gifts for my girlfriends ..lets call them belated Christmas gifts .. LOL .. I finally Delivered two of them this week and have two more ready and waiting... They are needle cases with embellished felt pages they are about 4x6 inches every one different . the fabric used to do the quilt like cover came
from  discontinued designer fabric swatch books all of which my friend Sue Milo collected.Its so nice to have friend who share the treasures with you ! I ended up making about 8 covers but only finished 5 so far.
    
a view of my sewing table
this design is a Tim Holtz  stamp  I did some free motion sewing
over the design and added some dimensional trims

I guess I should take a few more photos of the finished needle cases ..LOL ..but I think you all get the Idea ..peace and love  till next time ... Hugs  Heather









 


                                                           Oodles of stuff to embellish with.
vintage bits ,trims from Mood, images printed on ink jet fabric
just a sample of the things I love.and used in and on the needle cases