WS: Bucket

Hermine’s theme this week for Wednesday Stamper is “bucket”

it took me awhile to find it, but I knew I had one here somewhere … this one reminds me of a little laundry bucket

the baby is from my cabinet card collection … only half of one AMuse stamp went into this creation

be sure and stop by my giveaway

**Second Blogaversary Celebration**

*now closed *

almost two years ago (7 Oct 07)  I stepped into the blogging world with big thanks to Pat Sloan for urging me to “just do it” … my life has not been the same since … 905 blog posts later …  I have had help and encouragement from so many of you …

in celebration and thanks to all who visit and share their creativity and support I would like to give away two of my 4 x 6″  (10,16 x 15,24 cm) one of a kind canvases

Eternity

and

Precious Magic

two names will be drawn … international visitors are most welcome as are people who do not have a blog  (please be sure there is a way for me to contact you if you win) … come one come all

I appreciate everyone’s visits and want to thank you all for popping in now and then and leaving so many thoughtful and kind comments … I treasure all of the special connections blogging has brought my way

*****

to be in the drawing, all you need to do is leave one comment on this post …  the random number generator will pick two winners after midnight EST on 6 October …

Winners will be announced on Wednesday,  7 October

*this post will be stuck at the top of my blog until the drawing  ends on 6 October *

P.S. 1 October: you are all very polite as well, no one pointed out my fuzzy math when I wrote (and now deleted) my average posts being 2.5 per day …doh … more like a little over 1 post a day

oxo ~*~ Patty

tea and paper parasols

fun how one thing leads to another … and another here in the land of blog … recently Jean from Bluebirds Living in the Meadow did a lovely parasol blog post (she even had her blue parasol as a blog header for an instant)

I have a thing for Asian parasols … and have for many years now

the plain one on the left is waiting to be decorated

on a very hot muggy day a couple of years ago at the spectacular Brookgreen Gardens on Murells Inlet in South Carolina

my square parasol helped give about ten degrees of coolness with its shade

a really interesting link to sand art recently from Margaret of Alice and Camilla,  led me to this wonderful umbrella art installation link

I’ll leave you with this perfect Love parasol

be sure and visit Kimmie for links to all of the lovely tea Tuesday posts

Dans ma maison il y a “un ange”

in my house there is “an angel” for the Dans ma maison challenge this week

tissue papers, washi paper, ledger paper, Inkadinkadoo wing stamps, tinsel pipe cleaner halo

and glitter glue

“I’m no angel, but I’ve spread my wings a bit” ~Mae West

Harvest Maiden

here is my Harvest Maiden for the Gothic Arches “Autumn” challenge this week

colored with chalks … something I haven’t used in awhile … images are from the NYPL Digital collection

rainy day of wonder

how could we resist this:  “Climb the 333 steps to the dizzying heights of the bell ringing chamber in the great central tower of Washington National Cathedral, 300 feet above the ground.”

the photo above is from the National Cathedral newsletter … there were no blue skies yesterday … we had welcome rain for the first time in a long time … cozy and dry in the hidden corridors and staircases of the Cathedral

… we began our climb …

some of the stairs were stone and some were open metal … winding up, up, up in a rigorous ascent … getting hearts of every age pumping

stepping out onto the ledge … looking down from the bell tower…

we were reminded of the differences between gargoyles and grotesques …

… gargoyles are spouts for rain water, like this one (double click for a close up)  and grotesques (like the famous Darth Vader at the cathedral) let the water run off their backs and heads

bell ringers demonstrated their art … one lady will celebrate her 40th year of bell ringing … she said just how much fun it is (with lots to learn over the years)

… so great to watch and SO beautiful to hear from inside (no picture of the six bell ringers I was so caught up in the moment) … not too loud like you might imagine being in the tower …

joyous happy bells that made me misty eyed … wondering if there was such a thing as ‘sad’ bells … well of course there are … a leather piece is strapped to half of the clapper and when the bell goes from ding to dong … the dong is muffled … turns out this is done every new year’s eve to ring out the old year …. then joyous bells peal to ring in the new …

fascinating to chat with one of the ringers describing how especially wonderful the bells sound on a cold crisp night … guess where we want to be for New Year’s Eve

the views we enjoyed from inside the Cathedral were breathtaking as well

a glimpse of the space window … from a high balcony …  containing a piece of lunar rock presented to the Cathedral by the Apollo XI astronauts

we stood underneath one of the two huge and glorious rose windows (10,500 pieces of stained glass make up the rose window)

from balconies and vantage points only open on tours

we hope to return another time for the stained glass and gargoyle tours … so much to learn and take in …

the stone carvers

and metalworkers are another story all onto themselves

not forgetting an example of 1,500 separate pieces of needlepoint … more one of a kind kneeling cushions than you can shake a stick at …

there are 150+ people interred in the Cathedral, including Woodrow Wilson and Helen Keller

this dusty homage to the stone carvers (all passed on now) was tucked away in the bell tower … each year from 1960 to 2000 they would share a bottle and sign it … the collection has its place behind the scenes now

*************

while we were in town we had a bite to eat

and then saw the new Jane Campion movie ... Bright Star … a visually stunning and beautifully acted period piece … sweet and tragic telling of John Keats young life

“A thing of beauty is a joy forever: its loveliness increases; it will never pass into nothingness.” ~John Keats, 1795-1821

princess of quite a lot

the SPA challenge this week is “stripey legs” … I am still having fun with beeswax … no glue needed

my book board postcard was was first painted … then covered with beeswax and peeled tissue … the bit of lace at the top got a little funky looking after adding the wax … some of the pretty lace detail was lost, so I added smudges of paint which helped it some … I then stamped beeswax impressions around the edges coloring those with layers of paint … the girl scout sticker at her heart is vintage (thank you Carol)

*click for a closer look*

thanks to Lynn for sharing a fun free collage sheet she found at Cleome1 on Flickr, that is where the arms and legs/shoes came from … dress and head are from Paper Whimsy … the rose  ‘scepter’ was inspired by a piece of waxed candlewick … the roses are my photos … I doodled the border for the top

the frog prince

the image of the little girl was supplied by Lisa’s Altered Art for the Art Creations Friday42nd challenge

for my5x5″ collage she traded her bow in for a crown …

… she is a princess after all

Mother Nature + Gifts

finally uncovered my sewing machine as I have wanted to play with fabric for a while now

I am trying to embrace the change of seasons … but here is what I ended up creating this afternoon with what was handy (not very fall like)

beginning with a piece of 5×7 watercolor paper (I find it easier to sew collaged fabrics on a paper base) … the lady was already stamped on paper … I had ironed some fabric pieces and they have been waiting patiently looped over a hanger

silk ribbons, tuille netting and the final touch was that beautiful rhinestone button that arrived in today’s mail … it just happened to be the certain something I needed for the right corner … thank you so much Cat ! (btw, I did not know I was going to use it until, when I was admiring my new buttons again, I thought … THIS is it)

just look at the other lovelies Cat of La Dolce Vita sent me

Yes, I did open the sweet hankie wrapped pressie … full cards of lovely vintage buttons, there is even a Hindu button which will be perfect for one of my India altered book pages

it is so much fun connecting and sharing with blog friends … it makes going to the mailbox really exciting!

Wordless Wednesday: Fall Comes to the Northern Hemisphere

Grandpa Loves to Feed the Birds

this week’s  Gothic Arches challenge is “bows”

Love this little girl with the bow in her hair leaning on her sweet Opa … thanks to Elizabeth for the perfect image

I used Ranger’s Crackle Paint for the background, washing it with paint and inks … Martha Stewart’s stickers are some of my favorites with blackbirds and tree branches, a little scribbling with the Signo white gel pen too … I had fun with this arch, thanks to Gini for inspiring me with our recent bird conversations

Pocket Full of Sunshine

the Wednesday Stamper theme this week is “let the sun shine”

my blue background is a photograph I took of an old wooden flower box, the Paper Whimsy sunshine is glued onto a torn piece of round graph paper

I am drawn to dolls and doll parts … I know there are others out there who like a creepy doll now and then

a variety of stamps went into my collage, the 13 cent stamp was a gift from a friend (thank you Michelle),  the “overdue” stamp is old and dried out, rescued at a junk shoppe …  still works fine if you wriggle it just right

“Live in the sunshine, swim the sea, drink the wild air…” ~Ralph Waldo Emerson

here’s a great sunshine song

Tea and Zwetschgen-Kuchen

today was a special day spent with my sweet Mutti (she lives an hour away) … we baked … which is something we have not done together for a very long time …

it’s Italian Plum season

these do not seem to be available year round like so many other produce items

no picture of the baked sheet cake … I got excited … I don’t always get a piece warm from the oven … the plum juices turned the dough a pretty pinkish purple

a tried and true recipe

from Dr Oetker’s German Kochbuch (cookbook)

we used a measuring “cup” a lot like the one above … my Mom’s has a great patina from so much use … she is a very good cook and a terrific baker and was up at the crack of dawn this morning before I arrived …she was busy making her delicious apple strudel, always a favorite of mine (no picture of that either) yummy yum!

so it was strudel for breakfast, Zwetschgen-Kuchen (thank you for the proper spelling Sandy)  for lunch = oh my!!!    we  really slapped it on our hips (as my friend Catherine likes to say) and enjoyed each and every bite!

also came home with some fresh picked figs from the trees in her garden … I Love it when she tells me about when I was a little girl …  how we would make up the beds together (me learning the ropes) listening to songs like this … just right for flitting around and getting the chores done … I was an only child for the first nine years of my life

sweet sweet visit… full tummy … warm heart … precious memories … priceless!        OXO

Visit Kimmie for more Tea Tuesday links!

Dans ma maison il y a “une plume”

there is “a feather” in my house for the Dans ma maison challenge this week

a tipi (teepee) came to mind right away … three paper elements for my collage (NYPL Digital collection) along with feathers picked up here and there … a coating of beeswax to stick things together… and a strip of fabric and old rusty bottle cap

“The Great Spirit is in all things, he is in the air we breathe.  The Great Spirit is our Father, but the Earth is our Mother.  She nourishes us, that which we put into the ground she returns to us…” ~Big Thunder (Bedagi) Wabanaki Algonquin

Altered Bits Black and White Art Zine

it is my honor to be included amongst some really fantastic artists in Alicia’s latest on line Art Zine … with thanks to my friend, Pat of Ooglebloops, who coaxed me into submitting something

*it takes a while to load the zine as it is in two parts … there is so much to see (you can find me in part two) … be sure and check out the previous issues of Alicia’s zines while you’re visiting

AND info on the upcoming “Notorious” themed zine is also available … why not submit something!

Alicia’s  energy and talents are over the top … prepare to be amazed

here is my humble black and white postcard submission (black cardstock,  Paper Whimsy image, wings stamped on book text, white embossing,  Mr Magpie helped me name this piece)

many many thanks to Alicia for sharing her creativity and time in preparing this visual feast … it is no small thing and not to be missed!

*update: you can click here for easy viewing

or click on my sidebar, with BIG  thanks to Estivalia, who once again saves the day!!!!*

Looking for the Gypsy King

the Sunday Postcard Art challenge theme is “Gypsies” … one of my all time favorite topics

the collage elements for my postcard are the 1888 gypsy wagon oil on canvas by Vincent van Gogh, the gypsy is a William Clark Wontner painting, the “Gypsy Love Song” sheet music is from the NYPL digital collection, the trim at the top is a favorite piece of sparkly fabric that I’ve had for a long time, the final touch is a bit of  beat up bling at the bottom … can you say that five times quickly

“We are all

wanderers

on this earth

our hearts

are full

of wonder

our souls

are deep

with dreams”

-Gypsy Proverb