12 Days of Christmas DAY 9 & Kitty News

Day nine brought pure yumminess from art4mysanity (Mireya) in Miami. Not only was the gift fabulous so was the packaging! She made a sweet pendant with beads and charms dangling off of it and the box it came in was altered by collaging stamping and painting! A couple of pics:





In other news, my beloved Atticus is not doing well. Starting yesterday he has been making sounds as if he were vomiting, but nothing is coming up. He also doesn't want to be pet (and he is normally a slut!), he's hiding, and most worrisome is he is growling randomly. Those that believe in prayer please pray for my sweet boy.

12 Days of Christmas DAY 5

Oh yum! Today's gift comes from curbsidetreasure (Annie), who is the host of this swap. She is a talented collage artist and used her fab skills to collage a board book for me! It's WONDERFUL!

Presents!

I love presents. LOVELOVELOVELOVELOVE! I love getting them (see the last few posts), I love giving them, and I adore making them! A few posts down I showed a WIP of a painting that I made for the wonderful Laurie, here is the finished piece:



I gave it to her last Sunday and I loved hearing her swoon. She was especially enamored with the little kitty and agreed that it looked like Minou.

For my friends Natalie and Cheeka I went a simpler route. I took store bought, plain wooden hearts and altered them. When I was done gussying them up I drilled holes in then and added a wire hanger. Here is Cheeka's (she is a self-identified jesus freak) sans drilling and hanger:



I love how the crackle paint turned out (an experiment really) and I love how the gold paint seems to be emanating from jesus's head.

For Natalie I went a little darker in both color and theme. Natalie is in to earthy colors and has dark sensibilities about her. Imagine hippy goth only way cool. Here is what I did for her:



The words say: Let the fire of my body propel and warm me and let each darkness reveal it's plentitude. I wish I had said that, but a poets whose name I forget said it.

As this season draws to an end I am thankful for the opportunity I took to make those I love something special. They aren't magnificent gifts, but they are a little piece of me. /cheesiness.

12 Days of Christmas DAY 3

WOOT! Amyfaerie you are a goddess! Amy's gift for us today is a wonderful funky, chunky bracelet. Made with game pieces, buttons, old jewelry and ribbons it is stunning! See for yourselves!

They're Here!

The 12 Days of Christmas Swap gifties have arrived! I am drooling over all of the delicious packaging. Our host Annie (also known as curbsidetreasure) was smart enough to include an extra gift that we could all open immediately--that way we are less tempted to open gifts early! She gave us tons of paper ephemera and little bobbles, perfect for this motley crew of altered artists! We don't get to open our 1st gift until Sunday and I have to practically sit on my hands to keep away from the little basket of treasures!

WIP

Taking the mixed media class with Suzi Blu has been a real eye opener for me about my abilities to draw and make art in general. In order to continue practicing and developing my own unique way of making these 'pretty girls' have decided to make paintings for some family and friends.

Currently I am working on a painting for my dear friend Laurie. She is someone that has stuck by me through a lot of BS and I know I can count on her to be steadfast and true. We don't see each other often these days even though she only lives 2 blocks away due to conflicting schedules. She and her husband are planning to move away in a few months to the Bay area and I am dreading it! I wanted to make her something she could take with her that would always remind her of me. The girl in the painting looks nothing like Laurie (although with her ever changing hair color someday it might resemble her a bit more!), but I did make sure to add a silver kitty to represent Minou, Laurie's beloved familiar. The painting is not quite done, I would like to add a few more layers and I need to finish painting her face and clean the piece up a bit. I am also looking for a quote I can stamp on it that would somehow be meaningful to Laurie and our friendship (suggestions welcome!). So here is a look at what I have done so far:

12 Days of Christmas

Yep, it's that time again! I have to admit to loving Christmas for the sheer joy gift giving gives me. It thrills me to know I have given the perfect gift to someone. This year i was invited to join a 12 Days of Christmas Swap hosted by curbsidetreasure at AFA. The pressure was on as this swap was invite only and filled with amazing artists. The goal of the swap? To give and get a gift a day from Dec. 14 to Dec. 26. How does it work you ask? Each participant (13 of us so you can open a gift on your day) were asked to pick a day, mine is day 7, 12/20/08 we were also asked to create 12 handmade gifts for the other participants and wrap them beautifully. The gifts are then sent to curbsidetreasure who distributes them to each artist. From 12/14-12/26 we open 1 gift each day. On the 7thday the other artists in the group will open my gift which is an ________ ___________ ___________ (I'll spill the beans after the gifts have been opened!). We were each given clues as to each artists preference so we could make gifts specifically for them, or we could make the gifts all the same. What I did, as well as most of the other artists, was to make the same type of item but personalize it with the artists favorite color. My gifts have officially landed at our hosts home and any day now she will be mailing a huge package to me! Woot! Here is a sneak peack at my wrapped gifties: