Rage against this machine

I am experiencing some rage at blogger right now because it continues to tell me my html is incomplete but the damn thing is supposed to do the html! And I just redid my post twice to find I deleted it.


It's been one of those evenings.




We'll try again tomorrow so I don't get all She-rah on this stupid thing.







See you then!

The American Visionary Art Museum

I went to the American Visionary Art Museum in Baltimore yesterday as my Dad's birthday present to me and it was fantastic! The museum's collection is comprised mostly of art work done by individuals who are not considered professional artists. Some creators of the pieces include, prisoners, the mentally challenged, housewives, the homeless, refugees, etc. Some of my favorite pieces included the altered book and art journals by prisoners and average women, the stained glass and porcelian Icarus statue, shrinky dink pages, the miniature museum, Afghanistan war rugs, art quilts, and the multi-media doors.

Unfortunately, I was unable to take photos inside the museum buildings, they were only permitted for the outdoor exhibit. (Believe me, I tried and got yelled at.) =/ However, I am happy with the photos I was able get.

A glass "tree" outside the front of the museum- I am kicking myself for not capturing the reflection of the wall below in a mirror on the tree with it's own reflection on the wall, it would have been a stunning photo.

Just a tiny portion of the mosaic front wall.

A giant mosaic egg
Self portrait number 1


Number 2, my personal favorite


Another self portrait but I wish I could have elminiated the background and gotten a wider shot but I was blocked in by another set of doors.

A giant metal guitar-bird and nest

We discovered a balcony on the third level of the other building that is actual inside the wire nest.

From the nest we noticed this giant mosaic piece we wouldn't have seen otherwise since it was above our heads when we were in the courtyard.

A view of down town Baltimore.

There are more photos to post but blogger is again, refusing to cooperate.

Delayed goodies

Blogger didn't want to work the other day so I never got to post these:


Another credit card spread background. I love how this one turned out.

Some photos from a recent craft swap, I am in love with the tiny raven! Now I've got to think of something awesome to do with him. I also got some pretty scrapbook papers, some antique German school book pages, coins from Singapore and China, pretty stickers, and a key.

Adventures

I've been going on plenty of fun adventures lately, including: attending a seminar given by His Holiness, the Dalai Lama; a Buddhist monk ceremony; and now I am going to the Visionary Art Museum: http://avam.org/index.html for my birthday.

I am waiting for an acquaintance to send me the photos from the seminar (I am so excited!) but I was unable to take photos at the ceremony because that seemed rude. However I am hoping to take my camera to the museum. Check out the site, it looks amazing.

Photos tonight of swap goodies and spreads. See ya!

Craft Your Life

Another credit card scraped background. I played around with my dye based markers with my rubber stamps and I love the effect I got for the butterfly. The scrap that says "Craft" was actually part of the packaging from some jewelry pieces my sister bought and I distressed it a bit by crumpling it.

That's all folks!

Green Memories

I am still experimenting with backgrounds, this was just a layer of dye based markers with stencils for the frond designs, then covered with green acrylic and metallic gold applied with plastic wrap. I love how the scalloped paper turned out, I used a wet rage to pick up a tiny bit of paint and dragged it over the paper to make the texture pop. Masking tape, stamps, pretty trash and Sakura souffle pens to finish it off.

Under the different tabs of the old Burt's Bees box I wrote a few messages, but they're a secret =)

This page was inspired by the little boy who would have become my stepson, but who I still consider to be my own. He asked about me recently, being nearly 3 and having limited time with me, I was deeply touched and heart broken when he asked where I was. The seed packet is actually a pocket with photos of Sage and his sister, Ceilidh tucked safely inside.

The "secret" messages under the box tabs are addressed to these children who I love as if I had gave birth to them myself. They're my world. I miss you guys.

Strength and Masking Tape

Over the weekend I learned that one of my sister's friends was sitting in her car and was hit by a drunk driver. She died in the hospital last night, she was only 19. More bad news followed, my ex-fiance, David, told me his Army buddy was the victim of a roadside bomb and lost both of his legs. It's hard to realize how fragile we are as creatures on this earth. I needed some strength so I invited my inner-super hero to my art journal.

The left page: Another magazine silhouette, colored and outlined in watercolor crayons. The background was painted purple, stamped and then gessoed over.

The right page: Covered in layers of masking tape, then painted purple and finally doodled over in a Sakura white gelly roller.

Shadows

New spread! Pink and orange has become one of my favorite color combinations and it keeps reappearing in my journal. Another new love is silhouettes! I prepped the background with orange paint and then used the plastic wrap stamping with yellow. Afterwards, I just cut out a model from one of my sister's teen magazines and brushed paint around the edges. I went back and outlined the bodies before journaling in each.

More spreads to come, sorry I didn't post much this past week- I went to go see His Holiness, the Dalai Lama give a lecture on peace and Buddhism so that kept me pretty busy. Mini-altered book to be created based just on that day. The gesso is drying as I type this, I can't wait to get started.

Books and Sushi Babies

As Promised I bring you photos.

Here is a glimpse of what I am reading craft wise these days, thank God for libraries.

I actually bought Wide Open, which is a series of idea cards and an accompanying predecorated art journal; I like it but it isn't meant for people not crazy about taking photos since most of the ideas focus on this.

Here is today's spread, I fell in love with the sushi baby I found in my October issue of Parents Magazine under the Halloween idea section. I also experimented with a new favorite technique of mine called "ragging," which is where you dab paint onto a cloth and then smear it around the page. I achieved this look by wetting the cloth prior to dipping it into a little of paint to just get the color on the page and scrubbed it around. Some of the paper pealed off when I did this but I love the look- I'll just have to be more gentle next time.

Tomorrow I'll have another spread (hopefully I'll get into the habit of posting one daily).

Noncrafting but interesting news, I get to go see the Dali Lama speak next week in DC and I have nearly front row tickets! I'm just super upset that I won't be allowed to take a camera with me into the building.