Shoes

There's something irresistible about tiny old shoes.

 (photos by my friend, Miss Jodie LeJeune )

I like to line them up,

I like them under glass.

I love to use them in my art.

I love them handmade.

These were 'cobbled' by my precious friend Dawn.

Ever since she sent them to me I've wanted to try my hand at shoe making.

First attempt.

I used a pattern from one of my Japanese Zakka books.

Although they're written in Japanese, the step by step illustrations are easy to follow.

I used an old felted sweater & vintage buckle on  this one.

This little elf shoe is inspired by a vintage pair I own.

I know it's only September but I can't help but look ahead to Christmas.
 It'll be here before you know it!

 Remember my altered ballet slippers?
Well I've restyled them for Christmas.

If you'd like to make a pair, I'll be teaching this class on

 October 28 for Paper Cowgirl.

(information will be on the Paper Cowgirl blog)

If you don't have time to make them, you can buy these
 in my esty shop.

I plan on making more, I'm trying very hard to get my etsy going.

I made the little stars by hand with German glass glitter.

They should age beautifully.

Lily & I got an unexpected package from Denmark last week.

A few weeks ago I saw Dorthe had made this amazing heart for her sweet Mathilde. 

Well I loved it of course, so look at what she sent to us!

These are awesome!

 Dorthe used 2 of my favorite pictures for these hearts.

Lily feels very special when she receives gifts from my friends. Someday when she's older she'll realize how truly blessed she is to have wonderful art made just for her!

Lily chose the pink heart for her room, & the sepia heart now hangs on the memory cabinet in my bedroom.

Dorthe you are such a gifted artist & a true friend.

Thank you!

Believe it or not I am alone in the house today!

Lily & Daddy are on an Indian Princess camp-out & the boys are with their Grandparents.

It's too quiet, I can't concentrate.

Hope you have a great, loud weekend!

Round Robin

I took a big load to the post office this week.

Lots of projects that went off a little late...

(what's new)!

A very belated birthday gift for a very special friend.

The tease of cool weather has inspired Autumn colors in my art.

The elements I used in this collage are some of my favorites. 

The awesome french lace, vintage velvet ribbon & butterfly that once embellished a hat are precious to me.

I figured I better get a head start with Christmas since I was so late with the birthday gift!

I used an old tabacco tin for the orniment & glass glitter on the stars. 

This will look even better next year when the glitter begins to tarnish.

I'm working on a round robin book collaboration with Karla, Beth & Sandra .

I finally completed my cover & first page.

The project is called 'Her Life in Stitches'.

The book chronicles a girls life with samples of her needlework.

My book is about a girl raised on a farm.

'Low color', tattered treasures & nature were my inspiration.

I used a few different techniques.

A resin block embedded in an old book cover.

It didn't turn out perfectly, but I thought that kind of supported the 'make do' spirit of farm girls.

The sheet music under the photo  is a song called 'in the cornfield'.

The farmhouse piece below is a Tim Holtz idea. 

You can read about it here.

I love the effect!



Here is my first page.

I sent my packect off to Karla, she'll add a page & send it on.

In a year I'll get my book back with 12 wonderful pages.

I'm working on a page for Beth's book now, I'll show you next time.

This is such a fun way to create & share art, I hope to do more soon. 

I've been obsessed with altered books since I read

Collaborative Art Journals & Shared Visions in Mixed Media by LK Ludwig. 

 It's a beautiful book filled with amazing work.

Last year Mary Green invited me to contribute to her online class

Artful Pages-4 Artists 4 Ways.

If you want to learn some tricks & techniques for art journals check it out.

Can you belive September is almost over!

Thank goodness summer is almost behind us.  It was a tough one here.

Now that I'm caught up, I'm off to blog hop!