Spread Your Wings by Patty Szymkowicz

the talented and inspiring Lesley Riley has a new book out by C&T Publishing and I am thrilled to have something that I created in it…

this has been in the works and kept quiet for over a year…

as some of you may already know Lesley is the queen of transfers and most recently TAP (Transfer Artist Paper) …

TAP was voted the winner of the 2011 Innovations Showcase...

I have been a big fan of Lesley’s since I took a fabric board book class (two of my pages above) from her back in 2003 and a transfer class a couple of years later at the Rubber Chicken…enjoying every minute of time spent with her …

Lesley is an excellent teacher and generously shares her passion for creating…

back in February of 2010 she invited me to be a contributing artist to her CREATE WITH TRANSFER ARTIST PAPER book…

as you can imagine I was over the moon about that…

it is such a big thrill to see my creation in print as the book is now available in both softcover and ebook  here…

it is loaded with inspiration and how to’s on using TAP not only on fabric but lots of other surfaces as well..

Lesley also gives great tips on editing your images before transferring them… 

for my part on pages 44 and 45 I decorated the cover of one of C&T Publishing’s blank board books with a transfer done on canvas paper…

I got excited and did a couple of spreads inside also…

here is a closer look at those…

I used TAP for a favorite Swan image and transferred it onto sheer White Unryu paper with gold/silver flecks which I liked very much…

I transferred the rubber stamped and colored hand onto some vintage sheer fabric…because the fabric was so thin it made a second image on the piece of cardstock I placed behind the sheer fabric to protect my work surface … double transfers!

another favorite artist of mine…theresa mARTin has a beautiful piece called “Grace” in the book…

what an honor to be included amongst so many talented artists…

many thanks to Lesley for this brilliant opportunity…

heartfelt thanks to each of you for supporting me along my creative journey…you know who you are

***as soon as my second copy of the book arrives I will be having a little giveaway***

Wednesday Stamper: At least one rubber stamp…one last time

the Wednesday Stamper/Mittwochstempler challenge blog began back in July 2006…the brainchild of the talented and free spirited Belinda of Bel’s Nook…

my first time participating in WS was back in 2007…I was crazy about arches then and still Love them…

Belinda is the one that got everyone in mixed media blogland going on those…

in November 2008 I was invited to be a WS co-moderator along with Belinda and Hermine which was the beginning of a great adventure for me…

participating in these weekly challenges has been a wonderful way to meet artists and creative souls all around the globe…

it truly has been an honor to be connected toBelinda in Luxembourg…

Hermine in The Netherlands and

Linda in Norway…

a nicer and more talented bunch of artists you will not meet…

Belinda actually taught me how to create a photo sampler in Photoshop Elements all the way from Europe by email…

she is not only talented but VERY patient too…

 on this 5th anniversary of Wednesday Stamper/Mittwochstempler it is time to bid farewell to the first tri lingual challenge blog (German…Dutch…English…most recently Belinda has added French too)…

I have learned so much and have been inspired by all of the participants and moderators again and again…

my heartfelt thanks to each of you…

and as Belinda says: “Rock your rubber stamps again one last time”…

using photocopies of one of my postcard creations I got busy on some paint scraped pages to create a spread in my art journal…

wish now that I’d taken a before picture of the pages as no two ever turn out alike…

when I finally cleared a spot big enough to work on my art table…I got excited and dove in…

I pulled out some old wooden mount office stamps that I picked up at junk shop…a foam stamp…some unmounted rubber stamps along with other stamps too…

the stamped village border on the lower left hand page was torn from an envelope I had sent to our son when he was away at school…he handed it back to me saying he had hung on to it as it was too nice to throw away…we like recycling

I will probably be tweaking these pages a bit more…but wanted to get my post up while it was still Wednesday overseas … OXOXO

Tea at Tech… in the gardens…

…Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University…

or as it is most often called…

Virginia Tech…

our son graduated from there in May…

this past weekend we helped move him back home to Northern Virginia…

we have had some lovely visits over the past four years to the Blue Ridge Mountain area of Virginia and the quaint college town of Blacksburg…

this time our son steered us to a really lovely spot on campus that we’d never visited before…

the Peggy Lee Hahn Garden Pavilion has a very fine collection of plants and more…

we were so drawn to this delicate “Maid in the Mud” Garden Sprite

and quite amazed to see that it was created by Frank Lloyd Wright…

we could not resist placing our traveling teacup ever so gently on her pretty head…a temporary teacup crown…

this year certainly has been full of passages and milestones for our family…

I guess that is the way for all of us as time moves forward…

so glad you stopped by for tea…

wishing you and yours a lovely day…

for more Tea on Tuesday posts visit Kimmie at her Art in Red Wagons

“what do U see”…Sing from your heart…

our local altered arts group had the first pass of our “what do U see” projects…

six of us committed to creating one project per month…

lucky for me Fran Podlesney picked my kipper tin to start out with…

she transformed my smooshed tin with alcohol inks and brilliant touches of this and that from some of my ingredients below…

included in my bag of goodies for each player were different images and assorted Yogi Tea tag verses…

Fran’s tag said “Sing from your heart”…

she cut the row of three boys apart arranging them like a choir with bits of peeled napkin and tissue paper behind them…

she used quite a lot of ingredients from my packet…adding a bit of bling to the crocheted flower center above…

that super half glass eye marble was ready and waiting on Fran’s work table to be used for something…

what a great start to our local swap…soon I will share what I created for our June swap

WS: Circles

my choice for this week’s Wednesday Stamper theme is “circles” …

a good excuse to use my circle Love stamp by Impress Rubber Stamps…

thank you to Jaqi across the pond for sharing her lovely great Aunt Rosina’s photo a couple of years ago…such a beauty she is!

for my postcard I used some paints…extra heavy gesso…a plastic doily stencil…crocheted doily bits…book page…Sharpie water based poster pen…Stabilo pencil for shading and a couple of rubber stamps…

come join in the challenge this week…the theme is open to your interpretation…all you need to do is use at least one rubber stamp in what you create

“If you Love someone, put their name in a circle; because hearts can be broken, but circles never end.” ~unknown

macaroon tea

on our flight home from Switzerland last month…

wonderful…awesome…brilliant Switzerland…

we had a stop over at Heathrow Airport in London…

as sweet Margaret pointed out...it’s a shopping opportunity…so we decided to make the most of it…

I got some royal wedding magazines…along with the Heathrow ‘freebie’ magazine that had my name on it…oh India!!!

many years ago my sister…quite the world traveler…started me out on my first Harrod’s bag…

since then I have gotten to add to my collection a wee bit…

the oil cloth makes them very sturdy and handy…

with so many designs and sizes to chose from…they were having a little sale at the airport Harrod’s….

I am also a fan of pretty boxes and this is where the macaroons come in…there was a pretty green carriage style cart at Heathrow’s Terminal 5 that really called me…not sure why I didn’t take a photo of it???..

the macaroons were tasty but truly the packaging is what spoke to me…that pink of the rose flavored biscuit looked a bit artificial to me…but each one was very tasty…

there were lots of flavors…we chose two of four different ones…Ladurée is credited with inventing the double decker macaroon…I think I was happiest with the pretty box and bag…

Happy T Tuesday to one and all…you can visit Kimmie for lots of fun tea links

a Deb ‘sea’ surprise…

everything about Deb Christensen’s surprise package to me recently charmed the socks right off me…

she had me with her fish tail magic islands card…

and goodies galore…

her fresh water pearl and delicate sea glass necklace is beyond beautiful with its pretty silver chain…

I put it on right away…as I just happened to be wearing a pair of green sea glass earrings I got some years ago…

they are in no way as delicate as Deb’s jewelry creations…

a glass vial of fresh water pearls she carefully tucked in reminded me of mermaid’s tears…

or precious babies teeth…so very sweet…

the last packet of treasures I opened totally wowed me too…

how kind and generous of Deb to share some of her treasure trove of perfect rust and patina with me…

with touches of salt and sea and time spent on Alaskan shores…

a place I have only dreamed of…

if you have not yet had a chance to see the fish tail creations she’s made the last several years for a Kodiak Alaska Community Art Auction…you’ll definitely want to take some time to check them out here…

each one is a marvel…

be prepared to get sidetracked by her photography…storytelling and art posts…with SO much to enjoy!

Deb is a mixed media artist extraordinaire…

when I visit her blog and read about her life I am always entranced and feel richer and happier for it…

she’s a great cook and does that professionally in a really special setting each summer…

her absence in blogland for those months always makes my heart grow fonder awaiting her return…

BIG Yay for blog friends and art mail and wonderful surprises!!!

“i hope when you wear the necklace you will feel our misty cool sea breezes and smell the green cucumbery smell of the beaches!” ~Deb Christensen, Dy-ing to be yours

thank you dear Deb for sharing your talents…your art and your heart…it is people like you that help make blogland such a great place to be!!!

WS: Animals

it is no secret that I am crazy about swans…

that is what I chose to play with for this weeks’ Wednesday Stamper challenge…

for my postcard I stitched cheesecloth…old lace…bits of netting and wide rickrack onto watercolor weight paper…

the pink fringe at the bottom is from some amaretti cookies I had long ago…

the wrappers came in different colors…

a real bonus to get delicious cookies AND pretty papers…

the frill at the left is old crepe paper with a bit of faux greenery and old flower trim…

the swan is a packing tape transfer…

Nick Bantock’s Paris stamp along with a couple of chalk pencils finished off my pinned on tag…

morning shadows tea

it is not everyday that I am awake for the sunrise…

I do enjoy the changing play of light and sense of excitement it brings…

lavender time is here again…

with a bit of a cool down in our record breaking heat and the return of our traveling son today…

so much to be grateful for while remembering so many with strife and hardship in their lives…

won’t you join us over at Kimmie’s Tea Tuesday…

 always a special place to visit and connect with people from all around the globe…

 “In the right light, at the right time, everything is extraordinary.”  ~Aaron Rose

Amos Lee and where have I been?

why haven’t I been listening to music lately…

music always feeds my soul…

over the years music has lifted me and taken me lots of places…

so quite by chance…but wait…what IS chance…I came upon this and can’t stop listening…

I keep hitting REPLAY to hear Amos Lee’s Colors here..no kidding…I have lost track of how many times…

I am not on Facebook or MySpace…but there are more cool videos here

it is so nice to be barefoot…smelling the honeysuckle blooms…feeling summertime underfoot…time to stop and think and feel as the dust of the first six months of 2011 begins to settle a bit…

happy weekend dear ones…oxo

to each her own

here is my interpretation of the Wednesday Stamper challenge this week for “the world outside your window” theme…

I created a postcard using a book page…scrap paper…a magazine fan piece…paints…inks…white rubons … along with

a favorite lady…

and a stamp I find lots of uses for from the Toybox rubber stamp company

…forget-me-not tea…

we locked the doors for the last time to my mother’s house a couple of weekends ago…

Mr Magpie and I had one last picnic under the apple tree…

it happened to be the Joint Services Open House weekend at the nearby Air Force base…

the Thunderbirds zoomed overhead several times as if to bid a final rip roaring farewell…

my parents raised two daughters over the span of 50+ years in that little house…

as we tidied the gardens one last time…

we were surprised to see one clump of forget-me-nots in the rose garden amongst the dozen or so blooming bushes…

that heavenly blue looking a little out of place and absolutely perfect all at the same time…

I feel the closest to my Mutti out in nature…

with every bird that sings…

and flower that blooms…

so much to thank my parents for…

and very glad I made time to do that often while they were still on this earth…

I will leave you today with this perfect quote that my good friend Lennie shared recently:

“Whether we are poets or parents or teachers or artists or gardeners, we must start where we are and use what we have. In the process of creation and relationship, what seems mundane and trivial may show itself to be holy, precious, and part of a pattern.” ~Luci Shaw

Happy T…with thanks to Kimmie and all of the tea party participants and to you my dear visitor…

*footnote:I am submitting this post for Ana’s Friday Archive Dive topic of “home”*

Theresa Martin … Assemblage Artist …

Mr Magpie and I had a lovely afternoon at the Glenview Mansion Art Gallery on Sunday…

it was an absolute delight to get to finally meet the talented and lovely Theresa Martin in person along with the chance to see her latest body of work up close and personal…

photographs cannot capture the depth and heart in each piece she creates…

Theresa is an assemblage artist extraordinaire…

I am the proud owner of a piece of her artwork that I treated myself to the first time I saw her work exhibited at Glenview a few years ago here...

if you live anywhere close…I highly recommend a trip to the Rockville Civic Center Park/Glenview Mansion…

there are two other artists showing their work in the second floor gallery as well…

hours and directions can be found here

last of “what do u see” … for now …

over the last few months I have posted several times about the QB5 “what do you see” swap…

more details about how that started here…

in a nutshell…we each put together bags of items along with a substrate that we mailed off to one another…

mine was a kipper tin that I emptied…grilled and hammered flat … punching a hole in one end…

we all chose different themes and items which made this swap a nice creative stretch…

I didn’t get to show you the back of Margaret’s lovely tin …you can have another look at the front of her tin for me here...

she had some great ideas to decorate the other side of it while Mr Magpie and I were traveling in Switzerland…

 it was ready for me to bring home after our special visit together…

such fun with the girls in the water…my favorite colors included and a fancy but diabolical frog…

Nathalie’s girls were waiting for me when we returned home from our trip…

real beauties too…

they made me giggle…

*you can click to read the words*

I am a big fan of rhinestones and Love the rusty look of these…

very exciting to see what each artist did with some of the same ingredients…

funny no one (except me) used the piece of peach zipper I included…

so much creativity…

front…

and back…

here is a round up of the pieces I created for

Linda … Margaret … Nathalie … me … Carole

Nathalie and I had two sides to our pieces…

these two group photos were taken on a rainy day and then the pieces were put in the mail with no chance for a second photo opportunity…

our local altered arts group liked the ‘what do U see” swap idea so much that we will be swapping our own version of it locally over the coming months…

I am still using a smooshed kipper tin for mine with some different bits of this and that to play with…

WS: Numbers

here is my postcard with Numbers for the Wednesday Stamper challenge this week

I also wanted to share this month’s quote from my “Angel Spirits” The Art of Sulamith Wulfing 2011 Calendar:

“Come into my presence, dear one, and have a quiet moment of peace.  Let the noise of the busy world fall away, and breathe deeply of the renewing gentleness of silence.  Empty your mind and fill your heart.  Peace . . . peace . . . all is simply peace.” ~Angel of Peace,  June 2011

~* Happy June Dear Ones *~